Mayoral candidates set sights on Queens
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Andrew Yang rallied with council candidate Richard Lee in Bayside Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Yang/Twitter
By David Brand
Eric Adams rallied in Richmond Hill. The Yang Gang convened in Kew Gardens Hills before bolting to Bell Boulevard. Kathryn Garcia distributed food in Forest Hills. Scott Stringer tapped surrogates in Jackson Heights and Corona to revive the energy the fueled his campaign early on.
As New York City’s election season heats up, top mayoral candidates are setting their sights on Queens.
Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, visited the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center with Assemblymember Jennifer Rajkumar Tuesday to call on the city to turn new community vaccine sites into permanent healthcare centers.
Richmond Hill has for months had one of New York City’s highest rates of COVID-19. Residents there must be prioritized in any equitable COVID recovery, he said.
He said he would work on behalf of immigrants and communities of color by “ensuring we recover the right way by protecting their rights, delivering financial resources, and getting them the healthcare resources they need to thrive.”
Further north, Andrew Yang rallied with Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal to win the support of the Orthodox Jewish community in Central Queens. Yang, an entrepreneur, has attempted to appeal to the Jewish community by blasting the boycott, divest and sanction movement.
“He took an unequivocally strong stance against the anti-Semitic BDS movement,” Rosenthal told Hamodia. “He has been proactive in reaching out to the Jewish community, signaling that he will be respectful of New York City’s diversity and religious liberties. His campaign has been constantly releasing bright, bold new ideas for the city, and I’m excited to be a part of the campaign.”
Yang later traveled to Bell Boulevard to campaign with Richard Lee, a former budget director in the Queens borough president’s office now running for city council in Bayside’s District 19.
Eric Adams rallied with Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar in Richmond Hill Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the Adams campaign
Garcia, the city’s former Sanitation commissioner, joined the organization Commonpoint Queens to distribute meals in Forest Hills — reprising her role as New York City’s “food czar” on a smaller scale.
“To combat food insecurity, we must empower communities doing the work on the ground & coordinate efforts at the City-level accordingly,” she tweeted Thursday. “We can't let anyone fall through the cracks.”
A recent poll showed Yang and Adams ahead of the field in the Democratic primary for mayor, with election day just over three months away.
Another top contender, Comptroller Scott Stringer, is working to remind voters about his early support among progressive leaders and lawmakers.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, two progressive lawmakers from Queens, have been back stumping for Stringer in recent days after signing on as supporters last year.
Both said Stringer’s deep experience in city and state government sets him apart in a crowded field.
“I have yet to see anyone that would have the level of in-depth knowledge of how to make things work and have real viable proposals for how to get our city out of survival mode. I’ve been supporting him and I’m going to continue supporting him.”
The Stringer team sent out an email pitch Tuesday with a message from Ramos asking people to contribute as little as $3 to fund “his grassroots campaign.”
Ramos on Wednesday said Stringer, a former assemblymember and city councilmember, is the most qualified candidate and the person best capable of working with the governor — whoever that may be — and state lawmakers to advocate for New York City.
“I worked in City Hall for many years. I’ve now been in state government for a few years,” Ramos said. “The relationship between New York State and New York City is complicated beyond the feud between the current officeholders … I think Scott understands that dynamic very well.”
“When Scott Stringer comes up to Albany to make his case for the services people need in New York City, he will be effective in working with Albany colleagues.”
