Early voting is underway, and Election Day is Tuesday, June 23 for the historic Democratic primary for the Assembly District 23 race, the first Democratic primary challenge in the district since 1966. One of those candidates is Pesach Osina of Far Rockaway, a heavily endorsed candidate who brings more than a decade of experience working in city and state government.
Osina, originally of Bensonhurst, spent several years living in Chicago before meeting his wife and making his way back to New York, settling down in Far Rockaway in the late ‘90s. The father of six took lessons from his own parents, who gave back to the community and fought for what was right. Osina shared an instance where his father, who owned a healthcare business, received a biased inspection report based on race and immigrant workers who weren’t fluent in English. “He took it to the Supreme Court, and I learned from a young age that it’s very important to stand up when people’s rights are being threatened,” Osina said. When he came back to New York, Osina locked in on ways to give back to his community.
After 9/11, Osina was given an opportunity to head the first Community Emergency Response Team, which was under FEMA at the time, working with the UJA-Federation and JCCRP. He also worked with the Community Assistance Unit for the city, introducing him to experience with both city agencies and community organizations, serving as the bridge between.
From there, Osina went on to assist in different levels of government, as a community liaison for former Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, Queens Borough Director for former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and the last several years as lead senior liaison for the City Council Speaker’s Office. “It’s always been about helping the community, seeing the constituent work that needs to be done and being the conduit to connect the dots,” Osina said.
That work is why Osina says he’ll put constituent services at the forefront if elected. “Constituent services are the bread and butter of every elected office. We are here to serve the people,” he said, adding that his staff would do the same.
When it comes to main goals, Osina has three top priorities: resiliency and public safety, cost of living and neighborhood advisory boards. For resiliency, Osina said “We need to work with our state, city and federal agencies to increase the resources we’re getting to enhance our quality of life in the community.” Regarding public safety, Osina considers himself a supporter of the NYPD, having been a community partner with the 101st Precinct. “We support our men and women in blue and all our first responders,” he said. To draw more people into those civil service jobs, Osina hopes to fight for better retirement packages, Tier 6 for all public service workers and continuing to encourage community partnerships. He believes that some laws need to be changed to strengthen public safety. “We’re the only state of 49 that does not have a clause where if a district attorney feels a person is dangerous after their first offense, they can tell a judge to give bail, so the offender is released. Laws are meant to be tweaked. We also have to change shoplifting laws. Someone can go into a store and it’s a misdemeanor to steal things under $1K. There’s no reason to go into Walgreens and have products behind bars.”
Regarding cost of living, Osina said, “I’m a father, a homeowner, I see our cost of living going up every day, groceries, utility rates, insurance. I have two cars with four drivers and I’m paying double the amount I’m paying for the cars in auto insurance. I think we need to create more affordable home ownership opportunities to ensure our future generations are able to stay here,” he said. “We have to figure out ways to put together affordable home ownership programs. We can work with utility companies on state laws to ensure rates are going down.” He also discussed tackling auto insurance rates, regulating auto body shops so they’re not charging insurance more than out-of-pocket costs. He also recommends putting a cap on sales tax for gas. “There’s only a certain amount of money the state allocates for sales tax for gas, so once that money is met in the budget, let’s cap the tax,” he said.
With neighborhood advisory boards, Osina hopes to take his experience to a hyperlocal level. “In this district, every four blocks, there’s a different civic organization with a different demographic from the Nassau County line to the Brooklyn and Queens lines. It’s important that we maintain advisory boards with each community for that community to be proactive with government and bring issues that are pertaining to those communities to the forefront. If DOT is putting a streetlight or stop sign in the community, it goes to Community Board 14 or elected officials, but we need to make sure our local stakeholders have a say in the matter. Something I’ve done every day is bring communities together.”
When it comes to one of his first funding requests in the state budget, Osina said, “A trauma center.” Working within City Council, Osina said he’s worked closely with Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers to secure city funding in the last budget and has worked to get the dedicated NYCHA land transferred so it can be built into a trauma center. “I’ll commit part of my capital budget to help the trauma center move forward,” he said.
On transportation improvements, Osina said he would continue to support the development of QueensLink, increasing ferry routes and making sure transportation is up to par. For drivers, Osina expressed frustration over the increased time it takes to drive from one end of the peninsula to the other. “We need to have the state come and do a report on the best way to create more efficient ways to get from one end to the other. One size does not fit all for the whole city,” he said. On congestion pricing, Osina said he did not support it. On speed and red-light cameras, he said, “We need to make sure they’re equitably distributed through the city. Some neighborhoods are getting them more densely than others. No neighborhood should be targeted.
Osina expressed his position on several other concerns. Raising taxes? “No raising taxes on our working families, period,” he said. On more development in Rockaway? “I think we have to keep the community the way it is and find new ways to have families stay closer to us. There are already new developments, so let’s find ways to create affordable home ownership,” he said. Expanding 3K and 2K for the state? “Yes.
As the candidate endorsed by the Queens Democratic Party and several former and current Democrat officials, does Osina believe he can stay independent of the party when it comes to what’s best for District 23? “I was never a party person. My opponent was the party person as a county committee member for the past six years. We went through the same vetting process, and I would say elected officials here in Rockaway felt I would be a better partner to them in uplifting voices on issues that focus on the Rockaways.”
Overall, why should Democrats vote for Osina in the primary? “I’m the only one who will be ready on day one to bring community needs to the forefront. My whole life I’ve been that bridge builder, bringing communities together, making sure voices are strong. This district has been the stepchild of the state and city and we need that person to be able to uplift the voices of the community, so I’m asking for your support, for your vote to create a more unified district and a more unified voice in the community.”
