The seat is held by Democrat Liz Crowley, cousin of Queens County Democratic Chair Joe Crowley.

Ognibene’s chances have recently improved. The Times Ledger is reporting that a Republican who briefly held the seat and could have challenged Ognibene in a primary, Anthony Como, is getting out of the race and taking a job in the Bloomberg administration.

The Queens Republican County Leader, Phil Ragusa, has always said his support for Bloomberg was contingent on Bloomberg's ability to help rebuild the party, which now has only two elected officials in the borough.

Conspiracy? No, says the Bloomberg campaign.

When asked for comment, a spokeswoman for Bloomberg’s campaign, Jill Hazelbaker, emailed to say, “Azi, we don't make deals in exchange for endorsements. Period.”

The city is still paying the rent on the building, according to the real estate broker for the property. The city is still in the process of moving the furniture out of the building, but it's not in use, the broker said.

The anonymous Queens Crap blog -- which already posted these pictures -- expressed outrage that campaign signs were on a building which is, technically, still a public facility.

In a brief telephone interview, Crowley told me said she didn't know anything about the signs, and that she won't be using Como's old district office as her her own. Crowley said her district office will be around the corner, at 54-77 Dry Harbor Road, in Middle Village.

They're still doing work on that office, and it should be opening next week, she said.

 “My parents had 15 children,” said Crowley, whose father and mother both also served in the City Council. “I know sometimes it can be a little dysfunctional, but at the end of the day, we work hard together.”

Crowley ousted Republican Anthony Como after narrowly losing to him in a special election last June. Crowley had also run, unsuccessfully, for the seat in 2001, when she lost to Dennis Gallagher.

Gallagher resigned after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a woman, which create the vacancy that Crowley eventually filled.

Crowley ousted Como after he had been in office only months, having been voted in by a special election last June to replace former Council member Dennis Gallagher, who was convicted of sexual assault.

The new Democratic Councilwoman could also be facing a short term--she's up for re-election next year.

Martinez walked Crowley into the Council Chambers, where a committee meeting was being held, and then next door, where yet another committee meeting was taking place.

Afterward, I spotted Martinez holding Crowley's coat and running to put it in a closet downstairs while she mingled with a few people in the chambers.

Crowley won't get to start working as a member until January, when Como's current term finishes.

"I won by 38 votes," Como told me this evening. "I feel great."

Also running in the four-way special election were Democrats Elizabeth Crowley and Charles Ober and former Republican Councilman Tom Ognibene.

"I'll be at City Hall tomorrow" and "I hope to be sworn in at the end of the week," Como said.

According to the Board of Elections, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, the results are:

Anthony Como: 2,352 votes (31.71 percent of the vote)

Elizabeth Crowley: 2,282 votes (30.77 percent)

Thomas Ognibene: 2,031 votes (27.38 percent)

Charles Ober: 752 votes (10.14 percent)

There are still 196 paper ballots that need to be counted, and to further complicate things, ballots can be sent in as late as June 10, according to Liz.

This result of this election, which was conducted to replace former Councilman Dennis Gallagher, is a decent sign for the Republicans, who will be running a State Senate race in this part of Queens later this year. The incumbent, Republican Serf Maltese, is thought to be in serious danger, since he barely won re-election against a little-known Democratic challenger in 2006.

The special election was a different race in different circumstances, obviously. But if Queens Republicans turned out for Como, who works for Maltese, it suggests if nothing else that they'll be motivated to turn out for Maltese as well.

The result was also a bad sign for the Queens Democratic organization. Elizabeth Crowley is the cousin of Representative Joe Crowley, the Queens County Democratic leader. If she is defeated--and it looks likely, at least, that she will be--it doesn't speak well of the power of the storied Queens machine.

Finally, Charles Ober, who was endorsed by the New York Times, lost soundly, demonstrating, if nothing else, that Middle Village is a long way from the Upper West Side.

Anthony Como got $25,634; Tom Ognibene took $10,278.

The best-funded candidate in this race is Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, the cousin of the county Democratic leader, Representative Joe Crowley. She's the only one of the four candidates in the race who is not eligible to receive matching funds (because of violations during a 2001 race).

According to a financial report filed with the C.F.B on May 23, Crowley has raised $159,400. Como, who is second place in fund-raising, has $48,230 and has received, so far, $100,826 in public funds [clarified].

“Charles Ober has a genuine affinity for, and practical track record on, the issues and processes of grassroots democracy that the Independence Party cares about," said the party’s Queens chairman, Gerald Everett, in a public statement.

In other news on that race, two of Ober’s opponents just got matching funds from the Campaign Finance Board: former Republican Councilman Tom Ognibene got $58,351 and Republican candidate Anthony Como got $75,192.

Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, who has the backing of the Queens County Democratic Organization, 1199 and others institutional support (she is related to Representative Joe Crowley), is not eligible for matching funds because of penalties she is paying off that are connected to a previous City Council race.

According to her latest filing, which was given in January, Crowley raised $70,770 and spent $20,660.

We’ll get more details about the candidates’ financial activities when they file disclosure reports with the C.F.B. tomorrow. Those reports will cover transactions between April 29 and May 19.

UPDATE: Crowley raised $101,993 and spent $66,591 according to a more recent filing. 

JPCA’s influence was best demonstrated when their quixotic campaign against the Cross Harbor Tunnel led to a billboard, and, since it was an election year, resulted in Michael Bloomberg forcefully denouncing the plan. (After the election, Bloomberg shifted his position.)

Also, it's led by Robert Holden, a colorful character who has been a major force in Queens politics for some time.

That debate is taking place Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Hope, 61-21 71st Street in Middle Village.

Then, on Wednesday, May 21, there’s a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Preservation Voters and the Historic Districts Council. It's at 7 p.m. at P.S. 49, 79-15 Penelope Avenue.

I'll be going to at least one if not both events, and to blatantly copy DFNYC, I'm wondering: What would you ask the candidates?

To refresh your memory, they are: Elizabeth Crowley, Anthony Como, Charles Ober, Tom Ognibene and Joseph Suraci.

Crowley and the rival, Anthony Como, circled one another and quietly vied for the attention of the handful of reporters who showed up.

At one point, Julia Levano, a mother of two living next to the bar, came out to speak with reporters.

For the record, she is a mom and pro-immigrant Democrat who isn't bothered by Vito Fossella having a love child or by Eliot Spitzer patronizing hookers, who used to be a passionate supporter of Hillary Clinton, and who will likely vote for John McCain over Barack Obama.