By Daniel Massey
In a testament to the power of shoe leather, voters chose Democrat James Gennaro over Green Party candidate Lori Zett to replace term-limited City Councilman Morton Povman (D-Forest Hills) in Tuesday’s general election.
With Povman prevented from running, the voters elected the omnipresent Gennaro, an environmental policy adviser to the City Council and an adjunct professor of political science at Queens College, who went door-to-door in the district to win over voters.
With 37 percent of the precincts reporting, Gennaro received an overwhelming 91 percent of the vote to Zett’s 2 percent, according to unofficial results.
Barry Grodenchik, who was defeated in the Sept. 25 Democratic primary, remained on the ballot as a Working Families Party candidate and received 7 percent of the vote. Although still technically in the race, Grodenchik, Borough President Claire Shulman’s chief aide, endorsed Gennaro and did not run a campaign.
Gennaro, who received endorsements from environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Mayor Ed Koch, had made a name for himself throughout his campaign for his ability to reach out to large numbers of voters. Gennaro said he had the most volunteers, went to all communities, walked every street, and knocked on every door in the district, a strategy that proved to be winning one.
Gennaro’s election means the voters of District 24, which covers Forest Hills, southern Flushing, Kew Gardens Hills, Fresh Meadows, Briarwood and Jamaica Estates, have chosen a new council representative for the first time since Morton Povman (D-Forest Hills) was elected in 1971.
“I’m very gratified and humbled at the victory that the voters have given me.” said Gennaro. “I will do my utmost to live up to the trust that they have placed in me.”
After taking time off to run his campaign, Gennaro said he was anxious to return to his position as senior policy adviser to the City Council.
“I really feel a need to get back to City Hall now and start to work on the issues that are facing all of us, particularly those related to the World Trade Center disaster and all of the new public safety challenges that lie before us.”
The race to succeed Povman was essentially decided in the primary phase. Three weeks before the general election, Zett, a labor rights consultant, conceded she would “be a fool” to think she had any chance of defeating Gennaro because of the resources available to his campaign.
As of Oct. 26, Gennaro had spent $174,969 in the challenge for Povman’s seat, according to his filings with the Campaign Finance Board. Zett chose not to participate in the city’s campaign finance program.
Potential obstacles along Gennaro’s path to victory in the primary were removed when community activist Morshed Alam and Povman’s chief of staff, Jeff Gottlieb, dropped out of the race. Alam was later named chairman of the newly established New Americans Committee of the Queens County Democratic Party. Gottlieb, who cited party unity in stepping aside, has yet to emerge with a new position.
With Alam and Gottlieb on the sidelines, Grodenchik picked up the all-important endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Organization, but it was not enough to propel him to victory.
Gennaro defeated Grodenchik and David Reich, legal counsel to state Sen. Seymour Lachman (D-Brooklyn) in the Democratic primary, setting up the contest against Zett and virtually assuring him of being selected by the voters to replace Povman.
He will now oversee the district where overcrowded schools, senior services, affordable housing and illegal housing conversions are hot issues. Gennaro said since Sept. 11 there is a new concern in the predominantly white district, where household incomes average nearly $60,000 per year.
“The big change is in public safety,” he said. “What is it going to take to provide actual security and to provide that sense of security, tangible and the intangible? That’s one of the big challenges that grows out of the Sept. 11 disaster.”
He said the city will be forced to make difficult budget decisions in the coming years, but issues such as education and senior services that were important prior to the terrorist attacks remain at the top of his agenda.
Even though he no longer needed to court voters, Gennaro said the first thing he planned to do Wednesday morning was wear through a few more pairs of shoes.
“I’m going to go to transit stops, get back into the streets and thank the voters face to face,” he said. “ They’re the ones who gave me the victory.”
Reach reporter Daniel Massey by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
