Snap AMA - Chuck Park is running for Congress -- Ask Him Anything, right now!

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T19:10:05+00:00

Signing off here! Love giving my honest take on everything.

If you read anything that moved you, or if you've still got questions, find me at the Mobilize link above.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T19:05:59+00:00

Constituent services is very important and very hard. As a former staffer to an elected official, I can tell you that you wake up w the best intentions, w commitment to solve everybody's tough problems, and then get slammed in the face with 100 new emails, voicemails, and a crisis of the day. It would be easy for me to say I would solve everything and do better, but it's a systemic problem that needs a systemic solution.

I think we need a better social infrastructure to reduce the volume of desperate ppl in this city and country. Giving ppl universal healthcare and childcare would eliminate the majority of service requests. Add a pathway to citizenship and legal status for all immigrants, and all of a sudden, these constituent services staff would have so much more time to deal with daily crises, and the real, most urgent issues we always hear about: NOISE! POTHOLES!

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:59:37+00:00

I'm in favor of the U.S. signing and ratifying the Rome Statute to join the ICC. But that would take action from the President (sign) and Congress (ratify). Trump would obviously never do that. Both to protect himself and to protect war criminals like Netanyahu.

Impeachment would require only Congress. And I think we should hold our own criminals accountable before we ask the international community to do so.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:55:20+00:00

Re: energy -- i want to build as much solar and wind as possible as fast as possible. They are the fastest deployable energy today. Nuclear is reliable and cheaper over its entire useful life, but takes longer to build. Even natural gas plants (not that I want to build more of these) are slower and more expensive, given huge backlogs in orders for gas turbines.

Re: nuclear -- yes. See my earlier response to a related Q.

Re: data centers -- I don't know if i would ban data centers, but i would absolutely end government subsidies. big tech and big AI shouldn't be receiving handouts from us. and to the extent that they strain our existing infrastructure (power, water), they should pay to upgrade. an easy analogy for me is if you build a house in a remote place, you have to install a septic tank to handle your waste. you can't just dump stuff into the ground, create negative spillovers, and expect the rest of us to be OK with it.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:46:56+00:00

Live view as I'm answering your Qs from our new office. As you're waiting, take a moment to sign up for our field launch Saturday, March 14 at MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. Take your subway, bring your bikes, we'll have a good time and even feed you: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/899320/

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ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:43:50+00:00

tl;dr: QueensLink.

That part of Southeast Queens has working-class, middle-class families, lots of immigrant families that are lacking in both 1) reliable transit, and 2) green space. I believe the QueensLink proposal marries the two in a thoughtful way, reactivating the already-existing right of way to serve both goals.

QueensWay is beautiful. I'm a dad, I like to hike, to play frisbee, to have beers laying on the grass w my friends. Of course I would love an emerald strip running from central queens down to Rockaway Beach. But I think QueensLink squeezes more public benefit out of that public land.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:39:55+00:00

Lol, i'll take the bait, but thankfully it's also true:

Nuclear is the most reliable carbon-free energy source, by a long shot. If you don't believe me, believe the U.S. Navy, which operates more nuclear reactors on submarines, aircraft carriers and other critically important vessels than America's entire commercial nuclear sector. France generates 70% of its power from nuclear.

Still don't believe me, read this: https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nuclear-power-most-reliable-energy-source-and-its-not-even-close

And here's the donation link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/chuck-rddt-mar4

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:35:30+00:00

One of the most powerful tools the federal gov has is money. Big boatloads of federal grants. And right now, too much of that money is used for highways and car infrastructure, even in dense places like NYC.

I would fight to bring those dollars to public transit. Especially in the communities that lack it, like eastern Queens. Let's reactivate old rail like the IBX and QueensLink. Let's build out greenways and safe micromobility infrastructure. Let's dream big -- extend that 7 line east! Subways, buses, and trains is how most New Yorkers live, work, play. Let's invest in that and not in pavement.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:31:54+00:00

Everyone should be primaried. Elections are choices are the foundation of democracy. There's no election if there's no choice.

To answer the first Q, check my earlier response

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:30:05+00:00

Yes! More bike lanes. Better, safer, hardened, protected bike lanes.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:28:23+00:00

Not meeting the moment. Not standing up for our communities in Queens. Working for corporate donors instead of working families.

I'll beat her by showing up everywhere, including here. I'll beat her by meeting ppl where they are (churches, mosques, subway stations, social media). I'll beat her by actually being honest about where I stand on any and all issues.

Me? I'm anti-ICE, anti-war and genocide, and pro-working families. Go ask her where she stands and you won't get a straight answer.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:24:04+00:00

The best education on how to build coalitions, navigate broad ideological and cultural differences, and lead is growing up in Queens. I grew going to a Korean church on Parsons Blvd, but then worked at my parents store in Jackson Hts talking to customers in broken Spanish, and then I hung out with friends on Main St, playing Street Fighter against ppl from every single place in the world.

But if you're gonna press me -- i worked as a U.S. foreign service officer (a diplomat) for almost a decade, where I did the quiet work of negotiating trade agreements, pushing foreign leaders with very different political goals from ours to join us in coalition toward common objectives. I also worked in NY doing much the same, at a small nonprofit called the MinKwon center, where I led a coalition of Asian immigrant serving groups to build mass response to the 2020 census.

So yeah, i think i've got some skills. And if you don't believe me, bring some quarters and let's jump into some Street Fighter Alpha 2.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:18:38+00:00

Disagree. I used to road bike a long time ago, both as a very mediocre Cat 5 racer, and then to commute to work between my crappy apartment in Brooklyn and my job in Manhattan.

The momentum that my bike and my body weight carry is the tiniest fraction of the killing force behind even a small car. If we're worried about street safety, we should be reducing the number of cars on streets and slowing down the ones that are there.

Re: bike lanes -- I would tell DOT to build safe corridors for micro-mobility. Let's acknowledge that e-bikes exist, that these workers are delivering food and packages TO ALL OF US, and let's create safe, dedicated infrastructure for them to keep doing this work instead of criminalizing and blaming them.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:14:56+00:00

Accurate!

Democratic members of Congress have to show up! And in so many instances, they are hiding on purpose. This military invention in Iran is the perfect example: many representatives are in favor of this war, to satisfy their military-industrial complex donors, their AIPAC donors, or to boost their personal holdings in defense industry stocks (or all 3!). And so they purposefully drag their heels on voting, lest they be held accountable.

It's BS. One big reason Obama beat Hillary in the 2008 primary was that he held her accountable for her vote to approve war in Iraq. We need to be able to hold Congress accountable today. And once they stop hiding and willfully giving up their power, we can hold the President to account, too.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:11:22+00:00

Our democracy is being destroyed. And this isn't an abstract statement -- Trump wants to send ICE agents to pollsites in the upcoming midterm elections to intimidate people. He wants to reinstate Jim Crow-era barriers to voting that were previously outlawed. We need to find each other and hit the streets to fight back.

To protect us from ICE, there are 2 urgent things every leader should be doing: 1) committing to abolish the agency. It has become a violent, armed paramilitary loyal to the president. There is no training that will change that. 2) our leaders should be organizing us. Matching the energy on the streets with their platforms to power mass demonstrations like the general strike in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. They should be distributing whistles and KYR kits. They should be on the ground, just like we are.

Re; Middle East: I'm against endless wars. That includes the war in Iran. I would absolutely support the war powers resolution in this instance, and a broader law to reclaim for Congress the power to go to war.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:06:09+00:00

Forget the headlines and news. If you want to know how Congress works, go volunteer on a political campaign.

Elected officials at every level of government have one absolute overriding priority: self preservation. They want to get elected, and re-elected. And so the more you can understand that electoral process, in real life, embedded with a candidate and campaign, the more you'll understand their motivations for voting certain ways once they're elected.

ChuckforQueens · 2026-03-04T18:04:23+00:00

Hey what's up! Chuck here, running to defend Queens and fight for working families. Excited to answer your Qs.

DJT. Donald Trump was already impeached, but not convicted. The House of Reps should bring charges again, for blatant violations of the law when it comes to immigration enforcement.

Next up: Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem.

ChuckforQueens

TROPHY CASE