Civic meeting turns into pol hissy fit

From Times Ledger:

Nearly 1,000 people crammed into North Shore Towers in Little Neck Thursday night to listen to a panel discuss about the skyrocketing property assessment values the city assigned to condos this year and last as tensions flared between Queens elected officials.

Bob Friedrich, co-president of the organization that sponsored the discussion, started off the evening by saying he did not want “lip service” from politicians and running through the reasons why he believed the city Department of Finance unfairly assessed property values that rose by as much as 150 percent in one year. But things got heated when state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) took to the podium.

“As far as what Bob said earlier about lip service, well I think there has been a little bit too much of that tonight,” Avella said, referring to some of the lawmakers who spoke before him.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) had already left by the time Avella spoke, but state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) and City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) were on hand to hear his comments.

Avella derided colleagues in state government for proposing mulitiple bills designed to correct rapidly rising assessment values using various approaches. He also bashed leaders for proposing bills he suggested were just ploys to help them get re-elected, yet touted his bill as the best of the three currently in Albany.

Stavisky and Braunstein have co-sponsoered a bill in Albany, as has state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck).

The senator’s comments visibly upset Mark Weprin, who immediately stood up and took the microphone.

Uh oh, you upset a couple of do-nothing Weprins, a Toby and a Braunstein! Watch out, Tony!

North Shore Towers playing favorites?

From the Daily News:

BEHIND THE locked gates of North Shore Towers in Floral Park is more than some of the most exclusive real estate in eastern Queens.

There's also a potential gold mine of votes.

But some candidates running for the 26th Assembly seat, which includes North Shore Towers, said those gates are more open to some than others.

Candidates and residents said access to the complex is tightly controlled by Murray Lewinter, a former assemblyman and lobbyist who lives there and runs its political action committee. A candidate's forum in May included only two candidates: Ed Braunstein, who has the backing of the Queens Democratic Party, and Republican Vince Tabone. A video of that forum is still being replayed on the complex's in-house channel.

The three other Democrats on the Sept. 14 Primary ballot - Steve Behar, John Duane and Elio Forcina - were not invited.

North Shore Towers has a large population of older Jewish voters - an important voting bloc to elected officials. Mayor Bloomberg and others have often visited to court votes during campaign season.

Photo from Forgotten NY.

North Shore Towers concerned about antennas

From the Times Ledger:

The North Shore Towers Shareholders Association wants to look into a lease the co−op made in 1988 with a communications company that manages and operates antennas on the roofs of the co−op’s three buildings after a settlement was reached between the company and the co−op.

Continental Communications, the company that manages and operates the antennas, has a lease that gives the company free reign over how many antennas it can install, which led the company to put up more antennas than is allowed under city regulations, according to North Shore Towers Shareholders Association President Barbara Leonardi.

“We, as the shareholders, don’t even control our property,” Leonardi said.

Continental Communications sued North Shore Towers and the co−op’s board of directors individually for $500 million after the co−op held off on endorsing the company’s permit for the antennas, which were up for renewal.