PRICEY POLITICIANS

Jamaica Plan a Boon to Campaigns
by Alex Christodoulides
9/6/07

Among the 2006 and 2007 campaign contributors to the two city councilmen whose districts cover most of the territory to be rezoned under the city's so-called Jamaica Plan, two groups stand out in their donations: real estate developers and trade unions.
Between $9,850 from unions and roughly $15,000 from real estate and developer interests, City Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) received almost $25,000 in 2006, a year in which he disclosed $60,050 in corporate campaign contributions, according to campaign finance disclosures from the state Board of Elections.

In 2006, City Councilmen Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) declared $16,200 in donations from individuals and partnerships, of which $2,500 came from interests associated with real estate development, according to campaign finance disclosures from the state Board of Elections. His campaign's corporate contributors that year gave a total of $17,250, of which $2,750 came from real estate groups and developers.The other two councilmen whose districts overlap with the rezoning, David Weprin (D-Hollis) and Tom White Jr. (D-S. Ozone Park), did not receive contributions from real estate or developer groups to the same extent. Gennaro could not be reached for comment.

Comrie is on several related committees in the City Council, including Land Use, Housing and Building. He said the campaign contributions are nothing out of the ordinary. "I've been getting money from trade unions and developers all along," he said. "I've worked to shape the rezoning in a fair and equitable way - I downzoned everything I could, the Merrick corridor, Guy Brewer Boulevard. I want to see New York develop its fullest potential, and I want to see the community get its chance."

The Jamaica Plan would alter the permitted height, usage and density of new buildings across the 368 blocks to be rezoned under the proposal, stretching from Highland and Hillcrest avenues in the north to 110th and Sayres avenues in the south, west to the Van Wyck Expressway and east to 191st Street. In many cases, the changes allow much taller buildings along major roads and near the transit hub at Jamaica Center than exist there now. Many established developers are already campaign donors to both Gennaro and Comrie.

According to the campaign finance reports, one of the single biggest donors to Gennaro's campaign was The Kamali Organization, a Great Neck-based developer which gave $4,950 in 2006 and has been a vocal proponent of rezoning Hillside Avenue. Another big donation in 2006 came from Tropical Funding, a Richmond Hill-based real estate group, which gave $2,750. QFC Associates, which is the mortgage holder on the Queens Family Courthouse apartments in the former Family Courthouse at 89-14 Parsons Blvd., gave Gennaro $2,750 in 2006.

Parkmore Development gave Gennaro's campaign $1,000 in 2006, and one of its partners, Sean Lavin, is also a partner in Galway Properties, which owns the St. Joseph's Hospital site on Union Turnpike. Extell Development Company, which is a big contributor to the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, gave Gennaro $500, and the councilman received the same amount each from the New York Building Congress and from real estate developer Bluestone Management Associates, according to campaign finance disclosures from the state Board of Elections.

Among the donors to Comrie and Gennaro were the Mattone Group Management. Two of the firm's principals, Joseph and Michael Mattone each gave $250 to Comrie's campaign - and $200 to Gennaro. The Mattone Group developed the Pathmark Plaza in Springfield Gardens, and the Jamaica Center complex at the corner of Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard. Community Boards 8 and 12, whose districts encompass the Jamaica Plan, were starting serious discussion in late 2006 about the effect the city's proposal would have on their communities.

CB 8 vocally opposed the Department of City Planning's proposal to upzone Hillside Avenue to allow buildings as tall as seven and eight stories on what is now a predominantly low-rise thoroughfare. Gennaro represents not only Hillside Avenue from the Grand Central Parkway to 188th Street but his district dips south into Jamaica and CB 12 as far as the courthouse building on Parsons Boulevard near Jamaica Avenue, which that Community Board voted in November 2006 to convert into a residential/retail complex.

Comrie's district boundaries are the Van Wyck Expressway to the west and the Nassau County line to the east, Jamaica Avenue to the north except for a stretch where the line jumps up to the southern side of Hillside Avenue. Along the southern edge, Comrie's district boundary dips as far as Merrick, Farmers and Baisley boulevards. Near the AirTrain and Long Island Rail Road station in Jamaica, in Comrie and CB 12's district, the city's plan is for towers of up to 25 stories with hotels and office space, which will need to be designed, developed and constructed.

If campaign contributions to Comrie in 2006 and 2007 are any indication, developers, construction firms and unions are eager to get started. Silvercup Studios Associates, a real estate developer which is responsible for the billion-dollar expansion project at Astoria's Silvercup Studios, gave Comrie $1,000 in 2007 and the same amount to Gennaro in 2006, according to campaign finance disclosures.

Forest Hills-based Muss Development, which is a major presence in downtown Flushing's construction boom, gave Comrie $500. D&F Development Group, based in Lake Success, has worked on low-income housing in Brooklyn, Hempstead, L.I. and Whitestone, and gave Comrie $1,000 in 2007.

Carlisle Towery, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, gave him $500. Comrie also received $500 from attorney James Capalino, who represents the Lavin brothers, who own Galway Properties. Unions, especially those representing construction trades, were big donors to both campaigns, and so were real estate interests.

Gennaro brought in donations of $1,000 each from the Steamfitters Local 638 Political Action Committee, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, 1199 SEIU's New York State Political Action Fund, the Plumbers Local Union #1 and the NYC District Council of Carpenters, plus smaller donations from organizations representing the city police and fire departments.

A political action committee representing New York state realtors also gave $500.Comrie brought in about half Gennaro's total in donations from unions, receiving $5,000 in 2007 from groups including the Steamfitters Local 638, the New York City Central Labor Council, CWA locals 1180 and 1182, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, according to campaign finance disclosures from the state Board of Elections.

Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300.