By Bill Parry
A community activist from Woodside has announced that he will challenge Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) for her seat in Assembly District 30, which she has held since 1998.
David Rosasco declared that the current system of government is broken, illustrated by the influx of residential towers, hotels and motels in western Queens.
Without naming any lawmaker by name, Rosaco, a Democrat, told a crowd of 50 supporters at Engeline’s Restaurant and Bakery on Roosevelt Avenue that gentrification and the displacement of low-income residents are a reality.
“No one at any level of government appears to stand up publicly and oppose this,” Rosasco said. “These same persons would purport to stand with you, the people of this community, while at the same time racing to eventually have all of us removed from this community because of the rising cost of living. The very structure of this government and the way it budgets its money must be questioned. There are people without food on their table. There are others who can’t stay in their homes where they’ve lived for many years, many for decades.”
During his hourlong speech, delivered without notes, Rosasco said it was time to fashion budgets and legislation that would rein in agencies “that are of less need for the many” and expand the role and dollars of other agencies that have a greater need, such as those that handle infrastructure, Section 8, SCREE, and HEAP.
“While they talk and debate and entertain themselves at cocktail hours and dinner dances and modern art shows, (we) restored an entire U.S. zip code to pristine condition,” Rosasco said.
The 43-year-old professional translator returned to his hometown of Woodside in 2005 after living in Japan for 12 years. When Rosasco saw the filth under the No. 7 subway line around 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue, he grabbed a broom and started sweeping.
His neighbors began to notice and joined him. And then the children came and the Woodside Neighborhood Association was born.
Every weekend, during every kind of weather, they would gather and clean, paint hydrants, remove illegal dumping and graffiti and planting hundreds of trees all with young people who volunteered as much as 250 hours a year.
“These are your future leaders right there,” Rosasco said, pointing to a table filled with young people. “I have attempted to involve the youth, minority and immigrant children, other smaller church and mosque congregations that often get little attention, other individual residents who have for years performed the hard labors to maintain their own communities.”
Rosasco ran for City Council in 2009, but he was removed from the primary ballot by lawyers working for the Queens Democratic Party. “The voters were disenfranchised,” he said.
Rosasco thinks the decade he has spent on the streets with the residents of Woodside gives him an edge over the modern politician. He knows the need for more state dollars in the district for practical concerns such as food pantries for the needy and upgrade medical facilities.
“In the end, I believe that this district, which includes Woodside, Maspeth and Middle Village, will be better served by the person speaking to you now than any combination of my opponents or current officials in government,” he said.
Rosasco becomes the second Democrat from Woodside to challenge the incumbent, Margaret Markey. Brian Barnwell, 29, announced his candidacy in August.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
