Former City Councilman Paul Vallone dead at 56

 

 AMNY

Paul Vallone, a former City Council Member who was part of a Queens political dynasty, died suddenly this weekend. He was 56 years old.

Vallone most recently served as the city’s Deputy Commissioner of Veterans’ Services. His brother Peter, a fellow former Council Member who presently serves as a judge in Claims Court, confirmed Paul’s passing.

Peter Vallone said his brother was rushed to Flushing Hospital Saturday evening after suddenly falling ill at home, but could not be saved. The news was first reported by the Queens Chronicle.

In addition to his brother, Vallone is survived by his wife Anna-Marie and three children, as well as his father Peter Sr., formerly the City Council speaker and a giant of municipal politics.

News of Paul Vallone’s death stunned Queens politicos and spurred an outpouring of grief.

“Paul didn’t just carry on his family’s immense legacy of service — he personified and embodied it,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said in a statement. “He inspired me every single day to be a better elected official, but it’s his lessons in friendship, family, and fatherhood that I will cherish for the rest of time. Queens is a better borough because of Paul, and I am a better person for having had the privilege of calling him a colleague and a friend.”

Before entering politics, Vallone was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone & Vallone LLP, founded in 1932 by his grandfather, Judge Charles Vallone. His father, Peter Sr., was elected to the City Council in an Astoria-centered district in 1973, and became the first Speaker of the City Council following the reorganization of city government in 1989.

Vallone Sr. was term-limited out of the Council in 2001 and was succeeded as Astoria’s City Council representative by Peter Jr., who served two terms.

After running unsuccessfully in 2009, in 2013, Paul Vallone contested the Democratic primary in northeast Queens’ 19th District, which includes the neighborhoods College Point, Whitestone, Beechhurst, Bayside, Bay Terrace, Auburndale, Douglaston, Little Neck, and part of Flushing.

 

The district at the time was represented by Republican Daniel Halloran, who during the 2013 campaign was arrested and charged in a broad federal corruption probe that also ensnared Queens Senator Malcolm Smith, Bronx Republican Chair Joseph Savino, and a slew of others.

Vallone narrowly won the Democratic primary and then prevailed in the 2013 general election. Per his City Council webpage, his mission from day one was to “put District 19 back on the map.” He won reelection in 2017, and at the end of his second term he told the Queens Chronicle he was proud to have added school seats to his district and helped launch a new free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. He also got underway efforts to build a new environmental center at Alley Pond Park and to renovate Bowne Park. He chaired the Economic Development Committee.

The moderate Democrat represented one of the most conservative districts in the city. At the end of his two terms, in 2021, the political pendulum had swung to the right and he was succeeded by Republican Vickie Paladino, an ardent Trump supporter and arguably the most right-wing member of the current City Council.

That same year, Vallone narrowly lost a race for Queens Civil Court to Republican Joseph Kasper, another sign of voters’ repudiation of the Democratic Party in northeastern Queens. The defeat meant a Vallone was not in elected office in the city for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Afterward, Vallone was appointed by Eric Adams to be the Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs at the Veterans’ Services Department under his new mayoral administration.

Members of New York’s political class expressed shock and dismay at Vallone’s untimely passing. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who reps southeast Queens, said she was “utterly heartbroken” by his death.

“Paul was a kind, beloved, and dedicated public servant who left an indelible mark on Queens and NYC,” said Speaker Adams. “My prayers are with his wife, children, and the entire Vallone family.”

 

Mayor Swagger hires Vallone, Speaker Adams loads committee chairs with Queens reps

 

City & State

 The Vallone dynasty may not have a place in the City Council anymore, but it does in the Adams administration. Former northeast Queens Council Member Paul Vallone now serves as the deputy commissioner for external affairs in Adams’ Department of Veterans’ Services. 

Queens Post 

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced new council committee appointments Thursday with more than a dozen committees to be chaired by Queens representatives.

All but three Queens council members were named to lead committees, which focus on a vast array of issues such as land use, parks, the environment and transportation. Each committee votes on bills before they head to the full council.

Council Members Vickie Paladino, a Republican, and Francisco Moya were not named to chair a committee. Adams will not be leading a committee as she is the council speaker—as is common practice.

Moya, who unsuccessfully battled Adams in a quest to be speaker, will be chair of a new subcommittee focused on COVID Recovery and Resiliency.

“I am proud to announce our City Council’s Leadership, as well as committee chairs and assignments,” Adams said in a statement. “This is the most diverse City Council in history, and each member’s experiences and expertise will shape the important work of our legislative body,”

The committees that are being led by Queens representatives are as follows:

Civil and Human Rights: Nantasha Williams

Contracts: Julie Won

Environmental Protection: James Gennaro

Fire and Emergency Management: Joann Ariola

Governmental Operations: Sandra Ung

Health: Lynn Schulman

Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction: Linda Lee

Parks and Recreation: Shekar Krishnan

Technology: Jen Guitérrez

Transportation and Infrastructure: Selvena Brooks-Powers

Veterans: Robert Holden

Woman and Gender Equity: Tiffany Cabán

 

It's official: Hell has frozen over

Joe Kasper, the Susan Lucci of Queens, always a bridesmaid but never a bride when it came to court elections, finally emerged victorious thanks to the carpetbagging efforts of Paul Vallone, who lives in Flushing but decided to run in the conservative Woodhaven Blvd corridor.

Congratulations.

Hopefully PFV Sr. kept the receipts for the robe and gavel he was planning to give his boy for Christmas.

Queens buried Paul

  

Queens Eagle

Joseph Kasper runs for a seat on the bench nearly every year on principal. However, the next time he runs, he’ll likely be running for reelection. 

In what was one of the more surprising results of Tuesday’s election, Kasper, a perennial Queens judicial candidate, held the lead over Democratic nominee and City Councilmember Paul Vallone in the race for Civil Court judge in Queens’ 3rd Municipal Court District, unofficial Board of Elections results show. 

Kasper, the Republican nominee in the race, was up by around 1,700 votes with 98 percent of scanners counted Wednesday morning. With around 2,400 absentee ballots in the district left to count, Vallone would have to win over 70 percent of the uncounted ballots in order to secure the victory. 

Not only does Kasper’s lead come in a borough where Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans, but his opponent is about as strong an opponent one could run against. 

Vallone, who has served in the council since 2013, is a member of what may be the last political dynasty in Queens. 

Caption Paul and his neat sideburns

 

Bowne Park pond is getting a million dollar makeover

 

QNS

 

A northeast Queens lawmaker announced the launch of a project that would bring significant improvements to Bowne Park Pond.

On Monday, March 22, work began on a $1.45 million contract for the pond’s upgrades, allocated by Councilman Paul Vallone’s office. Parks awarded the project contract for improvements to the nearly 12-acre park, which includes removing sediments from the bottom of Bowne Park Pond and installing a new aeration system to improve water quality.

This new project is part of Vallone’s allocation of $3.5 million to upgrade Bowne Parks playground bocce courts and pond in partnership with the mayor and Queens borough president.

“I’m very proud that the latest capital project is about to begin at Bowne Park. The renovations to our iconic pond will add to the serene beauty that is unique to this park. These projects along with the upcoming bocce court beautification community project will total over 3.5 million dollars and complete our promise to renovate and preserve the beauty of Bowne Park,” said Vallone.

Additional work on the current project includes repairing the connection from the pond to a nearby well so the groundwater, rather than city water, can be used to refill the pond; replacing stone on the pond’s edge; and clearing catch basins and storm sewer lines that empty into the pond. Work will also be done to reconstruct the existing asphalt path, and new plantings will be installed.

To ensure that wildlife remains undisturbed, the project will occur in phases so that animals can benefit from the freshwater retained in one portion of the pond.

Queens machine anointing candidates for judge seats, including Paul Vallone

 

 

Queens Eagle

Term-limited Councilmember Paul Vallone will be among four candidates nominated for judgeships by the Queens County Democratic Party Tuesday morning, according to five people familiar with party decision-making.

Democratic district leaders and other members of the organization will meet virtually to make the endorsements at 10 a.m. The party’s choreographed endorsement events typically serve to rubber-stamp candidates chosen by party chiefs.

If elected in November, Vallone, a councilmember in Northeast Queens, would follow his brother Peter Vallone Jr. from City Hall to the Queens bench. Peter Vallone Jr. became a justice in Queens Criminal Supreme Court, where he handles child abuse cases, in 2016 after representing Astoria for 11 years in the council.

The Vallones have been prominent members of the Queens Democratic organization for decades. Their father Peter Vallone Sr. served as city council speaker and now runs a lobbying firm. Their grandfather Charles Vallone was a long-time judge in Queens.

Paul Vallone did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

He was previously rated as qualified for a judgeship by an independent agency in 2012 but decided to run for the council rather than seek a judicial nomination at the time. 

Councilman Vallone proposes bill to disclose sex offenders sent to homeless shelters.

 

QNS

 A northeast Queens lawmaker wants the state to pass legislation in a continuing effort to bring transparency to communities with incoming homeless shelters.
Councilman Paul Vallone announced that he would be drafting a resolution calling on the state to pass a law requiring the disclosure of sex offenders housed in homeless shelters.

According to Vallone’s office, registered sex offenders must complete a “long list” of reporting and registration requirements before the community is made aware of their presence. The requirements are even more stringent for “level 3” sex offenders who are considered “high risk” of committing another sex crime.

Current state social services law restricts a social services agency from divulging that a sex offender is being housed in a “transient” or temporary homeless shelter like the one proposed for College Point.

“If the city brings a homeless shelter with over 200 transient men to any community, then those residents must be able to know if there is registered sex offender at that location. The proposed site in College Point, a result of profit hunting and failed policies, continues to show why it is a clear threat to the safety of over 3,000 students and the quality of life of the community at large. Whether you’re placing a registered sex offender in our communities for one year, or even one day, then we have a right to know,” Vallone said.

The state Assembly and Senate passed legislation in 2007 that would have closed loopholes for sex offenders to retain confidentiality when living in temporary shelters, but it was vetoed by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer who cited “privacy and implementation concerns.”

“This is not a privacy issue; it is a safety issue and there is no reason that sex offenders should be living within close proximity to a school,” Vallone said. “The state must expand restrictions on sex offenders living within a few blocks of schools.”

Sentaor Liu inquires city about ostentatious accounting costs for College Point homeless shelter as residents protest its imminent opening

 


 Queens Chronicle


 
State Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside) isn’t bad with numbers. He majored in mathematical physics, worked for 15 years as an actuary at PricewaterhouseCoopers before entering politics and commanded a small army of accountants as city comptroller.

So when the de Blasio administration testified that its budget for the Department of Homeless Services is $2.1 billion and $1.25 billion of that was spent specifically on housing the undomiciled, Liu did some simple math.

The city’s shelter population fluctuates around 61,000. Which, given the $1.25 billion figure, he calculated is about $20,500 for each of the homeless individuals in the city’s beds.

The senator, joined by City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) and Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal (D-Flushing), spoke to the press last Thursday outside 127-03 20 Ave. in College Point, where the city plans in September to open up a shelter for 200 single men run by Yonkers-based nonprofit Westhab.

A de Blasio administration official had told neighborhood residents at a contentious December town hall meeting that the city’s contract to operate the planned 20th Avenue shelter is roughly $9 million per year to house the 200 men.

“Well, that equates to $45,000 per bed,” said Liu, adding that the cost far exceeds the $20,000 average. “In fact, it’s more than double what the city is paying.”

De Blasio has said his fiscal year 2020 preliminary budget was designed to cut costs, the freshman senator pointed out.

When the 20th Avenue shelter plan was announced last year, hundreds of residents told the city to back off from it at protests. Liu, Rosenthal and Vallone have also been vocal in their opposition, telling the de Blasio administration that the site is extremely inappropriate for a shelter.

And given the city’s estimated cost for the contract, the three lawmakers want answers.







\Queens Chronicle

 
More than 100 people rallied last Saturday in a biting wind on the hilltop at 127-03 20 Ave. in College Point, where the city plans to house 200 homeless men.

The subject of a months-long protest campaign by area residents, the proposal is for a former factory building close to multiple schools. North of 4,200 signatures as of Wednesday had been gathered for a Change.org petition seeking to stop the shelter, which is set to start operating in September.

“Here’s the thing about College Point. It gets dumped on all the time,” said Jennifer Shannon, a neighborhood resident.

Shannon, who was credited by rally attendees for launching community opposition to the shelter, maintains that the shelter is just the latest in a long line of public facilities to be located in what residents see as a family neighborhood. For example, the NYPD Academy, a city Department of Sanitation waste transfer station and a state Department of Motor Vehicles are all sited in College Point.

She is a member of the College Point Civic and Taxpayers Association and A Better College Point, two groups with other members at the rally. Shannon has also raised money for a potential lawsuit that would seek to stop the shelter plan.

Danger and inappropriate siting for the shelter residents are the two themes that were repeatedly reflected in the signs held up at the rally and mentioned by speakers.

“No one asked us,” one placard said. Others read, “Protect Our Families Before They Get Hurt,” “De Blasio doesn’t care about our children’s safety” and “With 3,000 school children in a mile? No way! Not here!”

Cozy relationships may have brought shelter to College Point

From the Times Ledger:

City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) confirmed Thursday that a controversial men’s shelter will open in College Point next year.

The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) spoke to Vallone Nov. 14 and notified him that they would be moving forward with the proposed shelter at 127-03 20th Ave.

According to the Vallone, the shelter could come as early as next September.

“Our fears were confirmed that 127-03 20th Avenue has been approved for use as a homeless shelter as early as September 2019,” Vallone said. “David Levitan’s greed sold out all of College Point for profit over the needs of our entire community.”

“This is a site that was deliberately purchased and converted for use as a homeless shelter — a despicable act by one owner who has no regard for the communities he infiltrates. We will continue to fight and stand with College Point,” he added.

Despicable act by one owner?

Yes, it was deliberately purchased and converted for use as a homeless shelter by David Levitan and Steven Berger. So who really sold out College Point since everyone knows what those two are all about? Why, it was none other than Gina Argento of Broadway Stages fame, a close friend of the mayor! Let's not forget that her husband, John Ciafone, has organized at least one fundraiser for Peter Vallone, and has been friends with the Vallone family for decades. Hmmm....

Also note that the sale of the property happened more than a year ago (just before the City Council election), but the transfer didn't happen until well after, in March.

Not to worry, we're sure Vallone and the born-again progressive, John Liu, will be right on top of this one. The voters of northeast Queens are to be applauded for their wise choices at the polls.

College Point threatened with homeless shelter

Bowne Park is a disaster

Hello Crapunzel,

It’s been awhile since I’ve felt the need to contact you. Recently in the blog you’ve mentioned North Flushing, sidewalks and street digging, and since I am a resident of the Bowne Park area of NF I figured you might have an interest in this.

The Department of Parks and Councilman Paul Vallone in their infinite wisdom have determined that Bowne Park should be ignored. We have made several requests for more trash cans on the 159th street side of the park, by the playground, where ice cream vendors ply their trade and parents allow their issue to drop litter, to no avail. Attached are photos of their solution, black plastic bags hung over fences.

We’ve also complained to Vallone about the pond. For OVER TWO weeks the fountains have been shut off leading to an algae bloom that is not only unhealthy for the fish and turtles in the pond but to the olfactory senses of the local residents. See attached photos.

Repeated calls to Vallone’s office have not alleviated this problem. Contacting the Parks department at the Overlook is a total waste of time, they do not care about one of their park “Jewels”.

Also, take a gander of the bocce court that the department added a couple of years ago for about $500,000...no one uses it.

Thanks for your attention.

Sincerely,

Philipe the pissed

Pols oppose jail at Fort Totten

From the Queens Tribune:

State Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside) and Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) said that they are opposed to a proposal to create a new city Department of Correction training facility at Fort Totten.

Braunstein said that, according to a document his office received that was dated Sept. 26, the city has moved to re-use a portion of Fort Totten to create permanent home for a city Department of Correction training academy. In 2015, the city’s Fire Department—in collaboration with the city’s Office of Management and Budget and Design and Construction Department—initiated the first of two consultant studies on the proposal. An analysis of requirements for the site is expected to be completed this month, according to the document.

“I strongly oppose the creation of a new DOC training facility at Fort Totten and find it outrageous that the city is secretly considering this proposal, which could have a detrimental impact on our parkland,” Braunstein said. “Recently, Community Board 7 notified my office that DOC was considering a facility at Fort Totten. Upon receiving this information, my requests to various city agencies have failed to result in any substantive information. It is absolutely unacceptable that a proposal of this magnitude was not shared with elected officials and the community board for over two years.”

Braunstein called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to abandon plans for the facility at Fort Totten, while Vallone added that Bayside was the wrong community in which to locate such a facility.

From QNS:

In a letter addressed to Mayor Bill de Blasio on Jan. 11, state Senator Tony Avella raised concerns with the city’s “serious lack of information” in reference to certain project propositions by the Fire Department and Department of Corrections (DOC). The FDNY has proposed building a wind turbine at the Bay Terrace location, while DOC considers using it as the site of its new training academy.

After an alleged runaround from city agencies, Avella has filed a Freedom of Information (FOIL) request for documents pertaining to both proposals.

“What are you hiding?” Avella writes. “I would appreciate a full briefing on your plans by all those involved.”

Fort Totten — formally an active U.S. Army installation in the Bay Terrace section of the neighborhood — is currently used by the U.S. Army Reserve, NYPD and FDNY. Certain portions are designated public park areas.

For FY 2018, DOC allocated $1.1 billion to fund a “New Jail Facilities” project, prompted by Mayor de Blasio’s push to close Rikers Island and create neighborhood-based and decentralized jail sites. Avella questioned whether DOC’s interest in Fort Totten pertained to this move.

“I hope this is not a hidden plan to place a jail on the Fort,” Avella writes. “Such an attempt would be fought vigorously by the whole community.”

One's out, one's back for another term, both were absent

Waterpointe doesn't allow single-family homes

From the Queens Tribune:

Whitestone resident Robert LoScalzo believes that despite the correction made in the September fact sheet, it’s impossible for the DEC to allow single-family homes on a Track 4 site, per the Department of State’s regulations. In a letter to the DEC, he cites one regulation that “the restricted residential use” denoted by Track 4 “shall at a minimum, include restrictions which prohibit…single family housing.”

“It’s right there in black and white,” LoScalzo said. “It just doesn’t seem to wash with what the regulation says.”

The DEC said that the certificate of completion for the remediation should be issued this year. Additionally, the agency is “establishing an escrow agreement with the developer to fund site management activities at this site for a period of 10 years in the amount of $272,000.” In the meantime, Sweeney said that the board has reached out to Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) seeking the only thing that will guarantee single-family homes at Waterpointe: a rezoning.

Last licks in CD19 race

Konstantinos has been delivering doorhangers to area residents:

Graziano put out a comparison mailer:

And Vallone has a PBA endorsement flyer that features Shutterstock photos of non-NYPD officers:

It's all over tomorrow!

Vallone a bit testy over non-appearances

From the Queens Tribune:

City Council candidate Paul Graziano, a well-known activist and city planner, bashed Vallone for not attending the event or several other candidates nights in the district, including one with the Bayside Historical Society and another with the Douglaston Civic Association. Vallone attended a candidates night at the Bay Club on Oct. 25, but Graziano argued that the event was not open to the public.

“That should speak volumes to the audience, that Paul Vallone is afraid to actually respond and face his own constituents,” he said.

A spokesman from Vallone’s campaign said he did not attend the We Love Whitestone event due to a medical emergency in his family, and issued a testy response to Graziano’s claims.

“Councilmember Vallone does not attend all candidates nights because he does not feel compelled to debate a career loser running on the Reform party line who he has defeated twice already in elections,” he said.

Candidates nights are a means of letting constituents hear your positions so they can make an informed decision when they go to vote. Depriving them of that opportunity and blaming your opponent for actually showing up isn't really all that smart.

Allegations of special favors in CD 19 race

From the Queens Chronicle:

A separate matter involving the race — the Vallone campaign’s usage of the Four Twos taxi service — has also been a bone of contention between the hopefuls.

According to a spokeswoman for the Campaign Finance Board, the dates listed for expenditure filings are supposed to be the day that the money was paid on. Vallone’s campaign paid the Four Twos taxi service to provide rides to polling sites for voters on primary day.

But the filings listed for the councilman’s re-election campaign on the website are for Sept. 6 and 15, neither of which was the day of the primary.

The Vallone campaign did not return a request for comment about the filing dates.

According to Graziano — who has submitted a complaint to the CFB about the issue — the service gave “dozens” of rides to voters.

The payments to the taxi company — which also received city funding to give rides for a senior transportation program organized by Vallone’s office earlier this year, and will do so again for a slightly different version of the initiative that will kick off later this month — are only $58.65 and $78.25.

Saying that those payments would not cover the number of rides that he said the company gave to voters, Graziano is claiming that the business gave the councilman a “freebie.”

A manager for Four Twos named Jim — he declined to give the Chronicle his last name — said that the claim was “150 percent false. ... Vallone got nothing for free.”

Keeping with agency policy, the CFB declined to comment on Graziano’s complaint.

Queens County dynasty freakout, Vallone edition

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Saturday I showed up with a group of volunteers working for Paul Graziano’s city council candidacy. In the recent Democratic primary he lost to the Vallone machine by a small margin. He’s got a real shot to win the General Election Nov 7th. But the tactics of Paul Vallone are thuggish as exemplified Saturday. Vallone and his campaign crew posted up outside of a Stop and Shop supermarket in the Bay Terrace Plaza which is in Bayside. They were first there so when we arrived we respectfully worked the back of the exit line from the supermarket.

Everything was going fine until Paul Vallone himself noticed that many of the shoppers were calling me over and having long conversations with me. He decided that he had had enough of freedom of speech and fair competition. He called the mall police on us who then instructed us that we were standing on private property and were without a permit which Paul Vallone had. I requested to see the permit but I was denied.

Rather than create a big scene since I was well aware that management was a Vallone crony we did the next best thing and marched outside onto the entering street and started to stop cars, talk with passengers and give out Paul Graziano literature. Thankfully the NYPD did not hassle us. Paul Graziano’s crew was working hard and rolled with the many changes that I had to make from our original plan.

This was New York State Reform Party teamwork at its best. We rolled with the adversity and turned it into a great campaign day. Now it’s onward to victory November 7th. (You can see in one of the pictures that Paul Vallone himself is leading the effort to remove us from us in front of the Stop and Shop).

- Curtis Sliwa, Chair of the NYS Reform Party

Vallone vs. Graziano on 2% property tax cap

City Council District 19 candidates Paul Vallone and Paul Graziano debated whether or not there should be a 2% tax cap on 1-2 family homes, condos and co-ops.

Everyone in this district should watch this video very carefully and listen intently. You can draw your own conclusions.