4 JUNE 18, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Queens borough president candidates talk
protests, COVID-19 and more in virtual debate
BY JACOB KAYE
JKAYE@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The fi ve 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-in-chief 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 fi rst 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 offi cials
in Queens for not mobilizing a cohesive strategy to
deal with the pandemic before, during and aft er.
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 aff ord to wait until aft er something happens
to have real conversations about the impact on
our community,” Miranda said. “We need to have a
borough president that has the fi ght 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 offi cials for not fi ghting 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.
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 fi xing the housing
crisis — eliminating tax credits for luxury
developments.
“Those tax credits should go toward low- and middleincome
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-profi t real estate
development, said the focus needs to shift from luxury
development to aff ordable 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 oft en is lacking in New York City.
“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.”
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