Pheffer Amato & Sullivan Talk Issues at BHPOA Candidates’ Night

 Pheffer Amato & Sullivan Talk Issues at BHPOA Candidates’ Night

By Katie McFadden

With early voting starting October 26, this month’s Belle Harbor Property Owners Association (BHPOA) meeting at P.S. 114 was mostly dedicated to letting Belle Harbor hear from some of those they may be voting for on the ballot in the Assembly District 23 race, the Congress District 5 race and State Senate District 10 race.

The meeting, held on Tuesday, October 15, began with executive vice president Ed Lynch filling in for president Paul King, who is running for Congress. He told guests that the BHPOA now has its own channel on the GroupMe app. Members can download the app and search “BHPOA Community Forum” to stay up to date on things occurring in Belle Harbor. It was also urged that people step up as block captains for each block in Belle Harbor to provide neighbors with important updates.

Lynch, who also sits on the board for St. John’s Episcopal’s ICare Foundation, then spoke about the improved care he’s seen firsthand at the hospital through his mother’s care in the ICU there, and as he’s close with Steve and Alex Cohen, the owners of the NY Mets, the Mets recently gave a $38K donation to St. John’s as they continue to make improvements to the hospital. He then introduced new EHS CEO Dr. Donald Morrish to speak more on the strides St. John’s has made.

Dr. Morrish said he’s no stranger to Rockaway, having gone to Playland as a child and Connolly’s when he was older. He spoke of the closer EHS facility to Belle Harbor, on Beach 105th Street, which offers primary care, women’s care and other services. “We changed the quality of care and are ensuring patients not only get good care and quality care, they get a quality experience and are treated the way you would want to be treated,” Morrish said. He explained how he understood the unfavorable reputation of St. John’s in the past but urged residents to give them another shot. “If you come to the other side of the peninsula and you haven’t been, I suggest you come back and give us another try. The facilities have upgraded tremendously through tremendous donations, the facade changed, and we have fantastic physicians, nurses and people in the community that work with us and understand how to provide community care. I understand how it’s been viewed in the past. I’ve been there since I was an obstetrician and delivered babies, so I understood what it was 10 years ago. We’re much different today.”

The meeting then turned towards the candidates as democrat Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato and republican challenger Tom Sullivan took the stage. The question-and-answer session was moderated by Mark Healey, editor of The Wave. Before it began, Healey announced the rules that the candidates agreed to and said that due to a time constraint, there would be no audience questions taken. The questions that were asked came directly from members of the BHPOA beforehand. Each candidate had two minutes to respond.

The first question was regarding the 2024 state ballot proposal, Prop 1, which would “expand the state constitution against discrimination against race, color, creed and religion. Prop 1 says it aims to increase protections based on ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity expression, pregnancy and outcomes including abortion. Critics said broad language leads to legal uncertainties impacting parents’ rights and men in women’s sports. Would this negate Title IV and would you protect those rights?” Healey read.

Winning a coin toss, Sullivan answered first. “Everybody has to realize that they’re asking to amend the constitution of NY state. That matter shouldn’t be taken lightly,” he said. He urged everyone to do their own research on the proposition before going into how Title IV was able to advance women’s rights in sports and this proposition could take opportunities away from women as they compete against biological males in sports. “The premise is equal rights and that all sounds good, but my biggest concern is for parental rights,” Sullivan continued, suggesting that if your child is in distress and you contact their school to find out if they’ve noticed anything, the school will tell you that they can no longer provide that information. Pheffer Amato responded that Prop 1 is all about equal rights and would “take existing laws and codify them into the constitution. We’re not creating new laws. It would not change anything. It does not affect Title IV, which is a federal law. Those things are not happening in our schools. No one is transitioning children without parental permission. We’re mixing up laws and fear. I support Prop 1,” she said.

The next question was about each candidate’s take on the City of Yes proposal, a city zoning text amendment that could transform the city’s zoning laws, allowing for increased development with fewer restrictions. Pheffer Amato said, “I’m against City of Yes.” She continued saying that it is a city issue, but that her office fought back against a similar state proposal when it was proposed. “We killed the governor’s housing bill. At the state level, when it’s brought to me, we push back.” Sullivan said, “I oppose City of Yes. It is an attack on our residential neighborhoods.” He went on the speak about how the peninsula is already overburdened with people and underserved with services like transportation, infrastructure, education, sewage, and healthcare as it can already take 30 minutes to get from Breezy Point, where he lives, to St John’s Hospital. “We are stressed for resources. We cannot take on thousands upon thousands more residents.”

Next they were asked if they support NYC’s status as a sanctuary city for migrants. Sullivan said, “I do not support NYC nor NY state as a sanctuary city or state,” which was met with loud cheers. “When the mayor of NYC was on tv and picked a fight with the governor of Texas, saying ‘we will show you how it’s done,’ you just created an informal policy, and with other policies, they incentivized the situation and now we’re putting human beings in tents on old airfields that are designated as floodplains. That is not humane, that is not sensitive to the individuals who entered the country illegally through illegal ports of entry and have not all been vetted. As an elected official, I would put law abiding, taxpaying citizens and their money first,” he said. Pheffer Amato said, “No, I don’t support NYC as a sanctuary city. I voted against $2.4 billion for migrant aid in the state budget. That was money to pay for the lease (for Floyd Bennett Field). The city and federal government made the lease, and the state is paying for it. How do we stop the city from going under?  I don’t agree with it, but do we sink? Do we let the city of NY fail or do we fund services we need?” she said. “We can’t take anymore.”

Next was a question about bail reform and its consequences like local drug stores being robbed repeatedly, and how each candidate plans to address it. Sullivan said, “We need to appeal no cash bail. We need to end Clean Slate. We need to support out NYPD and give them back qualified immunity that elected officials benefit from.” He brought up the murder of Officer Jonathan Diller. “That was the eighth time that individual was arrested, and it resulted in the loss of life of a police officer. I was in Broad Channel to visit a small business and a pizzeria had an EDP break through the window and terrorize his children while they were preparing food in the back and that cost the business $1K in repairs. That’s a lot of pizza to be sold. We have to stop the recidivism that comes out of City Hall and these no cash bail laws.” Pheffer Amato, who voted to pass the budget that included bail reform in 2019, said, “The intention was to see innocent until proven guilty. It went sideways and was amended three times. What is happening now is loopholes being discovered. We still have a bail system. We should be grateful we have a DA called Melinda Katz and she’s on top of it, but Bragg should be fired. We passed a law on retail theft that will start addressing thefts out of Walgreens. You can’t legislate consciousness. You can’t stop someone with evil intentions. I am endorsed by every law enforcement union. Why would that be if they thought I wasn’t strong in this sense?”

Question five was about how each candidate plans to increase quality healthcare on the peninsula. Pheffer Amato spoke about working with St. John’s to improve services there and how Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers formed a task force to bring a trauma center to Rockaway, recently securing $25 million in city funding for that goal. “The next step is on me at the state level to bring the Department of Health to support the application to approve a trauma center and then we’ll have to fight for the money but it’s finally getting closer,” she said. Sullivan spoke of how things like lottery were made to raise billions of dollars, as well as things like speed cameras, which brought in $344 million to the state. “Where has that money gone? We found $14 million at the drop of a dime for Floyd Bennett Field. We put $2.4 billion for illegal immigration. Why can’t we spend $180 million towards another hospital?” Sullivan then broke into a tangent about one party rule in the state and democrats being the super majority. “I find it hard to believe that you can’t relieve Alvin Bragg of his duties after eight years in office. The importance of this race is someone like myself and other people can break the super majority and give republicans a voice.”

Due to time constraints and right before Pheffer Amato left, one last question was asked, regarding their top three priorities if elected. Sullivan said number one is public safety. “Without safe schools, safe streets, we don’t have much else,” he said. Number two is the border issue, particularly the amount of fentanyl entering the country and state. “Fentanyl comes in through the southern border and killed more than 2,400 New Yorkers and 107,000 Americans in one year, more than 10 years in Vietnam, 20 years in Afghanistan. We know what a problem it is, and we aren’t doing anything about it. I will fight that to no end,” he said. Finally, he reiterated that we have things like speed cameras, the lottery, legal marijuana and other funding sources coming into the state, but it doesn’t seem to be helping things like schools, public safety and other core services. “I will follow the money. No one is being held accountable for misappropriation of funds and I find it hard to believe that with the supermajority in both houses, that no impact can be made,” he said. Pheffer Amato said her top three are public safety and quality of life issues, transportation and education. She also responded to the supermajority comment. “In the event that you break the super majority, a republican in state assembly has no conversational power, so if you want a fight in that conversation, you’re not a part of that conversation in a democratic majority. The budget is handed to republicans with a script after we negotiated it. If you think I agree with the very left of NY on spending, I don’t. I fight with everyone in my party. The work is done in the majority, that’s how it’s set up. I fight back every chance I get.”

Next up, Paul King, running for Congress, and Michael O’Reilly, running for state senate, both spoke briefly. As Paul King serves as president of the BHPOA, he said, “I think most of you know me,” so he spent his time speaking out against Prop 1, urging others to vote no on it. He also spoke of obstacles he’s encountered running as a republican, saying that he was invited to another civic association in Queens to speak, but was later told by the civic president who invited him, that she was on the phone for two hours with democratic elected officials who allegedly told her that King could not speak at the meeting. O’Reilly spoke on how he and King are the ones to show up at meetings and events, but neither of their opponents have agreed to come and debate them. “We don’t need a lifelong bureaucrat that’s been senator for 14 years, was in city council for 12 years, and 10 years on the board of elections. He’s done nothing for us,” he said, speaking of Senator James Sanders. “I’m running because standing on the sidelines is not an option,” O’Reilly said.

Lastly, Councilwoman Joann Ariola spoke, endorsing Sullivan, King and O’Reilly. “Up until now, I’ve been doing everything on my own,” she said, continuing to say that she needs active partners in other levels of government that constituents can call to help resolve issues, especially when it comes to the migrant crisis, City of Yes, cleaning up Beach 116th Street and more.

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