Andrew Gounardes 6 Months in Office

Yesterday, Senator Andrew Gounardes posted a bragging post about his numbers. (Don’t work too hard Senator).  I tweaked his graphic a bit so we could keep it real in Bay Ridge.

Like his predecessor, he cares about “numbers.”  I remember one group recognized Golden for  having the most  bills one year…when we looked into those, there wasn’t much for Bay Ridge – a lot were resolutions (I’ll see if I can find the link). 

From this side of Bay Ridge, Gounardes numbers don’t add up well. Shouldn’t the people in the area that a politician represents feel their representative is getting things done for them?

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Someone Is Going to Get Rich – Design Build

Buzzword Time: Design Build    See story here

Design Build means that someone will have free lunch! 

While some will contend that Design Build is going to get jobs done faster, no representative on NYC should be discussing using Design Build as NYC has a procedure for contracts.  Why does NYC use this contract procedure?  To stop corruption of course.   

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Vitamin Shoppe in Bay Ridge – CBD Latte

Cannabidiol (CBD) is an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant.

It may help treat conditions like pain, insomnia, and anxiety.   

It’s legal and sold at the Vitamin Shoppe – no prescription needed.

The Vitamin Shoppe at 469 86th Street is serving CBD latte’s on Wednesday, June 26th from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.  

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Republican District Winners – June 25, 2019

With 89% of the district reporting, Kerri McCarthy will continue to be a District Leader in Bay Ridge. See final here

With 89% of the district reporting, John Quaglione with be a district leader. See final here

Is this good for Bay Ridge?  McCarthy and Quaglione supported a candidate in the last election who received money from a developer. Steve Saperstein admitted this at the Xaverian debate and McCarthy and Quaglione continued to support him.  Is that good for Bay Ridge? For home owners – it’s not. For condo-dwellers or renters, it would mean more tall buildings with apartments, so  this might be good for them. 

Sadly, this election was a sign that the Republican Party in Bay Ridge is dead. I say sadly because the Democrats are able to play politics in the community when there is no life in the other party. New people would be needed to revive the party and it’s just the same old people.

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Bay Ridge Ballet

Ms. Patty is a Bay Ridge dance teacher and amazing businesswoman! 

If anyone wanted to know how to start a business, they should look at the plan she followed. Her business started out small inside a church. Then it took off and we cheered when we opened her own studio!  Since then, Bay Ridge Ballet has teaching dance to children (even Mommy and Me classes) and exercise classes for adults.

Her business has a touch of elegance and a lot of giggling kids. See here

Ms. Patty also gives scholarships to encourage boys to dance. 

See Summer classes here.

Bay Ridge Ballet 127 Bay Ridge Avenue    

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Blood Drive in Bay Ridge Tomorrow

Whenever I see this ad, I stop and pray for this family. They continue to run blood drives in memory of their daughter, Haley Gray.

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When Diane Gounardes Words Don’t Mean Anything…

People in Bay Ridge love Diane Gounardes. 

As a member of Community Board 10, she voted  in favor of the Committee recommendations for certain bike lanes in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights (and they refused other lanes due to safety issues or other concerns). Yet, her vote didn’t mean anything to her son, Senator Andrew Gounardes. 

The day after the Community Board met, Gounardes sent this undated letter to Keith Bray to override the decisions made by our Community Board. Gounardes was unwilling to ask Community Board 10 to reconvene and he thought an override was necessary to appease bike enthusiasts.  

Strangely for the past few months, Gounardes has been delayed in discussing bills because he said he was “reading”  the bill and I believed him.  Gounardes didn’t wait for Community Board 10’s notes from the meeting (which was dated June 20th.)  It was URGENT that he contact Keith Bray while he was in Albany.

On June 18th, while Andrew Gounardes was in Albany and had nothing better to do, he rushed out a letter to Keith Bray.   Keith Bray responded in TWO DAYS that Councilman Branan’s and Senator Gounardes override was good and he would follow through with that they wanted, rather than Community Board 10’s recommendations.  Have we seen the Department of Transportation respond to anything in two days? 

Not one local paper reported that Andrew Gounardes thought his mother’s vote meant nothing. Yet, a special interest group outside of our community knew about the results earlier than our community.

Brannan, Gounardes and Frontus’ letter crippled our Community Board. Why would residents waste their time serving on a Community Board when the politicians will override their vote with a letter? None of the polls are experts on street safety or urban planning, so why are they overriding the community board which has ruled on this for safety reasons.

Yesterday, Gounardes spent the day making graphics and videos to pat himself on the back for legislation he passed months ago, so that Brad Lander could compliment him AGAIN.   He ran for office on the idea that he was going to fix the train and make safer streets. Nothing has changed in Bay Ridge – the train is still broke and we haven’t seen any change on the streets. Why is he patting himself on the back? 

Like his predecessor, Gounardes doesn’t want to hear from residents. While sometimes he answers his friends tweets on Twitter, he and his staff mostly ignore residents request for help. I wrote and was ignored, as were many of you who left comments here. 

We know Gounardes staff had access to his Twitter account because during the election, they were sending out information to back up what he said during a forum. It’s nothing different than what we saw from Marty Golden’s  team and like Marty, Andrew is like “call my office,”  even when everyone can see the hundreds of unanswered messages on social media.

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Doctor’s Row Now Part of Historic District

Fifty-four homes on Bay Ridge Avenue became part of the Historic District.

See Caroline Spivak’s story here

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Join Bay Ridge Home Owners

If you are a Bay Ridge homeowner and you are sick and tired of paying 2x’s the property tax of Mayor de Blasio, let’s put an end to this.  Click to sign up.  

I believed Senator Andrew Gounardes and Coucilman Justin Brannan were going to take care of the problem.  Yet, neither politician is able to do anything about it and Mayor de Blasio continues to pay less property tax for two income-generating homes than we do for one primary residence. 

City Council Speaker, Corey Johnson also isn’t able to stand up to Mayor de Blasio. Anyone with common sense knows that a standard property rate needs to be applied to the entire city based on the home’s value and size.

Last May, Johnson and de Blasio set up a property commission. Neither Johnson or de Blasio followed through with the commission. It’s over a year later and no one has heard anything about their findings, but the probably all got paid! (See here) This was Johnson and di Blasio’s way of silencing home owners. We can’t  get Councilman Brannan to say Corey Johnson’s name on social media, unless he is praising Corey for dancing in a parade. 

Corey Johnson’s view of NYC is different than many residents here. Recently, Johnson talked about all of the  “free city parking on NYC streets.” (no I am not kidding – see here ). Johnson wants to run for mayor and continue de Blasio’s nonsense in NYC.

When Bay Ridge politicians ran for office, they spoke about the disparity in property taxes. Both the city and state need to take action here.   Some of our politicians have put out press releases “to document” that they did something….which basically was just to fool everyone who is busy with life. Nicole Malliotakis did this on the last election, so they know it is possible. (See here)

The recent political move of our politicians to override our Community Board tells us our community board is powerless. (see here)  Special interests OWN these politicians.   Whether you agree or disagree with the bike lanes, you should be outraged that a letter from the politicians went to the Department of Transportation and in TWO DAYS a special interest group outside of our community was able to get the response from the DOT.

Bay Ridge Homeowners need to come together and be a voice here – regardless of your political party.

We were surprised that Senator Gounardes chose to pursue other interests while in office. (See here) As an  attorney, we thought he was going to sue the city on our behalf. Yet, Gounardes didn’t  even speak out against a bill which gave NYS property tax break to his friend Governor Cuomo and not to NYC residents. 

I touched base with Andrew Gounardes on social media and Andrew responded that he had an idea (for the property tax).  I didn’t bash him or call him out because I believed him! When nothing was happening in April, I sent another reminder and he ignored me.

It’s not just Democrats with the problem, as our Republican representatives also misused their power. Golden gave tax breaks to billionaire developers in Manhattan (see here) and Nicole Malliotakis supported that bill. (See here)

This week. there is a Republican election for district leader.  Bay Ridge deserves better than the choices Kerri McCarthy has made. (See here) John Quaglione is running for male district leader, even though Quaglione received $60K in support from a Super Pac (see here) and supported a candidate last November who admitted at the Xaverian debate that he took money from developers. Quaglione was part of the backroom deal reported in our papers. (See here)

Why wouldn’t Bay Ridge Republicans choose someone else for our community? We saw what happened to Coney Island after Mark Treyger took money from a PAC. (See here)

Neither the existing Democrats or Republicans vying for office are able to represent  Bay Ridge home owners.

You’ve asked me to do something and I put it off because I am the caretaker for two family members.  But it’s time to do something.  If you are sick and tired like we are, join and let’s see what we can do to get this tax situation handled (maybe a class action suit?). I am not an attorney, but I will research this in July and seek legal advice to see what options we have. I am not interested in running for office – just to get my property taxes lowered.

To everyone who left responses these past three days, I will get back to you soon. My brother-in-law got married this weekend, after being a widower for many years.

If you are in Dyker Heights and you want to join us, please do. I didn’t put Dyker’s name on this because I don’t live there….but you have the same problem as we do.  We can adjust names later. We may even need to go to the rest of the district if this problem exists further out.   

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Need An Air Conditioner Installed in Bay Ridge?

Michael Sciaraffo  installs air conditioners in Bay Ridge and other sections of Brooklyn  [email protected] or 646-623-7542.

A friend called him and he arrived THAT day and installed her air conditioners.   

Michael runs the toy drives at Christmas time too.

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Senator Gounardes What Happened to the Property Tax Bill?

When Andrew Gounardes ran for election, he spoke about property tax reform. Then he got to Albany and seemed to forget the community he represents is full of middle class home-owners and businesses. While I find a lot of Gounardes’ bills to be good for people in general, the senate session ended without Senator Gounardes  bringing forth a property tax bill for Bay Ridge

Every week, this senator asks “What should I be looking at?”  I told him property taxes and Senator Gounardes told me he had a plan. After that, he didn’t respond when I asked about it.   

My husband wrote to Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams. Williams responded that he was waiting on the senate bill. Williams is playing the game that the city is responsible for the rate as well (de Blasio’s staff told me years ago they were working on this, but they didn’t do anything).

I looked through Senator Gounardes bills last night. Why does he have a bill about dentistry – who is this for?  Strangely, he started making bills for other boroughs….like this one for Manhattan 

Five months ago, Gounardes posted this video and a few residents chime in NOT REALIZING that he isn’t speaking about a bill for our community. The Senate passed a bill to cap the tax for NYS – not NYC.  Gounardes didn’t get up and rip them for doing this. Instead he played around to get air time and be on video…..I don’t understand why he got up to speak about this as he even says that Senator Lander said this isn’t good for NYC. Why didn’t he counter with an offer for the city and discuss the disparity in tax? Marine Park resident ripped him on it. 

Last Fall, Governor Cuomo came to Dyker Heights to speak on behalf of Gounardes and even though the Democrats had control of the senate, Cuomo didn’t do anything to help our community.  Oh unless you count the Verrazzano toll bridge frequent user program….which is only a small portion of residents here  (I asked a room full of middle-aged Bay Ridge women 30-50….and only three said that they would qualify for it).

A few of Gounardes bills are for city employee pensions. Why are these being made?   Like this one and this one     

I thought Gounardes was the person to get this done because he was an attorney. BUT HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT than we have seen in the past. I see all these freshman legislatures patting themselves on the back, did they all ignore their campaign promises? 

Maybe he just doesn’t get it because he doesn’t own property? Or maybe he is already OWNED and doesn’t think he needs our vote any more?

If you are a homeowner who wants to do something about it  join the Bay Ridge Home Owners group.

Topics: Bay Ridge | 1 Comment »

Corruption Exists in Bay Ridge – Why the Override was Wrong

This is probably one of the hardest blogs I will write as I feel betrayed by the people I supported. I waited to write it because I wanted to give the politicians a chance to respond.  

Community Board 10 made a decision for our community about bike lanes. As a resident, I wrote to Community Board 10  on my day off (if you have read my blog, you know I am a teacher and a day off in June was greatly needed). I wrote to the community board because I knew I couldn’t be present at the meeting. I also knew that I was one of the few people who could speak on this issue,  as one of my students was killed while riding on her bike on 62nd Street and 21st Avenue in 2011. Many people don’t remember it or possibly didn’t live here when it happened.

While I know parking is huge concern for residents here, it isn’t mine because we have a driveway (We didn’t buy a house for many years because we couldn’t afford a home with a driveway). I am not against bike lanes for the area, but I did ask CB 10 for covered bike lanes because children would like to ride and everyone knows how bad drivers are in our area. There’s a l0t of car accidents here and we are lucky that we haven’t had a death here.    

Here’s some important things to know:

1) Frontus and Gounardes were in Albany when the CB 10 meeting happened, so neither attended.  Brannan stood at the back – there was no sign that he was dismayed about the results of the vote. Brannan did not ask to speak or make any statements to the community at the meeting or on social media (which he actively uses). There were no signs of Brannan wanting to overturn CB 10’s decision.   

Brannan, Gounardes and Frontus did not wait to receive CB 10’s recommendations in writing before overriding their decision. CB-10’s recommendations were dated June 20th and shared with the community on June 21st.  See them here  None of these politicians have expertise in city planning or street design. They did not consult any outside street designers either.

2) Residents reached out to Community Board 10 in writing with specific concerns – Neither Brannan, Gounardes or Frontus knew about that letters.  Residents didn’t know the politicians were going to override CB 10’s decision as this has never been done before here. I would say I am pretty engaged in the community and I had no knowledge about this. If I did, I would have CC’ed each of the pols.

3) During the CB 10 meeting, Jayne Capetenakis spoke about riders mentioning the steep slope on 84th Street. Capetenakis doesn’t ride, but shared that information from a resident who wanted a better block for riders. NOT ONE person on Community Board 10 interjected  and said, “I ride there all the time and it’s okay” or “it isn’t so bad of a slope.”  Bike enthusiasts were present and no one offered any contrary information.

4) Diane Gounardes serves on Community Board 10 and voted with the committee…..meaning: These hard working people did the best they could to chose streets that weren’t safe or were going to cause an issue in the neighborhood.  YES, DIANE GOUNARDES IS THE SENATOR’S MOTHER. Why didn’t he speak to his Mother about her vote?

5) While residents were against 84th Street because there is a church at the corner and many senior citizens need to get out near the church, no one mentioned that was the corner where a former policians car hit a woman and she died.   

6) Even stranger….the 84th Street bike lane extends down to 14th Avenue. Can you imagine the angry bike riders during the holiday season when Dyker Lights is in on?  Cyclists aren’t going to understand why someone is double-parked on a packed urban street.   Whoever mentioned 84th Street for a bike lane is clueless about this neighborhood, it’s culture and history. If you sat on the committee and 84th Street came out of your mouth, you are are an idiot.  Politicians should have stepped and excluded that street for all of these reasons. 

7) On June 18th, Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus asked on social media about what residents thought about three issues. At no time did Frontus mention the bike lane, CB 10 or her desire to overturn CB 10’s results. Did she present those topics because they affect her area in Coney Island? Bay Ridge residents were not able to give Frontus any views because she wasn’t interested. (For me, this was he hardest of all to hear as you all know I held her in high regard).  

8) Senator Gounardes didn’t mention of the bike lane or CB 10’s meeting. Ironically, his social media doesn’t discuss any Bay Ridge community issues. It reads like he is a US Senator taking on world issues. I hadn’t realized this until now. While I find he is doing good work for human rights – has he stepped too far away from Bay Ridge and it’s residents?     What authority or expertise does Gounardes have in forcing these streets….none. He’s an attorney not an urban planning or street expert.

9) Okay now for the worst……When a special interest group that doesn’t represent Bay Ridge shared the news of what a politicians did, rather than the politicians explaining what they did, we know we have problems.

We’ve been here before Bay Ridge.  This reeks of the same nastiness that Marty Golden and his tax breaks for developers did.  Ironically, the man quoted in the article about our bike lane doesn’t live in Brooklyn – he lives in Manhattan. (See here)    HELLO SPECIAL INTEREST OWNING OUR POLITICIANS.   Special Interests: 1    Bay Ridge:  0

The CB 10 vote happened and the politicians came out with their letter. Two days later, DOT responded to the politicians with their decision (which was what the politicians wanted because Keith Bray wanted the politicians to leave him alone).  I have had experience with Keith Bray and that’s how he operated.  I contacted Bray last year and complained over and over….Bray paved my block even though it wasn’t on the schedule. WHEN HAS DOT RESPONDED TO ANYTHING WITHIN TWO DAYS?

As I stated here, special interest groups got the news from one or more of the politicians WAY BEFORE this was relayed to our community. See here   The information in these articles is crucial. Although 3rd Avenue was not included in the bike lanes this time, they are making plans for it. 

While these stories came out from the politicians special interest groups, they SWACKED at our Community Board members as if they were no one. And not one politician interjected and said, “No these hard-working people represent our community”……because they don’t care.  NOT ONE had the integrity to speak up for Bay Ridge!    

10) Even if you are for the bike lanes, I hope you are against the underhandedness and special interest groups controlling our community.   There’s a reason Community Boards exists. By the three politians banning together, we have no one to speak to about this as all have said, their rule is above the people of this community. For Whom……for the people who received the information first! (Not the Bay Ridge Community)

11)  Sadly, our community board has been made powerless by the three politicians. There’s no point in anyone going to a meeting as it is just a waste of time now. Brannan will attend and tell the other pols to override our representatives. 

Community Boards allow input from residents. They are given this advisory role so that the community as a whole is represented. Why would anyone bother to be on the board? These residents must feel like they have wasted their time being on our board.  Their ideas, suggestions and time are thought to be worthless by three politicians who should have respected their views. 

Even sadder — Many Community Board 10 members were chosen by Brannan, Vinnie Gentile and Eric Adams, whom Andrew Gounardes used to work for.  Some members have been on Community 10 for a long time and I am thankful that these members are there to offer different viewpoints. I have watched Community Board 10 take care of Bay Ridge for a long time! They do an excellent job.

I requested that Brannan, Gounardes and Frontus remove their request for bike lanes. Brannan and Frontus responded in politician mode and Senator Gounardes just ignored me (but then posted his weekly post – see here because this is important as well).  A politician’s silence shows they aren’t answerable to anyone.  If Senator Gounardes was busy, he would have said – “Hey can you call my office on Monday.”

For our community, we know that next year there won’t be any substantial input through Community Board 10 or until a new set of representatives are elected. I don’t know why Councilman Brannan spends money to tape/broadcast these meetings if he is just going to override a decision when he doesn’t like it.

12) Andrew Gounardes and Justin Brannan stood in Dyker Heights for a press release because many accidents happened. Rather than quieting the streets and taking care of business, they threw bikes lanes into the mix. Why didn’t they write to Keith Bray to make changes to the streets? When cyclists get hit, we won’t be so lucky. 

Bay Ridge could have started with the lanes approved by CB 10 while Senator Gounardes ACTUALLY   DID   SOMETHING  to quiet the streets……not just take have press conferences and take pictures.  Because nothing is different in our community streets yet. 

13) Eric Adams knows Brannan, Gounardes and Frontus overrode the community. And Eric Adams did nothing as usual. 

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