Kathy Flynn, SBPB Civic President, with Rep. Anthony Weiner
The ocean is more than just a neighbor to residents of waterfront Brooklyn and Queens, it’s a threat. And one that needs to be taken seriously.
Congressman Anthony Weiner gathered local leaders and the press on what remains of the sands along the Belt Parkway this afternoon to deliver that message to city and state authorities, and urge preparedness in the face of Hurricane Earl. Currently a category 4 storm, Earl is positioned to sweep across the Eastern coast this week.
“We are here for the third time to call on the Army Corps of Engineers of the state to start to deal with this problem before it visits upon us,” Weiner said in his statement. “We understand that, living here in the beachfront path, we have certain risks – that the Atlantic Ocean and mother nature more or less goes wherever she wants. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to take some smart steps.”
Keep reading, and see video of his remarks and a copy of a letter sent to the Army Corps of Engineers.
From State Senator Marty Golden’s office:
Brooklyn – State Senator Marty Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn) is announcing his plans to host two community memorials to commemorate the 9th Anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, on Saturday, September 11, 2010.
The first memorial will take place at 6:00 p.m. in Marine Park, entrance at Fillmore Avenue and Marine Parkway and at 8:00 p.m., Senator Golden will lead a memorial ceremony at the American Veteran’s Memorial Pier, 69th Street and Shore Road. The events will both feature a candlelight vigil and a special patriotic musical performance at the conclusion.
Keep reading the release.
Courtesy of Cymbrowitz's office
State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz welcomed four hundred local senior citizens to a luncheon celebrating the end of summer, and connect them with area services.
The August 26 event brought together residents of Chinese, Russian, church and synagogue senior centers for a morning of lunch, music, dancing and giveaways. Representatives from the Social Security Administration, NYC Human Resources Administration and My Turn (a Kingsborough Community College program that enables senior citizens to take tuition-free classes), were on hand to provide information.
NYC's new voting machines // Source: Vote-NY.com
State Senator Carl Kruger is up in arms over a Board of Elections oversight that omitted Russian-language translations for online voter education materials.
Kruger has fired off a letter to the board after he learned that it failed to include either written or audio instructions for Russian-speaking voters on how to use the new voting machines. The senator was the lead sponsor of a state law passed recently that requires large municipalities to translate all voting materials into Russian.
The Board of Election’s failure to “comply with the law’s specifications and its intent is a grievous insult to the Russian-speaking community that must be corrected at once,” said Kruger.
The board’s voter education website, Vote-NY.com, has posted videos about the operation of new optical scanner ballot machines rolling out this year. In line with other state voter laws, the site offers translation options for Spanish, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and Korean. But there’s no option for Russian.
Kruger’s office said he has received “assurances” from the board that the mistake will be corrected.
However, none of the site’s other translation options for the videos work, with the exception of the Cantonese version. No mention has been made of whether the city will fix those glitches.
Made you look! Sorry, I couldn’t resist, and I’ve heard the Congressman make enough jokes at his name’s expense that I feel he won’t mind…
Moving on, Congressman Anthony Weiner will be meeting constituents on the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Avenue Y today. Stop by with any questions and concerns. Here’s the press release from his office:
Brooklyn, NY – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) and members of his staff will take his office directly to the streets of Brooklyn as part of his “mobile office tour” to accommodate those unable to visit one of his three community offices. Constituents can come to discuss a range of issues and ideas and share individual concerns.
Who: Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Brooklyn and Queens)
What: Weiner to bring mobile office to Brooklyn to assist constituents unable to visit one of his district offices.
When: 2:30pm—4pm
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Where: In front of Pathmark
3785 Nostrand Avenue, at Avenue Y
Brooklyn, NY
Source: weiner.house.gov
Congressman Anthony Weiner took on a broad range of topics during yesterday’s hour-long telephone town hall meeting, touching upon neighborhood and international issues alike.
Weiner’s star continues to rise on the heels of the Democratic healthcare victory, and he made clear in the beginning of the call that he’s now tackling economic issues.
But that didn’t stop residents from picking the congressman’s mind about climate change, civil rights, stimulus funds, healthcare, social security, education and even the perceived threat mosques present to the United States.
You can hear the full audio of the call here:
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Keep reading to see excerpts of some of the more interesting responses Congressman Weiner gave during his telephone town hall.
Oberman
We wanted to check in with Igor Oberman, the Russian-American attorney who announced in April that he’d be running against State Senator Carl Kruger. So when we reached out to him late last week, we were disappointed to receive a note over the weekend saying, “I have dropped out of the race. It was a hard decision but I felt a primary with Sen. Kruger would be too disruptive to the thin democratic majority in the Senate.”
We didn’t get anything else out of him, but hopefully we can pick his mind soon.
In the meantime, New York Observer has got our Oberman fill. And what we see is that Oberman appears to be getting the swing of Albany politics without even being there. How else do you explain an outsider candidate who railed against the incumbent’s unwillingness to respond to his constituent’s needs suddenly drop out by citing party allegiance and then backing the incumbent?
Oh, you didn’t know? He’s backing Kruger now:
“It wasn’t the right time to do a challenge. There is too thin of a Democratic majority right now, and with the budget the way it is it wasn’t time to go forward,” Oberman said.
Oberman insisted that no one pressured him to drop out of the race–”People always think there was some kind of backroom deal,” he said. “That wasn’t the case–” and he said he now supported Kruger’s re-election.
“I believe he is someone important to Brooklyn and the Democratic majority,” he said. “There was room at the table for another person, but at this point I would say that we need someone like him representing Brooklyn.”
Oberman told the Observer that he’s planning another political foray in the future, and that redistricting following the census results would mean more opportunities for Russian-Americans in the area. But it remains to be seen if his sudden commitment to Kruger and the “thin Democratic majority” will hurt or help him in a district where residents clamor for a choice.
From the Village Voice:
The latest state campaign filings show that Brooklyn state senator Carl Kruger — who hasn’t had a tough race in 15 years — took in another half-million bucks from his many supporters. The haul keeps Kruger, who represents a swath of south Brooklyn, at the top of the state senate’s political money mountain, with a new total of $2.55 million in his war chest. That’s two and a half times the $989,000 that senate leader John Sampson has in his own campaign bank. Only Assembly boss Sheldon Silver has more, with $2.7 million.
…
Whatever the probe’s status, the filings show that Kruger shelled out $7500 to the law firm of Meissner, Kleineck & Finkel, where partner Richard Finkel is representing Kruger chief of staff Jason Koppel who was also cited as part of the federal probe. Finkel told the Voicelast month that his client is also out of the woods with the feds.
And he doesn’t even have an opponent. How disgusting.
Courtesy of NYS Senate
From the New York Post:
Embattled Brooklyn state Sen. Carl Kruger last year tapped his campaign fund for $10,500 in payments to an obscure New Jersey company that operates out of a private home and communicates via post-office box, The Post has learned.
The payments went to Reliable Repair Inc., a Fair Lawn, NJ, firm the Democratic lawmaker said was hired to install air conditioning and heating systems at his district office.
But campaign records on four 2009 payments to Reliable gave conflicting addresses for the business, including three that list a nonexistent address in New Jersey.
The fourth address was for a New Jersey post office, where a worker said Reliable pays for a box but operates from a home a half-mile away. Neighbors were unfamiliar with any business there.
Kruger, who’s being probed by the FBI in an alleged pay-to-play scheme, said the firm came “highly recommended” by Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay constituents.
Reached by phone to answer questions about work done for Kruger, Mark Yanishevsky, named as Reliable Repair’s vice president, asked: “Why are you trying to blackmail me? How did you find me?”
Here at Sheepshead Bites, we’ve got a lot of Kruger’s Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay constituents as readers. So does anyone recommend Reliable Repair Inc.?
Keep reading to find out how much Kruger spent on possibly illegal uses, and what he has to say.
Igor Oberman (photo via Facebook)
State Senator Carl Kruger won’t go unchallenged this election season, as a 37-year-old Russian-American lawyer tosses his hat in the ring for the Democratic primary.
Igor Oberman, a personal injury lawyer and administrative law judge, is mounting an attack on the most well-funded state senator in the legislature. According to City Hall News, Oberman is betting that voters have become frustrated with Albany’s disarray.
“I’m not intimidated, although I’m a first time candidate,” Oberman said. “When my candidacy really rolls out, the defining moment will not come from Carl Kruger’s big bankroll, but on September 14 when the people make a choice.”
Oberman’s family fled to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1981, giving him a deeper tie to the district’s booming Russian-American population. He told the news service that, among his complaints about Kruger, is the senator’s unwillingness to respond to his constituents needs. Among them are the MTA cuts and the neighborhood’s concerns over proposed changes to Asser Levy / Seaside Park.
Kruger, who has so far raised $2.2 million for his campaign, was dismissive towards his newfound rivals attempt to unseat him.
“He wants to run for something and get it out of his system,” Kruger said. “But I’ve never met him and don’t know his view of the world.”
“I don’t know of one organization, one issue, one scintilla of community involvement he can lay claim to,” Kruger said. “I’m Carl Kruger. I’m the state senator.”
