WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 31, 2017 9
PRIMARY 2017
Councilwoman Crowley is seeking to serve her district for a third term
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
is seeking her third term in
offi ce as voters will head to the
polls on Tuesday, Sept. 12, to cast their
vote in the Primary for the City Council’s
30th District ahead of November’s
General Election.
Crowley will be going against political
newcomer Robert Holden, a fi erce
community activist who has been the
president of the Juniper Park Civic
Association (JPCA) for three decades.
The incumbent believes her record
over the last 8 ½ years speaks for itself,
as she has worked to create thousands
of new school seats throughout her district
— which covers Glendale, Maspeth,
Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodside
and Woodhaven — as well as saving
several fire houses from shutting
down as the chair of the Committee
on Fire and Criminal Justice Services;
adding more police offi cers to the beat;
and funding a slew of parks and sewer
projects across the communities.
With much of her district labeled
as a “transportation desert,” Crowley
envisioned bringing a light rail commuter
service to the Long Island Rail
Road’s (LIRR) Lower Montauk line.
Since introducing her plan in 2015,
a feasibility study has been funded
and is currently underway to see if it
would be possible to bring commuter
service back to the line.
One major point of contention for
many of the city’s elected offi cials is
what to do with Rikers Island. Mayor
Bill de Blasio wants to shut down the
prison over the next 10 years and
create smaller, safer jails in the fi ve
boroughs.
“I support the Lippmann Commission’s
plan to close Rikers Island,”
Crowley stated. “Rikers Island is
broken … if you ask most New Yorkers,
they would agree with you.”
Crowley cites safety and cost savings
as two main reasons why she supports
shuttering Rikers and building
smaller jails near courthouses, not in
the middle of communities, she said.
Another hot topic for many of her
constituents is the subject of homeless
shelters. Crowley has introduced a bill
to create an Inspector General to clean
up wasteful spending and make sure
there is no fraud being committed in
the Department of Homeless Services
(DHS) and Human Resources Administration
(HRA).
“No other Council member has been
more forceful on the issue and the
number of bills that I think will make
the mayor more accountable,” Crowley
said. “But just like Rikers Island, the
mayor keeps throwing money in the
Department of Homeless Services
thinking he’s going to get a better
result and more and more people are
going homeless.”
To see where Crowley stands on
other important issues facing the
communities, visit her website at elizabethcrowley.
com.
“I deliver for the constituents and I’m
proud of my record, and I hope that
they’ll give me another shot for one
more term so I can face the challenges
that are still happening in our district,”
Crowley said. “There is still some work
to be done. There is always work to be
done.”
Photo by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
wants the chance to serve her constituents
for a third consecutive term.
Lifelong community leader tries his hand at
politics and eyes 30th Council District seat
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Robert Holden, a Middle Village
native, has been fi ghting for
the betterment of his community
and the surrounding neighborhoods
for over three decades. He is
now taking that fi ght to the political
stage, looking to oust two-term incumbent
Elizabeth Crowley in the
city’s 30th Council District.
Holden has been critical of Crowley’s
leadership over the last 8 ½ years,
calling into question her record on
important community topics such as
the homelessness crisis and housing
individuals inside hotels, specifi cally
the Holiday Inn Express on 55th Avenue
in Maspeth, her agreement on
the plan to shutter Rikers Island, and
on more local, everyday issues that
constituents face.
During the months-long battle
against the plan put forth by Mayor
Bill de Blasio and the Department of
Homeless Services (DHS) to house
homeless individuals and families at the
Holiday Inn Express, Holden mobilized
thousands to denounce the shelter at
nightly protests, a march through the
neighborhood, and protests outside of
DHS Commissioner Steven Banks’ home.
That issue was, Holden said, the
driving force that convinced him
to fi nally make the leap and run for
public offi ce.
“The homeless shelters actually
showed me that I have to go to the
forefront now because what this
mayor is going to throw at us is not
only more homeless shelters, and he’s
promised that over and over again,” he
said. “And Elizabeth Crowley proved
to me that she can’t work to beat him.”
In order to fi ght the homelessness
crisis in the city, if elected, Holden
would look to hire a large community
advisory board from people
within the community who know it
best — such as faith-based organizations,
real estate people, community
board and civic leaders — to “break
the cycle of homelessness” and adopt
the homeless of the community and
fi nd out why they are homeless and
address those core issues.
When it comes to closing down
Rikers Island, Holden is completely
opposed to the idea of closing the jail
and creating smaller neighborhood
jails, where Crowley agrees with the
plan to close the island over the next
10 years.
“There’s no reason in the world to
close Rikers,” Holden said. “That’s
where you want a prison, on an
island.”
Holden also claimed that he “would
be the best Councilperson to fend
off the mayor,” stating that Crowley
could not and would not go against
de Blasio.
Although Holden has butted heads
with Democratic leadership as a civic
leader, he is confi dent if he is elected he
can work with people on both sides of
the aisle to get meaningful legislation
passed for the district’s constituents.
If Holden does not beat Crowley
in the Democratic primary on Sept.
12, he still has two chances to take
her down in the general election in
November as he will be running on
both the Conservative and Reform
Party lines.
To fi nd out more about Holden and
where he stands on important issues,
visit holdenforcitycouncil.com.
Photo courtesy of Robert Holden
Robert Holden wants to take a
crack at politics after more than 30
years of community service.
