Author: Dan Rose

Taking a look at the fundraising numbers posted by the candidates in District 20, which includes Flushing and other portions of northeast Queens, City Council candidate Sandra Ung is leading the way with $87,00 and an additional $142,600 in matching funds.

According to Ung’s campaign, she raised over $45,000 since the last filing. Her total, including matching funds, is nearly $230,000, placing her campaign among the top fundraisers in Queens and the second-highest in Queens.

Ung, who most recently worked for Congresswoman Grace Meng, drew from 500 honors across the city.

“I am honored to have received the support of so many members of our community,” she said. “These funds are going to allow me to spend more time listening and speaking with voters to hear about their issues and priorities.”

She was recently endorsed by the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, Local 831 IBT, and also has the support of 21 in ’21.

Neng Wang, the former director of CPC’s Nan Shan Senior Center, has raised more than $65,000 for his campaign. That’s followed by John Choe, executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce and CB7 member, who has raised over $50,000.

Hailing Chen, an Uber driver, has raised nearly $34,000 and received $72,000 in matching funds.

Another new entrant in the race is Dao Yin, who made two failed attempts running for Queens borough president. He has raised nearly $11,000.

On Tuesday, we shared the most recent fundraising numbers in the District 19 race. This time, we’ll take a look at the numbers for the 10 candidates running in District 23.

Leading the pack is nonprofit executive and community board member Linda Lee, who raised $61,000, according to the Campaign Finance Board. She has met the qualifying threshold for matching funds, and is the first candidate in the race to do so.

According to Lee’s campaign, Lee received more than 400 donors, including over 140 from within the district. She launched her campaign some three months ago.

“I am grateful for the incredible outpouring of support from neighbors, friends and members of the community who want to see a new type of leader in Eastern Queens,” Lee said.

Organizer Jaslin Kaur, who is backed by DSA and the Working Families Party, raised $35,000. According to her Twitter feed, Kaur’s campaign has received a whopping 1,132 donors, including 947 unique donors. The average contribution was $37.

Community Board 2 District Manager Debra Markell is third in the race in terms of fundraising after raising $26,000. Community activist Harpreet Toor raised $19,000.

Other candidates in the race include Sanjeev Jindal with $16,500, Steve Behar with nearly $9,000 and Seth Breland with $6,000. Three other candidates have raised less than $1,000.

The numbers are in!

With the primary for local elections just months away, candidates faced a fundraising deadline on January 15th, providing observers a look into just how much support donors have for their campaigns.

In northeast Queens’s District 19, City Council candidate Richard Lee has raised over $60,000 to date, and has earned $168,888 in matching funds. He leads the pack in fundraising so far.

Lee, who most recently served as budget director at Borough Hall, has 142 in-district contributions.

Earlier this month, Lee was endorsed by Congressman Tom Suozzi, who represents a portion of the district in Washington.

“Richard has the dedication and experience necessary to ensure all residents of the 19th District have a voice in City Hall,” Suozzi said.

Another candidate for District 19, Austin Shafran, announced that he raised more than $45,000 in just three months. He also has qualified for matching funds.

His January 15th filing includes nearly 350 individual donors, which includes local residents, civic association leaders, community board members, small business owners, seniors and more.

Shafran, who ran for the same City Council seat eight years ago, is a Bayside resident who has 15 years of government experience. For the past seven years, he’s been president of Metropolitan Public Strategies.

“I’m sincerely humbled by the outpouring of support for our campaign that will give us the deep resources needed to reach and mobilize voters across the district,” Shafran said.

Other candidates in this race include former Councilman and State Senator Tony Avella, who has raised $29,000 and received $84,000 in matching funds, CEC 26 President Adriana Aviles, who raised almost $11,000, KC Nabaraj, who has raised nearly $15,000, and former State Senate candidate Vickie Paladino, who has raised almost $18,000.

A 47-year-old man from Little Neck has been charged with grand larceny, identity theft and other crimes for allegedly stealing the identities of multiple victims and purchasing or leasing 11 cars between July 2019 and March 2020.

Yong “Jason” Jeon, 47, actively offered his services to non-English-speaking Koreans to help them buy or lease a car. According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, he allegedly used their personal information as if his own, including their names, dates of birth and social security numbers.

Jeon drove off the lot with Kia cars, including Sorentos, Sedonas and Optimas. He collected nearly $60,000 in finder’s fees from the dealership that sold the cars.

According to the charges, in every purchase, Jeon forged the buyers’ signatures on documents.

If convicted of the crimes, Jeon faces between 3.5 to 7 years in prison.

“Using forged documents, fake identification and double-talk, this alleged conman swindled the car dealership out of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Katz said. “The other victims are the seven individuals who had their personal information stolen, and in some instances, their credit ratings ruined.

“Many of the victims didn’t realize they had been conned until they received big bills in the mail for cars they didn’t purchase or lease,” she added.

With the legislative session in Albany starting back up, local elected officials have been assigned new leadership positions.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic was appointed chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection. It is her first appointment as chair of a standing committee. Rozic is serving her fifth term in the Assembly.

The committee is responsible for safeguarding consumer’ rights, including health and safety, personal privacy and regulation of business practices.

“In the weeks ahead, I look forward to engaging consumers, advocates, businesses and government agencies to map out an inclusive agenda responding to our most urgent needs,” Rozic said.

She also serves on the Committees on Ways & Means, Labor, Correction and Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, meanwhile, has been appointed as the chair of the Committee on Aging, where he will focus on the elderly and nursing home residents, particularly as COVID continues to affect older New Yorkers.

He says his immediate focus will be making sure the elderly receive their COVID vaccinations as soon as possible.

He will also fight for a new bill of rights for nursing home residents this legislative session.

“During this pandemic, my team and I saw firsthand how dysfunctional our care system is toward our elderly,” he said. “We worked hard to ensure the plight of our seniors, especially those living in nursing homes, was no longer ignored.”

The Shops at SkyView has welcomed two new stores: Starbucks and Adidas.

Starbucks is located on level two next to Haagen-Dazs and Coco Tea, while Adidas, expanded to nearly 10,000 square feet, is on level four.

The new Adidas store has 78 percent more space than its previous space and will offer new collections for runnings, football, training and more.

“These strong retailers complement other businesses at SkyView and contribute to the culture that makes the neighborhood special,” said Rishika Mahtani, regional marketing manager at ShopCore Properties.

The Queens College Foundation has allocated $2.75 million in support of need-based scholarships, the college’s student food pantry and tech internships.

The one-time infusion of funds will help students facing difficult financial circumstances as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Retention Incentive Supporting Excellence (RISE) program will provide support to students who are unable to meet the costs of higher education. RISE scholarships will be given out for spring, summer and fall of 2021.

The funding will also be used for the Knights Table Food Pantry, which reduces food insecurity among Queens College and CUNY students.

“This most timely action will allow our dedicated undergraduate students to pursue their higher education, advance toward graduation and fully participate in the economic recovery of our city and state,” said Queens College President Frank Wu. “We are profoundly appreciative.”

“As the pandemic continues, Queens College students are facing many difficulties as they work toward completing their education,” added Student Association President Zaire Couloute. “I know I speak for everyone when I thank the Queens College Foundation for this generous initiative to help students stay in school and to keep many of us from going hungry.”

 

 

City Council candidate Linda Lee has been endorsed by a prominent lawmaker who has represented Fresh Meadows for years.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic is backing Lee’s bid for District 23 in eastern Queens, including neighborhoods like Queens Village, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Hollis, Glen Oaks, Fresh Meadows, Douglaston and Bellerose.

“Linda’s decades of volunteerism and experience delivering social services has prepared her for this moment,” Rozic said, “and I’m excited to join her in the work ahead uplifting our neighbors across Queens.”

Lee, an 11-year Oakland Gardens resident and New York native, is a member of Community Board 11, the School Leadership Team (SLT) at her son’s school and is president and CEO of Korean Community Services (KCS) of Metropolitan New York.

She is the mother of two young children and the daughter of immigrant small business owners.

Rozic is the first elected official to endorse Lee’s candidacy.

Other candidates in the race include lawyer Steve Behar, DSA and WFP-endorsed activist Jaslin Kaur and CB2 district manager Debra Markell.

Sandra Ung, a candidate running for City Council, wants the city to do a better job clearing sidewalks and crosswalks of snow days after the snowstorm.

“This isn’t just inconvenient, it creates real dangers and obstacles, especially for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities,” she said. “These are real hazards.

“It’s not good enough to say that it will melt, or to blame the plows,” Ung added. “People are literally stuck at home unable to go out until the city clears crosswalks.”

She noted that part of the problem is enforcement. Property owners are responsible for cleaning their sidewalk, bus stops, pedestrian ramps and fire hydrants. But she also wants city agencies to clear sidewalks in areas without homes or businesses.

“This isn’t a problem of convenience, it’s a problem of accessibility,” Ung said. “We owe New Yorkers better.”

Stop & Shop opened several more pickup locations in Queens where shoppers can place an order ahead of time and an associate will load groceries right into their cars on site.

The stores at 213-15 26th Avenue in Bayside and 31-06 Farrington Street in Flushing are the most recent additions, joining pickup locations in Belle Harbor, Springfield Gardens, Arverne, Glendale and Maspeth.

 

Shoppers can place an order on the website or on the Stop & Shop mobile app. Click on “order online” and select “pickup” at the preferred location.

After choosing a pickup time, shoppers can park in a designated pickup spot and call to let the store know that they have arrived. The associate will then drop off the groceries.

Customers are asked to have their trunk or door open for associates to place directly into the car. Customers are also encouraged to wear masks and limit the number of people in the car where possible.

A $30 minimum is required on all pickup orders, and a $2.95 service fee will be applied at checkout.