HYNES HENCHMAN ON POWER TRIP Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes's reelection hopes weren't helped by a June 22 Village Voice story about one of his prosecutors tossing a young woman in jail following a minor dispute over a subway pole. Hynes is supporting his prosecutor, 37-year-old Aaron Nottage, who claims that 23-year-old, 5-foot-2 horse riding instructor Eleanor Black provoked the incident by "verbally abusing people and pushing them off the center pole" of a Brooklyn-bound B train, a Hynes spokesman told the Voice.

Moments earlier, Black had been writing poetry before giving up her seat to an elderly Chinese lady. Even if we are to believe that she suddenly became a verbally abusive pole-hogger, it would hardly have merited Nottage's response, which was to grab her knapsack, pull her off the train at Church Avenue, slam her into a pillar, call the police, flash his badge, and insist that they arrest her and hold her overnight rather than issue the usual desk appearance ticket. Black, who had pulled Nottage's dreadlocks when he began yanking her off the train by her knapsack, spent 30 hours in jail and was taken to the hospital with dizziness. She was charged with assaulting an officer of the court and given a $1,000 bail. For the full story, see www.villagevoice.com/issues/0425/robbins1.php.

GREEN VEXED BY THE CLAP A fledgling group called Community Leadership for Accountable Politics (CLAP) is running candidates in Fort Greene and Prospect Heights, including Tammy Meadows against Roger Green and Daniel McCalla in the 57th A.D., and attorney Andre Soleil against State Senator Velmanette Montgomery.

Local politico James Caldwell, the president of the pro-development group BUILD, will manage the campaigns, our Steve Witt reported. Sources told us this prompted Green to think about coaxing anti-development candidate McCalla out of the race. Word from McCalla's camp was that Councilwoman Tish James, acting as Green's messenger, suggested McCalla withdraw because all he could do was split the vote. But McCalla's backers figure the vote will split to McCalla's benefit, with Green or Meadows dividing the pro-arena vote and McCalla riding the anti-arena vote to victory.

We tried to ask James about the race, but she said she'd been so busy at City Hall that she didn't even know who was running. We raised an eyebrow delivered our best look of disbelief, but this being a phone conversation, James didn't notice.

TISH WHEELS AND DEALS While Councilwoman Tish James's opposition to the proposed Nets arena has been unflinching (or obstinate, depending on your point of view), she is capable of a little old-fashioned political horse trading. In the case of the downtown Brooklyn redevelopment plan, which some of James's fans contend will Manhattanize the area, the councilwoman voted for it after wringing modifications and unrelated goodies from the mayor. The measure passed 47-0.

The rezoning plan has nothing to do with the Atlantic Yards site where the basketball arena is proposed. The two plans were separated after James warned that keeping them together would jeopardize both projects. In exchange for her support for the redevelopment plan, James got commitments for some new housing on Myrtle Avenue, $4.5 million to fix up a Vanderbilt Avenue development, promises for a thorough study of two Duffield Avenue homes that could be saved if their Underground Railroad participation can be documented, priority for available housing in CB 2 for some residents of dilapidated tenements, promises to preserve the Fulton Street commercial strip, money for capital projects in local parks, and a new median on Carlton Avenue between Park and Flushing. "Often times in this business it's about negotiating and making compromises," said James.

She still has some reservations about the plan, which could bring some 23-story office buildings, but said it would also help fill in "some dead zones on Flatbush Avenue that are ripe for development."

LORI PLUNKS PARKER Flatbush district leader Lori Citron Knipel, among the candidates who lost the 2002 State Senate race to Kevin Parker, told her fellow Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats members that Parker has not been responsive to her section of the district, which runs from Canarsie to Borough Park.

As a result, CBID did not endorse Parker for reelection even though he's being challenged by former Councilman Noach Dear, whom CBID despises. "Some people thought it was sour grapes," one CBID member said of Knipel's action. Parker agreed. "The bitterness is from Lori Knipel. Lori is still very upset that she lost the race," Parker said. "I've reached out to her on several occasions…but she continues to believe this is about just politics" rather than community service.

He added, "I would have loved to have had CBID's endorsement. But I won last time without it."

TWO STRAY FROM HERD: Councilman Simcha Felder cast one of only four votes to override the mayor's veto of the Equal Benefits Bill, which requires contractors doing business with the city to provide the same benefits to their employees' domestic partners as to employees' spouses. Felder, an Orthodox Jew, apparently feels the bill sanctions homosexuality, which he opposes on religious grounds. But some religious groups supported the bill, including the Greater New York Council of Reform Synagogues and the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The veto was overridden by a 41-4 vote.

One week earlier, Councilman David Yassky cast the only vote against a resolution by the Education Committee opposing the mayor's third grade promotion policy. "While there have been some serious problems with implementation, I believe the thrust of the policy is good," Yassky e-mailed his supporters. "I also believe that for the Council to simply condemn it without offering an alternative (other than the status quo) is just not responsible." Yassky was praised for his vote by a New York Post editorial on June 27.

HAITIAN CONFRONTATION Assembly candidate Michele Adolphe backed two failed campaigns of current Democratic primary opponent Zachary LaReche, but was not employed by them, Adolphe's campaign manager Rick Figaro told us to clarify an item in last week's column. "She has supported LaReche as a Haitian-American candidate twice, but not worked on the campaigns," Figaro said.

Figaro seemed optimistic that LaReche wouldn't make the 2004 ballot and split the vote with Adolphe, ensuring Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs's reelection. "LaReche has run two campaigns that have gone nowhere. We have no reason to believe he'll go anywhere this time," Figaro said, referring to LaReche's failures to make the ballot. Of course, this time Jacobs won't try to knock LaReche off the ballot. But Adolphe likely will.

B'HURST TICKET WAR In Bensonhurst, livid motorists are demanding traffic agents not ticket them for double-parking and parking at hydrants and no-parking zones. Their cries are echoed by Councilmen Domenic Recchia and Vinny Gentile, State Senator Marty Golden, Assemblymen Frank Seddio and Bill Colton, and former Assemblyman Frank Barbaro, who complained about people getting $115 tickets while buying a loaf of bread. Funny. Why did we think hydrants were for firefighters, not shoppers?

Meanwhile, people and politicians in the white neighborhoods around Kings Plaza want more traffic tickets issued-not to them, of course, but to dollar vans, which cater to minorities. It's an interesting contrast. Of course, racism has nothing to do with it.

KELVIN CRIES FOUL Democratic State Senate candidate Kelvin Alexander rejected our suggestion that his failure to interview for the Working Families Party's endorsement (which went to Diane Savino) was evidence of a disorganized campaign. "They did not call me. They conspired, because Diane Savino is on their board, not to offer me an interview," Alexander said. "They said they didn't know I was running. But Diane Savino is part of their board. She knew I was running. Why didn't she let them know I was running?"

We noted that he can't rely on his opponent to arrange his interviews. "I wasn't depending on anybody to make sure I got the interview," Alexander replied. "I did not know that they had interviews for their party line." Disorganized? You decide.

Savino, a WFP executive committee member, said, "We reached out to all the candidates. He did not bother to respond." We asked, How did the party reach out? Savino said a notice appeared in the Staten Island Advance's political column. But the author of that column, Tom Wrobleski, told us he received no such notification from the WFP. Whatever the case, Alexander still should have contacted the party if he wanted an interview, Savino said. "If you're a candidate and you want to be screened by a party or a club, it's incumbent upon the candidate to call," she said.

The WFP endorsement could be important. If Savino wins the Democratic primary, she would have two ballot lines in the general election against Republican Al Curtis. If Alexander wins the primary, Savino would draw precious votes from him on the WFP line.

BKLYNITE JOINS SENATE RACE In the race to replace State Senator Seymour Lachman, a third Democratic candidate has emerged: Cole Ettman, who managed Susan Lasher's 2002 campaign to a near upset of Assemblywoman Adele Cohen. Ettman, from Sea Gate, is the only Brooklynite in a race in which most of the votes figure to come from Brooklyn. He's also the only Jew in the race. But he figures to be severely outspent and outmanned by the other candidates, who live in the Staten Island portion of the district: Democrats Diane Savino and Kelvin Alexander and Republican Al Curtis.

At 27, Ettman is also much younger than his competitors. But he notes that he's older than Anthony Weiner and Chuck Schumer were when they were first elected. Savino is the choice of the Democratic county organizations in Brooklyn and Staten Island and is likely to get foot soldiers from several unions as well. "She's the party candidate," Ettman said, casting Savino as an arm of the Democratic machine. "I'm running as an independent Democrat."

Also up for grabs is the black vote in Coney Island. There were unconfirmed reports of a male black candidate from Coney Island. We imagine Ettman, whose great-grandparents came from Odessa, will do well among Russians, who provided much of Lasher's support two years ago. It will take much more than the Russian vote for the first-time candidate to win, however. Ettman, who was deputy chief of staff for Councilman Howard Lasher, now works for the Council for Unity, the non-profit from which City Councilman Domenic Recchia hails. Ettman ran Mark Davidovich's successful 2002 district leader campaign.

Let's see: Weiner, Schumer, Recchia, Lasher, and Davidovich. That's five elected officials whom Ettman managed to associate himself with in just a 10-minute interview. Pretty good name-dropping.

SUN'S LOUIS RISES TO NEWS Political columnist Errol Louis has left the New York Sun, where he'd been since its launch in April 2002, for a similar position at the Daily News, whose circulation of 750,000 is about 14 times larger. Louis, of Crown Heights, ran for City Council in 1997, finishing second in the Democratic primary to Mary Pinkett and ahead of James Davis. Last year, he wrote both of their obituaries.

The Sun, incidentally, is still losing money (as all young newspapers do) but is reportedly growing ahead of initial projections. Its wealthy investors just ponied up another $35 million after the paper burned through its first $20 million.

TIDBITS State Senate Minority Leader David Paterson will focus the Democrats' effort on taking three Republican seats this year, The New York Times reported. That will mean less money for the Democratic nominee in the 23rd Senate District, from which Seymour Lachman is retiring. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Republicans are hoping Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno will pour money into Al Curtis's bid in the 23rd as he did for Marty Golden in 2002. Bruno has told Curtis the race is his top priority this election season. But given the Republicans' 38-24 edge in Senate seats, their strategy might be to defend what they have rather than divert resources to Curtis's race…

Sam Sloan, who was first welcomed and then rejected by Republican Party officials, has now set his sights on being an Independence Party candidate-but he is getting a similarly icy reception from Bob Conroy, the party's Brooklyn leader. Sloan, a white guy from Virginia now living in East New York, believes he can beat Rep. Ed Towns in a heavily black, Democratic district. The men in the white suits should be along any minute now. Sloan is registered to vote but has no party affiliation. He's what political people call a registered blank, so he needs formal approval to get a party's line-a proviso he's challenging in court…

This year's primary election comes a day before Rosh Hashana begins, so many Jews will be traveling or otherwise preparing to celebrate the new year rather than voting. That's bad news for Noach Dear, trying to unseat State Senator Kevin Parker.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

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2001
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2000
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1999
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