FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org  @cpnys

STATEMENT FROM NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN GERARD KASSAR

“Lt. Governor Hochul Should Be Included in All Key State Matters to Ensure Continuity of Government”

Brooklyn, NY – “With Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tenure in Albany likely to come to an abrupt end, it’s critically important that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Hochul be fully briefed to take the mantle of state government at a moment’s notice. Based on Gov. Cuomo’s empty schedules, it appears as though these crucially important briefings aren’t occurring. This is a complex state, and we see that as a mistake, as well as a disservice to a Lt. Governor who deserves better.

“Lt. Governor Hochul must also be prepared to explain how Gov. Cuomo’s toxic work environment, especially toward women, was allowed to fester during the seven-plus years she served as Mr. Cuomo’s partner in government. It’s impossible to believe that Ms. Hochul was unaware of this dynamic in the Executive Office. This is a natural line of inquiry, and we expect members of the news media to pursue it.”

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.com

Statement from State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on New York City Vaccine Card Requirement

August 4, 2021

“Mayor Bill de Blasio’s punitive and impractical vaccine card requirement for entering restaurants and theaters is bound to create confusion and hostility among New Yorkers and the businesses that serve them.  Civil liberties aside — and there are serious issues at stake here — vaccine cards are easily forgeable and shop owners can’t be expected to be able to verify them. The expense of hiring extra personnel to check cards, moreover, is more than many of these restaurants can financially endure.

“The mayor’s plan also defies logic: if both vaccinated and unvaccinated New Yorkers can pass along Covid-19 to others, what would this plan accomplish other than punish New Yorkers who choose not to be vaccinated?

“New Yorkers can also expect the de Blasio plan to creep into all areas of private business. What’s starting at restaurants and theaters may soon logically expand into every type of shop and office. Inside space is inside space, no? Do we really want to live that way?

“Underage New Yorkers used to flock to underground shops in Times Square and other places to buy fake paper driver’s licenses to get them into bars. Next, entrepreneurs will be selling fake vaccine cards — guaranteed.

“This is an ill-conceived idea that will put an unworkable burden on businesses, drive a wedge between city residents, and kickstart new underground forgery businesses. New York doesn’t want any of those things. Mayor de Blasio should scrap this plan before it begins.”

###

For Immediate Release
August 3, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org  @cpnys

Statement from Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on Attorney General Report of Cuomo Sex Abuse

Brooklyn, NY – “Governor Andrew Cuomo is a sexual predator and he needs to resign today. Attorney General Letitia’s report makes that clear. Anything but his resignation is unacceptable to the people of New York State.”

###

For Immediate Release
July 23, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org  @cpnys

Statement from New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on  Biden’s DOJ Ignoring Outrageous Cuomo Covid $chemes 

Brooklyn, NY — “Thousands of senior citizens perished in New York nursing homes from Covid-19 under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ill-advised policies; Cuomo furtively covered up the deaths — at the very same time he was negotiating a $5.1 million book deal for himself, with his book largely written and researched by paid government employees.

“With all that, how is it possible that President Biden’s Department of Justice has decided that there’s nothing to see here?

“Could this have anything to do with Biden and Cuomo’s long political friendship? Could it have something to do with Cuomo being the first governor in America to endorse Biden for president?

“The New York State Conservative Party finds itself asking these very questions, because, frankly, no other explanation is tenable. This decision stinks to high heaven, and the families of those lost are right to be outraged. What a gross miscarriage of federal justice.”

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2021
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys

ALBANY PROGRESSIVES INDICT GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICH  

—-

(Grand Juries Swoon)

—-

Kassar Calls for End of Chick-fil-A Cancel-Culture Politicization 

Brooklyn, NY – July 12…Not to be outdone by fictional grand juries — it’s said they’ll indict a ham sandwich — four progressive Albany legislators are absurdly calling for a ban of Chick-fil-A restaurants at all New York Thruway convenience stops, the New York State Conservative Party today noted. Chick-fil-A’s sin: Its Christian founder isn’t properly woke on LGBTQ issues, according to this small, self-appointed Albany jury.

The New York State Thruway Authority recently announced that it will be including popular brands Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Panera, and Shake Shack at its 27 Thruway stops as part of a modernization effort. Chick-fil-A employs 140,000 Americans at 2,672 locations. Nation’s Restaurant News just listed Chick-fil-A as the second most popular restaurant in America, and Chick-fil-A was ranked #1 in restaurant employee benefits by Money in a 2019 study, with the average Chick-fil-A employee holding $158,188 in their employer-matched 401(k) program.

“If Assembly Members Linda Rosenthal, Harry Bronson, Deborah Glick, and Daniel O’Donnell have a beef with Chick-fil-A, they don’t need to eat there, but they have no right to prevent others from doing so,” New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar said. “Once you go down this path, it’s open season on every business, with Soviet-style litmus tests determining what we are able to think and what we are able to consume.”

Chairman Kassar said politicizing iconic American businesses is a slippery slope that benefits no one. “Consumers should drive markets, not elected ideologues. And consumers clearly want Chick-fil-A. We congratulate the State Thruway Authority for offering it to them.”

###

For Immediate Release
July 6, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @ cpnys

Brooklyn, NY – “There’s a ‘Disaster Emergency’ in New York — and not the one Andrew Cuomo is fabricating to create a political distraction from the ongoing crime wave.

“The real disaster is the liberal, pie-in-the-sky criminal justice ‘reforms’ that Mr. Cuomo and his Democrat colleagues have forced on New Yorkers over the past three years. The resulting crime surge is as unconscionable as it was predictable.

“What did Mr. Cuomo think would happen when cash bail, broken window policing, and stop-and-frisk were all abruptly ended? What did he think when police budgets were slashed? Did he think criminals would go on vacation?

“Mr. Cuomo’s solution, once again, is to threaten the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers rather than address the actual issue of criminal behavior.

“We know how to crack down on crime — two Republican New York City mayors proved it — but Mr. Cuomo seems more concerned about appearing ‘woke’ than he is about crime victims. How terribly progressive. How terribly sad.”

###

For Immediate Release
June 21, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org  @cpnys

Statement from New York Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar

Brooklyn, NY  –  “New York City has willfully surrendered to criminals under Mayor Bill de Blasio, tying the hands of police officers and dragging the five boroughs back into the chaos of the 1970’s and 80’s under the false name of ‘progress.’

“Now the Bronx and Manhattan district attorneys are in on the act, tossing out serious criminal cases involving looting, vandalism, and other street violence that occurred during anti-police protests last year.

The message this sends to would-be criminals is clear: crimes committed in the name of ‘progressive’ political speech will go unprosecuted, just like all the smaller offenses that officers are now instructed to ignore. Bronx DA Darcel Clark and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.  should reconsider their decision. A city with a sense of lawlessness is a lawless city.”

###

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org  @cpnys

Statement from New York Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar

Brooklyn, NY – “The 2021 legislative session in Albany was an unmitigated failure. It raised taxes, benefited criminals, hurt the middle class, and failed to hold Governor Andrew Cuomo accountable for his actions. They included the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers from misplacing Covid-19 patients in nursing homes, an attempted coverup of that mistake that almost certainly helped secure a $5.1 million book deal for him, the illegal use of state workers to help write his book, and multiple allegations of sexual misconduct waged against him from female employees half his age.

“Nothing in this session helped reverse New York’s continued economic decline relative to other states; nothing gave parents greater confidence in their children’s education or in their safety in public spaces. The only progress that occurred this session was the increasing realization among common-sense New Yorkers that one-party, ‘progressive’ rule in Albany must be brought to an end.”

# # #

For Immediate Release
June 2, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys

Statement from New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on Gov. Cuomo’s Stonewalling of the Media on $5.1 Million Book Deal 

Brooklyn, NY – “Legislative leaders in Albany can’t allow Gov. Andrew Cuomo to get away with stonewalling the news media in its legal attempts to obtain documents related to Mr. Cuomo’s controversial $5.1 million book contract with Crown Publishing.

“Mr. Cuomo’s book deal stinks to high heaven, and everybody knows it. Let’s count the ways:

1. “The book contract was negotiated at the same time Mr. Cuomo was hiding data on the number of nursing home deaths in New York, a clear possible motive for his malfeasance;
2. “Taxpayer-paid state workers were used to help Mr. Cuomo write the book, at a minimum an ethics violation, and
3. “The hefty advance on Mr. Cuomo’s book, ‘American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,’ was way out of proportion with industry norms.

“Now, Mr. Cuomo is refusing to release documents about the book deal with the ridiculous argument that relinquishing the information could interfere with other inquiries into the deal. He further suggests that his own, handpicked ethics commission — which authorized the sale of the book — has the right to keep its deliberations secret.

“At least 120 Democrat state legislators did the right thing in calling on Gov. Cuomo to resign following multiple sexual harassment allegations levied against him. Those same legislators cannot remain silent over Mr. Cuomo’s latest abuse of power. The public has a right to know what went on with the Cuomo book deal. He is our employee, and his shenanigans must be called out forcefully.”

###

For Immediate Release
May 17, 2021
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys

Statement from New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Controversial  $5.1 Million Book Windfall

Brooklyn, NY – “New York governors aren’t supposed to get rich from serving in office, but that’s exactly what Governor Andrew Cuomo got last year from his official duties — stinking rich — just as the Conservative Party has been saying for months.

“The estimated $5.1 million that Cuomo received for his book, ‘American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,’ is blood money: Cuomo and his cohorts in state government proactively concealed thousands of Covid-19 nursing home deaths as the book contract was being signed to further the myth that Cuomo was infallible in all things Covid-19. He was not, and early mistakes made by him should have been properly reported to the public, even if that would have killed the book deal.

“This $5.1 payment represents a sickening abuse of power. How Cuomo can keep even a dime of the money is beyond us.”

###

For Immediate Release
May 6, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys

Statement by New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on the Biden Administration’s Spurious Compassion

Brooklyn, NY –  Afghans who worked for US plea for help after Biden announces exit.  There is no excuse for this; the red tape holding up the special immigrant visa from the U.S. must be expedited to allow these brave Afghans to escape what will be a certain death once our troops have returned home.

Every American should be outraged that the Biden Administration encourages migrants to cross into America through our southern border looking for America’s generosity yet, has not opened America’s doors to welcome the Afghanistan interpreters who assisted our military men and women throughout the last two decades.

# # #

For Immediate Release
May 5, 2021
Contact:  Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org   @cpnys

Statement by New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar on President Trump’s Backing of Rep. Elise Stefanik for Leadership Post

 Brooklyn, NY – “President Trump is right to recommend Rep. Elise Stefanik for the leadership post currently held by Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Congresswoman Stefanik has the respect of her conference, and a positive, forward-looking vision for her party and nation. The Conservative Party urges her immediate appointment to the leadership post.

“Congresswoman Stefanik, whom the Conservative Party has backed since the early days of 2014, when she announced a Republican primary bid as a largely unknown figure, is now a risen star in Washington. Her ascendancy within the House of Representatives can only be beneficial to the people of New York State by gaining additional influence at the table. We proudly back her for this leadership position.”

###