There was no debate for the 30th Assembly District seat covering parts of Maspeth and Middle Village, but the Republican candidate for the office—JPCA member Anthony Nunziato—got an opportunity during the session to attack the absent incumbent, Democratic Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, and tout his own record of volunteerism.
“I stand before you tonight proud of my accomplishments and service to my community,” said Nunziato, who is making his third attempt at unseating Markey. He stated that he worked on campaigns to establish a park at the former Elmhurst gas tanks site, a full cleanup of the former location of the Phelps-Dodge smelting plant in West Maspeth and the creation of a truck bypass in Maspeth.
“I point out these things to show the great difference between myself and Marge Markey,” he added. To symbolize her absence from the session, Nunziato— mimicking Clint Eastwood’s appearance at this year’s Republican
National Convention— placed an empty chair at his side as he attacked Markey’s record.
“I am a career citizen trying to make a change. Marge Markey is a career politician who needs to be changed,” Nunziato said. “I stand before you tonight, and she does not. I have accomplishments to talk about, and she does not. You have to ask yourself why she’s not present tonight. She was invited, and yet she’s not here.”
The civic member claimed that Markey appeared at a JPCA meeting only once in her 14 years as a member of the Assembly. Nunziato charged that Markey failed to adequately represent the area’s interests in Albany and regularly sends out official notices “taking credit for things she hasn’t done.”
“Our communities are in great stress. We have trains, we have planes, we have automobiles. We have all the pollution in the world and we need people to represent us in Albany. We’re not getting that right now,” Nunziato added.
