Putnam County Chairman Flips To Wojtaszek
In the ongoing battle over the next state GOP chairman, Putnam County Chairman Anthony Scannapieco says he’s dropping his support for Ed Cox and endorsing Niagara County GOP chairman Henry Wojtaszek.
Why?
Because Scannapieco said he was led to believe that Cox would be the only candidate. When current state GOP chairman Joe Mondello said he wouldn’t seek another term, Wojtaszek announced his candidacy and got the backing of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Scannapieco said he’s backing Wojtaszek because he has experience as a party chairman.
“I was led to believe that it was over and done and Cox was the only one,” Scannapieco said. “And when I found it wasn’t, I still think we need somebody who was a chairman and has experience as a chairman.”
He said the push by Giuliani’s aides to get Wojtaszek the job had nothing to do with his decision. And Scannapieco reiterated concerns today by some chairmen that Giuliani shouldn’t wait until November, as aides say, until he makes a decision on whether to run for governor in 2010.
“That’s always been my concern, waiting to long,” Scannapieco said. “We’ve seen that back when he ran for Senate (in 2000) and dropped out and Rick Lazio was really behind the 8-ball. And then with the presidency, he waited until Florida and it was over by the time it got to Florida.
Scannapieco confirmed, as Liz Benjamin reported earlier, that there was some talk last night among Hudson Valley chairmen about Scannapieco running for state chairman himself. But he said he hasn’t made any decision, and hadn’t even talked to his wife about it.
“There is some talk about that, but I haven’t committed to doing anything,” he said.
He said some of the county chairmen had talked about if Mondello were to leave that a county chairman from the region should run.
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he was lead to believe it was over and done..excuse me
does not the putnam county chairman have his own voice
Tony Scannapieco would be a good state republican chair. Putnam is the only republican county south of Albany. Alot of that is do to Scannapiecos leadership. He is a strong leader.
This is Mr.Scannapieco’s last term as the Putnam County GOP chair. It would be a good move for him to run for the state chair position.
The more the merrier, go for it Tony, and any other “LEADER” who believes he is the “BEST OF THE BEST”
The NYGOP needs to pick among the “BEST OF THE BEST”, not the “BEST OF THE WORST”
This is not upstate vs downstate, or Faso & Co vs Rudy/Pataki/Bruno/Mondello
or any other click vs click, it was picking the “BEST OF THE BEST” not the “WORST OF THE WORST CLICK”
So Tony talk to the wife and RUN, and anyone else should be speaking and calling and saying I AM THE BEST OF THE BEST” and hears why I can ne the next CEO of the NYGOP
VJ Machiavelli
No More Schumer
No More Pelosi
No More Rangel
No More Engel and his Million Dollar Home in Maryland
P.s keep any eye on all those Democrats who are rushing to return campaign cash from Hassan Nemazee
Scannapieco is a complete failure who won his last re-election for Chairman by just 4 votes indicating that his own Party does not support him,
In 2006, Sue Kelly, the incumbent Republican Congresswoman lost her bid for re-election because of the failure of Scannapieco to get out the GOP vote in his county. Sue Kelly received just 12,616 votes on the Republican line compared with John Hall’s 14,331 votes on the Democratic line.
Comparatively, in the same 2006 election Sen. Leibell, who had his turn-out operation run by the State Senate Republicans, received 14,743 votes on the Republican line in Putnam compared with his Democratic opponents 10,487 votes.
So the votes were there… had Scannapieco turned out even 500 more Republicans, Sue Kelly would still be in Congress today.
That’s a complete failure in leadership.
Also of note: in 2006 the Democratic candidate for County Executive received 13,156 votes compared with Republican incumbent Bob Bondi’s 12,551 on the Republican line alone. It was only with the support of the Independence and Conservative Party’s that Bondi was re-elected. That is a major failure on the part of the Republican Party chairman.
Putnam County is not Westchester. In 2006, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by almost 2 to 1. Yet, Scannapieco still failed to win on the Republican line alone.
Bob Bondi owes his re-election to Jimmy Maxwell and Billy Sayegh—not the Republican Party.
It was Sue Kelly’s fault not Scannapieco’s. She was in the congress for to long. She forgot how to campaign.
Bondi is another issue. He isolated the people around him and the voters.
Scannapieco would be formidable chair for the republican party in NYS.
An interesting question would be since I am told he his leaving his post as chair of the Putnam GOP.
Who will replace him?
How can you say winning indicates you do not have the party support.
Anthony Scannipieco is not qualified to serve in ant leadership position. He has announced that this will be his last term as Republican leader in Putnam and thank God for that. Anthony’s tactics have hurt many good republicans in Putnam over the last few years; Anthony’s strong arm practices have undermined the party and the public’s view of the party. Anthony was almost beat by a disgraced former Assemblyman Willis Stephens in a recent election for his current position. Anthony’s personal issues that have found there way into the paper have embarrassed him and those loyal to the Republican Party. Anthony’s dislike for anyone who challenges his power as he sees it will cause them to be his enemy. Anthony refuses to support republican incumbents if they do not hire his friends or vote they way he wants. Anthony wants elected republican officials to be puppy dogs for him. The Republican Party needs new leadership across the board in Putnam County, when you look at the Republican Party Executive Committee you see faces that take you back in time 20 years ago, the Republican Party needs new, energized leadership that can forward the republican agenda from 2009 and not be locked into the old way of doing business by strong-arming people. Anthony Scannipieco must go.
If he is not qualified how did he stay in that position for many years.
Also if he is not qualified he did a great job keeping Putnam a republican county.
We need more unqualified people in leadership position in the GOP.
When Anthony Scannapieco leaves his post as county leader who will replace him. Will the person come from the ranks of the town chairs.
Kent: Louis D. Tartaro
Patterson: Dorothy M. Pederson
Philipstown: Randall J. Chiera
Putnam Valley: William J. Gouldman
Southeast: James M. DeBella
Or will it be
Michael C. Bartolotti
Louis H. Liotti
Will Stephens
Non of the above, the party needs a new face. Stephens shot his load and lost, he is finished politically, Stephens could not run for town board and win. Ball may run Neuringer and he may try to take control of the party.
Matt Neuinger can’t win his track record is not good. If he looses the Primary his political future is over.
There will be a fight for this position.
Tony was Mike Bartolotti to take over. He is not strong enough and has no experience. He has a family and does not have the time to do the job. Putnam needs someone who has the time and finances to keep the GOP in the powerful position it is in.
The person that will take over does not need personal money, they need the abilty to raise money for the party and its candidates. Tony’s has always had a problem raising money for the party and it’s candidates. To be a strong party leader you need the ability to communicate with all party people in an effective manner and garner their trust and support. The money will come into the party if the people believe in its leader.
Tony, Gball, and Uncle Vinny, can and will all live with Dave Furfaro, who has plenty of $
Why doesn’t Jim Borkowski run for party chairman? He’s run for everything else for Pete’s sake!!
Jim Borkowski is killing himself for the rest of his life. Politically he is finished, he just does not know it yet.
Mike Simone should run for chairman of the party he is a leader.
I have heartd that Randall Chiera would like to be the County Chair.
Mike Samone, no way.
Whoever put Mike Simone’s name up as a possible replacement for Tony, you have no clue.
A little about Mike Simone:
Mike is as lazy as they come.
Mike’s employees have no respect for him and he has no respect for them .
Mike is more concerned about playing golf then he is with the highway dept.
Mike is to busy chasing shirts these days, now that he is not with his wife.
Mike try’s to play in all the races in Carmel and almost every race he is involved with fails.
Mike has used MSA as a springboard for years, but it appears that people are finally catching on that we need to replace Mike Simone.
Mike Simone barely beat a duck last campaign and is lucky to still have a job.
Mike could never serve as the Republican leader, he can not even lead in his own house or in the job he has.
Did he ever collar any of those shirts?
Who do people feel should be the next County Chair
The next Chair will have to come from the Town Chairs
Kent: Louis D. Tartaro
Patterson: Dorothy M. Pederson
Philipstown: Randall J. Chiera
Putnam Valley: William J. Gouldman
Southeast: James M. DeBella
leaving aside the next chair for a moment ..their is
a crucial race for sheriff going on ..and the current
sheriff has been MIA on the issue of illegals arrested
and detainer warrants sought….unacceptable,,
Jeffrey, the average joe does not know what you mean when you say illegals arrested and detainer warrants sought.
Don Smith’s opponents have been talking police talk and not talking english. That could be the problem.
If they started it from the beginning they might of had a chance. But now is to late.
Sorry
You’ll find out what the average joe knows and doesn’t know real soon.
I’ve always liked Mike Simone. I guess he has some problems at the garage these days though.
Tony Scannapieco is a good commish and would make a good chairman for state. He’s committed to the job and the party which means he’ll do fine.
“As if”: that’s what I’m hearing too in the sheriff race. I’m hearing a major upset. Sort of throws a wrench in everyone’s plans. Good for ‘em. Shouldn’t be planning like that.
its never too late..everyone in putnam knows that
don smith is retired..he lives in north carolina
and florida for most of the winter..his wife has
a homestead exemption in florida..which means its
her permanent residence..and mr destefano has a huge
problem which you will learn about shortly..time
for new blood in putnam
Mike Simone is not qualified to be a garbage man, he is lazy and manipulates people. As for the sheriff race, people will re-elect Don Smith because of his name recogintion.
Don’t know the other two candidates for sheriff and that is why they will lose, they are not know.
Pat Brophy should run for Chairman.
willis stephens ran on name rec last go round, and that worked out so well for him.
sheriff smith probably would’ve crushed borkowski and destefano 3 to 1 had he actually campaigned. but his july filing (an impressive -$7,000), utter lack of signage and 10-day pre-primary website creation lead me to believe that running on name rec alone won’t be enough.
The putnam sheriff is MIA..he truly has already checked
out..time to put a younger more motivated sheriff in
there don’t you think…and I don’t mean a retired
ny pd cop who has claimed a disability ..if he can’t
work in ny he shouldnt’ be running in putnam
1) How could a person who retired with a 3/4 disability pension (tax free) from the NYC PD all of a sudden come back and be cured and ready to work? It is my understanding that he has said that he can collect his tax free pension and still collect the over $100,000. salary that comes with the Sheriif’s position – cops who I know call this civil service lottery at our expense.
2) There has been many people saying that the ex-judge running for Sheriff had no choice but to step down that there was something coming his way if he decided to remain a judge? I would like to hear more on this if anyone knows.
3) Is this judge the same person who was jocking to become a county court judge then district attorney but failed to garner the support? What next after this failed attempt, will he run for town councilman or supervisor?
4) If nothing else Don Smith is an honest, decent man who has kept Putnam County safe over his first 2 terms.
Candidate for Putnam County Sheriff is reporting inflated inaccurate crime data. The retired captain is using selective data and sleight of hand during this polictal season. The candidate uses the Division of Criminal Justice as his source. Take a look and compare the numbers.
Borkowski is a nut job. he Was told to resign his judge position or be removed. He wanted to run for county Judge and tried to destroy the man who was running. He wanted to run for district attorney for putnam, tried to destroy the other person running. Everything about him is hurt, hurt, hurt. Very hurtful person. that is well known. We need a sheriff like that??? Don’t think so. That stupid thing about smith in florida never took hold like Borkowski had hoped. And that campaign manager of his, how’s he’s not locked away should be on unsolved mysteries. Just ask Greg Ball about him. The last thing we need is a lawyer running ANYTHING!!!
Well any blogger that has to steal another bloggers
name is obviously hurting..but here is the truth
don smith lives in florida and carolina in the
winter…his wife is homesteaded in florida..
destefano is on disability from nyc. while he
runs for sheriff in putnam…jim borkowski is
a judge and a former fbi acceptee…if the fbi
can have a judge running the show ..so can
putnam
jeffrey, you keep repeating the same thing. putting people down make you feel better? ‘Cause you look foolish. Word around town is that borkwowski wanted to run for county judge and instead of just, well, RUNNING FOR COUNTY JUDGE, he tries to destroy the other people. Tell everyone about the letters written about the county judge? A good man and borkwowski tried to destroy him. Then the DA race comes along, Borkowski wants to be the DA now instead of county judge and borkowski tries to get others to follow people to connecticut and dig up dirt. big deal. That would only hurt the guy’s family and borkowski did it anyway. That’s not the guy who should be a sheriff. I’d take smith as sheriff any day of the week over Borkwowski and I don’t even think smith has a clue as to what he’s doing up there. But this crazy behavior by borkowski has people really scared. Ask around. I don’t see the other two guys doing that. Smith doesn’t attack people and that’s why he’ll be tough to beat. They say borkowski is done after this, couldn’t run for dogcatcher. Angered and hurt too many people. Smith may be clueless but he’s a good man. and that’s more important than all this negative from borkowski. Always trying to hurt people all the time.
And what’s this….what the hell is an FBI acceptee? who cares if he was accepted into the FBI 20 years ago? I hope borkowski doesn’t have that on his website
Borkowski’s campaign manager Robert DiFrancesco has a shady past. He had issues when he worked for GBall. He had issues when he ran John Degnan’s Assembly Campaign. He lives in Westchester County, and I am told he is not allowed in Westchester Republican campaigns anymore. Now he is running Borkowski’s campaign.
Jim Borkowski is finnished in Putnam County Politics and so is his campaign manager.
your right about Borkowski. That’s all I’m hearing, Borkowski is done and finished. Keeps trying to embarass people instead of just running for the job. Say what you will about Smith, you don’t see him trying to embarrass or hurt anyone. Smith is not coming off as smart as I thought he was, but at least he’s not trying to dig dirt on people. I think smith may take it, although the NYPD captain does impress when he’s asked questions, has plans, knows his stuff, seems to speak from his heart. Sometimes a little too technical with police stuff but that’s just from a lack of political expereince. Hes handled himself well. You have to give him credit.
Smith’s name may take it in the end, but we may have an upset.
i support smith but unlike the other smith supporters on this blog i will not put my head in the sand. don does not have a cake walk and we all need to get off the blogs and get to work to reelect our sheriff!!! he is a good and honorable man who has done such an amazing job for the people of putnam. let’s get that message out there!
spreading rumors about the other candidates is not going to get us anywhere. everyone knows borkowski is a dick but andy is actually a good person with good ideas and leave rob d. alone. that kid should be given a medal for standing up to that nutcase ball who is ruining the republican party in putnam. remember when ball attacked the sheriff for no good reason and called him corrupt with no proof? ball should have been impeached from office for that.
i’m out there in the community a lot and all i’m hearing is either vote for destefanno or vote for borkowski. i see all the illegal signage, negative attack mailings, tv ads from the other clowns. but we have nothing from smith!
so let’s get to work! stop sending blog messages and let’s re-elect our sheriff don smith!!!
Borkowski is mean spirited and will do what it takes to take another man down, this not what we need as our sheriff. Andrew DeStefano is a little out of control, proff is in his past posts on carmelresident.org check out the forum and past post going back 5 years this man is a loose cannon.
Don Smith is clearly the best person for the job of sheriff.
With that family name, if he doesn’t have a cake-walk then he doesn’t deserve to be sheriff. Smith may pull it out in the end, and i’ve always liked and respected the man, but i’m hearing an upset may be in the works. I think his name will be the winner for him though. Your right about the negative stuff with borkowski, he just keeps acusing people of stuff and after a while it’s a turn off. just talk about yourself. No more dirt on people. nobody cares. You don’t see smith doing that and that’s because hes a decent and honorable man with a good shot at re-election. I give the Captain all the credit in the world. Takes a lot of guts to do what hes doing, alone and against the establishment.
hey this article was about Tony Scannapieco! I forgot to add him in my post which is why i started to type in the first place. Tony would be a great chairman for the state but I thought he wanted to leave his post in a year or two? Looks like he wants to move on up to the east side, to that dee-lux apartment in the sky.
Smith supporter, I don’t agree that greg ball is ruining the Republican Party in Putnam County. If nothing, he’s energized it and brought it to life. He has people coming out to vote that haven’t voted in years. Just because he yells and screams, well i guess thats him.
PJ, meanspirited is the worst thing you can have in a job like that. Your right—we dont need that. As far as old blogs and the captain, i dont see that a big deal. words on a computer, and you say 5 years ago. If thats the worst they could prove then thats not too bad.
Tony S.——talk to ‘da wife, get permission, and run for State chairman!
I diagree, read this post by Andrew DeStefano on CRCM in 2006 I will print his last paragraph first for your review>
“No Hispanic day laborers have ever done anything to hurt me or my family. I cannot say the same for legally documented white people.”
Andrew_DeStefano
CRMB Senior Member
Offline
Posts: 345
Re: Alien invaders
Reply #11 – 04/29/06 at 00:03:33 You’re really reaching here. You take an incident here, and an incident there, roll them all into one, and hold them up as to how dangerous Hispanics are. This line of thinking is almost as ridiculous as the fear that the people of Brewster wound themselves up in when they claimed that a drunk Hispanic day laborer was seen within the vicintiy of a school. Being Hispanic is not a crime, being drunk is not a crime, being within the vicinity of a school is not a crime, and how they knew this man was a day laborer simply by the way he looked is a mystery to me. Yet, there they were, 150 strong, packed into a standing room only auditorium, to have a community meeting regarding this drunk Hispanic day laborer. This fear manifested itself into a feeding frenzy, and as a direct result, eight men were arrested six months later for playing soccer at the Brewster school. Ignorant people tried to make the silly claim that, well, these men are here illegally and therefore should have been arrested. However, if you are claiming you knew these men were here illegally just because of the way they looked, then you my friend just committed racial profiling, a federal civil rights violation.
Your connection of this issue with a murder that took place in Rockland County is pathetic. No Hispanic day laborers have ever done anything to hurt me or my family. I cannot say the same for legally documented white people.
SMITH IS RUNNING HIS CAMPAIGN THE SAME WAY HE’S RUN HIS OFFICE: A DO NOTHING APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP.
LAZY, UNMOTIVATED…DETACHED. WHY ONE EARTH WOULD WE GIVE HIM ANOTHER 4 YEARS??? SO HE CAN F*CK UP EVEN MORE???
VOTE ANDREW DESTEFANO FOR SHERIFF IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY ON SEPTEMBER 15TH! THE ONLY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE!
hey pj, I’m not saying dont read it, what I’m saying is, if thats all you can dig up after all this time, some stupid old emails, then thats nothing. OK so 3 and a half years ago, and? The point? If that’s the worst you can come up with then you should give it up. I was at that Lohud debate at the tinknockers hall. I thought borkowski looked foolish reading out stuff like that, looked vindictive and mean looks like all he’s trying to do is put everyone else down and hurt people which is his history. Look, smith is the sheriff for 8 years and Destefano is a retired NYC captain. I think if they really wanted to slam dirt on borkowski they could easily do it. People DO NOT want to hear it anymore, dont you understand?
I was in Christopher’s Deli this morning and I heard that Dave Fafaro is telling people that Bob Pozzi is going to make a comeback and Pozzi, Fafaro and a few others are going to take over the party with Mike Simone. Just what we need in town washed up politicians.
That will never happen.
From your mouth to Gods ear, I hope you are correct. That’s all we need is Dave fafaro making more money off the back of MSA and it’s members. People should watch the money when it comes to MSA and those who administer the organization, in many cases it is more about the money then the kids. Do the math with football, where does the money go? Feels are paid for through the town, equipments is paid for by the parents, where does the fee money really end up?
word has it that destefano lost it at the debate..he starting screaming…jim borkowski on the other hand
was calm cool and collected…don smith was a no
show…and he was there
Ball has support from 75% of the primary voters in Putnam County. Both Don Smith and DeStefano are fighting for that 75%. If they split it, and Borkowksi is able to pull over a small segment who are concerned with illegal immigration; plus the other 25% (as Borkowski has positioned himself as the only candidate NOT affiliated with Ball) then Borkowski could pull an upset.
As for the party chair situation, there is too much riding in 2010 for Ball and Leibell to sit it out. They both need the weighted vote in a Putnam convention on the outside chance that either of them faces a primary for congress and county executive. So the poster above who cites Dave Farfaro is very astute – he is a wealthy insider who would be palatable to both factions and gaurantee that Ball and Leibell are nominated.
its closer than that as you will find out by thursday,
borkowski wins this contested election with about 42% of
the vote in a three way race
The math of the above poster is way off, Don Smith will be reelected with ease, Don Smith has a strong favorable rating amongst Putnam voters and will win in a landslide. If there is an anti-Smith or anti-incumbent vote it will be split between Borkowski and DeStefano. The Consultant above is a political insider who is helping Borkowski and one would expect him to post a favorable comment about Borkowski. Greg Ball’s numbers have nothing to do with this race, this is a Sheriff’s race and Greg Ball has no horse in this race. Ball is more concerned about keeping all republicans as friends, he is trying to stay out of republican party primaries (smart move). Don Smith wins easily, the other two candidates have no shot in getting support west of the Taconic.
Borkowski has a BIG surprise coming his way. Heardd that today. Everyone will know soon. Nite-nite!!!
Ex-Judge Borkowski and ex-Captain DeStefano have tried to shovel out much garbage over the last few weeks, I believe both will be on the receiving end of some bad news over the next few days. When you live in a glass house you should not throw stones.
People are always saying stuff like that and NOTHING ever happens. EVER. Remember Greg Ball last year? They couldn’t have hit him with more sludge and he won in a landslide and he’ll win congress next year and anything he aims at after that.
Ken, you are right Don Smith has the western part of the county in his pocket. Because of that the other 2 candidates are like ghosts. They have not even put up lawn signs in those areas. The western part of the county has been a silent voice in this race and many other previous county wide races.
wait till jimmy borkowski finds out that his campaign manager is doing the same thing to him that he did to greg ball: playing 2 sides, secretly giving info to another candidate while working for jimmy. What did he expect? Why do you think Borkowski has run such a bad campaign? On the manager’s advice, that’s why.
why do you think that borkowski has run a bad campaign
I would withold that judgment until after the votes
are counted..
Why do i think Borkowski has run a bad campaign? i Hope your not serious. The top people in this county who know all about politics, who live and breathe this stuff, have all talked about the terrible campaign hes running. “shocked” is the word they used. And these are the big guys Want to know why? Look at it yourself he keeps trying to hurt and embaras the otherrs. And thats what they say that the manager is doing it on purpose to help someone else. Ask aroundf, Im sure they’ll tell you the same. Smile, talk ONLY about yourself, watch the differrence. The best politicians do that and win.
Makes sense barbie. If someone did something like that to Ball, working and conniving behind his back, why wouldn’t he do it to Borkowski or anyone else?
E I E I O
Cooooool, caaalm, and collllected was Mr Borkowski? When was this? when he was holding up the picture of a 76 year old cancer patient that fell asleep at his desk after coming home from the Sloan Kettering? I wasnt there but heard all about it then they had it in the newspaper and it said Photo by James Borkowski so it wasn’t like he did it then showed regret. Pat is my neighbor and a good man and kind person and he didn’t deserve that mullarkey.
why don’t you tell everyone who the picture was of..and
what desk he was at….if you know.
pat perry? the same guy that smith gave a $65k no-show job to? how did they get a picture of him? he never showed up to work!
borkowski is going to win this thing because he’s independent and he stands for reform. that’s what the people want. he’s right on the immigrants. he’s right on drinking and driving. he was a good judge here in southeast and he’ll be a great sheriff.
Pat Perry is a good man and what was done to him was wrong. I guess you don’t hang arounf mahopac and listen to people talk. The only one who thought it was right was borkowski I guess right? Is that what you mean by independent? or all alone? I xcan’t make debates so i wasnt there again yesterday but I heard the General was a no-show. After three debates he deserves a day off. Also we heard it was gentlemanly and guess what? i heard Mr. Borkwski actually did pretty OK last night and guess why? Because the same people say he didn’t try to rip out anyones guts like he always dos. He does one more negative dog and pony show and he’s done. That’s the word.
Everyone else has it wrong. One of the SE candidates said it best last night at the Southeast town board debate:
“Greg Ball introduced 287G legislation in the Assembly 6 months before Judge Borkowski even knew what it was.”
January 2007: Judge Borkowski pens open-letter to Sheriff Don Smith calling for the swift implementation of the 287(g) program in Putnam County.
May 2007: Ball introduces Bill A08560 in the Assembly, that would enable the State Police to enter into a 287(g) agreement with the Feds.
why is greg ball supporting sheriff don smith, jr.?
don smith, jr. has done nothing about illegal aliens. he’s refused participation in the 287g program and he stands against everything ball stands for.
it just doesn’t make sense… unless ball is playing politics.
greg ball just better be careful who he stands with in this election as it will affect who stands with him during his election.
i, for one, will not support someone who thinks it’s okay to have an illegal alien sympathizer as sheriff.
Know your HYPE:
local part-time traffic court judge supposedly pens letter to Don Smith about “swift” action on 287G in January ‘07. Unethical for “judge” to pen any such letter, even a local part-time trafic court judge. (Was this the letter that got the investigators up here asking questions??)
Greg Ball introduces bill in May ‘07.
Ball was calling for 287G all throughout 2005 and 2006, before any of you guys ever even heard of it. Those are the facts. 287G is nothing, anyway. No change! Sheriff Smith does four more years.
it is certainly not unethical for a part time judge,
full time laywer to query the sheriff on the issue
smith is a loser..he is a resident of florida by
virtue of his wife’s declaring homestead exemption
which means either she is there and he is here or
they are both scamming the system..smith is over
the hill..you want your sheriff to be on vacation
most of the winter or being vigilant in protecting
you…the old boy putnam county cronyism is out
Jeffrey, if you want the old boy putnam cronyism out you would not support Judge Borkowski, remember he was and is part of that network. He was a sitting judge, ran for several offices within that network. Now you think he is independent.
Sheriff Don Smith will be reelected.
Good point regarding Borkowski he is one of the so called “Good ole boys”, in fact Borkowski wife is one the committee members in Southeast and acted as Jim Borkowski’s representive and voice when republicans conducted business. Jim Borkowski is a Good ole boy, that is how he becames judge.
Support Our Sheriff Don Smith and check out the official re-election website:
http://www.OurSheriffDonSmith.com
—Friends of Don Smith
Don Smith is the only true outsider running for sheriff, Jim Borkowski is an insider like the poster above said, Andrew DeStefano is a rebublican committee member in his hometown. Don Smith is not a fan favorite of any of the political leaders or elected leaders, but he is respected for his independance and his ability to keep Putnam County safe.
I happen to know JB and AD pretty well and I’m following the campagin best I can. I can see the reason for the comments about JB is a matter of trust at this point, trust and decency. When JB runs for a election he tries to hurt bad the other candidates and has a history of doing it any way he possibly can. He’s not a bad guy so don’t know why he resorts to that. But everybdoy sees it. Ive watched this election and he attacks DS personally and AD more. Funny (or sad) part is AD could have gone after JB early and often and never did. I know they wanted him to read out some stuff at debates and he refused. I dont know about Smith but you know he would havve used the info if he had it. In talking; AD always speaks well of Jim so Jim tries to hurt him. Theres the reason people don’t trust him. And also elected politicians are scared of him for this reason. JB could win this but he keeps hurting people. So for this reasson Smith must win this election.
JB is a snake and AD is a nice guy but to emotional, DS is a nice guy and will get reelecte.
JB seems nice on the surface but his behavior indicates a mean person who will try to get what he wants at any cost. AD has a record on blogs of who he really is.
Was Greg Ball too “mean” or too “negative” or trying to “hurt people” when he ran against Will Stephens or John Degnan?
I think he was but the average voter (7 in 10, in fact) didn’t seem to mind. Only the insiders complained. And the insiders lost.
Borkowski being “negative” may not make him friends with the insider crowd but I think it’s making him alot of friends with average voters. The voters don’t support politicians who have been weak on illegal immigration (Smith) or those who milk the system (DeStefano) or those who flip-flop (DeStefano & Smith). Borkowski has brought this to light and it’s only helped him.
Don’t believe me? Pay attention to the election on 9/15.
Politicians may get elected when they are mean. On the other hand some don’t need to be mean. But as a person the ones who are mean are never trusted. I would prefer to be trusted then not trusted. Let the voters deside.
Curious, your living in la-la land if you really believe all that. The attacks went all against Ball. You cant destroy your way to the top. Degnan the loser learned that the hard way. JB is learning it real fast, degnan never even came close and his whole campaign was about hurting Ball. Its never been shown smiths weak on aliens, that anybody is milking any system and any flip-flops either. maybe that was JB’s strategy but it didn’t work. Nobody listens to him when he does that. If JB talked about himself more he may have had a chance but ALL he ever did and ALL he ever does is mention other people and when ALL you ever do is mention other people and try to hurt people you look weak. The JB came came out at the Carmel VFW debate was downright scary. And JB still never told the truth abot what really happened when he left his judge position. So talk about flipflops. For his sake I hope it dont come out but he has alot to hide. Smith wins this i think, JB is ruining his chances every day he talks about others.
JB is running like a scared cat, he is fighting three fights at one time. JB is fighting AD who he thought was a joke then quickly found out that AD is in 2nd place and JB is in 3rd pl;ace so now JB is fighting DS, AD and his biggest fight is with himself, his inability to be honest and run a campaign on his platform which by the way he does not have.
DS by a landslide! JB could have been a threat but he ruined it with his antics and going dirty.
No landslides here. VERY VERY close. Smith, in a squeaker. Probably.
Word around town is that there may be some campaign fraud claims coming out soon in the sheriffs race, anybody have the facts?
they’re all going to be in for a big surprise pretty soon. the cronies, the insiders, the know-it-alls on this blog.
borkowski raising and spending tons of cash. smith still has negative balance. destefano… who cares about him anymore.
it’s a game-changer.
??, looking for facts? On a blog? get a life.
Besides, its probably just borkowski again, getting ready to attack someone. This will be his swan song.
Good point about facts on a blog, worth a try.
??, I’m hearing its going two ways, back + forth. One guy starts it being cute, then the other guy hits back.
Just JB trying to be slick as usual, makes a complaint against another candidate, now the other candidate made the same complaint against him. Both should drop it cause nobody wins.
JB is pushing an issue what he believes will get AD out of the race, but JB has miscalculated his moves. AD and JB are making themselves look very bad and unprofessional. I predict this race will be one where people look back on and say: “Do you remember the mistakes that JB and AD made?”.
DS is smart, he is sitting back and watching JB and AD fight with each other and he will sail in with a victory. JB and AD both seem to have forgotten who the incumbent is.
In the end JB and AD will be questioning themselves how they allowed this race get away from them, they will say: “What have I done wrong?”. I say the answer is simple, you both became attack dogs but you had all bark and no bite.
Chris, seems to me a previous poster (?) was correct, JB attacked smith and ignored AD thinking he’s a joke and now realizes he’s no joke, Now JB attacks AD over and over and everyone now knows he makes a complaint againt ad, this from a judge who was kicked off the bench. Word is that JB was going to try to announce it but now doesn’t want the negativity associated with him, the new kindler gentler smiling JB (yeah right) so he’ll just spread the rumors i guess that’s the plan. I agree with you JB has badly miscalculated this situation he’s created. When you throw a ball at a wall, the ball sometimes comes back and hits you in the head and that’s whats happened because now it appears AD made his own complaint against JB. Your right, DS is the incumbent not each other and THAT’S where they neeed to focus althogh i will say I went to 2 debates and AD ignored JB’s rantings and attacks the entire time. AD and JB need to stop their complaints and move forward, Smiths right hand man was out 8 AM hanging lawn signs. That’s hiow you win.
Why so quiet on this issue?
JB can not redeem himself with a fluff mailer received today, it is to late, you have sunk your campaign into the ground and DS will win and AD will come in second. JB will be finished politically. This will be the story of a candidate who misjudged the race.
Chris is right, you cant be a snarling attack dog then try to appear kind gentle. DS is the real winner out of any battle between AD/JB. Ask around, many of AD backers are people that would back DS in a heartbeat. So unknowingly JB is trying to help JB. Very bad mioves all around. Both making complaints on each other. They need to pull them back, put their feet on the ground and push for the next 10 days or whatever time is left. wasting time here!
Oops! Meant to say JB is helping DS
Anyone know where Smith is this weekend? I do.
He’s in Florida again. Left Thursday evening.
Just ask around…
THAT is why Jim Borkowski will win. The people of Putnam do not want a sheriff who spends so much time out of the office and who is so unfocused on his job.
Don Smith barely has a re-election campaign. His slogan is essentially “re-elect me if you like what’s going on”
Smith is living on another planet (or at least in another state). The people of Putnam do not like what’s going on and running on that platform is a great way to secure a defeat.
Stay tuned on DeStefano.
This has been JB’s theme the entire campaign, “Do you want a sheriff who is not around?”. JB has been talking much garbage, but people are not buying it because the job is getting done. When JB or AD state that crime has risen 30% on the surface it seems like a major jump, but when you look at the one area like say assualt, if there were 7 assualt’s in 2007 and 10 in 2008 then they claim crime is on the rise, when you are dealing with such small numbers stat’s are not the answer. If you had one murder in 2007 and none in 2008 then you could say murder has risen 100%, these numbers are crap.
The truth of the matter is Putnam County is a safe county and everyone knows it.
Found out tonight Borkowski made a complaint on DeStefano so DeStefano made a complaint on Borkowski
Chris,
What I’m told is Borkowski will stop at nothing to try to win even if it means destroying lives. SICK. I watched the debate on TV, he looks terrible physically, all stressed out to the max, out of his element. Borkowski and DeStefano made complaints against each other for the same thing and Bork’s law license will now be an issue.
my niece was contacted by the state police last week about her name being on a nominating petition for andrew destefano. my niece never signed this petition and it is believed that her signature was forged. a friend who lives in putnam valley recounted a similar story to me where he was contacted by the state police because his forged signature appeared in this petition.
just connecting the dots here… it sounds to me like there is rampant fraud in destefano’s petition. that must be what this complaint is about. a quick google search indicates that this sort of fraud is very serious. it may be a felony. it will be interesting to see if destefano was involved or if it was just his campaign workers.
i’m scratching my head as far as any complaints against borkowski. i haven’t heard anything. as a former judge i seriously doubt he would engage in this sort of behavior but, then again, destefano is a former cop so you never know… can the poster (lowbridge) provide any details?
a lot of folks are very curious… the reporters at the journal news should start looking into this. i imagine this is a pretty big story.
I am glad the truth is surfacing before it is to late, just in from a function where some insiders stated that JB was planning on having a press conference to blast AD but was told he has to many negatives attached to him already and that is was not a good idea. JB will try to have someone else hold a press conference or use another means to leak his information that he believes AD has questionable election signatures. It is funny how JB and AD are more concerned about each other and they are forgetting where the prize really lies, by defeating DS which neither can do.
DS must be loving watching these two try to take each other out. One thing is true however, JB or AD have no chance at all in a three way race. IF they did not go negative JB or AD may have an outside chance in a two way race.
it sounds to me like this is going to
be a 2 way race pretty soon… either
way i think borkowski has the best shot
spending way more money than smith or
destefano… borkowski has raised over
60k according to the board of elections
and has spent just about the same… his
yard signs are all over the county….
smith just started popping up but he’s
15k in debt according to the boe.. smith
has had a non existent campaign… i’ve
alreayd received like 5 pieces of mail
from borkowski…nothing from the other
2 and the election is like a week away..
it’s too late to change anything at this
point… it is what it is….
Borkowski can spend another $60,000. and it won’t change the end result – a win for Don Smith.
@Lowbridge:
YOU WROTE: “What I’m told is Borkowski will stop at nothing to try to win even if it means destroying lives.”
HOW IS BORKOWSKI DESTROYING LIVES? IF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR WAS UNCOVERED, HE HAS AN OBLIGATION TO BRING THAT TO THE AUTHORITIES. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON.
WISH TO PROVIDE DETAILS?
From what I know Borkowski made a complaint to the state police against destefano petition, and destefano made the same complaint to the authorities against Borkowski’s republican petition about fraud Borkowski and his campaign worker. So probably phone calls are going back and forth. Sounds to me Borkowski’s trying to get the reporters involved and nobody is biting. Neither should hurt each other but that’s what is trying to heppen, and not because of truth justice and the american way but to think that this will clear the way for a two way race….stop dreaming. You can’t destroy someone and think you help yourself.
“Just in”...where were you at a function in this town on Labor day weekend? Sounds fishy.
A community function where my son’s baseball team was having a get together with family and friends, what is fishy about that?
Lowbridge has it wrong..borkowski is aware of fraud
on the petitions of destefano..and plenty of it…
there has been no similar allegation against borkowski
the state police are investigating and they should be
done by this week..destefano if he is smart will exit
the race..once these issues become public, the state
police and the attorney general will have no choice
in the matter..in a two way race borkowski beats
the smith badly..everyone knows his office has low morale
the deputies want a new boss…smith is away for most
of the winter and that’s a fact…there is simply no
excuse for the sheriff to be out of town for more
than a few days at a time just like every other
public servant..if he wanted to keep his job he should
have been more vigilant but when you don’t have your
finger on the pulse of the county you loose touch and
that is what smith has done
JB is placing any hope of winning that Ad withdraws under pressure. I will assume any and all of AD supporters will head immediately to DS since all of AD’s people will realize that JB forced this action. JB is doing what he does best, he try’s to take people out while trying to act like the nice guy. I guess maybe he thinks it is his turn since Jim Reitz took the prize from him the first time and then Adam Levy took the prize from him the second time and now JB is going to take the prize from himself with his bahavior.
Putnam Co. is a tight knit family community, If its true that borkowski made a complaint just to try to hurt someone like that, just to knock out others or get them bad press, he will lose a whole lotta support overnight including my family who does support him. Hurting people appeals to nobody, both he and destefanno need to pull it back amd stop.
to even suggest that borkowski “forced” a situation is
nonsense..if signatures were forged on destefano’s
petitions, no one forced him to engage in deceit just
to get on the ballot..this is not about hurting anyone
don’t be naive..this is about abiding by the rules
and destefano as a former cop should know you must
abide by the law…
Borkowski is getting crushed with negative PR, Borkowski and his people are miscalculating the voting public.
In a general election AD and JB could have gotten away with the garbage they have pulled, but in a primary most people have a good idea of what is really going on and do not buy into this negative stuff. DS has been smart by sticking to his principles, staying professional and away from negative campaigning. DS is lucky to have the Undersheriff that he has, many people like the Undersheriff and want him to remain in his job.
Putting up signs is meaningless..it is actually about
contacting voters and that is precisely what sheriff
smith has been doing which makes him the odds on favorite
when coupled with the benefits of his incumbency..
one must realize that thus far destefano and borkowski
have been fighting for southeast and patterson..even if
they were to win them with eighty percent of the vote,
they are basically meaningless in a republican primary
in putnam county..southeast and patterson combined are
a wash with philipstown and putnam valley, where don smith
will dominate. and if you add all four towns together, they
are still smaller then the town of carmel..which is of
course controlled by tony scannapieco..who has given the
republican nod to don smith..carmel voters will split 7-1-1
for smith, borkowski, and destefano..making the outcome in
the rest of the county meaningless..west putnam will just be
the icing on the cake for sheriff smith..in the general you
can expect to see don smith on the r, c, i lines, mcconville
on the d line, and borkowski on the wf line..every one in
putnam county is coaslescing around smith..he is a smart
politican like his father, and a gentleman..he has gone to
every candidates fundraiser..all of the republicans in the
primaries in carmel, and in southeast..he does not pick
sides..and vinny leibell and greg ball do not want to see
the putnam dems sneak in and take over the sheriffs office
so you can bet their political machines will organise the
day of and make sure that the only candidate who can win
in november is on the ballot..that man is our sheriff don smith
not as close… who are you trying to convince?
the state police don’t investigate fraudulent nominating petitions. nor would they be making phone calls in ANY fraud investigation—that is WAY off (most recent example being the Astorino-Schorr-DiFiore-Spano fiasco in Westchester).
If someone was calling claiming to be from the state police, it was a campaign worker trying to build a case to bring to the BoE.
they should probably have thought out it out first, though, because impersonating a police officer is a far more serious than forging a petition.
what irony if sheriff smith was forced to arrest his opponents right before the election…
DeStefano withdraws from Putnam sheriff race…
Cites “a dire family emergency”
Coincidence?
“crotonblog” and those other Smith supporters really have their fingers on the pulse… I guess that’s why Smith is going to win the Republican Primary…. NOT!!!
With AD out, the opposition to DS is solidified and JB wins.
Denying that is denying reality. There is no possible way DS can beat JB in a head to head contest.
agreed. even though i think borkowski is a bad dude… he will win.
impossible for smith to beat him without andy splitting the vote.
too bad. andy would have been great for the job.
I am told Borkowski forced DeStefino out. What does Borkowski have on him and is this how he would be as a Sheriff. Very Dangerous.
I have a funny feeling that this isn’t the entire story.
hey wake up..destefano dropped out of the race for a reason
and that reason you will hear about in the next few days
maybe hours…but now its a two man race, and now borkowski
has the edge,,but make no mistake about it..destefano
did it to himself…no one else is responsible
I supported Andy. Sorry to see him go. Hope everything is ok.
But I will now support Jim Borkowski. There is no way Smith will get my vote. Never.
Smith has failed us as sheriff and we desperately need a change in that office. Borkowski is well suited for the job and he will probably beat Smith now that he’s not splitting the vote with Andy.
You are forgetting his name will still be on the machine for the election. People will vote for him who are not informed. Those votes would have gone to Borkowski. Sheriff still wins. Look at the entire picture.
Every vote for DeStefano is one less for Borkowski.
what makes you think the ballot cannot be reprinted…but
even if it is not the lever can be blocked so that he
cannot get a vote…either way smith is done..putnam
voters aren;t stupid they will not waste a vote and
you can take that to the bank
Sorry Jeffrey can not be done. You are a novice at this. Look at the total picture not your special interest.
Also, I did not say putnam voters are stupid. I said some are not informed. Jeffrey, try this ask 20 people who are not involved in this election and you will find that some of those people are not informed or really care about the Sheriff race.
We will see on Wednesday, how many people will vote for DeStefano. I would say a handful will.
new voting machines can be easily programmed to not allow a vote for that candidate. If the voter puts a ballot into the reader that is marked for destefano a screen will pop-up saying that the ballot has been improperly marked and will allow the voter to go back and get a new ballot and mark it properly for either smith or borkowski.
alas… the beauty of electronic voting machines. welcome to the 21st century, my friends.
the important question here is: did destefano formally withdraw from the race, as in, did he send a letter to the boe outlining his intentions? if so, no votes will be counted for him in this contest.
simple as that…
Pat is correct…and why do you say i am a novice..you
hurt me..cut me to the quick..fact is smith has not been
a good sheriff…he simply draws a check…then he gets
on a plane and spends all kinds of time out of the jurisdiction..to be an effective sheriff you have to
be hands on…smith is not…now that destefano is out
of the race it will be a choice between an ineffective
part time sheriff who has not paid very much attention
to his responsiblities and a candidate who is an attorney
judge and former prosecutor…exactly the credentials
needed to run that office in the right way
I got a call today asking about one of the two remaining candidates being investigated for fraud and blackmail…
Say what you want but when voters go to vote for sheriff they will have three choices to select from. The general public does not pay any attention to what is going on in politics, they just turn out like sheep and vote. They usually vote for a person they know, they know Don Smith. Many will vote for DeStefano and many will vote for Borkowski, but more will vote for Smith.
That is life in politics, look at Michael Rights with 2 DWI’s the public still voted for him, look at Greg Ball, all those allegations against him and the public still vote for him, look at the crack head Marion Barry, the people voted for him.
Don Smith did nothing like the above so those of you propmoting that he will lose, you are wrong.
@ tom robertson
i also received that phone call. it was apparently from convicted criminal michael rights..
convicted criminal michael rights is supporting don smith for re-election and don smith is happily accepting this support. that is reason to not support don smith.
i don’t know who approved this phone call or this endorsement of smith from a convicted criminal… but what a dumb move! this is the nail that sealed the coffin.
with rights’ endorsement… smith is finally done.
Smith is well done..and for those of you who don’t think
that voters will know destefano is out of the race
you sorely underestimate their knowledge…
I spoke with some today and they told me they are voting for Destefano, many people pay noo mind what so ever to local politics. I bet DeStefano gets 10% of the vote or more.
s10% for destefano is unlikely if his name is available
to vote for maybe he gets 5% And borkowski still wins
because the people in putnam are up in arms about
the way smith has bungled the illegal alien situation
and about how much time he spends at his two homes
in the winter.both of which are out of state
I was going to vote for Andy. After what Jim Borkowski did to him I’m going to vote for Don Smith. Count on many of us doing the same, and the rest staying home. There’s not going to be some magical defection to Borkowski after what he pulled.
Borkowski is displaying the traits of a desperate man, the people of our beautiful county can see through all of Borkowski’s fraudulent behavior. Sheriff Don Smith is a man of the people and will be re-elected. The small people in the know understand exactly what Jim Borkowski did and they will not vote for him, those outside of the insiders group will overwhelming vote for Don Smith because he is a good decent man who the people respect.
Hey “Henry” & “Jim D”, first off – you’re bot full of crap. You’re Smith supporters pretending to be some affected DeStefano supporters. It’s transparent and sooo pathetic.
Next, what exactly did Jim Borkowski do to Andy DeStefano?
I’m pretty sure he didn’t force DeStefano to forge signature and then submit those forged signatures to the Board of Elections.
The bottom line is that if Borkowski saw criminal activity and turned it in, he should be praised not criticized.
Would you criticize someone who turned in a murderer or a rapist or an arson or a drunk driver????
Most people on this sight are playing insiders pool, in the real world most people are just going to vote on the good name of Don Smith. Those are the simply facts! The people of Putnam will show Jim Borkowski that the Sheriffs office can not be stolen with lies and money from outside the district.
“after what jim borkowski did to him” you have to be
kidding..destefano did it to himself..in his greed to
get on the ballot any way he could ..how dare you
attempt to attribute the illegal actions of a candidate
having only to do with getting himself on the ballot
to any one other than that candidate..and now he is
going to be arrested most probably …meaning that
the race for sheriff is a two man race..borkowski
is supported by 58 law enforcement organizations because
they know the current sheriff is not doing his job
word of mouth alone will get smith out of office…
or do you approve of what destefano did ..apparently
you do .and since you are a smith supporter that kind
of thinking needs to be gone from putnam county
bye bye
the consultant was quoted on August 31st, 2009 at 7:09 pm
“its closer than that as you will find out by thursday,
borkowski wins this contested election with about 42% of
the vote in a three way race”
Maybe Borkowski should ask for a refund on the Consultant fee!
”@BREWSTERRRR don’t forget to vote tomorrow! a vote for jim borkowski is a vote for a new car for us to take L rides in!”
this is the type of law enforcement he was going to bring to putnam?
I think that since this election is soooo close and that right now we’re trusting that scanner machines properly tallied all of the results… a hand recount is in order.
And there are over 400 absentee ballots out there and alot of emergency ballots.
Smith has a lead of 169 votes.
I say, count all the votes and then declare a victor.
This race is far from over.
There are 221 absentee ballots, the post mark deadline for which was prior to DeStefano dropping out.
There are 400 paper ballots, 60-80% of which, as in every election, are not valid.
Borkowski would have to take about 80% to even get to where he would need to be in order to generate a recount, which is impossible. The fat lady has sung, Jimbo.
A Judge signed Borkowski’s order for a recount, according to an article just posted on LoHud.
The bottom line is that there is a 169 vote difference and a lot of uncounted votes out there – a lot more than 169. Between the absentee ballots and other paper…
So, let’s count every vote and then declare the winner…
Just look at Nick Spano’s election in 2004 or Rights vs. Degnan in 2007.
Greg Ball took a pretty big hit last night.
His hand-picked candidates, Neuringer and DePaola, to complete his takeover of the Southeast town board were handily defeated.
And in Kent his attorney and good friend, Phil Marin, was also shellacked by the voters…
Is Ball losing his touch???
Ball WANTED Nerdinger and DePaola to lose as a favor to Uncle Vinny. That’s why he didn’t lift a finger to help them. We are still stuck with his hand-picked disciplines Greg Elner in Mahopac, and John Greene and Kent, who upset our Republican nominated candidates, not to mention our absentee Sheriff.
If what you say is true that it was a ‘favor’...when did Ball become a fan of sheriff? Remember how critical Ball was of Smith a couple of years ago..so now they are buddy’s? Guess which ever way the wind blows.
COP-SHOOT ACQUITTAL
By BARBARA ROSS and STEPHEN McFARLAND
Friday, March 7th 1997, 2:02AM
A Manhattan jury took just three hours yesterday to acquit a Washington Heights man in the shooting of a police officer in June.
Jose Urena, 23, threw his hands up exultantly as the jury foreman declared him not guilty of attempted murder.
Then Urena collapsed on the defense table and sobbed loudly as the foreman added three additional acquittals on related charges.
Urena’s friends and family, including his mother, three brothers and the mother of his child, broke into cheers and sobs of their own as Acting Supreme Court Justice Michael Corriero called for order.
If convicted, Urena faced 25 years in prison.
Jurors said afterward that the decision had been easy because the prosecution failed to convince them that police had arrested the right man.
Officer Andrew DeStefano, 32, graphically described being shot in testimony Wednesday. The seven-year veteran was on patrol in a W. 171st St. apartment building when he encountered the gunman.
But the officer, who was saved by his bulletproof vest, conceded under cross-examination by defense lawyer Dan Ollen that he had a good look at his assailant for only two to three seconds.
He also acknowledged that he described his attacker as 5-feet-8 and 180 pounds. Urena, who is 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds, was arrested three weeks after the shooting.
DeStefano testified that the first description was a mistake made while he was disoriented from the shooting, but he admitted that he also picked suspects other than Urena out of photo arrays and lineups before Urena’s arrest.
Two other witnesses identified Urena as a man they saw running from the scene, but one witness was drunk during the lineup at which he picked Urena, testimony showed. The other witness, a police informant, did not come forward until Urena’s photograph had appeared in newspaper accounts of the case.
The pistol used in the shooting was not recovered, and an inoperable handgun dropped by DeStefano’s assailant at the scene of the shooting had fingerprints on it that did not match Urena’s.
“It was horrific what happened to that cop. We felt bad for him,” said juror Robert Turner, but, “this is a matter of life or death. You don’t play guessing games with somebody’s life.”