4 DECEMBER 21, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Mayor holds court in Glendale, addresses hot topics
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Scores of community leaders and
residents joined Mayor Bill de
Blasio and Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley for a town hall meeting
in Glendale on Monday night.
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz opened the Dec. 18 meeting inside
the gym at P.S./I.S. 113 by introducing
de Blasio and Crowley. She praised all
that Crowley had accomplished for the
community in her nine years on the City
Council. The two-term incumbent lost
her bid for re-election on Nov. 8 to Councilman
elect Robert Holden, president
of the Juniper Park Civic Association.
“I’m proud of the millions that she
has brought home to this neighborhood
each and every single year of
her nine years,” Katz said. “That is an
amazing accomplishment.”
De Blasio also thanked Crowley
during his opening remarks, and
several audience members did the
same when the fl oor was opened for
questions. Crowley thanked the mayor
as well, stating that they have the same
vision for the city even if they aren’t
always in agreement.
“Sometimes we’re on the same team,
and sometimes we’re not,” Crowley
said. “But we have respect for one
another, and that’s what’s important
to move our city forward in the right
direction.”
Councilman-elect Holden told QNS
in a phone interview on Tuesday that
did not attend the town hall because
he had already made a commitment to
speak at the Middle Village Property
Owners and Residents Association
meeting on the same night.
As the evening went on, homelessness,
transportation and traffi c safety
emerged as the recurring concerns
from local residents. One self-described
lifelong Glendale resident asked the
mayor if he could “stand here in District
30 and say that we’re going to stop
putting homeless in hotels?”
De Blasio explained that the legal
mandate that the city must provide
shelter for someone who can show
that they are homeless with no other
options is the challenge.
“We have the mandate, we’ve got to
live with it, but we do not want to do
it through hotels,” de Blasio said. “Our
vision that we laid out in the spring is
to contract the shelter system steadily
over the years, but it will take a bunch
of years.”
Several residents also expressed their
concerns about transportation issues
such as the lack of options for Queens
residents and overcrowded bus lines. De
Blasio said that the MTA is controlled by
New York state, not New York City, but
noted that he has proposed a “millionaire’s
tax” to raise more money toward
addressing transportation needs.
The mayor welcomed members
from various city agencies to help
him respond to questions related to
their departments and follow up with
residents aft er the meeting.
Toward the end of the meeting, the
conversation about Holden’s transition
into offi ce began when a resident, Joy
Huber, asked how de Blasio plans to
work with him despite their diff erences
across party lines, referencing the
“fl ippant” comments the mayor made
the day aft er the election.
“If my comments seemed fl ippant, it
may be because we’re in a rather agitated
moment in history, and a lot of us are
feeling very strongly about the bigger
issues about the two parties,” de Blasio
said. “But that does not mean, on the dayto
day issues aff ecting the community,
that we don’t have to put that aside.”
Holden told QNS that he had spoken
with de Blasio earlier on Monday, and
following the conversation, felt “very
hopeful” that they could work together.
“We can fi nd common ground and
compromise,” Holden said. “That’s
what government needs more of.”
Aft er the town hall meeting was
over, Huber expressed concern to QNS
that there would be a drop in local government
action if Holden and de Blasio
can’t see eye-to-eye.
“Things still have to get done no matter
who our council person is,” Huber
said. “If that doesn’t happen, then we
need to continue to make noise, and
reach out, and write letters, and keep
de Blasio involved.”
Photos by Ryan Kelley/QNS
Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a town hall meeting in Glendale alongside Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.
Mayor Bill de Blasio answers a question from a local resident at a town hall meeting.
