Transcript of Paul Graziano 2013 Campaign Kickoff in Bowne Park 3/23/2013

Paul Graziano: Thanks everyone for coming today. Im going to actually start this off by turning it over to some of the community leaders from northeast Queens before I even start to talk. So - the first person I am going to ask to speak is Mel Siegel. Mel Siegel, Local civic leader: Hi, Im Mel Siegel and Im from the BroadwayFlushing Homeowners Association and were here to support Paul in his race for the City Council. Nobody has done more to help preserve and protect this neighborhood than Paul and were delighted that hes running and he has our full support. (Mel Siegel has stated on the record that he misspoke and was only speaking for himself, not for the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners Association, which does not endorse candidates). Pete Brancazio, President, Northeast Flushing Civic Association: Hi, Im Peter Brancazio, Im president of the Northeast Flushing Civic Association. And, in fact, the reason why I am president of the Northeast Flushing Civic Association is because of Paul who said 'Youre going to do it!' And, he did it at a time when we really needed his help, because we were fighting a builder who was trying to destroy our neighborhood. And, one of the reasons why we support Paul is because this is what is most important to him is preserving our neighborhoods and making sure that builders dont go ruining good houses and destroying the property around here. And, one of the things I like most about Paul is that hes not really a politician; hes a community activist and thats what we need in this position. So were very happy to support you. Joe Amoroso, Zoning Chair, Kissena Park Civic Association: Im Joe Amoroso, Im from the Kissena Park neighborhood just south of here. I have mixed emotions about Paul running for City Council. Im happy for the people that live in his district, but Im not in his district and that makes me unhappy. Ive known Paul since he was like in his 20s, many years ago, and hes always done work for all the communities, not just his own. Hes well-known all over Queens Bellerose, Jamaica, you name it, everybody knows him, because hes not just out for his own community, hes trying to help everybody in all the communities in Queens. And as a City Council member, hed be able to do that not just for here, but for everyone. Thats why Id love to see him as a City Council member. John Houlihan, Lifelong Auburndale resident: Im a lifelong resident of Flushing and no one does more for this neighborhood than Paul Graziano. Hes an amazing activist. You see his face all the time, hes constantly on my block, he wants to know about our concerns and Im proud to call him my friend. Henry Euler, 1st Vice President, Auburndale Improvement Association/Member CB11/Queens Preservation Council: My name is Henry Euler. Im first vice president of the Auburndale Improvement Association. My civic group does not

Transcript of Paul Graziano 2013 Campaign Kickoff in Bowne Park 3/23/2013

endorse individual candidates, but we as individuals, individual leaders in the group, would very gladly endorse candidates. I am endorsing Paul Graziano for the City Council in the Democratic Party. I know most of the other candidates running and its very clear to me that Paul is the one has done the most for our community. He works on not only zoning issues and landmarking issues, but hes also very good on all the other issues that confront our city: education, transportation, equal rights all of those issues are very important to Paul. And thats why Im voting for Paul in the Democratic Primary as well as Tony Avella for Borough President. Jim Colasante, President, Bayside Gables Homeowners Association: Hi, my name is Jim Colasante, president of Bayside Gables Civic Association, and I can say wholeheartedly that weve worked hand-in-hand with Paul on the front lines in court as well as within the community. Hes done a lot to help preserve what we have in our community. I, myself, and a lot of our homeowners definitely will support Paul come the Fall. Bob Nobile, Little Neck Pines Civic Association: My name is Bob Nobile and I represent Little Neck Pines Civic Association in Little Neck. Paul has been very instrumental in getting us rezoned along with Douglaston. He is very hands-on. He would be perfect to be a City Councilman. Hes not part of the political machine. He doesnt have the name recognition and has the entitlement to become a politician because someone in his family was one. Or a former politician. Paul is an activist. Hes one of us. He gets his hands dirty. Very rarely do you see him in a suit and I commended him today for it. Hes one of us and thats what we want. We want someone to represent us and not their personal agenda. Carmine Famiglietti, Lifelong North Flushing resident/Filmmaker: I, like John Houlihan, just a longtime friend of Pauls, Im very proud to call him a friend and I know that his heart is in this. I mean, twenty years ago, Paul was waking me up out of dead sleeps to paint mailboxes and light poles. Paul really cares about this stuff. And I echo [Bob Nobiles] sentiments: the reason why we dont see him in a suit a lot is because Paul gets his hands dirty. Paul gets right in there on the front lines and he doesnt say it, he does it. And thats, I think, the difference between Paul and a lot of the other people youre going to see out there. Hes probably more likely to call you with a problem than you to call him with a problem. So, thats what I got to say about you, buddy, Im right there with you the whole way. Paul Graziano: I just want to say that Warren Schreiber was supposed to be here today, but had a family emergency, but he said 'Make sure my name gets mentioned.' And Sunny Hahn, whos an activist in Flushing, many of you know her, she was unable to attend as well, but she wanted everybody to know that shes very supportive. I also want to thank the members of KAPA for coming (Korean-Americans for Political

Transcript of Paul Graziano 2013 Campaign Kickoff in Bowne Park 3/23/2013

Advancement). They showed up today and I appreciate their support of my candidacy, so thank you very much. And Im just going to say a few words. First of all, there are a lot of people here that are nice to see here. This is really a cross-section not only of the people who live here but the civic world. These are the people who actually work for their neighborhoods. These are the people who are in the front lines, these are the people who are dealing with the problems on an everyday basis and Ive been working with them or in some cases helping to create their organizations for actually 20 years now. I really started doing this in 1993. So, basically, what Id like to say very simply is that I am running for City Council for the 19th council district. I am running a serious campaign and, obviously, having this kind of support behind me is fabulous. We have raised, in less than a month, $11,000, almost all small donations, almost $10,000 of which will be matching as soon as I have the requisite number of donations from the district, which I am about 15 short at this moment, and no lobbyists, no real estate developers, etc. Im running a very specific kind of campaign, everybody knows what that is. So with that $10,000 thats matching so far, once I make match, its $60,000 in matching funds. So essentially, I have $71,000 as soon as I get those extra couple of donations which should be by the end of the week. My campaign is very simple: Protect your neighborhood. Do no harm. And what that means very simply, and Ive mentioned that to a number of peopleits hard for me to think about theoretical and esoteric problems when weve got problems at hand in the community. Right now, were standing on the edge of Bowne Park about 10 feet inside of the park and on the sidewalk for those who know what Im talking about. This neighborhood around here is the Broadway-Flushing neighborhood. I live about 10 blocks to the west. This has been where I grew up. I grew up in this park. I grew up in Memorial Field, I went to PS 21 which is now also in the district. This is the kind of neighborhood that Ive been working to save for the 20 years Ive been doing this. Weve, along with the [Broadway-Flushing] Homeowners Association, put the neighborhood on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, 1330 buildings. We rezoned this area with the strictest zoning in New York City the R12A and R2A zonings, which I helped to co-author several years ago - and its still not enough. Its still not enough. And there are a lot of neighborhoods like this throughout the borough as well as throughout this district. Right now, theres a big fight in Douglaston going on. We had a press conference there last week, where a 150-year old farmhouse is threatened with demolition or severe alterations because an area that should have been landmarked almost 20 years ago with the rest of Douglas Manor has not been landmarked. These sound like almost trivial discussions to some people, but this is the bones. This is what its all about. Its about protecting your neighborhood, and it doesnt just deal with bricks and mortar.

Transcript of Paul Graziano 2013 Campaign Kickoff in Bowne Park 3/23/2013

It also deals with education. Districts 25 and 26 have long been considered two of the best school districts in the City of New York. People move to these neighborhoods to send their kids to school in this area. So: Imagine my surprise when I sat in on a Community Board 7 Education Committee meeting three weeks ago and I was told that School District 25 is considered a 'District in Need.' That parents are pulling their kids out of certain schools some of the best schools in the borough and the city theyre pulling their kids out of these schools because they are very unhappy with the direction that the Department of Education has gone on these issues. And I think its very critical. And I have had conversations with educators, parents, even kids about whats going on. Its not just here but its in the whole city. So for example, what do I think should be happening? I think that the Department of Education should essentially be abolished. I was not a huge fan of the Board of Education, but at least the Board of Education gave local communities and local areas more of a say in what they needed to happen instead of a top-down decisionmaking process that has not benefitted anybody. This is extremely disturbing, as I said, for an area that prides itself on education. These are always pushed, these neighborhoods are pushed as the best places to raise your children and grow old. It concerns me greatly as someone whos going to get married probably in the next 6 months, hopefully, and who has someone who I care about who will be going into 6th grade; its something that Im very concerned about. And just to let you know, were going to keep this relatively short because its also my parents 50th wedding anniversary today and so as soon as were done with this, we have 30 people coming to the house at 4 oclock and we have to cook and so do they. So we have to just do that. But educations a big priority. Parks. Parks is the lifeblood of this city, more so than anybody wants to talk about. Twenty percent of this city 1/5 of this city - is parkland, and yet we see our parkland being abused. Abused, compromised, sold out. Ive been extremely involved in Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a new organization thats been out there which many people here know about. And this organization is the only one that does not want to be selling out our parkland in Flushing Meadows to big corporate entities like the USTA, Major League Soccer and the Mets who want to take over 50 acres of OUR parkland and privatize it. And, thats just THAT park. If it can happen there, what kind of concession could come to Bowne Park, for example? What could happen in Alley Park? What could happen in Crocheron Park? Thats just for this district. Theres a model being presented thats trying to corporatize our parks. Does anybody here actually know how much the city spends on parks of the budget? Its 1/3 of 1% of the budget for the entire city of New York, which is deplorable. It is a lack of responsibility and accountability from those people who run this

Transcript of Paul Graziano 2013 Campaign Kickoff in Bowne Park 3/23/2013

government. Defunding the parks to the point where there are, I believe, 17 Parks people for Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and I think its the 3rd largest park in New York City. Meanwhile, Central Park has over 300; billionaires funding it as well. So, this is a major issue. And in fact, in the 19th, we do have a big issue, which is that there are actually almost 100 acres of additional land that can be turned into parkland. Last year, the mayor stated that they created 750 acres of new parkland. Does anybody know how this happened? They took all the school playgrounds and designated them parks. So with one sleight of hand, they increased parkland by 750 acres. This is a joke. We have 100 acres of undeveloped land in the 19th Council District: Flushing Airport, the remaining parcels in Udalls Cove which are still privately owned and can still be developed. Which I know, as Little Neck Pines is adjacent to that, people are very concerned about this. So, these are really important issues that we have to focus on. And again, everything is local, but everything is also citywide. Its also really important to make sure that we have an agenda that focuses on the needs of this community as well as, really, things that are crossing the entire city in importance. So, these are some of the issues Ive brought up. My good friend Peter, here - I met him about a year ago. This guy, I have to tell you, he e-mails me or we speak, probably 5 or 6 times a day. 'You know, that curb on 149th Street is broken. I sent in a FOIL request to the DOT. Theyre parking school buses and washing them in front of P.S. 21. What the hell is going on here?' He is my eyes on the ground by default. Its amazing what hes been uncovering. So its not just the big issues, its everything: Its the little issues and the big issues - they all go together. Im someone, for people who know, Im an urban planner and historic preservation consultant. Ive been doing this for 20 years - again, only from love of this community. And when were in a situation where I think every neighborhood feels embattled by the kinds of things that are happening, we have to stand up and do something about it. So Im going to leave it at that. Thank you for coming."