The Daily News is out with its endorsements for significant City Council races. Locally, they are endorsing Evan Thies in the 33rd and Diana Reyna in the 34th. Here’s what they have to say.
[Thies] has distinguished himself in fights for affordable housing and public space.
and
[Reyna] has secured millions for new community and youth centers.
Reyna in particular is racking up the endorsements – she now has the Times, the News, El Diario, and the Brooklyn Courier. Thies adds the News to his earlier endorsements from the Brooklyn Paper and the Brooklyn Star.
In the 39th, the News like Brad Lander. Like the Times, the News is not making an endorsement in the 35th (Tish James’ seat). I’m sure some will see conspiracy there, but maybe it’s just not seen as a competitive race
The News goes for Yassky. This gives him a pretty nice sweep of the citywide endorsements – the Times, Crains and now now the News.
On the celebrity/politico endorsement front, Yassky is also doing pretty well. So far, he has Russell Simmons, Robert Kennedy, Jr. and some senator from New York. (Equal time – Ed Koch called this afternoon and asked me to vote for Melinda Katz.)
(l to r): Marie Esposito, Vinny from BARC, Bernadette and Gerry
I had no idea Gerry was a cat man:
Film and stage star Bernadette Peters announced today that she was endorsing Democrat Gerry Esposito for City Council, because of his phenomenal commitment to helping animals and the extensive work that he has done [on] behalf of the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn… Esposito, who has six cats and takes care of three strays, said that it was an honor to receive Peters’ endorsement. “Bernadette Peters has been an inspiration to everyone who believes that animals deserve to be treated with dignity and love. I will eagerly seek out her insight when I am in the Council, because animal protection won’t just be on my agenda, it will be a priority for me.”
David Yassky’s office said tonight that there is (finally) some progress on the City’s acquisition of 65 Commercial Street. The big stumbing block – MTA intransigence – seems to have been overcome, and the agency that answers to no one has agreed to two potential relocation sites. The City now needs to do a feasibility study for the site they select, which is expected to completed by the end of the month. Then, I guess, negotiations begin over the cost of acquisition (not a quick-turnaround process) and then design of construction of housing on the site, development of parks, waterfront esplanade and other open space benefits on adjacent sites.
A long way off, yes, but at least we can see the starting gate from here.
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn has a rundown of the candidates in the 33rd district, along with links to her Breakfast of Candidates series (in-depth discussions with 6 of the 7 candidates – I guess Issac Abraham wasn’t hungry).
OtBKB’s take on the 39th district is here.
This is being billed as a “combined pre-primary candidates forum” for Mayor and 34th District council member. So far, only Tony Avella in the mayoral race and Gerry Esposito in the council race are comitted, but Bill Thompson, Diana Reyna and Maritza Davila are all invited. At least, hopefully the council candidates will show.
The event is being put on by WG News + Arts and the Brooklyn Rail, and will be moderated by Brooklyn Rail editor Ted Hamm. It’s all happening this Tuesday at The Boiler – even if the other council candidates don’t show up, this is a rare opportunity to hear at least one of the contestants for the 34th seat speak.
When: Tuesday, September 8, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Boiler (Pierogi Gallery), 191 North 14th Street
With regard to the Times endorsements today, Real Reform Brooklyn continues to see Atlantic Yards conspiracies at every turn. Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report, on the other hand, is suspicious but less willing to call foul when it comes to the Simon endorsement. Being less in the AY loop, I am skeptical, but I will agree with RRB (and AYR) that the Times’ 33rd endorsement was lukewarm at best.
The Times endorsement in the 33rd is particularly frustrating because they don’t say why they are choosing one candidate over another. They start out by saying that there are three “excellent candidates”, and they are clear on why Steve Levin is out of the running – he “would be a prime candidate except for his entanglement in the Brooklyn Democratic Party machine”. But if you are looking for some insight on Jo Anne Simon or Evan Thies, you won’t get it here. Instead we get a Cliff Notes version of the two candidates’ resumes – Thies “an aide to [David] Yassky, has been active on reform and clean-air issues”; Simon “has an impressive legal background and has been a strong community organizer who has done important work for the disabled”. The endorsement could just have easily ended “We endorse Mr. Thies”; instead, they went with “We endorse Ms. Simon” and no explanation. In a competitive race like this, where the Times’ endorsement can have a major impact, its readers deserve better.
By contrast, the endorsement for the 34th is pretty clear. It highlights what the Times sees as Diana Reyna’s qualifications – her “show of independence should be enough to re-elect her”; “she has also grown into a strong advocate for small businesses and struggling families in her area”. Maritza Davila is dismissed out of hand (“a community activist who has worked with Mr. Lopez on development issues”), and Gerry Esposito doesn’t even get a mention.
As to the 35th, where the Times chose not to make an endorsement, the AY influence would appear to be more at play here. Unless, of course, the Times simply considers the race not to be among the “most competitive districts where winning the Democratic primary usually means capturing the seat”. But that is outside my jurisdiction.
The Times is out with its endorsements for City Council, and in the local races, it is endorsing Jo Anne Simon in the 33rd and Diana Reyna in the 34th.
In the 33rd, the Times sees a three-way race, with something to be said for Simon, Steve Levin and Evan Thies:
There are several excellent candidates vying to replace Councilman David Yassky, who’s also running for comptroller. Stephen Levin would be a prime candidate except for his entanglement in the Brooklyn Democratic Party machine. Evan Thies, an aide to Mr. Yassky, has been active on reform and clean-air issues. Jo Anne Simon has an impressive legal background and has been a strong community organizer who has done important work for the disabled. We endorse Ms. Simon.
In the 34th, the Times sees a two-way race, with only one candidate worth considering:
Party bosses sometimes try to intimidate a rebellious politician by threatening to support a challenger in the next election. That is what has happened to Councilwoman Diana Reyna, who dared to oppose a housing development backed by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the leader of Brooklyn’s Democrats. Mr. Lopez now supports Maritza Davila, a community activist who has worked with Mr. Lopez on development issues. Ms. Reyna’s show of independence should be enough to re-elect her. But she has also grown into a strong advocate for small businesses and struggling families in her area. We endorse Ms. Reyna in this race.
There were a few noteworthy – and interesting – newspaper endorsements over the past few days. In the 33rd Council District, Evan Thies has picked up the support of the Brooklyn Paper and the Brooklyn Downtown Star. Meanwhile, the Courier-Life papers have gone for Steve Levin.
In the 34th District, Courier-Life endorsed Diana Reyna, while the Star endorsed Gerry Esposito. (As far as I can see, the Brooklyn Paper hasn’t weighed in on the 34th yet.)
A couple things of note in these endorsements. First, as Norman Oder notes (in a slightly different context), Courier-Life can’t be accused following the party line by picking Steve Levin, given that they also endorsed Diana Reyna. And second, for those (like Norman) who have been worried that News Corp’s ownership of both the Brooklyn Paper and the Courier-Life papers would mean that all would follow the Murdoch party line, at least for the moment, there seems to be editorial independence between the two.
WNYC ran a brief piece on the 33rd Council District race, focusing on three leading candidates – Steve Levin, Jo Anne Simon and Evan Thies. The station has transcribed the piece in a blog post, complete with pictures. Good thing you can’t see pictures on the radio, because the image above is what you see in the slide show for Steve Levin. (For the 99.999999% of the world that doesn’t understand this post, that picture is from here, not here.)
