Why I Switched My Political Party

When I originally registered to vote at age 18, my Mom guided me to register as a Democrat. She told me it will allow me to vote in primary elections here in Brooklyn. 

Over the years, I realized that I am neither a Democrat or a Republican and that I just want to vote for people who are as passionate about being a politician as I am about being a teacher. I don’t know of anyone in Bay Ridge who needs a politician who is going to give huge tax breaks to big developers.  Crains and the New York Times reported on this because it is shocking news to see what our representatives are doing in Albany.

Since moving to Bay Ridge, I realized that my government does very little for me. I am not in a low or high income bracket so I don’t qualify for most tax breaks.  I am fully aware that no politician is going to lower the taxes on my property. When Lee and I actually needed help and we contacted Senator Marty Golden, all we got was his ineffective office staff  (see our experience here and here.  We found that they were disorganized and that they couldn’t follow up on a simple issue. Out of frustration, I called Albany and spoke with Golden’s chief of staff.  Golden’s chief of staff  didn’t follow up either. Personal information I provided to the state should never appeared on a staff members personal social media page and when I told Kassar the report had the wrong address, Kassar said he would furnish me a copy of the report, but never did. Golden did not call or e-mail me even though he knew what terrible service I received at his office. No resident should have received the poor service we did.  2/24/14 Update: Golden mentions a social media mistake was made by his staff – maybe he will monitor them/his accounts better now that so many people have seen it.

Bay Ridge Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotaks in my opinion doesn’t actually help Bay Ridge either.  We have two assembly members representing Bay Ridge, Alec Brook-Krasny is the other representative.  Check here to see if Malliotakis represents your block. 

Since the next election will be a primary, I want to send the message loud and clear that poor communication and leadership isn’t what we need in Bay Ridge. I wasn’t  alone in changing my political party yesterday so politicians should be aware that people are tired of the nonsense. If you wish to change your political party, you can just fill out this form and send it in.  

And Craig Eaton – there are a lot of people who are ready for a change in Bay Ridge. #BringIt

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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?

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Car Inspection in Bay Ridge on Sunday

Your inspection sticker just expired or is about to expire so you need to get it done on Sunday. Your regular place is closed on Sunday. 

Where can you get a car inspection in Bay Ridge on Sunday?

1) New Hope Auto (Roger) 951 61st Street Brooklyn  11219   (929) 282-2322  Open 7 AM to 7 PM

2) There is a station on 63rd Street and 16th Avenue which is open on Sunday 

For our car inspection, we go to the BP gas station on 91st Street and 4th Avenue – they are done in 10 minutes and charged $10  – YEAH!

I’ve also gone to these places for car inspections in Bay Ridge:

1) 3rd Avenue Auto Corp – 94th Street and 3rd Avenue

2) Carma Car Care – Across the street from Subway on 4th and 68th – $45

3) 75th Street Auto – On Bay Ridge Pkwy off 3rd Avenue – behind Citibank, under the Dolphin Gym (Tommy is an honest guy)

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Evicting Birds

Beautiful Mourning Doves lived in our Blue Spruce tree for four years. I loved hearing them sing and watching them nest outside of our window. This year, I noticed that they multiplied  a lot and were pooping all over the place. Besides the nasty secretions, the sound of 30-40 birds ruffling their feathers as we walked in or our of the house made me uneasy – especially around the kids. Visions of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds came to mind when I walked into the house. I thought they would leave when winter came, but they didn’t and I think the plush tree attracted even more birds.

I never knew anyone who wanted to get rid of sweet chirping birds, so I didn’t know it was so easy.  Of course we didn’t want to hurt the birds or trap them,  we just wanted get then out of the tree or at least get some of them to leave the tree.  We purchased this holographic ribbon.  When I was purchasing it, I read the reviews that suggested the ribbon didn’t work. Most times when something doesn’t work, people haven’t used it correctly.  We tied the ribbon around the branches of the tree and looked up into the tree. The ribbon reflected tiny mirror like lights into the tree – The birds immediately left the tree. For the next three days, we saw the birds sitting on the trees and rooftops of other homes looking at the tree. I guess they were waiting for us to remove the ribbon. One week later and we are still bird free.

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Juniors Restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn is Closing

The original Juniors Restaurant in Brooklyn is closing because the area is hot, hot, hot! They have valued the p0roperty at 45 – 55 MILLION DOLLARS!  Most of the downtown area near Albee Square was rezoned and developers can build up like 20+ stories so it makes sense that the building was purchased for condos. See story here  Some people are complaining because Junior is like a national landmark!  The owners said they may open a new Juniors at another location,

You can still grab a traditional Juniors Cheesecake in Grand Central Station on your way home to Brooklyn.

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Valentines Day

I am not a big fan of Valentine’s Day because I feel like every year I need to top last years gift and I always seem to be out of ideas for presents. This year I made some great things on pinterest that Lee loved! Go Pinterest!

Lee brought me a new computer with Windows 8.

My hand is still healing from carpal tunnel, but it feels a lot better than it did.

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February 16th

February 16, 2012 – My brother, Phil died.

It was the worst day of my life. It was a Friday and the first day of Winter Vacation. I heard Phil died and the rest of the day went in one weird, surreal slow motion…..and the days and months that followed weren’t too good either.

The hardest thing to process was being at the cemetery and knowing that you were in the ground. No one really speaks about that part. Everyone expresses condolences and talks about life without that person, but no one talks about how terrible it is to bury someone and then to think of them buried.

One morning this past Fall, I drove out to my brother’s grave. I brought Spring bulbs to plant. As I was kneeling to plant bulbs, the wind started gusting. I stood up and the wind was incredibly strong. I love wind, but gusting wind in a cemetery freaked me out a little. As the wind was gusting, I remembered a joke between my brother and I. When I was a kid, I heard the title of a movie: “I Spit on Your Grave.” I have never seen the movie, but every time I heard the title on the television, I would say it with laughter to my brother. As the years went on and reruns of the movie were announced, he would both say the movie name to me and laugh. One day I told him that I would probably spit on his grave because he was older and would pass earlier AND HE LAUGHED because it was such a strange thing to be discussing. In my teens, I used to tell him that I would dance on his grave too. I hadn’t thought about that in years.

Oh and in case you are wondering – I didn’t spit on brother’s grave (I know you were wondering) or even dance on it. But I laughed the way I did with Phil and the wind went silent.

(The movie came out in 1978 and was probably on the television in around 1980 to reruns in 1990).

RIP bro. Only the Good Die Young

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For My Friend George – Turn Up Your Volume

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People Who Write Stupid Things Remind Me How Lucky I Am

Today someone congratulated a new store owner on Facebook. They posted pictures of the new store in the community and everyone was so happy. And they should be happy because owning your own business is fulfilling a dream that many people have.

Then an arrogant, racist man posted a comment. I was shocked by the comment, especially since I know the man’s wife.

And when I clicked on the page, I saw pictures of his beautiful family. He had three children!

So here is a father with three kids spreading hate through the community probably more because he is resentful towards the success of the new store owners.

And when he posted hate, so did other people who had nothing better to do.  So the Internet allows stupidity to spread freely.  

I feel sorry for the man’s wife and children who deserve a much better man. Afterall, we all know fathers – how many of those fathers have time to post such hate?

On a positive note, many residents posted in favor of the hard working business owner and the idiot’s post was deleted.

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Bay Ridge Carpeting

I asked Lee for stairway carpeting for Christmas. I know carpeting is a strange present, but I love carpeted stairs. Why? It looks beautiful and they don’t make noise. Lee laughed over my present, but obliged in picking it out with me and purchasing it.

We went to Bay Ridge Carpeting located at 7710 5th Ave (also known as Richie’s Bay Ridge Carpeting (718) 745-5110). Why did I choose Bay Ridge Carpeting? Because the former owner used them and she only used high quality places. She was a resident of Bay Ridge all her life and knew what companies to use.

When we went into the store, we met Richie’s son. He was friendly and he wasn’t pushy. I wasn’t sure if the colors I was choosing would work in my hallway. He allowed me to bring them home and try them out.

Bay Ridge Carpet  came to the home and measured the stairs.  The carpet was ordered and came quickly. They came and installed it and I love it.

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Thank you.

Gift from a friend

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Goodbye Marty Markowitz – Fuggedaboutit!

The era of Marty Markowitz will come to an end at the end of this year. Many will miss him, but we are glad to see him go.

Marty Markowitz recently spoke at an event with students from my school. When they came back, some told me about their visit.  I told them that Mr. Markowitz is an amazing speaker and that I admired the way he delivered a speech. It’s true he has excellent communication skills and his love of Brooklyn could rouse a room. Although I am able to see Markowitz’s good traits, we’e believe that his integrity was questionable.

Why are many Brooklynites like me ready to see him go?

A little over ten years ago,  New York City issued us a letter of eminent domain for our Downtown Brooklyn property.  I e-mailed Markowitz for help. The very next day (a Sunday), he called me on the phone because he tell that an e-mail response would not do. The Brooklyn Borough President talked on the phone with me for about a half an hour and although he didn’t have a solution, his communication was immediate. Markowitz’s communication is much better than most politicians today (ex.My experience with Marty Golden). When the Downtown Brooklyn Development began, Markowitz was not a home owner. He didn’t become a home owner until 2009 and I can’t help but wonder if he would have responded differently if he was  a home owner at the time. You see, the land the city had marked to put Barclay Center belonged to Brooklynites, who invested their money in Brooklyn years before.  Imagine being told one day out of the blue that you had to sell your home and move because a stadium for a losing team like the Nets was going to be built. Yeah that didn’t sit too well with the home owners. We spoke with Markowitz’s head of planning, Jon Benguiat.  Benguiat was a Staten Island resident and thought it was great that our building was going to be bought. Benguiat didn’t understand that not everyone wanted to sell their property……infact, very few people wanted to sell. In America people don’t realize that the government can be force you to sell your -property under eminent domain. At the time, most politicians wouldn’t answer phone calls or e-mails because they knew they were voting in favor of the new stadium.  Leticia James was the only politician that consistently stood with the home owners. 

If you look up the word politician in the dictionary, you would see a picture of  Markowitz.  He was a man who advocated for Brooklyn, but advocated for Marty as well. The media often caught Markowitz in some not so favorable situations. Ten years ago, he placed Dolly Williams in charge of the Atlantic Yards Project. Williams already had other connections to the project and this made it hard for Brooklynites to be heard. Many unwillingly had to sell their homes to the city.  We considered Markowitz a Brooklyn sellout because he advocated for the project, rather than the long-time property owners. Although Markowitz always talks about the success of the Atlantic Yard, he forgets to mention the cost of people’s freedom. These people lost their homes – yes, they were paid for their homes, but they were unwillingly forced to sell and move out of the homes they knew on Markowitz’s watch.  I don’t think Markowitz ever realized the time and the stress felt over the uncertainty of the government taking your property. Even more disheartening was seeing all the subsidies and city money that Ratner was given for this project. Ratner was never interested in being part of Brooklyn – just in monetizing the area (in the Fall of 2013 Ratner sold 70% of the Atlantic Yards to the Shanghai-based developer Greenland Group).   In a recent interview Markowitz said he knew he had haters. When he lost sight of the people who elected him, he earned those haters. Markowitz also believes that everyone is enjoying Barclay Center – I think most who were involved in the Downtown takeover, like us stay away from Barclay Center.

The media always had  a field day with Markowitz stories. There was the $6000 spent on chocolate, the Murakami placemats story and the trips for Markowitz and his wife. Other stories also come to mind, but I will say that in later years, the stories  died down a bit.  Markowitz funded many large  school projects that other local politicians didn’t. He sent children to camp and he funded amazing summer projects as well. I think he will always be remembered for his vibrant speeches and enthusiasm. Interesting fact of the day: Markowitz and Mayor Bloomberg share he same birthday – February 14th (different years of course). Both leave office at the end of December and all we want to do is…….in Markowitz’s famous words: Fuggedaboutit   (them)! 

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