Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., center, and PBA President Pat Lynch, right, at a press conference announcing the union’s endorsement of the Astoria legislator in the race for Queens borough president.
The largest union representing city police officers threw its weight behind Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s (D-Astoria) bid for Queens borough president this week, giving what the legislator said is welcome momentum to his campaign.
“It’s a huge boost three weeks before our election,” Vallone said following Tuesday’s press conference outside Queens Borough Hall announcing the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association endorsement. “It makes me extremely proud that the men and women on the front lines against crime and terror are standing with me.”
Alongside dozens of Vallone volunteers and police, PBA President Pat Lynch praised Vallone, saying the legislator who is running against former Democratic Councilwoman Melinda Katz has “stood with [the police] at time when even his colleagues were against him,” in reference to the Council’s recent vote to support the Community Safety Act. The CSA, which Vallone opposed, is two bills that create an NYPD inspector general and allow individuals to sue for changes to the police department over perceived racial profiling by cops.
Lynch, a Bayside resident, said his union – which has 22,000 members – has long been a fan of Vallone, who has served as chairman of the Council’s Public Safety Committee since 2002, though they interviewed a number of the candidates in the once-crowded borough president race before announcing their support for the Astoria councilman. The legislator had, until last week, also been up against state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) to lead the borough, but Avella announced he was dropping out of the race last Wednesday.
As for what kind of help this could give to Vallone’s campaign, the union’s president noted that of his 22,000 members, about 60 percent live in the city – with a large number residing in Queens because of the borough’s “affordability.”
Lynch also said Vallone would continue to fight for more police on the streets.
“Our number one issue is staffing,” Lynch said, adding that the numbers of police have dwindled from about 41,000 when Bloomberg took office to around 35,000 now.
“Right now our Queens precincts are impacted worse than anywhere else,” Vallone said of the decrease in police. “Because we have the best precincts – those with the least amount of crime – they take cops from our precincts and put them somewhere else, especially during special events. We deserve our police right here in Queens.
“You don’t see the beat cop, the bike cop anymore, and we need to see that,” he continued. “Criminals needs to see that.”
With the PBA’s backing, Vallone has now secured endorsements from all the major law enforcement unions, including the Sergeants Benevolence Association, NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association, NYPD Captains Endowment Association, and the city Detectives’ Endowment Association, among others.
Katz too has landed extensive support from unions, including SEIU 32BJ – which represents more than 50,000 property workers in New York, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, the Mason Tenders District Council, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, and the Operating Engineers Local 30, among others.
-By Anna Gustafson
