Joann Ariola is a lifelong resident of the 32nd Council District. She was born in Ozone Park and raised in Howard Beach. She attended P.S. 63 (Old South), P.S. 207 (Rockwood Park), Our Lady of Grace Catholic School, Stella Maris H.S. on the Rockaway Peninsula and Adelphi Business School.
A longtime Queens civic leader, Ariola won a Republican Primary On June 22, 2021, with over 80 percent of the vote, and on November 2, 2021, she was elected to the NYC City Council in a General Election by a margin of over 65 percent. She subsequently entered into her second term after an unchallenged election in 2023.
Since taking office, she has proven herself to be a common-sense moderate and serves as a member of the Republican Minority Caucus as well as the Common-Sense Caucus in the Council.
Throughout her period in office, Councilwoman Ariola has put a strong focus on improving the quality of life in the neighborhoods of District 32. This means working closely with both city agencies and nonprofits to ensure that streets are cleaned, as well as advocating for more NYPD officers in our precincts. Councilwoman Ariola was also a sponsor of Int. 1001, which holds landlords accountable for knowingly renting properties to individuals selling unlicensed marijuana products.
The Councilwoman has also fiercely advocated for medical freedom, rallying repeatedly for city workers who were wrongfully removed from their jobs for COVID-19 vaccine non-compliance. To that end, the Councilwoman introduced Reso 5 in early 2024, which calls upon the City of New York to immediately bring any and all city workers back to the workforce should they still desire their positions.
A large portion of the 32nd Council District is geographically centered around Jamaica Bay, and as such the Councilwoman has also made cleaning up our waterways a priority. One of her proudest achievements to date was her creation of the Office of Marine Debris and Removal – an entirely new mayoral office that would be directly responsible for cleaning our waterways and disposing of derelict and unwanted vessels.