CONNOR CONSIDERING COUP? Whispers are circulating that state Senator Marty Connor is so upset with Assemblyman Clarence Norman, the Democratic county leader, that Connor is plotting to overthrow him-just as Connor was overthrown as senate minority leader last month. Connor is "furious," one source said, because Norman couldn't stop even one member of Brooklyn's Democratic senate delegation from defecting as Connor tried in vain to retain his leadership. "The word is Connor feels Clarence did nothing for him." According to the rumor, Connor was initially interested in taking on Norman himself, but ran into a technical roadblock: one must be a Democratic district leader to run for county leader.

Two sources told us Connor asked Bay Ridge's Ralph Perfetto to challenge Norman, but Perfetto said the senator hadn't raised the subject. "Marty and I are friends. We've had a couple of conversations, but we really didn't touch on that," Perfetto said. We don't see how a coup could happen any time soon, since Norman was reelected in September to a two-year term as county leader. Besides, one Democrat said, "Ralph is not going to do it anyway. Nice guy, but Ralph doesn't have the heart."

Lack of heart is not the problem so much as lack of votes. Perfetto, or any other potential candidate, would want to be reasonably assured of rounding up at least 21 votes from Brooklyn's 40 district leaders before sticking his neck out too far. Connor could not immediately be reached for comment. Connor's spokeswoman, Sue Gold, said she knew nothing of the rumored plot. Perfetto is far from the most viable potential candidate against Norman. What about Rep. Ed Towns, the Bushwick district leader? There was talk of him challenging Norman three months ago, but after reportedly putting out some feelers he decided against it.

"I think he left a sour taste in some people's mouths when he didn't run the first time," one insider said. "There were some people who went out on a limb for Ed Towns. He might have cried wolf one time too many." What about Councilman James Davis, the male district leader in Fort Greene and Prospect Heights? "If I lost my reelection for council (in 2003), I'd make a great county leader," Davis told us, noting that the City Charter prevents councilmembers from also being county leader. (Davis's suggestion that he could be county leader is a not-so-subtle message to Norman not to run Tish James against Davis in the next council race.) "Lew Fidler, Al Vann, Diane Reyna-there are a lot of qualified individuals, but we're all in the same boat," Davis added, naming three district leaders who have council seats.

TOWNS AND THE TOBACCO PAYOFF We previously wrote about fire-safe cigarettes legislation that Rep. Ed Towns had introduced, allegedly at the behest of the tobacco industry, which opposes a harsher and potentially more effective House bill written by Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Common Cause has since released a analysis of tobacco legislation and the campaign contributions the industry bestows upon members of Congress. Not surprisingly, money flowed to those who did the tobacco industry's bidding, and Towns's bill was a perfect example.

The 16 sponsors of Markey's bill have received an average of $62 each in tobacco cash since 1999, compared to $13,323 each for the 14 sponsors of Towns's bill. In total, Towns bill sponsors have reaped $186,524 in tobacco cash, while Markey bill sponsors got $1,000. Towns, who's received $30,000 from tobacco PACs for his 1996, 1998, and 2000 reelection campaigns, contends that his bill is preferable because its rival could be impossible for tobacco companies to comply with and thus put them out of business.

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING POL It took no small amount of courage for Rep. Jerry Nadler to spill his guts to The New York Times about his obesity and recent effort to address it through stomach-reduction surgery. We can almost forgive Nadler for giving the scoop to the Times rather than his favorite Brooklyn political column. Almost. But we'll still give Nadler our Cheer of the Week.

Among the revelations in the article was that Nadler has made numerous unsuccessful efforts to reduce his weight, some of them (a month at Duke University's weight-loss center) smarter than others (a liquid diet, fen-phen). The underlying problem, it seems from the story, was the congressman's inability to control his eating, notably lots of fatty meals-for example, salad, soup, a 14-ounce steak, fries, veggies, buttered bread, and dessert.

Nadler also snacked constantly, and not on carrot sticks, but Oreos, Fig Newtons, hot dogs, tuna salad, and chicken salad sandwiches. The result was well over 300 pounds on a 5-foot-4 frame. Disordered eating can be a powerful affliction, often genetically influenced (Nadler's identical twin is also obese), and difficult to overcome. Surgery to shrink the stomach and small intestine does the trick by reducing hunger and physically preventing overconsumption.

But high risks make it a last resort. Nadler survived the procedure, which kills one in 200 patients, but will be susceptible to complications (which can be fatal) for the rest of his life. However, his life will likely be longer if he's slimmer, which he already is by about 60 pounds. Another hundred and he'll be near his target weight of 160 pounds. We'll be rooting for him.

PARK MOTORIST BLOWS GASKET In a recent letter to the editor, one driver asserted that Prospect Park should remain open to vehicles because she can zip through it at 4 p.m. in five minutes, compared to 25 minutes to drive around it. Wait a moment-25 minutes to drive from Grand Army Plaza to Ocean Parkway? You could get all the way to Coney Island in that amount of time. The writer also argued that the park is "public" and "that means for everyone," including drivers. By that definition of "public," monster trucks should be allowed to rampage across Long Meadow and demolition derbies could be held on the baseball diamonds at 9th Street.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art is public. Should cars be allowed inside? What about in public libraries? Drivers might be able to save a few minutes by going right through them. We could carve out a lane where the card catalogs used to be. What about sidewalks? They're public, too, and would offer a much faster route for cars when streets are congested.

While we're at it, let's allow Jet-Skis in public pools, which currently are reserved for selfish swimmers, and welcome bicycles and skateboards in public playgrounds, currently hogged up by greedy toddlers.

A PROTEST OF ONE It's doubtful any Brooklyn Democrat was happy about an 18 percent property-tax increase, but only one councilman-James E. Davis of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill-voted against it. That'll give him something to campaign on next year, but he could also face retribution from Council Speaker Gifford Miller for straying from the herd. Miller could nix the committee chairmanship Davis has been expecting. "It was made very clear that there may be some personal repercussions and retaliations," Davis said. "But I'm not one who will fall to threats or intimidation." Denying him a committee would be a "Mafioso" tactic by Miller, the councilman added. "If he takes things off the table because I made a vote of my conscience, he's no different from a godfather," Davis said.

While punishment for dissenting votes might seem harsh, Miller needed to get the tax hike passed to help offset the huge budget deficit and show good faith to the state Legislature, which the city is asking to approve much larger tax increases. Had Miller left councilmembers to their own devices, they might have rejected the measure and edged the city toward a financial abyss. By reducing the mayor's proposed 25 percent hike and discouraging dissent, Miller gave councilmembers political cover to vote yes.

But Davis said 18 percent is still too high and exacerbates an unfair system, since co-ops and condos have much higher tax bills than single-family homes, relative to market value. He also said income-tax hikes for rich people and stock-transfer taxes should have been passed first by the state. "I stood up for the condo owners and co-op owners and home owners in my district," Davis said. "I was not intimidated by the peer pressure and the political pressure of the speaker." But you can bet Davis's fellow Democrats didn't appreciate his vote.

Davis's popularity among his colleagues could be tested if, as expected, he tries to become chairman of the council's Black and Hispanic Caucus. Another potential candidate from Brooklyn is Charles Barron.

GELLER ON WHY HE SHUNNED DEMS We sent Democratic district leader Mike Geller of Sheepshead Bay a Village Voice article about the Pataki administration's paroles-for-sale scandal, just to needle Geller about his endorsement of the Republican governor, and were surprised to receive a written reply. He said the article gave him pause, but added, "I wish I could hear the governor's side of the story." Moreover, Geller noted that it was written by Wayne Barrett, who Geller wrote "isn't exactly a beacon of fair and unbiased reporting…I saw how he abused Leon Goldstein."

Goldstein, the late president of Kingsborough Community College, where Geller works, was Rudy Giuliani's choice for schools chancellor in 1995 only to be humiliated by allegations of résumé enhancement. Goldstein was highly respected, but he wasn't able to explain away the accusations-which, incidentally, were reported by every major New York newspaper, not just the Voice.

Goldstein also improperly used Kingsborough stationery to promote the controversial, politically connected Brighton by the Sea development, which was never built. Goldstein was also accused of dispensing political patronage at Kingsborough, though an investigation by Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes cleared him.

Geller went on to explain why he rejected Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall. Cuomo, he wrote, had a friend of Geller's fired from the city's Children's Services agency because the employee was trying to collect from a deadbeat dad connected to Cuomo. Cuomo, then Bill Clinton's housing secretary, called Geller's friend himself and said if he didn't back off there would be "consequences." The friend refused. "An hour later the head of the division told him to pack his bags," Geller wrote. "So much for Cuomo." We have no reason to disbelieve this account, but did Geller seek Cuomo's side of the story? That might be necessary for a "fair and unbiased" endorsement process.

As for McCall, Geller said a Hispanic friend who worked for Giuliani and dealt with McCall "told me McCall was the most racist individual she had ever met" and "it was understood that the only people who would ever get a promotion from the comptroller were blacks." Wrote Geller, "I believed her, and that turned me off to Carl." Once again, it doesn't seem that Geller attempted to get McCall's side of the story, nor did he look into the racial makeup of the comptroller's senior staff for any evidence of the alleged blacks-only promotion policy.

We'd add that McCall's accuser worked for Giuliani, who hates McCall, perhaps because of McCall's hard-hitting reports of financial mismanagement by Giuliani. So Geller's friend might not have been "a beacon of fair and unbiased reporting." Geller, of course, has every right to endorse whomever he chooses, and his refusal to reflexively endorse Democrats indicates his desire to not be seen as "a phony or a hack." But his endorsements would have more credibility if he applied the same standards of investigation to candidates as he demands of the Village Voice.

KRUGER AVERTS PURGATORY The wresting of the Senate minority leadership from Marty Connor removed the immediate threat to Senator Carl Kruger's membership in the Democratic conference. But there were conflicting accounts of what will happen next. Kruger told us the expulsion issue was dead, but senator-elect Kevin Parker said he was told the conference would look into the matter. Indeed it will, according to an Associated Press article in which the new minority leader, Senator David Paterson, said, "We're going to let Senator Kruger talk to us. We're going to let Senator Connor, because he was the leader at that time, and anyone else, talk to us... We're going to have a process, a due process, and decide what to do with Senator Kruger."

Our guess is Kruger will survive. Working in his favor is that the caucus's bylaws make no provision for removing a member, Kruger said. "Any elected Democrat is automatically a member of the Democratic conference," Kruger said. He said Connor's effort to expel him, stemming from Kruger endorsing Republican Marty Golden over Senator Vinny Gentile, was intended to divert people's attention from Connor's own failures. "I would dare say that three-quarters of the conference at one point has endorsed or supported non party members for various positions," said Kruger. Connor's point was that Kruger went a step further by opposing his fellow conference member.

Paterson said any conference member who endorses a Republican in a major race will be denied a leadership position in the conference. He stashed Kruger on something called the "Intraconference Relations Committee." Fallout from Kruger's fling with the Republicans will continue, one elected Democrat told us. "When you lay down with dogs," the official said, "it takes a while to get the fleas off you."

TOWERS UP IN AIR The Bay Ridge Towers, two huge apartment buildings on 65th Street, will be a major factor in determining whether a Democrat or Republican will represent the neighborhood in the City Council for the next decade. Residents of the towers tend to vote for Democrats, but haven't been able to vote for Bay Ridge candidates for ages because the towers are in the Sunset Park-based 38th Council District. That helped Republican Marty Golden win the seat in Bay Ridge's 43rd.

The district lines are now being redrawn. The new lines won't be in place in time for the special election to replace Golden, who's moving to the state Senate, but will take effect for the primary and general elections next fall. "I've been lobbying for the towers to be included in the new council district," said Democratic district leader Joanne Seminara, a two-time candidate who will run again in February's special election. Towers residents have long wanted to vote in Bay Ridge elections, she said. "Issue-wise and service-wise, they believe they should be part of Bay Ridge, and I agree," said Seminara.

Coincidentally, one of the 15 members of the districting commission that's drawing the new lines is former School Board 20 President Charles Capetanakis, a Republican who may run for the council seat. As a potential candidate, he's essentially stopped taking part in redistricting. Expect him to resign from the commission if he decides to run.

Borough Politics Archive

2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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