QUEENS — A community activist who founded Jamaica311.com, a popular website listing neighborhood events, launched his bid for the City Council District 27 seat, which includes the neighborhoods of St. Albans, Hollis, Cambria Heights and Jamaica
Greg Mays, 50, joined a race which includes I. Daneek Miller, a labor activist, Manny Caughman, a community liaison for Assemblyman William Scarborough, and Joan Flowers, a lawyer.
They are vying for the seat being vacated by Leroy Comrie, who is leaving office due to term limits.
“I’m ready” for the job, he said in a YouTube video, announcing his candidacy.
Mays said education tops his priority list. “I want to fix the problem of early literacy,” he said. “Less than 50 percent of 3rd and 5th graders in southeast Queens are passing the English Language Arts exam.”
Mays, who was born in Jamaica and raised in St. Albans, received his MBA from Harvard University, according to his website.
In 2007, he started A Better Jamaica, a non-profit organization promoting family activities and educational programs in the neighborhood.
The group launched Jamaica311.com to keep residents informed about local events, and started Jamaica Reads, a program that pairs senior citizens with kids in elementary schools who struggle with their reading.
The organization also screens free movies in Jamaica parks.
Mays supports ending stop and frisk, wants to bring supplemental reading programs and create more after-schools activities in Jamaica and plans to launch a website featuring local job opportunities.
