On Tuesday, for the 2021 New York City Primaries, I was excited to lend my financial support and voting power to Elizabeth Crowley for Queens Borough President, David Weprin for NYC City Comptroller, and Maya Wiley for NYC Mayor. As a longtime Queens resident, I believe these candidates can be the stronger representatives in our city government and to run our city.

Elizabeth Crowley for Queens Borough President

I gave my support to Elizabeth Crowley because she has demonstrated stronger allegiance to the residents of Queens and the issues we face, rather than corporations. Elizabeth Crowley, as the Chair of the Council Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice, stopped the planned closure of 20 firehouses by leading a coalition of elected officials and community members. She also took the task of forcing the Bloomberg and De Blasio administrations to improve and expand the city’s 911 emergency system. During her tenure, she has also sponsored legislation to expand access to HPV vaccinations, birth control and other women’s health services. She also petitioned government agencies to improve gender equality among their emergency services in the effort to bring more women into leadership positions and sponsor legislation requiring companies receiving city contracts to report on the gender and racial makeup of their boards and executive leadership.

David Weprin for NYC City Comptroller

I had the chance to meet David Weprin at the annual Barbecue he hosts at his Queens home residence.  To me, David has shown to be an attentive, family-oriented person towards his immediate family and the community. I gave m political support to David Weprin because of his long track record as a public servant. In 1983, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed him to serve as the Deputy Superintendent of Banks and the Secretary of the Banking Board for New York State. In the benefit of consumers, David Weprin reduced the number of days banking institutions can hold checks before clearing them, thus reducing the interest they earn at the expense of consumers’ interest earnings. He was also instrumental in 2008 in securing 2.5 billion in surplus funds, guaranteeing that future city worker retirees continue to receive quality health care.

Maya Wiley for NYC Mayor

I support Maya Wiley, who is a professor at the New School’s Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment and also co-directs the Digital Equity Lab. I believe her stance on social justice and goals to dismantle structural racism should be universal for running New York City, which is afflicted by high concentrations of wealth and poverty and equity issues. In 2002, she founded and directed the Center of Social Inclusion, an institution focused on racial inequality that has since been wrapped into the nonprofit Race Forward. Through work, she is an expert in federal and state policies that uphold structural racism, and because this expertise she has also learned to come up with solutions and policies strategies to help us not only dismantle these long- standing systemic structural practices, but also build towards a new, more equitable society.