Sparks flew at the first, and only, debate between Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) and her Republican challenger, Craig Caruana, with each lobbing insults at the other and sparring over everything from a Maspeth art center’s controversial request for a liquor license to a proposed homeless shelter in Glendale during Monday’s event that frequently erupted into shouts from the candidates and jeers and cheers from the audience.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley
Prior to the debate sponsored by the Juniper Park Civic Association and the Times Newsweekly, dueling rallies set up camp outside the Our Lady of Hope School in Middle Village, and the supporters vehemently waving signs and chanting for their respective candidates for the 30th Council District seemed to be a harbinger of the lively, and frequently tense, event that was about to transpire.
In response to a question about whether or not the candidates support the Knockdown Center’s application for a state liquor license, which would allow the Maspeth arts center to serve alcohol to thousands of individuals, Crowley said the facility is an important job creator in the neighborhood. She did not directly address the liquor license question, saying only that Community Board 5 voted not to support it because the center does not have a certificate of occupancy nor a certificate of assembly.
“Do I support good jobs?” Crowley asked. “Yes. Do I support arts as an economic engine? Yes… When it comes to job creation, my opponent, he doesn’t have the ability to think outside the box.”
Caruana scoffed at the accusation, saying he “stands with” such elected officials as Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and state Sens. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), all of whom have come out against the center’s application for a liquor license. The candidate also noted that Queens Civic Congress and COMET – the Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together – have criticized the liquor license application.
Saying that it would “allow 5,000 people to drink in a residential area,” Caruana argued the Knockdown Center “isn’t about jobs, it’s about hipsters coming in from out of the area and creating a club.”
The councilwoman said jobs are already being created at the center, which has been operating with temporary permits for about a year in an abandoned glass factory, including about 100 jobs during a recent Reebok commercial being filmed at the center.
Craig Caruana
One of the moderators asked if the candidates had been given donations from anyone involved with the Knockdown Center, and Caruana said that Crowley accepted financial contributions from one of the investors in Knockdown. According to city records, Gina Argento, an investor in Knockdown and is the co-founder of Broadway Stages – a company that employs about 1,500 people at its spot in Brooklyn, donated $2,500 to Crowley in March 2013 and another $2,000 in 2011. Her brother, Anthony Argento, also a founder of Broadway Stages, donated $2,000 to Crowley in 2011 as well.
As Crowley began to protest Caruana’s statement, the Republican candidate said, “I’m not saying there’s something wrong with it, it’s just something to admit as a fact.”
“You’re saying I would support something just because somebody gave me money?” Crowley asked. “…It’s like saying if you took money from Bob Holden you would be beholden to him.”
Asked about their thoughts on the proposed 130-family homeless shelter in Glendale, both candidates lambasted the plan that has been submitted by a nonprofit and is under review by the city. The shelter has been proposed for a former industrial site that has housed an airplane parts factory.
“The site is contaminated,” Crowley said. “It is dangerous…the building has never been used for residences.
The councilwoman went on to criticize Caruana, accusing him of holding a rally against the site and saying at the alleged event that he stated his support for transforming the site into senior housing. Caruana noted that he has not held any rallies at the proposed shelter, but instead attended a protest sponsored by Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) while Vallone was running for borough president.
“I don’t understand why he said it would be a good idea to put senior housing at a site that’s contaminated and dangerous,” Crowley said.
Caruana stressed that he said he would like to see senior housing at the spot only if it was revitalized and safe.
“That’s not that outlandish – there are a lot of seniors in this neighborhood,” said Caruana, who also said he is “against a homeless shelter there.”
Both candidates agreed that there should only be passive activity in the Ridgewood Reservoir – a controversial topic for area residents who have lambasted city proposals to build such facilities as baseball fields in what once provided the drinking water for much of Brooklyn.
When asked why a proposal to build green space at the old Saint Saviour’s Church in Maspeth did not come to be, Crowley said she “wanted nothing more than for that site to become a park.”
She went on to say that $5 million was set aside to purchase the Saint Saviour’s site, but the owner was not willing to sell it for less than $8 million.
“We can’t legally pay for a site more than what is the determined market value,” which was $5 million, Crowley said.
“I’ve brought back a significant amount of money to renovate our parks, and my commitment to future green space is real,” the councilwoman continued.
Caruana slammed Saint Saviour’s not becoming a park.
“These are the excuses that won’t cut it when I’m in the Council,” Caruana said. “…The incumbent dropped the ball.”
The two also sparred over discretionary funding. Throughout the campaign, Caruana has argued he would aim to bring more city funds into the district than Crowley.
Crowley’s funding was slashed in the 2013 budget, though she landed an increase in the 2014 budget passed in June. The councilwoman lost nearly $300,000 in discretionary funding in the 2013 budget, receiving about $380,000 – which a number of legislators have said happened because of the councilwoman’s rocky relationship with Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).
Crowley allocated about $3.5 million for capital and expense projects for the 2014 budget – an increase of approximately $1.15 million over the previous year. The expense allocations increased from about $380,000 last year to $504,000 for 2014, and the capital allocations increased from $2 million to about $3,030,000.
“My opponent should look around the district and see the renaissance of building that has happened under my watch,” including four new schools with more than 5,000 classroom seats and the renovation of parks and libraries, Crowley said.
An audience member submitted a question asking Crowley if she would run for a third term. She was not in the Council to vote on the mayor’s plan to allow elected officials to run for a third term in the last election, though Crowley said she did oppose Bloomberg’s proposal, which was passed by the Council.
“If the law allows you to run for a third term, and if people want to vote you in for a third term?” Crowley said, trailing off.
By Anna Gustafson
