From reading the March 12 Bayside Times, with City Councilman Tony Avella’s (D−Bayside) name in three separate headlines on Pages 1, 2 and 10, readers might get the impression the Bayside Times is giving fair and balanced coverage to Avella with stories about his work regarding landmarking, traffic safety and preventing East River tolls.
I would think, however, a more important story would have been an updating on his race for mayor, particularly since it is reported that U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills) is effectively dropping out of that contest, leaving Avella as one of the three remaining Democratic candidates this year.
Furthermore, although the above−mentioned stories appear accurate and fair, there have been a series of editorials against Avella in recent months about his opposition to the spa in College Point, treatment of carriage horses and need to capture and relocate the ever−increasing monk parakeets, which build nests on telephone pole transformers and in local trees.
These editorials seem not to disagree with Avella but ridicule him and more so than any other local elected official.
It appears to me that, while news coverage of the councilman seems fair, the editorial board at TimesLedger Newspapers is hostile toward him. If I am correct, the new TimesLedger owner is not serving well our local residents and voters.
Frank Skala
Bayside
