Bruson Building at 74-09 37th Ave.
Feb. 20, 2019, By Meghan Sackman
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the newly sworn in representative of the 14th District, will be opening a Jackson Heights district office next month.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office will be located in the Bruson Building at 74-09 37th Ave., about eights blocks from where her predecessor Joseph Crowley operated from.
She anticipates opening the office on Monday, March 4, a representative from her office said at the Community Board 1 meeting on Tuesday.
The congressmember has faced some criticism over the length of time it has taken to open her district office. However, she has attributed the delay to landlord issues and the government shutdown.
The delays were caused, in part, by her inability to move into Crowley’s previous location. She took to twitter last month to explain the obstacles preventing her from doing that.
Office update/NYC Rent life: although we attempted to take over our predecessor’s lease, the landlord wanted to almost double rent (from ~$7.8k/mo to $15k/mo).
That spike would have meant less caseworkers for our community. Instead, we’re making a new space w/ a family business! pic.twitter.com/PrM8E1v8wh
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) January 22, 2019
“Although we attempted to take over our predecessor’s lease, the landlord wanted to almost double rent (from ~$7.8k/mo to $15k/mo),” she said of former Representative Crowley’s old office spaces.
She consequently had to build out a new space, which she said was slowed down by the 35-day government shut down. The New York Times, in a story about the delay, noted that other freshmen congress members managed to open offices despite the shut down.
Her scheduler Daniel Bonthius, who announced that the office was opening at the Community Board 1 meeting, said that Ocasio-Cortez has big plans for the district office.
He said that the office will feature art work by local artisans, and that there will be a mural contest where the winners will have their work displayed on the walls of her district office.
“We’re looking for murals that celebrate our unique and diverse community,” Bonthius said at a community board meeting.
Artists interested in the competition are advised to submit their sketches to ny14mural@mail.house.gov before the March 11 deadline.
Bonthius said the congressmember plans to hold a town hall at her office once a month, along with multiple public events.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents northwest Queens and southern parts of the Bronx, is currently looking for a permanent district office in the Bronx as well. In the Bronx, she is temporarily sharing an office with Senator Alessandra Biaggi of the 34th District, located at 1250 Waters Pl.
The Bronx native and Queens representative, who was officially sworn into office in Washington on Jan 3, 2019 held a swearing in ceremony over the weekend at the Renaissance School for Musical Theater and Technology in the Bronx.
The ceremony included a swearing in by Judge Jenny Rivera, the second Hispanic woman to be appointed to the New York State Court of Appeals, as well as Ocasio-Cortez’s inaugural address.
Until Ocasio-Cortez’s permanent offices are open, her constituents are being advised to reach out her website at ocasio-cortez.house.gov.
Ocasio-Cortez’s Washington D.C. office is also reachable at 202-225-3965.
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20 Comments
So…. this is happening in NY14 tomorrow….
Protest AOC
Saturday, March 16
Fiesta Hall
37-62 89th St
Jackson Heights, Queens
2 PM to 4:30 PM
https://twitter.com/A4Ny14/status/1106593776951283714
Please, please help me in regards to Police Brutally case!!
The comments here just show that WE are the sh*thole country.
Few challenge ideas with counter ideas.
Instead it’s a slew of racist, misogynistic comments…smh
Hahaha ocasio is a joke! Trying to turn this country into USSR 2.0 because being a bartender she did not read enough history. Socialism is designed to fail from mathematical point of view. There is no way around it but she will be collecting nice fat checks promising chance to poor and stupid people who voted for her.
The NY Post reports that the rent for the new space is $17k per month, which is more expensive than extending the lease at her predecessor’s offices. She could have had an office open to serve her constituents, with lower rental expenses, by now. Therefore, her tweet about having less caseworkers if she extended the lease at the old location doesn’t make any sense.
Anything is better than corporate Joe Crowley of Virginia! Now he ‘s a lobbyist working for special interests – AOC was right , Crowley didn’t work in DC for His districts- he always worked for his corporate donors – and now as a lobbyist he is just continuing being a sellout .
“She consequently had to build out a new space, which she said was slowed down by the 35-day government shut down.” No, her ego wanted her to have newly built out office space. There is plenty of suitable office space in this city. If she is for the people, then she could have sublet an empty chair at one of the nail salons in Jackson Heist.
The people Queens who voted for her should go live in Venezuela since they like socialism so much.
See how well that worked out for Venezuela
Yeah, and Sweden and Denmark! Those places are real s-holes.
Sweden and a Denmark are not Socialist societies! They have free-market economies!
All socialists countries, thriving are listed below. Stop letting Fox dictate your happiness.
Denmark.
Finland.
Netherlands.
Canada.
Sweden.
Norway.
Ireland.
The countries you listed are more free market and with less regulations than the U.S. They are not socialists
Interesting. Please point us to sources that back up your thesis.
It is not a thesis it is a fact. Here you go:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2018/07/08/sorry-bernie-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/#5afa0ae274ad
Yeah they just have n elaborate social safety net, in addition to public services such as free education and universal healthcare. Totally not socialist lmao.
NOT ONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES IS A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.
Take it from an actual Swede! Your American media is lying to you.
Why do you keep reporting that AOC grew up in the Bronx ???
Grew up in an affluent area of Westchester .. Tellit like it is
Denmark is socialist too and Copenhagen is the happiest place on earth.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/aoc-living-in-luxury-dc-apartment-no-poor-people-allowed/ar-BBTP3bC?ocid=sf
Welcome home.