By Dee Richard
On Tuesday evening, state Sen. Tony Avella held a 60th birthday party celebration for himself at Antun’s in Queens Village. It was a rather small, intimate party, but a pleasant one full of well-wishers.
Tony, if you thought the years flew by before now that you have passed a milestone, all you can do is scratch your head and ask where did all the time go? Have a happy birthday and may you get what you want and want what you get.
Some of the people who helped Tony celebrate his birthday were Chuck Schumer, Michael Gianaris, John Sampson, Letitia James and Steven Chen.
After Tony’s party, a number of us wandered off to attend the Bayside Hills Civic Association’s “World of Politics and Its Ethics.” As one wag said, “That title sounds like an oxymoron.”
The speakers were Ed Braunstein, Mark and David Weprin and Amanda Kohut representing U.S. Rep. Bob Turner. The evening was rounded off with speakers Bob Frederich and Steve Behar. You know Queens is quite the savvy political county, so I am glad I live here.
On Wednesday afternoon, the state Conservative Party held its annual National Affairs Platform at the New York Athletic Club. The issues ran the gamut from the U.S. Constitution to our current debt situation, plus a dozen other items.
The party is also interviewing candidates it will consider supporting in the 2012 election cycle. The presentations were followed by a cocktail party. It was a most informative afternoon.
The guest list was a who’s who in the conservative political world. I hate to mention names, as you will forget someone, but here goes anyhow. The people I was personally able to speak with were ex-Gov. George Pataki, former gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, Sen. Marty Golden, Queens County Conservative Chairman Tom Long and John Haggerty, who said, “His recent trial was only Round 1.”
So stay tuned. From the synopsis of the daily trial, there was much left unanswered, including an explanation of election law legality. I guess we will get more details in Round 2.
Do you think it was a coincidence that all this was timed to be aired in the midst of the battle for the Queens Republican chairmanship? It sounds like a smear campaign to destroy the opposition’s credibility on the basis that you are guilty by association. That issue is also before the courts at the present time. We shall see how that plays out.
Last Thursday was the 45th anniversary of the founding of York College, held at the school’s Performing Arts Center. The emcee was the Judge George Grasso, class of 1980. One of the other alumni speakers was the Judge Jeremy Weinstein, class of 1971. Special guests were the former 27th District City Councilman Archie Spigner and former Borough President Claire Shulman.
The evening’s presentation of the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Milton G. Bassin; the presenter was Dr. Marcia V. Keizs, the college president.
It was under Bassin’s leadership that the college had 20 years of steady growth and the fulfillment of its hope of permanent facilities and the state-of-the-art campus that all enjoy today.
On Saturday we drove to the Javits Center for the last day of a photo expo and got caught in the blizzard on the way home. Could you believe a snowstorm in October? Go figure. The photo exhibit was great and we ran into old friends. Driving through Manhattan the storm was pretty bad, but when we arrived home in Beechhurst, there was only drizzling rain.
On late Sunday afternoon, the Polish American Congress’ Downstate New York Division held its October Polish American Heritage Month Cocktail Party and Awards Dinner at the Polonaise Terrace in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Three Queens recipients of the Polish American Congress were city Comptroller John Liu, Supreme Court Justice Greg Lasak and yours truly. Kudos to downstate President Frank Milewski and my good friend Chet Szarejko. Others present from Queens were Barbara and Ralph Barba, Lois Marbach, Debbie Markell, Matt Silverstein and Jim Darmos. It was a great evening.
I look forward to your voice mails at 718-767-6484.
