Craig Caruana
After months of exploring a potential run against Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), civic activist Craig Caruana said this week he is likely poised to soon make an official announcement that he is launching a campaign for the district covering the area in which he grew up.
“We’ll probably make a decision within the next week or so,” said Caruana, 29, a Middle Village native. “I wanted to make sure I could raise the money to do it and that there was a demand in the community for it. A lot of people were telling me I should run, but you want to make sure you’re not in an echo chamber. I reached out to community leaders to see if there’s a demand for change, and if I am the best person to make that change.”
And while his decision is not etched in stone – “I’m leaning towards running,” Caruana said in an interview on Tuesday – it seems likely the Republican will be making a bid for Council District 30 – which covers Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven.
A national security specialist who has his bachelor’s in politics from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC and a master’s in International Affairs from Texas A&M University, Caruana began to contemplate jumping in the ring with Crowley after joining a number of civic organizations following his return to Middle Village in 2010.
“I got involved in a lot of neighborhood groups – Juniper Civic, the Kiwanis Club (of Glendale), for example – and a lot of people started telling me how they were unhappy with the current Council member and said I should think about running,” he said. “Whether people were Democrats or Republicans, they seemed really unhappy with constituent services.”
Crowley defended her record as a legislator in a prepared statement.
“In the last four years I have secured funding for new schools, renovations to our parks, libraries and senior centers, and infrastructure improvements for our roads and sewers,” Crowley said in a statement. “My office has helped thousands of residents, from ensuring seniors get the medical care they need, fighting so students can attend local schools and helping families receive critical benefits. I proudly hold up my record of service and accomplishments.”
The potential Republican candidate said he expects to focus on financial issues during the campaign – including bringing more city funds into the district.
“In the last budget, our Council member brought in the least amount of discretionary funds in Queens,” Caruana said. “That hurts volunteer groups. A priority for a Council member should be to get tax dollars back into the district.”
Crowley lost nearly $300,000 in discretionary funding in the budget passed last June, receiving about $380,000 – a decrease a number of political insiders attributed to the Councilwoman’s run for Congress, which they said angered Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).
As part of his platform, Caruana said he also hopes to make life a little easier for small business owners.
“Opening a business is not easy in New York,” he said. “Any way that process could be streamlined would be helpful. … Business owners say they’re being nickel and dimed to death.”
He also stressed that he would advocate for a decrease in property taxes.
“The cost of living is through the roof in New York City,” he said. “Property taxes have gone up 11 times in 10 years. That’s crazy.”
On the education front, Caruana said he supports mayoral control – state legislation which gave Mayor Bloomberg control over the city’s public education system in 2002 – but would “like to avoid a citywide blanket policy” in regards to closing schools.
“What’s good for individual neighborhoods, and what’s good for the outer boroughs?” he said. “You have to take every school case by case.”
Additionally, Caruana said he would like to see increased support for principals who have a proven track record of success.
“Maspeth High School is an outstanding high school, and they’re doing things like having a mandatory dress code and teaching Latin – we should be backing principals who are doing things that work,” he said.
Now working at a risk management company, Caruana previously held a position in Fox News’ research division in Manhattan. Following his college graduation, he worked in the Pentagon as an aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition – for which he helped to manage nearly 200,000 employees and a $50 billion annual budget. During his time there, he worked on such projects as the delivery of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles – meant to cut down on the number of injuries from improvised explosive devices –
to military personnel in Iraq.
He held another position as an intelligence analyst with the Office of Naval Intelligence before beginning graduate school in 2008.
He has authored a number of pieces on national security while serving as a fellow at the Pax Americana Institute and is the author of the book “American Power: Still the Best Hope for Peace,” which was published in June.
