By Alex Robinson
Civic leader Dmytro Fedkowskyj announced his candidacy last weekend to challenge state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Ridgewood) in her first primary in more than a decade.
“I’ve spent the last 10 years safeguarding the educational interest of our parents, students and school communities, but now I want to safeguard and protect the interest of all our residents, which is why I’m running for the state Assembly,” Fedkowskyj told reporters in front of Maspeth High School Saturday, surrounded by family and supporters.
The new candidate, an accountant, has made education a large part of his platform as he served on the District 24 Community Education Council as well as on the city Panel for Educational Policy. He also sat on an educational subcommittee of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s transition team.
“We need to secure more funding for our public schools,” he said. “We need more seats to relieve overcrowding, and we need to extend yellow bus service for some students in this district in order to safely transport our kids back and forth to school.”
Fedkowskyj often voted against plans to phase out schools and co-locations while serving on the PEP and has said he supports centralized administration of publics schools.
He also supports the Audible Alarms Bill, which if passed by the Council would require door alarms to be installed on the outer doors of all of the city’s schools.
“If it’s not a state law by the time I get to Albany, I will pursue that piece of legislation right away,” he said.
Other main parts of his platform include advocating to close wage gaps between men and women, increasing funding for police and emergency personnel and creating more greenspaces for the district.
The Middle Village resident and Community Board 5 member said that what ultimately prompted him to decide to run was the amount of support he has gotten from the community in recent weeks.
“When I’ve engaged with people in this community and they’ve said, ‘You know, I don’t see the current Assembly member. I don’t really know what she’s about [and] I don’t know what she’s doing,’” he said. “Well, I can’t speak for her. I can just speak for me and tell you I’m going to be your voice in Albany and I’m going to support your values.”
Fedkowskyj said that while he thought Marky did a good job in earlier years in office, he has heard many people say she has been largely absent from her duties and has poorly represented the district recently.
The 30th Assembly District, which Markey represents, includes Maspeth, Woodside and parts of Long Island City, Middle Village, Astoria and Sunnyside.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
