Angel Pondering Congressional Run Councilmember Angel Rodriguez is weighing a run against Rep. Nydia Velazquez, but has not made a final decision, according to his director of communications. "He's just keeping his options open," said Lynn Schulman, Rodriguez's director of communications. "Right now he's focused on the City Council and putting together his subcommittee. Especially now with the bid budget deficit, the sub committee is really important. But he's keeping his options open." One pol who would support Rodriguez if he chose to run is Assemblymember Vito Lopez. "Angel Rodriguez is one of several viable candidates now exploring whether to run for congress," said Lopez. "They key to whether they run is how they draw the district lines."

Lopez has feuded for years with Velazquez, and the two butted heads again this past election. Velazquez opposed two Council candidates backed by Lopez, Diana Reyna and Erik Dilan, both of whom won their races. Lopez and Velazquez have challenged one another in a range of elections, including school board and judicial races. Most often, Lopez has come out on top.

"Nydia Velazquez has consistently played politics in races where she has consistently lost. These people are very easy to bring together in a coalition against her," said Lopez. Velazquez also opposed Rodriguez's bid for Council speaker, siding with Fernando Ferrer and Bronx County Leader Roberto Ramirez.

Rodriguez would make a viable candidate against her because he represents a large swath of Hispanic voters in Sunset Park, which is part of the congressional district. The other Latino parts of the district are represented by Reyna and Dilan. Rodridguez also would not have to give up his Council seat to run for congress. But Velazquez is sure to have her own set of supporters, including Fernando Ferrer, whom Rodriguez declined to support for mayor.

"Freddie would work so hard for Nydia that he's almost itching for him to run," said a source close to Ferrer. Wendy Belzer, Velazquez's spokesperson, said that Velazquez is not focused on politics right now. "Who may be running, and may in italics because we don't know, is not something the congresswoman is focused on at this time," said Belzer. "There are just so many other issues that require her attention both in the district and here in Washington that affect her constituents and the small business community."

Andrews, Robinson Victorious With all the attention focused on the special state senate election on Manhattan's Upper East Side, two Brooklyn special elections went off almost unnoticed. True to form, both heavily favored county Democrats prevailed. Carl Andrews won Borough President Marty Markowitz's old senate seat, while former Councilmember Annette Robinson won Al Vann's old assembly seat.

Robinson and Vann worked out an arrangement more than a year ago by which they would effectively swap seats. Robinson was term-limited, and Vann was ready to leave the assembly after more than two decades. With Robinson's support, Vann won Robinson's old Council seat in November. With his support, she was chosen as the Democratic nominee in the special election for his assembly seat. Robinson dispatched former Kings County Republican Party chair Arthur Bramwell in the general election.

Andrews, the closest friend of county leader and Assemblymember Clarene Norman, Jr., defeated Republican Frances Purcell. Since there was no Democratic primary, the elections were a breeze for both candidates. However, both seats are up again this fall, when there will be primaries, most likely with several Democratic challengers emerging from the freshly drawn districts.

The Other Shoe Insiders are not exactly sure what to think of the turmoil surrounding the Brooklyn judiciary, although juicy rumors abound regarding who's head will next roll. "The rumor mill is great," said one official. "If we could hook the rumor mill up to a power plant, we could shut down Indian Point."

Troubled by a crisis of confidence about the system's fairness, Chief Judge Judith Kaye removed Brooklyn's administrative judge, Michael Pesce, and replaced him with Ann Pfau, the state's third-highest administrative judge. The judiciary under Pesce has been troubled at times, with revelations of political favoritism in fiduciary assignments, subsequent reprimands, and now the arrest of victor Barron, charged with accepting a bribe to sign off on a lucrative settlement. "He [Pesce} didn't take it upon himself to root out corruption," said one insider. "But he's not a bad guy himself-he's a good guy." Pesce was transferred to the Appellate Term.

Another insider said that Pesce was somewhat of a fall guy. "What happened to Pesce is like the theory about the death penalty: an execution does a lot to restor public confidence in law and order and therefore it doesn't matter if the person you kill is innocent or guilty. They needed someone to sacrifice, and they sacrificed him. What could Michael Pesce, in his position, have done about victor Barron?"

One elected official said that whatever the reason for shipping Pesce out, the move will have some immediate effects. "I bet you the judge's parking lot will fill up a little earlier in the morning. They clearly brought in an outsider to be the new sheriff in town. That will have an effect for a while," he said.

Banks Ready For Second Go-Round Steve Banks, a Legal Aid attorney who lost a close race to Councilmember Bill de Blasio, is back in the political saddle. Banks recently held an open house for supporters at his Windsor Terrace home, an event he expected to draw about 25 people. "Eighty people showed up," he said.

Although he enjoys being back at his job, Banks is looking at a range of options, including a judgeship or seats in the City council, state legislature and congress. "A lot is going to depend on what happens with redistricting," said Banks. "I'm certainly not ready to identify a particular race until the district lines are drawn." Banks said that he was encouraged to get back into the game by the coalition of supporters he built during his Council run. "There are a large number of people interested in a different approach to politics," he said. "I'm happy to be back at Legal Aid providing help to so many New Yorkers who need help in the wake of the World Trade Center disaster. But at the same time, I still believe that people very much want to see different kind of candidates running and being elected to public office."

If Banks were to run in a redistricting year, he could run in any district he chose, as the residency requirement is waived during reapportionment. Dan Tietz, his former campaign manager, said that of all the possibilities, a judgeship is least likely. "His real interest is in being a legislator. If you're a judge, it's difficult to run for another office, for obvious reasons," said Tietz.

Borough Politics Archive

2002
February 11 column.
February 4 column.
January 28 column.
January 21 column.
January 7 column.

2001
December 10 column.
December 3 column.
November 19 column.
November 12 column.
November 5 column.
October 22 column.
October 1 column.
September 6 column.
September 4 column.
August 30 column.
July 23 column.
July 2 column.
June 25 column.
June 11 column.
May 28 column.
May 21 column.
May 14 column.
May 7 column.
April 30 column.
April 23 column.
April 9 column.
April 2 column.
March 26 column.
March 19 column.
March 12 column.
March 5 column.
February 26 column.
February 19 column.
February 12 column.
February 5 column.
January 29 column.
January 22 column.
January 15 column.
January 8 column.
January 1 column.

2000
December 25 column.
December 18 column.
December 11 column.
December 4 column.
November 27 column.
November 20 column.
November 13 column.
November 6 column.
October 30 column.
October 23 column.
October 16 column.
October 9 column.
October 2 column.
September 25 column.
September 18 column.
September 11 column.
September 4 column.
August 28 column.
August 21 column.
August 7 column.
July 31 column.
July 24 column.
July 17 column.
July 10 column.
June 26 column.
June 19 column.
June 12 column.
May 15 column.
May 8 column.
April 24 column.
April 10 column.
March 13 column.
March 7 column.
February 21 column.
February 14 column.
February 7 column.
January 31 column.
January 24 column.
January 17 column.

1999
December 16 column.
December 9 column.
December 2 column.
November 25 column.
November 18 column.
November 11 column.
November 4 column.