Crowded Field For Queens Borough President Special Election

QUEENS, NY — The race to replace newly-inaugurated District Attorney Melinda Katz as Queens' next borough president is on, and at least eight candidates are vying for the position.

The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

• City Council Member Costa Constantinides - the "Transform Queens" party
• Former City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley - the "It's Our Time" party
• Mapmaker Danniel S. Maio - the "I Like Maio" party
• Retired NYPD sergeant Anthony Miranda - the "Queens Progressives" party
• Former Executive Assistant District Attorney Jim Quinn - the "Keep Queens Safe" party
• City Council Member Donovan Richards - the "Community Unity" party
• City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer - the "Queens Values" party (UPDATE: Van Bramer has since dropped out of the race.)
• Bayside resident Dao Yin - the "Red Dragon" party

With no primary race taking place as part of this special election, candidates were free to use their imagination when it came to their party line.

The candidates won a spot on the special election ballot March 24 by filing at least 2,000 petition signatures from registered Queens voters with the city's Board of Elections by the Tuesday deadline.

A ninth candidate, Everly Brown, filed enough petitions to get on the ballot but hasn't yet filed paperwork with the Board of Elections to accept the nomination.

Candidates typically file many more signatures than required to solidify their spot on the ballot, anticipating that other opponents will challenge the validity of at least some of their signatures. General objections to petition signatures are due to the Board of Elections by Friday.

The borough presidency is largely viewed as a ceremonial position, or a stepping stone to higher office, but borough presidents serve several important roles.

Notably, they are influential gatekeepers on major land-use issues in their borough. Though the borough president's written opinions on land-use proposals are only advisory, past borough presidents have managed to leverage that opportunity and get significant sway over city decisions.

The borough president appoints the community board members who vote on rezoning proposals and members of community education councils, which govern school districts.

They also help steer city funds to their borough and oversee a multimillion-dollar budget of their own, which they use to support community organizations.