16 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 1, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Four candidates face off for senate seat at Bayside candidates night
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Four candidates are now vying
for the seat in the 11th State Senate
District, including two who were
eliminated in the September primaries.
On Oct. 30, the Bayside Hills
Civic Association (BHCA) hosted
a Meet the Candidates Night featuring
Photos by Jenna Bagcal/THE COURIER
Braunstein and Bressler debate issues at Bayside candidate forum
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections,
the Bayside Hills Civic Association
invited the public Tuesday night to the
Colonial Church of Bayside for a candidate
forum campaign.
Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, running
for re-election in District 26, sat
beside his Republican challenger, David
Bressler, a corporate business owner of a
national bakery conglomerate.
Both candidates ran unopposed in the
September primary, and are vying for the
assembly seat Braunstein has held since
2011.
Th e northeast Queens district covers
Auburndale, Bay Terrace, Bayside, Bayside
Hills, Broadway-Flushing, Douglaston,
Floral Park, Glen Oaks, Little Neck, New
Hyde Park, North Shore Towers, Oakland
Gardens and Whitestone.
Th e candidates introduced themselves
to the audience and answered questions
regarding issues of concern in the community.
When asked about the issue of homeless
residents and aff ordable housing,
Braunstein referenced state Assemblyman
Andrew Hevesi’s legislation, Th e Home
Stability Act, which would provide more
state funding to people who are on the
verge of homelessness.
“Right now we’re spending millions of
dollars putting people in hotels, which
is expensive,” said Braunstein. “If we
had more foresight, we would’ve been
able to keep people in their homes in the
fi rst place … they wouldn’t have become
homeless.”
Braunstein also noted that he opposes
overdevelopment in the Bayside neighborhood,
where he was born and raised.
Th e state assemblyman then tackled
education issues, condemning Mayor de
Blasio’s plan to scrap the Specialized High
School Test.
“I think what we need to do is focus
more on increasing academic achievement
for the unrepresented communities
from grades K-8, perhaps provide test
prep programs for low-income students,”
said Braunstein.
Meanwhile, Bressler agreed with
Braunstein on opposing and resolving
overdevelopment in the area and supported
Hevesi’s Home Stability Act.
If elected to offi ce, Bressler said his fi rst
legislation would be term limits for New
York state elected offi cials.
“Th e fi rst term you’re re-elected you go
another four years, and then you move
on this way and we get another cycle of
diff erent people, diff erent blood, diff erent
ideas coming through Albany, and also
eradicating corruption,” he said.
Bressler also said he’ll bring corporate
measures, procedures and ideas to government
to ensure projects are completed.
When asked about illegal immigration,
Bressler said he believes that everyone
should enter the country legally, but illegal
immigrants abiding the law should be
protected.
“It’s those who are entering that we
have to stop because it’s not fair to those
who do enter legally,” Bressler said. “Now
if you’re an illegal immigrant here for
years, and you’ve been a good citizen …
we have to have a path for citizenship, and
that’s the fair way to do it.”
In his closing remarks, Bressler spoke
about the political division in the country
at the state and city levels.
“I will compliment Assemblyman
Braunstein. I think between us, we never
got personal, it’s all about the policies and
the issues,” said Bressler. “In other races
it has been personal, and there’s no need
for that in the political world. I work with
everyone.”
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed
(from l. to r.) Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, Republican challenger David Bresslar, and Simon
Minching at the Bayside Hills Civic Association’s “Meet the Candidates Forum” at the Colonial Church
of Bayside.
assembly candidates from
Districts 25 and 26 and state senate
candidates from District 11. Th e
friendly debate was moderated by
BHCA President Michael Feiner
at the Colonial Church of Bayside.
John Liu and Vickie Paladino
were present as the Democratic
and Republican state senate nominees,
while incumbent Senator
Tony Avella — whom Liu defeated
in the Democratic primary—
represented the Independent and
Women’s Equality lines and former
Republican candidate Simon
Minching — whom Paladino beat
in the Republican primary — reentered
the race on the Conservative
Party line.
“I was ready to walk away until people
called me and said, ‘No, we like the job
that you’ve done as our state senator, and
we want you to continue,’” said Avella at
last night’s event. “So why not continue
the campaign? And that’s what I’ve done.”
Avella added that he was “disappointed”
with the results of the primary, oft en
referring to his opponent as “scandal-ridden,”
a position that he has relied on since
Liu won in September.
Feiner gave Liu the opportunity to
address the campaign scandal that had
followed him since his 2013 bid for mayor.
Th e Democratic candidate said that he
had in fact accepted illegal campaign contributions,
but had done so unknowingly.
“Th e FBI had an undercover operation
for me where somebody wanted to support
my campaign. I said ‘great.’ We did a
background check on him, he cleared it.
Why? Because he was a non-existent person,”
Liu said.
Th e candidate was also asked about
his opinion on hot-button issues in
District 11, including his opinion on the
Specialized High School Admission Test,
which he is in support of keeping, and illegal
apartment conversions, which he does
not support.
On the other side of the political
aisle, fi rst-time candidate Paladino
was asked what she would do to
get city agencies to speed up their
repair and revitalization projects.
“First of all, you call me up. I’ll
help you out,” said Paladino. “What
we have to do is cut through the red
tape. Why do we have to speak to
17 diff erent people or 20 diff erent
people to get a job done? Th ese are
not problems that should take 20
years, these are basic, quality-of-life
issues.”
Paladino confi rmed that she is
not in favor of bike lanes in the district,
saying that it was “not a rubber
stamp issue” and that every
community should be able to
decide whether or not they wanted
bike lanes.
Minching agreed that communities
should be able to decide what
is best for them, including on the
issue of bike lanes, and politicians
should follow.
“Ultimately I don’t have a strong
position on this, I think the people
should lead here. If the civics
and the community boards want it,
we should go through with it,” Minching
said.
Th ough he lost the Republican primary
in September, the senate candidate
confi rmed that he’s back in the race on
third-party lines despite there only being
“1,200 registered Conservatives” in the
district. He said his purpose was to keep
the candidates accountable to focus on the
issues and solve problems.
Clockwise from left: John Liu, Senator Tony Avella, Vickie Paladino, Simon Minching
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