Councilman Eric Ulrich and Democratic candidate Lew Simon are running to represent the 32nd Council District.
With less than a week until the general election, candidates throughout the borough have been working overtime in efforts to reach voters.
And, in Council District 32, which includes Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Broad Channel, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, and the Rockaways, the race will seem an instant replay of 2009 when Lew Simon, who has won the Democratic nomination, first squared off against Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), who first won his seat in a special election and then in the general.
“I’ll be running on my record as a voice for job creation, improving transportation and making sure we help people still struggling with recovering from Hurricane Sandy,” Ulrich said in a phone interview.
Ulrich, whose support includes several city police unions, has focused his efforts on “quality of life” issues within the district, from vandalism to illegal dumping. He also has support from various labor groups due to his backing of paid sick leave and raising the state’s minimum wage.
Simon, a Rockaway Democratic party leader, has focused on a number of local issues, most notably transportation and healthcare, such as the need for more hospitals and hospital beds in southern Queens.
Asked about the controversial reactivation of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line, Simon said he fully supports the project.
“It would be a ‘shot in the arm’ to the district, and would improve the quality of life and get people from Howard Beach to Penn in about 20 minutes and from Ozone Park to Penn Station in only about 18 minutes instead of the current commute which is close to an hour,” Simon said.
That position is in stark contrast to his opponent, who contends that he “doesn’t have a position” on the project due to the unknown costs related to the reactivation.
“I think for me to have a position on the Rockaway Beach Rail Line would be irresponsible since no one seems to know the costs involved,” Ulrich said, while explaining that he supports maintaining the Rockaway Ferry and also adding more express bus service to and from the peninsula.
“I think those are more realistic transportation goals that will help my constituents with transportation,” the legislator continued.
For his part, Simon noted that “it seems that tax dollars always seem to go into Manhattan, to support the Second Avenue Subway project, among others.” In addition to the Rockaway Line reactivation, Simon said he supports an HOV lane from Cross Bay Boulevard straight up to Queens Boulevard.
“The traffic is so impacted for our communities during the peak hours…we need an HOV lane and we also need to turn off some of the traffic cameras that people tend to get caught-in during rush hour and end up getting red-light tickets,” Simon said.
Both candidates have called Hurricane Sandy recovery a priority for the area, which was particularly hard-hit by the superstorm a year ago.
Since the storm, the legislator and his staff have done everything from partnering with the Doe Fund to remove the mounds of debris that littered the roadway between Howard Beach and Broad Channel to helping people receive building permits and streamlining the building process. He and his office are also helping people sign up for the city’s Build It Back program so residents can rebuild their homes – something many have not been able to afford to do.
For Simon, he said that Sandy recovery efforts played a key part in entering this year’s race for District 32.
“My key priorities are rebuilding after Sandy,” Simon said. “Rockaway, Broad Channel, Breezy Point, Howard Beach, Lindenwood and Hamilton Beach were destroyed,” he said, adding that many people are hitting stone walls, fighting with their insurance companies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the city’s Build It Back program, and other federal and state programs.
“People are in hock, maxing out credit cards and even draining retirement funds trying to find the money to rebuild and get their lives back on track,” Simon continued.
Ulrich said that from now until Election Day next week, he will be reaching out to his constituents on what he plans to do in the future.
“I don’t take this race for granted,” said Ulrich, who has also landed endorsements from the United Federation of Teachers, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, and the Small Business Coalition. “I intend to compete for every vote,” he said, noting that he’ll be working double-time to earn the trust of his constituents.
Simon, who said he is all about “personal service,” says he will be working 20 hours per day, going door-to-door, visiting senior centers and making personal phone calls.
“I’ve probably been one of the most visible candidates here in the borough,” he said.
Simon, who has the support of politicians such as U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park), Democratical borough president candidate Melinda Katz, and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, said that “voting for me is a vote for somebody who cares and for somebody who is always accessible.”
Election Day is Nov. 5. To find out more information about voting and where a poll site is located, visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
By Alan Krawitz
