ADAMS WON'T RUN An effort to talk Eric Adams out of running against Assemblyman Roger Green this summer may have succeeded. Adams, a cop who co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, is reportedly telling people he won't run because he fears being disqualified on residency grounds, which would waste the time his volunteers spent gathering petitions. The only problem with this explanation is that Adams has a perfectly legitimate residence in the 57th Assembly District, and has actually lived there for some time, sources said. That he also owns property outside the district is irrelevant.

We're not sure which friends of Green persuaded Adams not to run. But they could have come up with a better excuse. Adams, of course, may have an entirely different explanation. But he didn't return our call. Adams's withdrawal leaves opponents of Bruce Ratner's arena project without a candidate. They would love to get Roger Green out of office to punish him for supporting the project. But it seems unlikely they'll find someone viable before petitioning begins June 8.

FOUR FOR CONGRESS Rep. Major Owens's campaign manager and son, Chris Owens, who is perhaps not the most impartial observer of his father's race against Councilwomen Yvette Clarke and Tracy Boyland and now Gabriel Toks Pearse, contends the incumbent is in much better shape than in 2000, when he held off Clarke's mother, then Councilwoman Una Clarke, by 8 percentage points in the Democratic primary. Owens said his father has since improved his office's constituent services and been more visible in the district, and has raised his stature by advocating for a democratic Haiti, supporting Israel, and denouncing the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, police brutality, and Bruce Ratner's arena project.

Not surprisingly, Pearse, a heretofore unknown professor, offered a different take. "Major Owens is a lame duck congressman who in fact has been redundant for the past 10 years," Pearse wrote in a letter to this column. He had nasty words for Clarke and Boyland, too. "Major Owens['s] constituent services are terrible. Yvette Clarke's will be even worse. Did you know that before constituents can get an audience with Yvette Clarke, they have to write a letter? If we can't see her now that she is in New York, I shudder to think what will happen if she goes to Washington. As for Councilwoman Tracy Boyland, her main claim to leadership is her family name. Like Yvette Clarke, Ms. Boyland is not Congress material."

Clarke's press secretary told us the councilwoman used to have an open-door policy, but so many constituents came in wanting to talk directly to her that she'd end up in meetings all day and not get to her other duties. Hence, the write-first policy.

MAJOR'S BAHAMAS TRIP Rep. Major Owens told us his recent trip to the Bahamas was not a junket, but a seminar paid for by the Aspen Institute Congressional Study Program, which is funded by a consortium of foundations. "I don't go on junkets," he said. "It's a philanthropic enterprise designed to get a better decision-making from the people who make decisions in this country." He added, "It's five days. You meet for about four hours a day, and they have a set of scholars and congresspeople and foundation representatives."

Of course, that leave another 20 hours per day to hit the beach. Is that why the event was held in the Bahamas? To entice people to come? "I guess that must be their experience because most of their forums are out of the country," said Owens. "Although they had one in Florida." Owens said he previously attended Aspen Institute events in Jamaica and Canada. About 25 members of Congress were on the Bahamas trip, he noted.

BYRD DROPPINGS In his latest e-mail attack on Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards development plan, Democratic district leader Francis Byrd lists "higher property assessments and higher rents" as negative effects of the project. If higher property values are bad, by the same logic lower property values would be good. Do we really want that? If so, a nice crime wave would do the trick. Byrd also ties the project to future subway fare increases and service cuts, and repeatedly calls Ratner a "multimillionaire Manhattanite" who "is using race, class, and fear."

Hmmm. Let's look at Byrd's words, which could be seen as code words. If "multimillionaire Manhattanite" equals class and race, and the threat of "fare increases and service cuts" equals fear, wouldn't Byrd be guilty of the very charges he levels at Ratner?

BROOKLYN REPUBLICAN DENIED Some Brooklyn Republicans are upset at their own party for shutting the door on Sunset Park resident Michael Benjamin's bid to run for Senate against Chuck Schumer. State GOP leaders Joe Bruno and George Pataki want no primary opponent for the leading Republican candidate, Assemblyman Howard Mills, one party insider told us. "We just don't like the way this is going down. They're just shoving this down our throats," the source said. "I think [Benjamin] should have a shot."

Benjamin, 34, a securities trader of Iranian and Honduran descent, announced his candidacy in January 2003 and has campaigned in every county in the state-twice. But he's run for office only once (losing to Rep. Jerry Nadler in 1996) and is even less well known than Mills. Benjamin recently told the Ithaca Journal, "The Republican Party leadership in New York right now is very closed. They serve only their insiders. They try to undermine outsiders. That's not democracy. It's un-American."

On the other hand, our source noted, given the overwhelming likelihood that Schumer will romp to victory, a little competition for the Republican nomination couldn't hurt. "Is it possible Howard Mills is going to be the next senator from New York? Sure," the source said. "It's also possible that it's going to snow tonight."

G.O.P. TUSSLE OVER GOLDEN SEAT Two Brooklyn Republicans have touched off a bizarre internal squabble involving State Senator Marty Golden. Jim Sutliff and Jessica Greenwald, Republican district leaders in the shorefront 47th Assembly District, actually went to court this month alleging that their party was improperly funding Golden's reelection campaign. For evidence, they cited a single quote from Republican County Chairman Hy Singer on page 20 of the county committee's magazine: "I look forward to the re-election of…Sen. Marty Golden."

Sutliff, it seems, plans to run against Golden. But Greenwald, whom one source identified as Sutliff's girlfriend, is the only other Republican district leader who supports the idea. The other leaders voted unanimously to support Golden during a meeting at Golden's catering hall, the Bay Ridge Manor. Sutliff and Greenwald were no-shows at the meeting, and were asked why when they appeared in court by Judge Joe Levine. Greenwald allegedly explained, "We were afraid for our lives."

The judge was incredulous. "You were afraid for your lives?" he said. "Marty Golden is a former police officer." "We feared for our safety to go into the Bay Ridge Manor because Marty Golden owns it," Greenwald reiterated, according to one witness. Days later, the judge dismissed the suit. Greenwald, an attorney, and Sutliff, an entrepreneur who has run for office with his party's support before, founded the Web site gopbrooklyn.com in 2002. Greenwald declined to discuss the lawsuit but confirmed that Sutliff would run against Golden in the Republican primary this September.

Republicans aren't sure what's motivating Sutliff's opposition to Golden, given that Golden supported Sutliff's campaign against Councilman Domenic Recchia last year.

NADLER VOTES NO Rep. Jerry Nadler was the only Brooklyn House member, and one of just three in the state, to vote against a bill to provide for special elections within 45 days of a terrorist attack that killed 100 or more House members. "If a disaster occurs, Rep. Nadler favors appointing replacements on a temporary basis, and then holding fair elections within 120 days. He did not support the special election bill because he thinks it would not lead to an orderly and productive replacement of House members and it would be too difficult to hold an election within only 45 days of a disaster that killed 100 or more members," Nadler's press secretary Jennie McCue said by e-mail.

Rather than wait 45 days, Nadler would immediately replace current members so they could take action quickly in the event of a disaster. Nadler also voted against a Republican bill to eliminate the so-called marriage penalty because it would add to what Democrats call the "debt tax," which is the interest on the national debt. "Rep. Nadler supports fixing the marriage penalty, but believes that we should not be driven deeper into debt to pay for it," McCue wrote. Nadler was joined in opposition by Reps. Major Owens, Ed Towns, and Nydia Velazquez. The only Brooklyn representative to support the Republican bill was Anthony Weiner.

FIDLER EXPLAINS Councilman Lew Fidler said that when he told The New York Times that "most of us who are grown-ups realize we have to hang together to get through the budget process effectively," he was not talking specifically about his colleague Charles Barron, though his quote appeared immediately after Barron's criticism of the Council speaker's budget. "I had no idea [the reporter] had even spoken to Charles Barron," Fidler said.

But Fidler stuck by his statement. "In a close call on two proposals, the council has some sense of obligation to stick with its speaker. We don't get to negotiate," Fidler said.

So why did Barron even bother making his own budget proposal? "Because he's Charles Barron," said Fidler. "What does…promoting his sometimes so-called radical agenda have to do with making law?"

Barron wants to replace the 18.5-percent property-tax hike with taxes on rich folks and non-resident commuters. That would benefit his constituents in East New York and Canarsie, who surely didn't elect him to line up meekly behind Gifford Miller.

FOSSELLA TAKES SUBWAY HOSTAGE Remember when Rep. Vito Fossella was thinking about running for mayor? He's obviously ditched that idea, preferring instead to return to provincial politics, as evidenced by his threat to block federal funding to build the 2nd Avenue subway. Not a good way to win votes from the million or so New Yorkers who'd benefit from that project. The New York Post reported that Fossella wants to hold the project hostage until Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver drops his objections to the proposed rebuilding of the South Ferry subway station, which is used by Fossella's Staten Island constituents.

TIDBITS Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Ken Adams told The New York Times he wouldn't rule out running for office some day, just not now. Adams would be a formidable candidate in any of the districts that include his Boerum Hill home-especially the 33rd Council District, if David Yassky quits to run for district attorney in 2005. Adams has a great résumé, lots of connections, friends more powerful than his enemies, and Brooklyn roots dating back five generations. Plus he's handsome and articulate. Democratic district leader Steve Cohn, who finished second to Yassky in 2001, is said to have ruled out running again even if Yassky departs. If Cohn passes, Isaac Abraham would give it a shot. District leader Alan Fleishman would also consider it, as would Bob Zuckerman, former president of the Stonewall Democratic Club…

Rumors that Councilwoman Tracy Boyland might quit the race against Rep. Major Owens in the Democratic primary appear to be premature. Boyland is expected to hire high-priced, high-profile campaign consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who told us Boyland has raised close to $200,000…

Senator Chuck Schumer put a sunny spin on Israel's current situation during an appearance in Sheepshead Bay. "I feel that there can be peace in Israel. We've shown that [Palestinians] cannot win by violence," Schumer said, as quoted by Courier-Life's Tom Tracy. "The Palestinians have to be convinced by now that they have underestimated Israel's strength." Yet the cycle of violence is now in its fourth decade and shows no sign of abating. Schumer speaks as if careful reasoning and logic, rather than emotion, motivates decision-making in the Middle East…

Bed-Stuy's Billy Thompson told New York magazine there's a 60 percent chance he'll run for mayor in 2005. But running would mean giving up his seat as city comptroller, which he could otherwise keep through 2009 if he's reelected in 2005. If he runs for mayor, Assemblyman Jim Brennan would run for comptroller without giving up his seat in Albany…

Former Councilman Noach Dear won't run for the seat being vacated by State Senator Seymour Lachman, whose district is 60 percent white or Asian, and will stick to his plan to challenge State Senator Kevin Parker in a district that's just 27 percent white or Asian and 58 percent black. Dear doesn't live in Lachman's district, so he would likely be unable to run there anyway…

Rosemarie O'Keefe's 2003 Council campaign was fined $2,839 for surpassing the expenditure limit. O'Keefe lost the special election by 31 votes to Vinny Gentile…

Bill de Blasio and others have called for the Parks Department to reconsider its decision to deny a permit for a 250,000-person Central Park rally opposing the Republican national convention…

Reps. Anthony Weiner and Jerry Nadler criticized Walt Disney for refusing to allow its Miramax division to distribute Michael Moore's latest documentary, "Fahrenheit 911," which Miramax bankrolled. The film examines the Bush administration's actions before and after September 11.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

2004
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2003
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2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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