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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 31, 2020
Quinn, Yin appeal decision to uphold executive order
canceling special election for borough president
BY JACOB KAYE
One former candidate
and one current candidate
for Queens borough president
will continue their
fight in court to reverse
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
executive order that canceled
the special election
for Queens borough president.
The special election was
originally scheduled for
March 24 and rescheduled
to June 23 before being canceled
outright. Jim Quinn
and Dao Yin, who both ran
in the special election prior
to its cancellation, separately
filed an appeal earlier
this week against the
court’s decision to uphold
the governor’s order.
The pair have argued in
court that the governor’s
decision was unlawful.
While many of the candidates,
including Yin, remain
on the ballot for the
June 23 primary, the decision
to cancel the special
election eliminated Quinn,
who had only petitioned for
the special election, from
the ballot.
“We brought this case
forward in the name of
democracy and the rights
of Queens voters,” Quinn
said. “The judge in the
lower court was in agreement
with the merits of
our argument that Governor
Cuomo took extreme
and unnecessary action
in canceling the election,
which makes his decision
not granting us relief even
more disappointing and
confounding.”
Quinn said the decision
to cancel the special
election after early voting
had already begun was
an act of disenfranchisement
against Republicans
and conservatives, a group
whose support the former
Queens assistant district
attorney had garnered.
“The voters — thousands
of whom had already
cast their ballot in the special
election — have a right
to an elected borough president
before January 2021,”
Quinn said. “We live in a
democratic republic, not
a dictatorship, and I will
not sit by silently while the
voters of Queens are disenfranchised.”
Yin, who has jumped
to Quinn’s side, has made
similar arguments in
court. “The Executive Order
canceling the special
election is not only unnecessary
and unconstitutional,
but it is also dangerous
in that it establishes a precedent
for other politicians
to overstep their authority
and interfere with a future
election under the guise of
an ’emergency,’ real or perceived,”
Yin’s lawyers said
in their appeal.
The appeal comes after
a string of unusual events
that led to the cancellation
of the election.
It began with former
Queens borough president
Melinda Katz’s election to
Queens district attorney
in 2019.
The vacant seat was
filled by her deputy, Sharon
Lee, who is currently
serving as the acting borough
president. A special
election was scheduled for
March 23, the winner of
which would serve until
January 2021.
Citing threats to public
health, Cuomo eventually
canceled the election outright,
an act that allowed
all candidates in the special
election — except Quinn —
to remain on the ballot for
the June 23 Democratic
primary.
The winner of the primary
will face Republican
Joann Ariola in the November
general election.
Councilmen Donovan
Richards and Costa Constantinides,
former Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley,
retired NYPD Sergeant
Anthony Miranda and Yin
will appear on the ballot
in the June Democratic
primary.
Photos courtesy of Jim Quinn’s campaign, Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Dao Yin’s campaign
Cabán endorses González-Rojas for Assembly seat
BY JACOB KAYE
Former candidate for
Queens District Attorney
Tiffany Cabán announced
her support for Jessica
González-Rojas, a reproductive
health advocate
and insurgent candidate in
the Democratic primary for
State Assembly District 34.
“In a district that is 88%
people of color, we need to
elect community champions
who will fight these
injustices — at the root and
with an unwavering commitment,”
Cabán said in
a statement. “I’m proud to
announce my endorsement
of Jessica González-Rojas.”
González-Rojas, who is
one of four candidates challenging
six-time incumbent
Michael DenDekker, said
she was proud to receive
the endorsement.
“I’m thrilled, ecstatic,
proud and humbled to receive
her endorsement,” González-
Rojas said. “She’s someone I
volunteered for and supported
and I believe in her vision.
She’s changed the narrative
of how justice can be possible
in this state, city, borough
and country. We are very
much value aligned.”
Cabán chose to endorse
González-Rojas over Nuala
O’Doherty-Naranjo, Joy
Chowdhury and Angel
Cruz, the three other challengers
vying for the seat.
O’Doherty-Naranjo,
who, along with González-
Rojas and Chowdhury, volunteered
on Cabán’s DA
campaign, has expressed
disappointment in Cabán’s
endorsement. As a Manhattan
prosecutor, she said her
support for Cabán during
the DA run, lent credence
to the reformer’s calls
for changes to criminal
justice.
“It’s disingenuous
for Cabán to endorse
González-Rojas
because I feel like I
gave her legitimacy
as a former prosecutor,”
O’Doherty-Naranjo
said. “I helped her make
it work.”
A d d i t i o n a l l y ,
O’Doherty-Naranjo accused
González-Rojas of
not being “a local person.”
González-Rojas
has lived in the district,
which covers Jackson
Heights, Woodside and
East Elmhurst, since
1999. O’Doherty-Naranjo
has lived in the district
since 2001.
Jessica González-Rojas (l.) and Tiffany Cabán. QNS file photos
“Although this is her
residential address, she’s
not involved in local activities,”
O’Doherty-Naranjo
said. “She was in Washington
doing great work, yes,
but she wasn’t here.”
González-Rojas, however,
maintains that while her
work may have taken her
out of the district at times,
it’s been for the benefit of
her local community.
“I’ve worked both locally
and nationally,” said
González-Rojas, who was
the founding member of
several organizations that
serve the undocumented
and immigrant communities
in her neighborhood.
In recent months,
González-Rojas has received
endorsements from
several political groups,
including Make the Road
Action, a immigrant rights
organization. She has also
gotten support from the
Working Families Party
and City Councilman Daniel
Dromm, who’s district
overlaps with Assembly
District 34.
DennDekker, who
was first elected in 2009,
said that his primary
concern at the moment
is helping his constituents
through the COVID-
19 crisis.
“I am proud of my
work for my neighbors
in Jackson Heights, East
Elmhurst, Woodside, and
Corona, and I believe my
record outshines that of
any other candidate,”
DenDekker said.
“Right now, I am primarily
concentrating on
helping my constituents
through the dangers and
troubles of the COVID-19
pandemic.”
Chowdury and Cruz did
not immediately respond to
request for comment.
Additional reporting
by Angélica Acevedo.