2013 Primary election results

Good morning! I hope you all are happy waking up in a City that soundly rejected Christine Quinn last night. She came in with 15% of the vote. Bye-bye, Bloomberg lite!

The likely winner without a runoff is Bill DeBlasio. As of last night, he had 40.2% of the vote, with Bill Thompson coming in at 26%. Whether or not there is a runoff, however, let me point out once again that the political careers of Christine Quinn, John Liu and Anthony Weiner are DONE.

Scott Stringer bested Eliot Spitzer in the Comptroller's race and Letitia James and Daniel Squadron will go head to head in a runoff for Public Advocate.

Locally, Melinda Katz soundly defeated Peter Vallone, Jr. and even with the 9% or so of the vote that Tony Avella allegedly took away from Vallone, he still would not have beaten her. So much for Italian power.

In district 19, The latest numbers are Paul Vallone 2,723 votes to Austin Shafran's 2,579 votes with 98% of precincts reporting. Neither Huffington Post nor NY1 has called it for Vallone, although he claimed victory. So, in November, it MAY be Vallone and Republican Dennis Saffran. Will Saffran win because most Dems picked anybody but Vallone? Time will tell. (Apologies for previous mistake. Shafran got WFP endorsement, but NOT their line. He is challenging the election results.)

In the 22nd CD, Costa Constantinides handily beat John Ciafone.

In the 24th CD, Rory Lancman creamed Andrea Veras.

In the 27th CD, it's still a race between Daneek Miller (3,756) and Clyde Vanel (3,360) with 98% reporting.

In the 28th CD, Ruben Wills beat Hettie Powell.

In the 31st CD, Donovan Richards beat Michael Duncan.

And in the 32nd CD, Lew Simon beat William Ruiz.

Also, thankfully, in the 34th CD, which covers mostly Bushwick but half of Ridgewood, Antonio Reynoso sent Vito Lopez packing once and for all.

Sadly, because we are a one-party town run by a political machine, there were no primaries in the 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 29th or 30th districts and all incumbents ran unopposed.

In kind of a surprise, in Brooklyn, 23-year incumbent DA Charles Hynes was defeated by challenger Kenneth Thompson.

UPDATE:

Tony Nunziato and Phil Ragusa were also reelected as GOP state committeemen.

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All thanks to Everly Brown

"Residents reached out to our local leaders: Borough president/ Helen Marshall, Councilman/ Leroy Comrie and many others. Our request was to clean the abandoned property at 107-58 164 Street.

Local leaders ignored residents/voters. Thereafter,residents were forced to proceed with a protest. Residents invited: Everly Brown, Melinda Katz, and Peter Vallone, because the three are asking for our votes to be the next borough president.

Only one person marched with residents on 6/29/13 against landlords who abandoned their property. That ONE PERSON IS EVERLY BROWN. He MARCHED with us while Katz and Vallone looked the other way.

Thanks Everly Brown. As a result of Everly Brown's intervention, the site was cleaned. Queens residents, please show thanks to Everly Brown at the POLLS.

Vote for Everly Brown for borough president. Brown will continue to serve Queens residents. Send this message to your friends, family etc.

1 & 2 photos are before the protest. The last photo is after the protest." - Pamela Hazel, Jamaica

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Have fun in the voting booth tomorrow!

This was the Vetter house in Richmond Hill. It's last use was as the Simonson Funeral Home.
The Richmond Hill Historical Society stored its collections there prior to 2007.
Despite preservationist efforts, the house was torn down in 2007.
In its place, a Gerald Caliendo special. Mr. Caliendo sits on Community Board 1 thanks to Peter Vallone, who received $12,275 in campaign contributions from him. And this building, as well as the rest of Victorian Richmond Hill, was denied landmark status during the tenure of Melinda Katz as Chair of Land Use of the City Council.

Remember, the 2 main functions of the borough president are community board appointments and land use.

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Everything old is new again

From the Queens Courier:

One thousand new trees would grow in Queens and government rooftops would be painted an energy-saving white should Melinda Katz win her bid to lead the borough.

The former legislator outlined her “Plan for a Green Queens” on Tuesday, September 3 with her newest supporter, the New York League of Conservation Voters.

“With a total absence of federal legislation on environmental issues, there is a real need for local leaders to step in and fill the vacuum,” Katz said.

The candidate said she would use her borough presidency to allocate more park space, make Queens government buildings more energy efficient and lead regular electronic waste drives.

Why does this sound like Bloomberg 2.0?

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Melinda Katz: Tough. Tested. Turkey-basted.

From the Daily News:

For once, Curtis Sliwa wants to keep his frozen sperm under wraps.

Sliwa, co-founder of the nonprofit citizen crime patroller Guardian Angels, is trying to get out of answering questions under oath about his supposed sperm donation to Queens borough president candidate Melinda Katz, the Daily News has learned.

The talk show host has moved to quash a subpoena by his ex-wife Mary seeking “any and all records concerning the sperm bank(s), semen bank(s), or cryobank facilities where Curtis Sliwa supposedly deposited and stored his sperm for use by Melinda Katz” to “be artificially inseminated.”

Sliwa and Katz have maintained that Sliwa made the donation she used to have two children — now ages 5 and 2 — before he tied the knot with Mary in 2000.

Mary’s lawyer, Paul Siegert, said she believes they had the kids while carrying on a years-long affair, and wants proof she kept his sperm in storage for a decade.

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Pot, meet kettle

From Capital New York:

It's a response to a mailer Vallone sent out earlier, portraying himself as a superhero. Here, he's a right-wing supervillain.

The job of borough president has largely been relegated to monitoring land use issues and allocating capital funds for infrastructure projects. Since there isn't much to separate the two Democrats in this race in terms of their respective records in these areas, the election will come down to name recognition and, beyond that, whatever the voters know about the candidates and their values.

Katz has attacked in the past Vallone for seeking the support of the Conservative Party, which opposes abortion rights and stricter gun control measures.

This, coming from someone who is so enamored with conservative radio host Curtis Sliwa that she is not only shacking up with him, but birthed 2 of his children while he was married to someone else...

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Latest from the Katz is suitable for litterbox

Melinda managed to list a bunch of topics that the borough president has no control over as well as a bunch of non-solutions on her latest mailer. A moratorium on hospital closings? Good luck with that.

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And then there were 3

From the Daily News:

The once-packed Democratic race for Queens Borough President is turning into a duel.

State Sen. Tony Avella, the maverick politician who cut his teeth as a Queens civic leader, has dropped out of the contest.

“I will never stop fighting and advocating for all residents of Queens,” Avella said in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon. “Yet, at this time, I believe I can best serve the people of Queens by remaining a state Senator.”

Avella’s departure leaves City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. and former City Councilwoman Melinda Katz in a battle for the Democratic nomination. Businessman Everly Brown will also be on the Sept. 10 primary ballot.

Despite "dropping out", Avella's name will still appear on the ballot September 10th.

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Helen's words of wisdom

From the Queens Chronicle:

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall referred to Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), the first Asian-American congresswoman from New York, as “Chinese” at a rally for the Voting Rights Act on Friday.

“We have this wonderful young Chinese woman who works in this borough,” Marshall said to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who also spoke at the event, held at Borough Hall. The borough president was speaking of the greater role minorities have come to play in the electoral process in recent years.

Marshall’s aides were quick to jump in and mention it was Meng — who was not in attendance — the borough president was referring to.

“Yes, she has done wonderful things for our borough and is a prime example of the strides our borough has made,” Marshall said after she was reminded.

Her office later added that the borough president’s statement was not malicious but that Meng’s name had briefly slipped her mind.

In fact, Marshall spoke quite highly of Meng during the rally and quickly corrected herself by saying, “Oh yes, Grace Meng,” after the initial statement was made.

The congresswoman’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shortly after, Helen made an endorsement:

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Hypocrites, a bit?

Photo from The Forum

From the Queens Gazette:

More than 500 people filled outreach center Ohr Natan on Thursday, July 25 to fight for the facility to remain open. Members of the community, spiritual leaders and elected officials voiced their support for Ohr Natan, where thousands of people depend upon for their food distribution, classes, children’s programs, events, lectures, referrals, ESL classes and Judaic studies each year. Ohr Natan is being evicted and possibly taken over by a developer who plans to convert the center into an apartment building. In attendance were Congressmember Grace Meng, state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Assemblymember Michael Simanowitz, Councilmember Karen Koslowitz, borough president candidate Melinda Katz and Barbara Baruch representing City Comptroller John Liu. Proclamations were presented to Ohr Natan by Meng, Stavisky, Koslowitz and Liu. The theme of the event was “We are here together with Ohr Natan —No to development! No to Destruction!”

No to development, no to destruction?!?

When was the last preservation rally that this cast of characters showed up for? They usually are the ones proclaiming that a structure needs to be torn down in the name of progress.

Melinda Katz is the reason that they are being evicted in the first place because she told the LPC in 2006 that the site was not worthy of landmarking (at the congregation's urging).  The other dopey electeds have caused similar harm throughout the borough.  So why all of a sudden is preservation so important?  How deep are the pockets of this crowd?

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Borough President campaign contributions break down as suspected

From The Forum:

Vallone is the fundraising leader with $1,224,797 cash-on-hand followed by Katz with $882,458.

An analysis of the three candidates funding sources shows very definite patterns with both Vallone and Katz pulling substantial contributions from large and well-connected real estate and construction firms while Avella’s base could most easily be described as grass-roots with mostly smaller contributions from individuals and local businesses.

Contribution levels for both Vallone and Katz frequently topped $4,000 whereas by contrast, Avella had few, if any, contributions above $1,000.

Among Katz’ major contributors included Cordmeyer Development, Vornado Realty and Tully Construction. Vallone Jr. counted Ahern Construction, Tully Construction as well as numerous unions including firefighters and sanitation workers among his major backers.

Avella’s major funders included numerous retirees, civil servants and local businesses. He has little support from corporate real estate and/or law firms.

If you want a good laugh, check out the NY1 Queens Borough President debate from Thursday night.

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Trylon Theater & Tower Diner block advertised as hi-rise development site

Trylon Portfolio

A special thank you to former City Council Member and current Queens Machine-backed Queens Borough Presidential candidate Melinda Katz for making sure the LPC rejected the landmarking application.

Quote: In an interview with the Daily News, Katz explained that she was not disappointed in Tierney's decision, and thanked him for taking a "very careful look" at the Trylon issue. She added that the Trylon had been modified too much from its original look, with the theater's interior and marquee having been redone in 1984 and 1994, respectively. "I never thought that this was a building suitable for landmarking," Katz said. "I guess I'm just happy that he [Tierney] made a decision, and now we move on.

Actually, the facade of the building was what activists sought for landmarking, and that's the only part of a building the LPC can designate, unless it's open to the public, which this wasn't. As for the marquee, it's very unlikely that it would not be replaced over time. It hasn't stopped countless other landmark designations of theaters. The facade was 100% intact. Melinda knows this. She'd rather have development on Queens Blvd than preservation. Enjoy much more of this type of behavior should she enter Borough Hall and make the entire borough the Katz litter box.

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Katz as Katz can

The first thing you notice when you go to melindakatz.com is that her "news" hasn't been updated in more than a month and apparently her children haven't grown either. The older one is 5 and the younger one is 2, but you wouldn't know it from that photo.

You'd think the County candidate would have the resources to hire someone that knows that the Senator's name is spelled Toby Ann Stavisky, not Stavinsky. Pretty impressive that she got Ed Koch to endorse her, but he's now deceased. Bragging about the endorsement of a dead man? Really, this woman has NO shame whatsoever.

I like the fact that her campaign is also too cheap to pay for photo hosting.

My favorite line from her bio: "In 2009, Melinda was the only woman running in the Democratic primary for New York City Comptroller." Now there's a qualification.

These are the things you have to highlight when you spent your political career harming the borough instead of helping. Not one constituent or civic endorsement appears on the page.

Actually, this unprofessional woman is the absolute perfect choice to represent modern-day Queens.

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Leroy's out

From The Politicker:

Councilman Leroy Comrie today announced an end to his bid for Queens borough president, citing “personal matters” as his reason for leaving the race.

“After careful consideration, my family and I believe, due to personal matters, this is the best course of action,” Mr. Comrie said in a statement. “I remain steadfast in my faith and belief in government and it is a true honor to continue to serve the people of Southeast Queens in my capacity as Councilman.”

Queens Democratic insiders weren’t sure about the legitimacy of Mr. Comrie’s campaign, however. Some had predicted, accurately ultimately, that he would eventually exit the race around the time when petitions were due to be handed in this week. He remains close to the county organization and would have complicated Ms. Katz’s path to victory against rivals like Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., a strong fund-raiser.

Mr. Comrie, who is term-limited, has been a rumored candidate for deputy borough president or even the seat occupied by indicted State Senator Malcolm Smith. With his exit, only Ms. Katz, Mr. Vallone Jr. and State Senator Tony Avella remain in the Democratic primary.

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Lots of pols responsible for the sad state of St. Saviour's site

Here are photos from nutrichris on Flickr that show the current condition of the St. Saviour's site. Currently, 1/4 of the site is occupied by 4 warehouses, one of which is for sale (although strangely, that's not a photo of it at the link for it).

The others have already been sold, with involvement by the Empire State Development Corporation and the U.S. Small Business Administration. (Because news of being screwed out of a park by the local government got around, so the state and feds decided to join the fun.)

Recently, applications were put in for 4 more warehouses on the undeveloped portion. The architect? CB1's Gerald Caliendo.

Now, as you can see from the photos, the site is still being used as a dump inside and out, the construction fence is falling down and part is still sidewalk-free.

Of course, the lion's share of responsibility for this lands squarely in the lap of no-talent Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who totally bungled an amazing chance to develop a park at the site. However, there's plenty more blame to go around. What involvement did the BP candidates have (or not have)? Here's what I have gathered from activists:

Council Member Peter Vallone said he couldn't get involved because it wasn't in his district, yet he had no problem showing up at rallies for Brinckerhoff Cemetery as far back as 2008. I guess since Caliendo gave $12,275 in donations to him, he decided it was a convenient excuse.

Former Council Member and Chair of Land Use Melinda Katz sided with Dennis Gallagher and wanted to see the church torn down and replaced with 75 housing units. Had the zoning change ever come in front of her, it surely would have passed. As Land Use Chair, Melinda had the power to influence the Landmarks Preservation Commission when the site was suggested for designation. She refused to do so. (We won't even go into what she did to landmark-worthy sites in her own district.)

Council Member and current Land Use Chair Leroy Comrie has been head of the Queens delegation now for years. The county delegation chairs get a pot of money every year during budget time to spread around their boroughs. Comrie had no interest in securing the extra $50K or so that was necessary to begin the ULURP and get the acquisition process started when everyone was on board and it was actually possible.

And of course, we don't have to remind you that the only BP candidate that ever showed up and tried to help was Tony Avella.

If this shitshow can happen in Maspeth, it can happen in everyone else's community as well. Vote for a borough president candidate wisely.

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BP candidates suddenly opposed to Mets mall, soccer stadium

From the Daily News:

Major League Soccer — which was in talks with the city to build a $340 million stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, — won’t be coming to Queens, said a local politician.

“The location doesn’t work,” said City Councilman and Queens Borough President candidate Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), who chairs the Council’s Land Use Committee. “There was no real benefit for Queens residents to site it in that location.”

Comrie, who said he opposes putting the stadium in the park, pointed out there is land available near Yankee Stadium.

Team officials said they are considering various sites all over the city — and Queens is not off the table just yet.

From the Daily News:

Two City Councilmen — who happen to both be running for Queens borough president — are trying to block the plate against a proposed mega-mall next to CitiField.

The lawmakers, Leroy Comrie and Peter Vallone Jr., announced Monday they oppose the current plan, which includes a 1.4-million-square-foot mall and is currently rounding third and headed for home in the city’s land-use review process.

“The community has responded negatively,” Comrie said. “They don’t feel their needs are being kept in the forefront.”

Comrie heads the powerful Council Land Use committee, and said changes may be needed before it gets the Council’s rubber stamp.

The lawmakers will vote on the mall and adjustments to the $3 billion development this fall.

Comrie (D-St. Albans) blasted a “ridiculous” provision that hinges the construction of the affordable housing to connecting ramps to the Van Wyck Expwy.

He said there are “ongoing negotiations.”

Meanwhile, Vallone said the new plan stretches outside of the boundaries of what was originally pitched in 2008.

“That’s not what we approved,” said Vallone (D-Astoria). “You can’t change it after we approve it.”

“It’s an urban renewal plan.” said Katz. “It’s so easy to talk about amending. We have to look at how to make it happen and move it forward.”

Ah, well Katz's reaction is not surprising. Neither is Comrie's. I'm sure this will sail through Comrie's Land Use Committee as soon as some adjustments are made to the plan.

But what happened to Peter Vallone's "it's not parkland" nonsense? He used to be all for this project before he was against it.

In the meantime, Tony Avella has proposed statewide legislation that would likely prevent the alienation of parkland in the future. Michael Simanowitz has agreed to introduce it in the Assembly. Let's see what the Albany tweeders do with it.

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