4 North Shore Towers Courier n April 2014 NST gets candidates on the ballot BY VICTOR G. MIMONI North Shore Towers is such a politically active community that it rates its own polling place right inside the complex – but before a candidate can garner a vote they have to get on the ballot. The process got a leg up on the arcade recently, with a petitioning drive for Congressional candidates incumbent Steve Israel and Republican hopeful Steven Labate. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, March 16 the Political Action Committee, headed by board member Felice Hannah made tables available to local party representatives. Democratic functionary Andrew Mulvey was on hand with computerized lists of registered voters who could sign petitions for Congressman Israel, either for the Democratic or Independence Party. A few feet away, Republican Kevin Ryan was available to collect signatures for Steven Labate, who ran and lost to Israel two years ago. Though decidedly less busy, he was happy to be there, saying, “People need to know that we care about them enough to come here.” Hanna echoed the same sentiment from a completely different perspective. “The Towers community benefits when we are politically educated. We have to think of the needs of all the residents.” Hannah is relatively new to the Board and the committee, although she sold her home in Cambria Heights and moved into the complex in July of 2006. “I came to New York from North Carolina when I was three,” she recalled. After a 19-year career as an Assistant Principal, she returned to college and achieved graduate degrees in Administration. “I’m goal oriented and I wanted to make a difference – I think I have,” she said, alluding to her efforts on the board and to make the committee, which meets on the first Wednesday of the month, more active. “When someone like Barbara comes up with a good idea, I’m all for it.” Towers resident Barbara Leonardi-Trabucci is no stranger to civic activity, being the current president of a local Lions Club in Bayside, a longtime volunteer with the nearby Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day parade and active in political clubs. “If we don’t just show up on Election Day, they won’t take us for granted,” she suggested. Committee member Susan Bartlestone agreed. “I think this is terrific because candidates are Shown here, (left to right) NST resident and philanthropist Barbara Leonardi-Trabucci; Joyce Cooper; Republican collector Kevin Ryan; NST board members Herb Cooper and Felice Hannah; Democratic collector Andrew Mulvey and Political Action Committee members Susan Bartlestone and Rosanne Darche encouraged residents to get into the political process on the ground floor. going to see that this is the place to be.” Though she and fellow committee member Rosanne Darche are more focused “day to day living issues” than on politics, she agrees with Darche that, “Education on the political process helps with quality of life as well as political issues.” At the end of afternoon, marked with friendly discussions among the organizers and passing residents, the participation reflected the city’s political landscape: 28 Democrats, Six Republicans and PHOTOS BY VICTOR G. MIMONI Five Independence Party members signed petitions. There will be another round of campaigns for state offices and that means more petitioning – and another chance for Towers residents to show that they’re in it to win it. NST Board Member Felice Hannah, who also heads the Political Action Committee, expects that increased participation by residents will increase attention from candidates. Republican Kevin Ryan (foreground) witnesses Gloria Rodin signing a petition while Andrew Mulvey observes Lucille Bandes sign as a Democrat, as Yvette Mandel waits her turn.
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