State Assemblywoman Grace Meng and state Sen. Toby Stavisky have been selected as delegates for the Democratic Party and are slated to cast electoral votes in the 2012 November election.

Norteast Queens delegates state Assemblywoman Grace Meng and state Sen. Toby Stavisky are charged with collecting signatures for President Barack Obama (pictured). AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari

Two northeast Queens lawmakers have been selected as delegates for the Democratic Party in the upcoming presidential elections.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) hope their work will keep President Barack Obama in the White House.

“I’m excited to represent Queens and represent New York state as we nominate Obama for a second term,” Meng said.

The first task given to Meng and Stavisky will be to collect signatures to get themselves and the president on ballots.

As delegates, they will need to be elected — and, obviously, the president needs to be on a ballot to compete with the winner of the Republican Party primary.

The Queens GOP will also pick delegates to perform a similar task, but the party did not return a call to TimesLedger Newspapers by press time Tuesday.

Signatures are required for nearly all public offices, including spots at the city level. It ensures that the ballot will only list serious contenders.

The two northeast Queens legislators will be pounding the pavement in the next few weeks to take names and turn in the signatures by Feb. 2.

There are two delegates assigned to each congressional district. In this case, Meng and Stavisky are assigned to the district of U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside).

But aside from collecting signatures, their essential function will be to cast electoral votes in the 2012 November election.

When Queens residents take to the polls in November, their votes will technically not pick the president. Instead, their votes will act as a guide as to how delegates, like Meng and Stavisky, will vote to officially elect the president.

Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes based on the number of representatives it has in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. In New York, that number is 29, two less after the 2010 census trimmed two House seats.

It is a process that is not new to Stavisky, who was a delegate in 2008 and attended the convention in Colorado.

“It was interesting because you met people from all over the country,” she said. “Their issues are very similar. A person out of work in Denver is very similar to somebody out of work in Queens.”

The Republican primary is still in full swing, so Queens delegates from the Republican Party do not know who to collect signatures for as of yet.

Obama already has his party’s endorsement to run in the upcoming election, and recently ran his first re-election television ad.

City Comptroller John Liu's campaign has returned all donations collected by fund-raiser Xing Wu "Oliver" Pan.

Embattled city Comptroller John Liu returned nearly $50,000 in contributions and disclosed a list of his campaign bundlers as promised last week amid questions about the finances of his unofficial 2013 campaign for mayor.

Nearly all of the $48,470 Liu gave back to donors was refunded on and after Nov. 16, the day a bundler for his campaign, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, was federally charged with skirting campaign finance laws by dividing a large contribution into smaller ones using straw donors.

Bundlers collect contributions on behalf of a candidate. Straw donors are individuals who make campaign contributions on behalf of another person and are reimbursed for their participation in the scheme, which is illegal.

Scrutiny of Liu’s fund-raising practices first surfaced in mid-September after The New York Times found his campaign account was flooded with large donations made by people who appeared unlikely to have the means to make such contributions. The questionable donors had occupations such as cook or cashier or, in some cases, were unemployed.

Liu returned all of the $15,200 in contributions collected by Pan.

An undercover FBI agent posing as a Chinese businessman wanted to contribute $16,000 to Liu’s campaign and, according to federal charges, Pan suggested setting up straw donors to sidestep campaign finance laws.

Pan also showed up on Liu’s recent filing as one of 59 campaign bundlers who collected donations for the comptroller’s 2013 campaign.

This is the first time Liu has made the names of his bundlers public. The list included two colleagues of his in government: City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing).

Campaign finance records showed Koo collected $7,200 in donations from nine individuals, while Meng gathered $4,000 from five people.

Koo and Meng are not suspected of any wrongdoing.

The most prolific bundler for Liu was Chung Seto, a consultant in charge of Liu’s comptroller campaign in 2009 who solicited $63,875 in donations from 93 people.

Seto described herself as a political consultant with her own agency, the Chung Seto Group, but a visit to her Manhattan office turned up a doctor’s office. Her phone line was also out of service.

Seto was also a bundler for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Bill Thompson (l.) speaks with Sandy Contreras (r.) about education reform as state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (c.) looks on. Photo by Rich Bockmann

As city Comptroller John Liu’s political future hangs ?in limbo amid a fund-raising scandal surrounding his 2013 mayoral campaign, Bill Thompson met with the Northeast Queens Multicultural Democratic Club in Flushing Sunday to discuss his campaign for the mayoral election.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), a member of the club who was not acting in any official capacity, said Thompson was supposed to attend the group’s meeting last month, and that his visit had been planned quite some time ago.

Liu, who represented Flushing in the City Council, was viewed as a strong Democratic contender for mayor before questions were raised about some donors to his current campaign?. Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) is another potential contender.

“We welcome all candidates for any office,” Meng said.

When it came to politics, Thompson cited his “active and aggressive” approach to the Flushing community during his two successful campaigns for city comptroller and his 2009 campaign for mayor.

“It’s important that candidates reach out to the community,” he told a group of reporters, and said he enjoys visiting Flushing for its restaurants, shops and bubble teas.

When it came to politicians, he avoided pointing the finger at either Liu — “He should have the opportunity to set the record straight” — or members of the Council who may be perceived to be in the mayor’s pocket? — “There are a lot of very good, hardworking members of the City Council, and I’m going to leave it at that.”

He did, however, have some harsh words of criticism for the man he hopes to replace.

“It was disgraceful,” he said of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to challenge the law prohibiting a third term, requesting the Council to vote on a term-limits extension rather than putting the vote to a public referendum.

“Let me be blunt about that. I thought it was morally wrong,” Thompson said. “We change presidents in the middle of wars. We definitely change mayors in the middle of this crisis.”

As for the current crisis, the former comptroller said issues such as economic disparity, affordable housing and education needed to be addressed in all five boroughs.

“I firmly believe right now that we’re going in the wrong direction,” he said.

He told the two dozen or so club members in attendance he would make education a top priority. Bringing arts back into the schools and focusing on a more full measure of students would be included in his agenda.

“I used to play the viola while I was in school. I may not have been that great, but it taught me a lot,” he joked.

The success of small businesses was another concern he said he would focus on.

“Flushing is a business of small businesses,” Thompson told reporters. “New York City treats small businesses like they’re there to generate revenue. I want the small business of today to be the mid-size business of tomorrow.”

Despite his penchant for firing off sound bites, Thompson promised the group his campaign would not be reduced to a platitudinous maxim.

“Trust me, by the time we get to the campaign, I’m sure there will be a slogan, but I’m not going to run on a slogan,” he said.

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (c.) is sworn into office as his wife, children and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (from second r.) and state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver look on. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (l.) talks with state Sen. Malcolm Smith following his inauguration. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Elected officials from all over the state gathered at Junior High School 210 in Ozone Park Sunday to pass the torch to the community’s newest representative in Albany.

State Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) was inaugurated before his family, friends, community members and fellow elected officials.

Goldfeder, who worked in the political offices of City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Sen Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), succeeded former Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, who became the Queens county clerk in June after serving the 23rd Assembly District for 24 years.

The new Assembly member said he was grateful for all the support he received from both the party and constituents and vowed to improve their quality of life.

“As the new assemblyman, I’m going to do the things I promised on the campaign,” he said.

The district includes the neighborhoods of the Rockaways, Howard Beach and portions of South Ozone Park.

Several Democratic members of the state Legislature, including state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), were in attendance for the event, at 93-11 101st Ave., ?and said the rookie elected official will be making big waves in office.

Smith noted that two key Republicans — U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Kew Gardens) and Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) — were at the inauguration and he called on Goldfeder to continue to lead in a bipartisan manner.

“The aisles shouldn’t matter. You should do what is right,” he said.

Silver agreed and said Goldfeder’s long career in the New York political arena has made him a strong community activist, and he would not only be able to convey the community’s voice to Albany but also bring Albany’s side of the issues back home.

“You are part of a young collection of leaders who continue to define themselves as defenders of working families,” he said.

Pheffer, who was Goldfeder’s former boss, said she was confident he would be able to fill her shoes.

“There are so many, many problems that need to be worked on,” she said. “I am confident that he is going to do a better job [than me]. ?He is confident.”

Goldfeder said he is working on solving those issues, including the elimination of the toll at the Cross Bay Bridge and creating new incentives for neighborhood store owners during the down economic times.

“Right here, there are many businesses that need to survive,” he said.

Grace Meng chats with the Queensboro Hill Civic Association as members nosh at Flushing's Palace Diner. Photo by Rich Bockmann

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) paid a visit to the Palace Diner on Main Street last week — not to chow down on burgers and fries, but to dish with members of the Queensboro Hill Civic Association about 2012 legislative initiatives such as the creation of a city liquor authority and an English-language signage bill.

Back in her district before returning to the capital in January, Meng spoke about the difficulties of relating city issues to Albany, 150 miles away, and vice versa Oct. 26.

One example she pointed to was the state Liquor Authority, which she criticized for its ineffectiveness in properly regulating establishments that sell alcohol.

“When places apply for a liquor license, the state doesn’t know what’s going on in the community,” she said. “A city liquor authority would be more responsive.”

Meng said she would also like to see businesses such as delis and gas stations to be required to seek community board recommendations for selling alcoholic beverages.

“In many ways, they’re more dangerous. Minors purchase alcohol from them and the community board has no say,” she said.

The assemblywoman also said she would work on legislation at the request of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown that would give his office the power to intervene in Housing Court proceedings. She said her office constantly receives complaints about fliers, some for illegal massage parlors, posted around the neighborhood.

“We are in America, and we can’t tell them not? to distribute flyers,” she said, admitting her own propensity for distributing fliers during campaign season.

She said landlords who wish to evict unsavory tenants often face a lengthy and sometimes prohibitively expensive process in the city’s Housing Court and that she was looking into more innovative ways to find a solution, such as allowing the DA to intervene.

Meng also said she was in the process of putting the final touches on an English-language sign bill, which would replace the one currently sitting on the books, unenforced. It calls for imprisonment for violators.

She said the legislation would work hand-in-hand with a city bill being drafted by City Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) that would have the city Department of Consumer Affairs enforce a 60 percent English-language requirement.

“This is not just a Flushing business problem. With every new wave of immigrants there is this concern,” she said. “The problem has existed for decades, and we’re not going to change the law overnight.”

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (l.-r.) and Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Business Association, are on hand as Assemblyman David Weprin accepts the endorsement of City Councilman Peter Koo. Photo by Connor Adams Sheets

City Councilman Peter Koo (R-Flushing) crossed party lines last Thursday to endorse state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) in his bid for the 9th Congressional District seat vacated by Anthony Weiner amid a scandal in June.

Koo, who has endorsed Democrats in the past, including Andrew Cuomo when he was running for governor, said he made his decision based on his assessment of the relative strengths of Weprin and his Republican opponent, Bob Turner.

“I may not always agree with David on the issues, and we may see things differently from time to time, but I believe he is a better choice for Congress in the 9th Congressional District,” Koo said at an event Aug. 18 at the headquarters of the Flushing Chinese Business Association. “As I have done in the past, I am crossing party lines to support a candidate I feel who will be the best for our community.”

Weprin thanked Koo for the endorsement and said he is committed to fighting for the people of Flushing.

“I am very honored to accept this endorsement for Congress,” Weprin said at the event. “I will do everything I can to protect Social Security and Medicare and to create jobs …. I will be there fighting each and every way for the people of Queens and Brooklyn.”

The Flushing Chinese Business Association also threw its support behind Weprin, saying he has been a committed advocate for the Asian-American and small business communities in Flushing.

“He’s a longtime friend in Flushing for the Asian community. We are very serious about working with him,” the nonprofit’s executive director, Peter Tu, said. “We respect him and this is an opportunity to welcome him.”

Koo took some heat from the Republican Party’s state leadership — his chief of staff, James McClelland, said Koo received a “flurry of calls” — after choosing to endorse Weprin despite an entreaty by Turner’s campaign to back his candidacy, but Koo said he wants to do what is best for the community.

“I always tell them if it’s the right to do for the community, then I will do it,” Koo said. “Of course, they are not happy, but this is my decision. I think David is a better, more experienced representative for our community.”

Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who has endorsed Weprin, also attended the announcement.

“Assemblyman Weprin has been a consistent advocate for our community,” she said. “Bob Turner has not worked for our community. I’ve never even met him. David Weprin has been working for years, on and off camera, to help our community.”

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association and the Uniformed Firefighters Association both threw their weight behind Weprin last week as well.

Ed Martin stands at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery & Crematory, where he is director. AP Photo/Senth Wenig

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) plans to introduce a bill to ensure all dogs can go to heaven alongside their owners.

The legislation, which is being drafted, comes in response to a bizarre case out of Hartsdale, N.Y., in which the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery & Crematory told a man’s sister earlier this year that the state Division of Cemeteries had passed down a ruling barring his ashes from being buried there next to his wife and two beloved pooches.

Thomas Ryan died in April. Since he bought a plot in the cemetery in 1990, he had planned to be cremated and buried there on a plot shared with the ashes of his beloved wife Bunny — who was buried there in 2008 — and their two Malteses, BJ I and BJ II, along with a third dog which survived him.

But his ashes are still above ground at his sister’s home because the division declared the longstanding practice of some pet owners to be buried with their pets in their own lots at private cemeteries illegal in February under laws governing not-for-profits, Meng said.

The division, however, does not have jurisdiction over not-for-profits, and therefore cannot legally rule as such, Meng argued Saturday in a letter asking the division’s director, Richard Fishman, to “reconsider this ruling.”

The division, which plans to meet this week to discuss the issue, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Ryan’s niece, attorney Taylor York of Pennyan, N.Y., has taken on the cause of imploring the division to overturn the ruling, which she says does not have the authority to enforce when it comes to private burial grounds.

“My uncle and his wife couldn’t have children. They had dogs instead that they absolutely adored, and like any pet owner they loved their animals like children,” York said. “My uncle had every intention of being buried next to his wife and his four-footed family.”

She has not been able to make any headway despite writing a letter of her own to the division, to which she says she never received a response.

Meng has taken up the cause, and she plans to introduce a bill soon that would make it clear that the division does not have the authority to monitor private cemeteries’ activities.

“It’s a private cemetery, it’s not a not-for-profit, so I don’t know why it should fall under their jurisdiction,” Meng said. “A lot of people, especially the elderly, feel very close to their pets and they may not have any relatives who are close to them, so they want to be buried with their pets. So this ruling is a sad inconsistency.”

York said the issue is more than just a personal concern, and that it comes down to a need to protect people’s rights to dispose of their remains as well as private businesses’ rights, and to ensure neither is infringed upon by a body that has no legislative authority. If the issue is not resolved to her satisfaction, York said she will take the division to court.

“What worries me is this is not just about pet owners in Hartsdale, this is about what New Yorkers can do with their remains after they’re dead,” she said. “You are free to scatter your ashes, bury your ashes, so long as you have the property owner’s consent and certainly if it’s your own property. Don’t take our choice away.”

Flushing elected officials, residents and community leaders are hashing out a compromise on the issue of how to ensure all businesses in the neighborhood have English-language signs. Photo by Christina Santucci

The issue of English-language signage in downtown Flushing is dividing? the community like no other issue as new voices get involved in the fracas.

For years signs with only a foreign ?language printed on them have adorned many businesses in downtown Flushing, angering many residents who speak only English.

Now community leaders are working to find a solution, but some critics say they are moving too slowly and that their efforts will not have enough of an impact, while business owners are concerned about the cost of changing their signs.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) boldly created an English signage advisory board last year in hopes of bringing people together to find a way to address the concern.

Meng, who does not read Chinese fluently herself, has presided over a number of increasingly raucous meetings of the board, exposing herself politically in a way that no former Flushing politician has been willing to do. City Councilman Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) have joined in the effort, as have a number of residents and representatives of local community groups.

Fred Fu, president of the Flushing Development Center and former president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, seconded Koo’s remarks, but said he believes that existing businesses cannot be forced in a down economy to foot the bill for replacing their signs.

“We should do English signs, but we should let the business owners do it themselves. The elected officials should get funds so they can do it for free, because then why not do it? But if they have to pay for it, it’s too expensive,” Fu said. “Everybody knows English signs are needed, but how should they do it? It’s very difficult to get from A to B. The business groups and elected officials should help them.”

James Trikas, a community leader and member of the advisory board, takes umbrage with the contention that the shopkeepers are entitled to monetary assistance.

“I totally disagree there. They got away with not following the rules and regulations that were there. It’s not the burden for us to find funding for them, it is their burden,” he said. “They’re saying we don’t have any money. You created the situation, you created the environment of alienation by doing those signs that way and implying that others are not welcome.”

Meng, Koo and Stavisky have said repeatedly that it will take time to get business owners to change their signs and that a compromise must be worked out.

Koo, who immigrated to America from Hong Kong in 1971 and later founded and became CEO and president of the Starside Pharmacy chain in Flushing,? said all new businesses should be educated about the importance of installing English signs, which he believes is the best way to encourage them to do so.

“In the long term, we have to educate business people and business associations that before they open the store they need to have English first, then their own language on signs,” he said. “As a business owner, they can make their own decision, but I think if they do business here, they should have English on their signs so people know what kind of business they are.”

Downtown Flushing BID director Dian Yu, (l. to r.) state Assemblywoman Grace Meng and state Sen. Toby Stavisky lead a meeting of an advisory board examining the issue of English signage on businesses in downtown Flushing. Photo by Connor Adams Sheets

The contentious debate over what to do about downtown Flushing businesses that do not have signs in English flared up again last week.

An advisory board formed last year by state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) to address the topic met Friday to speak with representatives of city agencies and discuss ideas for how to encourage or require business owners to add English writing to their signs.

But the meeting quickly devolved into an argument about differing visions of the Flushing that residents and officials want to see.

Meng was joined by state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) in her view that encouraging the use of English signage is one of a number of important steps necessary to foster a welcome atmosphere for shoppers and proprietors in downtown Flushing.

“The best way for this to succeed is for business owners to do this voluntarily …. The last thing we want is to harm our businesses in Flushing, to slow our economy,” Meng said. “Just because there’s a law on the books doesn’t mean people will follow it. This is why we started these meetings. We wanted to improve goodwill here in Flushing.”

But goodwill was simply not good enough for four white advisory board members who said they wanted a law to require that English be the main language on all signs in Flushing — and across the city. The board has about 15 members representing a range of ethnicities.

James Trikas, a community leader and board member, said addresses and store names must be in English in order to ensure safety when firefighters and police officers need to find a specific store and that English should be the official language in the United States.

“I want the English language as the predominant language on all signs. We don’t have a problem with second languages — we want second languages — we just want the English lettering to be the largest, even if it’s just an eighth of an inch bigger,” Trikas said. “The real problem is the perception it implies, which is that they only cater to their own. They want to dominate the area and not recognize the English language.”

Ikwhan Rim, co-president of the Union Street Merchants Association, countered Trikas’ accusation, saying that among store owners the will is there, but the way still has to be hashed out.

“We want to have uniform signs, we want to have English signs, but it takes a lot. We can’t do it overnight. We need money to do this, but we are trying to do this,” he said.

Trikas, who said he has collected more than 1,250 petition signatures supporting his cause, and three other board members said they thought that political leaders were not moving fast enough to create laws or otherwise address the signage issue.

But Meng reiterated that the board has only been in existence for less than a year and it is working to find a solution to an issue that has dragged on for decades. She said she, Stavisky and other leaders are working with the city to see what the current law is and which agency enforces it.

The city has a law on the books that requires English signs on all storefronts, but Claudia Filomena, co-director of the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit for Northeast Queens, said it needs clarification.

“As far as doing this type of enforcement, it’s not really clear which of the city agencies would do that,” she said. “I think this would require interpretation by the city Law Department.”

Meng and Stavisky said they hope to clarify the existing law and continue working toward a solution before the group’s next meeting.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (c.) and state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (fourth from r.) join seniors to speak out about proposed funding cuts. Photo courtesy Toby Stavisky

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) joined forces with seniors Tuesday at the Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center? in Flushing to oppose proposed cuts to state funding for senior services that could lead to the closing of as many as 100 senior centers in the city.

They met there to speak out against a provision in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget that would reallocate $22 million in federal Title XX ?funding that has traditionally gone to New York City.

“If the senior centers close, where will our seniors go, what will they eat?” Meng asked. “In addition, the social and emotional consequences that these closures bring about will have a far more serious impact than can even be imagined now.”

Leo Asen, vice president of Selfhelp community service, said the cuts would be “devastating,” as senior centers — including Selfhelp’s five centers, two each in Flushing, and one in Maspeth, Bayside and Forest Hills — provide essential services for seniors throughout the five boroughs.

“If we lost a senior center, it would have a detrimental effect on our seniors’ well-being,” he said. “They benefit from nutritional meals, case assistance services, as well as the social interaction senior centers offer. We’re talking about wellness activities, we’re talking about lectures, we’re talking about just basically getting better to socialize and interact.”

Stavisky said that although the cuts would save money in the short term, they would not improve the state’s long-term fiscal soundness.

“This shortsighted proposal will be hardest on our home-bound elderly,” she said. “Our projections show a cut like this will end up costing more in the long run in terms of care.”

Asen said he realizes the need to slash spending in light of budgetary shortfalls and the economic crisis, but he said to do so in the form of cutting funding for seniors is the wrong way to go about it.

“We’re all realistic and we understand these are hard times and there has to be a shared sacrifice, but I think it would be really hard on our seniors, who are some of our frailest citizens,” he said. “We advocate, we talk with our elected officials, we work with our advocacy partners and we’d like to not see these cuts happen.”

State assemblywoman Grace Meng (c.) joins Baruch College accounting students last year at a kick-off event for a free tax preparation program she sponsored in conjunction with Baruch College.

Queens residents who need a little extra help getting their taxes in order will have a little extra help thanks to a joint program between state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Baruch College beginning later this month.

The program offers free tax preparation services to area residents who make less than $49,000 per year. The opportunity is available Saturdays and Sundays from Feb. 19 until April 17 by appointment only.

Anyone with interest in having their taxes prepared should call 718-939-0195 to set up an appointment to come into her district office at 136-20 38th Ave., Suite 10A in Flushing.

Clients are asked to bring photo identification, Social Security cards for all family members, W-2, 1099-INT, 1099-MISC, 1099-R, 1098-E, 1098-T, SSA-1099 and any other forms they have received related to their taxes when coming in for assistance.

The tax prep work is done by volunteers at Baruch’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, who are certified by the IRS to complete state and federal tax forms.

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has refused to apologize for ridiculing the way Chinese President Hu Jintao speaks. AP Photo/Rob Carr

An angry outburst at state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) over her repeated request that controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh apologize for his impersonation of Chinese President Hu Jintao seems to be ebbing after she received no phone calls and few racially charged e-mails from the talk show’s supporters over the weekend, according to Meng spokeswoman Linda Sun.

But she, City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and city Public Advocate Bill de Blasio want to keep up the pressure on Limbaugh to take back his comments, and Koo gave Meng his backing over the weekend, offering to join her in her effort to calling the shock jock to task for offending the Chinese-American community. De Blasio issued a statement expressing his support of Meng on Monday.

Meng’s office has been inundated with more than 50 hateful and racist phone calls and e-mails since she publicly criticized Limbaugh for mocking the way Jintao speaks during a segment of his radio show Jan. 19.

On Thursday and Friday alone, Meng received about 30 calls and e-mails from people across the United States, some of whom used anti-Chinese slurs and profanity when lambasting Meng for asking that Limbaugh apologize for performing what she described as a racially insensitive impression of the Chinese leader.

On his radio show Jan. 19, Limbaugh lamented that a speech Hu gave during a recent visit to the White House was not translated as he listened to it on television.

“Hu Jintao, he was speaking and they weren’t translating and they normally have some translator every couple of words, but Hu Jintao was just going ‘Ching chong. Ching chong, chong chong!’” he said during the show, proceeding to spend more than 15 seconds mocking and imitating Hu’s accent. The AP reported that on the following day he addressed his remarks but did not make an apology.

“We’ve been getting e-mails and phone calls from all over the country. People telling us to go back to our country and that Asians work for them and if we don’t like it we can go back to our country,” Meng’s spokeswoman said Friday afternoon. “The majority of the phone calls have been from outside of [New York], people yelling at us. People have said to us that we’re defending China or China’s policy. That’s not our intention. We’re just standing up for all our fellow Chinese Americans.”

Meng is the only Asian American in the state Legislature. Koo, the successor to John Liu, the first Asian American city Council member, said on Monday that Limbaugh’s comments were out of line.

“We don’t want other people to make fun of minority groups, especially a public figure like Limbaugh,” Koo said. “The FCC, they have some regulations against it. You can’t use profanity and you also can’t discriminate against a group of people.”

Meng has stood by her comments despite the conservative backlash, saying in a follow-up statement that she still wants an apology from Limbaugh.

“I still stand fervently by my statement. I want to clarify that while any private citizen is free to say anything they want, I do not believe it is appropriate for anyone, especially a person with national recognition, to imitate the manner in which a group of people talks,” she said. “As someone who is proud to have been born in America and to be an American, I was often saddened and hurt as a child when people made fun of the way I looked or the accent they automatically assumed I had.”

An Associated Press story quoting Meng and headlined “Asian-American Lawmakers Demand Limbaugh Apology” was listed as the most-e-mailed article on Yahoo! News Friday afternoon. In the AP article, Meng was joined by California state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) in calling for a Limbaugh apology.

Sun said Yee, who was more prominently featured in the AP piece than Meng, has received some of the most offensive calls and e-mails. His office has released a fax Yee received Jan. 26 that read “Death to Marxists!” and “Fish Head Leeland” accompanied by a drawing of a noose around President Barack Obama’s disembodied head being dragged by a pick-up truck bearing an American flag. Yee’s office forwarded the fax to the California state Senate sergeant-at-arms.

Dave Backer, a Guilford, Ill., man who owns two companies that deal with various aspects of the radon industry, sent an e-mail to Meng after seeing the AP article on his Yahoo! News home page. He said in a phone interview Friday that Meng should apologize to her constituents for wasting taxpayer money and time by asking for an apology.

“Rush does not owe you or anyone else an apology. How about instead of thrying [sic] to grab headlines with crap you get out and actually do your job which is helping Americans. Yeah did you forget we still live in this country and you work for us,” Backer’s e-mail read. “Anyone who is Asian and has such thin skin when they are in our country should leave. So here is a suggestion for you. Either get a little thicker skin or take your ass back to where it is you came from. Back to your ancestry that you think we are picking on. Ching chong,chang!”

DeBlasio added his name to the growing number of officials calling for Limbaugh to take back his words.

“The recent threats sent to Assemblywoman Grace Meng are ugly and bigoted. Grace was right to speak out against Rush Limbaugh’s offensive parody of Chinese President Hu Jintao,” de Blasio said. “That doing so made her a target of harassment demonstrates the inherent dangers intolerant speech like Mr. Limbaugh’s can let loose. We must never be afraid call out intolerance when we see it, and we must all work to prevent our words from inciting division.”

Queens Councilmen Mark Weprin (l.) and Dan Halloran listen to testimony from city officials during a council hearing on the city's response to last month's blizzard. By Connor Adams Sheets

Community leaders, elected officials and city workers are raising doubts about City Councilman Dan Halloran’s (R-Whitestone) claim that northeast Queens sanitation supervisors called for a work slowdown during the Dec. 26 blizzard and the storm cleanup.

“There was absolutely, 100 percent, no slowdown,” said a northeast Queens plow driver from the city Sanitation Department, who declined to give his name for fear of repercussions. “I was out there, I saw it. We gave 120 percent.”

Halloran claimed in statements, heated TV appearances and newspaper interviews during the days after the storm that several of the city’s Strongest paid a guilt-ridden visit to his office to confess to participating in a slowdown in response to the Sanitation Department’s plans to demote 100 supervisors.

The city Department of Investigations and federal investigators are looking into whether such a deliberate job action actually took place, and Halloran is refusing to give investigators and reporters the names of the workers he said came forward to report it. His office provided TimesLedger Newspapers with a list of 239 northeast Queens residents who he says contacted him to say that they supported his efforts to look into the issue, many of whom say they saw evidence of the slowdown with their own eyes.

Halloran’s claims were picked up by a number of media outlets, including the New York Post (The TimesLedger and the Post are both owned by News Corp.), which ran a front-page article alleging a coordinated citywide slowdown.

Halloran spokesman Steve Stites dialed down the rhetoric Tuesday when he said the councilman never claimed the slowdown reached beyond northeast Queens, despite numerous rumors and reports to the contrary in the aftermath of the storm, and that the slowdown was probably only due to several supervisors ordering a few dozen workers to raise their plows, slough off and do other things to protest the demotions.

“We’re not saying it was a union action, it was a handful of supervisors who were upset at the administration and they wanted to get back at them for the upcoming demotions,” Stites said. “We don’t know if it happened in Brooklyn, we’re not saying it happened all over the borough, we’re just saying it happened in northeast Queens.”

But politicians and community leaders on both sides of the aisle are speaking up, casting doubt on the possibility that any such event occurred and questioning Halloran’s motivations in promoting such a claim. Two Democratic officials, who refused to be named, even went so far as to say they believe he made up the allegations.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) did not go so far, but she did say she questions Halloran’s interpretation and presentation of what took place during last month’ blizzard.

“I don’t want to blame him, but I haven’t heard anything else and I’ve even talked to people who are family members of sanitation workers or sanitation workers themselves, and they said snow shoveling and plowing are the pride and joy of their work and so they would never sabotage their job to prove a point,” she said.

Community Board 7 Chairman Eugene Kelty said he does not believe there was a major organized slowdown, although he did not criticize Halloran directly.

“I didn’t see anything like that,” he said. “I’m not saying it didn’t happen, it’s the extent. There may have been one or two guys who went by with the plows up, but I find it hard to believe it was a big, clandestine plan.”

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) submitted a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to a number of city agencies that were involved in the response effort, requesting copies of all communication immediately prior to the storm.

“The only people who talked about it went to Halloran’s office? I find that hard to believe,” he said. “There may have been one or two workers who didn’t do their job, but I think by and large the workers did their job to clear the snow.”

Even former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, has expressed doubts that there was a slowdown.

“If there was a slowdown, and I’m not sure there was, I would doubt it,” he said on MSNBC last week. “Because I know the Sanitation Department, that just doesn’t sound right to me, that there was some deliberate slowdown.”

Stites said the facts will come out when the investigations conclude and that the city will see the shameful actions of the few “bad apples” in the Sanitation Department who took part in the alleged slowdown.

Whitestone resident Frank Fusco said he supports Halloran’s efforts and that he saw Sanitation trucks sitting idle for extended periods while roads were still deep with snow in his neighborhood.

“Was there a slowdown? I don’t know. Were there trucks parked with no one in them? Yes. What were they doing there if they’re not going out to plow? You’re sitting there, what are you waiting for? Francis Lewis was still covered. The side streets were still covered,” he said. “I called Halloran that morning and I think he’s been excellent. He knew what was going on and I think he’s doing a fantastic job in questioning all this.”

Reporter Joe Anuta contributed to this story.

Ed Braunstein (l.) receives a congratulatory hug from his father Ed, Sr. Photo by Christina Santucci

The increasingly bitter campaign for the northeast Queens state Assembly seat came to an end Tuesday night with Democrat Ed Braunstein’s victory over his Republican challenger Vince Tabone.

After receiving 58.5 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election, Braunstein will replace fellow Democratic Ann-Margaret Carrozza as the assemblyman, based on unofficial results with all precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, NY1 said. The district covers Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, College Point and Whitestone.

Tabone garnered 41.5 percent of votes, according to NY1, in his failed bid to succeed Carrozza, who announced earlier this year that she would not run for re-election to the seat she has held since 1996.

In other northeast Queens results, Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Bayside) was re-elected after he defeated Republican Timothy Furey and Bob Friedrich, who ran on the Conservative line after losing the Democratic primary to Weprin.

Weprin got 67.1 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting, according to NY1, while Furey received 23.6 percent and Friedrich pulled in 9.2 percent.

Tabone, who conceded to Braunstein late Tuesday night, said he will continue to serve the community despite losing the election.

“I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to serve the public in city and state government for almost 15 years and I’ve served the community,” said Tabone, a Bayside resident and attorney for John Catsimitidis’ Manhattan-based Red Apple Group with a long career of civic involvement. “For me it’s not the end of the world. I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to serve the community … and I’m not going to go away.”

Braunstein, a former aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and current member of Community Board 11, said he will be getting straight to work now that he is headed to Albany on behalf of his native northeast Queens.

“I’m going to start on Jan. 1 working on the things I spoke about throughout the campaign,” Braunstein said during his victory speech at his campaign’s post-election celebration Tuesday night at Cascarino’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in Bayside. “We need to bring a new emphasis on ethics reforms in Albany, we need to create jobs in this down economy and we need to ensure northeast Queens remains the best place to live in New York state.”

Both candidates sent enthusiastic campaign teams to polling sites throughout northeast Queens, where they touted their qualifications for higher office.

Luigi Farina, a Whitestone resident, handed out campaign literature and spoke to voters about Tabone at PS 193 in his hometown, saying he was the best choice for the community.

“Vincent has a lot of experience. I think he’ll bring it to Albany,” he said. “He’s already worked for [former Mayor Rudy] Giuliani, and he’ll bring that experience to Albany.”

Adam Lombardi, a volunteer with Braunstein’s camp, used a megaphone, literature and conversations with voters to get voters to choose his candidate.

“Ed’s message is from the people, for the people, and that message has reverberated throughout the community,” he said. “The sentiment among the community about Ed Braunstein for assemblyman is simply outstanding.”

Ever since he announced his candidacy, Braunstein, 29, has campaigned on a platform of cutting spending, reforming Albany and protecting quality of life in northeast Queens, particularly for schoolchildren and seniors.

Tabone, 44, trumpeted his experience as a former employee in the city Economic Development Corp. as proof that he had the ability to reform the fiscal situation in Albany. He also argued that his longer period of experience in government and community advocacy made him the better candidate to represent the community.

Both candidates accused one another of being too entrenched in the system to be in a position to cast themselves as the outsiders they both claimed to be, and concerns about campaign donations from questionable donors arose on both sides of the campaign.

Weprin campaigned on his experience both in his two terms on the City Council, where he served as chairman of the Finance Committee, and his short tenure as an assemblyman since he was elected to that office in a special election in February. He said he plans to use his financial acumen to benefit the residents of Queens and New York state.

Weprin’s Assembly district covers Bellerose, Bayside, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Holliswood, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) and Assemblywomen Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Nettie Mayersohn (D-Flushing), who were unopposed for re-election, retained their seats and are headed back to Albany.

Among the revelers were State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), her Democratic Primary challengers John Messer and Isaac Sasson, state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), City Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone), City Comptroller John Liu, New York Attorney General candidate Kathleen Rice, and U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside).

Flushing community member Terence Park (r.) speaks at a rally calling for more police in Flushing led by Councilmen (l.-r.) Peter Koo, Dan Halloran and Peter Vallone, Jr. Photo by Christina Santucci

City Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) held a rally for greater police presence in Flushing at the James A. Bland Community Center at 133-36 Roosevelt Ave., across the street from the Mobil gas station where Pakistani immigrant Nadeem Khan was killed July 25.

“Since taking office in January, I have been calling for more police protection in our community,” Koo said. “I am deeply concerned with the recent rash of violent crimes and the general perception of residents that the streets of Flushing are unsafe.”

The councilmen also teamed up with the Community Mutual Aid Teams of Neighborhood Watch, a community watch group that Michael Chu, its leader, said began a week after the May 16 rape and murder of 23-year-old Chinese immigrant Yu Yao.

Yao was murdered on a busy street in downtown Flushing, where Chu said people did not stop to help her.

“We don’t want a tragedy like Yao or the gentleman who was killed the other evening to happen again,” Chu said.

Chu said the watch will be giving out 5,000 whistles and educating people on crime prevention. They are also working with the 109th Precinct to organize a graffiti cleanup. The 109th will decide the time and place.

Koo said that while he understands the 109th is understaffed, the community has unique needs and more protection is required to meet them. He cited the four murders that have happened in Flushing this year, as well as the 13 rapes and 20 percent increase in burglaries.

“Police protection is not a luxury, but it is a necessity and a right of each and every New York resident,” Koo said.

Koo also said he has obtained $100,000 each for Flushing’s Bland Houses, at 40-21 College Point Blvd., and Latimer Gardens, at 35-45 Linden Place, to have security cameras installed. He said he expects this project to be funded with the help of Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) by 2011.

Vallone, chairman of the Council Public Safety Committee, said he was also concerned about the increase of crime and quality-of-life issues in Queens.

He said he believed the city has forgotten the lessons of the 1991 Safe Streets, Safe City Program, which put more police on the streets and instituted, tougher laws and longer jail sentences. He also condemned the recent state law preventing the city Police Department from keeping a database of those who it stops and frisks, saying he would have rather see names purged after one year in the database as a compromise with those who said keeping innocent people who had been stopped but were not charged with a crime on a database indefinitely was an infringement on civil liberties.

“You combine this lax attitude on law enforcement with fewer police, you get what you see here,” Vallone said.

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who could not attend the rally, also released a statement in support of more police in the area, and said she would be meeting with the 109th soon to establish a civilian patrol group.

“We demand more police presence in our community,” Meng said. “There should be just as many police officers patrolling our streets as there are traffic agents issuing parking tickets.”

Senators, Assembly and Congress members and those running for those positions have signed pledges on Wednesday by New York Uprising, a non-partisan, independent group formed by Koch that has a mission to “end corruption in Albany and reinstate the public’s faith in government by offering real, honest and sensible solutions that legislators and candidates can implement, adhere to and be held accountable for executing once elected or re-elected to office.”

New York Uprising has actively sought support for commitments to reform from all candidates seeking office during the 2010 election cycle. Queens state Senators who have signed the pledge include Sens. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach),  Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica), Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), and Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone). Senate candidates who have signed it include Tony Avella, a Democrat running against Padavan; Anthony Como, a Republican running for Addabbo’s seat; Lynn Nunes, a Democrat running against Huntley; Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), who is running for the seat being vacated by the retiring George Onorato; and Isaac Sasson, a Democrat running for Stavisky’s seat.

Assembly members who have signed it include Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), Grace Meng (D-Flushing), Michael Miller (D-Glendale), and Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach). Assembly candidates who have signed it include Steve Behar, a Democrat running for Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza’s seat; Joe Fox, a Democrat running against Hevesi; Bob Friedrich, a Democrat running against state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck); Alex Powietrzynski, a Republican running for Hevesi’s seat; Aravella Simotas, a Democrat running for the seat being vacated by Gianaris; and Vince Tabone, a Republican in the race for Carrozza’s seat. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and her Democratic opponent Reshma Saujani signed the pledge as well

Joining Koch in his effort to stop what he called the downward spiral of New York politics are Citizens Union director Dick Dady, former city Parks Commissioner and New York Civic Director Henry Stern; and a number of other officials including former Gov. Mario Cuomo and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Queens Democratic District Leader Danny Dromm (r.) speaks at a rally for Jack Price. Price's sister-in-law Joanne (l.) and niece Christina Guarneri (second l.) were among Price's family members in attendance.

Judges who convict any New Yorker of a hate crime will have the ability to order the offender to undergo an educational program as a result of a bill signed into law last week by Gov. David Paterson.

The bill, co-sponsored by state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and state Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), will allow judges to require, as part of sentencing that anyone convicted of a hate crime complete a program, training session or counseling session.

Such a program or session would be aimed at teaching offenders about the importance and impact of crimes motivated by hatred of a person or group’s race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation.

“This law will not only ensure that our state provides the necessary education and counseling to deter hate crimes, but will also make it very clear to the perpetrators that New York state does not and will not tolerate threats and violence that are motivated by any kind of bias,” Meng said.

The law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, passed the Assembly unanimously and was signed by Paterson last Thursday. It was introduced in recognition of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in April as a result of vicious hate crimes, including this year’s bias attacks against five elderly Asian Americans in Manhattan and a Mexican man on Staten Island, and last year’s vicious beating of gay College Point resident Jack Price.

Assemblywoman Grace Meng (l.) introduces her 2010 summer intern class to the audience at her State of the District address. Photo by Connor Adams Sheets

State Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) used part of her second-annual report on the state of her district Monday evening to discuss the fallout over the recent closing of the Key Food supermarket on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing.

The store, at 142-41 Roosevelt Ave., had long been a mainstay for the neighborhood, providing residents with a convenient location with a wide array of American and Asian foods and groceries.

The store was something of a last large-scale alternative to Asian markets, according to a member of the crowd Monday night, who yelled out that Meng needs to help ensure that the site will be replaced by a business that provides American foods as well as more ethnic ones.

“We promised some of our residents and neighbors that there will be a new supermarket there, and that they will sell American food products as well,” Meng said, adding that it can often be difficult for residents to find foods such as certain deli meats and even some pet products.

Key Food did not offer comment, but a company spokeswoman said the “effective date” of the closing was June 4. A neighbor, Mary Boroz, said the store closed its doors May 26, leaving many area residents in a lurch, unable to easily obtain food and other items.

“It has had a devastating impact. A lot of people, elderly or disabled, are having a really, really hard time. Some of them can’t walk to Met Food down on Sanford and Bowne,” she said. “One man, who’s disabled and walks with a walker, actually stocked up before Key Food went out of business and now he’s running out of food.”

The State of the District address, named after the president’s traditional State of the Union speech, comes at the tail end of the legislative session and was an opportunity for the freshman legislator to update her constituents on the work she and the state Legislature have been doing all year.

Beyond letting people know about the recent plight of the Key Food store, Meng laid out her accomplishments this past year and her vision for the coming months, during which she hopes to tackle a new set of problems.

Meng faced head-on during her speech the anger many voters have toward New York’s state government.

“Sometimes it’s embarrassing to be an elected official in Albany,” she said. “I never promised to single-handedly change Albany, but I did promise to do what I can to make it more transparent and more accessible.”

Monday night she did just that, letting voters know her and Albany’s successes: protecting funding for student MetroCards and borough senior centers as well as passing bills on topics ranging from baby formula to hate crimes and discussing the work that still needs to be done, such as increasing green space in Flushing and addressing the issue of how best to go about having businesses in downtown Flushing display the names of their shops in English.

In total, she said she wants to continue doing her job, which she said is to help the people of her district and state.

“It’s about taking ownership — whether it’s Queens, Flushing or just a couple of houses on your block — and empowering those very people in our communities,” she said.

Meng and a small crowd of students held signs reading “No Cuts to Student Aid” as they decried the Metropolitan Transportation Authority actions Saturday along Union Street in Flushing.

“We are not going to sit back and take this,” the assemblywoman said. “We’ll fight for our students.”

Under the agency’s 2010 budget plan, students will begin paying half fare that year and full fare in 2011. An estimated 417,243 city students currently receive free MetroCards, while another 167,912 get half-fare cards.

Meng said the city has provided a policy of free and discounted rides to students since 1948.

“The cuts approved by the MTA are a disheartening sign of our priorities,” she said. “Cuts in service are acceptable in difficult economic times, but cuts into our children’s future are not.”

The MTA is facing a $383 million budget gap in its $11 billion budget due largely to cuts in state aid and lower revenues from a payroll tax that was enacted to fund public transportation. Planned cuts include eliminating the W and Z subway lines, several bus lines and weekend service on other lines.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) said the city’s decision to close several Queens high schools, including Jamaica High School, will force students to travel farther.

“It is wrong for the MTA to eliminate free student MetroCards because I see it setting off a ripple effect,” she said. “Without that benefit, some families will have to choose between paying for food or transportation to school. I hope this doesn’t result in students missing school or jumping turnstiles.”

Several Flushing students who attend Manhattan’s Hunter College High School said the cuts will likely make their travel to the city more difficult.

“We work hard and our parents want us to have a good education,” said Lily Kong, 15. “Our parents do not mind sending us to school farther away.”

Meng said the cuts would likely cost the average family an additional $1,000 in transportation fees each year per child.

Saturday’s event was one of several protests officials and students are holding on the student cuts, and students from throughout the city gathered in Manhattan Monday afternoon to voice their anger over the transportation proposal. Monday’s event was publicized through Facebook’s “Protest the MTA getting rid of student MetroCard” page, which has more than 71,000 members.

Forest Hills students expressed outrage over the possibility that they could lose their student cards. While meeting with state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) last week, Forest Hills High students said the proposed cutback would discourage students from attending school.

After Forest Hills High junior Ronel Puello asked why the MTA was getting rid of the cards, students erupted into cheers and applause.

“It’s a bad proposal,” Addabbo said. “We’re not going to balance the MTA’s budget on the backs of the students.”

Hevesi also said he did not believe the MTA would actually go through with any plan to eliminate the student card program.

“This is just to scare us into not implementing those cuts,” Hevesi said of the state Legislature’s decision earlier this month to carve $143 million from the MTA to fill the state’s budget gap.

Another student said should the MTA eliminate this program because “half of us aren’t going to go to school and a lot of us will get into trouble.”