By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com 

A new outdoor dining structure for Mojitos Restaurant Bar in Jackson Heights. Credit: Celia Bernhardt

Thanks to $2 million in federal funding secured by Congresswoman Grace Meng, 60 restaurants in Queens are getting an outdoor dining makeover to bring them into compliance with new city rules. 

The Congresswoman celebrated the funding at a press conference with other local representatives and officials from the Adams administration in front of Mojitos Restaurant Bar in Jackson Heights, one of the establishments to receive the funding. 

“I believe that we must provide our restaurants with the tools that they need to succeed, and that’s why I’m thrilled to have fought for and secured this vital funding totaling $2 million,” Meng said to the crowd. “These free dining setups will help dozens of restaurants in my congressional district here in Queens grow and thrive, and just in time for summer.”

The event was also an opportunity for officials from the Adams administration to show off a real-life example of the kind outdoor dining structures they hope businesses will adopt as they crack down on the sheds that were built during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“For the city of New York, we are going to take over from Paris and become the global destination for outdoor dining because of this.” Small Business Services commissioner Kevin Kim said. 

The outdoor dining sheds that popped up throughout the city during the COVID-19 pandemic have been a subject of hot debate. Some call them “eyesores,” arguing that they attract rats and aren’t worth the lost parking; others emphasize that they have served as an economic boost to restaurants and are a positive example of street space being used for dining and socializing.

The city released a final set of rules for a permanent, standardized outdoor dining program in February. Among those rules: the structures must be completely open-air and include a drainage system; they must close down by midnight and cannot take up metered parking spots (but can use loading zones); and they can only stand between April and November. Restaurant owners must put them in storage during the winter months. 

Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi told the crowd that the structure set up for Mojitos and other establishments included water-filled barriers in order to ward away rats.

“This is a real advancement. Don’t sleep on this detail. The other ones were soil-filled. So, you know who likes to live in soil? They don’t like to live in water, so it makes a big difference in terms of hygiene and making sure that these are sanitary,” Joshi said. 

Though Mojitos and other restaurants in Meng’s district may be lucky to receive the assistance, most restaurant owners will have to pay their own way to implement the changes. A spokesperson for SBS said that restaurant owners would likely need to spend about as much on the new structures as they did to set up their original sheds, as the city aims to make them comparable in cost. 

“The Dining Out NYC website is a marketplace that has a whole list of different kinds of setups,” SBS representative Joseph Jordan said. “Some cheaper, some are more expensive.”

“In general we’re saying $15,000 to $25,000 that these business owners are getting in benefit by having a setup like this,” another representative for the agency said. 

When asked whether she was concerned for other restaurants throughout the city that might not get the same support as the 60 she sponsored in her district, Meng said her “solution is not necessarily a long term one.” 

“It was just a way to get these kits for free for my restaurants. Obviously, I wish I could leave a magic wand and the city could provide them for free for all the restaurants,” Meng said. 

Restaurant owners must apply online by August 3 to participate in the city’s outdoor dining program — otherwise, they forfeit their outdoor spaces entirely.

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

Carmona and Valdez. Both photos courtesy of Celia Bernhardt

A three-candidate race for the 37th assembly district is nearing the finish line.

Embattled incumbent Juan Ardilla faces two strong challengers: Claire Valdez, a DSA-backed union organizer, and Johanna Carmona, a special victims lawyer endorsed by the Queens Democratic party. Carmona has raised a total of $156,259.48 since November (when she was already discussing a bid for office, the Queens Eagle reported) plus $89,147 in matching funds. Valdez has raised $131,344 since launching her campaign in August, with $142,333 in matching funds. Ardila, meanwhile, has raised a total of only $24,957 since the last general election. The assemblymember was publicly accused of sexual assault in March of 2023 — which he later denied — and became something of a political pariah in the aftermath.  

Ardilla is not without local support, but his activity this election cycle has been extremely muted. The assemblymember has only reported $3,161 in campaign expenditures since the start of 2024 — compare that with $143,575 from Valdez and $150,290 from Carmona over the same time period. The representative was a no-show for two different candidate debates; the first hosted by the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association, and the second by the Western Queens Independent Democratic Club. Editors from the Queens Eagle and Queens Chronicle moderated the second debate, and said that Ardila had been invited to the event. Ardila did not respond to multiple requests for an interview from the Queens Ledger. 

Valdez began her campaign over four months earlier than Carmona’s official launch. She has a strong ground game; the DSA pours its volunteer-based canvassing resources into candidates running their first campaigns. In addition to the DSA and Working Families Party, Valdez has racked up endorsements from Congresswoman Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, State Senator Mike Genaris, Comptroller Brad Lander, Planned Parenthood, UAW Region 9a and three other unions, and myriad progressive organizations and representatives.  

Carmona, for her part, has the advantage of a compelling narrative about her roots in the district, an official endorsement from the Queens Democratic Party and support from much of its establishment. She also has financial support from Solidarity PAC — a pro-Israel group with significant real estate ties spending against DSA candidates in New York’s Democratic primaries. New York Focus reported that at least 41% of Carmona’s fundraising, since launching her campaign and through May 20, came through the PAC. 

Carmona has locked in endorsements from Eleanor’s Legacy, New York League of Conservation Voters, over 20 unions, Queens politicians like Congressman Gregory Meeks, Borough President Donovan Richards, and more. 

Valdez, who hails from Texas, is a political newcomer. She came to New York to work in the art world nine years ago and has lived in Ridgewood for five years. In her first few years in the city, Valdez said, she worked “all kinds of odd jobs, and often two or three at the same time, just to make rent.” She found increased stability working as a program assistant for Columbia University’s visual arts department, where she threw herself into labor organizing with UAW Local 2110. She highlights her experience with the union as catalyzing her political ambitions.

“I’m running for office because my union changed my life,” Valdez said in an April interview with the Queens Ledger. “You realize how much power you have as a working person when you stand together with your co-workers, and that’s a feeling like I want every single New Yorker to have. I want everyone to feel like they have a seat at the table. Once you have that sense of empowerment, you really take that out with you not just into your workplace but into your neighborhood, your city, and to your state. So I’m running to bring that kind of shop floor energy and organizing to Albany.”

This is not Carmona’s first time running for the seat; she ran against Ardila in 2022 as the handpicked successor of retiring 38-year Assemblymember Cathy Nolan. A Sunnyside native, Carmona has worked her way through the Queens politics and law world for years. She served as a Hispanic community liaison for Nolan before working as a special victims prosecuter in Brooklyn, a private attorney in Queens, and then a court attorney in Queens County Civil Court; currently, she works as Legislative Administrative Manager for Speaker Adrienne Adams. Carmona frequently cites her experience growing up in the Sunnyside community — and receiving support from her neighbors when tragedy struck — as her inspiration to work as a public servant. Her mother suffered a severe stroke when Carmona was three years old, and to this day requires 24-hour care. 

“It took a big toll on our family financially, but it was people in the community that really stepped up for us — meaning, like, babysitters, but also teaching my dad how to cook, and different programs that my family benefited from.” Carmona said in an April interview with the Queens Ledger. “It was Sunnyside Community Services that actually set up my mom’s health care.”

“The love that I’ve been receiving from the people here has been very humbling, but also heart-filling just because it’s like, they believed in me as such a young kid, and they still believe in me, even as an attorney, as an adult,” Carmona later added. 

Carmona has critiqued Valdez for having a relatively new relationship with the district. 

“Being present here is really what differentiates us. For example, in the 34 years that I’ve lived here, I only met Claire once,” Carmona said, describing a brief interaction amidst a donation drive that she helped organize in the aftermath of December’s Sunnyside apartment building fire. “It was for a brief moment where she dropped off two detergents, and that was the first time. This is not someone that is from the community.”

Valdez doesn’t pretended to be a Queens native; she argues that her devotion to the district is strong nonetheless, and informs the progressive policies she wants to push for. 

“I moved to New York for a job opportunity, and was really excited to work in the arts. And, you know, that’s why so many people come to New York — they are seeking a better life and community,” Valdez said. “When I moved to Ridgewood, it immediately felt like my home in a way that no other place I’ve lived has. When you find your home, and you feel like you’ve really made a connection to a community, you’re ready to fight for it.”

One of Valdez’s most frequent critiques of Carmona, meanwhile, is her acceptance of funds from real estate and charter school PACs in her previous run for office in 2022, as well as from Solidarity PAC’s deep-pocketed donors in this election cycle. 

At the Western Queens Independent Democratic Club, both candidates were asked by a moderator — who acknowledged that Carmona has faced criticism from Valdez on the issue — about the role of money in the election. Carmona defended her fundraising practices. 

“These campaigns cost between $150,000 and $200,000,” Carmona said. “Taking this money is the only way I can run a very good campaign but also get my message heard. In no way shape or form am I bought or in anyone’s pocket.”

Carmona, pointing out her father in the audience, added, “I cannot sell out a community that has taken care of me this much.” 

Valdez shot back, arguing that the funds Carmona accepted could compromise her policymaking. 

“This is not about virtue signaling, it’s not about purity — it’s about power. It’s about being able to go to negotiate housing and not have a REBNY check hanging over your head. It’s about being able to fight for public school education funding and not have charter school money hanging over your head. This is about funding a different kind of a political vision for what Queens can be,” Valdez said.

On June 25, the primary will come to a close. You can find your local polling site here.

Editor’s Note: A different version of this article was published in print on June 20, 2024. 

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

Solidarity PAC — the first pro-Israel PAC to specifically focus on New York’s state-level elections — describes itself as aiming to counter the growing influence of the Democratic Socialists of America in the Democratic party, arguing that the organization’s anti-Zionist views are fundamentally antisemitic. In an April interview with the Queens Ledger, PAC treasurer Sara Forman explained that she views the DSA and their associates as pushing the issue of Israel/Palestine into political spaces where it doesn’t belong, and that her team supports candidates who focus instead on the kitchen-table issues more traditionally associated with state- and local-level politics. 

“The point of doing this is to just demonstrate that you don’t need to inject foreign policy into state and local,” Forman said. “We would prefer, frankly, for state and local lawmakers to not even talk about foreign policy. There are so many things that they could be worried about here in New York that they could meaningfully do work on.”

The PAC’s initial slate of nine candidates are more or less what you might expect from this description: relatively mainstream liberal Democrats running against progressive candidates, most of whom are endorsed by the DSA (which has frequently asserted that “Palestine is on the ballot” in its candidates elections). They tend to engage less on the issue of Israel/Palestine than their left-leaning opponents do, or maintain a line of moderate- to-liberal wording when they engage with the topic. PAC-endorsed Anathea Simpkins, for example, frequently emphasizes identifying as a pacifist in her statements; in an April interview with the Queens Ledger, Simpkins said “I stand with our Jewish and Palestinians brothers and sisters abroad,” and argued that it was important to “bring people together in an emotional and contentious time to have these difficult conversations.” 

The PAC’s newest endorsement, though, is an outlier: outspoken, conservative, and intensely pro-Israel City Council Member Kalman Yeger, running not against a DSA member but a moderate pro-Israel political newcomer. 

While the race stands out in contrast with the others that Solidarity PAC has become involved in, Yeger’s strong financial ties with real estate are certainly in line with those of the PAC — which counts industry giant Hal Fetner, a member of the influential Real Estate Board of New York, as a top official. 

Yeger, who represents Borough Park and parts of Midwood in the Council and ran on the Democrat, Republican, and Conservative party lines all at once for his most recent bid, is well-connected in the Brooklyn political machine. Now running against Adam Dweck for State Assembly in Brooklyn’s District 41 (including parts of Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, Flatlands, East Flatbush, and Canarsie), Yeger is endorsed by reigning Assembly Member Helene Weinstein, who announced in early March that she would not run again.

There are no DSA, progressive, or by any stretch of the imagination anti-Zionist candidates in Yeger’s race — both he and Dweck are decidedly pro-Israel. The difference is in the degree: Yeger much more frequently posts about the issue online, and his rhetoric has veered right-wing enough to get him in trouble with the City Council. 

In 2019, Yeger was removed from his seat in the Council’s immigration committee after tweeting “Palestine does not exist.” Corey Johnson, then-speaker of the Council and currently a senior advisor at Solidarity PAC’s sister organization New York Solidarity Network, condemned his statements and affirmed his support in removing the councilman from the committee. More recently, Yeger reposted pictures of a protest inside the United Nations building organized by the group Rabbis for Ceasefire — where most participants wore Covid masks — with the comment “Clownmaskers for Hamas.” 

Yeger’s endorsement appears to be a break in Solidarity PAC’s strategy thus far — he is far more outspoken and focused on Israel than his opponent or any of the PAC’s other endorsed candidates. His race is also devoid of the specific challenge that spokespeople for the PAC have described it as addressing: anti-Zionist progressives. 

Yeger is far from the only Solidarity PAC candidate who has taken real estate money; he is in good company among the Democratic party at large, too. But he has been particularly prolific at it in this race. Yeger has shored up nearly $116,000 for his campaign since announcing his run in early March, and at least $13,850 of that comes from real estate PACs. $1,500 specifically is from Real Estate Board PAC: the political expenditure arm of the Real Estate Board of New York, where Fetner is a member. 

Solidarity PAC did not answer questions sent over email about exactly when Yeger was added to their slate of candidates or why he was chosen. 

Multiple outlets have noted Solidarity PAC’s ties with real estate interests including and beyond Fetner’s role in the organization. The PAC is run by officials involved in the pro-Israel 501(c)(4) New York Solidarity Network, which spent in the 2022 elections; Republican lobbyists who have pushed for real estate-friendly policy in the past are high-level officials in both groups. 

When speaking to the Queens Ledger in April, Forman spoke to the process of selecting endorsees, explaining that the PAC had looked for races where DSA “or their like-minded affiliates” ran candidates.

“It was pretty simple for us to reach out to the candidates who were running in opposition of the DSA candidates and say, ‘Hey, you have this DSA opponent, this is what they believe, tell us a little bit more about what you believe,’” Forman said. “Really we were just looking for candidates who support the right [of] the State of Israel to exist and to be part of the world… Also, we were looking for people who condemned the Hamas atrocities of [Oct. 7] and called for the immediate return of the hostages, because that’s really important.” 

“Our criteria is fluid, I would say, at this point,” Forman added. “I don’t believe in rigidity.”

The Bigger Picture 

The addition of Yeger brings the count up to eight Solidarity PAC endorsees running in New York City. In Queens, the PAC is backing Johanna Carmona against AOC-endorsed Claire Valdez and embattled incumbent Juan Ardila in Assembly District 37. In Brooklyn, it set its sights on Simpkins to unseat DSA incumbent Emily Gallagher in Greenpoint’s District 50, and will support incumbent Stefani Zinerman in holding off DSA challenger Eon Huntley in Bedford-Stuyvesent’s District 56. 

Albany might seem like a strange battleground for these issues to play out; state representatives do not typically have much reason to focus on foreign policy. To an extent, though, there are legislative stakes to these primaries: a recent DSA rally for the “Not on Our Dime” bill drew Gallagher, Huntley, and Valdez to the Bronx to show their support. The legislation would give the state attorney general the authority to revoke tax-exempt status and impose fines on nonprofits providing support for Israeli settlements in occupied territories, or other activities deemed illegal under international law.

The bill doesn’t have enough support to pass as of now, remaining highly controversial in the state legislature with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie declaring it a “non-starter.” In Yeger and Dweck’s race, “Not on Our Dime” is off the table either way. But in races where Solidarity PAC is facing off against the DSA, they are indeed facing off against the possibility of one more state legislator who would likely back the bill. 

Such a concrete policy battle about Israel in Albany is the exception rather than the rule, for now. In the majority of these races, candidates cite broader, more abstract reasons for their approach to Israel/Palestine in the state.

Valdez, for example, argues that voters in Western Queens feel strongly committed to Gaza and want their leadership to represent this and raise the profile of the issue. “I think if you’re running to represent a really progressive district, you need to be ready to make moral commitments and take moral stances, and to represent the people you claim to represent,” Valdez said in an April interview with the Queens Ledger. 

Carmona, meanwhile, frames the issue as fundamentally separate from the concerns and wellbeing of her constituents — as a focus that only takes attention away from what’s important to the community. “Frankly, this race is not about Israel or Palestine,” Carmona said to the Queens Ledger in an April interview. “It’s about my community here. And again, as a state legislator, we’re not running for congress or any federal position.” 

Carmona also accused Valdez of “exploiting” the issue for “out-of-town donors” in a statement following criticism from Valdez over her Solidarity PAC endorsement. 

Simpkins, despite being more willing to speak about Israel/Palestine through interviews and statements, has echoed Carmona and Forman’s argument that the issue is ultimately not relevant to state-level politics. 

“I don’t think it has a presence in the work I’m going to be doing in Albany,” Simpkins said. “I need to focus on the kitchen table needs of my constituents, and what affects their day to day lives.”

Gallagher, in an April interview, echoed Valdez’s emphasis on morality for its own sake as part of a representative’s duty when explaining why she finds the issue relevant to her work. 

“It doesn’t have to do with the daily life of my work, but I think it does have to do with the moral life of our tax dollars,” Gallagher said.

Maspeth came out in full force to honor Memorial Day over the weekend!  We took some pictures to commemorate the scene. (All photos courtesy of Celia Bernhardt).

Grand Marshal Len Williams, a Vietnam vet.

Grand Marshal Barbara Pryor, in red, rides in the parade.

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

Paul King speaks in Jamaica.

At a Queens GOP press conference in Jamaica, three candidates delivered speeches focused on the ongoing influx of migrants into New York. About a dozen attendees listened to the candidates outline their platforms on Monday in front of a hotel functioning as a migrant shelter.

The city’s migrant crisis is a hot-button issue this election cycle, and Republicans are betting on it to garner them more votes. Two candidates at the event — Paul King, running for a House seat in the 5th District and Dwayne Moore, running for the 29th Assembly District seat inside the 5th congressional district — look to have very slim chances of winning. Candidate Yiatin Chu, though, who is running for State Senate in District 11, could be a competitive challenger to Democratic incumbent Toby Ann Stavinsky. 

Paul King, a Republican Rockaway resident challenging powerful House Democrat Gregory Meeks for the second cycle in a row, was among the speakers. King lost by a wide margin in 2022, with Meeks taking home 75.1% of the vote. 

In describing his platform, King said he would support reviving the H.R.2 “Secure the Border” Act, the bill at the heart of government shutdown threats in January. H.R.2 would impose sweeping restrictions on the asylum process, denying migrants the option to claim asylum unless the individual Customs and Border Patrol officer that processes them decides that their asylum case is likely to be accepted, and requiring those making an asylum claim to pay a $50 fee. It would also require all employers to verify their employees’ legal status, and resume Trump-era plans for a more extensive border wall. 

King also argued that the asylum process should generally be altered.

“It’s being watered down because we allow it to be used like a magic word. Abracadabra, you come to the border, you say asylum, you get to come in,” King said. “We need to bring back asylum what it’s meant to do: to help people who need protection and give them their day in court quickly, not seven years from now.”

King’s last point touched on international affairs. “The final thing we should do, immediately in early 2025, is give the President, via new laws, more power to go after the coyote cartels in Mexico,” he said to the crowd. 

The notion of direct attacks on Mexican cartels has gained significant ground in the GOP in recent years as the proliferation of fentanyl has worsened. Lawyers say such actions would not be consistent with international law, and some State Department officials have warned of potential bloody backlash on American soil. 

Yiatin Chu

Yiatin Chu, an anti-affirmative action and pro-SHSAT education activist running against  Democrat incumbent Toby Ann Stavinsky for the District 11 State Senate seat, spoke next. Stavinsky, who chairs the Committee on Higher Education, has 25 years in office under her belt. The race could be competitive: while the district re-elected Stavinsky in 2022, which was a bad year for Democrats, it’s been trending steadily more Republican in recent years and has a plurality of Asian voters. 

“Instead of budgeting an additional $2.4 billion dollars, as Albany did in April, for services for illegal migrants, we must defund all programs for illegal immigrants except the cost of a one way bus ticket to leave our state,” Chu said in her speech. 

Chu also expressed her support for Laken’s Law, a bill that would require local and state law enforcement, and some courts, to notify ICE upon the arrest or conviction of an undocumented person. 

Like King, Chu argued for restricting employers’ ability to hire undocumented workers — specifically highlighting food delivery apps, an ever-popular work option among migrant men trying to make a living.

“We need to enforce labor laws that we have on the books and start giving jobs to legal residents who want them,” Chu said. “Start by ensuring that the delivery app companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash have them audit their workers. These companies have made huge profits by allowing their business model to underpay illegal immigrants while taking away opportunities from legal residents.”

Dwayne Moore.

Dwayne Moore, a former teacher, actor and Jamaica, Queens resident who serves as a Republican County Committee member, spoke after Chu. Moore is running for an Assembly seat in the 29th District, which hasn’t seen a Republican candidate since 2015 — the year that current Democratic incumbent Alicia Hyndman won 92.8% of the vote. 

Moore, like Chu, stated his support for ending New York’s sanctuary city status. He argued that the large number of migrant children enrolling in the strained city’s public school system is “taking the future away from our kids.”

When it comes to policy, Moore said the state should pass legislation preventing undocumented immigrants from becoming homeowners — a departure from the event’s overall focus on impoverished and working class migrants who rely on strained social services. 

“How can we just flood over 170,000 people when our own citizens can’t even get homes, can’t even get apartments?” Moore said. “We should pass legislation barring anyone that is not a citizen and does not have legal status to be able to purchase property in this state.”

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

New York Solidarity Network, a 501(c)(4) founded in 2021 to support pro-Israel candidates for New York’s state legislature, was gifted $200,000 from Keenan Lantz — a figure in the network of disgraced crypto-mogul-turned-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Top officials from the group seem to be financially cozy with Lantz in multiple ways, according to documents from 2022. 

NYSN is back in the news after New York Focus reported that the newly-registered Solidarity PAC, set to spend in New York’s Democratic state legislature primaries, is operated by top NYSN officials. Solidarity PAC is backing nine candidates — incumbents and challengers alike — running against Democratic Socialists of America and Working Families Party picks. Seven of those races are in New York City; one is in Queens (Assembly District 37) and two are in Brooklyn (ADs 50 and 56).

NYSN worked to sway Democratic primaries in 2022. The group’s officials (listed either on the group’s website or its most recent documents) include Gary Ginsberg, described as a personal friend of Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli prime minister’s memoir; Republican operative Nathan Parsons-Schwarz, who now doubles as a Solidarity PAC official; and Republican political strategist Tyler Deaton. Both groups have been described as state-level versions of AIPAC, but unlike Solidarity PAC, NYSN’s 501(c)(4) structure prevents any direct donations to candidates and allows its donors to remain anonymous. It should be clear, in the end, how much money Solidarity PAC is raising for these upcoming primaries — traditional PACs disclose their giving. It’s less clear exactly how much money NYSN helped to usher into the political sphere in 2022, or will in this cycle. NYSN memberships cost $1,000, and members are asked to contribute at least $5,000 to endorsed candidates and causes. Jewish Currents reported that individuals that work for, hosted fundraisers for, or have been publicly identified as supportive of NYSN together donated about $45,000 to state-level candidates nationwide in 2022; NYSN itself reported spending $270,857 on “direct and indirect political campaign activities” that year.

Of the nearly two million in revenue NYSN raked in in 2022, $200,000 was a gift from Keenan Lantz’s FTX-affiliated group Prosperity Through Enterprise. 

PTE is a 501(c)(4) with no website or public profile to speak of, which helpfully defines its mission on a 990 form as “inspiring communities to prosper via enterprise.” Though it didn’t feature heavily in Bankman-Fried’s trial, PTE was listed in court documents as an organization under the influence or direction of the Bankman-Fried brothers. It’s one in a complex web of foundations surrounding former cryptocurrency company FTX’s scandals — where ringleader Sam Bankman-Fried illegally spent $8 billion from unwitting customers’ deposits on political donations and private purchases. 

Bankman-Fried and his collaborators directed huge sums of money — including those stolen customer funds — to political organizations and candidates on both sides of the aisle in an attempt to amass political power. To cover their tracks, they moved money through a web of affiliated foundations and created an illegal straw donor scheme where funds were sent under different FTX employee’s names. Lantz was an active member of a small group chat where those straw donations were coordinated, and processed paperwork for such political donations under FTX employee’s names in his role at FTX-affiliated Guarding Against Pandemics.

A representative for Lantz did not respond to requests for comment. 

A NYSN representative declined to comment on the $200,000 gift from Lantz, writing that they don’t “discuss individual donors.” 

Two top NYSN officials — Deaton and Parsons-Schwarz — had more business with Lantz that year, it seems. 

American Unity Fund, a conservative pro-LGBT group where Tyler Deaton and Nathan Parsons-Schwarz serve as senior advisor and director of operations, received a $300,000 grant from PTE. And a group named Allegiance Strategies LLC — the same name as a public affairs firm that Deaton and Parsons-Schwarz operate — was compensated over $500,000 by PTE for consulting services. 

Deaton and Parsons-Schwarz’s LLC, though, is based in the DC area; PTE’s document lists an Allegiance Strategies with a New Hampshire PO box address (the same PO box that the document lists for Lantz himself). A search for “Allegiance Strategies” in New Hampshire’s business search database yields no results. Neither Deaton, Parsons-Schwarz, nor a representative for Lantz responded to requests for comment or questions about whether these two LLCs are one in the same. 

If they are, that would mean 43% of Lantz’s $2.37 million in expenses for 2022 went towards projects under Deaton and Parsons-Schwarz’s oversight.

The vast majority of PTE’s remaining expenses — $1.3 million — went towards Defending America Together, another FTX-affilliated group that spent huge on Republican candidates in 2022.

Multiple outlets have noted that NYSN and Solidarity PAC, focused on influencing the outcome of Democratic primaries, have some notable Republican and corporate influence. Jewish Currents wrote about NYSN’s place in a larger trend of bipartisan collaboration to prevent Democratic critics of Israel from winning primaries. New York Focus noted that real estate giant Hal Fetner — CEO of Fetner properties and executive board member of the Real Estate Board of New York — is listed as having operational control of Solidarity PAC. 

One investigative journalist, Teddy Schleifer, alleges a far more direct connection between the FTX web and Tyler Deaton in particular; he’s written repeatedly that insider sources have told him Deaton guided former FTX executive Ryan Salame’s political giving (which included giving millions in stolen funds to American Prosperity Alliance, a conservative group that gave $380,000 to PTE in the same year). 

Deaton did not respond to requests for comment.

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com 

Credit: Celia Bernhardt

Elected officials, activists, and students congregated under the Queensboro bridge Friday morning to rally against the impending closure of a composting site near NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses. 

Environmental nonprofit Big Reuse has operated the large-scale community composting site on a Parks Department lease since 2017. The lot was an illegal garbage site with 40 dumpsters of demolition and construction waste from a private contractor prior to the composting project, which went on to win the title of small scale composter of the year in 2020 from the US Composting Council. 

Now, Parks is looking to evict Big Reuse from the site by June 30. They plan to use it as a lot for agency parking and three large storage containers as their employees work to revamp the nearby Baby Queensbridge Park.

Big Reuse Executive Director Justine Green said the plan “makes no sense.” He argued that Parks could place storage containers in nearby existing staff parking lots.

“They have space!” Green said, motioning towards a nearby area. “When you walk and leave, you’ll see 22,000 square feet of parking that’s full of personal staff parking…They’re saying they need to kick us off so their staff can drive to work.”

In response to a request for comment, a Parks representative reiterated that Big Reuse will have access to the space through June, and said that the department will begin its construction process in the fall. 

“While we support composting and recognize the important work Big Reuse does, we look forward to executing our vision for this space to enhance the neighborhood’s quality of life, including the nearby NYCHA complex,” the representative said via email. 

The rally drew a crowd of students, activists, and electeds. Credit: Celia Bernhardt

Queens Council Members Julie Won and Shekar Krishnan were among the elected officials at the rally. State Assembly candidate Claire Valdez, running on the DSA ticket to represent Western Queens, also attended. Speeches over the course of the hour emphasized the positive climate impacts of composting, explaining that reducing landfill means reducing the release of methane into the atmosphere. 

“Compost cools the planet by putting carbon back into the ground, continuing the cycle of life, instead of polluting our air and atmosphere, communities,” Big Reuse compost educator Gil Lopez said. “Big Reuse supports dozens of greening groups and hundreds of activities. Without a space to operate out of, all these groups and activities will lose all that support.”

It’s not the first time Big Reuse has faced down challenges from the city. 

Parks threatened the compost site with eviction in 2020, citing the same reason of needing space for parking and equipment for Baby Queensbridge renovations — despite that project being in the planning stage at the time. City Council members, advocates, and Big Reuse staff and supporters rallied against the decision; Parks later reversed course and extended the organization’s stay under the bridge. 

Then in November 2023, along with a slate of budget cuts, the Adams administration announced it was cutting all $3 million in funding that community composting programs had used to function. Since the cuts went into effect at the beginning of 2024, private donations have helped keep Big Reuse and its community composting partners afloat. 

“We’ve kept three people on staff at the New York City Compost Project,” Lopez said, referring to a composting network the organization hosts. “We used to have 19, now we have three. So we’re able to manage this composting site at a greatly reduced capacity.”

What’s in it for Queensbridge? 

Among the ralliers was Long Island City local Lashawn “Suga Ray” Marston, founder of a community organization called Transform America. A former Queensbridge resident, his family still lives in the houses.

Ray, for his part, is a big proponent of Big Reuse, and thinks the group should be able to stay put. But he thinks the Queensbridge community at large might feel ambivalent towards the composting site. 

“The great majority of people in Queensbridge, I think, don’t really know what’s going on back here,” he said. “So therefore, they don’t know how important it is.” 

Suga Ray speaks with a fellow activist. Credit: Celia Bernhardt

On top of that, Ray reported hearing plenty of concerns from his Queensbridge neighbors about parking. Though the planned lot would be for Parks vehicles only, Ray said he thinks some residents aren’t aware of that restriction — and even if they are, the prospect of increased competition for street spots as park renovations begin might sway them in favor of the lot.

Ray is sympathetic to those concerns. “Some people sometimes have to park far away and take an Uber,” he said. “That’s insane.” 

Still, he argued that the compost is too important to go, and that Parks should find other vacant spaces in the neighborhood for their purposes. He also hopes that, if they’re able to secure enough funding, Big Reuse will be able to reach out more frequently to NYCHA residents. 

“[Residents] want parking because they don’t understand the importance of compost. So we need more education, because not only does it go to feed gardens throughout the city — food, and stuff like that — but it can benefit the health of people right here in Queensbridge” he said. “If we can find a way to deepen the relationship, to educate people[…]then people will be more inclined to fight for it, as opposed to saying, ‘No, we want parking.’”

Queensbridge’s community garden, like many around the city, has benefited from community compost deliveries. When it comes to residents’ health, composting can minimize the harmful effects of lead in city soil. 

Assembly candidate Claire Valdez, fourth from right, standing with fellow protesters. Credit: Celia Bernhardt

Gil Lopez, a compost educator with Big Reuse, explained that humic acids released in the composting process can bind with lead molecules, making the toxin less bioavailable in the produce grown from the garden — so when community members eat those fruits and vegetables, they’re less likely to absorb any of the lead they were grown in. 

That’s important, because NYCHA residents arguably have enough lead to worry about. The majority of the city’s public housing was built before lead paint was outlawed: amid plummeting funds for maintenance and agency coverups of the true extent of the issue, families have suffered the health tolls of lead exposure in the home. Queensbridge’s proximity to the Ravenswood smoke stacks adds another layer of built-in environmental health hazards for the community. 

“We need Big Reuse here,” Ray said. “But I think if we’re keeping it here, we got to do a better job of outreach and building a relationship between this organization and the residents of Queensbridge — and do tours back here for the young people and for the seniors, right? Let’s figure out how to have regular community engagement.”

By Celia Bernhardt | cbernhardt@queensledger.com

A 19-year-old Bengali Ozone Park resident named Win Rozario called 911 on Wednesday, March 27 seeking help while suffering from mental distress. He was fatally shot by the police officers who responded to the call. 

The NYPD alleges that Rozario threatened those police officers with scissors. 

Rozario’s death has sparked mourning and urgent calls for change across the Bengali and Bangladeshi community in Queens. 

The NYPD’s description of the circumstances that led to the 19-year-old’s fatal shooting have a key difference with the recollection provided by Rozario’s 17-year-old brother, Ushto. NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, at a press conference, said that officers were attempting to take Rozario “into custody to get him help” when he began to approach them wielding a pair of scissors. The officers deployed Tasers in response before Rozario’s mother “came to the aid of her son in order to help him,” according to Chell, and “accidentally knocked the Tasers out of his body.” 

What happened next is where accounts differ. 

In an interview with the New York Times, Ushto Rozario said that his mother was still hugging and effectively restraining Rozario when the officers shot him. Ushto told the Times that Rozario “couldn’t really do anything” while his mother was holding him, and said that the shooting was unnecessary. Chell, in contrast, said that Rozario “came at” the officers again with scissors. “They had no choice but to defend themselves, discharging their firearms,” Chell said at the press conference. 

Ushto said that officers shot Rozario six times; the NYPD has not made any statements regarding the number of shots. 

“Everything I described to you is on a body-worn camera,” Chell said. 

As of Wednesday, the NYPD has not yet released the body camera footage.

Signs from a vigil for Win Rozario.

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations announced on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into Rozario’s death.

“OSI assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission,” the Attorney General’s website stated. “If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.”

Rozario’s death has reignited calls from some elected officials and community organizations for a change in how the city responds to mental health emergencies. 

“Win Rozario made a call for help and it cost him his life,” Council Member Lynn Schulman wrote in a public statement. “Our system failed him.”

Schulman highlighted the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division Program (commonly called B-Heard) as one of multiple “life saving initiatives that enable mental health clinicans to respond to emergency mental health situations,” rather than police officers, arguing that the program is in need of additional funding in order to prevent fatal situations like Rozario’s. 

Cityline Ozone Park Civilian Patrol, a community volunteer organization, released a statement which also included calls for additional B-HEARD funding. 

“We need a stronger partnership between law enforcement, mental health professionals, and community organizations,” COPCP’s statement read.

Lal Morich led one of two vigils in Diversity Plaza.

On Friday at 5 p.m., two competing vigils took place in Jackson Heights’ Diversity Plaza. 

The event was spearheaded by Lal Morich, an organization which describes itself on Instagram as “a Bangladeshi anti imperialist diaspora org in support of the New Democratic Movement in Bangladesh.” The group’s flier for the vigil spread on social media platforms.

Two groups clustered at the event. One, led by Lal Morich organizers, carried a hand-painted banner depicting Rozario’s image, a candle, and a pair of scissors behind the words “Say His Name: Win Rozario.” The other group’s members carried a printed banner for the Probashi Bengali Christian Association, a social organization serving Bengali Christians in the tri-state region. They held up posters of Rozario with the words “we want justice” and arrived with their own sound system.

“I left my country to have a better life here,” one speaker with the PBCA said to the crowd. “We all are very angry, very sad. We just want justice. We’re not here to criticize against anyone. Who knows? I don’t want… my family to be the next one, you don’t want your family to be the next one.”

Another speaker, Pastor James Roy of the United Bengali Lutheran Church, encouraged the crowd to pray for the Rozario family.  

PBCA at the vigil.

The PBCA’s cluster delivered speeches for approximately twenty minutes before Lal Morich activists began booing when one speaker described the NYPD, as an organization, as “brave.” 

“He got killed by the police! He got killed by the NYPD!” one organizer shouted at the PBCA. 

Both groups alternately chanted “we want justice” at each other. Lal Morich-led attendees then began drumming and leading new chants before delivering their own speeches. PCBA members continued speaking, the two groups battling for volume beside each other.  

“[The NYPD doesn’t] care about mental health. Win needed mental health help. He got brutalized. He got shot and killed by cowards,” one Lal Morich organizer said in a speech. “They do this to countless other teenagers, countless other elders, young people. We don’t stand for this. We cannot tell lies to our community, we cannot tell lies to the next generation that the NYPD are brave.”

The vigil continued for over an hour after that as the crowd mourned Rozario. 

Pastor Roy later told the Ledger that Rozario and his family were parishoners of his at the United Bengali Lutheran Church. 33-year-old Steve Roy, a member of the church, said the same.

“Since they’ve been here, they’ve been going to our church. I know their family, I know him, his brother, mother, everybody,” Roy said. 

“NYPD’s been doing this for decades,” Roy continued. “Killing people because they feel like it, or maybe they’re scared. I don’t know if a scissor warrants six bullets in somebody. This is not the first time — this happens everywhere, in every state…It comes from the infrastructure, right? If you have a corrupt infrastructure, this is the reality of your system.”

As for the tension between the groups at the Plaza, Roy said that the entire ordeal was “not the perfect response” to Rozario’s death. 

“There should’ve been a vigil that was orchestrated by the people who are intimately close with the family,” he said.  

A Lal Morich organizer declined to speak with the Ledger.

Attendees of both vigils mourned Rozario’s passing.