State Legislative Hopefuls Square Off

Democratic candidates running in two hotly contested races for state office shared their platforms and beliefs with approximately 50 residents of Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Rego Park, Jackson Heights, Corona and East Elmhurst last week in a pair of casual, crowded meetings at the Kew Gardens Community Center.
The August 8 "Community Conversations" event was split into two simultaneous meetings: one for candidates and residents of the 16th Senatorial District, and one for those in the 22nd Assembly District. Both are new seats carved out after the last census, and this is the first time candidates will run for either one.
Being in newly created districts is not all the residents who showed up at the two forums share. Many voiced similar concerns about issues such as overcrowded schools and the prospects for beneficial business development in their neighborhoods.
"The real issues that interest people in the street are education, economic development we hear a lot about transportation, particularly with the bus strike we had end this week, and theres a great interest in housing issues," said Pat Dolan of the Queens Civic Congress, an event sponsor
But there also are stark differences between the districts, especially in demographics: those who attended the Senate meeting were almost exclusively Caucasians over the age of 35 while those who questioned the Assembly candidates were almost all young people of Asian heritage.
The area encompassed by the former district has one of the heaviest concentrations of elderly people in the city, while the latter is home to many recent immigrants and a dynamic Asian culture, Dolan explained.
Voters in the Assembly District face the wider choice of the two because six candidates are vying for the Democratic Party nod there. They are Barry Grodenchik, director of administration for Borough President Helen Marshall; Jimmy Meng, former president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association; Ethel Chen, district leader for the Asian-American Democratic Association; John Albert, a director of St. Pauls Multicultural Center; Evergreen Chou, the Green Party nominee and a union delegate; and Richard Jannaccio, president of the West Flushing Civic Association.
Running in the Senatorial district are incumbent Democratic Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, whose current district encompasses much of the new one; longtime rival Julia Harrison, a former City Councilwoman forced out by term limits; and Marcia Lynn, an education activist and official in the Giuliani administration.
Candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the 39th Senatorial and 13th Assembly districts also were scheduled to meet with residents, but declined because of a conflicting television appearance, according to Yvette Jackson of the Citizens Union Foundation, the events key organizer.
Many voters also declined to show up, Jackson and Dolan acknowledged. More than 200 residents turned out for a similar event held during last years city Council election, they said.
"The race for city Council was a hotter race; people were more tuned in to that race," Jackson said.
"Everythings going pretty well, thank God," said Monsignor Cornelius Kneafsey, pastor of Our Lady of the Cenacle Roman Catholic Church in Richmond Hill. "Transportations not too bad; there are a lot of private houses that keeps things more stable."
Other residents, however, are very concerned about issues including the siting of new schools, convincing the state to reinstate the commuter tax and seeing that enough lottery funds go to education.
Primary Day is September 10; the general election will be held on November 5.