Candidates in Southeast Queens Council race run to tackle COVID, jobs, education and housing

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Arverne resident Kareem Simmons said he is thinking of moving to New Jersey, where he thinks there are more opportunities and a lower cost of living. Photo by David Brand

Arverne resident Kareem Simmons said he is thinking of moving to New Jersey, where he thinks there are more opportunities and a lower cost of living. Photo by David Brand

By David Brand

For the past decade or so, the biggest crises to hit New York City have had an outsized impact in Council District 31. 

First, there was the foreclosure crisis of 2008 and 2009, which had a disproportionate impact on Black homeowners in the Southeast Queens portion of the district. Then Superstorm Sandy battered Far Rockaway and nearby neighborhoods, flooding homes and displacing residents. And now the COVID-19 pandemic has come and lingered, with zip codes in the district accounting for some of the highest death rates in New York City — and some of the lowest vaccination rates. 

But on a sunny Sunday afternoon, Arverne resident Kareem Simmons was less concerned with those unprecedented phenomena and more worried about the day-to-day issues. He wants consistent work, and a more convenient way to get to the job, he said. 

“Far Rock is like an island. It’s like living on an island,” said Simmons, 23, as he walked along Beach 73rd Street near the Rockaway Y. 

“It’s hard to get people to come here because of the transportation,” he added. “And I feel like there’s not enough jobs.”

New Jersey, he said, seems to have more opportunities. Plus it’s cheaper.

“Soon I plan on leaving,” Simmons said. “They keep building all these condos and raising the rent. It’s crazy.”

In the opposite end of district, the “mainland” section of Southeast Queens, Clarisa James of Laurelton said schools are suffering. They need more social services and extracurricular activities on site, said James, the head of a small education nonprofit.

James also said Laurelton and surrounding communities seem to be ignored by the city. “No one talks about us,” she said.

Such are a few of the issues facing the next councilmember elected to represent Council District 31, which is separated into two distinct geographic areas: the Southeast Queens communities of Laurelton, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens, and the eastern Rockaway Peninsula neighborhoods of Arverne, Edgemere and Far Rockaway. More than two-thirds of the residents are Black, 16 percent are Hispanic, and 11 percent are white, according to U.S. Census data. There is a large Orthodox Jewish community in Far Rockaway.

Nine candidates are running to replace Donovan Richards, who vacated the seat following his election as Queens borough president last year.

The special election is New York City’s second ranked-choice contest, but it may be the first actual test of the new format. 

Nine candidates are running to represent Far Rockaway (pictured) and parts of Southeast Queens. Photo by Archanaphobia via Wikimedia Commons

Nine candidates are running to represent Far Rockaway (pictured) and parts of Southeast Queens. Photo by Archanaphobia via Wikimedia Commons

After another race earlier this month ended in a landslide victory, the Feb. 23 election could be the first real test of the new format. No candidate is assured of a majority bloc, as was the case in Council District 24, where a strong showing among Orthodox Jewish voters secured a landslide victory for their favored candidate, James Gennaro.

In the new format, voters will have a chance to designate their top five choices for the seat. If no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, the last place candidate is eliminated and voters who picked that candidate will have their second choice tallied. That process will continue until one candidate receives a majority of the vote.

Meet the field in Council District 31

Supporters of ranked-choice voting frequently point to another special election in the district to explain the benefits of the new format. In 2013, Richards defeated second-place finisher Pesach Osina by just 79 votes, while capturing about 29 percent of the total. Richards cruised to victory in the Democratic primary later that year, and again in 2017. 

Osina, who most recently served as Queens borough director in the city comptroller’s office, is back this time around.

A total of 1,723 people cast their votes early before early polls closed Sunday. About two-thirds of the early voters cast their ballots at M.S. 53, which is located within the predominantly Jewish section of the district that figures to support Osina.

Osina says he has spent the past eight years working with communities across the district, particularly in his role with the comptroller’s office, and is committed to fighting food insecurity and driving down crime. He has also raised the most money in the race.

“We need to create resilient communities,” Osina said at a recent candidate’s forum. “We need to be able to stand alone. We need to make sure the resources are there for us.”

Another candidate from that 2013 race is also back, this time with endorsements from Richards and various other local leaders, including U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and the Queens County Democratic Party.

Selvena Brooks-Powers serves as the M/WBE compliance project manager with the JFK Redevelopment Program, ensuring women and minority-owned businesses secure contracts at the district’s main employer, JFK Airport.

Her top goals include fostering access to health care and creating jobs for residents of the district. She said she is also focused on community development and educational equity, especially for low-income students doing schoolwork remotely without adequate devices or internet access. 

Her goal of expanding access to healthcare is one shared by several candidates in a district with just one hospital following the closure of Peninsula Hospital a decade ago.

“When we see how all these hospitals across the state are stretched, can you imagine one hospital on the peninsula? Access to quality healthcare should be a basic human right,” she said. 

New York City’s official vaccine site map shows just three locations on the peninsula, and new zip code-level data reveals that only 4 percent of Far Rockaway adults and 2 percent of adults in the Southeast Queens section of the district have been vaccinated — far below some neighboring communities.

LaTanya Collins, an educator from Laurelton, said healthcare is the most pressing issue facing the district, home to some of the highest COVID-19 death rates in New York City.

Candidates discussed ranked-choice voting at a forum moderated by Eagle editor David Brand and WNYC reporter Brigid Bergin last week. Screenshot via forum

Candidates discussed ranked-choice voting at a forum moderated by Eagle editor David Brand and WNYC reporter Brigid Bergin last week. Screenshot via forum

“We are in a global pandemic,” she said at a forum hosted by qns.com and Queens County Politics. “We have one hospital, in Far Rockaway. We need more.”

Manny Silva, the former chief of staff for Richards, said he is running to create more jobs for the district, develop more truly affordable housing and tackle healthcare disparities.

Silva, who is backed by a number of progressive organizations, proposes working with the city’s Small Business Services to target discretionary funding to entrepreneurs and mom and pop shops. He also would seek to raise the value of housing vouchers for people and families experiencing homelessness to allow them to afford apartments and push the city’s coastal resiliency plan to shore up communities at persistent risk of flooding.

“We’re going to strengthen the community and create people power,” Silva said. “Creating that power so that we can move mountains, challenge the status quo and our elected officials.”

Dr. Shawn Rux, a deputy superintendent in Southeast Queens, said his top concern is flooding in a district devastated by Superstorm Sandy. 

“If the ground beneath us is not there, there won’t be any other issues for us to address,” he said at a forum. “Flooding is life or death in Southeast Queens.”

Rux said he is concerned with balancing public safety and accountability — driving down a spike in violent crime while ending systemic racism in policing. He also wants to ensure families can move out of  shelters and unstable housing and into affordable permanent homes in the district. A third goal: Improving education in the district so that students don’t leave Southeast Queens and the Far Rockaway area for better schools elsewhere.

“Education is the answer to all of our questions and our dreams,” he told the Eagle.

Latoya Benjamin, the economic development director for State Sen. James Sanders, also has education in mind, part of her quest to bridge the “digital divide” by increasing access to internet and technology.

“We’re mandating that communities use tech.” Benjamin told the Eagle last year. “It’s a requirement for families to have internet, and depending on what social class you’re in, it determines if you can afford it or not.”

A total of 210 voters cast their ballots early at the Rockaway Y in Arverne, BOE records show. Eagle photo by David Brand

A total of 210 voters cast their ballots early at the Rockaway Y in Arverne, BOE records show. Eagle photo by David Brand

Benjamin said she, too, is focused on rebuilding in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nancy Martinez founded a home healthcare training school and said she is motivated to run by a lack of job opportunities for residents in the district. Martinez and the New York City Economic Development Corporation website say her training school has graduated 20,000 people over the past decade. 

“Everything is in crisis in the 31st Distinct, starting with jobs and small businesses,” she said.

Rev. Sherwyn James, a Democratic district leader, would agree with Martinez’s assessment. “There is no single most important issue. In our district everything is in crisis,” he said at the same forum. 

He proposes a crackdown on gun possession and stronger police accountability measures. He also calls for stronger protections against deed theft, more investment in local schools and tougher penalties for businesses that violate environmental regulations.

Business consultant Nicole Lee said her top concerns include the post-COVID and rights of people with disabilities, like her son.

“I’m trying to build back businesses,” she told the website New York City Lens. “Over 50% of our businesses probably won’t reopen because of lack of funding, due to COVID.”

“I know one of my businesses was hurt for almost four months during the pandemic and we still have to pay for our overhead, we still have to pay employees, we still have to pay electricity, and I still had to pay for my own home and take care of family, so a lot of business owners are really suffering,” she said.

What you should know when you hit the polls:

Special election rules prevent candidates from running as Democrats or Republicans. Instead, they choose their own one-off party names.

The candidates and their parties, listed in the order that they will appear on the ballot, are: 

Voters can rank up to five candidates — a new format that some candidates say they have taken advantage of to appeal to a wide range of voters.  

If no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, the last place candidate is eliminated and voters who picked that candidate will have their second choice tallied. That process will continue until one candidate receives a majority of the vote.