Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi wants the New York Metropolitan Council to require freight trains at the Fresh Pond Terminal to be quieter. Photo courtesy Bob Holden

Hevesi also urged the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council to compel train operators to buy more technologically advanced locomotives that emit quieter noises as the group formulates a regional transportation plan.

The Fresh Pond Terminal in Ridgewood processes all freight shipped out of Long Island, according to Hevesi’s office.

“Tracks to reach this terminal are directly behind my constituents’ homes, causing quantifiable quality-of-life issues,” Hevesi said. “Budgeting for small capital expenditures, such as sound barriers along the existing tracks, would go a long way toward mitigating the problems my constituents are experiencing now and avoiding health and quality-of-life issues going forward. I would like to see … sound barriers or other capital improvements that would begin to immediately address these concerns.”

Residents who live near the terminal complain of excessive noise from idle trains that they say make it almost impossible to sleep.

The NYMTC plans to create 10 so-called “regional growth areas” — two of them in Queens — that would support increased train traffic.

Hevesi called on the body to consider the problems facing residents, including increased noise, air quality and environmental issues, as it moves forward with a plan.

“While it is logical to assume that rail traffic will increase on these corridors as a result of this plan, mitigation of noise, health and environmental problems should be addressed in the present, not in the future, after the regional growth areas are established and traffic levels have increased,” the assemblyman said.

Hevesi also said trains that pass through the terminal are outdated.

“I believe that we should make every effort to use locomotives with technology that is the most efficient, has ?the cleanest emissions and operates? at the lowest decibel level,” he said. “In this way, we would be decreasing the amount of energy it takes to ship freight via rail, decreasing health risks associated with diesel emissions for those that breathe the air daily along the track and have the least noise impact possible in these residential neighborhoods.”

Raccoons, says Sen. Tony Avella, are becoming an increasing nuisance to northeast Queens residents. Avella announced proposed legislation that would make the city Department of Health responsible for trapping and releasing non-rabid raccoons. Photo courtesy Bernadette Beninati

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) is calling on the city Department of Health to take responsibility for nuisance raccoons he says are plaguing residents in northeast Queens, but the department has responded that ?it is the senator’s proposed legislation that is the real pest.

Avella stood alongside state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) and residents last week in front of an overgrown, abandoned lot in Flushing to announce a bill that would require DOH to capture and release non-rabid raccoons.

“As we see less and less wild areas in the city, these animals have been forced to encroach on our residential neighborhoods,” Avella said. “Currently, the city is reluctant to address the ever increasing population of raccoons in our neighborhoods and it is simply not acceptable anymore.”

A representative for the DOH responded, calling the proposed legislation an “unfunded mandate that would require expenditure of significant resources,” including hiring licensed trappers and purchasing equipment.

The department would also have to train staff and purchase euthanizing drugs in order to dispose of raccoons because the state Department of Environmental Conservation does not allow the city to release the animals, according to the representative.

“Of course, this is an unfunded mandate, until we provide funding,” Avella said later in the week. “I’d certainly work to get funding on the city or state level.”

The DOH added that the removal of raccoons is ineffective unless homeowners repair their buildings and manage their garbage, and suggested a law modeled on the department’s rat control program, which issues violations to property owners who do not respond to warnings based on inspections, would be more effective.

Avella said that decades of inaction by the city and state, along with loss of the animals’ natural habitat, have resulted in an out-of-control population.

“This is a serious quality-of-life issue. It’s also about safety. These raccoons are not afraid of human contact and they can be very aggressive,” he said.

The legislator said his office has received complaints about the animals tearing through plastic garbage cans and clawing their way through the roofs of buildings.

“This is when it becomes municipal government’s responsibility. It’s due to years of inaction that the raccoon population has gotten out of hand,” he said.

The DOH contracts with Animal Care & Control to capture any raccoon that is sick, injured or that has bitten or scratched a person or a pet so rabies testing can be conducted. Property owners with nuisance raccoons may hire a licensed trapper to remove the animals.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi will keep his eyes peeled for government corruption.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) was recently named chairman of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigations Committee.

“Assemblyman Hevesi will have a key role in ensuring a responsible and efficient government in New York,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said in a statement. “I know he will be a tremendous leader in this capacity and look forward to working closely with him to develop legislation and policies that will ensure our government is working as intended.”

The announcement was made June 29 and the new appointment will allow Hevesi to investigate how efficiently the state government is operating.

“Providing oversight of the state’s agencies and authorities is crucial to having an efficient and responsible government,” Hevesi said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Speaker Silver and my colleagues to ensure that all entities are acting efficiently, responsibly and in compliance with the legislative intent under which they were created.”

Disgraced former Comptroller Alan Hevesi poses for his mugshot shortly after being sentenced to one to four years in prison on corruption charges. AP Photo/Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Long before disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was charged in October for his role in a pay-to-play scandal involving the state pension fund under his watch, a little-known treasurer of Saratoga County, J. Christopher Callaghan, knew something was up — and it was in plain sight.

Callaghan, who ran on the Republican line against Hevesi in 2006, said a New York Sun editorial from May of that year pointed out how Hevesi had large contributions donated to him through the wife of Elliott Broidy, the head of the California-based Markstone Capital Partners, and Hevesi invested $250 million of the state’s pension funds into the hedge fund.

The Sun editorial credited the Los Angeles Times with first running a story about Hevesi’s connection to Broidy.

In a phone interview Monday, more than a week after Hevesi was sentenced to one to four years in prison on corruption charges, Callaghan said he pounced on the revelation but nobody noticed.

“To me, that’s one of the great ironies here,” Callaghan said. “This particular incident … was in print as early as early 2006. It just didn’t seem to be of interest. We released press releases. It’s not like we had any secret information. Everything we knew about Markstone had been published in the newspaper.”

Hevesi’s jail term was preceded by his admission that he took roughly $1 million in gifts, including trips to Israel and Italy.

“I don’t think there was any question about the underlying facts,” Callaghan said. “He did go to Italy and Israel with Elliott Broidy.”

During a July 13, 2006, interview at TimesLedger Newspapers’ Bayside offices, Callaghan criticized Hevesi for investing with Markstone, which specialized in Israeli investments, against the backdrop of the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

“He has essentially invested in a war zone,” Callaghan said at the time while also pointing out that Broidy’s wife, Robin Rosenzweig, donated $30,000 to Hevesi’s 2002 comptroller campaign and $50,000 to his 2006 re-election effort.

“At that time, it seemed like it was more of a political statement on his part,” Callaghan said Monday. Hevesi is Jewish.

Callaghan, who now works for a political consulting firm in Waterford, N.Y., also noted that Rosenzweig gave $3,400 to the campaign of Hevesi’s son, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills).

In the Monday interview, Callaghan said he was particularly incensed that Hevesi went to California to promote Markstone to encourage the state’s pension fund to do business with the company, but the idea did not resonate with voters.

“I don’t think a great mass of people understood what was going on with it,” he said.

Callaghan called Hevesi’s sentence “appropriate.

“I don’t think New York state can call itself serious about ethics reform if Alan Hevesi, who pretty much ran a criminal enterprise, doesn’t do time. How can you call yourself serious about ethics?”

Even armed with the public information, then-state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office did not investigate Hevesi, who Spitzer called an “exemplary public servant” up until an ethics commission issued its report on so-called “Chauffeurgate ” in which Hevesi was irresponsibly found to have had a state employee drive his ailing wife.

Hevesi had claimed his wife’s security was threatened as the rationale for her needing a chauffeur, but the commission found there were no security risks.

Callaghan, who said he had been tipped off to Chauffeurgate through a source in the comptroller’s office, called Hevesi’s then-newly formed hot line to report fraud, waste and abuse to chastise Hevesi over his transgression.

“We used it to be cute,” Callaghan said. “In the midst of a political campaign, we wanted it to be as big a story as we could.”

Although the scandal was widely known by the time the general election was held, Hevesi still prevailed over Callaghan by a vote of about 60 percent to 40 percent.

Callaghan said he figured the state, dominated by Democrats, knew Hevesi would have to give up his post and voted for him knowing a Democratic replacement, which was up to the state Legislature to decide, would be picked.

“The state of affairs on Election Day was Markstone had been revealed and ignored,” Callaghan said. “The people of the state of New York decided for some reason that Alan Hevesi would not remain as comptroller and they didn’t want this upstate rube handling the pension money and they would take what’s behind Curtain No. 3, who was [then-Assemblyman] Tom DiNapoli.”

Disgraced former state comptroller Alan Hevesi (l.) consults with his attorney, Brian Waller, during his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court. Hevesi's sentencing was postponed after he suffered internal bleeding and underwent and emergency endoscopy. AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

The sentencing of Alan Hevesi, the former state comptroller from Forest Hills, on a corruption charge involving the state pension fund was postponed Monday after he was hospitalized for internal bleeding over the weekend.

The New York Post said Hevesi experienced symptoms during a visit to his daughter in Virginia and underwent an emergency endoscopy, citing Hevesi lawyer Bradley Simon.

Simon could not be reached to confirm the report.

While Hevesi’s sentencing — where he faces up to four years in prison — was scheduled for Monday, it was unlikely the sentencing would have been handed down because Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone decided to transfer the case to another judge.

Hevesi was scheduled to be sentenced April 4.

Simon argued earlier this month that Stone had a conflict of interest because the judge was the executor of his estranged father’s will.

Even though Stone transferred the case, he determined he was not conflicted, the Post said.

Stone’s office could not be reached for comment.

Hevesi’s youngest son, state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), wrote a letter to Stone asking him not to send his father to jail.

“Despite his failures and mistakes, I will not now or ever stop believing in him,” Andrew Hevesi wrote. “Not just because I love him as the man who, with my mom, raised, protected and loved me, but because these transgressions will never define my father.”

Hevesi pleaded guilty in October to receiving $1 million in gifts in exchange for state pension business, including directing $250 million in pension funds to be invested with Markstone Capital Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in Israeli investments.

The senior Hevesi, who also represented Queens in the state Assembly and was city comptroller, admitted taking gifts, including $500,000 in campaign contributions and $75,000 for five paid trips to Italy and Israel.

Detective Richard Santangelo asks a 113th Precinct Community Council meeting audience for help in identifying more victims of a Rochdale Little League coach accused of sexually abusing several of his players. Photo by Christina Santucci

Following allegations in February that a Rochdale ?Little League coach sexually abused his teenage team members, a Forest Hills lawmaker recently proposed a bill to make it harder for sex offenders to work with kids.

“That case absolutely sparked this and highlighted gaps in the law,” said state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), referring to David Hartshorn, who was charged with criminal sexual act, use of a child in a sexual performance, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly took advantage of young athletes in his home for nearly two years, according to the Queens district attorney.

Hevesi said Hartshorn was charged with similar crimes in 1989 and should have been identified under the Sex Offender Registration Act.

The act requires that the state Division of Criminal Justice Services maintain a free, public database of sex offenders so organizations can vet potential employees or volunteers.

In Queens alone, there are 1,226 registered sex offenders.

But the database does not include a vast proportion of offenders who can slip through the system, according to Hevesi, which is why he wants a change.

“It’s very specific. For information that youth organizations are allowed to get for free, any offense that is of a sexual nature or is sexually violent should be included,” he said.

Sex offenders are categorized into three levels. Level 1 offenders are at a low risk for repeating the offense, Level 2 offenders are at a moderate risk and Level 3 are at a high risk, according to the division’s website.

Only Level 2 and 3 offenders currently are included in the public database, but Hevesi wants them all to be included.

“I think that’s the least we can do,” he said. “We have to protect our children from pedophiles.”

In addition, the public database only includes sex offenders who were convicted after 1996 — the year the database was created.

That is why Hartshorn slipped through the cracks, according to Detective Richard Santangelo, who spoke at a 113th Precinct Community Council meeting Monday.

Santangelo said Hartshorn served time for similar offences committed in 1989, before there was a database.

But even if these portions of the law were changed, sex offenders can avoid detection in another way.

The database catalogs criminals based on convictions, so if an offender agrees to plead guilty to lesser charges, the database can be avoided altogether, according to Hevesi.

That is why he will be introducing more legislation that would prohibit sex offenders from pleading guilty to lesser crimes.

Hevesi’s bill already has support in the state Senate, and Sen. Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie) will act as its lead sponsor now that Hevesi has sponsored it in the Assembly.

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi has big plans for Forest Hills in the next two years.

Forest Hills sent its state assemblyman back to Albany for another two years Nov. 3, and he has a lot of work to do.

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) has plans to tackle malodorous trains, school bullies and a state budget in the red.

Locally, he wants to renew the dialogue with CSX, a railroad freight company whose garbage-hauling route cuts a stinky swath through many of the neighborhoods in Hevesi’s constituency. Residents complained about noise and a powerful stench.

“We understand that they have a right to do business,” he said. “But CSX trains have not been the best neighbors.”

Hevesi had previously introduced a bill that would require train companies to put smell-proof lids on any of their cars carrying putrid materials. The bill did not pass, but Hevesi plans to either reintroduce it or draft a new one.

In his third term, the assemblyman also wants to focus on schools. After Metropolitan Avenue High School was opened this year and zoned for local students, not enough children enrolled, he said.

“We need to keep on top of that issue,” he said. “We didn’t get enough kids from the neighborhood to go to that school.”

But for the children who did go, Hevesi also plans to tackle bullying — a problem he said affects one in 10 students nationwide.

“This is an issue that you have to take seriously,” he said. “It can affect your childhood and it can last the rest of your life.”

His office will partner with organizations experienced in the field and then will decide on the best actions to curb the predatory practice that occurs both on the playground and the Internet.

Lastly, Hevesi said that he wants the city Department of Transportation to make Queens Boulevard, nicknamed the “Boulevard of Death,” a safe place to walk.

The department has already pledged to put countdown clocks along the infamous stretch of road so pedestrians can see how quickly they need to cross, but Hevesi said the clocks are not yet on every intersection.

“We want them to expedite the process,” he said.

On a state level, Hevesi had grim news for the budget deficit, which is projected to reach nearly $10 billion.

“We are in for some difficult times,” he said.

There are four ways to reduce a bloated budget: receive federal dollars, borrow money, taxation and budget cuts — and Hevesi said cuts are the only viable option.

“There is no money coming from the federal government. I think borrowing is a huge mistake and we are one of the highest-taxed states in the nation,” he said. “We have to cut spending.”

To do that, every issue must be considered.

“Everything has to be on the table, including the areas that I least like to cut — education and health care,” he said. “But those are the two biggest parts of the state budget, and you cannot afford to overlook them.”

On the subject of unemployment, Hevesi said that he has a plan to encourage alternative energy production in the state, which will attract more business — and jobs. He wants to increase incentives and ensure companies have a competitive marketplace for the next generation of energy.

On the environment Hevesi wants to end the practice of drilling for natural gas — called hydrofracking — that was going to take place in New York City’s aquifer. He said the process could contaminate the city’s drinking water, which is why he pushed for a moratorium bill that recently passed in the Assembly.

It forbids any new drilling contracts for five months, but Hevesi wants to see it extended.

Mark Ferran of the United Fire Officers Association and U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley campaigned with state Assemblywoman Marge Markey outside IS 73 in Maspeth. Photo by Rebecca Henely

Despite a reported anti-incumbent, anti-Democrat mood across the nation, all the seated Democrats won another term in the state Assembly races in western Queens this year, according to unofficial election results from NY1.

Assembly members Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood), Michael Miller (D-Woodhaven) and Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach) beat their Republican rivals Tuesday. Community activist Francisco Moya also stepped into the Elmhurst-Corona Assembly district seat and lawyer Aravella Simotas was unopposed on the Democratic ticket to fill the seat vacated by Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria).

Hevesi, who has been in the Assembly’s Forest Hills seat since 2005, squeaked ahead in a tight race with 54 percent of the vote, beating out law school graduate Alex Powietrzynski, who earned 40 percent of the vote and Independent Joseph Tiraco, who earned a little less than 6 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. The young Republican had called for Hevesi to step down in light of the controversy surrounding Hevesi’s father Alan, who had once held Andrew’s Assembly seat and pleaded guilty recently to corruption in his role as state comptroller.

Andrew Hevesi pushed his record on environmental legislation and touted his support for reform in Albany. Powietrzynski focused on job creation, lowering taxes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority reform and crime reduction.

In a contentious race, Markey, an assemblywoman for Maspeth since 1998, won with 60 percent of the vote over Maspeth businessman and Community Board 5 member Tony Nunziato, with 89 percent of precincts reporting.

Nunziato had accused Markey of not being a presence in the community in the run-up to the election, and they had clashed at a news conference over a plan to reroute trucks in the community. In his campaign, Nunziato focused on job creation, capping government spending, cutting taxes, fiscal responsibility and school vouchers. Markey’s campaign had emphasized her record and working to improve quality of life and creating a viable commercial district.

In nearby Ridgewood, 26-year Nolan defeated actor and bartender John Kevin Wilson by a wide margin with 85 percent of the vote, with 92 percent of precincts reporting. Miller, who won his Woodhaven Assembly district seat in a special election in 2009, netted his first full term and defeated Republican Donna Marie Caltabiano, executive director of the Forest Park Senior Center, with 69 percent of the vote when 93 percent of the precincts were counted. In Rockaway Beach, Pheffer, who has been in office since 1987, beat opponent Dr. Harold Paez, an administrator at a Brooklyn hospital, with 68 percent of the vote in a race where 64 percent of precincts had reported.

In addition, Moya took the vacant 39th Assembly District seat, which covers Elmhurst, Corona and part of Jackson Heights. The seat had been left vacant after previous holder Jose Peralta won the East Elmhurst seat in a special election for the state Senate. Moya initially had a Republican opponent in community activist Humberto Suarezmotta, but he was thrown off the ballot for failing to hand in a cover sheet with his signatures.

Simotas, meanwhile, stepped into Gianaris’ 36th Assembly District seat, which includes Astoria, Long Island City, Ravenswood and Queensbridge, as Gianaris left to run for outgoing state Sen. George Onorato’s (D-Astoria) seat.

Assemblymen Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) and Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights), who had no opponents, also won another term this year.

Hevesi, who resigned as the state’s comptroller in 2006 following an earlier plea to charges that he misused his power, surrendered his passport and will be sentenced on Dec. 16, according to the New York Post. The Forest Hills politician admitted to giving preferential treatment to investors in the state’s pension system in exchange for gifts, the Post said.

The state attorney general’s office has been investigating Hevesi for several years on corruption accusations during his time in office.

Hevesi’s family, including state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), were in the court room during the plea.

Andrew Hevesi. Photo by Christina Santucci

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) fended off Democratic challenger Joe Fox in Tuesday’s primary, taking 60.34percent of the vote, according to unofficial election results.

Hevesi, who received 2,984 votes, according to unofficial results, will run against Republican Alex Powietrzynski in November’s general election to represent the 28th Assembly District, which covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village and Glendale.

“We’re really gratified to see the level of support that came back from the community,”, said Doug Forand, a spokesman for Hevesi. “New York faces a lot of challenges, and people want a state legislature that will deal with those challenges. The work Assemblyman Hevesi’s been doing, especially on job creation and community and reform issues, clearly are the things that the people of the district want to see their legislator doing.”

There were 1,961number of residents who cast their ballots for Fox, which represented 39.66percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

“This was my first foray into candidacy for public office, and it was a very positive experience,” said Fox, a Community Board 6 member and an attorney. “I was empowered by the expression of support by such a large number of people in our community, and I expect to remain a very vocal presence in the community.”

Rose Anderson of Forest Hills said she voted for Hevesi.

“He’s been good about staying on top of things in the district,” Anderson said after voting at Russell Sage Junior High School in Forest Hills. “He sends me his newsletter, which may not sound like a good thing, but it helps me know what’s going on. Not all elected officials are as helpful as he is.”

A woman at the PS 144 voting site, who only wanted to be identified as a longtime Forest Hills resident, said she threw her support behind Fox.

“I walked my daughter to Russell Sage this morning, and a man handed me a Hevesi card, and I told him, ‘I’m definitely not voting for Hevesi,’” she said. “Well, it turned out the man giving me the card was Hevesi. I voted for all the challengers this year.”

Dina Allweiss, the poll coordinator at Russell Sage, said more voters came to the site than expected Tuesday.

“We’ve had about 220 people by noon, which is definitely better than normal,” Allweiss said.

Troy Chislom, who was helping residents with the city’s new voting machines at Russell Sage, attributed the greater turnout to people “being curious about the new scanners.”

While Allweiss and other poll workers in Forest Hills said their machines were working smoothly, machines throughout the city malfunctioned to such an extent that Mayor Michael Bloomberg slammed the city Board of Elections’ management of Primary Day.

The new system, mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act, makes voters select their candidates by filling out ovals — something reminiscent of multiple-choice tests — on a paper ballot that is fed into the scanner.

Hevesi’s campaign platform has focused heavily on education, quality-of-life issues, government reform and environmental legislation. Fox in his campaign has emphasized government transparency, fiscal responsibility, tenant rights and traffic.

Joe Fox (l.) and state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi will face off in the Democratic primary next week.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) entered the last throes of the primary campaign with more than twice as much money in his coffers than his Democratic challenger Joe Fox in the race for the 28th Assembly District, according to their last filings with the state Board of Elections.

Assemblyman Michael Miller (D-Woodhaven), fending off a challenge by Community Board 9 member Nick Comaianni, has a 20-1 fund-raising advantage over his opponent in the last days of the campaign, the records showed.

Hevesi has a little more than $41,000 on hand and raised $13,750 in the last filing period, which ran from mid-August to the end of August. Fox, an attorney and member of Community Board 6, has about $16,669 on hand and raised about $14,330 in the last filing period, for which candidates submitted reports Friday.

The 28th Assembly District covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village and Glendale.

Of the $13,750 Hevesi raised, the majority of it came from unions, political action committees and other organizations. The Empire State Pride Agenda PAC handed Hevesi his largest chunk of change: $3,800. The Empire State Pride Agenda is a statewide educational and political advocacy organization that works toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The $14,330 Fox raised included a little more than $8,800 in loans from himself and about $5,000 from individuals. Richard Koral, of South Salem, N.Y., in Westchester County, gave $1,000, the largest donation Fox landed from an individual. Jack Gostl of Forest Hills gave $500, the second largest amount.

In the 38th Assembly District, Miller has $20,920 in cash on hand compared to just $1,903 for Comaianni.

Miller raised $8,700 and spent $5,843, while Comaianni took in $2,025 and spent $4,067.

All but $300 raised by Miller came from corporations, political action committees and other elected officials’ campaign accounts.

Miller took in $6,700 from corporations and PACs, including $2,000 from the Real Estate Board and $1,000 each from Sterling Mets and Plumbers #1 NYC.

The assemblyman also raised $1,700 from two of his colleagues — $1,000 from Rory Lancman Election Committee and $700 from Friends of Grace Meng.

Of the $5,843 spent by Miller, the lion’s share — $3,910 — of his spending went to The Parkside Group, a political consulting firm that is managing his campaign.

Comaianni raised all of his $2,025 from individuals, with the largest — $400 — coming from Glendale resident Tonia Sciarrattta.

Comaianni’s largest expenditures included $1,088 to Shiro of Japan in Woodhaven for fund-raising and $1,000 for rent of his Glendale campaign office.

Miller is also facing a primary for the Conservative Party line against Donna Marie Caltabiano, executive director of the Forest Park Senior Center.

For the borough’s congressional races, the union has backed incumbent U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) for their reelection campaigns. However, the union did not give an endorsement to U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) or his Republican opponent Asher Taub.

For state Senate races, DC 37 backed state Senators Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica), Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) for their reelection bids, but did not issue endorsements in the races of incumbents Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) or Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), or in the race to replace George Onorato (D-Astoria), in which Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) is running unopposed.

The union also gave endorsements to several state Assembly candidates including incumbents Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach), David Weprin (D-Little Neck), Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) and Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona), as well as candidate Francisco Moya, who is facing Hiram Monserrate in a Democratic primary for the 39th Assembly District seat that was vacated by state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights). The winner of that primary will face Republican Humberto Suarezmotta.

The union did not make endorsements in several Assembly races, including District 26, where there is a Republican candidate and a crowded Democratic primary field vying to replace departing Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza; District 28, currently held by Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), who is facing Joe Fox in a Democratic primary and a Republican opponent, Alex Powietrzynski; District 34, where incumbent Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) is being challenged in a Democratic primary by Clyde Vanel; District 37, in which incumbent Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) is facing a Republican challenger, John Malone; and District 38, where incumbent Michael Miller (D-Woodhaven) faces a Democratic primary with Nick Comaianni and Republican opponent Donna Marie Caltabiano.

Representatives for DC 37 were not available to comment Friday on why they declined to endorse candidates in certain Queens races.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi is facing challenges from another Democrat and a Republican for his seat this year. Photo by Christina Santucci

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) said despite the anti-incumbent sentiment that seems pervasive in areas across the country, he believes his platform focusing on education, quality-of-life issues and government reform should usher him to victory in the primary and general election.

Hevesi, who first took office in a special election in 2005, said his constituents seem pleased with the work he has done while in Albany — including fighting against cuts to education funding and the restoration of money for senior centers in the borough.

“It’s an anti-incumbent year, but it’s not as bad as people think,” Hevesi said in an interview at the TimesLedger offices. “I’ve had six to eight people say something about it out of the thousands of people I’ve talked to.”

He faces a primary challenge from Joe Fox, an attorney from Forest Hills, and Republican Alex Powietrzynski in the general election.

It was a difficult year in Albany, Hevesi said, due in part to contentious budget negotiations between the Assembly, state Senate and Gov. David Paterson that ended in August, four months later than lawmakers were supposed to pass the measure.

“This was a horrible year,” Hevesi said. “I like the governor on a personal level, but he’s been terrible. You couldn’t tell which direction he was going because he wasn’t running for election.”

Hevesi said he has been spending hours every day for the past several months campaigning door-to-door, during which time he said he has talked a great deal about education.

District 28 covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village and Glendale.

“There was a $1.4 billion cut (to education) that came down this year that I voted against,” Hevesi said. “The governor pushed it through to our chagrin.”

The assemblyman said he has worked hard for schools in his district, pushing to make the new Metropolitan High School in Forest Hills locally zoned and allocating funds for PS 144 in Forest Hills.

Hevesi is also working to address residents’ concerns about railroad cars that often carry foul-smelling garbage in Middle Village. He is sponsoring legislation that would force the national transportation company, CSX, to place a hard cover over any of its cars carrying bad-smelling items as well as cover the cars carrying construction debris.

He was recently endorsed by Citizens Union, in part he said because he signed a pledge by New York Uprising, a non-partisan group formed by former Mayor Ed Koch that aims to “end corruption in Albany.”

“I’m the lead sponsor on a non-partisan redistricting reform bill,” Hevesi said. “I voted for ethics reform this year and I voted twice for campaign finance reform.”

Hevesi is now working on what he called “the most expansive proposal for renewable energy in the state.” The Renewable Energy Development and Jobs Act of 2010 would mandate all companies responsible for the transmission and delivery of energy in New York — such as utilities, public authorities and energy service companies — to incrementally increase the percentage of renewable energy they use every year.

“I was disappointed but not surprised,” Fox said of Hevesi’s absence in a press release Friday. “Hevesi has a history of not going there for issues that really concern out community. Perhaps he’s hiding. Hevesi speaks only through a spokesman and other than a few photo ops, he has not appeared in public throughout this campaign.”

Hevesi, who represents the 28th Assembly District, said Monday that he did not attend the debate, which was to be aired in the beginning of September on Queens Public Television, because a member of his wife’s family was in the hospital.

Hevesi’s spokesman, Doug Forand, said Fox’s accusation was “completely untrue.”

“The assemblyman has an aggressive public schedule,” Forand said. “He’s knocking on doors literally every night. He’s all over the district. For Mr. Fox to indicate otherwise is simply false, but it’s the nature of political campaigns that people start to throw out desperate lines. The problem with him doing that is that people see that it’s not true and it belies his credibility.”

Hevesi said he would be happy to debate Fox before the Democratic primary on Sept. 14.

“We’re happy to debate Mr. Fox at any time, that particular time just couldn’t work,” Forand said.

Fox too said he would attend a debate with the Assemblyman.

“I’ll be glad to debate my opponent,” Fox said. “I’d even debate his spokesman.”

The 28th Assembly District includes Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale, and Kew Gardens.

Alex Powietrzynski, of Forest Hills, is a Republican challenging state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi for his seat this fall. Photo by Anna Gustafson

Alex Powietrzynski, a Republican running for state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi’s (D-Forest Hills) seat, grew up as communism was dissolving in Poland and cultivated a hyper-awareness of politics and its direct impact on people.

He was just 6 when he and his family left Poland for the United States, but he remembers well living at the tale end of communism and growing up listening to many stories of his relatives living under communism until its fall in 1989.

“My parents and grandparents had to wait in line for hours for bread,” recalled Powietrzynski, 26, of Forest Hills.

After witnessing history, Powietrzynski and his family moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and he went on to major in political science at SUNY Albany. Despite the role politics has played in his life, Powietrzynski said it was not until after college that he seriously entertained entering the political world.

“In college, I always followed national politics, and it was when I went to law school that I started noticing New York state government was full of people who had been there forever or who had been trained by other politicians,” he said. “It seemed like a club for people in the know and they weren’t open to outside ideas. For me, that became very disturbing.”

So Powietrzynski, who recently graduated from Fordham University School of Law, decided to jump into the race for Hevesi’s seat, representing the 28th Assembly District. The sole Republican in the race, Powietrzynski has lived in Forest Hills since he graduated from college in 2007.

The 28th District covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village and Glendale.

Hevesi also faces a primary challenge from Democrat Joe Fox, an attorney from Forest Hills.

Powietrzynski said that during his campaign he plans to focus on job creation, lowering taxes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority reform and crime reduction — all while trying to get out his name in an area that is heavily Democratic. The GOP candidate has received the backing of the Queens Republican, Queens Libertarian and Queens Conservative parties.

“A lot of people say they’ll vote for this person because they recognize the name,” he said, referring to Hevesi. “I’ve been trying to meet people and talk to them about what I stand for. I’ve been going door-to-door and going to local community groups and that’s been fantastic. A lot of people are complaining to me that jobs are becoming very scarce and taxes are going up.”

If elected, he said he would work with the SUNY schools to continue and implement programs that graduate students ready to enter jobs in growing industries, such as clean energy.

“I also want to lower taxes for businesses so people can afford to do business in New York,” Powietrzynski said. “If there are lower taxes, they can hire more workers, pay better wages and provide benefits.”

The MTA is not run well, Powietrzynski said, and he said he wants to see the authority better document its finances and provide more transparent information about its revenues and spending to the public.

The candidate also said he hopes to work on quality-of-life crimes, such as graffiti.

“I’ve seen more graffiti around, and that’s an indication crime could be going up,” he said.

The union, which represents 90,000 freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, and self-employed workers in New York state – including 80,000 in New York City – named priority candidates as well as general endorsements.

For state Senate it endorsed incumbent Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone) in the 16th District, incumbent Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) in the 15th District, and Democrat Tony Avella in the 11th District. For state Assembly the group endorsed Democrat Francisco Moya in the 39th District, Democrat Aravella Simotas in the 36th District, incumbent Jeff Aubry (D-Corona) in the 35th District, incumbent Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) in the 28th District, Ed Braunstein in the 26th District, and incumbent Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) in the 25th District. It endorsed Democrat Andrew Cuomo for Governor, Democrat Eric Schneiderman for state Attorney General and Democratic incumbent Thomas DiNapoli for state Comptroller.

“Freelancers Union is growing a powerful political operation to give New York’s freelancers a strong voice in Albany,” Sara Horowitz, executive director of Freelancers Union who founded it as Working Today in 1995, said in a statement. “Independent workers are a third of the workforce, but without unemployment insurance and nonpayment protection, they’re getting left behind. This election season we’re working to change that by mobilizing New York’s massive network of plugged-in ‘twitteratti’.”

The reference to Twitter, the ubiquitous Web site, refers to the group’s plans to utilize social networking, as well as “traditional on the ground strategies, as well as viral and guerrilla marketing tactics” as a means to help the candidates it supports.

“The new workforce needs champions, and these candidates are those champions. We look forward to working hard for them on the campaign trail, so they can work hard for us in the state capitol,” Horowitz said.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (l. to r.), Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and West Side Tennis Club member Christine Schott speak outside the club’s stadium Wednesday about the possibility of landmarking the structure that once housed the U.S. Open. Photo by Anna Gustafson

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz and state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) on Wednesday urged West Side Tennis Club members to include elected officials and community members in their plans for the club’s stadium that is for sale.

The three legislators gathered outside the stadium Wednesday afternoon and said they have felt left out of the discussion about the future of the iconic, but now dilapidated, stadium that has not been used for about 17 years.

“We love that the tennis club is our neighbor,” Weiner said. “In the midst of rural Queens, a stone’s throw from the Long Island Expressway, we have grass tennis courts. We have a place that has history that goes back generations. As there are conversations about how to deal with the stadium, the community needs to have a voice.”

The lawmakers, along with Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), sent a letter Wednesday to the city Landmarks Preservation Commission asking that city officials study whether the stadium that housed the U.S. Open for more than 60 years should be protected under landmark status.

“The Forest Hills community deserves to know whether landmarking parts or all of the West Side Tennis Stadium are a possibility,” the letter states. “We feel strongly that the commission should conduct a study as to whether landmarking the West Side Tennis Stadium would be in the best interest of the future of the structure.”

The West Side Tennis Club members are expected to vote on Sept. 23 on the sale of the stadium. Sources have said the club wants to sell it because it is operating in the red.

The Forest Hills-based Cord Meyer Development Company hopes to transform the 2.5 acres on which the stadium is located into luxury apartments and town homes, according to plans presented by company officials to club members Tuesday night.

Cord Meyer representatives said they have plans to build about 75 units on five floors at the stadium site.

“The question and answer session was constructive for both the members and Cord Meyer. We are looking forward to the opportunity of continuing the dialogue with West Side Tennis and Forest Hills Gardens,” Cord Meyer President Sal Panico said of Tuesday’s meeting.

Koslowitz criticized the proposal and said “it didn’t look that nice to me.”

Bobbie Jaray, who lives across the street from the stadium, also said she and her neighbors do not want to see condominiums replace the stadium.

“I want the stadium as a landmark,” said Jaray, who has lived in the neighborhood for 56 years. “I’d hate to see it torn down.”

The tennis club was founded at the end of the 19th century and the 15,000-seat stadium began hosting the US Open around 1915. The stadium became too small for the US Open and the event moved to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the late 1970s.

“Queens has the fewest landmarks in New York City other than Staten Island,” Stavisky said. “It’s time to preserve the rich cultural traditions that happen here.”

Besides hosting tennis matches, the stadium has been the site of a number of concerts, including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” concert film. Portions of the 2001 Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums” were shot there.

Gov. David Paterson holds a satellite media tour in Albany to discuss the passing of the state budget, which was approved four months late. Photo courtesy Gov. David Paterson's office

State legislators passed a budget four months late and the response from Queens elected officials has ranged from lukewarm approval to outrage.

The budget, due April 1, has been approved in piecemeal, with the last portion — the state’s revenue package — passing last week on Aug. 3 and closing a $9.2 billion deficit the state faced.

Among the items making it into the budget was the suspension of the sales tax exemption for clothing under $100, which is expected to hit middle-class families hard. Legislators believe the suspension of the tax break will generate $300 million for the state.

“Gov. Paterson has spent the last eight months fighting for the fiscal health of New York on behalf of all New Yorkers,” spokesman Morgan Hook said. “A fiscally responsible budget will help our state turn the corner on this economic crisis and put us on a path to recovery.”

But state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) slammed the budget and said the state has added 124 different taxes and fees in the last two spending plans.

“The bottom line is it’s a disaster,” Padavan told a meeting of the Queens Village Republican Club last week.

Padavan, who voted against the budget, called the plan “a sham budget in many respects” because he said it taxes residents too much and relies heavily on revenue streams that are difficult to predict.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said he did not understand why it took his colleagues four months to approve the plan, noting some of Paterson’s proposals to add revenue to the state, including a so-called soda tax and allowing wine to be sold in supermarkets, never made it through.

“Although it was a bad budget, it could’ve been a lot worse,” said Addabbo, who voted for the budget. “It was going to be a bad budget anyway.”

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) said the budget does not address all of the state’s problems.

“This year’s budget was an extremely difficult process and points to why it is critical that the state Legislature passes the reforms I’ve sponsored for years,” he said in a statement, referring to his calls for nonpartisan redistricting and campaign finance overhaul. “I am glad that we were able to minimize the damage to our schools, but moving forward we need to reform Albany, focus on green jobs and economic development and build New York’s fiscal base.”

Addabbo said he expects the suspension of the sales tax exemption to be lifted in 1 1/2 years.

Nonprofits that get all or a majority of their funding through member items will have to wait to receive the money after Paterson vetoed that portion of the budget.

Addabbo said he has senior centers in his district that are “on the cusp of closing their doors” because they have not received funding for this year.

The senator said Paterson’s cuts to health care were restored by the state Legislature, but those were also vetoed by the governor.

But Addabbo said some of the tax increases, including provisions dealing with taxes on charitable contributions made from people making $1 million a year or more, will not affect the majority of Queens residents.

Anna Gustafson contributed to this article.

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.

Joe Fox (l. to r.), state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, and Alex Powietrzynski are running against each other for Hevesi's seat.

State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) has raised more than the Democrat and Republican challenging him for his seat in Albany, according to the July 15 filings with the state Board of Elections.

Hevesi, who has served the district since winning office in a special election in 2005, raised $59,323 in the last campaign finance period, which ran from January to July. Democratic challenger Joe Fox, an attorney from Forest Hills, is not far behind with $54,186 in his war chest. Republican candidate Alex Powietrzynski of Forest Hills raised $2,316.

The three candidates are vying to represent the 28th Assembly District, which covers Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village and Glendale.

Hevesi, also a Forest Hills resident, received financial support from a number of elected officials, unions, insurance companies, energy groups and individuals, according to the filing. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s (D-Manhattan) Friends of Silver gave Hevesi $3,800, the most out of any other single contribution given to the elected official.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-Forest Hills) Friends of Weiner donated $1,000 to Hevesi, as did the re-election group for Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria). City Councilwoman Nettie Mayersohn’s (D-Flushing) group gave $300, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz’s gave $250 and Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan’s (D-Ridgewood) gave $100.

Hevesi spent $39,783 in the last filing period, including $13,500 to the Brooklyn-based Red Horse Strategies Consulting firm. He spent $650 on a fund-raiser at Woodhaven House in Rego Park and much of the money went to expense reimbursements for staff and wages.

Much of Fox’s $54,186 came from law firms throughout the city and state. The Law Offices of John P. Dimascio in Garden City, L.I., gave $916, the Manhattan-based Leo Fox Attorney at Law donated $750 and Barry S. Seidel gave $650. Sheldon Fox of Oceanside, L.I., gave more than $13,000. A number of residents from Forest Hills and outside the district gave money, including a chunk from individuals in St. James on Long Island.

Fox spent $37,209, including $21,015 on the Manhattan-based Progressive Strategies group. The money went toward what was listed as “professional” services.

Another $4,800 went to Golden Sunny Association to rent office space, and the rest of the money went to items like phone bills and office items.

Powietrzynski, who is about to take the New York bar exam, garnered much of his support from individuals, including people in Forest Hills, other parts of the city and one from Ohio. He received $20 from Vikrum Vora of Ohio.

The largest donation he received was $500 from Andrew Kohut of Forest Hills.

Powietrzynski spent $620, including $400 that went to David Haywood of the Bronx for what was listed as “professional” services. Another $162 went to vistaprint.com for campaign literature and much of the rest of the money went to small items like office supplies.