ssemblywoman Aravella Simotas (c.) and neighbors gather in front of Astoria's Titan Pharmacy to protest the proposed merger of Medco and Express Scripts. She was joined by Astoria District Leader Costa Constantinides (second from l.). Photo by Rebecca Henely

State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) held a recent rally attended by about 30 people at an Astoria pharmacy to protest a proposed merger between two pharmacy benefit management companies, saying the plan would be a detriment to local businesses.

“They can put pharmacies out of business,” Simotas said about the possible combination of the two companies.

Pharmaceutical benefit management companies act as a third party between pharmaceutical firms and patients in managing prescription drug plans. Some services they provide include processing and paying claims, managing which drugs are covered by which plans and negotiating discounts and rebates. Many of their services on the consumer end are done through mail order.

Recently two of the three major pharmaceutical benefit management companies — the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco Health Solutions and the St. Louis-based Express Scripts — have been making their case to merge into one entity before the U.S. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission.

While there are many smaller such companies, the merger would leave the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based CVS Caremark as the only other major company.

“These three PBMs do the same thing, so eliminating one of them eliminates competition,” Simotas said.

Simotas held the rally Dec. 22 after approaching Peter Levis and George Rontiris, the owners of Titan Pharmacy, at 35-19 31st Ave. in Astoria, who had worked with the assemblywoman on previous issues regarding pharmaceutical benefit management companies.

Rontiris said these companies are usually associated with national pharmacy chains, and some medications can only be gotten through such companies, putting small, local pharmacies at an unfair advantage.

“Their purpose was to save taxpayers money and reduce the costs of prescription drugs,” Simotas said. “Really, they’re playing monopoly? with health care.”

Rontiris said he believed the merger would increase the companies’ ability to push expensive rates and take tax money out of New York state.

Astoria District Leader Costa Constantinides said his wife, Lori, needs to use pharmaceutical benefit management companies for the anti-rejection drugs prescribed for her kidney and pancreas transplants. He said the two of them have had problems with the delivery of the drugs through the companies and would prefer to go through local pharmacies if they had the option.

“No one who this merger is going to touch is going to benefit,” Constantinides said.

Astoria elected officials State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (l.-r.), U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, District Leader Costa Constantinides and State Sen. Michael Gianaris announce the Grand Post Office on 30th Avenue is off the list of offices to be considered for closure. Photo by Rebecca Henely

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Postal Service said that while Astoria’s Grand station has been saved from the chopping block, four other post offices in Queens are still up for study.

Connie Chirichello of USPS said public meetings will be held to discuss whether or not offices in Holliswood, Rosedale, Arverne and Rockaway Beach will be closed.

“As of right now, meeting dates have not been allocated,” Chirichello said.

The Grand Office, at 45-08 30th Ave. in Astoria, was one of five in Queens on a list of potential post offices that USPS was considering for closure. The others include the Holliswood post office, at 197-33 Hillside Ave.; the Rosedale post office, at 145-06 253rd St.; the Arverne post office, at 329 Beach 59th St.; and the Rockaway Beach post office, at 90-14 Rockaway Beach Blvd.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and other Astoria representatives praised USPS’s decision last week to take the Grand Post Office on 30th Avenue off the list.

“This is a critical center,” Maloney said. “It serves many disabled, many elderly, but also the business district of Steinway [Street].”

Astoria’s elected officials and business leaders contended at two rallies this summer that the Grand Post Office did not belong on the list. Maloney said in the past the? nearest post office, at 21-17 Broadway, is nearly half a mile away, making it difficult for seniors and those with disabilities to travel there.

“This is a neighborhood where not many people have cars,” Maloney said. “People walk.”

Maloney collected more than 1,000 signatures to keep the office open, which she gave to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. The congresswoman also maintained that Grand Office remained profitable. USPS considered post offices for closure if they earned less than $600,000 in revenue for fiscal year 2011. The Grand Office missed the mark by less than $40,000 in profit.

Maloney said the office’s adequate profits may have been the most convincing to Donahoe.

Astoria District Leader Costa Constantinides, who held the first rally, called the saving of the post office a “great victory” for the community. He said that with the neighborhood’s ever burgeoning population, the office was a necessity.

“We need critical infrastructure to be maintained and grown,” Constantinides said.

Tony Barsamian, chairman of the Steinway Astoria Partnership, was one of many business leaders who praised Maloney for her efforts.

“We want to have a better, user-friendly community,” Barsamian said.

Maloney denied that USPS was obsolete in the days of e-mail and paperless bills. Maloney said post offices serve the entire country and more heavily trafficked offices in urban areas cover for offices in less populated areas. She said she believes the post offices can become more viable through partnerships with businesses.

“The post office is as vital today as it ever was,” Maloney said.

Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas rejected a plan by USPowergen for a green upgrade of its Astoria plant, located on the Con Edison complex (pictured), as the plan calls for a permit that would allow it to increase its emissions. Photo by Rebecca Henely

An Astoria power generating company’s plan to decrease emissions which formerly enjoyed community and legislator support has been rejected by a second neighborhood lawmaker.

State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) said last week that she met with representatives from USPowergen, a Stamford, Conn.-based company that operates the Astoria Generating plant on the Con Edison complex at 20th Avenue and Shore Boulevard.

While representatives from the company said they were willing to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the community, promising they would not increase their overall emissions despite requesting a state Department of Environmental Conservation permit that would allow them to do so, Simotas said a memorandum is not sufficient.

“We don’t support anything that will net an overall increase in emissions,” Simotas said.

USPowergen has long been planning a project to retire its oldest generating unit, which also happens to be closest to the residences on Shore Boulevard, and replace it with a 410-megawatt Siemens H-series modern combined cycle unit at a defunct oil yard closer to the center of the Con Edison complex. The new unit will be able to recycle heat through heat recovery steam generators. USPowergen will also be capping emissions on its three other units.

“We remain unwavering in our commitment to reduce emissions as part of this project,” John Reese, USPowergen senior vice president, said in a statement.

Despite the effort to be more green, the company has still requested a permit to increase the overall amount of pollutants it is allowed to emit. Reese said in an interview with TimesLedger Newspapers earlier this month this was due to the DEC changing its emissions caps so that they are specific to units rather than to the facility as a whole. USPowergen said if one of its units is temporarily incapacitated, it would want to use the remaining units to make up the difference.

The permit had previouslyprompted state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) to pull his support days after endorsing the project at a public hearing.

Simotas, a former lawyer, said that while USPowergen had agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the community, that was not acceptable because the community would be expected to police emissions and possibly bring them to court if the plant violates the agreement in the future.

“Agreements are great as long as people are abiding by them, but way too often people don’t,” Simotas said.

Nevertheless, the assemblywoman said she thought USPowergen does not have negative intentions and that the DEC would be better at policing the plant than the neighborhood.

“I will certainly suggest to [DEC] that it’s they who have to be flexible, not the community,” Simotas said. “Something has to give here.”

Reese said the company has requested the permit comment period be extended to Oct. 11 to work out a plan to fix the problem.

To comment, contact DEC by mail at 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-1750, by phone at 518-486-9955 or by e-mail at smtomasi@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

District Leader Martha Taylor (l.-r. front row), Assemblywoman Grace Meng, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz through their support behind Assemblyman David Weprin's (c.) Congressional campaign last week. Photo by Rebecca Henely

Many female elected officials at the city, state and federal levels endorsed state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) last Thursday at a news conference in front of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, saying the Democratic candidate for the sprawling congressional district is a tireless advocate for women’s rights.

“Some of the most impassioned speeches supporting women and children have come from David Weprin,” said Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria).

Joined by his family — wife Ronni Weprin and daughters Stephanie Weprin and Lori Friedman — Weprin picked up the official support of electeds from Queens and beyond in his campaign to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner two months ago amid a sexting scandal.

Most said they supported Weprin over Republican candidate Bob Turner because of Weprin’s support for abortion rights and access to birth control.

“I will be a strong advocate for the women of the 9th Congressional District as well as our state, city and country,” Weprin said.

Britta Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for Turner’s campaign, said in a statement responding to the endorsements that district women would vote for Turner due to his platform to cut waste, lower taxes and improve the economy. She said the ability of American women to manage their families’ household budgets has been made impossible by “career politicians like Mr. Weprin.”

“Jobs and young people are fleeing New York because of the taxes and debt these politicians have piled on us,” Linden said. “These are the pocketbook issues women in Queens and Brooklyn care about.”

Those who endorsed Weprin included Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), Simotas, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilwomen Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), Diana Reyna (D-Ridgewood), Julissa Ferreras (D-Jackson Heights) and Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan).

Weprin said he was “a little speechless and a little overwhelmed” by the endorsements.

Koslowitz said the members of Congress who have represented the Forest Hills district, from Weiner going back to as far as former Rep. Joseph Addabbo Sr.,? who began his career in the House of Representatives in 1961, have been pro-women’s rights.

“Every one of them helped women. They believed in women,” Koslowitz said.

Others said they were supporting Weprin for his other policy positions. Maloney praised Weprin’s work as chairman of the Finance Committee when he was in the Council and said his financial aptitude would be a boon in Congress.

“I wish he was the chair of the Finance Committee in Congress,” Maloney said.

Ferreras said she hoped the multitude of endorsements by women politicians would encourage women voters to vote for Weprin.

“Every time we send a Republican to Congress, we lose rights as women, we lose rights as families,” Ferreras said.

Turner has received high-profile endorsements from former Mayor Ed Koch and Rep. Peter King (R-Massapequa Park).

Peter Vallone Sr. plays the cow bell during his son Peter Vallone Jr.'s 50th birthday. Photo by Christina Santucci

Peter Vallone Jr. (l.) on guitar is joined by his brother Paul Vallone on drums during a performance at Central Lounge. Photo by Christina Santucci

Peter Vallone wielded his ax with aplomb as his musically talented family gathered on the stage at Central Lounge in Astoria for his 50th birthday celebration. Photo by Christina Santucci

Three generations of the Vallone family were on stage at Astoria’s Central Lounge last Thursday night, playing classics such as “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” and “Rock Around the Clock” in celebration of City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s (D-Astoria) 50th birthday.

“I’m overwhelmed and humbled by this,” said Vallone, who turned half a century on March 23. “There’s more people here than I ever could have imagined.”

[See our video of the event by Christina Santucci here]

Fellow politicians, civic activists and various well-wishers crowded into the lounge at 20-30 Steinway St. to hear the nine-year councilman play the guitar and drums, as well as the musical stylings of his father, former Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. on the cow bell; his brothers Paul Vallone on tambourine and Perry Vallone on guitar; his daughter and his nieces, who sang; and his mother Tena Vallone, who played saxophone. The event also featured the drumming of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

“It was very heart-warming,” said Tena Vallone of playing with her family. “I don’t know if I’d do it again, but I really enjoy it.”

Peter Vallone Jr. advertised his event with a Bruce Springsteen-esque picture of himself wearing a sleeveless white T-shirt, a headband and sunglasses. Yet his real on-stage wardrobe was a white dress suit and burgundy tie more suited to the posh atmosphere of the Central Lounge. Other members of his family dressed similarly, with Peter Vallone Sr. wearing a gray suit and the councilman’s niece Catena wearing a black dress with bows.

“I like doing it,” Catena Vallone, Paul’s 11-year-old daughter, said of performing, “because I get to do it with my family.”

Special guests to the event included city Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Borough President Helen Marshall and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The councilman also invited up on stage Omar Audi, a 9-year-old Astoria resident originally from Lebanon who has hereditary angiodema, a rare and potentially fatal swelling disease. The medicine to control it is only available in America, and when his parents were about to be deported, Peter Vallone Jr. led the campaign to allow them to stay.

“He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met,” Peter Vallone Jr. said of Omar.

Civic activist Rose Marie Poveromo said the councilman was truly deserving of such a party.

“He tells it the way it is and pulls no punches,” Poveromo said. “He is unconcerned about his image and represents ‘We the People’ to the nth degree.”

State Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) said she had seen the councilman on stage before and always found it fun.

“Everyone loves Peter,” said Simotas. “And I don’t know if they come to celebrate his birthday or to hear him sing.”

Francisco Moya of Corona and Aravella Simotas of Astoria will be the newest members of the Assembly from western Queens come 2011.

When the state Assembly opens its 2011 legislative session in January, two new faces from western Queens will be seen on the floor. Democrats Francisco Moya of Corona and Aravella Simotas of Astoria, both of whom had no opponents in the general election, stepped into seats left open by officials moving on to the state Senate.

“I feel really honored and humbled by the vote of confidence that took place in the primary as well as the general,” Moya said in an interview.

Moya is now assemblyman-elect for the 39th District, which covers Corona, Elmhurst and parts of Jackson Heights and has had a vacancy since March. Democrat Jose Peralta left the position after winning the East Elmhurst Senate seat in a special election, which was open after former Sen. Hiram Monserrate was ousted after being found guilty of an assault charge against his girlfriend Karla Giraldo.

Monserrate ran against Peralta in the March special election as well as against Moya in the primary elections in September. Moya ran unopposed in the general election after the Republican candidate, Humberto Suarezmotta, was kept off the ballot for failing to hand in a cover sheet with his campaign signatures.

Moya said he had nothing to do with Suarezmotta’s ballot problems and had not challenged his signatures. He called Suarezmotta a “nice guy” and said he hoped they could work together in the future.

“I wish him nothing but the best,” Moya said.

To the west, Simotas will be the assemblywoman for the 36th District, which covers Astoria and Long Island City, including the Queensbridge and Ravenswood public houses. She will be replacing outgoing Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, who won the seat of outgoing Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria) in the general election. Simotas had no Republican opponents and her two Democratic opponents, attorneys John Ciafone and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, dropped out before the primary election.

Simotas, who volunteered on Gianaris’ original campaign for the Assembly 10 years ago, said taking over for the assemblyman is “very thrilling.”

“I know I have very large shoes to fill, but I’m going to work very hard to make the community proud,” Simotas said.

Moya said he wanted to work hard in the Assembly for the community he will represent.

“The real work begins now. We’re going to have a tough, tough budget coming up,” he said.

Moya said he also wanted to work on stimulating the economy through bringing back manufacturing jobs to the district and protecting small businesses. Another goal is to help clean up the crime and gang violence along Roosevelt Avenue.

Simotas said that after visiting with constituents throughout the campaign, she will try to work in Albany on ensuring constituents get affordable access to health care. She said the area needed a bigger hospital.

“We have a lot of young, new families that are coming in with children,” Simotas said.

She said she also hopes to get on committees to work on the environment and education in the Assembly. She said she wants to examine how money is spent on education in the district, try to keep funding for after-school programs and work on the air quality in the district since the neighborhood is home to multiple power plants, LaGuardia Airport and major highways.

“We live in the epicenter of a lot of pollution going on,” Simotas said.

Moya thanked his future constituents.

“I want them to be assured that nobody will be working harder for them than me in Albany,” Moya said.

Simotas said she was grateful for the messages of support and congratulations from her constituents.

“Each and every one of them is my boss,” Simotas said. “I have a debt to them and I look forward to going to Albany and advocating on their behalf.”

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.

John Ciafone has dropped out of the race to replace state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris.

State Assembly candidate Aravella Simotas will face no challengers in her bid for Assemblyman Michael Gianaris’s (D-Astoria) seat after John Ciafone dropped out of the race last week.

Ciafone, 40, an attorney based in Astoria, decided to halt his bid in mid-August, leaving Simotas, a Manhattan attorney who serves on Community Board 1, as the only candidate on the ballot. Simotas also has no Republican opponents.

The city Campaign Finance Board no longer lists the race on its Sept. 14 primary calendar.

Ciafone, who could not be reached for comment, had said he also planned to run on the Conservative and Independence party lines.

In a statement, Simotas spokesman Mike Murphy said the lone Democrat would continue campaigning despite having no challengers.

“As she has done throughout this campaign, Aravella will continue talking with her fellow Astorians about the need to create more jobs, improve our schools and reform state government,” the statement read.

Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, a civil and children’s rights attorney, dropped out of the Democratic primary earlier in the summer.

Gianaris’ seat is open this fall after the assemblyman decided to run to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year. He does not face any challengers.

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.

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.

John Ciafone is one of three Democrats running for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris’ seat this fall. Photo by Nathan Duke

Astoria’s John Ciafone said he would go to Albany as a reformer with an emphasis on improving education, health care and transportation in his district if elected as the replacement for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Ciafone, 40, an attorney based in Astoria, will face off against Aravella Simotas, an attorney and Community Board 1 member, and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, a civil and children’s rights attorney, during September’s Democratic primary.

“I would come in as a reformer,” said Ciafone, who ran against Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) in 2001. “I think we need to eliminate the lobbyists and special interests that are buying the politicians in Albany. It’s not benefitting our local communities.”

He said he would also push for term limits in the state Legislature and that if elected, he only planned to run for two terms.

Gianaris’ seat is open this fall after the assemblyman decided to run to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year. He does not face any challengers.

He said funding for schools in his district will be a top priority in his campaign. But Ciafone, who served as first treasurer and then president of Astoria’s former Community School Board 30 for nine years, said he also supports charter schools in western Queens.

“It would help the community if we could get more schools with lower class sizes, especially if it comes from a federal grant,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have enough space for our kids. It’s like they are playing musical chairs. Our community is only as good as our schools.”

Health care and transportation are also high on his list of improvements for the district.

“These are bread-and-butter issues,” he said. “We need a bigger hospital. And our train and bus service has been diminished dramatically. There are longer waits since they got rid of the W train.”

Ciafone said he believed small business owners in his district, especially along Steinway Street, were suffering due to high state taxes, sanitation issues and excessive ticketing by the city’s parking agents.

“On Steinway, they’ll memorize how much time is on your meter, then they’ll come back and issue you a ticket,” he said. “People won’t come there because they don’t want to get a ticket. They’ll go to a shopping mall. It’s hurting local business.”

He also wants additional services for seniors in western Queens, including new senior centers, Meals on Wheels programs and housing as well as more police officers for Astoria’s 114th Precinct.

Ciafone, who primarily practices personal injury law, currently acts as an executive leader of Long Island City’s Aldos Democratic Club, of which he has been a member since 1998.

He described himself as the “conservative Democrat” in the race and that he was the only candidate to oppose gay marriage. Ciafone said he was not against gay partnerships, but believed that gay marriage “was not recognized by any religion.”

He is running on the Democratic, Conservative and Independence lines. The Democratic primary will be held in September. There are currently no Republicans in the race.

Jeremiah Frei-Pearson is running for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris's seat this fall. Photo by Nathan Duke

Astoria Democrat Jeremiah Frei-Pearson said he has fought powerful interests and gotten results for the residents of his neighborhood and plans to do the same if chosen by voters as the replacement for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Frei-Pearson, 32, who works as a civil and children’s rights attorney, is one of three Democrats running for Gianaris’ seat. He will face Aravella Simotas, an attorney and Community Board 1 member, and John Ciafone, who challenged City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) in 2001, in September’s Democratic primary.

“The system is just broken,” Frei-Pearson said. “I’m running because I think I can make a difference. We can’t afford not to change the system.”

Gianaris has announced his candidacy to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year.

Frei-Pearson said his priorities are to create additional health care options for his community, education, the environment, Albany reform and transportation.

“There are more hospital beds per person in South America than there are in western Queens,” he said. “This is a governmental failure.”

He is also concerned about the lack of after-school programs in the district following Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to shut down 17 sites in the five boroughs, several of which are in western Queens.

“I graduated from New York public schools, so I believe I have a moral obligation to give kids a chance to go to a good school,” he said.

Frei-Pearson said he sued Con Edison over the 10-day western Queens blackout in 2006 that left 174,000 residents in the dark and caused businesses to lose millions of dollars. He vowed to challenge corporations that threaten his community’s well-being and push for reform in Albany’s dysfunctional Legislature.

“I’ve spent my entire professional life fighting powerful interests on behalf of people,” he said. “We need to reform campaign finance. I could receive a donation almost twice as much as one for Barack Obama. When someone writes a check that big, they are buying something. It says that our government is for sale.”

He said he would propose legislation to introduce term limits in the Assembly and that he would not serve more than eight years.

Key issues in his campaign would also be the environment and improvements to the western Queens electrical system.

“Our neighborhood has too many power plants,” he said of Astoria, which generates 60 percent of the city’s electrical power. “We have to close the unsafe plants, invest in wind farms and upgrade our electrical grid. It’s not acceptable to have a blackout every few years.”

If elected, Frei-Pearson said he would also fight to bring back the W train, which soon will be cut by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, ensure that subway stations in western Queens are handicap accessible and initiate programs to decrease poverty in the district.

Frei-Pearson’s endorsements include Democracy for New York, the Stonewall Democrats and Marriage Equality for New York.

Simotas is being backed by a bevy of western Queens elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Gianaris. Ciafone is also running on the Independence and Conservative party lines.

The district covers Astoria and a section of Long Island City.

Aravella Simotas is running for state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris’ seat this fall. Photo by Nathan Duke

Astoria’s Aravella Simotas said she would focus on expanding health care options and improving education in western Queens if she is chosen to replace state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) this fall.

Simotas, 31, a Manhattan litigator and Community Board 1 member, is one of two Democrats running in the race for Gianaris’ seat. She will face off against Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, who works as a civil and children’s rights attorney in Manhattan, during the Democratic primary in September.

Gianaris has announced his bid to replace state Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria), who will retire at the end of the year.

“I’ve lived in the community my entire life and I’ve always been active,” Simotas said. “As an attorney, one of the skills I have developed over the past eight years is working with other people to get solutions to problems, often aggressively. Albany is a mess and there are a lot of issues that are not getting resolved.”

Simotas said she will prioritize health care, education, economic issues and the environment in her campaign, which kicked off April 10 at Astoria’s Taminent Club.

“There is a health care crisis in Astoria,” she said. “A lot of young families are coming into the neighborhood and we do not have community hospitals to serve them. We are severely under-bedded.”

Simotas said her father recently suffered a heart attack and has other health problems, but his doctor told him he should travel to Manhattan for care.

“People have to go across the bridge for services they require,” she said. “It’s unacceptable.”

She said she is also concerned about cuts to western Queens schools in science, arts and after-school programs.

“Parents rely on after-school programs for their children,” she said. “It’s where they can learn more than reading, writing and arithmetic and bond with their fellow students.”

Simotas said her platform would also include economic initiatives to bring back jobs to western Queens.

“I have a lot of friends who have lost their jobs,” she said. “I see storefronts closing. We have to make sure our residents have resources, proper tax credits and access to small business loans.”

She cited the state’s film tax credit program as one that creates jobs and aids community businesses. Gov. David Paterson has proposed an extension for the credit through 2014 in his state budget, which has not yet been enacted.

Simotas said she intends for her campaign to bridge the gap between Astoria’s younger generation and longtime residents.

“We’ve been able to merge people who have been in local politics for a long time with younger volunteers,” she said. “As an elected official, you have thousands of bosses. You work for the people in the community. They are your allies and they help you to become a more effective leader.”

She has already been endorsed by a number of Queens elected officials, such as U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), Gianaris, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), and several unions as well as Councilmen Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights).

Frei-Pearson’s endorsements include Democracy for New York, the Stonewall Democrats and Marriage Equality for New York.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted Dec. 16 in favor of subway service cuts that would include eliminating Astoria’s W train completely in the spring. The agency also approved eliminating the Z line as well as 21 bus routes and student MetroCards as a way to make up for an MTA budgetary shortfall.

Western Queens residents will now be forced to ride the N train to get them into Manhattan. The N and W trains follow the same line from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria to Manhattan’s Canal Street before the W splits off toward its final stop at Whitehall Street/South Ferry, while the N heads into Brooklyn.

The Q train, which runs from 57th Street in Manhattan to Brooklyn, will eventually be extended into the neighborhood.

But Astoria residents will be forced to switch trains for rides to key stops in Manhattan, such as the World Trade Center and City Hall, once the W train is eliminated.

“It will have a huge impact on people who want a one-seat ride to downtown Manhattan,” state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said. “We’re a big commuter neighborhood. Thousands of people rely on the W to get to work. We’re going to have a problem with people waiting longer for trains.”

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said the cuts were a result of the MTA’s inability to control its expenses.

“The W train serves a neighborhood which is increasing ridership almost daily, while using an antiquated elevated train line as its one route in and out,” he said. “We need more trains and better service, not the complete elimination of a line.”

Vallone sent a letter last week to MTA Chairman Jay Walder in which he questioned the agency’s commitment to improving borough subway service.

“The MTA has shown an inability to provide fair and comprehensive service to all city residents, frequently making Queens the whipping boy for all of New York,” he wrote. “The borough experiences unreliable and overcrowded service and has repeatedly been neglected when it comes to MTA improvements like creating new elevators and expanded lines. There is no reason why the residents of Astoria and Long Island City cannot be afforded the same level of service as residents in other areas of the city.”