DAVID STOROBIN: “First, I have always believed that you can judge a lot about a person by the company he keeps.

“What kind of company does Mr. Fidler keep?

“This is a man who is the product of, the creation of a corrupt Democrat political machine that has ruled Brooklyn for three generations.

“Mr. Fidler is the hand-picked candidate of political boss Vito Lopez. He is the heir — the direct descendant of “Big Tony” Genovese, Stan Fink, and Boss Esposito.”

 I was going to write a complete analysis of State Senate candidate David Storobin’s remarkable press conference this afternoon, and I will eventually do so, but I think the quote above is noteworthy because of all it reveals about the mindset of Mr. Storobin.

A few weeks ago, Storobin’s opponent, Councilman Lew Fidler  spoke somewhat inaccurately about Mr. Storobin in a context (a Young Dems’ party in a bar) he did not believe to be public, saying things he believed to be true, which were not, and then when it became public, stupidly sent out a press release defending his remarks.

Reminding people of Mr. Fidler’s two errors, neither of which were ever embodied in any other public statement or piece of literature, has consumed about 90% of Mr. Storobin’s efforts ever since. Storobin has left no stone unturned in broadcasting the semi-private slanders which had allegedly so distressed him.    

For two weeks, Storobin has been claiming, somewhat inaccurately, that Fidler “abuse[d]  the memory of murdered Jews.”

 In turn, Mr. Storobin has now responded by abusing the memory and ethnicity of a dead Italian-American who died in an auto accident.  .

Let me tell you about Tony Genovesi.

Former Assemblyman Dan Feldman, the embodiment of a process reformer says this about Genovesi:

 As my late Assembly colleague Tony Genovesi once taught me, shortly after I took office and well before he did, each member of the Legislature represents his or her district, but also must assume responsibility as, in effect, a member of the Board of Directors of the State of New York.

So we can see this man is obviously beneath contempt.

I never much liked Tony G, but it was not hard not to grant him a grudging respect. Recently, New York Magazine reported:

 In politics, achieving power doesn’t always mean being a nice and dependable guy. Kruger studied under one of the party’s most beloved practitioners, Tony Genovesi, who would come to regret helping push Kruger into office.

In 1994, a seat opened up. Genovesi lobbied party elders to put Kruger on the ballot. The race was a farce. Turnout for the special election was an abysmal 2.5 percent. Kruger collected only 3,044 votes for the win and started making the commute to Albany.

Less than a month after Kruger took office, a major issue for Genovesi was coming up for a vote. Genovesi had been such a staunch opponent of the death penalty that his office was once picketed. In Albany, Genovesi expected that Kruger would vote with him. After all, Genovesi had been instrumental in ­Kruger’s career, and Kruger’s vote was crucial.

Kruger agonized. Many of his constituents were vocal in their support for the death penalty. And centrist Democrats were supporting it. Many also suspected that Kruger was looking for a way to proclaim his independence from Genovesi. In the end, Kruger decided to vote against his mentor. The next day, Genovesi walked into the Senate chamber and waited until the vote was called.

“I want you to look at me while you fuck me,” Genovesi told him.

One does not have to agree with Genovesi to understand why he was worthy of respect. Here’s what I said in 2008:

Once Carl Kruger followed, as his guiding light, a politician named Tony Genovesi.

Although condemned by the likes of Gary Tilzer as the embodiment of evil, Genovesi, though one tough and often ruthless cookie, was also a Christian as devout as Ruben Diaz, who was guided by his moral center--a morality so unyielding that Genovesi stood up even for the constitutional rights of repugnant pedophiles like the North American Man Boy Love Association, because he considered it the right thing to do, even though Assemblymembers from far more liberal constituencies were voting the other way.

Devout Christians ask, WWDJ--What Would Jesus Do?

Carl, why not ask WWTD---What Would Tony Do?

He’d say: “Carl, be a fucking mensch!”

Tony Genovesi played hard and nasty politics sometimes. He believed in rewarding his friends, and some of his associates, like Mr. Kruger, were not always of the highest quality (Mr. Storobin, whose press conference today was highlighted by a supporter of his calling a heckler a “homosexual,” should perhaps have more sympathy on this score).

But Genovesi was never accused of any crimes, and was, by the estimation of almost everyone who worked with him in an official capacity, an outstanding public servant who lived modestly and endeavored to make his community and our state a better place to live.

Tony Genovesi’s memory really does not deserve to be used as a shorthand for political corruption.

I won’t even get into the slander Mr. Storobin commits against Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, almost universally acknowledged by colleagues in both houses on both sides of the aisle as being the most effective and public spirited NYS legislative leader of the last century (with the help of his Executive Director, Mr. Genovesi).

Let’s just concentrate on “’Big Tony’ Genovese,” as Mr. Storobin’s prepared text calls him.

Where, perchance, did Mr. Storobin get that knick-name for Genovesi?

 A Google search reveals that the only entries about “Big Tony Genovese” are ones relating to Mr. Storobin’s press conference.

And if one spells Mr. Genovesi’s last name correctly, a Google search reveals that there are ZERO entries for “Big Tony Genovesi” (other than the ones which will be generated as a result of this article).

What then could possibly be the point of calling Mr. Genovesi by a name probably never used in real life?

Could the intent possibly be to imply that this extremely pious man was in some way a mobster?

Before Mr. Storobin bothers denying that this was his intent, let’s get back to his revealing Freudian spelling error.

G-E-N-O-V-E-S-I is the name of the late Assemblyman from Bergen Beach. Mr. Storobin’s spelling, G-E-N-O-V-E-S-E, is the name of a organized crime family.

As someone who is a member of a minority group whose members are constantly slurred for being affiliated with organized crime, Mr. Storobin should be ashamed of himself.       

And Italian-American voters, and all people of decency should act accordingly.