Which is appropriate Memorial Day weekend candidate behavior?

Honoring those lost in the fight to keep our country free:

#MemorialDay looks a bit different this year without the traditional parades, but #ForestHills knows the importance of honoring our fallen heroes no matter the circumstances.

Honored to join today’s ceremony and pay tribute to those neighborhood residents who sacrificed for us. pic.twitter.com/QncAVgMMvJ

— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) May 30, 2021

Memorial Day is a solemn reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that many of our service members in the United States Armed Forces made defending our country.

With these heavy hearts, we offer our thoughts and gratitude to the families of those who lost loved ones in battle. pic.twitter.com/SAUMkP5ie8

— Elizabeth Crowley (@ElizCrowleyNYC) May 31, 2021

I was proud to participate in this year's Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony with the United Veterans and Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth and @MaspethFederal. The rain could not dampen our grateful spirit.
#MemorialDay2021 #maspeth pic.twitter.com/aSfNawGKmd

— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) May 30, 2021

I was honored to attend @MelindaKatz’s #MemorialDay observance ceremony yesterday. Remembering our fallen soldiers is what this weekend is about. Enjoy, but also remember. pic.twitter.com/znqLtPv7tW

— David Weprin (@DavidWeprin) May 28, 2021

Shamelessly barnstorming apartment buildings and quiet neighborhoods for votes:

All this rain has produced at least one good thing - higher than average contact rates on the doors! pic.twitter.com/tyFuZ1gtn6

— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) May 30, 2021

Lots of people home on this rainy Sunday full of enthusiasm for electing @tiffany_caban! pic.twitter.com/TOQbNANRMu

— Brad Lander (@bradlander) May 30, 2021

Rain or shine we’re talking to all our neighbors in my hometown #maspeth pic.twitter.com/drDhLKz3XZ

— Juan Ardila (@JuanArdilaNYC) May 29, 2021

(FYI: The "V for Victory" hand gesture was introduced in January 1941 as part of a campaign by the Allies of World War II.)

David Weprin's cash for mustache campaign

 

#CancelLien

QNS
 

Two Queens lawmakers introduced legislation that would postpone the New York City tax lien sale by one year following the expiration of the COVID-19 state of emergency order.

State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblyman David Weprin said the annual lien sale in which debt on tax-delinquent properties is auctioned to private collectors was scheduled for May 15 but was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic.

As of now, the sale is scheduled to occur on September 4. The owners of properties eligible for the tax lien have until September 3 to pay their debt or enter into a payment agreement with the Department of Finance. Once a lien is sold, the property owner must arrange a payment agreement with the lien servicing company or risk legal seizure of their properties.

Liens are sold to private servicing companies with special operating authorization from the city and currently, these include Tower Capital Management, LLC and MTAG Services, LLC

In Comrie’s southeast Queens district, a residential community that is still recovering from the subprime mortgage crisis, as many as 600 properties are eligible for the 2020 lien sale. In past years, 

Comrie’s office has worked closely with the Department of Finance to identify and assist property owners ahead of the annual lien sale, but COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges to doing community outreach.

“Homeowners facing the lien sale need ample time to consult with attorneys, enter into payment agreements, and learn about exemption programs ahead of the sale,” Comrie said. “COVID-19 has made this all impossible to do on a scale that we need it to happen. The tax lien sale can’t happen this year, and I’m going to raise hell between now and September 4 to see that it doesn’t happen.”

With thousands of city homeowners impacted by the economic effects of the pandemic, Weprin says holding the lien sale this year would be unconscionable.

Residents protest taxes on co-ops and condos

From the Queens Tribune:

Residents of Bellerose’s Parkwood Estates condominium complex and members of the organization Politics Reborn turned out on Friday to protest city property taxes on condos and co-ops in front of Assemblyman David Weprin’s (D-Fresh Meadows) office.

The protesters accused the assemblyman and city of lagging on a bill aimed at capping co-op and condo assessments.

“He’s the one dragging his feet,” Alice Christy, a Parkwood Estates resident and member of Politics Reborn, said of Weprin.

Christy noted that Weprin is one of the sponsors of bill A00354A, which would cap co-op and condo assessments at 8 percent in any one year and 30 percent in any five years. The bill’s author is Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside). It is identical to a bill in the state Senate sponsored by state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing).

“[The bill] just languishes there,” said Christy.

She added that 30 percent is still a big increase, “but it’s better than what we would have. Our community is middle-middle class. We can’t afford homes in the area, yet we have too much money for affordable housing. We need this to pass. The city commissioner of finance is just kicking this down the road. I’m not giving up. I’m a tiger.”

The condominium has a large senior population. Christy, who is a senior, said that with property taxes rising, her fees have risen as well. She added that the funds seniors receive from the city’s STAR program have not increased.

Christy and fellow organizers at Friday’s protest went door to door, persuading residents of the condominium to sign more than 250 letters urging Weprin to push the legislation.

Someone's dumping tires along the Clearview

From the Times Ledger:

Stacks of abandoned tires have been seen littering the side of the highway around 73rd Avenue and Clearview Expressway in recent months.

The Department of Transportation, which believes this is the work of one outfit dumping entire truckloads at once, has been regularly required to haul the garbage away. The city agency has been quick to remove the tires, diligence which was praised by City Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) and state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) at a Tuesday news conference.

“The area alongside the Clearview Expressway is protected parkland, and no part of New York City, least of all our parks, is to be used as a private dump,” said Grodenchik, referring to nearby Cunningham Park. “As a community, we spend a lot of time and effort keeping our parks and neighborhoods beautiful, and this illegal tire dumping is an affront to our work.”

Life in the fast lane

From CBS 2:

A proposed plan could add fast lanes to some bridges and tunnels around New York City that would let drivers bypass traffic for a price.

During a transportation panel discussion in Albany, Queens Assemblyman David Weprin said he would like to add express lanes on bridges and tunnels for drivers willing to cough up the dough for the quick convenience.

The plan would charge motorists for faster travel on bridges and highways that are already tolled, CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported.

“Say right now they’re $7.50 to go through the Midtown tunnel. Maybe we could reduce that to $5 or $6 and have the express lane for maybe $10 where people can pay more to have that fast service,” he said.

Pols oppose move NY plan

From AM-NY:

Queens lawmakers sought Sunday to head off a bill expected in Albany next session to add a toll on the now-free East River bridges while slashing prices to cross bridges linking only the outer boroughs.

Assemb. David Weprin criticized the Move NY plan as a “renewed congestion pricing initiative.” The plan — pitched by former city traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz, transport workers unions and environmental justice groups as a means of more fairly spreading expenses — is intended to reduce traffic congestion and raise funds for the MTA.

Opponents gathered at the foot of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City said Move NY burdens middle-class residents in the outer boroughs as well as small businesses.

Holliswood Hospital may go condo

From the Queens Tribune:

The Holliswood Hospital property may be turned into condos and luxury single family homes, one source – a resident who lives near the former hospital – said. The news comes after some neighbors, including members of the Holliswood Civic Association, have been on tenterhooks for the past two years over what the former rehabilitation center for drug users might become.

The lot has been empty since the former hospital shut down in August 2013 due to bankruptcy. On July 7, an LLC associated with Queens Developer Steve Cheung, 3861 Realty, bought the property for $10.9 million.

According to the source, Cheung called Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) on Sunday night and informed him that he was planning to build condo apartments and approximately 15 single-family luxury houses.

Weprin confirmed the call on Tuesday. “I think it is something the community would be accepting of and support,” he said of the alleged plans.

Cheung said that he and his architect had not yet solidified plans. “As soon as we have a decision, we’ll let you know,” Cheung told the Queens Tribune on Monday.

But asked about the planned construction quoted in the reported call with Weprin, Cheung did not deny the plans, saying simply, “We try.”

David Weprin staying put

From the Observer:

Assemblyman David Weprin announced tonight he will not run for his brother’s soon to be vacant City Council seat, ending days of speculation and hand-wringing among some Queens Democratic insiders.

Mr. Weprin told supporters at a fundraiser in Manhattan that he had weighed the merits of serving in the Council and Assembly and decided, in light of his recent promotion to a leadership position in the State Legislature, that he would remain in Albany.

“This year I became part of the leadership in the Assembly. I was appointed by Speaker Carl Heastie as secretary to the Democratic Conference,” Mr. Weprin said, adding that he was also appointed to a post “near and dear” to his heart, an Assembly task force on people with disabilities.

“I’ve decided that I plan on running for re-election to the Assembly,” he continued. “I’ve enjoyed what I’ve accomplished so far in the Assembly. I think I have a lot more to do. I’ve developed a lot of seniority in a short time–a lot of people have left.”

He added that he thinks he has “a big future ahead in the State Assembly.”

Switcheroo by the Brothers Weprin?

From the Daily News:

Queens Assemblyman David Weprin says he’s thinking about running for the City Council seat being vacated by his brother Mark — reclaiming the seat that he previously held before Mark took over.

“I haven’t ruled it out,” David Weprin said. “I did represent that district for eight years, and I thought I served it well.”

The brothers, both Democrats, have traded places once before — Mark Weprin was a longtime assemblyman before running for the Council seat then held by David, who in turn headed for Albany.

If previous MTA funding schemes didn't work, why will this one?

From CBS New York:

Ardent protests erupted Friday against the latest attempt to put tolls on the free East River bridges as part of a congestion pricing plan.

As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, outer borough business and community leaders said they have been taxed enough.

The protest was billed as a wake-up call for New York City drivers who might be asleep at the wheel.

The protesters were targeting the latest incarnation of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s failed congestion pricing plan, which seeks to raise money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by putting tolls on four free East River bridges – the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge between Manhattan and Queens.

Some believe the plan is a good idea because in exchange, it seeks to lower tolls on other spans such as the Henry Hudson between Manhattan and the Bronx, the Whitestone and Throgs Neck between the Bronx and Queens.

But elected officials and others at the protest listed all the tolls and taxes that have been enacted to help the MTA, which are still in effect today.

After the $15 auto use tax in New York City, officials enacted a $30 car registration surcharge in the entire MTA region, followed by a sales tax surcharge, a mobility tax on small businesses, and a 50-cent surcharge on taxi rides.

Saying no to East River bridge tolls

(QUEENS, NY) Senator Tony Avella was joined yesterday by Assemblyman David Weprin, the Queens Civic Congress, and the Queens Chamber of Commerce at a press conference announcing legislation Avella will be introducing in the State Senate that would prohibit the installation of tolls on any bridges controlled and operated by the City of New York, which include the East River bridges.

The imposition of tolls on the East River bridges, including the Willis Avenue, Third Avenue, Queensborough, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges is not a revenue generating option that the residents of this city should be forced to endure. Such tolls would place an unfair burden upon Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Manhattan residents who would be forced to pay to travel between the Boroughs. Given the always increasing cost of living in the City and with constant bus and subways fare hikes, city residents are in no position to again face another huge increase in their daily living expenses.

Avella stated, “Despite the ever present need for additional revenue, the imposition of tolls on the East River Bridges is not an acceptable revenue generating option. Adding tolls to any of these bridges would have a devastating effect on working and middle class families and small businesses. Everyone agrees that we need to address traffic congestion problems throughout the city, but the first step has to be improving mass transit. That is why I will be introducing legislation to prohibit putting tolls on these bridges.”

Assemblyman David I. Weprin, (D-Fresh Meadows) stated. "I am proud to join my colleagues and the community to support Senator Avella's legislation which would ban tolls on the East River Bridges. The addition of tolls on the East River Bridges would take away much needed income from working families and local businesses. There are other ways we can raise revenue without financially burdening workers who have to commute to work to support their households."

“Any plan to impose tolls on the East River Bridges is merely another revenue generating plan, not a traffic-reducing plan. It should be the responsibility of the leaders of the city to find ways of increasing revenues without placing the fiscal burden upon those who can least afford it,” concluded Avella.

Pols say no to more MSG tax breaks

From DNA Info:

City and state politicians rallied on the steps of City Hall Tuesday morning to drum up support for a measure that would eliminate a decades-old, multimillion-dollar tax break for The Madison Square Garden Company, which owns "The World's Most Famous Arena," as well as the Knicks and Rangers.

The company, led by executive chairman James Dolan, has been given as much as $16 million a year in tax breaks since 1982, according to the city's Independent Budget Office — or nearly $350 million over the past 31 years, politicians who oppose the tax break said.

Assemblymen David Weprin and Brian Kavanagh and State Senator James Sanders have said that the money should instead go toward cash-strapped city services. In April, they introduced bills in both houses of the State Legislature that would erase the tax exemption.

On Tuesday, they announced that the bills have gained more than 40 co-sponsors, as well as support from City Council members across New York, including incoming Councilman Corey Johnson, whose district includes Madison Square Garden.

There is "no possible justification at this point, with needed revenue for New York," Weprin said at Tuesday's press conference, speaking in front of about 20 labor union members. "We've lost police, lost firefighters. There's talk of closing firehouses, senior centers."

MSG gets $16M in tax breaks that won't end under Cuomo

MSG Press Release by Queens Crapper

From the Daily News:

Gov. Cuomo said he opposes efforts to revoke a lucrative city property tax hike for Madison Square Garden.

“I haven’t heard any argument that’s convincing for eliminating that,” Cuomo said Tuesday.

At an earlier press conference, Assemblyman David Weprin and Sen. James Sanders, both Queens Democrats, said they are pushing the bill to revoke the three-decade-old tax credit that saves the Garden an estimated $16 million a year because the cash-strapped city can use the money more than a rich corporation.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told the Daily News Monday that getting rid of the tax break would be “troubling.”

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg had no comment.

Common Cause/New York released an analysis that showed Cablevision, which purchased the Garden in 1994 but spun it off into a separate company in 2010 with the Dolans retaining a controlling interest in both companies, is a major campaign contributor to Cuomo and other key officials.

Cuomo, the top individual recipient of Cablevision donations since 2005, has received $359,150 as governor an additional $50,100 as attorney general from the company.

Former Cuomo aide Irene Baker last year left the administration to join MSG as its senior vice president for government affairs.

From CBS New York:

Silver told the News the deal is to encourage development.

The tax break has been in place since 1982.

1) Yes, developers need to be "encouraged."

2) MSG is already developed.

3) If the tax break is eliminated, they won't be going anywhere.

4) Cuomo is a bullsh*t reformer.

David Weprin on the hook for more than $350K

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) personally owes more than $28,000 in penalties while his former campaign committee must repay $325,561 in public funds after the city Campaign Finance Board reported several violations from his 2009 run for city comptroller.

According to the CFB, Weprin was personally responsible for paying $28,184 in total penalties resulting from 11 violations ranging from accepting contributions from unregistered political committees to failing to prove that some spending was connected to his campaign.

The assemblyman has promised to repay the money, according to Weprin spokeswoman Jennifer Berkley, who was not affiliated with the 2009 campaign committee, which has long since dissolved.

Berkley said Weprin accepted the violations as legitimate fines and believes in the city’s campaign finance program.

“He will figure out a way to pay that back over the course of time,” Berkley said. “David really commends this program and thinks it is great for the city and should be a model for statewide candidates, potentially.”

The violations that Weprin was found guilty of included accepting corporate contributions in the 2009 election, making improper post-election expenditures and accepting contributions over the $4,950 limit. The CFB found a total of 11 violations, which tallied up to the more than $28,000 Weprin faces in penalties.

The CFB said Weprin’s campaign accepted corporate contributions for which refunds were reported from Standard Realty Associates ($100); T&H Store Fixtures ($750); Orlow, Orlow and Orlow PC ($200); the Baylor Premier Agency ($1,000); and P&M Contracting Co. ($250).

According to the CFB, the penalty was noted because city campaigns may not accept any contributions from corporations.

The campaign also accepted a total of 31 contributions from groups, including Silvercup Studios Associates of Long Island City, which exceeded the money limit, the CFB said. Thirty of those contributions were refunded following the CFB’s notification, the group said.

Calls for gas stations to have generators

From Bayside Patch:

A second elected official from northeast Queens is now calling for local gas stations to have back-up generators to allow for the operation of fuel pumps during power outages.

Earlier this month, state Assemblyman David Weprin, D-Little Neck, introduced legislation that would force gas station owners to have back-up power sources in the case of a storm.

Under his bill, the generators would need to be available for use no later than 24 hours after a disaster and gas stations would have to get a transfer switch installed by a professional electrical contractor.

Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, has now filed a legislative service request for the law on Nov. 13 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s visit to the city. Residents in Halloran’s district have been forced to wait in long lines for gas.

“After seeing the effects of power outages at gas stations throughout the city, it seems a no-brainer,” he said. “The stations that had power in the early aftermath of the storm quickly ran out of gas, while the stations that had gas had no electricity to pump it.”

He said forcing gas station owners to install a generator would help to prevent the type of gas shortages through which city residents have suffered in recent weeks.

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!

Why did pols give this no-show doc tons of cash?

From the NY Post:

The city spigot of cash for a questionable Queens charity may be turned off.

The city Health Department said it was reviewing three contracts worth a total of $13,000 with Angeldocs after the The Post reported last week that the charity’s health center was often shuttered and that the founder and sole staffer, Dr. Dorothy Ogundu, refused to reveal how many patients she treated or whether she had malpractice insurance.

The taxpayer cash, secured by City Councilmen Leroy Comrie, James Gennaro and Mark Weprin, was supposed to fund Ogundu’s public-access television show on health topics and to generally “improve prevention of diseases.”

After The Post raised questions about Angeldocs, Weprin’s brother, Assemblyman David Weprin, pulled legislation he had proposed that would allow Ogundu to apply for a retroactive property-tax break on the health-center building.

She owes the city $300,000 in back taxes.

Will Turner's district stay or go?

From the NY Times:

Many in the political world expected that Mr. Turner’s seat would be on the chopping block, under the political equivalent of the last-hired, first-fired principle.

But it appears Mr. Turner’s prospects of preserving the district, which stretches from southern Brooklyn to southern Queens, are improving.

Just last week, he went to Albany and made his case before Dean Skelos, who, as the Republican majority leader of the State Senate, is a crucial figure in drawing the new lines. He told Mr. Skelos what he had done in Washington during his time there and expressed his desire to keep the position. Mr. Skelos, in turn, offered encouragement — but no promises.

What is helping Mr. Turner’s chances, according to people monitoring the discussions in Albany, is the symbolic power of his victory to the party nationally.

Mr. Turner defeated David I. Weprin, a scion of a Democratic family in Queens, in a race in which Democrats mobilized some of their biggest names and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr. Turner turned the race into a referendum on the policies of President Obama.

Smoking in cars carrying kids to be banned

From Forest Hills Patch:

State Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Forest Hills, and state Assemblyman David Weprin, D-Little Neck, are calling for the state to prohibit smoking in vehicles in which minors are present and fine violators up to $100.

Under the bill, smoking in passenger cars, vans or trucks would be illegal when youths, ages 14 and below, are present.

“It is of upmost importance to protect our children, whose bodies are still developing and who often do not have a voice of their own,” Weprin said.

The legislation would extend the Clean Indoor Act, which was enacted to prevent smoking in city restaurants. In November, smoking was also banned at Long Island Rail Road platforms and stations.