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Pol Position: Queens Surrogate Election Gets A Bit Lighter

glendaleregstg on May 7, 2024

Courtesy the Law Office of Donna Furey

Political insiders in Queens are stirring about the upcoming election for the Surrogate judge, a spot that comes up for election every 16-years. Judge Peter Kelly is the outgoing judge and the court, with about 50 employees, takes care of the disposition of wills and estates. Donna Furey, the Astoria attorney and civic leader is considered the one candidate with experience in this type of law. This week she abruptly suspended her campaign for the post. No word on why, but insiders opine that votes for her would now go to Queens Democratic Party favorite Cassandra Johnson. “These kinds of things happen all the time,” said one judicial insider we spoke with Monday evening. “The party leaders need to continue to maintain control of that court. There was possibly some kind of agreement which made her and the ‘party’ happy,” the insider said.

Cassandra Johnson, a Supreme Court Judge since January, might just have an easy path to victory. Wendy Lee, a Manhattan judge, put up by Hiram Monserrate’s camp, has been working community boards this past month. She showed up at the Middle Village Community Board meeting to introduce herself. People at the meeting were certainly confused as to why she was allowed to speak as she did not say that she was running for any position. “ I just wanted to introduce myself,” she said.

Rules for running for a position of judge are quite different than what’s allowed when running for political office. But records show she has raised almost two hundred thousands of dollars. Johnson has about a tenth of that.

Pol Position: Trolling & Adams/Heastie

glendaleregstg on April 11, 2024

After we posted about our Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights walk with Assembly candidate Hiram Monserrate last week, we got some sparking comments on social media about why we would give this guy any press at all.

When we sat down with Hiram, he wanted to clear the air about his reputation and questioned a recent article from the Ledger which referred to his past legal troubles. After explaining that our readers are savvy and leaving it out could signify that we were trying to hide his past, he talked about his new life with a wife and young child. He also showed us that the part of his past life that has not changed is his love and fighting spirit for his community. And we will tell you something that is only talked about in the highest of Queens political circles: Monserrate is ‘relevant’ and he has a following which many in the democratic clubs fear fractures Queens democratic politics. He is running for Jeff Aubry’s seat. Larinda Hooks, who is well known at Elmcore, is the choice of county — and Aubry. Stay tuned for that race.

Internet trollers who minimize the message from our reporting about the sex workers and child labor tragedy going on in his neighborhood should focus on the message: that area needs attention. It doesn’t need a sweep once every six months. The illegal activity is rampant and for those living near Roosevelt Avenue, to have a reasonable quality of life shouldn’t be asking too much.

By the way another nugget he suggested is that the MTA should be an agency, not an authority, which doesn’t have the oversight and agency, would. Not a bad thought.

Carl Heastie, the leader of the NY State Assembly is doubling down on his notion on not recognizing that people who loot and harm retail workers should not be considered felons. Mayor Adams disagrees. But the power the Assembly Speaker wields means it goes nowhere. The missing piece in Heastie’s stance is that cops continue to lose the ability to perform their job. It means workers at these retail stores don’t pursue shoplifters. It means that what we continue to witness in drug stores all over the city the lawlessness of looting will not change. Don’t wonder why we will see store after store have simple everyday items behind locked glass shelves. It takes ten minutes to track down a store worker to open the glass showcase to get a bottle of aspirin… if you can even find a drug store within walking distance from your home anymore.

We don’t think reformers of criminal justice had this in mind. If criminal justice is truly to be reformed, laws and procedures like this have to be rolled back. The ‘new common sense’ goes too far when real criminality is not dealt with in a true ‘common sense’ manner.

Editorial: Willets Point Casino Poll …. Really?

glendaleregstg on April 11, 2024

Let’s do a neighborhood poll to see if people want legal cannabis shops on their main street. How about a community poll to see if residents agree to a homeless shelter in their neighborhood? We’ll bet the results wildly surpass the ‘75% against’ results of the State Senator Jessica Ramos’ Willets Point Casino poll for Corona. In fact we might see both our polls show 95% or-more against legal cannabis and homeless shelter. To base your decision to support a project on a neighborhood poll is careless.

Jessica happens to be a solid representative for the district. As chair of the Senate labor committee she has been a champion for the rights of workers, fair pay and equality. Her district is in the transit hub of New York. Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst bustle with trains and busses 24/7. As a member of the Senate transportation committee it’s quite important that Jessica represent us.

But right under her nose, sex workers, illegal food vendors and cannabis shops are so rampant, it’s impossible to walk Roosevelt Avenue (like we did last week) without gasping in fright for the ‘neighbors’ who live within blocks of the avenue from 82nd to104th. We have multiple brothels, dozens of ‘street meat’ vendors and dozens of little kids hawking everything from candy to eggs to iphone chargers. Where’s the interest in labor there?

We’re not calling her out. We know the police are present on Roosevelt. We know that she spends time in the district and it’s an enforcement problem, but it seems we all turn a blind eye and blame someone else for the problem. We talked to cops on patrol that night. We talked to Sanitation enforcement. They admit there is little they have the power to do. “These people doing illegal business don’t carry ID, so how are we going to summons them?” one official told us. Police and sanitation have to be given the tools to work together and do consistent sweeps. The neighbors deserve it.

We got the invitation from Hiram Monserrate to walk Roosevelt with him. We took it. Jessica, we would love to walk Roosevelt with you in the coming weeks. See what’s there. Polls and Town Halls are great, but decisions about the future of the neighborhood are never made by polls. People don’t want change. Many of us don’t understand change. Yet the City and the State, regardless of polls institute congestion pricing, open homeless shelters and license cannabis shops.

It happens to be true that people and organizations who have come out in favor of the casino there have either been given money or promised money from the Steve Cohen treasure chest. Well we haven’t been promised anything, nor have we gotten any money and we can safely say that a casino and all the entertainment and food amenities that come with it will make Queens better. Having a developer with deep pockets, who has shown that he gives back, is key. Signing a deal which will enhance the Willets Point transit hub, provide jobs, provide real shows and a deal that awards money for community improvement near the casino is a winner.

Activist Investors Are Coming After New Yorkers’ Safe Investments. Here’s How We Can Stop Them.

webadmin on March 18, 2024

by Pastor Michael Battle

For generations, millions of middle-class New Yorkers and other Americans have used a type of investment vehicle called closed-end funds (CEFs) to secure their financial future.

A close relative of better-known mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), CEFs often deliver more reliable distribution income than other funds as a result of their holdings. This makes them very popular with seniors and folks planning for retirement.

However, all of the benefits CEFs provide are facing a grave threat. Activist investors on Wall Street have set their sights on these funds, planning hostile takeovers to enrich themselves at the expense of the regular Americans who have invested in the fund, and it’s time for New Yorkers to pay attention.

These activist investors have billion-dollar bankrolls and have discovered they can buy up shares of a CEF and wage a proxy campaign to change the adviser. Surprising no one, they appoint their own firm as the CEF’s adviser, completely shift the investment strategy to riskier assets, and then sell their position for a quick profit while continuing to earn management fees, leaving American retirees holding risky assets they never intended to have when they originally invested in the fund.

These billionaire activist investors are using a loophole in the Investment Company Act – a law passed in the wake of the Great Depression to protect investors and prevent fraud – when they buy up shares and orchestrate these hostile takeovers of CEF boards, the fund’s governing body.

Suddenly, American retirees who invested in the CEF because it provided reliable distribution income from safe assets may now be holding a highly speculative fund made up of assets like crypto and high-risk corporations. In many cases, these activist investors have taken control and made the changes before regular investors even realize what’s happening. Even worse, sometimes a CEF will be liquidated entirely as a result of an activist’s takeover, eliminating the income stream original investors were expecting to have for their retirement or other savings purposes.

Alarmingly, the billionaire activists are using this strategy increasingly often, which is why New Yorkers must start paying attention now and speaking up. Income New Yorkers were counting on in retirement may be at stake. On top of this, now fewer CEFs are being created in part because investment managers see activists preying on these funds. With fewer CEFs available for retirees and middle-class Americans to safely invest in, regular people are being left without this useful option.

While some may argue these hostile takeovers are simply the free market at work, that argument fails to recognize the legal intent of the Investment Company Act. For more than 80 years, the Investment Company Act has protected investors and ensured funds serve the best interests of shareholders. The law has allowed for the growth of CEFs, mutual funds, and ETFs that have generated billions of dollars in wealth for Americans saving for their retirement, college for their kids, or a downpayment on a new home. If activist investors with hostile intentions are allowed to exploit loopholes in the law to enrich themselves instead of long-term shareholders’ interests, millions of CEF investors will continue to suffer.

It’s time for robust action to protect American retirees who invested in CEFs long before activist investors started to prey on these funds. Thankfully, New York Congressman Gregory Meeks has proposed a bipartisan bill to protect CEF investors. His Increasing Investor Opportunities Act, would prevent hedge fund managers from exploiting the loopholes they use to take over CEFs, and it would expand opportunities for retail investors to participate in investment opportunities. With both Democrats and Republicans behind the bill, this should be a no brainer.

It’s time for Congress to help investors and retirees stand up to hedge fund bullies. New Yorkers deserve some peace of mind that rich activists won’t take over their investments and exploit them for personal gain. Passing the Increasing Investor Opportunities Act is the best way to do that.

Opinion: Just heard about Citi Bike? Don’t complain.

webadmin on February 9, 2023

A Citi Bike docking station in Glendale.

It’s now February, and as promised, more Citi Bike stations are creeping into the streets of Queens.

But somehow despite Community Boards discussing the topic at every meeting, civic associations fighting against the DOT’s original rollout plan and local reporters screaming into the void for a year, the normies are only just finding out about it.

Our question to them is: Have you been living under a rock?

In District 5 of Queens, for example, Citi Bikes are a hot button issue given that the communities of Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale fit the bill for being “transit deserts.” Additionally, NYC Economic Development Corporation produced a chart based on Census data, which shows that well over 60 percent of households in District 5 own cars.

Since the release of the DOT’s initial Citi Bike draft plan around this time last year, many longtime community residents have been angry and confused about the commercial enterprise coming to their neighborhood.

This is especially due to the fact that many of the Citi Bike docking stations were placed in roadbeds – where up to three parking spaces per station will be surrendered – as opposed to on sidewalks.

Elected officials, including Councilman Robert Holden and members of Community Board 5, have expressed their dismay with the DOT’s lack of transparency, since it neglected to present its Citi Bike draft plan for CB5 to vote on.

Juniper Park Civic Association released two reasonably feasible counter proposals in response to the DOT’s plan, where the group advocated for more stations to sit on sidewalks instead of in the street. CB5 also fought like hell, voting overwhelmingly in favor of submitting a letter to the DOT requesting that they be able to play an active role in the implementation of the program and the placement of these stations.

“Lyft’s Citi Bike program continues to gobble up parking spaces badly needed by hardworking New Yorkers, like a giant corporate PAC-MAN who refuses to hear the reasonable requests of middle-class neighborhoods in favor of the fanatical anti-car movement and a corporation with a vested interest in getting New Yorkers to give up owning cars,” Holden said in a statement back in July. “One of the great things about living in New York City, particularly in Queens, is that every neighborhood has its own character. The Queens DOT denies this unique diversity by forcing a one-size fits all approach to bike stations across the city.

In order to prevent this menace to our community, we needed to come together as a massive unit of residents and reach out to the powers that be. People who were angry and concerned about this stark loss of parking and ostracization of disabled and elderly folks who cannot use these bikes, needed to open their mouths – BEFORE, not after they’ve been fully implemented.

You’ll be hard pressed to get these things taken down by the DOT once they’re up.

Our newspaper and several other hyperlocal papers worked diligently to inform readers about this addition to the community through many meticulously reported updates and articles. We call on real New Yorkers to stay informed on what’s going on around them by supporting local journalism and using their voice to advocate for their best interests.

Once all the hipsters are over living in NYC for the aesthetic and head back to the Midwest to settle down, they will not take the bikes with them. We’ll be stuck living with it. Don’t let it happen again when the next big thing plagues our neighborhoods.

(Opinion) Journalists: Call racism what it is

webadmin on January 25, 2023

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels.

What a hell of a week it’s been.

A member of Queens Community Board 5 was removed last week by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards after he referred to COVID-19 as the “Wu flu” during the most recent public full board meeting.

We worked hard to break the story first for a few reasons. Community Boards are an integral part of the neighborhoods we live and work in, and its members represent us and our ever-growing needs. It’s in our DNA to get hyperlocal.

With that said, we must hold these officials to a higher standard. They must be held accountable for their words and actions. If that comes with consequences – so be it.

Richard Huber, a CB5 board member from Glendale, has been removed by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards after the use of an anti-Asian slur during the most recent public meeting.

We have no regrets for how the story was reported, and would like to take this opportunity to explain why journalists should not be afraid to insert themselves into the stories they report.

Complete objectivity in journalism is an outdated concept, which was first legitimized in the 1920s.

As the news industry evolved, the 1960s and onward saw more and more journalists including analysis and interpretation into their reporting – not “just the facts,” as a 2018 TIME opinion piece highlighted.

In 2023, an era of science denial, calls to end our democracy, increased lies by politicians and an abundance of hate and violence – we cannot dance around these issues.

As journalists, we pay attention to these current events on a to-the-minute basis, and no one quite understands these topics in the same ways we do. We have an enormous responsibility.

Professional judgements differ from personal ones. They are based on factual evidence and experience.

Modern notions of objectivity, which strive to be non-partisan, undermines the idea of us being objective to the truth. It’s a disservice to give two talking points equal 50/50 weight, and isn’t objective in deference to the truth.

We reported that the use of “Wu flu” is racist, and that it is a “known racial slur against Chinese people and Asians as a whole.”

To call it anything else is dodging. “Racially tinged” and other synonyms are simply weak writing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does not name infectious diseases haphazardly. In 2015, it released new guidelines for the best practices of determining these names, citing the aim to minimize “unnecessary negative impact of disease names on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare,” and “avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups.”

Quickly now, give me one reason other than assigning blame to a certain geographic location for this virus, did Richard Huber have for using that terminology?

Yes, COVID-19 destroyed and ended lives. But to assign blame only opens the door for hate and violence against a certain racial group, in this case, Asians – as they are often viewed as a monolith despite hailing from such a culturally diverse continent.

This term not only assigns blame to Asian people, but it deflects blame from the U.S. government – which many feel did not do nearly enough to address this virus from the get go.

It ignores the fact that politicians and people gave up, when the easiest thing was to wear a mask and social distance.

If you say “Wu flu,” you have no serious analysis of what happened with the country’s pandemic response, and we learn nothing about how to protect ourselves.

As for his claims that COVID-19 vaccines alter DNA,we’re going to get a bit medical here, so pay attention; Messenger RNA and Covid-19 vaccines work by delivering instructions to cells in our body to build protections against the virus that causes COVID. After the body produces an immune response it discards all the vaccine, never entering the nucleus of your cells. But I guess if you don’t trust the CDC, the WHO or just about every accredited medical organization, then go with some study in Sweden.

Community Boards are a forum for members of the neighborhood to give input on bus routes, sanitation, precinct police response, zoning and parks. The borough president appoints the members and expects engagement to help him make decisions on budget items, where attention needs to go to infrastructure (like flooding).

It is not a forum for members to spread opinions about global issues.

It should be noted that the CB5 meeting was held remotely to begin with as a precaution due to COVID-19, flu and RSV concerns.

Yes, Richard – your remarks are completely protected under the first amendment. But you are appointed by the borough president to represent your neighborhood to him. It would have been great if you just apologized for being insensitive, after one member of the board commented that he was offended by what he saw as a racist comment. That’s what we do when our words offend someone, whether we intended it or not.