TimesLedger Newspapers
Thursday, July 16, 2009 9:15 AM EDT

Via YourNabe.com

For a brief series of moments on Monday, a small slice of Queens was bathed in Hindu ritual and pageantry courtesy of a frenetic collection of sights, sounds and an elephant named Minnie.

“You will never see anything like this again in your life,” one man said.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the view from inside a temple on the corner of Bowne Street and 45th Avenue in Flushing was more reminiscent of a bustling Indian city than a residential neighborhood in Flushing.

Conch shells and Shenais wailed over drums with reckless abandon. Incense, spices and flowers littered a floor packed with bare feet. A blur of saris and dhotis jockeyed for position around a serene elephant lurching forward through a crowded hall.

The reason for the frenzy was an ornate festival culminating five days of ritual at the Hindu Temple Society of North America’s Ganesh Temple. The event celebrated the “coming home” of Hindu deities Ganesha, Shiva and Shanmukha to their newly built shrines.

Located at 45-37 Bowne St., the Ganesh Temple is one of the largest traditional Hindu shrines in the country. During the last 18 months, extensive renovation and expansion have been completed at the building. The renovations included the installation of a new entrance lined with 16 hand-carved pillars depicting the various forms of the Hindu god Ganesha and the three rooftop towers crafted and imported from more than a dozen Indian artisans.

More than 1,000 people, some of whom flew in from India, packed the temple to watch as several Hindu saints led a live elephant around the building before ascending the roof to perform an elaborate rededication ceremony, known as maha kumbhabhishekam.

On the temple’s roof, men and women clasped their hands together as a Hindu priest chanted prayers atop one of three hand-carved towers draped with strands of red and yellow flowers.

As the priest completed his prayer, newly blessed water was poured over the towers and flower petals were tossed through the air to complete the ceremony.

“This is a divine experience,” said Reddy Gaddam, chairman of the Hindu Temple Society’s board of trustees. “They purified the water by chanting prayers. The water then has divine power and by pouring it over the towers that energy is transferred to the temple.”

In India, such an event is more commonplace, but for many in Flushing the event will be frozen in time.

For 26-year-old Suma Narasimharajan and her 22-year-old brother, Srini, the five-day ceremony was particularly special. Both of the Bayside residents were born in the United States and have practiced Hinduism their entire lives, but had never experienced such an event.

“Any religious festival is a unique experience, a learning experience. But this, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Suma said. “We grew up with this temple. We’ve both seen the temple grow from what was basically a little house and now it has a huge presence across the country.”

For the youngest attendees, the religious depth of the event may have been lost, but it was no less memorable.Wide-eyed children gleefully watched as the 37-year-old Indian elephant named Minnie was led through the temple’s front gate and around its perimeter.

Dozens of children crowded around the hulking elephant and had their pictures taken while they fed her apples or petted her thick hide.

“The elephant is so cool,” said 6-year-old Satesh Patel, grinning ear-to-ear. “He feels so weird.”

Manik Srinivasan, an Indian immigrant who traveled from Stony Brook, L.I., for the celebration, smiled as he watched the children stand in awe of Minnie.

“When I was a child in Mysore in southern India, every morning the elephants would be sent into the streets. The temples, they would own them, take care of them. People would feed them and as children we would get to ride them around,” Srinivasan said. “But I don’t think these children often see this sort of thing here.”

Todd Skakel, who lives nearby and watched the festivities with his 4-year-old son, Christopher, said he could not resist the allure of the unique event.

“I was reading the paper and I saw all these people leading an elephant into the temple,” Skakel said. “I know Chris had never seen one, and how often do you really ever see that in New York Cityi I just had to come check it out.”

Tom Graysing of G.A. Builders oversaw the majority of the construction and said the 18-month process with an eye-opening experience.

“They certainly do things differently, this group of people. You have to start work on certain days, it has to be done in a certain amount of time and everything has to be preceded by a ceremony. But I’ve never met a group of people more appreciative,” Graysing, a Roman Catholic, said. “You know what the amazing part is, though. The similarities between our religions. It’s different, but it’s all coming from the same place.”

Thursday, June 18, 2009 12:16 PM EDT
TimesLedger Newspapers

Via the Queens Campaigner

“This is it: 43-55,” volunteer Jennifer Kim says before rattling off a registered Democrat’s name.

First-time City Council candidate S.J. Jung checks the pronunciation of the resident’s name, flashes a smile and heads toward the door of a single-family home.

“This is my favorite part of the campaign,” Jung says as he climbs a set of stairs and rings the doorbell.

For a moment, silence. Undaunted, Jung rings the bell again.

“What’s your problem?” A man bellows through an open window.

Jung adjusts his gaze toward the window and begins his pitch.

“Hello, my name is S.J. Jung. I’m a candidate for the City Council in District 20. I’m collecting signatures to get my name on the ballot and was wondering,” he starts.

“All right, all right. One second,” the man answers back.

Five minutes later after somewhat heated conversation about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tax plan, Jung has the man’s signature and is headed toward another home.

“He was upset, and I can understand that,” Jung said. “That’s exactly why I’m out here. I told him that I’m going to fight for fair share tax reform and in the end he said, ‘OK, I will vote for you.’”

Jung is one of nine candidates vying for the soon-to-be-vacated seat of Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), each of whom launched drives last week to collect the 900 signatures required to formally be placed on the ballot for the primary election in September. Each candidate has until mid-July to collect and file the signatures with the state Elections Board.

As one of six Democrats vying for the seat, Jung said there is an extra emphasis in starting early, as only registered Democrats can sign petitions and each can do so for just one candidate in each district.

To make matters more complicated, the petitioning process is somewhat of a crapshoot.

As Jung went from home to home Friday afternoon, the results were mixed. Some happily signed, some signed after some cajoling, but about half of the registered Democrats he visited were either not home, did not speak English or did not wish to sign.

Jung, however, said despite these obstacles he enjoys the process.

“For me, this is the best opportunity to connect with the voters,” he said. “I’m very comfortable with approaching people. I am a community organizer and I also started my own business from scratch, which all started from making cold calls. So I actually enjoy it.”

Constantine Kavadas, a 27-year-old Queens College graduate and also vying for the Democratic nomination for Liu’s seat, said he also found petitioning rewarding.

“The voters you talk to, they give you pointers, they bring up issues they have in the community. So you learn, but I also think it’s a form of campaigning. I can listen, but I can also tell them why I am running,” Kavadas said.

While it is common practice for candidates to assemble armies of volunteers to collect signatures for them %u2014 both Kavadas and Jung have their own volunteer teams %u2014 Kavadas said he believes he has gained more by doing much of the work himself.

“I think the candidates should go door to door. The voter appreciates when the candidate comes to the door,” he said. “I think it just shows an involvement in the community and I think it shows that a candidate is willing to take responsibility for addressing the issues people have.”

As he walked away from another Democrats’ home, Jung said he feels similarly and that the process is not only about collecting signatures, but collecting votes.

“Sept. 15, righti” Democrat Edward Romero said, referring to the Democratic primary as Jung moved to leave his porch. “S.J. Jung. I’ll remember that. You’ve got my vote.”

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 7:32 PM EDT
TimesLedger Newspapers

Via YourNabe.com

The city will formally kick off plans to seize control of the remaining privately owned land at Willets Point this month, an announcement that left shocked property owners scrambling for legal help and prompted questions as well as criticism from borough elected officials.

The city Economic Development Corp. said a public hearing on eminent domain would be held at Flushing Town Hall June 22, a procedural first step in the legal process through which the city plans to take the remaining 22 acres of land at Willets Point.

Property owners at Willets Point said representatives from Cornerstone Realty Group, a firm hired by the city to assist in business relocation in the area, canvassed the Iron Triangle last week informing people that the city intended to begin eminent domain proceedings and a letter would arrive Thursday detailing the process.

Jerry Antonacci, co−owner of Crown Container Co. and president of Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain, said he was miffed that city officials did not show up to tell property owners themselves.

“I said to the guy, ‘Why are you here? Why are you telling me this? The city should be the ones telling me this,’” he said. “They’re pretty quick to pull the trigger on eminent domain. But I guess they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do and we’re gonna do what we have to do to stop them.”

He said the property owners group expects to hire a legal firm to fight the city plan within the next week. Private property owners will have 90 days to file a lawsuit after the city files a formal report on its plans, which the EDC expects to occur by early next year.

Out of the 62 acres that make up Willets Point, the city controls approximately 40 acres of land, which it either already owned or acquired in 20 separate land deals with property owners during the last year. Dozens of property owners have yet to reach deals with EDC negotiators, however, and the city’s move toward eminent domain indicates the time to do so outside of a courtroom is drawing to a close.

The EDC said it will continue negotiating indefinitely with property owners to make land deals and did not give a point when such talks would end.

“We have always said condemnation remains our method of last resort for these transactions, and we have reached agreements with property owners as recently as last week. Regardless of the acquisition method, all property owners who sell land to the city via negotiated transaction or via eminent domain will receive fair market value,” said David Lombino, a spokesman for the EDC.

The decision ruffled some feathers among those in the City Council, who have been closely involved in the project as the use of eminent domain generated a firestorm of controversy throughout the public approval process, which ended when the Council backed the city redevelopment plans in November.

Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D−Corona) and state Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D−East Elmhurst) said the move toward eminent domain unfairly alters negotiations moving forward.

“I don’t think the city should be imposing eminent domain on land owners while trying to negotiate property deals privately at the same time,” Ferreras said.

Councilman Tony Avella, who along with Councilman Charles Barron (D−Brooklyn) was one of two people to vote against redevelopment plans last fall, said the city lied and his colleagues in the Council fell for it.

“It just goes to show that the Bloomberg administration can’t be trusted,” Avella said. “What’s it going to take for my colleagues to stand up to this guy?”

The EDC said the move to begin the eminent domain process does not represent a departure from its stated intentions and added that no business will have to relocate from Willets Point for at least one year. The June 22 hearing is a procedural prerequisite in the eminent domain process required by state law and formal court proceedings are expected to take close to a year to finalize.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 5:27 PM EDT
TimesLedger Newspapers

Via YourNabe.com
Second in a Series

The swine flu outbreak is intensifying pressure on Queens’ beleaguered health care system, and while the borough’s emergency rooms have been coping with huge patient increases following the closure of three major hospitals, administrators warn long−term reform must be implemented before it is too late.

“We’re really on the razor’s edge here, and it’s not comfortable,” said Medisys Health Network CEO David Rosen.

For the last several months, Queens’ hospitals have been forced to shoulder an extra load as they attempt to fill the void left by St. Johns Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital, which were forced to close in February, and Parkway Hospital, which shut down in November.

Though resources were shifted boroughwide to handle the added burden, fears of a pandemic brought on by the growing number of swine flu cases in Queens have compounded the problem, clogging emergency rooms and running already−tired hospital staffs ragged.

“The ER is just inundated,” said Dario Centorcelli, a spokesman for Elmhurst Hospital. “A busy day for our Pediatric ER Department used to be 250 patients a day. Now we’re seeing 350 on a regular basis.”

On Monday Elmhurst Hospital treated a record 407 children and more than 800 patients in total.

Anxiety over the flu has closed more than a dozen schools in Queens during the last week, leading to similar situations in many borough emergency rooms as panicked parents bring their children to the hospital for treatment.

Jamaica Hospital and New York Hospital Queens reported more than 100 additional patients a day due to swine flu concerns over the weekend and Monday, while North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park and Forest Hills Hospital each reported “significant spikes” in emergency room traffic. Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, meanwhile, was forced to open a triage center specifically for suspected swine flu victims after it took in 396 patients on Monday — nearly 180 more than this time last year.

According to Terry Lynam of the North Shore Health Network, which operates Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Schneider’s Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park and Forest Hills Hospital, the influx of people has done little more than increase wait times and overburden staff members, who in most cases will ultimately send the patients home.

“It all relates to the fear factor here,” Lynam said. “Hospitals are not the place to be if you don’t have to be. That’s why the message that we’re trying to get out is unless you have a very high fever or other serious symptom, the best place to be is at home.”

Medical facilities have been doing their best to keep up with the increased demand.

Geralyn Randazzo, executive director of Forest Hills Hospital, said her facility has been formulating plans to move its administrative offices off−site and has been working with local doctors to shift some of their out−patient services to other offices in the surrounding community — both of which would provide additional space for beds and emergency room uses.

Officials at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing said they are constantly evaluating emergency room efficiency and hope to begin using parts of an 80−bed addition by the end of the year. And at both Jamaica Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital in Long Island City, portions of the buildings’ lobbies have been converted into additional emergency room space.

“We are learning to accommodate this,” said Rosen, whose Medisys Health Network manages Flushing Hospital and Jamaica Hospital. “We’re in the process of adding beds, and that may give us the opportunity to accelerate flow through the ER.”

Paola Miceli, director of health, human services and senior services for Borough President Helen Marshall, said the flu outbreak underscores the need for major improvements and additions to the Queens hospital system. She said Marshall’s office has been in close contact with hospital administrators from around the borough and has been “in awe” over the work being done.

“They have all been doing an incredible job, but we’re all human and eventually it starts to have an effect. Two of our hospitals talked to us about the high volume of staff call−outs just because they’re burnt out,” Miceli said. “Normally there would be peaks and flows in patients during the course of the year, but what they’re finding is that they’re not coming back down and reaching equilibrium — it’s just staying high. Then you add something like swine flu to this and it just creates chaos.”

According to New York Hospital Queens Chief Medical Officer Stephen Rimar, the problems extend beyond crowded emergency rooms.

“We know how many more patients have come here, but what we don’t know is how many patients are not coming here because of the closures,” Rimar said. “You’ll find that out when all of a sudden they get very sick. So you start to have patients coming into the hospital who are much sicker, and we don’t have plans nor do we have funds to build additional critical care beds, and that’s a problem.”

The strain on the system has extended to ambulance services as well. FDNY EMS Deputy Chief Robert Browne told the Queens Borough Board last month that while all the ambulance tours covered by St. Johns and Mary Immaculate have been picked up, turnaround times for ambulances have increased across the borough and by as much as two minutes 45 seconds at Jamaica Hospital.

“It takes them longer to get back into the zone that they’re supposed to be in,” Miceli said. And because of the overcrowding, you can’t release the patient in the same kind of timely way.”

Rosen said the elephant in the room is the insurance industry where hospitals are “abused in a system that has no oversight.” He said that in the absence of sweeping changes by the federal government as to how insurance is issued and how health care providers are reimbursed, more hospitals could go the way of St. Johns and Mary Immaculate.

“Frankly we’re looking at the economics of all this. Some of the difficulties that affected Mary Immaculate are simply going to be transferred over to us,” he said. “This is not like the accidental closing of a hospital because it got flooded or hit by a hurricane. There is a decompensation in the health delivery system in this region. At the same time the economy is creating a greater demand on the health care system. The message from the government has been you’re on your own. But there’s really nowhere to go.”

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:13 PM EDT
TimesLedger Newspapers

Via YourNabe.com

A Manhattan federal court judge sentence disgraced former Queens legislator Brian McLaughlin to 10 years in prison Wednesday, tossing aside a superseding plea agreement signed with the U.S. attorney’s office and calling the one-time state assemblyman “brazen and perversely creative.”

“Your conduct hearkens back to another era,” Judge Richard Sullivan said. “It’s shameful, sure, but it just so betrays the institutions you sought to uphold.”

McLaughlin, 57, who pleaded guilty last year to embezzling millions of dollars from labor groups, his own re-election committee and the Electchester Little League, told the judge before the sentence was handed down that he made no excuses for his actions.

“But I’d like to add that over the last three years, I have had an opportunity to live my life the way I want, and I ask for the mercy of your honor and the mercy of this court,” he said.

He appeared visibly surprised by Sullivan’s ruling. Afterward, standing outside the courtroom biting his lower lip, he declined to comment.

McLaughlin’s sentence closed a major chapter in the largest corruption probe in Queens history — one that saw the disintegration of one of the most powerful and influential labor leaders and politicians in the city.

In 2006, McLaughlin was arrested after federal authorities indicted him on 44 counts of racketeering, which included embezzlement, receiving bribes, fraud and money laundering. Last March, days before jury selection was to begin in his trial, McLaughlin pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and one count of making false statements.

McLaughlin’s three children, Robert, Casey and Kelly were also present in the courtroom. Robert put his head in his hands after the sentencing was read.

The plea agreement detailing McLaughlin’s cooperation with the U.S. attorney’s office remained sealed Wednesday, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Braun said McLaughlin had provided the government “a substantial amount of information.”

Sullivan said he considered the plea agreement, which suggested a “downward departure” from federal guidelines recommending of eight to 10 years in prison, along with more than 40 letters asking for leniency, but noted “the enormity of this conduct just can’t be overlooked.”

McLaughlin, a Democrat who represented Electchester, Flushing and Whitestone, was ordered to surrender July 21. He was also fined $25,000 and will be required to pay restitution to his victims, though the details of the payments have yet to be finalized.

Sullivan’s sentenced followed a lengthy debate in the courtroom over the nature of McLaughlin’s crimes.

McLaughlin’s attorney, Michael Armstrong, said his client should be judged on the amount of money he stole, some $2.2 million, rather than the number of people he stole from.

“There are no real victims in this case,” Armstrong said, prompting a quick response from Sullivan.

“No real victims?”

“The amount of money taken from the victims doesn’t amount to a point where he or she had even realized that they lost,” Armstrong continued.

But Sullivan said what set McLaughlin’s case apart from others was the fact that he abused multiple positions of public trust and authority.  He said if it had not been for McLaughlin’s cooperation with the U.S. government, he would have recommended a sentence of 15 years in prison.

“You have confirmed the worst criticisms of the harshest critics of organized labor,” he said. “The reality is your conduct has created a cynicism, a despair that completely undermines the institutions you were supposed to uphold.”

Sullivan said he took no pleasure in issuing the sentence, but maintained it was necessary to effectuate justice. Should he choose to, McLaughlin has 10 days to file an appeal.

“This is a failure, for everyone I think,” Sullivan said, turning to McLaughlin’s family. “I hope you will rally around your father, and I hope you, Mr. McLaughlin, will rally around them. This will be a difficult time, but families can come together in spite of that.”

Earlier this month McLaughlin’s attorney submitted a 160-page memorandum containing nearly four dozen letters from friends, family members and community leaders pleading for leniency from Sullivan.

Just over a year after he had pleaded guilty, the 47 letters submitted to the judge on McLaughlin’s behalf painted the former Flushing politician and labor chief as an alcoholic and an adulterer who had rebuilt his life after thumbing his nose at the law.

“Mr. McLaughlin is at heart and core a good man who lost his way but has found it again,” Armstrong, his attorney, wrote in a letter to Sullivan.

In the letters the former head of the Central Labor Council’s wife Eva, children, Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and Queens community leaders called on Sullivan to issue probation in lieu of jail time.

“His fall from grace has been a heavy fall — two powerful and good paying jobs, influence and leadership in his union and community replaced by shame and guilt,” wrote his son, Brian McLaughlin. “Nonetheless, he has worked hard to improve his life and as a result has united our family.”

According to the memorandum, filed May 5 in Manhattan federal court, McLaughlin joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 2005 to treat a longstanding alcohol dependency and has rebuilt relationships with his children after repeated infidelities led him to be estranged from his second wife, Eva.

“While we all regret the situation that my father has put himself and our family in, we also learned the power of forgiveness,” his daughter, Kelly, said in her letter. “I have watched my father transform these past few years.”

The court filing also includes a letter from Dennis Mannix, McLaughlin’s sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous. Mannix, who met McLaughlin in 2005, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in 1980, but sentenced to five years probation and alcohol counseling by Judge Peter McQuillan.

“He came to us in A.A. before he was arrested, he was on his way with God’s grace to sobriety. He has been a powerful example of God’s power to me and countless others,” Mannix wrote. “He will do no one any good in jail. I ask what was asked of [Judge] Peter McQuillan on my behalf to show Brian leniency with no jail time.”

McLaughlin’s sentencing had been delayed numerous times over the last year after sources told TimesLedger Newspapers he began cooperating with federal authorities on investigations that led to the indictments of state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio (D-Richmond Hill) and Santo Petrocelli, the head of Long Island City-based Petrocelli Electric Company.

Jeremy Walsh contributed to this story.

TimesLedger Newspapers
Thursday, May 14, 2009 12:32 PM EDT

Via YourNabe.com

Work on the federally funded extension of Linden Place in College Point has unearthed hot spots of oil and other toxins at the Flushing airport site and community leaders believe the city may not be handling the cleanup as it should.

College Point marine pathologist James Cervino said he was alerted to a potential oil spill in the abandoned Flushing Airport site near the corner of 23rd Avenue and 130th Street, where Triumph Paving Co. has been conducting road grading work.

When he arrived, Cervino found a goulash of oil and “horrible smelling” chemicals bubbling up from the ground where road crews were digging.

But while Cervino said the presence of such toxins is no surprise at the site, which has been the frequent victim of illegal dumping since Flushing Airport was closed in the 1980s, he said the city has not done its due diligence in cleaning up such hot spots as they are found.

“It seems like they are just screening the soil, shaking it, tossing it to the side and moving forward with their work,” he said. “No one blames the city for the conditions down there. It’s widely known that this stuff is there. I just don’t want it to be ignored.”

Cervino alerted the state Department of Environmental Conservation of the spill last week.

The project, which has received $7 million in funding from President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, seeks to extend Linden Place through the abandoned Flushing Airport site from 23rd to 28rd avenue. The extension has been clamored for by members of Community Board 7 and College Point residents for more than a decade, who say it will help alleviate traffic in the congested Corporate Park.

The city Economic Development Corp., which owns the land, denied Cervino’s accusations and said appropriate actions have been taken.

“We have mitigated and removed known hot−spots at the adjacent Flushing Airport site, the 15 feet of new fill being imported is in accordance with all necessary regulations and existing utilities have been appropriately removed,” EDC spokesman Dave Lombino said. “We continue to closely observe work at the site and are confident that EDC will be able to complete the road for which College Point residents and elected officials have so strongly advocated.”

The EDC said it planned to meet with Cervino Wednesday afternoon.

CB 7 Vice Chairman Chuck Apelian, however, said he is equally skeptical of the city’s response and criticized the EDC for not briefing the board on what had been found during the course of work on Linden Place.

“I just want this stuff removed and I want it removed right,” Apelian said. “If this is the litmus test of the agency’s integrity, then what are they going to do when they go to clean up Willets Point?”

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.

TimesLedger Newspapers
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:24 PM EDT

Via YourNabe.com

A letter written by state Sen. Frank Padavan (R−Bellerose) on behalf of disgraced former colleague Brian McLaughlin set off a firestorm of political rhetoric last week.

State Democrats blasted Padavan for writing a letter to the judge who is set to sentence McLaughlin next week after he pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge last year.

Padavan was the only elected official among 47 people who wrote letters for McLaughlin, many of whom asked for leniency when Judge Richard Sullivan sentences the former politician May 20 in Manhattan federal court.

“While I have no direct knowledge of the legal matters involving Brian McLaughlin, I have known Brian for over two decades,” Padavan wrote on his official Senate stationery. “I worked closely with him in advancing important legislation in the Senate and Assembly. In addition, I have known Brian to be a dedicated community servant, an active member of his parish and a loving father.”

Shams Tarek, a spokesman for the state Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, criticized the letter.

“It seems that Sen. Padavan’s campaign slogan that ‘Nobody cares like Frank’ is especially true if you’re a corrupt politician who steals money from little kids,” Tarek said. “Not only does this bring disgrace to Sen. Padavan and his office, but it shows a gross lack of judgment and raises serious questions about what kind of relationship he had and continues to have with Brian McLaughlin. It’s an unholy alliance to say the least.”

Padavan called Tarek’s comments “despicable” and pointed out he never asked for sentencing leniency in his letter to Sullivan.

“They’re calling me a crook. I’ve never seen this kind of horrible rhetoric come out from someone who is clearly working for the majority leader,” Padavan said. “What [McLaughlin] did, he’ll have to pay for that. I did not ask for leniency. I did want to let the judge know that people saw him in this better light, however.”

State Democrats have been gunning for Padavan’s Senate seat as they attempt to bolster their thin majority in the state Senate.

Tarek, who recently was hired as spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, was formerly the chief of staff for City Councilman James Gennaro (D−Forest Hills), whom Padavan narrowly defeated in November to retain his post.

McLaughlin pleaded guilty in March 2008 to federal racketeering charges for stealing millions of dollars from several groups, including his own campaign committee and a Little League.

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.

TimesLedger Newspapers

Via YourNabe.com.

The more than three−year−long saga that has obliterated the reputation of one of Queens’ most influential political and labor leaders may finally come to a close next week.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said former Democratic Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin was scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court May 20 at 3 p.m. The sentencing would end a chapter in one of the largest federal corruption probes in Queens’ history.

In a pre−sentencing hearing Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Judge Richard Sullivan indicated that he was considering a departure from federal sentencing guidelines in what appears to be a move toward a tougher punishment, citing McLaughlin’s “abuse of public trust” in bilking millions of dollars from labor groups, his own re−election committee and the Electchester Athletic Association, according to court papers. Under federal guidelines McLaughlin was expected to be sentenced to between eight to 10 years in prison.

Following the judge’s statement, McLaughlin’s attorneys requested Wednesday morning that sentencing be adjourned from this Thursday afternoon, as originally scheduled, to May 20. Sullivan granted the request.

Last week McLaughlin’s attorney submitted a 160−page memorandum containing nearly four dozen letters from friends, family members and community leaders pleading for leniency from Sullivan.

Just over a year after pleading guilty, the letters collectively paint the former Flushing politician and labor chief as an alcoholic and an adulterer who has rebuilt his life after thumbing his nose at the law.

“Mr. McLaughlin is at heart and core a good man who lost his way but has found it again,” his attorney, Michael Armstrong, wrote in a letter to Sullivan.

In 2006, Mclaughlin was arrested after federal authorities indicted him on 43 counts of racketeering, which included embezzlement, receiving bribes, fraud and money laundering. Last March days before jury selection was to begin in his trial, McLaughlin pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and one count of making false statements.

In the 47 letters submitted to Sullivan, the former head of the Central Labor Council’s wife Eva, children, Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and Queens community leaders called on Sullivan to issue probation in lieu of jail time.

“His fall from grace has been a heavy fall — two powerful and good paying jobs, influence and leadership in his union and community replaced by shame and guilt,” wrote his son, Brian McLaughlin. “Nonetheless, he has worked hard to improve his life and as a result has united our family.”

State Sen. Frank Padavan (R−Bellerose) was the only elected official to submit a letter on McLaughlin’s behalf and wrote that despite his crimes, McLaughlin has always been a dedicated community servant.

“I worked with him for many years, we passed a lot of important legislation together,” Padavan said in a telephone interview. “I saw him as a staunch advocate for his community. I saw him as a dedicated member of his parish. I wrote about the work that he did because I think he’s a person that has done a lot of good for his community.”

According to the memorandum, filed May 5 in Manhattan federal court, McLaughlin joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 2005 to treat a longstanding alcohol dependency and has rebuilt relationships with his children after repeated infidelities led him to be estranged from his second wife, Eva.

“While we all regret the situation that my father has put himself and our family in, we also learned the power of forgiveness,” his daughter, Kelly, said. “I have watched my father transform these past few years.”

The court filing also includes a letter from Dennis Mannix, McLaughlin’s sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous. Mannix, who met McLaughlin in 2005, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in 1980, but sentenced to five years probation and alcohol counseling by Judge Peter McQuillan.

“He came to us in A.A. before he was arrested, he was on his way with God’s grace to sobriety. He has been a powerful example of God’s power to me and countless others,” Mannix wrote. “He will do no one any good in jail. I ask what was asked of [Judge] Peter McQuillan on my behalf to show Brian leniency with no jail time.”

McLaughlin’s sentencing has been delayed numerous times over the last year after sources told TimesLedger Newspapers he began cooperating with federal authorities on investigations that led to the indictments of state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio (D−Richmond Hill) and Santo Petrocelli, the head of Long Island City−based Petrocelli Electric Company.

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.

Last week, as Community Board 7 gave its blessing to move five of his fellow Willets Point landowners to College Point, Joe Ardizzone sat silently and watched.

For the work-worn resident of Willets Point — the only person who still lives in the industrial business community — the board’s monthly ritual is nothing new.

For the better part of the last two years, Ardizzone has been a fixture at community board meetings, press conferences, rallies and anything else involving Willets Point. And in speaking to him, one might call him a glutton for punishment.

“They say this is a democracy,” he said, as he calmly left the meeting, clad in a ruffled wool sweater. “I used to believe that.”

Ardizzone said he has grown weary of fighting the city’s plan to transform his home into a large residential and commercial community, a battle he said has dealt him a heavy financial toll.

“I’ve been there for so long, it’s all I know,” he said. “And it’s all diminishing returns for me at this point. I really have nothing left.”

The 76-year-old has lived at 126-96 Willets Point Blvd. for decades, residing in an apartment above the bar and restaurant Master’s Express Deli — which he rents to Marcos Neira, the President of the Willets Point Defense Committee.

Though he plans to continue to fight for his land on principle, he said he struggles philosophically with the costs he incurs being an active member of groups like Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain and the Willets Point Defense Committee.

“All it’s doing is costing more and more and more.  They say we need more money for lawyers and for this and that,” he said. “I pay for them to protect the land I already own. The land I have the right to own by living in this country. I just don’t understand what the city of New York is doing.”

“Shame on this country,” Ardizzone added before exiting the Union Plaza Care Center in Flushing, where the CB 7 meeting was held. “I feel like an American Indian.”