2021 Elections: Who’s running for City Council in the 27th District?

There are 11 candidates running to represent District 27 in the City Council this year. The district — which includes the neighborhoods of Cambria Heights, Hollis, Jamaica, St. Albans, Queens Village, and Springfield Gardens — has been represented in the city’s legislative body by I. Daneek Miller since 2013.

Like many other council members in Queens and across the city, Miller will be term-limited out of office this year. The winner of November’s general election will represent a district that is facing issues at the moment — such as youth development and lack of resources in southeast Queens — until 2023.

Qns sent five questions to each candidate running for the District 27 City Council seat including Kerryanne Burke, Jason Clark, Leroy Gasdsen, Rene Hill, James Johnson, Al-Hassan Kanu, Harold Miller, Marie Adam-Ovide, Anthony Rivers, Jermaine Sean Smith and Nantasha Williams.

See their responses, listed alphabetically, below:

Kerryanne Burke

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Burke: The top three most pressing issues in my district are: education, quality of life concerns with a special focus on seniors and veterans, and access to capital to start or maintain small businesses. We need better public education with increased funding for STEM and vocational training programs. In addition, fixing the infrastructure issues and reducing the rate of crime in District 27 is germane. Lastly, ensuring that our small businesses have the ability to thrive, especially after COVID-19 is essential to the growth of our community.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Burke: In my youth, I experienced housing instability. Due to experiencing homelessness, I am a strong advocate for affordable housing and foreclosure prevention. In addition, my experience of attending one of the worst academically performing Junior High Schools and then The Bronx High School of Science, ignited my passion for education reform and equity. I became an attorney and worked in both houses of the NYS Legislature and NYC government agencies to affect change and learn how the government works. To be an excellent NYC Council Member you should have a good balance between governance skills, community connections, and integrity. I am actively involved with nonprofit organizations, civic associations and the faith-based community. I will bring all of this to the City Council, if elected.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Burke: I love the rich history of my community. I am walking the same streets as Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Run DMC, and so many more great and talented individuals who paved the way for me. I am working hard to keep the integrity of Southeast Queens and to honor history while bridging old traditions with some new innovative strategies. This means going above and beyond to ensure that District 27 receives its fair share of resources for our children, our seniors, our veterans and for all of our residents. We deserve it!

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Burke: I am still learning about each candidate’s policies and platform. At this moment I have not decided on ranked positions but look forward to building coalitions and imploring the utilization of the new Rank Choice Voting electoral system.

QNS: Southeast Queens has one community center in Roy Wilkins Park, but it’s inconvenient for many neighborhoods such as Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Hollis in District. What work would you do, if elected, to solve this problem?

Burke: As a Queens Village resident, I understand long travel times to Roy Wilkins Park, all too well. As a Council Member, I seek to change this and not let another generation of youth go through what I went through. Why should young people have to wait long for the Q77 or Q2, for instance, and then have to transfer bus lines, just go to a community center. I will be a champion and advocate for funding to build another community center that is accessible for southeast Queens residents, especially those in Queens Village, Hollis, and Cambria Heights. I have partnered with a community-based organization in Brooklyn to learn more about their program, facility, and how we can bring something comparable to District 27.

Jason Clark

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Clark: The three most pressing issues in District 27 are COVID-19 recovery, education and saving our small businesses. Queens was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the road to recovery is still incredibly uncertain. We can’t take our eye off the ball and we have to do a better job of protecting our seniors, especially. Second, the pandemic magnified issues with our education system that must be addressed once and for all. Finally, we need to help our small businesses keep their doors open and preserve our own version of Black Wall Street.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Clark: I believe my experience as a leader, problem solver, and civil rights attorney would help me be an effective City Council Member for our community. Prior to running, I served as an Assistant Attorney General under NYS Attorney General Letitia James where I protected communities of color against fraud and provided legal assistance to individuals in pressing need of legal services. I am also the Immediate Past President of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, where I organized “know your rights” trainings, created a Judicial Training

Academy and fought for a fairer and more equitable criminal justice system.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Clark: Our people. Much like my grandparents, many of us have roots here in Southeast Queens that date back to the Great Migration. Families like mine, traveled North in search of a better life. Every day I am reminded that our most valuable resource is our people. Our neighbors, family members, and friends are a constant reminder of what we’re capable of. They are the fuel that drive me to be a better person and why I am running for office.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Clark: This is a great question because we have a lot of excellent candidates running in our district. Also, I think many voters are still getting used to the idea of ranked choice voting (I know I am, at least). I haven’t had a lot of time to consider who I’ll be ranking second on my ballot because I have been focused on speaking with the people in our community. However, as June 22nd approaches, I’m looking forward to hearing more from my fellow candidates on their policies and participating in the democratic process to elect the next Council Member for District 27.

QNS: Southeast Queens has one community center in Roy Wilkins Park, but it’s inconvenient for neighborhoods such as Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Hollis in District 27. What work would you do, if elected, to solve this problem?

Clark: I am glad the community center at Roy Wilkins Park will be receiving much needed upgrades. However, I would have preferred to see equal investment in our parks and youth programming in neighborhoods such as Cambria Heights, Queens Village, Springfield Gardens and Hollis. We need more local community centers because it’s not always easy, or safe, for our children to travel to or from after school activities at Roy Wilkins Park, especially during the winter months. Let’s also invest in local community hubs where kids with a specific interest in computer science, music, and the performing arts have access to state-of-the-art youth services.

Rene Hill

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Hill: The importance of having access to quality healthcare and hospitals, which the citizens of District 27 are lacking. I am committed to bringing a hospital to ensure residents have access to healthcare, and that will create more jobs. Additionally, environmental concerns and lack of infrastructure has compromised the quality-of-life in the district. There is also a lot of concern of irresponsible, over-development as well as the vast number of foreclosures during the pandemic. Currently, I am leading the fight to defeat the proposed City Council legislation called “Planning Together,” that could possibly eliminate single-family zoning in NYC, with a large percentage of single-family zoning in District 27.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Hill: I have served on the Queens New York Presbyterian Hospital Community Advisory Board, which has allowed me firsthand experience in dealing with issues of healthcare needs in District 27. I also helped to form the Southern Queens Environmental Justice Council, to assist residents with environmental and flooding issues. My actions with other civic leaders led to $1.5 Billion NYC funding to alleviate flooding in Queens. I am known to be transparent on community issues and I have experience navigating city agencies to resolve community issues. I led the fight against privatization of St. Albans Veterans Hospital, in order to save the facility for our veterans and possibly turn into a Hospital as it was in the past, to bring more jobs to the community.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Hill: District 27 is marked by the diversity, hard work, dedication and passionate people that want the best for our community. I have a strong love for my family, friends, the residents, our tree-lined streets, homes, and suburban-like characteristics in the district. I love how our civic organizations care and are active within our community. My love for my district is evident in all my other District 27 endeavors, and I love how most of our community makes responsible decisions, as I have witnessed as a community board member. It is time we pick a City Council member that has a long-term connection here in District 27 and loves our community.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Hill: If I had a ballot, I would rank an opponent second based on their volunteer work within the community and their professional experience. Someone that is civic minded and has pre-COVID ties within the community. A couple opponents live in District 31. There is no way a candidate that is new to our community or who recently returns, should be running here.

Hill: All people in Queens should have access to community services, including programs offered at community centers. As a City Council member for District 27, I will support health and recreation, open more community centers, local schools and churches in the neighborhoods of Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Hollis, to be used temporarily as community centers. I know as a former fiscal director of SQPA, Roy Wilkins Park, that the Board of Ed charges for afterschool programs to use their schools. I will cover that cost in the areas lacking community centers. I am a strong advocate for maintaining our parks, green areas, and playgrounds and I will solve this community center need, once elected.

James Johnson

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Johnson: The most pressing issues in our district are our COVID-19 recovery, support for working families, and inequities in the funding of our local schools. Our district is reeling from the pandemic. We suffered some of the highest infection and mortality rates, our local businesses shuttered, and so many of our neighbors lost their livelihood. Our community was simultaneously tasked with keeping this City running as we have one of the largest populations of frontline workers of any district in the City. Meanwhile, our young people were being asked to learn without the necessary resources to do so.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Johnson: My training as an organizer is what speaks best of my abilities as a Council member. The information gap in Southeast Queens is palpable. There are some who know their officials by name and others who don’t know how to file a 311 complaint. I have consistently worked to build a more engaged community and to meet my neighbors where they are. Through the dozens of events and community meetings I have organized or hosted, I really believe that we were able to provide folks with some resources to better shape their community and I am really proud of that.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Johnson: I was born and raised in southeast Queens. I attended all local schools like my mother who was the catalyst for my pursuit of public office. I am even preparing to raise my family here. What I love most about this district is the sense of community. My parents worked a lot when I was growing up which led them to enroll me in a ton of extracurricular activities which meant that my coaches, teachers, and neighbors took part in raising me. They give me a sense of self and hold me accountable to the principles they instilled in me.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Johnson: I haven’t yet decided who I will be ranking second on my ballot but I can say that Southeast Queens needs a representative that will listen and that will allow the community to be a part of the process. I am a true believer in the potential of those who are closest to a problem to be the best problem solvers.

Johnson: Last August, I called on the Mayor to make this critical investment in our community but have been met with silence from his administration. Since then, I have met with property owners about potential locations and engaged with community members about their support for directing discretionary funds to the effort. It is a huge need in our community, particularly for the young people who have nowhere to go after school. I have even proposed the designation of local schools as community schools so that they can host programming while we construct a facility that meets the needs of the community.

Al-Hassan Kanu

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Kanu: Through my work for District 27’s existing and previous Council members, I helped many district residents and their families and came to understand the importance of adequately resourcing our schools and programs to benefit our youth. Working with Councilman I. Daneek Miller, we focused on securing Transportation Equity for Southeast Queens ending the transit desert; we got the Atlantic ticket to Brooklyn; our next step is expanding the use of the LIRR to affordably access Penn Station. With then Councilman Leroy Comrie we fought to make housing affordable and address foreclosures; this includes workshops I’ll continue to educate homeowners.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Kanu: My commitment to public and community service speaks best to my abilities to deliver for District 27 and its next City Council member. I come from a family of public servants. My dad was a prominent public official in Sierra Leone from where I immigrated to the US three decades ago. My family came here to escape a dangerous civil war that took thousands of lives. While attending York College my fellow students elected me president of the United Students Association; it led to my internship with former Council Deputy Majority, now our State Senator, Leroy Comrie. I grab opportunities to serve!

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Kanu: I love the diversity of District 27. Diversity of backgrounds. Some lived here many generations; others like me have immigrant backgrounds from Africa, Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, and more. We enjoy different opportunities to worship both in size of congregations from storefronts to large facilities with sanctuaries, social halls and schools; the religious diversity, various Protestant denominations, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish communities enriches our community and I so enjoy working with our faith-based leaders and community to collaborate for everyone’s benefit. Finally, the district features our experienced seniors, our dedicated working people and energetic youth. What a special synergy our district shares.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Kanu: I expect many district voters to carefully consider my qualifications, experience, record, vision and platform, which I hope they will review at http://www.alkanyfornyc.com, as well the materials my campaign shares through mail and social media, and of course, reporting such as this. I similarly seek to educate myself on each other’s candidate. I’ll compare each against my work as Comrie’s director of Community Affairs, Miller’s district director, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ Southeast Queens liaison and now helping to run southern Queens Parks Association (SQPA), and to my community involvement on Community Board 12, with the NAACP, Life Camp and more.

Kanu: As I help run the SQPA based in Roy Wilkins Park, I work to expand access to its programs and recreation opportunities. Southeast Queens is a transit desert and we need to improve transit to make the park, other existing recreational facilities and many other places including work, schools, medical appointments easy to reach. As we work to restore funding for the 116th Pct., we’ll realize a community center included there will serve the Community Board 13 portion of Council District 27. I’ll also look to add early morning and afterschool programs for our youth and expand senior programs.

Harold Miller

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Miller: Housing is the most important issue in my district-we need to protect and expand access to affordable housing for renters, and protect homeowners from mortgage fraud, while at the same time addressing the impact of COVID-19 by cancelling rent and ensuring mortgage forgiveness. Healthcare access and equity is extremely important. We need to stop the closing down of healthcare centers, and ensure that everyone has access to high quality healthcare. Fully funding our public schools is also a top priority. The state owes our schools a lot of money, and it’s time that we got our fair share.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Miller: I have worked inside and outside of government at City Hall and at New York Communities for Change to accomplish real change in the lives of working people in our City. My ability to navigate the government systems means that I can immediately get to work and my connection to community organizing and community organizations means I can bring people together to ensure that we’re listening to everyone’s voice. We need more folks who come from community organizing to serve in public office and I’m excited to bringing my experience to work for the people.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Miller: What I love most of the district is the true sense of community. Neighbors looking after each other and the sense of pride for the rich heritage of the community.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Miller: I haven’t made any decision around ranking anyone else running for office. Right now I’m most concerned with getting my message around delivering for working people, from more affordable housing, to creating good living wage jobs, to standing up for our schools to the people of the district. One thing I hope we can all agree on is the need to do some real voter education around ranked choice voting though, and I’ve been excited to host some informational sessions with some of my opponents as well.

QNS: Southeast Queens has one community center in Roy Wilkins Park, but it’s inconvenient for many neighborhoods such as Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Hollis in District 27. What work would you do, if elected, to solve this problem?

Miller: Community Centers provide space and opportunity for community activities and gatherings that help bring our neighborhoods together. Seniors, students, and families rely on these spaces and the fact of the matter is we need more. We need more community centers and more green spaces. I would prioritize allocating funds and resources to provide these spaces on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, and of course I would welcome input on where they are needed and what we need them to provide by local residents who would benefit the most.

Anthony Rivers

QNS: What in your opinion, are the three most pressing issues in your district?

Rivers: Real affordable housing based on local area median income; provide Comprehensive vocational programs for adolescence, young adults, and ex-offenders; and fight for lower ratio to value property taxes and stop foreclosures.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Rivers: As a retired NYPD lieutenant of 23 years and a licensed financial service provider of 27 years, I have had the pleasure of serving various communities in NYC. During this time, I have sharpened and acquired skills that I believe are integral to being an effective leader. Through these experiences, I have improved my ability to communicate, negotiate and developed greater empathy and compassion. These are some of the skills I would bring to the City Council to create a more collaborative environment. They will enable me to foster and build good relations with fellow Council members, as well as provide integrity and transparency to the community.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Rivers: Having been raised in this city, what I love most about this district is the people. I love the fact that southeast Queens is rich in culture, history and has a large body of minority homeownership, living their American dream. We are a community, where all are welcome.

QNS: Which of one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Rivers: All candidates bring different insights and perspectives, as to what, they believe will help South East Queens. Therefore, I have not decided as to whom, I would rank second.

QNS: Southeast Queens has one community center in Roy Wilkins Park, but it is inconvenient for neighborhoods such as Queens Village, Cambria Heights and Hollis in District 27. What work would you do, if elected, to solve this problem?

Rivers: I propose that the abandoned CVS building located at 245-14 Merrick Blvd, be repurposed as a community center. A portion of the funds designated to improve Roy Wilkins Park could be used to alter this location. In addition, this location has parking and is close to transportation.

Nantasha Williams

QNS: What, in your opinion, are the top three most pressing issues in your district?

Williams: Housing (foreclosure, zombie homies, and affordability), assaults on our quality of life, and predatory actions against our seniors. I seek to address each of these issues immediately upon taking office.

QNS: What aspect of your background speaks best to your abilities as a City Council member?

Williams: Both my professional experiences working at various levels of government for over a decade and community work uniquely position me to address our issues from a place of personal knowledge and skill based experience. I know first hand some of the issues most pressing to our community. My family suffered our own housing crisis and I faced a choice of standing with my mother and saving our family home or making my own path and leaving generational progress behind. I saved my family home because I believe in my community’s future and I want to keep my family’s legacy alive. As a city council member I will be a strong advocate for our community and work with residents in a partnership to find real solutions.

QNS: What do you love most about your district?

Williams: I love our sense of community. While we all are residents of the biggest city in America (and oftentimes forgotten by City Hall), there is still a small town, tight-knit community feel here. We support one another and are there for each other. Most recently, this was evident in how our local communities came together to support one another through the pandemic. We created a Southeast Queens Fights COVID and the SEQ Wellness Ambassadors initiative providing resources and wellness checks to seniors through these unprecedented times.

QNS: Which one of your opponents will you be ranking second on your ballot and why?

Williams: I am genuinely undecided on my second choice because I consider several of my opponents friends and people I respect. Harold Miller, Kerryanne Burke, Al Kanu, Jason Clark, Jermaine Sean Smith, and Marie Adams Ovide have all been partners in progress. I believe I am the best candidate for this office because of my deep passion for serving this community and experience working within and with our government system, but I am confident our community will make a wise choice especially with this field of qualified candidates.

Williams: I believe in the impact of community centers, as youth development is also one of my top priorities. However building new community centers with a looming fiscal crisis on the horizon might be a difficult task in the immediacy. Some quick solutions could include but not limited to building on successful partnerships with the Queens Public Library and other institutions (i.e. local churches and schools) that can be used to hold physical space for various programs and initiatives. Increasing the capacity of existing institutions will allow us to meet the need everywhere in this district.

Candidates Leroy Gadsen, Marie Adam-Ovide and Jermaine Sean Smith did not respond before press time.