Gianaris–Tabone Could Be
A Close Contest
By John Toscano

Gianaris Brings Strong Dem Backing To His First Assembly Test

For the first time in 25 years, voters in the 36th Assembly District (Astoria/Long Island City/Jackson Heights) will not find the name of Assemblymember Denis Butler on a voting machine on Tuesday, Nov. 7th, Election Day.

Instead they will find listed Michael Gianaris, Democrat; Vince Tabone, Republican, Conservative and Right to Life and Molly Honigsfeld, Independence Party.

Honigsfeld, the Long Island City district leader in her party, is not expected to be a factor in the outcome of the election.

For Gianaris, it’s his second time before the electorate, having survived his initial effort by winning the Democratic primary last month.

Tabone Cites Family Values, Civic Activities, Job Experience In 36th AD Contest

For Tabone, it’s his third time facing the voters, having lost twice previously to Butler, who retired rather than seeking a new term.

Ordinarily, state legislative election in Queens are easy pickings for Democrats because there are far more Democrats registered to vote in every district. When a Democratic incumbent is running, it becomes even more predictable that he or she will win.

But given that

*there are presidential and United States Senate races topping the ballot, both closely contested

*Gianaris is virtually untried

*Tabone has some voter recognition because of his civic and Republican involvements over the past decade,has been endorsed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, in whose administration he has worked the past six or seven years, and that Tabone’s activities in the Italian-American community could siphon some Democratic votes, it appears Tabone has more of a chance of winning the seat and sending a Republican to Albany from the 36th Assembly District for the first time in many years.

Getting his first chance to win an Assembly seat in his relatively short public service career, Michael Gianaris will go before all the voters in the 36th Assembly District on Nov. 7th, Election Day, to try to continue the Democratic Party’s dominance in the Astoria/Long Island City/ Jackson Heights area.

Well armed with the backing of the potent Taminent Regular Democratic Club and elements of the Queens Democratic organization, the Astoria born and bred candidate is in as favorable a position as most candidates would like to find themselves as he tries to become the succcessor to Assemblymember Denis Butler, who’s retiring on Dec. 31st rather than seek reelection. Butler served for a quarter of a century.

Gianaris underwent a grueling baptism of fire in his first-time ever test before voters when he defeated fellow Democrat Kimon Thermos in last month’s primary.

On Nov. 7th, he will face Republican Vince Tabone, the area’s Republican leader and a prominent Astoria community figure in what also looks to be a close election.

In winning last month’s primary, Gianaris said he learned an important lesson.

"I learned the importance of working hard and getting to meet the voters," Gianaris stated. "The single most important thing was meeting the voters door-to-door and at subway stops. I think it gave us the edge of victory since we won bigger than Denis did his last couple of races.

Gianaris referred to Butler, whose retirement last spring from the Assembly seat he held for 24 years opened the way for Gianaris and Tabone to run for the 36th AD seat in the Nov. 7th elections. The district covers Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights.

Gianaris, a 30-year-old attorney and Astoria resident, is running on the Democratic line only; Tabone will be on the Republican, Conservative and Right to Life lines on the ballot and Molly Honigsfeld of Long Island City will be on the Independence Party line.

Armed with the lessons learned in his primary campaign, Gianaris said he went right back to the basics when he started his general election campaign. "I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I want to run a full-fledged campaign," he said.

Toward that end, Gianaris was laying plans to raise some $70,000 to add to the $25,0000 he then had on hand. "We’ve got enough to keep our campaign going for now," he said, "but we’ll have to try to raise more funds to meet the expenses which pile up at the end of the campaign."

Gianaris has strong support among Queens Democrats and from the Taminent Regular Democratic Club in Astoria, of which he is a member.

After graduating from P.S. 84, JHS 140, Long Island City H.S., Fordham University and Harvard Law School, Gianaris began his public service career as an aide to then Congressmember Thomas Manton, now the Queens Democratic chairman. He later served as Queens County representative in Governor Mario Cuomo’s administration.

For the past three years he has served as Associate Counsel to the New York state Assembly’s Democratic leadership, headed by Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan.

Locally, Gianaris is a member of Community Board 1, is counsel to the United Community Civic Association, and a board member of the Eastern Orthodox Lawyers Association.

Responding to some criticism that has surfaced in some state legislative campaigns that local Democrats out of loyalty to Silver voted to repeal the tax on commuters, Gianaris stated," I opposed doing away with that tax. It deprived New York City of lots of revenue—it was a mistake for New York City."

Gianaris said if legislation is proposed to reinstate the levy, "I will support it. Commuters use our facilities, our subways and get police protection, so they should pay a small tax for it."

Reminded that this might put him at odds with Silver, his current boss, Gianaris stated: "I’ll go counter to him on any issue that hurts or is not in the best interests of my constituents."

He also pointed out that City Council Speaker Peter Vallone and Borough President Claire Shulman had also opposed repeal of the commuter tax.

In his campaigning, Gianaris has highlighted his Assembly job and his service as counsel to two standing committees as important job experience that has uniquely equipped him to prepare bills for submission if he’s elected to the Assembly.

"With my background, when I’m elected there won’t be any lost time learning the ins and outs of the Assemblymember’s job," he said. "In effect, I’ve been doing most of the work the past three-years so there won’t be any need for on-the-job training."

Gianaris has also been emphasizing in his campaigning that it would help 36th AD constituents more if they send a Democrat back to Albany because the Democrats control the Assembly and he, as a Democrat, would have a much better chance of having bills passed.

Gianaris’ main issue has been the environment and opposition to new power plants. He said community opposition had forced one major power producer to "cave in" and accept the community’s position that before any new plants can be built, those now existing which produce too much pollution must be overhauled and refitted so as to not produce excessive pollutants.

Regarding the threat to add many more flights at LaGuardia Airport, Gianaris noted that "the problem appears to have solved itself" as the Port Authority banned additional flights because of the airport’s inability to handle them.

Despite this development Gianaris said he still favored Borough President Claire Shulman’s court suit to require environmental impact studies whenever additional flights are proposed.

Gianaris also called attention to the great risks involved for the community when there is too much flight activity.

"There are huge oil storage tanks across from 81st Street," he said. "God forbid there’s a plane crash and they get hit."

Gianaris called for expansion of the state’s EPIC drug discount program for seniors because "It’s (prescription medication) the single biggest healthcare cost for seniors." Also in the area of healthcare, Gianaris would vote for a Consumer Bill of Rights "to allow suits if treatment is withheld" and to make sure" that medical people, not insurance men, make the medical decisions."

New school construction is needed to overcome the overcrowding in schools, he said, and he blasted Governor George Pataki for vetoing a $500 million school construction bill. Gianaris also feels the state’s school aid formula should be adjusted to give New York City its fair share of education funding.

He called for more cops patrolling the streets. He said he and Deputy Inspector James O’Brien, commanding officer the 114th Police, agree that Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik should assign more cops to the 36th AD.

Many powerful Democrats have endorsed Gianaris, among them Vallone, Manton, Shulman, state Senator George Onorato and Congressmembers Joseph Crowley and Carolyn Maloney.n

Vince Tabone, the Republican candidate against Democrat Michael Gianaris for the Assembly in Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights, ran twice against outgoing Assemblymember Denis Butler and each time got about 25 percent of the vote in losing elections against his Democratic opponent.

Ironically, the 34-year-old Giuliani administration official draws optimism for his chances against Gianaris in the Nov. 7th balloting based on his experience in campaigning against Butler.

"In those campaigns in 1994 and 1996," Tabone explains, "we both had the same positions on key issues—pro-life, pro-labor, favoring middle class tax relief, job creation and traditional family values. It was hard to run against a man you agreed with essentially on everything."

Tabone says that "like Butler, I’m committed to making government work for working families, senior citizens, our churches and houses of worship and the small business owners that make up our family community. So the best way we can continue Denis Butler’s values that have worked for our community for almost 25 years is for the voters to elect me as the 36th AD Assemblymember on Nov. 7th."

Butler, who is retiring at the end of the year, has endorsed Gianaris as his replacement. As a district leader in the 36th AD, Butler voted to make Gianaris the official candidate of the Democratic Party for the 36th AD seat.

Last month, Gianaris defeated Kimon Thermos in the Democratic primary and got the chance to run in the general election against Tabone.

A third candidate in the race is Molly Honigsfeld of Long Island City who is on the Independence Party line.

Tabone is also running as the Conservative Party and Right to Life candidate.

Tabone said in an interview that his similarities to Butler on many issues was not the only reason he felt he should be elected.

The major reasons, the Astoria resident points out, are his community involvement over the past decade, the experience he gained in housing development and economic development or part of the Giuliani administration over the past six years, his close relations with Pataki’s administration in Albany, and his family background—married to a public school teacher, the mother of his two children, one of whom attends a public school.

Tabone also feels his election chances will be helped significantly by his endorsement by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Queens’ top Republicans, county chairman state Senator Serphin Maltese and City Council Minority Leader Thomas Ognibene.

Besides this, says Tabone, he has taken positions on the major local issues which are protective of the community and help to preserve its quality of life.

Tabone, the Republican leader in Astoria/Long Island City, said, "I’ve stood with the community not as a party leader so much as a community resident and as a father raising his children here. That’s what informs my judgement, not party politics."

Born in Queens and a product of the public school system, Tabone entered Queens College at the age of 16, and after three years transferred to Baruch College, where he earned a degree in business administration. After college, he worked on Wall Street in a company that serviced investment companies, banks and law firms and rose to the position of research director.

While still working in the financial sector, Tabone joined the Kenna Republican Club in the late 1980s and got his first taste of political activity in Giuliani’s first campaign for mayor in 1989.

Al Buzzeo, then the GOP leader in the 36th AD was a strong backer of Giuliani and with the support of the Kenna Club members, won the Astoria area for Giuliani, who lost the election.

Tabone and the Kenna club provided strong support for Giuliani’s second try for mayor in 1993, which led to Giuliani’s first victory. Shortly after, Tabone took his first job in the first Giuliani administration as a senior manager in the Housing and Preservation Department (HPD).

"It was an education," Tabone recalls, "learning how to cut through red tape and get housing built, affordable housing for seniors."

After a couple of years, Tabone took a position in the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is the administration’s tool for building the city’s economy, revitalizing business and aiding business start-ups and expansions to create jobs and expand the city’s tax base.

Tabone started as an assistant vice president and rose to become vice president in charge of the EDC’s activities in Queens. "This brought me into frequent contact with Borough President Claire Shulman, Council Speaker Peter Vallone and the Queens delegation in the City Council and various state agencies," Tabone explained. "It was a very good example of how a Republican administration and Democratic officials worked cooperatively in a bipartisan spirit to get the city’s work done."

"This is why I think I would be best equipped to succeed Assemblymember Butler," Tabone added, "because of my work background and my bipartisan approach to issues and problems."

On issues, Tabone said his first priority would be education reform.

"I’m a father of two daughters, the oldest five and one half [years old] and in the first grade, and a wife who is a school teacher," he explained, "So this is a real issue for me. It affects my family directly."

Tabone reiterated that he went to public schools "but I want to do better for my children and the rest of the city," he said. "That’s why I advocate school choice, to give working class families the same options as more affluent families."

He also supports school vouchers giving parents funding to place their children in charter schools, which are run by private interests.

Both school choice and vouchers would result in students leaving public schools, Tabone said, and this could help reduce overcrowding.

Among his civic involvements, which began around 1993, Tabone cites his opposition to low-income housing on the Sterns warehouse site and his promotion of senior housing instead.

Tabone says he started opposing utility plants in Astoria "before I was a candidate" because they pollute the environment and are unhealthy for residents. There must be environmental reviews for proposed new plants and old plants should be phased out.

Regarding proposed expansion of flight activity at LaGuardia Airport, Tabone said he supports "Shulman’s litigation that there must be environmental review before we get any new flights."

For seniors, he advocates more housing and expansion of the EPIC discounts for prescription drugs for seniors.He said he supports Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore’s proposal to create "a lock box" to preserve Social Security assets and also Gore’s plan for prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients.

Tabone also supports covering "as many people as possible" with the STAR program that reduces real estate taxes for the elderly and city and state programs that provide exemptions from real estate tax increase and rent increases.

To create sites for new affordable housing, Tabone proposes cleaning up what are known as "brownfields," areas that are contaminated with toxic wastes and abandoned by businesses.

In the area of health care, Tabone feels HMOs must be held accountable, "civilly liable if people get hurt," and the government should increase penalties for Medicare fraud.