Just like this week’s weather, election season is heating up!
Sunnyside Community Services (43-31 39th Street) in Queens will host a candidate forum for New York’s 7th congressional district this Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
Candidates Vichal Kumar, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Assemblymember Claire Valdez, and Council Member Julie Won will appear.
The discussion will be moderated by Judy Zangwill, Executive Director of SCS, and S. Mitra Kalita, CEO of URL Media and Publisher of Epicenter-NYC. Riis Settlement, Epicenter NYC, and URL Media are also co-hosting the event.
The forum gives the four Democratic candidates a chance to answer questions from the event’s moderators, as well as community members.
Note, while the event is free, registration is required to attend. Can’t make it in person? There’s a virtual option as well.
The NY-7 race has turned into one of the city’s most closely watched, as candidates vie to replace the outgoing Nydia Velázquez. The district—containing Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, among other areas—lies at the heart of the newly-minted “Commie Corridor,” areas that overwhelmingly supported Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign last year.
This race pits progressives against each other and tests the new mayor’s political sway. He has endorsed Claire Valdez, while Velázquez is supporting Antonio Reynoso (and took umbrage with the mayor making an endorsement without her buy-in).
Primary elections take place on June 23. And be sure to stay tuned for the return of our candidate interview series, launching soon!