Costa Constantinides delivering his State of the District address on Zoom earlier this month (Photo: Queens Post)
Jan. 26, 2021 By Christina Santucci
Council Member Costa Constantinides is reportedly going to leave office before his Council term ends in December, City & State reported today.
The well-respected political publication reported in its newsletter this morning that it had heard from three sources that he planned to resign and leave office.
A source also told the Queens Post that he was likely to step down, although not anytime soon.
A spokesperson for Constantinides did not confirm or deny the reports when called by the Queens Post. His office instead issued a general statement.
“Council Member Constantinides is focused on serving the people of District 22 and working to pass comprehensive climate and resiliency legislation in his remaining time in office,” the statement read.
Constantinides’ current term is scheduled to conclude at the end of the year, and he can not run again due to term limits. His district includes Astoria, parts of Jackson Heights, Woodside and East Elmhurst as well as Rikers Island.
“It’s been my honor to serve the community I grew up in. I have a lot more to do before I leave office both in the district and for our environment. Just finished a hearing on air quality so nothing to report,” he wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.
Constantinides and his wife both contracted COVID-19 in April, and they were both hospitalized for a time as they battled the virus.
“It was a really scary time… a very scary moment in our home,” he said in late April during a Facebook Live event.
On Tuesday afternoon, Constantinides responded to a Twitter message, saying “I’ve been doing telehealth with [Mount Sinai Health System] post-COVID center for a few months. They have helped me so much. Feeling [a lot] better than I was. Not 100% but way closer than in mid-2020.”
If Constantinides were to step down, it could trigger a special election for his seat, a spokesperson for the City’s Board of Elections said. A primary and general election for the seat are already scheduled for June 22 and Nov. 2 respectively.
Campaign finance listings show that there are several candidates vying for the District 22 position, the list currently includes Tiffany Cabán, Evie Hantzopoulos, Leonardo Bullaro, Felicia Kalan and Nick Velkov.
Featured Events
9 Comments
You want your politician to win you need to vote.
The sooner we can get Tiffany Caban into that seat the better. She is the only candidate currently running with the new energy and the credibility citywide to get things done. Costa has been a great public servant and Tiffany is going to bring a great new day.
Ugh – No way is she good for Astoria. To many liberals as it is!
(Curious if this gets posted)
All you need to know about Tiffany Caban is straight from her website. She is telling you who she is:
“Reimagine local government by bringing a proactive, relational organizing framework to constituent services, creating a SOCIALIST AND LEFTIST BLOC to remake the City Council……”. Caps are mine for emphasis.
In the words of Vladimir Lenin – “the goal of socialism is communism”. Pay attention to what is happening to your country and city people! America is NOT a socialist/communist nation. There are untold millions from bankrupt and corrupt socialist and communist states who want to come to America! So why would any American vote for a socialist/communist???????
What has she done to earn “credibility” in Astoria for this position? Having lost in a borough-wide race for Queens DA does not confer credibility.
Anybody else concerned if Cabán wins?
Your initial list of candidates forgot to include the leading candidate, Leonardo Bullaro, who has raised the most in donations according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board statistics.
He was listed
Bullaro is the only one who isn’t running on a lot of leftist nonsense and has the common sense to take care of the bread and butter issues: keep the streets clean, make sure people feel safe in their homes.