The MAGA Radicalization Of Northeast Queens
Once An Area Fruitful For Democrats, This Diverse Part Of NYC Zoomed To The Right
The morning after the Democratic Party lost a national landslide in the 2010 Midterm Elections, I parked my car in the parking lot behind the Whitestone Shopping Center in Northeast Queens. I was a reporter for the Queens Tribune at the time, and we were preparing to move into new office space in Whitestone. Crossing Clintonville Avenue to check out the new digs, I noticed a yard sign for Vince Tabone, the Republican who had just lost a race for State Assembly the night before, sitting by itself in the grass on the side of the road. I joked with my coworker that it looked sad all by itself, representing a losing campaign from a party that had won practically everywhere else.
Tabone was always an underdog in that race. Still, the Assembly seat he ran for had been the last one in the body ever to be held by a Queens Republican – Doug Prescott – until he was defeated by Democrat Ann-Margaret Carrozza in 1996. Carrozza retired in 2010, leaving the seat open and leading to a divisive Democratic primary. Republicans hoped the impending red wave and divisive primary would win them back the district.
Tabone lost, in large part, because he was sharing a ticket with the last Republican to represent Queens in Albany, who also lost that night – State Sen. Frank Padavan. Padavan, who was first elected in 1972, had lost his seat to former Democratic Councilman Tony Avella in an upset. Tabone told a colleague of mine that his victory depended on the margin of Padavan’s, and he had no chance if Padavan was losing.
Avella’s win was one of the only bright spots for Democrats in 2010. He won despite Democrats losing control of the State Senate. In my post-election political analysis for the Tribune, I explained that Northeast Queens, once a stronghold of Rockefeller Republicanism, has become increasingly friendly to the Democratic Party, thanks to its diversifying demographics and social liberalism, which is a bad fit for the increasingly evangelical Republican Party. Growing Asian-American and Latino populations, Jewish voters, and organized labor were forming a coalition that was making it difficult for modern-day Republicans to compete. In the 21st Century’s second decade, it seemed like Democrats would finally put an end to GOP dominance in the “two-fare zone” parts of Queens – the areas that were more suburban and are beyond the reach of the subway.
Today, that seems like another era entirely. Republicans once again dominate politics in Northeast Queens, and it has become the political base of one of the most radical far-right politicians to hold office in the New York area in generations – Councilwoman Vickie Paladino.
How did this part of New York City go from being a growing, diversifying, liberal-leaning area to electing and reelecting a woman who just this week advocated for the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from America? The search for explanations has led to finger-pointing among factions of the Democratic Party, with moderates blaming left-wing policies for fracturing the diverse coalition Democrats relied on, and progressives blaming poor candidates and lackluster political organizations.
It seems too quaint and easy to say it’s all of the above. It’s mostly the former, but one can’t dismiss the latter entirely, either. Democrats got too cozy in Northeast Queens, and now, like the hare in the proverbial race with the tortoise, they’ve fallen well behind.
