Nicole Malliotakis: Bay Ridge Deserves Better
I really wanted to like Nicole Malliotakis. Malliotakis is an Assemblywoman for Staten Island and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I hate to knock women in business or government, but this post is long overdue. I had hoped that Ms. Malliotakis would prove me wrong and show that she is a reliable politician, but she isn’t. I know many people, including Ms. Malliotakis will say that I am writing this because I have liberal views. I do on some things, but I voted for Republican, Marty Golden in the last election so my views are my own – not that of a political party.
Almost every article about Malliotakis seems to mention her parent’s background – even her own bio mentions it. “Her father is from Greece and her mother is a Cuban exile of the Castro dictatorship. Her parents came to New York in search of the American Dream.” Malliotakis’ mother lived in a time when people were forced to be silent under Castro. There is no reason for Nicole Malliotakis to STAY SILENT as a NYC Assemblywoman when other politicians have made poor decisions for NYC,
1) This summer, Senator Marty Golden backed a bill that gave huge tax breaks to big developers. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS REMAINED SILENT ABOUT THIS.
Today 2/21/14 Malliotakis posted this on Facebook – notice she points out that greedy developers are reaping millions…….So it looks like she is “calling out” the Savo Brothers., but in reality this is a done deal – the judge has given the Savo Brothers the go ahead. Is this “fake callout” just a media ploy?
It’s a double standard that Malliotakis is blasting the Savo Brothers, but hasn’t said a word about the senate’s tax freebie for big developers? Is Assemblywoman Malliotakis afraid to speak up or does she believe those developers deserve the tax breaks? How come she hasn’t issued any paperwork to amend the bill passed in the Assembly and senate?
When the Daily News reported that Mr. Golden said: “I’m not sure where they came from.” MALLIOTAKIS STAYED SILENT.
I can’t figure out how a woman can stay silent when she knows this isn’t right!
When the Assembly sponsor, Keith Wright said, “These five properties — it was important that they benefit from the piece of legislation probably, and I don’t know why, because some of the folks in the Senate wanted them to be included. “ MALLIOTAKIS STAYED SILENT.
If you look through Malliotakis’ Facebook and Twitter feed during this time, you will see that she didn’t say a word about the tax breaks the Senate gave out. So Malliotakis doesn’t fail to tell us that her parents came her to live the American Dream, but she remains silent when other politicians do the wrong thing for the people of this city?
A few developers were able to pull the wool over the city’s eyes BECAUSE MALLIOTAKIS STAYED SILENT.
I have written to her several times about this and each time MALLIOTAKIS STAYED SILENT and didn’t reply.
It’s strange that Malliotakis will take silly photos about insurance fraud, but REMAINED SILENT when a few developers received huge tax breaks and took money away from our city. Maybe this is why some people don’t take women seriously. Would a male politician have posed for a photo like that? I doubt it.
2) I couldn’t find anyone in Bay Ridge who Malliotakis has actually helped. I could find two issues in Bay Ridge that she worked on and was COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE in my opinion. When the city didn’t fund the Beacon Program at McKinley Intermediate School, Malliotakis made the students hold a rally. These students were in afterschool programs and instead of doing the activity for their program, they needed to make signs and rally outside the school where no one would see them. What did Malliotakis teach those kids? She taught them that adults who are suppose to take care of them and l0ok after them dropped the ball. Children aren’t suppose worry if they are going to have an afterschool program to go to. Children shouldn’t have “to rally” in front the media so a picture can be taken to show that they need extra help in an afterschool homework club. Besides violating the children’s privacy, it shows how disconnected Malliotakis is. Malliotakis could have arranged a meeting with Christine Quinn to get to the bottom of the underfunded program. At this point, I looked up Malliotakis’ age because I couldn’t believe she thought children rallying was more effective then her communicating with another adult.
This isn’t the only rally Malliotakis held in Bay Ridge. She rallies people for the B37 bus. First there was the rally in the rain. Notice Nicole brought out her sign to let you know she is running the rally, but her Converse sneakers tell us that this rally is just a big joke. There are so few people at the rally that in the picture are a few local reps and even the reporter who wrote the article appears in the picture to the far right! The rally was held on the weekend in one of the quietest places in Bay Ridge. If you want to rally go to City Hall and rally where you can be heard loud and clear. Here is another rally for the same bus line. This time the rally is in front of the Guild for Exceptional Children. Who thought that was a good place for a rally? Why is a rally even being held when Malliotakis can simply call Allen Cappelli and discuss the issue?
3) Around Christmas time, many organizations accept gifts for kids in need. Everyone always hopes that the kids get their presents. On January 9th , Malliotakis brought Christmas gifts to the children at the Guild for Exceptional Children. What do the kids who didn’t receive presents from Santa think? That Santa forgot about them? How did I find out about this incident? Malliotakis boasted about it on social media!
I took a screenshot when I saw it because I thought it was an odd thing to post. The post has since disappeared removed, but the you can see the Article and of course picture here Why would she take pictures of a moment she couldn’t possibly be proud of? The article states: “The delivery was postponed twice due to the center being closed during the weeks of holidays, and the snowstorm that closely followed New Year’s Day – SORRY POLITICIAN, BUT KIDS NOT GETTING THEIR GIFTS FROM SANTA IS LOW.” In my opinion, you should have found a way to deliver them on time.
4) Staten Island residents get a huge break on the tolls for the Verrazano Bridge from Governor Cuomo. He shares the credit with a few politicians in Staten Island. Malliotakis is the only politician who represents both sides of the bridge. So Staten Island residents can drive into my area of Bay Ridge. Yet, I have to pay more to use the same bridge in the reverse direction. I paid more for my home and thus more towards taxes, but I have to pay a higher toll for the bridge. Who does that make sense to? Malliotakis forgot about Bay Ridge during the picture taking with Cuomo. She posts the pictures all over social media and then when another Bay Ridge resident complained, Malliotakis wrote, “you give me too much credit” The tweet was then deleted.
5) Malliotakis is out of touch with education. In 2014, Malliotakis and Assemblyman Joe Borelli release a report about Common Core. I read the entire report. It had nothing new in it. If they had released the report a lot earlier, it would have been effective. Does Malliotakis realize that schools have been using Common Core before September 2013? From the report it didn’t sound like it. The complaints people have about Common Core was the the quick rollout and the new testing. The Common Core Report that they release WAS SO LATE that it is meaningless. I wrote to B on Facebook and he didn’t deny it. The report added nothing to the conversation on Common Core and I let Borelli and Malliotakis know that. Borelli was pretty honest – see his reply below.
In mid January 2014, Malliotakis issued a statement that she wants teachers to receive money for their classroom (see below). Really? In January? Again, if this came out in August it would be great, but in January it is completely ineffective. Teachers shouldn’t have to “step up to the plate” because politicians have underfunded education in NYC. And isn’t it strange that Malliotakis has been in office since 2011 and hasn’t advocated to help teachers pay for supplies until January 2014? Ironically, she named the post UFT advocate (see pic).
I hope the UFT does not take this as sign that Nicole supports education. Her true pettiness came out in this tweet about Universal Pre-K. In NYC, politicians are so involved in what party they represent that they forget they are suppose to work together and get things done. Malliotakis thinks her snarkiness adds to the conversation on Universal Pre-K. It’s sad that she finds lack of communication entertaining.
6) Many mentally unstable people have been jumping from the Verrazano Bridge. Malliotakis is a representative who represents both sides of the bridge. Why isn’t Malliotakis leading the way on getting a fence put up on the bridge to keep people who are mentally ill safe? In the long run, the money we spend on emergency response will be saved.
7) Malliotakis is always posting pics with her dog and claims to love animals. She has the ability to pass laws to protect animals and yet she doesn’t. In 2012, Malliotakis wanted to ban testicular implants for dogs. The media said that she was “razzed by colleagues and then she stepped away from the issue.” So your tax dollars were hard at work <sarcasm> when it appears that the issue wasn’t fully investigated to begin with. And why would Malliotakis be ‘razzed’ by people she works with? Didn’t she discuss this issue with them prior to initiating it?
Bay Ridge deserves better. I’m not sure if Malliotakis has always been a little late with issues, but we need someone who is able to speak up and not make excuses.
I have written to Mallotakis on twitter because her silence holds back progress (see my twitter feed). As taxpayers, we pay a lot of money for each Assembly person’s office so we shouldn’t have to keep asking a rep to speak up. I don’t need Malliotakis wasting everyone’s time and calling for Sheldon Silver to resign. How can I call for Malliotakis to step down?
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Bay Ridge, Nicole Malliotakis, Politics | No Comments »