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Few districts better embody the issues that progressives are emphasizing across the city in this election year than the 13th State Senate district in Queens, which encompasses a chunk of the borough’s north shore from Corona to Astoria, running through Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.
According to the Furman Center at New York University, the neighborhoods that make up the bulk of the district rank 1 and 2 in the entire city for the share of people living there who were born in other countries. Those areas also rank 1 and 2 for the rate of severe housing overcrowding.
Rent burdens are high. School performance is middling. Access to subway stations is on the low side.
Those issues of school funding, transit and immigration are what incumbent Sen. Jose Peralta and challenger Jessica Ramos brought up when they discussed their September 13 primary matchup on Wednesday’s Max & Murphy show on WBAI. But, as has been the case in the other races featuring senators who, like Peralta, once belonged to the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, the impact of the IDC and the role of real-estate donations in the race were also top topics.
Hear the full show below or focus on the separate conversations with the senator and his challenger:
Full show
Sen. Jose Peralta
Jessica Ramos