Borough President Candidate Sends Fake Eviction Mailers In Queens

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS — This morning some Queens residents woke up with fake eviction notices on their doorsteps, which are actually campaign mailers from a Queens Borough President candidate.

The mailers, which depict a pink “eviction notice” taped to a door, are an effort by Queens Borough President candidate Elizabeth Crowley to criticize Donovan Richards — the sitting Borough President who is running for re-election in the June primary — for accepting campaign money from powerful real estate developers.

"Donovan Richards takes money from developers and landlords who are trying to evict tenants struggling to pay rent during the pandemic,” reads the mailer, which many locals and an elected official have called out for being insensitive.

Richards’ campaign contributions from the real estate industry have already been the subject of criticism during his bid for re-election, but many say that Crowley shouldn’t have used this campaign tactic in Queens — especially in neighborhoods like Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and Corona, which are among those hardest hit by the pandemic, and are populated by lower-income people of color who are disproportionately at risk of losing their homes to eviction.

Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who represents those Queens neighborhoods, told Patch that Crowley “could have made the same point without preying on people’s real life fears, especially during a pandemic.”

Cruz, who herself has faced eviction in the past, added that the mailers “reek of privilege, because if you’ve ever faced eviction you know that the idea of losing your home is terrifying. To think that this is something that’s acceptable to use for political gain is disgusting,” she said.

Coincidentally, Cruz’s staff is taking the day off today, but if they were in their Corona office she “guarantees” that they would be getting concerned calls from people about the mailer.

“There are voters who don’t speak English,” she said, pointing out that someone might be able to flip over the mailer and figure out that it’s not real, but that she still “could see people calling us and freaking out. And even if people eventually realize that it's not a real eviction notice the fact that you scared the bejesus out of them was it really worth it for a vote?” she asked rhetorically.

Although Cruz has endorsed Richards in his re-election campaign, she said she has “a lot of respect for Elizabeth” and has campaigned for her in the past, so re-Tweeting the mailer was “a very tough decision because I didn’t want this to seem like some sort of negative attack against her [Crowley].”

But, at the end of the day, Cruz decided it was important for people to see the mailer — both so they could understand that it was false, and to give constituents a sense of the campaign that Crowley is running in the borough.

“I just think it's important for people to take a real in depth look for who is trying to lead us, it isn't just about if we agree with their views or not, it's also about the way that they carry themselves,” she said.

Cruz also went to Crowley directly, sending her a text expressing her disappointment. “If you're my friend and I'm disappointed with you I'm going to tell you to your face,” she said.

Patch reached out to Crowley’s campaign for comment on the mailers, to which Crowley's campaign manager Graham Nolen wrote:

“If supporters of Donovan Richards are upset that Elizabeth is pointing out the fact that he takes contributions from developers, they should ask him to refuse all these contributions so they know unequivocally whose interests he is looking after as borough president."

"Elizabeth Crowley is proud to not take money from developers. While Donovan Richards accepts campaign contributions from developers and then turns around and determines whether their developments in the borough go through or not, voters know Elizabeth stands with Queens residents, not developers.”