Richmond Hill town hall highlights lack of South Asians in city and state office

District Leader Richard David (second from left) and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (third from right) hosted a town hall meeting in Richmond Hill Saturday. Manhattan Councilmember Helen Rosenthal (left), Councilmember Adrienne Adams (third from left), U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (fourth from right) Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman (second from right) and Councilmember Donovan Richards (right) attended the event. Eagle photo by David Brand.

By David Brand

A town hall meeting in Richmond Hill Saturday highlighted a striking disparity in New York City electoral politics: no Queens candidate of South Asian descent has ever won a seat in city or state office, despite the community’s growing strength.

The meeting had the feel of a campaign event for Queens District Leader and CUNY Indo-Caribbean Studies Professor Richard David, who is planning to run for Assembly District 31, which includes South Ozone Park, Springfield Gardens, Rosedale, Far Rockaway and Laurelton. The seat will be vacated by Assemblymember Michele Titus on Jan. 1, 2020 after Titus takes her newly elected seat on the Civil Court bench. 

“It’s shocking that there has been no representation at any level of government,” said David, who co-hosted the event with U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the Queens County Democratic Party. 

David, who grew up in a Hindu household in Guyana, told the mostly South Asian and Indo-Caribbean crowd that one of Meeks’ goals is to see “at least one South Asian somewhere in New York [elected to office].”

Meeks agreed, and he urged the region’s South Asian community to flex their strength as a voting bloc to accomplish electoral victories.

“Be involved,” he said. “Register to vote and join a local political organization.”

“Register to vote as a Democrat to vote in the primary,” he added in response to a question from members of the Association of South Asian American Labor, who asked about South Asian representation. “We are the most diverse county in the country and we’ve got to make sure folks are involved in politics from all nationalities.”

Meeks praised David’s presence in the community, where he organizes events and registers people to vote. That encouragement also served to highlight the role of Democratic district leaders across the county amid challenges from insurgents who want to overhaul the party leadership to make the organization more transparent.

“He won a district leader’s race here by going door-to-door [and] he’s been working every day,” Meeks said. “What you should know about being a district leader is you don’t get paid. This is not his job. This is his passion.” 

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer stopped by the event to briefly address the crowd of a few dozen. Manhattan Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, a candidate for city comptroller, joined State Sen. Leroy Comrie, Councilmembers Adrienne Adams and Donovan Richards on the dais.

While Meeks exhorted David’s leadership, four other candidates for Assembly District 31 looked on in the audience at Richi Rich Palace on Atlantic Avenue. The venue, and all of Richmond Hill, actually falls outside the assembly district, but the owner offered to host the event for free, David said.

The location illustrates how several South Asian communities located in close geographic proximity are actually split into various assembly districts, which diffuses their potential power, said attorney Ali Najmi, who ran in 2015 for the City Council in District 23.

“That’s why the 2020 Census is really important and why in 2022 we could have even more opportunities after redistricting,” Najmi said.

Najmi called David a “historic candidate” and said he has raised money for David’s campaign.

“A sign of a healthy democracy is one in which you have a legislature and a judiciary that looks like and is of the people,” Najmi said. “It’s going to be a historic event and a lot of people have been working on this for many years and we are going to make it happen.” 

The four other candidates in the race — Khaleel Anderson, Derrick DeFlorimonte, Lisa George and Chiedu “Shea” Uzoigwe — reflect the district’s diversity. All four are black or African American, as is Titus, who has held the seat since 2002. Anderson, George and Uzogiwe have all worked for State Sen. James Sanders.

Anderson said the racial and ethnic demographics of the district, which is roughly 46 percent black according to U.S. Census records, will play a significant factor in the race. 

“We have to acknowledge that the South Asian community is a growing population and we have to also recognize that their voice has been systematically oppressed in electoral politics,” Anderson said. “It also creates what we’re going to see in this race — infighting between two minority groups that historically haven’t had a seat at the table.”

“It’s two groups who should be on one accord and usually are, but they will be pitted against each other for this one piece of power in the state assembly,” he continued.

Regardless of the political connotations of the event, DeFlorimonte said the town hall fulfilled an important function for voicing the concerns of community members.

“People had real concerns and that was the best thing about it,” he said. “The 31st Assembly District is one of the most diverse in the state and it’s important that we are bringing in South Asian communities. People want their voices to be heard and they want their complaints to be addressed.” 

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Chiedu Uzoigwe’s first name and referred to him as a staffer for State Sen. James Sanders. Uzoigwe left Sanders’ office earlier this year. The Eagle regrets the errors.