Democratic Party candidates for June 26th Primary:

Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
from the candidate’s website:

Council Member Elizabeth S. Crowley is the first Democrat and first woman to represent the 30th Council District. Elected in November 2008, Crowley serves as the Chair of the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee of the City Council.

Elizabeth has an M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute’s Graduate School of Architecture and a B.A. in Restoration and Preservation from SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology where she was a Presidential Scholar and graduated Magna Cum Laude. After college, Elizabeth followed a passion for the arts and joined D.C. 9 International Union of Painters and Allied Trades as a restorative painter.

After working on a number of restoration projects, including Radio City Music Hall, the Central Synagogue, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, D.C.9 nominated Elizabeth for a position with the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE). While with the CWE, Elizabeth became a member of Teamsters Local 210 and worked to provide job training services to thousands of New Yorkers with a concentration on the building trades and the local manufacturing sector. After the attacks on 9/11, she worked with CWE and helped administer the $32 million New York City Emergency Employment Grant to businesses negatively impacted by the attack. As part of a small team, Elizabeth helped over 300 businesses stay open.

Fighting to protect our City’s fire safety and emergency services has been a main priority for Elizabeth. When the Bloomberg Administration proposed the closing 20 fire companies in the past two fiscal budgets, Elizabeth advocated among her colleagues to collectively oppose these cuts. Eventually, Elizabeth was able to help restore more than $30 million for fire companies and prevent budget cuts.

Elizabeth Crowley is divorced and lives in Glendale, Queens with her two sons Dennis and Owen.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman
Statement from the candidate’s campaign.

Rory Lancman is a former platoon leader in New York’s own 42nd Infantry Division, and a graduate of New York City public schools, Queens College and Columbia Law School. He lives in the Hillcrest neighborhood with his wife Morgan and their three children, and continues to teach local government law at St. John’s Law School down the street from his home.

Before being elected to the Assembly, he was a civic leader in his community. He served on his community board for 16 years, served as vice president of his civic association, and served as the chair of the Queens Hospital Center Community Advisory Board, where he successfully led the fight against privatizing the hospital and eventually helped to get it rebuilt.

As an Assemblyman, Rory has authored 19 separate laws focused on homeland security and leveling the playing field between middle-class families and the forces working against our community: too-big-to-fail banks, massive corporations that threaten small businesses, special interests and big developers, to name a few.

Rory is the only candidate in this race who has put forth real plans to tackle the local problems we care about, like overdevelopment, the misuse of the Fresh Pond rail yard, the potential closure of local post offices, and the loss of the Glendale Social Security office.

Overdevelopment is an issue that Rory has been particularly involved in though his role as a civic leader and an elected official. Rory recently announced a federal plan he would introduce in Congress to combat the overdevelopment in Queens. The HELP Act (Homes and Essential Landmarks Preservation Act) would use tax credits to force developers to comply with zoning laws, would use federal funding to make sure that zoning regulations are being enforced by the City of New York and would protect neighborhoods from religious institutions that use federal law to skirt zoning regulations.

Another issue that Rory has been active on is fixing the misuse of the Fresh Pond rail yard, which has devastated residents of Middle Village who live near the tracks. Juniper Civic’s own Bob Holden stood with Lancman in March as he unveiled legislation he would introduce in Congress that would prohibit railroad yard activities from taking place on tracks outside of the railroad yard and give local residents input into railroad yard operations, benefiting the communities surrounding the Fresh Pond Rail Transfer Station who have been adversely affected by the noise, smell, chemical hazards and lack of security resulting from companies operating outside of the rail station.

In addition, Rory has been vocal about his plans to fix Social Security and get the Glendale Social Security Office re-opened. Calling the office’s closure “a brick-and-mortar example of Washington’s misguided priorities,” Rory said he would fight to re-open the Glendale Social Security Office, and has a real plan to save Social Security for the next 75 years: lift the tax exemption on income over $110,800 so the Mitt Romneys and Donald Trumps of the world pay their fair share into the Social Security Fund.

Assemblywoman Grace Meng
from the candidate’s website:

An Attorney admitted to practice in New York State, Grace Meng is proud to have been elected to the New York State Assembly on the same historic day as President Barack Obama. She is the youngest Asian-American ever elected to the New York State Legislature, and currently the only Asian-American serving in the entire legislature. Grace is a distinguished member of the NYS Legislative Women's Caucus. As the first-ever Asian-American appointed to hold a Cabinet position in the NYS Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus, she initiated New York State's first-ever Asian Pacific American Legislative Advocacy Day. She was also proud to have been appointed to Governor Andrew Cuomo's Transition team and currently serves on his Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise Team.

A dedicated bridge builder and fighter for equality, Grace’s top priorities are making sure that all children are healthy and are able to receive a quality education, improving the quality of life for senior citizens, and helping small business owners achieve their American dream. Many of her bills have already been signed into law by the Governor – becoming landmark legislation.

These laws include extending unemployment coverage, fighting human trafficking and providing new incentives for property owners to provide affordable housing. She also authored the historic law that eliminates the offensive word “oriental” which still existed in some government documents.
She authored the Reverse Mortgage Act, which protects senior citizens against higher property taxes. She has also authored legislation to strengthen the Banking Development District Program to increase financial services for underserved areas.

As a mom of two young children, she is dedicated to protecting babies and families. Her bills include requiring insurance coverage for babies who need special baby formula and making information about dangerous product recalls more easily accessible for families. Born and raised in Queens, Grace graduated from Stuyvesant High School, has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She currently resides in Flushing, Queens with her husband, Wayne, two sons – Tyler and Brandon, and dog – Bounce.

Dr. Robert Mittman
from the candidate’s website:

I decided to run for the United States Congress because I believe that our government is no longer working in the best interest of the people. Something is wrong in Washington and as a lifelong community resident, a parent, a voter and medical doctor I am here to offer a Prescription for a Healthy Economy.

Queens now has record home foreclosures, record unemployment and there is instability in our Social Security program. Unfortunately, Republicans and yes, Democrats alike have engaged in partisan bickering, finger pointing, grandstanding and name calling instead of working together to get America back on track!

Our Congress is now being led by career politicians who follow the marching orders of antiquated political machines, lobbyists and Big Money Interests. Our system is broken and in need of repair. Our politicians have lost sight of what our democracy should be, a government By the People and For the People.

Our Queens Neighborhoods deserve better. I am running for Congress to get Washington working for you, the People! I am not a career politician like all of my opponents. I’m a medical doctor who runs a practice on Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens. As a doctor, I have been trained to diagnose an illness and prescribe the proper treatment. I will apply these same techniques as your representative in Congress. My candidacy gives you the voters in the 6th Congressional District a real alternative to politics as usual. I ask you for your vote and your support on June 26, 2012 in the Democratic Primary. Together, we can put our community, our nation and We the People first.

About Dr. Mittman: He was born and raised in Bayside, Queens. His father was a pharmacist in Jackson Heights, Queens and his mother served as a New York City public school teacher. He attended our local schools: PS 203, MS 67 and Cardozo High School.

After graduating from Queens College where he served in the Student Senate and as Student Body President he went to medical school and became a doctor. In that capacity he has served our community for over 20 years.

Dr. Mittman has been practicing on Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens and has treated thousands of our seniors, children and family members. He is a Mason and member of the Brandeis Lodge, originated by his father.

Dr. Robert Mittman is happily married to his wife Susan of 20 years and they have two children.