Queens voters head to the polls unenthusiastically but driven by duty

Poll sites were quiet on Election Day in Astoria and throughout the borough on Nov. 2, 2021. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

By Jacob Kaye

Election Day was a somewhat anticlimactic affair throughout most of Queens Tuesday.

Following low voter turnout during last week’s early voting period – in Queens, a little over 36,500 voters cast ballots early, or 75 percent fewer than in the 2020 general election – voters who spoke with the Eagle said they largely felt uninspired by the slate of candidates running to lead the city still grappling with the pandemic and its widespread consequences.

Though there were races to watch – District 32, the last Republican held City Council seat in Queens, saw a battle between the leader of the Queens Republican Party and a progressive first-time candidate looking to flip the seat – many voters said there wasn’t a single candidate or issue that motivated their trip to the polls.

In a city where Democratic voters greatly outnumber Republicans, many felt the outcomes of races throughout the borough were somewhat predetermined. Nonetheless, voters told the Eagle that they felt it was important to exercise their civic duty, even if they had to do so unenthusiastically.

“I want to be part of the community and want to make sure that we have a say in what next for our neighborhood,” said Allyson Goldhagen, a voter in Astoria who works for a healthcare technology startup.

John Diakomakos, who cast his ballot at P.S. 70 in Astoria, said that while he didn’t feel any power in the local races, he wanted to have his voice heard in the mayoral race, even if neither of the two major candidates – Democrat Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa – inspired him.

“I came out for the mayor, that was my main concern,” Diakomakos said, adding that he was looking for a candidate who was “middle of the road, not extreme on either side and has common sense.”

“They weren’t on the ballot, but I had to make the best of it,” he said.

Come January, when Tuesday’s winning candidates are sworn in, New York City’s municipal government will look almost entirely different than it does today.

In Queens, over half of its City Council members will be freshman and for the first time in history, the majority of the borough’s local legislators will be women. Citywide, women will likely make up the majority of the City Council – also a first in the city’s history.

“Every election cycle is a response to challenges and whoever wins, we’ll see how they deal with those challenges,” said Astoria voter Ed Miller. “My hope is that it becomes more progressive and open to helping all New Yorkers.”

But not all voters agreed that new faces means new policy.

“From Democrats to Democrats, it's gonna be a huge sea change,” said voter Gregory Briggler, who specified to the Eagle that he was using sarcasm. “I grew up in Arkansas and we had one party – they were Democrats then, before the pond turned over – so, I know what it's like to vote in one party place.”

Briggler, a registered Democrat who has lived in Queens for more than two decades, said he uses his primary vote to try to stop any shift to the political left, and then does what he can in the general.

“There's a big shift towards hard left candidates,” he said. “They're finding the soft underbelly of apathy...and so they're able to put in these really hard left candidates and I’m trying to fight that as much as I can but it's almost impossible because nobody votes and nobody understands what's going on.”

As Briggler spoke with the Eagle, City Council candidate Tiffany Caban stood about a hundred yards away, talking to voters as they headed to and from the polls.

Though she’s facing a challenge from Republican candidate Felicia Kalan and Green Party candidate Edwin DeJesus, Caban is likely to win her race and become one of, if not the most, progressive City Council member in the legislative body. A Caban win would also mean that a significant chunk of residents in her Western Queens district will be represented by a Democratic Socialist elected official in the local, state and federal government.

“It means that at every level of government you have alignment, and an elected official that's going to fight really unapologetically and relentlessly for working class people,” Caban said. “It’s a little bit of a rarity to have such alignment at every level of government.”

“We can't get a lot of these things done without recognizing and being in a relationship,” she added. “If we want public banking here in the city, because it's going to help our working class neighbors, we need help from the state to make that possible and if we want a Green New Deal and green infrastructure...we need those federal dollars, and so, to have folks that are so aligned in communication is only going to help serve our communities.”

In District 32 — where another council race put candidates from opposite ends of the political spectrum against one another on the ballot — voters were inspired to turn out for a chance at swaying the swing neighborhood.

However, there were some issues.

While most poll sites observed by the Eagle were free of complications, Aaron Fernando, a volunteer with Singh’s campaign, said poll workers at M.S. 137 in Ozone Park got off to a rough start.

There were no signs directing voters to the polls when the site first opened up at 6 a.m., Fernando said. Tech issues then caused a line of about 15 people to form, which frustrated one voter who nearly left out of fear of being late to work, according to Fernando.

“She said this whole situation was ridiculous,” Fernando told the Eagle. “She wasn’t able to vote until around 6:15 [a.m.] because of these issues.”

Not long after 7 a.m., a Board of Elections worker arrived and operations began to move smoother, he said.

Elsewhere in the district, Ariana Gonzalez, 18, said the closely contested council race brought her out for her first vote in a general election.

“Our district is a swing district, so it could go red or blue,” Gonzalez said.

Both Democratic nominee Felicia Singh and Republican nominee Joann Ariola – who are fighting over the last Republican-held council seat in Queens – were out and about on Tuesday, meeting with voters across the district.

On the Rockaway peninsula, Singh and volunteers for her campaign received a lukewarm welcome.

“I’m not registered here! Go Trump,” one passerby yelled at the candidate who was joined by a group of supporters including Borough President Donovan Richards.

“The vibes are really energetic,” Singh said. “Folks feel different depending where you are across the district, so it’s great to see folks who voted for us in the primary come back to vote for us in the general election.”

“We know our communities are going to turn out for us,” she added. “They have hope for something better and different than what has traditionally been a representative in this district.”

Also on scene was Ariola, who got hugs from residents of Dayton Towers, and said many people she had met Tuesday had assured her that they had cast votes in her favor.

“I’m feeling very positive,” she said. “I think what’s at stake is the difference between having someone with common sense at City Hall who’s going to bring back public safety, quality of life that we deserve, and not tamper with our children’s educations.”

Check back with the Eagle on Thursday for a full list and breakdown of the results of Tuesday’s election.

Additional reporting by Liam Quigley and Rachel Vick.