Queens pol throws hat into mayor’s race
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Queens Assemblymember Jessica Ramos is announcing that she will be running for mayor, joining a list of primary challengers for Mayor Eric Adams. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos is announcing that she will be running for mayor, joining a growing list of primary opponents to Mayor Eric Adams.
A lifelong Queens resident who represents the neighborhoods of Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Astoria and Woodside, Ramos will be challenging Adams who is currently facing the lowest point in his mayoralty as federal investigations swirl around his inner circle.
Ramos, the daughter of Colombian immigrants who was born in Elmhurst, is expected to make her announcement official on Friday, and will launch her campaign outside City Hall on Saturday morning.
“I'm running for mayor because I love my city and I believe that we deserve better management of City Hall,” Ramos told the Eagle. “We're at a critical juncture where the city oftentimes feels divisive, and we need someone who can be the bridge between our boroughs, between our different communities.”
She joins an ever growing group of city Democrats looking to challenge Adams in next summer’s primary.
Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie have already been in the race for several weeks.
Ramos said she brings a different perspective, and one with a “Queens experience.”
“We are so good at touting how we're the most diverse place in the world, and that, of course, fills us with a lot of pride,” she said of her home borough. “But really that is an advantage to lean on when we think about how the city should be viewed on the global scale. Tapping into that diversity and leading with cultural competence and bilingualism are all tools that should set us apart from all of the other cosmopolitan cities across the world.”
If elected, Ramos would be the first mayor born in Queens.
During her tenure, the senator has established herself as one of the more outspoken members of the Queens political delegation.
As chair of the labor committee in the Senate, Ramos is a common face at union rallies and events in Queens, and has pushed workforce legislation in Albany.
Ramos has also sponsored the Treatment Not Jails Act, which would require that courts in each county in the state have a diversion part.
She also has strongly supported street safety legislation including Sammy’s Law, which gave the city the ability to set its own speed limits.
More recently, she gained attention for her refusal to bring up legislation that would have cleared the way for New York Mets’ owner Steve Cohen to build a casino next to Citi Field.
Without Ramos’ support, the path for Cohen to build his casino has significantly narrowed.
The Cohen-Casino situation gave Ramos an outsized position of power for a lone local legislator, and more attention as a potential mayoral candidate.
“It has become very clear to me over the past few years that we've been talking about this, that as my neighbors learn more and more about this proposal, they are opposed to the construction of a casino in our backyard,” Ramos said when she made her decision in May. “As their elected official, I am fighting for the will of my constituents and expressing their desire for a real economic opportunity.”
Assemblymember Jessica Ramos has been an outspoken opponent to the Adams’ Administration, and rumors that she was considering a run for mayor had been circling for weeks. Photos by Hans Pennink/AP and Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Ramos was elected to the State Senate in 2018, defeating Democratic incumbent José Peralta, – a member of the Republican-aligned Independent Democratic Conference – in the primary.
Prior to being elected, she was a local community board member and district leader, and also worked for former elected and controversial figure, Hiram Monserrate.
It had been long rumored that Ramos would challenge Adams.
In November of last year, Ramos told reporters at Spectrum News that “someone should primary the mayor” in the wake of Adams’ electronic devices being seized by federal investigators.
Over the summer, Ramos floated a run in an interview with City & State.
“I think I’m interested in seeing how the landscape takes shape over the next several months,” she said.
As recently as last week, Ramos tweeted “I’m tired of this, aren’t you?” as reports of FBI raids on Adams Administration officials were made public.
Ramos said she took time to make her decision, saying she needed to have all the necessary conversations, and did not specifically cite the tumultuous week the mayor, her now opponent, is having.
“Running for mayor is a very serious endeavor that takes conversations, first and foremost, with my loved ones,” she said. “I'm the mother of two children, and there are also conversations to be had professionally in order to feel confident that I have a lane where I can run and win.”
There is currently around nine months until the Democratic Primary for mayor, and Ramos said she intends to campaign in all five boroughs.
“The plan is to hit the streets,” she said. “I want to meet people where they are, and this journey will certainly take me to all of the far corners of our great city.”
Ramos may not be the only Queens official who may be taking a shot at City Hall.
Ramos’ fellow Western Queens elected State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani has also floated a run for mayor. He told the Eagle in August that he is “continuing to think about” a run.
