Joe Crowley, in 2006. (Azi Paybarah / Observer)

Congressman Joe Crowley, casually carrying his suit jacket over his shoulder, was strolling down Austin Street just now on his way to the Queens County Democratic Organization's meeting.

"Where did you wake up this morning?" he asked me, obviously referring to this morning's New York Post story about Crowley's wife and children, and him too, living in Virginia.

"I woke up in Woodside," he told me.

When I asked him about the story, Crowley said his number one job is to be a good father. His congressional job "requires me to be in the Bronx, Queens and Washington."

"Over the 11 or so years that we've had children we've experimented with both being in New York and having them close to me in Washington," he said. "And I found that tucking them in at night and waking up with them, oftentime with them in my bed in the morning, is very fulfilling for them and me."

"And when I can help them with homework, when I can be there as opposed to being away from them, is more fulfilling for them and for me personally," he said. "And if being a good father is not a good requirement for being a good congressman, then so be it."