Council candidates Swaranjit Singh and Bob Friedrich pulled me aside to tattle on competitor Mark Weprin at the “Queens Cultural Unity” event hosted by Singh on his May birthday.
Weprin had refused to join Singh and Friedrich in their agreement not to challenge one another. A Weprin campaign insider told me that Weprin had no intention of filing against either; he merely wanted to keep his options open lest sweeping petition fraud was discovered.
Video thanks to QueensCrap
By Marvin Anderson
The organization that planned to place a homeless shelter on a neighborhood block in Elmhurst has canceled its plans after a massive wave of protests from residents, according to a source.
The source, speaking on terms of anonymity, said that the non-profit organization The Queens Alliance has withdrawn its shelter operation from the neighborhood.
Richard Italiano, District Manager of Community Board 4, said he has also heard rumors of the decision, but has not yet received anything official from other legislators or the Human Resource Administration, which worked with the non-profit.
Councilwoman Melinda Katz and HRA spokeswoman Barbara Brancaccio were unavailable for comment.
The Queens Alliance announced its intentions to open a shelter to house HIV/AIDS infected homeless on 86-18 58th Ave., but the decision was met with strong rejection from the residents on the block who said is already home to a shelter for the mentally impaired.
“The decision was wrapped around our throats without any concern for us,” said Linda Lam at a July 11 neighborhood rally against shelter. “We have to keep up the fight.” Read the rest of this entry »
A Fairway supermarket may open up in Douglaston by the end of next year — if the Board of Standards and Appeals grants approval.
The new supermarket would be larger than the Waldbaums which currently sits at that location at the Douglaston Plaza Shopping Center, and 15-20 percent cheaper, according to Fairway CEO Howie Glickberg.
I’ve made the schlep up to their Upper West Side location a few times for their variety of ethnic and fancy eats at competitive prices. Also, I get a special kick out of patronizing establishments with sparking clean johns — ones without entrance policies that require groveling with the staff.
UPDATE: The variance passed.
There is a powerful overlap between the mission of the Chocolate Factory Theatre in Long Island City, which calls for “work that requires new methods, more time, and a new kind of audience” and their recent production of Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, which ends its run there on Saturday.
In the beginning of the production, two groups of Russian peasants debate the use of a field now that the war has ended. Should it be for goats to graze or for growing fruit? As the two sides bicker, a female tractor driver half jokes, “all entertainment must be rationed” like wine, cigarettes, “and discussion.”
Brecht’s own vision of the theatre includes this rationing process. There are songs, but they’re not meant to be hooks; there’s a love story, but the baby comes first; and for all the Law & Order fans, there is a climatic trial scene with a witty judge, but he isn’t wearing any pants. Read the rest of this entry »
Indicted Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio submitted his resignation to Speaker Sheldon Silver this morning.
Arrested on mail fraud charges last September, he was indicted in December on federal corruption charges and the indictment was extended in March on extortion charges.
There has been no word yet on a special election. Despite the charges, Seminerio was elected to a 16th term last year.
The Riso family, which owns the Briarwood Organization Development Company and is seeking to build a five-story office building on Bell Boulevard has plastered no fewer than eight city politicians with campaign donations, ranging from $320-$4,950 within the last year.
Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) received the largest donation, at $4,950. In addition to being a mayoral candidate, Avella chairs the Council’s Zoning and Franchise Subcommittee. Briarwood is seeking to create a commercial zoning overlay on a residential district of Bell Boulevard. Neighboring properties are already commercially zoned.
In addition to Avella, Bayside City Council candidates Debra Markell and Jerry Iannece, Borough President Helen Marshall and Council Land Use Committee Chair Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills) have all received donations. Besides running for Council, Iannece is the chair of the Community Board that just denied Riso’s zoning change. Essentially, Riso has made donations to nearly everyone who has a say on the future of his project. Besides making donations to a handful of neighboring council members and comptroller candidates, he has kept all of his spending local.
“These are all people we know and love. And if you go back in our history, if you do business in the city of New York, you respect people in office, we give to them,” said Vincent Riso.
“They donate to me because they know me, because they’re my friends,” Avella said, noting that “I fight developers all the time. I’m taking on the real estate industry. Any developer that is giving to me isn’t giving because they’re going to get any special influence. They give to me because they think I’ll do a good job.”
“Briarwood is not one of the bad guys. I’ve never seen them try and pull one over on the community. But there are plenty of bad guys…I don’t like the fact that they’re donating to anybody,” he said. “To me that’s buying influence. And I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Avella pointed out that most of his donations are from average people, and that the Riso donation was one of his largest. He mentioned his support for the Clean Money Clean Elections organization, and his desire to push its principles forward into legislation.
Avella said real estate interests are controlling the political agenda in the city, and that they are corroding the character of neighborhoods. Immediately previous to questions about the Riso family, Avella accused the mayor of having a pro-developer agenda, saying that – though he doesn’t need to garner funds –his circle of friends includes developers.
The project in question is a five-story office building located on what is now part of the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 36-01 Bell Blvd. CB 11’s Zoning Committee voted unanimously against the proposal. The application will still go before Borough President Helen Marshall, who also received donations from Sophie Riso, who listed herself as retired on that donation form, but as an employee of the Briarwood Organization on another. She trumped her husband, Vincent Riso’s $320 donation to Marshall, and gave $1,000 herself.
In addition to Marshall and the Zoning and Franchise Committee, Briarwood will contend with the Council’s Land Use Committee, which is chaired by Melinda Katz (D-Forrest Hills). Katz received at least $5,900 in multiple contributions for her Comptroller campaign from James Riso, also of the Briarwood Organization.
It is unclear whether or not Briarwood has its sights set on all of Redeemer Lutheran’s property, or just the 30,000 square feet they’ve already purchased from the church – which East Bayside Homeowners Association President Frank Skala claims is tightly strapped for cash.
Avella said the plans he has seen, with development on only part of church’s former property, seem to have changed.
The old time stethoscope that Denny Daniel displayed to his audience of 30 kids looked like a wooden horn. A cross between a showman and educator, Daniel curates the Museum of Interesting Things, a traveling exhibit of his collection of odd antiques and inventions.
The kids at the Solomon Schechter School of Queens, of which Daniel is actually an alumnus, were so excited at the showing on Thursday that they couldn’t stay seated. Daniel moved at rapid kid pace, showing and telling about a miniature spy camera from the 1950s, a windup non-electric shaver from the same period, and other goodies.
John Choe would rather not talk about North Korea.
“This issue is of very little relevance to District 20,” said Choe, responding to claims made last week by District Leader Julia Harrison, who said her sources were wary of Choe’s alleged connections to North Korea.
“The main issues of working families in this district are good schools for their children, jobs, health care, police protection, the basics. […] This story is old news. It’s been covered since 2003, with accusation that somehow I am a spy or a representative of North Korea. I’ve been very clear in my answer; I have not taken sides, I don’t represent or speak on behalf of either the South or the North Korean government. I am Korean American and my focus is as a community organizer to make people’s lives better right here.”
Choe did agree to a lengthy interview to dispel the rumors and past allegations that his role in founding a group called Nodutdol somehow branded him unpatriotic or worse. He made no secret of his advocacy for peace on the Korean peninsula and explained his positions on the issues that have gotten North Korea in headlines around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
With the implementation of Rockefeller Drug Law reforms less than a week away, a provision to seal the records of some non-violent drug offenders has come under fierce criticism by State Senate Republicans, including Senator Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose).
“The potential exists for someone being in a classroom who was convicted for selling drugs in a school yard. That is unconscionable,” said Padavan, citing the fact that one of the drug-related laws that can be sealed include first degree sale of a controlled substance near school grounds. The list of applicable laws also includes various degrees of burglary, grand larceny and any other B class felony that is associated with drug crimes. Read the rest of this entry »
James Wu and John Choe are both running for the 20th District
John Choe officially announced his candidacy for the 20th Council District on Monday and promptly won the endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Organization the next day.
The endorsement gave a boost to former Chief of Staff for Councilman John Liu – who currently holds the seat, but it was the most hotly contested of all the endorsements made that day. Choe faced a strong challenge from District Leader James Wu for the endorsement, but following the abstention votes by District Leaders Julia Harrison and Martha Flores Vasquez, Wu relinquished his votes to Choe “for the sake of party unity.” Read the rest of this entry »
