Astoria Pol Launches Climate-Focused Bid For Queens Borough Prez

ASTORIA, QUEENS — City Council Member Costa Constantinides is running for Queens borough president on a platform focused on addressing climate change at the local level, the Astoria representative announced Tuesday.

"Queens needs a plan to fight rising tides and rising rents, which is why I'm running to be your next Borough President," Constantinides said in a statement on Twitter. "Together, we can reinvent this office to give our children a secure, greener future."

The seat will likely be up for grabs next year, when Queens Borough President Melinda Katz is expected to step down to take office as Queens district attorney, triggering a special election.

Constantinides has represented Astoria, Rikers Island and parts of East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside in the City Council since 2013. He became chair of the Council's environmental protection committee in 2015, according to his official bio.

Before winning his seat on the City Council, Constantinides served as deputy chief of staff to then-Council Member James Gennaro, who represented Kew Gardens Hills and also chaired the Council's environmental protection committee.

Queens needs a plan to fight rising tides and rising rents, which is why I’m running to be your next Borough President! Together, we can reinvent this office to give our children a secure, greener future. I hope you’ll join our movement: https://t.co/1tfa6cr01V #TransformQueens pic.twitter.com/D1C4Jfj8pJ
— Costa Constantinides (@Costa4NY) September 17, 2019

The city's borough presidents primarily serve as gatekeepers for land use proposals, with the authority to appoint representatives to the City Planning Commission and choose community board members who weigh in on zoning and permits, according to the New York Post.

They also get multimillion-dollar capital budgets to invest in their borough.

Constantinides, an Astoria native and alumnus of Queens College and Cardozo Law School, "wants to repurpose this role to meaningfully protect Queens residents against the rising rents and tides that threaten to displace their communities," his campaign said.

He is the second candidate to formally announce a bid for the borough presidency, after fellow Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer of Long Island City, who launched his campaign in April.

New York Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman of southeast Queens has filed to run for the position, according to POLITICO, but she hasn't formally announced a campaign.

If Katz loses the November general election for Queens district attorney to GOP nominee Joe Murray — who faces an uphill battle in an overwhelmingly left-leaning borough — the next election for borough president will be in 2021, when she becomes term-limited.