Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican-Conservative candidate for Congress in the 11th Congressional District, which covers Southwest Brooklyn including Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights as well as all of Staten Island, received a strong statement of support from President Donald Trump last week.
The president’s message was so strong that City & State, a publication that has significant readership in the political and governmental world, declared her a “winner of the week.”
The president tweeted, “Nicole Malliotakis is running for Congress in NY, I know her well, we need her to defeat Max Rose, who voted for impeachment! Nicole is Strong on Crime & Borders, #2A, Cutting Taxes, & she Loves our Military & Vets. Nicole has my Complete & Total Endorsement.”
This certainly comes as no surprise to me since I was aware of the president’s support for some time. Some however needed to see a tweet from the president, which has become the mechanism for him to notify his 72 million Twitter followers.
So there you have it. Unequivocal support for Nicole Malliotakis and her campaign for Congress from President Donald Trump.
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Speaking of endorsements, Assembly candidate Michael Tannousis (64th A.D., parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island) received the overwhelming endorsement of the Brooklyn GOP in his race to succeed Nicole Malliotakis in the Assembly. Michael already had the endorsement of the Staten Island GOP as well as the Conservative Party in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Michael also has Nicole’s endorsement as well as the endorsement of many Staten Island elected officials.
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And speaking of more endorsements, the Bay Ridge Democrats and Councilman Justin Brannan find themselves in the odd place of endorsing Bernie Sanders in a race where many other local Democratic elected and party officials have or plan to endorse Mike Bloomberg.
Since their founding, the Bay Ridge Democrats have been on the progressive left of the Democratic Party. In fact, they were one of the first political organizations to endorse Bill de Blasio for mayor. They used to brag about it but these days hardly mention their early support.
Sanders was the logical choice for this borderline socialist organization. I wonder how this endorsement will work out.
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I hear that the push to create a Business Improvement District (BID) on Third Avenue is moving slowly. I am not sure why.
BIDs provide enormous advantages for active business strips, of which Third Avenue is certainly one. On the top of the list are tax benefits when making purchases for promotional advertising and events. Beautification efforts receive far more favorable treatment by the city when they come through a BID due to an automatic conclusion that the BID is speaking for the avenue’s tenants. Additionally, there are many BIDs in the city that act in unison through an association to fight for merchants and tenants at City Hall and Albany.
The downside is the membership fee, which in our community is in the $800 annual range per business.
In my opinion, the cost vs. benefit clearly weighs in favor of the benefit. I think Third Avenue merchants would do well to create one.
May her memory be a blessing 
Has Gowanus Tunnel proposal been shafted – or postponed for years?