How the two sides of the Van Wyck will decide the race for District 28

The crowded and contentious race for City Council District 28 is split along geographic and demographic lines by the notorious Van Wyck Expressway. Screenshot via New York Redistrict & You, Edit by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

The Van Wyck Expressway, which runs north-south through parts of Queens, is one of the borough’s most infamous and frustrating highways – it's also the dividing line in one of its most contentious City Council races.

The Van Wyck snakes directly down the middle of City Council District 28, dividing it by political and racial lines that are beginning to define the race for the South Queens seat.

In the race for “The Great 28” – a nickname coined by its current, term-limited office holder, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams – where a candidate is from and their personal connection to either side of the district has become an important distinction to voters.

One half of the Van Wyck is inhabited primarily by a Black population centered in the neighborhoods of South Jamaica and Rochdale, which has historically voted in high numbers. On the other side, there’s Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park, neighborhoods characterized by a diverse citizenry from South Asia and the Indo-Caribbean who have seen their political influence grow significantly in recent years.

There are currently five candidates in the race for the seat, three from the district’s eastern half, and two from the west.

Tyrell Hankerson, Speaker Adams’ district chief of staff; Latoya LeGrand, a staffer for Assemblymember Vivian Cook; and Ruben Wills, who once represented the district, all come from the eastern portion of the district.

Hankerson lives in Jamaica – but as a child lived in Richmond Hill – and Wills and LeGrand both grew up in the South Jamaica Houses.

Adams herself also hails from the eastern neighborhoods of the district.

The other two candidates, Japneet Singh and Romeo Hitlall, come from the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities to the west, and are counting on energy from that electorate to make it to the Council.

Demographically, politically and historically speaking, it will be a tall mountain to climb for the race’s South Asian candidates. They’d be the first South Asian candidates to represent the district in the Council.

While the Van Wyck splits the district geographically, the split is not entirely even along racial or ethnic lines.

The district’s population is still predominantly Black.

Currently, Black residents make up about 44 percent of the district’s population, an increase of 7 percent after the city’s Council districts were redrawn in 2023.

It’s likely that should the Black voters of District 28 rally behind a single candidate in the race, that candidate would win.

“The reliability of the vote leans on the Black community,” said local political organizer Felicia Singh.

“There's just tradition in voting that's really important and different to the Black community than it is in the Indo-Caribbean, South Asian community,” she added. “The Richmond Hill community itself has a mixture of mixed-status families, young people who still live in the district that are able to vote because they were born here, and then families where there are green card holders or folks who are just not able to vote yet.”

Only about 16 percent of the district identifies as Asian but that figure may not tell the whole story – Indo-Caribbians from nations like Trinidad and Guyana do not report themselves as “Asian” and often report themselves as “other.”

Around nine percent of the district identifies as “other or multiple races.”

Since South Asian and Indo-Caribbean's began settling in Queens in the later half of the 20th century, the contrast in the district has led to some on the western side feeling underrepresented and undervalued.

“They might not necessarily feel represented by a Black representative,” said Felicia Singh. “I think that's important, because whoever's holding the seat it is really critical that they are hearing from talking to and resourcing both sides of the Van Wyck, that's the most important thing.”

The greater Richmond Hill and Ozone Park communities are notoriously fractured along district lines at both the city and state levels.

In the Council, the neighborhoods are split between District 28, 29 and 32, potentially diluting the vote of the larger South Asian, Indo-Caribbean population.

Local advocates have tried to change that and have pushed for what they see as more equitably drawn districts.

During the last cycle of redistricting following the 2020 census, groups and organizations fought to make the area more represented in redistricting. There was even a brief period they got what they wanted in the form of an Assembly district nearly identical to what they were asking for. The New York Independent Redistricting Commission – which is responsible for drawing the lines – later reversed course, however, and drew a district that again split the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean population.

Despite the demographic shortcomings, Japneet Singh and Hitlall are running with the express purpose of reversing what they believe are longstanding inequalities on either side of the Van Wyck – and locals in that area want to see that from their councilmember.

That was made evident at a recent community forum in South Ozone Park. The majority of the questions submitted by attendees concerned candidates’ ties to that half of the district and whether or not they would commit to giving it more attention.

At one point, the candidates' knowledge of the area was tested when they were asked if they used GPS to get to the forum hosted by the Our Neighbors Civic Association.

At a recent candidate forum, District 28 candidates (l to r) Tyrell Hankerson, Japneet Singh, Ruben Wills, Romeo Hitlall and Latoya LeGrand were questioned about their relationships to the communities they soon hope to represent in the City Council. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

All of them said they didn’t.

The candidates were asked if they would promise to give equal funding to both sides of Van Wyck. All of them essentially answered yes except Wills, who said more money needed to go to the western side.

Wills also said he would fight for new redistricting that more prominently represents Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park.

“I will pledge to make sure, during the new redistricting, that we do cut another seat because representation is important,” he said.

Japneet Singh and Hitall both called for more overall equity in the district.

“We will make sure we have a fair shake all across District 28 because when one community hurts, we all hurt,” said Japneet Singh, who has raised the most money in the race. “We need to make sure we have equity, so all of us, collectively, can thrive, no matter what side of the Van Wyck.”

Hitlall said that Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park “have been cut out of everything."

“We will make sure that we start from this end of the district and work our way over, but I believe in equal funding, because everybody deserves equal funding,” he said.

Hankerson was put on the defensive the most, as locals’ questioned if he intended to serve the whole district – which many of them felt his boss did not.

“When you are a staffer, you serve the community,” he said. “The record goes beyond just South Jamaica and Rochdale. It goes into South Richmond Hill. It goes into South Ozone Park.”

Japneet Singh also took several shots at Hankerson, accusing him of riding Adams’ "coattails."

LeGrand was also questioned about her relationship to the western side.

“In leadership, you're supposed to make sure that you are the voice of representation for everyone, not just a specific part of the district,” she said. “Everyone's issues and concerns and suggestions are important on this side of the Van Wyck, and on the other side of the Van Wyck.”

While Hitlall and Japneet Singh need the western side if they have any hope of winning, Wills, Hankerson and LeGrand are hoping to consolidate support in the district’s most powerful areas like Rochdale Village.

“Rochdale Village is the political center of the district,” said political consultant Evan Stavisky. “Traditionally, in that part of Queens, it is very hard, if not impossible, to win without support from Rochelle Village.”

Stavisky believes that the political power emanating from Rochdale Village is controlled by its current representative, Adams, and her hand-picked heir, Hankerson.

Adams’ district office is located in the busy Rochdale Village shopping center, which is also where she launched her mayoral campaign earlier this year.

“When you're the speaker, you're able to lead very aggressively into your district,” Stavisky said. “Usually the person who's running to succeed you is somebody who helps manage those relationships with the speaker while they're functioning as one of the most powerful people in the city.”

Hankerson has history on his side in that department.

In recent history, every speaker’s pick for their successor has won.

Adam’s predecessor as the Council speaker was Corey Johnson, who represented the 3rd Council District centred around the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan. He was succeeded in that district by his chief of staff Erik Bottcher.

Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Christine Quinn, also represented the 3rd Council District and endorsed Johnson in the race.

Between Quinn and Johnson, the speaker was Melissa Mark-Viverito. She was succeeded by her staffer, current Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala.

While voter turnout in the district in the Black community in the district has always been strong, there is a potential for a surge from the South Asian, Indo-Caribbean communities spurred by Jenifer Rajkumar’s candidacy for public advocate and to a lesser extent Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s bid for mayor, Stavisky said.

“The only thing to pay attention to there, I would think, is if there is a spike in turnout from the South Asian population as a result of Jenifer Rajkumar,” he said.

There will be another chance for District 28 candidates to show their local bonafides this week at another candidate forum in Richmond Hill’s Liberty Palace on Thursday.