CB4 DM Nadine Whitted and Chair Julie Dent. — Photo by Aaron Short
It’s not by-the-minute this month, but Aaron recaps the highlights from the Sept. 09 CB4 meeting and gives us an update on political gossip.
Lost in the commotion of the competitive Democratic Primary was Community Board Four‘s September meeting, the first of the new school year. There was little on the agenda but lots of announcements, and only one elected office sent a representative to the meeting that is usually full of staffers.
That representative was an exhausted yet triumphant Diana Reyna, the Democratic nominee for City Council. A weekend recount from two counties’ Boards of Elections certified her margin of victory over Democratic District Leader Maritza Davila at 251 votes. Reyna’s attorney said that Davila would not be challenging the results in court and while Davila remains on the ballot in November on the Working Families Party line, a WFP spokesperson said that Davila’s campaign has not been in touch with their office regarding coordinated campaign efforts.
Why did Diana win? Laura Braslow of Arts in Bushwick notes turnout from the artist community that is slowly moving into Bushwick, but those demographics are difficult to track. The council district is still over 80 percent Latino. In the 53rd Assembly District (Vito Lopez’s district), Davila beat Reyna by 200 votes, but Reyna made up the difference in pockets of other assembly districts like parts of Ridgewood, Bed-Stuy, and Wiliamsburg).
The most significant of these outlier districts was Ridgewood, where Reyna worked with freshman State Senator Joseph Addabbo to set up a satellite campaign office to secure votes in Queens. In Ridgewood election Districts, Reyna picked up over 70 extra votes, accounting for her margin. A source close to the Davila campaign said that many Kings Country rank and file workers were rankled that Queens Democratic Party workers were supporting Reyna and questioned why Addabbo was getting involved in a Brooklyn race.
"It’s not uncommon to help out friends and fellow colleagues," said Addabbo, who as a councilmember representing Ridgewood, worked with Reyna on the Council’s Transportation Committee. "She is an accepted member of the Queens delegation and she fought to be in the Queens delegation. When I believe in someone, I work for them. My support of Diana had nothing to do with Kings County or Vito [Lopez] helping Seraph Maltese [Addabbo's 2008 Republican Senate opponent]. It had to do with Diana Reyna."
Reyna was greeted warmly at the Community Board meeting by its officers and the board. With her young son at her feet, she thanked CB 4 members and briefly laid out a policy agenda for her third term. She encouraged members to seek out organizations like the Bushwick Food Coop that promote sustainability, and highlighted other resources that are available to Bushwick residents. The council’s work for the year is not over and Reyna will have key roles in the Broadway Triangle rezoning hearing and jostling for several open committee chairmanships, now that Queens colleagues David Weprin (Finance), Melinda Katz (Land Use), and David Yassky (Small Business) will not be returning to City Hall.
CB4 Chair Julie Dent gave her chair report, which noted the resignation of long-time board member Ruby Clinkscale and a restructuring of community board committees. Other notable news is that the Bushwick Playground (Knickerbocker and Putnam Avenues) will be reconstructed to include new equipment for toddlers and pre-teens, benches, and a sitting area, plus basketball courts with new pavement and blackboards, a spray shower and garden areas. Councilmember Erik Dilan secured $200,000 for the palyground’s comfort station and work on the project is expected to be finished by Spring 2010.
CB4 District Manager Nadine Whitted gave her report, which focused on new committee assignments. Superstar members Austen Martinez (Parks), Elvena Davis (Civic and Religion), Martha Brown (Housing and Land Use), Virgie Jones (Youth and Education) and Barbara Smith (Public Safety) are all back in the saddle and ready to ride. Of note, there’s a Health and Hospital Committee, of which Deborah Brown is the new chair.
About the announcements. There were a lot. Let’s go over the highlights.
*The NYC Department of Health has a fact sheet on H1N1 Swine Flu, now that flu season is beginning. St. Brigid’s School did shut down briefly earlier this summer for a flu scare. What do you need to know? Cover your mouth and sneeze, wash your hands often, don’t get too close to people who are sick. Flu shots are also available and call 1-800-543-3638 for questions about the flue or visit www.nyc.gov/flu.
*The Bridge Street Development Corporation had a Make Your Home Affordable Resource Expo, which will talk about weatherization, foreclosure prevention, and budgeting. There’s also a foreclosure webinar sponsored by Bridge Street Development Corporation on Wednesday October 14 from 7-8:30 PM. The Expo passed, but for counseling and info on the webinar, call 718-636-7596 (ext 14) or email info@bsdcorp.org. They’re at Nostrand and Jefferson Avenues.
*Lourdes Academy High School (2-12 Aberdeen Street) is accepting 9th and 10th grade applications for the 2010-2011 School Year. They had an open house on September 23rd, but there’s another event on September 30 from 3:30-5:30 PM inviting teachers and community members to learn more about their curriculum and work-study program. Call 718-455-3555 for more info.
*Citizens Committee for New York City announced its New Yorkers For Better Neighbors Grant Application to volunteer-led groups with community improvement projects. The grants range from $500 to $3,000 and the applications are due on September 30. For more information, visit www.citizensnyc.org/grants, or call 212-989-0909 or email grants@citizensnyc.org.
*Finally, TONIGHT, there’s a Foster Parent Recruitment event from 5:30 PM to 11 PM at Lindsay Park Community Center, 25 Boerum Street. Want to become a foster parent? Come check it out or call 347-785-0603.
John Dereszewski September 25th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Thanks Aaron for the article. I guess just about everyone was “campaigned out” last Wednesday. Even the Times Newsweekly did not send a reporter to this meeting.
With regards to your assessment of the Queens vote in the Reyna/Davila election, I beg to disagree. This was essentially a tale of two Assembly Districts (AD’s). The 37th, which abuts the northern segment of the borough boundary, is represented by Assemblywoman Nolan, who has never seen eye to eye with Vito. In addition, much of the political and community leadership of this area has resented the incursions that Vito – and the Ridgewood-Bushwick Council – have made in their area. Thus, this election provided an opportunity for these interests to express their opposition to Vito – and this produced a 310 to 159 landslide for Reyna.
The other Queens district involved in the mix – the 38th, which abuts the southern portion of Bushwick – was, until recently, represented by disgraced former Assemblyman – and future convict – Tony Semminario, who was a great friend of Vito. Thus, is was not surprising that Tony’s remaining minions surported Vito’s favored candidate and produced a 200/126 victory for Davila.
All told, Reyna won Queens by a modest 80 votes, in a very low turnout. (Diana did sweep the other Queens AD by a whopping 3/0 margin.) So, while Ridgewood did somewhat buffer Reyna’s lead, it was not that decisive of a factor.
If I were to identify the three areas – in addition to the “hipster” vote noted by Laura – that really pushed Reyna ahead, I would cite: (1) Coooper Park Houses; (2) Italian Williamsburg; and (3) old Bowronsvile, that sliver of Bushwick between Broadway and Bushwick Ave.
Not only did Reyna win Cooper Park by a whopping 237/104 margin, she did so while faring poorly in all of the district’s other public housing projects. (She was especially clobbered in Bushwick-Hylan houses. Reyna also ran poorly in Mitchell-Lama Lindsay Perk and was crushed in Rheingold Gardens.)If Cooper Park had followed this lead, Reyna’s victory margin would has disappeared. But this did not occur. Clearly, whoever ran Reyna’s Cooper Park operation deserves a Gold Medal.
In Italian Williamsburg, Reyna needed to maintain a healthy margin over Davila and not see it seriously eroded due to a strong Gerry Esposito vote. But many of the local voters opted to support Reyna – and oppose Vito – and consequently provided Reyna with a very healthy 470 to 117 margin over her principal rival. (Esposito did receive 351 votes in this area.)
While Davila did take the Bushwick portion of Vito’s AD by a healthy margin and narrowly lost the 54th AD to Reyna, Diana really kicked ass in the Bushwick Ave./Boardway sliver. Overall, she beat Davila there by a 260 to 148 margin. She especially did well in the blocks situated in the 56th AD – roughly between Willoughby and Gates – where her victory margin was 155 to 69.
So, I hope this helps add to our knowledge of this very interesting election.
Nast September 25th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Yes. Great breakdown JD.
Aaron Short September 26th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Cooper Park. That would be Diane Jackson. She even brought her own blowhorn.
I cited sections of Ridgewood because it is often an afterthought for coverage of the race, yet Diana had a full-scale satellite operation working there with Queens operatives. That’s important to note. Addabbo Staff like Pat McCabe helped Diana out on the ground in Queens so she focused other resources in other parts of the district (Lindsey Park, Bushwick Ave, etc.), and was not as spread out. This was more about operations and where she could get help, so those 80 votes mattered because they came from an effort outside (but in conjunction with) the Reyna campaign.