LAMBDA NON è PERFETTO, RALPH SAYS Just a couple of years ago, Democratic district leader Ralph Perfetto and the gay political club Lambda Independent Democrats were on excellent terms. Perfetto supported Lambda's causes, and the club-glad to have an ally in conservative Bay Ridge-supported his campaigns. But things began to fall apart when Perfetto arrived at Lambda's 2002 endorsement meeting and refused to make his presentation with his opponent in the audience. The meeting "was in the backyard of a restaurant with just a few people," Perfetto recalled. "A few years ago they would call that a kangaroo court."

Perfetto, known for his strong convictions and stubbornness, said the club is no longer guided primarily by its ideology. "Lambda plays the politics. They'll listen to influence from legislators. That's how they make their policies," he said.

As an example, Perfetto cited Lambda's endorsement of openly gay Manhattan legislator Tom Duane over Rep. Jerry Nadler a few years ago. "Jerry Nadler on gay and lesbian issues is perfect on the record. And yet they voted for Tom Duane," Perfetto said. Perfetto said the same could happen to him. "If a gay candidate wants to run against me tomorrow, everything I've done for you goes down the drain," he said. "To me, that's discrimination." He concluded, "When Lambda becomes the ideological club it used to be, I will go back."

Former Lambda President Alan Fleishman, who got into a physical altercation with Perfetto last year, responded, "I guess we at L.I.D. just don't meet Ralph's pugilistic expectations. When Ralph wishes to rejoin the progressive wing of the party he is welcome to come back, but only with his boxing gloves off."

YASSKY SEAT EYED Bob Zuckerman has started to raise money-over $10,000 so far-for a possible run for City Council in 2005, in the event that David Yassky does not seek reelection. Zuckerman had told another openly gay white male potential candidate from Park Slope, Democratic district leader Alan Fleishman, that he'd call to set up a meeting about the likelihood that they's split the vote if they both ran. But Zuckerman never called.

This is good news for Isaac Abraham, a Hasidic activist and likely candidate from the Williamsburg end of the district, which runs through Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, and Park Slope. Abraham considered running in 2001, when Councilman Ken Fisher vacated the seat. "I decided not to do that because Steve Cohn, a good friend, submitted his name," Abraham said. "I decided not to act as a spoiler." Cohn thus received a unified Hasidic vote, but still finished second to Yassky.

Abraham, who runs a hardware store on Coney Island Avenue in Kensington, has been setting up meetings with Democratic leaders to pave the way for a campaign in 2005, should Yassky run for district attorney instead. Abraham said he expected to reach a decision before the Jewish holidays in September.

OH DEAR, SOMEONE'S FIBBING A Republican district leader told us that in 2002, Noach Dear cut a deal with Governor George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno to give Dear a Wilson-Pakula to run on the Republican line because "they thought he had a shot" to beat Democratic nominee Kevin Parker. But Brooklyn party leaders objected and killed the arrangement, the district leader said. "We realized that number one, he didn't have a shot, and number two, he's an embarrassment," the district leader explained. "We blew him off the line."

Nonsense, said Dear's 2004 campaign manager, John McLoughlin, via e-mail. "Noach did not talk to the Republicans about the line. His intention then, as it is now, is to run and win as a Democrat. By the way, Noach has never supported the governor."

McLoughlin added, "Noach spent 19 years in the City Council as a Democrat. He's been a registered Democrat since he started voting. He was a supporter of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, raising money for their campaigns and for the Democratic Party. How much more of a Democrat can he be?"

Well, a little bit more, actually. Dear did run for Congress on the Republican and Conservative party lines in 2000, garnering 32 percent of the vote against Anthony Weiner's 68. Dear actually did better as a Republican-Conservative than he did as a Democrat in the 2000 primary, when he got just 26 percent against Weiner's 74.

ANN ENGLISH DIES Former Sunset Park/Windsor Terrace Democratic district leader Ann English, a factor in Brooklyn politics during the early 1990s, died last week. By one observer's recollection, English became a district leader in 1990 and soon thereafter cast the deciding vote to make Assemblyman Clarence Norman, rather than Michael Garson, the Democratic county leader. English was rewarded with the deputy leader post.

English ran unsuccessfully against then State Senator Chris Mega in 1988, but it was her subsequent campaign for City Council that gained her notoriety. In a race she lost to Joan McCabe, it came to light that rent checks from English's tenants had been deposited into her campaign fund and submitted to the Campaign Finance Board to be matched by public dollars, sources recalled.

Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes was alerted to the case by the CFB and, since he was an associate of English, referred it to a special prosecutor who won the first conviction related to the new campaign finance law. English ultimately paid back all the matching funds she got (not just the money she didn't deserve) and another $8,000 on top of it when the CFB sued her. English later had a falling out with Brooklyn Democratic leaders and became active in Republican politics, sources said.

MONEY MATTERS When things get slow on the local news front, as often happens during the summer, the personal finances of politicians always make for a good story. And so the New York Sun looked through financial disclosure forms and published an article on the stock holdings and credit card debt of City Councilmembers. Duty obligates us to convey the paper's findings. Among the top debtors was Vinny Gentile, who reported owing a total of between $25,000 and $75,000 on five credit cards; Gentile partly blamed the withholding of his State Senate salary in the summer of 2002, even though he received back pay after a state budget was finally approved.

Kendall Stewart listed between $11,000 and $75,000 owed on three credit cards, which might prove what Stewart told us last year-that while he owns a number of properties, he's not as wealthy as some think. Bill de Blasio owes between $5,000 and $35,000 on one card, which surprised us because the councilman's children attend public school and he recently earned about $50,000 from John Edwards's presidential campaign in addition to his $90,000-plus Council salary.

Domenic Recchia listed a debt of $10,000 to $70,000 on two cards, despite earning more than $100,000 practicing law. Also on the Sun's debtor list were Mike Nelson ($5,000 to $35,000), and Tish James ($6,000 to $40,000, two cards). In better shape were Lew Fidler and David Yassky, who both listed securities portfolios worth at least $100,000. Fidler earned between $85,000 and $225,000 practicing law part-time at a Long Island firm.

TWO CENTS ON DOLLAR VANS Some readers didn't appreciate our column item comparing dollar van gripes with complaints about parking tickets in Bensonhurst. Noting the contrast between one neighborhood's calls for more summonses for dollar vans (which cater to minorities) and another's calls for fewer summonses for (mostly white) motorists, we had commented, "Of course, racism has nothing to do with it." That prompted a flood of calls to our editor from residents of East 52nd Street near Kings Plaza, including block association president Ed Evans, who requested "a retraction." Evans, as well as another caller who didn't identify himself, said racism wasn't motivating their block's demands because half of its residents are minorities.

Ah, we understand-minorities' views of other minorities are never influenced by race. Right? Putting that issue aside, we weren't accusing Flatlands residents of racism. We were simply noting the contrast between calls for more tickets of one kind and less of another and the different races of the people receiving those tickets. We have no doubt that dollar vans contribute to the incidence of speeding and public urination, and that more enforcement is needed.

The most reasonable response to our column came from Maryann Oliva, who wrote, "I live in the immediate Kings Plaza area. This is not a white neighborhood and dollar vans should be ticketed when they deserve it. All residents regardless of their race are speaking out against the loss of our quality of life because of dollar vans. Why don't you come by on the weekend and see dollar vans in full operation. Check them out in the bus stop at Avenue U and Flatbush, listen to their horns and shouting out 'Flatbush! Utica!' Watch them speed down the side streets, block those corners with complete disregard for the cars behind them, watch the passengers and drivers urinate in the street and litter as they pass by." She added, "People who violate the law deserve to get tickets if they are in Bensonhurst or Kings Plaza." We couldn't agree more.

East 52nd Street residents are now taking turns manning a barricade (with police permission) to stop dollar vans from using their block on weekends. It is, needless to say, highly unusual for private citizens to control access to a public street. Surely there's a better way to spend a weekend than sitting by a barricade. We suspect speed humps would go a long way toward solving the problem of dollar vans on side streets.

TIDBITS We previously reported that State Senator Kevin Parker has been sending birthday cards to select constituents, at taxpayer expense. Now we hear State Senator Carl Andrews is doing it, too. Warren Miner, the corresponding secretary of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, reported in the CBID newsletter that he'd received a taxpayer-funded birthday card from Andrews. "It was postmarked in Albany with his state office postage machine. Hmmm," Miner wrote…

The Green Party is running David McReynolds, 74, of Manhattan, against Senator Chuck Schumer. The focus of the Greens' campaign will be Schumer's support for the war in Iraq. McReynolds is also calling for the removal of Israel's so-called security wall and an end to the death penalty and the Patriot Act. Schumer has long supported the death penalty, the Patriot Act, and the Israeli government's decisions, which many believe have been counterproductive. Helping to run the Green campaign is the party's state co-chairwoman, Gloria Mattera, who ran against Councilman Bill de Blasio last year…

Assemblyman Jim Brennan has raised over $100,000 to run for city comptroller, which he would do if incumbent Billy Thompson abandons his seat for a shot at becoming mayor. A Brennan press release said he's now focusing on "broadening his support" in the other four boroughs. Broadening? How about creating…

Correction: An item in the July 5 column properly explained Councilman Simcha Felder's opposition to the Equal Benefits Bill but inadvertently reported that he voted to override the mayor's veto. Felder cast one of the four votes against overriding the veto…

Precious little talk is heard about anyone challenging Borough President Marty Markowitz in 2005, when he'll run for a second and final term. But Markowitz is taking no chances. He's raised $919,662 for his campaign fund. The other four borough presidents have combined to raise $1.4 million. Among city candidates, only mayoral hopefuls Freddy Ferrer, Gifford Miller, and Billy Thompson have raised more…

Brooklyn district attorney candidate Mark Peters sent out a press release reporting that he'd raised over $300,000 since January for his campaign, which he noted is an impressive sum for someone who doesn't hold elected office. Days later, potential rival David Yassky announced he'd raised $340,000 in the last six months, bringing the councilman's total to nearly $600,000. If you listen closely, you can hear State Senator John Sampson chuckling. A splintered white vote would bode well for him…

Councilwoman Tracy Boyland couldn't have been happy to read this at the end of a New York Times article on her campaign for Congress: "Earlier this year, Ms. Boyland said she had raised more than $140,000 for the House race. But yesterday, a spokesman for her campaign said that she had raised about $106,000." The article didn't mention that Boyland had to return many contributions because they came from corporations, which are prohibited from donating to congressional candidates…

At least one observer doesn't think it inconsistent that Assemblyman Clarence Norman is supporting Maxine Archer for Civil Court judge while Norman's ally State Senator Carl Andrews is backing Bernie Graham. By our source's logic, the purpose of Archer's candidacy is to siphon black votes from Ingrid Joseph, thus aiding Graham's chances. Archer began collecting signatures halfway through the petitioning period, arousing suspicion that she's running to split the vote rather than win it…

The reform club Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats endorsed Sunset Park's Felix Ortiz for reelection to the Assembly but not to the Democratic state committee. The club believes elected officials should not also serve as district leaders…

New York State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long of Bay Ridge has been pressuring legislators to "protect the institution of marriage" by denying same-sex couples the right to wed. Long, a highly ethical man who sells liquor for a living, might have forgotten that for most of its history, marriage has been an institution in which teenagers who don't know each other are betrothed by their parents for financial purposes. In many parts of the world, it still works that way.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

2004
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2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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