DISTRICT 21
   Parts of Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Jackson heights
    
   JULISSA FERRERAS
   Democrat, Incumbent
   Julissa Ferreras won the Democratic primary against Eduardo Giraldo in September and is running unopposed in the November election.
   The first Latina to be elected to the City Council from Queens, Ferreras took office this spring, replacing former Councilman Hiram Monserrate, who moved up to the state Senate.
   Ferreras, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, served on the Corona Youth Council and the Corona-East Elmhurst NAACP Youth Council and was the program director at the Beacon Community Center at P.S. 19. More recently, she served as Monserrate’s campaign manager and chief of staff.
   Her priorities for her first full term are to create more affordable housing, broaden the scope of assistance to abused women, host a massive job fair for the borough and work to ensure that immigrants have the resources they need to learn English and pass the citizenship test.
    
    
   DISTRICT 25
   Parts of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst,
East Elmhurst, Rego Park, Woodside and Corona
    
   DANNY DROMM
   Democrat
   After beating incumbent Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) and rival Stanley Kalathara in the September primary, Danny Dromm is running unopposed.
   As a public school teacher for 25 years, Dromm’s number one priority is education. He pledges to create additional classroom space, reduce class sizes and push for parents and teachers to have a greater say in school affairs.
   Dromm wants to alleviate hospital overcrowding by setting up primary care resource centers. To increase the availability of affordable housing, he advocates requiring that new developments include a set percentage of affordable units.
   Dromm wants an emphasis to be placed on improving public transportation and facilitating other alternative means of getting around, and he has been pushing for additional public green space in the district, adding that new jobs could be created by tapping into environmentally friendly industries. Founder of the Queens Pride Parade, Dromm also strongly supports LGBT rights.
    
   DISTRICT 22
   Parts of Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Rikers, Randalls and Wards Islands
    
   PETER VALLONE JR.
   Democrat
   When he first ran for office, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) promised to focus on public safety, the environment and schools, and he said those three areas would be priorities for a thrid term as well.
   As chairman of the Public Safety Committee, Vallone is known for his tough stance on crime. He is a strong proponent of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, which he said “is the main way to stop crime before it happens,” though he opposes keeping a database of all who are stopped, as he says that could taint the records of innocent individuals. The councilman has repeatedly spoken out against cuts to the Police Department and has been a major leader in the fight against graffiti.
   On the environmental front, Vallone has been fighting the creation of new power plants in Astoria and wrote legislation requiring that the city accept plastic bags for recycling. He also spearheaded a rezoning plan for Astoria, aimed at preserving the character of the neighborhood.
    
   LYNNE SERPE
   Green Party
   Lynee Serpe says her goal is to work for “the basics: clean air, clean water, clean streets and clean energy.”
   Serpe, who is employed by a nonprofit that helps lower- and middle-income families weatherize their homes, said she would fight any further term limit extensions, address what many in the community see as “predatory ticketing,” help open a new supermarket in Astoria, work to create more green spaces, install benches and recycling bins on some streets and push for seven-day library service.
   To stimulate the local economy, she said she would work to maintain the area as an industrial base, with a focus on green jobs. To ensure the availability of affordable housing, she advocates regulations that would require 40 percent of new units in any given development to be priced for low- and middle-income families. To preserve the general look of Astoria, she supports a rezoning plan that would curb out-of-character development.
    
   JERRY KANN
   Populist
   This is Jerry Kann’s third bid for City Council. The former Green Party candidate is running on the Populist ticket, and his priorities for office include increasing income taxes for those who earn more than $500,000, lowering sales taxes, revamping rent regulations to favor tenants and instituting elected community councils that would have a say in neighborhood issues.
   Kann, who has raised $308, said he is outraged at the amount of money some candidates spend on campaigns and added that he feels Mayor Mike Bloomberg “bought” his election.
    
   DISTRICT 26
   Parts of Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria and Maspeth
    
   JIMMY VAN BRAMER
   Democrat
   Jimmy Van Bramer is running “first and foremost as a community organizer,” and his priorities for office center largely on improving quality of life in the district and giving residents a greater say in local government.
   Van Bramer proposes measures aimed at curbing graffiti, giving community boards more power, cutting down on noise from truck traffic, creating more public green space and fighting overdevelopment. He also supports regulations to protect tenants’ rights and ensure the availability of affordable housing.
   Van Bramer has served as the chief external affairs officer of the Queens Public Library for the past 10 years and is also a member of Community Board 2. If elected, he promises to be responsive, accessible and accountable, answering every call, e-mail and letter from constituents, tracking neighborhood complaints and concerns and making sure residents’ issues are resolved.
    
   ANGELO MARAGOS
   Republican
   Angelo Maragos, a 24-year-old business analyst at Credit Suisse, says one of his main priorities involves close scrutiny of the way the city spends money.
   Maragos seeks to cut city government costs by 10 percent and put the money saved toward a variety of efforts, including improving access to health care facilities, providing tax incentives for new businesses to locate and hire locally, improving neighborhood infrastructure and expanding public greenspace.
   He said the city should tackle the issue of affordable housing by buying defaulting properties and privatizing units to tenants. To help struggling small businesses, Maragos proposes offering rent rebates, and he also wants to provide tax incentive packages aimed at encouraging new firms to open up in the district and hire local workers. As for education, Maragos sees charter schools as the solution to classroom overcrowding.
    
   — Willow Belden