Astoria's First In-Person City Council Forum Is Next Monday

ASTORIA, QUEENS — With less than two weeks left before the primary elections, Astoria is getting its first in-person City Council forum.

The District 22 forum, which will kick off at 7:00 p.m. on Monday June 14, will be held at the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens (VBGC) parking lot, located at 21-12 30th Road in Astoria. All seven Democratic candidates are planning to attend.

According to Costa Constantinides, the now CEO of the VBGC who used to represent the 22nd District in the City Council, the forum fills a community demand to hear from the candidates in person.

“Zoom makes it very disjointed at times,” he said, adding that even though the event is taking place after early voting commences, on June 12, it was important to wait for a COVID-safe moment to host the forum.

“With the COVID numbers going down in the city and in Queens we’re in a place where in-person is now safe,” he said, noting “we always want to do things that benefit the community.”

The forum will be co-hosted by the Queens Gazette and the Queens Ledger, alongside the VBGC.

Constantinides said that the forum will be partially moderated by two media representatives — Walter Sanchez and Tony Barsamian, who are publishers-slash-editors at BQE Media and the Queens Gazette.

“We’re also going to have some questions from young people in our club,” said Constantinides, adding that if timing and the microphone situation permit they might take questions from the crowd, too.

Anyone who wants to attend the event can “just show up” according to Constantinides, who noted that there will be chairs set up in the parking lot, and that people should plan on wearing masks.