Coney Island Race Wide Open Generally, a politician's death is followed rather quickly by buzz about who will take their place, but there is not yet much talk about who will fill the shoes of District Leader Marsha Rapaport. "I have to give the political people credit here. Thank God that Marsha has dignity involved in her passing, and there are not people standing around debating about picking her bones clean before the body is buried," said District Leader Michael Geller.

So far, no person has emerged as the leading candidate to take over the female leadership in the 46th Assembly District. Vacancies are normally filled with a candidate chosen in a meeting of the leaders and Assemblymember Clarence Norman. But the real import of Rapaport's passing will be felt in the Coney Island City Council race, where she was considered by many to be the leading candidate. Without Rapaport, the race is now viewed as more competitive, and insiders expect more new candidates to jump in. "A lot of people felt that Marsha was a lock, and now that she's passed away, they're looking at it again, and I'm sure that other people will be jumping in," said one source.

A Lighthouse, Or Just Fog? A new entrant into the Borough Park City Council race is itching to create a schism between the ultra-Orthodox and modern Orthodox Jews in the district. "It's a cultural revolution we want to conduct," said Elya Amsel. Amsel, a social worker with the organization Aish Dos, is distantly related to another man called Elya Amsel who was once federally indicted. "The name gives me a lot of trouble," he said.

Amsel himself is looking to make some trouble, and he's got his sights trained on Simcha Felder, chief of staff to Assemblymember Dov Dikind and a candidate for the same Council seat. Amsel, a Hasidic Jew, said that Felder is too modern to represent the ultra-Orthodox community. Felder declined to respond. Amsel's campaign will be aimed at portraying the ultra-Orthodox community as a distinct entity that needs to be represented by one of its own. "I want to form a split to show who's who and what's what. Like a lighthouse in the middle of the fog. It's not the office that interests me, it's the message," said Amsel.

But Amsel is beginning to trumpet his message in a way that may leave some observers scratching their heads. He is considering a meeting with District Leader James Davis, an African-American who alienated many Jews during his campaign against Assemblymember Clarence Norman by claiming that there was unequal distribution of resources between Jews and blacks in Crown Heights. "We're trying to make a very unusual communication," said Amsel. "We'll be seeking some kind of common denominator to show the world that in the great American society, flexibility is always a possibility. You can never rule out anything in the United States."

New Council Candidate Speaking of the Coney Island Council race, a new candidate has emerged, although it has nothing to do with Rapaport. Her name is Inna Stavitsky, and she is the second Russian candidate to enter the race. She is also the only Russian Democrat to join the fray. Stavitsky, who works for JASA, emigrated to the United States 11 years ago from St. Petersburg. Aside from her job at JASA, she also teaches English as a Second Language at Kingsborough Community College, and runs People to People, a conversational English club. She views herself as someone who is capable of easing the friction between the English and Russian-speaking communities in Coney Island.

"There's a lot of animosity here, and I'm the one to whom I feel people confide from both sides," said Stavitsky. She said that the other Russian candidate, Oleg Gutnik, does not threaten her because he is a Republican and cannot compete in a Democratic area. But some insiders believe that if a special, non-partisan election were to occur, Gutnik could be a formidable candidate. Of course, Councilmember Howard Lasher would have to step down early before a special election could be held, and Lasher's wife, Susan, has said that he has no plans to do so.

Berman's Wallet Bulging Expect a hefty January 15 campaign finance filing from Councilmember Herb Berman. There were whispers that Berman would top the million-dollar mark, but he called that figure premature. "That is totally dependant on whether or not people who came to fundraisers but still owe money send their money in, and whether people who subsequently made commitments to raise money can meet those commitments," he said.

Berman does have more than $800,000 so far, but he says he is not pleased with the way his fundraising is going. "Did you ever meet a candidate that's pleased with the way fundraising is going? I expected to have more in the till. I'm the eternal optimist," he said. Hmmm. Optimist?

Ferrer Trained On Gracie Mansion For quite a while now, rumors have been swirling about City Hall that Bronx Borough President Freddie Ferrer will drop out of the mayor's race and seek another office. But a source close to Ferrer said that those rumors were absurd.

In this case, the rumor is a three-headed Hydra. In the first scenario, dubbed the Mark Green rumor, Ferrer runs for public advocate instead of mayor. In the second, Ferrer runs for City Council in a bid to become speaker (known as the Peter Vallone rumor). The third scenario has Ferrer running for comptroller, which the source described as "Alan Hevesi's wet dream." "Freddie is definitely, definitely running for mayor," a source said.

Borough Politics Archive
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