KRUGER, NELSON ON TWO SIDES OF FENCE Senator Carl Kruger raised a big stink when city inspectors descended on a block of East 21st Street where private fences overlapped public property. Kruger called the city's action obnoxious and a waste of time. But it turns out the city was responding to a complaint brought to its attention by Councilman Mike Nelson, Kruger's close ally and his former chief of staff.

Sources told us when Kruger found out, he wasn't too thrilled. "For like a week, Kruger didn't talk to Nelson," one insider said. But a source close to Kruger said all was well between the two. "In any family there are disputes. But Senator Kruger loves Mike Nelson, and Mike Nelson loves Senator Kruger right back," the source said.

VITO'S BRIGHT IDEA Politicians love to talk about simplifying the tax code, but they rarely if ever do it. In fact, they tend to do the opposite. Take, for example, Rep. Vito Fossella, who is sponsoring legislation that would make over-the-counter medications tax-deductible. Imagine saving your supermarket receipts for seven years (in case of an IRS audit) and totaling all the Advil, Preparation H, NyQuil, and other such purchases annually. Also, we wonder what exactly would qualify as deductible. Vicks cough drops? Dr. Scholl's insoles? Coppertone sun lotion? Selsun Blue? Oil of Olay? Chapstick? Band-Aids? Anbesol?

Fossella apparently believes the government should cough up some cash every time a taxpayer gets a toothache. "Millions more will benefit financially by making over-the-counter drugs tax-deductible," Fossella said, as quoted by this paper's Tom Tracy.

Well, yes. Just as gardeners would benefit if tulips were tax-deductible. Tulips are pretty. Why not introduce a bill for them, too? (Note to Fossella: do not actually do this. We are kidding.) The discrepancy Fossella seeks to correct is that purchases of prescription drugs are deductible if they and other medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of a taxpayer's income. But non-prescription medications don't qualify. "This is yet another example of an out-of-control tax code penalizing hard-working Americans," Fossella said.

That's like saying the tax code penalizes people who eat out with their families by only allowing business meals to be deducted. Dear Vito: It's not omissions that "penalize hard-working Americans" and render the tax code "out of control." It's the additions. The tax code is now 6,000 pages. Making toothpaste tax-deductible would only lengthen it and expand the role of government, which conservative Republicans like Fossella claim should be smaller.

SARA STEERS CLEAR An ugly incident between a family and 72nd Precinct police in Sunset Park on July 4, 2003 has put Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez in an uncomfortable position. So, unlike Councilman Charles Barron, she's decided to take no position.

The Independence Day clash between cops and the Acosta family began when, according to the family, an officer pulled up to their building at about 10 p.m. and, saying nothing, yanked the power cord from the boom box of 14-year-old Orlando Acosta. The boy's mother Elena Acosta confronted the officer, who then ordered another cop to arrest her. When she walked up the stoop, an officer grabbed the back of her shirt. She fell over the stoop railing and broke her elbow, according to a Village Voice article. It escalated into a melee involving a bevy of 72nd Precinct cops and Acosta family members. Police say it began because the officer who unplugged the radio was "verbally abused," the Voice reported.

Four family members are facing criminal charges. Seven family members are preparing to sue the city. And the NYPD's Internal Affairs launched an investigation. A family friend said Gonzalez has been unwilling to take the Acostas' side, perhaps because she doesn't want to offend local cops. "She was dodging the meetings and not showing up," said Dennis Flores, adding that the councilwoman tried to discourage the family from organizing a protest rally.

That's bogus, Gonzalez told us. She said she wasn't even invited to the rally, which was ultimately held last September and led in part by Councilman Barron of Canarsie and East New York. According to Flores, Gonzalez seemed to feel she was being harassed by the family, who in turn wondered if the councilwoman was allied with the police, given that the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association had donated $1,500 to her campaign.

But Gonzalez said she's simply not prepared to make a judgment on an incident she didn't witness. "I was not there. How could I step in and decide who's right or wrong?" she said. "I don't think that's something a councilmember should do." Of course, Barron wasn't there either. That hasn't stopped him. Perhaps he's seen the medical records showing police exaggerated their injuries to shift blame to the Acostas.

We asked Gonzalez if she resented her colleague traipsing into her district from the far side of the borough to slam 72nd Precinct cops. "Not at all," she said. "That's Charles Barron…He has to do what he has to do. I have no problem with that." The councilwoman said she's been working with the family to provide constituent services, such as helping one who lost her job to find new employment. "I've worked very hard and diligently for the family," Gonzalez said. But she said she would not get involved in the criminal and civil cases.

RATNER TANGLES WITH WEB MASTER Developer Bruce Ratner's spokesman lashed back at Clinton Hill resident Vernon Jones, who has been knocking Ratner's Nets arena plan on his Web site. "He sent in a proposal to provide a Web page for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which we thought was kind of absurd. And then he decided to bash the proposal," said spokesman Joe DePlasco. "There's a word for when people ask you for a lot of money and then respond critically when you refuse to pay up. I'm sure people can guess what it is." Ratner ultimately put his site up at www.bball.net.

His spokesman also debunked the argument Jones makes on his site, which is that $67 million earmarked to build the Sportsplex in Coney Island is being sought by Ratner to build a practice facility for the Nets which the team would share with amateur athletes. "We've never, ever suggested that we're using that (Sportsplex) money," DePlasco said. It's not yet known where the Nets would practice either, he said. (We doubt it would be in Brooklyn, since NBA players tend to live in the 'burbs.) Asked how Ratner's proposal affects plans for the Sportsplex, DePlasco said, "It doesn't."

JUDGE PANEL THROWS IN TOWEL The reformed judicial screening panel that's supposed to keep hacks off Brooklyn's bench has bungled its first assignment. The panel will only screen Supreme Court candidates this year, leaving the Civil Court elections at the mercy of the usual political process. Sources said the panel wanted more power than it was given by the Democratic district leaders who put it together. "When they came together, they decided they wanted to write their own rules that differed from the mandate," said Councilman and district leader Lew Fidler. "They wanted to restrict us to three people for each vacancy, which basically would give the screening panel the right to make decisions for us, which is more than we intended."

The panel apparently spent more time arguing over this than it did readying to interview Civil Court candidates. So it won't bother with them this year. "If that is in fact is what happens, we will be disappointed because we have a commitment to consider only those candidates found qualified by the independent screening panel," said Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesman Bob Liff.

Fidler said the panel might also have been delayed by the legal problems of Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Clarence Norman and executive director Jeff Feldman, who are under indictment. "Clarence is probably going to recommend that we make no endorsements in the Civil Court races," Liff said. That would mean a departure from the usual County-versus-insurgent theme of Civil Court primaries. On the bright side, it would produce judges who owe nothing to the organization.

And who might those judges be? Six candidates have emerged for three county-wide seats: Harley Diamond, April Neubauer, Gerry "Don't Call Me Jerry" Dunbar, Saul Needle, Bob Dorf, and Evelyn LaPorte. If all make the ballot, the election would be "at-large," meaning the top three vote-getters would advance to the general election, where victory for Democrats is virtually assured. Seats are also up for grabs in the second district (where Geraldine Pickett and Robin Kelly Shears figure to run) and the sixth (Bernie Graham, Johnny Lee Baynes, and Ingrid Joseph).

"We're basically not going to get any direction from the panel on whether these people are qualified or not," said district leader Alan Fleishman. Marty Edelman, chairman of the panel, did not return a call before our deadline.

THE OWENS SCORECARD A little proofreading could have saved Rep. Major Owens from printing such quotes on his latest campaign mailing as "These savage pressures will drive living standards down to the future." On the bright side, the literature did have a nice color photo of Owens.

But lest we be accused of focusing on trivial matters, we'll take a look at the "Congressional Report Card" Owens posted on his mailing-ratings from eight different special-interest groups based on his votes in the House. While the numbers appear stellar, they seem commonplace when compared with the scores of Owens's New York colleagues.

Owens noted his 100 percent rating from the American Federation of Teachers. But the other 18 Democrats in the delegation also got 100s. His 100 percent from AFSCME was matched by 16 other New Yorkers. His perfect score from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare was matched by 13 others. In the previous Congress, Owens's 83 percent ranked him 15th in the state.

More distinguishing was his perfecto in 2003 from Americans for Democratic Action. Only three other New Yorkers achieved that: Anthony Weiner, Jerry Nadler, and Louise Slaughter. But Owens was not one of the four New Yorkers with perfect ADA scores in 2002 (he got a 90). Nor was he perfect in 2001 (he missed one vote) or 2000 (he missed two). His previous perfect ADA score was in 1999. If you like the AFL-CIO, you'd like the 99 percent lifetime score the union federation gave Owens. But you'd also like the 14 other New York House members with scores of 92 percent or higher. (Nadler got the only perfect score.)

Owens reported a 100 percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign. That's accurate for 2003, but Owens missed two of the six votes on which the rating was based. (So did Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Ed Towns.) Some groups count missed votes against a politicians' rating, but not the HRC. Otherwise, his score would have been 67 percent.

We did find one discrepancy: Owens's mailing said his American Conservative Union score was 0%. In fact, it was 12 percent in 2003, thanks to two votes at the end of the year with which the ACU agreed. Owens still tied for the lowest ACU rating in the state, which (as a proud liberal) he wears as a badge of honor.

What were those two pro-ACU votes? Owens and most of his fellow New York Democrats agreed with the conservative union that a measure authorizing spending for Patriot-Act snooping intruded on civil liberties. Owens and the ACU also both opposed the expansion of Medicare in November, which will cost about $200 billion more than the president advertised.

TIDBITS Next time you're asked to donate money to the Brooklyn AIDS Task Force, consider that rather than go towards fighting AIDS, your cash might be funneled to a politician's campaign, as was the case when the Boerum Hill-based BATF handed Councilwoman Tracy Boyland's campaign for Congress $50. Corporations aren't even allowed to give money to candidates for Congress. Our calls to BATF weren't returned…

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery's car was totaled by a truck on April 15 as she traveled from Albany to Brooklyn on the Thurway. Montogmery was reportedly not hurt…

City Councilman Vinny Gentile is pressing the MTA to save weekend express bus service to western Brooklyn. Somehow it seems we've heard this story before-about once or twice a year since we began at this paper in 1991. Without threats to express bus service, politicians in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst might go out of business…

A Department of Education inventory check found that Region 8, which includes School Districts 13 and 15, has one computer for every 4.93 students-best in the city…

Rep. Anthony Weiner is calling for the Jets to be relocated not to the West Side, but instead to Queens. Coincidentally, Weiner also represents Queens…

Rep. Major Owens just attended a conference in the Bahamas. This is the kind of thing politicians might want to avoid during a campaign, lest their opponents accuse them of going on "junkets" paid for by others. We'll try to get some details on Owens's trip share them in a future column…

The last time we ate with Council Speaker Gifford Miller at his usual meeting spot, the Park Plaza diner in Brooklyn Heights, we asked what he'd do if he were running for mayor and the Brooklyn Democratic organization told him its endorsement would require he fork over campaign money. "I don't purchase endorsements," Miller replied.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

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2000
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1999
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