The race for Queens Council District 22, the next phase of Astoria's political evolution

Just over eight years ago, the ex-prosecutor representing Astoria in the city council penned an op-ed to defend the controversial police strategy then roiling New York and shaping its political future.

“Stop and frisk works,” went the headline.

“I have worked closely with Commissioner [Ray] Kelly to make our city safer, fight for more police officers, and defend stop, question and frisk — which is the only method of getting the gun before the toddler playing in the sprinkler can be shot in a ‘drive-by,’” then Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. wrote in the Queens Chronicle in 2013, the final year of his three-term tenure.

Yes, not too long ago, the councilmember from Astoria — epicenter of modern New York City lefty politics, the neighborhood that last year elected a Democratic Socialists of America organizer to the state Assembly — wanted more cops and more stops.

It’s safe to say the political landscape has shifted in Western Queens as demographics change, leftwing political stars emerge and progressive organizers continue to drive the vote and achieve milestone victories.