Now the former Queens deputy borough president and Democratic candidate is gearing up for a final push to reclaim the seat she held for a decade, before getting term-limited out. And it’s not something she’s shy about.
Koslowitz has placed her council experience front and center in her campaign.
“I am a person who can go in on day one and start working,” she said. “I want to help people and make changes to improve their lives. I’ve done it before and I can do it again. I’ve lived in this community for 47 years. I know what is best for my constituents.”
The former councilwoman is focusing on bread-and-butter issues: education, seniors and quality of life.
Koslowitz believes her record in public service and commitment to everyday issues will put her over the top on Tuesday.
“My record speaks for itself,” she said. “Even if someone is not familiar with my past accomplishments, they can just Google my name and see everything that I have done. Even if they weren’t a part of my campaign before, they can be a part of it now.”
But in running a conventional campaign anchored by her experience, Koslowitz has left the race open for a battle between old and new.
Schulman, now running on the Working Families Party line, has framed herself as a representative for the next generation of progressives by outlining an ambitious agenda.
The WFP candidate believes the city is facing an affordability crisis — and the Forest Hills native with working-class roots says she’s the person who will fight to end it.
“The world that they came from was more affordable,” Schulman said of her parents — a cab driver and a public school teacher. “There’s not enough jobs, the wages aren’t sufficient and there’s not enough housing.”
Schulman is focusing on initiatives to help working-class families. She promised to update living wage laws enacted in 2002 to ensure that rates rise along with inflation.
“The same living wage back in 2002 is carried over into 2009 — but that’s not a living wage anymore,” she said.
The candidate also wants to expand the council’s oversight operations to make sure that labor laws are enforced by city agencies.
“People are losing out,” said the former chief of staff for Councilwoman Sara Gonzales and current Community Board 6 member. “There are projects where non-union people are being used in violation of the law. There are places where they’re not getting benefits.”
Meanwhile, Koslowitz, also of Forest Hills, has devoted much of her energy on plans to assist seniors.
She wants to see the Meals on Wheels program return to delivering hot meals, arguing that the quality and taste of fresh food is better. She said frozen food can be difficult for some seniors to reheat using a microwave.
“Frozen foods are delivered once or twice a week, whereas hot meals are delivered daily,” she said. “When seniors get that daily visit, they feel like someone is looking out for them. The person delivering the food can come in and check on them and see if they’re OK.”
Koslowitz also plans to increase funding to senior centers so that they remain viable and can continue to provide the type of programming that seniors enjoy. She said that for an elderly person living alone, human interaction in a safe and caring environment does wonders for their overall health and happiness.
Education is also a top issue for the Democrat. Koslowitz is concerned about overcrowding in high schools and promised to work to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to get a quality education.
“It’s a big district,” she said. “We need to look for places to build more schools.”
Transportation was also high on the former councilwoman’s list, promising to work closely with the Department of Transportation to ensure that busy intersections have enough traffic lights.
“There have been minimal deaths on Queens Boulevard in the last nine years, but one death is too many,” she said.
She would also like to see the construction of pedestrian islands along Woodhaven Boulevard, so that people will have a place to safely stop as they navigate the particularly wide street, which may require more than one traffic signal cycle to get across.
Schulman believes that restructuring the city’s economy and reforming its regulatory system will be the council’s top priority next year. She thinks the city needs to simplify its public bidding process, which she said is often sliced up among multiple contractors, leading to inefficiency and waste while making oversight more challenging.
She also wants to give green industries a firm root in the city, an effort she hopes will help fill the vacuum left by Wall Street’s collapse last year.
Schulman promised to tackle the issues of health care, education and community conservation, which are among the most critical problems facing her district.
She would also fight Department of Education guidelines prohibiting parents from sending their kids to neighborhood high schools, work to secure a new area hospital and hold developers accountable to maintain the character of communities where they build.
“People should expect a lot from their elected officials and they don’t — and that’s sad,” Schulman said.
District 29 includes Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and parts of Middle Village, Elmhurst and Richmond Hill.
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