By Daniel Massey
Wasting no time in showing he planned to uphold campaign pledges made to constituents, James Gennaro (D-Jamaica Estates) spent his first day in office following through on five promises that formed the centerpiece of his run for City Council.
On a busy Jan. 2, he vowed to focus his administration on public safety, senior services and education as well as setting up a 24-hour constituent hotline and monthly town meetings.
Gennaro, who now heads the district that covers Forest Hills, southern Flushing, Kew Gardens Hills, Fresh Meadows, Briarwood and Jamaica Estates, spoke at length about safety and security during his council run, especially following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In announcing his five promises, he said public safety was at the top of his list.
“We’ve got to get cops in precincts,” he said. “We’ve got to raise staffing levels. That’s job one.”
Gennaro announced he plans to make a formal request to Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ask that Queens be given the number of police officers promised to its precincts under the city’s “Safe Streets, Safe City” initiative.
“The mayor’s predecessors pledged to staff all of the local precincts in Queens with staffing levels mandated by the ‘Safe Streets, Safe City’ program,” Gennaro said. “In central and eastern Queens, that promise has never been fulfilled. That promise is overdue.”
In a district with more than 20,000 people over age 65, Gennaro also campaigned heavily on senior citizens’ issues. He moved swiftly to follow through on pledges made to seniors, announcing he has assigned a staff member, Stephanie Bosco, to deal with issues of the district’s elderly population.
Gennaro vowed to fight for a third promise, a “Students’ Bill of Rights,” in his day-one announcement. The councilman said he is committed to fighting for every student’s right to a certified teacher and a manageable class size.
“I’m much less concerned about school governance than I am about what goes on in the classroom,” said Gennaro, who is also an adjunct professor of political science at Queens College. “The way to fix what goes on in the classroom is to get the schools built and work on attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers.”
Gennaro’s final two promises marked the continuation of a grass- roots philosophy that guided his campaign. Gennaro made a name for himself during his run for office by making personal contact with a large numbers of voters. He repeatedly said he had the most volunteers, went to all communities, walked every street in the district and knocked on every door.
Gennaro’s tireless approach, which began a year before the election, is widely credited with enabling him to upset Barry Grodenchik, who had the support of former Borough President Claire Shulman and the county Democrats in the primary.
In a recent interview, Morton Povman, who just concluded a 31-year reign as head of Gennaro’s district, called his predecessor’s victory a “miracle” that resulted from hard work.
“He started the year before going door-to-door to the point where he met all of his constituents,” Povman said. “There’s nothing as devastating as going door-to-door.”
In keeping with the strategy of reaching out to as many people as possible, Gennaro announced his first “Town Hall” meeting would be held on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Hyde Park Gardens. Gennaro said he would hold monthly meetings to discuss issues of importance to the communities of the 24th District.
“The whole idea of the town hall is to get everyone together,” he said. “A lot of my job is not so much doing things myself, but getting various organs of government to work together.”
In keeping his final promise, Gennaro also served to make his job a bit easier.
No longer will he have to go door-to-door to hear about the needs of his constituents. The councilman has set up a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week hotline, where residents of the 24th District can report problems or offer suggestions.
Reach Reporter Daniel Massey by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
