By Dee Richard
This week was a rather slow, mixed-bag week. On the political local level, Bob Turner, Republican/Conservative candidate for ex-U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s 9th District seat, held two fund-raisers.
The first was on Aug. 9 at the Manor Oktoberfest Restaurant on Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills. It was promoted as a small business owners’ town hall meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Turner to the local small business community and give him the opportunity to explain to them how he understands their problems and that, if elected, how he would work with them to resolve their many issues in this down economic situation most business people find themselves in. Turner was well-received and City Councilmen Dan Halloran and Eric Ulrich joined Team Turner to enjoy the dinner.
On the night of Aug. 10, Turner held his second fund-raiser at the El Caribe Catering Hall in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. There appeared to be a much larger turnout at the Brooklyn event. It also seemed to be a totally different crowd. In attendance were state Republican Chairman Ed Cox, state Conservative Chairman Mike Long, Queens Conservative Chairman Tom Long and Staten Island Republican Congressman Michael Grimm.
Unfortunately, I have not been contacted or invited to any events for Democratic state Assemblyman David Weprin, who is running against Turner. The exception was the notification by Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who endorsed Weprin earlier last week, that she planned a “get out the vote drive” scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Red Mango in Fresh Meadows. It was canceled due to the torrential rains.
David, I can’t give you equal opportunity coverage if I don’t know where you are or what is going on. Remember, just like the lottery, you have to be in it to win it.
Friday night was a double-header. The early part of the evening was a birthday get-together at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria. It was Dan Peterson’s 40th birthday. Dan is the former president of the New York City Young Republican Club Inc. on Lexington Avenue. Dan is now trying to reactivate the Queens Young Republican Club, which has been dormant for quite a while. Dan is a nice, bright, energetic young man with many innovative ideas as to how to move toward resurrecting the club.
I want to know Dan’s secret. He just turned 40 but looks 30. In any event, good luck with your new project and have a happy birthday! Thanks for inviting me.
By the way, if you have never been there, check out the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden. It’s in a lovely park-like setting with excellent food as well as a mind-boggling assortment of beers. As there are so many trees on the property, it makes it shady and cooler in the afternoons and at night it’s all lit up. You just can’t beat it on a warm summer evening or equally warm weekend. Like the old-fashioned beer gardens of yesteryear, children are welcome and that makes it a fun family affair, so check it out.
The second half of Friday evening was the Annual Friends of Ramadan Dinner at the Astoria World Manor. Egyptian Moustafa Elshiekh was the host and emcee. Moustafa is an old friend of many years standing.
Some of the names of Queensites you would recognize who were there were city Comptroller John Liu, Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, Councilmen Danny Dromm and Leroy Comrie, NYPD Commanding Officer of Patrol Borough Queens North Assistant Chief Diana Pizzuti, 114th Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Stephen Cirabisi and Sgt. Timothy Everoski. The place was packed.
The event was sponsored by the Egyptian Cultural Council of New York and New Jersey, which also provided food with delicious deserts. Queens truly is a multicultural borough.
While we are proponents of “all politics is local,” what did you think of the’s political musical chairs maneuvering at the national level? How about the rollercoaster actions of the stock market? What interesting times we live in.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you with information on people, parties and politics or gossip. I like receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
