No thanks to sour grapes over Klein

Jennifer Firestone, campaign manager and press strategist for failed challenger G. Oliver Koppell, tells a tale of revisionist history. Perhaps that’s because Democratic state Senator Jeff Klein bested by more than 70 percent, the man who paid Firestone to slime, malign and sling mud against Klein during one of the nastiest campaigns I’ve ever seen. 

This paid consultant continues to distort the record by penning the bitter, “Anatomy of a Public Betrayal.” Let’s remember, Mr. Klein never agreed to disband the Independent Democratic Conference, which worked in a bipartisan manner, and restored functionality to our state. 

At the helm of the State Senate, Mr. Klein passed the SAFE Act, the toughest gun laws in the nation, funded Universal pre-Kindergarten for 54,000 children in New York City without taxing residents, and increased the minimum wage. 

While his opponent flooded our mailboxes with disgusting photoshopped pictures of Mr. Klein with outrageous misrepresentations and lies about our Senator’s record, Mr. Klein took the high road and ran on his outstanding achievements that benefit us all.

 And, yes, Ms. Firestone, Mr. Klein discussed his upbringing by his Democratic family. That’s why he has helped families across the state and in our district by expanding the SCRIE and EPIC programs for middle-class seniors. The SCRIE program freezes rents for elderly residents with incomes up to $50,000 and allows them to live comfortably in the neighborhoods where they worked and raised families, while the EPIC program provides prescription drug cost relief. 

While Ms. Firestone criticizes Mr. Klein for the possibility that the minimum wage won’t climb higher, Mr. Klein is proactively pairing out-of-work Bronxites with well-paying jobs.

This year, Mr. Klein developed the Bronx H.I.R.E. Program, in partnership with the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, giving unemployed Bronxites job training and matching candidates with real employment. That program branched out in October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with the Bronx H.I.R.E. Survivor’s Program, and empowered a group of abused women who just graduated the training program. Now, they have paid internships and are on their way to financial freedom. 

Here in Riverdale, Mr. Klein battled alongside my neighbors in North Riverdale when Selfhelp proposed to build an out-of-scale building for seniors and severely mentally ill residents. Mr. Koppell on the other hand, embraced the plan and scoffed at the neighbors’ concerns. 

When Montefiore proposed an 11-story ambulatory care facility on Oxford Avenue, it was Mr. Klein, along with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who stepped in to pass legislation in Albany that would require a full review by the state Department of Health, with community input for hospital-like facilities in the Bronx. They did this because Mr. Koppell had failed to downzone that area when he sat in the City Council. 

Most egregiously, Ms. Firestone believes bringing $14 million to the 34th State Senate District is somehow sinister.

 Students at the Spuyten Duyvil School )(P.S. 24) learn in air-conditioned classrooms, thanks to Senator Klein. 

The Riverdale Neighborhood House upgraded its lighting, fencing, electrical system, and pool area, thanks to Mr. Klein.

Van Cortlandt Park is set to get a new playground, thanks to Mr. Klein. 

The list goes on and on.

Ms. Firestone brings up wine and makes innuendos regarding donations made to Mr. Klein. It sounds like she’s been making some of her own, standing in a barrel of sour grapes.

Laura Spalter is a Riverdale resident of almost 50 years. Point of view is a column open to all.