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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The United States Postal Service is proposing to close down the College Point sorting facility as part of a national consolidation effort.

A group of postal workers and two politicians voiced their opposition Friday night to the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed closure of a College Point facility that could leave hundreds of jobs in limbo.

Stephen Larkin, vice president of the Flushing chapter of the United Postal Workers Union, said that USPS has not made clear what will happen to the workers at the plant who number about 1,000.

“We have clerks, mail handlers, maintenance and motor vehicle operators that will be affected and they won’t give us any information about what they plan to do,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the USPS said that about 700 workers will be relocated to other jobs.

The proposed closure of the facility — one of nearly 300 that USPS would like to shutter across the nation at the expense of 35,000 jobs — would save the struggling system nearly $31 million, according the spokeswoman said.

Larkin said that there is a layoff clause in their contract, but that he suspects the USPS will try to circumvent it anyway.

The spokeswoman said “changes are being sought after” with regard to the contracts, though USPS would work to find everybody a landing spot.

If the plant is eventually consolidated or closed, the work would instead be done in Brooklyn or in Manhattan.

The switch would not cause any delay in service, the spokeswoman said, but USPS is changing the definition of first-class mail on a national level.

Instead of some mail arriving in one day, it will soon take two to three days if the cost-cutting proposal goes through in March and is approved by Congress.

A USPS spokeswoman said that while the mail will be slower because of the policy change, it will not be due to the consolation of facilities all over the country.

But City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) cited traffic between the two boroughs as reason to question USPS’s statement.

He also took issue as to why the Queens facility was slated for closure in the first place.

“They wouldn’t tell us how they reached the conclusion to close this the facility instead of Brooklyn,” he said.

But the USPS’s budget woes have another source as well, according to state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) who also spoke at the hearing.

In 2006 the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring the USPS to pay pension costs for an employee upfront — a process that Avella called “absurd,” and U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) sought to overturn by co-signing legislation earlier this year.

Pre-funding pensions means that when a new employee is hired, the USPS must pony up the money for that person’s benefits in one lump sum. It costs the postal service, which is the only agency required to do so, about $5.5 billion a year, Avella said.

Workers will find out in March whether the facility will be closed or consolidated pending congressional approval.

U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (r.) chums it up with Mayor Michael Bloomberg over breakfast in Howard Beach, as the two businessmen meet for the first time. Photo by Christina Santucci

The victory by U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Howard Beach) in the race for the 9th Congressional District seat has complicated plans for the congressional redistricting that is set to take place next year.

“It kind of flips things on its head,” said Alex Camarda of the government watchdog group Citizens Union in New York. “It obviously complicates things for the Democrats downstate. That was the seat they were planning to get rid of.”

In the 2010 census, the decline in the state’s population corresponded to losing two seats in Congress, which will bring the number to 27.

The typical thinking would be that each party would lose a seat. One would be picked from upstate and the other from downstate, according to Camarda. Afterward each district in the state would become slightly larger to absorb the people who lost their representatives.

As the election unfolded, it was widely thought that state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) would win the seat, which would then be eliminated, and the Republican Party would pick an upstate seat to dissolve.

But now that Turner is in office, both parties will have to change their strategies.

One factor is that Turner has repeatedly expressed his willingness to stay in Congress, even if his seat is eliminated.

He met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg Monday for the first time over breakfast in Howard Beach. The two businessmen-turned-lawmakers talked about their careers, the acquaintances they had in common and the future of New York City.

Turner said he would run against other incumbents, which means he could become a possible contender for other Democratic seats in the area, which are held by U.S. Reps Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) or Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside).?

But Republicans will have to choose whether they want to protect Turner’s seat, which could go back to a Democrat in the future, or protect some upstate legislators who recently won elections, according to Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director for the League of Women Voters.

It also remains to be seen whether Democrats will go after Rep. Kathy Hochul (D-Greece), who won upstate in a heavily Republican area.

Regardless of how the new lines will look, Bartoletti said the process will be decided by party politics behind closed doors.

“The party bosses and special interests gain in situations like this,” she said.

If Turner’s seat is eliminated in Queens, she said the Democratic Party will look to protect more senior members like Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria).

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he will veto any legislative lines that are not drawn by an independent commission, a position he shares with several Queens lawmakers.

Vincent Tabone, vice chairman of the Queens GOP Party, said the Turner victory was a statement that voters in the district did not want to lose their representation.

“The people of the 9th Congressional District voted to maintain their congressional representation,” he said. “They fully comprehended that had they voted for Weprin, they were consenting to a dissolution of their congressional seat.”

In addition, voters voiced their opinion that the country was heading in the wrong direction, Tabone said.

Realtor Dorothy Buse stands outside a foreclosed home in Florida. U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman is urging the House to extend the deadline for loan limits to prevent more families from losing their homes. AP Photo-Phelan M. Ebenhack

Queens’ congressional members are pushing their U.S. House of Representatives colleagues to prevent financially strapped homeowners in the borough from falling into a deeper hole and exacerbating the housing crisis.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) sent a letter last Thursday to leaders of the House Appropriations Committee to urge them to extend the conforming loan limits that are eligible for Federal Housing Administration and Government Sponsored Enterprise insured mortgages.

At the end of the month, an extension to those limits that was issued three years ago will expire and would result not only in fewer mortgages being eligible for guarantees from federal agencies and services such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also force private mortgage lenders to assume risk for loans above the limits.

“Middle-class homeowners are enduring the most painful housing crisis since the Great Depression. In just a few short weeks the pain of the crisis is set to become more acute since mortgage credit for many eligible buyers will evaporate,” Ackerman said in a statement.

His letter was co-signed by a bipartisan group of 36 House members, including Queens members Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights).

Ackerman’s office said 4 million American homeowners are either seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments or in foreclosure and 11 million homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are actually worth. The foreclosure crisis has hit southeast Queens the hardest over the last couple of years as neighborhoods such as St. Albans, Springfield Gardens and Jamaica lead the state in the number of foreclosures and thousands of homeowners are fighting to save their houses.

Many homeowners in those communities were tricked into taking out subprime loans by shady lenders and could not make their payments when their monthly interest rose.

If the limit is not extended by Sept. 30, it will fall from $729,750 to $625,500 in New York, according to Ackerman’s office. The congressman said that a nearly $100,000 reduction would be devastating to all homeowners, regardless of how much they owe, because private lenders would be unwilling to assume the extra risk and pass it down to their customers in the form of higher down payments and interest.

“We cannot — at this time — rely on private lenders to provide reasonably priced, long-term, fixed-rate mortgages when they have showed great reluctance to do so over the past few years,” he wrote in his letter.

The race between congressional candidates David Weprin (l.) and Bob Turner has garnered national attention. Photos by Christina Santucci

Political action committees have donated to Assemblyman David Weprin’s (D-Little Neck) campaign at a rate nearly 50 times as high as his Republican rival, Bob Turner, in the race for the 9th Congressional District seat, Federal Election Commission records showed.

Weprin raised more than $291,000 from PACs while Turner received only $6,000, according to the FEC records.

The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee gave $5,000 to Turner with the New York State Conservative Party donating $1,000.

Dozens of congressman and other elected officials have donated to Weprin, including $2,000 apiece from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Reps. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) and Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside).

Weprin also heavily benefitted from contributions from unions, which accounted for a large portion of the $291,000 he raised from PACs.

Turner received $1,000 each from U.S. Reps. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) and Peter King (R-Massapequa Park), according to the FEC.

Weprin also had 269 individual contributors compared to Turner’s 134 individual donors.

Turner’s campaign received more than $138,000 in contributions, not including a $65,000 loan Turner gave himself, and spent more than $118,000, leaving him with more than $93,700 in cash on hand, according to the latest FEC disclosure information.

Weprin’s campaign took in more than $450,000 in contributions, spent about $250,000 and has more than $202,000 in cash on hand — more than double the amount Turner has left, according to FEC records.

Weprin and Turner were thrust into the race after U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned in May amid a sexting scandal.

The 9th CD seat that they are vying for includes Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Oakland Gardens, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Howard Beach, Ozone Park and parts of the Rockaways and Brooklyn.

The race has been defined by the candidates’ stances on the federal budget, entitlement programs and Israel, although both Turner and Weprin oppose President Barack Obama’s idea that the Jewish state go back to its pre-1967 war borders as a precondition for negotiations with the Palestinians.

Weprin has attacked Turner, saying his plan to cut the federal budget by 35 percent is not feasible if Turner also wants to preserve Medicare and Social Security.

Turner is slamming Weprin for being a “career politician,” having positions that mimic the unpopular Obama and for failing to state the correct figure when asked what the federal deficit was.

Both campaigns earned critical endorsements in the race, with Turner getting the backing of former Mayor Ed Koch, King, the New York Daily News, the New York Post and the Jewish Week, while the United Federation of Teachers, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the firefighters’ union are throwing their weight behind Weprin.

Earlier in the race, a Siena College poll found Weprin leading Turner by six points, but both campaigns had surveys conducted on their behalf last week.

A poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associated and commissioned by Turner found him and Weprin in a dead heat, with both men at 46 percent.

Weprin released his own survey, done by Global Strategy Group, that showed the assemblyman with an eight-point lead over Turner.

In the final days of the campaign, the contest has taken a turn for the weird.

Weprin, a Democrat, had a borough magician named “Wendy Wizard” endorse Turner outside a Rockaway fund-raiser last week, playing off a New York Times editorial that urged voters to cast their ballot for Weprin.

In the endorsement, the Times criticized Turner, a retired businessman from Rockaway, for saying he wants to slash the federal budget while keeping Social Security and Medicare intact.

“That would take a magician, not a businessman,” The Times said.

Turner’s campaign said the Weprin camp was going off the deep end.

“The Weprin campaign is becoming increasingly bizarre. We suggest they all head back to Hogwarts and regroup,” Turner campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly said, referring to the fictional wizard school from the Harry Potter books.

Turner’s campaign accused the Weprin camp of sending in spies that purported to be Turner volunteers while Weprin’s campaign said they had no knowledge of such incidents.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman has introduced a bill he said would help stimulate the economy by providing tax incentives to home buyers.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) announced plans last week to introduce a bill he claims would assist in clearing the inventory of more than 3 million unsold existing homes while creating jobs in order to spur the economy.

The congressman’s office said the proposed legislation, entitled the Homestead: Act 2, is modeled after the Homestead Act of 1862, through which Congress gave settlers 160 acres to have as a homestead.

Citing the housing market as a leading drag on the country’s economic recovery, Ackerman proposes offering down-payment assistance to homebuyers and providing tax exemptions for those purchasing homes as rental properties.

The act would offer the first 2 million creditworthy borrowers a matching subsidy of up to $20,000 for a down payment to eligible single-family homebuyers. This down-payment subsidy would be a loan, one-fifth of which would be forgiven in each of the first five years of owner-occupancy.

It would also provide a 10-year tax exemption on rental income for the first 1 million individual homebuyers who purchase existing single-family homes as rental properties in an attempt to further stimulate the real estate market.

Ackerman’s office claims spurring the market would result in more than a million workers being productive again.

“Clearly, Homestead: Act 2 would help to eliminate quickly the overhang glut of the housing market, putting 2 million owners in homes and inspire the purchase of an additional 1 million homes by investors who will rent them out and enjoy tax-free rental income for 10 years,” Ackerman wrote in a statement. “This would clear the way for new housing starts and put millions of Americans back to work.”

To help alleviate the cost of these programs, Ackerman said the bill would use revenue that would result from reducing the corporate tax U.S. companies pay to bring home capital they hold offshore.

Prior to the end of the congressional session, reports surfaced that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) supported a holiday that would reduce to 10 percent the tax companies pay to repatriate these funds.

Ackerman estimates this idle capital to be $1.2 trillion. Tax revenue from the first $500 billion would be leveraged for the act’s programs.

“It would incentivize corporations to bring their cash cheaply back into the United States. In addition, the newly emancipated billions would further spur the economy. Everybody wins,” he wrote.

Ackerman said he plans to introduce the bill when Congress returns from its August recess.

Debra Markell's 2009 campaign for City Council was found to have committed two violations, according to the Campaign Finance Board.

The city Campaign Finance Board determined last week that the 2009 campaign of Debra Markell to fill the District 19 City Council seat left vacant by state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) had committed two violations.

The Democrat’s campaign failed to refund in a timely manner an inappropriate contribution it received and reported several improper post-election expenditures, according to CFB spokesman Eric Friedman. The campaign was not, however, penalized for the violations.

“The campaign, in general, has a good record of compliance, and this was not a small campaign. It was a pretty serious campaign,” Friedman said. “If a campaign has a good record, the penalties are sometimes waved.”

Markell’s campaign independently raised approximately $42,000 and received an additional $96,999 in public funds, $1,046 of which were repaid in full, Friedman said.

Markell lost the Democratic primary in a five-way race to Kevin Kim, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), who also prevailed over Jerry Iannece, Paul Vallone and Steve Behar. Kim was defeated by current Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone). None of these candidates have yet been audited by the CFB.

According to CFB records, the Markell campaign received a personal contribution of $500 Sept. 6, 2008, from Joan Lawless, chief executive officer of the Brite Adventure Centre in Jamaica, which does business with the city. Individuals are allowed to contribute up to $2,750 to a campaign, unless they do business with the city, in which case their contributions are limited to $250.

After receiving notice of an improper contribution, a campaign has 20 days to refund the part of the contribution in excess of the limit. CFB records show that the Markell campaign refunded $250 to Lawless March 30, 2009.

Friedman said that after an election, a campaign is required to stop spending funds, except for certain routine expenditures associated with winding down the campaign. According to CFB records, Markell’s campaign documented five separate expenditures totaling just under $350 for fruit baskets and flowers at the Queens Garden Florist in Whitestone. The campaign provided documentation to the CFB that said these transactions were “gestures of gratitude.”

When asked to comment on the violations, Markell said she did not believe her campaign was guilty of any violations.

“We complied to all the paperwork requested and there are no violations,” she said.

Markell is, and was at the time of the election, the district manager for Sunnyside’s Community Board 2. She had previously served as president of Flushing’s 109th Precinct Community Council, on Flushing’s CB 7 and as the Queens director of the Community Assistance Unit under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and as the north Queens director under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman is endorsing Assemblyman David Weprin to replace disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) wants state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) to join him in Congress.

Ackerman endorsed Weprin, who is running to replace disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, in part because of Weprin’s credentials on Israel.

Ackerman is the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia and Weprin is an Orthodox Jew.

“I have known David Weprin for a very long time and I can say as one of Israel’s strongest champions in Congress, that David Weprin in Congress will be good for both the United States and the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Ackerman said in a statement. “David will be a terrific representative for New York, and a proud and aggressive backer of the special ties between the United States and the state of Israel. I am proud to endorse him.”

Ackerman also took a swipe at Weprin’s Republican opponent, retired Rockaway businessman Bob Turner, suggesting Turner should not run a campaign tying Weprin to President Barack Obama.

“Anyone who wants to take issues with the president’s policies — as I have certainly done whenever I’ve felt it necessary — should make the case without unfairly trying to implicate David,” the congressman said. “His strong, lifelong record of support for Israel and the Jewish community is without blemish and he deserved to be recognized for it. At minimum, David should be judged based on his own record and his own views — not those of any other elected official.”

Ackerman also warned Turner not to make Israel an issue in the campaign, arguing that both Democrats and Republicans support the Jewish state.

“I would urge extreme caution to anyone proposing to make Israel into a partisan truncheon in our domestic politics,” Ackerman said. “Bipartisan support for Israel in the United States is a vital national security interest of the Jewish state, and something Israel’s most senior and responsible officials have reiterated continuously for decades. Jeopardizing that support by thrusting Israel into our contentious politics is deeply irresponsible and does Israel a considerable disservice.

“Both Democrats and Republicans are rightfully proud of their strong support for our special relationship with Israel, and David Weprin, when he comes to Congress, will be yet another powerful advocate for those unbreakable and special bonds,” Ackerman said.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (inset) wants the VA to rethink its plans to rebuild the St. Albans Veterans hospital. Photo by Christina Santucci

A bipartisan bill is in the works in Congress that would stop the controversial plans to redevelop part of the St. Albans Veterans Hospital into a private space.

The House passed the St. Albans Veterans Care Act that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) Tuesday afternoon. The bill, which passed by a vote of 409-1, changes the Enhanced Used Lease Process for the medical space in a way that benefits veterans, according to Meeks.

“The bill that we dropped basically prohibits the EUL process from a commercial developer from using the space,” the congressman said.

Meeks, who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Peter King (R-Massapequa Park), said he has been pushing the U.S. Veterans Administration to change its plans for the hospital and commit to rebuilding a fully functional medical facility. The sole nay vote came from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) while 22 House members abstained.

The congressman said that when the VA drafted its plans for the hospital five years ago, it used data that did not reflect the growing number of wounded soldiers who were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The redevelopment plan promulgated by the Department of Veterans Affairs sadly neglects the views of these courageous men and women, instead leasing government property for private development,” said Meeks.

The VA currently is planning to tear down the 55-acre facility and rebuild a new hospital that takes up only 30 acres. The remaining land will be leased to private developers for other uses.

St. Albans Village LLC, which has been chosen as the private developer by the federal government, announced last summer that it was planning to build a new residential building, a school and a jazz center, much to the irritation and disappointment of borough veterans.

“Most of what they were talking about putting there would not benefit veterans,” Meeks said.

A spokesman for the VA said the agency has seen Meeks’ bill and “continues to evaluate the draft development plan submitted by the preferred developer.” St. Albans Village LLC’s plans for the property are not finalized, according to the VA.

The vets had asked for several new amenities, such as modern medical equipment and a women’s health center.

Meeks had he was confident the bill would pass both houses of Congress because of its bipartisan nature and also because many of his House colleagues, including Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), also supported the hospital’s complete renovation..

Last month, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution that pushed the federal government to commit to fully redeveloping the site as a medical center for veterans.

Rep. Anthony Weiner takes the podium moments before Monday's press conference. Andrew Brietbart claims the shirtless photo (inset) is one of many Weiner sent over the Internet. AP Photo/Richard Drew, inset courtesy BigGovernment.com

The borough’s elected officials have not rushed to support U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), with most declining to comment after the congressman owned up to tweeting a suggestive picture of himself wearing boxer briefs to a Seattle college student and admitted to having online relationships with six women.

The strongest encouragement came from Weiner’s mentor and predecessor, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“By fully explaining himself, apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful actions, Anthony did the right thing,” Schumer said in a statement. “He remains a talented and committed public servant, and I pray he and his family can get through these difficult times.”

Weiner, who choked up at times during a news conference he called Monday to take responsibility for the picture, said he was not resigning because he does not believe he violated his congressional oath or any laws.

“I have made terrible mistakes that have hurt the people I care about the most and I am deeply sorry,” an emotional Weiner told reporters at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. “I have not been honest with myself, my family, my supporters.”

The revelation led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call for an ethics investigation into Weiner, who said he welcomed the probe and claimed no government resources were used in his indiscretions.

Reince Preibus, head of the Republican National Committee, called on Weiner to resign, but the congressman said he was not stepping down.

Weiner’s colleague, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), called the scandal “a sad situation.

“My heart goes out to Congressman Weiner’s family during this difficult time,” she said.

Many of the borough’s elected officials, including Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), state Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) and City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), declined to comment.

A Democratic insider said Weiner could have avoided the media circus if he had told the truth about the tweet from the onset.

The insider said Weiner probably will not be in Congress next year, but it would be due to redistricting, not the sexting scandal.

Weiner’s district may largely be carved up between Reps. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), the insider said.

“I’d bet a beer right now that he won’t be in Congress in 18 months because of redistricting,” the insider said.

After days of denials and maintaining that his Twitter account was hacked, Weiner admitted Monday to sending the lewd photo that was intended to be seen only by 21-year-old Gennette Cordova, but was viewable to thousands of his followers on the social media website.

Weiner said the photo of his crotch was intended as a direct message to Cordova “that was a joke,” but he panicked when he realized the picture could be seen by anyone following his Twitter account and took it down himself.

The congressman called the news conference after more photos showing Weiner shirtless were released Monday by right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart.

“The picture was of me and I sent it,” Weiner said in stunning admission.

The congressman also admitted to engaging in “inappropriate conversations, e-mail, Twitter” and pictures of “explicit images” that he shared with six women, although he said he had no physical relationships with them.

Phil Ragusa, chairman of the Queens Republican Party, said Weiner should have resigned.

“It’s really a shame because he’s supposed to be doing the people’s work and what’s he doing? He’s twittering, he’s sending lewd photos,” Ragusa said. “If he lies about things like this, how can you trust a guy like this?”

Weiner said his wife, Huma Abedin — an aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — was aware of the online relationships before they were married last summer and that the relationships started before the marriage.

“I should not have done this and I should not have done this while I was married,” he said.

Weiner said the online exchanges were conducted on his personal BlackBerry and his home computer and that government property was not used.

The congressman said that in some cases he initiated contact with the women and most of them he met on Facebook, but said he never met them in person.

Ann Jawin, president of the Center for the Women of New York, said she was both heartsick and disturbed by Weiner’s actions.

“He’s a very effective congressman and he’s represented the area very well,” she said. “What he did … was a personal thing, but people in public office have to consider that their personal life is not personal anymore.”

Jawin said Weiner’s conduct “sounds like the behavior of a teenager that didn’t grow up.”

When asked if he deserves another term in office, Weiner said it is up to voters to decide.

“My constituents have to make that determination,” he said. “I’m going to go back to work and I’m going to convince them this was a personal failing.”

Von Stewart, a Forest Hills resident of five years, said Weiner has his vote next year, but said the congressman destroyed his mayoral aspirations.

“I’m a New Yorker. I think New Yorkers will forgive him, but the chance of him becoming mayor is slim now,” Stewart said.

Weiner, who has more than 65,000 Twitter followers, said he will still use the social media site.

“I don’t believe I’ll use it the same way, that’s for sure,” he said.

In this 1998 file photo, Osama bin Laden speaks to journaists in Khost, Afghanistan. AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan

The borough’s elected officials said the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in which 76 firefighters from Queens were killed, was a tremendous achievement but cautioned that the killing does not mean the country no longer has to worry about terrorism.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was told of the operation that killed bin Laden about one hour before President Barack Obama addressed the nation late Sunday night.

Although members of Congress are privy to sensitive intelligence on occasion, Meeks said he and his colleagues were not briefed on the operation or that the administration had bin Laden in its sights.

“I think this was at the upper-most levels of intelligence, as it should have been,” he said. “We knew that it was a focus of the president, but the specifics — where in Pakistan? — of course not. That was top secret. But we knew that they were hunting him down.”

With bin Laden identified as the FBI’s most wanted man since 2001, Meeks said the operation, which was carried out early Monday morning in Pakistan — Sunday afternoon Eastern Standard Time — should make those who plot against America think again.

“I think it sent the message to terrorists: It may take us a year, it may take us five years, it may take us 10 years, but we’re going to get you,” Meeks said.

But the congressman said bin Laden’s killing does not mean America will stop its counter-terrorism activities.

“This does not end the war on terror,” Meeks said.

His colleague, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), who also sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, agreed.

“The head of the al-Qaeda worm has been cut off,” Ackerman said. “But we must remember, worms grow new heads.”

Ackerman called the operation that killed bin Laden “a huge victory for the United States and proof that no matter how hard they try, our foes cannot hide from us.”

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), whose firefighter cousin, John Moran, was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, said the killing of bin Laden reminded him of those who lost their lives Sept. 11.

Queens had 76 firefighters who were killed in the attacks — about 22 percent of the total number of firefighters who died responding to the terror attack.

“In particular, my thoughts are with the families from New York and across America who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001. There is no doubt the world is a safer place without bin Laden, but our efforts to eradicate the threat of terror will continue without pause and on behalf of everyone who has been killed or injured as a result of senseless terror and violence.”

City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) also had a family member who died Sept. 11; his cousin, FDNY Lt. Vincent Halloran, perished when the Twin Towers fell.

“Today I will remember him and the many other victims of Osama bin Laden’s violence,” Halloran said. “The families of the victims can finally enjoy some degree of closure.”

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman secured a $1 million grant for a program the Flushing YMCA to help at-risk youth. Photo by Christina Santucci

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) is making it a little more fun at the YMCA.

He announced last week that he helped secure a $1 million federal grant for a program at the Flushing YMCA.

The money will fund the YMCA’s YouthBuild initiative, which provides educational training and job skills to at-risk Queens youth.

The U.S. Department of Labor grant was provided in part because of a letter Ackerman wrote in January to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis voicing his support of the program.

The program helps at-risk 16- to 24-year-olds earn their high school diplomas or GEDs and trains them for jobs in the construction industry by providing them with real work experience building and renovating homes. The homes are then sold as affordable housing to low-income and homeless people.

The $1 million injection will allow the program at the YMCA, at 138-46 Northern Blvd., to continue for 70 men and women over the next two years.

“This critical grant will play a key role in putting at-risk youth in Queens on the path to success,” Ackerman said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman is calling on the feds to come up with a better plan for the St. Albans VA Hospital.

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) has joined the opposition to the federal government’s plans for reconstructing the St. Albans Veterans Hospital and sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, urging it to rethink the proposal to develop part of the acreage for private use.

Last year, the VA selected St. Albans Village LLC as its preferred developer for the project, which would include the demolition of the current 55-acre medical center, rebuild it as a modern, 35-acre facility and use the rest of the land for private use.

In August, a representative from St. Albans Village said the developer would like to include an apartment building, school and jazz center.

In his letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Ackerman said Queens needed a bigger facility to address the growing needs of new veterans in the borough.

“I am concerned that the current St. Albans facility, under the [Enhanced Use Lease plan], would be inadequate for the burgeoning needs of returning Afghanistan and Iraq veterans,” he wrote. “The EUL process should be suspended until an appropriate study of veterans’ needs is conducted and a plan for a full-service Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) at St. Albans is developed.”

Ackerman has called for more research to be done to help veterans and called the data used for the EUL insufficient and outdated. The VA used a 2006 Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services report while it was drawing up its proposal for the land, which contended the veteran population in New York City was declining, according to Ackerman.

The congressman noted the report contained data that is now seven years old and does not make significant references to soldiers fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq.

“The report only briefly mentions mental-health services; there is no specific mention of traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder,” he wrote in the letter.

“I do not understand how any rational study could have led to the conclusion that demand for mental-health services will significantly decline in the coming years,” Ackerman said later in the letter.?

A representative from the VA said the agency was still going over St. Albans Village’s plans and said its top priority is to give the veterans a better hospital.

Since the announcement in August, veterans and community leaders have been protesting the VA over its plans to lease the land for development instead of using all the space for the hospital.

Adjoa Gzifa, chairwoman of Community Board 12 and a staunch opponent of the VA’s plans for the hospital, supported Ackerman’s request.

“Hopefully, they will listen and give us what we are asking for. We need all the advocates we can get,” she said.

Ackerman asked the secretary to suspend the EUL and perform another Capital Asset Realignment study so that the plan could be revised immediately.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (r.) talks with Marisa Bearak about the cost of repealing health care outside of the now-closed Parkway Hospital. Photo by Joe Anuta

Repealing the Affordable Health Care Act would leave hundreds of thousands of Queens residents without insurance and negatively affect millions more, according to U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), who spoke Monday hours before a Florida federal judge ruled the entire health-care plan unconstitutional.

Weiner, a vocal supporter of health-care reform, voted against the bill put forth by House Republicans called “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act,” which passed Jan. 19 — but he is still happy it was drafted.

“We are having a debate in Washington that is, to some degree, very useful,” he said during a news conference outside the shuttered Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills. “It is an opportunity for us to take stock of what this law means for Queens and New York. It allows us to ask, ‘What if?’”

Weiner had plenty of answers.

According to his office, health care repeal would prevent 385,000 Queens residents from receiving basic health-care insurance who would otherwise be covered under the current laws and put 1.9 million Queens residents at risk of losing their insurance.

Repeal would be especially costly for the senior citizens of Queens, according to Weiner, who said that repeal would deny 292,000 seniors preventive care like free colonoscopies or mammogram screenings and deprive 26,000 seniors who fall into a coverage gap in Medicare Plan D of funds to pay for prescription medications.

“This would be a real cost to Queens,” Weiner said.

But repealing the law would also affect young Queens residents like Marisa Bearak, a 22-year-old college graduate who joined Weiner at the news conference and is covered under her parents’ insurance until she turns 26 under the current plan. There are about 8,000 uninsured Queens residents between the ages of 19 and 25, he said.

Repeal would also cost local businesses, which would lose tax subsidies, but also taxpayers who often foot the cost of uninsured residents who walk into an emergency room and receive treatment they cannot pay for.

Hospitals also end up paying, Weiner said, which is a main reason he supports reform.

No New York representatives voted for the repeal bill, including Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), who has spoken out sharply against repeal.

“Republicans and Democrats should be working together to figure out how to make things better,” Ackerman said. “You don’t make things better by taking away these critical and necessary health benefits.”

House Speaker John Boehner (r.) accompanied by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, holds a copy of a proposal to repeal the Health Care Bill during news conference earlier this year. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Hundreds of thousands of residents from northeast Queens would be negatively affected by the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote last week to repeal the sweeping health-care reform that became law last year, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) said.

The House voted 245-189 for the repeal, including every Republican House member and three Democrats. No New York representative voted for it and Democrats have widely criticized the move, which they say would remove coverage for millions of Americans but which Republicans have said is necessary to control health-care costs.

“I’m not just voting no, I’m voting heck no,” Ackerman said of the bill. “Republicans and Democrats should be working together to figure out how to make things better. You don’t make things better by taking away these critical and necessary health benefits.”

While the House passed the measure, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he does not plan to bring the bill for a vote in the Senate. In the unlikely case that the bill made its way past the Democratic Senate, President Barack Obama would not be expected to sign the bill since health care reform was a major component of his campaign and a feat for his administration.

The health-care law approved last year was designed to provide health insurance for more than 30 million Americans, in part by expanding Medicaid and providing federal subsidies to allow Americans who could not previously afford coverage to buy private insurance.

“We’re committing an immoral act by repealing the health-care law,” Ackerman said.

If the repeal nullified the health-care law, as many as 311,000 — which includes up to 37,000 children — of Ackerman’s constituents could be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions, according to the Queens lawmaker. Ackerman’s district covers northeast Queens, including Bayside, Douglaston, Fresh Meadows, Flushing, Jamaica Estates, Little Neck and Whitestone and portions of Nassau County on Long Island.

About 69,000 residents in his district who received health care because of the reform law would lose their insurance, the legislator said.

Up to 14,200 small businesses in his district could lose their tax credits for providing health care, according to Ackerman

“We’ve been hearing from small businesses who are very, very concerned,” Ackerman said.

About 2,400 college students and graduates in Ackerman’s coverage area would no longer be covered by their parents’ health plan until they are 26 years old, according to the legislator.

Many other Queens legislators also slammed the House bill, including Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) and Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights.)

“Throughout the more than yearlong debate over health-care reform, Republicans never offered an alternative plan of their own,” Weiner said. “Now, they pass a bill to repeal health care and instead of offering up their own proposal, they say, ‘Let’s have the committees try to figure this all out.’”

Republicans have formed a committee to look into how to change health care, including what House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said were efforts to lower health-care premiums and reform the medical liability system.

“The American people deserve a thorough and forward-looking discussion of the health-care law’s impact on our economy and how best to replace it with reforms that reflect their priorities,” Boehner said in a statement.

Crowley said on the floor before the vote that he was vehemently opposed to the repeal.

“This is called the Harry Houdini health strategy,” Crowley said. “Now you have health insurance, now you don’t. This bill is clearly wrong.”

The shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (pictured) prompted U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman to introduce legislation that aims to prevent convicted felons from buying guns without a background check. AP Photo/Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for tighter arms control after a gunman in Arizona shot a U.S. congresswoman in the head and killed six others, including a federal judge and the 9-year-old granddaughter of a former New York Mets manager.

The congressman last week introduced legislation, entitled the Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act, which aims to prevent individuals from buying guns without background checks. He is among a group of lawmakers from throughout the area who are calling for the federal government to better regulate firearm sales, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Garden City) and Peter King (R-Massapequa Park).

A loophole in the law currently allows gun dealers with revoked licenses to sell their firearms to buyers without background checks in unregulated inventory clearance sales, Ackerman said.

“It’s clear that Congress must close troubling loopholes in federal gun control laws that let firearms fall into the hands of convicted felons, fugitives, domestic violence perpetrators and severely emotionally disturbed individuals,” Ackerman said. “Every gun sold should require a background check — period.”

Because of this loophole, Ackerman said gun dealers whose licenses have been revoked for violating federal law may legally convert their stash of firearms and label it a “personal collection,” which allows them to sell the weapons without undergoing background checks because they are no longer considered licensed dealers.

The Bayside lawmaker’s proposed law comes after Jared Lee Loughner, 22, of Arizona allegedly shot and killed six people and wounded 14, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), whom investigators said was allegedly the target of the attack at a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8. Among those who died were federal Judge John M. Roll and 9-year-old Christina Green, the granddaughter of Dallas Green, who managed the Mets from 1993-96.

Bloomberg has thrown his support behind Ackerman’s bill.

“We need common sense, effective policies to close gaps in the background check system and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other dangerous people,” Bloomberg said. “The fire sales loophole is one of those dangerous gaps. Pharmacists who lose their licenses can’t sell prescription drugs to people without prescriptions, yet gun dealers who lose their licenses can sell off their inventory without even conducting background checks. Along with more than 550 members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, I support Rep. Ackerman’s bill to fix this glaring gap in the federal background check system.”

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, also said he backed Ackerman’s proposal.

“It’s time for Congress to stop this reckless end-run around background checks that makes it too easy for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons,” Helmke said.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (bottom l.) stands with his flock on the steps of Capitol Hill. Photo by Joe Anuta

At 6 a.m. two weeks ago, around 50 people gathered outside a darkened Bayside office building in the cold for the swearing in of the 112th Congress. The event was still a five-hour bus ride away in Washington, D.C., but residents were ready to make the trip in support their congressman, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), who invited them along to witness the ceremony.

“It’s a process to celebrate,” Ackerman said. “A lot of these people were very helpful during the campaign.”

And as the bus pulled away, those people were alternatively dosing off in the predawn dark, excitedly talking politics or ordering specific breakfasts from the makeshift kitchen in the back of the bus.

“No Splenda? I don’t want it,” said one woman to a congressional intern balancing two cups of coffee in the swaying aisle.

The television screens lit up to provide entertainment while crossing the dull Delaware landscape, and set the political mood by showing “My Fellow Americans,” a 1996 Jack Lemmon and James Garner buddy comedy following the adventures of two ex-presidents.

Ackerman had little in common with the bumbling actors on the screen, aside from a long career in Washington and the occasional blunt assessment of a situation.

He recently referred to the Bush-era tax cut compromise as “the Republican’s ‘Wet Dream Act,’” a pun on the Democrat’s DREAM Act, which aimed to give children of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.?

Ackerman’s 28 years of service have earned him a prime view of the domed Capitol Building across the street from his office in the Rayburn House Office Building, where his supporters gathered to listen to the congressman give a short speech around 11:30 a.m. He thanked them for coming and threw plenty of barbs at the new Republican majority.

“Everybody will applaud,” Ackerman said, referring to the moment Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) would be sworn in as speaker of the house. “Some less enthusiastically than others.”

Ackerman then left to be sworn in, while his family and friends had to settle for watching the ceremony on a flat screen television in his office.

Many of Ackerman’s supporters went out to explore the capitol. Some as far as the Washington Monument, others just to the Senate gift shop.

The few who stayed in the congressman’s quarters watched as Boehner delivered his acceptance speech on Jan. 4, saying, “To my friends in the minority, I offer a commitment. Openness — once a tradition of this institution, but increasingly scarce in recent decades, will be the new standard.”

But the congressman was concerned that Boehner’s Congress would undo the recent work of the Democrats.

“We have to make sure that they don’t roll back what we did,” Ackerman said, referring to Republicans’ plan to repeal health-care reform.

But he also conceded that the Democrats do not want to be the new “party of no,” a moniker attached to Republicans who attempted to constantly block the Democrats’ legislation.

“We’re going to be the party of ‘yes we still can,’” he said.

And unsurprisingly, his supporters agreed with him.

“I am concerned about the ongoing struggle,” said Morshed Alam, a former member of Community School Board 29 from Jamaica who went on the Ackerman bus trip 10 years before. “We have a lot of benefits that Republicans want to dismantle.”

After a photo session on the steps of the Capitol Building, the bus departed shortly after 4 p.m. and returned to Bayside at 9:30 p.m., nearly 16 hours after it departed.

But as Ackerman’s flock trudged to their cars in the dark, they seemed ready to do it all over again in 2013.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Vice President Joe Biden (l.) after signing the $858 billion tax deal into law during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

The $858 billion bipartisan tax compromise bill President Barack Obama signed into law Friday exposed divisions on economic issues between Queens Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) voted to approve the bill, Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) strongly opposed and voted against the legislation, which passed the House by a vote of 277-148.

Meeks’ southeast Queens district has the highest foreclosure rate in the state and 15 percent unemployment, so he said he voted for the legislation because the stimulative aspects of its $801 billion in tax cuts — which keep all Bush-era tax rates for two years, lower estate taxes and provide a one-year payroll tax cut for most workers — and $57 billion in extended unemployment benefits will help his constituents.

“Though I have reservations about the impact on the deficit resulting from a tax cut for millionaires and an estate tax package that is overly generous, taken as a whole, I believe this deal will have a strong, stimulative effect on the economy,” he said in a statement before the House vote. “The deal the president has reached will provide essential relief to my constituents.”

Ackerman said he chose to vote against the plan because major tax cuts for billionaires and its estate tax changes will saddle the country with debt while doing nothing for the vast majority of his constituents. “When it came to giving money to the billionaires, they didn’t care if it added to the deficit,” he said. “These are billionaires, the wealthiest people in the country. It’s just adding debt to our grandchildren’s accounts, and we’re going to be paying for the rest of our lives, too.”

Maloney voted for the bill, although she expressed conflicting views on its provisions during floor remarks last Thursday.

“This is the best deal struggling Americans are going to get. The bill extends tax cuts for middle-class families …. The bill’s one-year payroll tax reduction will deliver $120 billion in tax relief for working families …. 160,000 New Yorkers who will lose their unemployment benefits this month unless Congress takes action to extend them,” she said. “However, this bill is far from perfect. With rising income inequality and mounting national debt, it is deeply troubling that we are extending tax cuts to the wealthiest among us despite their proven lack of stimulative effect.”

Weiner said he voted against the bill because he believes it will have a lasting negative impact on the middle class, who will spend years paying large sums of money to fund tax cuts for the very wealthy.

“I think it’s irresponsible to borrow money from the Chinese to give big tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “I don’t think that we got as good a bargain as we should have but now we’re moving forward. Hopefully this is not a template for negotiations in the future.”

But Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) said the bill’s middle-classe provisions were too important to let it fail.

“The Obama tax proposal will help middle-class Americans who are struggling to make ends meet and ensure American businesses and workers are able to compete in the global economy,” he said. “While this bill is not perfect, it will ensure that nearly 40,000 middle-class residents in my district won’t see their income taxes go up January 1.”

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner signs in to vote at PS 101 in Forest Hills Tuesday. Photo by Anna Gustafson

Five Queens Democratic Congressional incumbents beat back challenges from Republican opponents Tuesday, securing the Democratic lock on the borough’s representation in the House as expected.

U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) easily won their races in a political climate that has been hostile to other Democrats across the country.

With 73.5 percent of the vote counted early Wednesday morning, Ackerman received 66.3 percent of the vote, while his Republican opponent, Dr. James Milano, landed 32.9 percent, and Elizabeth Berney, who was on the ballot on the Tax Revolt Party line, got 0.8 percent of votes, according to unofficial election results released by NY1.

Crowley landed 78.7 percent, while GOP candidate Ken Reynolds received 20.1 percent and Green Party challenger Anthony Gronowicz garnered 1.2 percent with 79.3 percent of the votes counted, according to NY1.

Maloney received 75.2 percent of the vote, while her GOP challenger David Brumberg drew 21.3 percent, Independent Dino LaVerghetta got 2.03 percent and Conservative candidate Timothy Healy netted 1.4 percent, NY1 reported.

Meeks captured 84.3 percent, easily surpassing Asher Taub, his Republican opponent, who had 15.7 percent, with 74.8 percent of precincts counted, according to NY1.

With 315 of 512 precincts counted, Weiner had 58.5 percent of the vote, compared to Republican Bob Turner’s 41.5 percent.

“This was a brutally difficult year for Democrats nationwide,” Weiner said. “I welcomed the chance to have a real debate on the issues with Mr. Turner. This was a real debate on national issues here on a local state, and I didn’t flinch from that debate for one moment.”

Weiner, who was first elected to the 9th Congressional District in 1999, and Turner, a businessman who grew up in Woodhaven, sparred over a number of issues throughout the race, including campaign finances and the federal health care bill.

Weiner said he planned to work with the new Republican majority in the House.

“I’m committed to going back to Washington and working with Republicans whenever I can, but I’ll stand up and fight for the things I think are important,” Weiner said.

Ackerman’s win ensured the Rosyln Heights, L.I., resident will return to Washington for his 15th term representing the people of the 5th Congressional District.

An Ackerman spokesman did not return calls for comment.

Ackerman, 67, who was first elected in 1983, was slammed by Tea Party activists during a series of protests and disturbances at his public appearances for grievances including his vote for President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul.

But Ackerman said in April he did not believe the vote would preclude him from holding onto his seat, a prediction which proved true Tuesday.

Milano, 43, a fellow Roslyn Heights resident and emergency room physician at St. Francis Heart Hospital in Roslyn, L.I. and Berney a built bases of supporters throughout northeast Queens and western Nassau County as a result of conservative views including their opposition to health-care reform and their commitment to fiscal conservatism, but were unable to pull off an upset.

“I know he called [Ackerman] to congratulate him, I don’t know if he got through. There’s really not much to say, I guess the people spoke,” Milano spokesman Anthony Carollo said. “He’s going to go back and spend some time with his family and go back to his job at the hospital and take it day-by-day.”

Meeks said he will continue to work on behalf of his constituents.

“I am delighted to have the confidence of the people of southeast Queens to serve in the 112th United States Congress,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to working on your behalf on issues critical to the district.”

Ackerman’s district covers northeast Queens and neighboring areas of Nassau County. Weiner’s District covers Queens neighborhoods from Bayside to Maspeth, and parts of Brooklyn. Meeks’s district covers southeast Queens.

Maloney faced an acrimonious primary against Reshma Saujani, a lawyer who sent a barrage of negative mailings about her opponent. Maloney landed about 81 percent of the vote, while Saujani garnered approximately 19 percent.

Maloney’s district covers Astoria, Long Island City and parts of Manhattan. Crowley’s district covers parts of western Queens and the Bronx.

Congressional candidates Robert Turner (clockwise from top l.), U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman and Liz Berney participate in a candidates’ forum at St. John’s University. Photos by Christina Santucci

A slate of candidates vying to represent Queens in Congress convened for a boisterous candidates’ forum at St. John’s University, where they were each given a chance to express the philosophies and policies they would push if they are sent to Washington, D.C.

A gaggle of attendees stayed mostly quiet during the Republican’s remarks and their question-and-answer sessions, but some jeered U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) as they took jabs at their opponents and defended the policies and plans they and other Democrats have long pursued.

Each of their Republican challengers focused first on presenting their personal platforms and vision, then painted a scenario in which New York’s voters, in a referendum on the policies of national Democrats — particularly President Barack Obama and their own specific challengers — have pursued since Obama’s election.

Health care and the stimulus package were among the punching bags for the challengers, who included Elizabeth Berney, a Great Neck, L.I., attorney running against Ackerman who did not secure the backing of the Republican Party and will be on the ballot on the Tax Revolt Party line; Robert Turner, a Rockaway Point businessman confronting Weiner; Jay Townsend, a Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., businessman on the ballot vs. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.); and Asher Taub, a Kew Gardens attorney in the race against Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica). Meeks and Schumer did not attend the discussion.

Berney touted her opposition to the alternative minimum tax, stimulus and federal spending mandates on states, support of elections reform and concerns about the possibility that Iran could acquire a nuclear weapon.

“We have to limit the federal government’s role in telling the states what to do,” she said. “The Democratic Party has really gone off the deep end as far as trying to make this country more socialist.”

Ackerman, who is vying for his 15th consecutive term in the House of Representatives, said he supports fiscal initiatives to help Americans and defended the health-care bill.

“I believe in tax cuts for the hardworking middle class,” he said, later adding that “this health-care legislation will actually help with the deficit and health-care spending.

He also touted his extensive experience with foreign policy work in Congress.

Turner excoriated the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats, including Weiner, for pushing health-care reform and supporting increases in taxes and spending to address the fiscal crisis rather than creating tax incentives and lessening the regulatory burden on small businesses.

“Our economy is in terrible shape and the steps being taken, presumably by a government that’s trying to fix the problem, are only driving us further into the hole,” he said. “Cut taxes, help business. Let government simply get out of the way.”

Weiner responded with a series of critiques of Turner’s proposals on issues including abortion, health care, taxes and more. Chief among his concerns was Turner’s views on fixing the economy, saying that boosting jobs through stimulus and other government programs is an essential component of the way to fiscal health in America.

“You can’t have a downward cycle,” he said. “You slash spending, you spend less money, then you have less jobs.”

Taub offered a bleak look at America’s future, then presented his plans for addressing the problems he believes are causing its decline, which included initiatives to bring the country out of debt and to control health-care costs through tort reform.

“People believe we’re the strongest government in the world, that the United States is independent,” he told the crowd. “Unfortunately, that’s a fallacy. Our indebtedness to foreign countries makes us dependent on them.”

Townsend, who debated Schumer Sunday night, outlined a wide view for the way America should move forward into the second decade of the 21st century. His proposals include decreasing the tax burden on families, businesses and residents, changing the federal tax code to make it more fair to New Yorkers, repealing Obama’s health-care reform bill and capping property taxes.

“I do not believe you should reward failure, ladies and gentlemen. I’m here because I believe we should try something different,” he said, summing up the arguments he and his fellow challengers made all night and continue to make all across the nation. “If you think New York is headed in the right direction and you like all the policies coming out of the White House, go vote for Sen. Schumer. If you’re ready for a change, vote for me.”