Rep. Carolyn Maloney's challenger blasts effort to bring a Chinese panda to New York City

[hrmjustin]

ANNIE KARNI

A long shot Republican candidate challenging Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney has a problem with the congresswoman's love of pandas.

First time candidate Nick Di iorio, 28, on Monday blasted Maloney for her upcoming trip to a nature preserve in China scheduled during Congress’s August recess. There, Maloney plans to explore how to bring two giant pandas to New York City.

“The greatest city in the world deserves two pandas,” Maloney told the Daily News last month. “They’re a symbol of good luck.” Bringing an exotic, endangered panda to the Central Park Zoo has been a dream of Maloney’s for years.

But her challenger called the pursuit frivolous.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/rep-carolyn-maloney-challenger-blasts-effort-bring-chinese-panda-new-york-city-blog-entry-1.1891574