Numbers Growing, South Asians Take New Approach to Political Organizing by Betwa Sharma - City Hall News

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The number of South Asians in New York City has more than doubled over the last decade to 250,000, but the number of South Asians in local elected office remains the same: zero.

Swaranjit Singh, a 55-year-old Sikh from Bellerose, is hoping to change that.

The real estate broker is running for the Council seat currently held by David Weprin (D-Queens) under the slogan, “Fresh Face, New Voice.”
Like other Sikhs, Singh wears a turban and has a beard, which, he said, leads many people to confuse him for a Muslim. The confusion, according to him, is because South Asians are still the new immigrants on the block and voters still know little about the community—and that makes winning an election even more difficult.

“The intolerance towards Muslims is very troubling,” Singh said. “But if anything, Barack Obama’s example has taught us that an election is won on the issues.”

Singh received early backing from his fellow Sikhs, but in a problem that plagues many potential South Asian candidates, most of his early financial supporters were from Richmond Hill, which lies outside his Council district, making their donations ineligible for matching funds.

Candidates naturally rely on their own ethnic group for their base of support, but for South Asians often the same support is not extended to a different ethnic group within the larger community. Ethnic divisions, geographical dispersion, the general adjustment problems of immigrants and a relatively short history in the United States leave the community politically frail, and the kind of necessary cohesion hard to achieve.

All these factors played a part in Rene Lobo’s unsuccessful Council runs in 2001 and then again in 2005, when she and her Bangladeshi opponent split the vote of the Hillside Avenue Bangladeshis in their race against James Gennaro (D-Queens).

An Indian immigrant and a community board member, Lobo rattled through the hurdles of running for office as a young South Asian woman: “You’re a minority within a minority,” she said, recalling the difficulty of getting support from Bangladeshi mosques. “They would ask me, ‘Why are you in the mosque?’ It was so demoralizing.”

The South Asians are a relatively small and dispersed group, and prone to increased fragmentation when neighborhoods are carved into voting districts. But the main problem is the prevailing apathy in the community towards electoral participation.

“People don’t realize how important it is to vote,” said Lobo.

CUNY law students Gurpal Singh and Ali Najmi and friends have launched Desis Vote,
a voter registration drive geared toward increasing political participation among South Asians.

An Asian community expert at Queens College, Madhulika Khandelwal, attributes this indifference to an outlook prevalent in the South Asian community that keeps them from seeing their long-term future in the city.

“Many people see the city as a stepping stone to a better life,” Khandelwal said of the community. “The goal is to suburbanize.”

Because of this, Khandelwal said, relatively few South Asians buy homes in the city, leaving them without a stake in the future of their neighborhoods. There are few specifically tailored organizations that focus predominantly on voter registration and electoral participation, especially on the local level.

In an effort to change that, Gurpal Singh, 32, and Ali Najmi, 24, friends who met at CUNY law school, launched Desis Vote, a voter registration drive. Working with a few volunteers they organized countless voter registration drives throughout last year and got 836 “Desis,” or South Asian immigrants, registered.

After discovering the deep divide between Sikhs and the Guyanese population in Richmond Hill, Singh and Najmi created the South Asian and West Indian Leadership Cabinet Committee (SAWI) to build bridges between these two groups. Among other activities, SAWI organized an intense debate between Serphin Maltese (R) and Joseph Addabbo (D), along with a town hall meeting to address common concerns.

“Our goal is to transform the South Asian community in Richmond Hill into a powerful voting block,” Najmi said.

Singh and Najmi confess that galvanizing the rest of Queens and eventually the entire city will take years of community organizing. The plan for 2009 is to conduct more voter registration drives, awareness campaigns and candidate forums, as well as to concentrate on the fundraising necessary to support their efforts.

But Najmi and Singh said they are not fixated on getting a South Asian elected. Instead, they see Desis Vote’s focus as generating sustained electoral participation which will enable them to create a voting block which will be able to influence all local elected officials. While seeing one of their own on the Council or in the Legislature would be welcome, they say, more important will be getting their voices heard by everyone in the Council and Legislature.

“It is not who represents you,” Singh explained, “but how you are represented.”

Photo by Betwa Sharma

Big Egos and Ambitions Set To Collide in Prospective Race To Succeed Towns by David Freelander - City Hall News

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Ed Towns reached the pinnacle of a long career last month when he became chairman of the prestigious House Oversight Committee in Washington.

So, naturally, the jockeying to replace him began to heat up back in Brooklyn.

Most of the early speculation around who would replace the 74-year-old, 14-term Towns has centered around a pair of Assembly members from neighboring districts: Towns’ son Darryl, a 16-year veteran of the Legislature who has slowly been climbing the ranks in Albany, and Hakeem Jeffries, a 38-year-old former attorney at the outset of his second term whose future in politics has been the subject of intense speculation for years.

Beyond those of timing, and whether there might be a special election precipitated by early retirement, there are the questions about whether Darryl Towns even wants the seat. The power of dynasty politics being what it is, Towns would be at an advantage in a race to succeed his father, but so far he has not indicated that he prefers the life of a freshman Congressman to that of a senior member of the Assembly.

“The congressman wants his son in there, but Darryl is more of a reluctant warrior,” said Rock Hackshaw, a longtime area political operative. “I don’t think he’s ever been that gung-ho about Congress.”

Also at stake is a question of the state of local black politics, with Jeffries and Towns representing a study in contrasts. Jeffries was roommates with Washington, D.C., mayor Adrian Fenty while both were working towards graduate degrees at Georgetown, and is considered part of the next wave of “post-racial” black leadership, young elected leaders who are educated at top-tier schools and who consciously have distanced themselves from some of the old lions—and their children—of the Civil Rights Movement. Including Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and, of course, President-elect Barack Obama, the group is distinguished not just for glittering academic pedigrees, but for having the kind of crossover appeal that allows them to attract a broad swath of white support.

Jeffries is acutely aware of what sets these politicians apart.

“There is a distinction between legacy politicians and emerging leaders,” he said. “There are certain legacy politicians who come into office following their parents, either into an office specifically or into politics in general, and the door is open to them a little wider because of their parents. Then you have a group of emerging leaders who don’t have a familiar connection to politics and have challenged the existing Democratic machine and broke through the doors and have risen to leadership. A lot of the younger elected officials in Brooklyn, the ones who backed Barack Obama all the way back in the summer of 2007, were those who were elected without establishment support. We weren’t beholden to political figures like Charlie Rangel and others leading the way for Senator Hillary Clinton.”

The younger Towns, meanwhile, represents something of an in-between place within the media narrative of dueling generations of Civil Rights politics. A veteran of the Air Force, Towns graduated from North Carolina A&T, a historically black college. Though only 48, he has already served a decade and a half in Albany, gaining seniority that has made him chair of the powerful Banking committee as well as head of the state legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucus.

He dismisses talk of a new, different generation of black political leaders.

“Why isn’t Jesse Jackson, Jr. included in that?” Towns asked. “Because he went to the same college I did, a historically black college? I don’t think we need to label people that you are an elite black, you are an ordinary black as long as we are working towards the same goal.”

The looming congressional race, however, could be shaped just as much by traditional party politics. Darryl Towns is a critic of Brooklyn county leader Vito Lopez, who happens to have taken an early interest in Jeffries.

“He represents a plurality of Democrats,” Towns said, criticizing Lopez’s approach to the job. “He could represent a majority, but I’m not sure he wants that.”

While Lopez did not pledge to back Jeffries should he decide to run for Congress, the county leader stressed that he was in Jeffries’ corner.

“I’ve been supportive of Hakeem on almost everything he’s done,” Lopez said. “If and when he runs, I have a responsibility to look at who he is running against. If it was a vacant seat for Congress, it would be very hard for me not to support him.”

But though Towns and Jeffries may have their differences, they have been united in supporting the elder Towns, despite the many who fault the congressman for what they see as a less-than-energetic tenure and for supporting CAFTA, the free trade agreement which opponents claim hits working class residents of areas like Brooklyn especially hard. Though he has survived both, the dissatisfaction with him in the district has attracted vigorous primary challengers for the past two cycles: in 2006, when he eked out 47 percent of the vote as fiery Council Member Charles Barron and then-Assembly Member Roger Green split the anti-incumbent; and in 2008, when he ultimately cruised to victory over former MTV star Kevin Powell.

Nonetheless, Towns’ vulnerability remains a hot topic in Brooklyn. With the right candidate, many expect, he would easily fall in a primary.

“If there was a halfway decent candidate like Hakeem Jeffries, then Towns would be in mortal danger,” said one veteran of several area campaigns.
Local political observers have been expecting Towns to retire for years now (and point to the fact that he has not as key evidence that his son is not interested in the seat). But with his new chairmanship in D.C., many now believe he will seek re-election in 2010. His office confirmed that he would.

That could put another wrinkle in a prospective congressional race: Jeffries has insisted he will not run against Towns, and if he and Darryl Towns continue to defer while the number of voters frustrated with Towns continues to grow, both could miss their chance.

Barron (D-Brooklyn) has already announced his plans to run for the seat in 2010. The current project, he said, is to work out a deal with Powell to prevent another split vote. But Barron’s candidacy could still be a long shot, given his inability so far to garner support outside of the black, working-class areas that put him in the Council. Middle-class whites have been moving into the area in droves in recent years and could make up as much as 25 percent of the electorate in the next cycle—enough that some have speculated that the right white candidate could in fact win the seat, especially if they are able to make inroads with Hispanic voters and the Hasidic Jews who live in the district’s northern end.

In the meantime, speculation has erupted about the Congressional ambitions of Council Member Letitia James, who would be the only woman in the race. One of the most vocal opponents of Atlantic Yards, her profile has continued to rise in recent months through her leadership of opponents to the term limit extension. However, she is thought to lack the depth of a base in the black community that Barron has, the middle-class base that Jeffries has, or the name recognition of Towns. Ironically, in yet another twist, if James and Barron are both in the race challenging Towns, Barron’s effort to dissuade Powell from entering could hurt him since many believe Powell and James would compete for the same votes in neighborhoods like Clinton Hill and Fort Greene. James herself denied any interest in the seat—which, notably, she could run for without giving up her current job, as Darryl Towns and Jeffries could not.

Regardless of what James decides, some of Jeffries’ supporters fret that Barron could be a thorn in Jeffries’ side, needling him for exactly the reason that so many find him attractive: his crossover appeal to both black and white voters.

In an interview, Barron was relentless in his criticism of Jeffries.

“I was hoping younger people like him would be a more refreshing, independent voice. He has taken some positive positions on the issues, but to me he is still a puppet for the Towns and Vito Lopez machine—and that’s what we need to break up. I lack a lot of respect for him.”

Barron also dismissed the notion that the future of the seat belongs to anyone.

“Heir apparent?” he said. “There ain’t no heir apparent as long as I’m in the race.”

Star of Queens: John D. Calcagnile - The Queens Courier

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John D. Calcagnile - Architect
Member of the Board - International Society of S.S. Cosma and Damiano, Howard Beach

Community Involvement: John D. Calcagnile has been a member of Community Board 10 for over a decade and a member of the Land Use Subcommittee. He is also a member of the board of the International Society of S.S. Cosma and Damiano (which is planning a dinner dance in April and will be holding the first annual Juvenile Diabetes Walkathon in Howard Beach in May), and a founding member of the Howard Beach Columbus Day Foundation. In relation to that organization, Calcagnile has served as chair of the Parade Committee, and has organized the annual Columbus Day Parade for the last three years along Cross Bay Boulevard.

He also served as Past Vice President of the Queens Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Calcagnile has done a lot of pro-bono work for Our Lady of Grace Parish; has worked with the Howard Beach Civic Association when it received a grant for Charles Park; and is currently working, pro-bono, with the Broad Channel American Legion Post in installing a new flag pole memorial in the park, in memory of the community’s war veterans.

Personal: Calcagnile was born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn. He has been married to Cecilia for 30 years; the couple has two children, Gerard, 27, and Lisa, 24.

“We’ve been living in Howard Beach since we were married,” he said. The family purchased a home in Old Howard Beach in 1981; in 1983, Calcagnile was licensed by New York State to practice architecture; and in 1985, he opened his business, John D. Calcagnile Architect, which is currently located on Cross Bay Boulevard.

Proudest Moment: “For both myself and my wife it’s raising our children - watching them grow, pursue and succeed in their chosen professions.”

Lisa, he said, just received her master’s in education from St. John’s University; Gerard is pursuing a degree in construction management from Pratt Institute and currently has an internship with Turner Construction Corp.

Biggest Challenge: “As parents, our biggest challenge is always to keep our children focused,” he said. “We want to maintain our family history, traditions and Italian heritage and keep these alive for the next generation.” Professionally, Calcagnile said, “As an architect practicing on a local level, a big challenge is coming up with new and unique designs for clients.”

Favorite Memory: “The birth of my children,” he said.

Inspiration: Calcagnile cites his inspiration as “The example that our parents and grandparents set for us - it inspired us to get involved in the community.”

He notes that Howard Beach has the “same sense of community I was used to as a child, growing up in East New York, Brooklyn,” which was also a source of inspiration.

Aqueduct Plans Will Create Thousands of Jobs by Nicole Turso - The Queens Courier

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Plans to revitalize Aqueduct Race Track are in the home stretch, and could possibly have the South Ozone Park entertainment destination opening its doors in mid-2010, said Delaware North representatives.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Assemblymember Audrey Pheffer at the most recent meeting of Community Board 10, on Thursday, January 8. “I’m very excited.”

After nearly eight years of delays, Buffalo-based development company Delaware North, in conjunction with the New York State legislature, finalized a contract to construct a 328,000-square-foot entertainment complex on the grounds of Aqueduct Race Track.

Representative Ron Sultemeier from Delaware North, and consultant Dan Gerrity of Saratoga Harness Racing, mapped out their plans for the $370 million racetrack project in a presentation, complete with animated renderings, at Thursday’s meeting - the first presentation given to Community Board 10 members.

“We have a commitment to have a strong community involvement,” said Sultemeier. “I know there’s been talk of, ‘Gee, you guys haven’t been here a lot.’ It was a tough process.”

The hybrid racetrack-casino - or racino - will feature a 185,000-square-foot-gaming floor, complete with 4,500 video lottery terminals.

Sultemeier also cited 7,600 parking spaces, including a 2,000-space parking garage, world-class restaurants and food amenities, including a 600-seat buffet, an Italian restaurant and a noodle bar, all ready for opening day.

Delaware North estimates the project will create 1,100 construction jobs and nearly 1,000 permanent jobs in the facility, many of which will be local hires.

“The job fairs are going to be local. They aren’t going to be in Albany, or Atlantic City - they’re going to be in Queens,” said Sultemeier. “We know how important that is to you.”

The first phase of the project is expected to cost $250 million at the start of construction. Another $170 million dollars will be dedicated to maintaining the facility through Delaware North’s 30-year contract with the state.

Delaware North representatives also have plans to construct a 300-room resort hotel and spa, a retail mall, a 3,000-seat events center, and a 60,000-square-foot conference facility in the latter phases of the project.

But there might just be a spoiler in this race.

Delaware North is also in the running to transform Belmont Race Track in Nassau County into a racino, as part of Governor David Paterson’s plan to raise revenue in the state.

Pheffer said the contract negotiated with Delaware North was clear.

“The assembly was very adamant about not having [Belmont] equally at the time that we were going to open Aqueduct. We still expect that,” said Pheffer. “We want Aqueduct up, running and successful before you start looking for video lottery or slot machines at Belmont.”

Delaware North beat out two other bidders for the contract at Aqueduct - SL Green Realty in partnership with Hard Rock Entertainment, and Capital Play, which joined with popular casino-hotel company, Mohegan Sun.

The company expects to complete the project in 14 months after a groundbreaking date is established.

Feds: Indicted Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio Talked Nonstop on Phone by Thomas Zambito - Thomas Zambito - NY Daily News

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An indicted Queens lawmaker was so chatty, investigators said they intercepted more than 15,000 calls on his office phone.

'Are you saying 15,000 calls on one phone?' an incredulous Manhattan Federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald asked prosecutors, who revealed Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio's gabfest during a court hearing Monday.

'But he doesn't look like a teenager.'

Seminerio chuckled nervously at the defense table.

Over the next few weeks, prosecutors will turn over copies of the recorded calls as well as other evidence they've gathered in their case against the law-and-order Democrat and former city correction officer.

Seminerio, 73, is accused of using his clout in Albany to rake in $1 million by setting up a a bogus consulting firm to collect cash from several businesses.

Seminerio was snagged by disgraced labor leader Brian McLaughlin, also a veteran Queens assemblyman, the Daily News has previously reported.

Following his own arrest, McLaughlin introduced Seminerio to an FBI agent posing as a businessman looking for inside access to Albany pols. The undercover fed paid Seminerio $25,000 to introduce him to several lawmakers, prosecutor say.

Seminerio faces up to 20 years in prison if he's convicted. Last week, he reintroduced a bill that would allow "paddling" of juveniles 13 or older convicted on graffiti charges to add "a sense of humiliation to the punishment."

tzambito@nydailynews.com

Howard Beach S.T.A.R.S. Program Receives Donation of $1K from Allstate Agent Joseph DiBlasi - www.qgazette.com - Queens Gazette

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Allstate Agent Hero Joseph DiBlasi (holding check, l.) presents a $1,000 check to S.T.A.R.S. volunteer staff and some young participants in the program.

Allstate agent Joseph DiBlasi, whose office is located at 35-16 Ditmars Blvd. in Astoria, was recently named an Agent Hero by Allstate Insurance Company's New York Region for his awarding a $1,000 grant to a local youth program. DiBlasi donated $1,000 to Striving to Achieve & Reach Success (S.T.A.R.S.), a volunteer staffed, community youth organization in Howard Beach providing children with recreational, educational and self-developmental activities and events.

"As an Allstate agent, I believe it is my responsibility to demonstrate the Good Hands Promise in the Queens community every single day," DiBlasi said. "It is an honor to be able to donate this grant to S.T.A.R.S. and, hopefully, touch the lives of the youth who are involved."

Late Show with David Letterman - Farewell to "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches"

With George W. Bush's presidency at an end, Dave presents the final edition of "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches."

Plane Crash Hudson River: Jet crashes into Hudson River -- Newsday.com

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A US Airways plane en route from LaGuardia airport to Charlotte, N.C., with 151 people on board crashed into the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan Thursday afternoon, sending passengers fleeing for safety in the frigid waters and startling thousands of New Yorkers.

The Federal Aviation Administration said all passengers were rescued safely from the crash.

"The left engine just blew," said passenger Jeff Kolodjay, 31, of Norwalk, Conn., who was in seat 22A. "The pilot said you've got to brace for a hard impact." Kolodjay said passengers hit their heads against the roof when the plane crashed.

Government officials said the plane had hit a flock of birds that disabled two engines, and the federal Department of Homeland Security said there is no apparent link to terrorism.

According to FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown, the US Airways Flight 1549 had taken off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, N.C., shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the West Side, said one of the museum's employees saw the plane struggling over the Hudson just north of the museum and thought it was having engine problems.

The plane crashed between 3:44 and 3:48 p.m., federal aviation officials said. The plane went into the water near 48th Street, and was carried south by the outbound tide, White said.

Alberto Panero, a passenger interviewed on CNN, said: "I actually grabbed one of the seats and some people grabbed the inflatable ones. It seemed like immediately there were folks coming to us."

"People were bleeding all over the place," passenger Kolodjay said. "I was scared."

After the crash, Kolodjay said passengers crowded onto the wings, and then people started getting onto life rafts. According to Kolodjay, women and children got onto the rafts first, and then the men did.

Ferry boats and other harbor crafts quickly converged around the partially-submerged aircraft and passengers wearing yellow life vests were sitting in life rafts.

Media reports said people responding on ferries tossed life vests to the plane.

"They threw the jackets to us. At first there was a little bit of panic," Panero said.

Some people quickly took charge, he said.

"Once people realized that we were going to be OK, people calmed down," Panero said.

A federal investigation team was en route to New York Thursday evening.

"We're launching a 'go team' to go out this evening to LaGuardia and to the Hudson River site," said Terry Williams, a spokesman for the National Transporation Safety Board, a federal agency charged with investigating aviation crashes.

NTSB board member Kathryn Higgins will being leading the investigation team, which will include approximately 12 specialists and investigators. She will be holding a news conference at Hangar 6 at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday night.

The jet slowly sank into the river, with just its tail section visible as of 4:40 p.m.

New York City firefighters and other rescue workers are still on the scene; it was not immediately clear if there were injuries. The plane carried 146 passengers and a crew of 5.

"I just thought, 'Why is it so low?' And, splash, it hit the water," said witness Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press.

"I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water," said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson.

"Wow, thank the Lord and thank the pilot," said Alberto Panero, a passenger quoted on CNN. "I can't believe he managed to land the plane safely."

Terry Williams, a spokesman for the National Transporation Safety Board, said they're "launching a 'go team' to go out this evening to LaGuardia and to the Hudson River site."

Thursday's crash bore an eerie resemblance to a September 1989 crash when a USAir flight to Charlotte slid off the end of a LaGuardia runway during takeoff and crashed into the East River.

US Airways officials released an emergency number for family members of people on the plane, 800-679-8215.

amNewYork and The Associated Press contributed to this story

Living In - Woodhaven, Queens - Diversity Under the El by Gregory Beyer - NYTimes.com

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Today Schmidt's glass cases, lined with chocolates set by hand upon pale wax paper trays, are the province of the founders' granddaughter, Margie Schmidt. She grew up in Woodhaven in a house on 94th Street, about a block south of the family shop.

Photos: Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

ONE sweet strand in the story of Woodhaven, a neighborhood in southwestern Queens, stretches back to 1925, when Schmidt’s Candies opened on Jamaica Avenue near 94th Street. Today the shop’s glass cases, lined with chocolates set by hand upon pale wax paper trays, are the province of the founders’ granddaughter, Margie Schmidt, an abrupt, fast-talking single mother of three children, 9, 12 and 17.

One afternoon last month, at the peak of the holiday rush, Ms. Schmidt bounded behind counters to gift-wrap boxes of homemade ribbon candy, gabbed with customers about long-ago afternoons on front porches, and stole away in brief installments to the back room, where she dipped a plastic tub into a cardboard reservoir of melted chocolate and drizzled it onto miniature pretzels.

Ms. Schmidt grew up in Woodhaven in a house on 94th Street, about a block south of the family shop. In 1988, she bought the house next door to the shop, for $150,000. Behind the counter last month, wearing sweat pants and a baseball cap and T-shirt, both bearing the letters F.D.N.Y., Ms. Schmidt embodied the self-reliance and small town pride reflected in Woodhaven’s motto: “A Haven in the City.”

“Woodhaven has always been and continues to be a blue-collar, working-class immigrant neighborhood,” she said.

It occupies about a square mile, and of its 40,000 or so residents, 45 percent are Hispanic, 29 percent white, 14 percent Asian, and 5 percent black, with most of the rest multiracial, according to census estimates. It is bounded on the north by Park Lane South, on the south by Atlantic Avenue, on the west by Eldert Lane and the Brooklyn line, and on the east by 102nd Street.

There are some longtime residents who say that new forces and faces have taken a toll on the neighborhood’s hard-working ethic. But Joseph Ruggiere, for one, disagrees. The owner of Ohlert-Ruggiere Inc., a real estate and insurance company, Mr. Ruggiere, 80, sees new arrivals as carrying on the immigrant traditions, rather than debasing them.

“A lot of Latinos have moved into the community,” he said. “They buy houses and have this pride of ownership that is so great. They fix up their houses, and when I leave at night to go home from work, I see them sweeping their sidewalks and shoveling, sweeping up the leaves and the garbage.”

Jamaica Avenue divides the neighborhood into what brokers commonly call Woodhaven north and south. Here, shops line Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue.

Indeed, Jamaica Avenue is a testament to Woodhaven’s diversity. It is lined with delis, halal bodegas and Mexican bakeries, in addition to shops like M. M. Housewares, owned by Jack Moy, who came to Woodhaven from China 20 years ago. Near 77th Street is the supermarket (now a Met Food) built by Fred Christ Trump, identified as “Father of The Donald” on a sign posted by the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society.

At the neighborhood’s western edge, where a supermarket and housing development now stand, there was once a place called Dexter Park, which from 1911 to 1955 was a site for semiprofessional baseball games. Its field lights allowed for the first night game, in 1930, according to Leonora Lavan, the historical society president.

There are local groups that work to address neighborhood issues like graffiti on commercial properties along Jamaica Avenue.

Maria Thomson, executive director of both the Woodhaven Business Improvement District and the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation, is setting her sights on the elevated J and Z subway rails, which loom above Jamaica Avenue, the area’s main thoroughfare, like a rusted spine. They are badly in need of cleaning, scraping and painting.

“Our avenue is clean and bright and very vibrant,” she said, “and then you look up and see all the peeling and the miserable damage to the el that has not been addressed in the last 25 years.”

Anthony Fernandez, an agent with Re/Max Liberty, says some of his clients opt for neighborhoods other than Woodhaven because they dislike the idea of the trains constantly rumbling over the main shopping district. “It sort of gives the neighborhood a dark side,” he said, while also acknowledging that others consider the subway’s proximity a strength.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND

During the holidays, the undersides of the J and Z rails are hung with colored lights and a sound system that blares Christmas music along Jamaica Avenue — which divides the neighborhood into what brokers commonly call Woodhaven north and south.

The northern portion is smaller, while its houses are generally larger. Proximity to Forest Park and the size and quality of the housing stock make this area pricier. It has detached and semidetached wood frame houses on wide lots — many with garages, wraparound porches, driveways and finished attics. Three- to six-story red brick co-op apartment buildings punctuate Park Lane South, steps from Forest Park. The land rises steeply to the park; full flights of stairs lead to front doors of houses perched along the incline.

The post office and the library can be found on a stretch of Forest Parkway in the north; on the block near 85th Street is the house where Betty Smith wrote her 1943 novel, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” according to Ms. Lavan.

Woodhaven south, which stretches from Jamaica Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, contains some similar houses, but many more of its streets are lined with attached row houses, which tend to fetch lower prices.

Ms. Lavan said the actress Mae West once lived on 88th Street near 98th Avenue and sang at the Union Course Tavern, several blocks away on 78th Street.

WHAT YOU’LL PAY

Since this time last year, house prices have dropped 10 to 15 percent, brokers say. Similarly, houses that averaged three to six months on the market a year ago now sit for eight months to a year.

Detached houses range from $450,000 to $520,000, according to Arturo Flores, an agent with Ohlert-Ruggiere.

Attached houses average $359,000, semidetached houses $450,000, according to Mr. Fernandez of Re/Max Liberty.

One-bedroom co-ops range from $110,000 to $130,000 and two-bedrooms from $180,000 to $210,000, according to Claude Marku, the owner of Century 21 Park Lane Realty.

Some rentals are available in private houses, he said.

WHAT TO DO

The 543-acre Forest Park starts along Woodhaven’s northern border. Tennis courts, a golf course and bridle trails are among its recreational offerings. The George Seuffert Sr. Band Shell, built in 1920 and named for a local military band leader who played at a bandstand on the same site, features free concerts in the summer.

The park has one of the five carousels operating in New York City parks. Built in 1903 by the master wood carver Daniel Carl Muller, it features a lion, a tiger and a deer in addition to painted horses. “I call it the jewel of Forest Park,” Ms. Thomson said.

For one day each October, her group, the Woodhaven Economic Development Corporation, holds a street fair on Jamaica Avenue.

Richard Kaiser, a 64-year-old retired banker who has lived in Woodhaven since he was 7, said that with all of Jamaica Avenue’s offerings, one thing was conspicuously, and curiously, missing. “It’s probably one of the only neighborhoods that doesn’t have any major restaurants,” he said. There’s a diner here, a diner there, he continued. But it’s not the kind of place that has everything.

THE COMMUTE

In addition to the J and Z subway lines, there are several buses, including the 11 and 53 along Woodhaven Boulevard, and the 56 along Jamaica Avenue.

THE SCHOOLS

One of the neighborhood’s two elementary schools is Public School 97, the Forest Park School, at 85th Street and 85th Road. Last year, 63 percent of its fourth graders met state standards in English and 85 in math, versus 61 and 80 citywide. The school received an A on a city progress report.

Middle School 210, the Elizabeth Blackwell School, for Grades 6 through 8, is on 101st Avenue near 93rd Street, below Jamaica Avenue in Ozone Park. The school got a B on a city progress report last year. Of eighth graders, 55 percent met state standards in English and 65 in math, versus 43 and 60 citywide.

Area high schools include Franklin K. Lane High School, on Jamaica Avenue just over the Brooklyn border. It has an enrollment of 1,781 in Grades 9 through 12. SAT averages last year were 375 in reading, 399 in math and 358 in writing, versus 438, 460, and 433 citywide.

THE HISTORY

Once called Woodville, the neighborhood became Woodhaven to avoid confusion with a Woodville in upstate New York. In 1899, the opening of the Lalance & Grosjean enamel factory helped populate the neighborhood. The factory’s clock tower still stands on Atlantic Avenue at 92nd Street.

Judge Tosses Out Term Limits Lawsuit - NY1

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A federal judge Tuesday tossed out a lawsuit against Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saying there is not enough evidence to prove he violated constitutional amendments in his successful bid to extend term limits. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

Chalk up another win for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

After convincing the city council to extend term limits last year, the mayor got a court decision on Tuesday that backs up his move.

Throwing out a lawsuit, federal Judge Charles Sifton said the council and the mayor had the legal authority to amend the two-term limit law voters twice approved in the 1990's.

But plaintiffs in the case, many of whom are elected officials, said they aren't giving up.

"This fight is not over. The people have still not spoken and the people of this city want to decide this issue. There's no question in my mind," said Brooklyn Councilman Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio and others argued it was unconstitutional and a violation of due process for a term-limited mayor and council to extend term limits for themselves. Under the previous law, elected officials had only been able to hold office for two consecutive terms. Now, it's three.

The judge's ruling also made one thing very clear, according to one supporter.

"The people of the City of New York will have the choice and the time to vote, but have the chance to vote for everyone. And give everyone the opportunity to vote for everyone who wishes to run for a position," said Brooklyn Councilman Domenic Recchia.

The next step for the defeated plaintiffs is up in the air. They said they'll decide soon whether they will appeal.

"I believe that there are grounds for an appeal. I believe that judge Sifton got it wrong, especially with regard to the fundamental right to vote. And that you need to have a public referendum to overturn a previous public referendum," said Civil Rights Attorney Norman Siegel.

Another factor in the mix are bills sponsored by Democrats in both houses of the state legislature seeking to undo the law, instead requiring a referendum to change term limits.

Even if the decision is appealed, it's unlikely to have any immediate impact.

For weeks now, dozens of politicians throughout the city have been plotting their political futures based on the assumption that the term limits extension will stand.

Interview with Doug Muzzio on THE PEREZ NOTES - January 14th at 6 pm

On Wednesday, January 14th at 6PM Roberto Perez will be interviewing Professor Doug Muzzio. The Professor is one of the top political analyst in the country.

To listen to the interview go to www.lagcc.cuny.edu/webradio. Professor Muzzio's bio is below for those who want to know a little more about his work.

THE PEREZ NOTES airs every Wednesday from 6-8PM, so spread the news and tell a friend.

A specialist in American public opinion, voting behavior and city politics, Doug Muzzio has had extensive political, governmental, and media experience. He is the co-director of the Center for Innovation & Leadership in Government and the founder and former director of the Baruch College Survey Research Unit, both at Baruch College's School of Public Affairs.

Muzzio is also the political analyst and on-air commentator for WABC-TV New York and has done polling and political analysis for ABC-TV and other news organizations for more than two decades.

His governmental experience includes: twice-elected trustee of the Pequannock Township (New Jersey) Board of Education; chief-of-staff to New York City Councilmember At Large Antonio Olivieri; consultant to the New York City Charter Revision Commission; research director for the Dinkins mayoral campaign; consultant to City agencies and not-for-profit organizations, including the New York City Sanitation Department, the New York City Board of Education, the New York City Parks Council, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and the Hispanic Federation of New York City. He is in the fourth year of developing and delivering cultural diversity training programs for the New York City Police Department.

He is currently writing a book, The Reel City: The American City in Cinema, 1896-2001 on the images of the American city in movies.

Doug Muzzio was born, raised, schooled, had children in, and has always worked in New York City. He gives instruction in the art of speaking Brooklyn.

Weiner Takes Citywide Fundraising Tour - NY1

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With the next mayoral election less than 10 months away, one expected candidate is preparing for the big campaign.

Congressman Anthony Weiner is spending Sunday criss-crossing the city, looking to garner support for the upcoming race.

The Democrat, who represents Brooklyn and Queens, is on a five borough fundraising tour, with stops in Riverdale, Woodhaven, Marine Park, Chelsea and West New Brighton.

He previously ran for mayor in 2005, narrowly losing the Democratic primary to former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.

Other expected candidates this year include City Comptroller William Thompson, Queens Councilman Tony Avella and Mayor Bloomberg.

Queens Campaign Stalled By Fatal Bus Accident Resumes - NY1

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A city council candidate resumed his campaign Saturday, four days after a boy was struck and killed by his campaign bus in Queens.

Nine-year-old Ibrihim Ahmed was on his way home from school when he was hit at the intersection of Cross Bay Boulevard at Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park Tuesday afternoon.

Police arrested the bus driver, 22-year-old Alexander Aponte, for driving with a suspended license.

The bus was being used to promote City Council candidate Mike Ricatto's campaign.

He is running in a special election for the council seat vacated by newly elected State Senator Joseph Addabbo.

A spokesman for Ricatto said they were waiting until after the child's funeral to resume campaigning.

Put State Workers on a Four-Day Week, Says Queens Politician Gianaris by Kenneth Lovett - NY Daily News

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A Queens assemblyman today will call on Gov. Paterson to adopt a four-day work week for most state employees to save money.

Photo: Assemblyman Michael Gianaris - Hagen for News/Freelance NYDN

The move would save the state $30 million a year on energy and building maintenance and slash emissions from daily commutes, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris said.

"Before deciding which programs to cut and which taxes to levy, we should first exhaust all efforts to do more with less," he said.

Although $30 million is a modest slice of the state's $15.4 billion deficit, Gianaris argues it would offset the MTA's proposed subway cuts.

Or it would be enough to do away with the so-called iPod tax proposed by Paterson on digital downloads to raise $35 million over two years, the Democrat said.

"Good budgeting requires outside-the-box innovations," Gianaris said.

His idea is to make all state agencies providing "nonessential services" abandon the standard 9-to-5 weekday schedule.

State workers instead would put in 10-hour days Monday through Thursday.

Utah began implementing four-day work weeks last year, and other states offer compressed work weeks.

Gianaris, who will introduce legislation calling for a pilot project, acknowledged logistical issues, including deciding which jobs and agencies are deemed "nonessential" and the impact on employees' lives and child-care plans.

A Paterson spokeswoman did not respond to calls for comment.

klovett@nydailynews.com

Rep. Towns Passes Major Transparency Reforms: Presidential Records Act Amendments and Presidential Library Donation Reform :: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

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Seeking to create a seamless transition, U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) hit the ground running on the first day of the 111th Congress with two major pieces of legislation, which passed the House of Representatives: the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009 (H.R. 35) and Presidential Library Donation Act of 2009 (H.R. 36). Rep. Towns’ bills were the first order of business and the first to be considered on the first day Congress met to address legislative business. Both bills include significant transparency reforms that would overhaul the process for accessing presidential records and disclose donations to presidential libraries.

Specifically, the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009 would overturn Executive Order 13233 issued by President George W. Bush and restore procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records. The Presidential Library Donation Act of 2009 would require disclosure of donations and make information about donations available to the public.

“President-elect Obama and House Democrats agree on the need to increase transparency in the federal government, and these reforms will provide a new level of openness for the incoming Administration,” said Rep. Towns.

“President Bush’s executive order created an imbalanced and restrictive process. The Presidential Records Act preserves the important intent of the original post-Watergate law, which was to assure timely accessibility and preservation of official White House records for historical and, if necessary, legal purposes,” said Rep. Towns. “And, with the Presidential Library Donation Act, we will do away with anonymous donations by foreign countries and nationals, and make certain that the process is transparent to the public.”

The legislation is similar to bills that passed the House in 2007 as H.R. 1254 and H.R. 1255.