Marie Antoinette Carrozza Palacial Glen Head Versailles

According to a recent article in the Daily News, Queens Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret (Marie Antoinette) Carrozza can’t stand to live with the all the peasants who reside in Bayside. Her royal majesty and the first family must envelope themselves in a posh mansion located in Glen Head and be saved from the slums that exist in the 26th Assembly District. “Let them eat cake” Ms. Carrozza is just another in a long list of self-interested dysfunctional embarrassments we here is Queens have sent to Albany to represent us.

Carrozza should resign immediately so she can have the time to clean that big mansion in Glen Head Long Island and leave the business of legislating to those who care about the people and not themselves.

Daily News Article by John Lauinger:

Queens Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza pulled her Mercedes up to her brick mansion recently after a long day at work.

Her husband and one of her two sons were outside, along with the family's black Lab, Stanley. With the stately manse as a backdrop, the petite, blond lawmaker and her family could have been modeling for an L.L. Bean catalogue.

There was one problem with the pretty picture: Carrozza's $1.8 million home is in tony Glen Head, L.I. - 15 miles from her district in Bayside, Queens.

Carrozza, 42, who has represented the 26th Assembly District since 1997, bought the mansion on Nassau County's Gold Coast in June 2008, taking out a mortgage for $1 million, property records show.

She told the Daily News the lavish digs were supposed to be "an investment or a second residence." But she signed mortgage documents that specifically state the mansion would be her "principal residence."

When confronted outside the posh pad last week, Carrozza admitted she has lived there full-time since February.

"My primary residence is in Bayside - and we're temporarily renting that out," she said.

Carrozza and her doctor husband own four properties in Bayside - two offices, a home where her mother lives and another residence where the lawmaker is registered to vote.

State legislators are allowed to have second homes outside of their districts as long as they maintain a residence in the district, experts said.

"The issue is then, 'How do you define residence,'" said Manhattan election lawyer Henry Berger. "There is a slightly different standard between establishing a residence and maintaining a residence."

The Bronx district attorney's office is investigating a similar situation involving state Sen. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx). Espada once beat a residency challenge, but authorities decided to take a closer look following his central role in the coup that has deadlocked the Senate.

Carrozza said her family outgrew the Bayside home where she is registered to vote - a modest, three-bedroom house.

"We had a deal on a bigger house in Bayside," she explained. "I made arrangements to rent out my primary residence."
The deal fell through, so they moved to the Nassau County manse, she said, rather than renege on their tenants.

"It wasn't my intention to permanently occupy the home," she added. "We thought we would stay here temporarily."
The mortgage papers Carrozza and her husband, William Duke, signed in June 2008 say otherwise.

"I will occupy the property and use the property as my principal residence within 60 days after I sign this," the document stated. "I will continue to occupy the property and to use the property as my principal residence for at least one year."


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/28/2009-06-28__pol_represents_queens_but_is_living_large_on_li_gold_coast.html#ixzz0K7MCtUVe&D

Say It isnt so Choe

We read that John Choe has been endorsed by the anti-human group called Animal Friendly. Animal Friendly NYC is a political action committee that endorses and works directly on campaigns of candidates who support legislation that will benefit our non-human friends.

John Choe is accused of being a North Korean sympathizer, a communist and supporter nuclear weapon proliferation. Now we learn that he is supporting legislation that benefits non-humans!

Kim Political Posters Torn Down

According to the Queens Tribune the poster wars are begining in the 19th Council District. It always anmuses me when grown men act like little babies tearing each other posters down in some sensless act of defiance.

A Bayside man was caught on video tearing down campaign signs from a private construction site on Northern Boulevard – and admits to having torn signs down from the same site and others previously.

Richard Lazar ripped a full construction wall’s worth of signs down individually near midnight of June 11, and threw them over the construction wall. The site’s building manager filmed the act, and later Lazar’s erratic reaction on being caught. The footage culminated with Lazar threatening the cameraman with a broom, after he followed Lazar to his home and onto his property during their confrontation.

The entire construction wall was covered with signs for District 19 Democratic candidate Kevin Kim, the result of three hours of canvassing, said Justin Kang, the owner of the building who had previously posted Kim signs on his wall which were also torn down. The footage shows Lazar spending about 10 minutes tearing signs from the wall.

A Vallone campaign sign stood on Lazar’s lawn Friday, though he said the sign was put up by his daughter without his knowledge, and he has no stake in the race one way or another. He said he has since taken it down, and put it in the window.

“This is a community; we try to maintain it, keep the place neat,” Lazar said regarding his motivation to tear down the signs. “It is not a shanty-town. It makes the community look tacky.” He added that he didn’t mind when candidates put posters in store windows.

New Field same Shiti Mets

Here at Save Flushing Queens we will often take a few moments to cry over the missed opportunity for our beloved New York Mets. This weekend was as depressing as could be as the New York Skankees swept our team. First we had to endure every radio station was playing Michael Jackson while I have to admit I love his music his personal life disgusted me and I hated seeing him idolized!

Then our Mets showed us that we are once again Pretenders rather than Contenders. Now I must focus on the things that matter this summer the 2 elections that face our section of Queens the 19th and 20th Council districts. But I am still keeping my fingers crossed that the Mets get healthy and win while the best candidates for the 19th and 20th Council districts are also victorious.

So Cry today for our Mets who had an abysmal series against that team from the Bronx and may we be continuously entertained with the Races for City Council Mayor and Comptroller.

Shocking First Political Poll Finds Flushing’s John Liu with 6 Point Lead Over Nearest Opponent Melinda Katz Second

John Liu the newcomer to the citywide race for Comptroller has sent a shockwave through the city’s political clubhouses with his surprising 6 point lead in the early stages of this heated contest for one of the most coveted elected positions in New York State.

Many political pundits and junkies dismissed Liu’s chances at victory but are now singing a different song. The poll has veteran Melinda Katz running second and fellow Queensite David Weprin running last with a measly 5 percent of those surveyed.

The only real surprise is that 5 percent of those surveyed find David qualified! Although, Weprin is a nice man, he is completely inept. After all it was under his leadership as the powerful Council Finance Chair that the slush fund scandal was in full swing.

Stay tuned folks, this race is long from being over.

Debra Markell Dominates Queens Civic Congress Forum

At a recent candidates’ forum hosted by the Queens Civic Congress, City Council hopefuls tried to wow the crowed with their command of the issues. From the start, it was clear that there were some who knew the issues, some who didn’t and some who could care less.

According to Queens County and government insiders it was no surprise to see that Markell was quick on her feet and knowledgeable on the issues during the Queens Civic Congress Forum. She was even humorous when she started out with “as you can see, I’m not just one of the boys” which received laugh from the crowds. Her combination of wit and poise coupled with her absolute command on the issues and her ability to articulate her beliefs made her the clear winner of the night’s forum.

Word on the street is that Markell is an extremely hard worker and has been running a very effective campaign. After the forum she has sent a clear message that she is a candidate to be reckoned with.

20th Council District Race Heats Up

According to the City Hall News, the 20th Council District race is proving to be one of the most interesting races that will take place this year. In a crowded Democratic Party field things are starting to heat up and some interesting ethnic boundaries are being drawn.

By Chris Bragg
When John Choe entered the Council race to replace Council Member John Liu (D-Queens) a few weeks ago, there were two immediate opposite reactions.

The Queens Democratic Party jumped at the chance to endorse Liu’s longtime chief of staff, even though Choe had declared his candidacy only a day before the county’s endorsement meeting.

At the same time, a faction of the Korean-American population in the Flushing district strongly denounced him, even though Choe appears to have a good shot at becoming the first Korean-American elected to the Council.

The county support for Choe is easy to explain: he has the backing of the popular Liu, and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx), the Queens County chair. Similarly, Choe said that the promise of county support was one of the main factors in his decision to finally go public with his candidacy.

The big controversy, though, is not over this political maneuvering, but over a foreign policy issue half a world away.

In 1999, Choe founded a group called Nodutdol, whose stated aim is the reunification of North and South Korea. Some in Flushing, however, have labeled Choe a Communist sympathizer, since the group has arranged numerous trips to North Korea for members, and because the group’s website has featured glowing accounts of North Korea and its communist dictator.

In a district where the Falun Gong has for years protested Liu at every turn for what they believe are the councilman’s own alleged Communist leanings, Choe said similar forces are now marshalling support against him among Korean-Americans.

John Hong, of the Korean American Association of Flushing, said Koreans are likely to instead support S.J. Jung, a community organizer, who has also received the backing of the Working Families Party and 32 BJ.

Hong said he did not know what to think about Choe.

“I have heard the rumors about North Korea,” Hong said. “I don’t know if they are true. But I have heard them.”

Choe, however dismissed the whole controversy as irrelevant to his candidacy.

“I’m not running for secretary of state—I’m running to represent the 20th district in the City Council,” Choe said.

Some outsiders are also getting involved. Former Council Member Julia Harrison, who is white and preceded Liu on the Council, has been strongly expressing her concerns about Choe’s candidacy.

“I am very concerned about the perception in the community that the North Korean government has a spokesperson,” said Harrison.

But Harrison has been divisive herself. In 1996, for instance, she referred to the new immigrants in the neighborhood as “colonizers” and prompted a 2,000-person protest in front of City Hall. She later apologized. But that comment helped convince Liu to run against Harrison in 1997 (he lost) and again in 2001, when he won and became the first Asian-American elected to the Council.

Harrison had at one point discussed trying to make a political comeback this year but opted out of the race.

Choe, who was college classmates with Liu, said he also got involved in politics to bridge the divide between the older, white population and newer immigrants. With the county endorsement, and a forthcoming endorsement from Liu, Choe appears well positioned to do that.

Even if Choe did have the full support of the Korean-American community, he would still have to bridge the demographic divides. The district is roughly 10 percent Korean-American, 20 percent Chinese-American, 15 percent Hispanic and 37 percent Caucasian.

There are also two Chinese-Americans in the race: Yen Chou, a former staffer for Council Member David Weprin (D-Queens) and James Wu, a political strategist. Chou is leading the race in fundraising with over $210,000, much of it culled from Chinese-American businesses.

But what is really important about that figure, she said, is what she believes it demonstrates about her resonance in the community.

“Money is not really the point,” Chou said. “It shows that the people respect you.”
In an effort to unify the voting bloc, Chou has also recently been calling on Wu in the Chinese press to drop out of the race, Wu said. He has declined.

Two white candidates—Isaac Sasson, head of the Holly Civic Association, and Constantine Kavadas—are also running. Sasson is considered a dark horse with strong roots in the area who could win if the vote splinters on ethic lines.

Should that occur, it would set up a general election scenario in which Republican candidate Peter Koo, a wealthy Chinese-American businessman who lost a race to State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Queens) last year, could be running against a white candidate. This would force voters to choose between ethnic allegiances and party affiliation, potentially giving the GOP a chance to pick up the seat.

Many believe that after Liu’s political ascension, the Korean-American community in Flushing is now ready to elect one of its own, with money pouring into the race from around the country and first-generation immigrants giving way to a more politically sophisticated second generation.

Yet the political lines in the area remain blurred for now, as is evident in the history of the local Assembly seat, which has gone to four different people in the last four elections.
Assembly Member Grace Meng (D-Queens), who is Chinese-American, was able to beat the county party-backed candidate Ellen Young in 2008 by forming a coalition with Harrison and former Assembly candidate Terence Park, who is Korean-American.

Meng said the winner of the Council race would likely have to follow a similar strategy.

“You have to be able to build coalitions, whether you’re Korean or another ethnicity,” she said. “Just because you’re Korean-American doesn’t mean you can just stay focused on that community. You have to make other communities realize that you understand their problems and that you have been there for them in the past.”