Eagle and Mayor’s Office urge Queens residents to vote June 25

Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Omar Khan addresses the crowd. Eagle photos by Jonathan Sperling.

By Victoria Merlino

With just a week to go before the Democratic primary election for Queens District Attorney, the Eagle teamed up with the Mayor’s Office to educate Queens residents and encourage them to vote.

Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives J. Phillip Thompson, Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Omar Khan and Eagle publisher Michael Nussbaum spoke to attendees about the importance of voting at the historic Flushing Town Hall.

In an interview with the Eagle, Thompson stressed how everyday citizens can influence our democracy by casting their vote. He cited new state law that will enable undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses as an example.

“Queens elected a bunch of first-generation immigrants to elected office who were really critical in whole debate in Albany, and we want to tell people their vote makes a difference because without those voices from Queens, things could have easily turned out differently. So participating makes a difference,” Thompson said.

Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives J. Phillip Thompson (center) spoke about the importance of voting.

DemocracyNYC, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s voter and civics engagement initiative, specifically chose Flushing for the event to try and engage new voters, who are not as familiar with the processes.

In particular, Asian-Americans are registering to vote at drastically lower numbers than white, black and Latinx people,said Angelene Superable, special projects coordinator for DemocracyNYC.

“I think the big focus on Flushing is coming from really thinking about the immigrant population, Asian-Americans particularly, and saying, “Hey we see you. We want to get you represented in the elected officials that you’re electing. How can we do that?” Superable said.

Superable, who is Asian-American, said she felt fortunate to serve New York City by educating more people who look like her about voting.

Thompson also spoke about economic democracy at the event, a concept he has promoted as deputy mayor.

From left to right: Eagle publisher Michael Nussbaum, Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson and Director of the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit Omar Khan.

Economic democracy is the idea that citizens will become better, more informed voters if they can take responsibility and initiative through decision-making in their own lives, whether that is through becoming a shareholder of their company, or homeownership or by similar means.

“Ordinary people, workers and consumers, also have rights and voice in the economy, and not just in electing people for office, but as shareholders of corporations,” he said. “They can exercise voice, they can organize themselves together as consumers to get better prices or to try and change business practices. They can advocate for community ownership of infrastructure, such as energy microgrids that make energy, or land trusts that can own land or the community can own land and keep the price of housing down.”

Thompson explained the history of the idea and described how it has been intertwined with race relations in the United States. He said some of the original U.S. founding fathers supported the idea, but slaveholders opposed it, and instead pushed for a private economy, using anti-tax rhetoric to maintain their interests.

Event speakers stressed the importance of voting in the Queens DA primary, which is the first competitive race for the position in decades. The primary is Tuesday, June 25.