Village Voice, Week of August 22-28, 2001 (click here to see full article)
New Green Party Leaders Learn Some Old Tricks
Elephant Hunters
By Tom Robbins
..."With Dowd serving as his election lawyer, Green candidate Paul Graziano is also waging a tough-love campaign in the Flushing council district, where Asians are trying to win their first-ever City Council seat. Graziano, 30, an urban planner, said he challenged Republican candidate Ryan Walsh because of "blatant fraud." Graziano said his line-by-line examination of petitions submitted by Walsh, also a political novice, found that more than 20 percent of the 611 signatures were false. In several instances cited by Graziano, one family member appeared to have signed for others in the same household—a common petition violation."
Flushing Times, May 24, 2001 (click here to see full article)
Green Party candidate enters Flushing race
By Adam Kramer
..."In the midst of a reunion he helped to organize at the historic Bullard family home in Flushing, civic activist Paul Graziano threw his hat into the city council race as a Green Party candidate to succeed longtime Councilwoman Julia Harrison ... "Part of what this is about is the community deciding what happens to their neighborhood themselves, Graziano told the crowd of more than 65. I have been fighting to save this community for the past seven years." ... His goal is to work toward rezoning parts of Flushing, which would protect about 95 percent of the housing stock and allow for the continued development in other sections of the community. ... I feel I am the best person to do the job, he said. I have the background in planning, politics and have been a community activist since 1994."
Queens Chronicle, May 24th, 2001 (click here to see full article)
Flushing Mansion May Get New Lease On Life As Museum
By Liz Rhoades
..."Paul Graziano, president of the newly organized Flushing Historic Trust and a candidate for Julia Harrison's City Council seat, has set the gears in motion to preserve this former "summer cottage" into a thriving art gallery and exhibit space. ...When its last owner, Matthew Kabrisky, died last year, Graziano knew it was time to take action before the developer's bulldozer destroyed the mansion. ...Graziano, a land use consultant, has been working diligently with the state to get the house landmarked. Federal landmarking would automatically follow and would allow the trust to get low-interest restoration loans....He hopes to have that accomplished by the end of the year."
Village Voice, Week of February 14th, 2001 (click here to see full article)
The Growth of Korean Churches in Flushing Sparks Community Tensions
Holy Land
By Sajan P. Kuriakos
. . . "Community facilities were originally supposed to be benign entities and passively react with the community," says Paul Graziano, chairman of the zoning and land use committee of the Queens Civic Congress and Green Party candidate for City Council . . . When legislators wrote the law, says Graziano, they envisioned a religious facility with fixed seats like pews and mandated a certain quota of parking spots, accordingly. But most Korean churches have found a loophole; by using folding chairs, they circumvent the law. "The law has been stood on its head," says Graziano. "We must revoke the [old provision] . . . and immediately change the parking requirements." . . .
Queens Chronicle, December 14th 2000 (click here to see full article)
Rezoning Ready for Kissena Area
Civic Works With CB 7 On Downzoning Plan
By Liz Rhoades
. . . "The purpose is to protect the area from speculative development," he said . . . Graziano expects the process to take between a year and 1-1/2 years "and should be a fast process." . . .
New York Times, October 29, 2000 (click here to see full article)
Honor of an Olympics Designation Is Lost on Some Angry Residents
By Jim O'Grady
. . . Paul Graziano, a member of the Waldheim Neighborhood Association, criticized the plan to deepen Willow and Meadow Lakes in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and turn them into a rowing and canoeing course. "The communities around the park will go absolutely bananas about your proposal," he said, meaning bananas in a bad way. The alterations, he said, would make the park a construction site for years and radically change the shape of the lakes. . .
Queens Chronicle, September 14th 2000 (click here to see full article)
Flushing Construction Stopped for Violations
By Liz Rhoades
. . . "I think they subdivided the property illegally," he said. "They called it a vacant lot when in fact it was a courtyard for existing buildings." . . . Graziano said the project, if allowed to continue, "sets a scary precedent to build on open space. The green space is meant for the tenants who live there." . . .
Newsday, July 16th 2000 (click here to see full article)
Preserving the Past
Is Queens getting a fair review from city landmarks officials?
By Sorah Shapiro
. . . Citing the Tisdale Mansion in Flushing and the Triborough Theatre in Astoria as examples of ruthless destruction, Graziano also points to dozens of other sites that were deserving of landmarks but destroyed, or designated and rescinded by the old Board of Estimate. "All the worthy designations have been ignored because of politics and money, because of campaign contributions from the building industry to elected officials. Developers oppose landmarking, because it restricts what they believe to be their divine right to build whatever they want wherever they want," he says. . .
Star-Ledger, July 14 2000 (click here to see full article)
Paterson plans to build on its past
City aids merchants in restoring facades
By Elizabeth Moore
. . . "We want to bring back the original architectural elements," said Paul Graziano, an urban planner working on the facade program. "We want to make it as tasteful as possible." . . .
Queens Chronicle, January 6th 2000 (click here to see full article)
Voices Of Young Are Rarely Heard On Borough's Community Boards
By Daniel Hendrick
. . . Flushing land-use activist Paul Graziano, 28, agreed, adding that many young people are turned off by what they see as a dangerous mix of money and politics. . . "They see how difficult it is to fight politics and the money behind politics," Graziano said. "People with money don't even need to get involved in politics directly, they just give donations in return for special consideration." . . .
Times/Ledger, November 25, 1999 (click here to see full article)
History is our refuge: Kew Forest Civic
Group fighting six-story apartment building says 1922 deed permits only 1-family homes
By Michelle Han
. . . The Kew Forest Neighborhood Association believes the covenants and restrictions are old, but just as viable - if not more so - as the zoning plan being drawn up for the Kew Forest neighborhood today, said Paul Graziano, a Flushing resident active in planning and zoning issues who recently became involved with the group. . . "Almost a third of Queens has deed restrictions - they're just not enforced," Graziano said. "But it doesn't mean they can't be enforced." . . .
Daily News, October 11, 1998 (click here to see full article)
Historic battle in Flushing
Landmark status sought for little-known Waldheim
By Claire Serant
. . . Adjacent mini-mansions were torn down in the name of progress, said local preservationist Paul Graziano. . . Graziano said that in the past 15 years, six of Waldheim's more than 70 original properties were demolished to make way for newer housing. . .
Newsday, September 29th 1998 (click here to see full article)
Saving Local Treasures
By Melanie Lefkowitz
. . . "If this building were located in Manhattan, it would never gotten to this point," said Paul Graziano of Flushing, an activist involved with several groups dedicated to preserving Queens' historic buildings and neighborhoods. "But because we're in Queens, we got the short end of the stick, and everybody knows it." . . .
Daily News, September 25 1998 (click here to see full article)
It's landmark neglect, local activists charging
By Claire Serant
. . . "We are losing, on an almost daily basis, the history and architecture that make our neighborhoods distinct, said Paul Graziano, a board member of the committee. . .
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