Michael O'Reilly

O�Reilly said the district desperately needs jobs, better schools and improved forms of local transportation. O�Reilly supports reactivating the Long Island Rail Road�s Rockaway Beach line and wants permanent ferry service to the Rockaways from JFK International Airport and from Manhattan. �This would be a huge boom to businesses in Southeast Queens,� O�Reilly said. He also wants to create tax incentives for small businesses to hire and to reduce �stifling� regulations on local businesses. �The district needs new leadership and someone who will engage with the public to discuss these issues,� he said

O�Reilly, 58, was born and raised in Broad Channel, Queens, and is running on the Republican and Conservative lines. He graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with a bachelor�s degree in air commerce. He later joined the Marine Corps, where he served two years before receiving an honorable discharge because of a medical condition. O�Reilly then worked for four years as an airline pilot for Northwest Airlines, which was later acquired by Delta Air Lines, and later became a corporate pilot, flying executives to private airports. In 1989, he obtained a law degree from New York Law School. He initially practiced commercial law, but now works as a regulatory attorney in Manhattan. O�Reilly ran unsuccessfully last year for Queens County Civil Court judge. He is married with one son.