NYNewsday features Tom Ognibene

With the Drab Four fumbling towards September, the local print media is beginning to take notice to Mayor Bloomberg's opponents on the Right. Today's Sunday New York Newsday has two stories on former City Council Minority Leader, Thomas Ognibene. Newsday has strong distribution in Queens and even though the stories don't focus on Mr. Ognibene's positions, the paper will reach many Queens residents and it is the perfect opportunity for a republican candidate to reach Queen's conservatives (my parents get Newsday delivered).


William Murphy, author of both pieces, writes in his first story how Mr. Ognibene stands out in the crowd among mayoral candidates. Though the story presents Mr. Ognibene as a strong alternative to Mayor Bloomberg as the conservative Republican candidate, Mr. Murphy runs through the list of challenges he faces. The first challenge is fundraising, which has yet to pick up momentum compared to the democratic candidates and appears insignificant to the mayor's deep pockets. The second is a scandal that arose in 2001, which could effect his candidacy even though the outcome saw no wrong doing by the former councilman. The third is Mr. Ognibene's comments following the 1999 Diallo shooting, which would make Mr. Ferrer's recent remarks seem less offensive to the minority communities.


Aside from one sentence: Bloomberg, he said, hasn't implemented true changes in education, nor cut government waste even as the mayor raised taxes., the first story fails to go into the positions Mr. Ognibene takes on what separates him from the republican mayor and his democratic opponents. At least you do get a nice little biography on the man.


Mr. Murphy's second story focuses on the 2001 scandal that apparently cost Mr. Ognibene's run for mayor four years ago. For some reason, when I read this second story I felt it was out of place. Why is it being printed? Why is it being featured? Of course, I'm not that naive about New York Newsday's political leanings, so it doesn't surprise me that they chose to remind its readers a black mark on a republican's reputation.

Often i like to refer to Newsday as the Tabloid Times or the Baby Times, since it often prints yesterday's New York Times opinions in their own words. It doesn't surprise me that the paper avoids indepth positions a republican candidate takes. But publicity is publicity and Mr. Ognibene is certainly a man who can and will answer the tough questions about his past.