By CONOR FEBOS

Nassau and Suffolk County’s top legislators proposed an island-wide law Tuesday that would require gas stations to have “transfer switches” to pump fuel and avoid gas shortages following extended emergencies like Hurricane Sandy.

The law, which if passed will enforce all gas stations on Long Island to have alternative power sources in the form of generators, came in response to the outcry over long gas lines during Sandy’s aftermath.

“Many stations had gas in the ground, but no means to pump it,” said Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg in a press conference at a Hess station in Hicksville. “This law hopes to solve that problem in the future, by having other means to pump gas.”

Modeled after a similar law in Florida that requires stations to supply manually operated pumps in the event of significant power loss from natural disasters, Long Island’s version would implement switches that will enable stations to maintain business despite potential power outage.

“What was so frustrating was that many stations had fuel underneath them but with no ability to pump it,” said Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern. “If stations were provided with the ability to utilize generator-sourced power during an outage, these kind of situations would be much easier to deal with.”

But others, like executive director of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association Michael Watt, expressed concern over who would pay for the generator as he contends that local gas stations struggle with fee increases and other economic woes.

“It’s not a matter of just going to a Lowes and buying a generator,” said Watt. “You have to buy, maintain, insure and inevitably pay a registration or inspection fee.”

Secretary of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency Board, Steve Rossetti, said he would introduce a proposal to create a specific sales tax exemption for the requirement. Denenberg also said he wanted to minimize any financial burdens by pursuing Federal and State grants and FEMA funds to help pay for the upgrades.

“So much money was spent to try to alleviate the shortage and bring supplies in,” said Denenberg. “The money is better spent to prevent a shortage, prevent stations being out of business for days, and prevent people already suffering from power outages to also suffer a gas shortage and long lines at the few pumps open.”

A public hearing for the bill was set for Nov. 20.

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By RYAN SIT and STEPHANIE BERZON

An abusive boyfriend was given 25 years to life in prison on Tuesday for viciously stabbing his girlfriend to death.

Raul Barrera, 34, pleaded guilty in September to repeatedly stabbing Sarah Coit, 23, in their Lower East Side apartment.  Barrera cycled through five different knives, including two butcher’s knives, as he stabbed her 30 times.

When he was done Barrera changed his clothes, left his girlfriend of three years dying on the floor, and caught a cab, the evidence showed.  He directed the driver to Penn Station.

Barrera expressed his regret in court.  “If I could replace my life for her’s right now, I would,” air jordan 13 femmes he said, surrounded by three police officers and his attorney.  “This will torment me my whole life.”

The victim’s lawyer Walter Bogdanos, Coit’s urged Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers to lock up Barrera and, “never, never, never, let him go.”

On April 10, 2011, Coit was preparing to meet her father for brunch to celebrate finding a new apartment at 63 Clinton St.  She never made it.  Instead, police found her lying on the floor of the new apartment, metal from a kitchen knife imbedded in her skull and her intestines spilling out of her body.

Barrera called his father en route to the train station and told him what he had done.  Barrera’s father convinced his son to turn himself in.

In an attempt for leniency Paul Feinman, Barrera’s lawyer, reminded Caruthers of his voluntary surrender and said Barrera had a history of mental illness.  Feinman said Barrera suffered from depression and had never received treatment for a suicide attempt after his divorce in 2000.

Barrera had a history of abusing girlfriends, including seven domestic violence arrests, according to published reports.

“You could have avoided this self destruction, to leave her alone to live her life,” said Carruthers to Barrera, as he handed down the maximum sentence.

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By NAKIA COPELAND

Yvette Clarke won a fourth term in Congress, winning out against a little-known Republican challenger, Daniel Cavanagh.

Clarke spent close to $700,000 on a race in which her opponent raised no money, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In the redistricting that followed the 2010 census, New York lost two congressional seats, down from from 29 to 27. That left Clarke, a central Brooklyn Democrat, to serve in a district running from Crown Heights, Park Slope and Brownsville, to the north, to Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach to the south. A majority of the district’s residents are black.

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By JERMECIA EDWARDS

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, a Flushing Democrat, defeated a challenge Tuesday from Republican attorney J.D. Kim, a popular figure in the local Korean community.

With two-thirds of the precincts tallied, Stavisky led with 74 percent of the vote.

Both candidates focused their platforms on improving the economy.  Stavisky advocated raising the minimum wage and creating opportunities for higher education while Kim argued that supporting small businesses and uniting diverse communities would pull the economy out of recession.

Kim, a Korean-American, is deeply involved in Flushing’s Korean community. free run 4.0 v3 femmes But Stavisk, who had the backing of the Queens Democratic organization,  received support from major Asian-American Democrats such as Assemb. Grace Meng, who on Tuesday became the first Asian-American from New York elected to Congress.

Stavisky was the first woman from Queens elected to the State Senate in 1999 and since then has been re-elected seven times.  Kim’s candidacy sparked the first congressional debate to focus on the local Korean community.

Stavisky, 74, won the Democratic primary against John Messer, 41, an attorney from Oakland Gardens, racking up 58 percent of votes compared to his 42 percent of votes.

During the campaign, Kim made it a point to avoid controversy or negative attacks.  A key moment in the campaign came in an open letter he sent to Stavisky, pushing her to work with the Korean community and encouraging the Korean community to invite her to events.

Kim, a well- known figure in Flushing’s large Korean community, portrays himself as a humble man devoted to improving the economy. Stavisky’s campaign depicts her as an experienced legislator who can bring money into the district.

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By ANTHONY J. LYRIXS RICKETTS

Rep. Gregory Meeks marched to victory this morning over Republican challenger Allan Jennings, with almost 90 percent of the votes tallied.

Meeks had been heavily favored to win the largely Democratic district that includes Elmont in southeast Queens and Valley Stream in Nassau County.

Jennings, who had served in the City Council from 2001 to 2005, was trounced by Meeks in the Democratic primary but Jennings then decided to run on the Republican line.

Meeks, 59, was raised in Harlem, the son of a taxi driver.  He holds a law degree from Howard University. Jennings graduated with honors from Lehigh University in 1971.

In the primary, Meeks warded off his three Democratic challengers as he sought his ninth term representing southeast Queens.

Meeks’ campaign benefited from the endorsements of President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. According to campaign finance reports, Meeks raised $681,266 while Jennings received $16,599 in net contributions.

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By YVONNE JURIS

Former City Council member Simcha Felder handily defeated Sen. Dave Storobin on Tuesday in a  campaign to represent Brooklyn’s new “super Jewish” seat in the State Senate.

Felder, a Democrat who won the race by a 2 to 1 margin, said he led in every neighborhood and polling site in the district.

“Tonight might seem like a celebration of a victory,” Felder said.  “But we must take a moment to reflect on the anguish of so many of our friends from across New York who are still recovering from the aftermath of the Hurricane.  We pray for their recovery, and we will continue doing everything we can – as a community – to bring them every possible assistance we can offer.”

The newly formed 17th Senate District includes Borough Park and Midwood, which have a large Orthodox Jewish population, as well as parts of  Flatbush, Kensington and Sunset Park. The Republican-controlled State Senate created the district, shaping it in a way that could give the GOP a new stronghold in mostly Democratic Brooklyn.

Felder,  a deputy city comptroller, won an easy victory in the September Democratic primary, and also took the Conservative Party line from Storobin with a write-in vote. He is Orthodox Jewish and formerly represented Borough Park in the City Council, providing him with a strong base of support in the district.

Storobin, a Republican lawyer who migrated from Russia at the age of 12, won his seat in the Senate by defeating Council member Lewis Fidler, a Democrat, in a 2011 race. The battle was so close that the final vote count was not reached until June. The new district deprived Storobin of his strong base of support in Brighton Beach, home to many Russian immigrants.

Both Storobin and Felder have been active in the Jewish community. In 2002, Felder joined  Assemblyman Dov Hikind in opposing an exhibit in The Jewish Museum that used Legos to construct a Holocaust camp.

Storobin opposed a mosque that is being built in the Sheepshead Bay area, calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to investigate it.

Felder has cultivated a close relationship with Bloomberg, with two of his chief aides working on the mayor’s re-election campaign.

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By PEDRO M. BERMEJO

Democratic incumbent Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. won a convincing victory over Republican challenger Erich Ulrich in a Queens race that featured much  debate over legalizing same-sex marriage.

With all the ballots counted by Wednesday morning, Addabbo led Ulrich, a City Council member,  57 percent to 43 percent.

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By RYAN SIT

Democrats edged out Republicans Tuesday in critical matchups in tossup states to retain party control in the U.S. Senate.

Democrats took over 20 of the 33 open seats.  Republicans appeared to have won in only six contests:  Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

Comments about rape and abortion by Republican candidates may have cost them senate seats in two crucial tossup states, Indiana and Missouri, where they were initially expected to win easily.

In Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy outmuscled the World Wrestling Entertainment multi-millionaire executive turned Republican candidate Linda McMahon for the seat.  Murphy will replace independent Sen. Joe Lieberman who announced his retirement in January 2011.

Political observers reported that McMahon, who spent some $50 million of her own money in her 2010 senate race, spent at least that much in this contest.

Maine, a tossup state, went to former Gov. Angus King by a commanding margin over Republican candidate Charles Summers and democratic candidate Cynthia Dill.  King, an independent, is expected to caucus with Democrats.

Elizabeth Warren took Massachusetts, also a tossup state, over Republican Scott Brown for the seat once held by Sen. Ted Kennedy. Brown’s re-election to the senate was considered critical to Republican Party’s control.

Of the 33 open seats, there appeared to be 18 critical states to watch, eight of which were tossups and seven leaning Democratic. Thirty-seven seats carry over under Republican control, while only thirty remain Democratic.

Missouri Congressman Todd Akin’s now infamous “legitimate rape” comment may have cost him the seat, which ultimately went to Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill.  Akin, backed by the Tea Party, lead McCaskill 49 percent to 45 percent, according to a poll conducted by the Citizens United Victory Fund by Wenzel Strategies, but his comment was followed by a steep decline in popularity.

McCaskill won 53 percent to 41 percent.

In a television interview Akin was asked whether abortion was justified in cases of rape.  His statement drew widespread outrage, convinced Mitt Romney to withdraw his support and lost funding from the conservative “super PAC,” American Crossroads.

“It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare,” he said of pregnancies resulting from rape.

“If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down”

Indiana senate candidate Richard Mourdock joined the controversy when he said, “I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.”

Before the comment Mourdock was expected easily to win. But after, voters said they were 40 percent less likely to vote for Mourdock, according to the Howey-DePauw poll.

Rep. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, won the Indiana seat by a margin of 50 percent to 44 percent.

Photo: Todd Akin.

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By MELANIE GOLDBERG

Ten-year Republican incumbent Martin Golden was re-elected Tuesday to his State Senate seat in southern Brooklyn, defeating  Democratic opponent Andrew Gounardes.

With all  precincts reporting, Golden had 58  percent of the votes to  42 percent for his challenger.

The 22nd Senate District, which encompasses Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Marine Park and Gerritsen Beach, has provided the backdrop for a spirited race between the two candidates, focused on negativity and mutual dislike of each other.

Throughout the campaigns, the two pols have sparred over gun control, women’s rights, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s running of the city school system. At the Oct. 9 debate sponsored by the Dyker Heights Civic Association, the audience was cheering and booing as if at a boxing match, rooting for their favorite fighter.

Golden, a retired cop, is running for a sixth term in Albany, while this is Gounardes’ first try at elected office, he has served as a lawyer for the non-profit organization Citizens Committee for New York City. Golden first took office in 2002.

The Republicans have controlled the state senate while the Democrats have held sway in the assembly for a number of years now. 
  
The incumbent said he has always listened to residents and worked hard to solve their problems. He said he has brought back from Albany millions of dollars for schools, hospitals, and community organizations. “I have been able to deliver for this community,” he said.

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By Gilberte Saint-Prieux

Latinos were expected Tuesday to play a big role in the 2012 presidential election as over 23.7 million in this voting bloc decided to let their voices be heard, exit polls showed.

Compared to 2008, the number of Hispanic voters increased 22 percent and the Hispanic community has made it clear that they desired change. Other reports indicated that 53 percent of Latino voters considered the economy and jobs as their primary concern while 35 percent had immigration on their minds.

Many Latino voters said that the problem of immigration would never be resolved if Mitt Romney won the presidency.

“I definitely think that more Hispanic will vote now then four years ago because of Obama’s efforts to give them equal rights, more of a voice” said Samantha Urichima,  a 21-year-old John Jay College student.

In 2008, 67 percent of the Hispanic community supported President Obama. However, when Obama failed to deliver on his promise of immigration reform many Latinos toyed with looking elsewhere for their champion.

But Mitt Romney, who said during the Republican primary campaign that he would veto the Dream Act and opposed other immigration reforms, was not a viable alternative.

“ We love Obama because not only he cares about us but it is more likely he support the Dream Act. Romney will definitely let us down.” Said Samara Guerrero, a 22 –year-old Brooklyn College student.S

Fox News Latino predicted that President Obama would win the largest number of Latino votes in history.

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