The proposed lines for districts represented by state Sens. Shirley Huntley (l. to r.), Malcolm Smith and Joseph Addabbo are drastically different than what currently exists.

State Sens. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) may need to sign up for dance lessons if newly proposed district maps are approved because they will be doing the shuffle.

“It looks like a switcheroo,” Huntley said in a telephone interview Monday, comparing how the new lines give her parts of the Rockaways that are now Smith’s constituents.

Under the redistricting proposal submitted by the state Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, the Rockaways would be split, with Addabbo’s district representing the western Rockaway neighborhoods, including Breezy Point and Rockaway Park, while Huntley would represent Arverne and Far Rockaway.

Senate, state Assembly and congressional lines are redrawn every 10 years to account for population changes recorded by the census.

Smith now represents the entire peninsula while the Rockaways is split in Congress between U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village), who has the western part, and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans).

The task force’s proposal would take away Lindenwood, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill from Addabbo and give him part of the Rockaways, Fresh Meadows and Broad Channel.

If those changes go through, Addabbo’s district would be more conservative because of Republican-leaning areas in the Rockaways.

“It’s absurd the Republicans are trying every which way to stay in power,” said Addabbo, who beat longtime Republican Sen. Serphin Maltese in 2008. “The voice of the people has totally been ignored in the process and that’s a problem.”

Both Addabbo and Huntley said they would have preferred the Rockaways to be intact as the area is now. Addabbo represented part of the Rockaways in the City Council.

“I don’t mind representing the Rockaways again — I find it intriguing — but I’ve held the position that communities should not be divided. I don’t think Rockaway should have two state senators.”

The Republican-led Senate drew up the lines for its own chamber while the Democratic Assembly did the same.

Huntley said her district and Smith’s are both heavily Democratic and Republicans would have nothing to gain by tinkering with the lines in southeast Queens.

“I frankly thought our lines would stay the same,” she said. “I have no idea why anybody would do this. They could have left me how I was. It really doesn’t benefit them to do it.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he would veto any redistricting plan that is not drawn up by an independent commission, and Addabbo said it appears the lines will be legally contested.

“We are looking at lines drawn by a court at this point,” the senator said about the likelihood of litigation over the redistricting plan, which was conceived out of “the same politics that have plagued Albany for years.”

The senator said the process should be “about voters choosing their representatives, not representatives choosing their voters.

“The process is flawed to begin with,” he said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses the crowd at Queens College. Photo by Christina Santucci

Security moves into place alongside the unidentified heckler. Photo by Christina Santucci

After his Albany address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo presented his budget plan for a second time in Flushing last Thursday morning, which had many Queens officials in the audience nodding their heads in agreement.

Aside from a Queens College professor claiming to represent the “99 percent,” the audience largely hung on the governor’s words as he touted statewide reforms and pushed his idea for a convention center at the Aqueduct Racino in South Ozone Park.

“Let’s build the largest convention center in the nation,” the governor said, his voice rising. “And let’s build it in Queens.”

A recent statewide Siena College poll found the public’s response lukewarm, however, with only 38 percent in favor and 57 percent opposed to the $4.4 billion plan.

But U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) loved the idea.

“I’m excited about it,” he said in an interview after the address. “It sends a huge message that Queens is a part of New York City.”

Westerns Queens politicians, like City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), were happy to hear Cuomo’s plans for an energy highway connecting the sites in upstate and western New York, where power is generated to areas downstate like New York City, where demand is heavy.

Astoria currently bears a large burden in supplying the city with power. It is home to six power plants, in addition to Vallone’s office.

“It should have been done a long time ago, but we finally have a governor who has the guts to do it,” said Vallone. “My district provides more than 80 percent of the power for the entire city.”

Cuomo also delved into crime during his speech, which drew the attention of District Attorney Richard Brown.

The governor called for DNA information to be taken from anyone who is convicted of a crime, no matter what the crime. Currently DNA information is only taken from about 50 percent of convicted criminals. The governor’s statements echoed those of Brown, who has long called for the blanket DNA sampling.

“DNA is one of the most powerful tools ever developed to solve and prevent crimes, to exonerate the innocent and to bring justice to victims of crime,” Brown said in response to the speech. “It is the fingerprint of the 21st century, yet we are not making full use of this technology.”

At a news conference immediately following the presentation, Cuomo discussed the Cross Bay Bridge toll, saying he would like to reduce the costs for residents of the Rockaways, who use the bridge to travel to work. He has also previously said he would provide refunds to residents of the Rockaways and Broad Channel, effectively ending the tolls.

This was another win for Meeks.

“I think that bridge has more than paid for itself,” he said, hoping that it would be abolished altogether. “I’ll be working with the governor.”

Cuomo also received plaudits for taking the education and governmental bureaucracy to task for not coming up with a method to effectively evaluate teachers.

The federal government gave New York state $700 million in Race to the Top funds on the condition that it come up with an evaluation system, but the impasse means the Obama administration wants its money back.

If that happens, it will nearly negate the $800 million increase in education funding the governor has planned.

Cuomo said he would increase education funding on a state level by a further 4 percent, but only for school districts that come up with an evaluation method.

He did not cover his plans for pension reform, which have drawn criticism from high-profile union leaders.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will prevent southeast Queens residents from being foreclosed on. Photo by Howard Koplowitz

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) described 2012 as a year of promise as he met with reporters in his Jamaica district office Tuesday.

Meeks said one of his top priorities is figuring out how to appropriate funds “so we can build a full-service hospital for the veterans,” referring to the St. Albans VA Hospital.?

In the summer, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stopped its plans to lease part of the 55-acre land to a private developer and renovate the rest of hospital space after years of criticism from community members and former soldiers from across the city.

“The focus of 2012 will be … to have a full-service hospital,” Meeks said.

But the congressman said he was realistic in terms of how feasible it will be to get the funding.

“I realize that we are in economic difficulties right now.”

Meeks addressed complaints against him registered by the conservative Washington, D.C.-based National Legal Policy Center, which has led to the Office of Congressional Ethics looking into his practices.

He accused the group as trying “to drum up something that is not truth.

“I’ve been open about it from the beginning,” Meeks said, which includes a personal loan from a Richmond Hill developer that the NLPC described as questionable.

Turning to his accomplishment in 2011, Meeks said he tried to protect the so-called Dodd-Frank reforms, which in part created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The southeast Queens congressman said the bureau “didn’t have a head” and was caught up in politics that prevented it from doing its job.

Meeks noted that President Barack Obama appointed Richard Cordray to head the bureau, which the president had to do while Congress was on recess because Republicans were reluctant to confirm Cordray.

The congressman said now that the bureau has a leader, it may not help southeast Queens residents who are already in foreclosure proceedings now, but the body will prevent them from occurring.

“We’re looking forward in 2012 to having this bureau functioning,” said Meeks, whose district has been a poster child for the mortgage crisis with a foreclosure rate that is among the highest in the nation. “We have been the epicenter for foreclosures.”

One of the larger projects Meeks said he is working on is Delta Airlines’ plan to redevelop its terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport to the tune of more than a billion dollars.

“It helps create jobs,” Meeks said of the plan. “We are turning JFK Airport into the gateway of America that it was 60 years ago when it opened.”

Meeks said he wants more direct flights out of JFK to Europe, Africa and Asia and noted that such flights would need the approval of Congress.

On the proposed convention center to be built adjacent to Aqueduct Racetrack, Meeks called the development “a very exciting piece.”

The congressman said Resorts World, the newly constructed racino at the track, “has created a lot of jobs for people” and that a convention center will follow in those footsteps.

“I think the expansion of a convention center … will create thousands of more jobs. I think it will attract people all around the country to come here. It makes Queens even more relevant in the economy of the city of New York. Queens is a golden place to have it.”

On redistricting, Meeks said he expects his congressional district, which covers southeast Queens and the eastern end of the Rockaways, to stay close to the borders it has now.

The state is slated to redraw political lines later this year.

Based on 2010 census figures, Meeks said 70,000 residents may need to be added to his district. He said the additional people can either cause his district to extend into Nassau County or move further west into more parts of Queens.

The House Ethics Committee dropped one allegation against U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks but will be pursuing another. Both allegations stemmed from loans the congressman received.

The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee said it will not look into a nearly $60,000 home equity loan received in 2010 by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) after the Office of Congressional Ethics determined there was no reason to believe the congressman violated House rules.

But the committee said it will pursue a claim Meeks failed to disclose a $40,000 personal loan in 2007 from Richmond Hill developer Edul Ahmad in a timely manner.

Meeks did not provide a statement on the committee’s decision before press time.?

The OCE made the recommendations, which were confidential, in April and the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to accept the recommendation in August.

Meeks received a $59,650 home equity loan from Four M Investments LLC in 2010 and there were allegations that the arrangement was “improper,” according to the Ethics Committee.

Meeks’ attorneys say the nearly $60,000 loan was used to pay off the $40,000 loan from 2007, but the OCE said since the 2007 arrangement had no interest rate or repayment terms, it “appears to have been a gift.”

The OCE’s policy prevents it from disclosing who made the allegations.

Two Washington, D.C., area groups that have made ethics complaints about Meeks before — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Legal and Policy Center — said they did not make allegations about the home equity loan to the OCE.

CREW? complained to the OCE about the $40,000 loan from Ahmad as being questionable.

The OCE, in a 6-0 vote, recommended the Ethics Committee dismiss the home equity loan allegations “because there is not a substantial reason to believe that Rep. Meeks received the loan in violation of House rules and standards of conduct.”

In May, the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to dismiss the complaint.

“According to the referral from OCE, although it was not a commercial loan, it was made on reasonable terms,” the committee wrote. “The loan was supported by a recorded written agreement establishing an interest rate, collateral and repayment terms.”

But the 2007 personal loan will be reviewed by the Ethics Committee.

Meeks revised his 2010 financial disclosure statement to reflect the 2007 loan, which did not appear on his statement for that year.

“If Representative Meeks failed to properly disclose the $40,000 gift on his Calendar Year 2007, 2008 and 2009 financial disclosure statements, he may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law,” the OCE wrote.

The National Legal and Policy Center, which describes itself as a Republican-leaning ?organization, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission late last month that accused Meeks of voiding a $5,000 ?to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that ?had been written and cashed years earlier.

Meeks made three $5,000 donations to the DCCC in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Meeks’s Build America PAC voided a $5,000 check to the DCCC on Jan. 3, the National Legal group said, which inflated the PAC’s cash-on-hand.

“How do you void a check many years after it cleared?” the group said in its complaint. “A check that was deposited many years prior cannot be voided as a stale, dated check. Simply by reviewing the DCCC’s FEC filings, anyone can see that the $5,000 checks from Build America PAC in 2002, 2003 and 2004 were deposited shortly after they were recorded as written. Nothing suggests the checks were not received. Nothing suggests that the donations were in any way refunded to Build America PAC.”

In the past, Meeks claimed the National Legal and Policy Center had no credibility because it is a partisan organization.

Ken Boehm, president of the group, said the organization files complaints against members of both parties.

“We’re conservative, but we stand by the fact we’ve gone after both Republicans and Democrats,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks speaks to constituents at a town hall meeting in South Ozone Park. Photo by Joe Anuta

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) showed the scope of his gift of gab during a South Ozone Park town hall meeting Saturday.

Meeks opined on the foreclosure crisis facing southeast Queens, the debate over fiscal responsibility in Washington and even culminated the meeting by making a plea for world peace.?

The 13-year congressman also fielded questions from the audience of roughly 50, who gathered in the auditorium of JHS 226, at 121-10 Rockaway Blvd. He disarmed many testy constituents by adamantly agreeing with them.

“I agree with all that,” Meeks said in response to one woman who presented a list of problems she had with the borough and federal government.

Another man stabbed his cane on the floor and rose to denounce the amount of foreign aid the government was giving to countries that, in his words, “hate us.”

By the end of Meeks’ response, in which he repeatedly praised the man for serving in World War II, he has his interlocutor sitting and clapping along with the rest of the auditorium.

In response to one question, Meeks addressed a major problem plaguing southeast Queens.

“The worst thing that I’ve seen is families in my office crying because they are about to lose their house,” he said.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, a foreclosure crisis hit southeast Queens, which comprises a sizable chunk of Meeks’ district.

“Families are living in cars because their houses are being foreclosed on,” he said.

The congressman segued into the federal government’s bailout of major financial institutions in America, since the whole idea was to protect mortgages and pensions. The federal government loaned taxpayer money to the banks, but citizens ultimately paid more than that, Meeks said, by paying with a loss of capital.

“It’s not often talked about that the taxpayer didn’t get their money back,” he said. “[Banks] are not loaning money to anybody and that’s where we have to hold them accountable.”

His office has tried to discuss the situation with major national banks, he said, but has found many of them evasive when contacted by his staff, he said.

In other fiscal matters, Meeks held the Democratic Party line that both taxes and cuts to spending are needed to balance the budget.

“If you want to cut everything, you’re still going to be left with debt,” he said. “You have to meet us halfway and talk about revenues.”

But the partisan bickering that has typified this year’s Congress will have real effects if an agreement is not reached, he said.

Meeks spent a healthy portion of the meeting talking about a House super committee that is tasked with trimming money from the federal budget.

But, if that super committee does not reach an agreement by late November, it will trigger automatic cuts that will largely pare down the defense budget while keeping entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid intact.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks says contrary to a news report, there was no secret meeting held to choose someone to succeed him.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) dismissed a published report that southeast Queens elected officials and U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-East Elmhurst), chairman of the Queens Democratic Party, met in secret to discuss replacing the Jamaica congressman.

The New York Post, citing two unnamed elected officials who were “familiar” with the meeting, said the alleged sitdown at the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club led to a decision that state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) should succeed Meeks, who is reportedly under federal investigation for receiving a $40,000 payment from a Richmond Hill businessman who is charged with mortgage fraud.

“The Post has its own way to create its own facts,” Meeks said in a phone interview Monday, a day after the story was published. “Everybody that was allegedly at this meeting said categorically there was no such meeting.

The newspaper said Smith, Crowley and City Councilmen Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) met on an unspecified date last month to discuss Meeks.

A spokeswoman for Smith said the senator was not aware of any secret meeting.

“If there was a meeting, the senator had no knowledge of it and the senator never attended the meeting,” she said

Crowley, Comrie and Wills could not be reached for comment.

The story, citing an unnamed source, reported that Meeks’ “premature exit is assumed.”

“Resigning? Are you kidding me? That’s nowhere near what I’m doing,” Meeks said.

Donovan Richards, chief of staff to Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), also said the councilman was not aware of a meeting in southeast Queens.

“If there was one, we weren’t invited,” Richards said.

Debris litters Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel following Tropical Storm Irene. Photo by Christina Santucci

It has been nearly four weeks since Tropical Storm Irene came through Queens, but residents in heavily affected areas in southeast Queens are still reeling from the storm, elected officials said.

Fortunately, the federal government is now lending a helping hand to those victims.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering disaster assistance to residents in the 6th Congressional District, which includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans, Laurelton and the Rockaways.

The storm forced thousands of residents to evacuate the Rockaways and destroyed several properties that were close to the shore, according to Meeks. One home in Broad Channel was completed destroyed when the storm touched down in Queens.

“FEMA disaster assistance will bring significant relief to individuals in our community who suffered loss and damage because of the storm and are already under financial distress,” he said in a statement.

The disaster grants can pay for rent and home repairs, replacement for personal property, and could reimburse medical, storage and other serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance or charities. Small businesses affected by the storm are also eligible for low-interest federal disaster loans from the federal Small Business Administration.

Interested residents need to register with FEMA directly by either calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)? or by logging on to disasterassistance.gov. Applicants must give ?the address of the affected property, a description of the damage, insurance information and a Social Security number.

Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence and may borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property.

“I would like to thank Gov. Andrew Cuomo for working diligently on submitting Queens County to FEMA for assistance,” Meeks said.

FEMA last provided relief to southeast Queens residents in 2007 following a massive rainstorm that produced heavy flooding in the neighborhood. The agency provided financial aid to more than 2,800 residents for that storm.

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.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks is defending his decision to vote for the bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling. Photo by Ivan Pereira

With the future of the economy in jeopardy due to a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating, U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) reassured his elderly constituents that he and his fellow Democrats would not lead their financial futures to a path of ruin.

The congressman visited the Robert Couche Senior Center, at 137-57 Farmers Blvd., Aug. 10 to brief them on his part in the debt ceiling negotiations that went on in Congress.

Meeks told the seniors at the center not to fall for the sensationalist stories that said President Barack Obama ended up becoming the loser in the negotiations because the congressman said without the president’s making some concessions, the country would have ended up in a far worse scenario.

“We are lucky, given the current state that we are in, that we have this president,” he said.

Meeks said he voted in favor of the deal because of the long-term benefits it would bring to the budget and the Democrats. Under the plan, the nation’s deficits would be reduced by $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years and the debt ceiling would be allowed to increase between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion, an amount that would cover the U.S. Treasury’s borrowing needs until 2013, according to Meeks.

The congressman said Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) actually came to an agreement during the weeks of back-and-forth negotiations where the country would get more $800 million in new revenue but that was quashed when the speaker brought the plan to his GOP members.

Meeks slammed the Tea Party for playing politics and killing all plans that would have benefited the country just so members could make a political move that would benefit their own interests.

“We were two days away from defaulting on our debt. The other side did not care,” he said.

The deal, however, did have a silver lining that would benefit the Democrats, according to the congressman. Congress was mandated to create a six-member, bipartisan, debt-reduction committee, ?which must create a second round of debt reduction legislation by the end of the year.

Meeks said the committee would counter the GOP’s House majority ?since they packed the chairmanship of many House committees with their members and have been pushing their own agendas.

“It was the best thing to do in the long term,” the congressman said.

An activist group, however, disagreed with Meeks’ reasoning. Members of United NY and New York Communities for Change protested outside the congressman’s Jamaica office Friday afternoon and chastised him for not hearing his constituents’ needs before making his decision.

Meeks, however, brushed off the criticism and said he is confident Obama will overcome the Tea Party tactics and reach a consensus with Congress to improve the nation’s economy.

“To me, he’s playing chess while [the Tea Party] is playing checkers,” he 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.

New state Department of Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner Darryl Towns (l. to r.), Assemblyman David Weprin and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks were among the speakers at a town hall organized by Weprin at the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck. Photo by Howard Koplowitz

Newly appointed state Department of Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner Darryl Towns said he was working to keep apartment rents affordable during a town hall meeting Sunday organized by state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) at the Samuel Field Y in Little Neck.

“I came to the job with a street-level view of what affordable housing can be to the community,” said Towns, a former assemblyman from Brooklyn who noted that rent regulations expire June 15 unless the state Legislature decides to extend protections.

The Rent Stabilization Association, which represents more than 25,000 landlords in the city, has been fighting for decades in an effort to abolish the entire rent-control system. The trade group said Queens had 144,035 apartments under rent stabilization in 2010 and 5,500 under rent control.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) said rent regulation is “probably the most important issue facing Albany today.”

Towns said part of his job entails “making communities neighborhoods once again.”

Weprin told the crowd about bills he is proposing in Albany, which includes an adoptee bill of rights.

The bill would allow adopted children to have the option of obtaining their original birth certificate when they reach 18 years old.

“There are medical reasons for that,” Weprin said. “There are genetic reasons for that.”

Weprin said he also took over sponsorship of a bill originally written by retired Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn that prohibits smoking in cars with children under 14 in the vehicle.

While Weprin said some may think the bill infringes on their rights, he said the legislation “falls into the category of protecting the public.”

Stavisky, the Senate sponsor of the bill, said the legislation passed the Assembly last year but did not make it to the floor of the Senate.

“Smoking is not a protective right. This is not a right that you’re entitled to have,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) also stopped by the town hall and said he was against President Barack Obama’s suggestion that Israel cede the territory it gained in 1967 as a starting point for peace negotiations with the Palestinians, although he said he believed Obama’s comments were just a way to nudge the Palestinians to the table.

“Anyone who’s visited Israel knows the ’67 borders don’t work because Israel can’t defend itself based on the ’67 borders,” Meeks said.

The congressman also called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to renounce Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip.

“If Arab countries don’t believe Israel should exist, then there’s nothing to negotiate,” Meeks said. “We still have a lot of obstacles in the way” toward peace.

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.”

State Sen. Shirley Huntley paid her daughter thousands of dollars for various jobs on her election campaigns, according to campaign finance records.

Taxpayer money that was distributed to education groups with close ties to state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) has caught the state attorney general’s eye, according to a published report.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has issued subpoenas to the nonprofit Parent Information Network Inc., which is run by Huntley’s daughter Pamela Corley, and another group called Parent Information, which the senator created before she was elected to office in 2006 and was formerly run by one of her staffers, the Associated Press reported.

The subpoenas request information from the groups about grant money that was distributed to them from discretionary funds distributed by Huntley, who sits on the Senate Education Committee, according to the AP.

The attorney general’s office and Huntley declined to comment about the ongoing investigation. The senator’s district includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and parts of Forest Hills.

Parent Information Network received more than $400,000 in state Assembly funding between 1993 and 2008 to advise parents how to “navigate New York City schools,” according to records from the state Department of Education. Two requests made by the Assembly in 2006 for grants to the group, which totaled $33,000, and another request made two years later for a $30,000 grant, were not approved, the records show.

Some of the money was allocated by state Assemblywoman Vivian Cook (D-Jamaica), who the AP said dispensed $30,000 in taxpayer dollars to the group in 2008.

Cook did not return phone calls for comment.

In 2008, Huntley also awarded Parent Information a state grant of $30,000 for training and supplies, according to the AP. In that same year, the nonprofit’s president, Patricia Savage, ended her term as the head of Parent Information and joined the senator’s staff as a “confidential assistant” and earns $85,000 a year, the AP reported.

Campaign finance records show Corley and Savage were paid thousands of dollars by Huntley ?for various events over the last couple of years.

In July, Corley was paid $1,000 for consulting, the next month she was paid $5,000 for polls, and in September she was paid $2,400 for “office” and more than $37,000 for wages, according to state campaign finance records.

Savage was paid $425 in July 2009 for literature, $974 in September 2009 and $1,100 in December 2009 for fund-raising, campaign finance records show. Last January, she was paid more than $573 for “office,” a month later she was paid $400 for a Census kickoff and in November she was paid $200 for refreshments and $5,000 the next month for consulting services, according to campaign finance records.

The U.S. attorney’s office is also investigating U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) over a nonprofit they created. The investigation into the now-defunct New Direction Development Corp. began after the charity’s income and spending practices were questioned.

The congressman and seven other members of the House were meeting with the country’s prime minister, John Key, and other political leaders in the capital city of Wellington when the quake hit the city of Christchurch Feb. 22.

There were also 29 aftershocks that measured between a magnitude of four and five, Meeks’s office said.

The natural disaster has so far killed 75 people and hundreds are listed as missing, the AP reported.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Canterbury who have been affected by this devastating natural disaster.  Especially the families of the victims, and the great people of New Zealand,” Meeks said in a statement. “I would also like to commend Ambassador David Huebner, and the staff of the United States Embassy for their stellar job in facilitating the evacuation of American citizens from the region, and ensuring that I and fellow Congressional Members of the delegation were safe.”

The congressional delegation left New Zealand a day later and departed to Australia for the next leg of their trip, Meeks office said.

Donovan Richards (from l.), Councilman James Sanders and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks push for an end of senseless violence in southeast Queens. Photo by Ivan Pereira

On the day the city celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., leaders in southeast Queens urged residents and law enforcement agencies to continue the civil rights leader’s work for peace by getting guns off the streets.

City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) joined U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and civic groups at the Birch Family Center, at 145-02 Farmers Blvd. in Laurelton, to call for the Queens district attorney’s office to start another gun buy-back program for the neighborhood.

Over the last year, murder has increased 13 percent in the city and the surge was even greater in communities in southeast Queens, where there are a number of unsolved shooting homicides.

Sanders, who has held gun buy-backs in the past, said the first step to curbing the problem was to get the weapons out of the hands of criminals.

“It is madness to let the violence continue when we know that there is a simple solution to the problem,” he said.

Aside from illegally obtained guns that finger in the incidents, Sanders said firearms used in shootings are stolen from the homes of licensed owners. The councilman said those owners should think carefully about their weapons during these dangerous times.

“If you bought a gun and don’t know how to use it, you better turn it in,” he said.

DA Richard Brown said he would support a gun buy back.

“I applaud Councilman Sanders and his fellow civic leaders for their efforts in wanting to help to curb gun violence and would welcome their assistance in helping to secure the necessary funding to finance another gun buyback program,” he said in a statement. “I would also remind individuals that they can currently turn in guns at their local police precinct and receive a voucher for $100,” he said in a statement.

Meeks agreed with Sanders’ call and said the initiative is more important than ever because of the shooting incident in Tucson, Ariz. The congressman noted that the alleged shooter was able to legally obtain a gun despite having a minor criminal record and possible mental problems.

James Earl Ray, the man who shot King in 1969, also bought the gun used in the assassination legally, according to the congressman.

Although Meeks said he and his colleagues in Washington, D.C., were looking for ways to change gun laws to prevent similar killings, reducing the amount of illegal weapons was the easiest way to stop the senseless shootings.

“Where does the community go? Community or chaos? That is the question,” he said.

Many community groups supported Sanders’ initiative because they said they were tired of all the violence that has been plaguing their streets.

Earl Roberts, vice president of the 113th Precinct Community Council?, said residents needed to push for programs that would also spread a message of peace to the youth.

“We need that gun buy-back program, but most importantly we need that value for life,” he said.

Sanders was not the only elected official who was out in the community during the national holiday. City Councilmen Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) and Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) distributed coats to needy residents.

Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (r.) talks with Liz Bishop-Goldsmith, (second r.) the founder of Mothers Against Guns, following a news conference, where several elected officials called for tighter gun restrictions. Photo by Christina Santucci

Queens elected officials, many of whom worked alongside U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), called for the government to crack down on the spread of guns to suspicious people and urged an end to the kind of hateful political rhetoric that targeted the congresswoman before she was critically wounded by a lone gunman.

Several House members from the borough expressed their condolences to Giffords, 40, who was shot in the head at point-blank range Saturday in Tucson while she was holding a public event with her constituents in a parking lot.

The suspected 22-year-old shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was allegedly fueled by hatred for the government and had targeted the congresswoman during his rampage that killed six and wounded 13, according to investigators. The 9-year-old granddaughter of a former New York Mets manager was among the victims.

Elected officials, such as Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), condemned the shooting and stop the violent rhetoric against opposing parties.

“Guns kill. And those who glamorize gunplay or worship gun ownership do no service to humanity,” she said in a statement.

Giffords, who was re-elected to her third term in November following a bitter campaign against a Tea Party candidate, survived the shot but was listed in critical condition as of press time Tuesday.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) worked with her on the New Democrat Coalition Political Action Committee and said she was a kind woman who got along well with members of both sides of the aisle.

“Gabby is more than a colleague. She is a great friend whose dedication to her constituents, country and family is evident to all those whose lives she has touched,” he said in a statement.

The congresswoman, who voted for last year’s health-care package, had been the subject of various nasty campaign ads during the election by the controversial political group, including one that appeared on Sarah Palin’s website and Facebook page that used an image of a crosshair on her congressional district.

Palin redirected her Twitter followers to the page with a tweet, “Don’t Retreat, Instead — RELOAD!”

A protester left a gun at a meeting she held in 2009 where she discussed the health-care bill, and when it was voted on, someone shot a bullet through the glass door of her district office. No one was apprehended in either case.

Although Palin and other Tea Party members have also expressed condolences and made calls for peace, other leaders like Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) urged caution about using inflammatory language about politics.

“The essential features of our democracy is the dynamic of elected officials listening to the issues of our neighbors raise and assembling with them freely in open dialogue without fear, intimidation or violence,” he said in a statement.

Meeks’ office is going to set up surveillance cameras outside his district office in light of the shooting, according to a spokeswoman.

Aside from one of Giffords’ staff members and a federal judge, none the victims who were killed worked for government offices.

The youngest person killed in the massacre was 9-year-old Christina Green, who was interested in politics and wanted to meet the congresswoman face to face, according to her family. She is the granddaughter of Dallas Green, who finished his Major League Baseball career with the Mets in 1966 and eventually went on to manage the team from 1993-96.

He told the Associated Press that he thanked his fans for their prayers and support but said he and his family were “having a hard time” dealing with the girl’s death.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) joined U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Garden City) and other leaders outside the 113th Precinct Monday to call for tighter gun restrictions in light of the incident. The shooter bought his gun legally and McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son critically wounded in a 1993 mass shooting on the Long Island Rail Road, said that in today’s Internet-driven world, words can go a long way.

“It almost gives them permission,” she said of the rhetoric. “They say, ‘I don’t like this person. I’m going to go after them.’”

An office for U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks' Build America PAC is said to be housed at 153-01 Jamaica Ave. Photo by Christina Santucci

A political action committee tied to U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), who has been the target of a federal investigation since the beginning of 2010, spent six times as much on legal fees compared to 2009, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

Meeks’ Build America PAC paid $9,826.95 in legal fees last year to the Washington, D.C.-based office of Perkins Coie LLC, a multinational, all-purpose law firm.

Meeks could not be reached for comment.

Ken Boehm, chairman of the Virginia-based National Legal Policy Center, said using PAC money to pay for legal bills violates House rules and federal law, although there are usually fines levied instead of criminal sanctions.

“His stuff will not stand up to scrutiny,” Boehm said, referring to the Queens lawmaker.

Boehm said the NLPC is waiting for more information, including Meeks’ latest financial disclosure due Jan. 15, until it makes a formal complaint against the congressman.

While the NLPC describes itself as a nonpartisan organization, besides Meeks it has targeted U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson — all black Democrats — in recent years.

Meeks also used his campaign committee to pay legal fees June 28, when he paid Manhattan-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney $15,000.

In 2009, before Meeks was the target of investigators looking at a nonprofit he set up with state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, Build America spent only $1,637 in legal fees to Perkins Coie, which has two offices in China and 15 American cities.

Federal prosecutors are investigating New Direction, the nonprofit he founded with Smith, Boehm said. Records showed that only a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of dollars received by New Direction actually made its way to Katrina victims.

Patsy Simmons, treasurer of the Build America PAC, could not be reached for comment on the legal fees.

The PAC’s address is listed as Suite 531 at 135-01 Jamaica Ave. The PAC pays about $325 in rent to BLDG Management, which could not be reached to verify a New York Post report that said Suite 531 does not exist in the building.

The Jamaica building also houses Meeks’ district office.

During Meeks’ first congressional run in 2002, he did not spend any money on legal fees, according to campaign finance records.

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.”