Tony Avella Announces Second Bayside Council Bid Against Paladino

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — After losing by a razor-thin margin last year, Democrat Tony Avella is preparing to face off against incumbent Republican City Council Member Vickie Paladino again in the 2023 race to represent Bayside.

"It's early, but we had to let people know there's an alternative for next year," Avella told Patch Friday after announcing his candidacy. "We have the opportunity to change the results of 2021 next year, which I know people in Bayside want," he said, noting that because of redistricting all 51 Council seats are up for grabs again in 2023.

Paladino, who was a conservative activist and business owner before being elected to the Council, defeated Avella, a northeast Queens politician, in the race for his old Council seat by about 390 votes last November — part of a red wave in this year's City Council elections, especially in Queens.

Avella, however, is not deterred by the loss, telling Patch that he attribute's Paladino's success mainly to the intense partisanship of last year's mayoral election.

"People came out to vote for Curtis Sliwa and just went down the line," he said. "If there hadn't been the mayoral race we would have won."

Baysiders did swing right in the 2021 election, Patch found, with Sliwa performing better in Bayside compared to his citywide showing, despite his significant loss to Mayor Eric Adams overall.

While Bayside Republicans came out in force last year, Avella thinks that his moderate platform will give him an edge in next year's election.

"There's a lot of dissatisfaction over other Democrats' stances on crime and bail reform, which don't necessarily apply to me," he said.

Above all, Avella believes that Baysiders are dissatisfied with Paladino and will welcome a chance to reverse last year's election results.

"People have come to me since the election and said they're embarrassed [by her]," he said, specifically pointing to Paladino's comments comparing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate to policies of Nazi Germany (comments for which Paladino has since apologized).

Bolstered by these types of comments from constituents, Avella said he is "absolutely not worried" about running against Paladino again.

"It's important to say to the rest of the city that this isn't who we are. This isn't who represents our opinions," he added.

Paladino did not immedietly respond to Patch's request for comment.

Tony Avella said his campaign website is forthcoming, and people can reach him at tonyavella2023@gmail.com in the meantime.

Related Article: Tony Avella Concedes Bayside Council Race, Securing GOP Victory