Having A Great Time Everyone Should Be Here At The Convention

by Arthur Nitzburg, Queens Courier Political Columnist
Queens came to Philadelphia this Monday at the Republican National Convention. There were more than a dozen Queens people there some as guests, some as staffers and some as delegates and alternate delegates but all were very excited to be participating in a grand spectacle.
The Queens delegation is quartered in the Warwick Hotel in downtown Philadelphia. "We got in Sunday night," Northeast Queens Phil Ragusa told me. "We all went to the Press Invitational which was sponsored by Bloomberg Radio. It was fantastic. We met Governor Pataki, Lieutenant Governor Donahue, and even George Stephanopolous (ABC commentator, former Bill Clinton strategist and advisor). The event was held in a downtown Philadelphia restaurant called The Striped Bass. There were shrimp as big as a fist, and oysters, and, of course, bass prepared in a dozen ways. I ate so much that in the morning I had to go to the exercise room in the hotel to work off some of the calories."
Bloomberg (of investor-oriented Bloomberg Radio, 1130 on the AM dial) is a possible Republican candidate for New York Mayor next year.
The Queens delegation includes County Leader Serph Maltese, Queens Party Counsel Steve Weiner, and local leaders like Eddie Coyne, Kim Peterson, Phil Ragusa and Joe Papillo among others.
For Whitestones Joe Papillo, this is a moment in the sun. His nephew runs a news program on WVMT in Burlington, Vermont. Joe is going to broadcast reports back to his nephew each morning. He also has a cousin who is with CNN and will be covering the convention as well. For Joe, this is a kind of family reunion. And Joes union, the CSCA, gave the Queens delegation lunch on Monday.
"We got up and had breakfast at the hotel sponsored by the Republican Party of the City of Philadelphia," Papillo said. The Philadelphia Republican events are being paid for by Sam Katz, who was the losing Republican candidate for Philadelphia Mayor last year.
"By 10 a.m. we were at the first session," Papillo continued. They had lunch with Joe Papillos union friends and then went off to an event that Kodak was sponsoring at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. New York Lt. Gov Donahue was there as well. Then, they went back to the night session and listened to opening night speeches by Gen. Colin Powell and Mrs. Laura Bush.
After the Monday evening session was complete, the Queens delegation all trooped to an after-session party for coffee and dessert, again sponsored by Kodak.
Did they party after that? "I was far too tired for anything more.
Anyway, we have three more hard days. I need my sleep," one delegate told me," Papillo said.
Whatever the historians write about this convention, one thing is certain. It will be a wonderful memory for the Queens Republicans who trooped down to Philadelphia to spend four summer days helping to nominate the team they all hope will lead the nation.