By Alex Davidson
After a speech at Queens College Tuesday, Weiner said he had registered an exploratory committee with the city Board of Elections in a move that would enable him to conduct a separate campaign to challenge Bloomberg.
He did not specify how much of his $1.8 million war chest he could shift to his new account but said that it would be a sizable amount.
“This is how to raise money for a municipal race,” Weiner said.
The congressman, who represents the communities of Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Forest Hills, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Broad Channel and part of the Rockaway peninsula, said he will first focus on winning re-election to his seat in Washington. He said his move to open the two accounts will allow him to raise funds for both his congressional and potential mayoral races.
Other former and current elected officials from Queens are saying they might challenge Bloomberg. Former Republican City Councilman Tom Ognibene, who represented the communities of Glendale and Ridgewood, has already announced his candidacy to take on Bloomberg in the primary election. State Assemblyman and New York City Central Labor Council President Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing) has also expressed interest in running for the city's highest office.
Weiner, first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999, also represents parts of Brooklyn. He started working for Schumer in 1985 when the senator was a congressman from Forest Hills.
At the age of 27 in 1991, Weiner became the youngest person ever elected to the City Council. Weiner is a Queens resident.
Since he lives in Queens, Weiner said he had some problems with the proposal Bloomberg put forward during his State of the City address earlier this month in Astoria that called for annual $400 rebates to city property owners.
“If he (Bloomberg) wants to do something right and not have this be a gimmick, he should lower the (property tax) rate,” Weiner said. “And that is the fair thing to do.”
Bloomberg raised the property tax rate by 18.5 percent last year in an effort to stem the city's multibillion-dollar budget gap for fiscal year 2004. Now that the city's finances have improved, the mayor, who has said he will run for re-election in 2005, is pushing the City Council to offer the rebates as a way of lessening the burden placed on the city's taxpayers.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
