Paul Vallone had a great vacation

From the Daily News:

Flip-flopping City Councilman Paul Vallone had little explanation Sunday for his inconsistent position on Mayor de Blasio's proposed horse carriage ban.

"We are listening to the horse drivers, seeing both sides. It's very important. I want to make sure we can see the final bill before I make a vote. I think, after meeting everybody, it's been very, you know, informing of both sides," the Queens pol said in San Juan at the conclusion of a Caribbean cruise with family.

The Daily News caught the councilman as he got off the luxurious cruise liner and prepared to return to New York City.

"You are going to have to wait till I get home, my dear," Vallone told a reporter asking why he'd reversed his position on horse carriages. He did confirm the vacation had been delightful.

What the News failed to report is that Mr. V was on the cruise with a developer friend of his...

A real horse's ass

From the Daily News:

A day after calling for a “compromise” that would save hundreds of jobs in the embattled horse carriage industry, Queens Councilman Paul Vallone was acting like a jittery thoroughbred — issuing a statement reiterating his loyalty to the animal rights group NYCLASS — and saying he would in fact vote for a ban.

“While reaching a compromise would be ideal, if it came down to an all-or-nothing decision I would ultimately side with NYCLASS and support the bill,” Vallone, who is on a cruise, told the Daily News in an email.

It’s a walk-back from his earlier statements, in which he blasted the mayor for refusing to consider a solution that would make both sides happy, and claimed that more regulations would eliminate the need for a ban.

“At this point, he’d like to see a compromise, and prevent the loss of jobs,” his spokesman, Lionel Morales had said on Monday.

And in an earlier interview in the Times Ledger of Queens, which was published on Monday, Vallone said he’d learned a lot talking to drivers recently, and felt the industry could be saved.

“I think the best thing to do is to put in more restrictions and further regulate the industry,” said Vallone. “And then you will have the best regulated industry as oppose to eliminating it.”

Vallone could not be reached for further comment because he is out of town on a Caribbean vacation.

His recommitment to the politically connected NYCLASS — which endorsed him in 2013 and paid over $8,000 for campaign literature championing him — infuriated members of the horse carriage industry.

I like it when the newspapers do the Photoshops for me.

Addabbo flip-flops over gay marriage

From the Daily News:

When it comes to gay marriage, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo was against it before he was for it — and now he seems to be against it again.

Last year, the Queens Democrat’s position-changing vote helped legalize same-sex marriage.

But now, Addabbo is locked in a tight reelection fight with Republican City Councilman and gay-marriage opponent Eric Ulrich. And the senator recently told the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance during an endorsement interview that he’d again vote no if given the chance, according to two Jewish publications.

Why? Because his newly redrawn district is suddenly more conservative.

Addabbo, who is Catholic, cast a nay vote that contributed to the death of a gay marriage bill in 2009. After Gov. Cuomo, the Democratic standard-bearer in New York, aggressively pushed the issue after taking office last year, Addabbo changed his position, explaining his shift by saying that he polled the matter in his district and found his constituents supported gay marriage.

Cuomo cited the “courage” Addabbo showed in changing his position when he endorsed the senator earlier this month over Ulrich, a Catholic who once considered entering the priesthood. Addabbo’s pro-gay marriage stance also won him the backing of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s largest gay advocacy group.

But the Legislature redrew Addabbo’s district lines following last year’s gay marriage vote, bringing into his territory more conservative enclaves in Far Rockaway, Kew Gardens and parts of Forest Hills — and leading to his second flip on the issue.