Melanie Gounardes Sent Me E-mail

Melanie Gounardes wrote me e-mail. 

No, I’m not kidding – scroll down and see it.

Senator Andrew Gounardes’ wife thought it was okay to send constituents e-mail. How weird!

I wouldn’t write to a spouse of a politician, BUT SINCE SHE WROTE TO ME, I wanted to respond.

Melanie used  Andrew’s e-mail address (it’s weird that a woman wouldn’t write from her own e-mail address, especially since it would be so easy for them to create her one).

When we sent e-mail to Andrew, his office took months to respond to the e-mail, so I’ll post my reply to Melanie here. 

Dear Melanie Gounardes,  

We voted for your husband. He became everything he said he was against.

During the Pandemic, your husband just kept tweeting, instead of taking action for the people in nursing homes. (See here)   Andrew voted in favor of a bill which makes it difficult for  families to bring a successful bill against nursing homes  See Andrew’s vote on the bill and  information here  The papers told us Governor Andrew Cuomo received large donations (See here)  Melanie, who was your husband helping here?

In the beginning of January, Andrew Gounardes accepted money from the developer at Angel Guardian home. This was less than a month after you were married.  (See here)  Do you think your husband is entitled to tips from developers who did well in the area? See here

We don’t.

Gounardes’ supporters were shocked when they heard that Andrew was with the developers. One even denied that Andrew took money from a developer.  The NYS records were filed by Andrew and his team. (See here – page 28)  Andrew Gounardes didn’t even have the decency to tell his friends what he did! Bay Ridge voted for Mathylde Frontus because her opponent was with the developers (See here) 

Bail reform was needed in NYC so young people like Kalief Browder didn’t get caught in the system. Instead of carefully making changes,  Andrew Gounardes and his friends in the Senate went too far with bail reform. (See here)   These politicians didn’t have the foresight to understand how their bill would affect communities.

Senator Gounardes didn’t express any sympathy when a 31-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at the 95th Street train station by someone released due to bail reform (See here)  A man who was released from jail without mental health help, committed suicide on the Verrazano Bridge  (See here)

Melanie, like Trump, your husband, Andrew  did not stand up to hate. Bay Ridge residents felt angry when they saw this video. No one should be chanting  “Death to Israel and Death to America” in Bay Ridge or elsewhere.  When people sent  the video to Andrew, he ignored them.  

OMG ???????? why are you here if you hate America?? @NYPD68Pct @FBI @NewYorkFBI @CIA @DHSgov This would not happen under Senator Golden’s watch! But under @JustinBrannan @Sen_Gounardes anything is possible! pic.twitter.com/kGiUJGuNSS

— Marko Kepi (@MarkoKepi) July 3, 2020

Last year, the Bay Ridge Community Board made a decision on bike lanes. Andrew’s mother was on the board and voted against the bike lanes because they weren’t safe. I wrote to the Bay Ridge Community Board and asked for covered bike lanes only because a student died due to a car crash right outside this district.(Source)  Andrew was in Albany when the  decision was made. Instead of coming back to Brooklyn and speaking to the Community Board, Andrew and Justin Brannan wrote a letter to Keith Bray to override the Community Board. Strangers who were hanging out at a Bay Ridge Restaurant told me about the override, while I was on 3rd Avenue.   I defended your husband and Justin saying, “They wouldn’t do that to our community.”   I learned that Andrew was unwilling to work with the Community Board.   When I finally talked to your husband via e-mail,  Andrew was so arrogant, he asked me if I wanted NO BIKE LANES.  He seemed surprised when I said my students needed covered lanes for safety. Andrew can only see two sides to each situation – a Republican side and a Democrat side. (See here)

This weekend, a friend of Andrew’s family asked me if I thought he was a good person. She and I stared at each other for awhile. I said NO, he’s a politician who has made a lot of mistakes.   Andrew’s  holding a position in a community where people need help and Andrew’s playing games with the press releases , like he has seen other ineffective leaders do. His work is comparable to Nicole Malliotakis – very little results and a lot of bragging about bills that were submitted and went nowhere.  Like the man before him, he stood in front of the Verrazzano Bridge for a photo, but did nothing to change the uneven rates on the two sides of the bridge.

Almost every house on every block in Bay Ridge is overpaying taxes – we pay more than two times the Mayor. Andrew Gounardes was the person who had the ability to make a bill to override the mayor and issue a fair rate for our community and other communities throughout the city.

Last Fall, Gounardes said he was waiting on the Mayor de Blasio’s property tax commission. (Code Words for:  ANDREW ISN’T DOING ANYTHING FOR BAY RIDGE).  Andrew wouldn’t take away the tax breaks from the Mayor and his friend Councilman Brad Lander from Park Slope. Ironically, he Gounardes has many donations from the 11215 area code which is Park Slope.  

The community is being hurt by Andrew’s failure to do his job.   The year, Andrew put in an alternate bill property tax bill.  Andrew appeared on Channel 1 with his friend to discuss the new bill.  (See here)   At a virtual meeting in July, the same woman acted like she didn’t know Andrew and she asked him what he was doing about property taxes. Andrew and his team saw I registered for that Zoom meeting, so either they are clueless or they think they are “outsmarting the community.”  

Melanie, as you can see, no one is cheering for Andrew this year.  The feeling in the air is very different than it was two years ago because Andrew is different. He became who he was against and forgot about Bay Ridge. People are voting against Andrew and hoping to get someone who is willing to fight for our community.  

(See larger)

Topics: Bay Ridge | 2 Comments »

Missing Conjure – Dyker Heights

Update: Residents have reported hearing this guy. If you hear a bird shrieking and it looks like this beautiful bird, please call the owner at 718-208-7567.

Jake is a missing conjure bird from Dyker Heights. He is red, green, orange and yellow. The owner has put his cage outside and hopefully, Jake will return home soon!

Topics: Dyker Heights | No Comments »

68th Precinct – So Many Guns – Bay Ridge

Every week, the 68th Precinct is showing us guns they took off the street.   It’s great that they are getting these guns off the street. 

It’s sad that there are so many.

Hopefully, our neighborhood doesn’t become a casual shooting zone like Bed-Stuy. The men doing the shooting hold the guns like it’s just an ordinary item they use every day. 

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October is Socktober at St. Finbars

It’s October, which means it is Socktober at St. Finbars Church.

St. Finbar’s is collecting new socks for men, women and children.  The socks are donated to CHIPS in Brooklyn.

You can drop them off or send some socks from Amazon to:  St. Finbar’s 138 Bay 20th St, Brooklyn, NY 11214   

Due to the Pandemic, less people are going to church and these collections aren’t going to be as plentiful this year.  But there will probably be a lot more people in need. 

A pair of fresh socks  could make someone’s day a little better!

Topics: Brooklyn | No Comments »

Jobs on Fort Hamilton Army Base

Apply through  usajobs.gov 

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Missing Black Cat in Bay Ridge

A family is missing their sweet black kitty.  She’s around 85th Street and 3rd Avenue.

Topics: Bay Ridge | 2 Comments »