Tony Avella

Here's how to fund-raise if you're a longshot mayoral candidate without much institutional support.  read more »

Likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner released a summary of his tax returns just now. From his spokesman:

Weiner earned $152,996 of income in the year 2007. He made payments of $13,900 in New York City/State taxes and $24,300 in Federal taxes.

Longshot (but announced!) mayoral candidate Tony Avella already released his, while Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn have not.  read more »

Councilman and longshot mayoral candidate Tony Avella has just made himself the first of the likely 2009 contenders to release his personal tax information.  read more »

Christine Quinn will announce shortly that she has reached a deal with the Bloomberg administration on a plan to restructure the Department for the Aging.

Michael Bloomberg's plan to overhaul the system of city senior centers, partly by closing many of them, and discontinuing a hot meals-on-wheels program has drawn criticism from advocates for the elderly.  read more »

Here's a shot from a congestion pricing forum in Brooklyn last night, where Anthony Weiner made an unannounced appearance, alongside likely mayoral rival, and fellow critic, Tony Avella (far right). In the middle, that's Steve Harrison, another critic of the plan and current candidate for congress.  read more »

Councilman Tony Avella wants Andrew Cuomo to investigate the City Council’s former practice of funneling money to fake organizations as part of a budget mechanism to ‘hold’ taxpayer money for future use.  read more »

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Here’s video of Christine Quinn explaining how the $4.7 million her aides diverted to fake organizations was spent on “mid-year budget needs.”

She goes on to say that the practice of “holding” money "in reserve" is done by “numerous city agencies.”

Location: In your bid for mayor, as of January, you’d raised $180,000 compared with more than $4 million by one of your potential opponents.

Mr. Avella: I consider that a virtue.

People use the term ‘long shot.’

I agree. Absolutely. I’m bucking the system; I have been since 2002. I’m the independent voice. … The real estate industry, which is the biggest contributor giving to people for higher office, they aren’t giving to me.

How many hours a week do you work?  read more »

Council member Tony Avella, a congestion pricing opponent and, as of Sunday, longshot mayoral candidate, was on WNYC this morning discussing his theory of how the measure passed the City Council.

With characteristic outspokenness, Avella told Brian Lehrer, “We did have the votes [to block it], until the mayor and the speaker started leaning on people, or shall we saying influencing? Or bribing people, depending on how you want to look at it.” When Lehrer asked how he saw it, Avella replied, “I look at it as bribing people.”

Avella has identified the three main issues of his mayoral campaign as taxes, overdevelopment and education, but his real niche, such as it is, will be as a foil for the better-financed -- and more typically disciplined -- competitors like Christine Quinn, who’s expected to announce eventually.

During the radio interview this morning, Avella insisted on answering questions about congestion pricing from his office phone and then switching to his cell phone to talk about his campaign, to avoid using government property while stumping. It's the sort of off-beat behavior that might not get him elected, but should, at least, serve to distinguish him from his competitors.  read more »

Charles Barron, a City Council representative from what he called “the People's Republic of Brooklyn,” stood on the steps of City Hall this morning before a scheduled hearing on 125th Street rezoning and denounced it as an “abusive use of eminent domain.”

“Harlem is not for sale,” he said, prompting cheers from the Harlem residents, community groups, and handful of local politicians in the audience. “We are tired of this city using development as a new wave of Jim Crowism. This place is supposed to protect people, not developers and the real estate industry.”

Craig Schley, the director of the Harlem group VOTE People, said residents “are not going to let this happen.” With the help of civil rights lawyers, VOTE People will invoke a 110-year-old, obscure provision in the City Charter to challenge the rezoning of 125th Street. Subsection 3 of section 200 of the Charter basically says that if 20 percent of property owners in the “affected area” sign a petition opposing the rezoning, the plan needs to be approved by three-fourths of the City Council, rather than by the usual simple majority.  read more »

City Councilman and mayoral candidate Tony Avella wants to revolutionize the way city elections are funded -- or, at least, to make it easier for candidates without backing from large donors (like, for instance, him) to compete with their better-established rivals.

In a public statement about a bill he's calling "Clean Money, Clean Elections" legislation, Avella said:  read more »

Here's Tony Avella's first (probably not last) mayoral video.  read more »

Councilman Tony Avella is putting the final touches on a bill that would make community-based plans the framework for zoning regulations, land use, and development for every district in the five boroughs. He expects to formally introduce the bill to the City Council this summer.

Under the current system. community boards can submit development initiatives called 197a plans that “have no legal force whatsoever;" are often overlooked; and limit residents’ influence over the future shape of their neighborhood, according to Mr. Avella.

“The bill would allow each community, through the mechanism of the community board, to meet and develop a 197a plan... that would in effect become the planning document for the neighborhood,” Mr. Avella told The Observer Monday.

“Every neighborhood would put together its own plan that would go into the community document, the borough document, and the city document… It gives real power to every neighborhood so every citizen has a say in what happens.”  read more »

The vice president of Toll Brothers David Von Spreckelsen and another company representative unexpectedly appeared at a neighborhood meeting in Gowanus, Brooklyn, last night to defend the 575-unit residential project the builders plan to develop along the polluted canal.

Friends of Bond Street organized the meeting to rally public opposition to Toll Brothers' planned development before the public scope hearing takes place next week.  read more »

State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, Jr., who is under indictment for steering public money through a non-profit organization and back into his own pocket, chatted with me after yesterday’s legislative breakfast, hosted by the Riverdale Jewish Community Council.

On the subject of his legal troubles, his lyrical defense went like this:  read more »

Queens Councilman and "longshot" mayoral candidate Tony Avella went on The Brian Lehrer show to defend the bill he will put to the City Council tomorrow, proposing a ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City.

When a caller pointed out that if the ban went into affect the horses would be sent to slaughter houses, Avella conceded the point, and answered, “Although my bill doesn’t have it in now, we are working with a number of animal rights groups to make sure...the horses go to farms.”

Can the Vallone Dynasty expand to Bayside?

Paul Vallone confirmed he is planning to run for the City Council in the eastern Queens district that includes Bayside and parts of north Flushing. (He filed his paperwork with the city Campaign Finance Board about two weeks ago.)

“Yeah it is interesting,” Paul told me just now. “It’s going to be the first Vallone not in Astoria. It’s like a fish out of water.”

Paul, 40, a lawyer working in Astoria, added, “I’m not going to be the guy to open up an apartment someplace just so I can run here. My home is there now, so.”

More after the jump.  read more »

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development is hiring a director of operations to oversee tax programs.

The city Parks Department is looking for a program manager.

Adolfo Carrion is hiring a deputy director of policy.

Tony Avella is looking for a community liaison.

And 32BJ/SEIU is hiring a Latino media relations coordinator.

Last night I saw City Councilman Tony Avella of Queens, who is officially running for mayor, speaking at an event in midtown hosted by DFNYC and some local Democratic clubs.

Avella, chair of the zoning and franchise committee, has long been a critic of his colleagues things like going “on and on without saying anything” and voting for their own pay raises.

In this clip (shot, once again, in night-vision mode), Avella rips into the speaker of the City Council (and his potential mayoral rival) Christine Quinn for allegedly obeying the whims of the real estate industry, who make their wants known in private telephone calls. Avella calls it the “secret government.”

(Tech Note: Yes, Avella knew I was filming. And full disclosure, my mom lives in his district.)

For the record, here’s the exact breakdown of who voted for, against, abstained or was absent for a proposal yesterday to reinsert the name of black activist Sonny Carson into an omnibus street renaming bill.

Affirmative: 15
Negative: 25
Abstentions: 7
Absent 4:

Notably, John Liu, the only Asian-American in the Council, voted to honor Carson, as did Tony Avella. Bill De Blasio, who worked on the David Dinkins mayoral campaign around the time Carson was registering voters to help elect Dinkins, voted no.

A complete list is after the jump.  read more »

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum may or may not run for mayor in 2009, but she certainly sounds up for it.

"I have as much energy as Anthony Weiner, and Bill Thompson, and Christine and Adolfo and Tony Avella, all put into one," she told me.

More here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's an unusual one.

Councilman Tony Avella, chair of the City Council's subcommittee on Zoning, was cited for having a swimming pool that violated local zoning rules.

According to the Queens Tribune, Avella took the citation very personally.

"Clearly this is politically motivated," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "These complaints were put in and are totally ridiculous. The Buildings Department acted in a much more rapid response time than normal. Something was clearly done unethically in terms of the agency."

Avella's office is planning a press conference on Monday about "Calling on Buildings to Stop Harassment of Honest Homeowners."

-- Azi Paybarah

At 10 a.m. City Council member Tony Avella and others protest "contradictions of mayor's '2030' plan" in Queens at the corner of 39th Ave and 234th Street. At 11 a.m. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and club owners announce new night life safety measures at City Hall.

Also at 11 a.m. a George W. Bush impersonator holds a news conference at 354 West 45th St.

And from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m James Brown lies in state at the Apollo Theater.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tony Avella and the New York Fire Patrol announce a resolution calling for restoration of funds to the Fire Patrol on the steps of City Hall.

The New School hosts a lecture on Solutions to the Work/Family Dilemma with labor writer Ann Crittenden, and Lou Uchitelle talks about his book The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences.

A hearing will be held on the morning after pill at the Brooklyn Court House.

Malachy McCourt holds a press conference on his plan to bring New York State's National Guard troops home from Iraq at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Bath, New York. The Voter Assistance Commission sponsors a symposium on Voting Rights in Criminal Convictions at Medgar Evers College.

The Korean American League for Civic Action hosts a Gubernatorial Town Hall Meeting with Eliot Spitzer. NYU's Edgar Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life sponsors a lecture by real 'Hotel Rwanda' hero Paul Rusesabagina at Cooper Union.

Former terrorists Walid Shoebat and Zachariah Anani and former Nazi Hitler Youth member Hilmar von Campe speak at Columbia University's Roone Arledge Auditorium.

David Paterson and State Senate candidate Brooke Ellison call for prescription drug reform at the Setauket Neighborhood House.

John Faso hosts a Town Hall meeting at Briarcliff College in Patchogue.

The Public Service Commission holds a hearing on the Westchester County power outage in the New Rochelle City Hall Council Chambers.

—Nicole Brydson

Young leaders take the City Year pledge and the AmeriCorps pledge at their opening day ceremonies at Trinity Church.

Corporate Women Directors International hosts a forum at The Harvard Club on how to increase the number of women in the board room.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Victoria Espinel speaks on "China and the U.S.' Intellectual Property Agenda" at 55 Fifth Avenue.

A press conference will be held announcing the establishment of the African Burial Ground National Monument foundation at 290 Broadway.

Tony Avella criticizes the delays and underfunding of the Parks Department's "Trees and Sidewalks" program in Douglaston.

Alan Greenspan speaks to the press prior to his appearance at the Long Island Association September Luncheon at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Nassau County Comptroller Howard Wietzman celebrates the 2nd anniversary of the NassauRx prescription discount card program at Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling Services in Hicksville.

Thomas Morahan announces legislation that would exclude school property tax rebates from taxation in West Nyack.

—Nicole Brydson

City Council members Leroy Comrie and Tony Avella took to the Daily News editorial pages on Sunday to tackle the question of whether the City Council deserves a raise. Comrie:

"The last time the city adjusted the salaries for Council members was seven years ago. Since then, the cost of living in New York City has increased 25%. At a base salary of $90,000, member are paid considerably less than the $175,000 that many New York City commissioners earn, less than many professional staff are paid at city agencies and less than some staff are paid at the Council itself."

Avella:

"Being a member of the Council is still a part-time job. Council members are allowed to have other jobs and outside income, and many do. In addition, many members receive annual bonuses, ranging from $4,000 to $29,500, for serving in leadership positions or as committee chairs. I have always refused mine."

-- Azi Paybarah

Congressman Steve Israel delivers iPods donated by the Plumbers Union to New York National Guard members in Hauppauge.

Council Member Tony Avella announces a new anti-grafitti initiative at Bonnie Brite Cleaners in Flushing.

Carolyn Maloney and the NYC Breastfeeding Promotion Leadership Committee and the Brooklyn Alliance for Breastfeeding Empowerment will hold their 3rd annual subway breastfeeding caravan to mark World Breastfeeding Week.

—Nicole Brydson

The City Council's Committee on Public Safety will hold a meeting on local gun laws.

Tony Avella and preservation groups will hold a press conference on legislation regarding public hearings on proposed landmark site designations on the steps of City Hall.

Tom Suozzi will campaign in Staten Island, hosting a town hall meeting at Hotel Staten Island.

The Center for Constitutional Rights will hold a teach-in based on the legal case developed by the center for the impeachment of George Bush at the Community Bookstore in Park Slope.

A rally will be held at 5pm at the Iranian mission to mark the one-year anniversary of Iran's execution of two teen-aged gay males.

—Nicole Brydson

The Sun reports that Roger Green doesn't want voters to hold his ethics violations against him in his run for congress.

The Daily News reports that Tony Avella is looking at running for mayor in 2009; and Rudy Giuliani believes he has common ground with Ralph Reed.

And the Times reports the New York Pension fund has filed suit against Qwest Communications International for overstating their earnings and revenue.

—Nicole Brydson

Council Member Tony Avella told the Metro newspaper that he would vote against the Yankee Stadium plan Wednesday because the community benefits agreement amounted to a shakedown. Even one vote against that stadium would represent a major backlash against these agreements. No link to Metro but Neil deMause has a similar entry on his blog. -Matthew Schuerman

A new City Council sessions means a round of new, and re-introduced, legislation, from essential to ridiculous.

The full list is here. Some highlights:

Tony Avella wants to end "goat tying" and "horse-tripping."

He would also prohibit the resale of undergarments, which is "certainly repugnant to general standards of hygiene and responsibility."

James Genarro plans to add the birthdays of Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha to the no-alternate-side-parking list.

(I am signing on to another McMahon proposal: outlawing those horrible supermarket circulars that come in huge numbers in plastic bags. )