4
QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 21, 2020
Queens borough president candidates talk protests,
COVID-19 and more in virtual debate ahead of primary
BY JACOB KAYE
The five candidates vying for
the Democratic nomination for
Queens borough president gathered
on a virtual stage for a debate
hosted by QNS on Thursday, June
11.
Councilmen Donovan Richards
and Costa Constantinides,
former Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley, retired NYPD sergeant
Anthony Miranda and businessman
Dao Yin shared their views
on the recent protests over the
death of George Floyd, their plans
for the COVID-19 recovery and the
direction of development across
the borough.
Protests over the killing of
George Floyd
Moderated by Jacob Kaye,
the digital editor of QNS; Angélica
Acevedo, a QNS reporter; and
Karmina Fonseca, the editor-inchief
of El Correo, the debate began
with a discussion about the
myriad protests sparked by the
police killing of Floyd.
While Richards, Constantinides,
Crowley and Miranda all
expressed their desire to change
the way policing is done in New
York City, Yin, who is running on
a law and order platform, took a
different view.
“I’m in favor of peaceful protests.
However, many of the protests
have provoked the police,”
Yin said. “The police have tremendous
self control.”
Crowley, who doesn’t support
defunding the police, advocated
for better training and the recruitment
of a more diverse police
force.
“Law enforcement in New
York City and across the country
has, for generations, institutional
racism,” Crowley said. “It has
plagued law enforcement and we
need to do better as a society.”
Miranda, who spent his career
in law enforcement, said that he
would advocate for measures to
hold the police accountable, including
changes to the disciplinary
process.
“There is an opportunity right
now, because we have such an
awakening of the people, to create
the changes we have been long advocating
for,” Miranda said. “Police
reform is necessary, police
accountability, absolutely.”
Richards, the only Black
candidate running for the seat,
recounted his first negative encounter
with the police — being
stopped and frisked at the age
of 13 — and called for stronger
community policing measures,
citing the building of a new precinct
in his district that will be
equipped with a food pantry and a
community center.
“As we talk about merging the
relationship between a police department
and our communities,
one way to do that is to ensure
that we can coexist, learn from
one another and learn about each
other,” Richards said. “We’re not
here to condemn an entire department,
but we do want to condemn
the actions of those who are costing
the city $237 million a year in
settlement claims.”
Constantinides expressed
views most similar to that of the
protesters. The councilman spoke
about removing the NYPD from
schools and from monitoring the
turnstiles of subway stations.
“We’ve been using the police as
bandaids when instead we should
be de-escalating situations,” Constantinides
said. “We need to reimagine
not just policing but how
our city works.”
The coronavirus recovery
process
Candidates then began to discuss
the COVID-19 recovery process.
Crowley, whose campaign has
been focused on getting Queens
its “fair share” prior to the coronavirus,
said that the borough’s
infrastructure is to blame for its
high number of cases and that
hospitals, housing transportation
must be addressed to prevent other
disastrous pandemics.
“We need to put a plan together
to attract more private hospitals
and to expand our public hospitals,
to look at our existing hospitals
and expand their bed capacity,”
Crowley said.
Miranda, who has touted his
non-politician status the entire
campaign, blamed current elected
officials in Queens for not mobilizing
a cohesive strategy to deal
with the pandemic before, during
and after.
He also expressed his disappointment
in the inequitable distribution
of resources to Queens, and
particularly to the Hispanic and
low-income communities within the
borough.
“We can’t afford to wait until
after something happens to have
real conversations about the impact
on our community,” Miranda
said. “We need to have a borough
president that has the fight to represent
us.”
Constantinides, who, along
with his wife, contracted COVID-
19, saw the impact of the crisis up
close.
“There needs to be a long-term
plan for the healthcare of Queens.
It can’t be building temporary
structures,” the Astoria councilman
said. “We need to be building
long-term structures that are
going to be with us in Queens for
the long term to serve all of our
residents.”
Yin, the only Asian-American
in the race, decried the increase
in racist attacks against Asians in
Queens. He also leaned on his political
outsider status, and blamed
current elected officials for not
fighting for Queens’ healthcare
system prior to the COVID-19 crisis.
“
My opponents have been in
politics for years and we know
that they have received contributions
from all types of special interests
and that’s why our public
health infrastructure is falling
apart,” Yin said. “It’s time for new
leadership.”
Richards began by lamenting
the loss of Amazon’s HQ2. Had the
company come to Queens, he said,
more jobs would be available for
struggling Queens residents.
He also mentioned his existing
relationships with Governor Andrew
Cuomo and the healthcare
union, 1199 SEIU – two relationships
crucial to improving healthcare
in Queens, he said.
“We’re going to have to leverage
our opportunity to push developers
to also think about healthcare,”
Richards said.
Development in
the borough
With a handful of major development
projects in the works,
including the Long Island City
waterfront, Sunnyside Yards and
the LaGuardia AirTrain, the candidates
for Queens borough president
discussed their stance on the
direction of development in the
borough.
Yin focused on his solution for
fixing the housing crisis — eliminating
tax credits for luxury developments.
“Those tax credits should go
toward low- and middle-income
housing,” Yin said.
Miranda also came after luxury
development projects.
“We need to have a moratorium
on all luxury developments
right now,” Miranda said. “There
are too many projects that have
been pushed forward with little to
no community input. So we need
to go back and make sure the community
is being heard.”
Crowley, who’s made a commitment
not to take campaign
contributions from for-profit real
estate development, said the focus
needs to shift from luxury development
to affordable housing. She
also touted her transit plan, which
would open up access to Queens,
she said.
“Part of my master plan for
Queens is not only developing in
the proper areas but also making
sure that we have a better
transit system,” Crowley said.
“That means keeping our express
buses in place, making our buses
free and taking our existing rail,
which is being underutilized, and
opening access to over 20 square
miles of rail.”
Richards spoke about his success
in gathering community
support over a development in
Far Rockaway, something that
often is lacking in New York City.
This sort of community engagement
in development projects,
is something he hopes to implement
if elected Queens borough
president.
“When you look at downtown
Far Rockaway it’s just the template
for what you need to do to accomplish
successful development
around the borough,” Richards
said.
Constantinides, who did not
support the deal New York City
made with Amazon, closed out
the debate by advocating for a renewed
focus on creating real opportunities
for everyday Queens
residents and not on opportunities
for developers.
“We need to think about the
real residents of Queens,” Constantinides
said. “The 2.3 million
residents of Queens who are hard
working, who want better jobs.”
The election for the Democratic
primary for Queens borough
president will take place on
June 23.