Tag: George Maragos

NEW YORK (TIP): The South Asian American Political Action Committee (SAPAC) organized its First Annual Breakfast at Garden City’s Mint Restaurant & Lounge, February 2.

Despite the fact the breakfast took place on a cold and foggy Sunday morning, the turn out of the event was astounding. South Asians are known to be reluctant to go out early on a Sunday morning. But, it came as a pleasant surprise that more than the expected number of people arrived, compelling many to be satisfied with the standing space.

Over 200 members of the community and officials gathered to savor the taste of a special breakfast and listen to the SAPAC Chairman Zahid Syed and invited officials, numbering 12, to be exact.

The officials present included Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, New York State Senator Jack Martins, New York State Assemblyman Phil Ramos, New York State Assemblyman David McDonough, New York State Assemblyman Charles Lavine, New York State Assemblyman Thomas McKevitt, and Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams, Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, Nassau County legislator David Denenberg, Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy, and Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall Sr.

SAPAC Chairman Zahid Syed called upon the brown community to involve in America’s politics, assert themselves and make their presence felt.
Along with the numerous elected officials, stood various community and civic organization leaders, representing Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. And who could forget the appearance made by the large no of Latino and African American community. In his welcome address, Zahid Syed, the chairman of SAPAC said, “Three years ago, we started this organization.

I worked with labor union. My vision was to bring together South Asians on a model of Latinos and Afro American communities. So, in 2011, I decided to do something for the South Asian Community. In 3 years, we have grown into a strong and vibrant organization, with more 500 members and growing. We have many life time members.

I am happy to announce that some officials are SAPAC members too. And I invite all officials present here and those who are not, to join SAPAC and express their support for the South Asian Community.” Zahid stated that the South Asian community in New York is “increasing rapidly” and its legitimate concerns should be taken note of. He said South Asian kids in schools have a problem which needs to be solved.

Judi Bosworth, David Denenberg, Robert Kennedy with Satnam Parhar, Zahid Syed, Rizwan Qureshi, Dilip Chauhan, Ajay Batra and other community leaders
Diwali and Eid are important events for the community and, as such, kids should be free to celebrate the days with the family rather than be under compulsion to go to school. He was lustily applauded when he appealed to the officials to have the two days declared as school holidays all over in New York State like New York City. The agenda of the morning was set by New York State Assemblyman Phil Ramos who, in his impassioned speech, said, “You, South Asian community, have the power to make a change”.

SAPAC Volunteers who made all comfortable with SAPAC Chairman Zahid Syed. (From L to R): Sara Pervez, Shariq Hussain, Zahid Syed, Khalid Hussain, Parvinder Kaur, Jasmine Chandi

Complimenting Zahid Syed and his team for creating a great organization of the South Asians, Ramos called upon the gathering to give a round of applause to Zahid, “who has put your community on the map”. Visibly delighted Ramos said, “I see here a rainbow of people whom you have brought together. We have the power. Only we do not realize we have it. Only when a group realizes they have the power that they can change.”

Ramos gave the example of great men like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ who, he said, had no material possessions and yet they could change the lives of people, the destiny of people and the course of history. The program got off to a start with the pledge led by Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, who was the also the speaker of the morning. He acknowledged the strength of the South Asian community when he said, “You have a voice in power politics here”.

Maragos then spoke of the marvelous economic recovery of the County. In the last four years, Nassau County has recovered”. He said no new taxes were imposed. He also spoke of infrastructure development, job creation and accelerated economic activity in Nassau County. The Supervisor of Town of North Hempstead Judi Bosworth acknowledge the acumen of the community when she said, “there are many leaders right here in this room. They can as well be part of local governance”.

She said, “I look forward to developing and furthering our relationship”. New York State Senator Jack Martins said there was a better awareness of the South Asian community amongst the officials and the government, “thanks to the efforts of Zahid Syed”. “We will continue the dialogue and work together”.

The gathering
Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams gave the mantra for making a mark in America: “Work hard. Play by the rule”. He made a passionate plea to work together and ensure no one is left behind. Others who spoke on the occasion included Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy and New York State Assemblyman Charles Lavine. Special thanks went out to Ajay Batra and Sharanjt Thind for all their efforts in taking care of the strong media presence.

SAPAC Volunteers and supporters who made all arrangements to ensure that all guests were comfortable were also recognized by the SAPAC Chairman Zahid Syed. They included Sara Pervez, Shariq Hussain, Khalid Hussain, Parvinder Kaur and Jasmine Chandi. Dr. Anila Midha who emceed the program, was at her best. Earlier in the program, Kawaljit Chandi welcomed the gathering and Dr. Kamal Zafar gave the closing remarks. Sara Pervez requested guests to join the SAPAC team by filling out an application form that was conveniently available at the reception table.

Local elections, whether in India or in the US, remain very much localized. The issues that may attract the attention of voters at the national level or at a level higher than the municipality are not the ones to occupy the mind of voters when it comes to voting for a Mayor or an Executive of a County. This fact is quite clear from the recently concluded elections to Nassau County and New York City. In the local elections, party affiliations do not matter much. Had it been so, Nassau County would have a Democrat in position as Executive, for the number of registered Democratic voters in the County is much higher than the number of registered Republican voters. Again, the voter turn out has clearly established that Democrats did not come out in full strength to vote whereas the Republicans voted in strength. The lack of interest among Democratic voters can only be attributed to their being satisfied with the policies of Ed Mangano. What the voters in local elections look at is how comfortable they are made to feel. And Mangano who did not raise taxes and promised not to raise taxes, was more acceptable than the Democrat Tom Suozzi to a considerably large section of Democrats also.

It is not surprising then that the more acceptable candidate won, regardless of what party he is affiliated with and what party the voter is affiliated with. And Magano not only retained his own position, he has been responsible for the victory of his Comptroller George Maragos, too. Such has been his goodwill that anybody riding with him would have been in heavens. In the neighboring New York City, the common man felt there was a better person in Bill de Blasio to look after their interests. He was happy with Bloomberg. But he could not trust a Joe Lhota. So, here you have a Democrat being elected New York City Mayor after two decades, even though New York has almost 6 Democrats to 1 Republican, and going by this number, all mayors should have been Democrats. But no. It is not the numbers of a party, but the local considerations that prompt the mind of a voter in a local election, like the one we had in Nassau County and in New York City. We wish all winners all the success.

LONG ISLAND, NY (TIP): The Nassau County Executive candidates kicked off their election campaigns with the blame game on County’s debt. The former Nassau County Executive Democrat Thomas Suozzi and Republican County Executive Edward Mangano launched their general election campaign Thursday, September 12, with news conferences in which they blamed each other for accumulating millions of dollars in new debt. Suozzi, a former two-term county executive, accused Mangano of being a “compulsive borrower” who had run the debt to $3.5 billion.

“We are going to cut up his credit card,” Suozzi said at a news conference in East Meadow as he stood next to an oversized credit card bearing Mangano’s name. “We are going to take away his authority to borrow money.” At a hastily called news conference later in Mineola, Mangano said Suozzi had increased debt by more than $400 million during his time in office from 2002-09, and called him a “compulsive liar.” Mangano, who narrowly defeated Suozzi in 2009, said he cut the county’s overall debt by $2.4 million during his term. “This is a desperate political campaign,” Mangano said. “I am happy to debate the facts in a mature way — not this theatrical performance that he is trying to trick taxpayers with.” Mangano pointed to the 2009 year-end financial statement by County Comptroller George Maragos, a Republican who is running for re-election, that found that Nassau had $3.45 billion in outstanding long-term debt when Suozzi left office.

That was $400 million higher than when Suozzi took office, according to the documents. Maragos released a similar audit earlier this year stating that Nassau had $3.448 billion in total debt at the end of 2012 — three years into Mangano’s term. Both reports were reviewed by county auditors, Deloitte LLP. Suozzi campaign officials said Mangano’s assessment of the debt under Suozzi includes elements such as borrowing by the Nassau County Tobacco Settlement Corp. that are not related to general long-term county debt. Suozzi said taxpayers should rely on official statements by the county treasurer that are used for bond offerings.

Those statements, which Suozzi provided to reporters, showed Nassau had $2.958 billion in debt when he left office — a decrease of $255 million from 2001. Debt has reached $3.524 billion under Mangano, according to Suozzi’s documentation. Newsday said Maurice Chalmers, budget director for the independent Office of Legislative Budget Review, declined to comment, noting that he had not reviewed the documentation supporting Mangano’s and Suozzi’s claims. Borrowing requires 13 votes in the county legislature, which under its current makeup includes three Democrats. But, Suozzi said the legislature “bears minimal responsibility” for any new borrowing because it’s the county executive who lays out Nassau’s long-term financial vision. Also Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, after an appearance in Montauk, declined to weigh in on the race. “We had [primary day] on Tuesday and we’ll see how that shakes out, and what the candidates say and we’ll make the decisions from there,” Cuomo said.