Northeastern Queens races may become free-for-alls

From City and State:

Former Queens Sen. Frank Padavan is mulling a comeback in the northeast Queens district he narrowly lost to Sen. Tony Avella two years ago, sources said, but Queens Republicans are concerned the newly-redrawn district will not be favorable to a bid. Padavan’s name has risen as Republican City Councilman Dan Halloran has downplayed the idea of challenging Avella. Sources said Republicans are unlikely to do much through redistricting to make the district more conservative, and are largely focused on convincing another Republican councilman, Eric Ulrich, to run against Democratic Sen. Joe Addabbo in eastern Queens.

From City and State:

One race I’ve been following closely is the Democratic primary shaping up to take on colorful northeast Queens Councilman Dan Halloran. He may run for state Senate in 2012 against State Sen. Tony Avella if the redrawn district breaks the right way, though he’s recently thrown cold water on the idea. But assuming that Halloran isn’t a member of the state Senate by 2013, the Democratic primary to take him on could again get pretty messy, in what is a relatively conservative district by New York City standards.

In 2009, the Queens Democratic machine backed community board chair Jerry Iannece, and tried to force Paul Vallone, the brother of Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., to drop out of the race, fearing Iannece and Vallone would split the Italian-American vote – and pave the way for a weaker general election candidate to emerge. Vallone refused to drop out, and that’s exactly what happened: Kevin Kim, a bright, young Korean-American lawyer, won the primary behind a huge turnout by Korean-American community in Flushing, but narrowly lost an extremely ethnically and religiously divisive general election contest to Halloran.

Fast forward to 2013. Kim has moved out of the district. Vallone wants to run again. Iannece is very interested. Matt Silverstein, a young state committeeman who is the former president of the New York State and Queens Young Democrats is already raising money. All of this threatens to again split the vote — and make anointing the strongest general election candidate a difficult task for the Queens Democrats.

Halloran accuses Kim of hiding his money

From the Times Ledger:

Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) is eligible to receive additional funding from the city, but the newly elected councilman for northeast Queens said the money could have been more useful during last fall’s campaign season and that it must all go toward paying off debts accrued for mailing and printing costs.

Amanda Konstam, a spokeswoman for the city Campaign Finance Board, said Halloran will receive a Tier 2 bonus due to the post-election filings of his Democratic opponent Kevin Kim, who did not participate in the city’s matching funds program.

Candidates can receive Tier 2 bonuses after their opponents earn three times the spending allocation of $161,000, or $483,000. Once qualifying for the bonus, a candidate can receive up to $1,500 in matching funds per contributor and their spending limits are eliminated.

But Halloran said he never received the bonus despite Kim’s total funds exceeding $600,000.

Halloran accused Kim’s campaign of purposely under-reporting its funds to prevent him from receiving the Tier 2 bonus.

“Questions like these are handled through the audit process,” Campaign Finance Board spokesman Eric Friedman said of Halloran’s accusation.

Michael Nussbaum, a spokesman for Kim’s campaign, brushed off Halloran’s accusations that his opponent did not adequately report his campaign contributions.

“I wish Dan Halloran mazel tov that he will get a bonus from the Campaign Finance Board,” he said. “I don’t know what the problem is. The Kim campaign complied with all regulations and all filings were done on a timely basis. The board had no problem with our filings.”

Merry Christmas from Gary and Kevin

A U.S. Congressman. A Local Election. Religious Intolerance! (and Whore Ads!)

Original article by Alan Gross:

A U.S. Congressman. A Local Election. Religious Intolerance!

A Queens Crap exclusive!

Ackerman gets called out on the carpet

One of Congressman Gary Ackerman's constituents didn't like the shenanigans that went on during the Kim-Halloran race. So he wrote Ackerman a letter expressing his outrage.

Ackerman replied.

And he was called out for being a bullshit artist.

Coming up tomorrow: an original in-depth article by the letter writer exposing the big steaming pile of crap that's been hanging out on Northern Boulevard for way too long.

Photo from the Times Ledger

Kevin Kim loses NJ Council race & a lot of money

Korean Americans Reflective After Election Upset in NJ
NOVEMBER 13, 2009, Donga

Korean Americans in New Jersey are reflecting on their relations (or lack thereof) with other ethnicities in the wake of a shocking election defeat.

Democrat Kevin Kim, who ran for the New York City Council, lost Nov. 3 in the District 19 City Council long controlled by his party. He lost because he failed to get support from Caucasians.

In the wake of Kim’s defeat, Korean Americans agree that they must reflect on their behavior.

Along with Los Angeles, New Jersey is a hotbed of Korean Americans, especially Flushing (19th electoral district). A gigantic Koreatown is located in the district.

Kim was expected to become the first Korean American to be elected to the city council. Yet he lost with 12,830 votes (47 percent), 1,300 less than the winner, Republican Dan Halloran.

Kim’s family immigrated to the United States when he was five. Because he graduated from law school at Columbia University, Korean Americans had high expectations for him. In his or her own electoral district, a New York City councilor has substantial influence, comparable to that of the New York mayor.

Korean Americans have to visit Chinese-American councilors whenever they have complaints because of the lack of Korean Americans on the council. Korean Americans for months had believed that Kim would be the first ethnic Korean to serve on the council, and were shocked by his election defeat.

The loss has made Korean Americans reflect on their past behavior. Kim enjoyed several advantages since he was a Democratic candidate in a district long dominated by his party. Many experts, however, say he failed because Korean Americans are not recognized by other ethnic groups and other problems.

The head of the Korean-American Voter Center, Kim Dong-seok, said, “Since Korean Americans are not good at English, they don’t try to communicate with other ethnicities. Also, they dine out only at Korean restaurants and mingle with only ethnic Koreans even at church. They have to try to break down barriers set between Korean Americans and others, including Caucasians.”

Korean Americans are also known not to try to clear up the notions that they run illegal bars, drink excessively, and make a lot of noise.

Min Byeong-gap, a professor at Queens College of the City University of New York, said, “Ethnic Koreans hardly communicate with other races. Only few other Asian races take the same course. Among Asians groups in the U.S., ethnic Koreans rank only fifth in population following Chinese, Filipinos, Indians and Vietnamese. To strengthen their influence, they have to communicate with other ethnicities and get more support.”

Others say the voter turnout of Korean Americans was lower than expected in Kim’s district and he had difficulty in fundraising. One suggestion is for Korean Americans to strengthen their unity as Jews have done.

Wow! Interesting to find out what closed communities are really reading and thinking, isn't it?

And the Daily News reports that Kim was the biggest loser:

This top 12 list is based on the latest filings with the Campaign Finance Board, including 24-hour reports required for the Nov. 3 election. Another filing is due Nov. 30. Here's how much they spent and how they fared:

1) $483,726: Democrat Kevin Kim of Queens won the primary for the 19th District seat being vacated by Tony Avella (D-Bayside), but was beaten in the general election by Republican Daniel Halloran, who spent $93,248. Kim spent $52,750 of his own money.

Dan Halloran is District 19's new Council Member

Dan Halloran 53%, Kevin Kim 47% with 100% of precincts reporting. Congratulations!

Mail Fraud 101 by the Kim campaign

"Hey Crappy,

You're not gonna believe the attached document mailed out by Friends of Kevin Kim: the Pastor of Sacred Heart RC Church in Bayside warning his flock about the pagan. And I scanned the outside, too, where it says who's responsible for the mailing. This one is a new low."

- anonymous

Well, anonymous, not only is it a new low, but making it appear that the church mailed these out to voters could have serious consequences for both the church and the candidate. It puts the church's 501c3 in jeopardy and opens up the possibility that Kim could be prosecuted for mail fraud. Federal postal rules prohibit printing an address other than your own on a piece of mail bearing your prepaid postage stamp.


Can't make this stuff up, folks. And yes, the church did print this in their Sunday bulletin. Which begs the question how the Kim campaign got it in enough time to mail it so that it hit before election day.

Kevin Kim's Aggressive Tactics

This came into my inbox. (I linked it via the photo.)

--Joanne Trikas, who ran the polling site at PS 79, wrote of the Kim poll watchers that, “Many of our inspectors and myself at times felt they could be electioneering to voters. These people were ‘constantly’ inquiring with the inspectors who told me that they were very aggressive in gathering information.”

-- Elyse Bulla, the coordinator at PS 130, wrote that the Kim poll watchers, “Did not want to follow orders or procedures…They are telling me what to do…I kept telling them not to get involved.”

-- Maria Farren, the coordinator at St. Andrew Avellino School, wrote that, “Hyng Jung Shim–another Kim poll watcher, made our inspectors very uncomfortable. As soon as an Asian voter arrived at the table, she was right there inching her way in and taking notes.”

--Elaine Klein, the coordinator at PS 169, wrote that a Kim poll watcher named Jae W. Lee was “nasty, belligerent insulting.”

--Kevin Smyth, the coordinator at PS 193, wrote that Kim’s poll watchers were “not just checking signatures but taking names addresses & following voters out for more info (only Asian).”

According to the Board of Elections poll worker’s manual, “it is a felony punishable by fine, imprisonment or both for a poll worker to…electioneer at the polls.” The manual also state that poll watchers must, “follow the directions of the Coordinator or Board of Elections personnel,” and that poll workers cannot, “threaten or intimidate voters.”

Also, it turns out that Michael Sais, who organized the phony "Halloran is an anti-Semite" protest, is not only a Gianaris hack, but also a former Parkside lobbyist.
If the various news outlets that reported on this had bothered to do a simple Google search, they would have found this info. But reporting the whole truth is apparently no longer a goal in the age of Bloomberg.

Last ditch effort shows Kim's desperation

From the Daily News:

Kim supporters and religious leaders began the day outside Republican headquarters, trying to make hay over Halloran's acknowledged involvement in a pre-Christian pagan religion, Theodism.

"By comparing animal blood sacrifices with the Jewish dietary laws of keeping kosher, it's no wonder that Dan Halloran's religion is supported by neo-Nazis and white supremacists," said Michael Dovid Sais, a Jewish Kim supporter.

The anti-Halloran protesters claim the religion furthers anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic views - something a Jewish leader who stood with Halloran yesterday in Whitestone was quick to dispute.

"It's a clear sign of a desperate campaign," said Halloran, a lawyer.

Fact: Dan Halloran never compared the sacrifice that his religion partakes in to "keeping kosher". He made the comparison to kapparot, which is a Jewish blood animal sacrifice whereby an animal is slaughtered to atone for a person's sins and then the meat is donated to feed the poor. Or perhaps similar to the halal tradition that takes place in slaughterhouses across the borough which the Queens Tribune presented in a positive light last week.

Fact: The group Halloran is a part of is multi-ethnic and multi-racial.

Fact: The Kim campaign is shitting in their collective pants.

Kevin Kim really gets around...

"I decided to do a search for Kevin Kim's Manhattan address. Looky what I found! Check out Kevin Kim's address...

For someone who has lived in Bayside all of his life, this guy really gets around!!!"

Why is he using different addresses to give money to a Boston politician?

I thought he was just like me? I'm not doing that!

Friends of Kevin Kim

Statement from Steven Stites, Spokesman, Dan Halloran for City Council Regarding Kevin Kim Consultant Michael Tobman:

“At what point does Kevin Kim have to answer for the questionable conduct of his staff and the people he has chosen to run his campaign? The unfounded name-calling and sleazy tactics have escalated into destroying Halloran signs on private property, moving from dirty politics to outright criminality are just a part of a pattern that has emerged since Kevin Kim unexpectedly defeated all of the more mainstream centrist Democrats in the primary on September 15.

We know Kevin Kim hired Michael Nussbaum of Multimedia/The Queens Tribune paying huge sums to do his hit pieces against Dan, including spurious attacks on Dan Halloran's heritage and faith. We know Kim was involved with a ‘bait and switch’ backdoor endorsement with the scandal-plagued Working Families Party, which is under investigation in multiple jurisdictions and is tied to the national scandals with ACORN. Add to that Kim's attempt to hijack the Independence Party's line by an ‘opportunity to ballot’ petition in August, which was fortunately thrown out by the Board of Elections because it was ‘riddled with improprieties in the signatures gathered.’ It’s a never-ending list.

Now we find out that Kevin Kim's newest advisor is none other than Michael Tobman. Tobman is an infamous lobbyist known for his Karl Rove-style gangster campaigns. He has been called by the Daily Gotham the ‘Sleaziest Lobbyist in New York,’ and he has admitted to violating a series of ethics and lobbying laws. These are the people being employed to advance the Kim campaign.

Tobman is infamous for his brand of dirty politics. Nussbaum, another consultant to Kim, is a convicted felon, dubbed the infamous ‘bag man’ for Queens Borough President Donald Manes by the New York Times for his arrangement of a bribe for a public official.

Voters in Northeast Queens want to know, Kevin Kim: Why you surround yourself with sleazy hucksters like Tobman and criminals like Nussbaum? And why do you insist on using their political playbook of dirty politics and mudslinging rather than addressing the issues?”
____________________________________

Speaking of sleazy hucksters...check out that endorsement photo. Looks like all the Donald Manes cronies have lined up behind Kim.

Another reason to vote for Halloran

If you enjoyed the tenure of Mario Cuomo, then by all means vote for Kevin Kim. But if you are like 95% of the Queens people I know who refer to him as Mario F$@%#& Cuomo, then you have to believe that this helps Halloran.

Violating campaign finance laws in broad daylight

Kim voter registration drive done by a nonprofit -- the Korean American Voters Council -- in violation of Campaign Finance Board laws (on Sept 26-27 at Citifield).

This is their description online:

“As a strict non-partisan non-profit organization, KAVC does not endorse any particular party or candidate. It is our responsibility to educate the voters on voting rights and procedures and let the voters decide who to vote for themselves.”

Kim charges racism...(yawn)...

From the Daily News:

Democrats accused a Queens Republican City Council candidate of flooding the neighborhood with racially charged flyers targeting his Korean-American rival.

They claim Republican candidate Dan Halloran is trying to scare white votes with flyers painting Democrat Kevin Kim as a pawn of Asian developers.

"This is a coded message a la Giuliani," said Liu, referring to the former mayor's recent warning of a resurgence of crime if current city Controller William Thompson - who is African-American - defeats Mayor Bloomberg.

One of the flyers juxtaposes a photo of Kim on a crowded street in downtown Flushing - which has a large Asian population - with a photo of Halloran playing boccie with several older white men in a park.

Another flyer features a large "For Sale" sign warning voters they will need the sign if Kim is elected. The flyer lists the names of Asian campaign donors.

Halloran's aides shot back, saying it was Kim playing the race card.

"Overdevelopment is a huge issue," said campaign spokesman Steven Stites.

"Kevin Kim's campaign is funded by the same developers who overdeveloped downtown Flushing, and they are who he will work for in the City Council."

Okay, so: If you are a white candidate and feature a photo of yourself with other whites on your campaign literature, that's "racist". If you are Asian and your campaign literature features yourself with other Asians, that's called "reaching out".

If you target overdevelopment as an issue and list the names of your opponent's developer contributors, who happen to be Asian because more than 90% of his contributors are Asian, that's "racist".

And best of all is that Johnny and Kim are basically conceding that Flushing has become an overdeveloped dump (and that wasn't achieved by the Archies).

Maybe instead Kim can answer why he would have so many contributors from District 20, unless they plan to do business in District 19 and see him as their golden ticket.

How many different versions of this story will we hear?

The Kim campaign claimed their volunteers were attacked by football-throwing teens a couple of weeks ago. The version of the story keeps changing, however.

First, about a dozen teens yelled, "Kevin Kim sucks!" and "Asian men out!" as they tossed fliers backing Dan Halloran for the 19th District seat.

Then a group of young men sitting on a stoop yelled anti-Asian comments at them. “They yelled out some pretty awful ethnic slurs and one of them threw a football at our team.”

I'd like to see the stoop that a dozen teens could sit on. Seems like "Kevin Kim sucks" and "Asian men out" turned into "awful ethnic slurs" which would be more like one of these.

The latest version says The alleged attack, to which there were no witnesses, claimed the teens were carrying pro-Halloran signs.

So the stoop-sitting Asian-bashing teens just happened to be carrying Halloran signs?

Look guys, if you're going to make up a story, at least stick to one plausible version of it. As an astute commenter on the Queens Campaigner stated:

"As to the Fracas on the streets, they were in an area that is all camered up, and the deli’s are located at 19th avenue and Clintonville Street, 5 blocks from the parkway, and 4 blocks from Francis Lewis Blvd, 17th Avenue and Francis Lewis Blvd, 5 blocks from the parkway, and where just last week that tragic accident occurred... apparently geography is not the Kim’s Campaign strong suit."

Actually, the Crapper figured out that this info could easily have been found by using Google Maps Street View.

Kevin Kim's moving adventures

For a guy who claims to be from Bay Terrace, Kevin Kim sure has bounced around...from Manhattan...to Flushing...and to CD 19 just in time to run!

I can't wait for Ruffles to write an exposé on this.

Reader asks for ethics probe of Ackerman

Crapster-

After feeling very angry at the September 17th Queens Tribune article and subsequent insults aimed at Republican City Council candidate Dan Halloran, I decided that I could not sit idly by and allow this insult to journalism and democracy continue without making a statement. After reading your posts and the accompanying comments, I decided that I would take this issue to a much higher level and ask for an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics of the role that Congressman Gary Ackerman played in this breach of trust and morality.

Please keep in mind that I am not stating that Congressman Ackerman is guilty of breaking any laws. That is the reason for this inquiry. Let those who can do a proper investigation locate and examine records that will or will not confirm these allegations. The attacks that were printed in the Queens Tribune were bad enough but then when I started to connect the dots, I saw a pattern of behavior that is most disturbing and needed to be addressed. These suspicions started when I found out that Kevin Kim was Cong. Ackerman’s aide prior to his run for political office.

I looked over the dozens of pages of Democrat candidate Kevin Kim’s campaign contributions and I saw names and addresses that make me feel that Congressman Ackerman may be soliciting these contributions using his position as a U. S. Congressman. I am specifically concerned about those monies coming from Asia and parts of the United States such as California, Hawaii, Texas, etc. As one of the Queens Crap commenters suggested, where will Kim’s allegiance belong, to his constituents or to those who made donations to his campaign?

I am also concerned about the potential links between the Queens Tribune, Cong. Ackerman, and sexually oriented businesses both here in Queens and in Asia. All one has to do is Google the Tribune’s executive vice president, Michael Nussbaum, and see that he was involved in a NYC parking violations scandal 20 years ago and more recently has been promoting sexually oriented clubs in Asia. The Queens Tribune is the only local newspaper in Queens that runs advertising for the sex trade and most of these ads come from Asian businesses. I was amused by the hypocrisy of publisher Michael Schenkler and staff in the October 9th edition of the Tribune that reported the devastating affects of prostitution for young girls and an accompanying editorial while the back of the paper runs ads that might be putting young ladies into harm’s way!

Another reason that I felt the need to ask for an investigation into Congressman Ackerman’s role in the 19th city council district election is that the media has been a big let down. As a graduate of the Syracuse University Newhouse School of Journalism, I am appalled at the lack of objectivism and integrity in the articles that are laughingly called news. Where did all of the gung ho investigative journalists go? While at school, I walked a beat that took me into downtown Syracuse and really looked for stories to cover. I met a lot of elected officials and law enforcement personnel and asked a lot of questions. Those efforts led me to write many articles that were published in the campus newspaper and reported on air at the campus radio station.

Today, most of the stories that I read are puff pieces and rewrites of press releases. How sad because a free society needs a free and independent press to provide information that will lead to informed decisions, especially at election time. Therefore, I felt the need to come forward and find out why the Queens Tribune and its founder Gary Ackerman need to distort issues and focus on the religious beliefs of a candidate. I believe that the voters in the 19th council district can see through this overt attempt to compromise the democratic process. However, it is also important to bring this matter to the appropriate venue to see if there was any impropriety. I am looking forward to a response from David Skaggs, Chairman of the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Crapster, I would like to personally thank you publicly for providing a forum where your readers can find information not available elsewhere. I would also like to encourage others to do something and not just bitch and complain. It is time for action and those who choose to remain silent will see that this silence will come back to haunt them in the future. Think about it. Thank you for reading this long-winded statement and I hope that many of you are inspired to pick up where I left off. By the way, I would not discourage anyone from following up on the inquiry that I made to the House Ethics Office.

With hope for a better future,

Alan Gross

Kim campaign contributions from overseas

"I am glad someone has taken the time to criticize the boy wonder, Kevin Kim. I took a few minutes to look at his CFB reports and was amazed.

Look at all the contributions from developers. If you've ever been to Flushing you know it is the most overdeveloped neighborhood in Queens.

And he has taken money from what appear to be non-citizens – people who live abroad. That's against federal law. If you're gonna raise half a million dollars, and almost all of it is from outside the city, you know there are big question marks." - anonymous

Foreign nationals may not make contributions in connection with any election--Federal, State or local. This prohibition does not apply to foreign citizens who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States (those who have "green cards"). - Federal Election Commission

Kim accepts shady WFP line

Statement from Steven Stites, Spokesman, Dan Halloran for City Council, Regarding Kevin Kim Accepting the Scandal-Plagued WFP Line

“Kevin Dukun Kim has come upon the Working Families Party endorsement in a way that surprises no one – a backroom deal designed to fool the voters. The benefits of this deal are enormous – and possibly illegal. Kevin Kim now stands to benefit from the Working Families Party’s web of underhanded activities, its ties to ACORN and its mysterious Data and Field Services, a business created solely to evade campaign finance law.

“A vacancy was caused when Barbara Byrnes, a Queens resident and Democrat who had been endorsed by the Working Families Party for City Council in our neighborhood, was nominated by the Working Families Party for a judgeship in Suffolk County. Pundits had predicted that Kim would in fact get Byrnes off the line to pave the way for him to have an extra line without having to face the scrutiny of the voters. Since Byrnes is only on the WFP line in Suffolk, the nomination is a sham device to create the vacancy. Kevin Kim, upon accepting the nomination, did not even announce the endorsement.

“Kevin Kim claims to be a reform candidate – but he stealthily accepted the help of the WFP, ACORN and their insider cronies. An unknown amount of money may now flow from Kim’s campaign to Data and Field Services. The WFP’s role in other campaigns is under investigation by the New York City Campaign Finance Board, local District Attorneys and possibly the Attorney General. Kim’s expenditures must now also be scrutinized for any evidence of laundering or illicit funneling through this shadow corporation, and whether Kim is violating the public trust in campaign finance laws.

“This is par for the course for Kevin Kim. He already has on his payroll Michael Nussbaum, a formerly convicted felon and the notorious ‘bag man’ for the infamous former Queens Democratic Borough President Donald Manes. Kevin Kim has raised virtually all of his campaign funds from out of state, and even out of the country, and now he is officially in bed with the scandal-ridden Working Families Party and ACORN. And Kevin Kim will clearly say and do anything to be elected.

“I call for an Attorney General investigation of Data and Field Services immediately. And I ask the voters to reject the politics of corruption practiced by ACORN, the WFP and Kevin Kim.”

In response, the Kim campaign came up with a story about their volunteers being pelted with fliers and a football...

Photo from YourNabe.com