Hochul relies on repetition and evasion in debate with Zeldin

 

 CBS New York

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul went head-to-head Tuesday night with Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin in their first and only debate before Election Day.

CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer says if you ask her, the tale of the debate on Spectrum News NY1 was summed in one single round when each candidate got to ask the other a question. The gloves were off, each going for what they thought was the other's Achilles' heel.

Hochul said hers was a simple yes or no answer.

"Is Donald Trump a great president?" Hochul asked.

"I worked closely with him on a number of important policies," Zeldin said.

"Yes or no, yes or no," Hochul said.

"And I believe that from our work to combat MS-13 on Long Island, our work to secure a $2 billion electron ion collider for Brookhaven National Lab," Zeldin said.

The Long Island congressmen then embarked on a long list of what he called Trump accomplishments, from moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem to ending the Iran nuclear accords.

"I'll take that as a resounding yes, and the voters of New York do not agree with you," Hochul said.

Zeldin's question to Hochul was also a pointed gotcha, referring to campaign donations from companies doing business with the state, including one who supplied COVID test kits.

"What specific measures are you pledging to deal with the pay-to-play corruption that is plaguing you and your administration?" Zeldin asked.

"I don't accept the premise. There is no pay-to-play corruption," hochul said. "There has never been a quid pro quo, a policy change or decision made because of a contribution ... If you're going to talk about unseemly circumstances, how does one person get away with giving you $10.5 million in your election?"

For the most part, the one and only debate between Hochul and Zeldin revolved around the themes they have sounded on the campaign trail:  Zeldin's, the focus on public safety, bail reform, firing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and ending congestion pricing, and Hochul pointing out that Zeldin does not support abortion rights and is, in her words, an "election denier."

"There is no crime-fighting plan if it doesn't include guns, illegal guns, and you refuse to talk about how we can do so much more. You didn't even show up for votes in Washington when a bipartisan group of enlightened legislators voted for an assault weapon ban," Hochul said.  

"It's amazing that we're going to be able to go through the entire crime conversation of this debate and we're still waiting for Kathy Hochul to talk about actually locking up criminals," Zeldin said. "Kathy Hochul believes that the only crimes that are being committed are these crimes with guns, and you got people who are afraid of being pushed in front of oncoming subway cars. They're being stabbed, beaten to death on the street with hammers ... We need to be talking about all of these other crimes, but instead, Kathy Hochul is too busy patting herself on the back, job well done."

Believe it or not, the two actually agreed on one thing:  both think the cap on charter schools should be lifted.

Early voting starts Saturday. Election Day is Nov. 8.

 

Curtis Sliwa and Eric Adams talking vaccine mandates and fixing de Blasio's two terms of mayoral incompetence

Use long weekend to watch the BP forum

It's a riot!

A very entertaining debate

From NY1:

Errol Louis moderated a debate between challenger John Liu and incumbent Tony Avella, in a fierce state Senate race for the 11th district in Queens. The candidates debate their fundraising ethics, and discuss if they would support congestion pricing.

In case you missed it: The gubernatorial debate

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon square off at Hofstra University on Aug. 29, 2018, in their only debate before the primary election. The pair have several fiery exchanges and accusations on who can best lead the state.

Does Joe Crowley really believe his own bullshit? (part 2)

Above is a link to the debate between Joe Crowley, 20 year incumbent, and newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

During this debate, a stuttering Crowley was so nervous that he used the term "meat & butter" instead of "meat & potatoes" or "bread & butter", which is what it appeared he was trying to say.

He repeatedly lied about living in Woodside, and said his family lives in Virginia because raising a family was "hard". (Her comeback on this was priceless.)

He's head and shoulders above anyone else because he grew up in Woodside, because it's so diverse! (Yet when he grew up there, it was like 85% Irish.)

He also claims that the controversial Jackson Heights project that he and his puppets Katz & Moya supported against the wishes of the community was approved by the community board, when it actually went down in flames there.

He also has convinced himself that he has a history of electing "progressive" candidates although he supported the likes of Christine Quinn and Paul Vallone and had several non-compete agreements with Republicans.

I'll tell you right now that the lady came out looking like a champ in this one, with well thought out responses and revealing a distinct platform.

The Queens Machine boss then doubled down on his BS by skipping out on a debate in the Bronx. From City & State:

At a congressional primary debate between Rep. Joseph Crowley and his Democratic challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, there was a notable absence: Crowley.

The debate, hosted by The Parkchester Times in the Bronx and moderated by reporter Robert Press, instead featured a surrogate on the part of Crowley. Debating Ocasio-Cortez in his place was former New York City Councilwoman Annabel Palma.

Palma, who was term-limited out of office at the end of 2017, now serves as the deputy commissioner of strategic initiatives at the city Department of Social Services. She was ranked by City & State as one of the five worst city councilmembers in 2016.

According to journalist Robert Press, who moderated the debate, Palma began discussing her record as a New York City councilwoman. Press said he had to remind her that she was there to represent Crowley and discuss congressional issues. Palma told City & State that she focused on her joint work with Crowley while she was in the City Council and what she witnessed him doing for her community.

Was his cousin Elizabeth too busy for this? Or did he just want one of his Hispanic minions to represent him in a debate against another Hispanic person? Whatever the case is, it speaks volumes about the type of elected this guy is if nothing else we have brought you does.

Vallone vs. Graziano on 2% property tax cap

City Council District 19 candidates Paul Vallone and Paul Graziano debated whether or not there should be a 2% tax cap on 1-2 family homes, condos and co-ops.

Everyone in this district should watch this video very carefully and listen intently. You can draw your own conclusions.

If you didn't watch it, you didn't miss much

From the Daily News:

Tuesday evening's mayoral debate was a particularly putrid taste of small-d democracy these days in our overwhelmingly Democratic city: Loud, stupid and basically pointless.

There was Mayor Bill de Blasio, up 40-plus points in the polls and towering in every sense over Republican Nicole Malliotakis, who went on, and on, and on about how New York (where crime is in fact at a record low) is collapsing into its blood-soaked streets.

She in turn towered over general creep Bo Dietl, who spent the night interrupting her and hurling non-sequiturs — "MOOSE! JAIL REFORM! TOUGH COP! BO DIETL!" — and random insults at the mayor.

All this as the crowd brought in by the campaigns yelled, hissed and chanted, giving our system in which few people vote and few votes matter that bread-and-circuses feel.

De Blasio's first words set the tone: "You know sometimes there are elections--" "BOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Part 2 of Queens Tribune's city council debate

Part 1 of Queens Tribune's city council debate

Featuring: Hiram Monseratte, Rory Lancman, Peter Koo, Alison Tan, Paul Vallone, Paul Graziano, Elizabeth Crowley and Robert Holden

Electeds knew about Queens shelter plan in 2014 - did nothing

During a debate held in Rockaway on Wednesday evening, Joseph Addabbo revealed that Queens elected officials were told by Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Emma Wolfe at a meeting in 2014 that Queens was about to be bombarded with homeless shelters because we didn't have "our fair share" of them.

These fantastic representatives of ours strangely sat on this information and allowed the rollout to happen rather than raise holy hell in an effort to stop it. And they think they deserve re-election?

In fairness, the response of the challenger, Mike Conigliaro, is presented.

Concannon & Grodenchik debate on NY1

Click photo for video.

City Council District 23 candidates appear on NY1

Click photos to watch debates:

Errol Louis hosted a forum for the six democrats running to fill the vacant 23rd district City Council seat, located in eastern Queens. Above is Part 1, featuring candidates Ali Najmi, Bob Friedrich & Rebecca Lynch.

Above is part 2, featuring candidates Satnam Singh Parhar, Barry Grodenchik and Celia Dosamantes.

As for the stats cited in the beginning, they are incorrect. According to the Redistricting Commission, the demographic statistics for the 23rd Council District are as follows:

Population - 152,767 - Total

48,344 White - 31.6%
17,780 Black - 11.6%
55,831 Asian - 36.5% - Note: this includes "East" and "South" Asian populations combined
9,846 Other - 6.4%
20,966 Hisp. - 13.7% - Note: Hispanics may be of any race

152,767 - 99.8% Total

As for voters, the White vote is close to double (near 60%) while the combined Asian vote is a little more than half (almost 22%) of the actual population. This is due to voting trends and enrollment statistics.

Fake candidate invites himself to debate

From the Times Ledger:

The candidate debate for the City Council seat vacated by Mark Weprin was going to be a regular debate session organized by different Queens Village community organizations until Michael Foubister, a new candidate for District 23, showed up Tuesday night.

The 54-year-old Foubister was wandering around the basement room at the Bellerose Jewish Center, where the debate was about to begin, and walked up to the candidates table. “I am a candidate,” he said, waving his city Campaign Finance Board list of contenders.

Most of the candidates for District 23, which covers the neighborhoods of Hollis Hills, Queens Village, Little Neck, Douglaston, Bellerose, Floral Park, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Holliswood, Fresh Meadows and Oakland Gardens, had no idea who the latecomer was and a couple even laughed.

One of the candidates, Bob Friedrich, shook his head and said anyone can list themselves on the Campaign Finance Board.

“He is not a candidate,” Friedrich said. “You have to file a petition with the Board of Elections.”

Most of the candidates had similar answers on issues but the serious debate took a momentary comical turn after Foubister’s arrival.

Avella & Liu go head-to-head on NY1

NY1 is providing free access to the debate between Tony Avella and John Liu. Click here to view.

Now presenting: The QPTV Queens Borough President debate

Crowley wants a 2nd AND 3rd term

Well, here's part 4 of the CD30 candidates' debate. In this segment, Liz Crowley basically states that she will run for a third term if elected to a second, even though she criticized Mayor Bloomberg for pushing for the extension before she assumed power. Then she and her sisters scream like a banshees at Paul Graziano, who asked a question from the audience about her support of a bill that prevents Rikers Island from reporting to ICE the presence of illegal alien criminals. (How dare he ask about her past voting record!) Finally, when a question from the audience asks why the renovation of the Juniper Valley Park bocce courts was so expensive, her answer was, "that's what it costs these days". The rude interrupting behavior continues.

Then in the last segment, when the candidates were allowed to ask each other questions, Crowley is asked why the good government group Citizens Union didn't support her, and dodges the question by pointing out that Caruana didn't get the endorsement because he was a racist, which Citizens Union never cited as their reason:



I'm sure a lot of people went home scratching their heads after witnessing this event.

Crowley thinks rules don't apply to her

Here's clip #3 of the Caruana-Crowley debate. This segment includes questions about creating jobs, reconstruction of South Middle Village streets (3:40), improving constituent services (7:45), audience questions: wages (11:30), business interference (13:00), 'no truck' signs on Furmanville Ave (14:50).

(Crowley is most out-of-control in this segment.)

Vallone refuses to appear at NY1 debate

From Saffran 2013:

City Council Candidate Dennis Saffran today learned that his opponent, Paul Vallone, is refusing to appear at the only televised debate between the two candidates, which was scheduled to be taped at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 3rd, and to appear on NY 1’s “Road to City Hall” the following day. Vallone, who is running against Saffran in one of the few competitive Council Districts in the entire City — a district where Republicans often win — claims that the debate, which would last twenty minutes at most, does not fit in to his busy campaign schedule.

In a statement, Saffran said:

“I’m extremely disappointed by my opponent’s decision not to show up at our only debate, as well as his decision to apparently run on his connections and family legacy, as opposed to the actual issues. This seems to be a trend with my opponent, who failed to appear at a forum held during the primary that focused on preservation and land-use issues, where he knew that his strong ties to Big Developers and the Real Estate Industry would come to the fore. I can’t imagine what my opponent has planned two days before the election that would be more important than our only opportunity to reach all of the voters in the district at one time, and letting them compare the two candidates side-by-side so I urge him to release his public campaign schedule so that the voters of this district at least know why he is insulting their intelligence by refusing to debate.”

Saffran’s public campaign schedule can be found here.

More of the exciting CD30 debate

Since yesterday's CD30 debate video clip was so popular, I thought I would post the second part of the debate:


The questions are about Ridgewood Reservoir, the 311 system (4:50), St. Saviour's (8:50), funding for the district (12:10), overcrowding in schools (15:05).

You'll notice that when asked about the St. Saviour's money, Crowley says it is protected, however, Alex Rosa from the Queens Borough President's office has confirmed that it was taken back by OMB during the last budget cycle. In addition, Crowley does not say where she would create much needed park space in Maspeth when asked directly. She also boasts about creating new school seats, but forgets the fact that she actually voted against the Maspeth High School.