The lawmaker represents an unpopulated, rocky stretch of sand that forms a border around — but does not encroach upon — the neighborhood of Bay Terrace. It connects the neighborhood of Whitestone to the rest of his district by winding around the coast of Little Bay near the Throngs Neck Bridge — but only during low tide.?

Avella visited this portion of his district last week. Even several hours before high tide it was barely passable, since even the sea wall at the edge of the street is not in his district. To get to it, he had to hop a fence and climb down a pile of boulders.?

“I’ve seen it, but I’d never walked it,” he said. “I think there should be reform.”

Avella had co-sponsored a bill and put into writing the growing call for independent redistricting in the state.

On Sept. 7, civic associations and Queens residents spoke out against the legislative boundaries that divide their neighborhoods at a hearing at Borough Hall ahead of the redistricting process that will redraw state and congressional legislative districts in 2012.

The hearing was held by a state body made up of both elected officials and citizens that is currently tasked with redrawing the district lines. Many of those in the audience testified that the new boundaries should keep communities and neighborhoods with cohesive populations in the same district — something that has not happened in the past.

Harpreet Toor said the neighborhood of Richmond Hill — a rectangle-shaped enclave below Forest Park comprised of mainly South Asian residents — is currently divided into four City Council districts, five state Assembly districts and three state Senate districts, according to Toor.

“Right now the district lines are going right through the heart of the neighborhood,” he said. And because the population is split, the voting power of the neighborhood is divided and diminished, Toor said.

State Sen. Tony Avella stands in his district, a sandy and rocky stretch that disappears during high tide. The ledge on the right is not part of his district. Photo by Christina Santucci

A representative from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund outlined several other neighborhoods around the borough that are divided.

Flushing is split into two Assembly districts and two Senate districts, according to Jerry Vattamala, an attorney for the fund. Vattamala said Bayside, which is also split into several districts on the state level, should be lumped in with Flushing whenever possible, due to the similarities in the neighborhoods’ population.

Elmhurst, home to a variety of immigrant populations, is divided into five Assembly districts, four Senate districts and four Council districts, according to a report complied by the fund.

Jamaica Houses, a politically active housing project, is split into two Assembly districts, according to Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village).

Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) testified at the hearing and said that while her district seems to be based in Maspeth, she has small portions of Astoria, Woodside and Elmhurst. The residents in the latter set of communities do not have enough people to sway the vote for her seat.

“It needs to be whole communities,” she said when asked what ideal district lines would look like.

Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) co-sponsored a bill with Avella to promote independent redistricting and offered blunt advice for the panel.

“Disband yourself and establish an independent commission,” he said at the hearing.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is also a fan of independent redistricting and has said he will veto any lines the panel presents.

Some residents who testified said independent redistricting would require a state constitutional amendment, which would be too time-consuming to pursue this time around.

But Avella said it is perfectly legal to allow for independent redistricting. Republicans drafted a bill that would require the amendment, but it has not passed in both houses of the Legislature.

Borough President Helen Marshall (front) congratulates her colleagues Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (from l.), Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Rep. Joseph Crowley, Assemblywoman Marge Markey and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on helping to create the recently completed Elmhurst Park. Photo by Joe Anuta

Officer Joy of the NYPD watches for trouble outside a jungle gym at newly christened Elmhurst Park during the mayor's visit. Photo by Joe Anuta

Mayor Michael Bloom­berg visited Maspeth to officially open a new park Monday, but some civic leaders accused lawmakers of joining the celebrations when they actually hindered the park’s progress.

“It’s a wonderful space,” Bloomberg said of the $20 million, 6.5-acre Elmhurst Park. “It is difficult to recall what this industrial site used to look like.”

But City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who was also on hand, remembers exactly what it used to look like.

The parcel of land used to be home to the Maspeth Tanks, large red cylinders 275 feet in diameter that housed natural gas for the area. They were owned by Keyspan, which later was purchased by National Grid.

Even as a child Crowley wanted the space to be used for the entire neighborhood.

“I used to imagine that the gas tanks could be swimming pools,” she said. “However, a new generation can appreciate this space in a whole different way.”

The tanks were removed in the 1990s and a complicated series of events resulted in Keyspan selling the plot to the city for $1.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) called the park a “wonderful, wonderful victory” and state Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) said “great things happen when the government and the community work together.”

But some members of the community wondered why Crowley and Markey were there in the first place.

According to activists Tony Nunziato and Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Valley Park Association, the congressman and the assemblywoman stood in the way of the community’s quest to obtain the park.

“It’s tough to see some of the people here that didn’t lend a hand and told us not to continue,” Holden said.

Holden and the civic campaigned extensively for the city to buy the park and brokered a deal with Keyspan to hold off on selling the property until they could raise enough money.

But he said that before the agreed-upon time had elapsed, Crowley met with Keyspan and found out the company planned to develop the property instead. But Crowley never told Holden and the civic.

“It set us back two months,” Holden said.

And Markey told the two men Keyspan owed it to its stockholders to develop the property and advised Nunziato and Holden to stop advocating for the park after it appeared hopeless that the civic would get its wish, according to Nunziato.

“She is riding our coattails,” Nunziato said. “But when the champagne is popping, she is right there to pull out a glass.”

But they wore “Thank you Mayor” stickers on their suits with complete sincerity.

“This is one thing that he did that was great,” Holden said.

Bloomberg was instrumental in getting Keyspan to turn over the property for $1. Markey and Crowley also negotiated with the energy company for the property.

Hyman Finkelstein (from l.), Carolyn Siino, Bill Vojts and Herb Friedman call on elected officials to save their senior center. Photo by Joe Anuta

State and city officials assembled in Forest Hills last Thursday to tout legislation designed to save senior centers across the city, but there’s a $25 million catch.

Even though both the state Assembly and state Senate passed budget resolutions last week allocating $25 million in federal money to fund senior centers, that does not mean the centers are in the clear. The funds for the senior centers were taken from money used for child welfare services.

And that money has to be put back somehow.

“Instead of staring at four walls, you’ll have a place to go and see your friends,” Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) said to a crowd at the Young Israel of Forest Hills Senior League, at 68-07 Burns St.,? one of 22 Queens senior centers slated to close under the governor’s current budget proposal. “The problem is that we have to find $25 million from another part of the budget.”

The money in question is called Title XX funding, and it comes from the federal government. The money has traditionally been used to fund senior centers, but in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s original budget proposal for this year, the Title XX funding went to youth service programs instead, said state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), who was not at the rally but also supports senior centers.

So while the dual resolutions ostensibly saved the centers, the lawmakers still have to scrape together more money to fund the youth programs.

“No matter where you shift and restore money, you must show a way to pay for it,” Addabbo said. “You better cut somewhere else or show revenue. The budget has to be balanced.”

Addabbo had several suggestions of where those cuts could come from — like many of the city’s outside contracts, for example.

Both state legislative bodies will eventually meet with representatives from Cuomo’s office to iron out the discrepancies between each party’s budget proposal, and only afterward will the seniors really know if their center will close.

But the centers themselves save money, according to Stavisky.

Speaking to the seniors — who held up signs reading “Do you know what loneliness feels like?” and “Restore Title XX funding” — Stavisky ran through the costs for three different types of care.

Senior centers run the city up to $2,000 a year per senior.? Adult day care costs $18,500 and nursing homes cost $123,000.

“Which is more cost effective?” she asked. “And how many of you want to be in a nursing home.”

No one raised their hand.

Carolyn Siino said she comes to the center to socialize and eat a hot meal, since she ran into financial trouble after her sister, the breadwinner of the household, died unexpectedly.

“If they ever close the center, I think I would seek psychiatric help in protest,” she said.

The Forest Hills center is especially dear to the seniors who attend because of the unique way the food is prepared.

It is called glatt kosher, and according to Rabbi Yehuda Loppenheimer, it prescribes more stringent requirements for the Jewish practice of consuming kosher food.

“It is for those who take kosher seriously and at a higher level,” he said. “This is the only place they can go where they can get that food.”

Both Addabbo and Stavisky were optimistic that the money would come through, which is why state Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) hoped that legislators and the governor would stop threatening the seniors at Maspeth Senior Center with the prospect of closure.

“These seniors are scared,” Markey said. “I’m very confident that we can save the senior centers. It’s more than just hot meals, the workers are very in tune with the residents.”

In addition to the 22 centers, another 5 centers could face closure if Borough President Helen Marshall’s discritionary funding for aging services is cut from the city’s budget as proposed.

Assemblywoman Marge Markey is sworn in by her husband Judge Charles Markey during a ceremony in Maspeth. Photo by Christina Santucci

The inauguration ceremony for state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), who has represented her western Queens district since 1998, drew Democratic leaders and friends to the gala affair Sunday at Frank Kowalinski American Legion Post No. 4 at 61-57 Maspeth Ave.

The tone was upbeat but the remarks repeatedly mentioned her tough battle to win another term last year.

“Margie, I know that this was a tough re-election, but I am proud to say that you handled yourself with so much dignity and grace,” U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Ridgewood) said.

In the contentious 2010 race, Markey received 9,745 Democratic votes to beat out Maspeth businessman and Community Board 5 member Tony Nunziato, who received 5,029 votes on the Republican line, 439 on the Independence Party line and 768 on the Conservative Party line, according to the city Board of Elections.

“Last year was a year of big change in government, but the 30th Assembly [District] voters spoke clearly about me and my work,” Markey said in her remarks after she took the oath of office.

Markey was sworn in by her husband, Judge Charles Markey, at the event, which also featured a singing performance by students from PS 229 in Woodside.

The inauguration ceremony was a joyous event celebrating Markey’s continuing service to the constituents in her district, but each of its speakers except for Markey herself — Velazquez, and U.S. Reps. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) — made a point of bringing up the hard fight she had to win re-election.

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 work to improve quality of life and creating a viable commercial district.

Crowley introduced the legislator with an extended speech, praising her for winning a contentious election and for rising above personal attacks during last year’s campaign cycle.

“The personal attacks that she sustained during this election and past elections have gotten out of hand …. Marge was a victim of that, and that’s what made this victory all that much more sweeter,” Crowley said.

Crowley finished his introduction with a tribute to the neighborhood where the event was held. “Everyone knows Marge Markey loves Maspeth.”

“So this is a good day for Maspeth to see one of its daughters serving in its state Legislature,” he said.

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.

Democratic State Assemblywoman Marge Markey has a Republican opponent in businessman Tony Nunziato.

State Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth) pledged to bring more money for services back to her district while her Republican opponent, Tony Nunziato, promised to cap government spending as they moved into the final weeks of the campaign before the Nov. 2 election.

Markey and Nunziato are running for the 30th Assembly District seat, which encompasses Maspeth and Woodside as well as parts of Middle Village, Astoria, Sunnyside and Long Island City. They also spoke on their plans to improve the job market and the district as a whole.

Markey, 68, has lived in the district her entire life. A graduate of Berkley Business School, she has been in politics for 35 years as a Democratic district leader and 12 years as an assemblywoman. She is married to Queens County Supreme Court Judge Charles Markey and has three adult children in their early 40s.

“I have more to do,” Markey said about why she is running for re-election. “I have things I want to do in the community and in the Legislature.”

Nunziato, 53, was born in Woodside and has lived in Maspeth for the last 30 years. A graduate of St. John’s University, Nunziato has been in his family’s florist business, Nunziato’s Florist, first in Manhattan and then in Maspeth. He is married to Dolores Nunziato and has three children in their early 20s.

“I’m going to do it because I want to make the community a better place,” Nunziato said. “I want to have a real voice for the people [of the district] in Albany.”

While in office, Markey has sponsored a bill aimed at increasing the statute of limitations in which someone who was sexually abused as a child can prosecute their case or bring civil suit up to the age of 23 rather than the current age of 18. She has also been trying to fund many different projects in the district, such as libraries, parks, food pantries, after-school programs, senior programs and rehabilitating the commercial district.

“When you give state money to a nonprofit, it legitimizes them and helps them get private funds,” Markey said.

Markey is also the founder of Maspeth Town Hall Community Center.

Markey said she believes the biggest issues facing the community are quality-of-life issues, such as hotel overdevelopment in Dutch Kills and truck traffic in Maspeth. Markey recently announced that the city Department of Transportation would be working to redesignate Flushing and Grand avenues. She also wants to create a viable commercial district.

“I always felt the strength and viability of the community depends on how strong the commercial district is,” she said.

Markey said she wants her constituents to know she cares about them.

“I hope they respect the work that I’ve been doing over the past 12 years,” she said.

While Nunziato has not held elected office before, he said he has been an active presence in the community. He is chairman of the Environmental Committee for Community Board 5, a past president of the ?Maspeth Town Hall Community Center and a past member of the Kiwanis society and has been active in community efforts such as the cleanup of the Phelps Dodge site on Maspeth Creek, saving St. Saviour’s Church from destruction, reconstruction of the Kosciusko Bridge and developing an alternate Maspeth truck route so trucks from the Bronx or Long Island will not be able to go down Flushing and Grand avenues to get to Brooklyn.

“I’m what you call a hands-on elected official,” Nunziato said of what he would be like as an assemblyman. “I’m there.”

Nunziato said he wants to focus on job creation and hopes to offer tax credits to businesses that hire employees and bring back manufacturing jobs to the district. He also wants to cap government spending and taxation and make sure government money is spent responsibly. He said he supports school vouchers and believes they would encourage the use of dwindling private schools instead of requiring the city to build new public schools.

“Just give people a voucher so [their children] can go to the schools they want to go to,” Nunziato said.

Nunziato said his message for voters is that he is them and wants to know he is experiencing their problems.

“I want to make sure they get what they deserve,” Nunziato said.

Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.

Members of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association gathered at the Firehouse on 51st Street in Woodside to endorse state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey in her re-election.

State Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D–Maspeth) netted the endorsements of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association and Uniformed Firefighters Association Wednesday.

The endorsement was announced at 11 a.m. the Firehouse of Engine 325/Ladder 163 at 41-24 51st Street in Woodside.

“Assemblywoman Markey has been a fierce advocate for the funding of faster, better fire coverage in Western Queens,” Captain Alexander Hagan, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said in a statement.
Hagan commended Markey for opposing the closing of Engine Company 261, which occurred in Long Island City in 2003, and her opposition to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempts to close 20 other fire houses.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association called Markey a “tireless supporter” of causes important to firefighters, including a bill which would give an annual cost of living adjustment to spouses and children of police officers and firefighters lost in the line of duty.

“She has never forgotten the widows and children of police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty, and the UFOA will never forget her,” Hagan, who also praised the bill, said.

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.

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has arranged for demonstrations of New York's new voting machines at Queens Library brances throughout her district.

With the assistance of Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), the New York City Board of Elections will hold presentations in July and August at various Queens Public Library branches, showing voters how to use New York’s new voting machines. Instead of pulling levers, voters will now use a paper ballot, which will be immediately be scanned.

“Voters will have a new way to cast their ballot this fall and I invite everyone to stop by their local library branch to try out this new system,” Markey said in a press release.

Demonstrations will take place on Wednesday, July 28 at the Broadway Branch Library at 40-20 Broadway in Long Island City; Wednesday Aug. 11 at the Maspeth Branch Library at 69-61 Grand Ave.; and Wednesday, Aug. 18 at the Woodside Branch Library at 54-22 Skillman Ave.

New York state bought the machines in accordance with the Help America Vote Act, which mandated voters in New York State must have new voting machines.