Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Cristina Fontanelli | New York State Assembly District 75 Candidate Informs S&FIM Listeners About Her Campaign
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Christina Pontinelli. She is running right now for New York
- 0:04Speaker 1: State Assembly. specifically District 75, which is located on Manhattan's
- 0:09Speaker 1: west side. It includes neighborhoods like Chelsea, I used to
- 0:12Speaker 1: live there, Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, Hudson Yards,
- 0:17Speaker 1: Carnegie Hall, Central Park, and much of Midtown Manhattan, along
- 0:21Speaker 1: with portions of the Upper West Side. The district also
- 0:24Speaker 1: encompasses major commercial and cultural areas, such as Times Square,
- 0:28Speaker 1: that's a mess, the Garment District, not the same, parts
- 0:32Speaker 1: of Hudson Yards, still pretty good, Steve Ross did a
- 0:35Speaker 1: It makes it one of the most economically important districts
- 0:38Speaker 1: in New York City. So with that said, here she is.
- 0:41Speaker 1: She's also a major superstar, opera singer, TV star, Christina Fontanelli. Christina,
- 0:48Speaker 1: good morning. How are you?
- 0:49Speaker 2: Good morning, Sid. Thanks for having me on the show.
- 0:52Speaker 1: Good to see you. Yes. Thank you. You're an opera singer.
- 0:56Speaker 1: You're an actress. You've had success in the arts. You've
- 1:00Speaker 1: even got your own charity, which is very, very cool,
- 1:03Speaker 1: which is the Christina Pantonelli Foundation, where you try to
- 1:07Speaker 1: help out kids who want to do what you've done
- 1:09Speaker 1: in your career. What makes you go from doing all
- 1:12Speaker 1: that to run for politics in this godforsaken city? What?
- 1:17Speaker 2: Yes, Sid, honestly, if I had such a nice life
- 1:21Speaker 2: just being an opera singer, being introduced to people and
- 1:25Speaker 2: invited for champagne, and I can't stand it anymore, what
- 1:29Speaker 2: New York is becoming. It's deteriorating before our very eyes.
- 1:34Speaker 2: And I couldn't stand it, and I saw what was
- 1:37Speaker 2: coming at us, and I decided... I got on a
- 1:40Speaker 2: microphone last summer. I can't hear myself. And then I said,
- 1:44Speaker 2: I've got to do this. Someone said, you should run
- 1:46Speaker 2: for office. And I said, bingo. The day I decided,
- 1:48Speaker 2: I saw, anyway, here I am doing the politics.
- 1:51Speaker 1: So you decided this last summer.
- 1:53Speaker 2: Right.
- 1:54Speaker 1: And now you're doing it. And now, correct me if
- 1:56Speaker 1: I'm wrong, you're running on both the Republican and Independent lines, yes?
- 2:00Speaker 2: Yes, I am. Especially in my district. It happens to
- 2:04Speaker 2: be one of the bluest, you know, it's a liberal
- 2:06Speaker 2: district because it's entertainment. I am part of the entertainment community.
- 2:12Speaker 2: I do love all the people. What I don't love
- 2:15Speaker 2: is what I'm seeing happening every single day in the
- 2:20Speaker 2: very district where I live.
- 2:21Speaker 1: But these entertainment people are part of the problem. They're liberals.
- 2:26Speaker 1: They hate Israel. They hate New York. So aren't you
- 2:30Speaker 1: ostracized in that community now?
- 2:32Speaker 2: Sid, up until now, I just have run a very local...
- 2:35Speaker 2: All politics is local, and I've been... They seem to
- 2:39Speaker 2: like me. We have a program that sees what people
- 2:42Speaker 2: are saying. Everyone seems to like me and are looking
- 2:45Speaker 2: for a reason to vote for me. And what happens
- 2:49Speaker 2: is when I speak about the issues that are affecting them.
- 2:52Speaker 2: Their eyes light up, their face lights up, and they
- 2:55Speaker 2: are not used to hearing anyone present any other optional facts.
- 3:00Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about some of these issues. I think
- 3:02Speaker 1: the biggest one, especially in that area, there's a lot
- 3:04Speaker 1: of issues. I used to live on 21st and 8th
- 3:06Speaker 1: and Chelsea. I know that area very, very well. That
- 3:09Speaker 1: was the only place where I lived, where I walked
- 3:11Speaker 1: down the street with my beautiful wife. And I got
- 3:14Speaker 1: more stares than she does. They love me in Chelsea.
- 3:19Speaker 1: Public safety, that's a huge issue all over New York City.
- 3:21Speaker 1: Tell me about that.
- 3:22Speaker 2: All right. So in my district, unfortunately, it's been the
- 3:25Speaker 2: hub of the most heinous things. The mother was macheted
- 3:28Speaker 2: to death in Times Square. We have homeless encampments everywhere.
- 3:32Speaker 2: I call it Russian roulette because we've passed these people.
- 3:36Speaker 2: You know they're not in their right minds. And you
- 3:39Speaker 2: just never know when it's your day that they're going
- 3:41Speaker 2: to decide to come after you. And also a young
- 3:46Speaker 2: father was now mowed down in Central Park, which is
- 3:49Speaker 2: part of my district. And I was actually said something
- 3:53Speaker 2: on Facebook and they wrote, I made a mistake. I
- 3:55Speaker 2: said e-bikes. And they said, you know, this is another
- 3:58Speaker 2: disgusting politician saying the wrong information and using it. And
- 4:03Speaker 2: then I wrote, I said, I apologize. It was an
- 4:05Speaker 2: analog bike. I never heard that word analog.
- 4:08Speaker 1: Have you? No, never. Never. Yeah.
- 4:09Speaker 2: So now they're identifying which type of bicycle. And then
- 4:13Speaker 2: I wrote, I said, well, what's the difference? People are
- 4:15Speaker 2: not following the laws. They're not paying attention to other people.
- 4:20Speaker 2: They don't care. We have a spirit of lawlessness on
- 4:23Speaker 2: the streets.
- 4:24Speaker 1: That's the bottom line. Housing. I saw Mayor Mamdani last
- 4:27Speaker 1: night with Jimmy Kimmel going on and on about this
- 4:29Speaker 1: potential Sunnyside project in Queens. And he seems to think
- 4:33Speaker 1: that's why him and Trump are getting along so well,
- 4:36Speaker 1: because they're both about housing and fixing New York. But
- 4:39Speaker 1: housing is a big issue in your district as well. Yes.
- 4:42Speaker 2: Oh, yes, it is. And actually, I'm standing up for
- 4:45Speaker 2: the people that live in the NYCHA buildings. Now, I
- 4:48Speaker 2: am not a world economist. I don't want New York
- 4:52Speaker 2: to go down the drain economically. But what I do
- 4:55Speaker 2: know is the politicians that are there now, my opponent,
- 4:59Speaker 2: they don't care about human beings.
- 5:00Speaker 1: Well, who's your opponent anyway?
- 5:01Speaker 2: His name is Tony Simone. It's his third term. He
- 5:04Speaker 2: was anointed, I'd say. In 2022, it's a Democratic machine.
- 5:10Speaker 2: He's also on the Working Family Party, which, as far
- 5:13Speaker 2: as I know, is a DSA radical group.
- 5:16Speaker 1: Well, Mamdani was with those guys, too. Yes.
- 5:18Speaker 2: He backed Mamdani right out of the bat, right off
- 5:21Speaker 2: the top without even vetting them with the people.
- 5:24Speaker 1: Well, what are your thoughts on the mayor?
- 5:26Speaker 2: I don't trust him.
- 5:27Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
- 5:28Speaker 2: I'm saying this publicly.
- 5:29Speaker 1: What do you mean you're sorry? I hate his guts.
- 5:31Speaker 1: I know. I know. Listen, you want to come kill Mamdani,
- 5:34Speaker 1: welcome to my studios.
- 5:36Speaker 2: I don't want, you know, Sid, listen, I appreciate you
- 5:38Speaker 2: so much because you're speaking out and we need you.
- 5:40Speaker 2: I don't want to kill anyone. I want to see
- 5:43Speaker 2: New York go back to the way it was, law
- 5:46Speaker 2: and order, common sense, safety.
- 5:48Speaker 1: When was that? Well, that's what made, okay. You got
- 5:49Speaker 1: to go all the way back to Woody Giuliani. Yes,
- 5:51Speaker 1: we do. You got to go back like 40 years ago. Yes,
- 5:53Speaker 1: we do. It wasn't Eric Adams. It wasn't Bill de Blasio.
- 5:56Speaker 1: Like 40 years ago, Christina.
- 5:57Speaker 2: And Mayor Bloomberg did a good job when he came in. Yes.
- 6:00Speaker 2: And then we started going down this path. But quite frankly,
- 6:04Speaker 2: to me, what the path is now is much worse
- 6:06Speaker 2: than it was in the past. We have people that
- 6:09Speaker 2: are identifying this as really a terrible situation that we're facing. However,
- 6:14Speaker 2: the way I'm speaking now, it's public on your show,
- 6:17Speaker 2: which so many people listen to. But when I am
- 6:19Speaker 2: local with my neighbors, they are thrilled by me because
- 6:23Speaker 2: I'm going to improve employment for actors. President Trump now
- 6:27Speaker 2: has come out with this motion picture saying, Television and
- 6:30Speaker 2: Entertainment Revitalization Act.
- 6:32Speaker 1: I saw that.
- 6:33Speaker 2: So now there's something positive for my community, and I'm
- 6:36Speaker 2: going to fight for them, and I'm going to fight
- 6:38Speaker 2: for public safety.
- 6:39Speaker 1: Do you live in Chelsea? No.
- 6:41Speaker 2: I live in Hell's Kitchen.
- 6:42Speaker 1: Hell's Kitchen.
- 6:43Speaker 2: I live at a famous actor's building called Manhattan Plaza.
- 6:46Speaker 1: Oh, very nice.
- 6:46Speaker 2: Alicia Keys grew up there. Timothee Chalamet, who's been nominated
- 6:50Speaker 2: so many times for the Oscar.
- 6:52Speaker 1: Do you know the man that owns this radio station,
- 6:55Speaker 1: who's a dear, dear friend of mine? He's on... Every
- 6:57Speaker 1: afternoon at 5 o'clock alongside Rita Cosby. He's also on
- 7:00Speaker 1: Sunday mornings. He ran for mayor. His name is John Katsimatidis.
- 7:04Speaker 1: He was in that movie with Timothy Chalamet. He was
- 7:08Speaker 1: spectacular in that film.
- 7:09Speaker 2: He really was.
- 7:10Speaker 1: Marty Supreme. And guess what?
- 7:12Speaker 2: I go to the health club and Timmy's mama, Nicole,
- 7:16Speaker 2: is in my health club. And I said, hey, I'm
- 7:18Speaker 2: going to see John. And I said, John, her best friend. Yeah,
- 7:23Speaker 2: it's a small world.
- 7:24Speaker 1: That is. That's quite a building you live in right there. Yes,
- 7:27Speaker 1: it is. But you're a Brooklyn girl, right? I am
- 7:29Speaker 1: a Brooklyn girl. Because I'm a Brooklyn boy, too.
- 7:30Speaker 2: There you go.
- 7:31Speaker 1: I lived on East 22nd and Quentin by Madison High
- 7:34Speaker 1: School most of my life. Where did you live?
- 7:35Speaker 2: Well, I was born in Sheepshead Bay.
- 7:38Speaker 1: My first, when I got married in 1992, my first
- 7:41Speaker 1: apartment was in Sheepshead Bay. Oh, there you go. Avenue
- 7:45Speaker 1: UNV and East 8th Street.
- 7:46Speaker 2: I mean, I love coming from Brooklyn. I had a
- 7:50Speaker 2: manager once who said, don't tell people you come from Brooklyn.
- 7:53Speaker 2: I said, I love it. I love that I was
- 7:55Speaker 2: born in Brooklyn.
- 7:56Speaker 1: Oh, God, it's the greatest place ever. There are more
- 7:58Speaker 1: famous people from Brooklyn than any other place in the world,
- 8:01Speaker 1: I believe. Now, my Brooklyn is different than other people's Brooklyn.
- 8:05Speaker 1: My Brooklyn is Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Marine Park,
- 8:11Speaker 1: Mill Basin. This is like Dumbo stuff and all that.
- 8:15Speaker 1: To me, that's Manhattan. That's not really Brooklyn, right? No.
- 8:18Speaker 1: That's Manhattan.
- 8:19Speaker 2: But guess what, Sid? You come from Brooklyn. It's very
- 8:21Speaker 2: hard to squash any of us from Brooklyn.
- 8:23Speaker 1: I know that. We have the spirit. We are very,
- 8:25Speaker 1: very tough. We're very, very tough. We're tough. So we
- 8:28Speaker 1: mentioned the housing, the public safety. One more issue with me.
- 8:33Speaker 1: So I'm having dinner with my son last night. He's
- 8:35Speaker 1: just an angel. He's going to go to college next year.
- 8:37Speaker 1: And he said, you know, Daddy, my history teacher really
- 8:40Speaker 1: likes me. And I go, that's great, Gabriel. That's very,
- 8:42Speaker 1: very good. He goes, yeah, I think so. I'm smart. Well,
- 8:44Speaker 1: you are very smart. You're very, very smart. You're my son.
- 8:47Speaker 1: And your mother's a genius, too. I said, what were
- 8:49Speaker 1: you discussing in history today? And he said, yeah, Dad,
- 8:53Speaker 1: you know. I said, no, I don't know, Gabriel. You
- 8:55Speaker 1: tell me. Slavery. I say, I don't understand. In New
- 9:00Speaker 1: York City, all they want to discuss is slavery and
- 9:04Speaker 1: civil rights. They very rarely bring up the Holocaust or
- 9:08Speaker 1: 9-11 or World War I or World War II or Vietnam.
- 9:12Speaker 1: My kid has been going to public school in New
- 9:15Speaker 1: York since the 6th grade. And every time I bring
- 9:18Speaker 1: up history, they discuss civil rights and slavery. That's why
- 9:22Speaker 1: our kids are morons. Can you help us with education, please?
- 9:26Speaker 2: Oh, please, Sid. Nothing would make me happier. I have
- 9:30Speaker 2: this foundation for 23 years. I've worked with children and
- 9:33Speaker 2: music and youth. Anyway, I do want to mention, I
- 9:38Speaker 2: definitely want to help with education. It sickens me that
- 9:41Speaker 2: our youth, six points it dropped.
- 9:45Speaker 1: Math and science were terrible. The Chinese run circles around us.
- 9:49Speaker 2: And we better get with it because, you know, but
- 9:52Speaker 2: they removed that mathematics test. It's not even necessary because
- 9:57Speaker 2: nobody could pass it. Now it's not a requirement.
- 9:59Speaker 1: Not a requirement.
- 10:00Speaker 2: But I do want to mention, I don't know if
- 10:01Speaker 2: we're going to run out of time. Tomorrow I'm going
- 10:03Speaker 2: to show up at City Hall. There's a rally for
- 10:06Speaker 2: micro mobility vehicles, you know. So there is a law
- 10:11Speaker 2: that there's a group, NYC EVSA, that has been trying
- 10:16Speaker 2: to pass it for five years to protect people on
- 10:19Speaker 2: the street. We're having a rally at 9 o'clock. Please
- 10:22Speaker 2: join us at City Hall. And then at 10 o'clock,
- 10:24Speaker 2: I will read a live testimony because we are not safe.
- 10:30Speaker 2: The way they have carved up the streets. You don't
- 10:33Speaker 2: know where to stand for a cab.
- 10:35Speaker 1: People are being killed.
- 10:36Speaker 2: And my overall concern about my opponent, who's been in
- 10:41Speaker 2: office since 2022— And basically all of what's going on
- 10:44Speaker 2: there is that they don't care about people's lives.
- 10:46Speaker 1: They don't care.
- 10:47Speaker 2: They don't care.
- 10:48Speaker 1: Democrats don't care. They care about power and money.
- 10:51Speaker 2: There you go.
- 10:52Speaker 1: You are just a casualty of war. That's all you want. Now,
- 10:55Speaker 1: tomorrow night you should join me. I'm putting on a
- 10:57Speaker 1: big event. I hope to come. Caroline Schenkel. I hope
- 10:59Speaker 1: to come. Will be at Dorian's from six to nine.
- 11:01Speaker 1: She's terrific. She's a great lady.
- 11:03Speaker 2: She is.
- 11:04Speaker 1: So years ago, I lived on the Upper West Side.
- 11:05Speaker 1: I hated it. And they hated me. What did they
- 11:07Speaker 1: hate me? I lived on 104th and West End. It
- 11:10Speaker 1: was during COVID, okay? And I was one of those
- 11:12Speaker 1: COVID rebels. Now, I did get my shot eventually because
- 11:16Speaker 1: I couldn't go to a restaurant or a ballgame or
- 11:18Speaker 1: do my job. So I did do that. I'm not
- 11:20Speaker 1: an anti-vaxxer. Although, over the years, I've become smarter. But
- 11:23Speaker 1: I refuse to wear a mask, ever. So I'm in
- 11:26Speaker 1: a building with a bunch of old Jews, okay? And
- 11:28Speaker 1: they hated my guts. So one day, I come downstairs. Ridiculous.
- 11:32Speaker 1: And I'm friends with the doorman. His name is Colbert Perez.
- 11:35Speaker 1: And I see by the elevator... A flyer. And it
- 11:39Speaker 1: says with my picture, if you see this man, call 911.
- 11:43Speaker 1: Now my wife and kids live in that building. They
- 11:46Speaker 1: got flyers all over the lobby to arrest me. So
- 11:49Speaker 1: when I got this this morning, wanted Christina Fontanelli, it
- 11:53Speaker 1: brought back a Sid Rosenberg memory from six years ago.
- 11:56Speaker 2: So I think we made it, right, Sid? Because when
- 11:59Speaker 2: they start coming after you.
- 12:00Speaker 1: And firing– Well, who did this?
- 12:02Speaker 2: Well, actually, it's somebody that's against me. They did it
- 12:05Speaker 2: in the spring. They put it up on posters. And
- 12:07Speaker 2: then recently I heard they're putting it under the doors
- 12:10Speaker 2: of my neighbors, which actually is illegal because the man
- 12:13Speaker 2: that I think did it has been– You know, there's issues.
- 12:17Speaker 1: There's issues.
- 12:17Speaker 2: I don't want to say the things if I don't
- 12:19Speaker 2: know what I'm, you know, I think I know who
- 12:21Speaker 2: it is.
- 12:22Speaker 1: But you've got to go after him. He writes on this.
- 12:24Speaker 1: Here's your picture. Wanted charges, wage theft, grand larceny, election fraud.
- 12:30Speaker 1: I mean, this is not cute.
- 12:31Speaker 2: No, it's not.
- 12:32Speaker 1: You've got to go bash this guy's brains in.
- 12:34Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I have to. Someone said to bring
- 12:36Speaker 2: it to the Justice Department because now they're they're looking
- 12:39Speaker 2: into anything that's against elections fraud. Like, you know, skewing
- 12:43Speaker 2: the election.
- 12:44Speaker 1: Well, you're not saying Tony Simone did this, are you? Christina,
- 12:48Speaker 1: come on. Show me some balls here right now. I know.
- 12:50Speaker 2: I'm not going to accuse Tony Simone of doing it,
- 12:52Speaker 2: but his side definitely did it. Let's face it. But
- 12:55Speaker 2: guess what? I'm not a politician. I must be making
- 12:58Speaker 2: them nervous. Because, I mean, if that's what they put out,
- 13:01Speaker 2: I'm making them nervous. And I'm not a rich person.
- 13:04Speaker 2: I took my own money. I took care of my
- 13:06Speaker 2: mother with polio. I nursed people. I worked with children.
- 13:10Speaker 2: He's rich and I'm not. And they're coming after me.
- 13:14Speaker 2: I must be doing something right. And it's like David
- 13:17Speaker 2: and Goliath. And guess who won that one? I'm David.
- 13:20Speaker 2: So he won.
- 13:22Speaker 1: You're going to win this one. You're going to win
- 13:24Speaker 1: the war. That's all. So for people who want to
- 13:26Speaker 1: help you today and send some money your way and
- 13:28Speaker 1: help you win your effort here, Christina, how do they
- 13:30Speaker 1: do that?
- 13:31Speaker 2: Oh, please send me something because I need it.
- 13:34Speaker 1: Please, I'm begging you. Please, please.
- 13:36Speaker 2: So my website is Christina Fontanelli, the number four NY.
- 13:42Speaker 2: It's a long Italian name, but I'm all over the internet.
- 13:45Speaker 2: So it's C-R. I-S-T-I-N-A-F-O-N-T-A-N-E-L-L-I, the number 4-N-Y.com. And I really
- 13:55Speaker 2: can use donations because I must take advertising.
- 13:59Speaker 3: Of course.
- 14:00Speaker 1: Okay, well, you just got the biggest advertising of all
- 14:02Speaker 1: year on this show.
- 14:03Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, Sid.
- 14:04Speaker 1: Jen Brown sitting on my left, you're all you like.
- 14:06Speaker 2: Sid, can I do something for you? I have something special,
- 14:08Speaker 2: just very short.
- 14:09Speaker 1: Okay. A Yiddish mama....
- 14:26Speaker 2: And I'll sing you the rest. I'll sing you the rest.
- 14:28Speaker 1: Wow.
- 14:29Speaker 2: You know how I learned that?
- 14:30Speaker 1: I used to go.
- 14:31Speaker 2: To the Catskill Mountains to pay for my voice lesson.
- 14:34Speaker 1: Everybody did. I'm still up there, you know, every summer.
- 14:37Speaker 1: Are you? Yes, I am. Kanayanga Lake, White Lake, right
- 14:39Speaker 1: by Monticello. Well, I did all.
- 14:42Speaker 2: All the resorts, all the bumblebees.
- 14:44Speaker 1: Oh, the Concord, the Browns, the Kutchers, the Stevensville.
- 14:48Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. I have so many stories.
- 14:50Speaker 1: They're all great. Barry Waxman, the king of the Catskills.
- 14:53Speaker 1: On the way out, you're very proud. That was awesome,
- 14:55Speaker 1: by the way. You've got a beautiful voice. You want
- 14:57Speaker 1: to see Mom Donnie at the Columbus Day Parade? No. Okay, good.
- 15:01Speaker 1: That's all I want to hear. Okay, I love you.
- 15:03Speaker 1: You did a great job today, Christina Fontanelli. The number four,
- 15:07Speaker 1: NY New York, again, running in district. 75. Take out
- 15:11Speaker 1: this louse, Tony Simone, another rotten Democrat that's ruining our city,
- 15:15Speaker 1: and go vote for our friend Christina Fontanelli. Great job.
- 15:17Speaker 1: Thank you so much. God bless you.
- 15:21Speaker 3: To Sid and Friends in the morning. You can hear
- 15:24Speaker 3: Sid and Friends in the morning, weekday mornings at 6.
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- 15:45Speaker 1: See you next time for a.
- 15:46Speaker 2: New episode so you never have to wonder.
- 15:49Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?