24 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 2, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Voters to
decide on
Constitutional
Convention
question
Be sure to fl ip the ballot on
Election Day and vote yes or no
on three statewide ballot referendums.
Th e fi rst referendum is also the
most contentious of the three;
Proposal Number 1 asks voters
whether to approve a convention
to revise and amend the
State Constitution. Supporters
say the constitutional convention
would bring about various
reforms in state government
generated by the people, while
detractors charge that a convention
would open the door to special
interest meddling that could
result in laws that harm New
Yorkers.
Th is referendum, per the State
Constitution, is on the ballot
every 20 years; it was defeated
in 1997.
Th e other two ballot questions
are less controversial. Proposal
Number 2 asks voters whether to
allow an amendment to the State
Constitution that would allow a
court to revoke a public offi cial’s
pension if he or she is convicted
of a felony. Proposal Number 3
asks voters if they want the state
to create a “land account” of up
to 250 acres of forest preserve for
specifi c purposes to benefi t public
health and safety.
Robert Pozarycki
What you need
to know to go
and vote
On Election Day, the polls will
be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.
on Nov. 7; if you’re in line to
vote just before the polls close,
you will be able to cast a ballot.
Polling sites may have changed
in the last year; the city Board
of Elections mailed notices to
registered voters weeks ago. If
you’re unsure of where to vote,
click here to search the NYC
Poll Site Locator by your home
address, or call 212-VOTE-NYC
for more information.
If you are registered to vote
but your name is not on the voting
roll for unknown reasons,
you have the right to ask for an
affi davit ballot to cast your vote.
See a poll worker for further
assistance.
To read more about any of the
candidates or ballot questions,
visit the NYC Voters Guide.
Mayoral candidates bash de
Blasio in M.V. ahead of election
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com
@A_GiudiceReport
With a little more than a week to go until
November’s general election, a pair of mayoral
Photos by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
Mayoral candidates Bo Dietl and Nicole Malliotakis came to the JPCA meeting on Thursday night.
Special election for Assembly seat, judgeships also at stake
Residents of the 27th Assembly District
covering much of northeast Queens will
also vote in a special election to fi ll the
seat once held by Assemblyman Mike
Simanowitz, who died in September.
Th ere’s only one candidate for the slot:
Democrat Daniel Rosenthal of Flushing, a
City Council staff er. No Republican is challenging
him.
Th e Assembly district covers a swath
of central Queens stretching from College
Point and Whitestone down through
Flushing and into Forest Hills, Kew Gardens
and Richmond Hill.
Across Queens, residents will also be
asked to select six Justices of the New York
State Supreme Court’s 11th Judicial District.
Th e candidates on the ballot include
Richard Latin, Democrat; Joseph Kasper,
Republican and Conservative; Jodi Orlow-
Mackoff , Democrat and Conservative;
James J. Kevins Jr., Republican; Ulysses
B. Leverett, Democrat; Woodruff Carroll,
Republican; David Elliott, Democrat,
Republican and Conservative; Gregory
L. Lasak, Democrat, Republican and
Conservative; and Michael B. Aloise,
Democrat, Republican and Conservative.
Four Democrats are running unopposed
for Civil Court Judgeships on the Election
Day ballot: John C. Katsanos of Astoria
(1st District); Tracy A. Catapano-Fox of
Howard Beach (3rd District); Maurice E.
Muir of Jamaica (4th District); and Phillip
Horn of Flushing (6th District).
Robert Pozarycki
candidates visited Middle Village to
discuss why they would be the best person
to oust Mayor Bill de Blasio from Gracie
Mansion and become the city’s new leader.
Independent candidate Bo Dietl and
Republican Assemblywoman Nicole
Malliotakis dropped by the Juniper Park
Civic Association (JPCA) meeting on
Th ursday, Oct. 26, to lay out what makes
them the best choice for mayor.
Dietl — a Queens native and former NYPD
detective — took the fl oor fi rst and immediately
called for de Blasio to be put in jail,
referencing a New York Post report where
a former de Blasio campaign donor, Jona
Rechnitz, testifi ed in federal court that he
donated to the de Blasio campaign in 2013
in exchange for political favors. Gothamist
reported that Rechnitz is “a cooperating
witness in several federal corruption cases
involving New York City law enforcement
offi cials” and de Blasio’s campaign fundraising;
the mayor has previously denied having
a relationship with Rechnitz.
One major issue during this year’s mayoral
race is the city’s homelessness crisis — an
issue that hits close to home for residents of
Middle Village and Maspeth.
“I don’t want homeless shelters in my
backyard,” Dietl said. “But there are ideas
that I have.”
One of the ideas he pitched to the members
of JPCA included building 40-story homeless
centers on Randall’s Island where the
city can provide the homeless with the services
they need whether that is drug rehab,
mental health assistance or job training.
Dietl also criticized the mayor’s current
handling of the homelessness crisis and his
10-year plan.
“All of a sudden now with the homeless
situation, this is de Blasio’s theory:
‘Let’s spend tens of millions of dollars on
hotel rooms,’” Dietl said. “I am not for hotel
rooms. I’m for shelters that are not going to
aff ect the people of the communities, where
we can get people into places where we can
help them.”
In fact, the “Turning the Tide on
Homelessness” plan that de Blasio
announced back in February aims to move
the city away from using hotels as emergency
shelters for the homeless. Th e plan calls
for open 90 “high-quality shelters” across
the fi ve boroughs over the next several years.
During his speech on Th ursday, Dietl also
touched on topics including education, the
transit system and taxes. He promised that
he would create deputy mayors for each borough
that can work with communities and
report back to him with issues that people
are facing each and every day. Currently, that
task is assigned to the Mayor’s Community
Aff airs Unit; each borough also has its own
president.
Malliotakis then took the mic to explain
her plan for tax reform in the city, how to
update the aging transit system, and the education
system.
“I am running for one simple reason:
because this is the city that I love,” she
explained. “I grew up here. My parents were
immigrants from Greece and Cuba and
they came here to achieve the ‘American
Dream,’ and it’s becoming increasingly diffi -
cult to make it in the city.”
If elected, Malliotakis plans on creating
a commission of City Council members,
Assembly members, tax experts and government
groups to formulate a proposal that
would be brought before the state government
to tackle rising property taxes, including
capping the property tax levy aft er de
Blasio increased it in past years.
When it comes to the city’s transit system,
the Staten Island lawmaker wants to look at
strategies from other countries and turn to a
communications-based signal system.
“Th is is what London, Paris, Copenhagen,
San Francisco, Vancouver have. It is time to
bring New York City into the 21st century,”
she said. “And that means we’ve got to move
towards a new system, because our signals
are pre-World World II, they are decades
beyond their lifespan, and it’s leading to
70,000 delays a month.”
Th e Assemblywoman also lobbied for
smart traffi c light technology, which allows
traffi c lights to sense where pedestrians and
vehicles are on the roadway and dictate
when and how long to change the lights,
allowing for the optimal fl ow of traffi c and
pedestrians.
Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday,
Nov. 7, to cast their vote in a number of
political races.
File photo
Daniel Rosenthal will succeed the late
Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz
Election 2017