Tony Avella
FameRank: 3

"Tony Avella" is an United States/American politician and United States Democratic Party/Democratic State Senator from the 11th New York Senate district. Avella was a member of the New York City Council from the borough of Queens from 2002 to 2009. He represented the 19th Council District, which includes the mostly affluent neighborhoods of College Point, Queens/College Point, Whitestone, Queens/Whitestone, Bayside, Queens/Bayside, Little Neck, Queens/Little Neck, Douglaston, Queens/Douglaston, Floral Park, Queens/Floral Park, Beechhurst, Malba and Auburndale.

Avella served as the Chair of the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee and was a member of five other Council committees: Higher Education, Housing and Buildings, Fire and Criminal Justice Services, Land Use, and Veterans. He was the founder and Chair of the first "Italian-American Caucus" of the Council. He opted not to run for a third term of the City Council (which was allowed by a bill passed in early 2009), in order to run in the 2009 Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. He received publicity for his stances in favor of animal rights and against overdevelopment, but was defeated by William Thompson (New York)/Bill Thompson.

More Tony Avella on Wikipedia.

Overdevelopment is the No. 1 issue in my district. It comes up more than education or police protection.

To me, that is a loophole.

Nobody is against development, ... but let it be appropriate, let it fit in with the character of the area, and let it be an asset, not a detriment.