The Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association hosted a local election forum Thursday evening to help local voters get to know the candidates running for Congress and state legislatures.
Unlike in past candidate forums where audience members pass around a microphone to ask candidates their questions, the traditional Q&A was cut from Thursday’s agenda. Instead, the candidates mingled with attendees in small groups after delivering their remarks.
The unusual format disappointed some voters who wanted to hear candidates take questions in front of a packed room with few empty seats. However, event organizers said this new style was necessary after a chaotic forum ahead of the primary election in June. The last-minute participation of one candidate with a reputation for disruption also reinforced their decision.
“They changed the format of this meeting because of me. A hundred percent there’s no doubt about it,” Jonathan Rinaldi, who is running for State Assembly in District 28 as a Republican, without the endorsement of the Queens GOP or any local elected officials.
Rinaldi will appear on the ballot under the We the People Party and the Truth Party. He is running against Democrat incumbent Andrew Hevesi, who has held the seat since 2005 and focuses on legislation that serves children and families as the Chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families.
Longtime U.S. Rep. Nydia Vazquez and her Republican opponent, Bill Kregler, a former fire marshall who has never held political office but previously ran for Queens Borough President, were also seated on stage inside the Ridgewood Presbyterian Church.
Incumbent State Senator Michael Gianaris, who had to cancel at the last minute due to an emergency, was the only invited candidate who did not make it. But his opponent, Han Khon To, a Republican who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, was present to express some stances.
“We tell everybody to be respectful of the candidates if you want them to come here and hear them. Ask the questions, get your answers, and make your decision,” said Charles Ober, executive vice president of RPOCA.
7th Congressional District
(Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Woodhaven)
Rep. Velazquez, currently serving her 16th term in Congress, listed her many accomplishments in office, such as securing funding for small businesses and promoting climate resiliency legislation. However, she noted that most of the successes happened over two years ago, and since then, it has been difficult for Democrats to pass meaningful legislation.
“Congress has got to change in the sense that we don’t benefit anyone unless we go back to the business of sitting down and trying to craft the best legislation to tackle the issues that are important to the American people,” she said in her remarks.
In opposition to Velazquez, Kregler called for securing the borders, “both the north and south,” and giving more attention to the potential demise of social security benefits “coming faster than global warming.”
As a believer in the broken windows theory, he argues that the quality of life in the city was significantly better decades ago under the Republican leadership of Mayor Giuliani, who had a tough-on-crime approach.
“We can make progress by fixing the small things first. I’m not going to get into an argument about global warming. I’ve got to start working closely and sooner on other issues,” said Kregler, who suggested cleaning up the district’s waterways first and bringing back shipbuilding to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the district.
Both candidates agreed that more needs to be done to address America’s gun violence and pushed building new infrastructure as a top priority. They also stressed the need for additional funding for schools.
“Education was the key that opened the door for opportunities for me to read before you today, and so education is one of my top priorities in funding,” Velazquez noted.
State Assembly District 28
(Forest Hills, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill and Glendale)
RPOCA organizers expressed that they weren’t sure if Rinaldi would attend the forum and that other candidates raised concerns about his presence. When running for city council last year, he was accused of harassing multiple elected officials in Queens and faced trespassing charges.
“I’m a neighborhood parent, that’s it. I’m running against an establishment candidate, a legacy family who’s been in office for 19 years. Really, the only reason why I’m doing what I’m doing is because we are completely not being represented,” said Rinaldi, who is also an anti-vaccine activist.
He expressed much opposition to Hevesi sponsoring legislation that would allow certain minors to consent to medical care without their parents. The bill outlines exceptions for homeless youth, teen parents, and emergency cases where an attempt to secure consent would delay lifesaving treatment.
Rinalsi is also eyeing the District 30 City Council seat once it becomes vacant next year “because it’s not about the race. It’s about representing each and every one of you and fighting like hell and standing up to the Democratic socialists that are destroying this country. We have an ideological fight that we’re up against.”
In response to those who see him as a disruptor, he says, “There’s no right or wrong way to be engaged in the civic process.”
Hevesi has received endorsements from the Working Families Party, New York League of Conservation Voters, and Central Queens Independent Democrats, among others.
District 12 State Senate
(Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, Astoria and Long Island City)
Han Khon To is running as a Republican in District 12. He arrived in the city as a refugee in 1980 and worked as a phlebotomist at Kings County Hospital.
In his brief remarks, he discussed maintaining reliance on petroleum gas and expressed opposition to a transition to clean energy solely relying on solar energy.
“I will issue more licenses for gas stations, and we need more power than to only depend on solar systems in your house or in the car,” said To. “I want to maintain the balance.”
He does not have a campaign website or social media presence as a candidate. But in 2020, he ran against the current State Assembly Member Jeffrion L. Aubry in District 35 and received 20% of the vote.
A flyer distributed to forum attendees outlined his stances on creating more jobs, allocating more funding for law enforcement and supporting the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
While State Senator Michael Gianaris did not attend, he has a long track record of progressive stances on climate change, criminal justice reform and increasing taxes on the wealthy to fund public transportation.
