Council Candidate Juan Ardila and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer in Ridgewood last week
April 20, 2021 By Ryan Songalia
Juan Ardila who is running to represent the 30th Council District added another prominent endorsement last week as he aims to unseat Bob Holden, the incumbent.
Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who is running to be the next Queens Borough President, endorsed Ardila on Friday—as the newcomer aims to represent a district that covers Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale, Ridgewood, Woodhaven and Woodside.
“Ardila will be a vocal champion in the council for affordable housing, education equity, small businesses, and working families,” said Van Bramer, who currently represents the 26th Council District and is term limited.
Ardila, a Maspeth native who previously worked for Council Member Brad Lander, issued a statement thanking Van Bramer for his endorsement.
“I’m proud to have his endorsement of our campaign, which only further broadens our strong coalition of Democratic support and reconfirms there is only one Democrat running for Council in District 30,” Ardila said.
The challenger is running as a progressive and has been a constant critic of Holden’s Democratic credentials. Holden was opposed to the defund the NYPD movement last year and has pushed back against the placement of homeless shelters in the district.
Holden has held the seat since he beat then-incumbent Elizabeth Crowley in the 2017 general election, just months after losing to her in the Democratic primary. Holden beat Crowley in the general election when he ran on the Republican Party and his own “Dump de Blasio” lines.
Kevin Ryan, a spokesperson for Holden, says Holden has remained a registered Democrat since he was old enough to vote.
Ardila has been endorsed by a number of high-profile Democrats, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, State Senators Jessica Ramos and Mike Gianaris, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz as well as City Council members Lander and Antonio Reynoso.
Ryan dismissed the significance of Ardila’s endorsements.
“They don’t mean anything,” Ryan told the Queens Post. “The voters know that Bob Holden has devoted most of his adult life to serving this district as a civic leader for 35 years, as a community board member and other capacities. They know that he knows what these neighborhoods need because he’s been doing it for so many years.”
If elected, Ardila, whose father is Colombian and mother is Honduran-Cuban, would be the first Latino to hold that office.
The primary will take place on June 22.
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11 Comments
Holden has done great work for people around Juniper Valley Park. I live in Old MV and he has done zippo for us and Glendale. We have a lot of shelter people walking around.One homeless guy pooped in
my neighbor’s drive way. I told us we were not getting a shelter . Plus his own office workers degrade voters on social media, when you call them out on issues. Lets not forget Holden won on a Republican ticket.
Not Voting for Bob
Just under two months until Robert Holden loses the primary! Can’t wait!
Just under two months until Robert Holden keeps his seat and Ardilla fades away to whatever other endeavor is trendy for the woke mob.
If Mr. Van Bramer endorses this candidate, I see no reason to support him.
Juan is doing great for someone who never did anything.
Bob Holden has done more for our community in the short time he’s been on the City Council than JVB has done in all his years in office. JVB only shows up for photo ops when it suits his agenda. He has barely crossed over Queens Blvd. to address our issues. He shows up on 61st St when he’s shilling for votes. This new guy’s probably a lot of the same. No thank!!
Woodside mom- Kindly provide a list of some Bob Holden’s accomplishments. I don’t know any. Here are some of Jimmy’s
Jimmy was instrumental in gaining the funding needed to refurbish the Woodside, Sunnyside Libraries and construction of the new Hunters Point Library. Jimmy secured the funding to rehab Doughboy Windmuller, Bush Field and Sabba Parks. We needed lights installed on 43rrd avenue after my neighbors daughter and and a little boy were struck by vehicles at 47th and 46th streets, Jimmy got them installed. There were issues concerning garbage cans on the corners of 49th, 46th and 47th streets , One call to JVB and the problems were resolved. The new benches throughout the neighborhood on Greenpoint Ave, on Queens Blvd and Skillman Aves are directly related to Jimmy’s hard work. Jimmy fought and won the fight to restore after school programs at PS 150.
Bob Holden is great: certainly better than Van Bramer, who plays to the mob.
Prominent endorsement? Like a carbuncle
All these candidates working back round is in some sort of tax payer role. Did any of them have a real job in the private industry? i think not because they would not last a week on the job.
@More- You really do drink the kool aide. I know dozens of people who took “socialist” municipal government jobs after their wages were cut, pensions stolen or plain just fired for being older. The only people who have a pension in retirement were all municipal employees or worked for utilities just ask all the people who worked for worldcom, Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, Lehman Brothers, DHL,Indy Mac, ENRON and the list goes on and on.