Tiffany Cabán, left, and Felicia Kalan

As in many other races in New York City this election cycle, public safety is the defining issue in the general election in Queens’ City Council District 22, where a rising leftist political star who wants to abolish prisons and the police is facing a Republican pitching a far more conserative approach and ‘common sense’ moderation in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.

The major party nominees are Tiffany Cabán, a democratic socialist and former public defender who won the Democratic

Tiffany Cabán (photo: cabanforqueens.com)

Tiffany Cabán, one of the city’s most prominent leftist leaders and the recently-victorious Democratic nominee for City Council in Queens’ 22nd District, says that no other profession could have prepared her for politics more than her seven years as a public defender.

And as Cabán, who must still win the general election in which she is heavily favored given the district’s overwhelming Democratic voter enrollment advantage, eyes joining the City Council and making an impact there, she is reflecting on

Students at work (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The way our children are being educated has changed dramatically by this COVID-19 pandemic. As a working mom, it feels like I’ve been running a marathon and someone keeps moving the finish line. Mayor Bill de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have thus far been unable to give working families a clear plan for how our children can safely return to school in the fall. 

The options offered by the de Blasio administration are to either continue with full-time remote learning or a hybrid