By Dee Richard
It started off slowly enough on Tuesday at Terrace on the Park where the Queens Center For Progress was having its “Evening of Fine Food” fund-raiser. The event seemed rather smaller than usual this year, perhaps due to the bitter cold weather.This year, the Chef of the Year was Queens' own Sid Davidoff, lawyer and lobbyist extraordinaire. His gourmet specialty was Maryland crab cakes, and they were scrumptious! They were about the size of a silver dollar and just bursting with crab meat. Kudos to Sid and his assistant chef, Linda Stassi, of the New York Post. Hmmm? What's really cooking, Sid?Ordinarily, Joe Previte provides the guests with his famous linguini with white clam sauce but because Joe was in Florida, Frank Macchio served everyone with Joe's specialty. (Joe had frozen the sauce for Frank before he left for Florida). Macchio's table was next to Previte's. Frank manned Joe's table while his table was operated by his wife Rosalia Macchio, who served up Frank's pasta specialty with cooperation. It all worked out well. The entertainment was provided by former NYPD Officer Daniel Rodriguez, nicknamed “America's tenor,” who has a most magnificent voice. He brought with him his new autographed CD, which sold for $20. It turned out to be a good fund-raising item. All in all, it was a fun evening. Congratulations to MaryAnn McAleer on a job well done.Thursday was a double-header. At 6 p.m. at Antun's, the Queens County Democratic Organization had its winter cocktail party and buffet. All the faithful were there and it was an evening full of surprises. Early in the evening, the rumor was that Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and newly elected State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli would make guest appearances. DiNapoli was the only one to attend; the other two were no shows. Everyone was disappointed, but was it any wonder after Thursday's ruckus over the comptroller's election?I understand that Spitzer is furious, believing Silver led him down the garden path and never intended to let the seat go to anyone but DiNapoli. Everyone likes DiNapoli and has nothing against him personally. Their only concern is his total lack of any type of financial experience. This is a reasonable concern as the comptroller does not have to account to anyone and has no oversight on the billions of dollars in pension funds. In any event, I would not like to have the present governor and former attorney general furious at me! Silver and DiNapoli had better heed the old cliche: “It's possible to win the battle, yet still lose the war.” I picked up some interesting tidbits at Antun's. Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach) is seriously considering running for the Queens borough president's seat. One source informs me that City Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), who will be term-limited out, may then run for her state Assembly seat. Another source said, “No! Addabbo will run for Serf Maltese's Senate seat [R-Glendale].” At this point, it is much too early to make predictions as so many unexpected things can happen in the next two years. After Antun's it was off to Terrace on the Park for the Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Annual Gala and Dinner. It appeared to be a success. They had at least 25 tables filled.The honorees this year were Parade Grand Marshal Lt. General Jack C. Stultz; Woman of the Year Gloria D'Amico; Man of the Year Peter F. Valone Sr.; Community Service Business Award winner Diago von Schmeling; and the Douglas S. Mackay Community Service Award winner Mamie C. Smith. Congratulations to all. Jim Rodgers and his wonderful, dedicated volunteers managed to pull off another good one! Now that the dinner dance is over, Rodgers and the volunteers will immediately start working on the parade itself.Georgiana Reese was there with a charming escort. It's too soon to tell the direction the new friendship will take but I'll give you a hint. She is smiling a lot lately.On Sunday, I attended the Queens Village Republican Club's Lincoln Day Dinner at Antun's. Congratulations to Jim Trent and Phil Sica for putting on a fine event. I always look forward to hearing from you directly, with information on people, parties, politics or some plain old fashioned gossip.That's it for this week. I look forward to receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, your faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com. Don't forget to check out the “Focus on Queens Page.”Till next week, Dee.
