Abogado Kalathara, Mariscal Internacional del Desfile Colombiano en Queens

Abogado Kalathara, Mariscal Internacional del Desfile Colombiano en Queens


El abogado Styanley Joseph Kalathara, candidato de las minorías inmigrantes al Concejo de la ciudad de Nueva York por el Distrito 25, fue invitado de honor en el tradicional Desfile Colombiano de Queens, el pasado domingo 26 de julio, al participar como Mariscal Internacional, por designación unánime de esta organización cívica que preside el líder comunitario Rafael Castelar.

Kalathara, además se hizo presente apoyando a un grupo de de danza folklórica china, representativo de dicha comunidad en Queens, y se constituyó en uno de los más entusiastas integrantes de este multitudinario certámen que se celebró a lo largo de la avenida Northern Boulevard entre la calle 69 y Juntion Boulevard para festejar los 199 años de independencia de la república de Colombia.

Recientemente, este abogado inmigrante nacio en la India y graduado de abogado a los 48 años en los Estados Unidos, presentó los documentos auténticos y debidamente legalizados de las 4.474 firmas de ciudadanos de distintas nacionalidades que respaldan su postulación a las primarias del Partido Demócrata, que se celebrarán el próximo 15 de septiembre, hecho que se considera de enorme significado en su camino a la elección, si se tiene en cuenta que uno de sus otros dos adversarios en esta nominación apenas obtuvo 2.700 firmas.

“La gente está cansada de los políticos de siempre y ansía un cambio,” dijo Kalathara, en medio de la alegría de numerosos simpatizantes que lo acompañaron en el desfile. “La gente está fatigada de ver a miembros del concejo que se nominan solos una y otra vez con la intención de perpeturarse en el cargo por un término más, en contra de la voluntad del pueblo, y de ver como hacen negocios a puerta cerrada.” .

Kalathara también estará participando en los desfiles ecuatorianos y dominicanos para honrar y apoyar a la diversidad del distrito y el carácter multicultural de Queens, y para corresponder a la solicitud de representantes de esas comunidades que ven en este abogado de profesión y activista comunitario, una posibilidad de ser representados dignamente como minorías, de acuerdo a su programa sobre educación, salud, convivencia ciudadana, desarrollo económico y turístico expuesto a sus potenciales electores..

El Distrito 25 incluye Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Lefrak City, Rego Park y Woodside.

visit www.stanleykalathara.com Vote Yes Stanley Kalathara September 15, 2009

Queens City Council Candidate 25th District - Stanley Kalathara leads Month-long Cleanup of Roosevelt Ave.

Month-long cleanup of Roosevelt Ave. launched
by AnnMarie Costella, Chronicle Contributor
06/04/2009

Volunteers armed with brooms start cleaning up Roosevelt Avenue as part of a month-long initiative. (photo by AnnMarie Costella)

The dense population and increasing pedestrian traffic along Roosevelt Avenue is causing trash cans to overflow and rubbish to collect in the streets, but all that is about to change.

Volunteers dressed in green t-shirts and armed with pastel-colored brooms and dustpans set out to clean up the soiled strip from 69th street to Junction Boulevard on Sunday as part of a month-long initiative to improve the quality of life in part of Queens.

Calling themselves United in Action, the partnership of business owners and residents from Council District 25, which includes the neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Lefrak City and Rego Park, has made it their mission to curb the increase in litter. The group will also install new garbage cans along Roosevelt Avenue and adjacent areas.

“We are making a statement,” said Millie Carrella, a spokesperson for United in Action. “We want our community back. We want it to be the best it can be.”


The idea for the project came from Luperio Naranjo, a Queens resident and native of Ecuador, who said he was tired of watching his neighborhood deteriorate.

“I want a better future for my kids,” he said. “I want them to grow up in a nice city and a clean city.”

Naranjo reached out to District 25 City Council candidate Stanley Kalathara, and together they convinced 140 local businesses to sponsor the program.

“We wanted to change the mindset of the younger people,” said Kalathara. “We want to train them not to destroy the neighborhood. This is the neighborhood where they choose to live and grow up, and they have to be responsible for making sure that it is good.”

Mario Villamil, an employee with Wells Fargo Bank, one of the sponsors of the program, said he was inspired to volunteer after he noticed the vast differences between his own neighborhood and countries overseas.

“I went to Canada and it was so clean. It just made you want to be there,” he explained. “If we are able to keep this neighborhood clean, we are going to bring more people into the area to invest, and we are all going to grow as a group.”

Ingrid Mosquera, along with several of her fellow members from the dance troupe, Estampas Negras, volunteered their time because they are concerned about global warming and other issues affecting the environment.

“I think people are too lazy to put the trash in the garbage can, so they just throw it on the floor,” added Maureen Dominguez. “This project opens the door to let people see that there are people who care and want to help the environment.”

visit www.stanleykalathara.com

NYC Council Candidate 25th District Stanley Kalathara Draws large Cross Section of Community to Campaign Kick-Off

NYC Council Candidate 25th District Stanley Kalathara Draws large Cross Section of Community to Campaign Kick-Off

Visit http://www.stanleykalathara.com Vote Yes for Stanley Kalathara September 15, 2009

Stanley Kalathara NYC Council Candidate 25th District now on Twitter

You can now follow Stanley Kalathara NYC Council Candidate on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/StanleyKl

Don't forget to bookmark official web site http://www.stanleykalathara.com

Diversified Cross Section of Community supporting Stanley Kalathara for NYC City Council District 25

Diversified Cross Section of Community supporting Stanley Kalathara for NYC City Council District 25

“I stand for the people of all communities” Stated Stanley Kalathara

With a strong message, Stanley Kalathara presented on Tuesday night the signatures of 4,023 citizens supporting him to get in the ballot for the upcoming primary election of September 15th, 2009

The Kalathara petitioning team collected, 4,023 people signed petitions to put the Queens attorney Stanley Kalathara on the ballot for the September 15, 2009 Democratic Primary.

Kalathara campaigners carried out the message of diversity of the minority communities of District 25th in Queens , NY . Kalathara’s platform addresses are focus on better education, quality of live, better economy and environment. Leaders of different ethnics group supporting Kalathara joined the team at the special event.

Kalathara, a veteran attorney, resident of New York for the last 40 years, said he is running to give a voice to the minority groups in his district, for a better education, quality of life, economics and a cleaner environment.

“We face hard times in the education system and we need to be part of the change,” said Kalathara last night at the campaign kickoff in Queens . “Our campaign opens the door to the hard working people of different ethnic backgrounds, but living in America for a better future of their families, I am for citizens of America” emphasized Kalathara. “We are running against all the odds, but we are for real. We are not using taxpayer’s money. I’m running for election to win the election with my friends for those who are looking for a real change ” he said, referring to the incumbent Helen Sears leading Democratic contender who in 2008 voted in favor of Term Limits presented by Major Michael Bloomberg.

Kalathara call for guaranteed signatures of the petitions filled with the Board of Elections. By law must be 900 signatures but the candidate Kalathara went overboard and his team of volunteers collected 4,023 signatures.

The petitioning drive, which runs through July 19, aims to get 4,023 signatures to put the attorney at law of Indian origin in the ballot. These are more that fifth the legal requirement.

Now the Kalathara campaign supporters are organizing daytime, weekend and evening teams across the District 25th with their campaign flyers, printed in English and Spanish and petition boards.

The event to celebrate the kickoff of Kalathara ballot drive was held July 14 at a Colombian restaurant on Northern Boulevard in Queens . More information on www.stanleykalathara.com

City Council Candidate Stanley Kalathara on Ballot for 25th NYC Council District Election

City Council Candidate Stanley Kalathara on Ballot for 25th NYC Council District Election

District 25 challengers may face Sears
Candidates could run against incumbent after the City Council’s controversial vote on term limits


By Jeremy Walsh
Friday, November 14, 2008 4:22 PM EST

City Council candidate Stanley Kalathara (third from l.) stands with supporters at a protest outside Councilwoman Helen Sears’ office in Jackson Heights. Kalathara is one of several people vying for Sears’ seat. Photo by Jeremy Walsh
As the dust settles in the aftermath of the City Council’s vote to extend term limits, aspiring candidates in the 25th Council District are struggling to adapt to a political future that now includes incumbent Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights).

Sears, 80, would have been term limited out of office at the end of 2009. She now has the option of vying for re-election, but has not announced what her plans will be.

“I still have over a year left on my current term, and all my thoughts are with how to make the 25th Council District stronger and healthier,” she said in an e-mail.

Rumors were also circulating that Sears could gather petitions for re-election but then drop out and cede them to her son, Stuart Sears.

Stuart Sears, who previously helped run his mother’s campaigns, angrily denied the rumors.

“That’s a disgrace to say that someone that has no track record of lying to the public ... would do something like that,” he said. “That tells you all you have to know about the other people running in this race. I’d like to see one of these windbags put their name to this and tell it to my face.”

Stuart Sears said he opened a campaign fund-raising account for the Council seat and had begun planning events, but put everything on hold when the term limits extension came up.

“At the current time, I have no plans if my mother runs for re-election, which I assume is a safe bet,” he said.

But Stanley Kalathara, a Jackson Heights-based attorney and member of Community Board 3, was undeterred by the prospect of running against an incumbent. He organized a protest outside Sears’ office Oct. 29, shouting harsh criticisms of her vote in favor of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s term limit extension bill.

“She did it for her own self-service,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENTSears was one of six Council members from Queens who supported the mayor’s bill.

“It is my sincere belief that it is in the best interest of the city of New York to extend term limits from two to three,” she said in a statement. “This decision was not made easily, but it is the right one.”

Kalathara, part of the Gore delegation at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, said he would work to keep term limits on voters’ minds.

“We’re going to mobilize our people to make sure they understand,” he said, proposing a series of demonstrations and town hall-style meetings throughout the district. “This is only the beginning.”

But Kalathara may have to do more than organize if he hopes to compete with the other candidates. City Campaign Finance Board records show he has not yet raised any money for the race. Helen Sears, according to the finance board, has a $79,000 war chest.

Daniel Dromm, a Jackson Heights Democratic district leader and president of the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, has raised $53,871. He said he will continue to run for the seat.

“I think I can win the race,” he said. “I have a lot of support. I’ve been district leader for over six years now, and I’ve been working in that community for 17-plus years as an activist.”

Con Ed spokesman and former Sears deputy chief of staff Alfonso Quiroz, who has raised $48,026 in his bid for the seat, will also continue to campaign.

“We need somebody that’s going to reach across ethnic lines, racial lines and generational lines,” he said, noting he respects Helen Sears but was “extremely let down by the way that she voted and just feel it was really an act ... that put her own self-preservation before democracy.”

Helen Sears, Dromm and Quiroz will also have to contend with Elmhurst resident Mujib Rahman, who previously served as president of the highly competitive Bangladesh Society of New York. Rahman had also not raised any money, according to CFB records. He did not return phone calls by press time Tuesday.

The 20 or so protesters at Kalathara’s rally all attacked Helen Sears for supporting Bloomberg on term limits, but it remains to be seen whether other voters share their rancor — and whether they can sustain it until an election one year from now.

“I would have expected more outcry even at this point from people,” Dromm said. “I don’t know that the general population is fully aware that in addition to extending the term for mayor, it means the Council, borough presidents and other citiwides also have their term limits extended.”

Columbian Day Parade Kick Off at Laguardia Marriott Hotel

Left to Right: Columbian Day Parade Kick Off at Laguardia Marriott Hotel - Left to Right: Staff for Hiram Monserrate, City Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Queens - 25 City Council Candidate Stanley Kalathara, and State Senator Hiram Monserrate

Queens, New York - 25 NYC Council District Candidate Stanley Kalathara Marshals Colombian Day Parade

Queens, New York - 25 NYC Council District Candidate Stanley Kalathara Marshals Colombian Day Parade

City Council candidate Stanley Kalathara joined thousands of New Yorkers in celebrating the diversity of Queens on Sunday at the Colombian Day Parade. Kalathara served as International Marshall for the parade – another feather in the cap of the candidate, a widely respected community leader.

As part of his participation, Kalathara sponsored of group of dancers of Chinese descent. The dancers were among the many attractions featured in the parade, which took place on Northern Boulevard between 69th Street and Junction Boulevard.

"Queens is the most diverse place in the world," Kalathara said. "As an immigrant from India, I know that new New Yorkers love their country and the opportunities it provides. In the City Council, I will work to make sure immigrants and the middle class have every opportunity to achieve the American Dream."

Through his law practice, Kalathara has provided services for Colombian-Americans, helping them attain citizenship and representing them pro bono or at reduced rates when they are intimidated by predatory lenders or landlords.

"It was an honor to have attorney Kalathara as the International Marshall," said Rafael Castellar, president of the Colombian Day Parade.

On Sunday, Kalathara joined thousands of Latinos in celebrating Colombia’s 199 years of independence.

"Colombian culture is alive and well in Queens," said Kalathara. "Colombian-Americans are business owners, service providers and laborers. They are a tremendous piece of our community."

Kalathara’s leadership in the parade comes just days after he presented over 4,000 signatures on his nominating petitions – a tremendous display of grassroots power.

"People are hungry for change," Kalathara said. "They’ve had enough of political insiders, of City Councilmembers who appoint themselves a third term against the will of the voters, of backroom self-dealing.

"I’m not a professional politician. I represents the people. I’m the candidate for real change."

Kalathara will also be participating in the upcoming Ecuadorian and Dominican parades to honor and show his support for the district’s diversity and Queens’ unique multicultural character.

A Corona-based attorney, Kalathara is running as a Democrat in the 25th Council District, which includes all or parts of Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Lefrak City, Rego Park and Woodside. The primary election is September 15.

Visit http://www.stanleykalathara.com