By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

High-profile Queens Republican campaign operative John Haggerty Jr. was indicted Monday by a Manhattan grand jury for allegedly stealing $1.1 million funneled to him through Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year, the Manhattan district attorney said.

Haggerty, of 115 Greenway Ave. North in Forest Hills, faces up to 44 years in prison if convicted on charges of grand larceny, money laundering and falsifying business records, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said.

Haggerty was a campaign volunteer for Bloomberg’s campaign in the summer of 2009 when he allegedly lied to the campaign that he would arrange for $1.1 million to be spent for an Election Day ballot security and poll watching operation that would be run through the Independence Party, Vance said.

Bloomberg’s campaign, which is not accused of any wrongdoing, approved a $1.1 million contribution from the mayor’s personal funds to the Independence Party’s housekeeping account to fund Haggerty’s operation, the DA said.

But Vance said neither Haggerty nor the corporation he set up to purportedly run the Election Day operation — Albany-based Special Election Operations, LLC — spent any money in connection with ballot security or poll watching.

Vance claimed Special Election Operations was a “shell company.”

The DA said the Independence Party spent less than $32,000 on those activities — way less than Haggerty said was needed.

“This case is about theft and greed, but it is also about transparency and the integrity of the electoral process,” Vance said in a statement. “Haggerty grossly abused his position within the campaign that trusted him with important matters. At a time when the public is particularly distrusting about our state government processes, his use of a shell company to conceal his involvement from the public simply further breeds cynicism.”

Vance said that during the time the Election Day operations were to be performed, Special Election Operations had not even been created and Bloomberg and his campaign staff did not know about its existence or that it was to be involved in the Election Day activities.

Haggerty created Special Election Operations on Dec. 3, 2009 — a month after Election Day — Vance said.

The DA said Haggerty opened a bank account in the company’s name within days of establishing the firm.

The Independence Party wired $750,000 from its housekeeping account into the Special Election Operations account Dec. 11, 2009, Vance said.

About $600,000 of those funds was used by Haggerty to buy a home, the DA said.

After Election Day passed, Haggerty allegedly tried to conceal his theft and money laundering by lying to Bloomberg’s campaign workers that he had actually made “significant expenditures on ballot security and poll watching,” Vance said.

Haggerty allegedly corroborated his false claims by showing a Bloomberg campaign worker three bogus paychecks for poll watchers, the DA said.

The charges against Haggerty seek $1.1 million from Haggerty and Special Election Operations and the forfeiture of the house Haggerty purchased with the money, Vance said.

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By Connor Adams Sheets

TimesLedger Newspapers

Paying dues is the key to making it onto the northeast Queens political map, Democrat and Republican political operatives say, unless a potential candidate has serious money and connections.

Helping the community, working on campaigns and earning the trust and respect of voters are the steps which put lone political neophytes in the public eye and give them a shot at winning elected office.

The first step candidates who are not independently wealthy and do not come from a legacy should take is to establish themselves in the community where they will be running, according to aides, and current and former candidates for state and city office.

A lack of roots in a community can bring down even well-funded, connected candidates, as was the case in last year’s Flushing City Council election.

Yen Chou, a little-known Democrat, lost in a district with more than five Democrats for every Republican to Republican Peter Koo, a local businessman many called the “Mayor of Flushing” because of his philanthropy and the rags-to-riches story behind his chain of Starside Drugs stores.

Next for an aspiring elected is to start paying those dues in order to catch the attention of the people who can boost a candidate to the next level, namely the leaders and members of political clubs and district leaders.

That work, such as running an American Legion post or Boy Scout troop, helping with campaigns and doing good turns can have its rewards when running for office, as District Leader Martha Flores-Vasquez has shown. The Murray Hill resident has won three of the four Democratic district leader races in her area of Flushing, called Part A, since 2002.

As she and people familiar with her put it, that achievement can be chalked up to the fact that she has lived there for 34 years and been involved in the community service scene the entire time, not any connections to power-brokers.

She is the founding executive director of Community Prevention Alternatives, a nonprofit that offers free counseling for domestic violence victims and others who need it.

The Queens County Democratic organization, often referred to simply as County, is not backing her candidacy this year and therefore will not help her boost what she admits is her weaker ability to raise campaign funds in comparison to other better connected candidates.

“People are power-hungry, but it’s not about power. It’s about who has the experience and the background and a strong history of service and that’s me,” she said. “My work qualifies me for the position. I’m like a household name to everyone. Everybody knows Martha. At the end of the day it should not be about politics. It’s about who’s the best fit to serve the community.”

Once his or her background has been established, a potential candidate generally heads to the local political clubs, which serve the role of evaluating possible candidates and introducing them to the community. When a club finds a candidate or a few candidates it likes, the top members will send them up the ladder to the district leaders, who have the ability to give a candidate greater credibility with their county party organization.

“The club is the true grassroots of any election. We’re the starting point. You want to get involved in the local political club, meet the people there and learn,” said Janet Malone, president of the Northeast Queens Republican Club, formerly known as the Bayside Republican Club and office manager for state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). “People come in and say, ‘Ooh, can I run for that office?’ They might not have any knowledge of politics, many don’t even have knowledge of the neighborhood. We’re looking for what they’re going to do for us and how. Are you involved in local political groups, civic groups, the church, do you work Election Day? Do you know who you vote for and why?”

Candidates are then invited to appear before the clubs to present their platforms, introduce themselves to the community and discuss their qualifications. At their May meetings the Northeast Queens Republican Club hosted several GOP candidates for the District 26 state Assembly race and the Democratic Club of Flushing held a vetting session for Nicholas Bais, a candidate for Queens Civil Court judge, choosing at the end to endorse him.

Winning a club’s backing can help get a candidate the blessings of the county organization, but Julia Harrison, a Flushing district leader, former councilwoman and former assemblywoman who helps run the Democratic Club of Flushing, said that can be a dubious honor.

She said she was made a viable candidate not through the endorsement of the county’s Democratic organization, but because she had served the community for 30 years before running for office. Padavan said people looking to get into politics should spend many years gaining real-world experience by mastering another profession or helping others before moving into politics. He served his country for 30 years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reaching the rank of colonel, before running for office.

“Our club supports candidates who are deemed to be worthwhile, but the only thing it will do for you is get you the good graces of the Queens County organization,” Harrison said. “Then you are officially supposed to go to the county organization next ... but you only go to them if you want their backing.”

In the end, good deeds, experience and even incumbency are often not enough to get the support of the county organization, as is the case in this year’s district leaders campaigns in the 22nd state Assembly District in Flushing.

Incumbents Harrison and Flores-Vasquez and their two male counterparts have been denied that backing by the Democratic county organization, which could cripple their candidacies. The county instead went with a slate prepared by former Flushing Councilman John Liu, who has used his tremendous power as the city’s new comptroller in recent months to manipulate Flushing politics, according to a half-dozen sources familiar with the negotiations.

Three of the people on his district leader slate have worked for him. EunChul “Agnes” Kim, who was an aide when he was councilman, now works for him in the comptroller’s office; Phil Um was Liu’s chief of staff in his early days on the Council; and former Flushing BID head Mabel Law, rumored to be planning to work for Liu, has been one of his leading fund-raisers for years. Rounding out the slate is S.J. Jung, who is not known to have worked for him.

The Queens County Democratic Party is afraid to buck the powers that be, the sources say. It is not a loyal friend, it is an efficient machine that wins elections.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Freshman Rep. Mike McMahon drowned in a Republican tsunami as newcomer GOP challenger Michael Grimm trounced him by a 51.5 to 48 percent vote, early returns show.

Grimm, a Marine vet and former FBI agent, had waged a campaign that tapped into voter anger over rising deficits in general and President Obama’s health care reform bill — ironically one of the president’s signature initiatives that McMahon did not support.

In his victory speech late Tuesday night, Grimm continued the rhetoric.

“The first thing I’m going to do is fire Nancy Pelosi,” he said, referring to the Speaker of the House, a California Democrat. “We’re going to take Capitol Hill and fire her.”

Grimm also addressed President Obama in his speech, saying he wanted the president to know, “This is our country and we want it back.”

In separate comments to reporters, Grimm said that his first agenda item after electing a Republican Speaker is to seek the repeal of the health care reform law.

“If we can’t repeal it,” he said, “we’ll defund it.”

For his part, a dour McMahon told his supporters that he was caught in “changing national tides.”

“I wish the outcome was different, but this is what the voters of Brooklyn and Staten Island want — and I respect that.”

He declined to say what his next move would be.

Tuesday’s vote marked the end of a political roller coaster ride where McMahon had to fend off not only Grimm, but the growing nationwide disatisfaction with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Through most of the election, Grimm rattled his Marine Corps saber, accusing McMahon of being a “tax-and-spend liberal” who’s voted with Pelosi “93 percent of the time.”

McMahon, who had a large spending advantage over Grimm, usually appeared cool under pressure, falling back on what he called his “centrist” voting record that’s differed from Pelosi’s on several pivotal pieces of legislation, including the health care bill. McMahon also said he would push to extend the Bush-administration tax cuts for the wealthy until the economy properly rebounds.

At the same time, he would take swipes at Grimm, describing him as a failed business owner who was too conservative for the mostly Democratic Bay Ridge-Staten Island district.

That district, however, had been solidly in the Repubilcan column until McMahon’s predecessor, Vito Fossella, was arrested for drunk driving and subsequent reports surfaced that he had a secret second family in Virginia.

In a related election defeat for the Democrats, Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer (D–Bay Ridge) lost her seat to GOP newcomer Nicole Malliotakis, a former lobbyist for Con Ed. The Republican got 60 percent of the vote.

“This victory proves that the people in this community are tired of the reckless spending and one-party rule,” she said at her victory party on Staten Island.

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By Stephen Brown

Courier-Life

Call it Marty’s “con”-cert series.

Two busloads of prisoners from Rikers Island — wearing matching red- and white-striped jumpsuits — have been setting up and breaking for Borough President Markowitz’s controversial concerts in Coney Island’s Asser Levy Park.

The inmates aren’t a threat to public safety, according to the city — but they are a heck of a bargain for Markowitz.

“It saves me money, that’s the motivation for having them!” said Debra Garcia, who is in charge of the Beep’s concerts. “It saves about a few thousand dollars a week.”

Under the “Cool Hand Luke”-style program, the inmates set up 2,000 seats at the front of the park’s bandshell near Surf Avenue and West Fifth Street hours before the show. The next morning, the inmates are returned to the spot to collect the chairs.

The work detail for prisoners — which also takes place at Wingate Field in Crown Heights as part of Markowitz’s Martin Luther King Jr. concert series — appears to be the only one of its kind in Brooklyn.

A Department of Correction official said that there are only two other chain gang-style work crews in the city — both near Rikers Island.

Markowitz had taken advantage of the discounted labor-in-chains through the state prison system for at least the last 15 years, beginning when he was a state senator. But that font of labor ran dry this year as part of state budget cutbacks.

“The total cost is typically more than $60,000 a crew,” explained Erik Kriss, a spokesman with the state’s Department of Correctional Services, explaining why the program was cut.

After the state cutback, Markowitz went to the city’s jail system for help setting up his weekly music extravaganzas, which this year have featured George Thorogood and the Beach Boys.

It is unclear why Markowitz’s concerts are the only events in Brooklyn that get the benefit of prison labor.

But there is no doubt that the concerts have highlighted the Beep’s political savvy and influence — it was only three months ago that Mayor Bloomberg scrambled to pass a temporary measure that allowed the shows to proceed, despite an apparent violation of city law barring amplified noise within 500 feet of a house of worship.

Some critics of the concerts saw the work crews as yet another example of Markowitz’s lack of respect for the community surrounding Asser Levy Park.

“It’s insane!” said Mendy Sontag, the president of the Sea Breeze Jewish Center, which faces the park. “You got women walking with kids in the morning, and you don’t know what the prisoners are in for.”

A Department of Correction spokesman said that the inmates are “low-security-risk inmates carefully selected … and carefully monitored.”

But even those who weren’t spooked by the inmates said that there are certainly people who would like to get paid to do the same job.

“It’s nice the prisoners give something back to society,” said Ida Sanoff, an opponent of Markowitz’s larger plan to expand the bandshell into a $64-million amphitheater. “But on the other hand, there are a lot of people out of work that would like to get paid — even if just for a couple of days.”

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez has strengthened his control of the borough’s political establishment by more than doubling the number of hand-picked loyalists in party leadership positions.

The appointment of six more “at-large” members of the party’s county committee on Monday night brings to 11 the number of unelected Lopez supporters who run the Democratic Party’s Brooklyn operation — and the move is being criticized by members of the committee who were actually elected by the people.

“It’s a real attack on us, and an expression of insecurity on the part of the county leader,” said Chris Owens, who has promised to challenge Lopez’s leadership of the party.

Even some Lopez loyalists object that unelected members now comprise more than a quarter of the party leadership.

“Some of [the at-large members] are good friends and good Democrats, but the process by which they were brought in is outrageous,” said Councilman Lew Fidler (D–Mill Basin), who is also an elected district leader. “The power to vote [in the county committee] was bestowed upon me by the Democrats in my district who voted for me. But that’s been turned into rubbish by these 11 people who do not have to get re-elected.”

District leaders are unpaid party officials responsible for collecting candidate petition signatures, finding viable judicial candidates and hiring poll workers on Election Day, but their main job is selecting the party’s county chairman — which is exactly what they did on Monday night, re-electing Lopez as chairman in a Soviet-style 47–3 landslide.

Given such a margin of victory, it’s unclear why Lopez feels that he needs more loyalists on an already compliant county committee. That said, such “party packing” is common and legal.

Every other county Democratic organization in the city has at-large members. Staten Island, for example, has 14 such unelected district leaders, the same number as their complement of elected district leaders.

But the Richmond County Democratic Party also capped the number of at-large members at 14, something Lopez’s party machine has not done — meaning Lopez can bring in more unelected members if he wants.

The only check on that absolute power is the United States Department of Justice, which reviews all voting changes in Kings County as part of a four-decade-long repair of the county’s history of electoral discrimination.

The feds approved the first five unelected district leaders last year, though told Lopez that “the approval does not bar subsequent litigation” — an option Owens and other district leaders are considering.

The new at-large members include Lopez loyalists Kevin Ying, a former intern in the chairman’s Assembly office; Johanna Castro, a former aide; and Maria Viera, a housing assistant director for the Lopez-backed Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which is embroiled in a widening corruption investigation that, for now, does not directly involve Lopez.

Besides the Lopez insiders, other Lopez supporters were appointed, including retiring District Leader Steve Cohn; Mary Hobson, a former Flatbush district leader; and Mary Rose Sattie.

The original five unelected members were Ingrid Martin, chief of staff to state Sen. Eric Adams (D–Fort Greene); Henry Bolus, a longtime party loyalist who is currently the president of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Canarsie; Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D–Williamsburg), state Sen. Martin Malave Dilan (D–Bushwick) and Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (D–Brighton Beach).

Lopez says that his critics have it all wrong about his appointment of unelected supporters — it’s not a power play, but an effort to expand the diversity of the party leadership’s team.

“[The at large members] are a microcosm of Brooklyn,” Lopez said, adding that Ying is the first Asian-American district leader while Brook-Krasny is the borough’s first Russian-American district leader. “The objective is to have an effective organization that represents the diversity of the different communities it represents and because of the at large members, almost every community is now represented.”

Lopez said that he wasn’t solely responsible for picking the at-large leaders, but merely “took into consideration” the opinions of now-jilted elected district leaders such as Cohn.

“We’re still a democracy,” he said.

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By Andy Campbell

The Brooklyn Paper

Longtime Bay Ridge political insider Ralph Perfetto is facing a year in jail for allegedly posing as a lawyer to represent a friend.

Perfetto, who is in the fight of his life to be re-elected to the post of neighborhood district leader that he’s held for 18 years, is now awaiting his own criminal trial for representing Anthony Martire in a 2008 harassment case, according to court documents.

Court papers say that Perfetto not only spoke on behalf of Martire, but submitted documents for him, and waived Martire’s rights to a formal reading of the charges against him at his Aug. 21 court hearing.

Perfetto is crying foul, telling us that the charge is “preposterous.”

Perfetto apparently got caught when he turned in paperwork to the court bearing the name of his Bay Ridge business, Gray Fox Investigations, and someone recognized his name.

“When he appeared in court, a Brooklyn district attorney recognized him as not an attorney,” said William Smith, spokesman for Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who has been given the prosecution because of Perfetto’s status as a district leader in Brooklyn.

In New York State, it is legal to represent yourself in a court case, but it’s a no-no to claim that you’ve passed the bar when you haven’t.

Perfetto’s faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail. His pre-trial hearing is set for July 26.

Though he is not a lawyer, Perfetto has apparently watched enough people play one on TV. According to the court transcript of the 2008 hearing, he sounded pretty good.

“If I may, Your Honor, with the Court’s permission, may I submit two notarized affidavits from eyewitnesses that speak to the contrary of what did happen?” Perfetto said.

Perfetto is running against Kevin Peter Carroll for the district leader position. Carroll could not be reached for comment in time for our court-ordered deadline.

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By Anna Gustafson

TimesLedger Newspapers

The U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics has launched a “preliminary review” into eight members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), according to The Hill.

The review may be connected with fund-raising linked to HR 4173, a Wall Street reform bill, the New York Post reported. An individual close to the investigation emphasized a preliminary review does not mean the legislators did anything wrong and can be triggered by something as benign as an anonymous phone call.

The eight congressional members targeted in the probe sit on the House Financial Services or Ways and Means committees. Crowley is part of the Ways and Means Committee.

“Congressman Crowley has always complied with the letter and spirit of all rules regarding fund-raising and standards of conduct,” a spokeswoman for Crowley said. Crowley is chairman of the Queens Democratic Party.

She would not say whether the review was connected to HR 4173, which passed in December and was supported by Crowley. The legislation was designed to better regulate Wall Street and created the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which a House press release said would be “devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial product and services.”

The bill also establishes a process for dismantling large companies like AIG or Lehman Brothers to ensure there would not have to be large bailouts for such corporations by the federal government.

No Republican voted for the bill. Both Democrats and Republicans have been named in the OCE’s review. The OCE is also looking into Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Chris Lee (R-Williamsville), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Mel Watt (D-N.C.), according to The Hill, the newspaper that covers Congress and which first reported the review.

A Hensarling spokesman said in an e-mail, “While Congressman Hensarling has not been informed of a specific charge, he was recently notified by the Office of Congressional Ethics about a ‘preliminary review’ it is conducting of political contributions received between Dec. 2 and Dec. 11 of last year that a source unidentified to him claimed may have influenced his opposition to H.R. 4173,” The Hill reported.

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Courier-Life

Voters have rarely been so disgusted by their elected officials in Albany. Decades of political infighting, a dysfunctional legislative structure, and once-in-five-blue-moons defeats of incumbents has created a feeling among many voters that there is no way to reform Albany without voting out every single incumbent. Our crop of lawmakers certainly don’t always do a good job making a case for re-election, so now that the petitioning period — when would-be challengers gather signatures to get on the ballot — is underway, we felt it would be helpful to offer this handy field guide with tips for how insurgents can sent this lot packing. Happy hunting.

Incumbent: Assemblyman Jim Brennan

Represents: Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington

Years in office: 26

Campaign war chest: $58,941

How to beat him: Jim Brennan is slowly becoming a toothless tiger here and up in Albany. If his electoral base is so strong, then why has he loaned his own campaign $10,000? For that matter, why has someone who has been in office as long as he has only ascended to head the Committee on Cities? And whatever happened to Brennan’s “bold” piece of legislation that would shrink the size of the Atlantic Yards project? Or his plans to be the city’s next comptroller? We must have missed his name on last year’s ballot.

Incumbent: Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries

Represents: Fort Greene, Crown Heights

Years in office: 3

Campaign war chest: $38,141

How to beat: Jeffries was the loudest voice fighting Mayor Bloomberg’s bid to overturn term limits. How did that turn out? Meanwhile, he didn’t say anything about creating term limits for state officials — which are desperately needed. But it looks like Jeffries might term-limit himself out of office. Word is he’s planning to run for Congress in 2012.

Incumbent: Assemblyman Joseph Lentol

Represents: Williamsburg

Years in office: 38

Campaign war chest: $256,094

How to beat: If there’s such a thing as Albany’s “dysfunctional culture,” meet the guy who helped create it. As Brooklyn’s longest-serving legislator, Lentol has planted some of the seeds that led to the stink weeds choking the state’s ability to pass a budget or get anything else done. What’s worse, he’s part of a political dynasty — his father and grandfather were both in the state legislature before him. His Greenpoint district isn’t a democracy — it’s a monarchy!

Incumbent: Assemblyman Vito Lopez

Represents: Williamsburg, Bushwick

Years in office: 26

Campaign war chest: Just over $1 million

How to beat: Bring up his acerbic attitude toward basically everybody and his famed “his way or the highway” posture as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party. But there’s more: This self-proclaimed affordable housing advocate is getting oodles of campaign cash from real-estate firms and developers with interest in his district, according to his last campaign filing. He also likes to shower thousands of dollars in member items to the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which he founded and is currently run by his girlfriend. Keepin’ it in the family!

Incumbent: Assemblywoman Joan Millman

Represents: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights

Years in office: 13

Campaign war chest: $138,000

How to beat: Flip-flop alert! Millman supported putting condos in Brooklyn Bridge Park, but flipped once state Sen. Marty Connor was defeated by Daniel Squadron. She also endorsed gay marriage but then endorsed John Heyer for Council, knowing that he was against gay marriage. She’s also against motorists, who will have to shell out more to renew their license plates and get slapped with a $150 ticket if they park in a bike lane — if two of her pending bills are approved.

Incumbent: State Sen. Eric Adams

Represents: Fort Greene, Flatbush

Years in office: 4

Campaign war chest: $170,760

How to beat: With all the sad songs being played in Albany, Adams seems to have only one little ditty in his head: “Pants on the ground! Pants on the ground! Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground!” His big “pull up your pants” initiative made him look, well, less than statesmanlike.

Incumbent: State Sen. Martin Dilan

Represents: Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick

Years in office: 8

Campaign war chest: $151,902

How to beat: Remind them that Dilan was one of the five handpicked “district leaders at large” that boss Vito Lopez created to boost his power as chairman of the county Democratic Party. Then point out that Dilan gave $185,000 in member items to the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Center this year — an organization Lopez created and is run by his girlfriend.

Incumbent: State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery

Represents: Red Hook, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene

Years in office: 26

Campaign war chest: $74,787

How to beat: She’s done a lot of work in protecting at risk youth and revamping the state’s juvenile justice system. But her district is a collection of neighborhoods with a host of different needs. Ask the residents of Red Hook, Sunset Park and Fort Greene if, after 25 years in Albany, Montgomery has really made a difference. You’ll get your answer — if the person even knows who Montgomery is.

Incumbent: State Sen. Daniel Squadron

Represents: Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg

Years in office: 2

Campaign war chest: $229,861

How to beat: Two years ago, Squadron ran as a reformer, claiming that he wanted to change Albany. But things haven’t changed at all, so to run against Squadron, hammer home the point that Albany has assimilated him like a Borg. In this very issue, in fact, he makes an argument for keeping state incumbents! Talk about resistance being futile!

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By Aaron Short

The Brooklyn Paper

Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Brooklyn’s powerful Democratic party leader, steered more than three-quarters of a million dollars to both his campaign treasurer and his girlfriend, who work at the nonprofit he founded.

The treasurer, Christiana Fisher, is also the executive director of Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a Bushwick-based social services organization that Lopez founded. Last year, she nearly tripled her salary, earning $659,591 compared with $234,234, almost six times the amount of her peer executive nonprofit leaders in Brooklyn.

The nonprofit’s Housing Director Angela Battaglia, who is not only Lopez’s longtime girlfriend, but a City Planning Commissioner, got a hefty 73-percent raise from last year, earning $329,910 compared with $190,609 in the previous year, according to the organization’s tax filings.

Battaglia pulls in $54,150 as a planning commissioner, a job that lets her vote on significant rezoning plans that often affect Ridgewood Bushwick.

Both Battaglia and Fisher have held crucial roles in managing this campaign and its finances. Fisher managed the transfer of tens of thousands of dollars from Lopez’s Assembly re-election account to his campaign account for another 2010 race, for district leader. Battaglia has served as the candidate’s surrogate, reminding constituents at street fairs in Bushwick and Williamsburg to vote for Lopez, when he is unable to attend himself.

Both have long histories with Lopez, and Lopez has rewarded them and their family for their loyalty — elevating Pam Fisher, Christiana’s sister, and Jack Battaglia, Angela’s brother, to the bench in 2009 and 2001 respectively.

Calls made to Ridgewood Bushwick were not returned. And in a recent New York Post article, Lopez declined to comment about the salaries, noting that the organization “does an outstanding job servicing the residents of north Brooklyn.”

But several of Lopez’s political opponents have questioned the salaries. District Leader-elect Chris Owens called them “unethical, wrong and misleading the public.”

“Jesus Christ, that’s obscene!” said Owens, who has worked widely in the nonprofit sector. “An agency that can afford to pay an administrator $659,000 is almost on the verge of not being a not-for-profit. This is a rip-off of the public.”

By comparison, the executive director of Fifth Avenue Committee, a Park Slope-based housing nonprofit, earned $120,000, and the group’s housing director earned $81,167, in 2008. And the co-directors of Make the Road New York, a Bushwick-based economic justice nonprofit, earned $93,656 and $100,438, respectively.

But Fisher only reported working 17.5 hours per week at her job. The New York Post found that many of the nonprofit’s board members had little or no say in how the two executives were compensated — signing paperwork without a vote or even a discussion of salary.

An interview with one board of director member revealed that she could not recall how the salaries were approved, explaining that it was not discussed in meetings which occur once per quarter.

But the nonprofit’s tax forms indicate that the board did approve the salaries.

“Either the board member is mistaken or the process happened in such a way that at least one board member didn’t even know it was going on, or it didn’t happen or this process didn’t happen,” said Thad Calabrese, a professor at City University of New York.

Instead, it is Lopez (D-Williamsburg) who maintains close ties to both women and to the nonprofit, his base of political power in the region for more than a quarter century.

It is in this field that Ridgewood Bushwick’s social services mission and Lopez’s political goals most nakedly overlap.

Ridgewood Bushwick employs 553 individuals in addition to another 1,699 home care employees, a large number, but similar to several other housing nonprofit organizations in Brooklyn.

The organization manages and maintains a web of senior centers, housing complexes, and youth recreation centers, some of which are emblazoned with Lopez’s name as a reminder of where the funding for its development came from.

Many of these sites also conveniently double as polling locations, giving its elderly residents the privilege of not having to leave the building to re-elect Lopez.

Lopez himself has funneled $380,000 in member items to the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and its affiliated associations since 2009, including $60,000 for the Brooklyn Unidos upstate conference and $30,000 for transporting and feeding seniors at a summer picnic.

In 2009, Ridgewood Bushwick received $17,851,873 in government subsidies, over $4 million more than the $13,782,890 it received in grants the prior year.

On primary and general election days, the nonprofit’s workers are given a day off from work to get voters to the polls.

Last month, Lopez bragged to Daily News columnist Errol Louis that he would deploy 384 members of Brooklyn Unidos on Primary Day to help him beat his opponent for district leader, Esteban Duran, after two failed attempts to bump him off the ballot.

For his district leader campaign, Lopez raised $74,531, nearly all of it from his $1.19-million Assembly campaign warchest — a massive amount for a district leader race. But Lopez has the cash; he’s running unopposed for the Assembly.

Political opponents, such as Matt Cowherd, who founded the New Kings Democrats political club three years ago with the purpose of challenging Lopez’s leadership in Brooklyn, believe that Lopez’s intertwining of politics with social works has lead to corruption and abuse of power.

“Elected officials should work to secure city and state resources solely to benefit the community they represent, not to enrich themselves or their political cronies or to surreptitiously fund their political campaigns,” said Cowherd.

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By Aaron Short

Courier-Life

Two Bushwick centers affiliated with Assemblyman Vito Lopez — one of which who’s already under investigation — played host to serious election fraud that helped secure a Lopez victory last month, poll workers charged this week.

A Primary Day poll worker at the Hope Gardens MultiService Center asserted that other workers hired by Lopez ignored homecare aides employed by the Lopez-affiliated Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Homecare Council who escorted seniors into the voting booth and marked their ballots for Lopez.

“The home attendants went into the booth with every one of them,” said the source. “Sometimes there were two attendants. They even pointed to the [Lopez] box to fill in. One time, a senior voted for Lopez’s opponent and they brought the ballot back and said, ‘He made a mistake.’ ”

State election law allows a resident to be assisted in marking a ballot by a person selected by the resident. But the law prohibits a voter’s assistant from “seeking to persuade or induce the voter to vote any particular ticket or for any particular candidate.”

The source also charged that a translator, hired by Lopez as a poll worker, was telling seniors how to vote — and who to vote for.

“I can understand Spanish, she was telling them how to vote,” said the source.

Voting improprieties were not limited to Hope Gardens.

On a polling site inside a Lopez-affiliated retirement home on Himrod Street, the building manager actively campaigned for Lopez inside the polling station and filled out affidavit ballots for senior residents who could not vote in person, several poll workers said.

One of the poll workers, Luis Ramos, called the cops, who told her to stop filling out ballots.

“In no way, manner, shape or form was she supposed to touch the registration rolls,” said Ramos. “But the inspector at the table allowed her. Instead of the voter standing behind the place where you mark your ballots, she was there.”

When Ramos came back from a lunch break, he found that the building manager was back at the polling site filling in ballots. Ramos and an agitated co-worker confronted her again outside, to little avail.

“She kept doing that the whole day, but she denied doing it,” said Ramos. “Vito had an opponent this time. And the woman works for Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council [another Lopez-affiliated charity]. There’s a conflict there. It stinks to high hell.”

The building manager at the Himrod site declined to comment about the incident. And calls to the 83rd Precinct and the NYPD were referred to the Board of Elections, which did not return calls for comment.

But Scott Short, a Ridgewood Bushwick executive, denied Ramos’s charge.

“At all times when the manager was present with a voter in the booth, she was there at the request of the voter, and a Board of Elections employee was also in the booth,” said Short. “The manager did not attempt to influence the voters’ choices.”

The connections between Ridgewood Bushwick and the Democratic Party are more than just a coincidence.

Many of Democratic poll workers at the Hope Gardens and Himrod Street poll sites work for Ridgewood Bushwick, which is currently the subject of three investigations.

One of the duties of a state committeeman is to hire poll workers on election days, and Lopez often taps the nonprofit’s employees for lucrative poll worker jobs that pay between $200 and $300 for the day.

“Anybody who works [at Ridgewood Bushwick] is given this job,” said Esteban Duran, who lost in a landslide to Lopez for a state committee position. “He appoints people who work for Ridgewood Bushwick. He doesn’t even give other people a chance [at the job].”

Many Bushwick polling sites are located within senior centers or senior housing facilities, managed by Ridgewood Bushwick, giving its seniors easy access to the voting booth — and “assistance” from interested parties, said Marty Needelman, an attorney with Brooklyn Legal Services.

“Vito got almost 100 percent of the votes in buildings that Ridgewood Bushwick managed,” said Needelman. “The property manager controls that site with the poll workers.”

It wasn’t 100 percent, but it was a Soviet-style landslide for Lopez in those buildings. The Brooklyn Party boss won the Hope Gardens polling site, 139 to 16, or roughly 90 percent, and the Himrod Street site 64 to 8 or 89 percent, en route to an easy 70 percent to 29 percent victory over Duran for the state committee position.

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By Chauncey Alcorn

TimesLedger Newspapers

Corona and Elmhurst-based immigration reform advocates, including City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-Elmhurst) and Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), were arrested last week during a civil disobedience protest outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service building in Manhattan.

Outraged by the ongoing controversy surrounding the state of Arizona’s immigration law, the protesters were among several reform groups across the city calling on President Barack Obama and Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill before the end of the year, which the president has vowed to do in the past.

Ferreras and members of Make the Road New York, the city’s largest immigrant-based community organization, vowed June 2 not to eat anything for three days to “express their solidarity with the suffering of Latinos in Arizona,” who they said are being persecuted by that state’s government.

“I’m the daughter of immigrants. My father came to this country undocumented,” Ferreras said, discussing her three-day fast and her arrest the day before. “I’m hoping I’m doing this for someone else’s children and that President Obama is paying attention, realizing this is something important to our entire country.”

Make the Road New York members spoke about their protest during a June 2 news conference in Battery Park.

Deputy Director Javier Valdez said the organization’s three-day fast was set up to give undocumented immigrants a way to protest against the Arizona immigration law, which allows state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain illegals and ask for proof of citizenship when they have reasonable suspicion someone is in the United States without papers.

Valdez said many illegal immigrants wanted to participate in the civil disobedience effort the day before, but feared if they were arrested, they would be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has a policy of deporting undocumented people detained for committing a crime.

“We wanted to elevate the issue of immigration and escalate the pressure on President Obama to take action, but it was important for us to do this in a way for undocumented immigrants to participate,” he said.

June 2 marked the third week in a row activists had gathered outside the USCIS building in Manhattan seeking arrest, a protest tactic dating back even before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s.

It was the first civil disobedience protest for Ferreras, who said she had never been arrested before.

“I was nervous about the arrest. I wasn’t nervous about the decision,” she said.

The activists hosted a press conference prior to the protest, expressing their solidarity with Latinos in Arizona and their frustration with inaction by the president and Congress.

“This is something that’s part of a larger effort with the New York Immigration Coalition, organizations and churches,” Ferreras said. “If there is no reform, more states like Arizona will start making up their own laws. We need a federal mandate to be able to help combat them and to be sure legislation like that passed in Arizona is not passed anywhere else in this country, This is about racial profiling. This is about fear tactics.”

After the press conference, the activists walked into a nearby street, deliberately impeding traffic while singing “We Shall Overcome,” Ferreras said.

“An officer comes forward with a bull horn and yells, ‘You are obstructing traffic! Please stop obstructing traffic!’” she said. “They came and handcuffed us and put us in a wagon. We went to the precinct and were booked.”

After about 2 1/2 hours, the protesters were freed, but Ferreras said she still must go to court in July.

“Clearly the process I went through yesterday is miniscule next to the struggle and the fear an immigrant goes through in Arizona because of the law that was passed,” she said.

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By Aaron Short

Courier-Life

Assemblyman Vito Lopez “abused” his office when he called a city employee and asked him to provide documents that he wanted to used in a bid to kick a political opponent off the ballot this year.

Good government groups blasted Lopez (D-Williamsburg) for placing a call to Housing Authority Intergovernmental Affairs Director Brian Honan last week, reminding him to appear in court and bring information regarding the leases of his opponent’s campaign workers.

Lopez is head of the Assembly Housing Committee and is invaluable to Honan on a variety of state legislation. That relationship colored the whole interchange, said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause, a government watchdog.

“The head of the housing committee calling a functionary in an agency over which he has direct oversight is an abuse of power,” said Lerner. “It’s not a courtesy reminder. It is an attempt to use his own personal political purposes for political gain and that’s improper. It looks like an attempt to intimidate the witness.”

Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey agreed, saying that Lopez’s actions in the race were “outrageous” and “mind-boggling.”

“He may have abused the power of his office by requesting a city employee to participate in a political election dispute,” said Dadey. “It crosses a line that should be allowed.”

The concerning incident began last week, Lopez, who is also the chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party, sued Esteban Duran, his primary challenger for a district leader position, alleging that Duran’s nominating petitions contained widespread fraud and should be invalidated.

Civil Court Judge Carolyn Demarest subpoenaed Honan, the housing authority staffer, to bring in copies of Duran volunteers’ leases in public housing buildings to verify that those petition collectors actually lived where they claimed to. Honan said the reminder call from Lopez troubled him.

“I wanted to know as little about this as possible,” Honan testified. “I’m involved in government work, not in political work. [But] our general counsel said, ‘We have to provide the leases because we’ve been subpoenaed.’ ”

Lopez and Honan typically discuss bill, but this time the topic was evidence that Lopez needed for his legal challenge against a political opponent. Duran’s attorney Leo Glickman said Lopez crossed the line by calling Honan and asking “about those subscribing witnesses.”

In addition, Lopez’s assembly staff members volunteered for the legal challenge, rounding up witnesses to testify against Duran and spending several days in court to observe and assist the proceedings, which was revealed during witness cross-examinations.

But those efforts were for naught.

Last Friday, Judge Demarest dismissed Lopez’s motion, writing that Lopez was unable to prove that fraud occurred.

Lopez appealed the case and a hearing for oral arguments in appellate court occurred on Tuesday. The court’s decision was expected on Thursday, as we went to press.

Lopez did not call us back.

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

Just as it looked as if state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) would be free of opponents for re-election in a contentious western Queens district, former City Councilman Anthony Como,a Republican, said he would challenge the one-term senator.

Como, a former city Board of Elections commissioner who briefly held a Council seat now occupied by City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) following a special election in 2008, said he had been grappling with whether to run against Addabbo.

“It was something that I had been contemplating for some time,” Como said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Como was being considered for the $170,000 a year executive director position at the city Board of Elections, but said he withdraw from consideration last week to mount a bid against Addabbo.

“With all the calls, texts and e-mails I received, I changed my mind,” Como said.

Como said having a Democratic governor and Democrats being in control of the state Legislature are not benefitting people in the 15 Senate District, which includes Howard Beach, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Glendale, Middle Village and Ridgewood.

“We see that the one-party tyranny of the state Legislature just hasn’t worked,” Como said. “We have a budget that has been dragging this entire state down. This is not a game. This is people’s lives. This is children’s lives and senior’s lives.”

But Addabbo said the Democrats are not to blame for the state’s economic situation, pointing out that 39 other states have budget deficits.

“I don’t think the party has anything to do with it,” he said. “

Como pointed to his accomplishments during his brief stint on the Council, including speeding up a Ridgewood landmark project, getting a downzoning of Middle Village approved and securing fundsfor seniors centers that were threatened to be closed, to show that he is a viable candidate.

Como said there is a “lack of leadership” in the district and that Addabbo should have done more to stand up to leaders in his own party.

“We need a person that will stand up,” he said.

“People have felt that there is a time for change and there is definitely time for someone to lead this senate district than what has been happening for a year and a half,” Como said.

Addabbo said he does not vote along party lines, noting he took heat for his vote against gay marriage and he does stand up to leaders in his party.

“The reason you don’t hear about it in the papers is because I do it professionally,” he said.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

So much for that “anti-incumbent” mood!

Out of 33 potential contested seats in Albany and in Washington, there will only be 11 primary elections this year — and many of them are sure to be incumbent blowouts.

Out of the 27 elected officials representing Brooklyn in Albany, only seven are facing Democratic primary opponents. And since Democrats overwhelmingly outnumber Republicans in the borough, that means that least 20 state incumbents will be back in their cushy leather seats come January — despite everybody crying about how ineffective and dysfunctional our state legislators are.

It’s not that much better in Congress: out of our five House representatives, just two will face primary challengers.

Still, there are a few surprises. Here’s a quick preview of what you’re going to see at the polls this September:

Congress

10th District (Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights): MTV-reality star and hip-hop writer Kevin Powell will be trying to take out 27-year incumbent Rep. Ed Towns, but he’s not alone. Elias Weir, a Canarsie accounts payable supervisor, who lost a bid to unseat Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Canarsie) in 2005 has also thrown his hat in the ring.

12th District (Williamsburg, Red Hook): As she prepares for her 10th term (which will mark her 20th year in office) incumbent Rep. Nydia Velazquez will have to work for it, or at least break a sweat. She’s facing self-made businessman Bruce Hirschfeld, who started his campaign pretty early — back in October, 2009.

Not facing primary challengers: Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-Park Slope), McMahon, and Anthony Weiner (D-Sheepshead Bay).

State Senate

18th District (Red Hook, Prospect Heights, Boerum Hill, Downtown): Incumbent State Senator Velmanette Montgomery will be facing attorney Mark Pollard. At a recent candidates night, Pollard, who was also an Assistant District Attorney under former DA Elizabeth Holtzman, chided Montgomery (who wasn’t there) claiming that she’s been in office “since Ronald Regan.” He also said that he was not going to disrespect Montgomery on the campaign trail. At least he’s off to a good start.

20th District (Fort Greene): Guillermo Philpotts wants to unseat incumbent state Sen. Eric Adams, but he may be booted out before he can even begin. The Board of Elections noted that Philpotts petition sheets were unbound and unnumbered — big no-nos that could have his signatures thrown out.

Not facing primary challengers: State Sens. Martin Malave Dilan (D-Williamsburg) and Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights).

State Assembly

50th District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint): Assemblyman Joe Lentol, the longest serving Assemblyman (if he wins this term, he’ll be soon celebrating his 40th year in office) will be facing Andre Soleil, an out-of-left-field candidate who was a dyed in the wool Republican who worked in both the Giuliani and Pataki administrations before changing stripes.

52nd District (Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill): Doug Biviano, who came in sixth out of seventh in the council race ultimately won by Steve Levin last year is taking on Assemblywoman Joan Millman. Maybe he’ll make good on his promise to clean up Albany, but we doubt it. Millman has nearly $155,000 stowed away for her re-election campaign. Biviano has $4,332.37.

Not facing primary challengers: Jim Brennan (D-Park Slope), Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg), and Hakeem Jeffries (D-Fort Greene).

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By Gary Buiso

Courier-Life

Rep. Anthony Weiner unleashed his Brooklyn bravado in the revered halls of Congress last week, lacing into Republicans in a frenetic tirade that cemented the salamander-svelte-pol as a Beltway cobra.

The venomous spectacle — part Hollywood, part Homecrest, all YouTube — caused veins to pop from the neck of Weiner, who gesticulated, scowled and slammed an angry finger on a lectern during a debate over a bill that would have provided billions of dollars of aid to responders sickened by World Trade Center dust.

The tirade occurred late last Thursday night, after Rep. Jerry Nadler (D–Coney Island) yielded one minute “to the distinguished gentleman from New York,” who then launched into anything-but-distinguished behavior.

Weiner, the failed bill’s co-sponsor, raced to the well of the Congress and lashed into his Republican colleagues for not backing the bill because Democrats wanted to pass it in an expedited process that did not allow amendments that could slow everthing down.

Weiner’s off-camera target was Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island), who co-sponsored the bill, but not the expedited process by which Democrats brought it to the floor.

“Great courage!” Weiner began, sarcastically. “Great courage to wait until all members have already spoken and then stand up and wrap your arms around procedure. We see it in the United States Senate every single day, where members say we want amendments, we want debate, we want amendments — but we’re still a ‘no.’ ”

Then the Sheepshead Bay Democrat upped the sarcasm even more, mincing and pantomiming the hemming and hawing of a lawmaker in conflict: “And then we stand up and say, ‘Oh if only we had a different process we’d vote yes.’ You vote ‘yes’ if you believe ‘yes’! … If you believe it’s the wrong thing, you vote ‘no’!”

The pinnacle came when Weiner shouted down King, who apparently tried to interrupt the tirade.

“I will not yield to the gentleman! And the gentleman will observe regular order! The gentleman will observe regular order! Gentleman thinks that if he gets up and yells he’s going to intimidate people into believing he is right. He is wrong! The gentleman is wrong! The gentleman is providing cover for his colleagues rather than doing the right thing!”

Thousands saw the late-night debate live. Millions have seen it since, as it has electrified the airwaves and the Web.

Meanwhile, back home, Weiner’s constituents had mixed feelings about their representative’s over-the-top behavior.

“He should have kept his cool,” said a Midwood resident who would only give the name Mary B. “I have a quick temper — but he’s supposed to be professional, right?”

But Gravesend’s Jay Cole saw things differently. “It was a little over the top, but that’s politics — sometimes you have to yell.”

Histrionics are certainly nothing new for Weiner, who this month married glamorous gal-pal Huma Abedin.

During the debate over health care reform, he ripped into Rep. Scott Garrett (R–N.J.) for reading from a fake Democratic memo. And he is known as one of the louder arguers in Congress, where courtesy and decorum typically rule, even during the most contentious debates.

A former Weiner employee said the lawmaker has a reputation for being passionate — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

“His personality comes across as animated,” the person said. “He has that Brooklyn ability to know how to argue and how to argue effectively. This can be a strength, but sometimes, it can not work out so well.”

Political strategist and consultant Ethan Geto said he was bowled over by Weiner’s performance.

“He displayed righteous anger built up by non-stop partisan Republican obstructionism,” said Geto, who said he’s never worked for Weiner. “Showing passion and emotion in what is literally a life and death issue is OK by me. The guy really says what’s on his mind.”

Four days later, Weiner told us that he was still angry at the Republicans — and proud of a rant that was more Al Pacino in “And Justice for All” than a “gentleman from New York.”

“When you are angry, you express your anger,” Weiner said, still arguing that King should have done more to rally his caucus behind the measure, regardless of the process.

“I spoke on the floor previously that night, and I was calm,” Weiner explained. “But then [King] waited until the debate was over and launched into a broadside against me and my colleagues that made this political rather than unifying.

“It was really Peter King who wasn’t very honorable in all of this. This was a low point for Peter,” he claimed.

Former Bensonhurst state Sen. Seymour Lachman, who directs a center on government reform at Wagner College, said he felt Weiner’s rage was “genuine,” but he couldn’t divorce it from the understandable need to grandstand during an election year.

“In [government], you see issues that create events such as this during elections,” said Lachman, the author of “Three Men in A Room,” an insider’s look at the state legislative process.

But the Park Slope piranha insisted that the speech was not about mere showmanship.

“If people think this was a calculation, they’d be wrong,” he said.

Perhaps it was just Weiner’s old-school Brooklyn roots showing.

The 45-year-old lawmaker grew up in Park Slope, on Sixth Street near Prospect Park, the son of lawyer Mort Weiner, and Midwood HS teacher Fran Weiner. When he’s not shouting down colleagues, Weiner loves to tell a story of how he cut his political teeth in Miss Noonan’s third-grade class at PS 39 on Sixth Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets.

It was class election season and Weiner ran for vice president. Passionate even then, the budding pol gave a stirring speech about how the school cafeteria served fishsticks too often.

“I thought I did an excellent job” on the speech, he told the New York Sun in 2005 — but he ended up losing to his challenger — who upped the young Weiner by handing out lollipops to the whole class.

Flash forward 40 years and Weiner is still fighting. But yelling, “Shame, shame” — isn’t such talk itself a bit of a “shonda,” as Jews call it?

Maybe, according to Rabbi Shimon Hecht of Congregation B’nai Jacob on Ninth Street in Park Slope — near where Weiner grew up.

“According to Torah law, we are not permitted to get angry,” Hecht explained. “The one who gets angry is considered an idol worshipper.” A way around this, he advised, is to “put on a show, as if you’re angry,” while inside remaining as temperate as a panda.

Hecht said a radio broadcast of Weiner’s shrill, 1:42-minute rant woke him up Friday morning. “I don’t have a problem with it,” the rabbi said. “He didn’t curse anyone. Maybe it was a drop overboard, but I don’t think this was a personal attack.”

Down in Brighton Beach, 89-year-old Sylvia Fields offered some sage advise.

“You’ll catch more bees with honey,” she said. “He shouldn’t yell.”

Fields struggled to explain her congressman’s rant.

“Maybe he should have married a nice Jewish girl,” she offered.

— with Ben Kochman

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

State Sen. Kevin Parker’s trial for assaulting a New York Post photographer has been delayed until after the September primary election, but this time the pugilistic legislator has a longtime political rival to thank for the hold up.

Judge Neil Firetog agreed on Thursday to suspend the trial until Oct. 18 after District Attorney Charles Hynes’s office admitted that the son of Parker’s opponent in the primary is on the DA’s staff.

Assistant District Attorney James Leeper said that ADA Wynton Sharpe, whom Hynes hired in 2004, never touched a scrap of paper relating to Parker’s case, but his family lineage to candidate Wellington Sharpe, and the fact he’s assigned to the same bureau handling the case, would raise questions of impropriety.

“The relationship between ADA Sharpe and his father have so compromised this case that we think it’s appropriate to have a special district attorney be brought in,” Leeper said, claiming that, even though Hynes’s office has been working on this case for over a year, no one ever made the connection between Parker and Sharpe until this week.

“We were making an inquiry into the status of Sen. Parker’s campaign and we learned that his opponent was [Wellington Sharpe],” he said. It is unclear why Hynes’s office was checking into Parker’s re-election campaign in an assault case that has nothing to do with that campaign.

Wynton Sharpe has been suspended without pay for not disclosing to his superior that his father is a political rival of the state senator. Sharpe is now facing an investigation over why he was not forthcoming with that information.

Lonnie Hart, Parker’s attorney, tried to milk the Sharpe connection into a dismissal, claiming the DA should have known one of his own was related to his client’s political opponent.

“I don’t understand how this just came to light,” Hart asked. “Everyone knew that Wellington Sharpe’s son worked for the DA’s office — except the DA’s office.”

Firetog wouldn’t grant Hart’s request for a dismissal, finding that Sharpe’s son didn’t compromise the grand jury proceedings or the indictment.

“To have someone in the DA’s office related to a politician is troubling, but there’s no reason to find that [the case against Parker] isn’t credible,” he said, adding that “most people in the DA’s office are not political or have political ties.”

But DA Hynes does. In 2009, he soared into his fifth term after getting the support from the Democratic Party establishment — which is also allied with Parker, despite his truculent past.

Judge Firetog appears to be the only person in the case who is not tainted by politics. Unlike elected judges, who win their seats on the bench thanks to party backing, Firetog is an appointed judge, first getting his seat from then-Mayor Ed Koch in 1983. He’s been reappointed by every mayor since.

Parker’s misdeeds are legendary. He was arrested in 2005 for punching out a traffic enforcement officer, although those charges were dropped when Parker agreed to take anger management classes. Since taking the classes he’s been accused of roughing up an aide, and attacking Wellington Sharpe during a earlier campaign. He’s also wigged out at a recent Senate hearing, calling Republicans “white supremacists.”

Although Sharpe never brought the assault complaint to the police, he did bring it to court: He hit Parker with a $500,000 lawsuit in 2005, claiming injuries from the attack. He received a default judgment in his favor earlier this year when Parker failed to respond to the charges.

Sharpe also filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against the legislator in 2004 after Parker told this paper Sharpe was purposefully inserted into his 2004 Democratic Primary to split the black vote so his white challenger — former Councilman Noach Dear — would win. Sharpe’s son Wynton drew up and filed the court papers, according to court records. The case was ultimately settled when Parker agreed to publish a retraction.

Sharpe said even though the case has been postponed, he believes he will beat Parker at the polls since everyone already knows about the scrappy senator’s shenanigans.

“Parker is a thug! He attacks people in the Senate and he attacks people in the street,” Sharpe said. “This case is not going to trial this week, but that doesn’t change that he’s a thug.”

He was outraged that his son was used in a “loophole” to postpone the case.

“My son has been working for the DA’s office for six years and everyone was well aware of it,” he seethed. “He wasn’t there under some hidden agenda. We have one of the greatest legal systems in the world, but there are people like Parker who use legal loopholes to protect themselves and that’s what happened here.”

The delay in the case will make it easier for Parker to skate through the primary, as news stories about his alleged assault of New York Post photographer William Lopez will likely not appear.

If convicted, Parker faces seven years in prison and would be removed from the Senate.

Sharpe has tried to retire Parker — and others — before. Over the last 10 years, he has run for Council twice, state Senate twice and the Assembly — yet the voters have yet to put him in office.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Assembly candidate Doug Biviano blasted away at incumbent Joan Millman in a debate last week, hammering her for taking her pension even as she works as a lawmaker, lambasting her for backing transit cuts, and for flip-flopping on housing inside Brooklyn Bridge Park — but the harshest word he had for Millman was that she’s “nice.”

By our count, Biviano taunted his rival with the seemingly innocuous adjective six times during the hour-long debate in Community Newspaper Group’s Downtown studio, where the candidates in the Sept. 14 primary battled in hopes of attracting voters in the Brownstone Brooklyn assembly district.

Being repeatedly slammed as “nice” certainly didn’t faze Millman, who said she was more upset that Biviano called her a bum on his website.

“I don’t think ‘nice’ is a pejorative word,” she said. “I don’t mind being called nice because I am a nice person. But I’m also an effective person.”

Biviano certainly didn’t agree, slamming Millman (D-Carroll Gardens) on the issues — and for collecting her pension from her prior job as a city teacher while working as our elected representative in Albany. Biviano called that “double dipping.”

“I’m on the street and I talk to the people and they’re worried about their pensions,” Biviano said. “These people aren’t making six figures and on top of … another government pension. It’s an abuse of the pension system.”

Millman makes $92,000 as an Assemblywoman. She was elected to office in 1997 after she retired from her 27 years as a teacher and began collecting her pension.

“I had already put in my paperwork,” she said. “You can’t rescind it.”

Actually, you can. According to the Teachers Retirement System website, educators can “voluntarily suspend their retirement allowance by filing a ‘Retirement Allowance Suspension/Resumption Form.’ ” That said, it’s also perfectly legal for retirees to draw their city pensions if they’re in “elective public office,” as Millman is doing.

For the most part, the exchanges centered on three main areas of local concern — transit service, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Albany dysfunction — with Biviano claiming that Millman is just another state Capitol insider on the wrong side.

For instance, he lambasted Millman for staging a photo op against MTA budget cuts after she voted to reduce the agency’s funding.

Millman’s answer? She was against the cuts, but had to vote for them because they were part of a “larger bill” that would also save student Metrocards.

“Don’t be fooled by her rambling,” Biviano retorted. “This is how the magician works. She voted for the bill knowing the consequences, then turns around and stages a photo op against the MTA with the very people she hurt.”

Biviano also accused her of switching gears on Brooklyn Bridge Park, claiming that Millman changed her mind about putting luxury housing in the green space after former state Sen. Marty Connor, who supported housing, lost a re-election bid to a young rival who opposed housing in the park.

Biviano saw the change of heart as a “pure flip-flop.”

“Marty Connor’s gone and she suddenly swings the other way,” he said. “It was a political calculation.”

Millman countered that housing became a necessary funding stream after she helped defeat an earlier, and to her, far worse money-making proposal: a bid by developer David Walentas to turn the Civil War-era Empire Stores warehouse into a vertical mall. After that plan was foiled, she agreed to the formula that many park advocates say was the original sin of the waterfront development: that it needed to be self-sustaining rather than funded as a normal city or state park.

For now, Millman said that she opposes “any more housing in the park.”

And that vertical mall? Millman was forced to admit under questioning that the historic Empire Stores building is falling down, a victim of state neglect.

In other debate action:

• Biviano held Millman personally responsible — thanks to her very brief stint as chairwoman of the Assembly’s election law committee — for making it difficult for grass-roots challengers to get on the ballot. Millman didn’t address that point directly, but said that she is pushing for a bill that would redraw district lines in a non-partisan fashion.

Biviano agreed that the bill is needed, but called politics-free redistricting a “tiny piece of the ballot process.”

“Qualified candidates are thrown off ballots because election law allows incumbents go into back rooms and nitpick at their challenger’s signatures,” he said. “If they remove people from the ballot before the race begins, they can be there for life.”

Millman, who said she’s never knocked anyone off the ballot in her races, argued that the current election law is “less stringent than it ever was before.”

But Biviano did the math: Out of five congressional, nine state Senate and 21 Assembly candidates up for election this year in the Democratic Party, only seven are facing challengers.

• Biviano had a lot to say about how Millman waffled on key issues, but couldn’t give our panel any clear examples about how his voting record would differ from Millman’s if elected, outside of what was discussed in the debate. Nor did he have any solid plans for ridding Albany of its dysfunctional culture other than “tackling the big issues” and providing “social pressure.”

The primary election is Sept. 14.

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By Aaron Short and Andy Campbell

Courier-Life

There were no primary election upsets in our coverage area, but that’s to be expected in New York City democracy. Here’s all the local results with all precincts reporting:

Congress — Democrats

Rep. Ed Towns, 19,816
Kevin Powell, 8,991

10th District

Canarsie, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Downtown

Towns easily defeated his rival, Kevin Powell, who has constantly talked about a youthquake in the district, even as he has never generated traction among voters.

“I see my victory as a vindication, and that the voters want me to go back to Washington and work hard on health care to strengthen it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working very hard.”

Towns is currently the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Powell, the former “Real World” star turned author and public speaker, ran into trouble during the campaign when it was revealed that he owes more than $600,000 in back taxes.

“He may have won tonight, but he did not win the hearts of Brooklyn people,” Powell claimed, vowing to return to challenge Towns in 2012.

State Senate — Democrats

Velmanette Montgomery, 12,742
Mark Pollard, 3,104

18th District

Fort Greene, Park Slope and Red Hook

Incumbent Velmanette Montgomery won in an 81-19 percent landslide over newcomer Mark Pollard, yet another weak challenger to a senator who has been in Albany since 1986.

Some said Pollard was a fresh face, but Montgomery won big, in part due to her support for the federal Superfund clean-up of the Gowanus Canal, the fetid waterway that now has a federal budget, and her longtime opposition to the Atlantic Yards mega-development.

Assembly — Democrats

Joan Millman, 6,826
Doug Biviano, 2,450

52nd District

DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope

Incumbent Assemblywoman Joan Millman held her seat over challenger Doug Biviano by a 73–26 percentage vote, effectively ending a long squabble between she and Biviano over her “double dipping” by taking her public school teacher’s pension, her alleged lack of leadership on MTA cuts, and her role in overall Albany dysfunction.

“It feels good, but we’re still working,” Millman said from the election war room on First Place and Court Street in Cobble Hill. “Already I have bills in the works, and I’ll be tying up loose ends until January.”

One of those loose ends, she said, is a bill that would funnel federal stimulus money toward the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s operating expenses — mostly because the city could soon charge straphangers “more for using transit less.”

The statement flies in the face of Biviano, who recently lambasted the incumbent for posing for a photo op against transit budget cuts, right after she voted to reduce the agency’s funding.

That said, Biviano was unreachable for the entirety of election night.

For now, the MTA bill and Millman’s support for housing inside Brooklyn Bridge Park — which would help fund its expensive maintenance budget but turn the “park” into the backyard of a development — will prove to be her most challenging immediate projects.

District leaders

Male:

Chris Owens, 2,154
Jesse Strauss, 1,361

Stephen Williamson, 771

Female:

Jo Anne Simon, 2,645
Hope Reichbach, 1,657

52nd Assembly District

DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope

In the male district leader race, Chris Owens owns Downtown.

The wild three-way race to succeed retiring state committeeman Alan Fleischman ended in a big victory by the political veteran who received redemption after a failed bid for Congress four years ago.

Voters in Prospect Heights and Park Slope carried Owens to victory on Tuesday night, in addition to steady support he received in Brooklyn Heights, according to unofficial poll results.

“We won because we had a winning strategy, we understood the district, we understood where our base was in a low turnout election, and we knew how to expand our base,” said Owens. “People wanted change and they wanted somebody with substance they didn’t want more political games and we made that clear.

Owens’s victory is a significant hold for Brownstone Brooklyn reform groups, which risked losing the seat to a candidate backed by the county’s chairman.

During the race, Owens campaigned against Williamson, who was endorsed by Democratic party chairman Vito Lopez, as the machine-backed candidate, and against Strauss, who had been endorsed by Assemblywoman Joan Millman (D-Boerum Hill), as the Albany-backed candidate.

Owens, son of former congressmen Major Owens, has already pledged to cast his vote against Lopez in his bid for party chairman later this month.

On the distaff side of this district, Simon fended off a furious challenge from political upstart Hope Reichbach.

“This is a reform district, this is an independent district that cares about accountability, transparency and the rule of law and this is a district that said we want to choose our leadership,” said Simon at her campaign headquarters at Independent Neighborhood Democrats. “It’s as simple as that.”

Simon drew her strength from Park Slope, Boerum Hill, and Boerum Heights, as well as several polling sites in Carroll Gardens — the heart of Brownstone Brooklyn.

Both women have been clashing for months. Simon has accused Reichbach of being a party stooge who will vote in lockstep with the party’s chairman, Vito Lopez, and Reichbach has lambasted Simon’s “sense of entitlement” for the seat and dismissed her reform credentials, claiming that she was the true progressive in the race.

Voters in Brownstone Brooklyn responded strongly to Simon’s message of experience and reform, choosing to back the woman who has served as the district’s state committeewoman since 2004.

But Reichbach’s polling of 37 percent was a strong showing for the first-time candidate whose family, including her father, judge Gus Reichbach, remains well-respected in Downtown, and even Simon conceded that Reichbach has a bright future in politics.

Reichbach, for her part, vowed to carry on.

“You know, I’m 22 and I got more votes than I thought I would need,” said Reichbach. “I’m not upset right now. I’m going out with my friends right now on Smith Street and I don’t have to wear a suit. I’m happy with that.”

— with Thomas Tracy

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By Aaron Short

Courier-Life

Meet the new Boss — same as the old Boss.

Brooklyn Democratic Party leaders re-elected embattled Assemblyman Vito Lopez to another two-year term as party’s chairman by an overwhelming 47–3–2 victory over reform challenger and new state committeeman Chris Owens.

“I’m very happy,” said Lopez. “I’ll be there two more years. I have broad support throughout the county and I’m happy.”

The vote was cast late Monday night in Brooklyn Heights after a boisterous county committee meeting where members of the insurgent New Kings Democrats demanded Lopez’s resignation and tried to change the party’s bylaws by eliminating mass proxy voting and demanding quarterly meetings.

“Lopez does all he can to operate our local Democratic Party in the least democratic way possible,” said Matt Cowherd, founder of the New Kings Democrats. “He sends out paper proxies encouraging county committee members to skip the biennial meeting, and whenever possible, he packs the state committee with human proxies.”

Cowherd was referring to 11 at-large members appointed by Lopez himself, including six new members announced on Monday night before the vote.

But Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D–Midwood) dismissed the notion of rancor within the party.

“It was an overwhelming margin,” said Hikind.

Lopez’s coronation capped a busy week for the Assemblyman, who saw several political allies lose state committee races in last week’s primary, privately announced that his cancer reappeared, and faced intense questioning over a widening city investigation into the nonprofit he founded and the competence of its board members.

Lopez declined to comment about his health and the investigation into the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, only saying it is “one of the best nonprofit providers in the city.”

But scores of political reformers disagreed, leading a protest march two hours before the county meeting, chanting “Veto Vito!” from Borough Hall down Remsen Street to St. Francis College, where the vote and the county’s biennial meeting would take place.

“Three of Brooklyn’s past four Democratic Party bosses have been indicted on charges of corruption — and if the recent news about current party boss Vito Lopez is any indication, he is likely to meet the same fate,” said Lincoln Restler, a state committee candidate whose election was too close to call on primary night, though he now looks likely to win.

Inside the meeting, a divided Democratic Party fought over every motion, bylaw change, and points of order — but nearly every motion went in Lopez’s favor after a voice vote was called.

Owens, acknowledging that he didn’t expect to win the county position or many votes in the county committee, nevertheless declared the evening meeting a success.

“We brought people together, we got new business on the agenda, and we made some inroads,” said Owens. “We wanted the county leader to understand that we’re not going to be quiet and roll over like we did before.”

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

And you thought Elizabeth Taylor was fickle? The Queens GOP is changing its endorsements for governor like Taylor changes husbands.

The party made its fourth endorsement for governor shortly after the end of last week’s state Republican convention, deciding to back former Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio, whom they originally endorsed before they dumped him for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, whom they then withdrew their support from in favor of businessman Myers Mermel.

Queens GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa seconded Mermel’s nomination for governor from the floor of the convention at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, but after Lazio won enough convention votes to be considered the party’s nominee, the county party reversed course again.

“We all came together and I said we would emerge from the convention united,” Ragusa said in explaining the county’s fourth endorsement.

The Queens GOP chairman said he did not think the rapidly changing endorsements were an indication that the party was dysfunctional.

Mermel was originally running for lieutenant governor and the Queens GOP endorsed him for that position. When he decided to enter the governor’s race late last month, the party dropped its endorsement of Levy to back Mermel.

“He’s a very good candidate but, unfortunately, he got in the race a little too late,” Ragusa said of Mermel. “I hope that he stays around and stays active in politics. Hopefully, he’ll be a force going forward.”

Ragusa said he believed Levy was a viable candidate, but the Suffolk County executive failed to reach the 51 percent of the vote he needed to be on the ballot as a Republican. He left the Democratic Party earlier this year in an effort to run as a Republican.

“I thought that Steve Levy had a good chance because he was a county executive out in Suffolk and he’s done a fine job out there,” Ragusa said.

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By Nathan Duke

TimesLedger Newspapers

Astoria’s Aravella Simotas said she would focus on expanding health care options and improving education in western Queens if she is chosen to replace state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Simotas, 31, a Manhattan litigator and Community Board 1 member, is one of two Democrats running in the race for Gianaris’ seat. She will face off against Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, who works as a civil and children’s rights attorney in Manhattan, during the Democratic primary in September.

Gianaris has announced his bid to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year.

“I’ve lived in the community my entire life and I’ve always been active,” Simotas said. “As an attorney, one of the skills I have developed over the past eight years is working with other people to get solutions to problems, often aggressively. Albany is a mess and there are a lot of issues that are not getting resolved.”

Simotas said she will prioritize health care, education, economic issues and the environment in her campaign, which kicked off April 10 at Astoria’s Taminent Club.

“There is a health care crisis in Astoria,” she said. “A lot of young families are coming into the neighborhood and we do not have community hospitals to serve them. We are severely under-bedded.”

Simotas said her father recently suffered a heart attack and has other health problems, but his doctor told him he should travel to Manhattan for care.

“People have to go across the bridge for services they require,” she said. “It’s unacceptable.”

She said she is also concerned about cuts to western Queens schools in science, arts and after-school programs.

“Parents rely on after-school programs for their children,” she said. “It’s where they can learn more than reading, writing and arithmetic and bond with their fellow students.”

Simotas said her platform would also include economic initiatives to bring back jobs to western Queens.

“I have a lot of friends who have lost their jobs,” she said. “I see storefronts closing. We have to make sure our residents have resources, proper tax credits and access to small business loans.”

She cited the state’s film tax credit program as one that creates jobs and aids community businesses. Gov. David Paterson has proposed an extension for the credit through 2014 in his state budget, which has not yet been enacted.

Simotas said she intends for her campaign to bridge the gap between Astoria’s younger generation and longtime residents.

“We’ve been able to merge people who have been in local politics for a long time with younger volunteers,” she said. “As an elected official, you have thousands of bosses. You work for the people in the community. They are your allies and they help you to become a more effective leader.”

She has already been endorsed by a number of Queens elected officials, such as U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), Gianaris, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), and several unions as well as Councilmen Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

Frei-Pearson’s endorsements include Democracy for New York, the Stonewall Democrats and Marriage Equality for New York.

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By Anna Gustafson

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens is a bright spot in a state still reeling from the country’s economic recession, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli told a Queens College’s business forum breakfast last week.

“When I think of the borough of Queens, I see opportunity, I see a community working very hard,” DiNapoli said.

The keynote speaker at Friday’s breakfast, DiNapoli said Queens has suffered fewer job losses than the rest of the city, in part thanks to the borough’s two airports and immigrants, many of whom own small businesses.

“Neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants have flourishing economies,” DiNapoli told the individuals sitting in the Student Union for the breakfast. “They’re opening businesses, they have that entrepreneurial spirit.”

The comptroller said his office recently issued a report on the role of immigrants in the city’s economy and found areas like Flushing, Corona and Jackson Heights have quickly growing economies that have been more resilient to the economic downturn because of the small businesses often owned by immigrants.

In the city’s neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants, DiNapoli said the number of businesses grew by 14.8 percent between 2000 and 2007 — far faster than the rest of the city, which grew by 3.3 percent.

Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Woodside top the list of the city’s neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants. Flushing, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens are also on DiNapoli’s list of the 10 neighborhoods with the highest concentration of immigrants.

DiNapoli also noted the total number of paid workers in these neighborhoods grew by an average of 8.2 percent between 2000 and 2007, while the paid workforce in the rest of the city increased by only about 0.9 percent.

“Queens is an opportunity borough,” said DiNapoli, a former state assemblyman from Great Neck.

The borough also has a greater number of homeowners than the rest of the city, the comptroller said.

“In Queens, 45 percent of residents are homeowners,” he said. “It’s just 28 percent in the rest of the city.”

DiNapoli noted the borough’s average salary of $40,000 is second best in the city, coming in just behind Manhattan.

While Queens is faring better than much of New York, the city as a whole is in a stronger position than the rest of the state, DiNapoli said. His office put out a report last week that projected the city would have a surplus of $3.3 billion for the current year and a balanced budget for fiscal year 2011, in part because Wall Street has rebounded faster than expected.

Despite these numbers, DiNapoli said it is important for state legislators to soon pass a budget so city officials can better anticipate the funds they will receive from Albany next year.

At the breakfast, Queens College President James Muyskens presented the college’s annual Business Forum Scholarship to Anita Sonawane, an economics major and incoming senior. Sonawane, who moved from India to Fresh Meadows with her parents in 2002, said she plans to use the $2,500 from the scholarship toward room and board when she interns this summer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

“In 2002, I never dreamed I’d be at the Federal Reserve,” Sonawane said. “The connections I’ve made while at Queens College have made this possible.”

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

A Roslyn, L.I., doctor seeking to oust U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) in November called the congressman an out-of-touch elitist during a meeting of the Queens Village Republican Club last week in Bellerose.

Dr. James Milano, 42, said Ackerman “has drifted so far along with the riptide that he is now at the point where he is an elitist.”

Milano, an ER doctor at St. Francis Hospital who is making his first run for elective office, said he supports changing the country’s tax structure, saying it allows the wealthy to become wealthier and encourages high earners to seek alternative means to shelter their money. He said the tax structure is “destroying our manufacturing base.”

On immigration, Milano said he supports building a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. He said illegal immigration “goes against the thread of what Americans stand for.”

Milano said he also would like to see term limits for elected officials in Congress, calling politicians “the most powerful executives in our country.”

“People need to understand that there is a sense of urgency for change in this country,” he told the crowd at Trattoria Lucia on Union Turnpike in Bellerose last Thursday.

Milano said the nation’s ballooning debt is a serious problem and suggested a percentage of elected officials’ salaries be put in escrow which they would get back if they balanced the budget. If not, Milano said the money should go to the taxpayers.

He also criticized some foreign aid approved by Congress, including $10 million to Lebanon and $300 million to Pakistan.

“What happens with this money? It comes back as bombs against us.”

Milano is being supported by the Queens Republican Party, but the Nassau GOP is backing Great Neck attorney, L.I., Liz Berney, who Ackerman defeated handily in 2008.

About 70 percent of the district is located in Queens and the other 30 percent in Nassau County.

Queens Village Republican Club member Phil Orenstein accused Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Mondello with picking Berney to spoil the campaign, saying he “has a habit of picking subpar candidates in order to lose the races.”

“It’s a corrupt machine,” Orenstein said of the Nassau GOP.

The club also heard from Sam Benoit, a member of the Republican club who is challenging state Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans).

Benoit called Smith “a disgrace for our district” but did not explain why.

The club said Benoit is the first Haitian American to run for the state Senate.

Benoit noted the race would be his first run for office, which he said he did not think would hurt him against a political veteran like Smith.

“I’m the outsider,” he said.

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

A state government shutdown was averted after the state Legislature approved an emergency spending bill late Monday with the help of three Republican state senators.

The legislation provides $16.4 billion in funding to help state services and agencies run until June 20, including $2.096 billion for state employees including troopers, guardsmen, corrections officers, nurses and social service workers.

Also approved was $261 million for non-state transportation capital projects, $140.3 million in transit aid, $195 million for unemployment benefits and $149 million for mental hygiene agencies.

“To give New York a fair and responsible budget, we must continue to put partisanship aside and find common solutions to the crisis we all face,” Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement.

The spending bills passed by a vote of 34-27.

The three Republican senators were the only members of their party to vote for the legislation.

The state budget, due April 1, has been more than two months late. Since then, legislators have had to approve temporary spending bills to keep government running.

Republicans were needed to pass the latest budget extender because Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), who would have been the 32nd and decisive vote, refused to sign off on the plan.

Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said the Legislature had no choice but to vote for the emergency bill.

“What is the alternative? The alternative is a government shutdown, which is a horrible alternative, if it is an alternative at all,” he said.

Addabbo said the three Republican senators, none of whom were from Queens or the city, “saw that the government shutting down is not the way to go.”

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) criticized Democrats for excluding Republicans from budget talks as a reason for why a budget has yet to pass.

“Had Sen. Sampson and [state Assembly] Speaker [Sheldon] Silver [D-Manhattan] followed the law and convened budget conference committees, I believe we would have a budget in place and not be talking about a government shutdown.”

Meanwhile, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shot down “outrageous and unfounded rumors and erroneous press reports” that said he would approve the state to borrow money from the state pension fund.

“Let me be very clear: The pension fund will not be used to balance the budget,” DiNapoli said.

“Shame on those individuals who are playing politics, trying to mislead taxpayers and scare members and retirees who rely on the fund for their financial security,” he said. “The fund is not a political football.”

DiNapoli said the pension fund posted its third-best year by gaining 25.9 percent in fiscal year 2009-10, which boosted the fund’s assets to $132.6 billion.

“I will not sacrifice that strength to a dysfunctional budget process,” he said. “The state comptroller’s office has a long history of protecting the fund from raids. I will protect the fund from any raids under any circumstances.”

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By Nathan Duke

TimesLedger Newspapers

Astoria Democrat Jeremiah Frei-Pearson said he has fought powerful interests and gotten results for the residents of his neighborhood and plans to do the same if chosen by voters as the replacement for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Frei-Pearson, 32, who works as a civil and children’s rights attorney, is one of three Democrats running for Gianaris’ seat. He will face Aravella Simotas, an attorney and Community Board 1 member, and John Ciafone, who challenged City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) in 2001, in September’s Democratic primary.

“The system is just broken,” Frei-Pearson said. “I’m running because I think I can make a difference. We can’t afford not to change the system.”

Gianaris has announced his candidacy to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year.

Frei-Pearson said his priorities are to create additional health care options for his community, education, the environment, Albany reform and transportation.

“There are more hospital beds per person in South America than there are in western Queens,” he said. “This is a governmental failure.”

He is also concerned about the lack of after-school programs in the district following Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to shut down 17 sites in the five boroughs, several of which are in western Queens.

“I graduated from New York public schools, so I believe I have a moral obligation to give kids a chance to go to a good school,” he said.

Frei-Pearson said he sued Con Edison over the 10-day western Queens blackout in 2006 that left 174,000 residents in the dark and caused businesses to lose millions of dollars. He vowed to challenge corporations that threaten his community’s well-being and push for reform in Albany’s dysfunctional Legislature.

“I’ve spent my entire professional life fighting powerful interests on behalf of people,” he said. “We need to reform campaign finance. I could receive a donation almost twice as much as one for Barack Obama. When someone writes a check that big, they are buying something. It says that our government is for sale.”

He said he would propose legislation to introduce term limits in the Assembly and that he would not serve more than eight years.

Key issues in his campaign would also be the environment and improvements to the western Queens electrical system.

“Our neighborhood has too many power plants,” he said of Astoria, which generates 60 percent of the city’s electrical power. “We have to close the unsafe plants, invest in wind farms and upgrade our electrical grid. It’s not acceptable to have a blackout every few years.”

If elected, Frei-Pearson said he would also fight to bring back the W train, which soon will be cut by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, ensure that subway stations in western Queens are handicap accessible and initiate programs to decrease poverty in the district.

Frei-Pearson’s endorsements include Democracy for New York, the Stonewall Democrats and Marriage Equality for New York.

Simotas is being backed by a bevy of western Queens elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Gianaris. Ciafone is also running on the Independence and Conservative party lines.

The district covers Astoria and a section of Long Island City.

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa said he tried to dissuade Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s re-election campaign last year from dealing with GOP operative and Forest Hills resident John Haggerty Jr., who was indicted earlier this month on allegations he stole $1.1 million of the mayor’s money and lied to Bloomberg that the money would go to poll watching and ballot security operations.

“I warned Bloomberg before this happened,” Ragusa said in a phone interview Monday, saying he was “saddened and surprised” by the indictment against Haggerty, who along with brother Bart have been warring with Ragusa over control of the Queens GOP.

Ragusa said he did not want to take satisfaction from the indictment against his rival.

“I don’t want to revel in someone else’s problems if he did it, and the evidence seems overwhelming ... he’s going to have his day in court, right?” Ragusa said.

Ragusa said he and Haggerty worked together under former Queens GOP Chairwoman Fran Werner, who led the borough party in the 1990s before former state Sen. Serphin Maltese did.

Haggerty said he needed the $1.1 million — funneled to him from Bloomberg through the Independence Party — for poll watching and ballot security, but Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said $600,000 of those funds were spent to buy the Forest Hills Gardens home from the estate of Haggerty’s father, John Haggerty, Sr., who was a chairman of the Conservative Party.

John Haggerty got his start in politics from his father and was former Gov. George Pataki’s director of legislative affairs. More recently, he has been working on the campaign of Republican gubernatorial hopeful and Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino. The Paladino campaign said it is sticking by Haggerty.

Ragusa said he did not understand why Bloomberg would choose Haggerty to run campaign activities.

“I am the chairman of Queens,” he said. “They should’ve run the campaign through the different counties, not through political operatives. We never saw any of Bloomberg’s people out on the street. He should have come to us and let the Haggertys go someplace else.”

The Queens GOP chairman said the Haggertys have made repeated attempts to control the borough party through the legal system.

“They’ve always tried to sue us and each time the courts threw the suits out,” Ragusa said.

Bart and John Haggerty also made attempts to wrest control of the Queens GOP from Maltese when they claimed that improper weighted voting was used to elect Maltese to he chairmanship in 2005, but the courts sided with Maltese.

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By Nathan Duke

TimesLedger Newspapers

Astoria’s John Ciafone said he would go to Albany as a reformer with an emphasis on improving education, health care and transportation in his district if elected as the replacement for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Ciafone, 40, an attorney based in Astoria, will face off against Aravella Simotas, an attorney and Community Board 1 member, and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, a civil and children’s rights attorney, during September’s Democratic primary.

“I would come in as a reformer,” said Ciafone, who ran against Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) in 2001. “I think we need to eliminate the lobbyists and special interests that are buying the politicians in Albany. It’s not benefitting our local communities.”

He said he would also push for term limits in the state Legislature and that if elected, he only planned to run for two terms.

Gianaris’ seat is open this fall after the assemblyman decided to run to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year. He does not face any challengers.

He said funding for schools in his district will be a top priority in his campaign. But Ciafone, who served as first treasurer and then president of Astoria’s former Community School Board 30 for nine years, said he also supports charter schools in western Queens.

“It would help the community if we could get more schools with lower class sizes, especially if it comes from a federal grant,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have enough space for our kids. It’s like they are playing musical chairs. Our community is only as good as our schools.”

Health care and transportation are also high on his list of improvements for the district.

“These are bread-and-butter issues,” he said. “We need a bigger hospital. And our train and bus service has been diminished dramatically. There are longer waits since they got rid of the W train.”

Ciafone said he believed small business owners in his district, especially along Steinway Street, were suffering due to high state taxes, sanitation issues and excessive ticketing by the city’s parking agents.

“On Steinway, they’ll memorize how much time is on your meter, then they’ll come back and issue you a ticket,” he said. “People won’t come there because they don’t want to get a ticket. They’ll go to a shopping mall. It’s hurting local business.”

He also wants additional services for seniors in western Queens, including new senior centers, Meals on Wheels programs and housing as well as more police officers for Astoria’s 114th Precinct.

Ciafone, who primarily practices personal injury law, currently acts as an executive leader of Long Island City’s Aldos Democratic Club, of which he has been a member since 1998.

He described himself as the “conservative Democrat” in the race and that he was the only candidate to oppose gay marriage. Ciafone said he was not against gay partnerships, but believed that gay marriage “was not recognized by any religion.”

He is running on the Democratic, Conservative and Independence lines. The Democratic primary will be held in September. There are currently no Republicans in the race.

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By Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) submitted changes Friday to his annual financial disclosure statements he is required to file with the clerk of the House of Representatives that showed he borrowed $55,000 in personal loans in 2007 and 2008.

It was unclear why it took Meeks so long to report the loans and the congressman could not be reached for comment.

In the letter Meeks filed with the clerk Friday, he said he received and repaid a $40,000 personal loan in 2007. He also said he took out a $15,000 personal loan “that is serviced monthly” in 2008.

Meeks did not say why he needed or how he used the money, but it was unclear whether he was required to disclose that information.

In the same letter, Meeks said he also failed to disclose that he was elected as a board member of the nonprofit United Black Men of Queens County and became a board member of the nonprofit National Endowment for Democracy, both in 2004.

Meeks submitted his original financial disclosure statement for 2009 June 15.

The document showed he received a personal loan of between $10,001 and $15,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union and another personal loan of between $50,001 and $100,000 from Edul N. Ahmad, an Ozone Park real estate developer, both in 2009.

Campaign finance records showed Ahmad contributed $1,000 to Meeks’ campaign in 1998.

Federal investigators are reportedly looking into a charity Meeks helped found called New Direction Local Development Corp., which was created to assist families impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

The nonprofit raised tens of thousands of dollars for the families yet only doled out a fraction of that amount.

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By Connor Adams Sheets

TimesLedger Newspapers

John Messer wants to reframe the conversation in Albany from tax-and-slash to something more forward-looking.

A candidate in the Democratic primary for state Sen. Toby Stavisky’s (D-Whitestone) seat, Messer said he decided to run for the office when he read a quote by the longtime legislator that he believes encapsulates what is wrong in Albany.

“She said, ‘We have two choices: You can either drastically cut services or we can raise taxes,’” he recounted over decaf coffee at the Palace Diner in Flushing. “Both of those miss the mark because both of them send people out of the state.”

He believes Stavisky and others like her in state government need to look to other avenues to address the fiscal woes stalking New York state and its residents.

Messer said he has an alternative that offers a better way forward to lift the state out of the recession.

“Jobs, jobs and jobs,” he said. “We need to incentivize companies to create jobs and to move to New York to create jobs. Cutting services and increasing taxes just shrinks the tax base. This is where Stavisky and the others miss the mark .... In order to save social programs, we need to have a pragmatic plan for expanding the tax base and growing the economy here in New York.”

Messer wants to ensure the state reaches fiscal solvency, but not at the expense of social programs he considers essential.

One such program is the free student MetroCard program provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has proposed slashing funding for the cards, which go to lower-income students in order to transport them to school.

“We need to make a commitment to ensure that students continue to have access to transportation,” he said. “Why is it that retired MTA employees get unlimited MetroCards but we’re cutting services to our students?”

Messer also wants to see increased funding for primary health care in order to lessen the burdens on hospitals.

“You need to make an up-front investment in primary care and remove people from emergency rooms so hospitals don’t go out of business,” he said.

Stavisky has been the senator for District 16, which includes part or all of the area stretching from Bay Terrace, Bayside and Whitestone to Flushing, Forest Hills and Woodside, since 1999. She and Messer are also running against Flushing community advocate Isaac Sasson in the primary.

Born and raised in northern Michigan, Messer, 39, has lived in Oakland Gardens since 1995. He first moved to New York City during the summer of his junior year at Aquinas College in Michigan, during which he took part in the New York City Government Scholars program, working in and learning about all aspects of city governance.

Instead of returning to school at the end of the summer, he stayed on as a full-time employee in the Public Development Corp., now called the city Economic Development Corp. He worked there for several years in corporate retention and economic development, gaining experience he said would translate well into serving in the state Legislature.

He went on to earn a graduate degree in government and politics at St. John’s University and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, married his college sweetheart Wendy, with whom he now has three young children and went into private law practice. He handles finance and real estate law as well as federal government contracting work.

Messer also served in the U.S. National Guard between 1987 and 1991 and after moving to Queens had a career in the Army Reserves at Fort Totten, eventually being commissioned as a Judge Advocate General officer and, finally, honorably discharged as a captain.

With his wealth of experience in government and law, Messer said he is uniquely qualified to represent Queens residents in Albany.

“The Senate is dysfunctional and no longer accountable to us,” he said. “Last year only about 6,000 of 125,000 registered Democrats voted in the state Senate District 16 primary. That’s why it’s extremely important that we inspire, motivate and explain to residents in the district that it’s important to register to vote in the primary because that’s when their voices can really be heard.”

For more information about Messer, visit johnamesser.com.

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By Nathan Duke

TimesLedger Newspapers

Bayside’s Edward Braunstein said his seven years of work at state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s (D-Manhattan) office has given him insight into how Albany operates that would benefit him if he is elected to replace Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside) this fall.

Braunstein, 29, who has served on Community Board 11 for more than one year, has worked at Silver’s district office in Manhattan since 2003 and currently acts as a legislative assistant.

“I’m a lifelong Bayside resident and I want to be involved in local issues,” he said. “Northeast Queens is a special place. I’ve worked with the Assembly for a number of years. I see the problems that confront the state and I understand what needs to be fixed.”

Braunstein will face off against three Democrats in the September primary, including Bayside attorney Steve Behar, who ran for former City Councilman Tony Avella’s seat last year; John Duane, a former assemblyman in the district and brother of state Sen. John Duane (D-Manhattan); and Whitestone attorney Elio Forcina.

Two Republicans are also vying for Carrozza’s seat: Vince Tabone, who works as an attorney for John Catsimitidis’ Manhattan-based Red Apple Group, and Rob Speranza, a former city police officer who challenged the assemblywoman in 2008.

Braunstein has been endorsed by the Queens County Democratic Party, while Tabone has already been picked by the Queens County Republican Party.

Carrozza announced earlier this year she would not run for re-election.

Braunstein said he would work in a bipartisan manner with members of both parties in his district, which covers Bayside, Little Neck, Whitestone and Douglaston.

“I think everyone needs to get together to push for reform,” he said. “People are stealing money and there are all sorts of ethics problems. I think there are people who think when they get to Albany they should shout and scream. But they won’t change history in a day.”

His top campaign issues would be Albany reform, education, quality-of-life issues, fighting overdevelopment and services for seniors.

Braunstein said he believed Albany’s out-of-control spending could be curtailed by eliminating state agencies and public authorities through governmental consolidation as well as fighting Medicaid fraud.

Improvements to city School Districts 25 and 26, which are considered among the city’s best, would be a local priority.

“Our schools are operating at 140 percent,” he said. “They keep putting trailers in school yards and kids are having lunch at 10 a.m. It’s ridiculous.”

He also believes quality-of-life issues are often overlooked in the district, especially the upkeep of sites such as Crocheron Park, and vows to be vigilant in preventing northeast Queens from being overdeveloped.

But while Braunstein said Albany needs to reduce its spending, there are certain items he believes should not be cut from the budget.

“One area that’s off the table for me is seniors,” he said. “With budget cuts, there are always threats to senior centers and Meals on Wheels programs.”

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By Anna Gustafson

TimesLedger Newspapers

As the campaign to win the 28th Assembly District intensifies, candidate Joe Fox touted recent praise for him from former Mayor Ed Koch and state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) promoted his environmental legislation he said would help to grow green jobs in the state.

The 28th Assembly District covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village, and Glendale. Republican Alex Powietrzynski is planning to run in the general election in November.

Fox, an attorney from Forest Hills who is running against Hevesi, last week signed a pledge to support good governance, including legislation that requires lawmakers to disclose any business they conduct outside of their role as a lawmaker. The pledge is part of Koch’s New York Uprising, a group of influential state residents who advocate nonpartisan redistricting, budget reform and ending “pay to play” politics.

“This year, voters are counting on candidates to commit to specific reforms in advance, as Joe has done,” Koch said. “I look forward to working with Joe to see them swiftly implemented should he be elected.”

Hevesi, who does not plan on signing the pledge but who said he has supported legislation supporting the ideas behind New York Uprising, is on the campaign trail touting his support for environmental legislation.

“He has been promoting alternative energy, such as solar and wind, to push that industry forward,” said Doug Forand, a spokesman for Hevesi. “This is going to be a big growth industry in the country and New York. That’s why he’s been pushing legislation to encourage that development.”

The assemblyman, who is being backed by the Queens Democrats, has supported a wide variety of environmental bills and the state Assembly recently passed Hevesi’s bill that aims to create a more comprehensive alternative energy policy for the state. Hevesi also recently sponsored leglsiation that he said would help residents living in rent-regulated apartments receive more accurate energy bills and reductions in housing payments.

Hevesi and Fox have since June 8 been traversing western Queens neighborhoods to garner petition signatures they need to land on the ballot for the Democratic primary this September. Both candidates said they have received more than the 500 signatures they need to file with the city Board of Elections by July 15.

“The response has been very positive, and we’re going to come in with a number of times over the required number of signatures,” Forand said. “We’re confident with how things are going, and we have a really strong volunteer operation out there. We have been five and 25 people knocking on doors every day.”

Fox said he, too, has secured more than 500 signatures by going door-to-door and hitting such public places as shopping strips, train stations, seniors centers, and the recent Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce street fair.

“We’ve exceeded the required number,” Fox said. “We’re fully expecting a challenge from the powers that be and we need to be prepared.”

Candidates are able to challenge signatures if they believe they are not valid and the city Board of Elections can strike the signatures from the record if it turns out they, for example, are from individuals who are not registered to vote in the district.

The Democratic candidates said they both heard concerns voiced to them during the petitioning process about the economy, jobs and education.

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By Anna Gustafson and Howard Koplowitz

TimesLedger Newspapers

Queens Democrats criticized Gov. David Paterson’s decision to veto much of the budget passed nearly three months after it was due by the state Legislature Monday, saying it could be a particularly bad blow for borough schools.

But state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) slammed the Democrats’ budget, calling it a “mess.”

Paterson vetoed the legislators’ decision to restore more than $600 million in school aid because he said the lawmakers’ $136 billion budget was $400 million to $1.5 billion out of balance, but borough Democrats said bills they expected to pass by Thursday would raise $950 million in revenue through various taxes and fees.

The state Assembly overwhelmingly passed the budget Monday, and it made it through the state Senate by a narrow margin. The budget had been due April 1, but lawmakers and the governor have been wrangling for months over how to address a gaping budget hole. Paterson told legislators Friday he would begin implementing his own budget if lawmakers did not pass a budget by Monday.

“The governor’s posture is it’s his way or the highway,” Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) said. “We still consider educating our kids, whether it’s elementary school, high school or college a priority and it’s regrettable the governor could not meet us even halfway.”

Paterson is expected to veto thousands of additions legislators made to his original budget. The governor has already vetoed the restoration of more than $600 million to the governor’s $1.3 billion cut to education aid, a restoration of $56 million to community colleges and a measure reducing Paterson’s cut to city school aid from $467 million to $258 million.

“New York state does not have a budget because for the last three months the Legislature has refused to act on my proposals,” Paterson said. “When they were finally confronted with reality, rather than act in the interest of the people of New York state they have engaged in legislation that is in their self-interest and have presented us with a series of bills with the same gimmicks, chicanery and avoidant conduct that has characterized fiscal management in this state for far too long.”

Padavan also criticized the budget and said the Senate Democrats “don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

“All in all, [the budget is] a mess, which is why I voted against it and why the governor vetoed it,” he said.

Padavan said the state could have saved money if it had reduced Medicaid spending, which accounts for $52 billion of the state budget.

“The entire budget scenario is a disgrace and an outrage,” Padavan said.

Legislators said Paterson’s rejection of their budget could result in teacher layoffs in the city and a loss of school programs.

“The money has to come from somewhere, and we’ll see it in Queens in the form of larger class sizes, less programming for students and missing an opportunity for another generation of students to get the education they deserve,” Lancman said.

Legislators, including Lancman and Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), said the Assembly has the votes to override Paterson’s vetoes, but said it is doubtful the Senate will be able to come up with the two-thirds support it needs for an override.

“We never got to discuss the budget,” Addabbo said. “It was what the governor wanted. The process has to change. This is a bad course that Albany once again is going down.”

Addabbo said the Senate’s revenue package includes the year-long suspension of the state sales tax exemption on clothing under $100, which is projected to generate $300 million for the state’s coffers. He added there will be no soda or mortgage tax.

State Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) said the legislature’s budget was preferable to approving Paterson’s budget carte blanche.

“If the Senate and Assembly can agree on a budget that’s balanced and reflected the priorities of the legislature, we thought that was preferable to taking the governor’s budget,” Weprin said.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) too said he agreed with their budget.

“Throughout this challenging budget process, I have fought to protect our children’s schools, keep SUNY and CUNY affordable and promote better public health,” Hevesi said. “While we have substantially achieved these goals, the tough times are not over yet and I will continue to fight for our community in Albany.”

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By Helen Klein

Courier-Life

Blame the lawyers!

For the first time, double-dipping Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs (D-Flatbush) explained why she already collects her $71,000 pension even as she continues to work for — and earn — a $104,500 salary from the New York State Legislature.

During a 45-minute, action-packed debate with challenger Michele Adolphe in the Downtown office of Community Newspaper Group last Thursday, Jacobs said she had every right to collect the money, and she would continue to do so.

“I was advised by counsel that it’s my money,” said the 73-year-old Jacobs. “The average voter should understand that it’s legal, and since it takes me into the next income bracket, I pay an enormous amount of tax on it, so the federal government should be appreciative.”

Since, 2008, Jacobs has collected the pension thanks to a loophole in state law that allowed its legislators who reach the age of 65 to collect the post-retirement cash prior to actual retirement. In 1995, the loophole was filled — but only for legislators elected after 1995. So Jacobs, along with a few other legislators, including Long Island Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and upstate Assemblyman John McEneny, are collecting it.

Jacobs said she does enough to earn both paychecks, because she treats her position as a full-time job, despite the fact that the state only considers it part-time work. In addition, many of her colleagues work second jobs to supplement their income. She does not.

“It’s not like I’m taking something for nothing,” Jacobs noted.

But Adolphe — in her fourth try to unseat the 16-term Jacobs — said that doesn’t wash.

“Why should legislation allow lawmakers to do it?” she said. “I feel people are making laws in Albany for their own best interests.”

Still, Jacobs said voters have already decided that she is not doing anything inappropriate.

“The average voter in the 42nd Assembly District knows this, knows me, knows where I’m coming from, knows what I’ve been doing for them for years,” she said. “They have made the decision many times.”

But DoubleDipGate wasn’t the only mud slung during the debate, facilitated by CNG editor Gersh Kuntzman with reporters Tom Tracy and Helen Klein [full disclosure: that’s me] on the panel, as both candidates fired a number of shots across the other’s bow:

• Jacobs accusing Adolphe of never filing her campaign finance disclosure with the state during her runs for office. “You finally filed for 2006 in 2010,” Jacobs said. “That breaks the law. This is someone running for office again and again, who’s broken the law.”

“I don’t break the law, Assemblywoman,” Adolphe retorted. “I’m an insurgent, and sometimes I file late.

• Adolphe charged that during her decades in office, Jacobs has let quality-of-life in the neighborhood drop off precipitously, particularly when it comes to constituent services. “To this date, we do not have a public library in our district,” Adolphe said. “We do not have a community center in our district. Forget about senior care in the district.” Jacobs rejected the argument based on the realities of gerrymandering. “Every time the district lines change, you can’t pick up the libraries and move them into the district,” she said. “However, we are surrounded by four or five libraries, so you really ought to get another campaign issue.”

• Adolphe also complained that Jacobs’ two offices were not conveniently located — and that one wasn’t even in the district. Jacobs countered that her offices are located close to public transportation, and that the Cortelyou Road office is just one block outside the district, and is provided to her for free by Assemblyman Jim Brennan (D—Flatbush), whose district borders hers.

Given the opportunity to point out some of her legislative accomplishments, Jacobs rattled off a trove of what she considered to be an exemplary list of achievements.

Among them, she said, were adding state funding to the federal WIC program, so more mothers and children could receive healthy food, as well as a law requiring insurance companies to pay for mammograms, and the Consumer Bill of Rights for managed care.

“One of the first things I did when I got to Albany was [legislation] creating child care on SUNY and CUNY campuses,” Jacobs said.

In another arena, federal Child Health Plus legislation that guarantees health care to children was predated by a similar law in New York, she also said. “Guess whose name was on the legislation?” Jacobs went on. “Mine.”

Jacobs has flirted with retirement but, even now, she declined to say whether this term would be her last, should she be re-elected. “I am considering it,” she said, pointing out that district lines will be redrawn before the next election, a circumstance that may spur her finally to bow out.

Catch the entire debate on brooklynpaper.com or at boropolitics.com.

The primary will be held on Sept. 14th.

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By Aaron Short

Courier-Life

Insurgent candidate Lincoln Restler has won the Williamsburg state committee race over Warren Cohn, sending a mini-shockwave through borough political circles and handing an embarrassing defeat to county leader, Vito Lopez.

On Primary Night last week, the results were too close to call, with Restler, a Fort Greene resident and a Community Board 2 member, up by just 19 votes.

But in a week of recounting, plus counting paper and absentee ballots, the final result put Restler up by 120 votes out of 7,158 cast, or 50.8 percent to Cohn’s 49.2 percent.

“This is a tremendous victory for the reform movement in Brooklyn,” Restler said after the final ballot was counted. “I will be a fighter on the state committee to bring transparency, accountability and some real democracy to the Brooklyn Democratic Party.”

Cohn’s campaign manager Noah Marcus said that Cohn, a aide to Rep. Ed Towns (D–Williamsburg), would not challenge the result, which is unofficial until the Board of Elections certifies it next week.

“The race was so close, it’s just a testament to how each side worked,” said Marcus. “We wish Lincoln Restler the best. He worked hard and we did, too.”

Board of Elections workers finished counting about 230 absentee and affidavit ballots on Wednesday afternoon, and it quickly became clear that Restler would outlast Cohn as most of the outstanding ballots were from polling sites that Restler had overwhelmingly won on Election Day.

Once the vote is certified, Restler will replace retiring state committeeman and attorney Steve Cohn, who was the district leader for 27 years.

Cohn heartily endorsed his son in the race, and Lopez, who loses a reliable vote on the county committee, strongly backed Warren Cohn.

Indeed, on Monday, Restler led a mini-revolt against the party leader outside a meeting at which Lopez was re-elected overwhelmingly.

Still, on Wednesday, Restler was magnanimous.

“I wish Warren and the Cohn family well,” said Restler. “They ran their campaign with integrity and I’d like to thank Steve Cohn for his years of service.”

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By Aaron Short

Courier-Life

Councilman Steve Levin should have worn his running shoes to work on Tuesday — because he spent part of the afternoon chasing around the managers of a luxury condo building that recently fired two workers who claim they were just trying to form a union.

The labor-loving Williamsburg Democrat headed to 184 Kent Ave. with a fistful of petitions demanding the rehiring of the workers, Penil Martinez and Jose Guzman, but ended up being shooed away by burly security guards and given the brushoff by the building’s property manager, who scurried past Levin into her office.

Even the concierge stayed the councilman from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.

“I would like to hand this to you, you don’t have to say anything,” Levin said as he chased building manager Stacey Ferraro up a flight of stairs to her office before she shut the door in his face. “I request that you rehire the workers of this building.”

Six weeks ago, Martinez and Guzman were fired for trying to organize a union among the building’s workers — an irony, considering that other buildings along the Williamsburg waterfront employ union workers in order to gain incentives for affordable housing.

But those incentives did not apply to 184 Kent, which is a renovation of the old Austin Nichols warehouse.

The SEIU union tried to negotiate a settlement with the building’s owners, but when talks went nowhere, the union reached out to Levin to ratchet up pressure. Levin attempted to hand over a stack of signatures to building staff three times before finally dropping it off at the front desk as security led him and a crowd of union supporters out of the lobby.

“[Ferraro] doesn’t want you here,” said a security guard. “You’re trespassing.”

But Levin wouldn’t leave without delivering a parting shot of his own, in which he promised the developers would face “reckoning.”

“This is not a gray issue here,” said Levin. “There’s a right and a wrong. What’s right is that these men should be reinstated to their building and the developers should offer fair and decent wages and health care. What [the developers] decided to do is say the standards do not apply to them and that is unjust.”

The firing left Guzman facing eviction from his own apartment, and Martinez struggling to find new work again in a difficult economy.

“I was doing a good job, but firing me for supporting a union is unjust,” said Guzman. “I will fight as much as I can on this.”

A representative for the developer refused to comment for this story.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

State Sen. Carl Kruger clammed up this week when asked about federal charges levied against a local restaurateur who’s donated thousands of dollars and held fund-raisers for the embattled pol.

The FBI’s suspect, Michael Levitis, a longtime supporter of Kruger (D—Sheepshead Bay) and manager of Rasputin’s Supper Club on Coney Island Avenue at Avenue X, was arrested Thursday for lying to investigators about discussions he had with another eatery owner on how Kruger could fix troubles with the State Liquor Authority if he donated money Kruger’s campaign and held a fund-raiser for the incumbent.

When reached by us, both Kruger and his chief of staff, Jason Koppel, — who have hired lawyers to help deal with the sticky situation — refused to speak about their dealings with Levitis, instead choosing to stand behind a State Senate spokesperson’s brief comment.

“Sometimes unscrupulous individuals falsely claim a close relationship to public officials which simply does not exist,” said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for New York State Senate Democratic Conference.

And that’s all Kruger was willing to say.

“That’s the statement,” said Kruger, when we reached him by phone. “That’s it.”

Attorney Benjamin Brafman, who is representing Kruger, told reporters Levitis never spoke to the senator and had dropped the legislator’s name to forward his own agenda.

“It is very clear that Levitis was playing the role of a big shot who claimed to have access to public officials,” Brafman said.

Yet for all the distance Kruger wants to put between himself and Levitis, he once had a very satisfying and lucrative relationship with the restaurateur, pocketing more than $8,000 in contributions and fund-raising services from him since 2006, according to Board of Elections campaign filings. The filings also show that Rasputin’s Supper Club held two fund-raisers for Kruger over the last four years.

FBI papers say Levitis’s plan was to pocket money off the top of a campaign contribution he recommended a fellow restaurateur make to Kruger. In turn, Kruger would make the eatery owner’s problems with state government go away, he alleged.

“To start off, you have to throw in a few thousand,” Levitis explained during a conversation on April 14, 2009. “[It] depends on whether the problem is big or small. How much work he has to put in.”

Federal officials said Levitis tried to direct the other restaurateur, who was acting as a confidential informant, to Koppel.

He agreed to funnel $2,000 to Koppel from the restaurateur, taking an additional $1,000 for brokering the deal, according to prosecutors.

A few months later, on Sept. 18, 2009, Levitis contacted the undercover restaurateur again, claiming his hearing with the State Liquor Authority was postponed for two weeks.

“So for now you can still work,” Levitis explained. “He asked that you do a fund raiser. I said ‘Help first.’ But he does want you to do a fund raiser.”

Levitis was arrested after denying the conversation with the informant took place, even though investigators had recorded every shady word.

With help from Levitis and many others, Kruger now has $2.1 million for his re-election war chest.

But there may now be some collateral damage attached to that hefty sum.

Levitis’ attorney Jeffrey Lichtman claims the 32-year-old restaurant manager fell on his sword protecting Kruger by lying to federal investigators about their relationship.

“[Kruger’s] an ungrateful pig,” Lichtman said Friday. “You would think that when he woke up this morning and found that my client refused to cooperate, he would have been happy. Instead he acted like the typical selfish, greedy, corrupt Albany politician he is and threw Michael under the bus.”

Levitis was released from Federal custody on $500,000 bond. If convicted of lying to federal investigators, he faces five years in prison.

According to a state spokesman, no one from Kruger’s office had contacted the State Liquor Authority on Levitis’s or the federal informants’ behalf.

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By Helen Klein

Courier-Life

It looks like Kendall Stewart can kiss his political career goodbye.

The former councilman (D-Flatbush) was booted from the ballot of his last political toehold — the unpaid and unsung post of district leader — by the Board of Elections on Thursday, paving the way for long-time nemesis Weyman Carey to run unopposed.

In baseball terms, it’s the equivalent of being cut by a minor league team.

In total, Stewart had collected less than 800 signatures — just a few hundred more than 500 required to get on the ballot — and only 204 of those were valid, according to board spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez. To be safe, most politicians collect a minimum of four-times the required amount.

The ouster of Stewart, who served for eight years in the council before he was trounced in 2009 in his re-election bid by Jumaane Williams in both a six-way Democratic primary and the general election (when he carried the Independence Party’s flag) — also brings to a close his rancorous rivalry with Carey, who was district leader in the early 1990s before he lost the position Stewart. He reclaimed it in 2004 when Stewart, then snug in the council, decided against running, only to lose again to Stewart in 2006.

Their feud worsened when Stewart bumped Carey from his election commissioner post, contending that to hold the district leadership and the election commissionership at the same time was a conflict of interest. He also tried to get the City Council, which must approve election commissionerships, to decline Carey’s appointment.

Done with the daggers for now, Carey was magnanimous about the future of Stewart’s political career.

“Never say never, I thought mine was over, but I came back,” he said.

But, he managed to hurl a zinger over the embattled podiatrist’s latest political setback.

“You can say he was rejected by the people of the district.”

His latest humiliation has Stewart licking his wounds far away from the spotlight. He couldn’t be reached at press time, his cell phone was not accepting messages and the secretary in his podiatry office said he was out of the country until Aug. 8.

Stewart’s ouster sent a ripple through the Democratic community, but nothing that would shake the Richter scale.

One district leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that Stewart has lost touch with his voters.

“He became too important in his own mind,” the source advised. “Tell him to get off that pedestal.”

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Congressional hopeful Kevin Powell’s faltering campaign to unseat 27-year incumbent Rep. Ed Towns (D–Fort Greene) was dealt a death blow on Friday after reports indicated that he owes the taxman $615,000 — and then tried to divert attention by decrying Towns’s political consultant for “nasty dirision.”

Powell, the “Real World” reality TV star turned author and motivational speaker, was forced to reveal his tax woes in a personal financial disclosure form that he finally filed — three months late — with the House Ethics Committee.

Towns’s campaign jumped on the disclosure.

“Kevin Powell’s financial situation shows that his qualifications do not meet the qualifications of a candidate,” said Hank Sheinkopf, Towns’s campaign spokesman. “That fact that he owes almost a million dollars in taxes … and has a slim resume of public service does not a congressman make.”

Powell got 33 percent of the vote against Towns in 2008.

Powell intended to address his tax issue with the media on Friday morning, but abruptly canceled a press conference. He then opted to address the issue in a post on a Web site, where, amid bible quotes and recollections from a poverty-stricken childhood, he admitted his debt to Uncle Sam.

He also claimed that the amount on the financial disclosure statement was an overestimate.

“[The debt] is definitely not what is on the financial disclosure statement,” he said.

Then he tried to make himself out to be the Everyman.

“Having debt, struggling to pay one’s mortgage or rent, or owing taxes does not make you a bad person,” he wrote. “It makes you a regular person, one of millions and millions of Americans who are in similar situations.”

Yet Powell’s situation is far from regular.

According to the financial disclosure form, he made $300,000 in the last 18 months — a salary that puts him in the top 97 percent of American households.

Initially, Powell said he was the victim of the “sub-prime mortgage crisis,” but he later admitted that he did not have a sub-prime mortgage at all, but a regular fixed monthly mortgage of $5,000 a month for a condo that he and his mother co-own inside the tony Toy Factory Lofts on Johnson Street between Gold and Prince Streets in Downtown.

Powell said his main source of income came from giving speeches at colleges. When the recession hit, many universities cut their speaker series, he said.

Later in the day, the Powell campaign put out a rambling statement that sought to divert attention from the financial problems by calling Sheinkopf a “political mercenary” who actually tried to get a job with Powell last time around.

“[He] approached Kevin Powell in 2008 claiming that [Towns] … had done nothing for the district and that only his style of attack politics could deliver Kevin the election,” said Powell spokesman Aaron Golembiewski. “Our candidate decided against hiring Mr. Sheinkopf because he was disgusted by the nasty derision he brought to the table and preferred to engage congressman on the issues. That Mr. Sheinkopf and Mr. Towns would brutally attack Kevin Powell when he admits his financial situation is extremely tenuous, and that he still pushed forward with his campaign because of his love for his community, demonstrates that Kevin Powell made a good decision to say no to Mr. Sheinkopf.”

It’s not the first time that paperwork has revealed something about the Powell campaign. Two years ago, he failed to file with the Federal Election Commission even though he was already raising money for his campaign.

Powell’s doomed campaign culminates four years of misfires that began in 2006, when he first announced his intentions to unseat Towns, but abandoned his candidacy about a month and a half before the primary.

His 2008 run was bogged with personal missteps, from his admission to being violent towards women to having a much-hyped fundraiser headlined by Dave Chappelle fizzle in front of his eyes when the comedian didn’t show. He even put his foot in his mouth when he promised a group of Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg that he would “bring home the bacon.”

Powell isn’t the only person with mortgage problems. In 2009, Towns was accused of using his influence to get two low-interest loans with Countrywide Financial Corp. through the company’s VIP program. When he received the mortgages in 2003, his interest rate was between 4.5 and 4.625 percent when the national average was between 4.7 and 5.3 percent.

After questions about the loans were raised, Towns switched his mortgages over to Bank of America.

Today, he owes $250,000 on a Florida property and $500,000 on his home in Brooklyn, according to his personal financial disclosure statement.

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By Stephen Brown

Courier-Life

The city has cut the cord on Marty’s chain gang.

Borough President Markowitz’s summer shows may go on next year, but inmates from Rikers Island will not be deployed to set up chairs and save the Beep thousands in labor costs.

“The Department of Correction provided work crews of inmates to help set up chairs for the Brooklyn concerts this summer; there are no plans to do so again,” said Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction, which had created the unique prison work detail for the borough president after his prior supplier of labor, the state prison system, eliminated the program to save taxpayer money.

Markowitz had gotten cheap labor from the state’s Lincoln Correctional facility overlooking Central Park for at least the previous 15 years.

A source within the city’s jail system said that its budget is nearly as strapped as the state, and that there was no infrastructure in place to handle requests for work crews at other locations around the city.

But the sight of inmates in orange-and-white-striped jumpsuits — the typical garb worn when they are outside the confines of a jail — will not soon be forgotten around Coney Island.

Last Friday morning, roughly 15 inmates were back on duty, cleaning up the aftermath of the B-52s concert while six guards kept a close watch.

The city had said that the inmates on the detail posed a minimal risk, as they were hand picked only minutes before getting on the bus to the concert site — so as to avoid any possible escape plans — and strip-searched before getting on the bus to Asser Levy Park or Wingate Field.

The Department of Correction also made sure the inmates weren’t from either Crown Heights or Coney Island, so that the prisoners wouldn’t be seeing old friends while gathering chairs.

Most locals had not taken issue with the prisoners, but rather had been disappointed that the jobs were going to incarcerated men being paid $1 an hour instead of people in need of work in the ailing economy.

“It’s nice the prisoners give something back to society,” said Ida Sanoff, an opponent of Markowitz’s larger plan to expand the bandshell into a $64-million amphitheater. “But on the other hand, there are a lot of people out of work that would like to get paid — even if just for a couple of days.”

And, as it turns out, there is a program established by Mayor Bloomberg through the Department of Youth and Community Development that would likely be able to find teenagers willing to set up the chairs for around the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Rather than use such an outlet to find a workforce for his concerts, the Beep went to the city’s jail system.

Markowitz’s longstanding summer concerts have come under fire this year like never before. Just last week, the city admitted that the concerts at Asser Levy Park broke a law limiting the volume of the shows — calling into question the future of the music extravaganzas.

Still, the organizer of the concerts, Debra Garcia, pledged that the music would be bumping next year.

“Next summer, we will be celebrating the 33rd season of the Seaside Summer Concert Series,” Garcia said.

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By Thomas Tracy

The Brooklyn Paper

The “Jews” are not happy about Rep. Mike McMahon’s “Jewish money” gaffe.

The Anti-Defamation League is demanding an apology from the freshman Bay Ridge Democrat after a staffer criticized Republican challenger Mike Grimm for taking in “a lot of Jewish money” in his campaign.

The staffer, Jennifer Nelson, was fired after the New York Observer reported that she leaked a list of Grimm’s supposedly Jewish donors for the second quarter of 2010 in a file titled, “Grimm Jewish Money Q2.”

Nelson was apparently trying to demonstrate that Grimm is raising considerable cash from outside the 13th congressional district, which includes Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst.

“Where is Grimm’s money coming from?” Nelson wrote to the newspaper. “There is a lot of Jewish money, a lot of money from people in Florida and Manhattan, retirees.”

The bias immediately left a black mark on McMahon’s campaign — and the ADL proceeded to thicken it.

“The creation of a list … of his opponent’s Jewish donors is an appeal to religious, racial or ethnic bias which has no place in political campaigns,” said Myrna Shinbaum, a spokeswoman for the national Jewish organization. “The list trades on age-old stereotypes about Jews and money and treats Jews as separate from other constituents. It is offensive, unacceptable and requires an immediate apology.”

The organization quickly got it.

“The comments were entirely inappropriate and there is no place for this kind of behavior,” McMahon, who dodged our calls on Friday, said in a statement that announced Nelson’s canning. “I was outraged by these unfortunate remarks, which were unauthorized and in no way indicative of my beliefs.”

Hours later, the Anti-Defamation League did accept McMahon’s apology, but Grimm’s side was not appeased.

“This was completely outrageous and over the top,” growled the Republican candidate, one of two GOP hopefuls eyeing their party’s nomination to face McMahon. “There was a specific intent to segregate my Jewish donors. There has to be a reason why he did that.

“How does the religious affiliation of my donors impact the district?” he asked. “What is he trying to say, that there’s no Jewish people in the district? It’s extremely disturbing.”

Orthodox Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Boro Park), whose shares Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst with McMahon, called the congressman’s “Jewish list” a “sad and unfortunate commentary.”

“We’re living in 2010 and I can’t believe that people still indulge in this kind of behavior,” said Hikind. “I’m sure no one compiled a list of Italian donors. People just don’t get it.”

Later, Hikind, too, accepted McMahon’s apology.

Naturally, Grimm’s opponent for the Republican nomination found McMahon’s actions “despicable” — even if there’s a minute possibility that allegations about Grimm’s support comes from outside the district, would help his chances.

“This is the lowest level of political chicanery I can imagine,” said Michael Allegretti. “When I heard his people were conducting a list like this, I was disgusted.”

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Bernard Catcher, a democratic district leader and power broker who helped launch the legislative careers of Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Sheepshead Bay), Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Mill Basin), Assemblyman Alan Maisel (D-Mill Basin), state Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brighton Beach), and a litany of other Brooklyn politicians, died on Aug. 20 after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 70.

An overflow crowd filled Sherman’s Funeral Chapel on Coney Island Avenue between Avenues I and J on Sunday to bid farewell to Catcher, who many described as the heartbeat of Brooklyn democratic politics for close to 30 years. Those also in attendance included Borough President Markowitz, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-Park Slope), Rep. Ed Towns (D-Canarsie), Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic Boss Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg), former Public Advocate Mark Green, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, and a host of other state and city legislators and democratic leaders.

Catcher was the male democratic district leader — one of the lowest rungs of elected politics — representing Marine Park and Mill Basin when he died. A Democratic committee to fill vacancies is set to appoint a replacement for Catcher within the next few weeks. Because Catcher was running unopposed in this year’s Democratic Primary, state election law says a special election does not need to be held.

Political insiders believe former Assemblyman and Surrogate Court Judge Frank Seddio will be asked to fill the void, even though Lopez, in a controversial move, already made him an “at large” district leader,

Catcher was born in Brownsville and was a tax preparer by trade. He got involved in politics at a young age, making a name for himself in 1976 when he helped Murray Weinstein — Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein’s (D-Midwood) father — defeat Assembly Speaker Stanley Steingut.

By the late 1970s he and the late Assemblyman Tony Genovese were running political campaigns from Canarsie’s Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, which some described as the seat of machine politics in southern Brooklyn.

“Bernie was probably the most important person in politics no one ever knew,” said Fidler. “He was wise and he was affective, but those were only two parts to him. The third part was that he always kept his word and always did the right thing and that made him a must stop on every significant political tour to come through the borough.”

Having Catcher on your political team was like having an army, particularly when it came to the grunt work of getting petition signatures and stuffing envelopes, Fidler remembered.

“When Bernie said he was going to support you, his handshake wasn’t just a handshake … it was a war cry,” the councilman said, adding that Catcher was a master at community grassroots politicking, from knocking on doors to having neighbors write neighbors about why they’re supporting certain candidates. “If today’s political activists think that’s old school, they did not learn Bernie’s lesson.”

Seddio said the turn out at Sherman’s showed just how important Catcher was to the Democratic party.

“Markowitz said this and it was so true, he was the chess master in this great game of politics,” said Seddio. “He was the architect of many of elections for people [attending his funeral].”

Maisel agreed, adding that Catcher’s famed friendship and devotion “was not an exaggeration.”

“He really cared about the people in the district, especially the young people,” Maisel explained. “He saw it his mission to bring people into politics and educate them as to what it should be used for — helping people.”

To that end Catcher was credited with creating the Young Dems, a group of under-30 political activists in southern Brooklyn.

“They’re the neighborhood’s leaders of tomorrow,” Fidler said.

Catcher is survived by several cousins.

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By Helen Klein and Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

There were few primary election upsets in our southern Brooklyn coverage area, but that’s to be expected in New York City democracy, where a man awaiting a trial for punching out a photographer and a woman who is already collecting her retirement pension face only token challenges.

(All results are preliminary, but accurate as of 11:30 pm on Tuesday):

Congress — Republican

Michael Grimm, 8,391

Michael Allegretti, 3,832
13th District, Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst

The war for the hearts and minds of Republicans in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst — and for the right to take on popular freshman Rep. Mike McMahon (D–Bay Ridge) in November — resulted in a 68–31 percent victory for the more conservative Michael Grimm, a former Marine, FBI agent and Desert Storm vet.

Grimm ran an under-the-radar screen campaign, ducking public appearances, but enjoying the support of big name GOP leaders including former Mayor Giuliani, Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain.

Allegretti, the small businessman-turned-environmentalist, never seemed to find the right tone in taking on the strident Grimm, first veering towards a moderate Republican voice, but then coming out against the so-called Ground Zero mosque and proclaiming his fealty to Rep. John Boehner, the controversial GOP leader in the House.

Allegretti’s loss hurts the Bay Ridge side of the district, as the Kings County GOP supported him in his loss.

In a show of how seriously the Democrats are taking the coming general election, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put out a statement saying that “Michael Grimm can’t be trusted.”

“Conflicting stories about his record and his past have come to define Grimm’s campaign and voters deserve answers if he hopes to gain their trust, let alone their vote,” said the statement, attributed to spokesman Shripal Shah. “It’s time for Michael Grimm to come clean.”

But Grimm fired back: “The victory proves that the public knows that I’m battle-tested, but I’m willing to bring the district back to conservative values that it’s always had. I’m looking forward to debate Michael McMahon and tie him to the liberal agenda.”

State Senate — Democrat

Kevin Parker, 73 percent
Wellington Sharpe, 27 percent

21st District, Flatbush, Midwood and Canarsie

State Sen. Kevin Parker won in a surprising landslide, a victory that speaks to the ineptitude of his longtime rival, Wellington Sharpe.

Not that Parker, who is awaiting trial for assaulting a New York Post photographer, was spinning it that way.

“I won in a landslide,” he said. “And this victory indicates that the voters were able to see through the politics of personal attacks both by my opponent and the media.”

When asked if his upcoming trial put a damper on things, he smiled.

“A damper on a landslide victory? No. Tonight is a victory for the people of this district,” he said.

Parker — who was first elected in 2002 — has had a tempestuous tenure. In addition to the alleged assault, he made headlines a few months ago by calling Senate colleagues “white supremacists.”

The seething senator was also charged in 2005 with assaulting a traffic agent who was trying to write him a ticket, and has weathered assault allegations by a former staffer — and even Sharpe, himself — though Parker was spared charges in those cases.

Sharpe, for his part, has spent the better part of the past decade trying to win himself a legislative position — any legislative position. He unsuccessfully challenged Parker in 2004, and has also run numerous other times, losing Council races in 2001 and 2007, and a 2002 state Senate race against Carl Andrews.

District Leader — Democrat

Kevin Peter Carroll, 1,026
Ralph Perfetto, 613

60th Assembly District, Bay Ridge

This one was one for the ages, not the aged.

Youngster Kevin Peter Carroll, a 24-year-old political newcomer, turned his leadership of an insurgent Democratic club into a 62–38 percent victory over one of the best-liked and best-known state committeeman in the borough, Ralph Perfetto.

“I’m so happy and proud and ecstatic,” Carroll said after his victory, which he attributed to the fact that he “talked about the issues.”

Among them, his contention that Perfetto and other power brokers have allowed the neighborhood to be sliced into five Assembly districts, watering down local power.

“It’s not a victory for me, but for redistricting reform in Bay Ridge,” Carroll said.

For his part, Perfetto praised Carroll’s “beat the bushes” campaign.

“He put his people out there, he worked and he got it,” the 18-year incumbent said. “He used some negative stuff, maybe that had some influence.”

Perfetto was possibly referring to a Carroll campaign mailer featuring Perfetto and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver cutting up a cake into five Assembly districts, a reference to Carroll’s contention that redistricting has hurt Bay Ridge.

What also hurt Perfetto, who had the backing of virtually all of the area’s elected officials, was a charge that he impersonated a lawyer in a 2008 court appearance, an allegatiown the former boxer has called “preposterous” and “politically motivated.”

Nonetheless, he was scheduled to go on trial in October, and faces up to a year in jail if convicted.

Assembly — Democrat

Rhoda Jacobs, 69 percent
Michele Adolphe, 31 percent

42nd District, Flatbush and Midwood

There was no anti-incumbent fever evident in Flatbush.

Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs easily beat back a challenge from Michele Adolphe, who had run for the seat three times previously.

Was her victory a mandate? “My mandate is to do what I’m supposed to do — keep working,” Jacobs remarked. “Even in the street today, people came up to tell me ‘I have this issue,’ ‘I have that issue,’ but, basically, it was a lot of ‘Thank you for helping,’ ‘Thank you for helping.’ I have a strong feeling that government is not just for the rich and powerful. We have to be there for those who are not powerful.”

Adolphe had decried Jacobs for double-dipping by simultaneously collecting her Assembly salary and her retirement pension from the same office. But that issue clearly failed to resonate with voters. In the end, Adolphe said that Jacobs’s victory “wasn’t really an election by the voters. It was a selection by a few people.

“We ran a beautiful campaign,” she went on. “I believe the voters out there are proud of me. It’s not over for Michele. I will continue to do the work of the people and continue to put my strength out there for the people of the district.”

• • •

Inez Barron, 79 percent
Kenneth Evans, 21 percent

40th District, Canarsie and East New York

Barron is new to Albany, and the only time an incumbent ever gets beaten is in his or her first re-election. She was elected after predecessor Diane Gordon was found guilty of taking bribes, so voters may have merely concluded that anything better than that was all right.

She’s also married to popular Councilman Charles Barron, so that helps, too.

Congress — Democrat

Ed Towns, 66 percent
Kevin Powell, 33 percent

10th District, Canarsie, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Downtown

Towns easily defeated his rival, Kevin Powell, who has constantly talked about a youthquake in the district, even as he has never generated traction among voters.

Towns, who has been in Congress for almost three decades, thinks he knows why.

“I see my victory as a vindication, and that the voters want me to go back to Washington and work hard on health care to strengthen it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working very hard.”

Towns is currently the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Powell, the former “Real World” star turned author and public speaker, ran into trouble during the campaign when it was revealed that he owes more than $600,000 in back taxes.

“He may have won tonight, but he did not win the hearts of Brooklyn people,” Powell claimed, vowing to return to challenge Towns in 2012.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

Bay Ridge’s Democratic congressman is in the fight of his life — but his opponent is not just a GOP rival, but an irate nation.

Freshman Rep. Mike McMahon (D–Bay Ridge) framed his re-election campaign on Wednesday as something much bigger than his fight against Republican Michael Grimm, but a battle against the anger that is consuming American politics.

“All of you angry people out there, I’m not going to get your vote,” McMahon told a standing-room-only crowd at a congressional debate held by the Bay Ridge Council on Aging. “I’m not angry at America, I’m proud to be an American. I’m about thoughtful and practical solutions that I think embrace the moral values of the people in this community.”

Though he’s not “angry,” McMahon did take a few swipes at Marine and former FBI agent Grimm, who has unleashed a tank load of campaign videos slamming McMahon as a “career politician who works with Washington insiders.”

“I’m not a career politician,” Grimm said in his opening, later calling McMahon a “political lapdog” of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives.

McMahon has bucked the leadership and President Obama, most notably when he voted against the president’s landmark health care reform.

But twisting the truth is what career politicians do, McMahon said, mocking Grimm.

“He will not let the facts get into the way of a good story,” McMahon said. “My opponent talks about how he’s not a politician and he’s just a regular guy, but he’s running for political office, and all of his endorsements are from Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Sarah Palin. They’re all politicians. He’s also putting out a lot of negative ads about me with a lot of bad pictures. That’s what politicians do.

“I don’t mind him being a politician,” McMahon added. “I just think he should get out of denial.”

Grimm reserved most of his attacks for President Obama’s health care bill and the economic stimulus package, which Grimm said have failed everyday citizens.

“It boils my blood,” he explained, adding that the country has been “turned upside down because of a liberal agenda.”

He also attacked Social Security, calling it ineffective.

“I don’t believe it’s a safe system and I don’t trust how the government uses it,” Grimm said about the New Deal-era measure upon which seniors across the country rely. “Social Security was supposed to be a trust fund, a lock-box that was supposed to be tucked away, but our politicians have spent it on everything else but seniors.”

McMahon suggested that Grimm wanted to privatize Social Security because he’s been endorsed by Rep. Kevin Ryan (R-Wisconsin), a leading privatizer.

“Just imagine, if it had been privatized in 2008, your Social Security would be gone right now,” McMahon said.

Grimm said that he has not pledged to privatize Social Security.

Throughout the debate, McMahon described himself as a centrist who often bucks Congress’ Democratic leadership.

Besides voting against health care reform, McMahon said he supports extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and middle class. He’s also reached across the aisle to draft bills demanding mental health screening for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, he said.

His voting record backs his claim. The National Journal’s annual ranking of lawmakers put McMahon at the dead center of its liberal-conservative spectrum, based on 92 “key” votes last year. Breaking down those votes, McMahon was more conservative than 54 percent of his House colleagues on “economic” issues and 56 percent of his House colleagues on foreign policy. At the same time, he was more liberal than 59 percent of his colleagues on the so-called “social” issues.

With that kind of voting record, McMahon may be able to shield himself from the nation’s apparent dissatisfaction with the Democrat-led Congress, and the growing Tea Party movement, which is tapping into that anger.

Also, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst have traditionally been a shade right of center politically.

“I understand that people are frustrated, but I’m not an angry young man,” McMahon said. “We have problems, but I’m rolling up my sleeves and trying to find a bipartisan way to solve them. People should stop yelling and screaming, and we should all get back to work.”

McMahon’s words did little to calm a fuming Grimm, however.

“People are angry for good reasons,” Grimm said. “We’re losing the greatest country in the world.”

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By Thomas Tracy

The Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes has thrown out criminal charges against one of the two firefighters implicated in the brutal Jan. 29 fistfight at the Salty Dog, calling the smoke-eater a “peacemaker” rather than a blood-thirsty brawler.

At the same time, Hynes announced Thursday that he has also downgraded to a misdemeanor charges against a second firefighter arrested in the attack.

Both Michael Reilly and Ryan Warnock of Engine Company 310 on Snyder Avenue in East Flatbush were taken into custody on Feb. 25 in connection with the fracas between firefighters and civilians that left four people seriously injured — all because of a spilled drink.

The victims claimed they were celebrating inside the Third Avenue hook-and-ladder–themed bar between 79th and 80th streets when one of them bumped into an off-duty firefighter and spilled his drink on him.

After a fierce exchange of words, 11 firefighters jumped the quartet. Brawlers even dragged one of the victims into a bar bathroom, where he was viciously beaten.

Out of all the firefighters involved, Reilly and Warnock were the only two to be picked out of line-ups and charged.

Citing evidence presented to the grand jury, Hynes, a Fire Commissioner during the Koch administration, said that Reilly, who was first accused of restraining a bouncer so the fight could be prolonged, “actually tried to act as a peacemaker.”

Hynes also said Warnock threw only one punch, although the jab “triggered the brawl.”

A grand jury indicted Wanock on one count of assault in the third degree — a far cry from the riot in the first degree and multiple assault counts he faced at his initial arraignment. He’s now facing one year in jail instead of five.

No charges were filed against Reilly.

When contacted about the stunning turnaround, Hynes’s spokesman Jerry Schmetterer said that the decision to drop charges against Reilly and downgrade the charges against Wanock ultimately rested with the grand jury, not his boss.

“The evidence was presented to a grand jury and this is what the grand jury decided,” Schmetterer said. “It’s offensive to think Hynes changed anything because he was a former fire commissioner.”

A source close to the case said all the evidence came from the testimonies of witnesses, victims and participants — subjective statements which often contradicted each other.

“There was a video of the fight, but the video doesn’t really distinguish one part of it from another,” the source said. “Everything else rested upon the statements of those involved.”

After announcing the slaps on the wrist, Hynes hinted that more arrests in the Salty Dog brawl could be forthcoming.

“It is clear from our investigation that other individuals participated in this brawl,” he said in a statement. “If sufficient evidence develops to identify them and to prove criminal conduct on their part, additional charges will be brought.”

Chad Seigel, the attorney representing the victims, said he was “disappointed” by the grand jury decision.

“But we are going to continue to seek justice in another forum,” he said, adding that his office intends to sue both firefighters, the city and the FDNY.

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By Helen Klein

Courier-Life

Double-dipping Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs (D-Flatbush), who’s been legally collecting both a salary and a pension from taxpayers since 2008, says she’s almost ready to give up her salary — but not until she gets elected one more time.

Jacobs told us she plans to leave office in two years when district lines are redrawn, but, in order to do so, she’s readying a campaign to beat off challenger Michele Adolphe, a perennial educator and entrepreneur who opposed Jacobs in 2004 and 2008, and who says that she is not willing to wait two more years to see if the 73-year-old Jacobs is really going to leave the seat she has held for 32 years.

“Every two years, she says she is going to retire,” Adolphe complained.

Adolphe says she wants Jacobs gone now, because the quality of life in the area represented by Jacobs has been steadily declining under her watch.

“If she hasn’t done anything for 32 years, why does she think she can do anything in two years?” Adolphe asked. “I think my expertise and talents can be a tremendous asset to the district. I feel I am the right person to continue Mrs. Jacobs’ legacy.”

Among the issues that need to be addressed, said Adolphe, is the shortage of senior centers, as well as the lack of child care options in the community.

“It’s time for a change, time to move the district to the next level,” Adolphe said. “Many folks are not active because they are very disappointed. Now, there is a reason for them to come out and vote.”

The usually soft-spoken Jacobs was quite vociferous when asked about what she does for the district.

“I think I work pretty hard,” Jacobs said. “One of my major concerns is the well-being of my constituents. I want to make sure they get the services they need and deserve, and we have quite a population of need in the district. My staff is diligent and compassionate. If we can’t do something, we make sure they are in the right hands.”

In addition, Jacobs said she pushes hard to get legislation passed that benefits her constituents.

“I had a lot to do with the creation of prenatal care programs, extending WIC [providing nutritious food benefits for impoverished mothers with young children] and creating a health insurance bill of rights [for individuals with managed care],” she recalled.

But she doesn’t intend to sit on her laurels even if she’s getting ready to bow out — and cash that paycheck one last time.

“Why am I running?” Jacobs asked. “Because I care. I am running on my record, which I think is fair, and I’m running because people have to be taken care of. I don’t plan to stay beyond reapportionment, but that doesn’t make me a lame duck in terms of what I can do.”

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The Brooklyn Paper

None of the five elected officials who represent the block of Voorhies Avenue where the Muslim American Society hopes to build a mosque showed up at the anti-mosque rally on June 27, so we tracked down these elected officials and get them on the record. Here’s what they had to say (or, more accurately, did not have to say):

• Councilman Lew Fidler (D–Marine Park), who represents the eastern side of Voorhies Avenue, where the mosque would be built: “I’ve done what’s appropriate for a project that’s being built as-of-right and addressed all concerns that have been raised other than the offensive ones made by the people who will never be satisfied. I have made sure that [the builders] will comply with the law, but I do think some of the people opposing this are doing it for bigoted reasons. We really shouldn’t be painting an entire group of people with one broad brush.”

• Councilman Mike Nelson (D–Midwood), whose district begins on the opposite side of the street: Could not be reached for comment.

• State Sen. Carl Kruger (D–Mill Basin), who represents the eastern side of Voorhies Avenue, where the mosque would be built: “This is a house of worship and it can be built there, but at the same time, I understand the sensitivities of the affected community. I think we need to sit down some more and really air out the issues and concerns so we could come up with some kind of dialogue that makes sense.”

• State Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge), whose district begins on the opposite side of the street: “It’s very difficult. It’s their religious right to put up these individual mosques as one would put up a church or a synagogue and it’s difficult to stop it. That’s what the Constitution is based on.”

• Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (D–Midwood), whose district includes the mosque: “I’ve been a strong supporter of everyone’s ability to exercise their [sic] religious rights, whether it’s been the construction of a synagogue or a church expansion. Freedom of religion is a fundamental part of our Constitution. I am concerned about some of the inflammatory speech on this issue, but people can sometimes be afraid of what they do not know.”

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

More than three dozen self-professed Tea Party members rallied next to the 9-11 memorial at the 69th Street pier on Sunday to condemn controversial mosques near Ground Zero and in Sheepshead Bay.

“Islam has an inherent aggressiveness and the Muslim American Society [the developers of the Sheepshead Bay mosque] are their warriors on the front line,” claimed John Press, president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, which plans to attend a protest outside the Voorhies Avenue mosque site this Sunday. “We have to delay their expansion.”

Press was one of nine speakers during the three-hour rally, where Tea Party members waved flags and held signs reading, “Government which governs least governs best,” a Henry David Thoreau quote that ralliers wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

At least one woman spent the afternoon in a black burka, carrying a sign reading, “I am Nancy Pelosi — I will investigate your funding,” a reference to the Speaker of the House, a Democrat who enraged conservatives after suggesting an investigation into the funding sources of mosque opponents.

Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, Blue Collar Corner blogger Andrew Sullivan, Republican congressional candidate Bob Turner and Republican Assembly candidate Nicole Malliotakis all addressed the crowd, although Malliotakis did not take the Brooklyn Tea Party pledge to freeze the budget and reduce capital spending by 15 percent, to fight the so-called Ground Zero mosque and support a divisive Arizona immigration law that allows police to demand immigration papers from anyone they suspect of being in this country illegally.

The Brooklyn Tea Party formed five months ago. Sunday’s rally was its second, and most successful, outing, Press said, adding that party members usually meet informally every Sunday at the Kosher Hut of Brooklyn on Kings Highway in Midwood.

Many Tea Party groups focus strictly on fiscal issues, but the Brooklyn Tea Party has a strong social conservative component in line with Press’s belief that cultures should not intermingle to the point where one changes the other. But Press denied that his group’s opposition to the two mosques is racially motivated.

“This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with culture,” he said. “We fully acknowledge some cultures are different and cultural diversity is real. This is not an Islamic country. We have the majority culture based on democracy and the separation of church and state. We have our own holidays, history and heroes — and we must define and protect it.”

Some dyed-in-the-wool Republican conservatives have said that Press’s views are too extreme, but he retorted that his party will take the lead in turning southern Brooklyn into a GOP stronghold.

“We are very conservative and we’re working to get like-minded people in Brooklyn organized so they know they can make a difference,” he said.

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By Mendy Sontag

for The Brooklyn Paper

The proposed amphitheater has been on the minds, hearts and souls of tens of thousands of people who live in the surrounding area of the Asser Levy Park.

There has been a war of words and many hurtful and hateful words have been spoken on behalf of both sides. Mayor Bloomberg, a man of integrity, a philanthropist who gives away hundreds of millions of dollars in charity, must be aware or be made aware of the tremendous ramifications this plan will have on our neighborhood and our houses of worship.

Mayor Bloomberg’s mother is in her mid-90s, and our borough president’s mom is in her mid-80s. May they be blessed with good health. Bloomberg and Markowitz’s mothers have been blessed with terrific sons who love, honor and respect them, and can afford to give them what millions of other children or families can not.

In our synagogues, Temple Beth Abraham and Sea Breeze Jewish Center, we have members who have no sons or family to care for them. They have come from Russia from a life of hell and those few who escaped the horrors of the Nazi torture and the ovens where they watched their families go up in smoke. We have a dozen members who come to pray with the numbers branded on their hands and arms, some who survived in Schindler camps. They escaped from the darkest annals of history.

They come to our synagogues to cry, pray, to find solace and serenity. They come with their walkers and wheelchairs in snow, ice rain all kinds of weather. They come for Sabbath lunch, for sisterhood meetings. How sad now, their sorrows are going to be drowned out by big-time music while our synagogues are praying.

What about the thousands of people who live here, who have signed petitions against this amphitheater? What about over a thousand people who came to our town hall rallies? It’s amazing to what great lengths our elected officials will go to to push forward their pet projects. What a legacy to leave our children and grandchildren.

Our goal is not to stop the six summer concerts that our fellow Brooklynites have been enjoying for so many years. Our only goal is to maintain our precious quality of life. It’s absurd that our elected officials are willing to spend $64 million on an amphitheater that is not wanted nor needed.

Borough President Markowitz, rebuild the band shell, put in new lights, install new benches. Spend $2 million or $3 million and put the rest where it is needed: education, police, sanitation, libraries and senior centers. When the city is laying off thousands of people, shouldn’t we spend money more prudently?

My main problem is that what is being proposed for Asser Levy Park will become a burden for all who live in the area, resulting in traffic, parking, garbage, noise, drinking, and loitering.

This has never been an issue about religion, and it’s shameful for anyone to use religion or synagogues or churches for a personal agenda. It has always been and always will be about preserving and maintaining our communities precious quality of life.

I pray that Bloomberg and Markowitz stop this madness and protect our community. They are our elected officials and should do what’s right for the people they represent. I hope and pray that they can join forces with us in rethinking this project and do what’s right for the community.

Mendy Sontag is president of the Sea Breeze Jewish Center in Coney Island.

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By Dick Zigun

for The Brooklyn Paper

Fans of Coney Island are rejoicing at the city’s commitment to the bright future of “America’s Playground.”

The Coney Island plan is a great start to a new heyday. Along with new amusements, hotels and entertainment, the renovation of Asser Levy Park, and its band shell across the street from the New York Aquarium and one block from the beach and Boardwalk, is another welcome manifestation of this commitment, and fully in keeping with the park’s musical heritage.

Artistic performance is a hallmark of many of our city parks, and music at Asser Levy dates back to the 1880s. Not only the site of the free Seaside Summer Concerts for 19 years, which have brought acts like Paul Anka, Gladys Knight, Hall and Oates and the B-52s to Brooklyn, the park has been part of Coney’s amusement district dating back to the days of John Philip Sousa!

This eastern gateway to Coney Island belongs to us all. In the 1960s and ’70s, community organizer Sidney Jonas held popular concerts here, and for a colorful glimpse into its Coney-style commotion, check out its monument to a 1924 reunion of Teddy Roosevelt Rough Riders, who camped in the park, stayed out late at nearby amusements and hooted and hollered into the wee hours.

As it stands, Asser Levy Park is in dire need of renovation, a woefully under-used dust bowl. Plans promise to make it more inviting for both local residents and visitors, improving drainage, retaining its forest of old-growth trees, creating new walkways and lawns, upgrading its 9-11 memorial, adding a state-of-the-art comfort station and creating a showpiece, handicapped-accessible playground. The seasonal, open-air band shell will host concerts only in warm months, but have community uses all year, from a covered kiddie play area to a winter outdoor ice rink. Possibilities abound!

The vocal, misguided few who oppose the renovation basically want a poorly drained, low-amenity, and under-populated park. But improving the park means making it more usable by more people. We must of course, as Borough President Markowitz has said, respect concerns like those voiced by local synagogues that services are not adversely impacted and local concerns about parking. To that end, the city has assured that programming will not overwhelm the neighborhood, traffic is being dealt with as part of the Coney Island plan, and ambient sound will actually improve, since a new audio system will target sound directly to the audience.

Some may want Coney to remain frozen in time, but for those who seek a better day, the renovation of Asser Levy Park is something we should be celebrating. Yes, there will be more people. We hope so. That’s the goal! This is Coney Island, not a suburban quiet-zone. We badly need this renovated park and bandshell if we are going to save Coney Island — and as a major advocate and spokesman for culture and entertainment, believe me, the future is now.

Dick Zigun is the founder and artistic director of Coney Island USA.

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By Thomas Tracy

The Brooklyn Paper

After a week of tight-lipped silence, state Sen. Carl Kruger is finally speaking out about the FBI’s probe into his campaign practices, saying that he’s just an innocent patsy despite allegations that he sold his sizable political clout at high-priced fundraisers.

“All I know is that I’m a victim in this whole thing,” Kruger (D–Sheepshead Bay) said about the arrest of local restaurateur Michael Levitis, who was caught on tape telling another restaurant owner that the senator would take care of his problems if he held a fundraiser.

In this case, though, Levitis was just bragging that he knew Kruger, the senator said.

“This guy went around boasting that he knew me and made representations that the government saw right through,” Kruger said.

Kruger claimed that the federal government isn’t investigating his campaign, even though Levitis, the manager of the Rasputin Supper Club on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue X, allegedly agreed to help funnel $2,000 to Jason Koppel, Kruger’s chief of staff, from the other restaurateur, who was acting as an agent for the FBI.

It was unclear if Koppel ever received the money from Levitis, who allegedly managed to swindle $1,000 out of the eatery owner for acting as a go-between. Levitis was ultimately arrested for lying to federal investigators about the incriminating recordings.

A spokesman from the U.S. Attorney’s office said he could not confirm or deny that Kruger was off the FBI’s radar, but a source close to the case said that the powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman was still under the microscope.

“It’s 100 percent false [that Kruger’s been cleared by the FBI],” the source said. “Kruger’s attorney called up one of the investigators and asked him the status of the case, but the detective could not say. Now [Kruger] goes around saying he was cleared knowing that the U.S. Attorney isn’t allowed to respond.”

High profile criminal defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, who represented Sean “P-Diddy” Combs and NFL star Plaxico Burress before representing Kruger, refuted the source’s statement.

“I have confirmed as recently as this week that Sen. Kruger is not the target of the investigation,” he said. “Because of who he is, they looked at him very carefully when the allegations first arose and they do not expect that he or anyone on his staff will ever be charged with any wrongdoing.”

Brafman said that Levitis used Kruger’s name “without his authorization.”

“He suggested he had access to him to enhance his own standing in the community,” Brafman said. “There is nothing a political figure can do to protect themselves from that.”

Kruger concurred.

“At no time did [the FBI] think I was getting the money or that I was nothing more than a pawn in this chess game,” he said, describing Levitis as a “casual acquaintance” — one from whom he received more than $8,000 in contributions and fund-raising services since 2006, according to campaign filings.

“I have thousands of contributors and, like every elected official around the country, I intercede in government matters and cut through the political red tape for my constituents,” he said. “But there’s no guaranteed quid pro quo.”

That’s not what Levitis said when he recommended that the restaurateur working with the FBI make a donation to Kruger’s campaign. In turn, Kruger would make the eatery owner’s problems with the State Liquor Authority go away, he alleged.

“To start off, you have to throw in a few thousand,” Levitis explained during a conversation on April 14, 2009. “[It] depends on whether the problem is big or small. How much work he has to put in.”

On Sept. 18, Levitis contacted the undercover restaurateur again, claiming that his hearing with the State Liquor Authority was postponed for two weeks.

“So for now you can still work,” Levitis explained. “He asked that you do a fundraiser. I said ‘Help first.’ But he does want you to do a fundraiser.”

Levitis was arrested after denying the conversation with the informant took place, even though investigators had everything on tape.

His attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said that he and his client was “fighting the case with all of our might.”

With help from Levitis and many others, Kruger now has $2.1 million to spend on his re-election. He won his last “race” with 93 percent of the vote.

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By Thomas Tracy

Courier-Life

It’s official — state Sen. Kevin Parker blows us off!

Parker — the pugilistic Flatbush pol known for a laundry list of personal and professional missteps and an alleged attack on a New York Post photographer — said this week that he’s too busy to attend a primary debate sponsored by this paper, yet the other day, his supporters were showing off Parker’s attendance at a pre-Rosh Hashana event featuring the eight-year Democratic incumbent blowing the ceremonial shofar.

We offered Parker 12 time slots over four dates, but a spokeswoman for the incumbent’s campaign said that Parker wanted to “invest his energies elsewhere,” rather than defend his headline-grabbing actions and discuss his platform with our readers.

“Thanks for the invitation but we are going to pass,” Parker spokeswoman Mutale Nkonde said via e-mail.

Since his arrest in 2009 for allegedly jumping shutterbug William Lopez, Parker has declined interviews with reporters, even after his assault trial was pushed back until October, thanks, mostly, to challenger Wellington Sharpe’s son Wynton, who’s job at the DA’s office forced the case to a new venue just in time for the primary.

Parker’s refusal to meet with reporters didn’t bother a group of Orthodox Jews during the photo op and campaign stop in Borough Park last week.

“Although it was the first time he was introduced to this tradition, the senator took the hallowed horn of the ram and, with no rehearsal, was able to blow consecutive blasts as a pro,” said Alexander Rappaport, who sponsored the gathering of 50 Orthodox leaders. “Those who attended were surprised and amazed at his talent.”

Parker’s alleged misdeeds are well documented. He was arrested in 2005 for attacking a traffic enforcement officer, although those charges were dropped when Parker agreed to take anger-management classes. Since taking the classes he’s been accused of roughing up an aide. He’s also wigged out at a recent Senate hearing, calling Republicans “white supremacists.”

Sharpe said he was surprised that Parker turned down a chance to address the voters.

“Something must be wrong if you don’t want to debate,” said Sharpe, a perennial candidate who, over the last 10 years, has run for Council twice, state Senate twice and the Assembly once.

But at this point, Sharpe’s plans to unseat Parker is looking more and more like payback: Although he never reported it to police, Sharpe claimed Parker attacked him during a previous campaign. He even hit Parker with a $500,000 civil lawsuit for injuries he sustained from the assault and received a default judgment in his favor when Parker failed to respond to the charges.

Sharpe also filed a $10-million defamation lawsuit against Parker after the incumbent told us that Sharpe was purposefully inserted into his 2004 Democratic Primary to split the black vote so his white challenger — former Councilman Noach Dear — would win. The case was ultimately settled when Parker agreed to publish a retraction.

Sharpe accepted our invitation to debate, saying that he wanted to ask Parker why he voted against a 2007 bill that would require psychiatric evaluation and supervision for convicted sex offenders. Parker also voted against making the death penalty a punishment for cop killers, Sharpe said.

“I think [Parker’s] anti-woman,” he explained. “He voted against an act that could have protected the women and children in his district. He’s also anti-law enforcement. I’m not a supporter of the death penalty, but I find it fitting when certain murders are committed and the murder of a police officer is one of them.”

Parker didn’t respond to Sharpe’s allegations.

The primary election is Sept. 14.

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By Thomas Tracy

The Brooklyn Paper

State Sen. Carl Kruger’s $2.1-million campaign war chest brings new meaning to the phrase “money to burn.”

With no viable competition this year, Kruger (D–Sheepshead Bay) has spent a good chunk of that money on high-priced hotels ($8,630), swanky restaurants ($13,000), his car ($8,939) and even his iTunes account ($302), according to an investigation spearheaded by our sister publication, the New York Post.

But the biggest campaign expenses were saved for a massive renovation of his office on Avenue U and East 22nd Street, on which Kruger spent more than $90,000, including more than $23,000 on office furniture.

He also billed his campaign account nearly $1,000 for plumbing in his office bathroom. Donors also poneyed up the additional $288 that Kruger spent on bathroom supplies.

The office also must be quite welcoming: Kruger plunked down $540.65 on door mats.

The Post noted that Kruger spent $4,700 for paint and wallpaper, even though two of the walls have floor to ceiling windows.

Then there’s the unexplained office rehab expenditures: Campaign filings show that he spent $4,844 on tiles, although his office is carpeted, and $545 for landscaping, even though the office has no lawns or gardens.

He also paid $10,500 to a New Jersey air conditioning and heating system company with two different addresses — one of which doesn’t exist.

But all of these expenses seem to be fair game, at least in Albany’s eyes, since there are very few restrictions to campaign spending.

Still, claiming that an office rehab will help his re-election is a pretty hard sell.

According to state law, legislators are barred from campaigning from their district office. The headquarters of “Friends of Carl,” Kruger’s re-election committee, is actually located around the corner from his district office in a small storefront on East 22nd Street between avenues U and V.

“[Kruger’s] abusing the law, even if he’s not necessarily violating it,” Dick Dadey, executive director of the Citizens Union — a government watchdog group — told the Post. “He is violating the public’s trust.”

When contacted by this paper, Kruger said his office was “beautiful” and that “not a dime of taxpayer money was used.”

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By Nathan Duke

TimesLedger Newspapers

City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) is calling on the city Police Department to dismiss all summonses written by a Queens traffic agent whom the councilman alleges was driving recklessly and running stop signs in Whitestone last week.

Halloran said he and his chief of staff were driving along 150th Street in Whitestone June 14 when they allegedly spotted traffic agent Daniel Chu talking on his cell phone while speeding down the street with his siren on. He also accused the agent of driving recklessly and then parking illegally in front of a crosswalk on Clintonville Street while he went into a Dunkin’ Donuts store and bought an iced coffee.

Halloran followed the agent in his car and approached him as he left the coffee shop.

“He comes out and sees me snapping pictures,” the councilman said. “He was irate and went ballistic. He said, ‘You want to take pictures of me? I’ll give you a ticket.’”

Halloran was then handed a $155 ticket for blocking the pedestrian ramp. But the councilman said his car was idling, not parked, and that Chu’s vehicle was blocking the sidewalk.

“The parking was not the issue,” Halloran said. “It’s the public safety issue. He was driving at high rates of speed like he was going to an emergency. He was swerving back and forth and blowing through stop signs. This is not what traffic enforcement is here for. He gave me a summons to basically try to get himself out of the trouble he’d gotten himself into. He was caught parking illegally. He got called on the carpet.”

An NYPD spokeswoman said the case was being investigated by the chief of transportation’s investigations unit. But the department said Chu would not be available for an interview.

The councilman recorded Chu with his iPhone as he wrote the ticket. He said the pictures he took showed the door of his own car was open and that the lights were on. His car was running and not parked at the time, he said.

Halloran said he has asked the NYPD to review all of Chu’s summons and that his office has received numerous complaints about the agent following the recent incident.

“If he’s willing to lie about a councilman’s car, then what’s he doing to ordinary citizens?” said Halloran, who identified himself to the agent. “We’ve been told there have been numerous complaints against this guy by civilians over the past few years. But no action has been taken and I want to know why.”

Halloran said his office has received numerous calls from Whitestone residents who said they have been ticketed by Chu.

One constituent said she had been boxed in by the agent as she unloaded groceries into her car, which was running, and he handed her a summons. Another told Halloran the agent had ticketed mourners who were loading a coffin into a vehicle for a funeral procession.

Whitestone’s Kimberly Puccia said she has received two tickets from Chu during the past two years and her husband has been given one summons.

“I was dropping my daughter off at her dance school and he came up and pounded on my hood,” she said. “I told him I was waiting to watch my daughter go in. He gave me a $165 ticket. He’s a horrible man.”

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