Flanked by legislators, neighborhood leaders and family – including his 96-year-old grandfather – and armed with harsh words for tax increases and fines on small businesses, civic activist Craig Caruana officially launched his campaign for Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s (D-Middle Village) seat representing Council District 30 on Monday.
Photo Courtesy of Craig Caruana's Office. Craig Caruana (third from left) is flanked by supporters (l to r) Republican District Leader, Margaret Ognibene, Excalibur Reading Program Director Angelica Harris, former Congressman Bob Turner, Republican District Leader Bill Johnert and Councilman Eric Ulrich.
“There’s so much going on in the country that, as just one person, you can fall into the trap of thinking there’s nothing you can do about it – but you can,” Caruana, a Republican, said in an interview following his announcement at the Excalibur Reading Program in Glendale. “The neighborhood is something we can change for the better. Fixing the neighborhood is doable.”
A Middle Village native, Caruana has been mulling a run for the 30th Council District – which covers Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven – for a number of months and ultimately decided to throw his hat in the ring against the Democratic incumbent after being encouraged by a variety of community leaders. Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), former U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Queens, Brooklyn), Excalibur Reading Program Director Angelica Harris, and district leaders Bill Johnert and Margaret Ognibene attended Monday’s launch and praised the 29-year-old candidate, a specialist in national security who now works at a risk management firm and is a board member of the Kiwanis Club of Glendale and the Juniper Park Civic Association. He also is a member of the Knights of Columbus at Resurrection Ascension Parish, writes about neighborhood issues for the Juniper Civic’s magazine, the Juniper Berry, and was recently an information specialist at the Fox News Channel.
A National Security Fellow for the Pax Americana Institute and author of the book “American Power: Still the Best Hope for Peace,” Caruana began his career in the Pentagon as an aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He earned his bachelor’s degree in politics from the Catholic University of America and his Master’s degree in International Affairs from Texas A&M University.
“I know Craig – he’s an honest person with integrity who fights for what he believes in,” Ulrich said. “He is going to be a strong advocate and one that’s needed in times like this.”
Turner said Caruana “shows an excellent grasp on the issues and the ability to take on hard work,” and Harris noted the candidate “shares my concerns for the community, especially when it comes to children.”
Caruana cited a number of key platform issues he plans on highlighting during his campaign – which includes efforts to meet residents by going door-to-door and at meetings of civic organizations and other area groups – including property taxes, water rate increases, support for small businesses, discretionary spending, and hospitals.
“The cost of living in Queens continually goes up,” Caruana said. “Property taxes have gone up 11 times in 10 years. Ten years ago, you looked at paying less than 12 percent of your assessed rate in property taxes – now it’s over 19 percent. Water rates have increased over 7 percent every year since 1999… These are things that affect our residents directly.”
The Republican candidate said he would look to bring relief to small businesses in the district, which he said have been vigorously, and unfairly, targeted by the city and have been issued so many tickets that it essentially amounts to another tax for the owners.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a Democratic mayoral candidate, issued a report in February, in which he said fines levied on small businesses “are a $50 million hidden tax.” The report, titled “Borough Bias: How the Bloomberg Administration Drains Outer Borough Businesses,” reported that, for example, Queens businesses pay 4 percent more Consumer Affairs fines on average than those in Manhattan.
The candidate also attacked Crowley on discretionary spending, saying he would look to increase funding for the district. Crowley lost nearly $300,000 in discretionary spending funding in the budget passed last June, receiving about $380,000 – a decrease some have attributed to the councilwoman’s run for Congress against now U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), the Democratic party favorite, which has been said to have angered Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).
Crowley herself has said the strained relations between her office and the speaker’s has resulted in a decrease in funding for her district and called Quinn “brazenly vindictive” in a March 28 New York Times article. In the same article, Crowley said Quinn, the Democratic front-runner in the mayoral race, cut financing for youth programs and senior centers in the district in 2010 after her office did not credit Quinn in a press release about local firehouses during budget negotiations.
“One main reason I decided to run is because people in general were unsatisfied with Councilmember Crowley,” Caruana said on Monday. “They would go to her with a problem, and they got nowhere. There are citywide issues that the councilmember doesn’t like to talk about – property taxes, water rate increases, small business regulations – fines on small businesses have increased dramatically since 2002.”
Crowley defended her record in a previous 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,” she said. “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.”
Caruana also said he would focus on increasing residents’ access to health care in Queens, stressing that four hospitals have closed in Queens in the past five years – Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills in 2008, Elmhurst’s St. John’s Hospital in 2009, Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica in 2012, and Far Rockaway’s Peninsula Hospital in 2012.
By Anna Gustafson
