Weprin Addresses Sunnyside Chamber
BY THOMAS COGAN

Photo Luke Adams David Weprin, City Council Finance Committee chairman and a candidate for city comptroller in next year's election, attended the March luncheon of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce. (L. to r.): Sophia Ganosis of the Queens Chamber of Commerce; Lily Gavin, owner of Dazies, site of the luncheon; Weprin; John Vogt, president of the Sunnyside Chamber; and Joseph Friedman, formerly Weprin's chief of staff in the City Council and now executive director of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

David Weprin, chairman of the of the City Council Finance Committee and representative of its 23rd District in Hollis/Jamaica, was the speaker at the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce's luncheon for March held as usual at Dazies Restaurant on Queens Boulevard. Weprin is running for comptroller of the city, hoping to replace William Thompson, who is in the running for mayor. Weprin, Thompson and several other current office-holders are in the running for new positions because term limits rules are forcing them from their current ones. Weprin had a comment or two about term limits and several other matters. The luncheon attendees also heard about work that has actually begun on the Sunnyside Arch, and other items too.

Weprin, son of the late Sol Weprin, at one time Speaker of the Assembly in the New York state legislature, and brother of Assemblymember Mark Weprin, was elected to the City Council in 2001. He addressed the term limits mandate by saying that he disagrees with it but had to admit that he could assume chairmanship of the Finance Committee as soon as he took office in 2002 only because nearly all the incumbents, some with decades of experience, had been forced to relinquish their seats and thus he didn't need to build seniority. He marveled at the tide of events while he has been in office, saying that in 2002 the city faced a severe financial deficit and later enjoyed a huge surplus but now is facing a deficit again. He said that one of his tasks during his final months in office is to save Off-Track Betting in New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he wants OTB discontinued because the city must pay so much for it that the profit is nullified. Weprin said the city is hindered by an archaic financing formula for OTB, but nevertheless it should be saved. First, "It's the most profitable OTB in the state system." Second, it was instituted in 1970 to eliminate illegal bookmaking establishments, among other things. Kill OTB in NYC, Weprin said, and they'll all be back.

He then turned to what he called the "congestion tax", thus revealing his unfavorable opinion of the mayor's plan to impose fees on vehicles that are driven into the heart of Manhattan. He said the proposal to use fees to subsidize mass transit was not part of the original plan and anyway would result in subsidization of the MTA capital plan by Brooklyn and Queens, the boroughs that would be chiefly affected. Congestion in Manhattan is mainly from commercial traffic, he said, and charging $21 to a Queens or Brooklyn commercial vehicle so it can drive into Manhattan on business is unfair and bound to force a change in Queens and Brooklyn businesses (not to mention those of the other boroughs) that might not be favorable. When asked about the city council's reaction, he said that most of the expressed opinion there is against congestion pricing, but the undecided vote and a lot of mayoral arm-twisting could win the vote for it. He added that the state Assembly is against it. He said he hoped that the $400 rebate to homeowners could be saved in the current fiscal crisis, and the revived six-day openings for libraries too. Judy Zangwill, executive director of Sunnyside Community Services, thanked Weprin for his part in securing $2 million of city money for SCS.

Sunnyside Chamber President John Vogt said Sunnyside's Business Improvement District, or BID, has long-range plans to put up "retro" street lamps on Queens Boulevard and side streets. These lamps, resembling those that stood throughout the city from about a century ago to the 1960s, are costly, he said, with the longer-reach models for use on the boulevard being even more expensive than the others. He said also that work has at last begun on the Sunnyside Arch, following a contractors' meeting at the site, 46th Street and the south side of Queens Boulevard, on Monday, March 10. At the meeting, it was said that reconditioning of the arch and nearby fixtures such as benches could probably be completed by June or July.

SCC Executive Director Luke Adams said that the Sunnyside and Woodside Lions Club is holding a "Meet the Easter Bunny" children's party at All Saints' Church, on 46th Street between 43rd Avenue and Queens Boulevard, Saturday, March 22, between 1 and 3 p.m. All local children and their parents are invited.