“Everyday I just try to work hard,” said Costa Constantinides, District 22 representative of Astoria and parts of Jackson Heights, Woodside, and East Elmhurst in Queens. “Everyday I just try to do my best, do little bit more for the community and do a little bit better for the neighborhood. I think that’s probably the most important thing as a councilman is you just have to keep working at it because nothing is simple.”
Constantinides won the general election by 65 percent in 2013. He became the first Greek-Cypriot American elected as a council member in New York City.
During his four years, he helped his district on environmental issues, putting millions of dollars in parks and using affordable housing as a positive influence. After winning by 93 percent over Kathleen Springer for another term, the 42-year-old looks to do much more for his district and knows there is still a lot of work to do in those areas.
Born in Astoria, Constantinides saw the environmental challenges New Yorkers had to deal with. As a staff member of the Environmental Protection Committee for six years, he was part of the community advocacy that dismantle its Poletti Power Plant in 2013. Now he is currently the chair, solving issues throughout the city. However, there is an ongoing issue within his district. Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich, who considers Constantinides a good friend as they achieve goals within the committee, rarely have disagreements because council members have different environmental priorities.
“In Astoria, which falls in Councilman Constantinides’ district, pollution caused by traffic congestion is a concern,” said Ulrich. “In Rockaway, an area that I represent, sand erosion on beaches is a top priority.”
Traffic congestion is made up of slower speeds, longer trips and pollution. Constantinides wants to improve on those conditions so people are safe and aren’t discouraged. He hopes the ferry can be useful for everyone to use for mass transit rather than cars. However, even the councilman as a resident living in New York City knows the struggles of getting to work on time.
“It’s only so many times that sadly a boss would take the excuse that the train is late,” said Constantinides. “We all know the trains are late so folks really take their jobs in their hand when they get on mass transit. It’s unfortunate, it’s disgusting and we really need to do a better job on keeping our trains on track.”
Another environmental issue that he is combating for the community is climate change. The councilman installed $1.1 million of solar panels on PS 122, the first school in the district to receive them. It’s a form of renewable energy and he wants to put it in other local buildings as well.
“It’s just a way to make things greener and more sustainable. There is also an air quality benefit. When you’re not burning fossil fuels or as many fossil fuels, there is an air quality benefit in that building.”
While the Democrat continues to improve on environmental issues, affordable housing has been the talk of the city. People don’t like the idea of developers making new buildings and essentially affecting current residents. They see the area median income as a cause for concern in areas that requires a lot of money to have a home.
“There is very little deep affordable housing when projects are divided into levels of affordability,” said LIC Coalition Member Diane Hendry. “It’s a start but everything is sort of washed away when you consider land grabs that 421a developers get, and the displacement it causes by physical displacement, or land values rising and forcing others out because their rent triples.”
Hendry believes the system is flawed, but Constantinides is frustrated about that assumption. He believes it to be a positive influence since most citizens complain to him about saying they can’t pay for rent and want an affordable unit.
The developers are making these buildings as part of the development and keeping current residents in these neighborhoods, which Constantinides describes as an effective way of fighting displacement.
Still, even when he was living in Astoria, getting his BA in history at Queens College, and obtaining a JD from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, he loved to play in local parks. He is passionate about making sure parks are at the highest standard as they also improve neighborhoods.
“Costa is a pleasure to work with, and a great partner in caring for and developing New York City’s parks and open spaces, “said Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens Parks Commissioner. “He’s highly involved with the Astoria community and before he became council member, Costa volunteered with us, helping to clean and beautify local parks. His willingness to get his hands dirty on the ground level, combined with great compassion for his neighbors, has given Costa a keen intuition about the needs of this community.”
Constantinides already invested $30 million dollars in Astoria Park and see residents making the park better by fixing minor issues and sweeping leaves, which is simple yet effective. He took his son to Holt Park one weekend and they were just having fun, appreciating the good conditions and time outside. He wants to renovate not only the other parks in his district, but playgrounds as well for the first time in 25 years.
Constantinides only has four years as a councilman to accomplish these goals. He knows it’s the last term and wants to leave his mark. Every councilman has a project of something special for their district. He wants to have a greener future with affordable housing, but feels that an impactful plan will probably make others look at him as one of those politicians who made a difference.
“We have to figure out how do these pieces fit together and build a transportation system that is unified and is impactful for everyone,” said Constantinides. “Not just we are gonna build this line this way, we are gonna do it this way and none of these lines are gonna cross one another. We have to sort of think big picture.”
Raymond Mora 
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