Council candidate Adriana Aviles opens College Point field office

City Council Candidate Adriana Aviles opened an office in College Point Saturday. Photo Courtesy of Aviles campaign

By Rachel Vick

Queens Council Candidate Adriana Aviles has opened a field office in College Point to connect with local residents and lend a helping hand ahead of the June primary election.

Aviles is one of five candidates running in Council District 19, which includes Bayside, College Point and Whitestone.

“I’m very excited and happy to be right in the middle of the neighborhood,” Aviles said. ”I want to bring College Point back to the conversation in the district — that’s my main reason for being there.”

The restrictions on in-person activity during the pandemic only heightened the team’s determination to set up a physical office, said her campaign manager Daniel Pelo.

“People said, ‘Why have an office? It's COVID, it’s a waste  of money,’ but for us, if we can help 10 or 15 people over the next few months, it’s worth it,” he said.

Pelo said he heard from College Point Civic and Taxpayers Association leader Andy Rocco that no candidate had set up a campaign office in the neighborhood in more than 20 years.

Pelo said the local response to the opening last Saturday  “was a real validation for us, that we were doing something the community appreciated... [to see] how happy they were to have someone pay attention to College Point.”

“We're here to help any way we can,” he added. “It's all about community — that’s the focus.”

Though the campaign’s set goal is to help residents secure vaccine appointments, Pelo said the factor at the forefront of their plan is to respond to the community needs as they arise. 

During the opening, Pelo said they were able to help connect several Spanish speaking residents to tax help and, after speaking to a local church who has pantry donations stolen, they decided to host a food and clothing dropoff from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. 

“We’ll spend next week or so listening open hours and get a sense of what they need, because often organizations and people trying to help underserved communities come in with a notion of what they think [communities] need,” Pelo said.

“We want to work with them, not just try to win their votes,” he added. “It’s about putting your money where your mouth is and being active on the ground.”