Little Neck Ledger

09/14/2006

 

 

Padavan addresses Little Neck Pines Civic

 

The annual Little Neck Pines candidate's night last Thursday had an unusually small draw - among both voters and candidates.

State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) was the only candidate in a contested race to show up, and even his opponent, Little Neck attorney Nora Marino, was unable to attend because she had a scheduling conflict.

Padavan told the sparse crowd about his efforts to preserve and create parkland in the district, from Udalls Cove to Fort Totten to the Alley Pond Environmental Center.

Padavan also defended the state's efforts to boost education aid to the city - an issue that Democrats have used to attack the Republican-controlled Senate.

"When I first got to Albany, frankly and very candidly, the city was being short-changed in terms of aid to education," he said. But he said New York City now gets more funding from Albany per student than the rest of the state.

Padavan also said the Legislature should explore passing a health care bill modeled after the Massachusetts plan that requires all workers to buy health insurance.

State Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret Carrozza (D-Bayside), who is running unopposed this year, also spoke about efforts to reform Medicaid in Albany.



--John Tozzi