During a recent sitdown with reporters from Queens’ weekly newspapers, Vallone said…
By Adam Kramer
Peter Vallone Sr. (D-Astoria), city council speaker and mayoral candidate, has no doubts that he is the best person to lead New York City’s more than 8 million residents.
During a recent sitdown with reporters from Queens’ weekly newspapers, Vallone said his opponents do not have his experience, qualifications or the know-how he developed working in the Council for the past 27 years to run the city.
“I believe I can be the best mayor in the history of the city,” he said. “I know what to do, what not to do and how.”
During the meeting last Thursday at the Georgia Diner in Elmhurst, Vallone highlighted his record in the Council and described what he is doing on a citywide basis that has a special importance for Queens.
“I can only treat symptoms, I can’t create,” Vallone said. “But as the mayor I could create.”
He touched on what he thought were the three main problems affecting the borough: overcrowding in Queens schools where borough estimates show a 27,000-seat shortfall, public safety and the construction of power plants.
Vallone and Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer have not officially announced their intentions to run for the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by Rudolph Giuliani, while City Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Public Advocate Mark Green have officially thrown their hats into the Democratic primary race. There is speculation that billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be the Republican candidate selected to replace Giuliani, who must step down because of term limits.
Vallone said he wants to eliminate the city Board of Education because it is a “political non-entity” that is not doing the job of educating Queens and city students. He would like each borough to have its own school board that can be held accountable for the education of the children and funding educational programs.
“Your public education system is vitally important because we have the biggest immigrant population,” he said, referring to Queens. “A good education is the quickest avenue to success as it was for my grandparents and kids today.”
He said a public education system needs to be put into place that provides a seat for every one of the borough’s children.
In addition, Vallone said, public safety cannot regress and he said he police should go back into the community.
“I want cops to know the community and the community to know the cops,” he said “That’s a way to stop crime before it starts. Cops should be ambassadors of good will.”
The construction of power plants is another bone of contention for many Queens residents who believe their borough is responsible for more than its fair share of generating energy. The new power plant construction in Long Island City is not a citywide problem because the rest of the city does not care how it will affect Queens, he said.
Vallone said Queens produces “more than half of the city’s power needs.”
He said state officials never discussed the building of the two controversial generators in Long Island City, used 20-year-old maps to determine the sites and were guilty of the “power of arrogance” in saying that the generators were absolutely necessary.
“They came into Queens and picked one of the most pristine locations to build an ugly, horrible power plant that could have been placed a half mile away and nobody would have cared,” Vallone said. “That’s a local Queens problem. The rest of the city does not care.”
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
