George Onuorah officially announced his candidacy for the District 21 City Council seat on Monday, April 19, at the Silver Spoon Diner.
Onuorah received support from fellow City Council candidates Dao Yin and Nabaraj KC, who are running in the 20th and 19th districts, respectively, as well as Jineea Butler, a Republican candidate for Congress.
Yin is throwing his support behind Onuorah because he’s from the community and feels that the political “establishment” has failed the residents when it comes to public safety and how they handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need a person who can be the true representative of this District 21 to deal with the real issues,” Yin said. “These are issues our residents face from day to day.”
Jineea Butler appreciated that Onuorah embraced her despite their differences when they first met in 2008 and shared that she’s crossing party lines because “we need allies on both sides of the field. And we have to be open, and we have to be real. When the candidate is real, it shouldn’t matter. Party line shouldn’t matter. George is the man.”
Nabaraj KC mentioned that the father of two daughters has served on the community board, giving him the experience and leadership to solve the district’s issues.
“His leadership matters. We have to elect him from many aspects. Let’s support him,” KC declared.
Onuorah is one of six candidates running for the city council seat in the 21st District, which covers East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona, Lefrak City and LaGuardia Airport. The seat is currently held by Councilman Francisco Moya.
Onuorah said plans to address the economic instability small businesses have been going through since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than a year ago and is ready to join City Council to rebuild the city.
“I know there are one or two things that our government can do to sustain the growth of these economic conditions,” he said.
Onuorah has lived in District 21 for 34 years and feels that he’s qualified to lend his voice to the conversation, whether it’s addressing education, public safety or racist attacks against the Jewish, Asian or African American communities.
“We are gathered here today under one umbrella of unity. We are one united people. We have a shared purpose, a shared interest to live together in harmony and not in disharmony,” said Onuorah, who immigrated from Nigeria almost 40 years ago.
He proposed a close partnership between the NYPD and the local communities to address the rise in crime and favored the return of gun buyback programs. He recommended retraining of police officers who are “trigger happy.”
“We have to build trust between communities. If I’m elected to the City Council to represent the 21st District, I will make sure that I work very hard with my colleagues to make sure the public safety remains a tough topic in the City Council,” said Onuorah, who is the chief executive officer of the Foundation for Sustainable Community Development.
He promised to fight for the values his supporters cherish.
“I’m ready to work very hard because we are going to make our streets safer,” he said. “We are going to fight for better education for our children, and we cannot compromise, helping them to get the education that they need for upward mobility to attain the American dream.”
