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.

A state task force proposes these state Senate districts for Queens, which has received wide criticism in the borough.

No matter how you slice it, the redistricting plan drawn up by a state task force last week was widely panned in Queens by critics who said the proposal breaks up communities and gerrymanders the lines.

Every 10 years, districts for state Senate, state Assembly and congressional lines are redrawn to reflect population changes recorded in the census.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he would veto any plan not conceived by an independent commission.

The lines were proposed by the state Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, a body comprised of elected officials and members of the public selected by elected officials.

Under the group’s plan, Sens. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and Tony Avella (D-Bayside) would have to run against each other in a primary in one district and Sens. Jose Peralta (D-Corona) and Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) would face off in another contest.

“I can’t believe there are Democrats that would have to primary each other,” said Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica), whose southern Queens district would cut Broad Channel and sections of southeast Queens and add parts of the Rockaways if the plan is enacted.

The Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association is against the plan because it would carve up the neighborhood among three different senators: Joseph Addabbo, Malcolm Smith and Shirley Huntley

“When it comes to the Senate lines, the people of Woodhaven are being treated as pawns in Albany’s gerrymandering games,” said Alexander Blenkinsopp, spokesman for the association.

Eastern Queens United, a group of a dozen civic associations, criticized the redistricting process for dividing communities.

The task force “has abdicated its responsibility to serve the needs of the community and instead has served the needs of its politicians,” said Bob Friedrich, president of the Glen Oaks Village co-op and founder of EQU. “The new legislative maps are an abomination and are gerrymandered to break up our communities that have simply asked to remain united.”

Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck), who represents a portion of the area covered by Eastern Queens United, said he was against the task force’s map.

“Northeast Queens is a special and distinct geographic region, whose residents and community leaders have voiced their desire to be kept together in a contiguous district rather than be divided,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to offering testimony as part of [the task force’s] public review process and for my constituents to do likewise in order to end with a map that truly represents the unique character of northeast Queens.”

The Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy applauded the task force for drawing a new Asian-American majority Senate district in Queens and a new Assembly district but criticized the group for dividing Flushing.

“A compact district in Flushing-Bayside should be drawn to keep Asian-American communities of interest together in these neighborhoods,” the group said.

ACCORD also said the task force “has not brought equality to all Asian-American neighborhoods across New York” because Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park were divided into multiple districts.

James Hong, spokesman for The Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy, stands near one of the Unity Maps for New York City, which the coalition hopes will be taken into consideration by a committee, including state Democrats and Republicans, who will redraw state legislative lines next year. Photo by Joe Anuta

State Republicans have been quietly shopping around a map of proposed legislative lines as part of the upcoming redistricting, as Queens minority groups have been advocating for lines of their own.

The GOP blueprint is still in its infancy, according to a Republican source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the first draft of the districts was not made official, but it could include some significant shuffling in Queens.

The district of state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) — which encompasses all or part of Bayside, Douglaston, Bay Terrace, Queens Village, Bellerose, Flushing, Whitestone, Little Neck, College Point, Hollis, Jamaica Estates, Glen Oaks and Floral Park — could be eliminated altogether and a new district carved out farther south.

The new district could include portions of Hollis and the northern portions of Sen. Malcolm Smith’s (D-St. Albans) district, as well as portions of Nassau County like Long Beach?, the source said. Although it is not common for state offices to cross into other counties, the district of former Sen. Frank Padavan did so in the 1980s.

There is also talk that the district of Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) could be extended farther south to include some or all of the Rockaways, the source said.

Alternatively, the district of a senior Brooklyn Republican senator could gain some ground in Queens as well.

Sen. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) could gain ground across the water to include conservative enclaves like Breezy Point in order to protect the senior lawmaker, the source said, since one strategy behind redistricting is to protect incumbents.

From the look of Golden’s district, it appears that it has been protected in the past.

Golden’s district is basically in three segments. The neighborhood Marine Park is connected to the middle portion of Golden’s district by a thin strip, at one point only a block wide. The middle blob, the neighborhood Sheepshead Bay, is connected to the main section of Golden’s district by a small, one-block portion as well.

And that kind of selective carving out of boundaries is what groups like the The Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy spoke out against at a Nov. 16 news conference.

“It’s very telling when your own legislators describe their districts as gerrymandered,” said James Hong, spokesman for the coalition, describing lawmakers like state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) and Avella, the latter of whom described his district as one of the worst gerrymandered districts in the state.

An organization called the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund drew up a map of its own called the Unity Map, which looks drastically different from the current configuration in the borough.

Many neighborhoods with large immigrant populations are broken into several legislative districts. For example, the predominately South Asian neighborhood of Richmond Hill is broken up into six Assembly districts and two Senate districts?, which members of the fund said prevents the community from having a real voice in elections.

Speakers at the event said they did not simply want to elect a minority candidate into office, but wanted to make sure communities with common interests like economic status, culture and language are grouped together.

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (c.) is sworn into office as his wife, children and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (from second r.) and state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver look on. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (l.) talks with state Sen. Malcolm Smith following his inauguration. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Elected officials from all over the state gathered at Junior High School 210 in Ozone Park Sunday to pass the torch to the community’s newest representative in Albany.

State Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) was inaugurated before his family, friends, community members and fellow elected officials.

Goldfeder, who worked in the political offices of City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Sen Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), succeeded former Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, who became the Queens county clerk in June after serving the 23rd Assembly District for 24 years.

The new Assembly member said he was grateful for all the support he received from both the party and constituents and vowed to improve their quality of life.

“As the new assemblyman, I’m going to do the things I promised on the campaign,” he said.

The district includes the neighborhoods of the Rockaways, Howard Beach and portions of South Ozone Park.

Several Democratic members of the state Legislature, including state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), were in attendance for the event, at 93-11 101st Ave., ?and said the rookie elected official will be making big waves in office.

Smith noted that two key Republicans — U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Kew Gardens) and Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) — were at the inauguration and he called on Goldfeder to continue to lead in a bipartisan manner.

“The aisles shouldn’t matter. You should do what is right,” he said.

Silver agreed and said Goldfeder’s long career in the New York political arena has made him a strong community activist, and he would not only be able to convey the community’s voice to Albany but also bring Albany’s side of the issues back home.

“You are part of a young collection of leaders who continue to define themselves as defenders of working families,” he said.

Pheffer, who was Goldfeder’s former boss, said she was confident he would be able to fill her shoes.

“There are so many, many problems that need to be worked on,” she said. “I am confident that he is going to do a better job [than me]. ?He is confident.”

Goldfeder said he is working on solving those issues, including the elimination of the toll at the Cross Bay Bridge and creating new incentives for neighborhood store owners during the down economic times.

“Right here, there are many businesses that need to survive,” he said.

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.

Former Mayor David Dinkins speaks at Dora Young's funeral. Photo by Ivan Pereira

Dora Young was more than just a political activist in southeast Queens, she was an inspiration and guiding force to the community leaders and elected officials in the city.

Nearly 200 mourners, including a Who’s Who of political heavyweights, gathered at St. Benedict the Moor Church in St. Albans Friday to honor the 89-year-old Democratic district leader for her decades of service.

Not only was Young one of the first black and female deputy clerks to work at Queens Borough Hall, she helped several elected officials get into higher office, including City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans) and state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) as the co-chair of the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club.

Comrie, who was joined by his fellow St. Albans leaders as well as Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), Assembly members Michelle Titus (D-Far Rockaway) and Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) and former Mayor David Dinkins, said politics was always her passion.

“A Democratic district leader is a non-paid position … yet so many [prominent] people came out here,” he said.

Young was born Oct. 20, 1921, in North Carolina, and after marrying Evie Young Jr. in 1949, the couple moved to Addisleigh Park, where she remained for the rest of her life.

She worked at Queens Borough Hall for more than two decades and officiated at hundreds of marriages. More than 40 years ago, she and former Councilman Archie Spigner helped to create the Guy R. Brewer Democratic Club to put southeast Queens on the political map.

Spigner said she really had a good vision for the club and always spoke candidly to everyone.

“She’d always used to tell me, ‘Archie, you’re not the only leader around here in the club,’” he joked.

Young took many up-and-coming political proteges under her wing and helped them accomplish their goals. Scarborough recalled that when he first joined the club, he wanted to run for several open elections, but she forbade him to do so due to his inexperience.

The assemblyman said her advice paid off and he was able to work his way up to the Assembly seat.

“Dora helped people and taught people,” he said.

Smith agreed and said her energy brought energy to any event or meeting among the elected officials.

“She was the type of person that once she got in a room, she lit it up. She got everyone talking,” she said.

Aside from her duties as the club’s co-leader, Young never lost touch with the community. She was active with her church and kept volunteering her time — especially at Christmas, when she answered children’s letters to Santa Claus as St. Nick’s secretary.

Even when an undisclosed illness kept her from being out and about, she would still lend a hand in the neighborhood and make sure that the community’s quality of life remained stable.

Dinkins, whom she campaigned for during the late 1980s, said her life would be an example to generations to come.

“Service to others is the right we pay for being on earth. Dora Young left paid in full,” he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivers a major policy address announcing the launch of the Young Men's Initiative at a breakfast in Manhattan. Photo courtesy mayor's office

Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched? last week what he called the country’s most ambitious effort to tackle disparities between young black and Latino men, which was lauded by state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans).

The program, dubbed the Young Men’s Initiative, which in part will target 40 city schools that have shown progress in closing the achievement gap in high school graduation among Latinos and blacks, is getting $30 million in financial assistance each from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Another $67.5 million in funding is being provided by the city.

“Even though skin color in America no longer determines a child’s fate, sadly it tells us far more about a child’s future than it should,” Bloomberg said during a speech rolling out the initiative last Thursday in Manhattan. “That reality is not something we ever tell a child. Because how could we possibly explain to young black and Latino boys that they are twice as likely as white children to grow up in poverty, twice as likely to drop out of school, and twice as likely to end up out of work?

“The truth is we can’t possibly look our children in the eyes and say any of those things. The fact that more black and Latino young men end up imprisoned or impoverished — rather than in professions of their choosing — is not a fact we are willing to accept here in New York City,” the mayor said. “Not today. Not ever.”

Sen. Malcolm Smith applauded the mayor for starting the initiative.

“It’s a harsh message to hear, but it’s real,” he said.

The three-year initiative will invest $127 million in programs and policies designed to improve the future of young black and Latino men “by systematically targeting the areas of greatest disparity,” Bloomberg said.

The mayor said once the young men in the 40 target schools are ready to succeed, “then we’ll know how to do it in every school.”

Bloomberg also said the city Department of Education will develop specific metrics to measure the performance of black and Latino men against their peers and that the method will appear on all school progress reports.

“We are sending the message to the entire school system that we are all responsible for closing the achievement gap — and we are giving parents another tool to hold schools accountable for success,” the mayor said.

Besides education, Bloomberg said he will expand the city’s Fatherhood Initiative, a program that investigates ways the city is either unintentionally excluding a father’s involvement in his child’s life or is failing to engage them.

“For example, we’ll work with CUNY to serve low-income young men who aren’t actually students, but who could benefit from job readiness, college prep and literacy training, as well as parenting workshops,” Bloomberg said. “At the same time, we’ll help more young men avoid fatherhood until they’re ready by making our hospitals, health clinics and reproductive health services more welcoming to young men.

“We can offer them all the services in the world, but it won’t make a difference if the young men who need them aren’t getting them,” he said.

State Sen. Jose Peralta (r.) joined with representatives of the TLC (left) to discuss the legislation to bring livery cabs that can take street hails to the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan. Photo by Rebecca Henely

A town hall held by state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) on the bill to bring livery cabs that can be hailed to the outer boroughs erupted into impassioned statements and heated arguments, mostly in Spanish, from industry members on separate sides of the plan.

More than 100 people crowded into the Langston Hughes Library, at 100-01 Northern Blvd., Monday for a presentation on the controversial bill, which passed both houses of the state Legislature last month but has not yet been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The bill calls for 30,000 permits that will be issued allowing livery cabs to pick up passengers in Upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, plus the sale of 1,500 yellow taxi medallions, 569 of which will be for handicapped-accessible vehicles. Peralta was one of only two Queens senators to vote for the plan, the other being Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans).

Peralta did not explain his vote but brought in a representative from the city Taxi & Limousine Commission to go over the details of the plan.

“This is more of an informational meeting,” Peralta said.

Adrian Gonzalez, senior analyst at TLC, said the highest number of street hails occurred in Manhattan, the city’s airports, along Queens Boulevard and in Brooklyn Heights. Beyond that, the most street hail demand in Queens comes from where Broadway meets Grand Avenue in Elmhurst and Jamaica Avenue-Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica. Broadway and Grand Avenue averages 39 street hails an hour and Jamaica Avenue-Parsons Boulevard averages 16 street hails an hour.

Gonzalez said the new cabs, which will be known as “Borough Taxis,” will have street hail privileges anywhere in the city but not south of East 96th Street or West 110th Street in Manhattan. Phoned-in pickups will still be available anywhere. The taxis will be credit/debit card ready, be metered and have a distinct color and markings from their yellow medallion brethren.

“You can spot it out on the street. You can spot it in a picture,” Gonzalez said.

After Gonzalez’s presentation, the town hall was opened up for questions, but many used the opportunity to speak for or against the plan, often making five-minute speeches in Spanish that received applause or condemnation from the mostly Spanish-speaking crowd.

Avik Kabessa, chair of the New York Independent Livery Driver Benefit Fund, said the plan had serious flaws and that 20 community boards across the city rejected it. Some agreed while others, like Cira Angeles of Riverside Brokerage, said he was disseminating false information. Another man held up a tote bag full of citations he had received for street hails.

Peralta said what happens next is ultimately up to the governor, but if the bill becomes law, the state will work with the TLC and analyze the various costs.

“I think there’s always a bit of hesitation with change and that’s understandable,” Gonzalez said.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (second from l.) hugs his partner Dan Hendricks as Councilman Daniel Dromm (l. to r.), the Rev. Ronald Tompkins and Yessika Giraldo, president of the Queens Pride Lions Club, look on. Photo by Christina Santucci

Jackson Heights resident Jackie Lui (front r.), a gay supporter of the marriage law, shakes hands with state Sen. Jose Peralta after the event. Photo by Christina Santucci

After Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed same-sex marriage into law, a city councilman had a chance to break out a long-awaited wedding cake and officials were already speculating how much revenue would come from the legislation.

By a 33-29 vote, the state Legislature passed the controversial measure late Friday night to end the summer session, drawing praise from gay rights activists across Queens and condemnation from prominent religious figures.

“New York state has said ‘I do’ to equality,” said City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), an openly gay legislator.

Dromm stood outside the Jackson Heights Post Office Saturday with a white cake bedecked in rainbow-colored candy. Someone began playing the traditional processional wedding song on a nearby piano as Dromm cut the cake along with openly gay Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), who had just returned from casting his vote in Albany.

“Yesterday was a ‘where were you?’ moment,” Peralta told a small crowd gathered on the sidewalk. “Where were you when equality became a reality?”

It was unclear whether the bill would actually pass until state Sens. Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie) and Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) announced their last-minute support on the floor and brought the total to four Republicans in support of the bill after state Sens. James Alesi (R-Fairport) and Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) hopped on board earlier last week.

A crucial moment for Queens lawmakers came on June 14, when state Sens. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and Shirley Huntley (D-St. Albans) announced a sea change in their districts and flipped positions after voting against a similar bill in 2009.

The bill has divided religious organizations, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed the economic boon that gay couples will provide to the city.

“Stay in a hotel. Buy flowers, clothes, a meal or whatever. It’s good for the economy,” he said Monday, adding that the city will have extra judges on hand to dole out marriage licenses the first day it is legal to do so on July 24.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) wasted no time in announcing he will host a mass same-sex wedding ceremony in Bethpage State Park July 29.

Several wedding halls around the borough, like Terrace in the Park, had not received any bookings for same-sex marriage receptions yet and Queens Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jack Friedman wondered just how big the impact on the borough would be.

“I don’t think it’s going to be major. It could have a minor, positive impact on the economy,” he said.

One Queens activist wanted no part in the possible economic benefits and blasted Albany for not putting in protections for private businesses.

“I pose this question, what about catering houses? Do they have the right to discriminate against these wild, flamboyant parties?” asked Frank Skala, president of the East Bayside Homeowners Association.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, opposed the bill and issued a statement expressing his dissatisfaction.

“We worry that both marriage and the family will be undermined by this tragic presumption of government in passing this legislation that attempts to redefine these cornerstones of civilization,” the statement said.

But not all religious figures were against the bill.

The Rev. Ronald Tompkins, a former Jackson Heights pastor, blessed the crowd at the post office Saturday and offered his congratulations to Dromm and the LGBT couples in attendance.

“I read the Bible. I don’t know what they are reading,” he said following the cake-cutting, in reference to religious figures who condemned the legislation. “I wish more churches were here to celebrate this moment.”

Due to language in the bill, it is up to the houses of worship to decide whether or not to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, but those who choose not to may be missing out.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (c.) announces a new initiative to get illegal guns off the streets at a news conference at City Hall. Photo courtesy of Sen. Malcolm Smith's office

The police, clergy, big business and elected officials announced this weekend that they will be cleaning the city streets of illegal guns to make communities safer this summer.

A massive, five-borough gun buyback program will be initiated in the next few weeks that will pool the resources of various sectors, according to state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), who is spearheading the program.

The P-3-Public, Private, Partnership Gun Buy-Back Program was needed, according to the elected official, not only because crime rates are higher during the warm summer months in parts of the city, such as southeast Queens, but also because anti-violence organizations could not do a similar program without help.

“Killings and other types of violence continue to be a challenge for inner-city and other communities across America,” Smith said in a statement. “According to data tables regarding crime in the United States prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York state had the third-highest total for gun-related murders in the country as of earlier this year.”

Several law enforcement officers are on board with P-3, including the NYPD and the Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan district attorney offices. Earlier this month, the Bronx held a gun buyback program that collected 354 weapons, including an Uzi submachine gun.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has touted the initiatives in the past because they not only got the guns out of the wrong hands, but also helped strengthen the relationship between the authorities and the neighborhood.

“The partnership between clergy and the NYPD, supported by our district attorneys, has proven to be a powerful alliance in getting guns off our streets in record numbers,” he said in a statement.

Despite the successes of the buybacks in the past, they have been hard to set up due to the funding required to pay the contributors. During the Bronx buyback, each person who turned in a weapon received up to $600 in the form of a prepaid debit card.

Smith came up with a way to fill that financial void.

The Related Cos., a real estate company, and Deutsche Bank will be taking part in P-3 and ?help to pay for the $300-per-gun rate, according to Smith’s office.

“As a cornerstone participant in the P-3 gun buyback program, we are proud and honored to be working with the New York City Police Department, the Police Foundation and Sen. Smith’s office on this critical effort to maintain New York’s position as the safest large city in the United States,” Donna Milrod, managing director of Deutsche Bank Americas, said in a statement.

Smith’s office said the buybacks in Queens will be held in churches around southeast Queens and the specific locations are still being determined. The dates of the program are still being worked out as well, the senator’s office said.

Malcolm Smith

Two bills are in the works in the state Legislature that would curb the number of fraudulent loans that have helped cripple the housing market in southeast Queens, and housing advocates in the community said it is a much-needed help to a problem that shows no signs of subsiding.

The Senate unanimously passed two bills sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) Tuesday that would crack down on lenders who cheat homeowners out of thousands and eventually force them into foreclosure.

A study issued last year found that Jamaica had one of the highest concentrations of bogus loans in the country during the last half decade.

“This trend is completely unacceptable and I am confident that my legislation will greatly impact enforcement on deceptive and abusive practices in the lending industry,” Smith said in a statement.

The first bill, S3779, would amend the state banking law to tighten the mortgage banker licensing exemption. Currently, the state prohibits people from making five or more mortgage loans in any one calendar year without a mortgage banker license from the superintendent of banks.

The senator said the mortgage scammers would get around the law by pointing people to other scammers.?

Smith’s bill would not only lower the limit to three loans a calendar year or five in a two-year period, but it would also mandate that mortgage brokers solicit, process, place and negotiate mortgage loans only with a certified mortgage banker or exempt organization.

The second bill, S3781, would create provisions that would prevent unscrupulous lenders from taking advantage of homeowners. Under the bill’s provisions, the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Banking Department will report all cases of unlicensed mortgage sales to the state attorney general’s office.

The bill also increases the penalties for unlicensed people who do financial actions.

“It will encourage and promote increased cooperation with appropriate agencies to learn of unauthorized lenders and lending practices and it will also crack down on illegal conduct to protect both the consumers and the lenders who are victimized by these practices,” Smith said.

Although the bills have a long way to go before they are signed into law, Cathy Mickens, the executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, said they are a good start. The nonprofit has been dealing with dozens of cases a day of homeowners who are at the end of their rope and may face foreclosure, according to the executive director.

Southeast Queens neighborhoods, such as Jamaica, St. Albans and Springfield Gardens, lead the state in the number of foreclosures.

Mickens said the biggest problem her clients face are dealing with subprime loans that were given to them by untrustworthy lenders.

“I think we were targeted because we have a lot of small homes, we have a lot of seniors and we have a lot of people with equity,” she said. “We had a lot of people who had good credit, but they got caught up with these fraudulent mortgages because there was a lack of education.”

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.

State Sen. Jose Peralta has been named one of the co-chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee as well as the Democratic whip in the state Senate and the ranking member on the Senate Labor Committee. Photo by Christina Santucci

In the nearly one year that Jose Peralta has been a state senator representing western Queens, his star has surely risen.

Peralta was selected as one of four co-chairmen in charge of making sure Democrats recapture the Senate in 2012 and was chosen by Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) as Democratic whip – the fifth-highest leadership position among Democrats.

On top of the two posts, Peralta was also named the ranking member of the Senate Labor Committee by Sampson.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), who a year ago was the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate as temporary president of the body, was relegated to secretary of the Democratic Conference – the ninth-highest leadership position in the conference.

Newly minted Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), who was appointed to lead the fund-raising arm of the Senate Democrats by Sampson, chose Peralta as one of four co-chairs of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

“We are running offense and will have exceptional candidates in every region of this state and the funds to help them spread their message to voters,” Peralta said in a statement. “Election cycles come and go, but the failure of the Senate Republicans to protect working families has been a constant for decades. Sen. Gianaris is the right person to lead DSCC and I know my colleagues and I are hitting the ground running to elect new Democrats to the state Senate.”

As Democratic whip, Peralta will be in charge of counting votes for Senate Democrats on bills and in a statement he referred to the dysfunction plaguing Albany.

“The members of our conference bring different experiences and expertise to the Senate and I thank Sen. Sampson for recognizing that and elevating new members so we can more effectively represent our constituents,” Peralta said. “After decades of dysfunction, late budgets and members behaving badly, the taxpayers are desperate for fiscal discipline, greater ethical standards and a political system which serves and meets their needs.”

Peralta was elected to the Senate last year in a special election for the seat previously occupied by Hiram Monserrate, who was expelled from the body after being convicted of misdemeanor assault for slashing his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, in the face with a glass.

Peralta easily won the election and Monserrate then turned his attention to Peralta’s up-for-grabs state Assembly seat, where he was defeated by Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Corona).

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.

Ruben Wills (c.) greets potential voters on Sutphin Boulevard Tuesday morning. Photo by Christina Santucci

Ruben Wills won the special election to fill the Council seat held by Thomas White with a modest lead over Nicole Paultre-Bell, unofficial election results from New York 1 said.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, the longtime activist and political aide had about 31.2 percent of the total vote with 3,347 votes in the election for the District 28 seat, according to NY 1. Paultre-Bell, the fiancée of police shooting victim Sean Bell, had roughly 25.3 percent of the total with 2,721 residents choosing her at the polls, the station reported.

Albert Baldeo came in third with 1,512 votes, or about 14.1 percent, followed by former Councilman Allan Jennings, with 1,068 votes, or 9.95 percent; Charles Bilal, with 925 votes, or 8.6 percent; Harpreet Toor with 728 votes, or 6.8 percent; and Martha Butler with 436 votes, or 4.1 percent, according to NY 1.

The city’s Board of Elections said there were problems at polling stations in southeast Queens, which delayed the count for the election.

In other southeast Queens races, state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) won his bid for another term in Albany with 17,801 votes, roughly 74.1 percent of the total, and defeated GOP opponent Samuel Benoit, who had 5,089 votes, or about 21.2 percent of the total, and Conservative candidate Everly Brown, who had 1,146 votes, or 4.8 percent, according to NY 1. Only 72 percent of the precincts reported their results, NY 1 said.

State Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and state Assembly members William Scarborough (D-St. Albans), Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village), Michelle Titus (D-Far Rockaway) and Vivian Cook (D-Jamaica) all ran opposed in the general election and will be serving another term in Albany this January.

Wills, who was supported by state Huntley and City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), said he was positive that he would pull through to capture the seat.

“I look forward to working with the diverse neighborhoods of the 28th Council District to address the challenges we face together,” he said in a statement.

Paultre-Bell, who was backed by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), could not be reached for comment.

Wills’s backers said he had proven himself for years during his work with Huntley and Comrie as well as community groups.

“I like that he lives in the community and has been part of the community for years,” said voter Evelyn Rucker, 40, after she cast her ballot at August Martin HS.

Voters choosing Paultre-Bell, who had to move into the district last month, said her fresh face in southeast Queens politics gave them confidence in putting their trust behind her campaign.

“I figured she’s new so they didn’t have a chance to corrupt her,” said Bernie Williams, a 59-year-old voter from Jamaica.

But others thought that her naivete would hinder her from getting positive results for the neighborhood.

“She has a reason, she has a cause, but we need a leader who knows what to do,” said Abigail Thomas, 22, who voted for Wills.

The special non-partisan election was held following White’s death in August. Seven candidates from all over the district, which includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Rochdale Village, threw their hats into the ring following the election’s announcement.

The large number of candidates on the ballot and the short time they had to get their message out on the streets made some voters a little confused about whom to choose.

“I was interested in the race, but I didn’t have any of the histories on them,” said a Jamaica voter who would only identify herself as Johnnise.

The 38-year-old said she ultimately omitted that race on her ballot.

“I would have made a choice, but I didn’t see them do anything for the community,” she said.

The winner will serve a term that lasts until Dec. 31, 2011 and will have to face another election next year to retain the Council seat.

Malcolm Smith

State Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) is unlikely to face any repercussions in his status as a high-ranking Senate Democrat, even if Republicans take over the body, because of a built-in voting bloc of support as a Democratic leader, according to the analysis of a political science professor at Queens College.

Two years ago, Smith, then Senate minority leader, reached a deal with the so-called Gang of Three that made him majority leader and president of the Senate — the top post of the majority party in the chamber.

But after a coup led by then-Sen. Hiram Monserrate and Sens. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) and Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), Smith retained his president of the Senate position and Espada became majority leader, but Sen. John Sampson was given the new position of majority conference leader and has since been seen as the face of the Senate’s Democratic majority.

While Smith would no longer be Senate president if Republicans win at least two seats from Democrats in November’s election, he would still have a high-ranking role within the Democratic Party in the minority, according to Michael Krasner, a political science professor at Queens College.

Smith “has a built-in bloc of support,” Krasner said, including Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) and other black senators whose chances of losing in November are slim.

Two elements who were a threat to Smith — Espada and Monserrate — will not be in the Senate come January.

Espada, the target of a corruption probe by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, lost on Primary Day to Gustavo Rivera 62 percent to 33 percent. A third candidate garnered 5 percent of the vote.

Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, was expelled from the Senate earlier this year and lost a special election to then-Assemblyman Jose Peralta for his old seat. On Primary Day, his bid to return to Albany as an assemblyman also failed, as he lost to Francisco Moya, an activist and former aide to Gov. David Paterson, 67 percent to 33 percent.

Krasner said it was the corruption allegations, not the coup, that did in Espada in the primary.

Diaz, who easily defeated his primary opponent 79 percent to 21 percent, “has a political machine” that solidified his victory, Krasner said.

The political science professor said he did not believe Diaz is “personally corrupt” and that it would take an Espada-like scandal to unseat him.

Meeks and Smith were co-founders of the New Direction Local Development Corp., a charity that has come under fire for allegedly skimping on its promise to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

While the nonprofit raised tens of thousands of dollars for the cause, only a fraction of that amount was actually doled out, according to financial records.

Meeks is also reportedly under investigation for receiving a $40,000 personal loan from real estate developer Edul Ahmad in 2007 that the New York Daily News said the congressman repaid last month after the FBI questioned Ahmad about the arrangement.?

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said she could not confirm or deny any investigations.

Meeks’ campaign finance disclosure with the Federal Election Commission showed he spent $15,000 on legal services June 28 to the Manhattan-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney.

Smith paid lawyer Gerald Shargel $25,000 from his re-election campaign account Feb. 17, 2010, when scrutiny of New Direction picked up.

That expense was Smith’s largest of the year besides $36,476 he spent April 12 for a fund-raiser at Antun’s in Queens Village, according to state campaign finance records.

Sisters Emma (l. to r.), Alyson, and Kate Hance of Floral Park were killed in the Taconic Parkway crash. Photo courtesy New York Post

Inspired in part by the wrong-way crash on the Taconic Parkway that killed three young Floral Park, L.I., sisters, the state Legislature passed what it called the strictest DWI laws in the country that would stiffen penalties for drunk drivers when there is a child in the vehicle.

Anyone charged with driving while intoxicated who has a child as a passenger in their car would face up to four years in prison instead of the current one-year maximum.

If the drunk driver causes serious injury to a child in the car, that person would face a seven-year maximum sentence instead of four years.

If the drunk driver drives recklessly, causing serious injury to a child passenger, the driver would face up to 15 years in prison instead of the current four-year maximum.

If a child in the car is killed by a drunk driver, the driver would face up to 25 years in prison instead of the current seven years.

The legislation also calls for installing ignition interlock devices for everyone convicted of a DWI offense. A judge can waive that requirement, but only for someone who has no history of alcohol abuse or dependence.

“By strengthening both prevention and punishment, this bill is a strong step forward in our ongoing effort to eliminate the needless and tragic deaths caused by drunk drivers,” said state Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), who co-sponsored the legislation. “Too many lives are put on the line every day through this reckless and thoughtless act, and it is long overdue that we take a tough stance against this unacceptable conduct.”

“Drunk driving is an incredibly reckless and dangerous crime, made all the more senseless and heinous when a child’s life is on the line,” said state Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside), who co-sponsored the bill in the Assembly. “This multi-pronged measure will make drunk drivers think twice before climbing behind the wheel with a child passenger, and harshly punish those who do so.”

Sisters Alyson, Kate and Emma Hance of Floral Park, L.I., were killed when their aunt, Diane Schuler, drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway, striking another vehicle. Three Yonkers men in the other car were killed along with Schuler and her 2-year-old daughter.

The bill is named “Leandra’s Law” after Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old who was killed after the car driven by the mother of one of her friends overturned on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan last month, but it was also drafted with the Hance sisters and Schuler’s daughter in mind.

“New Yorkers everywhere were deeply impacted by the two most recent fatal instances where children were innocent victims of an adult drunk driver,” said Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) in a statement. “With the memory of Leandra and the Schuler and Hance girls and countless victims of DWI in our hearts and our minds guiding the way, New York becomes the leader in the fight to end drunk driving.”

During the election season, ads featuring mayoral candidate William Thompson and President Barack Obama were hanging all over southeast Queens. Photo by Christina Santucci

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg won his controversial bid for a third term by a surprisingly slim margin.Part of the reason for his win may be that in southeast Queens, his Democratic rival, city Comptroller William Thompson, bested Bloomberg by wide margins in several state Assembly districts, city Board of Elections statistics show.

Some voters who went for Thompson in the predominantly black neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans and Laurelton said their votes had nothing to do with race, political parties or endorsements. Rather, voters say, it was Bloomberg’s decision to extend his stay in office that caused them to seek a change in mayors.

“That bothered me because he didn’t go through the voters,” Thompson voter the Rev. Isidoa Branch Jr. of Jamaica said of the term-limits change.

Although Bloomberg won most of the Queens Assembly districts, he lost to Thompson in six of them, four of which covers southeast Queens: District 37, which covers western Queens; District 35, which covers Elmhurst and Corona; District 29, which covers St. Albans; District 31, which covers Laurelton and the Rockaways; District 32, which covers Jamaica and South Jamaica; and District 33, which covers Queens Village, according to BOE results.

The comptroller’s voter tally was double the amount Bloomberg amassed in the southeast Queens areas, as Thompson received 43,911 votes combined in Districts 29, 31, 32 and 33 compared to the mayor’s 16,102, the BOE said.

Several constituents in southeast Queens expressed their displeasure about the incumbent because they said he had been in office for too long. Some voters, like Jene Blanc of Laurelton, said they thought the mayor was a better leader for the city in the race, but for them eight was enough.

“Bloomberg was supposed to get out after eight years,” Blanc said. “I don’t think [Thompson is] a good candidate, but Bloomberg already had eight years.”

Thompson could have become the mayor’s second black mayor, but his race was not a leading factor into why he won southeast Queens, according to Adjoa Gzifa, chairwoman of Community Board 12.

Gzifa, a Democrat, said the term limits issue was on the minds of many voters, but at the end of the day, they chose who they thought was best based on the candidates’ leadership skills.

“The proof is in the eye of the beholder. If it relates to you and you think [Bloomberg] did a good job, you voted for him,” she said.

During a rally two days before the election at Rochdale Village, Thompson emphasized term limits before a crowd of supporters, which included U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and state Senate Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans). The comptroller told the crowd of 100 that grassroots campaigns would be stronger than Bloomberg’s multimillion-dollar campaign spending.
“We have an opportunity to shock the world,” he said.

Despite Thompson’s support from Queens’ elected officials, Bloomberg had the backing of the Rev. Floyd Flake and Greater Allen Cathedral, the neighborhood’s most influential church.

Flake’s endorsement did not cause too much excitement for the mayor in southeast Queens, according to Gzifa, because most voters had already made up their mind.

“Endorsements don’t mean a hill of beans to people. I don’t think they are influenced by who at the top endorses these people,” she said.

Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.