Republican stalwarts from Queens and surrounding counties gathered at the Reception House in Flushing recently, for a gala awards dinner and official introductions for their new candidates for Queens Borough President – and Mayor of New York.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg strode into the ballroom on Thursday, April 30 to a rather cool reception for someone who had been unanimously endorsed by the Queens County GOP just two nights before.
“You cold hear the frost crunching on the ground when he came in,” one Party official confided, “But they warmed up to him right away.”
Bloomberg, after warning of the dangers of “one party government,” specifically in Albany, singled out state Senator Frank Padavan, the last man standing for the Queens GOP in the Legislature.
He also warmly acknowledged one of the honorees for the evening, former state Senator Serphin Maltese, who now works on behalf of Christ the King High School in Middle Village.
Bloomberg heaped encouragement on the audience to reinvigorate the Party and support their candidates, most notably Astorian Robert Hornak, who traded his political consultant’s role for a candidacy to replace Helen Marshall in the Borough President’s office.
Although the Queens Party was the fourth of the five boroughs to endorse Bloomberg for a third term, their 30 percent of the citywide Party ballot assured there would be no primary challenge to cast a shadow on his campaign.
Seated in the room were Republican County Chairs from Westchester, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, where a secret ballot to endorse Bloomberg will be held on May 8.
Possibly contemplating the makeup of the City Council he would face, Bloomberg also heaped praise and encouragement on Republicans seeking nearby council seats.
He had kind words for Dan Halloran seeking to replace Tony Avella in the 19th and Peter Koo to follow John Liu in the 20th District, as well as honoree Eric Ulrich, who recently won the 32nd District seat of south Queens in a Special Election.
After the candidates’ speeches and several awards, the crowd, having had a choice of chicken or fish for dinner, got a serving of political red meat from keynote speaker, commentator and former Clinton advisor Dick Morris.
