Queens Tribune

A minor stir took place in Albany this week.

Grace Meng, a new bright young face is going to the Assembly from Queens. We wish her well.

On the other side of the coin, 30-year incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio was indicted on fraud charges. He is accused of using his official position to enrich himself, allegedly taking more than $500,000 in bribes selling his influence as an Assemblyman. Coincidentally, a former Assemblyman, Brian McLaughlin who pled guilty to racketeering, is about to be sentenced. We wish they were the only ones, but there are more.

While faces will be changing in Albany, we wonder if the culture will ever change? Will these small winds of change blowing in Queens provide a breath of fresh air to the stale dysfunctional legislature? Sadly, we think not.

Sooner or later, the legislators in Albany, including the 25 elected from Queens, need to realize they are part of the worst legislative body in the country. And they must act to do something about it.

While it is clear there are individuals in Albany who are bright, capable and creative, time after time, we see them fail to move the legislature out of its morose culture of self interest and corruption. The Seminario indictment is just another ugly reminder of how the system in Albany brings out the worst in our elected officials.

If we clearly know the system is badly broken, how come the legislators don’t?