Meet the Candidate: Felicia Singh for District 32
By Jenna Tipaldo
As a daughter of working class immigrants, Felicia Singh understands that our current system does not work for working class families. Singh’s family was impacted by the taxi medallion crisis that has impacted thousands of immigrants across the city such that they are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and this is one of the experiences that inspired her to run for office. An educator by profession, Singh would be the first woman and person of color to represent the 32nd City Council District in Queens, which is currently held by term-limited Republican Eric Ulrich.
Felicia Singh has a history of service, experiences which will inform her philosophy and policies once in office. She was a United States Peace volunteer in China from 2013–2015 and since then, she has stepped up to serve her community in many ways — she became Vice President of her neighborhood Civic Association, worked to count every New Yorker through the 2020 Census, was elected as a Queens County Committee member, and volunteered with groups focused on anti-racism and gender-based work such as Amplify Her, the Jahajee Sisters and Caribbean Equality Project. In addition to her father’s taxi medallion debt and her sister’s diagnosis of cancer, this work inspires Singh to lead her community with courage and empathy — leadership she hopes to bring into the City Council once elected.
Felicia Singh‘s district is a diverse one, representing the southern portion of Queens along the A train, spanning from Woodhaven and part of Richmond Hill down to Broad Channel and part of the Rockaways. According to research by science policy group Sci4NY, approximately 45,000 people in Singh’s district live in the hundred year floodplain (1% annual chance of flooding) and her district is also vulnerable to climate impacts like heat and air quality degradation. Much of the district is a climate-vulnerable transportation desert — many parts of District 32 experience long commuting times, were flooded during Hurricane Sandy, and remain vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise. Parts of Rockaway, Broad Channel, and Howard Beach/Hamilton Beach already regularly experience ‘sunny day flooding’ during high tides.
Singh understands that in order to prepare for the worst of climate change, community members must be involved in the decision making process. As a city council member, she wants to bring community members and other stakeholders into policy conversations. She also wants to foster cross-department communication within city government — currently there is no mandate that city agencies work together on resiliency plans, but Singh wants to change that. As a teacher, Singh values climate focused education and is an advocate for fully funding schools as well as incorporating education around resilience and food systems into public schools. Singh also supports the Alliance for a Greater New York (ALIGN) plan to bring 100,000 good climate jobs to NYC to help the city mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change while centering public housing, BIPOC, immigrant, and low-income communities. She also supports improving public transportation accessibility and resiliency to ensure that people who rely on buses and subways are not left behind in their ability to access food and healthcare or get to work or school.
Sunrise NYC is proud to endorse Felicia Singh for the 32nd City Council district in Queens, joining other endorsees such as the Working Families Party, New York Communities for Change, and labor unions such as DC37, 32BJ SEIU, CWA and PSC-CUNY. Growing up in this district, I was impacted by climate-change-fueled Hurricane Sandy, which inspired me to join Sunrise NYC. When I knock on my neighbors’ doors for Felicia Singh, people are excited to support a candidate who will help us prevent and prepare for the next Sandy-like disaster. Felicia Singh is a leader and will be a true champion for climate justice once elected to City Council.
Sign up to help Felicia Singh flip District 32 blue: https://www.felicia2021.com/volunteer
