Tag Archive: Austin Shafran

Jun 13 2013

Shafran Insults Local Leader, Shows Ignorance Of Critical District Issues

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June 13, 2013

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Ali Fadil discusses Austin Shafran’s sham candidacy for district 19.

We’ve been posting for quite some time about the sham candidacy of Austin Shafran, a candidate who has never been seen or heard from in District 19. For those of you who took it all with a grain of salt, things are finally getting real. We knew it was only a matter of time before community leaders like Ali Fadil would come forward. In his letter Fadil discusses an encounter with Austin Shafran regarding a critical district issue. Fadil was astonished with the lack of knowledge and dismissive attitude showed by the candidate, which is not surprising given his pedigree of tweeder jobs and absenteeism from community life.

Meanwhile, the New York Post exposed Shafran’s philandering, Queens-Politics highlighted his past as chief excuse maker for corrupt politicians and a dysfunctional government, and now the cat is out of the bag. These points are not really disputed by anyone in the district. Read his letter below:

Dear Editor,

 

I am Ali Fadil, a community organizer based in Northeast Queens and I am writing this letter to put my two cents in on how I feel about the Democratic primary race in the 19th council district, a Northeast Queens based district.

Austin Shafran is a candidate who I think feels that because of his connections; he can talk down to our community and not have to care about our community. I have experienced this from Shafran first hand when I approached him to discuss issues that face our express bus riders and made him aware of the various problems that we have with our express bus routes. The response that I received from Shafran was that transit priorities in the district should be focused on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) because LIRR stations have parking lots where people can park their cars; not considering that parking can be difficult at the LIRR stations in the district that have parking lots available such as Bayside or Broadway and there are other LIRR stations such as Auburndale that do not have parking available. This is not considering the fact that the LIRR only goes to Penn Station and does not offer free transfers to buses and Subways once in Manhattan and one has to pay for parking at some of the LIRR stations in our area in addition to an LIRR ticket. Express buses have the benefit of offering more direct service to areas in Manhattan and Queens when compared to the LIRR and are also cheaper and offer transfers to the Subway, and local and express buses. Residents of neighborhoods in the 19th council district such as College Point want direct express bus service. When I tried to explain to him that his stance towards transit in the district is not necessarily the best one for this district, Shafran immediately excused himself from the conversation that I was having with him. This shows how Shafran is out of touch with the residents of the 19th council district as he is unable to relate to the needs of this district. Other civic leaders have also stated that he is someone who also has not been seen in the community until his candidacy and as a member of the Jefferson Democratic Club in Northeast Queens, I have not seen him attend meetings until his candidacy for the 19th council district. 

manes shafran

What’s the connection?

Other candidates such as Paul Vallone have been very supportive to the needs of our community and our express bus riders. One of the issues with our express bus service that I have championed in the district is to get a Lower Manhattan express bus from Bayside, Whitestone, and North Flushing and Vallone has supported me on that issue from the very beginning and is very receptive to the needs of the community and the needs of this district’s express bus riders and unlike Shafran does not seem to be someone who would shaft his constituents as I have had his support on that issue before he declared his run for the City Council as a civic leader. Overall, I think that Vallone would be the best person to win the Democratic primary for the 19th council district because unlike candidates such as Shafran who feels that it is unnecessary to care about the community, Vallone is a civic leader who is in touch with our community and the needs of the community and would do his best to support the needs of our community and I feel that the Democratic Organization of Queens County made the right choice to endorse Vallone instead of Shafran (who was rumored to get County’s endorsement) for the 19th city council district Democratic Primary.

Ali Fadil,

Whitestone

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Permanent link to this article: http://queens-politics.com/2013/06/austin-shafran-insults-local-leader-shows-ignorance-of-critical-district-issues/

Jun 11 2013

Candidate Jilts Wife For Younger Lover

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June 11, 2013

09.1n009.Anchors2--300x300Diamonds are forever, but not for Austin Shafran.

Kudos to QueensCrap who had the best headline for this post. Also, if this guy touts family values at anytime on the campaign trail, be sure to remind him about his cheating heart.

From NY Post: Months after beautiful news anchor Molly Rokasy and Queens power broker Austin Shafran married, she claims, he left her for a state employee who’s steadily risen in the government ranks.

Shafran, a City Council candidate, fell in love with then-news assistant Rokasy after meeting her at a 2006 press conference. Three years later, he proposed to her with a 2.5-carat diamond ring.

Shafran, 33, vowed a lifetime of love to the gorgeous journalist, 30, now the news anchor at The Bronx and Brooklyn’s News 12.

The cable-TV anchorwoman and the politician married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Aug. 21, 2010, then headed to Times Square for romantic snapshots.

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May 01 2013

Shafran’s Finances Linked To Donald Manes

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May 1, 2013

 

manes shafran

A chip off the ol’ block.

Generational Tweeding.

We’ve been blogging about the shady developments regarding the sudden appearance of life tweeder Austin Shafran trying to steal a council seat in a district he has never been seen or heard of (he’s also an elected District Leader outside the Council District, but that’s not the point). When we look at the numbers an interesting pattern emerges: a lifetime of tweed-like corruption and graft passed on from the previous generation vis-à-vis disgraced former Queensboro President Donald Manes.

Luckily, Queenscrap connected the dots and broke down the campaign finance report with some very interesting finds. Read the commentary below, click the links then ask yourself, is this the right man to dig our Council District out from the hole, or do we need another national embarrassment before we wake up?

 

Well, now we know how Austin Shafran got his job there [Empire State Development Corp]. The Shafrans have been hooked up since the days of Donald Manes. In fact, Austin’s campaign contribution list reads like Donald Manes’ rolodex.  Here are some of the contributors:

 

  • Lester Shafran (and wife Beth) – Uncle, ex-head of the PVB, found guilty in the scandal.
  • Sid Davidoff & Stephen Malito – Davidoff was Manes’ best friend and lawyer, pushed for the Grand Prix raceway and represented the USTA for their expansion in 1993. Davidoff and Malito are political fixers, bar none.
  • Then we have Sean Crowley working for Davidoff.  Another lobbyist involved in some not-too-civic friendly projects from another family that thrives only on nepotism.
  • Michael Nussbaum – Manes’ bagman in a bribery scandal – $250,000 to get a cable television franchise – who had his conviction reversed and now is in sole control of the Queens Tribune.

Here’s a summary of where some of Shafran’s current contributions come from (total = $58,802):
Political / Elected Officials /Candidates /Government $9,890 
Donald Manes Associates and Intermediaries $4,200
Lobbyists (they show up on the NYC Lobbyist search) $1,500
Unions $8,450
Real Estate / Developers / Construction $4,275
Lawyers $1,675
Employees of:
Epoch Times $1,850
Union Plaza Nursing Home $1,350
Parker Jewish Institute $800

This constitutes 58% of Shafran’s contributions.

Do you folks in eastern Queens want to return to the days of Donald Manes?

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Permanent link to this article: http://queens-politics.com/2013/05/austin-shafrans-tweeding-linked-to-donald-manes/

Apr 18 2013

Shafran PRAISED Shady Senator

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April 18, 2013

shafran

Shafran’s acute history of covering up possible criminal activity is mind-boggling.

Major discrepancy between a man’s words and his character.

While Austin Shafran continues his long-shot bid for the 19th CD, it’s important to note he went on record and PRAISED the character of his former boss, Senator Malcolm Smith who was busted just two weeks ago in a federal sting for corruption charges including election rigging.

“Senator Smith’s integrity, compassion, and respect for his office have never been questioned,” according to Shafran whom was quoted in an article which appeared in the New York Times in 2010 where members of Smith’s staff were linked to a suspicious nonprofit group in Queens under federal investigation.

But to Shafran, it was business as usual to try and sweep it all under the rug.

While serving as Smith’s spokesman, he released the foreboding statement defending the shady senator and his colleagues after federal prosecutors launched an investigation into New Direction Local Development Corporation, and another nonprofit related charity meant to provide aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

According to the Times, employees on Smith’s payroll were said to have played “major roles in the nonprofit group over several years, according to its tax filings and Web site, and two hold posts that suggest they are or were close to Senator Smith or are deeply involved in his political affairs.”

For the full story click here.

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Apr 02 2013

Shafran Worked For Senator Accused of Election Rigging

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April 2, 2013

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Shady work history for mystery candidate.

The 19th Council race just got real interesting.

Austin Shafran has a history of being the grand communicator of corrupt politicians in NYC. First he worked for a corrupt legislature and then for a corrupt Senator as his Press Secretary.

Yesterday, we wrote about Shafran’s role in excuse-making for the corrupt and dysfunctional legislature up in Albany, but what wasn’t discussed is that Shafran also worked as the goto political spinmaster for Senator Malcolm Smith – the same Senator that was arrested in a statewide FBI corruption probe that alleges he attempted to rig the Mayoral election through fraud and bribes early this morning.

If elected as City councilman, Shafran would be entrusted by the public with access to tax payer funds and legislative decision-making authority.

 

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Apr 01 2013

Austin Shafran Is Full of Excuses

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April 1, 2013

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Austin Shafran was the official spokesman and defendant of the most dysfunctional legislative body in the United States, and he’s proud of it.

Cause everything wrong in government deserves a simpleton’s justification.

During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, American troops, tanks, and their guns of liberty crossed heaven and earth to prevent Sadaam Hussein’s use of nuclear weapons. As our troops rolled into the heart of Baghdad, Iraqi information officer Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf stood up, puffed his chest, and said on TV, “We are beating back the infidels… they are all crushed” as an American tank rolled through the background.

It’s worth a laugh. Around that time, The Brennan Center of Justice said it outright, “New York’s legislature is the most dysfunctional in the nation,” yet their findings haven’t stopped a few of it’s most prolific, even pugilistic defenders say to us: hey, everything is fine, and no, of course we Democrats aren’t corrupt, what a silly notion!

Like Muhammed Saeed al-Sagaf, Austin Shafran was the Democrat’s top information officer, and just like Muhammed, he used his platform to whitewash the facts with lie after lie in an attempt to exonerate democrats from any wrongdoing.

Shafran has made a career of trying to express to the world why every bit of misuse of taxpayer money, tax hikes, misuse of government resources and governmental inefficiencies were okay.

Excuse making was just a routine part of his job. This is the man who tried to tell us that the Dems in control of the Senate were not corrupt, inept, or dishonest. In fact, they were quite the opposite and it’s the Republicans fault. While Rome burned and a historic coup took place, Austin played his fiddle, pointed his fingers while high on the hog (he made a ton of cash doing this) and even worse, he proclaimed – just like Muhammed – don’t worry, we are beating back the infidels. Yea, right.

Meanwhile, the slow and steady debasement of public service in New York becomes more and more visible across the spectrum, characterized by: Brian McLoughlin, Hiram Monseratte, Malcolm Smith, Donald Manes, Gregory Meeks, Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada, Elliot Spitzer, and Anthony Weiner, just to name a few. Yet while sin and corruption are not new, we have to take a look at where all of these corrupt pols got their start and then turn inward and ask how did these criminals get into office in the first place? Was it their swagger? Was it their sex appeal or charisma that won over voters? Maybe low turnout?

Despite penetrating the thin veil of scrutiny the local papers try and apply, New York still leads the nation with criminals in elected office, but its propaganda ministers like Austin Shafran who have used their persuasive rhetoric to deceive and misdirect the voter’s attention from a stark reality, and now this chronic excuse-maker is running for public office!

As voters of the 19th District begin to examine the candidates for Council, let’s look beyond sparkling appearances and into the facts. For starters, Queenscrap did a great job of exposing Austin Shafran’s sham website for Council which is totally misleading.

Shafran has had a corrosive impact in public policymaking and it could extend into the 19th if we aren’t more mindful of whom we vote for, especially if we allow him to sanitize his history with one alibi after another.

When the Brennan Center published its findings on the most dysfunctional state legislature — you know, the one that Austin represented — he was like Muhammed beating back the good government advocates as the “infidels” with his mis-truths that were so paper-thin and incredulous he might as well have held the press conference in front of his desk piled high with envelopes filled with our tax money.

It’s people like Austin Shafran that have created this crisis of public ethics and its way out of control. On this April Fools, let us remember this one thing: the biggest joke is Austin Shafran trying to make a fool out of us all.

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Permanent link to this article: http://queens-politics.com/2013/04/austin-shafran-full-of-it/

Mar 14 2013

Dem Endorsement of Shafran Could Hand Election To Halloran

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March 14, 2013

Democratic Donkey

Shafran’s lack of any community service within CD19 notwithstanding, the only candidate with enough name recognition and campaign experience to beat him is Vallone.

The Barkan Report mentioned it this week that Paul Vallone and Austin Shafran are frontrunners for CD 19 and I agree, this is an absolute truth, but whispers in the air still hold that County will shy away from endorsing Paul Vallone. To do so will come with a little egg in the face.

If Shafran should face off with incumbent Dan Halloran in a general election, he’ll lose. Dan is too strong for Shafran, whom despite adequate fundraising, still needs to work on basic name recognition.

While it’s still a little too early to tell, one thing seems to go unnoticed: the organization will do what’s best for the organization and long-term planning cannot ignore the dismal prospect for democrats in a Shafran vs. Halloran general election.

Hopefully they won’t lose sight of this when it comes time to make their pick.

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Feb 21 2013

Shafran Ditched By Party, Faces Uphill Battle For Queens Council Seat

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February 21, 2013

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Rumor has it Governor Cuomo would be ashamed to hear that this ‘candidate’ has been setting up a campaign operation and electioneering while he was still taking a paycheck from the government.

Austin Shafran is a bad choice for Northeast Queens.

Now here he is, a textbook opportunist that has never been seen in this community now gearing up for an election in a district that has rejected him from the get-go.

But all that aside, for some reason, Shafran thinks he has the right to run in a district that has never seen or heard from him.

Granted, it’s the right of every person to run for office, but that doesn’t mean they’ve earned the right.

Case in point, at his campaign announcement there were no community or civic leaders present, just Party hacks and his piggy bank.

No offense, but it’s kind of blatant at this point. Here’s a guy who took a patronage gig in the Governor’s office (did we mention no private sector experience?) to give a certain political consultant access just like he did when he got the patronage gig. And that’s what this is all about, access. Access to Northeast Queens so we can sit here and watch our resources poured into the pockets of some bigshot lobbyist.

However, we must give some kudos to Evan Stavisky, who is rumored for once his life to have made the right choice when he chose to support (and take the money of) another candidate.

Seems old grudges die-hard. For as well-connected as Shafran is with the Party, his connection to The Hank Scheinkopf School of Corruption has not been forgotten, and according to reports, may have cost him the party nomination – even if said consultant was not hired.

Sure, you’ll see the Young Democrats stomping around for him, but what does that really mean? Is that enough? The people of Northeast Queens do not know this man and what we do know is that we’ve never seen him.

More on this to follow.

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Feb 12 2013

The 10 Biggest Political Lies Heard in Queens

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February 12, 2013

Costaopa

Opaaaa!

Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!

Queens-Politics surveyed many insiders and came up with the 10 biggest lies told in Queens.

  1. LIE: Tony Avella is a reformer. FACT: Tony Avella is the protégé of Leonard and Toby Stavisky. He gets a reputation as a reformist because he inherited the same bitchy attitude as the Stavisky clan and was unable to get along with many of his colleagues in the City Council. The fact is Tony is tied to the hip with the Parkside Group and their core members (if you don’t believe me look at his voting record). It makes you wonder, does he care more about Parkside clients than North Queens residents? And in Albany when he is not catering to Stavisky’s clients he is often seen walking around bashing Queens good government watchdog Adam Lombardi.
  2. LIE: Christine Quinn is a riot around the water cooler. FACT: The madam speaker is a nasty, vindictive, power hungry, Christian bashing lunatic who is a misery to be around. If you noticed the only ones who really like her are lobbyists who need something from city government and politicos who want a job if she becomes Mayor.
  3. LIE: Parkside is a world class consulting firm. FACT: They only win elections when there’s no opposition. Parkside only takes clients that get the County nomination. To be fair, let’s see them win an election on a Republican line or as an independent insurgent then they can stand with the best. If you look at their website and their list of clients, many of them never had any real opposition. Their biggest race in years was Bob Turner vs. David Weprin, which they lost, and turned the Queens Democratic Party into a national embarrassment. Even President Obama was shaking his head.
  4. LIE: Council candidate Costa Constantinides is liked by the Greek Community. FACT: Costa is the protégé of Senator Mike Giannaris. Giannaris is known with his Parkside coconspirators to shake down Greek-American businessmen without delivering anything they promise as well as disclosing that their values are more progressive than the Greek-American community. Mike Gianaris had a phony run for Attorney General so he would have an excuse to garner checks from the Greek-American community. What makes this more repulsive is that their special friend Parkside owner, Harry Giannoulis is the Treasurer of a Greek-Orthodox senior center and is rumored to use those lists to shake down elderly religious Greek Americans without disclosing that they are among some the most nasty  pro-abortion demagogues in New York state.
  5. LIE: Austin Shafran could beat Councilman Dan Halloran. FACT: Austin Shafran is a 31-year-old neophyte who has no history of community service or business experience. Aside from that, Dan Halloran is a beloved figure in the community and has made strong ties with conservative leaning Democrats throughout the district. It will take a lot of money, a brand name, and a history of community service to even think about unseating him. Can anyone think of any candidate with those credentials?
  6. LIE: John Castimitides can’t win the Mayoralty. FACT: If he gets through the primary, he will give anyone of the Democratic candidate’s a run for their money. Not only can he self-fund, he’s known to be genuine and candid in a way we haven’t seen since Ed Koch.
  7. LIE: Joe Lhota can’t raise money. FACT: If he is able to put together the old Giuliani machine he will be able to raise just as much money as the Democratic candidates without selling his soul to every special interest group in New York City.
  8. LIE: The Public Advocate is a do nothing job. FACT: No, wait a second. My bad. It is a do nothing job other than being a publicly funded platform for future Mayoral candidates.
  9. LIE: The Board of Elections is the last outpost of patronage in NYC.  FACT: Every political job is a patronage job and those that are hired are actually appointees. Following the extensive coverage regarding the illegally appointed commissioners, people might be left with the impression that 126-6 Queens Blvd is the last bastion of the spoils system. No way no how. There’s nepotism in every political hiring decision especially staff in the elect’s office. For example some appointees are hired from a state Assembly office and magically reappear in a Congressional office, others are grandfathered in, for instance, say  if the office changes hands during an election (usually part of some horse-trading deal), then you have the family members that are hired and the phone calls where strings are pulled. At the end of the day the downside is that political appointees are not hired because they are the most qualified for the job, they are there because of politics. Hey, this is just a friendly reminder; it’s common practice. In terms of the BOE, whatever the outcome, it’s not likely the Board will be cleaned out completely. They could decapitate and do business with what’s left theoretically, but the coup will not likely survive court proceedings. Perhaps above all else, you don’t want to kick a hornet’s nest filled with the politically pissed off and then set them loose especially with an election looming. 
  10. LIE: The Queens GOP is Dead. FACT: There are a lot of young, ambitious public servants that are getting involved. Once the infighting is over. we can expect their resurgence and the do nothing Marge Marckeys of the world may actually have to fight to protect their seats.

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May 14 2012

Michael Gianaris Part Deux

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Politics

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May 14, 2012

Hey Evan there's only one Mike.

A new movie is being unveiled with the same producer, the same director, but with a new star actor. Please meet Evan Stavisky’s next piston in the Parkside machine, Austin Shafran.

When Rory Lancman announced he would not run for reelection to his Assembly Seat, it started a situation where years of pent-up political ambitions are being released.

In the days following the announcement, the newspapers mentioned the name of political hopeful Austin Shafran as a prospective candidate, however major details about his political history and personal networking with Evan Stavisky were ignored.

Shafran is said to know a lot of people. He has a big Rolodex. However, little is known about Austin Shafran in the Queens community. He’s a familiar face in Albany. His mother, Phyllis Shafran, worked for Donald Manes and Brian McLoughlin, a convicted felon and ex-assemblyman that stole from a little league (Parkside ran his campaign operation). In his professional life, Shafran worked as the former spokesman for Malcolm Smith, David Weprin, and the Senate Democrats. Presently Shafran is a Cuomo aide holding a patronage post at Empire State Development as the Vice-President of Public affairs. Celeste Katz called him ESD’s ‘top mouthpiece.’

So who is the real Austin Shafran and why does he want to run in a community that he has no connection to? Is he just another perennial opportunist? Why is Shafran even mentioned in articles exploring potential candidates? Peel back the layers and it is revealed: Shafran is the epitome of an inside servant to Evan Stavisky.

Evan please make me an Assemblyman and I'll be just as good as Mike.

Shafran has been groomed to be the perfect Parkside candidate. According to some accounts he’s bright, articulate and presentable.  But behind the scenes we all know where his loyalties are. He’ll do insider bidding over constituent bidding, Parkside’s bidding over the Democratic Party’s bidding. Behind the scenes people call him a handsome hack, the Mike Gianaris of Northeast Queens.

In 2010 a contract was leaked between the DSCC and Stavisky’s Parkside consulting\lobbying firm. The contract contained heavy-handed clauses meant to ensure DSCC candidates would hire Parkside for 80% of campaign operations, or face the consequences.

According to a report in City and State, “in 2010 alone, the DSCC
reported paying Parkside $2.2 million so far during a cycle that the campaign
committee finished the cycle $2.4 million in debt while losing the majority.” Parkside also billed a total
of $500,000 to the individual campaigns of Democratic candidates David
Carlucci, Tony Avella, Toby Stavisky, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, José Peralta,
Mike Gianaris and Mike Kaplowitz.

The Parkside monopoly of political consulting fees was finally revealed.The leak set off a firestorm and the press began to scrutinize the contractual relationship. Acting as the spokesman for Senate Democrats, Shafran defended Parkside’s controversial agreement with the Senate Democrats.

“Parkside is one of the
foremost political consulting operations in the state, and their track record
is one of success,” Shafran said, explaining the contract. – CIty and State 2010.

Shafran used his bully pulpit to defend an enforced monopoly on consulting fees. He came to their rescue by pouring cold water on what should have been an investigation into a major corruption case.

Others suggest that Shafran graduated from the Hank Scheinkopf School of corruption because he worked for Scheinkopf, a notorious political operative, before becoming the spokesman for Malcolm Smith. Queenscrap called him Scheinkopf’s protégé. Maybe he’s sworn allegiance to both.

During the next couple months, don’t be surprised if Shafran finally shows up at a civic meeting. If he does, he won’t be listening to what people have to say but giggling on his blackberry with Evan Stavisky.

If Lancman doesn’t win the Congressional Primary, he will likely run for Jim Gennaro’s City Council Seat, but that’s another story. Should Shafran run for the seat, you could expect the same cliché political stances because he is an operative running for public office.

The People deserve someone better. A few noteworthy individuals were also mentioned to run for Lancman’s Assembly seat. Jerry Iannece is one of them. Although Jerry Iannece is known to be somewhat compliant with the Parkside Group, at least he’s the salt of the community; he’s the CB chairman. Dominick Panakel, Lancman’s Chief of Staff, has the energy and ambition plus grassroots experience working in constituent services. He’s also an avid campaigner. But given Rory’s current relationship with County, the decision might come down to Iannece or Shafran.

If we had to choose, we would choose Jerry Iannece.

We also speculate if Shafran ran he wouldn’t make the same mistakes as the last Parkside golden boy, Mike Sais, and be run out of the community. Expect Assemblyman Ed Braunstein to take over his District Leader spot.

It’s depressing to say with a one party system in Queens there will not be much opposition in the race. But who knows? Shafran hasn’t been elected and may surprise us and become an effective legislator like lightning caught in a bottle. Maybe his name is passed along to the media by another nameless source to scare some folks. But Shafran’s track record suggests he won’t be held accountable to the people, he’ll be accountable to Stavisky’s Parkside Group.

While he hasn’t even announced his intentions, there’s already a whisper that Austin Shafran is Mike Gianaris Part Deux.

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Permanent link to this article: http://queens-politics.com/2012/05/meet-michael-gianaris-part-deux/


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