Older voters in Queens list crime as top issue, poll finds
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Queens voters are concerned about crime heading into the 2021 New York City primaries. Eagle file photo by David Brand
By Jacob Kaye
A new poll shows that a large number of older Queens voters will be heading to the polls with one issue heavy on their minds: crime.
Around two-thirds of Queens voters ages 50 and older listed crime as their top issue heading into the June primaries, according to the poll by AARP and the Siena College Research Institute.
Queens voters weren’t the only ones to list crime as their top issue – voters in Staten Island and the Bronx agreed. It also was the top issue citywide, the poll shows.
“With the primary around the corner and many voters still undecided about whom to vote for, candidates should pay close attention to the issues voters 50+ care about most,” said Beth Finkel, the state director of AARP New York.
Crime in the borough and throughout the city has seen a steady increase in the past year, which has been marred by a global pandemic that brought about the city’s largest mass death event since 9/11 and record unemployment.
Last month, the city’s overall crime index rose by over 30 percent when compared to April 2020. The largest increases came in grand larceny, felony assault, robbery and shooting incidents, according to NYPD data.
Other issues listed by the polled voting bloc include the availability of affordable housing, the general affordability of the city and racial and ethnic discrimination.
When broken up along racial lines, Black voters polled said they were most concerned about affordable housing, followed by racial discrimination, crime and general affordability.
Hispanic voters polled said their top issue was crime, followed by affordable housing, affordability and racial discrimination.
In a year that has seen a record increase in anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian voters polled said racial discrimination and crime were their top issues, followed by affordable housing.
White voters listed affordable housing as their top issue, closely followed by crime and racial discrimination.
The latest poll from AARP follows a poll in which older voters showed they were largely undecided about who they’d list as their top choice for mayor on June 22.
In that survey, Andrew Yang led the pack for the Democrats with 24 percent of voters polled choosing him as their top choice.
For the Republicans, voters’ top choice was Curtis Sliwa, who came to prominence as the leader of the Guardian Angels, a controversial crime intervention group, in the late ‘70s.
