26 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 2, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Voters to decide whether New York State ‘Con Con’ is a go-go
BY SPENCER RUMSEY
AND ROBERT POZARYCKI
editorial@qns.com / @qns
Every 20 years, New Yorkers get the
chance to decide whether they want a
constitutional convention to overhaul or
amend the state’s governing document,
which was adopted in 1894 and has not
been signifi cantly tweaked since 1938.
Voters have not thought too much of
the idea for the past 50 years, when the
last convention off ered up a handful of
amendments that voters then handily
rejected at the polls.
But things might be diff erent when
the measure appears on the ballot this
November. Albany’s repeated corruption
scandals have stirred up the good-government
crowd, and dozens of special
interest groups have come to believe that
sidestepping the Legislature is the only
way their measures will ever be considered.
A growing group of federalists have
even bigger ambitions: Empowering the
state to create its own clean air and labor
regulations, even as federal protections
wilt in Washington.
Th e process starts this Nov. 7, when
voters will be asked to approve or reject
the convention. If it’s greenlighted, voters
would next year choose 204 delegates,
or three people from each of the state’s
63 state senate districts plus 15 statewide
seats.
Th ey would convene the convention
in the spring of 2019, establish rules and
then get about revising the state’s governing
document, which currently runs
50,000 words, or seven times longer than
the U.S. Constitution. Th e amended articles
would then be put before voters at the
next general election.
Groups interested in campaign fi nance
reform, legalizing marijuana and generally
fi xing Albany are proponents,
loosely collected under the umbrella
of the Committee for a Constitutional
Convention. It includes many of New
York’s bar associations – although
not the Nassau County bar group –
and reform-minded civic groups like
Common Cause and Citizens Union.
Bill Samuels, as executive director of
Eff ective NY, is perhaps the state’s biggest
proponent for a constitutional convention.
Th e existing laws on the books,
he argued, are too antiquated or too
ineff ective to bring about governmental
reform that many New Yorkers — particularly
those fed up with public corruption
cases — want Albany lawmakers
to enact.
“In the past 23 years, there hasn’t been
one substantial constitutional amendment
that would change the culture of
corruption,” he said. “If I thought we
could get things done through the legislature,
I wouldn’t be for the convention.
You have to have a people’s convention
— and we’ve never had one that hasn’t
been constructive.”
Opponents of the convention include
such unlikely bedfellows as the trade
unions, Planned Parenthood, the New
York Rifl e and Pistol Association (an
NRA affi liate), the Conservative Party,
Environmental Advocates and even the
Long Island Progressive Coalition.
“Th is is a diverse coalition of groups
that, frankly, have never worked together,”
said Carl Korn, a spokesman for New
York State United Teachers, a federation
of more than 1,200 local unions. “I don’t
know the last time the AFL-CIO and the
Conservative Party were part of the same
coalition.”
Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan
and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, two
of the “three men in a room” that run
state politics, also oppose the convention.
City Council candidates stump for votes at North Shore Towers
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Candidates for mayor, public advocate,
comptroller, borough president and City
Council gathered at North Shore Towers
in Glen Oaks on Oct. 30 to cover issues
impacting eastern Queens residents.
Incumbent City Council candidate Barry
Grodenchik and challenger Joe Concannon
spoke at the North Shore Towers, a large
co-op community. Th e candidates for
Council District 23 — which covers areas
of Bayside, Fresh Meadows and Queens
Village — spoke about topics including
transportation options, property taxes and
the Creedmoor site.
The Creedmoor property, located
at Winchester Boulevard and Union
Turnpike, is state-owned and currently
home to a long-standing Psychiatric
Center, which has a dwindling patient
population. A public school campus was
built on the northern portion of the site in
2000, and today, approximately 50 acres
is able to be developed.
Grodenchik assured attendees that the
property will not become the site to a
homeless shelter or a prison.
“Th ose things are not going to happen
as long as I’m councilman,” he said.
Grodenchik said he would like to see a
new NYC public school open at the site,
which would alleviate the overcrowding
in the district. He also said low-rise senior
housing and playing fi elds would be welcome
additions.
Concannon, a retired NYPD Captain,
said the conversation about the site needs
to be directed towards how the city can provide
more “eff ective mental health care.”
“Th e land should be used for what it
was originally intended for: the care and
the patients of Creedmoor,” he said.
When it comes to transportation,
Grodenchik said he is fi rmly against
the MTA’s recent request for additional
funding. Th e lawmaker also said that,
before alternative modes of transportation
are considered, the subway’s signal
system must be upgraded. Access-A-Ride
also needs to be made more accessible to
seniors, he said.
“Before they come to us and ask for
more money for the MTA, they really
need to put their own fi scal house in
order,” he said.
Concannon said that the bus service in
the area is in need of improvement. He
also said he stands with residents who
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
have spoken out against the protected
bike lane that was recently installed by
DOT along 210th Street in Bayside Hills.
Both candidates were opposed to having
a New York State Constitutional
Convention.
Mayoral candidates Nicole Malliotakis
and Bo Dietl, NYC Comptroller Scott
Stringer and challenger Michel J.
Faulkner, Public Advocate Letitia James
and challenger J.C. Polanco and Borough
President Melinda Katz also spoke at the
forum.
Barry Grodenchik (left) and Joseph Concannon (right) take the podium at North Shore Towers.
Election 2017