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Aldorasi faces off against Gianaris for state Senate

By Bill Parry

State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) is running for a third term in District 12 against a man he doesn’t like. The feeling is mutual.

“He talks well but he’s accomplished nothing,” independent challenger Anthony Aldorasi said. “He spends too much time up in Albany, He’s not in touch with his constituents and doesn’t see that our lovely neighborhoods have deteriorated.”

When Gianaris heard of the comment he said, “I’m not going to respond to my opponent. He’s got all sorts of problems of his own that he should be answering for. I’ll let him deal with his own issues.”

Aldorasi is the former Principal at IS 141 who was removed by the city Board of Education in 2007, accused of corporal punishment of three students and harassment of a teacher.

“I made it the top performing school in District 30 and I had a spotless record for 27 years,” he said. “A city arbitrator acquitted me and 18 months later I was told to go back. Chancellor Klein wanted Arne Duncan’s job in the Obama administration and didn’t want negative press. He offered another job, but I chose retirement.”

Aldorasi claimed the chancellor “played politics” and now he’s trying to be in politics. He’s writing a memoir that has drawn interest from HBO but put the whole project on hold while he runs against Gianaris.

“I’m still an educator, so I’m in this to stop Common Core — it’s a plague on our schools,” Aldorasi said, adding that helping the middle class and senior citizens is high on his list.

Gianaris is proud of his record in helping seniors. This past year he secured funding in the state budget to increase the income ceiling for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption from $29,000 to $50,000 so more seniors can afford to stay in their homes.

As for his other accomplishments, Gianaris said, “I’ve been working hard for western Queens. We’ve done a lot to improve mass transit, made the streets safer and improved the environment. Smoke stacks are coming down. Better air quality means less cases of asthma and emphysema, and we’re expanding Mt. Sinai Hospital so you don’t have to go to Manhattan for your health care needs.”

As for Aldorasi’s charge that neighborhoods have deteriorated, Gianaris gestured toward the Long Island City skyline and said, “Look around you at all this construction, there cranes everywhere. Western Queens is growing by the day and we have to make sure the infrastructure keeps up.”

Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr‌y@cng‌local.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.