Latest / Go News To Go: More Good News / Cristina Fontanelli is running for NYS Assembly District 75

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Cristina Fontanelli is running for NYS Assembly District 75 · Go News To Go: More Good News

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Well lucky. I'm crazy about this lady. She's sung. She's
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: into the world of public service, and some people call
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: that politics, but my good friend Christina Fontanelli calls it
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: public service and she's got a passion, passion for it.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: She belongs doing it because she's not happy with a
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: lot of things that are happening. And she is somebody
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: who is in Yiddish we call a balbusta. In Italian,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: there must be a word too that's going to get
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: it done and make some changes.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: How are you today, Hi, Paul, Thank you my friend
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: for so many years. This is a pleasant moment in
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: a very grueling campaign.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: Actually, we got to get.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Things done, and I gotta get it done. And I'm
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: a girl from Brooklyn. Are born in Brooklyn, Italian.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: We get things done. I gotta work for it.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: So what are you running for?
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  Speaker 2: I am running for the New York State Assembly District
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  Speaker 2: seventy five, which is Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea Hudson
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Yards up to Central Park, up Central Park West over
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  Speaker 2: to Columbus at seventieth Street down to sixteenth Street.
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  Speaker 3: Mathey's is in my district.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Pen Station, so many iconic, amazing New York city landmarks
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: like Carnegie Hall, which I've sung in myself. It's kind
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: of cool to think you might represent the very district
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: with the theaters that you sang in, And.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I'm doing.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: And just so you know, my great grandfather, Rocco Maria Morasco,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: came from Italy and he had not one dime, nothing,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: not one penny in his pocket. He worked hard, he
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: was very smart. He bought real estate in little Italy,
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  Speaker 2: rose to prominence, started the Italian Savings Bank, the Italian Hospital,
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  Speaker 2: helped mother Cabrini became a New York State assemblyman and
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  Speaker 2: the first Italian American presidential elector. So, Rocca Maria Morasco
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  Speaker 2: was my my my paternal grandmother's father.
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  Speaker 3: So he was my great grandfather.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. So it's in the blood there it is. You
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: got to put a closure to it. So how do
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: people help you? You have a website where where do
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  Speaker 1: people dot?
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: I do? And everyone says you better spell your name.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: So I'll say it, and I'll spell it Christina Fontinelli
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  Speaker 2: for New York. I'm gonna spell it c R I
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  Speaker 2: S T I N A f O N T A
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  Speaker 2: N E L l I. The number four n y
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  Speaker 2: dot com. That's that's my website. I am as I
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: explained to you and you know me a long time.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: I became successful in show business, but I was not
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: born with a silver spoon in my mouth, not by
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  Speaker 2: any means, and not by any side.
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  Speaker 3: Of the family.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have any rich aunt, uncle, grand lother nobuddy.
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  Speaker 2: I made it in show business and that is how
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  Speaker 2: I am funding my career until you generous people out
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: there maybe send something we did, or we're working on
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  Speaker 2: more matching funds because New York State has a generous
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  Speaker 2: program for people that are I was going to say
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: crazy enough to go into.
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  Speaker 3: Politics, but that's a good one. That's a good one.
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  Speaker 2: So people get the calling which I got to go
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  Speaker 2: into politics are helped enormously by the New York State
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  Speaker 2: Matching Funds program, and I'm really grateful for that. So anybody,
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  Speaker 2: especially in my district, in that day district from sixteenth
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  Speaker 2: up to Central Park West and Columbus seventieth, from five
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  Speaker 2: dollars to two hundred and fifty, the max will be
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: eight times. So if you give ten dollars, it becomes
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: eighty dollars, and that is tremendously helpful. I want to
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  Speaker 2: mention that in this district there are no women in office, none,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: and for many many years there have been none.
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  Speaker 3: And I do believe that even in today's.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: World, a woman's voice comes in handy because we are nurturing.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Men can be nurturing.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: But you know, traditionally we need a balanced leadership here.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it's good to have a one sided
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: thought process going on or you know. That's why I'm
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: entering the race because I see a lot of children,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of seniors suffering and struggling.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: And our youth.
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  Speaker 2: I found out the community center is closed here for
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  Speaker 2: the youth, and I don't know the reason why they
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: have nowhere to go at night. And then you wonder
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  Speaker 2: why they get in trouble. The children can't read. It
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  Speaker 2: went down six points recently. There are many people scared
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: for their housing situations. Sometime, you've been so kind and generous.
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  Speaker 2: If you give me more time, I could go into
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  Speaker 2: more details about that. People are scared to walk on
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  Speaker 2: the street. We're having e bike problems. A young woman
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: went into a coma recently. Another one was killed. People
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: are getting mowed down. I met someone six times she
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  Speaker 2: was knocked down, and I found out that there's an
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  Speaker 2: organization which I recently joined, NYCEVSA I think is the
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  Speaker 2: name of it. They have been fighting for five years,
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  Speaker 2: five years to get something in place to protect people.
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  Speaker 3: I can't wrap my brain around that.
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  Speaker 2: Actually, how do you fight for five years when people
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  Speaker 2: are getting put into comas on the street.
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  Speaker 3: There's so many things I see that aren't making sense.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: And quite frankly, I'm on it, and I am now
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  Speaker 2: I have my own hashtag, the singing Politician. Should I
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: tell your guests, Paul, you know, I have sung all
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  Speaker 2: over the world for thirty years. I have international credentials
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: and all over the United States, So I see what's
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  Speaker 2: working what's not working.
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  Speaker 3: I sing in nine languages.
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  Speaker 2: I speak fluent Italian, I speak a bit of Japanese,
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  Speaker 2: I speak you know, a bit of Spanish, French, German, Yiddish.
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  Speaker 3: I sing in Yiddish. And you know that's another thing.
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  Speaker 2: My heart breaks for the concern for the Jewish population here.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: I do not understand how an international issue becomes.
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  Speaker 3: Something that New York is so focused on that it's.
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  Speaker 2: Actually putting people's lives in danger. This can't happen, No,
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  Speaker 2: not in New York City. We have stores closing, we
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: have storefronts empty. We have people that are wandering the
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  Speaker 2: streets that are mentally ill or insane or on drugs,
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  Speaker 2: and I don't hear, I really don't hear policy to
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  Speaker 2: fix the issue. Now, we didn't always live this way
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  Speaker 2: because I'm a native New Yorker. I came here to
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  Speaker 2: slug it out and make a show business career, which
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: is what I did. I've wound up on PBSTV as
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  Speaker 2: you have worked for them, pull distinguished PBS producer Rychelli,
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  Speaker 2: there you go. My first job hired to be the
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: PBSTV host in Central Park with Andrea Bocelli. I have
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: shared the stage with Tony Bennett, with many prominent artists.
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  Speaker 2: I have sung at the Palm Beach Opera, the Cairo Opera.
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  Speaker 3: I've sung at the.
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  Speaker 2: Kennedy Center, at Carnegie Hall, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music,
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  Speaker 2: at Boston Symphony Hall.
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  Speaker 3: I have been all over.
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  Speaker 1: The world international Times Square.
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  Speaker 3: Which was so thrilling that I was on your show.
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  Speaker 3: It was the first time.
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  Speaker 1: About six times I'm crazy about you.
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  Speaker 3: Oh You're so sweet.
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  Speaker 2: But when I sang in Times Square for you, I
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  Speaker 2: was like, Wow, there's live cameras. My friends in England
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  Speaker 2: were watching it, and friends in other countries, and I
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: was so excited that Live on the spot. Thanks to you,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Paul Sladkas and the Good News Broadcasting Network that Ward
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Morehouse first brought me to remember Ward.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I remember Ward. I married, Ward officiated his wedding.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was my publicist when I was starting out,
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  Speaker 2: and he brought me over to your studio.
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  Speaker 3: And I remember so well.
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  Speaker 2: He got me into Feinstein's at the Regency. I appeared
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  Speaker 2: there many times, and then at fifty four below.
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  Speaker 3: New York runs through my veins.
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  Speaker 1: I'm in New York and New Yorker, no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 1: And you're going to do great on this whole area.
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  Speaker 1: I know this whole area very well. You know, I'm
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: an Upper West Sider and worked at CBS and Channel thirteen.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: You know, in Henry Hudson Hotel, I would CEBA. So
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  Speaker 1: I've spent the fifty plus here in this in this neighborhood,
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  Speaker 1: forty years in my own home. So I only can
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  Speaker 1: wish you the greatest, the bestest, and you should win
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  Speaker 1: because you're going to do so many good things. Because
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  Speaker 1: you already know about this some of the good things
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  Speaker 1: that need to be because you sung to seniors centers,
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  Speaker 1: You've dealt with those that need the help, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and you have sung to the richest of the rich.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: That's right, you know, from Southampton, from those that believe
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  Speaker 1: all summer long Upper West Siders that are doing very well.
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  Speaker 1: So you know that you know the score. You're perfect
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  Speaker 1: to succeed here.
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  Speaker 2: So oh, I thank you, Oh Paul, You've been the
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  Speaker 2: best for so many years.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: And get promoting good news. That's what we need.
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  Speaker 2: My tagline is a healing voice for New York because
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  Speaker 2: the music I've sung for thirty more than thirty years now, opera,
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  Speaker 2: classical and some beautiful Broadway things and things like that,
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  Speaker 2: it's scientifically proven to heal people.
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  Speaker 3: You know this.
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  Speaker 2: They're cholesterol goes down, their high blood pressure goes down,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: children learn better, the crime rate goes down. I want
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  Speaker 2: to be a healing voice. I don't like the toxic
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: language or the toxicity and the fighting and calling people names.
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  Speaker 2: People are beautiful people on both sides. I am independent
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  Speaker 2: and I appreciate people on both sides. I would never
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: say someone's stupid or ignorant or no, they're not. Perhaps
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: they don't know some of the facts, they're not busy
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: learning them or have access to them. But my mama,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: a child of the depression with polio. One of her
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  Speaker 2: favorite expressions. She was very blunted to the point they
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: were in those days. You know, they weren't politically correct.
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  Speaker 2: She's yell at me like, say open your eyes. So
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: now I say to people open your eyes, like use
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: your eyes, because do you think what's going on is
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  Speaker 2: good enough? I was with people last night that I
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: needed to convince, so to speak, and I said, as artists,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: and I'm an artist and this person was an artist,
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  Speaker 2: we have a vision of what could be better. Artists
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  Speaker 2: can see something and say this is what it can be.
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  Speaker 2: And I think all of us now we need some
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  Speaker 2: hope and we need vision for a better city, a
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  Speaker 2: better world. We don't want to stay this way, living
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  Speaker 2: this way.
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  Speaker 1: We need to is going to make that happen. You
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  Speaker 1: do this, You do it, You go for everybody. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: support my good friend here, and we'll have a nicer
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  Speaker 1: west Side and then and then more.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Oh, thank you so much.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: I appreciate you.