Political activist Harpreet Singh Toor announces run for New York City Council

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Community leader and political activist Harpreet Singh Toor announced recently, his candidacy for New York City Council District 23 in Eastern Queens. If he wins the June Democratic primary and gets elected, Toor would become the first Indian-American on the Big Apple’s City council.

Toor would be replacing Council Member Barry S. Grodenchik, who is not running for re-election.

City Council District 23 includes the neighborhoods of Bayside Hills, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Hollis Hills, Holliswood, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village.

“Our city is experiencing a crisis of leadership, and Queens is suffering as a result,” Toor is quoted saying in a press release.

“It’s time to restore strength and integrity to our political representation.”

Toor pledged to work with City Council leadership to establish an effective, science-based strategy for battling the Covid pandemic.

“I will fight for strong solutions to the alarming budget shortfalls we are facing as a result of the pandemic, and make certain the people of District 23 receive their fair share of services and funding,” Toor said.

“We are seeing how the lack of an effective pandemic strategy hurts all of our essential city services, from school closings, to garbage pick-up, to crime fighting, to the shuttering of senior centers, to street maintenance, access to healthcare, the elimination of youth services, and access to meals for seniors and families,” Toor said, promising a return to effective leadership and representation.

Toor is credited with building diverse coalitions among elected officials to push through  “several groundbreaking initiatives”  including passage of the New York Workplace Discrimination Law prohibiting New York employers from discriminating against employees due to their religious attire.

He was also engaged in the successful campaign for co-naming of two streets in Queens, Gurdwara Street and Punjab Avenue.

Toor, a financial consultant, is a former Community Liaison for Assemblyman David Weprin, and supervised community outreach for the 2020 Census count in Queens.

He is a founder, Past Chairman, and a Past President, of the Sikh Cultural Society of Richmond Hill, which, according to the press release, is the oldest and largest organization of its kind in the tri state region. He was also a founding board member of the Annual Sikh Day Parade.

Too was also producer, and on-air host, of the decade-long weekly public affairs television show, American Vision, the press release said.

The New York City Council Democratic Primary will be held June 22, 2021.

Toor’s campaign manager is Donald Kaplan who can be reached at donald@toorforcitycouncil.com, or at 917-435-8730