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.

Whitestone asks FAA to reroute helicopters

From PIX11:

Neighbors in Queens are sounding an alarm after a helicopter with two people inside made a water landing off the south shore of Long Island on Wednesday.

"We Love Whitestone" is a group created a number of years ago. Members joined with some other neighborhoods and people in Astoria, Queens to bring attention to the air traffic above their homes.

Alfredo Centola is a founding member of the Whitestone group. He has shared videos with PIX11 of helicopters flying over their homes. They run a website where neighbors can file reports and they also say they have set up sensors that track aircraft.

They're asking the Federal Aviation Administration to review the official flight plan that brings choppers and sea-planes over northwestern Queens. The neighbors point out the same path requires aircraft to fly along the water farther south in certain parts of Long Island's North Shore.

Whitestone rally features defensive architect

Vallone makes some grandiose statement of how he "negotiated with the architect and developer" but never would have let the people at the rally know that architect Joe Sultana was even there, except for the fact that he freaked out and verbally attacked Paul Graziano. Fun times!

Sunday rally at Waterpointe site

The Waterpointe developer now claims that he will stick with the original plan to build 52 homes, but I wouldn't buy it. We Love Whitestone will have a Sunday afternoon rally at the site.