Daly Stirs The Drink The heated race in the 33rd Councilmanic District was thrown into flux this week with the sudden departure of District Leader Liz Daly, who decided to drop out without endorsing one of the remaining four candidates.

Daly said that the race is no longer what she bargained for, and that it was taking an excessive toll on her district. "This is not the same race that I looked at a year ago," she said. "You have a community that's being torn apart, and that's not fair. When I looked at the way it played out, I just came to the conclusion that this just may not be the best year for me to run."

The question now confronting insiders is where exactly Daly's support will go, and whether it will be enough to transform one of the three remaining brownstone candidates into a legitimate one-on-one contender against District Leader Steve Cohn. Cohn, perceived as the front-runner, draws much of his support from the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area. A resident of Brooklyn Heights and former president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, however, he will also compete for some support in Brooklyn Heights.

"Anytime you're the front runner in a race where the opposition is divided, when that opposition becomes less divided, even if you take a piece of it, it's not helpful. To that extent [Daly dropping out] is not helpful to Cohn," said one insider. But Cohn, through relationships with Daly supporters forged in his capacity as a local district leader, has a chance to pick up some Daly allies. And although he has been portrayed by some as an exclusively machine candidate, Cohn does have a track record of community service upon which to stake his claim to local support. "We're down to four and we're all good people. Whatever the voters decide, go for it," said Cohn.

But perhaps the candidate who will benefit most from Daly's exit is Ken Diamondstone. Diamondstone, who is already backed by the Lambda Independent Democrats, also has a long record of community service and has a base within Daly's native Boerum Hill, where he also resides. "With Liz's withdrawal, the contest becomes a lot clearer. It now comes down to a contest between three well-connected lawyers versus one seasoned, effective community leader who's been consistent in his service," said

Diamondstone, who is chair of the Solid Waste Advisory Board. Brooklyn Law School Professor David Yassky has been proactive in portraying himself as the candidate best suited to challenge Cohn. Yassky, whose campaign has steadily picked up steam, has the endorsements of IND and CBID, but there may be some lingering resentment in IND, Daly's home club, and CBID will certainly be most focused on electing its past president, Jack Carroll, who is running in the 39th Councilmanic District.

Nonetheless, Daly's exit is a boost for the Yassky campaign, and the aggressive newcomer will certainly make a strong play for her base. "Her being in the race has energized it and brought people into the process, and I think it will help people like me who share her goals," said Yassky. Attorney David Reiss said that with one fewer candidate in the race, voters will have more opportunity to focus on his message. "I believe that my emphasis of building New York for the next 100 years is going to be a message that really resonates," he said. Daly said that despite leaving the race, she will remain a player in a range of local issues as district leader. "I'm still going to work for the community," said Daly, who had recently picked up the support of State Senators Vincent Gentile and Velmanette Montgomery, as well as Assemblymember Joan Millman.

Of the four remaining candidates, she said, "They're all fine candidates. The fact of the matter is that one will become the councilperson, and the other three I hope will remain active." Green Party candidate Craig Seeman will run in the general election.

Republican Revolution A major challenge to the leadership of Republican County Chairman Arthur Bramwell is afoot, with the coup set for the county convention in September. A group calling itself Brooklyn Republicans United for New Leadership claims to have the support of the majority of district leaders in the borough, and is running a slate of candidates to challenge the others. The group is aiming to elect Herman "Hy" Singer, a district leader in the 45th Assembly District, as the new county chairman.

According to the group's spokesperson, Clorinda Annarummo, the group was formed by several district leaders who were disenchanted with Bramwell's leadership. "We've lost a Senate seat and we have not gained any new seats Many of the leaders felt it was time for new leadership," she said. "There's been such divisiveness in the Republican Party for so many years. We've just weakened our party and gotten nowhere. If we're going to do what's necessary for Governor Pataki next year, we've got to come together." Annarummo, who is president of the Edmund G. Seergy Republican Club and a candidate for district leader in the 46th AD, said that the group had the support of Councilmembers Marty Golden and James Oddo. "We'll have the majority of the county committee," she added.

Bramwell did not respond to a request for comment.

The Cold Shoulder? Some members of the Lambda Independent Democrats believe that Yvette Clarke, who is running for mother's 40th district Council seat, has a grudge against them for endorsing Rep. Major Owens last year. That feeling, according to one prominent Lambda member, was born out last week when Yvette Clarke did not show up to seek the group's endorsement in her own race.

"No one responded to us. No call backs, no anything," said the source, a bit miffed especially because Lambda backed Una Clarke early on in her career (as did Owens, and look what it got him). But Yvette Clarke said that she has no animosity toward Lambda. "I had no idea that they had already made endorsements in this district," she said. "It's probably just been my delay in reaching out to them, or them reaching out to me. I'm going to reach out to them because I don't want them to be under that impression [that she has a grudge against them]."

Ultimately, Lambda endorsed Alithia Ayleene, who is close to the Owens camp. Other candidates in the crowded race include Lola Poisson, Frances Purcell, Edward Roberts, Carl Thomas, Jean Vernet and Wellington Sharpe.

Party Pooper Faced with the prospect of a court battle, the Brooklyn Democratic Party repealed a rule requiring petition witnesses to live in the district in which they were petitioning. The rule was challenged in a lawsuit filed by several City Council candidates, who felt the residency requirement would put them at a disadvantage against the long reach of the county machine.

But Jeff Feldman, executive director of the county party, has said that the rule was designed to prevent "party raiding," which occurs when outsiders enter a district and support a candidate merely to rattle the local infrastructure, without any local support. Nonetheless, before a hearing on the matter in front of federal Judge Nina Gershon, party lawyers stated that the party had voluntarily repealed the rule.

But lead plaintiff David Yassky was a bit perturbed that he had to bring the suit after asking the party to repeal the rule for weeks. "A federal court had declared this rule unconstitutional, and that the [the county party] would have the chutzpah to try and reinstate a rule that a federal court had declared unconstitutional-it's the sort of thing that gives the Democratic Party a bad name," said Yassky. "The party's position was that the rule was at all times unenforceable, and consequently, it was of no particular importance whether to maintain it or to eliminate it, inasmuch as it was never effective for this election," said Feldman, who added that there is no contemplation "at the present time" for such a rule in the future.

The other candidate/plaintiffs in the suit are Steve Banks, Charles Barron, Jack Carroll, Bill de Blasio and David Reiss.

To The Hills There is a growing rumor that Senator Hillary Clinton will, at some point, play an active role in Bill de Blasio's City Council campaign. "Bill de Blasio says that Hillary is going to do something big for him, but he won't say what," said one breathless source. De Blasio, of course, was Clinton's campaign manager during her successful Senate bid. He is now running for Council in the 39th district.

De Blasio could not be reached for comment, perhaps because he is on the mend from a line of duty injury. While out canvassing recently in Park Slope, he slipped on the wet stairway of a brownstone and slammed into the iron gate, suffering a hairline fracture of his leg. He then hopped to the emergency room of New York Methodist Hospital.

De Blasio is the third candidate in the race to suffer bodily harm. Greg Atkins (who later dropped out) and Jack Carroll both had to have their appendix out. But so far State Senator Marty Markowitz, a candidate for borough president, still has the market cornered on bodily harm, as he suffered a shattered ankle this winter on an icy Albany parking lot, requiring surgery and several weeks of casted campaigning.

De Blasio is running in the primary against Paul Bader, Steve Banks, Carroll, Craig Hammerman and Anthony Pugliese. Gloria Mattera, a Green Party candidate, will run in the general election.

Borough Politics Archive
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