On Thursday, August 27, The Heart of Rockaway (THOR) Civic, hosted a town hall at the Rockaway YMCA with Congressman Gregory Meeks to address residents’ concerns. According to THOR president, Edwin Williams, the main focus of the town hall was for the congressman to answer questions about bayside protection, the push for removal of abandoned vessels in Jamaica Bay, and other local bread and butter issues. However, from topics concerning the economy, Iran, Israel, Palestine and a visit from Meeks’ Republican challenger, George Marsh—the town hall got spirited. Attendees were encouraged to write their questions on index cards, which were passed along to the congressman. And towards the end, there was an open Q&A session.
Meeks kicked off the town hall highlighting what’s going on in Washington D.C.
He said, “We’re about to enter into an election and campaign season. The most important thing pending right now is we don’t have a budget agreement. So, when we left for August recess, the Senate passed what’s called a continuing resolution (CR), which means that nothing will change in the budget until it’s been extended to December.”
Meeks then addressed bayside protection. “Some issues Rockaway residents are concerned about is dealing with the Army Corps of Engineers, and what’s taking place on the bayside. With the bayside, we’re at a critical juncture because protection has been lagging with stopping some of the flooding that takes place, particularly in regard to storms, etc.
“We’re trying to work collectively between the federal government, the city and state. As of right now, the project is at a 30% approval mark for design. Now we are moving and working on the 60% part of the design and agreement.”
Meeks attributed the slowdown of progress to a change in administration. “Some of the things that were agreed upon or worked on with the prior administration, the new administration being just in office eight months, is trying to get up to snuff. I will be calling a meeting in October to address this,” he said.
Regarding the abandoned vessels and barges in Jamaica Bay, Meeks said that his office is working with the city. “Oftentimes, the City of New York comes to members of Congress for funding to do their project cleaning. The members then support it and say that we want to get federal funding to get it done. So we’re looking to make sure that our part of Queens gets the funding,” Meeks said.
A town hall attendee asked why general infrastructure funding was put on hold. Meeks answered, “Everything is on hold because we don’t have a budget for 2026. That’s why you have a CR. There’s no agreement on a budget moving forward for 2027 to 2028. When you don’t have an agreement, either the government shuts down or you pass what we call a CR, meaning that you keep paying the bills, but there’s no increase or decrease.”
Another question was about why the congressman didn’t sign the Labor Caucus of Delta Airlines’ letter to Congress asking for a neutrality agreement preventing management from interfering with union organizing efforts.
Meeks said, “Well, I’m a union guy in that regard… What I did on a number of those is I wrote my own individual letter because of the position I have at the airport. So as opposed to being on a multi-sign, I do my own individual letters in support.”
Another question was about the affordability crisis.
Meeks blamed Trump’s tariffs. “The number one issue that we are facing right now in America is affordability. Tariffs are a tax on the American people. We see that the cost of food, rent, homes and gas is going up. When the president first tried to put tariffs on Canada, I had a bill that I was able to get Republicans to work with me on to say that the tariffs on Canada were illegal. And we voted and passed it in a bipartisan way. Then the Supreme Court said tariffs are within the authority of Congress, and we should be making those decisions.
“I was decidedly against what the president calls the big, beautiful bill. I call it the big, ugly bill because of how it’s going to hurt people. They make it sound like they’re going to help the worker by saying for example, no tax on tips. That’s going to expire in two years, when the president’s term expires. But whose tax cuts are permanent? Those individuals that make over $1 million a year,” he said.
Meeks, who is an AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)-endorsed supporter of Israel and the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was questioned about Israel. At this juncture of the town hall, some folks in the room got heated, with one person stating that on July 15, Meeks voted no to end the $3.3 billion of annual military aid to Israel.
He said, “I am against anti-Semitism, racism and Islamophobia. I am for a two-state solution in the Middle East. I’m for a Jewish state and a Palestinian state.
“I’m going to criticize Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, but I’m not going to demonize the people of Israel, as some would love me to do. I will criticize those governments, and make sure we work collectively together, because the idea is to resolve the issue in the Middle East so that people can live side by side. What stopped the Abraham Accords from moving forward was Hamas. I’m anti-Hamas.”
For Williams, THOR’s goal for the town hall with Meeks was achieved. He said, “He answered a lot of questions that we wanted to know about regarding the bay. He did say he’s going to sign off on a grant to help us get rid of those barges and abandoned vessels in Jamaica Bay.”
For Democratic District Leader Jeanette Garramone, who also works for Community Board 14, overall, the meeting exemplified the democratic process.
“With the issues discussed, I knew it was going to be a tough crowd asking tough questions like with Israel, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill and the economy,” Garramone said. “These conversations are so important so we can all learn something from each other and understand how different people feel.”
Republican Congressional candidate, George Marsh, a Rockaway Park resident, who has been campaigning since February, said that Meeks was playing the blame game.
“Well, for a man that doesn’t have to show up in the community until 67 days before Election Day, he’s pretty confident on who he is. Meeks was campaigning up there blaming Trump for the high price of gas, the cost of living and more. He doesn’t take any responsibility, for example with what happened with the open borders,” Marsh, who was dressed in red, white and blue, said. “He’s been doing it so long, he doesn’t even care. I’m running on the issues. The Forest Hills Republican Club wants to host a debate between Meeks and myself on October 15. Let’s see if he shows up.”
