“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it”-Ronald Reagan
For Immediate Release
November 11, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882 www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Statement by Chairman Kassar on Congressman Peter King’s Decision
Brooklyn, NY – Congressman Peter King’s decision to not seek re-election in 2020 will be a loss to his constituents and especially to all Americans. His leadership and expertise in homeland security and counter terrorism has been instrumental in keeping New York and America safe since the horrific 9/11 unprecedent assault on our homeland.
His long and lustrous career in the House of Representatives, fighting for his constituents, will be sorely missed, but we are confident Congressman King will always be available to continue the fight for his constituents and all Americans.
The Conservative Party is proud to call him a friend.
For Immediate Release
November 8, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
HYPER-LEFT POLICIES JOLTING NEW YORK VOTERS: STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 8…High-tax, anti-business, and soft-on-crime policies coming out of Democratic-controlled Albany are jolting everyday New Yorkers, and Tuesday’s election results reflect it, New York State Conservative Chairman Gerard Kassar today said.
“Despite some misleading news reports about this week’s elections, Tuesday’s results show a growing backlash against unhinged policy positions being driven by Albany’s hard political left,” Chairman Kassar said. “Voters around the state rejected this unbridled ‘progressivism’ by supporting Conservatives and Republicans at the polls, and we are confident that this trend is only just beginning. Leftist, one-party rule will spell disaster for this state, and voters are already beginning to react to it.”
Chairman Gerard Kassar noted Conservative-backed victories on Tuesday, including:
Taking back the Town of Hempstead – the largest town in the United States with 800K people;
Winning a civil court seat in Richmond County on the predominantly Democratic North Shore;
Flipping the town of Yorktown in Westchester County with 33 year- old Matt Slater a true rising star;
A landslide victory for returning Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro against Governor Cuomo’s handpicked candidate;
A district attorney win in heavily Democratic Dutchess County;
Flipping the Clinton County Legislature together with many other gains in the North Country;
Taking back the City of Canandaigua;
Winning every non-judicial election in Wayne County;
George Scaringe holding a lead in the Town of Colonie;
Mike Kavanaugh leading in the count for Ulster County District Attorney;
All 4 candidates in the Fourth Judicial District winning, with the Conservative Party line providing the margin of victory to Michael R. Cuevas.
The Conservative Party provided the margin of victory in many races, including Hempstead, the Richmond Judicial race as well as several Livingston County Judicial races, the Yorktown race, the City of Canandaigua in Ontario County, and Michael P. Cuevas in the 4th Judicial District, Chairman Kassar noted.
The Conservative Party attributes many of this year’s victories to the implementation of dangerous and outrageous policies on crime, taxes, and government spending, and on the cultural battles that caught the attention of New Yorkers from all localities and all walks of life.
“Democrats in Albany are turning this state into a laboratory for off-the-wall ‘progressivism’ and everyday New Yorkers are noticing it,” Kassar continued. “This is not the New York that the average voter wants, and if Tuesday is an early indicator, there will be hell to pay for the government malpractice we are witnessing. Mark my words: The pendulum is swinging in New York.”
For Immediate Release
November 6, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
CONSERVATIVES TOUT WINS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE
Brooklyn, NY – State Chairman Gerard Kassar noted that the Conservative Party had a great election night due to the efforts of excellent local leaders of county organizations who put our candidates over the top. Just some of the highlights are below:
Taking back the Town of Hempstead – the largest town in the United States with 800K people.
Winning a civil court seat in Richmond County on the predominately Democratic North Shore.
Flipping the town of Yorktown in Westchester County with 33 year- old Matt Slater a true rising star
A landslide victory for returning Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro against Governor Cuomo’s handpicked candidate
Flipping the Clinton County Legislature together with many other gains in the North Country
Taking back the City of Canandaigua
In Wayne County every single non-Judicial election was won by a candidate supported by the Wayne County Conservative Party.
Our candidate George Scaringe is holding a lead in the Town of Colonie.
In the Fourth Judicial District all 4 of our candidates won with the Conservative Party providing the margin of victory to Michael R. Cuevas.
The Party provided the margin of victory in many races including Hempstead, the Richmond Judicial race as well as several Livingston County Judicial races, the Yorktown race, and the City of Canandaigua in Ontario County.
Despite the unfortunate loss of our outstanding Monroe County Executive candidate, Cheryl Dinolfo, Monroe County Conservatives had many victories. This can also be said of many of our county organizations who saw gains both small and large.
The Conservative Party attributes many of this year’s victories to the implementation by the New York State Legislature of outrageous polices, on crime, taxes, government spending and cultural battles that caught the attention of New Yorkers from all localities and all walks of life.
For Immediate Release
November 4, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @CPNYS
Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio Have No Compassion for The Victims The Victims of the Crime are Also Entitled to Justice
Brooklyn, NY – What were they thinking? The democratic controlled New York State Legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill to eliminate bail for defendants charged with an array of misdemeanor and felony crimes and made it retroactive!
Thus, the Governor is able to free them even before the law’s effective date. To add salt on the proverbial wound, Mayor de Blasio is offering incentives – that taxpayers are paying for – movie passes and gift cards to encourage them to return to court.
This is a complete miscarriage of true justice. The people truly harmed are ignored, while the perpetrator is rewarded. Taxpayers are forced to pay for this injustice.
Is it any wonder why people are fleeing New York in droves?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.com
CUOMO GROSSLY MISLEADING NEWS MEDIA ON PUBLIC FINANCE COMMISSION DISASTER: NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Brooklyn – October 30…“Governor Andrew Cuomo is blatantly misleading the news media and the public in his effort to conceal catastrophic flaws in his Public Campaign Finance Commission, the not-so-thinly-veiled body he created in the 2019 State Budget to exact revenge on political enemies,” New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar today charged.
“His spokesman cited incorrect statute yesterday in an attempt to deflect attention from Cuomo’s most critical Commission error to date: Its members failed to take the required Oath of Office. As a result — under clear State law — any actions the commissioners have taken thus far are nullified. They were not conducted lawfully,” Chairman Kassar said.
The Conservative Party cited clear and long-established State law requiring Public Campaign Finance commissioners to swear an Oath of Office before conducting official state business, which they did not do (below).
Article XIII, Section 1 of the New York State Constitution states that:
Members of the Legislature and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability.
The Constitutional Article is codified in Public Officers Law Section 10 which states:
Every officer shall take and file the Oath of Office required by law, and every judicial officer of the Unified Court System, in addition, shall file a copy of said oath in the Office of the Court Administration before he shall be entitled to enter upon the discharge of any of his official duties.
Public Officers Law Section 2 defines the term ‘state officer’ which:
…includes every officer for whom all the electors of the State are entitled to vote,
members of the Legislature, Justices of the Supreme Court, Regents of the
University, and every officer appointed by one or more state officers, or by the Legislature, and authorized to exercise his official function throughout the entire state, or without limitation to any political subdivision of the State.
Attorney and Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo, who also serves as Conservative Party Vice Chairman elaborated: “Public Officers Law Section 30 provides that the office of a public officer becomes vacant when the public officer refuses or neglects to take and file his or her Oath of Office within 30 days of appointment,” he said.
“The Governor would have you believe that there is an exception codified in Public Officers Law Section 73 for public officers who receive no compensation or are compensated on a per diem basis. Clearly this is not the case. Section 73 only applies to the Ethics Law sections and Disclosure. That is clear when Section 73 starts with the words ‘As used in this Section’, Chairman Lorigo said.
“Governor Cuomo will be admitting his deception,” Mr. Lorigo continued, “if these nine commissioners do, in fact, file an Oath of Office at this late juncture. But even if they do, Section 30 clearly points out that work done previously, and unlawfully, is negated. Attempting to file an Oath of Office, in accordance with the statutes at this late date, would render the commission unable to complete its task within the statute time frame.
“Governor Cuomo should stop with the shenanigans and allow the duly-elected State Legislature to do its job. Only it can create or amend State Election Law,” Mr. Lorigo concluded.
For Immediate Release
October 26, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Conservative Party Releases Social Media Ad
Urging a NO vote on NYC Ballot Proposition Two
Brooklyn, NY — The Conservative Party has released a social media ad in opposition to the NYC ballot proposal regarding changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
The Conservative Party is opposed to the CCRB and believes that each of these proposed changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board only further empowers it, therefore a NO vote is recommended.
“Free speech and the competition of ideas — the lifeblood of democracy — are being brazenly and unlawfully threatened by Governor Andrew Cuomo and his handpicked state Democratic Party boss Jay Jacobs.
“This egregious assault on the Constitutional right to fusion voting in New York is bringing together Conservatives, the Working Families Party, Republicans, and brave Democrats because of its critical importance to free political discourse in New York.
“Today, State Senate Republicans are speaking out loudly and clearly about the sham commission created by Governor Cuomo and led by Democratic Party boss Jacobs — Jacobs was granted special dispensation to lead the commission through a surreptitious and almost universally unnoticed last-minute language insertion in the 2019-20 State Budget — and rightly claiming the exclusive right of the right of the State Legislature to make Election Law changes.
“It is the ardent and legally impregnable position of New York State Conservatives and Republicans that Governor Cuomo’s so-called ‘Public Financing Commission’ lacks any authority to amend or create state law. Only the State Legislature, duly elected by the People of New York State, have that right.
“Governor Cuomo has crossed a legal line in an effort to kneecap political competition and quiet dissent in New York from both the left and the right. It is encouraging, though, to see elected leaders from starkly different political persuasions stand together against such attempted tyranny. Our forerunners would be proud.”
###
***Fusion voting was established more than a century ago in New York as a good government measure to challenge rampant Tammany Hall corruption. It has thrice been upheld as constitutional in New York’s highest courts.
SHENANIGANS EXPOSED IN CUOMO PLOT TO KNEECAP WORKING FAMILIES PARTYDemocrat Chairman Jacobs Knows Nothin’ About Nothin’
New York-Oct. 15…A longstanding prohibition against political party chairman serving on government policy-making commissions — common knowledge among New York party officials — was nullified by a one-sentence, last-minute language insertion deep inside the 2019-’20 State Budget that greenlighted New York Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs to serve as de facto chairman of a commission hellbent on kneecapping the rival Working Families Party (WFP), a story in The Albany Times Union has revealed.
Chairman Jacobs, an ardent opponent of fusion voting who has long-served as the Nassau County Democratic Party chairman as well, claims in the Times Union piece that a.) he noticed the language addition in the 2019-20 State Budget (virtually no one did) and b.) he was previously unaware that political party chairmen have been expressly banned from policy making roles for decades (an equally preposterous assertion.)
“It looks pretty obvious to me what’s going on here,” said New York State Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar. “Governor Cuomo is furious at the Working Families Party for endorsing Cynthia Nixon instead of him for governor in 2018, so his legislative mechanics cooked up a way to let his handpicked Democratic Chairman put a shiv between the third and fourth ribs of the WFP. Thankfully, though, the plot is unravelling as members of the public and news media are catching onto what they’re up to.”
The last-minute budget language insertion expressly allowed party officials to serve on the New York State Public Financing Commission — by name. That commission was ostensibly created to look at establishing a taxpayer-funded matching fund program for state political candidates, but it quickly added to its purview a proposal to ban fusion voting in New York, a practice Jacobs has long and very publicly opposed. It then coupled the two issues, declaring that commission members would cast a single vote on all of its recommendations. Jacobs was even caught emailing Democratic Party subordinates to demand that they turn out at commission hearings as members of the public to support his positions on both issues. (The Conservative Party maintains that the commission has no authority to change New York State Law; only a duly-elected State Legislature can do that.)
Fusion voting permits candidates to run on more than one ballot line, allowing voters to cast nuanced votes by supporting chosen candidates on ballot lines with which they most ideologically agree. It was enacted in the early 20th Century by good-government organizations to help combat endemic corruption in Tammany Hall Democratic politics, and it has thrice been upheld as Constitutional by State courts.
“New York’s third parties, whether they be progressive or conservative, foster crucially important debate in New York and serve as incubators of ideas,” Chairman Kassar said. “We should be promoting as much free speech and political diversity in New York as possible, not working cynically to repress it. What Governor Cuomo and Chairman Jacobs are saying simply doesn’t pass the laugh test. They need to come clean about what they’re up to.”
The Conservative Party, Working Families Party, and Republican Party have each filed suit against the commission’s attempt to eliminate fusion voting in New York.
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @Twitter
EMBOLDENED BY SOCIALIST CONGRESSWOMAN ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: NEW CROP OF CANDIDATES RUN ON ANTI-CAPITALISM PLATFORM
Brooklyn, NY – Affordable housing is a problem for many who want to live in the greatest city in the United States, one that has thrived on capitalism. To quote Frank Sinatra, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
The latest crop of candidates, emboldened by the press that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez receives, are embracing her socialism by calling for the purging of private ownership of apartment buildings as a way of alleviating the city’s affordable housing crisis, which will only get worse under the “Housing Stability and Tenant Protection act of 2019” passed by the democratic controlled Houses and signed by Governor Cuomo on June 14, 2019.
Does Boris Santos, who is running as a democratic socialist for the NYS Assembly in Brooklyn not read the papers? Does he not understand the awful conditions that those who live in government-controlled housing – NYCHA – are forced to endure? No heat in the dead of winter; elevators that do not work and rodents who invade their apartments to just mention a few of the problems faced by tenants in government run housing.
The only way to solve the affordable housing problem is to allow entrepreneurs to invest in housing and let the free market work.
Boris Santos is pushing this idea with his new “squad” and their motto seems to be “…this power is anti-capitalist baby!”
To which we say, should these radicals be elected, New York City will become Caracas and what was once the pinnacle of the US, will become a nadir of despair.
For Immediate Release 09/21/2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org
Twitter @cpnys
Facebook.com/cpnys/
CONSERVATIVE PARTY WILL FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO NEW YORK’S GREEN LIGHT LAW
Brooklyn, NY – The Conservative Party will file in the United States District Court Western District of New York, an Amicus Curiae brief in support of Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns’ motion for a preliminary injunction against the implementation of New York’s Green Light Law.
The Conservative Party of New York State, established in 1962, has always been bound by the rule of law that protects citizens. On June 12, 2019, a majority of the members of the New York State Assembly passed the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, aka the Green Light Law. Five days later, on June 17, a majority of the NYS Senate passed the Bill and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it on the 17th of June, with an effective date 180 days after it becomes law.
Prior to the law being passed, Section 502 of the NY Vehicle and Traffic Law required an applicant for a driver’s license to provide their Social Security number, except for certain exceptions applicable to legal residents who were not eligible for a Social Security number. Section 502 was amended to allow an applicant for a driver’s license to no longer provide a Social Security number; rather an applicant only has to sign an affidavit that they have not been issued a Social Security number when applying for said license and the applicant shall not be required to prove that they are lawfully present in the United States.
Issuing driver’s licenses to individuals here illegally will allow said individuals to evade detection by federal law enforcement and due to the check off on the driver’s license application, may even allow individuals here illegally the right to vote.
It is the belief of the Conservative Party that the Green Light Law was written specifically to withhold information from federal law enforcement officials creating a security risk to the citizens of New York. Duties of the DMV are primarily administered by elected county clerks, who will be required to follow the new law — and ignore federal law — or be removed by Governor Cuomo as allowed by the State Constitution. The Conservative Party of New York State believes the only way this conflict will be resolved is via the previously filed lawsuit which this Amicus Curiae brief supports.
“With this Amicus brief the Conservative Party continues its efforts to get this poorly thought through state law that will lead to voter fraud and public safety concerns reversed. We applaud Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns and all the county clerks who are standing firm against its implementation,” Chairman Kassar concluded.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.com
CHRIS CUOMO: “NO MAN IS ABOVE THE LAW”
ANDREW CUOMO: I AM THE LAW
NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY TO UNLAWFUL CUOMO COMMISSION: “DROP DEAD”
New York – Sept. 10…It’s a familiar CNN radio advertisement: “No man is above the law — not even the President,” Cuomo Prime Time host Christopher Cuomo bellows on the airwaves in the name of honest government.
But here in New York, Mr. Cuomo’s brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, is singing the opposite tune in working to circumnavigate the power of New York voters — and a State Legislature that represents them — by unlawfully attempting to quell speech from third-party voters in the Empire State and unjustly saddle taxpayers with the cost of state political campaigns, the New York State Conservative Party (NYSCP) today charged. The NYSCP called both measures, “blatant and unconstitutional end-runs around a duly-elected Legislature.”
Mr. Cuomo is erroneously claiming that his newly appointed “Commission on Public Financing,” which meets today in New York City, has the power to end the long-established (first used in an 1854 gubernatorial election) and Constitutionally-upheld practice of fusion voting in New York State and to set up a statewide system of taxpayer funded campaigns, the NYSCP said. It does not, the NYSCP maintains, noting that New York State Election Law can only be created or amended by the Legislature — not by commissions — and that fusion voting has been repeatedly upheld in State courts as a Constitutionally-protected practice. The NYSCP has filed a legal action challenging the Commission’s authority.
Mr. Cuomo’s commission is chaired by State Democratic Party leader, Jay Jacobs.
The NYSCP, which opposes taxpayer funding of political campaigns and refuses to recognize the authority of the Commission on Public Financing, will not be attending Tuesday’s hearing.
“Anyone who cherishes free speech and the rule of law should be alarmed by what Governor Cuomo and the New York State Democratic Party are trying to ram through with this sham commission,” NYSCP Chairman Gerard Kassar said. “They are attempting to shut down political dissent in New York and foist the cost of political campaigns on already beleaguered New Yorker taxpayers. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers — conservatives and progressives alike — will have their voices silenced and millions will have their pockets picked if Governor Cuomo’s frightening power grab is not stopped.”
Fusion voting permits candidates to run on more than one ballot line, allowing voters to cast nuanced votes by supporting chosen candidates on ballot lines with which they most ideologically agree. It was enacted in the early 20th Century by good-government organizations to help combat endemic corruption in Tammany Hall Democratic politics, and thrice upheld as Constitutional by State courts.
Chairman Kassar is urging state legislators to make clear their authority over matters of law: “There’s only one way to make or change state law in New York,” he said, “and that’s through a duly elected state legislature. As a former Attorney General, Mr. Cuomo shouldn’t have to be reminded of that.”
State Conservative Party and the Five NY City Conservative Party Chairs United in Denunciation of Pantaleo Firing
Brooklyn, NY – Caving to political pressure, the NYPD fired Officer Daniel Pantaleo today, for simply doing his job. It was obvious that Officer Pantaleo would be fired when Mayor de Blasio proclaimed that Garner’s family was “going to get justice … in the next 30 days” during a Democratic presidential primary debate on July 31. Mayor de Blasio politized the unfortunate and untimely death of Eric Garner in his quest for president, in complete disregard to the fact that Officer Pantaleo was not indicted by a grand jury.
“The Conservative Party disagrees with NYPD Commissioner O’Neil’s decision to fire Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Multiple investigations on various levels and a Grand Jury probe determined that his actions did not violate the law,” said Conservative Party State Chairman Jerry Kassar.
The Bronx County Chairman William Newmark, agreed with PBA President Pat Lynch who stated that “O’Neill chose politics over the police officers he claims to lead.”
Thomas M. Long, who chairs the Queens County Conservative Party organization questioned in the wake of this decision “the ability of the NYPD to turn around plummeting morale.”
Brooklyn County Chairwoman, Frances Vella-Marrone, stated “the system up until this point worked. It evaluated the information as presented and concluded that Pantaleo was innocent. The Commissioner’s decision is unjust.”
“I would expect in light of this firing that all NYC police officers will be extraordinarily cautious in doing their jobs knowing that the department will not back them,” stated Manhattan Party Chairman Stuart J. Avrick.
Harold Wagner, Chairman of the Staten Island Conservative Party, “I dare say the men and woman of the Staten Island Conservative Party, many former law enforcement members themselves, would strongly disagree with this highly political decision.”
Essentially, every police officer just had their ability to do their job – enforce laws and protect every person – curtailed and seconded guessed by police haters, and possibly hesitate not knowing if the action taken will lead to their dismissal. New Yorkers are less safe now, knowing that every decision made by police officers will be judged by those who were not present and only know the results.
