BENSONHURST'S PREMIER NEWS BLOG

Source: Quaglione campaign

A candidate for a local City Council seat is demanding answers from the state’s Department of Transportation to inquiries about the status of construction of the highway overpass at 81st Street and 7th Avenue.

The overpass stretches across the Gowanus Expressway, making it an important artery between Bay Ridge and the Dyker Heights – Bensonhurst communities. Work to overhaul the span’s surface began several months ago and the street has been milled, but not repaved.

Now, John Quaglione, a Republican candidate seeking to unseat Councilman Vincent Gentile, claims that residents have complained to him that work has been at a standstill for several weeks, causing havoc for area commuters.

“This past weekend, I received complaints from local residents of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights who use this overpass as a connection to travel to work, school, local stores, medical appointments and more.  The residents I spoke with are frustrated that this project appears to be more or less at a standstill, and roadway conditions are terrible,” Quaglione wrote in a letter to the New York State Department of Transportation. “The neighborhood is unsure of the status of this project and would like an update. Additionally, due to the high volume of traffic this roadway sees each and every day, I am requesting that this project be a priority for completion as soon as possible.”

Quaglione said the issue was brought to him by resident Wayne Mignosi through Quaglione’s Facebook page.

“The 81st overpass is a vital roadway connecting Bay Ridge to neighboring areas such as Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. But as of a month ago they stripped down the roadway, leaving nothing but big lifts in the ground causing you to have to drive at about 5 miles per hour,” Mignosi wrote. “There is no work going on half the time and it is unfair to all the communities involved. I hope someone reads this and finishes the work in a timely fashion.”

Domenic Recchia Source: Facebook

Councilman Domenic Recchia met with Democratic Party leaders last week to further coordinate and strategize his efforts to unseat Republican Congressman Michael Grimm, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

Earlier in the month, we reported on the targeted ad blitz campaign that painted Grimm as a Tea Party acolyte who was partly responsible for the sequester gridlock mess in Congress. Democrats believe that Grimm is vulnerable as the only Republican legislator coming out of New York City.

Recchia met with Democratic Congressional Campaign Commitee Chairman (D.C.C.C) Steve Israel, local Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Congressman Donna Edwards, a Democrat from Massachusetts. While Recchia’s people declined to discuss the specifics of the meeting, the Daily News speculated that fundraising strategies were the likely purpose.

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve been reporting on the possibility of casinos coming to New York City and New Yorkers’ lukewarm opposition to them. As the mayoral race becomes more a thing, the question arises as to where our future mayors stand on the issue. City and State recently got the skinny on where our would-be leaders stand on bringing glitzy gambling to the five boroughs and here is the breakdown:

• City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D): While she thinks its a bad idea, if the state legalizes gambling, she said she would consider the possibility of a NYC-based casino.
• Former MTA Chief Joe Lhota (R): Supportive. He believes that the success of the Resorts World Casino in Southeast Queens speaks to the idea that New Yorkers would be excited for a casino if it was located far enough from communities.
• City Comptroller John Liu (D): He thinks its a good idea as long as its not easy to get to. He is worried about people having too easy access and gambling away their savings, so placing the casino in an isolated space, like Governors Island, appeals to him.
• Adolfo Carrión (I): Agrees with Liu. Wants the casino built somewhere on the city’s waterfront.
• CEO of Manhattan Media Tom Allon (R): Against legalizing gambling altogether.
• Former City Comptroller Bill Thompson (D): Wouldn’t support one way or the other. Believes that New Yorkers must decide themselves.

Candidates Bill de Blasio, John Catsimatidis and George McDonald were either not available to comment or declined to do so. We look forward to hearing their views well before the election.

Recchia

After weeks of speculation, City Councilman Domenic Recchia has publicly confirmed that he’s taking aim at incumbent Congressman Michael Grimm for a district that spans Staten Island, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Gravesend in the 2014 Congressional elections.

Recchia confirmed his desire for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in an interview with the Staten Island Advance over the weekend.

“We’re running,” Recchia said. “We’re going for Congress.”

His team put out a press release on Sunday, stating that he will file papers to formally enter the race for New York’s 11th Congressional District this week.

“I am running because I believe we need leadership in Washington that gets results, leadership that can be trusted, and leadership that is willing to stand up and fight for a better future for the people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn,” Recchia said in the statement.

While his statement made no mention of his opponent Michael Grimm, he didn’t shy away from attacking the incumbent in his interview with the Advance.

“We need Grimm to stand up to the leadership of his party and fight for us more,” said Recchia. “Enough is enough. We can do better. We deserve better. It’s time for me to step forward and make a difference.”

In 2012, Grimm won a 53-to-46 percent.victory over Democratic challenger Mark Murphy, a candidate who was a consistent no-show at debates and community meetings. Murphy’s campaign, though, notched up support by slamming Grimm’s headline-grabbing fundraising flubs, in which he’s being investigated for accepting illegal campaign contributions. Grimm was named “one of the most corrupt members of Congress” by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) for the fundraising allegations, the second year in a row he has made the list.

Recchia, a Gravesend resident, has served on the City Council since 2002 and, since 2010, has served as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee. He was previously believed to be eyeing the city Comptroller’s seat, and then Borough President, before squashing those rumors in January.

Source: Politicker

Ever since Councilman Domenic Recchia announced last month that he wouldn’t be seeking the borough president’s seat, the race to replace term-limited Marty Markowitz grew quiet. State Senator Eric Adams appeared to have it all locked up.

Enter Bensonhurst native and attorney John Gangemi, a former councilman-at-large who says he’s the right man for the beep’s office.

“I think Marty did a heck of a job, but there’s more to Brooklyn,” Gangemi told City & State, which broke the story. “Brooklyn needs a lot of work with the infrastructure, with the legislation, with projects, and that’s what I want to involve myself with, that type of activity. I have time, I do practice law, but I have time now to do my part for the community.”

When asked whether he would be able to match Markowitz’s relentless visibility, appearing at every event he possibly can make, Gangemi said that while he respects Markowitz, he would have a different style of leadership.

“There’s visibility and then there’s visibility,” he said. “I think Marty is great, but that was Marty’s thing. I have a different thing, I’m in the courts. I’m always trying to be creative in my presentation of the law, the arguing of the law, and I’m more of a law person, although I’m not adverse to cutting ribbons.”

Gangemi said he has looked at the credentials of his opponent Adams and finds him “formidable”, but that, “He doesn’t have the experience I have.”

In the 1970s, Gangemi served in another borough-wide office, that of councilman-at-large. The position represented the entire borough in the City Council until it was eliminated in the 1980s.

Gangemi, 73, also served as an assistant District Attorney and assistant Attorney General, and last year mulled a run to unseat Congressman Michael Grimm.

Source: FAArepublicans via flickr

The House Majority PAC, a “Super-PAC” with the goal of winning back the House Majority for the Democrats, is targeting Michael Grimm as a vulnerable Republican candidate in a competitive district, according to a press release from the group.

The language in the press release describes Grimm in, uh, grim terms, lumping him in with conservatives like the controversial Minnesota representative Michelle Bachman, who is also being challenged by the PAC.

“In 2012, House Majority PAC built a strong record of success and in 2013 we are ready to hit the ground running to hold these Republicans accountable and communicate with swing voters about their extreme records and backwards priorities,” said Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director of House Majority PAC.

“Whether it’s supporting the end of Medicare as we know it, backing tax cuts for the wealthy, working to roll back the clock on women’s rights or opposing stem cell research, these Republicans are simply out of step with the districts they represent. House Majority PAC will work to ensure voters know the truth.”

With the House Majority PAC’s record of success, defeating 63 percent of the Republican opposition they contributed funding to, Grimm is in for a hard fight to keep his seat.

The announcement comes just days after news broke that Coney Island Councilman Domenic Recchia is considering pulling out of the race for Brooklyn borough president, with an eye towards challenging Grimm in 2014.

The Daily News got the scoop that Coney Island Councilman Domenic Recchia is pulling out of his race against State Senator Eric Adams for the Brooklyn Borough President’s seat – and turning his energies to giving embattled Republican Congressman Michael Grimm the boot.

City Councilman Domenic Recchia is dropping his bid for Brooklyn Borough President – paving the way for an outspoken Afican American state lawmaker to make history.

Recchia (D-Coney Island) now plans to challenge embattled Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, several friends told the News.

… Recchia is term limited out of the Council and has been scrambling for months to find a new spot.

He long sought to run for City Controller, but begrudgingly dropped that dream after political party bigs backed Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s bid.

Recchia, who serves as the Council’s powerful finance chair, then planned to run for Borough President, promising to formally announce his bid earlier this month.

But he was never excited about the idea of seeking a post that carries little legislative power or political influence, a source said.

“That’s a step down for the Council finance chair,” a Recchia ally said.

The Grimm seat has long been a possibility for the city lawmaker, political insiders said.

Recchia contemplated running against the embattled congressman last year.

In November, Grimm defeated his Democratic challenger, Mark Murphy, 53 percent to 46 percent.

Predictably, Recchia’s office refused to confirm or deny the report to the Daily News.

Grimm, meanwhile, is still limping along after his mild victory against lackluster candidate Mark Murphy. Despite Murphy’s failure to appear at any debate against Grimm, weak fundraising, and a rather embarrassing moment of dim-wittedness captured by the New York Times, Murphy only lost to the incumbent Grimm by seven percent of the vote – probably due to the fact that Grimm is hounded by numerous scandal allegations.

City Council analyst John Lisyanskiy officially threw his hat in the ring for Coney Island’s 47th District on December 16 with an e-mail blast to supporters, making him one of two candidates for the district to forego the political hand-wringing over redistricting and jump in the race. Meanwhile, others in what was expected to be a somewhat crowded field for the Democratic nod, are reconsidering their runs – and almost all are urging constituents to turn out to tomorrow’s Districting Committee hearing to oppose the plan.

Lisyanskiy is one of four Democratic contenders vying to replace term-limited Domenic Recchia that have registered committees with the Campaign Finance Board. Lisyanskiy is joined by activist Todd Dobrin; Michael Treybich, an attorney and deputy legal director for the New York State Young Democrats; and Brian Gotlieb, former chairman of Community Board 13.

Lisyanskiy, who serves as a legislative budget aide in the City Council under Speaker Christine Quinn, jumps in the race with tens of thousands of dollars collected for a 2009 run that ultimately fizzled after term limits were extended. The campaign’s announcement came weeks before the council’s district lines are set to be finalized, a process which could see a campaign’s key constituencies flung into a neighboring district.

But Lisyanskiy said the latest district lines were of little concern in determining whether or not to run.

Continue Reading »

Councilman Recchia, left, and Senator Adams, right.

Coney Island City Councilman Domenic Recchia is reportedly eyeing the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, potentially pitting Northern and Central Brooklyn versus Southern Brooklyn for the largely powerless position.

Sources told the Daily News that Recchia plans to announce his candidacy in January, confirming speculation that the term-limited pol was considering the seat after putting the kibosh on a rumored comptroller run.

Recchia has served in the City Council since 2002 and, in 2010, he became chair of the Council Finance Committee, one of the most powerful positions in the legislative body, responsible for directing taxpayer funds to nonprofits and community groups.

Recchia will be term-limited out at the end of 2013, as will the sitting beep, Marty Markowitz. Recchia was widely believed to be mulling a run for city comptroller, but squashed that rumor earlier this month when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced his candidacy for the seat and obtained Recchia’s endorsement.

Keep reading for more about the race, and why this means a Southern Brooklyn versus Northern and Central Brooklyn battle.

This Friday, October 24, you have another chance to witness a debate between Republican New York State Senator Martin Golden and Democratic challenger Andrew Gounardes on NY1 at 6:45 pm.

If the other debates are any indication, this one serves to be just as feisty as Golden and Gounardes square off on issues ranging from gun control, women’s rights, jobs and education.