Tag: Metro

Scalpers sue MSG after Knicks, Rangers tix aren’t renewed

No matter who wins this lawsuit, fans will likely lose.

Two dozen Knicks and Rangers season ticket holders — self described “resellers” who glom up tickets and then sell them on StubHub and secondary markets at inflated prices — accuse Madison Square Garden of cutting them off to increase its own profits, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, mostly tri-state area residents and one Israeli, say MSG for years willingly sold them ducats, but now that the Rangers are “a perennial playoff contender” and the Knicks “relevant” again, the Garden wants its tickets back.

The Sept. 7 filing has fueled an epic battle between the plaintiffs’ attorneys and MSG. On Friday, the Post reported that nearly 60 lawyers at the commercial law and government relations firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron have been banned from Rangers and Knicks games because their clients are suing MSG, new court papers allege.

The plaintiffs said the Knicks are finally “relevant” again.
for the NY POST

In the September case, the scorned scalpers contend “MSG’s end game is to reclaim the tickets, create a monopoly, and reap a windfall by selling the tickets exclusively through its own ‘authorized’ out-of-state reseller,” the Sept. 7 filing says. Currently, face-value tickets can only be purchased directly from Ticketmaster or the Garden’s box office.

“After many years of relying on [the local resellers] to purchase Knicks and Rangers season tickets at exorbitant prices when the teams respective performance and records were abysmal, MSG has in utter bad faith elected to not renew” their season tickets, the suit says.

The 21-page complaint paints the scalpers in a noble light.

Now, face-value tickets can only be purchased from Ticketmaster or the Garden’s box office.
AP

“For years plaintiffs have been loyal to MSG through playoff droughts, postseason
failures, coaching musical chairs, and constant disruptive sideshows. During that same time period, it was MSG who actively solicited plaintiffs’ business, including through the COVID-19 pandemic,” the suits says.

An MSG spokesman countered, “We want our season ticket memberships to be made up of our loyal Knicks and Rangers fans, not professional ticket brokers. This lawsuit is without merit, and we maintain the right to not offer season tickets.”

In the latest salvo, the legal eagles allege MSG declared the historic arena was “banning” the firm’s “attorneys from entering venues owned and operated” by MSG, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit from Thursday.

It came as a surprise to most of the firm’s team who aren’t involved in the legal brawl with MSG, and who now find themselves “pariahs,” the Thursday filing claims. The suit is asking for an emergency order from a judge to reinstate firm co-founder and managing partner Larry Hutcher’s season tickets and overturn the ban against the firm.

Either way, there is no free lunch for Rangers or Knicks fans.

The plaintiffs also allege that the Rangers are “a perennial playoff contender.”
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Po

A center-ice seat for the Rangers-Tampa Bay Lightning opening-night game on Oct. 11 ran $1,100 if you purchased through MSG-partner Ticketmaster, but upwards of $2,000 on the secondary market. A ticket near the floor at the Knicks’ opening game Oct. 21 vs. the Detroit Pistons will cost you $1,991 if you buy on the secondary market, and $490 through Ticketmaster, according to recent listings.

The Garden’s actions restrict the “existing free market” and will drive up ticket prices, the scalpers claim.

“There is no doubt that the average ticket buyer would be benefited by our success in the lawsuit because it will establish a real market place for the tickets,” said Hutcher, the attorney for the ticket brokers who is now in crosshairs of the latest litigation.

At least one sports junkie wasn’t buying either side’s spiel in the original dispute.

“It’s a lose-lose situation for the fans,” said diehard Knicks follower Michael Alcazar, 55. “It’s hard for me to feel sorry for the [resellers]. In the end, I’m still paying a high mark-up for the tickets and the Garden prices are exorbitant too,” the Queens-bred criminal justice professor said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

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Kathy Hochul slammed for $1B election-year ‘slush funds’

Gov. Kathy Hochul treated herself to nearly $1 billion worth of pork-barrel spending in this year’s state budget — allowing her to freely hand out cash as she runs for election against Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

Hochul and her Democratic allies in the Legislature added the $920 million worth of outlays to the $220.5 billion fiscal plan in an 11th-hour move in April that government watchdogs warn is wide open to abuse.

“These slush funds are totally unaccountable. It’s not how public dollars should be doled out,” senior policy adviser Rachael Fauss of Reinvent Albany said Friday.

Another nonpartisan nonprofit, the Citizens Budget Commission, said the cash “will go to projects and purposes that primarily will be identified behind closed doors.”

“As such, they are ripe for political allocation rather than a distribution based on sound, holistic capital planning that addresses critical infrastructure needs,” the CBC wrote in a July analysis.

Kathy Hochul gave herself around $1 billion in a slush fund.

The group also noted that the $535 million poured into two of three “lump sum” spending programs — the Long Island Investment Fund and the Local Community Assistance Program — can be spent “for essentially any purpose” and “isn’t subject to any agreement with the Legislature.”

In recent weeks, Hochul announced two expenditures that squarely targeted the Long Island home base of Zeldin, an outgoing, four-term US representative.

One provided $50 million in funding for a competition to “attract and grow companies in the life sciences, health technology and medical device sectors” on Long Island.

The other awarded a $10 million grant to the Northwell Health network’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research for 26 new, state-of-the-art laboratories in Manhasset.

Hochul touted both initiatives on the state’s official website, which also says that “the Long Island Investment Fund will focus on large-scale projects that will support and grow the regional economy, enhance communities, and have lasting impacts across the Long Island region.”

And on Sept. 27, Hochul was joined at a news conference about the Feinstein Institutes funding by state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Carle Place), who faces Republican Jack Martins, a former state senator, in a race that’s expected to be close due to local outrage over New York’s controversial bail-reform law.

“Kathy Hochul hasn’t simply blurred the line between governing and campaigning — she’s completely erased it,” remarked state Senate Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton).

“New York has the least transparent budget process imaginable and what we’re seeing now is a product of creating pools of money with no guidelines whatsoever.”

In addition to the “lump sum” funding, the CBC identified six “individual purpose” pork projects, including the controversial $600 million earmarked for a new stadium for Hochul’s hometown football team, the Buffalo Bills.

In Hochul’s budget, $350 million was added as a “Long Island fund.”

The governor’s husband, former Buffalo US Attorney Bill Hochul, is a top executive at the  Delaware North hospitality and food service company that manages the scores of concession and retail outlets at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

Another project with a direct tie to Hochul is the planned $20 million reconstruction of the Carrier Dome sports stadium at Syracuse University, her alma mater.

The planned Universal Hip-Hop Museum in the South Bronx and the planned Mohawk Harbor Events Center in Schenectady were awarded $11 million and $10 million in funding, respectively.

The New York Hall of Science in Corona, Queens, and Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in Lower Manhattan will also get $10 million and $5 million, respectively, for upgrades.

In its analysis, the CBC said as much as $1.2 billion of the spending could be financed by bonds that would “consume” the state’s ability to issue debt and potentially prevent it from financing other, “critical” projects in the future.

Several critics compared Hochul’s budgetary maneuvers to those of her widely reviled predecessor, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal last year.

“This is Cuomo crony capitalism 2.0,” said city Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), spokesman for the pro-Zeldin Save Our State political action committee.

“It’s the same old from the same old Albany crowd. And there’s nothing to address the real issues New Yorkers are concerned about.”

Said GOP political consultant William O’Reilly: “This is a classic Andrew Cuomo tactic — a pre-election Santa Claus giveaway to key voting constituencies. It costs Gov. Hochul nothing, but it costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, all to benefit her reelection drive.”

“You can’t get much swampier than this,” O’reilly emphasized.

In an emailed response, Hochul spokesperson Avi Small said, “Gov. Hochul worked with the legislature to craft a fiscally responsible budget, using an influx of federal pandemic relief to make strategic investments in public safety, infrastructure, and tax relief while also making unprecedented deposits in rainy day reserves to protect against future uncertainty – even leading to Moody’s upgrading the state’s credit rating after the budget was passed.”

A spokesman for the Budget Division said the state had $6 billion in cash available to pay for capital projects, but didn’t immediately respond when asked whether that would cover all of the $1.6 billion in spending cited by the CBC.

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Woman who fell from NYC bar remembered as sweet and loving

The 26-year-old woman who plunged to her death from a fancy rooftop bar in Manhattan was an aspiring model who was “sweet and loving,” her family said Thursday evening.

Elizabeth Gaglewski, of Queens, plummeted from the ledge of Bar 54 at the Hyatt Centric Times Square New York Wednesday afternoon and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.

“She was just a good person, a sweet and loving, caring kid,” her uncle Tony Smith told The Post from inside their home.

“She was a good, loving, kind girl,” added her aunt Janet, who didn’t give her last name. 

Investigators on Thursday were still trying to determine if Gaglewski jumped intentionally or fell by accident.

The victim was identified as Elizabeth Gaglewski by her aunt and uncle, and law enforcement sources.
Zach Hilty/BFA.com
The fall occurred from Bar 54 at the Hyatt Centric Times Square New York Wednesday afternoon.
Google Earth
Staff attempted to save her life, but she was already off the side before they could reach her, sources said.
Hyatt

The family was coping with their loss a day after the tragic incident where Gaglewski fell from the 54th floor and landed on a 27th-floor balcony, cops have said.  

Her uncle also said they were not sure whether the fall was intentional or not and declined to say if she was struggling with depression or mental health.

“We are still waiting to get all the information from cops,” Smith said.

Police have said they are reviewing surveillance footage of the incident.

Authorities respond to a reports of a person who allegedly jumped from the rooftop bar at Hyatt Centric.
Authorities respond to a reports of a person who allegedly jumped from the rooftop bar at Hyatt Centric.

Staff attempted to save her life, but she was already off the side before they could reach her, sources said.

“They saw it. They tried to help her but they couldn’t,” a worker who wasn’t there but had been briefed on the incident told The Post earlier Thursday.

“The whole staff is traumatized right now.”

Witnesses told cops after the incident the woman was “seen jumping” from the ledge.

Sources said Gaglewski was not staying at the hotel, and that she had ordered a drink before apparently climbing over the ledge.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988, text HOME to 741741 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.

Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Larry Celona

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NYC Deputy BP Diana Richardson fired by Brooklyn Borough Hall President Reynoso

Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Richardson will soon be ousted from borough hall following reports that she created a “toxic” workplace.

Richardson’s boss, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, has fired her following complaints of bad behavior — including physical violence — from staff and constituents, according to the Daily News.

A spokesperson for borough hall told the paper that Richardson “will no longer serve at Brooklyn Borough Hall” beginning next week.

Richardson, former Crown Heights assemblywoman, joined Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s Borough Hall team before he fired her.
Stefan Jeremiah for New York Pos

The former Crown Heights assemblywoman left office to join Reynoso’s team at borough hall.

In that role, she allegedly cursed out staffers, violated COVID-19 protocols, stored a bottle of vodka in her office and nearly fought the head of an anti-violence program, multiple sources aware of the situation told the Daily News.

In the latter incident, Richardson got into a disagreement with Camara Jackson, the head of the anti-violence and mentoring program Elite Learners, and had to be separated from her, Jackson told the paper.

Richardson’s behavior and treatment of staffers got so bad that she was asked to work remotely in order to limit her interactions with colleagues, the outlet reported.

Sources said she kept a bottle of Absolut vodka in her office and struggled with simple tasks like emails and scheduling, but would berate borough hall staffers, according to the Daily News.

The Brooklyn pol had a controversial past while in the state Assembly before signing onto the borough hall team.

In 2017, she was charged with misdemeanor assault, harassment and menacing for allegedly beating her 12-year-old son with a broomstick.

She confessed to beating him and defended the use of corporal punishment in a video posted to social media last year.

In 2018, Richardson made headlines for throwing an “out-of-control” tantrum during a closed-door meeting in which she verbally attacked Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie over funding for one of her pet projects.

Earlier that year, she was accused of anti-Semitism after she made comments suggesting Jewish people were gentrifying her district at a community board meeting.

Richardson didn’t respond to the allegations in the Daily News story.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn borough president’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

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Migrants bused to NYC hotel going door-to-door asking for help

Migrants bused into New York City have been walking through the streets of a Staten Island neighborhood asking for food, clothes and work after they were put up in hotels there.

The migrants — many not ready for the colder temperatures of the Big Apple — are staying at a property in Travis-Chelsea that includes the Staten Island Inn, Holiday Inn, and Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott, sources and workers told the Post.

The Staten Island Inn is completely booked with migrants, one worker claimed. The Holiday Inn Express was expecting another drop-off at some point Saturday night.

One migrant, Geraldine Silva, told The Post outside of the Inn that she arrived there about a week ago after she was bussed from El Paso. The Venezuelan native was wearing only a t-shirt, sweatpants and flip flops on a night when temperatures dropped into the 40s.

“We do not have clothing and are not eating well. We need a place to work,” Silva, 31, told The Post.

Hotel employees are concerned for the migrants who don’t have proper clothing or a plan once they arrive in NYC.
Steve White

“We are waiting for clothes,” the mother said, shivering beside a handful of kids and other migrants.

A Holiday Inn employee said the migrants first arrived a week ago.

“[The hotel management] didn’t tell anyone anything. They weren’t taking any reservations … and people were bugging out,” the worker said. “The front desk has to do the dirty work. They had to call them and tell them we are closed. We sold out to the city. I guess the city owns the building.”

“Why do we have 50,000 people when you could have given them to a different state….we are 10 minutes from New Jersey. There is nothing here,” he fumed.

There have been reports that migrants are going door-to-door asking for assistance.
Steve White

“There is no laundry service here. There is nothing. There is nothing for them to shop, for them to do their laundry. I have no idea how they are going to do it,” he said about the neighborhood, a middle class enclave of Staten Island.

The Marriot is expected to house incoming migrants soon as well, he added.

A worker, who said he works for a company called Garner, was on scene handing out paperwork to migrants. He said he has worked at various migrant hotels throughout the city but Saturday was his first day at the Staten Island site.

“They were dressed for 100-degree weather” and not the cold Big Apple weather.
Steve White

“We are here to get them started. To get them in their room. We are here to make sure they get where they need to fill out their paperwork,” the worker told The Post.

“We just make sure they fill out their paperwork and then the state takes over.”

The sudden influx of migrants has overwhelmed local residents, who said the newcomers have been going door-to-door knocking on homes, asking for clothes and other necessities.

Terrence Jones, a Staten Island resident and business owner, said he was caught off guard when some migrants rang his doorbell multiple times.

“They were speaking Spanish. I just said I only speak English. It was like three times,” Jones, 56, told The Post.

He said one person was wrapped up in a blanket.

“They were underdressed – had slippers on, a Red Cross blanket. I thought it was weird.”

Andrew Wilkes, a computer programmer who also lives near the hotels, also received multiple knocks on his door.

 “I’ve had it happen three times. The fourth time was today and [a woman] handed me a paper” identifying herself as a migrant, he said.

These migrants were bussed up from El Paso to NYC and dropped off on Staten Island instead of Midtown Manhattan.
Steve White

“They were dressed for 100-degree weather,” he said, also stressing their lack of warm clothing. 

He said his wife was looking for any extra clothes she had around their home to donate.

“What gets me is desperate people do desperate things. That’s what worries me,” he added.

“It’s not the right thing to do for the neighborhood, to overload it. Where are they going to go to school? There’s only one school in the neighborhood.”

Sebastian Bongiovani, 51, co- owner of Verde’s Pizza and Pasta House, has provided free food to the migrants since they arrived. He said the neighborhood was never informed that the busloads would be coming.

“What we’ve seen is pregnant women, little children starving,” he said. He said he’s watched the famished migrants wolf down a whole slice of pizza “in a second.”

Places like the Staten Island Inn, Holiday Inn, and Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott are being used as migrant refugees.
Steve White

“What I’ve experienced is people come to my [pizzeria] and ask for food. I tell them to come back at the end of the day. [A man] came back with his pregnant wife and five or six kids,” Bongiovani said.

“At the end of the day these people are just hungry. It’s a good neighborhood but they don’t seem to have a plan,” he added.

“People walking around hungry is f—ing not good,” he said, noting that migrants had allegedly stolen food off the shelves of a nearby store.

Bongiovani was planning on dropping off food Saturday night to someone at the hotel. He said he was “touched” after one migrant woman came back the next day to thank him for a large amount of free food.

Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Friday over the deluge of migrants into the Big Apple, calling it “unsustainable.” He warned that the sudden influx is pushing the city’s shelter population to an all-time high and will cost taxpayers $1 billion for housing and social services.

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Police identify victim in Brooklyn stabbing death

A 22-year-old man stabbed to death in a fight outside a Brooklyn deli last month has been identified as Frederick Bolden, the NYPD said Saturday.

Bolden lived in the same Avenue M building in Canarsie as his alleged killer, Erickson Jean-Gilles, 32. Police charged Jean-Gilles with murder on Sept. 27.

The men got into a fight outside the Canarsie One Stop Market on Avenue L on Sept. 24.

A witness told The Post she saw two men arguing with one throwing a liquor bottle and “the other guy began to stab him. He was swift like he was a professional stabber.” 

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14-year-old with 18 priors suspected in scooter shootings

A 14-year-old gang member with 18 busts already under his belt is suspected in three shootings that occurred just days apart in The Bronx, police said Friday.

The kid made off on a scooter each time with an accomplice, police said — till he was finally busted for two of the crimes Wednesday.

The young suspect — whose arrests date back to age 10 or 11 — allegedly opened fire into a Dunkin’ Donuts from the back of a scooter Sept. 19 just after 2:30 p.m., said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. The bullets broke the glass at the store at 5501 Broadway and struck the young shooter’s intended target, Essig said.

A few days later, the same scooter with the teen onboard was spotted after a 20-year-old man was shot in the leg at 131 West Kingsbridge Road early Sept. 25, according to Essig.

The targets were part of the “1300” or “OKB” gang, which is a subsection of the Crips, the chief said.

A 14-year-old with 18 busts is suspected in three shootings, police said.
Christopher Sadowski

The teen, who was not identified because of his young age, is allegedly a member of the “Young Gunner” gang, a rival Bloods offshoot, Essig added.

Cops believe the 14-year-old was also involved in a shooting on early Sept. 22 at 5360 Broadway where the same scooter was spotted, but the teen was only charged in the other two, according to Essig.

The firearm has not yet been recovered.

The 14-year-old, who is now facing attempted murder and criminal possession-of-a-weapon charges, has 18 prior arrests dating back to 2018 for various crimes, including grand larceny robbery and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Police are still looking for the scooter’s driver.

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NYC pol Tiffany Cabán called cops after threats: sources

Guess who called the cops!

Defund the Police-promoting Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán’s Queens office notified the NYPD after receiving a slew of threatening phone calls — just days after she urged local businesses to refrain from dialing 911.

The messages were received over the weekend and reported to cops by someone in the progressive pol’s office late Tuesday, sources told The Post.

The callers spewed vile threats, telling Cabán they hoped she got “beaten up on the subway” and “your eyes fall out,” according to sources.

“I hope you get your a– kicked,” one of the messages threatened.

The messages came after it emerged that Cabán and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani had released a “public safety” guide that encouraged local merchants to call 311, instead of summoning cops, in most cases.

The guide also urged businesses to “give the person causing harm the chance to correct their behavior,” seek mental health services for people with mental illnesses and engage in “community mediation” before seeking intervention.

Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán’s Queens office notified the NYPD about receiving threatening phone calls after she urged local businesses to refrain from dialing 911.
Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago

“This is hypocritical,” a local landlord raged to The Post in the wake of her office alerting the NYPD.

“When people were getting robbed at gunpoint across the street from her office she did nothing, now she wants police to do something.

“Now someone leaves an anonymous message and she is crying and calling cops while she tells her constituents to call 311 — typical do as I say, not as I do phony politician.”

Meanwhile, a Queens cop griped: “How can anyone take her seriously?”

“She is calling police over an anonymous phone call while she tells victims of violent attacks to ask them if they went to school together,” the cop added. “Maybe she should put a case of soda outside her office.”

Police are currently probing the threats, but Cabán’s spokesperson stressed that her office never called 911.

“We did not call 911, and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie,” the spokesperson said, without elaborating on how they notified cops.

“We will not be offering any comment on the nature of the threats we’ve received.”

Cabán’s “public safety” guide encourages locals to call 311 instead of 911.
Gregory P. Mango

Two days after promoting the public safety guide, FDNY paramedic Alison Russo-Elling was stabbed to death by a maniac less than two miles from Cabán’s office.

It sparked a heated response from critics who accused the lefty pol, who represents north Astoria and parts of East Elmhurst and Woodside, of being soft on crime.

Curtis Sliwa’s Guardian Angels vowed to plaster fliers in Cabán’s district that urged local residents to call the cops when they need help. 

“If you see a conflict that appears to be escalating; If you see someone having a mental health crisis; If you see someone experiencing drug overdose: CALL 911,” the poster said.

“Always, always, always call the NYPD.”

Cabán’s spokesperson emphasized that her office never called 911 about the threats.
Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago

A week earlier, Cabán sparked outrage again by tweeting that “Subway violence is a one-in-a-million event” — as footage emerged of a horrific beating at a subway station in her own borough.

The victim in that sick attack, Elizabeth Gomes, later told The Post that Cabán was wildly out of touch.

“The subway system is dangerous and for her to post something like that — it seems to me that she doesn’t ride the subway or have anyone to ride it,” Gomes, a JFK airport security guard, said.

“She doesn’t really understand what it is. It’s just getting worse and worse.”



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NYC food delivery driver on e-bike struck by car in Brooklyn

A car slammed into a food delivery man riding an e-bike in Brooklyn Saturday night — leaving the cyclist hospitalized, according to police.

A black Infiniti hit the delivery person at the intersection of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in Williamsburg around 6:30 p.m., cops said.

The scooter driver suffered injuries to his head and neck and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens where he is expected to recover, cops said.

The victim’s overturned scooter and insulated food bag remained at the scene next to the Infiniti. The car’s grills were damaged on the driver’s side, photos show.

The Infiniti’s grill was damaged in the collision.
Paul Martinka
The delivery driver suffered injuries to his leg and head and was taken to Elmhurst Hospital.
Paul Martinka

The Infiniti driver remained at the scene following the collision, cops said.

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

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Historic LI House race features two gay candidates

Two openly gay pols are vying for a congressional seat in Long Island in a historic first for the United States.

Robert Zimmerman, 68, a communications executive, and George Santos, 34, a Wall Street investor, are facing off in New York’s third district covering Oyster Bay, Glen Cove, North Hempstead and a slice of northeastern Queens.

“It’s a landmark. It’s an absolute landmark,” said Ken Sherrill, a Hunter College political scientist and former Democratic district leader who was New York’s first openly gay elected official.

In interviews with The Post, both candidates said they recognized the historic nature of the race.

“For me there’s a great sense of history to the moment that I take very seriously and believe is very important,” Zimmerman said. “People forget what it was like to be gay in the 70s when I was growing up. I used to go to the diner in Great Neck by myself because I was embarrassed to tell my folks I didn’t have a date for the dance. I was told there were doctors who could make me better.”

Santos said he felt his nomination showed his party was welcoming of LGBT Americans.

Democrat candidate Robert Zimmerman supports Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reelection campaign.
@zimmermanforny/Instagram
Republican candidate George Santos talks to constituents.
georgeforny.com

“I think it shows that a lot of what the media puts out there that Republicans are homophobic and not accepting is just not true. I have plenty of support from the local Republican party. I have been nominated twice in a row with no opposition,” he said.

Both, however, were adamant that that’s where the similarities ended.

Zimmerman took shots at Santos for his apparent opposition to abortion rights and President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. While Santos said his opponent had an agenda that “does not speak to the issues we have today.”

Democrat candidate Robert Zimmerman has criticized George Santos’ pro-life abortion stance.
@zimmermanforny/Instagram
Political analysts claim the race for New York’s third district congressional district is extremely competitive.
zimmermanforcongress.com
Republican candidate George Santos said he appeals more to small businesses.
George Santos for Congress NY-3/

Democrats have been sending openly gay candidates to congress for decades, like former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, it’s been a slower path for Republicans.

The GOP under President George W. Bush supported a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the mid-2000s and most recently, a wide majority of the party voted against codifying same-sex marriage as the law of the land.

Though the seat leans Democrat, the race is one of the most competitive in the country. Polling last month from RMG Research found Zimmerman with 42% support, and Santos with 41%. A decisive 14% bloc said they were still unsure. The seat became open this year after Rep. Tom Suozzi declined to seek reelection to instead mount an unsuccessful run for governor.



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