Wednesday, April 18, 2012

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!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

GAG!

Imagine what it must be like to be stuck sitting next to Moby Stavisky in a hot crowded room for such a long time.

Will somebody please open up a window.

Anonymous said...

Why is no one talking about single and 2 family homes?

Anonymous said...

Toby looks like she needs ducolax in that picture.

Anonymous said...

Screw you Moby Stavisky!!

I am so glad that your too stupid to realize that jim and alex who work for you are cooperating secretly with the feds to indict your son on graft,bribery ansd extortion charges.

Evan and moby should have asked your why's and wherefore's before extolling all that incriminatiing info the last couple of years!!

HAHAHA!!!

Anonymous said...

Thar she blows!

No, not Liz Crowley ... it's a Moby sighting.

Anonymous said...

Moby's mouth on me would be worse than contracting hoof and mouth disease.

Anonymous said...

This is the type of community civic meeting that brings the corrupt "criminal" politicians to their knees. Give it to them North Shore!

Dianne Stromfeld said...

The problem with this meeting was the misrepresentation, as I see it, of the organizers, the NE Queens Pres. Council claim to represent 50 communities and 100,000 shareholders, why weren't they present. Tony Avella presented an excellent bill but this group has done little or nothing to promote it. They have not organized electeds beyond Avella, Stavisky, Braunstein and Weprin. They have not signed petitions or hired buses to bring groups together to back this, or any other important bill. As I see it, the Council is self serving and only Warren Schrieber and Bob Freidrich seem to be front and center. What happened to the other 50 presidents? If they have actually accomplished anything, I am not aware of it and I live in North Shore Towers. We need an association to represent us, but only if they communicate directly with the shareholders and bring in electeds from other communities will they be able to accomplish all that is necessary.