FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 22, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Crowley concedes Queens borough president race to Richards
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Elizabeth Crowley conceded in the
Democratic primary race for Queens borough
Elizabeth Crowley conceded in the Democratic primary race for Queens borough president on
July 16.
Queens lawmaker introduces legislation prohibiting use of
psychoactive drugs to force zoo animals to procreate
BY JULIA MORO
procreate. Th e zoo then dosed
editorial@qns.com
her with Prozac until she
@QNS
surrendered to the male.
Th e legislators wanted to
Jackson Heights
create a law that would protect
Assemblywoman Jessica
animals like Johari and
González-Rojas and Brooklyn
prevent facilitated sexual violence
state Sen. Jabari Brisport
with drugs meant to
recently introduced Johari’s
treat mental health illnesses.
Law, a new law that would
“What happened to Johari
make the use of psychoactive
is state-sanctioned sexual violence
drugs to force animals to have
on vulnerable animals
sex illegal.
who are harmed because of
Th is bill was introduced in
our capitalistic desire to entertain
response to a New York Times
people at the expense
article that outlines how zoos
of other species,” González-
use psychoactive drugs to
Rojas said.
manage animals in captivity.
Brisport said animals
Th e article uncovered details
should be protected just as
of a female gorilla named
humans are from forced sex
Johari who would fi ght off the
with the use of drugs. Th e
male she was placed with to
bill is also supported by animal
rights groups like the
Voters for Animal Rights,
Last Chance for Animals and
Four Paws.
“Th e fact that zoos are
drugging animals in order
to breed them demonstrates
just how abusive these archaic
institutions are both physically
and psychologically
for non-human animals,”
said Matthew Dominguez, a
political adviser for Voters for
Animal Rights.
Th e bill is currently in committee
before it gets voted
on by the state Senate and
Assembly. If the bill passes
and is signed into law
by Governor Andrew
Cuomo, it will go into eff ect
immediately.
president on Friday, July 16, nearly
four weeks aft er the June 22 election.
Incumbent Borough President Donovan
Richards previously declared victory on
July 6, and the city’s Board of Elections
(BOE) certifi ed the election results.
“With the BOE opening and counting
the fi nal ballots yesterday, it has become
clear that the numbers are just not there
for us to win the democratic nomination,”
Crowley said. “Th is is not the result we
were hoping for, but looking back, I feel
incredibly proud of the campaign we ran.”
Th e former city councilwoman ran
against her former colleague Richards
in last year’s special election to replace
Melinda Katz, who vacated the offi ce to
take over as Queens District Attorney.
Crowley lost to Richards by 12,000 votes
but closed the gap considerably in the
primary.
“First, I owe a huge thank you to all
those that made this campaign possible:
my staff who worked long hours and late
nights to put us in a position to win, all
of our volunteers who braved the cold to
gather petitions in March and the heat to
knock on doors in June, and to everyone
who made a contribution that allowed
us to run a true grassroots campaign,”
Crowley said.
On Tuesday, July 13, Crowley spoke at
a City Hall Park celebration for 21 in ‘21,
the advocacy group she co-founded in
2017 with a goal of getting more women
elected to the City Council. According
to the unoffi cial results from the city’s
Board of Elections, the City Council is
now poised to have as many as 30 women
elected to serve, 26 of whom are women
of color.
“Th is was a truly historic election, held
in the midst of a pandemic and post pandemic
recovery,” Crowley said on July 16.
“Voters knew what was at stake and voted
in record numbers with almost 200,000
Queens residents casting a ballot in this
race, more than we have seen in generations,
QNS fi le photos
and I am proud that we received
49.7 percent of their votes in the fi nal
round.”
Aft er he declared victory, Richards
shocked many by posting “We beat your
racist ass” on Twitter followed by a cryptic
reference to Black Lives Matter.
We beat your racist ass.
Th e following day, Richards was unapologetic
in a statement released through his
campaign.
“Since our victory in the June 2020
Democratic primary, Ms. Crowley has
repeatedly insinuated that she would have
won if not for the death of George Floyd
and the ensuing Black Lives Matter movement
across our country,” Richards said.
Crowley said she was “extremely disappointed
by the slanderous and untruthful
remarks made by” Richards.
On July 16, Crowley appeared to make
reference to the episode.
“Politics is a tough business, and it can
bring out the worst in some, but running
in this race showed me once again how
much we all have in common,” Crowley
said in conclusion. “Although I am conceding
this race, I assure you that I am
optimistic about the future of Queens,
and I will continue to work for a stronger
Queens for our families.”
Richards will now face Republican
Th omas Zmich of Bayside, a Gulf War
veteran and retired construction manager
and union leader who previously mounted
a challenge to Congresswoman Grace
Meng.
Zmich ran a campaign with an agenda
that included promoting constitutional
rights, support for law enforcement, and
implementing a nationwide civics accountability
course for high school students.
“I am so thankful to everyone who
supported our campaign and put their
trust in me to continue to serve as
borough president,” Richards said.
“We’ve worked hard throughout these
first months in office to ensure that
every Queens resident is represented at
Borough Hall, and we will continue to
make sure that the diversity of our borough
is represented. Now we must work
together to build a Queens that works
for everyone.”
Photo by Kisha Bari
Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas
/WWW.QNS.COM
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