Thomas Ognibene
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Thomas Ognibene (December 12, 1943 – October 12, 2015) was an attorney and Republican politician in New York City who served in the New York City Council from 1992 to 2001.


Biography

Ognibene was first elected in 1992 to become a New York City Council member, where he served through 2001, representing the 30th District in
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, including the neighborhoods of Middle Village,
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven and Forest Hills. Initially blocked by then Republican
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
Rudy Giuliani,Herszenhorn, David H
"Kingmaker Wannabe"
''The New York Times''. October 22, 2005.
he was eventually elected as the Council Minority Leader and served in that position from 1994 until 2001. In the 1980s, Mr. Ognibene ran unsuccessfully as a Conservative Party candidate for judgeships in Supreme and Civil Courts and for Congress. Later changing to the Republican Party, he successfully ran for Council and then in a rebuff to Giuliani, he helped to engineer the controversial takeover of the Queens County Republican Party and have his favored candidate elected as Chairman His term in office was marred by allegations that surfaced in the ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'', and confirmed by the
Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...
in the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that Ognibene and his Chief of Staff were caught on multiple wiretaps with a New York City Department of Buildings official Ronald Lattanzio discussing questionable "
pay to play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...
" influence peddling, inside appointments and improperly securing large grants from New York State officials for friends. Though never formally charged, the allegations were widely believed to have derailed Ognibene's desired appointment to a judgeship on the
New York Court of Claims The New York State Court of Claims is the court of the New York State Unified Court System which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies. Judges Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of ...
that was already approved by the administration of Governor of New York
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...
In 2005 Ognibene unsuccessfully ran for
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
against incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the 2005 mayoral election. Ognibene was endorsed by the leaders of the Queens County Republican Party to run in the Republican Party's primary election. However, Bloomberg's campaign successfully challenged enough of the signatures Ognibene had submitted to the Board of Elections to prevent Ognibene from appearing on ballots for the Republican primary. Instead, Ognibene ran only on the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
ticket. Ognibene's campaign sought to beat Bloomberg by calling attention to Bloomberg's reputation as a " Republican In Name Only". After a fallout with the Queens Republican leadership, Ognibene ran as a City Council candidate in a special election on June 3, 2008 for the seat he previously occupied where he came in third, losing to the Queens County Republican Party endorsed candidate
Anthony Como Anthony Como (born April 12, 1974) is a Republican politician from New York City Borough of Queens, New York. He was elected to the 30th district of the New York City Council in 2008 as a Republican, defeating Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, in what ...
and the Democratic County candidate Elizabeth Crowley. Ognibene was chosen as Buffalo developer Carl Paladino's running mate in the
New York gubernatorial election, 2010 The 2010 New York gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor David Paterson, elected as lieutenant governor in 2006 as the running mate of Eliot Spitzer, chose not to run for a full term. Democra ...
. He secured a spot on the November ballot on the Taxpayers Party line only to be removed later to avoid a split ticket, and he petitioned his way onto the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor where he ran against the party's designee, Greg Edwards, the County Executive in Chautauqua County, in western New York. Ognibene lost on September 14, 2010 in what had been a bitter primary.


Personal life

Originally from Middle Village in Queens, Ognibene graduated from
C.W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is nam ...
in 1966, served in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
from 1967 to 1970 and graduated from
Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...
in 1974. He was a resident of Queens and was married for 48 years to his wife Margaret who survives him, a former New York City junior high school teacher. He has two children, Guy and Eve. Ognibene died of cancer on October 12, 2015 at the age of 71.


References


External links


Gotham Gazette 2005 webpage
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ognibene, Tom 1943 births 2015 deaths New York City Council members Brooklyn Law School alumni LIU Post alumni New York (state) Republicans New York (state) lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Candidates in the 2010 United States elections