John Quaglione and a former mayor. (Photo: Facebook)

A battle for Bay Ridge may be shaping up in a City Council race this fall.

John Quaglione, deputy chief of staff and press secretary for GOP State Sen. Marty Golden, told Politicker he's “strongly considering” challenging Councilman Vinnie Gentile, a Brooklyn Democrat who has represented the area in some capacity since 1996.

This won't be the first time Mr. Golden and Mr. Gentile have been on opposing teams, however, as then-Councilman Golden won his seat in the State Senate by defeating Mr. Gentile after last decade's redistricting cycle. Mr. Gentile subsequently won a special election to replace Mr. Golden.

“I am talking to some party leaders and talking to folks about raising money,” Mr. Quaglione said yesterday. “I’ll be making a decision in the next two to three weeks.”

Mr. Quaglione has been ramping up his efforts in other ways in recent days as well, with local Democrats noticing him attending more events and becoming active on social media. Earlier this week, he challenged Mr. Gentile and another Democratic pol on the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk tactic, tweeting, “Would be interested in hearing how our local politicians feel about stop and frisk and today's ruling @VincentGentile @AlecBrookKrasny.”

But he faces an uphill battle if he indeed jumps into the race, as Brooklyn's southwestern corner is not the Republican bastion it once was. Mr. Gentile’s opponent in 2009, for example, lost by 20 points.

At least one other Republican, conservative activist Andy Sullivan, is already in the race.

Vinnie Gentile (Photo: Facebook)

The typically mild-mannered Councilman Vinnie Gentile went to town on a particular cut Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed to the Out of School Time program in a sharply worded press release this morning, entitled with the phrase "Bloomberg is declaring war on children!"

The program, described by the city government as a free service providing "a mix of academic, recreational and cultural activities for young people (grades K-12) after school, during holidays and in the summer," would reportedly be cut in about half with the proposed budget released in February, and advocates have been rallying since.

“With inconceivable cuts such as these, the Mayor is basically telling 50,000 kids to go take a hike,” Mr. Gentile 'fumed' in the statement. “New York is one of the most expensive cities to live in and after-school programming and childcare is of utmost concern for most working parents. This is really just further proof that our Mayor has absolutely no concept of reality.”

The  Department of Youth and Community Development, meanwhile, is insisting it is just working within uncontrollable financial constraints, releasing a statement to DNAinfo saying, “The city will continue to provide high-quality, comprehensive services to our students through the Out of School Time program, and we are working within our financial reality to do so.”

This isn't the first time these types of programs have been up for grabs during budget negotiations, which often involve Council Members expressing outrage and eventually successfully restoring the cuts, but Mr. Gentile's statement is particularly notable for the level of outrage expressed.

“What sort of covert logic is the Mayor using here?” he further asked. “He is cutting funding to some of the most positive youth development programs around – many of which have been replicated nationwide and credited with reducing the rate of high school drop outs!”

Councilman Gentile leading the protest against "Brooklyn 11223"

Elected officials and community members rallied against the upcoming reality show "Brooklyn 11223" this afternoon, lambasting the show as demeaning to women and calling on the Oxygen network to take it off the air.

Councilman Vinnie Gentile, who organized the event, told The Politicker the show "hit such a nerve in Bay Ridge and we had such a reaction from the locals that they wanted an avenue, a way, to speak out."

And speak out they did. Carlo Scissura, representing Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, took the largest broadside to the network for hosting the show.

"What amazes me is the hypocrisy of this network. This is a network that brands itself as looking out for the interests of women, and yet they do something that completely disparages women, particularly Italian-American women," he said, before calling for the community to rise up. "If the show's filming in one of the restaurants, stop going there, period. If the show's coming out here and they're wrecking the streets or taking up parking spots, call the police."

State Senator Diane Savino echoed these sentiments. "There seems to be a prevalence among some of the producers in Hollywood to consistently target Italian-American women, and portray us in the most negative light," she told The Politicker before she took the stage. "And what's even more distressing is Italian-American women are participating in this."

"The American public has been almost conditioned to believe Italian-Americans are all either stupid, loveable characters like Joey on 'Friends,' or we're mobsters like we are on 'The Sopranos,' or we're basically young women who have no morals and are willing to degrade ourselves in public," she continued. "It's enough."

And, as many of the rally's attendees pointed out, the show's professed zip code is not even close to the Bay Ridge neighborhood the show claims to represent.

This is not the first reality show controversy in this corner of New York City. Ms. Savino once rallied against the "Jersey Shore" star Snooki making an appearance at the Staten Island Mall, while Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny told The Politicker "Brooklyn 11223" was similar to another recent controversial show, "Russian Dolls," centered in another part of his southern Brooklyn district.

For their part, NBC Universal, which owns the Oxygen network, reached out to The Politicker in order to announce potential viewers can watch the show on March 26th (hint, hint) and make up their own minds.

"Viewers can decide for themselves on March 26 when the story of 'Brooklyn 11223' begins to unfold and we meet this authentic group of friends set against the vibrant backdrop of the great and diverse Borough of Brooklyn," they wrote in a statement.

Watch the rally below:

(Photo: Oxygen)

Bay Ridge Councilman Vinnie Gentile is calling for the Oxygen network to take off the air a new program called, "Brooklyn 11223," a show that has been called “as trashy as "Jersey Shore."

Oxygen's announcement of "Brooklyn 11223" said the series will offer "a voyeuristic look into the lives of a group of twentysomething friends whose once rock-solid friendships have been torn apart by betrayal."

The exact nature of the betrayal isn't completely clear, but Oxygen teases that it will involve "one friend [who] may have betrayed another by seducing a boyfriend."

But this voyeuristic journey through friendship and betrayal is too much for Mr. Gentile, who views it as demeaning to women and his community. Thus he's holding an anti-"Brooklyn 11223" rally with "female leaders of Bay Ridge" this Friday.

"We all need to take responsibility – parents, TV studios, advertisers, journalists, policymakers and even teenagers – for what is being watched by the younger generations," Mr. Gentile's spokesman told The Politicker this evening. "There is no redeeming social value or positive takeaway from the perpetuation of these trashy and classless stereotypes that serve only to degrade, denigrate and objectify women and Italian-Americans."

"This is not what Bay Ridge is about and this not what Bay Ridge wants or needs. We refuse to stand by and let 'Hollywood' portray the smart, hardworking, proud, cultured, creative and compassionate residents of Bay Ridge in this light."

The show's trailer can be viewed here.

Updated: 5:15pm

Councilman Gentile (Photo: Facebook)

New Yorkers may be celebrating the New York Giants Super Bowl win in the streets today, but Councilman Vinnie Gentile, who sits on the Council’s Committee on Veterans, is asking why New York City isn't hosting a parade for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan as well.

“I think we can all agree that the New York Giants deserve a parade for winning the Super Bowl,” he said in a statement. “I’ll be there today cheering them on along with everyone else. But if a football team gets a parade, shouldn’t our veterans? Are they not the real giants here?”

Mr. Gentile joins a number of others in calling for a parade honoring these veterans, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn't currently seem inclined to push for the parade. He cites a request from military officials concerned about a celebration while troops are still in harm's way abroad.

However, given the popularity of honoring veterans, the calls for the parade could continue to grow.

“Not only is it the right thing to do," Mr. Gentile added. "it’s the least we can do for these brave men and women to honor the sacrifices they’ve made to protect our freedom abroad.”

Councilman Gentile (Photo: Facebook)

After GOP activist Andy Sullivan declared his intentions to challenge Councilman Vinnie Gentile last week, charging that the incumbent has done nothing to help small businesses, the Councilman doesn't look likely to cede this ground to his opponent. He blasted out a statement this afternoon entitled "CM GENTILE VOWS TO END CITY'S ASSAULT ON SMALL BUSINESSES."

"My district office in Bay Ridge is a storefront on Third Avenue. I am surrounded by restaurants, small retail stores and other mom & pop businesses. I hear what they’re going through with City agencies and they are not happy," Councilman Gentile said last week to a room full of business leaders at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. "There’s a place for enforcement of consumer rights and health standards but there is absolutely no place to turn enforcement responsibilities into revenue collection responsibilities. I am very concerned that the Departments of Health and Sanitation have become little more than extra tentacles for the City’s revenue collection."

Mr. Gentile additionally touted legislation he  introduced to give more time for businesses to correct violations and indicated he will be expanding his efforts even further next year.

“The bottom line is: We cannot squeeze small businesses to create revenue for the City and over the next year I plan to draft, sponsor and support as much legislation as possible in order to enforce ‘common sense’ solutions for our City’s small businesses.”

Councilman Gentile, who was first elected in 2003, is up for his final term in 2013. It's unclear how seriously Republicans will engage in efforts to defeat him; he successfully batted down his 2009 opponent by 20 points.

Andy Sullivan (Photo: Facebook)

Andy Sullivan, a construction worker and community activist, officially registered a committee to run against Brooklyn Councilman Vinnie Gentile today. In a brief interview, Mr. Sullivan said his campaign would be focused on helping small businesses.

"I feel that nothing he has done has helped small business within the area," Mr. Sullivan said of Councilman Gentile. "I think the Democrats in general are more concerned about creating programs and entitlements that are being funded by taxpayers, making it inhospitable for the mom and pop small businesses."

Mr. Sullivan's reputation as an activist comes from his efforts against the infamous "Ground Zero Mosque." He created the "9/11 hardhat pledge," where "all of the construction workers pledged together to not work on that site." Mr. Sullivan, who was deeply affected by the September 11th terrorist attacks that claimed the life of a woman he was involved with, also says he organized efforts against trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a courtroom close to the World Trade Center site.

Despite the committee for a Council campaign, Mr. Sullivan says he's keeping his options open. "There’s an effort to get me into the State Senate race against Diane Savino," he said. Undaunted by the prospects of going up against the Staten Island-based Senate, he said that he has "a lot of support out there," partially thanks to his opposition to another contentious mosque.

Mr. Sullivan also briefly flirted with a Congressional campaign when Anthony Weiner resigned.

Taking on the incumbent Councilman will be no easy task, however.  Mr. Gentile, first elected to the City Council in 2003, beat his 2009 opponent by 20%.