From the Daily News:The crusader wore a pinstriped suit, campaigning outside Hunter College on the first day of classes and promising free City University tuition if he's elected.
"I'm Councilman Tony Avella. I'm running for mayor," he said over and over, as students politely shook his hand. "Keep me in mind. Talk it up. I need it!"
Student Barrie Weisblum, a 19-year-old political science major from Brooklyn, grilled him on how he'd pay for it (answer: legalize sports betting and eliminate waste) and asked if he had been a political science major as well.
"Yes, with philosophy as a minor," Avella said. "I think more elected officials should have a real basis in philosophy and ethics."
This is the core of Avella's strategy, as the crusader from Whitestone, Queens, tries to pull off an upset in tomorrow's Democratic primary.
He believes city government is corrupted by developers and cracking down on New Yorkers' rights. He doesn't take big contributions and doesn't run much of a conventional campaign.
But Avella, 57, believes the moral purity of his quest can overcome those disadvantages and propel him into the mayor's office, where he can turn City Hall on its ear.
"It's worth that one-in-a thousand shot for real change," Avella said.
He has been a loud voice against high-density development and Mayor Bloomberg's education reforms as well as the carriage horses that ply Central Park.
He also has a 100% attendance record, refused to accept a pay raise or an official parking placard, and won't take contributions from developers - giving him a reputation among his colleagues as an uncompromising scold.
12 comments:
Paying for higher education through legalized bookmaking?
C'mon. I wasn't born yesterday.
Have we all become so cynical and are ready to give over NYC to the developers' pols without a fight?
C-mon have some faith in change!
It won't happen walking the same old crooked path alongside the same corrupt candidates who are beholding to New York's real estate industry without taking a little bit of a chance!
Thomas Edison realized that no new discovery was achieved without taking some risk.
What have we got to lose?
We're all f----d if Bloomberg or Thompson win anyway!
We've got a real chance for change...the voice of residents heard in the planning of their own communities!
VOTE AVELLA....he's the peoples' man!
Fiorello La Guardia cleaned out City Hall.
I think that Antonio Avella can complete the job of stable cleaning.
The first mountain of shit to be swept out will be Bloomberg!
Hoorah!
Maybe we can use all that fertilizer to green up the city!
Go Tony Avella!!!!!! You've got my vote and you always will. If you don't make it this time around I hope you run again in 4 years.
I vote for none of the above.
Come on People! Vote for Avella. He's better than Thompson and way way better than Bloomberg. If you don't, you deserve the mayor that you get. Start saving up, because if Bloomberg gets in, your real estate taxes and water will go up again and again. Oh, don't forget the MTA fares. That's a given.
Time to trust your own common sense and judgment.
Yes. Trust yourself.
Vote for Tony Avella.
The reward will be a city managed honestly and intelligently.
Your reward will be the safety of your family, property and neighborhood.
What do you want? More taxes? More eminent domain? More failed schools? More crime? Government agencies that will screw the taxpayer just for sport?
I thought not.
Vote for Tony Avella. You'll thank yourself.
Tony Avella!
Trust and hope never got you anywhere in politics.
Nice for publicity ... within a few hours of the election.
I saw the debate and Avella struck me as a breath of fresh air. I like the fact that he is AGAINST eminent domain and his recommendation for rent control for commercial entities. Look around and see all the empty store fronts that can't affort the high rents. Commercial rent control is a good idea. Avella has my vote.
Bill Thompson = The Developer's Friend. If you want change in government, vote for Avella. He's against all the overdevelopment in Queens. We want change. Vote Avella.
Can and/or will avella still run in the general election if he doesn't land the democratic party tomorrow??
I already voted for Tony Avella and Norman Siegel.
They represent real progressive change.
Oh well.... There's always four years from now...
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