Caption Eric Adams

Where in the world's borough is Jenifer Rajkumar?

QNS 

 Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar firmly addressed a member of Community Board 9 last week at their monthly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 15, responding to critical comments regarding her alleged lack of presence in the district and her frequent appearances alongside Mayor Eric Adams.

The community board member Victor Starsky, rebuked by Assemblywoman Rajkumar, initially voiced his concerns to Rajkumar’s chief of staff during the 102nd Precinct Community Council Meeting earlier this month.

While Starsky admitted to having been particularly forthright with the staffer during the community council meeting, he also represented the wider concerns of a few others in raising questions about Rajkumar’s involvement and presence in the community.

Starsky asked a series of questions to the legislator’s staffer that placed the Assemblywoman’s recent actions under question and caused Rajkumar to go on the defensive.

“Is Jenifer still on the Mayor’s payroll?” Starsky first asked Rajkumar’s Chief of Staff.

Rajkumar’s Chief of Staff refuted Starsky’s sentiments, clarifying the Assemblywoman has never been on the Mayor’s payroll and further explaining the Mayor is a political ally to Rajkumar.

Shortly thereafter, Starsky went on to further explain that his upset with the legislator comes from wanting her further involved and seen in the community — a point he brought up again at the community board meeting.

“The point that I’m bringing up is, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” Starsky asked. “She’s in Staten Island. She’s in the Bronx. She’s with the Rats Czar. She’s with the Mayor, she’s with the Mayor, she’s with the Mayor. She should be in our community, here.”

Starsky’s reference to ‘Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?’ is meant to compare Rajkumar to the fictional character of Carmen Sandiego who, in the game, tv show, and book series, is a spy dressed in red that is chased across the world.

Rajkumar had this to say about Starsky’s questioning:

“I love town halls where I can hear from all people. I applaud Mr. Starsky for expressing himself freely. That is what makes us the greatest democracy in the world. Mr. Starsky is right: I am everywhere, just like Carmen Sandiego. There is a reason I won my seat by the largest margin of any challenger in the entire state,” Rajkumar shared in a statement to QNS. “I have used my reach across the city and state to bring the people of my district the resources they need. I serve my constituents 24/7 because it is my passion. I am proud to have brought unprecedented energy to my district. This is just kind of energetic and effective leadership the people of my district deserve.”

During the board meeting, Rajkumar shut down Starsky whenever he tried to speak during her designated time slot, standing up for her staff and citing the ample time he had used with her chief of staff in their last conversation.

Rajkumar reminded Starsky that her victory in nabbing the Assembly seat came at one of the highest voter turnouts in the district and her connection with the Mayor helps brings resources to her district.

“I think that the way you’re spinning this is not correct,” Rajkumar told Starsky. “I think that I love my job. As you know, I work at this 24/7. And that’s the energy that an elected official should have. You want a real leader here.”

Jeni from the block holds fundraiser in Manhattan with the Mayor

 

 City And State

Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar threw a fundraiser at midtown Manhattan’s Hunt & Fish Club last night, asking attendants to donate $3,000 for a night of open bar, food and access to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Aside from the mayor’s appearance and remarks, the event at the Times Square venue drew other well-known Rajkumar supporters, including Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City. “Jenifer is very thoughtful. She’s very consultative. She represents a very diverse community and does it in a way that’s very balanced, where she pays attention to the concerns of business, residents and puts that all together. Jenifer is a terrific asset in the Assembly.”

Rajkumar, in her signature red dress, struck a pose as she addressed a crowd of supporters at the exclusive Midtown club. She credited Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech for inspiring her commitment to making a difference as a politician.

“I’m going to change it,” she said of the Roosevelt speech from 1910. “I’m going to change it and I’m going to call it, ‘The Woman in the Arena.’ And it is not the critics that count. Not the man who points out how the strong woman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. It belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena.”

Adams also spoke, throwing his support behind the candidate who made history as the first Indian American woman elected to state office. Rajkumar appeared on stage with Adams and proclaimed herself the first politician out of Queens to endorse the mayor for his 2025 reelection bid.

The mayor posed for several photos with supporters, asking at one point to make sure Rajkumar was included. He left shortly after the pair made remarks on stage, giving Rajkumar a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. City & State caught up with the mayor as he got into his Chevy Suburban outside on West 44th Street, a commercial strip known for its busy nightlife scene. The mayor was asked about his thoughts after Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address on Tuesday, a speech that hinted at little progress in solving the migrant crisis and other issues impacting the city.

“Without a doubt. I’ve been talking cannabis initiatives, I’ve been talking about housing initiatives, I’ve been talking about what we’re going to do about moving forward with so many other agendas, (from) the environment to all those things I’ve been talking about, which is really exciting,” he said as he entered the SUV, a rack of designer and tailored suits visible inside.

 So the governor is still not going to help us with the migrant dystopia. Thanks Kathy Clown.

 

Weeding out the unregistered smoke shops

  

QNS

A new bill sponsored by Queens Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar aims to shut down smoke shops that are illegally selling cannabis in New York City.

Rajkumar’s bill, called the SMOKEOUT Act (A8428), was introduced in Albany last week, and would grant local municipalities the power to close smoke shops caught illegally selling cannabis. Currently, the industry is primarily policed on a state level and enforcement has been limited.

The bill aims to address the public’s concern about the proliferation of illegal smoke shops, which have emerged since cannabis use was legalized in 2021.

“My legislation puts the power back in the hands of the people and municipalities, so that we can stop the sale of unlicensed cannabis that is endangering our children and our neighborhoods,” Rajkumar said.

Rajkumar, a longtime proponent of Mayor Eric Adams, says the bill would provide the Adams administration with the ability to promptly shut down illegal smoke shops in the city. Adams, who supports the bill, said the city would take swift action following Albany’s approval.

Currently, the State Cannabis Control Board, the approval and oversight body of the Office of Cannabis Management, operates as the only state entity responsible for shutting down the thousands of illegal smoke shops in operation.

Rajkumar unveiled her new legislation during a Mayoral town hall in December. Adams, who was in attendance, acknowledged that there was a lack of enforcement, noting that OCM doesn’t have the personnel to get on top of the problem.

Currently, many shops are being issued with fines, but are rarely shut down.

“Right now, the State has the enforcement power and the State does not have the manpower to do the enforcement. And so many of these places are opening and they’re laughing at the fines,” said Adams during the town hall last year. “It’s the price of doing business. They’re making so much money that they’re just opening and continuing to sell to our children.”

A new bill sponsored by Queens Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar aims to shut down smoke shops that are illegally selling cannabis in New York City.

Rajkumar’s bill, called the SMOKEOUT Act (A8428), was introduced in Albany last week, and would grant local municipalities the power to close smoke shops caught illegally selling cannabis. Currently, the industry is primarily policed on a state level and enforcement has been limited.

The bill aims to address the public’s concern about the proliferation of illegal smoke shops, which have emerged since cannabis use was legalized in 2021.

“My legislation puts the power back in the hands of the people and municipalities, so that we can stop the sale of unlicensed cannabis that is endangering our children and our neighborhoods,” Rajkumar said.

Rajkumar, a longtime proponent of Mayor Eric Adams, says the bill would provide the Adams administration with the ability to promptly shut down illegal smoke shops in the city. Adams, who supports the bill, said the city would take swift action following Albany’s approval.

Currently, the State Cannabis Control Board, the approval and oversight body of the Office of Cannabis Management, operates as the only state entity responsible for shutting down the thousands of illegal smoke shops in operation.

Rajkumar unveiled her new legislation during a Mayoral town hall in December. Adams, who was in attendance, acknowledged that there was a lack of enforcement, noting that OCM doesn’t have the personnel to get on top of the problem.

Currently, many shops are being issued with fines, but are rarely shut down.

“Right now, the State has the enforcement power and the State does not have the manpower to do the enforcement. And so many of these places are opening and they’re laughing at the fines,” said Adams during the town hall last year. “It’s the price of doing business. They’re making so much money that they’re just opening and continuing to sell to our children.”

Caption Jenifer and Eddie

 

City aborts migrant tent shelter in Aqueduct (again)

 

 

Adamsville in Aqueduct is kiboshed. https://t.co/GCyyobMnxX

— JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) July 18, 2023

 

 

So it turns out that Mayor Adams and his "team" considered using Aqueduct's parking lot for tent shelters before and decided to try again for some reason. It sure looks like this was a stunt pulled to make the civics look like a bunch of intolerant xenophobic racist NIMBY's. But that's hard to do when the officials and civic leaders against this plan and the president's and the city's failing policies on the migrant crisis have this much racial diversity.

Assemblywoman's bill calls for environmental security blankets on cargo waste trains

  

QNS

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar alongside state Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. celebrated the passage of a bill that would require freight trains carrying waste to cover their cargo at the New York and Atlantic Railway location on 68-01 Otto Road in Glendale. 

The assemblywoman held the event on Friday, June 23, with other local leaders as well as Mary Parisen Lavelle, chair of Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions (CURES) to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the bill (A4928/S2022) into law. 

Our legislation takes a major step towards overseeing waste by the rail industry, which has expanded for 15 years,” Rajkumar said. “As the waste by rail industry booms, expanding by 35% every year, it is time to take action to protect the health of the people of New York and our precious environment.”

Rajkumar’s office also fought to pass the bill in the legislature for seven years and those who’ve advocated for long-term action say they’ve been waiting for a lot longer. 

“It is with our deepest gratitude that we express our appreciation to both Assemblywoman Rajkumar and Senator Addabbo on their monumental accomplishment in getting state legislation passed to containerize waste on rail cars,” Lavelle said. “The victory we’re celebrating today belongs to them, it belongs to the residents, the civics, and Community Board Five. CURES has been working for the past 14 years to end this needless pollution in our neighborhoods, and in all neighborhoods, where this waste travels.”

Residents who live along the railway described the foul odors and general concern over the substances they were being exposed to by the uncovered waste freight.

The Queensway has just been approved

 

NY1

Mayor Eric Adams on Friday unveiled an investment of $35 million to begin phase one of QueensWay, a new linear park planned for Queens.

The funding includes $2.5 million from the City Council, a press release said. 

“We are moving from a city of no to a city of yes and QueensWay is the way we are going to go throughout this entire city,” Adams said at news conference in Forest Hills. “And ensure that open space, green ways, good clean environments for children and families will continue to grow in this city.”   

The first phase of the project will help transform a section of an abandoned Long Island Rail Road line in Forest Hills, known as the Met Hub, into a five-acre park.

Once complete, the 47-acre QueensWay will provide the 2.4 million residents living in the borough with a new open space that will give them access to recreational amenities, outdoor educational programs and an alternative transportation to schools, businesses, and 10 bus lines, the release said. 

“QueensWay improves quality of life, improves the air quality and it promotes both physical and mental well-being and it gives more visibility to businesses along the route,” Adams said. “And so this is an economic stimulus as well.” 

But some residents were hoping get more transit options.

Last month, state, local and federal officials signed onto a letter calling for Adams and Gov. Hochul environmental impact study on the prospect of a subway line being extended into the area.

“QueensWay improves quality of life, improves the air quality and it promotes both physical and mental well-being and it gives more visibility to businesses along the route,” Adams said. “And so this is an economic stimulus as well.” 

 The gaslighting by every elected official at this announcement about the lack of park space and how it's a transit desert is mind blowing. Forest Park is by there and spans 4 neighborhoods. Numerous bus lines go around there. This also throws any plan to restore the rail transit line in the garbage.

And here's another thing. Why are two members from Transportation Alternatives there? That's Peter Beadle on the left who was at that hilarious parody protest against Jenifer Rajkumar by the rail line last year and fellow bike zealot and shameless anti-car fascist Juan Restrepo. Does that "non"-profit "public streets advocacy" organization have a government office we are not aware of? Their presence is also heinous because their Queens chairman Jim Burke recently defamed a community group led by a gay man as homophobes and racists with absolutely no evidence with the help of one of their fellow elected officials in City Council!

It's astounding how this plan just materialized from thin air after Adams made budget cuts to every municipality only a few days ago and city council found money to fund this fantastical project. This isn't the city of yes like Swagger Adams says, this is the twilight zone.

Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar addresses racial hate assault on city bus

 

NY Daily News 

A white woman riding a Queens MTA bus was bashed in the head during a confrontation with three Black passengers who told her they “hate white people,” police sources Thursday.

The incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.

The 57-year-old victim was riding a Q53 bus in Woodhaven when she got into an argument with three Black women or girls about 6:50 p.m. Saturday.

As the exchange heated up, one of the women hit the victim over the head with a blunt object, leaving her bleeding from the head, police said.

“I hate white people...the way they talk,” the victim recalled her attackers saying, police sources said.

The assailants rushed off the bus at Woodhaven Blvd. and Jamaica Ave.. They ran off and have not been caught.

D.O.T. commissioner plans to solve accidents on Cooper Ave with bike lanes after double hit and run

  

QNS

After a gruesome video showed a pedestrian being struck and run over by two cars, local elected officials and community activists gathered at that street corner in Glendale to call for better safety measures on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

On the corner of Cypress Avenue and Cooper Avenue Saturday, Feb. 12, at around 6:30 p.m., disturbing footage captured a 57-year-old man being struck by one car and falling to the ground as another car slowly runs him over. Last Monday, the video was uploaded to Twitter and has already gotten over 625,000 views. 

The man was found in the street in a pool of blood when he was transported to Jamaica Hospital; he is alive. According to police, a 40-year-old male initially struck the pedestrian while making a left turn from Cooper Avenue. The only action taken thus far has been a failure to yield issued to the driver of the first vehicle. 

Council member Robert Holden, who called the press conference Tuesday, said that the most dangerous aspect of his community is crosswalks. 

“That’s the most danger to life and limb in this precinct,” Holden said. “This is an area that needs attention. You don’t have to be here that long to realize this is a problem corner. There’s lawlessness that we need to correct, coupled with NYPD enforcement. It’s so important to get the necessary safety improvements right here and the rest of New York.”

Assemblywoman's domestic workers rights and benefits bills gets passed

  

QNS

Two landmark bills introduced by state Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar to expand benefits and protections for hundreds of thousands of domestic workers in New York state were recently signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

“With a new year comes a new era of dignity and respect for our domestic workers. They are a cornerstone of our economy and our society,” Rajkumar said. “By caring for our children, our aging parents and our loved ones with disabilities, they allow so many of us the flexibility to pursue careers. Domestic workers deserve the same freedom from discrimination and harassment afforded anyone at an office desk. Now, for the first time, our state’s Human Rights Law will provide them the same rights and protections as other workers. Domestic workers, overwhelmingly women of color and immigrant women, will now be treated with dignity and respect.” 

Rajkumar’s first bill, A8007, writes domestic workers into the Human Rights Law of New York State. Domestic workers will now be protected from workplace harassment and discrimination just like other workers. Before now, the New York State Human Rights Law excluded domestic workers from almost all its protections. 

Rajkumar’s second bill, A6077A, extends paid family leave benefits to domestic workers. Domestic workers who work at least 20 hours per week will now be entitled to paid family leave and temporary disability insurance. Previously, they needed to work at least 40 hours, despite a 20-hour minimum applying to all other industries.

“Just as domestic workers provide care for us, we must provide them the paid leave they need if they or their loved ones are sick,” Rajkumar said. 

Rajkumar’s bills extend vitally needed benefits and safeguards to a workforce that has historically been overlooked and under-protected. 

Domestic work is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, with over 300,000 domestic workers and 2.7 million households relying on them in New York state alone, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Working informally and behind closed doors, domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation, harassment and discrimination. 

This vulnerability disproportionately affects immigrant women and women of color, who overwhelmingly make up the domestic workforce. In New York state, 93% of domestic workers are women, 69% are immigrants, and 30% are African American.

RTU calls out Assembly member for tenant relief.

Congratulations to @JeniferRajkumar for being selected to @ericadamsfornyc’s transition.

But we would like to know: will you respond to our request for a meeting to discuss the importance of good cause eviction legislation? https://t.co/73OvYRdbhQ pic.twitter.com/5mE0f6xT1L

— Ridgewood Tenants Union (@RidgewdTenantsU) December 7, 2021

Jenifer's parking plan controversy gets some clarity, again

 

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar walked through Woodhaven with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia last week to discuss adding parking spots to the area, sparking a heated debate about the proposal. 

Rajkumar said that a lack of parking has been a long-standing issue in Woodhaven, claiming some of her constituents even sleep in their cars waiting for a spot.

The proposed initiative would add angled parking on 98th Street between Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South, turn the median striping on the Woodhaven Boulevard Service Road into parking spots and slim down the bus lane on Woodhaven Boulevard to add more spots. Rajkumar also proposed turning a private vacant lot outside of the Forest Park Co-Operative on 98th Street into a parking space.

There has been contention over the proposed parking on 98th Street near the co-op, which is right next to Forest Park. 

The confusion erupted after Rajkumar released a statement saying she would advocate to “convert” the “vacant park space” on the “corner of 98th Street and Park Lane South” into a parking lot. However, the assemblywoman has walked back on that statement, saying she never intended to take away any green space for parking.

That proposal to convert a “vacant park space” is for a gravel lot across the street from Forest Park on 98th Street.

Before the assemblywoman clarified her mistake, people took to Twitter angrily responding to her plan.

“Leave 98th Street and Park Lane South alone,” a Twitter user wrote. “I’m a Woodhaven resident, and I will never support converting public space to parking.”

All of the confusion stemming from the original statement even resulted in a protest outside of Rajkumar’s Woodhaven office on Sunday, Sept. 5. 

Rajkumar’s chief of staff clarified that statement and said none of her proposals include taking over any green spaces. 

“To be abundantly clear, Rajkumar never at any time proposed a parking lot inside Forest Park,” said Rajkumar’s chief of staff Vjola Isufaj. “Facts matter. That kind of outrageous sensationalism based on wrong facts and lies may be fun on Twitter, but it’s not truthful and isn’t helping anyone in our district.”

 

 

 

 

Queens Chronicle

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar needs to learn to admit when she’s wrong and just move on. Instead, she’s led us and her constituents down a rabbit hole of confusion this week, one so weird and in denial of reality that seeing Alice in Wonderland joining a tea party at the Forest Park Co-op in Woodhaven would not be the strangest thing.

As with so much in Queens, the root of the problem is parking. Rajkumar, to her credit, wants to get more for residents of the co-op. She’s proposed, for one thing, some diagonal parking on 98th Street where it runs through the complex just north of Park Lane South. If there’s room, that’d be great. But she also proposed, bizarrely, creating parking in “the vacant park space at the corner of 98th and Park Lane South.”

The “vacant park space” at that corner is a part of Forest Park designated as Forever Wild by the city Parks Department. It must remain so, for the benefit of all (think drainage in a storm!). It’s also on a hill, next to an old railroad. Turning any of it into parking would be an engineering nightmare, if not impossible.

When this was pointed out to Rajkumar — and when a mix of environmentalists and her political opponents protested — her office went silent. Then, as the Chronicle pressed the issue, things got weird. A staffer claimed Rajkumar had never proposed parking at that corner. But she did, in writing, on the internet, in public. Eventually the assemblywoman sent us an email her office previously had sent the Department of Transportation claiming that she “never at any time supported such a plan.” Really? She proposed it.

Then the office shifted to claiming that she really had been talking about a “vacant plot of gravel,” with the assemblywoman herself explaining that it was not at 98th and Park Lane South but on 98th off Park Lane South. She’s apparently talking about an asphalt (not gravel) seating area in the co-op complex. It doesn’t look like it would fit many cars, but if that’s what the residents there want, OK; it’s not precious parkland. (But,but trees...-JQ)

Meanwhile, Rajkumar denies any mistakes at all, telling us that “all of the releases and plans that I have sent out were perfectly correct.” Nope. Why claim something so obviously false? Just admit the error. Otherwise it’s tea time with Alice at the co-ops.

Cute analogy, but all those charlatans still showed up and held a fake protest in front of the abandoned Rockaway Rail Line train station. And despite the "forever wild" designation, it's been a transit graveyard for 60 years. It's also not parkland. Plus Rajkumar's chief of staff sent a post clarifying the parking proposal. These actorvists chose to be confused.

You know Alice could have decided not to follow the bunny. But then there wouldn't be a story...

DSA protests Rajkumar's non-existent plan to destroy Forest Park

Queens friends, this is TOMORROW! Join AD38 comrades outside her office at noon tomorrow to protest Rajkumar’s plan to use “vacant park space” (????) for a parking lot in Forest Park. pic.twitter.com/Z3ccCM8SV2

— katelin says homes aren't commodities (she/they) (@loud_socialist) September 4, 2021

Oh my! What's this about? The assembly member wants to bulldoze part of Forest Park for a parking lot?! Really?

Hmmm. Sounds a bit suspect. I mean it would require a ULURP, change to the City Map, environmental review, etc, etc, none of which an assembly member would have any control over. And that photo is of a gate that is not inside Forest Park. This is a bit of a mess. So where did the SJWs get the idea that trees would be chopped in Forest Park?

I will be meeting Monday morning with Queens DOT Commissioner Nicole Garcia on the lack of parking in Woodhaven. I have developed a plan to open more parking spaces. I look forward to a productive meeting with the Commissioner.👇 pic.twitter.com/CJuII1wsNB

— Jenifer Rajkumar (@JeniferRajkumar) August 28, 2021

In Jen's original press release, she says she wants to "convert to parking the vacant park space at 98th Street and Park Lane South." So rather than asking for clarification on what space she was referring to, the woke went straight to cancel mode, started a nasty Twitter campaign and organized a protest. The assembly woman's office responded thusly:

Now there's nothing more delicious than a politician being caught in their own lies, but it doesn't appear that is the case here, just a matter of miscommunication/misinterpretation, something that could have been cleared up with a quick phone call. Because, indeed, there is a gravel lot or "unused park space" in this location:

If the Co-Op wants to convert its unused "park" space to parking, who the hell cares? DSA does because 1) Cars are "evil." 2) This isn't about protecting Forest Park. They stupidly ran a poet against Mike Miller and Jen won instead. Now they want her out and by any means necessary. Hence the fake "save the park" protest on Labor Day weekend. They're mostly white people from outside the district and they are organizing a hate campaign against a woman of color who beat out a white man. Not a good look!

These urbanish "comrades" should be glad that those trees might end up as wood for all those curb shanties that make it harder to park those evil cars they hate so much-JQ LLC

We rallied to protect the park from being converted into a parking lot. 📷: @aaronnarraph pic.twitter.com/E99d0S1ICC

— Maud Newton (@maudnewton) September 5, 2021

Headline: "White people with nothing better to do on Labor Day weekend protest make believe paving of Forest Park at a location that isn't Forest Park" (It's the Rockaway rail line.)

Assemblywoman doesn't do her homework

 

Queens Ledger

 On December 10th, 2020, a six-alarm fire ripped through six buildings at 109-25 Jamaica Ave. in Richmond Hill, destroying the homes and possessions of 12 families right before Christmas.

To help the 50 victims of the fire who were left homeless, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, representative of Assembly District 38, coordinated donation efforts along with Community Board 9 leaders, the Richmond Hill - South Ozone Park Lions Club, the Red Cross, and non-profit leaders and small businesses. 

Rajkumar converted her Woodhaven based office into a donation site, and donors quickly filled four rooms with food, clothes, and gift cards for the victims.

Among the donors was the Zara Realty Charitable Foundation and the George Subraj Family Foundation, two philanthropic organizations who continuously support their local community in various ways. Together, the organizations purchased and donated 13 laptops to the children of the affected families. 

With remote learning required during the pandemic, this donation will ensure they do not fall behind in their schoolwork. 

"Our team is proud to partner with Zara Realty Charitable Foundation and provide the students with the necessary technological tools for their education," said Rajkumar. 

“We are working every day to help the community through the pandemic. This work includes ensuring that education is not interrupted,” she said. “These Chromebooks will ensure that these children can continue to learn through remote learning.

“When we saw this fire tear through our community, we knew we needed to step up and help those who were impacted, including children who need to continue to complete their school work remotely,” said Tony Subraj, co-managing partner at Zara. “Residents of these buildings are lucky to have a representative as dedicated and hard-working on their behalf as Assemblywoman Rajkumar. We were happy to work with her to ensure that these families have access to the help they need.”

So Zara Realty is in the "philanthopy" game now after building a legacy of recidivist tenant harassment. It wasn't that long ago when they were charged for swindling tenants at one of their apartment buildings with onerous fees and charges in order to circumvent rent stabilization laws and when they threatened immigrant tenants by placing DHS placards in the hallway of another apartment building at the height of President Trump's ICE crackdowns to scare them into moving out of their rent control apartments.

Ready on the left

Queens Chronicle

Absentee counts are proving a repeat of the blue progressive wave of 2018.

As of Wednesday night, the absentee ballot count yielded several more victories for insurgent Democratic primary candidates for Assembly across western and southern Queens.

Progressive challengers Jenifer Rajkumar, Jessica González-Rojas and Zohran Mamdani each claimed victory over incumbents, based on unofficial counts. The outlier to the trend is senior Assemblymember Jeff Aubry (D-Corona), who was able to expand his lead over challenger Hiram Monserrate in the aftermath of election day.

The next step is for the Board of Elections to certify the results. The general election is Nov. 3.

Rajkumar, an Indian-American lawyer from Woodhaven, came out with 3,624 votes to Assemblyman Mike Miller’s (D-Woodhaven) 1,469 total.

Rajkumar’s apparent win in Assembly District 38, which stretches over Woodhaven, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Glendale, would make her the first South Asian woman to be elected to the state Legislature. She noted that her campaign came out on top in every single election district, and that she won by the largest margin of any Assembly candidate in the election cycle.

“Our campaign had been able to achieve the near impossible by winning with a margin of 27 percentage points during a global pandemic. When the people of South Queens needed a leader, our office was the first to show up, setting up a 24/7 Coronavirus response team that operates in seven languages,” said Rajkumar. “As President John F. Kennedy once said: ‘The life of service is a constant test of your will.’”