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The Candidates
| Incumbent: |
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Tony Avella (Dem/WFP) |
| Challenger(s): |
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Philip Ragusa (Ind/Rep/Con)
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Campaign Contributors According to the Campaign Finance Board Contributers to:
Tony Avella
Philip Ragusa

Feature StoryBack to the GOP?The 2001 City Council election saw the already paltry ranks of council Republicans cut from five members to three. The 19th district was one of those that switched party allegiances. This year, Philip Ragusa, vice chair of the Queens County Republican Party, hopes to win the seat back for the Republicans by defeating the incumbent Democrat, Tony Avella.
Ragusa sees some encouraging signs. When the seat was open in 2001, Avella defeated his Republican opponent, Dennis Safran, by just 357 votes. Redistricting since then has made the district more conservative. In his two years in office, Avella has taken some unpopular stands - and Ragusa boasts a record of community service and endorsements from two popular local politicians, Republican State Senators Frank Padavan and Serphin Maltese.
Taxes and quality of life are among the key issues in this district, which includes the affluent residential neighborhoods of Bayside, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, and parts of Flushing.
Avella voted for several taxes, including the absentee landlord tax, the increased sales tax and the increased income tax. But he was one of only six council members who voted against the 18.5 percent increase in the real estate tax last fall.
The council member's vote on the property tax pitted Avella against the mayor, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and most council Democrats.
Some observers speculate that the redrawing of Avella's district to include three more conservative neighborhoods and to increase the number of Republicans may have been an act of political revenge by the redistricting commission, most of whose members were appointed by the mayor and council speaker.
Ragusa says his opposition to tax hikes would not have stopped at the property tax: He would have voted not only against the sales and income tax increases as well. Instead of hiking taxes on city residents, Ragusa said, the council has to focus more on controlling costs.
"Revenue is not that easy to make," he said. "If we give [city government] $46 billion, they spend $46 billion. They have to be more prudent about what they are spending."
While Avella agrees the city could use money more efficiently, he thinks that, in many respects, the council did a good job with the budget this year. But he said the increase in the real estate tax remains the most important issue facing the district. Avella believes the city needed at least some of the revenue from the tax hike to repair city property, something that costs New York millions of dollars a year. So he has proposed a "You Break It, You Pay for It" bill, which would allow the city to recoup money spent to repair damages caused by the negligence of others.
Both Avella and Ragusa stress that district 19 must keep its pleasant residential character. To accomplish this, Avella has proposed limiting medical offices in low-density areas. Residents complain that the doctors' offices reduce the supply of private homes, and homeowners worry that parking by those visiting medical offices decreases property values.
Parking for the influx of religious institutions in the district also poses a problem.
Under city regulations, religious institutions have to provide parking only if their chairs or pews are bolted to a building's floors. And so many religious institutions bypass this law by buying private homes for services and not fastening the seats to the floor. Avella says he wants the regulation eliminated.
But Ragusa has doubts. "This is a touchy issue," he said, noting that repeal of the law could hamper religious expression. Rather than completely eliminating the non-fixed seating regulation, Ragusa thinks each case should be examined individually.
Meanwhile, Avella wants the district rezoned to "better reflect the character of the neighborhood," which has many one and two-family houses, and not create denser development.
In the past 10 years, he said, overdevelopment and improper construction has caused overcrowding in schools and traffic congestion. Avella, chair of the council Zoning and Franchises Committee, has hired a planner to study district 19, recommend areas that could be rezoned and find spots for more open space.
Ragusa said the proposal has merit. "I only question why he waited for the last few months of his term to conduct this study," Ragusa said. "I think it's a ploy to help him win the election."
Ragusa said that he has a long record that demonstrates his commitment to preserving the residential character of district 19. For example, as president of the Beechhurst Property Owners' Association, Ragusa helped fight the construction of high-rise buildings on the Hammerstein estate in Beechhurst. Instead, the city built town houses consistent with the neighborhood's low-density housing. Ragusa has also worked on the Fort Totten Revitalization Committee, which has been successful in having the federal government transfer the defunct military base to the city. Residents and lawmakers are hoping to find $25 million to convert Fort Totten into parkland.
But the record of the candidates may be less important than the record of this district. Was the election of a Democrat in 2001 an aberration or has this part of Queens switched solidly into the Democratic column?

The 12 Most Debated Council Votes of 2002-2003
Recognizing Domestic Partnerships (Intro 114) New York City passed a law in 1998 legalizing same-sex domestic partnerships, but it does not recognize partnerships obtained outside of city limits. This bill would enable people who have registered status in other places to receive the same benefits and legal rights as those registered in the city. Council Vote: 37 for, 7 against, 4 abstaining
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Moratorium on the Death Penalty (Reso 12-A) This resolution calls on the State Legislature and the Governor to halt all executions "until the application of capital punishment in New York is investigated and issues of fairness, justice, equality, due process and cost are addressed." The council measure has no legal power since capital punishment is not a local issue; it is simply the official statement of the opinion of the New York City Council. The mayor is not compelled to sign or veto the resolution. Council Vote: 38 for, 13 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "NO."
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Property Tax Increase (Intro 317-A) This law institutes an increase of 18.49% in real property tax rates, the first property tax increase in the city in over a decade. The tax, which went into effect December 2, 2002 generated an estimated $837 million in revenue for the city during fiscal year 2003. Council Vote: 41 for, 6 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "NO."
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Emergency Contraception at Pharmacies (Intro 87) Emergency contraceptives are high-dose birth control pills that, if taken within the first 72 hours after unprotected intercourse or rape, can reduce the chance of pregnancy. The legislation was the result of a council investigation that found that nearly half of all pharmacies in the city do not carry the emergency contraceptive drugs Preven or Plan B, which were both approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997. This law requires pharmacies that do not carry the drugs to post signs indicating that they are not sold at that location. Council Vote: 43 for, 8 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "NO."
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Smoke Free Act of 2002 (Intro 256-A) This legislation amends the 1995 Smoke-Free Air Act to make public places including bars, nightclubs and restaurants and all places of employment in New York City smoke-free. Officials agreed to some exemptions: cigar bars, owner-operated bars, fraternal organizations and portions of outdoor cafes will still allow smoking. The law would also allow for smoking in separate, enclosed rooms that employees do not enter. Council Vote: 42 for, 7 against, 2 abstain
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Prohibit Predatory Lending (Intro 67) This legislation would bar city agencies from doing business with financial institutions that offer high-interest loans with concealed fees and inflated rates to people who are unable to get a loan elsewhere. These loans are often promoted in low-income neighborhoods, where foreclosure rates tend to be high. Council Vote: 44 for, 5 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Tax Incentives for Housing (Intro 87) The 421-A program was created in 1971 to provide a tax incentive for the construction of new multiple dwellings on sites that are either vacant or underutilized. This change will enable developers of sites zoned for residential use to take advantage of this tax benefit at any time three years prior to the start of construction. Council Vote: 36 for, 11 against, 2 abstaining
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Command Center for the Office of Emergency Management The council approved a location for a new Office of Emergency Management command center in downtown Brooklyn. The site was selected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. Some City Council members objected to the site, arguing that it
is too close to possible terrorist targets like the Brooklyn Bridge and the U.S. Federal Courthouse, which has been the location of terrorism-related trials. The former headquarters of the Office of Emergency Management was housed in the World Trade Center and was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Council Vote: 38 for, 11 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Education for Public Assistance Recipients (93-A) This legislation would change existing welfare-to-work rules and allow welfare recipients to count education, including vocational, GED and English language classes, toward their work requirements. The council argues that under the current requirements people are forced to quit school for low-paying, dead-end jobs. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking the law to court and calls it "a giant step backward in welfare reform." Council Vote: 46 for, 5 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Banning Cell Phones at Performances (Intro 257-A) This law restricts the use of cell phones in places of public performances. Violators will now face a $50 fine and eviction from the venue for talking on, listening to or having a cell phone ring at movie theaters, plays, musicals, museums or libraries. The mayor vetoed the law, saying it was not enforceable. The council overrode the mayor's veto. Council Vote: 40 for, 9 against, 2 abstain
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Filtration Plant in Bronx This measure gives city approval to a new water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The massive underground plant will be built under the Mosholu golf course and will filter water from the Croton Reservoir, which provides about 10 percent of the drinking water in the city. This city legislation passed with the understanding that the city would commit $240 million for building and improving parkland in the Bronx and perform an environmental impact study. The State Legislature and Governor George Pataki in Albany also approved the plan. Council Vote:44 for, 4 against, 2 abstain
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "YES."
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Anti-War Resolution (Res 549-A) This resolution opposed a pre-emptive military attack against Iraq unless it could be demonstrated that "Iraq poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States" or unless all other options of achieving compliance with United Nations resolutions have failed. The resolution also calls on the United States government to: make all efforts to work with the United Nations Security Council; take appropriate steps toward securing participation of other nations to ensure that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction; work with the United Nations and other countries to ensure access of weapons inspectors; ensure that inspectors be given a full and fair opportunity to conduct their work. Council Vote:38 for, 18 against
The incumbent, Tony Avella, voted "NO."

Candidate Biographies
Tony Avella
Tony Avella was elected to the City Council in 2001. He has worked for State Senator Toby Stavisky as her chief of staff and is also president of the College Point Sports Association, where he oversees an organization that supports five local sports groups and serves over 1,000 children a year. He served as Mayor Ed Koch’s Queen’s coordinator.
Philip Ragusa
Phil Ragusa is an accountant and the vice chairman of the Queens County Republican Party, and serves as the Republican State Committeeman representing the 26th Assembly District. He is the president of the Beechhurst Property Owners' Association and Vice President of the Americans of Italian Heritage. He is also the Treasurer of the Whitestone Revitalization Committee and has worked on the Fort Totten Advisory Committee. He graduated from New York University and served in the National Guard and Army Reserve.
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DISTRICT 19: . . . . . The Candidates
Campaign Contributors
Campaign Feature Story: Back to the GOP?
Most Debated Votes of 2002-03
Candidate Biographies
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Election Coverage for all Districts
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