South Queens Democratic Club - Meeting at Carosello Restaurant on May 25th - 7:30pm

t

Local Officials Press Black On New School At Metro Campus by Matt Hampton - Forest Hills, NY Patch

Read original...

Maspeth High School's incubation needs better planning, politicians say.

Upset about the incubation of a new Maspeth High School at the Metropolitan Educational Campus? 

You're not alone, City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, D-Forest Hills, and Elizabeth Crowlet and Assemblyman Mike Miller and Andrew Hevesi are outraged, as well.

Koslowitz sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Cathie Black earlier this month, co-signed by Crowley, Miller and Hevesi, and recently released the text of that letter to the public.

The Department of Education announced earlier this year that a new school being built for Maspeth students would required a Queens building to house students during the 2011-12 school year. That building, they concluded, would be the Metropolitan Educational Campus, based on the fact that it is currently underutilized, and not scheduled to have a full student complement until the 2013 school year. While the site of the incubation is not set it stone — it is to be voted on March 1 by the Panel For Education Policy — the location is not likely to change.

The idea had many parents upset, and local officials sent the letter on Feb. 1 as a reaction.

In it, the elected officials say they are thrilled that the campus opened this year — a process that took nearly two decades — but, they caution, their excitement is tempered by the fact that students at the building will now be forced to share with students from a Maspeth School that’s still under construction.

Ultimately, Koslowitz and the other electeds are seeking a written statement from the Department of Education that the arrangement will only be for one school year. It’s a request that has so far not gotten a response from the Department of Education.

“We are requesting in writing a commitment from the DOE that these students will be moved to their new building after the 2011/2012 school year,” the letter read. “Assuring that the schools coexist smoothly is of primary concern to us, the parents and the community.”

Among other issues that Koslowitz, Hevesi, Miller and Crowley cite are the problematic scheduling of shared spaces, like the school’s auditorium, gymnasium and lunchrooms, and the current educational culture. The schools that are currently on site have wildly different educational curriculuae.

“We are concerned that the placement of the Maspeth School in the building does not disturb the culture of the existing students,” the letter read. “To date, we have received no plan regarding the usage of space between the three schools, the need for improvements to MTA bus access to the area, arrival and dismissal times among many other issues.”

Karen Koslowitz Will Get Council’s Economic Development Chair by Chris Bragg - City tHall News

Read original...

Queens Council Member Karen Koslowitz will take over the Economic Development Committee chairmanship, left vacant by the death of Tom White in August, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Koslowitz currently serves as chair of the Consumer Affairs committee, which is likely to be filled by Manhattan Council Member Dan Garodnick, one of the sources said.

Koslowitz’s office declined comment. Garodnick did not return requests for comment. Nor did the speaker’s office.

The Economic Development committee, once one of the Council’s more prominent, saw less action in recent years because of White’s health issues and poor attendance record. The Economic Development chairmanship carries a $10,000 lulu, the same as the Consumer Affair’s Committee Koslowitz is leaving.

The Technology Committee also carries a $10,000 lulu, though Garodnick refused it earlier this year.

Consumer Affairs would be a step up for the Manhattan lawmaker. Many had expected Garonick to land a higher-profile committee than Technology last January when chairmanships were doled out.

Council Member Gale Brewer, the former Technology chair, who co-chairs the Manhattan delegation with Garodnick, said she had not heard whether he was taking the Consumer Affairs chairmanship. Brewer said she hopes whoever would take over the Technology seat, assuming Garodnick does not remain there, would continue the improvements they helped bring to the committee's operations in recent years.

“I hope it would be somebody who is intelligent and competent with technology, because that kind of background is needed to lead that committee,” she said. “Certainly, Dan is somebody who had that.”

Though several Council members expressed interest in the Economic Development gavel, the seat was reserved for a member from Queens under the deal that made Quinn speaker in 2006, sources with knowledge of the situation said.

A lack of interest in the chairmanship from some of the senior members in the delegation had led to speculation that Ruben Wills, who was just elected to fill White’s seat, might chair the committee.

But a source close to Wills said he had not been offered the position. Wills is, however, seeking a spot on the committee. Wills, who won his race in a special election and will face re-election next year, is expected to focus on constituent services for the time being, the source said.

Meanwhile, Wills’ political opponents are also continuing to foment controversy about Wills’ potential residency issues, though they appear unlikely to derail his swearing-in.

Koslowitz, in her second stint on the Council after being term-limited out in 2001, is known for her commitment to constituent services, though not necessarily for tough oversight as a committee chair. 

She generally keeps a low profile.

One lobbyist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Koslowitz was among a several potential choices from Queens who likely would not offer much resistance to Council Speaker Christine Quinn or Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the position.

“They want someone in there who is not going to rock the boat,” the lobbyist said. “I couldn’t think of a better successor to Tom White.”

Queens Holds Back On Black by Nathan Duke and Matthew Hampton- Forest Hills, NY Patch

Read original...

While many New Yorkers have already made up their minds about incoming Schools Chancellor Cathie Black, Queens politicians have so far been fairly reserved on the subject. With several saying they're going to withhold judgment on Black until she's answered a few questions from the City Council.

Karen Koslowitz, D-Forest Hills, has said at recent community meetings that her plan is to take the wait-and-see approach with Black, though she has seemed hesitant to give her any kind of endorsement.

"I'm not sure how good this one's going to be — the last two chancellors had no experience in education," Koslowitz said at a Forest Hills Civic Assocation meeting after the appointment. "I hope she understands public schools. I think her kids went to private schools."

Koslowitz pledged to try and work with Black at a Community Board 6 meeting the next night, though she's withheld comment on the subject since.

Koslowitz's colleague, Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, originally joined other City Council members asking David Steiner, the state's education commissioner, to deny a waiver that would allow Black to become chancellor. The councilman later said his move was "premature" and asked for his name to be removed from the Council's resolution.

"I realized this was a rush to judgment," Halloran said. "I would like to ask my colleagues on the City Council to give Ms. Black a chance. I want to hear more from the mayor on her qualifications to be chancellor and the process used in her selection. And I want to hear more from Ms. Black on her plan to improve our city's public schools. It is premature to call for the denial of her waiver at this time."

Halloran said he believes the Council should give Black a "fair hearing" at which she could testify about her plans for city schools.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg picked up support on his schools chancellor pick from three former city mayors, Rudy Giuliani, David Dinkins and Edward Koch.

In a letter to Steiner, the former mayors wrote that Black had "an extraordinary track record of managing large organizations through trying circumstances."

"These are three individuals who understand the need to have someone who is talented and competent running an agency of this size and that, at the end of the day, the buck stops with the mayor," Bloomberg said in a statement.

A bevy of elected officials have also thrown their weight behind the mayor on the matter, including Councilman James Gennaro, D-Fresh Meadows, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and former Council Speaker Peter Vallone.

You're Invited to Congressman Weiner's Town Hall on Post-Tornado Clean-Up in Queens - Tuesday, September 21st at 6:30pm...

What: Town Hall Meeting on Post-Tornado Clean-Up in Queens with

New York City Office of Emergency Management

When: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 6:30pm

Where: Forest Hills Jewish Center

106-06 Queens Boulevard - Forest Hills, New York

Enter on 69th Road

Sponsored By:

Congressman Anthony Weiner

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi

Questions? Call Congressman Weiner’s community office at 718-520-9001.

Crowley, Weiner, De Blasio, Addabbo, Miller, Koslowitz, Ulrich, P.S. 254 March to Save Queens’ Fire Companies in Jeopardy of Closing

Click here to view these pictures larger

City Council Fire & Criminal Justice Chair Elizabeth Crowley (D-Queens), NYC Public Advocate Bill De Blasio (D-Brooklyn), U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Queens), State Senator Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), Council Members Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) and Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens), Assembly Member Mike Miller (D-Queens) along with local firefighters, community and religious leaders, parents, teachers and students from P.S. 254 marched from Woodhaven’s Fire Engine 293 to Richmond Hill’s Fire Engine 294 in support of keeping local fire companies open. Today’s march concluded with a rally at the Richmond Hill Engine 294 which was closed in January 1991 by the then Mayor David Dinkins only to be reopened days after due to a delay in response times to a nearby fire that resulted in the death of two brothers. At Engine 294 elected officials, firefighters and citizens blasted Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to close 20 fire companies and reduce FDNY personnel by 400 fewer firefighters in order to balance the budget.

City Council Fire & Criminal Justice Chair Elizabeth Crowley said, "The Administration found $200 million within the executive budget to maintain our security initiatives -- and this should include the FDNY. If we close fire companies, I certainly will not feel secure. Fires don’t care about budgets. We have only one choice when it comes to New Yorker’s safety -- and that is to deliver. Closing fire houses is not the answer to New York's fiscal problems.”

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said, "Even in times of economic constraints, the safety of New Yorkers must remain a first priority. The Fire Department can't execute this cut without affecting firefighters' response time in some neighborhoods. We cannot lose sight of our priorities, and I am committed to working with the Administration to restore these cuts so that our neighborhoods are not put in peril."

State Senator Joseph Addabbo said, "Our firehouses serve as the first line of defense for residents of this great city. Losing these firehouses would increase response time and put countless citizens in danger. I want to thank Councilwoman Crowley and my fellow elected officials who are working to ensure that this does not happen."

Assembly Member Mike Miller said, "Fire houses provide a life saving service for our community. Making cuts to these essential services is outrageous. In April of this year, it took the FDNY 4 minutes and 20 seconds to respond to fires throughout Queens. Cutting our local fire houses here in Woodhaven will increase this number substantially. Most of the houses in this neighborhood are wood-framed houses, making every second of response time critically important. If the fire department in Cypress Hills is responding to a blaze in Woodhaven, it leaves the residents of both neighborhoods in danger. Closing one fire house creates a domino effect that negatively affects all of our communities. I stand with Council Member Crowley in fighting these cuts every step of the way."

Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said, "The last five years have been the busiest in the 145 year history of the FDNY. This shows that residents depend more on the FDNY than ever before. It is a fact that closing fire companies or reducing manpower threatens the safety of civilians and firefighters alike."

Mr. Cassidy added, "Above and beyond the vital day-to-day role firefighters play in the community, the response to the terrorist attack in Times Square is another reminder of how critically important it is to get firefighters to the scene of an emergency quickly. The Time Square terrorist attack was the 11th plot or attempt to attack our city since 9/11, clearly showing that New York City is the #1 terrorist target. Closing firehouses or reducing staffing levels is dangerous for all communities throughout New York City.""

Leader-Observer - From Pin Boys to La Z Boys by Daniel Bush - Leader-Observer

Read original...

slideshow

The former Woodhaven Lanes building is one step closer towards its transformation into a major discount furniture store.

An attorney for Woodhaven Realty, which owns the shuttered Glendale bowling alley at the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, appeared before the City Planning Commission April 28 to apply for a special permit for the site.

The permit would allow for a retail store in excess of 10,000 square feet.

Last month, Bob's Discount Furniture announced plans to open a branch at the site, which is conveniently located near a busy shopping mall and comes with a large, 42-space parking lot. The chain furniture store plans to renovate the building's exterior before opening.

“We're seeking a special permit for a retail space,” Weisbard, the attorney for Woodhaven Realty, said after the CPC hearing. He said now it's a matter of waiting on the commission's decision. “They'll be voting” later this month, he said. “We'll find out more at that time.”

Community Board Six approved the project in March, even before knowing who would take over the 50,000-square-foot bowling alley, which closed in 2008 after a successful 50-year run. At the time, CB6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the site was ripe for revitalization.

A new store would bring “jobs, an economic base, and a tax base,” to the area, he said.

Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz is also supporting the venture.

“I look forward to the former Woodhaven Bowling lanes becoming a viable retail store,” Koslowitz said in a statement. “I am confident that the future occupants of the retail space will become responsible and respectful members of the community.”

Rally and March To Save Our Firehouses in Woodhaven on May 10, 2010...

Click on Image to Enlarge

What:

March and Rally to Save Our Firehouses

When:

May 10th, 2010

Time:

9:30am (March) and 10:00am (Rally)

Where:

March: Engine Co. 293 - 87th Street and 89th Avenue, Woodhaven (9:30am)
Rally: Engine 294 - 101st Street and Jamaica Avenue, Richmond Hill (10 am)

Any questions: Contact Councilmember: Elizabeth Crowley 718-366-3900

Lack of Parking Spots Plague Austin St. Retail Stretch; Community Members Search for Solutions by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

Read original...

Driving home a point, traffic agent arrives to check for meter tickets as Frank Gulluscio exults in having found parking spot. Farriella for News

The Austin St. shopping district acts like a siren - with its enticing stores, restaurants and movie theaters luring visitors into frustrating hunts for parking spaces.

There's no municipal lot for refuge. Private parking garages charge an arm and a leg. And leaving a car in nearby Forest Hills Gardens without a permit earns a boot and a fine.

"Even to drop somebody off, I cringe," said Barbara Stuchinski, president of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association.

Experts wince, too.

"Oh, man, I've spent 25, 30 minutes looking for a parking place there," groaned AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair.

Civic leaders long have tried to address the scarcity of spaces near the Austin St. retail stretch - centered at 71st-Continental Ave., a block from the subway.

But the "Queens Parking Crunch" series is renewing calls for solutions so locals can awaken from their spot-search nightmare.

In interviews with Queens News, locals suggested everything from angled parking to making Austin St. one way to erecting a municipal lot close by.

But resolving the vehicular vexation first requires an understanding of why finding a spot in Forest Hills has become so difficult.

Customers frequent the Midway Theatre on Queens Blvd., Barnes & Noble and a diverse mix of eateries and clothing stores that line Austin St. from Ascan Ave. to Yellowstone Blvd.

If motorists venture south into Forest Hills Gardens, it compounds their stress because only residents of the private enclave and visitors with passes can park there.

On the other hand, crossing Queens Blvd. leads to stretches of apartment buildings, houses and offices where the demand for parking outweighs the supply.

"It's a major concern in the district - very frustrating riding around the block looking for a spot," said Frank Gulluscio, manager of Community Board 6.

Chris Collett, who owned a collectibles business in the area from 1983 to 2002, recalled patrons constantly telling him, "I'd love to shop here, but. ..."

Their sentences invariably ended with parking gripes. "It has only gotten worse," said Collett, who serves on the community board. "There's no easy solution."

City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz vowed to consider several potential solutions, some of which she explored during her first Council stint from 1991 to 2001.

She suggested weekend bus trips between Austin St. and the Borough Hall lot on Union Turnpike. "It would be good for business," she said - before adding that funding may be hard to obtain.

She pledged to "look into" Forest Hills Gardens allowing nonresidents to park there during the most popular shopping hours, but she added she was "not optimistic."

Koslowitz also said the city should mull buying property near Austin St., should it become available, and constructing a "small," one-level municipal lot.

In the meantime, some stores that belong to the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce offer patrons reduced parking rates at the Allied Austin lot by 70th Ave.

"We're trying to eliminate, also, employees and owners taking up spaces," said chamber President Leslie Brown. "It helps."

A Transportation Department spokesman would say only that the city is "happy to work with CB6, elected officials and other civic groups to address their concerns about parking in Forest Hills."

This is the second in a Queens News series highlighting neighborhoods and shopping districts where the parking shortage has become chronic and crippling. The goal is to find solutions -- simple or innovative. To suggest trouble spots or ideas, e-mail QueensNews@nydailynews.com with "Queens Parking Crunch" in the subject line.

Karen Koslowitz Back on City Council by Anna Gustafson - YourNabe.com

Read original...

Former deputy borough president plans to take on traffic, health care issues

Sitting in her new 17th-floor office overlooking an expansive view that includes Citi Field and the Manhattan skyline, City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills) joked it will be easy for her to conduct her own Queens Boulevard traffic study.

“It’s right there,” Koslowitz said Monday. “I can see all the people who are trying to cross. I can see everything.”

Koslowitz, who officially took office Jan. 1, hopes she will be able to see everything her constituents need and that the view from her Forest Hills office on Queens Boulevard will be a metaphor for a tenure in Council marked by efforts to address a wide range of issues from education to health care. She replaces former Forest Hills Councilwoman Melinda Katz.

The Democratic councilwoman, who represents Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and parts of Richmond Hill, Maspeth and Elmhurst, already knows her territory well. Koslowitz represented District 29 for 11 years until 2001, when she was forced out of office by term limits. She then worked in the borough president’s office, first as the borough vice president and then as the president of community boards at Queens Borough Hall.

Emphasizing her desire to relay parents’ needs to the city, Koslowitz said she first plans to organize an advisory council that would include all the presidents of school parents’ associations.

“I’d like to bring the advisory council’s ideas to the [city] Department of Education,” said Koslowitz, who pointed out that parents have addressed such frustrations as overcrowded schools to the councilwoman.

Koslowitz has repeatedly complained that Forest Hills High School is too crowded and noted the school is bursting at the seams with about 4,000 students. It was built to hold some 2,700 pupils. She said the incoming Metropolitan Campus in Forest Hills, slated to open next fall, will help to decrease classroom size at Forest Hills HS.

Health care also needs to be addressed in the borough, Koslowitz said. The borough has lost about 600 hospital beds over the past year with the closing of Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills, St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica.

“I’d love to see a hospital where Parkway is,” Koslowitz said. “If we can’t have that, I’d love to see a medical facility for the people.”

The councilwoman again condemned an idea to bring a detention center to the Parkway Hospital site.

ADVERTISEMENT

“That was a scare tactic on the part of the hospital,” she said.

A court-appointed receiver for Medical Capital Holdings, a defunct investment firm that originally issued Parkway’s mortgage, filed an Oct. 15 deposition that said he might be forced to turn the building into a detention center if it did not reopen as a hospital.

Senior issues, traffic alleviation and working with the Bukharian community also top Koslowitz’s ever-growing to-do list. She is hoping to see senior housing with medical facilities in her area and said she will work to scrap the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plans to drop Access-A-Ride users at bus stops instead of their ultimate destinations.

Koslowitz is hoping to study traffic on Queens and Woodhaven boulevards as well as at truck traffic in areas like Grand Avenue in Maspeth.

She has already launched efforts to work with the Bukharian community, including her former rival for the Council, Albert Cohen, and Koslowitz will be honored at a dinner sponsored by many of her Bukharian constituents this week.

Meet Your New Members - Karen Koslowitz by Chris Bragg - City Hall News

Read original...

Veteran Takes Pay Cut to Return to Changed District...

As Karen Koslowitz ran this year for the Council seat she once held for a decade, her campaign manager encountered an exasperating problem.

Every time Koslowitz was supposed to meet her staff at campaign headquarters, she was always at least 30 minutes late.

Easily recognizable with her curly bob of red hair, Koslowitz, 68, would constantly be stopped during the 15-minute walk from her apartment to Queens Democratic Party headquarters by people looking to talk to her.

“I said to Karen, ‘We’re going to have to start driving over to your place and picking you up,’” recalled her campaign manager, Greg Lavine.

That name recognition helped Koslowitz eke out a primary victory over the WFP-backed Lynn Schulman, giving the Queens Democratic Party one of its few success stories during an otherwise dreary election season. She again defended against Schulman in the general election.

In 2001, Koslowitz deferred plans to run for borough president, and took a job as deputy Queens borough president. For the past eight years, she has quietly bided her time, staying in touch with constituents as Helen Marshall’s point person for community board relations.

Koslowitz is taking a substantial pay cut to return to City Hall.

Though other opportunities arose over the past eight years, Koslowitz never really seemed interested in climbing higher up the political ladder.

“She without a doubt has been waiting over the past eight years to again run for the City Council,” said Michael Reich, executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party. “She’s told me that it’s the best job she ever had.”

Long a party loyalist, Koslowitz worked her way up through the Queens Democratic Party, first joining the Continental Democratic Club, then serving as an aide to Rep. Gary Ackerman and Council Member Arthur Katzman, whom she succeeded on the Council. She was also very close with Thomas Manton, the now-deceased former boss of the Queens Party.

One major selling point for Koslowitz during the campaign was a pre-existing knowledge of how to work the levers of government. She is also known for an almost obsessive commitment to constituent services. (One of the top issues she wants to tackle on the Council: making sure residents of local senior centers again are served hot meals, rather than frozen ones.)

Since term limits forced her off the Council, the district has grown dramatically more diverse, with Russian, South Asian, and Hispanic immigrant groups streaming into upcoming areas like Kew Gardens, and Rego Park.

In an effort to relate to the new immigrants, Koslowitz would tell the story of growing up in the Bronx as the daughter of Polish immigrant mother. She also can relate to the economic hardships faced by many of her constituents, as a single mother who raised two children in the district.

Koslowitz felt this race was more personal than the previous campaigns she ran for City Council. With more Democratic candidates running than in the past, she decided her best bet was to walk through the neighborhood knocking on doors and asking for votes.

“I didn’t go door-to-door the first time. This time I did, it was wonderful to do, but I think it was funny how people answer their doors,” she said, gasping and letting out a little laugh. “What they’re wearing—sometimes you’re startled.”

Opponents Leap On Koslowitz Denial Of Polling by Chris Bragg - City Hall News

Read original...

Statement before Queens Tribune editorial board contradicts CFB disclosure

In late July and early August, residents of Council Member Melinda Katz’s district in Queens received phone calls from a polling company hired by Karen Koslowitz, who is seeking to return to the Council seat she held for a decade.

Yet on Monday, in a simultaneous screening of all the candidates in the race conducted by the editorial board of the Queens Tribune, Koslowitz said she had not conducted any polling during the campaign, in response to a yes or no question from the editorial board asking each of the candidates whether they had done any polling.

Campaign finance records show that on July 21, Koslowitz paid $12,000 for “Polling Costs phone poll” to Global Strategy Group, the city’s premier polling firm.

Global Strategy did not return a call for comment.

Gregory Lavine, Koslowitz’s campaign manager, chalked her discrepancy up to a slip of the tongue.

“She just misspoke. That’s it,” Lavine said.

Lavine then offered another explanation: “It was also just a matter of not discussing polling with any type of media.”

A state Board of Elections rule requires a campaign to disclose the methodology and results of a poll if the poll is discussed in public.

Regardless of the reason, Brian Rafferty, managing editor of the Tribune, said the contradiction could be a concern as the paper makes its decision on whom to endorse.

“It’s definitely something we’ll have to consider,” Rafferty said. “We understand that they may have to hedge their answers, because their opponents are sitting around the table. But if that’s the case, we would expect them to follow up with us and be forthright and make their answer clear to us as soon as possible.”

Rafferty said that he had not spoken with Koslowitz since the screening.

As for the poll itself, Michael Denenberg, a resident of the Council District 29, reported being told various statements about the candidates, after which he was asked how those statements would alter his perception of them. The poll seems to have included a number of positive statements made about Koslowitz’s record during her first tenure on the Council, he said. As is standard, when later in the call Denenberg answered a question about who he was supporting by saying Michael Cohen, Denenberg said he was asked if the fact that Cohen is under investigation by the attorney general’s office would change his view of Cohen. (Though this reflects some memories, others familiar with the poll say that this is an inaccurate representation of the questions.)

This type of polling is fairly routine for campaigns seeking to test out positive and negative messaging for use later in the campaign, but several of Koslowitz’s rivals pounced on her evasions to paint her as ill-suited for the district.

“It’s troubling, but not surprising, that Karen Koslowitz doesn’t know what her campaign is spending money on,” said Michael Tobman, an adviser for the Cohen campaign. “I cannot think of a clearer incident than being either untruthful or ill informed—because she had to be one of those—in an important editorial board meeting to highlight her lack of independence.”

Five Available Seats Make Queens' November City Council Race Brisk by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

Read original...

With five City Council seats up for grabs in Queens, Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for a busy election season.

In addition, Democrats are hoping to keep eight incumbent Council members in their seats - and knock out the lone GOP freshman.

But many more hopefuls are moving ahead with their campaigns, even if it means a bruising primary battle against party-backed candidates.

Candidates who want to receive public funds were required to file with the Campaign Finance Board last week.

Some of the most crowded fields of candidates can be found in the races for seats now held by Council members Melinda Katz, Tony Avella and John Liu, where at least six Democrats are vying for each seat.

Liu and Katz are running for controller, while Avella is making a long-shot bid for mayor.

Queens Democratic Party Executive Secretary Michael Reich said he is confident ex-Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz will be able to regain the District 29 seat she held for almost 10 years.

He also thinks Democratic candidate Frank Gulluscio will be able to defeat Republican newcomer Eric Ulrich, who won in a special election for the seat formerly held by State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, a Democrat.

"He got in on a fluke," Reich said of Ulrich. "Frank has tremendous experience in the community."

But Queens Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa disagreed and said he also expects former Councilman Thomas Ognibene to beat out Democratic Council member Elizabeth Crowley, who was elected last fall to his former seat - a one-time GOP stronghold.

"He's been there before; people know who he is," said Ragusa.

Reich pointed out Ognibene has been out of office for eight years.

"People are going to ask him, 'What have you done for me lately'" Reich said.

The herd of candidates, however, will most certainly be culled during the petitioning process.

Candidates are gathering signatures to secure a place on the ballot. But party-backed lawyers routinely pore over those signatures in search of irregularities that can keep candidates off the ballot.

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

Gulluscio Hits Ground Running for 2009 by Stephen Geffon - Leader-Observer

Read original...

More than 200 enthusiastic Frank Gulluscio supporters packed the Roma View Room in Howard Beach last Thursday evening with Democratic elected legislators from the area to raise funds for Gulluscio’s upcoming City Council race in the 32nd District.

Gulluscio is expected to face some of his prior opponents in the September 2009 Democratic Primary and, if successful, the incumbent Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich in the November 2009 General Election. Speaker after speaker touted Gulluscio's night as eminently qualified to become the area's next council representative.

Congressman Gregory Meeks said Gulluscio is dedicated to the community and has made a substantial difference.

"In Frank Gulluscio, we have a man that we know we can depend upon when times are hard," said Meeks, adding, "he's ready to serve."

Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, who is co-leader with Gulluscio of the South Queens Democratic Club and has worked with him for many years, said, "I know what Frank can do, I know what he has done, I know what he will continue to do."

Pheffer said that in his current position as district manager of Community Board 6 in Forest Hills, "he really knows what has to be done and what could be done and what should be done (in city government)."

State Senator Joseph Addabbo told the audience that when he was the area's councilman, Gulluscio was always with him when the tough financial decisions had to be made. Addabbo said it is clear, without a doubt, that Gulluscio has the best all-around qualifications to represent the area as councilman.

Coming to the podium with the theme music from Rocky playing in the background, Gulluscio received a cheering standing ovation from the audience. He told his supporters that he would be a councilman of the people, "a real person that will represent the north, the south, the east, and the west of this district."

Gulluscio also said his campaign would be a personal, grassroots, door-to-door, block-to-block effort to win the council seat and represent the community.

"I am running to ensure that all of us of this district has a voice and a strong advocate at City Hall," he said. "I pledge to work for the needs and the interests of all the residents in this district."

More good words about Gulluscio came from Lindenwood resident Joan Vasta, who said, "I trust Frank completely, he's a man of his word."

Marie Mauro, also of Lindenwood, said she is a great believer in Gulluscio and is supporting him because "I think he's going to do a great work for the community."

She said that she went out and got petitions for Gulluscio when he ran in the Special Election last February. Gulluscio was eventually tossed from the ticket over technical reasons in the nonpartisan election.

"The first time it was a disappointment,” she said, “but this time he's going to make it and we're going to make sure that he makes it."

Deputy Boro President Steps Down For Race by Joseph Orovic - Queens Tribune

Read original...


In a precursor to her City Council run, Karen Koslowitz switched offices from Deputy Borough President to Director of Community Boards.

Photo caption: Karen Koslowitz, shown here with Tony Bennett and Borough President Helen Marshall.

The move clears any conflict Koslowitz would have faced during her run for Forest Hills’ 29th District Council seat, according to a decision from the City’s Conflicts of Interest Board.

In her new office, Koslowitz will serve as a liaison between the borough’s community boards and Borough President. She’ll also suggest agenda items for the Borough Board and Borough Cabinet meetings and process applications for appointment to community boards.

The switch also removes Koslowitz from Borough President Helen Marshall’s executive staff; she can no longer preside over land use meetings and can no longer represent Marshall on the New York Employees’ Retirement System Board of Trustees.

She’ll also take a sizable pay-cut of $10,000 to $146,000.

According to spokesman Dan Andrews, the Borough President will not fill Koslowitz’s former position.

Koslowitz already held the 29th District’s Council seat once before and was term-limited out in 2001. She has held the Deputy Borough President’s office since.

Dog Group Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Queens Parks Won't Do Dog Run Despite Petition by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

Read original...

See spot run - somewhere else.

Tracy Heller (l.) and Beverly Seiger, with Zoe, Misty and Neo, want a new dog run. Farriella for News

Forest Hills pet owners should stop barking for a dog run at Yellowstone Blvd. and 68th Ave. - and instead use one that residents call filthy and dangerous, city parks officials said.

The Forest Hills Dog Lover's Association is pitching the dog run at Yellowstone Park as a way to let pooches exercise and owners socialize. They boast 900 signatures of support on a petition.

But Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski has rejected the idea, figuring nonstop barking would irk nearby apartment dwellers and that city workers would have to move plants.

"We would not do it at this location," Lewandowski said. "We wouldn't want to take an area we invested in horticulturally and turn it into a dog run."

Instead, Lewandowski suggested residents head to the Under Bridge dog run, at 64th Ave. and the Grand Central Parkway service road in Forest Hills.

"Under Bridge is really their option," she said, adding the city would be more willing to "seek improvements" there than build an entirely new dog run.

But Beverly Seiger, president of the dog lover's association, wouldn't bite on Lewandowski's offer to revamp Under Bridge.

"There's no way I'm going to bring my dogs there," Seiger said, claiming the Under Bridge dog run wouldn't be safe for her white schnauzer, Misty, and Boston terrier, Neo.

"They bring guard dogs there for exercise and they're vicious dogs," said Seiger, 61. "These are dogs they use for guarding premises, and our dogs are pets."

Tracy Heller, who also belongs to the dog lover's association, bashed Under Bridge, too.

"It's not walkable. It's not accessible. It's filthy," said Heller, 57, who owns a 2-year-old shih tzu named Zoe.

Seiger and Heller both said they would continue advocating for the dog run at Yellowstone Park, which is much closer to their homes than Under Bridge.

They said Queens Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz pledged to support their efforts after she heard their presentation to Community Board 6 in October.

Koslowitz told Queens News yesterday she spoke to Lewandowski about the dog run last week.

"I can't make them [the Parks Department] do it," Koslowitz said. "You have to take the people who live around there [Yellowstone Park] into consideration."

Melinda Katz Plays Coy, Narrowing Choice to Two Frontrunners by Nicholas Hirshon - NY Daily News

Melinda Katz plays coy, narrowing choice to two frontrunners

With six contenders repping for a 2009 City Council race in Forest Hills, the current seat-holder - the term-limited Melinda Katz - recently tipped her hand on who may rise to the top.

"Melinda has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race," her spokeswoman Molly Watkins told the Daily News last month. "She considers both of them friends."

"Both," Watkins later clarified, meant Queens Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz, who held the same Council seat from 1991 to 2001, and former Assemblyman Michael Cohen, who resigned in 2005.

That Katz didn't even acknowledge the other contenders is telling - in line with many Democratic insiders who view the campaign as a two-horse race.

Undeterred, the rest of the crowded field vowed to forge ahead with their campaigns.

"I'm not intimidated," said first-time candidate Heidi Harrison Chain, president of the 112th Precinct community council.

Lynn Schulman, who lost to Katz in the 2001 Council primary, bashed Koslowitz and Cohen as options to maintain the status quo.

"They represent the politics of the past," she said. "I represent the community of the future."

The contest also features a pair of former classmates from Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood: Bob DeLay, a former aide to Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), and Mel Gagarin, who worked for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens).

DeLay and Gagarin, both 26, shrugged off criticism they're too young for the seat.

"People have always been told it's not their time," DeLay said.

"Age to me is just a number," said Gagarin.

Still, both candidates acknowledged that Koslowitz and Cohen are formidable opponents.

Koslowitz hasn't officially declared since conflict-of-interest rules would force her to resign as deputy borough president. But she confirmed she's a candidate, with decades of experience to boost her chances.

"I may be 66, but I was also ... once 26, and I could do whatever they can," she said, referring to DeLay and Gagarin.

Cohen said if elected he'd enact a parking permit plan so Forest Hills residents can find spaces by the Austin St.-Queens Blvd. commercial district.

First elected to the Assembly in 1998, Cohen insisted he left office in 2005 because he wanted to tend to his dying wife.

Democratic insiders confirmed his wife's illness played a role in Cohen's resignation, but added the party had pressured Cohen to leave office ever since he endorsed Republican Gov. George Pataki for reelection in 2002.

Party leaders allowed Cohen to stay until 2005 in hopes they could avoid forcing him out as his wife was dying, while picking a successor in the meantime, political sources said.

Here They Run Again - Term Limits Don’t Seem to Faze Council Members by Diane Cardwell - NYTimes.com

Read original...

For New Yorkers who voted to impose term limits on the City Council, the promise was to sweep clean a moldering institution and fill it with “citizen legislators” who would bring energy and fresh ideas from the private sector, where they would return after their eight-year allotments.

But as the first class of councilors elected under the term limits law in 2001 prepares to leave office next year, the very opposite is becoming reality: With lawmakers seeking new elective offices and career politicians looking to join, or rejoin, the body, the Council may well become a political revolving door.

Already, 20 of the 35 Council members who are being forced from office have filed with the city’s Campaign Finance Board to run for another position. And at least a dozen of those planning to compete for open Council seats have budding or established political careers, including state officials, relatives of Council members and even a few former councilors who collectively have decades of service under their belts.

For instance, Karen Koslowitz, the Queens deputy borough president who once worked for Andrew J. Stein, a former council president, is contemplating a run for the seat she held for 10 years in Forest Hills, Queens. And Herman D. Farrell Jr., who has represented Upper Manhattan in the State Assembly since 1975, is planning to run for a City Council seat representing the same area.

Paul Vallone, whose father, Peter F. Vallone, represented a district in Astoria, Queens, for 27 years until his brother Peter F. Vallone Jr. took it over in 2002, is running to represent the Bayside area. Paul Washington, a former chief of staff for Councilman Charles Barron, is running for the councilor’s East New York, Brooklyn, slot, while Evan Thies, a former spokesman for Councilman David Yassky, is competing to represent Mr. Yassky’s Brooklyn district, which stretches from Park Slope to Williamsburg.

And then there is Thomas V. Ognibene, who represented Middle Village, Queens, for 10 years before leaving office in 2001 because of term limits. He recently lost a bid to replace Dennis P. Gallagher, his former chief of staff, who resigned from the Council this year after admitting to a sexual assault.

“The person who runs for the office is a relative, a chief of staff, a protégé of the person that was in there in the first place,” Mr. Ognibene said. “Insurgency is virtually impossible. You cannot generate the money or the support,” he said, adding, “So you don’t get the people in there that had been contemplated, the people with the fresh start, the new view.”

Ronald S. Lauder, a wealthy cosmetics heir who spent millions pushing for the change that limits officeholders to two terms, said in a 1993 statement that it would “take the power away from the politicians and return it to the people.” Officials would serve “long enough to make a contribution,” his statement said, “but not long enough to make a career.”

After Mr. Lauder’s costly campaign, New Yorkers approved the limits in 1993, despite the howls of protest from City Council members who predicted the coming of a bureaucratic apocalypse. The law withstood an effort in 1996 to add a third term, with voters reaffirming their wish to restrict service for council members, the mayor, the public advocate and the comptroller to eight years, and survived Council plans to overturn it.

But officials and analysts say that it was naïve to expect term limits to take the politics out of politics, especially since the Council lacks sufficient glamour — and power — to woo many people from their day jobs.

“A lot of people who are successful in the private sector aren’t going to be attracted to be in the City Council,” said Mr. Yassky, who has made unsuccessful bids for Brooklyn district attorney and Congress and is now running for city comptroller. “The reality is that voters will elect people in government.”

For those who are interested in a public sector career, the Council, which pays members $112,500 to $141,000, depending on the leadership positions, and gives them two parking placards and at least $277,366 in operating expenses, can be a steppingstone to higher office or a landing strip after years of trekking to the State Capitol. And what had been a steady flow between the Council and the State Legislature is threatening to become a torrent as officials in Albany who are frustrated by their relative lack of power look to win an office that keeps them closer to home.

Mr. Farrell at one point considered trying to become the next Council speaker but dropped that ambition while still eyeing a Council seat. And Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, with his sights on the speaker’s post, is considering a bid for the Astoria, Queens, district seat that Mr. Vallone Jr., a likely candidate for Queens borough president, will vacate.

With the Queens Democratic Party backing City Councilman Hiram Monserrate in his bid to snatch the seat of State Senator John D. Sabini, consultants are suggesting that Mr. Sabini reclaim the Council seat he gave up in 2001, which would be open again.

Moving in the other direction are several council members who are seeking state positions, including Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, who announced last week that he would not compete in the crowded field for city comptroller but would try to unseat State Senator Kevin S. Parker.

Evan Stavisky, a political consultant who is active in state and local elections, said term limits provide “expedited promotions for chiefs of staff and other people active in local politics” while increasing “ancillary competition, so there are more state legislators who have races.”

At the same time, officials and policy analysts say, term limits have strengthened the Council’s focus on politics at the expense of governance. As a result, consultants and lobbyists say, there is now a professional class of candidates whose members focus on making names for themselves and eyeing the next offices rather than returning to the private sector, as advocates of limiting public service have promoted.

“It’s not reasonable to expect somebody to interrupt their life for eight years and then go back to the farm — you’ve set on a career path,” said Lewis A. Fidler, a Brooklyn councilman who has not determined his next move. Speaking of his fellow council members, he said, “Their attention is being diverted as to what they’re going to do to feed their family and continue on their career path.”

Eric Lane, a law professor at Hofstra University, found in an analysis of the Council in 2004 that nearly all of those elected had political backgrounds and planned to stay in politics.

“If your interest is a future in the Council, then you worry about compromising and getting legislation passed,” he said. “But if your interest is the next office right away, then you’re interested in outshining someone else and you’re going to play to the crowds much more and you’re going to play to lobbyists much more.”

Supporters of term limits see it differently. “Term limits have always been about creating opportunities, not dictating outcomes, and undeniably term limits have opened doors for new people,” said Nelson Warfield, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Term Limits, an advocacy group that campaigned for the restriction.

“Term limits has clearly increased the diversity of government,” he said, pointing to the rise in black and Hispanic representation, as well as to the election of John C. Liu, the Council’s first Asian-American member.

For many council members, gaining office can instill a sense of self-importance and self-worth, making it difficult to see a future outside of government.

“You are the one who is in charge of what happens in your district,” said Ms. Koslowitz, the deputy borough president in Queens. “It was one of the best experiences of my life because I helped a lot of people. I still walk through the streets and people are thanking me and remembering what I did for them and for the community.”

With the election more than a year away, it is too early to say who will end up back in the Council and where the class of 35 forced departures will land. But with a finite number of offices to be won, many are bound for disappointment.

Judging from the fates of their predecessors, some will snare work in government while others will seek to become lobbyists or pursue jobs related to law.

Still, they can also rely on inevitability: Their old seats will eventually open up, perhaps even earlier than the typical eight-year cycle. Take the case of Thomas White, who had to leave office in 2001 after representing a district in South Jamaica, Queens, for a decade, and has already returned. His opportunity, like Mr. Ognibene’s, came in the form of a sex scandal.

After the City Council censured Allan W. Jennings Jr. for the sexual harassment of two female employees in 2005, Mr. White won back the seat that fall, becoming the first of his generation to return. Time will tell if he showed up early for the reunion.