Avella heads to Albany

It's official.

Six days after Election Day, former City Councilmember Tony Avella held a piece of paper with a portion of a concession from his opponent, longtime state Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Bellerose, effectively removing the last barrier between him and .

"Earlier today, I officially ended my pursuit for another term in the State Senate," Padavan said in a statement released Monday. "The voters of the 11th State Senate District have spoken and now our community heads in a new direction."

Here's the preliminary vote count from Election Day: 

In January, Avella will become the first Democrat to represent Northeast Queens in 38  years.

In an hour-long conversation this week, Avella looked forward to tackling the big issues facing lawmakers in Albany next year, including gay marriage, a yawning budget deficit and the elephant in every statewide race this year -- ethics reform.

Avella says he will advocate for "serious" ethics reform, including the establishment of term limits for state legislators, stamping down payraises for pols and a balanced budget bill. "There is going to be movement next year on these issues," he said. "We might not get it all, but we'll get one or two things done."

During his remarks at his former City Council office in Bayside, Avella blasted the city Department of Transportation's  at Little Neck Parkway and Sand Hill Road near the Long Island Railroad station in Little Neck.

Avella recounted a recent campaign appearance at Little Neck station, which happened to coincide with construction of the traffic divider. "I stood there in amazement at the stupidity of this median," he said.

The state sen.-elect said he would keep the heat on city officials to remove or change the location of the barrier. "The median is still too close to the intersection. Trucks still barely make it through," Avella said.

Avella also promised to fight for greater captial investment in area schools for things like new computers and gymnasiums. He also vowed to maintain his reputation as an outsider against the political establishment -- one earned during his eight-year tenure in the City Council and as an underdog reform candidate for New York City mayor in 2009.

"I'm not adverserial," he said. "But there are certain things I won't back down from."

Avella stressed his constituent services record, saying that Little Neck residents would have the same, if not greater, access to his office and staff as they did with Padavan.

"I will be very visible," Avella said.