Bye Bye Brian

Queens Post 

Assembly Member Brian Barnwell announced via social media Tuesday morning that he will not be seeking re-election.

“It is with sadness that I announce that I will not be seeking re-election to the NYS Assembly for a 4th term,” he announced via Twitter. “… It has been a true honor to serve, and I will never forget that I owe everything to the kindness of the People who allowed me to serve as their representative.”

Barnwell’s decision was abrupt and a surprise to many political insiders since he had filed signatures with the Board of Elections last week to appear on the ballot for the June 28 Democratic primary.

The 36-year-old — who represents the 30th Assembly District that covers areas such as Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and Middle Village — did not provide a reason as to why he was not running again.

“It has shocked a lot of us. It has come out of left field,” said Steven Raga, Barnwell’s former chief of staff who is running to be a district leader. “I hope everything is ok with him.”

Barnwell took office in January 2017 after defeating incumbent Margaret Markey in the Democratic primary — in what political pundits viewed as a major upset. Markey had been elected to the seat nine times, while Barnwell was a political newcomer at the time. He had worked as an aide to former Council Member Costa Constantinides before running for office.

It is unclear what impact his eleventh-hour decision not to run will have on the election of his successor.

Under election law, Barnwell could play a major role in who is elected to his position. For instance, if Barnwell submitted a document called a “certificate of declination” to the Board of Elections by the end of April 11, a special committee would be formed to choose someone to take his spot in the upcoming primary, according to Democratic District Leader Èmilia Decaudin.

The committee, which would be made up of Barnwell’s supporters, is more than likely to pick someone that the assembly member recommends. If he didn’t file the form his name would remain on the ballot.

Paladino, Sullivan, Barnwell, Cruz win primaries

These numbers come from NY1:

STATE ASSEMBLY - QUEENS (D) DISTRICT 30
• Precincts Reported: 82/82

Brian 5,214
Barnwell
64.2%

Melissa 2,902
Sklarz
35.8%


STATE ASSEMBLY - QUEENS (D) DISTRICT 39
• Precincts Reported: 56/56

Catalina 3,736
Cruz
53.5%

Ari 3,016
Espinal
43.2%

Yonel 225
Sosa
3.2%


STATE SENATE - QUEENS (R) DISTRICT 11

• Precincts Reported: 224/224
Vickie 1,640
Paladino
57.3%

Simon 1,220
Minching
42.7%

STATE SENATE - QUEENS (R) DISTRICT 15
• Precincts Reported: 223/224

Thomas 3,188
Sullivan
67.9%

Slawomir 1,508
Platta
32.1%

Anti-establishment pol rages against the Machine by endorsing a Crowley

From the Queens Chronicle:

In his endorsement, announced by the Crowley campaign on Tuesday, Barnwell specifically cited her opposition to last year’s plan to convert the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter as a reason for his support.

“For the last eight years, Elizabeth Crowley has been a tireless fighter for our community. She stood with us against the Mayor to oppose the disastrous homeless shelter proposal for the Maspeth Holiday Inn,” Barnwell’s statement reads. “This is the kind of leadership that Elizabeth Crowley brings to the Council, and I’m proud to endorse her re-election and stand with her on the issues that matter to our families.”

The lawmaker had told the Chronicle multiple times since Holden announced his candidacy in April that he didn’t expect to officially support anyone in the race.

And his endorsement of Crowley represents something of a departure from his rhetoric during his successful Democratic primary campaign against then-Assemblywoman Marge Markey last year.

Barnwell was present at nearly every nightly protest for over a month, speaking to the crowd of angry constituents multiple times — even being introduced by Holden on some occasions.

And in at least two of those brief speeches, Barnwell took swipes at Crowley for not attending any of those protests.

“Is Liz Crowley here? Who’s that?” Barnwell asked the crowd on Aug. 19. “The fact is [Crowley, Markey and state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach)] haven’t showed up to give us an update and it’s atrocious.”

“You guys stopped this. The elected officials didn’t stop this,” Barnwell said on Sept. 10, after the city announced it would not convert the entire hotel into a shelter. “They haven’t stood with us. And it’s not the first time they haven’t stood with us.”

The assemblyman defended his past statements in a Tuesday interview with the Chronicle, saying Crowley deserved credit for bringing a lawsuit against the city over the shelter plan.

“She brought a lawsuit and it was dismissed for a lack of standing. So as a legislator, I brought up a bill that would give us standing,” Barnwell said. “How many other politicians have ever brought a lawsuit against Mayor de Blasio?”

Actually, Letitia James has sued de Blasio multiple times and Rory Lancman has as well. And let's not forget that little lawsuit that saved FMCP from having a shopping mall developed inside it.

Now it's been confirmed that Crowley knew about this shelter months before the community did, and she failed to show up at any of the protests that were held, so this Barnwell statement is a bit suspect.

It's more likely that Barnwell is being threatened with a primary challenge and therefore was "forced" to endorse Dizzy Lizzy and acquiesce to having this statement attributed to him which was obviously written by the Crowley camp. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Only 8 months in and this guy's already crossed over to the Dark Side.

It must really be terrifying to a pol to be faced with the prospect of having to find a real job.

Barnwell has novel idea for shelter approval

From the Queens Chronicle:

An outspoken opponent of using Maspeth’s Holiday Inn Express as a shelter, freshman Assemblyman Brian Barnwell (D-Maspeth), has drafted and plans to introduce a mulifaceted bill that would empower community boards to veto planned shelter sites.

Given the experience with their communities that board members have, the lawmaker said, their votes would be based on more information than City Hall’s.

“At the end of the day when you leave all the decision-making power in the hands of the mayor, the fact of the matter is you leave the authority to the person who is in my opinion causing problems,” Barnwell said. “Notification is great but you need something to actually have the power to stop bad decisions.”

The assemblyman does not think that granting the shelter-placement rejection power would result in NIMBYism preventing hotels from ever being used as shelters, though it would block sites like the Holiday Inn Express from housing the homeless. Different sites could be suggested by the board, he said; and no government body is ever compelled to approve anything.

“What forces the Senate to approve a nomination for the Supreme Court?” he said. “The community board is not gonna turn down every site.”

Community boards are advisory bodies. Because Barnwell’s legislation would designate the hotel shelter location veto authority, the assemblyman said that a “home rule message” — legislative approval by New York City — might be required.

The Law Department declined to comment about whether the bill would require a home-rule message; City Hall and the office of Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan, Bronx) did not immediately return requests for comment.

City Hall tries to fool public into thinking that filling a shelter means that Maspeth "won"

From PIX11:

The city has ruled it won't turn the Maspeth Holiday Inn Express into a full homeless shelter because its ardent opposition but locals are still furious homeless men were snuck in without any notification.

"One of the changes I wanted to make was to create a process in which we open shelters and we give the community notification," NYC Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks said during an August 11 community meeting in Maspeth, where tempers flared over the proposed conversation of the Holiday Inn Express off the Long Island Expressway.

On Monday, residents were out on full force again as they have been for nearly every night in the last two months. But this evening was unlike any other as the city quietly moved in 25 homeless men.

Bryan Barnwell, a Democratic nominee for the 30th District, watched the entire process unfold Monday at approximately 2:30 p.m.

"I said to myself this looks kind've fishy so I investigated," Barnwell said. "We go to back entrance and go to the back of property to see what's going on and I see an empty van there with 10 people in it. They were adult males."

Barnwell believes the city snuck homeless men "100 percent."

The Department of Homeless Services responded to the protests in a statement to PIX11.

"Due to local opposition to housing homeless New Yorkers, we have not been able to convert this site into a full shelter at this time. We are renting rooms for employed single adults and providing onsite services and security."

Holiday Inn Express management had no comment in response to the city moving homeless adults into the hotel.
________________________________

Ok folks, lets translate what is going on here. Carefully read the city's quote: "we have not been able to convert this site into a full shelter at this time", and zone in on the phrase "at this time".

This says in a sneaky way that the city has no plans of abandoning its plan to make this entire hotel a shelter. They are starting with 30 individuals, and will build it up slowly until a good portion of the shelter is filled. And not with "adult couples" as was told to the residents of Maspeth, but with single males. Note also how they emphasized that those males will be "employed" but fail to mention the substance abuse problems expected (which their job ads indicate will be something to deal with). Then we'll see a contract submitted for a permanent shelter, and the Holiday Inn sign will come down.

Spinning it to make it seem like the community "won" allows the press to get their clickbait for a day, while confusing readers into thinking this is somehow "over".

It doesn't appear that the good people of Maspeth have fallen for it, however. According to most reports, the protests are set to continue, and several road trips are in the works.

In recent years, we've lived through 5 terms of Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani combined, and over all that time, haven't seen anything like the propaganda and lies put forth in 3 short years under this mayor. It's truly astounding.

Democratic voters dump Marge Markey

It's been 18 years, and just like that, she's gone.

Markey vs. Barnwell at Maspeth shelter hearing

Thought you'd enjoy these. They are quite something. Perhaps a preview of primary day?

2,000 protesters shut Maspeth streets down

Photo by Robert Holden

I was wondering when a community in Queens was going to tell de Blasio to shove it and from the photos and videos coming in, it appears that day was yesterday. Roughly 2000 people poured into the streets of Maspeth to protest BDB's planned dumping of a homeless shelter for "high risk" adult couples on the town.

The protesters assembled at the Holiday Inn Express near Maurice Avenue and marched through the streets of Maspeth, led by civic leaders and State Senator Tony Avella. Several candidates for election, including Democratic Assembly candidate Brian Barnwell, Republican Assembly candidate Tony Nunziato and State Senate candidate Michael Conigliaro participated. In fact, the Queens County GOP sent several reps to march with their banner, but not one cog of the Democratic Queens Machine bothered to show up.

The marchers left the hotel area and entered the heart of Maspeth, heading east on Grand Avenue and shutting it down. After marching through almost the entire length of town, they doubled back and marched up 69th Street, stopping to jeer Marge Markey at both her office and her home. They then walked down to Maurice Park and over the pedestrian bridge back to the hotel.

Yesterday was quite hot but thanks to water donated by Rosa's Pizza and O'Neill's Restaurant, nearly everyone who participated made the full 5 mile round trip.

Although the tweeders, through their lackeys in the media, like to portray Maspeth residents (or anyone opposed to a homeless shelter) as "racist", there were a number of non-white people either marching or cheering the protesters on from their homes. People of all races don't want their quality of life destroyed, their families living in fear, or their property investments threatened by the presence of a facility that even the city admits will cause major problems in the community. And that's what Lincoln Restler, Bill de Blasio and the rest of the tweeders need to understand before they get swept out of office by an electoral tsunami.

However, with responses like THIS, it doesn't appear that Liz Crowley is getting the message:

A light rain was falling as Community Board member Jerry Drake addressed about 200 protesters on Thursday night, August 25th in front of the Holiday Inn Express near Maurice Avenue and the L.I.E in Maspeth. Drake was the last speaker of the night and reported on a meeting he had earlier that day with Council Member Elizabeth Crowley in her Glendale office.

Drake told the crowd that he had asked Crowley if she would attend the giant protest march scheduled for Saturday, August 27th through the Maspeth community to protest the de Blasio Administration's decision to convert Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter for 220 adults. Crowley told Drake that she would not attend the march. The news however did not surprise the crowd since Crowley had not attended any of the 9 daily protests that regularly draw between 200-300 protesters. A frustrated Jerry Drake asked Crowley why she decided not attend the protests or the scheduled march to support her Maspeth constituents in a show of unity against Mayor de Blasio. "I didn't like the way I was treated at the Martin Luther School homeless meeting (on Aug. 3rd)," said Crowley. Drake reported that he asked Crowley what he should report back to the protesters. "Tell them whatever you want," she replied.

Crowley then told Drake that the Maspeth shelter was going to happen because the Mayor wants to place homeless shelters in Queens and particularly in the Community Board 5 area that has no shelters. When Drake reminded Crowley that she is up for reelection next year she responded, "I'll cross that bridge when the time comes." Crowley's response angered the protesters with many chanting ‒ "Vote her out!"

Marge Markey sends out anti-corruption mailer

I'm not really sure why the Times Ledger felt that an article about Marge Markey's re-election fundraiser was newsworthy without at least mentioning that she has a Democratic opponent in the primary. But she would like her constituents to know that she is not corrupt, as evidenced by this mailer, the fact that she voted with Sheldon Silver something like 99% of the time and has been a Crowley clubhouse girl since 1999.

(She also doesn't represent Glendale, but don't tell the Times Ledger that.)

Markey to have challenger

From the Queens Courier:

Brian Barnwell is looking to be the voice of a district he has called home all his life and one he says needs a big change and new leadership.

The 29-year-old Woodside resident and lawyer has announced that he will run next year for the seat in the state Assembly representing District 30, which covers the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Woodside, Middle Village and parts of Astoria, Sunnyside and Long Island City.

The seat is currently held by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, who was first elected in 1998.

“I just feel like it’s time for a change. I feel like we need some new energy where people are going to go out and engage the community and bring the community voices into the conversation,” Barnwell said. “Everyone is getting pushed out. The teachers are being thrown under the bus. The students are being thrown under the bus. The middle class is just being destroyed and we can’t take it for granted anymore. So I want to be the voice of the middle class, because I am in the middle class.”

Barnwell’s desire to run for office was fueled recently when he began working as the director of special events for Councilman Costa Constantinides, and experienced many residents coming into the district office complaining about various issues – including affordable housing.

This made him realize that there needed to be a change and he would be that change.

Republican or Democrat? Don't know. They didn't bother to ask and it doesn't matter anyway.