Funniest Political Quotes

1) “Okay, shoot.”
Councilman Hiram Monserrate at the start of an interview about death threats made against him by a political opponent’s aide. The threats came days after the murder of Councilman James Davis who was shot inside City Hall by his political rival, Othneil Askew.

2) “Excuse me, can you move over so I can take this shot?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, you’re Clifford Miller, now can you move over?”

An exchange between a weekly photographer and speaker of the City Council Gifford Miller, after he was introduced, at the 2003 All Inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Sunnyside.

3) “He gets a lot of ink but I get the television.”
Allan Jennings on his popularity, compared to City Council Speaker Gifford Millers’, during an interview with the Tribune.

4) “I’ll repeat, unless you have held a legislative office and have had this experience you cannot, at all, understand the process.”
Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette in a letter to the editor explaining why the 2004 state budget was the latest in New York’s history.

5) “Listening to talk radio, that’s when I realized I’m a conservative Republican.”
City Council candidate William Horowitz, during an endorsement interview with the Tribune.

Longest Serving Pols



Longevity for career politicians in Queens was significantly altered in 2002, when the venerable and long-stagnant City Council first introduced term limits and several longtime seat holders were forced out of office. Contenders for longest serving politician in Queens, as a result, must come from state and federal offices, where term limits have yet to take hold.

1. Frank Padavan – 11th District State Senate – 32 years
2. Ivan Lafayette – 34th District State Assembly– 28 years
3. Anthony Seminerio – 38th District State Assembly – 26 years
4. Nettie Mayersohn – 27th District State Assembly – 22 years
5. Gary Ackerman – 5th District U.S. Congress – 20 years
6. George Onorato – 12th District State Senate – 20 years
7. Catherine Nolan – 37th District State Assembly – 20 years
8. Barbara Clark – 33rd District State Assembly – 16 years
9. Serphin Maltese – 15th District State Senate – 16 years
10. Ada Smith – 10th District State Senate – 16 years

Source: Compiled by the Queens Tribune

Most Famous Scandals

LaGuardia Airport is the worst place in Queens to look for a breath of fresh air.

Making the world’s greatest Democracy run smoothly isn’t what happens when corruption, greed, and selfishness are elected to office. The biggest scandals involving Queens officials in recent years have made for some citywide front page headlines. Here is a sampling.

Donald Manes

One month after resigning as Queens Borough President, Donald Manes attempts suicide a second time, plunging a kitchen knife into his chest while in his sister’s Jamaica Estate home. In January, Manes slit his writs in a car on the Grand Central Parkway following a probe into alleged kickbacks he received from the Parking Violations Bureau.

Sheldon Leffler


The Harvard-educated Hollis Councilman conspired with Queens slum lord Rita Stark in 2000 to funnel her contributions to his campaign under bogus contributors. The scheme would have netted Leffler roughly $40,000 in his bid to be Queens Borough President. Leffler was disbarred in 2003.

Allan Jennings


The Jamaica Councilman who professed his love of Asian women in a paid advertisement in a Chinese newspaper in 2003 was later that year charged with sexually harassing two former staff members. Claiming the plaintiffs were too ugly to warrant Jennings advances, his lawyer told one newspaper: “Some of these people couldn’t attract a howling wolf in the middle of a wilderness.” An investigation is still pending.

Hiram Monserrate

The 111th Precinct cop turned Councilman had a near death experience on the campaign trail when he and an associate received death threats from an aide to a political rival. The threats were publicized one week after Councilman James Davis, also a former cop, was gunned down in City Hall by his political rival. The case is still pending.

Ada Smith

She threatened a former aide with a meat cleaver, allegedly bit a cop and tried to run down a security guard at an upstate parking facility. According to the Jamaica State Senator, each episode was mischaracterized, exaggerated or completely false. Complaints from her former aide and others suggest otherwise.

Nettie Mayersohn

Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the State Assembly, survived a coup attempt in 2000 no thanks to Nettie Mayersohn. Fed up with Silver’s iron fisted ways, Mayersohn and other reformers backed Majority Leader Michael Bragman’s attempt to oust Silver. After several Bragman supporters balked, he was stripped of all but one of his staff members, and Mayersohn was stripped of her committee chairmanship.

Laura Blackburne

Judge Laura Blackburne heard police were waiting to arrest a man who appeared before her in State Supreme Court. To help the man avoid arrest, Blackburne had court officers escort the man to an exit normally reserved for judges. Public outcry led to Blackburne’s reassignment to Civil Court.

Most Famous Historical Politicians To Visit Queens

John F. Kennedy
Came to Flushing Meadows in 1962 to break ground for the United States Pavillion for the 1964 World’s Fair.

Rufus King
One of the signatories of the United States Constitution in 1787, King was a Jamaica resident since 1788, where he had a brilliant career in politics, having represented New York in the U.S. Senate for three terms until 1825.

Pope John Paul II
The current Pope has visited Queens not once but twice, leading close to 100,000 faithful in prayer each time. He was last in Queens in October of 1995.

Theodore Roosevelt
As the former governor of the State of New York, this flamboyant U.S. president visited Queens on numerous occasions, most notably in 1914 when he delivered an address at Forest Hills Gardens Long Island Railroad Station.

George Washington
The famous First President of the United States visited Queens before his political days, namely in August 1776 while retreating through the area on his way to losing the Battle of Long Island to the British on Aug. 27 of that year during the Revolutionary War. He returned after becoming president in 1789 with John Adams to visit the Prince Nurseries in Flushing.

England’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
The Royal Family came to Queens in June of 1939 to visit the World’s Fair where, it has been said, they sampled hot dogs for the first time.

Bill Clinton
Stopped by the Fresh Meadows Diner in 1994 to discuss a new nationwide health plan.

Boldest Political Moves

1. Another New York
The former prosecutor wants the five boroughs’s to ditch the Empire State altogether and form it’s own state. Peter Vallone, Jr., a two-term councilman, says it’s mostly a negotiating tactic, meant to emphasize how important NYC is to NYS’ economy.

2 . Teen Curfew
Count sidewalks and park benches among the places teens can’t go after dark. A citywide curfew for kids under 18 is the pet project of Queen’s only Republican City Council member, Dennis Gallagher.

3. Death of Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering, or the process by which politicians play a role in shaping their districts and protecting their status as incumbents, would be a thing of the past if this Harvard grad had his way. Michael Gianaris wants an independent commission to draw district lines.

4. Banning SUVs
Sport Utility Vehicles would be barred from certain roads and parkways because of their weight if Assemblyman Ivan Laffayette’s bill passes.

5. Park Here
Churches, synagogues, mosques, and doctor’s offices would no longer be able to set up shop without adequate parking spaces if Tony Avella has his way.

6. Graduate and Vote
Diplomas and voter registration cards would go hand in hand, if Eric Gioia’s plan were enacted.

7. Tying The Knot
This bi-partisan couple wants only men and women to walk down the aisle. Serph Maltese, a Republican State Senator, and Anthony Seminerio, an Assembly Democrat, have co-sponsored a “defense of marriage act,” that would bar same sex unions.

8. Laptops in Schools
The maverick Councilman, Allan Jennings, got laptops for school children in his district. The high priced investment scored the Councilman huge points with parents in his Jamaica district.

9. No More Mad Cow
Queens Congressman Gary Ackerman leap frogged over his rural counterparts in demanding that sick and downed animals be taken out of the food supply.

10. Hey U.N., Watch Us
Anticipating a nail-biting, finger-pointing November election a la Florida 2000, Carolyn Maloney and Joe Crowley joined a handful of other Congress members in asking the United Nations to observe this year’s president elections.

Youngest Queens Politicians

Queens has an impressive amount of up and coming younger politicians.
Youth doesn’t always translate into effectiveness, but if the following pols can keep their heads above water, a long career might be in the making.
The following politicians are the youngest serving in Queens.

1. Eric Gioia – 26th District City Council – 31 years old

2. Jose Peralta – 39th District State Assembly – 32 years old

3. Michele Titus – 31st District State Assembly – 34 years old

4. Allan Jennings – 28th District City Council – 37 years old

5. John Liu – 20th District City Council – 37 years old

6. Ann-Margaret Carrozza– 26th District State Assembly – 39 years old

7. Melinda Katz – 29th District City Council – 39 years old

8. Anthony Weiner – 9th District U.S. Congress – 40 years old

9. Peter Vallone, Jr. – 22nd District City Council – 43 years old

10. Barry Grodenchik – 22nd District State Assembly – 44 years old