City Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr.'s District 32 represents Howard Beach, Ozone Park, Hamilton Beach, Lindenwood, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and South Richmond Hill, Broad Channel, Rockaway Beach, Rockaway Park, Neponsit, Belle Harbor, Roxbury and Breezy Point.A lawyer and life-long resident of Ozone Park, Addabbo was elected to the City Council in 2001.
He recently was elected chairman of the Council's Civil Service and Labor Committee, where hot-button issues include boosting pay for rookie cops and residency requirements for city workers.
A husband and father of two young children, Alexis, 3, and Arianna, 3 months, Addabbo practiced law in Queens before running for public office.
Addabbo has worked to improve schools and expand mass transportation, including establishing a ferry service from the Rockaways to Manhattan.
He attended the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School in Ozone Park and Archbishop Molloy High School.
He studied accounting at St. John's University and got his law degree at Touro Law School.
The Daily News talked with Addabbo, 42, about his life, his father and what he hopes to achieve on the City Council.
1 Q: What is the biggest issue facing your district?
A: Transportation is that one issue that affects everyone.
2 Q: What are you doing to improve mass transportation?
A: We've worked closely with the MTA since it took over the private buses. There is still work to be done.
3 Q: What was the most important part of your education?
A: At Archbishop Molloy High School, I was introduced to a politics and government course by [teacher] John Diorio. Knowing who my father was [the late Joseph Addabbo Sr., who served as a U.S. congressman from 1961 to 1986], [Diorio] said, "Maybe you should go into the same line of business."
Twenty years later, John helped me on my first campaign.
4 Q: How did you decide on a career in politics?
A: John Diorio said, "Watch what your dad does," and I saw the satisfaction [my father] received in helping people.
5 Q: What legislation do you want to pass that you haven't been able to pass?
A: Health benefits for the families of city employees who pass away in the line of duty. Second, [an overhaul of] the Taylor Law [which limits the rights of city workers to strike]. It's too one-sided, toward the employer.
6 Q: What's your favorite place for breakfast, lunch, dinner?
A: Breakfast is home with my family. I try to make it home for dinner. On special occasions it's Russo's On The Bay. I tend to see everyone from my district there.
7 Q: What's your favorite spot in your district?
A: The top of the Joseph P. Addabbo Bridge. From there I get to see all of my district.
8 Q: What has the Bloomberg administration ignored in your district?
A: Ferry service. I hope that someday, somehow I'll be cutting ribbon on a ferry.
9 Q: What do you want to achieve in your Council career?
A: I'll do what I can to keep families here by improving transportation, education and safety.
10 Q: What would you like to be able to say about your time as a City Council member after you leave office?
A: That I was perceived as hardworking. I want the people to feel their tax dollars were well-spent.
Melissa Grace
