Katz Elected Queens Borough President

By NICHOLAS LOPEZ & DAVID BELTRAN

Former City Councilwoman Melinda Katz on Tuesday handily won the race for Queens borough president over Republican Candidate Aurelio “Tony” Arcabascio and Independent candidate Everly Brown.

Katz, the front-runner who was expected to win, gave an early victory speech in front of 40 to 50 people, with local politicians and officials also in attendance at the Queens County Democratic headquarters.

In a borough where people speak 160 languages, Katz said it was her job to represent them all and work with colleagues in the City Council, State Legislature and fight for equal access, as she dedicated the evening to her parents and family.

“We need to make sure that we fight so that our children can raise their children right here in our borough and I’m extremely excited to be the next borough president,” said Katz. “This is a culmination of the career of my parents. They taught me this is a borough worth fighting for.”

She noted that she hoped to hire a new deputy borough president within the next few weeks.

“I hope that the deputy borough president would help me form the rest of the staff in policy initiatives before January 1,” said Katz.

Helen Marshall, the current Queens borough president, expressed her approval of Katz as well.

“She will do a good job and if she needs me for anything,” said Marshall as she paused to turn directly to Katz before finishing, “You got me!” and the two hugged.

Roberta Trager, a Forest Hills resident who knew Katz when she was a little girl and was invited to the candidate’s house when the campaign started, was also elated to see Katz emerge the winner.

“I always had faith in her,” said Trager. “She grew up in Forest Hills and knows what it is to be a Queens resident, very sympathetic to the senior citizens. She cares about us, about the benefits that we can have. She has an awful lot of experience and we as residents of Forest Hills feel very strongly to have someone like Melinda represent us. You couldn’t pick a better candidate.”