Barry kicks off BP campaign

From the Daily News:

Barry Grodenchik is entering the crowded field of Democratic candidates for Queens Borough President with an official party/fundraiser on January 8th at Young Israel of Jamaica Estates from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Grodenchik, a former Assemblyman and long-time staffer at Queens Borough Hall, said his experience sets him apart from the pack which includes City Councilman Leroy Comrie, City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., former City Councilwoman Melinda Katz, State Sen. Tony Avella and State. Sen. Jose Peralta.

“I have the most county-wide experience of any of the candidates,” said Grodenchik, 52. “Combined - I have worked in the Borough President’s office for 14 years.

Grodenchik, who grew up in the Pomonok Houses in Flushing, started as an aide to former Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn.

He also worked at the Parkside Group, the lobbying and political consulting firm.

We can see by the company he keeps that he'd be a traditional choice for borough president...

Photo from the Queens Courier

How the Queens Machine protects its candidates

From the Queens Chronicle:

In just under one week, Jacobs and about 10 of his volunteers had collected more than 1,600 signatures. After being told by the Queens Democrats that there wasn’t time to interview him to determine whether he could be a viable candidate for the party as they instead chose Michael Simanowitz, a former aide to Mayersohn, Jacobs was ecstatic that he might still be able to make a bid for the seat that represents the neighborhood where he has lived nearly his entire life.

Then, however, the city Board of Elections ruled last week that Jacobs’ signatures were invalid because he had not written the number of the Assembly district on top of each page of signatures.

“I followed the New York laws and rules regarding the Independence nomination, and I did everything that the petition form from the Board of Elections said to do,” Jacobs said. “Nowhere on the sample form did it say I had to have the Assembly district number on top of every single page. It’s upsetting.”

For a number of good government groups across the state, Jacobs’ situation is representative of New York’s tedious election laws, which they argue seriously deter people other than the party favorites from running for office.

“The function of all these convoluted rules is to protect the established parties from insurgent parties and to protect the established office holders from insurgents,” said Michael Krasner, a political science professor at Queens College. “The fact that you can make a good living as an election lawyer, someone who’s an expert in minutiae in laws, shows how difficult it is for someone without that expertise to mount a challenge to a candidate from one of the major parties.”

While Gov. Cuomo has said he hopes to make election reform a priority next year, Krasner and others have expressed skepticism that legislators would want to change the current system that often gives them a great deal of stability.

Machine bullies candidate off ballot

From City Hall News:

How high are the odds stacked against independent candidates in special elections? Ask Justin Wax Jacobs, a college student who wanted to run for the Queens Assembly seat vacated by Nettie Mayersohn. He first asked a local district leader if he could interview for the Democratic nomination - but says his offer was flatly rejected. He then somehow gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent. Yet even though he posed no real threat to Mayersohn's chief of staff Michael Simanowitz, Queens Democratic election lawyer Frank Bolz was on hand at a Board of Elections hearing Tuesday to make sure Jacobs was thrown off the ballot over a technicality.

Joe Crowley's definition of democracy

From City Hall:

Want to become an Assembly member? One way is to raise money and run a campaign. Another option—seemingly more frequently exercised in the city’s most sizable borough—is to work for an Assembly member, then eventually win an uncompetitive special election, in which all you need a small group of insiders to give you the Democratic line. Assembly Audrey Pheffer, who is leaving for the plum patronage pastures of the Queens County clerkship, already has reportedly lined up the Queens Democratic Party’s support behind her chief of staff. And as soon as Assembly Member Nettie Mayersohn announced her retirement, her chief of staff already had the party’s support. It may not be good democracy, but it’s good politics on the part of Joe Crowley, the Queens county chair. Of course, Crowley learned from the best, winning his congressional seat in 2006 when it was handed to him by former county chair Tom Manton.

Profiling Nettie's right hand man

From the NY Times:

MICHAEL SIMANOWITZ, a longtime aide to Mrs. Mayersohn, wasted no time in publicly saying that he was planning to run for her seat, which would be filled through a special election on a date to be determined by the governor’s office.

Mrs. Mayersohn has denied that her retirement was timed to usher Mr. Simanowitz into her seat, and so did Mr. Simanowitz on Thursday, as he sat in a kosher bakery in Kew Gardens Hills.

He and Mrs. Mayersohn were not “pulling a Manton,” he said, referring to Thomas J. Manton, the late chairman of the Queens County Democratic Organization, who in 1998 announced his retirement in midterm to help his political protégé, Joseph Crowley, win it. Mr. Crowley is now the Democratic Party leader in Queens.

But of course not! NEVER!

From the Jewish Star, by our friend, Sergey:

With state law allowing up to 80 days for an election after a vacancy, Republican and independent candidates have time to establish their names, but are at a disadvantage in comparison to Simanowitz’s Democratic Party support and established ties to local leaders. “I think there are many good candidates possible, but there are not enough troops on the ground. We can win, but we are spread too thin,” said Phil Orenstein, an activist in the local Republican Party.

While no opposing candidates have officially announced their run, Simanowitz promised to make himself known to voters in the largely Jewish district.

Mayersohn retiring

From the Daily News:

Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, the dean of the Queens delegation who was first elected back in 1982, announced today she is retiring.

Our Lisa L. Colangelo reports:

"After much deliberation, I believe the time has come for me to step aside," said Mayersohn, who turns 87 in May and represents the 27th Assembly district.

Mayersohn’s longtime aide, Michael Simanowitz, is being touted as the frontrunner to replace her.

Voters will pick Mayersohn’s replacement in a special election. But placement on the critical ballot is chosen by the four District Leaders - Mayersohn, Simanowitz, former Councilman Morty Povman and Charlotte Scheman.

Thank goodness the outcome has already been decided!

Nettie a menace behind the wheel

From the NY Post:

An 86-year-old state assemblywoman is being sued for causing a car crash that "severely" injured a Queens pedestrian.

Democratic lawmaker Nettie Mayersohn of Queens drove her 2005 Mazda bearing NYS Assembly plates into another car at 164th Street and 67th Avenue in Flushing on July 3, a new lawsuit alleges.

The force of that collision sent the other vehicle — a 1998 Lexus — careening into 74-year-old pedestrian Sebastiana Cabrera, the court papers say.

Cabrera sustained "severe and serious personal injuries," according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Queens Supreme Court.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, accuses Mayersohn of "carelessness, negligence, gross negligence and recklessness" in causing the crash.

Mayersohn was unhurt in her crash.

"We’re in litigation. I really can’t say anything," she said yesterday.

Anti-crime cameras to be installed at Pomonok

From the Queens Gazette:

Pomonok Houses in Flushing, a city Housing Authority development, is set to get an infusion of $700,000 to install closed circuit television cameras in buildings that have been identified by the police department as high crime buildings, two Flushing lawmakers announced.

Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn said she has acquired $500,000 in capital funding for the anti-crime project and state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky received $200,000 in state funds for the project. Stavisky’s funds will be used for the installation of additional cameras in strategic places.

The goal of the funding, the Democratic lawmakers said in a release, is to begin installing cameras in high-crime buildings to reduce crime and improve the quality of life for the residents of the targeted buildings.

Stavisky added. “The residents of Pomonok Houses deserve the peace of mind and security that these surveillance cameras will offer in terms of crime deterrence.” Stavisky added. “The residents of Pomonok Houses deserve the peace of mind and security that these surveillance cameras will offer in terms of crime deterrence.” The cameras, they said, would be strategically placed in specially designated areas that are prone to criminal activity, such as building lobbies, including mail boxes and elevators, interior elevator cabs and building entrances and exits, and also the building exteriors.