By Joe Anuta
Businessman Everly Brown paints himself as the only candidate capable of truly representing the people of Queens should he be elected borough president in November.
The development company head is running in a Democrat primary against two well-financed opponents, former state Assemblywoman Melinda Katz of Forest Hills and City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria). The winner will face unopposed Republican Tony Arcabascio in the general election.
“I don’t have the money that they have,” Brown said, referring to his Democratic rivals, “but I am a candidate that will make a change in Queens.”
Brown sat down with Timesledger Newspapers for an interview about his candidacy, but the married father of seven spoke little compared with two of his consultants, Garth Marchant and Courtney Richards, who often discussed policy details on the candidate’s behalf and sometimes even finished his sentences.
One of the campaign’s most ambitious ideas is to reactivate Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica.
“I believe every borough should have a medical school and teaching college,” said Brown, who proposed partnering the resurrected medical center with nearby York College to offer the borough not only medical services but also increased educational opportunities.
The idea is based on a medical center in the Bronx that houses the Albert Einstein School of Medicine and University of Staten Island Hospital, according to Marchant, who has run for office himself and once worked for former U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman when he represented a large swath of Queens.
Brown would also like to see a two-year public technical school in Queens.
Another of the campaign’s unique visions is to import the model of a successful nonprofit in Manhattan called the Harlem Children’s Empowerment Zone to certain areas of Queens. The organization brings social services, educational support and basic amenities like meals to low-income students in geographic areas where children typically struggle, and even provides services for adults.
“When you build something like that, a lot of private dollars come in,” Marchant said.
Brown accused Borough President Helen Marshall of neglecting certain communities, and said if elected he would highlight the poor living conditions in the city’s many public housing projects.
“I’m very much hurt to see what is going on in those communities,” he said. “It’s a problem.”
He is also opposed to the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program.
At a recent candidates’ forum, Brown voiced support for a park known as QueensWay along a stretch of derelict Long Island Rail Road track, but in an interview with TimesLedger, his advisers said the campaign also supported restoring the railroad in addition to building a park along the right of way, saying federal funds could help foot the bill.
He is opposed to development on parkland and opposed the soccer stadium once proposed for Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Brown, who heads a real estate construction company called 501 Manhattan Corp., has raised less than $2,000 for his run, according to the city Campaign Finance Board, which did not qualify him for the city’s matching funds program. His opponents had raised more than $1 million with matching funds.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
