4 JUNE 25, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Richards holds early lead in borough president race
BY JACOB KAYE
JKAYE@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
While the Democratic nominee
for Queens borough
president won’t likely be set
in stone until next Tuesday, Councilman
Donovan Richards holds the
lead in the fi ve-way race with about
96 percent of scanners reported.
Former Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley trailed behind a close second
most of the night, even taking the lead
at times. Councilman Costa Constantinides
and retired NYPD Sergeant
Anthony Miranda held about 15 percent
of the vote each as the numbers
trickled in throughout the evening.
Businessman Dao Yin holds the fewest
votes of the fi ve candidates.
“I’m encouraged by the results coming
in for our campaign for Queens
Borough President and I want to
thank all of my supporters who came
out yesterday to make their voices
heard,” Richards said in a statement
Wednesday morning. “I commend
my competitors for running a good
race that put the issues affecting
our borough at the forefront of the
campaign. While we want to ensure
that every vote is counted, I’m looking
forward to the race in November and
ultimately serving all of our communities
as Queens Borough President.”
Constantinides held a virtual election
night party Tuesday night. On
the call, the candidate thanked all his
supporters, and said he’s recovering
well from previously contracting
COVID-19, which he said kept him
from protesting in the last few weeks
during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
But as a councilman, he said
he’s “been voting.”
“Queens deserves more. We
City Councilman Donovan Richards QNS fi le photo
deserve a deputy borough president
for sustainability and resiliency. We
deserve solarized and green roofs
for every building in Queens. We
need to act on climate change with
the urgency that it needs. We need
to invest in our hospital system,”
Constantinides said. “We spent a lot
of money. We were outspent by our
two major opponents, but I had the
one thing that they didn’t have — we
had people. And I’m so grateful to
each and every one of our volunteers.
Queens is the most diverse place in
the world, but we can do so much
more here.”
The Queens borough president’s
race has been ever evolving, beginning
with former Borough President
Melinda Katz’s election to Queens
district attorney in November 2019.
A special election was scheduled for
late March but was then postponed
to June 23 as COVID-19 ravaged the
borough and city.
Soon aft er the postponement, the
election was canceled outright. The
winner of the special election was
only to serve until the end of the
year.
The winner of Tuesday’s race
will face off against Queens County
Republican Chairwoman Joann Ariola
in the November general election.
Results of Tuesday’s primary,
including the Queens borough president’s
race, will likely not be known
for some time, as thousands upon
thousands of absentee ballots have
yet to counted.
Voters were encouraged to vote by
absentee ballot this election cycle
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city’s Board of Elections won’t
begin to count absentee ballots until
June 30.
Visit QNS.com for more primary
election coverage.
Activists encourage residents to vote during Election Day protest
BY JACOB KAYE
JKAYE@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A group of activists and demonstrators
gathered in Jackson
Heights Tuesday to call for
an end to police brutality against
Black and brown people, while also
encouraging the community to get
out and vote on what is likely to be one
of the more unusual and complicated
primary days in recent history.
Organized by the group Justice for
George Queens, the demonstration of
about 40 people gathered in Diversity
Plaza around 11 a.m., on Tuesday, June
23.
Aided by The Blue Angels Drumline,
a band composed of young Christian
Black men, demonstrators gave
speeches about the history of voting
and the plight of undocumented immigrants
in the United States.
The demonstration began with a
reading of names of people who have
died in U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) border camps. Protesters
took a knee as the names were
read out loud.
As the rally continued, people from
the surrounding community joined
the demonstration.
Activists encouraged everyone to
vote and handed out literature that
contained information about polling
sites in Woodside, Corona and Jackson
Heights. Justice for George Queens,
which has not endorsed any candidates
as an organization, also distributed
papers that listed the candidates
running in several local races.
Additional reporting by Dean
Photo by Dean Moses Moses.
/QNS.com
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
