Kruger Made Whole, Mostly State Senator Carl Kruger scored a victory in the senate's new reapportionment plan, gaining back crucial parts of a district tattered by the first proposal.

The new district, called the 25th, recaptures Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach. Although the district will still lose Marine Park and Gerritsen Beach, the new district is 73 percent white, whereas the old proposed district was over 60 percent black. The switch came after Kruger endorsed Governor George Pataki and mounted an aggressive lobbying effort at public hearings by enlisting the aid of elected officials and community leaders. "Our goals were 90 percent accomplished," said Kruger. "The end result is contiguous shore communities with common interests. I guess it speaks to the vitality of our neighborhoods that we could accomplish this, because so many people in the political world thought it was undoable… If I have a reputation for anything, it is being an old-fashioned street fighter."

Asked about the governor's role, Kruger noted that Pataki had criticized the original reapportionment plan as defective. "Those words resonated in conjunction with the public input," he said. Regardless of whether Kruger's change in fortune was due more to public input than political flexing, Kruger, said one source, "looks like the big winner in reapportionment."

Lachman Left In Lurch On the flip side of that coin is State Senator Seymour Lachman, whose rough reapportionment ride continued with the new proposal, which leaves him politically homeless.

Under the first proposal, Lachman's 22nd senate district was butchered to create a seat for which Republican Councilmember Marty Golden could run. However, the first plan also included a predominantly Jewish district, the called the 25th, in which Lachman could have been quite competitive. Insiders say that district was really drawn for former Councilmember Noach Dear, who was eyeing a possible switch to the Republican Party. Nonetheless, the district appealed to Lachman, and he had announced he would run there instead of his current district.

But in order to remake Kruger's district and maintain a viable district for Golden, the 25th district was torn apart and entirely reconfigured, leaving Lachman with far less appealing options. In that sense, Kruger ate Lachman's lunch, said insiders. While Kruger was whipping up outrage at public hearings, endorsing the governor and leveraging election year politics, Lachman was eerily silent by contrast.

Lachman could decide to run against Kruger in the 25th, stay in the 22nd and likely run against Golden, or perhaps run in the 23rd if State Senator Vincent Gentile decides to challenge Golden in the 22nd (more on that later). A longshot district would be the 21st, which is comprised of 58 percent black voters and 29 percent white, but has a lot of Borough President Marty Markowitz's former turf.

Lachman did not return a call seeking comment.

Noach Girds For State Senate Bid Kruger may have deftly jumped out of the frying pan, but he now finds himself facing a showdown with Noach Dear, the former Borough Park councilmember who always raises enough money to make his opponents miserable for the summer. "I have a good portion of my old council district in the [proposed 25th senate district], and I feel strong about that," said Dear. "I'm looking forward to going out there and campaigning for the new part of the district."

Kruger allies immediately scoffed at the Dear candidacy, pointing out his most recent loss to Rep. Anthony Weiner in a district that includes many of the same neighborhoods. But it was clear that they viewed him as more than a mere nuisance, if for no other reason than his ability to make his presence felt.

And after weeks of scrambling to reconstitute a district that the senate GOP used for target practice, Kruger and his organization are not exactly thrilled with the prospect of spending the summer locked in a new battle for essentially the same stakes. Kruger's supporters pointed out that Dear's run is foolhardy not only in view of his last loss to Weiner, but also because the new 25th senate district is nothing like it was under the first proposal, when it did appear to be drawn for Dear.

But Dear said the change does not affect his decision. "Not at all," he said.

Gentile Eyes Options State Senator Vincent Gentile is watching the reapportionment process unfold with at least some measure of amusement. Afraid that Gentile might decide to run in the district being drawn for Councilmember Marty Golden, the senate GOP has been holding to a careful line.

Since Golden and Gentile represent many of the same areas, a viable district for Golden is likely also viable for Gentile. In order to incentivize Gentile to stay where put and forebear a run against Golden, the GOP has left Gentile's district relatively intact.

The result is that Gentile now has two districts where he can run, with Democrat insiders calling him the favorite in either. Gentile, though, said that he was putting little stock in the current plan, something his colleague Carl Kruger might dispute. "We as a Democratic conference have pointed out a number of problems with the plan. Ultimately, it's our hope that if not the governor, then the Justice Department and the courts will agree with us and this map will become moot," said Gentile.

Gentile said he does not know which district he'll run in if the plan survives. Sources say insiders are pushing Gentile to run against Golden in the 22nd district. "There are many people, including his own district leader, Joe Bova, who are urging him to run in the 22nd," said one source.

And if Gentile were to run again in his current 23rd senate district, spanning Brooklyn and Staten Island, he would have to continue to deal with two sets of party wars and two pools of challengers.

Gentile would not tip his hand either way, although he did take the opportunity to needle Golden in advance of any contest between the two. "On a personal level, he has an obligation to finish out his Council term for the people who voted for him. I think it would be disingenuous for him to leave," said Gentile.

Davis Takes Aim Again Councilmember James Davis of Fort Greene had some particularly harsh words for the county leader, Assemblymember Clarence Norman, Jr. But Norman refused to take the bait.

Davis has called for all district leaders to boycott the Kings County Democratic Party Dinner on April 18 to show displeasure with Norman's leadership. "My county leader is an embarrassment to me and to Brooklyn. It's like a pedophile priest who violates all the other good priests," said Davis. "He should step down and resign for the sake of the party."

Davis criticized Norman for the county party's recent election losses and the borough's recent scandals, including judicial patronage schemes, a judge brought up on bribery charges, questions about Norman's own finances, and the recent federal indictment of Councilmember Angel Rodriguez, whom Norman supported for speaker. So far, Davis said that no district leaders have agreed to join his boycott.

For his part, Norman declined to respond to Davis' comments about his character. "This is not the first time I've been attacked by Mr. Davis on a personal level," said Norman. "I'm not going to stoop to his level and make any attacks on his personal character. I'm bigger than that."

Norman said that the sales of tables for the dinner were going well, fueled partly by a sense of solidarity within a political establishment that sees itself as unfairly criticized. "Supporters are stepping up," he said.

Davis said that he is still pondering a run against Norman this year. Sources also say that Sandra Roper, who lost last year against District Attorney Joe Hynes, has been meeting with people to discuss a potential run against Norman. A call to her former campaign manager was not returned.

Correction: Last week, it was incorrectly reported that Assemblymember Jim Brennan had in the past given the cold shoulder to Brooklyn Pride, the borough's gay and lesbian nighttime parade.

Alan Fleishman, a member of the parade's planning committee, said that Brennan has always been a strong supporter of the event. "Assemblyman Brennan has participated in every Brooklyn Pride Parade since its inception. He's appeared at the rally and spoken, he's contributed financially, and through his whole career he's been supportive of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community," said Fleishman. "He really is a good friend of LGBT community in Brooklyn."

Borough Politics Archive

2002
April 8 column.
April 1 column.
March 25 column.
March 18 column.
March 11 column.
March 4 column.
February 25 column.
February 18 column.
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.