16 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 June 14–20, 2019
This is an age when many stores
look the same and merchandise
is afraid to be unique. Companies
continue to cut back on personal
service and try to reduce costs. And
stores are closing around the country.
Not so at Portabella. Portabella
has stuck to its roots. Runway fashions,
the current trends, and at
least 60% off designer prices everyday.
Plus individual service for
every customer that enters their
stores. Customers are number 1.
Each customer is treated with special
attention by the trained customer
service team.
A recent Portabella customer
was overheard speaking to a cashier
“I always get my suits at Portabella.
You have what I want at a
great price, great personal service
and the alterations are ready in 15
minutes.” Portabella has customizing
tailor shops in almost every
location and in most cases offers 24
hour alteration service.
The Portabella business is also
changing. New deliveries now
come weekly and a new focus on
special event group sales. The
great values and new fashion have
made Portabella a headquarters for
weddings, proms, sweet sixteens,
quincinearas, and other special
events. They pride themselves for
selling to own at lower prices than
it would cost to rent. And a better
selection of the current trends.
The multi cultural buying team
at Portabella uses trends from all
over the world. They combine their
expertise and different points of
view to develop a selection that
gives attention to each store location
and market.
Portabella now operates over 40
stores in New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania under the Portabella,
Fino and Quails names. And shop
online at Portabellaonline.com
Surrogate’s Court judge ready for primary
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
Margarita López Torres
isn’t ready to hang up her
robe just yet.
First elected to the Kings
County Civil Court in 1992,
re-elected a decade later, and
then elevated to Surrogate’s
Court in 2005, López Torres
has weathered her fair share
bruising political strife —
more than she would care
to admit.
But this time will be different,
according to the veteran
Brooklyn judge, who faces
a contested Democratic primary
on June 25.
Having run her last campaign
as an anti-establishment
insurgency, López
Torres now has the political
machine behind her, enjoying
the backing of party
boss Frank Seddio, along
with the public support of
the Borough President and 12
of Brooklyn’s 16 city councilmembers.
Her ingratiation with the
local political bigwigs marks
an extraordinary turnaround
for López Torres, who found
herself in exile a decade ago
after she dared to cross the
established political order in
a move that ended in 2008
before the United States Supreme
Court.
Then-Civil Court Justice
López Torres had felt
ready for a step up the judicial
ladder — to the state
Supreme Court. The promotion
required the blessing of
Vito Lopez, who then served
as Chairman of the Kings
County Democratic Party,
which essentially chooses
judges to get posts in the
higher court at an annual
judicial convention.
But López Torres never
received the Supreme Court
nod — a slight that she attributes
to her rejecting an overture
from the party chair.
Margarita López Torres
“Vito insisted that I hire
his daughter, who lacked experience,”
said López Torres.
“I refused.”
After being denied the
promotion year-after-year,
López Torres sued the state
Board of Elections, arguing
that the judicial convention
model provided citizens no
voice in the selection of state
Supreme Court judges.
The case sparked a fervorous
debate across the legal
profession, rising through
the court system, before it
was eventually decided by
the nation’s highest legal authority
in favor of the status
quo.
And while the decision
was a massive blow to judicial
reformers, it also came
with massive personal costs
to the plaintiff, who was essentially
blackballed by the
powerful interests whose authority
she had questioned.
“There’s an expectation
that the party leader can
kind-of dictate who your
staff will be. I think that’s
Gerry O’brien
intervention,” said López
Torres. “And if you decline
to do that — they have a long
memory.”
Despite the personal pain
that the losing effort brought
her, the judge says she stands
by the crusade.
“I still believe that the convention
judges is not the most democratic,
that were laid out in that
Supreme Court case,” she
said. “I testified in the Albany
legislature about this.
I fought very hard. Now, I
think I’ve taken it as far as
I could.”
And although she waved
a white flag in the fight to
reform the judicial selection
process, López Torres
remained undaunted
BE A PART OF THE LEGENDARY
BROOKLYN PAPER
CALL TO ADVERTISE: (718) 260-4552
BUS I N E S S , B ROOK LYN S T Y LE – A DV E RTI S E M E NT
by the entrenched system
which viewed her as persona
non grata, launching
a campaign for Surrogate’s
Court — which hears cases
involving adoptions and the
affairs of deceased person’s
estates.
López Torres eked out a
victory in that 2005 election,
stunning naysayers
who questioned the feasibility
of an independent, renegade
campaign.
Years later, as the dust of
her previous political battles
has settled, López Torres is
adjusting to her unfamiliar
place as the chosen favorite
of the party — which is now
led by Vito’s successor, Frank
Seddio, who is himself a former
surrogate judge.
“I’ve put distance between
any political influence and
the court,” she said. “And
things have gotten better.
Frank Seddio is a different
person. He has never tried
to inf luence my court —
Not that I’m easily inf luenced.”
Now the barrier-breaking
judge — who was the first
Latinx judge in New York
City, and the first Latinx Surrogate
in New York State —
hopes to turn her newfound
insider status to secure her
re-election to the Surrogate’s
Court, a far-from guaranteed
feat against current Civil-
Court Judge Elena Baron,
whose bid is back by Gary
Tilzer, who managed López
Torres’ 2005 campaign.
“I love what I do,” said López
Torres. “I want to continue
doing it.
Affordable Family Dentistry
in modern pleasant surroundings
State of the Art Sterilization (autoclave)
Emergencies treated promptly
Special care for children & anxious patients
WE NOW ACCEPT OXFORD
• Tooth Bleaching (whitening)
• Cosmetic Dentistry, Porcelain Facings & Inlays,
Bonding Crowns & Bridges (Capping)
• Painless, Non-Surgical Gum Treatment
• Root Canal • Extractions • Dentures • Cleanings
• Implant Dentistry • Fillings (tooth colored)
• Stereo headphones • Analgesia (Sweet air)
Dr. Jeffrey M. Kramer
544 Court Street, Carroll Gardens
624-5554 624-7055
Convenient Office Hours & Ample Parking
and insurance plans accommodated
DONATE YOUR CAR
Wheels For Wishes
benefiting
Make-A-Wish®
Metro New York
* 100% Tax Deductible
* Free Vehicle Pickup ANYWHERE
* We Accept Most Vehicles Running or Not
* We Also Accept Boats, Motorcycles & RVs
WheelsForWishes.org
* Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. To learn more about our programs or
Call:(917)336-1254
method of selecting
for all the same reasons
Portabella Takes Styling For Any Event Personally
/Portabellaonline.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/WheelsForWishes.org