Francisco Moya currently represents the 21st Council District – encompassing East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, LeFrak City, and his native Corona. Prior to his 2017 election to the Council, Moya was elected to the 39th Assembly District in 2010, making him the first Ecuadorian-American elected to public office in the United States.
A lifelong resident of Corona, Queens, Francisco began organizing in his community at the age of 15, when he and a group of concerned neighbors started the Corona Gardens Neighborhood Association, organizing members of the community and working to improve quality of life. Francisco went on to graduate from St. John’s University. He graduated with an MPA from Baruch College’s Urban Fellow program. Subsequently worked for two members of Congress, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Congressman Brad Sherman, in Washington, D.C.
In 2003, Francisco was named Secretary to the Senate for Senate Minority Leader David A. Paterson, and became the highest-ranking Latino in state government.
Throughout his years in the Assembly, Francisco has been a champion for working-class families, fighting to pass legislation that would preserve union rights, improve workplace safety and strengthen worker protections. He successfully passed legislation to stop employment agencies from robbing low-income families of hundreds in unfulfilled finder’s fees.
Francisco shined a spotlight on the epidemic of construction deaths that claimed as many as 33 lives — typically low-income workers of color — in just two years. He wrote Carlos’ Law and repeatedly blocked efforts to repeal the Scaffold Law in efforts to provide workers with the basic protections they need and deserve.
Council Member Moya continues to be a leader in the fight against hate-crimes and anti-immigrant policies on the national stage, introducing an omnibus bill – the New York State Liberty Act – to establish protections for undocumented immigrants that have long contributed to the culture and economy of New York and his district. As a leader in the fight to expand college opportunities for the children of undocumented immigrants, he wrote the DREAM Act, which was signed into law in 2019.
He also passed “curbstoning” legislation that allows the NYPD to tow for-sale cars that take up public street parking and are often uninspected and unsafe and as Chair of the Commission on Science and Technology, he worked to foster public-private relationships to bring STEM curriculum into the classroom and train students with skills that will prepare them for the industries of tomorrow.
As a community organizer, Assemblyman and now a City Council Member, Moya has been a stalwart champion for working-class and immigrant families and continuously fought to improve the quality of life for his community.