City Hall - February 9, 2009

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People in New York City Politics

www.cityhallnews.comVol. 3, No. 10 February 9, 2009

www.cityhallnews.com2 FEBRUARY 9, 2009 CITY HALL

EDITORIAL

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Forethought

When seven of 22 candidates for the three special Council elections are bounced from the ballot, the system is either working very well or very poorly. Given

the objections raised at the Board of Elections Feb. 3, and given that they were accepted, there really is no doubt: The laws are working against the people and must be changed.

Calling for election law overhaul is like proposing to reform the tax code. Decades, if not centuries, of laws have been piled on top of each other, creating an abyss of regulations that serves only the lawyers who learned how to navigate and manipulate its quirks. Like with the IRS, scrapping everything wholesale and starting over is a pipe dream, and small-scale tinkering can seem futile. Nonetheless, the elected leaders of this city have an obligation to try to do something to fi x a system that turns democracy on its head, complicating ballot access to what can be practically impossible and restricting the political process to those already deep inside or able to afford the services of someone who is.

The easiest place to start would be with the commissioners. Currently, the screening process for them focuses almost exclusively on fi nances and potential confl icts of interest. No expertise in anything is required or encouraged—so long as the would-be commissioners are registered voters and residents of their respective boroughs, they are good to go. While there is an admirable notion of citizen government in this, it produces a group of commissioners who are almost less informed about election law than the people presenting to them. There should be a screening process involved, as there is for other judicial positions in this state, and a program of continuing certifi cation over the years on the Board to ensure that their understanding of the relevant laws stays sharp. The charter refers to the Board’s powers as quasi-judicial—this should require a certain level of expertise from the commissioners, as we expect of actual judges, if they are to be empowered to exercise as much discretion over ballot access and other procedural matters as they do.

The makeup of the commissioners also needs to be updated. Currently, 10 commissioners are equally divided between the fi ve boroughs and two major political

parties, a quaint relic of simpler times. Though perhaps the geographic distribution should be preserved to give each borough equal voice, the party distribution certainly should not. There are nowhere near an equal number of Republicans and Democrats in New York, so to give them the same say over elections essentially disenfranchises the many Democrats who signifi cantly outweigh Republicans in this city, to say nothing of voters who belong to other parties. Realistically, party affi liation will continue to be a factor in choosing commissioners, and there is arguably good cause for this. But to be fair, commissioners should proportionately represent the voters whom they are supposed to serve, with the votes cast in each mayoral election used as the basis for determining board membership for the four years following.

Just changing the guidelines for commissioners will of course not be enough. The process for raising objections to ballot petitions needs to be changed as well, with both potential objections and objectors narrowed. That, for example, candidates will be unable to use either the word “families” or employ a star as a logo (both grounds for ejection this time around) in a system which demands candidates

create their own party names and logos makes the already ridiculous into the cartoonishly absurd. That these issues can be raised by others on behalf of candidates without the candidates having to offi cially attach their names to the challenges carries the absurd over the edge into the perverse. But they cannot be expected to change things on their own. Instead of giving commissioners full discretion over which statutes they will enforce (itself dependent on which ones the election lawyers bring to their attention), the Council and State Legislature need to straighten out some of the glaring

ambiguities in the law. Moreover, since the battles for ballot access are extensions of the political process, the laws

should be changed to treat them as such. Only those who have petitioned their way onto the ballot themselves should be allowed to raise objections, and a spending cap should be imposed on the amount in legal fees candidates can spend on representation in front of the Board.

Holding elected offi ce in this city is a privilege and a burden. There is nothing wrong with making those who aspire to the job adhere to the law’s tough standards—provided that the law is rational—or with preventing the lazy and sloppy from enjoying the same rights that the law-abiding do. But this should not be continually turned into a game which only the select few can play, with a group of election lawyers holding sway over the Board of Elections like bullies on a playground. Our system should be encouraging participation at every stage, not discouraging it, and now, before the regular 2009 season gets under way, is the time to make democracy rule over gut feelings and money. Too often, what goes on at the Board of Elections is self-serving, arbitrary, vindictive and venal. This year, after

extending their own term limits under the argument that their knowledge of municipal government was too important to lose, the Council and mayor should exercise the political will to change things in advance of their own elections in the fall. To a city still skeptical of their motivations last October, this would be a good way to demonstrate the value of the wisdom they claim. C

Since the battles for ballot access

are extensions of the political

process, the laws should be

changed to treat them as such.

Housecleaning at the Board of Elections

www.cityhallnews.comCITY HALL FEBRUARY 9, 2009 3

BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

The discomfort many Latino politicians are feeling over the selection of Sen. Kirsten

Gillibrand (D) may just lead them to challenge her in the 2010 Democratic primary. No one, though, seems to know who the community could put forward as a valid candidate. And even as Latino politicians have fumed over their lack of representation in top levels of government in the city and state, the constituency fi nds itself without a clear political leader.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan/Queens) was once thought to be a top Senate contender, but after accepting the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, she removed herself from the running. Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, a woman of Puerto Rican descent who sits on the Court of Appeals, was also thought by many to be an obvious replacement for retiring Chief Judge Judith Kaye, but her name did not appear on the fi nal list of nominees.

Then there was the Gang of Three, who sought to delay the Democrats’ ascendance to the majority in the State Senate after the election. The rebel senators—State Sens. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx) and Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn)—insisted they were motivated by the absence of Latino leadership in Albany, and that Espada should justifi ably be made majority leader in response.

But that deal fell through. The Senate seat went to a white Catholic from upstate and the chief judge appointment went to a Jewish man originally from the Lower East Side.

At the same time, the ranks of prominent Latinos seem to have dwindled even further, with Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión (D) apparently headed to Washington, instead of pursuing a frontrunner bid for comptroller, which could have made him the fi rst Latino elected citywide and positioned him for a serious mayoral candidacy down the road.

That leaves many Latino elected offi cials left with a feeling of a power vacuum and a nagging sense that they should be doing better, especially now that Barack Obama’s victory has raised the bar for how high minority politicians can climb.

Herman Badillo, the fi rst Puerto Rican member of Congress and fi rst Latino Bronx borough president, said he is appalled by

“There’s nothing there for us, really, at any level,” said Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat.

the state of Latino politics today, with its infi ghting and lack of direction. He lamented that no one seems to have made any more progress citywide than he himself did when, in 1977, he became the fi rst Latino deputy mayor.

He said he had been looking forward to Carrión running citywide and to the thought of him running on a Latino/Black coalition ticket with Comptroller William Thompson (D), who is running for mayor. The loss of Carrión as a citywide candidate means “we’re in even worse shape than we were before,” Badillo said dejectedly.

There are no serious Latino candidates for citywide offi ce this year, no Latinos in statewide elected offi ce, none in any of the top leadership positions in the Legislature—and no clear candidates out there who will change this situation any time soon.

“There’s nothing there for us, really, at any level,” said Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan).

Espaillat said the problem may rest with the state Democratic Party, which traditionally has made room for women and African-Americans in its inner circle, but seems to have forgotten to extend a hand to the Latino community.

There are a number of other theories for this seemingly drastic oversight in the diversity of the state’s political hierarchy. Some believe that gerrymandered districts marginalize Latino voters, while others say that the high barriers to legal immigration

status—and thus to registering to vote—prevent many from registering their dissatisfaction at the ballot box.

For Badillo, the source of the problem is simple nepotism. The inclination

Whatever the reason, some Latino offi cials are growing nervous over

the recent internal battles among their colleagues, worried that they may undermine any future effort to gain more infl uence.

Council Member Joel Rivera (D-Bronx) and

Assembly Member Ruben Diaz Jr. (D-Bronx) are both planning

to run to succeed Carrión, but waiting until his expected post in

the Obama administration is fi nalized before ramping up their respective

campaigns. Whichever one of them is successful will become the city’s highest-ranking Latino and will likely be naturally seen as the next Latino leader. But underscoring their inevitable matchup, though, is last year’s fi ght over the leadership of the Bronx Democratic Party, which pitted Rivera’s father, Assembly Member

José Rivera, against a coalition of elected offi cials, including Diaz,

who called themselves the Rainbow Rebellion. The elder

Rivera, who was eventually ousted via a judge’s ruling, had become

the object of growing dissatisfaction within the party’s ranks of African-

Americans, whites and even some Latinos for what they called his nepotism and distribution

of party largess, mostly to Latinos.

All the more reason, according to those

in the community who have watched the situation unfold, that whoever succeeds Carrión as the effective Latino ambassador to the non-Latino political community will need to emphasize building a citywide base of support like the one he had constructed in preparation for his 2009 run.

But that alone will not be enough, said Espada, who is still defi ant even after his complaints were answered with a couple of plum leadership posts in the Senate. He said that Latinos still need to do more to make people hear their voice as a community and their distinct concerns.

“One of my real hopes is people can start articulating openly a desire to organize, mobilize and really establish an agenda,” he said.

While he said initially people dismissed his agitations to increase Latino political clout, Espada argued that the time was ripe to do more.

“There was little sympathy and empathy for my effort,” he said. “There were editorials talking about how untimely and unseemly it was to talk about a Latino empowerment movement in the midst of an economic crisis—as if the two were mutually exclusive.” C

[email protected]

among Latino voters, he said, is to elect candidates with recognizable last names—Rivera, Diaz, Espada, etc.—rather than candidates with distinctive leadership qualities.

“It’s not unique to the Latino community,” Badillo said. “But a young Herman Badillo would fi nd it diffi cult to get ahead in politics today because my parents were not in politics.”

Another reason may be the hesitancy many Latino politicians feel about encouraging the younger generation

to seek elected offi ce, said Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito (D-Manhattan/Bronx).

“People sometimes don’t like to develop that leadership or to awaken the masses,” Viverito said, “because it might potentially mean that they get elected out of offi ce.”

She added that Latinos are not as far along in political empowerment

because they have only recently started building bases of support and infl uence, in comparison to other minority communities in the post-Civil Rights Movement era.

Many Latino elected offi cials wonder who will be able to take up the role that Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión had as the effective ambassador to the wider polit-ical community now that he appears to be headed to Washington.

Without Carrión, Latinos Look in Vain for New Leadership Frustration about power vacuum underscored byGillibrand pick, lack of citywide candidates


ISSUE FORUM: AFFORDABLE HOUSING

BY STATE SEN. PEDRO ESPADA

Under the pretense ofeconomic development and property rights, affordable

housing has for too long been on the back burner of the New York State Senate. The good people of New York State have spoken loudly and defi nitely during last year’s elections, ushering in a new era of reform.

The State of New York is currently affected not only by the general effects of our crippled economy, but also by the adverse impact of predatory subprime mortgages, as well as a chronic shortage of affordable housing.

Although we anticipate a national stimulus package that will set us on the path towards a broad economic recovery, we have few details on housing assistance and cannot wait on the federal government to bail out those living on the margin. We must take immediate action to keep citizens in their homes and gainfully employed.

Yet, the proposed Executive Budget includes housing cuts in excess of $200 million. These disproportionate cuts (less

than 1 percent of the defi cit, yet over a 66 percent year-over-year reduction) will most affect vulnerable residents who are in need of safe, affordable, accessible and sanitary housing.

Capital funding for affordable housing not only provides just living conditions for the poor, but is also a highly cost-effective

engine of job creation. In fact, studies have shown such spending to be more effi cient at creating jobs than construction spent on schools, infrastructure, transportation and factories. Furthermore, capital funds would be bonded and are likely to be revenue neutral (or better), given the taxes and revenues generated from construction, residency and job creation. Additional savings can also be found by freeing up other resources for expensive emergency services, such as hospitals, prisons, shelters and psychiatric centers. In our time of economic crisis, this most valuable tool for economic stimulus must be wielded quickly and adeptly.

The proposed state budget also includes signifi cant cuts to a critical infrastructure of community-based housing organizations—groups which have long invested in the revitalization of their urban and rural communities. These vital grassroots organizations are now faced with 40 percent budget reductions that will likely shutter their doors at a time when they are most needed. Though the absolute dollars are small (each CBO currently receives less than $100,000

in state aid), the economic and social leverage is nearly incalculable.

The cries of our hurting constituents and their passionate advocates have been heard. Our priority this legislative session is the continued fi ght for affordable and accessible housing. Although I am proud to represent the 33rd district in the Bronx and have extensive experience dealing with urban issues, our rural citizens will not be forgotten. We will conduct statewide public hearings and committee tours to help us focus on the most pressing issues and to learn how we can best serve the good citizens of the State of New York. We will not work in a vacuum and will reach out to coordinate efforts with federal and local authorities and lawmakers. We will address such issues as affordability, abusive industry practices, tenant harassment, vacancy decontrol, accessibility and migrant housing. We will fi ght to pass a long overdue tenant bill of rights. C

Pedro Espada, Jr., a Democrat rep-

resenting parts of the Bronx, chairs the

Senate Committee on Housing, Construc-

tion and Community Development.

Capital Funding for Affordable Housing Equals Cost Effective Job Creation

BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER VITO LOPEZ

This winter, as we fi nd oureconomy in the midst of a worldwide crisis, there are

thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers left out in the cold. As chair of the New York State Assembly Housing Committee, I see fi rsthand the affordable housing crisis that is threatening our state.

Foreclosures are at an all-time high, rents in New York City are forcing many working families and senior citizens out of their apartments, and the state funds for new construction of affordable housing are back where they were in the Pataki administration. New York City has been a leader in recent years by dedicating billions of dollars to the construction of new, affordable rentals, co-ops and two-family homes. Sadly, New York State has been lagging far behind the city in its commitment to affordable housing.

After 9/11, Mayor Bloomberg laid out the New Housing Marketplace Plan, an ambitious 10-year plan to direct over $7.5 billion dollars to build and preserve over 165,000 units of affordable housing. The results speak for themselves. The New Housing Marketplace Plan has spurred the economy, created good jobs, provided

decent and affordable housing to people in need, and built equity in neighborhoods across the city.

What we are seeing from New York State, however, is troubling. In fi scal year 2008-2009, New York State increased the commitment in capital dollars for affordable housing from $100 million to $300 million. This was a great achievement for the state, but it was short-lived. This year, the governor is proposing to cut that commitment back to $100 million. With the economy slowing down and the fi nancing of affordable housing through federal tax credits drying up, this commitment is entirely inadequate to meet the challenges we face.

The State of New York must be bold when it comes to housing. I call on Governor Paterson and the Legislature to commit $500 million in fi scal year 2009-2010 to the construction and preservation of affordable housing across the State of New York. We should increase the state tax credit to build affordable housing, and we must protect the funding for neighborhood preservation corporations and rural preservation corporations.

As we work our way through the current recession and foreclosure crisis, it is absolutely imperative that we protect homeowners. That is why, last year,

the New York State Legislature passed legislation—sponsored by myself, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Banking Chair Darryl Towns—that would protect homeowners from the predatory lending practices that have decimated our communities. We need to do more this year. I am proposing a $20,000 tax credit for fi rst-time homebuyers in New York State, and the federal government should complement

this with a $25,000 tax credit for the same purpose. This will stimulate home purchases and stabilize our housing market.

Very soon, the State Legislature will be passing a comprehensive rent regulation package to protect renters throughout our state. We will, among other far-reaching measures, repeal the provisions that let landlords opt out of rent stabilization through vacancy and luxury decontrol. I look forward to seeing these bills passed and signed into law by Governor Paterson.

We are currently facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. But, as we showed after 9/11, we are the strongest and most resilient when we act boldly. Now is not the time to scale back our commitments out of fear. It is not the time to turn our backs on affordable housing in New York.

I have worked diligently with my chief of staff, Stephen Levin, to get the citizens of New York the badly needed housing resources they deserve. He and I will continue to do the work necessary to protect and expand affordable housing throughout New York State. C

Vito Lopez, a Democrat representing

parts of Brooklyn, is the chair of the As-

sembly Housing Committee.

Amidst Recession and Foreclosure, Protecting Homeowners is Imperative

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BY SAL GENTILE

A little noticed measure tucked into Gov. David Paterson’s (D) budget proposal

would slash more than $84 million from the city’s special needs programs for pre-schools. This would come on top of the already $700 million slated to be stripped from state education aid to the city.

The cuts would come in the middle of the school year and be directed at programs mandated by the federal and state government, forcing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to draw funds from other areas of the education budget at a time when the city is struggling to avoid laying off tens of thousands of teachers.

“It’s basically a cost-shift backward,” said Photo Anagnostopoulos, chief operating offi cer for the Department of Education. “To me, I don’t think they necessarily thought this one straight through.”

Special needs programs are currently paid for by the state and county governments but managed by school districts. The governor’s proposal would

shift a sizeable portion of the cost from the state and county governments to the school districts, which collect their own revenue through property taxes.

In most corners of the state, the governor’s proposal amounts to little more than the shifting of costs from one government entity to another. But, the cost-shift would hit the city doubly hard, since in New York City the Department of Education is not separated from the rest of the city government. Here, the local government must administer and pay for its own programs.

Even county governments across the state, which have been cheering Paterson for the proposal since he introduced it in December, say the governor should have carved out an exception for the city because of the way its school system is organized.

“The one fl aw with the proposal is that it included New York,” said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “New York City should be carved out of this proposal because New York City manages

Little Attention or Hope forReversal in Special Needs Cuts Tucked into Paterson Budget$84 million funding reshuffl e possible on top of $700 million already threatened

its school system under mayoral control.”The Paterson administration has

held fast to its initial rationale for the proposal, calling it a reform measure aimed at making school districts more accountable, rather than a cost-savings plan that draws blood from an already-besieged city school system. The mantra among county governments over the years has been that school districts should have “skin in the game,” meaning they should be responsible for raising at least some of the money they spend.

“Our general approach with this was to try and align the programmatic responsibility of running the program with the fi nancial responsibility of funding it,” said Mark Anderson, a spokesman for the governor’s budget offi ce.

But when asked if the Paterson administration would consider exempting the city from the proposal, since it already funds and administers its own programs, Anderson said such a change was unlikely

given the state’s $15.4 billion budget gap.“We have a very large future structural

defi cit that we have to begin to address,” he said. “This is one of several very diffi cult choices we had to make.”

If the cuts remain intact in the fi nal budget, city offi cials say the money will have to come from other services already under way, exacerbating a crushing fi scal crisis that threatens close to 14,000 teaching jobs and a variety of educational programs.

“Their sort of rationale of ‘skin in the game’ when we already have ‘skin in the game’ is kind of ridiculous,” said Michelle Goldstein, the Bloomberg administration’s chief lobbyist in Albany. “It would just come out of the education aid cuts, which are already huge.”

The Bloomberg administration has vowed to fi ght the proposal and partner with school districts across the state to try and remove it from the budget altogether. At the very minimum, the administration would like to see the city carved out of the plan.

But given the sheer number of cuts the city is facing, the prospects for rolling back this particular cut remain unclear–in their fi rst face-to-face meeting about the budget in late January, Bloomberg and Paterson did not have time to get to the proposal, though it was on the offi cial agenda.

“If this was another year, I’d be like, ‘this one’s getting taken back. This is too controversial, it’s too messy,’” Goldstein said. “In a regular year, that would happen. In this year, I’m nervous about everything.” C

[email protected]

In most corners of the state, the governor’s proposal amounts to little more than the

shifting of costs from one government enti-ty to another. But the

cost-shift would hit the city doubly hard.

Why should all New Yorkers have their homes built by

Union Building Trades?


BY SAL GENTILE

The hardest thing about gettingelected to the City Council in this month’s special elections may be keeping the

election lawyers at bay. At a rowdy Board of Elections hearing earlier

this month, a swarm of high-powered attorneys tangled over obscure statutes, mangled signatures and fudged math.

In the end, seven of the 22 candidates who fi led to run in the three special elections were knocked off the ballot, and several more withstood aggressive challenges.

All of the hardball left at least one race—the one to succeed Queens State Sen. Joseph Addabbo—without a clear frontrunner. There, former Addabbo aide Frank Gulluscio was removed when Democratic district leader Geraldine Chapey objected to his petitions and those of two other of her opponents.

Her attorney, bulldozing election lawyer and former State Sen. Martin Connor, single-handedly cleared half the fi eld, arguing at one point that the fi ve-point star Gulluscio had chosen as a symbol for his ballot line was illegal because it too closely resembled the symbol of the Democratic Party. Special elections by law must be non-partisan, and party affi liations cannot be evident in any way.

“She brought out the juggernaut,” said Eric Ulrich, a 24-year-old Republican district leader and one of the few candidates who remains in the race.

Former police offi cer Glenn DiResto and former real estate broker Sam DiBernardo were also bounced from the ballot, leaving Chapey in the enviable position, her opponents say, of facing off against a Republican in a three-way race along with perennial candidate Lew Simon.

But if anything, her hard-charging tactics may have further fractured a race that was already divided along regional lines.

Chapey is from Rockaway, an area that has been isolated geographically and politically from the rest of the district. Some mainlanders have even said they would rather a Republican represent them than someone from the other side of Jamaica Bay.

“I think she may have done me a favor in getting Gulluscio off the ballot, because now there’s another mainlander, so to speak, out of the race,” Ulrich said. “And I can imagine that a good number of his supporters will switch their support to me.”

Chapey, for her part, refused even to entertain the notion of a regional divide and said her ballot objections were based on legal grounds.

“Can you tell me what’s different about a person who lives in Rockaway over someone who lives in Howard Beach?” she said.

And while Chapey’s challenges may have positioned her as the unexpected front-runner, those who she tripped up with her legal maneuverings have said they will return for the September primary.

DiResto, the former police offi cer, said to count him among the ones who will be back. He was removed from the ballot after Connor objected to his party line, “Families First,” because it was too similar to the name of an existing party, the Working Families Party.

Asked if his supporters would turn to Chapey now

that he was out of the race, DiResto laughed, and said, “No.”

But the election in Queens is not the only one in which the fi eld has been jumbled by bare-knuckled petition challenges.

In the race to succeed Rep. Mike McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), his longtime chief of staff Kenneth Mitchell has objected to four of his opponents’ petitions. Three of them have already been knocked off the ballot, and one more who was fi ghting the objections is taking the dispute to court.

Mitchell has long been seen as McMahon’s heir apparent, and in the early stages of the campaign he added to that sense of inevitability by piling up the endorsements of local unions and political clubs

affi liated with McMahon.But Debi Rose, a local activist and Obama convention

delegate, has surged in recent weeks, picking up key support from the Working Families Party, 1199/SEIU, the Hotel and Motel Trades Union, and D.C. 37.

Rose, who lost to McMahon in 2001 by 170 votes, would be the borough’s fi rst black Council member. But she has been competing for the support of the growing black population on the North Shore with Rev. Tony Baker, a longtime pastor at St. Phillips Baptist Church.

Mitchell has been accused of challenging the petitions of four of the white candidates in the race so that Rose and Baker will split the black vote.

“I perceive part of that as a move to affect my voter turnout,” said Rose. “Because then the race becomes

Bare-Knuckled Ballot Challenges Jumble Queens, Staten Island RacesNew calculus emerges for Feb. 24 and September in open seat elections

Prepared to Lead

Ready to Serve

Council Member / 49th Council DistrictTONYBAKER

United For Change

GEORGE R. DIXON

Council Member / 32nd Council District

Together We Can

Council Member / 49th Council District

PAUL D. SARYIAN

Voice of the People


MIKE

RICATTO

It’sMy

Party

Leadership

And

Experience

Council Member / 21st Council District

FRANK P.

GULLUSCIO

Debi Rose


DEBORAH L. ROSE

Good Government


LEW M.

SIMON

Yes We Can


FRANCISCO P.MOYA

United We Can


JULISSAFERRERAS Council Member / 49th Council District

DONALD R.

PAGANO

Donald R Pagano

Experience Now


KENNETH C.

MITCHELLNo Tax


JOHN A.

TABACCO

Council Member / 21st Council DistrictGIRALDOPeople For

ProgressJOSEEDUARDO

People First

Council Member / 32nd Council DistrictULRICHERIC A.

Community First


GERALDINE M.

CHAPEYNorth Shore First


THOMASCURTORE


BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

Mayor Michael Bloomberg(Ind.) has Kevin Sheekey, an Up-

per West Side political mastermind who has been the subject of countless glow-ing magazine profi les. William Thompson meanwhile has Eddie Castell, a Cuban immigrant from Sunset Park who spear-headed his 2001 campaign for comptrol-ler and has been by his side ever since.

And while Sheekey and his campaign colleagues jet around the city in private cars and helicopters, Castell is running the Thompson’s mayoral campaign out a small offi ce near City Hall that he shares with one other employee and leftover equip-ment from the dental offi ce down the hall

He is aware of the contrast, and un-daunted by it.

“Campaigns are different now. Bloom-berg will try to infl uence it as much as he can through money, but I think you’re go-ing to match that by creating grassroots organizing and people power,” he said.

Spreading awareness of Thompson’s story as a political wunderkind who fol-lowed his father into the family business to become the city’s fi rst black comptroller will be key, Castell said, which he hopes to do by harnessesing the power of the Inter-net to paint Thompson as a neighborhood advocate and prudent fi scal steward. Social networking through sites like Facebook—Thompson already has over 3,300 friends—will be as well, he argued. For the moment, Castell, who is on leave from his position as executive deputy comptroller, does not even know what his own salary will be.

“We’re still working out budgets and I

haven’t completely settled on what I’m go-ing to make, but we know it will be less than what I made in city government,” he said.

He takes solace as well in his own analysis of voting in the city, arguing that the 12-13 percent increase in votes for the Democratic presidential candidates between the 2004 and 2008 campaigns represents new voters who are prime po-tential Thompson supporters.

These are voters he knows well: Castell cut his teeth in politics working for Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn/Manhat-tan/Queens), and it was through his work

there that he fi rst met Thompson, when the comptroller was the Brooklyn repre-sentative on the Board of Education

After losing his own race in 1997 for Council against Angel Rodriguez (D-Brooklyn) for the seat now held by Sara Gonzalez, Castell became a special assis-tant to Thompson, by then president of the Board of Education.

When Thompson decided to run for comptroller, Castell was the man tapped to run the campaign, though he had never managed a campaign before.

He is someone who believes in his candidate and who appreciates a good challenge. Even with more than ever on his plate at the head of the mayoral cam-paign, Castell has stuck to the pledge he and now First Deputy Comptroller Gayle Horwitz made in 2001 to quit caffeine. He remains as high energy as ever, talking quickly, moving constantly.

That sort of determination, Thompson said, was what compelled him to put Cas-tell in charge of both the 2001 and 2009 campaigns.

“He’s a person who can help move a team, and in this case, a campaign team, forward,” Thompson said.

Staffers say that Castell serves as the prime operator in the comptroller’s of-fi ce, orchestrating the agenda and seeing that the proper people have carried it out. “The formula works for him and it works for us,” said Arelis Perez, the assistant comptroller for external relations who has worked with Castell since the 2001 campaign. “It’s not quite micromanag-ing, because it’s not the kind of thing that stalls the process, but it’s very hands-on.”

Thompson’s closest advisor, Castell is the man the comptroller and the rest of his staff go to for political sensibility, relying on his knowledge of small issues in com-munities across the city to help guide the roll-out and timing of new initiatives. Since Thompson is staking his campaign on his deep connection to neighborhoods, having a man in charge who has that intense local connection—unlike the Bloomberg opera-tives who tend to be veterans of statewide or national campaigns—will be enormous-ly helpful, the comptroller said.

He may also help Thompson achieve the so-called “black-brown” coalition of African-Americans and Latinos which has so far eluded New York. Having a Cuban-born, bilingual campaign manager to fa-cilitate outreach may help, but Thompson said more important would be Castell’s background as someone who has fought his way to a better place in life, much like the people whom he hopes to appeal to in the campaign.

Nonetheless, Thompson said, having Castell around to help correct his Span-ish pronunciation is a plus.

After doing that and many other things over his 12 years as Thompson’s right-hand man, Castell said he has every in-tention of sticking around after Election Day. Just as Sheekey has joined the ad-ministration as a deputy mayor, Castell hopes to join the man he is propelling to get elected mayor at City Hall.

“If you believe in government, giving back,” he said, “what better way to do that than being at City Hall, serving the city?” C

[email protected]

In Race to Succeed Him, Monserrate and Accusations Against Him Loom Large

In the race to succeed State Sen. Hiram Monserrate in what was his Jackson Heights Council district, the unresolved question is what to do about Hiram Monserrate.

Before Monserrate was charged with slashing his girlfriend across the face with a broken glass, his former chief of staff, Julissa Ferreras, was counting on him to pave her way to the Council.

Since that December incident, which is still under investigation by the Queens district attorney, Ferreras has kept her distance from her old mentor.

“My background and my experience in my district is very different,” she said. Ferreras who once listed curbing domes-tic violence as one of her top priorities, has stopped holding fundraisers with Monserrate, where he used to be a regu-lar presence.

But for her chief rival Francisco Moya, Monserrate is just as relevant as ever.

“This is a clean campaign,” he said of his operation, “no scandals, no nothing.”

Moya has avoided alluding to Monserrate’s legal problems directly, but he nonetheless drops hints. As he lags in the race for union endorsements and political support, Moya—who was secretary to the State Senate under then-Minority Leader David Paterson—is try-ing to gain ground in the competition to be seen as the wunderkind in the race: ambitious, accomplished, and free of any ethical clouds.

“I was the highest-ranking Latino in state government at the time,” he said of his stint in Albany. “I really helped push the agenda for the Senate Democrats, in terms of being one of the architects in get-ting us very, very close to the majority.”

But Moya’s resume has not stopped the political class from lining up behind Ferreras, which may be all she needs to win—in an election expected to draw no

more than approximately 5,000 people, support among the labor unions and polit-ical clubs that drive voter turnout is key.

But Moya is grinding along, trying to generate momentum among the activist set. He held his most recent fundraiser at the home of Dave Pollak, the former director of Barack Obama’s campaign in New York, and is hoping to generate energy among the grassroots organizers who can turn an insurgent campaign into a formidable one.

Despite the negative chatter that has swirled in the political class around Monserrate, he remains largely popular among voters in his former district. And no matter how much Ferreras tries to distance herself from her old boss, she is bound to benefit from his positive name recognition in areas like Corona and Jackson Heights.

“There are questions that come out about him,” said Lynn Schulmann, a longtime Council aide and Democratic district leader who supports Ferreras. “Regardless of anything else, Hiram is very popular in that community—still.” C

By Sal [email protected]

one between Reverend Baker and I … one where my base of supporters are being split or divided, and [Mitchell’s] are not.”

Mitchell denied that race was a factor and said his objections were based entirely on a vetting process conducted by his lawyers.

“I fi nd it interesting that people who want to be lawmakers don’t want to follow the law,” he said, defending the challenges.

The challenges may further other ethnic divisions apparent in the race as well. One of the candidates removed from the ballot, Rajiv Gowda, had raised a sizeable war chest from the growing South Asian community on the North Shore.

That group of voters would be up for grabs if Gowda abandons his candidacy.

After learning that he had been bounced from the ballot, Gowda swore to continue his campaign and challenge whoever wins the special election again in the primary.

“My campaign started long back, and it’s going all the way to September,” he said. “Whatever I have to do, I will do.” C

[email protected]

Thompson’s Kevin Sheekey, Castell Takes the ReinsPromoting comptroller’s record and attacking Bloomberg’s, in English and Spanish

Eddy Castell’s only experience as a campaign manager is for Bill Thompson, a role he is reprising this year at the head of the comp-troller’s mayoral campaign.


Stone, whose company was spawned from working on Howard Dean’s innovative online campaign during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary, admits there are differences between drumming up online enthusiasm for a national campaign like Dean’s or Obama’s, and for a public advocate race. But if a local campaign can similarly catch fi re online anywhere, it would be here, Stone said.

“There’s no better place than New York City—with a media savvy population, a Web savvy population. You already have fertile ground to implement those kinds of things here,” Stone said.

Still, some doubt that Facebook could work nearly as effectively in such races as in national races, including Council Member David Weprin (D-Quuens), a candidate for comptroller, who does not have a Facebook page.

“I frankly think it’s overrated,” he said. “It’s overused. It has credibility issues. I guess I come from a little bit of the old school. I don’t think you have the same excitement in a New York City comptroller’s race [as in a national race.].”

Morley Winograd, co-author of Millennial Makeover:

MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics,

BY CHRIS BRAGG

If Comptroller William Thompson (D)sits down to his computer one of these days, logs onto his Facebook account, and sees that Mayor

Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) or Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) has attempted to be his “friend,” what will Thompson do?

“I don’t think we’re going to say ‘yes’ to any of those, at this point,” Thompson joked after a recent hearing, about his two opponents in the mayoral race.

“We’re friends with Stu Loeser,” a Thompson aide informed his boss.

“We said ‘yes’ to Stu?” said Thompson, feigning shock that he had been “friended” by the mayor’s spokesperson—and worse, that his staff had accepted the invitation. “I would have blocked him. We should have blocked him,” Thompson said.

That Thompson cannot quite keep track of all his “friends” on the now-ubiquitous Facebook is hardly surprising, considering that Thompson has more than 3,300 of them. That level of Facebook fame, early in the campaign, refl ects Thompson’s emphasis on the social networking Web site: His staff posts press releases, “status updates,” and videos to it on a nearly daily basis—even pictures of the comptroller singing karaoke at a Christmas party.

Following Barack Obama’s unprecedented effort to attract, connect and mobilize supporters through Facebook during his 2008 presidential campaign (Obama’s overall online campaign was advised by Mark Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook), many New York City politicians are trying to emulate Obama’s effort for their 2009 runs. That’s even as some struggle to grasp the Web site’s strange dialect of “friends,” “groups” and “winks.”

“You have to understand: I didn’t know much about Facebook a year ago,” said Norman Siegel, a candidate for public advocate.

Since then, however, a diverse set of interests supporting Siegel’s candidacy have created Facebook groups independent of him, including Lawyers for Norman Siegel, Latinos for Norman Siegel, and Gay Youth for Norman Siegel. Some have already held events on Siegel’s behalf.

“There are, like, fi ve or six of them,” said Siegel, a civil rights attorney, who attributes his strong Facebook presence to the fact that he’s a “change” candidate who can appeal to Web-savvy youth voters, and calls Facebook the “quintessential grassroots movement.”

Several New York City candidates, especially those with deeper campaign coffers, are not leaving the management of their Facebook sites up to the grassroots. One of them is Siegel’s opponent for public advocate, Council Member John Liu (D-Queens), who has hired the Manhattan fi rm InterCreative to run his Facebook operation. The company’s political director, Jonathan Stone, explained that Liu’s strategy would be to translate a strong online presence into traditional campaign techniques.

“The idea, really, is that through the online presence, we get people from online to getting boots on the ground,” Stone said. “The knocking and the phone-calling are always there. That’s what political action is.”

Friending and Posting, City Candidates Hope to Raise Profi lesWith mix of optimism and caution, ‘09 hopefuls discover Facebook

agrees with Weprin: inspiring the masses to mobilize online for a local candidate is harder than for a national one.

“People have to be motivated by a purpose—a cause—in order to get the most out of a social networking campaign,” he said. “That’s a lot easier at a national level. The issues at a local level tend to be more mundane. There’s no grand cause to fi ght for.”

Winograd said New York City’s citywide races this year are less likely to be affected by the use of Facebook than smaller races—City Council primaries, for instance—because in those smaller races, fewer votes need be mobilized. In larger city races, meanwhile, traditional media usually still dominates, he said.

Not that traditional media and new media are unconnected: Underdog candidates, through a strong online presence, can raise money to be used in more traditional media outlets like television or radio, Winograd said.

“From the online interaction, Obama drew money,” Winograd said. “And then he spent a lot of the money that he drew online on traditional media.”

Despite his doubts about Facebook, Weprin said the pressure to fi nally put up a Facebook page for his campaign may prove overwhelming. He conceded that

he would seriously consider opening an account in the next month or two—but not before he has a “sit-down” with his twin 17-year-old daughters.

“They’ve told me if I get a Facebook page, it’s a violation of their privacy,” he said. “They say it’s not ‘cool’ to have their father communicating with them.” C

[email protected]

MayorMichael Bloomberg: Bloomberg has 7,183 supporters

on his official page, and there were 681 members of his unofficial campaign website run by super fan Karin Gallet, who led last year’s “Draft Bloomberg” move-ment. Gallet says she started the Bloomberg reelection site within a half-hour of the City Council granting a term-limits extension. “I’m not a political person. I don’t even like politics,” she said in an interview. She just really, really likes the mayor.

Bill Thompson: Thompson has 3,319 friends, includ-ing one who calls himself “King Bloomberg III,” a Facebook user whose “interests” include “forging alli-ances with Queen Christine.”

Anthony Weiner: The congressman has 675 support-ers on his campaign Facebook site and 720 friends on his personal site. Weiner has joined several Facebook groups, including the groups “Chuck Schumer Alumni” and “Hypocrisy Knows No Term Limits.”

Public AdvocateNorman Siegel: Siegel has about 250 supporters

spread over at least six different Facebook groups, but no page of his own.

John Liu: Liu’s campaign page has 732 members. Liu posted a picture from President Barack Obama’s

inauguration, in which he and his young son, Joey, are speaking with former President Bill Clinton.

Jessica Lappin: Lappin has 1,195 friends Facebook friends. Among the other public advocate contenders, Lappin is popular: She’s friends with John Liu, Bill de Blasio, and Eric Gioia’s wife, Lisa.

Eric Gioia: Gioia has 2,350 friends who can see, among other things, his most recent picture post: a pho-tograph of a television screen showing his debut as part of a clue on Jeopardy!.

Bill de Blasio: De Blasio has 1,235 friends and lists his favorite music (The Clash, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, Violent Femmes) and TV shows (West Wing, The Wire, Mad Men.)

Adam Clayton Powell IV: No Facebook activity, though both his father and son (III, and V, respectively) have pages.

ComptrollerDavid Weprin: No Facebook activity.David Yassky: Yassky has 1,576 friends. Among his

listed “interests:” Responsible gun control, hybrid taxis, and bicycling.

Melinda Katz: Katz has 24 supporters on her cam-paign site. “She has a great singing voice,” her cam-paign profile notes.

Some of the highlights from the 2009 citywide candidates’ pages:


BY DAN RIVOLI

Mayoral hopefuls Rep. AnthonyWeiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) and Comptroller William Thompson (D) are unlikely to join the

Yes We Can Party, created by Queens Council candidate Francisco Moya, but they are looking to grab a piece of Barack Obama in their campaigns for mayor.

Though both were strong Hillary Clinton supporters in last year’s primaries, they are hoping to subtly channel different aspects of the president in their own primary this year, competing for the nomination to face Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.). Obama may not be expected to endorse in the race—as President Bill Clinton did in 1999, throwing Democratic candidate John Street over the top in the fi nal days of the campaign—but the Democrats in New York City are looking to attach themselves to Obama as much as they can. And both are doing it in efforts they insist are not part of their offi cial campaigning.

As a senior member of New York’s House delegation, Weiner has been stressing his role in crafting the stimulus package and its benefi ts for the city he hopes to lead, repeatedly referencing the over $800 billion for transportation and infrastructure projects it would fund, part of which would come to the fi ve boroughs.

“Bottom line is, the bill we’re probably going to pass is going to be doing more for New York City and more for different elements of New York City’s economy than any single bill we’ve done, certainly, in my 10 years in Congress,” Weiner said Jan. 28, hours before the House passed the stimulus package.

Though Thompson can only allude to Obama, he has been doing that quite a bit as he steps up his rhetoric with his campaign coming together. Responding to Bloomberg’s executive budget, and specifi cally the proposal to increase the sales tax, he referred to a statement by Obama’s calling for a “shared responsibility to get our economy going again,” slamming Bloomberg’s idea as an attack on working New Yorkers.

“He had spoken about the sense of shared

responsibility,” Thompson said. “Here in New York City, I talk about a sense of shared sacrifi ce.”

Instead, the comptroller proposed raising the personal income tax on New Yorkers making over $500,000 a year.

He is also looking to attach himself to the Obama energy through a very basic way: both are African-American, but Thompson is trying to follow the president’s example by resisting defi nition according to the tropes of traditional black politics. But being a black mayoral candidate in a year when the country just inaugurated its fi rst black president will certainly not be lost on city voters.

There is reason to cleave to Obama: the president has excited Democratic fervor in this city like few others, the kind of urban, liberal politician whose politics fi t with many New Yorkers’ much more so than most national candidates. Over two million people in the city voted for the president in November, and thousands were part of the volunteer effort which powered phone banks, fundraisers and get out the vote efforts in neighboring states. Even as the memory of Election Day 2008 fades, the infrastructure of Obama’s network still exists, there to be seized upon by the Democratic hopefuls.

“Young people are energized and looking to channel that energy in New York,” said Elizabeth Caputo, chair of Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century. “They’re looking for someone to be a visionary, to lead the city out of this mess.”

The diffi culty in tapping into this youth movement

is that Obama’s post-partisan qualities are harder to replicate in a city where old Democratic machine politics are still prevalent. But nonetheless, being like or near Obama means little without harnessing the force that Obama produced in the city electorate. David Pollak, New York State director for Obama for America, said the infrastructure to reach out to these voters exists through the organizations created to support Obama in the city.

“The leadership of the groups have the mailing lists and can be reached out to by any one of these three campaigns,” Pollak said. “They can hire proven organizers who have infl uence in the Obama community.”

Jesse Strauss, head of Young Lawyers for Obama in New York, said that the mayoral contenders can try, but his group and others are unlikely to support a new campaign in lockstep.

“We’re not going to turn Young Lawyers for Obama into Young Lawyers for Thompson or Weiner,” Strauss said. “These aren’t people who want to support a politician. They supported change.”

Strauss said he knows members of groups like his who have splintered off into similar support networks for candidates throughout the city, but so far there has not been the same coalescence behind any one candidate that there was in the presidential election.

State Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan), an early Obama supporter, argued that Thompson and Weiner need to emulate Obama by showing the public they will govern in an inclusive, grassroots manner in contrast to the man they want to depose.

“Obama wasn’t a guy who could make a great speech but a guy who could understand the idea of community organization and building a power base from the bottom up,” Perkins said. “That’s where the excitement comes from.” C

[email protected]

“We’re not going to turn Young Lawyers

for Obama into Young Lawyers

for Thompson or Weiner,” said group head Jesse Strauss.

“These aren’t people who want to support

a politician. They supported change.”

Weiner and Thompson Campaign for Change They Can Believe InMayoral hopefuls evoke Obama, hoping for movement support in primary bids


New York City politics rarely inspire poetic odes or literary embellishments. But for Jennifer

Rainville, there is something about the world of ballot boxes and policy debates that move her to take pen to paper.

“I love the fl avor of the carnival that is New York politics,” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen next.”

Whether Rainville will go down as the poet laureate of City Hall remains to be seen; her debut novel, set in among the bright lights and cameras of the television news business (and based somewhat on her experience at NY1), will be released later this year.

Rainville cut her teeth as a press intern for Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), which led to a stint in the Clinton White House. She then moved up to New York, where she was the state political director for Al Gore’s presidential campaign. Now she splits her time doing communication work for State Sen. Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester), among other Democrats, and writing.

“My job now is a perfect mix of all experiences,” she said. “I’ve achieved the perfect balance.”

But a word of advice to anyone who fi nds Rainville’s blend of political and literary skills alluring: she will tolerate absolutely no electronic fl irting.

“When a man is pursuing you via text and e-mail, I fi nd it quite unattractive,” she said. “I’m an old-school lady.”

AGE: 34

OCCUPATION: Democratic

communications consultant

Jennifer Rainville 30THE

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Anthony Crowell is no politician, though he works with a lot of them.

Crowell advises Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) on everything from policy and management to enhancing his public performance. He believes politics and litigation go hand-in-hand.

“Politics is all about strategy and being a lawyer is all about strategy,” he said. Before joining Bloomberg’s team, Crowell worked in Washington, D.C. at the International City/County

Management Association (ICMA), representing 8,500 municipalities and worked on Supreme Court cases that affected both state and local governments.

In 2002, Crowell decided it was time to represent just one. He took a position as special counsel to the mayor and began his career in the hustle-and-bustle world of

New York politics. “You start your day early and you end your day late,” Crowell explained. “But you can have a great day’s

work and great friendships outside.”Crowell especially enjoys meeting friends at his favorite restaurant in Williamsburg, Aurora, and heading

out to North Fork, Long Island, to explore the vineyards. He prefers white wine to red, but said he would make an exception on Valentine’s Day.

Community service is another of Crowell’s passions. He chairs the Brooklyn Public Library Board (a position he assumed just this month) and teaches government law at Brooklyn and New York law schools.

Crowell is also an avid skier, tackling both the Rockies and Mont Blanc over the last two years.

So far, though, no private trips to the slopes with the mayor.

AGE: 38

OCCUPATION: Counselor to

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Anthony Crowell

Even though she was born in the Bronx, Valerie Vazquez is a Queens girl, no question. She was raised in the borough. She went to Queens College where she got involved in student government. Queens is where she said she was fi rst bit

by the political bug. But with her husband, Council Member Joel Rivera (D-Bronx), planning to run for

Bronx borough president, Vazquez said she is willing to rediscover her Bronx roots. “There will be no turf war at home,” she said. She met Rivera in Albany, a city not necessarily known for inspiring fairytale

romances. Still, Vazquez said she was impressed by Rivera’s stirring rhetoric at a mock Senate session. Apparently, he stayed impressive to her, because she married him several years later. The two recently had a little girl, Sophia.

Vazquez said she was shocked how much her life has changed since the baby’s birth. This Valentine’s Day, for instance, will not be a wine-and-roses affair. Instead, the new parents have plans to attend a concert that features music specifi cally for babies.

Even her reading habits have changed, Vazquez admitted.

“I used to be a ‘Devil Wears Prada’ kind of person,” she said. “Now it’s all Dr. Seuss.”

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Valerie Vazquez AGE: 28

OCCUPATION: Director of

Communications and Public Affairs,

Board of Elections

Married

In a relationship


30THE

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Chelsea-Lyn Rudder, who hails from the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, entered her fi rst beauty pageant at

the tender age of six.She won her fi rst contest at age seven.Rudder, also a former Miss Teen USA

contestant, is now in an entirely different environment as head of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus in the City Council. But the demands, she said, are somewhat similar: poise, the ability to talk authoritatively on a variety of subjects, congeniality, etc.

A bigger shock for her was moving from a sleepy Midwestern suburb to New York City, especially since she arrived a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

“This is a kind of diffi cult place for a young person” she said, adding that her Midwestern dialect took a beating after moving to the Big Apple.

“I say ‘pop and pizza party’ and everyone else says ‘Coke and a slice,’” Rudder said laughing.

While studying at Pace, Rudder interned for Council Member Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), whom she still cites, along with Council Member Maria Carmen del Arroyo (D-Bronx), as major infl uences on her career. Today, she splits her time between the caucus, earning her masters at New York University, and sitting on Community Board 1, which covers City Hall and the surrounding area.

She dismissed the idea of entering politics someday, even though she has the smile and warm demeanor that the job demands. Her real dream, she said, would be a career in broadcast journalism, maybe as a political analyst on NY1.

“I love Dominic Carter,” she gushed about the host of Inside City Hall.

Unfortunately for that prospect, though, Carter is already taken.

AGE: 24

OCCUPATION: Executive Director,

City Council Black, Latino and

Asian Caucus

Chelsea-Lyn Rudder

If you think being a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state like New York is hard, try

being a blue-collar Republican from Queens in the political arena.

Marco DeSena knows the problem well.

“It’s boot-strap American dream stuff—the blue collar Republicanism,” he said of his politics.

A kid from College Point, Queens, DeSena grew up watching some of the grittiest politics at work and identifi ed particularly with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s (R) take-no-prisoners style. He said the mayor’s positions spoke to the more conservative values of the meaty middle class.

DeSena received a degree in public affairs from Baruch College, where he now teaches the same subject. After graduating, he began traveling—fi rst to London for his master’s degree and later to Washington, D.C.,

where he began a career in public policy, speech writing and advocacy.Coming full circle, DeSena moved back to New York (this time to Manhattan) and began working for his

childhood political idol, Giuliani, as the deputy director for policy research in the former mayor’s presidential campaign.

“You see the city in a completely different light coming back and being one of hundreds of thousands of young professionals,” he said.

When Giuliani ended his candidacy, DeSena switched to media relations and consulting. And there has been another change as well, maybe the result of spending so long in this heavily Democratic town: DeSena said these days he really enjoys spending downtime watching Chris Matthews on Hardball. He even DVRs it.

Marco DeSenaAGE: 27

OCCUPATION: Associate,

Source Communications

When Kunal Malhotra has time to relax, he watches “Dora the Explorer”—

with his kid cousins, of course.“It’s always good to be in touch

with your inner 5-year-old,” he said.

And Malhotra knows how important it is to have downtime.

He works 10 to 12 hour days at Gale Brewer’s offi ce, much of the time spent drafting programs and solutions with his boss for getting digital technology, like broadband internet, to less fortunate New Yorkers (Brewer is the chair of the Technology and Government Committee).

Malhotra began his career in government at arguably the largest of the political stomping grounds—the nation’s capital. Living just outside of Washington in Fairfax, Va., allowed for him to see the political arena fi rst-hand, he said.

“You always had that keen awareness of politics and national government,” he said.

He attended the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and worked on Sen. John Kerry’s (D) presidential bid in the fall of 2003 as a fi eld organizer for the Western Massachusetts area.

“It was a highly depressing day,” Malhotra lamented of the 2004 election. “Probably one of the worst days of my life.”

When not cooped up in the offi ce, Malhotra lays low in the Lower East Side, where he admits he typically tries not to leave.

You might catch him chatting up the bartender at his favorite neighborhood hangout, Marshall Stack on Rivington Street, or taking in a show at a jazz club. His favorite jazz musician is Bill Evans.

Then again, there are a lot of catchy tunes during the Saturday morning cartoons.

AGE: 23

OCCUPATION: Director of Legislation and Budget, Council Member Gale Brewer

Kunal Malhotra

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“My feminist colleagues will be so upset with me,” said Council Member Diana Reyna

(D-Brooklyn) when told about her being honored as one of the most beautiful people in New York politics.

Politics was never Reyna’s fi rst choice for a career. She initially wanted to become a nurse, but an internship for the Assembly and the encouragement from her nursing school professors to pursue a leadership role in the community was all it took.

“There are a lot of similarities between the Council and nursing,” she said. “You’re taking care of people, just not while they’re bedridden.”

Born and raised in her Williamsburg district, Reyna said that her connections to the streets and people she sees everyday often produces a surprise or two. Recently, she volunteered at a daycare, where she ran

into a constituent who she used to watch over as a child. Now, the woman is a mother herself.

Reyna’s own children have transformed her life. “I’ve become a hermit crab,” she said of her habit of rarely going out for social events.

She relishes time spent reading and drawing with her kids, but says she would stop short of encouraging them to enter a life of politics.

“No police offi cers or elected offi cials,” she said laughing. “But I would want them to do something service-oriented.”

AGE: 35

OCCUPATION: City Council Member

Diana Reyna

Eric Koch is living the city life and loving it. Koch grew up in Boston and eventually

made his way down to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. All along, he said, he always kept an eye on history and politics.

Koch now lives on the Upper West Side and is the spokesperson for Council Member Eric Gioia (D-Queens), trying to get the word out on the work his boss is doing to fi ght for Queens residents (and running for public advocate).

The time-consuming job does not seem to faze him, though.

“That’s the benefi t of living in a city that’s 24/7,” he said. “I don’t know anyone that works a nine to fi ve job.”

Koch said he meets up with his friends around 10 p.m. on any given night, at just the ripe time to take advantage of all that New York has to offer. He also tries to stay in touch with the city’s cultural offerings, frequenting the many museums and always keeping a eye out for the new hot spot. Koch also enjoys spending summer weekends playing basketball in Central Park.

AGE: 25

OCCUPATION: Communications

Director for Council Member

Eric Gioia

Eric Koch30THE

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Council Member Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan) knows he is a beautiful person—his senior

citizens tell him all the time. “I’m usually stopped by all my

seniors,” he said. “They hug me, they kiss me, and they tell me how good looking I am.”

Though Martinez said it can get a little awkward being the hunky city politician of Upper Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood.

Martinez grew up in Washington Heights, a community which he now represents, and began his political career in student government at CUNY- John Jay College.

He climbed the ranks, becoming a member of the local Democratic club, and eventually the Democratic district leader of the Inwood community, with affordable housing and economic development in the neighborhood always on his mind, he said. Martinez also spent six years as a bilingual teacher in the local community school.

“There are many needs in our community,” he said. “And through politics we could create positive changes.”

Martinez entered the City Council in 2002 and currently chairs the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, though this position provides no help in putting out all those seniors’ hearts he has set on fi re.

AGE: 38

OCCUPATION: Council Member

Miguel Martinez

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No one ever accused me of being one of the “Beautiful People”

But what I lack in looks some say I make up for in brains

So... if we have MAJOR FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, leading to huge unemployment...

And...we all agree Infrastructure spending is a great idea to stimulate growth.

But, we fear it won’t create jobs for another year because the “process” takes so long.

Why don’t we do as we did on the cleanup of 9/11 or on the rebuilidng of the 1 and 9 lines, or on the construction of prisons on Riker’s Island, or on the Retrofi t of Sumner Avenue Armory, or the “summer jobs” for the School Construction Authority and dozens of other accelerated projects by:

• Using emergency procurement procedures

• Cutting through red tape

• Upfront 10% mobilization payment to contractors with guarantee bonds in place

• Create contigency funds to process and pay change orders expeditiously

• Incentives and penalties to engineers and contractors for early/late completion

• Release all retainage on ALL City projects where bonds have been posted to add liquidity

• Accelerate existing City contracts by funding change orders immediately, especially on DEP projects

• Mandate ALL current Public Works construction both current and new be completed ON TIME with severe consequences to ALL PARTIES if they are not. (Private Sector almost always completes on time.)

WE NEED TO CREATE JOBS NOW!“YES WE CAN!”

JOB BOARD

Manager - Lead OrganizerScreen actOrS guiLd

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:• Develop and implement internal/external orga-nizing campaigns• Conduct outreach to potential employers• Conduct assigned research projects• Work with and provide support to appropriate committee(s) to develop and facilitate organizing efforts• Manage volunteers• Performs other duties as assigned

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:• Experienced organizer familiar with basic labor law as it relates to organizing• Experience working on strategic campaigns. Knowledge of traditional and non-traditional organizing methods• Research experience• Excellent bi-lingual skills• Knowledge of entertainment industry and SAG contracts a plus • Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite• Excellent leadership skills • Detail oriented with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills• Able to organize, prioritize and coordinate mul-tiple tasks under daily deadlines

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:Undergraduate degree in Labor Studies or related field, and/or equivalent work experience in union organizing and/or campaign driven work of at least 2-5 years.

Certificates, licenses, and/or registrations: Must have a current driver’s license with no infractions.

Please email cover letter with salary requirements and resume to [email protected]

aSSiStant PreSS SecretaryOffice Of the PubLic advOcate

JOB VACANCY NOTICE

OFFICE TITLE: Assistant Press SecretarySALARY: Commensurate with experience

Press Unit1 Centre Street, 15th Floor NorthNew York, NY 10007JOB DESCRIPTION:Assistant Press Secretary

The Office of the Public Advocate seeks an As-sistant Press Secretary to handle daily support functions in the press office. These include, but are not limited to:

Monitoring media; compiling and organizing press clipsCreating and maintaining press lists

Assisting in all aspects of planning and executing press eventsWriting and editing press releasesDrafting talking points, speeches, remarksCommunicating with broadcast, print, radio and electronic mediaOther duties as assigned

The Assistant Press Secretary will contribute to all media efforts of the Office of the Public Advocate.Areas of responsibility include writing and editing, pitching, research, message development, press event planning and implementation, and collabo-ration with policy staff. Additionally, the Assistant Press Secretary will be responsible for advancing media events on behalf of the Public Advocate’s press office as needed and arranging phone and on-site interviews with the Public Advocate.

Skills: Strong writing and editing; excellent com-puter and research skills; organized, conscientious and detail-oriented. Must be able to multi-task.

Knowledge: Understanding of media and com-munications, general knowledge of NYC media market, as well as NYC political landscape and local current events. Experience with podcasts, rss feeds, blogging, java/html script, indesign, and video editing a plus.1-2 years in public relations, news media or public affairs preferred. Fluency in Spanish a plus.

NEW YORK CITY RESIDENCY REQUIRED

TO APPLY FOR CONSIDERATION, PLEASE MAIL YOUR RESUME TO INDICATING THE JVN#:

Office of the Public Advocate1 Centre Street, 15th Floor NorthNew York, NY 10007ATTN: Elba Feliciano, Director of Human [email protected]

- AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER -

advertiSing SaLeS executivecaPitOL PubLiShing LLc

Exciting Sales Opportunity

Earn up to $80,000 in the first year representing City Hall and The Capitol, two fast-growing politi-cal newspapers that target politicians, lobbyists, unions, staffers and issues that shape New York City and State.. Salary plus commission, health, 401k, dental, paid holidays and sick days.

Our awarding-winning group is looking for self-starters with outside sales experience, good communication skills, attention to detail and good computer skills. Knowledge of New York City and State politics a plus.

To apply, please call Steven Blank at 212.894.5412 or email your resume and cover letter to [email protected].

Classifieds

To have your ad placed in the new City Hall Classified section, call Steve Blank at 212-894.5412 or

email [email protected]


Julie Halpin only needed two visits to get hooked on New York.

“I concocted a plan to move here,” said the Norwood, Mass., native. “I just had to.”

From there, her path to Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D) offi ce was far from ordinary. She interned at The

Daily Show, where she found some of what was once so enigmatic about the city beginning to blend into her daily routine.

“You just become immune to a lot of things working there, like celebrities walking by,” Halpin said.

After the internship, Halpin said her job prospects plummeted. She sent her résumé to every available politician and news station, but only one returned her call. Fortunately for her, Schumer can never have enough press aides.

Working in the senator’s offi ce is very laid back, she says, contrary to the reports of it being a highly charged, cutthroat environment.

Her dream, though, is to be the next Keith Olberman, the notoriously brash MSNBC anchor. Halpin says she admires Olberman’s knack for speaking his mind.

Between fi elding hundreds of press calls for the senator, Halpin said she is a movie buff of the highest order. But her tastes are not mainstream: she thought Slumdog Millionaire , for example, was over-hyped. And she has no plans to see any romantic comedies for Valentine’s Day.

“I hate chick fl icks,” she said with a sneer.

AGE: 23

OCCUPATION: Deputy Press

Secretary, Sen. Charles Schumer

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Assembly Member Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) may have pride in his Greek heritage, but you will not catch him calling himself an Adonis.

“I’m not going down that road,” he said.Lifelong resident of Astoria, Gianaris got his political jump-start working on the

presidential campaign for fellow Greek politician Michael Dukakis while attending college at Fordham University. He said he got swept up immediately.

“It’s hard to stay out of it, and I tried,” he said. “It didn’t take.”Gianaris continued his political aspirations as an aide to late-Rep. Thomas Manton

(D), and later as the Queens County regional representative for Gov. Mario Cuomo (D). He also practiced as a litigator for several years before being elected to the Assembly in 2000.

Gianaris was reunited with fellow Harvard law alum President Barack Obama (D), duly noted for his good-looks, at a Chicago event last October.

The pair realized when discussing stories of their school days that they shared not only a love of politics but an affi nity for basketball.

Each spent a few days a week at the Harvard basketball courts, Gianaris said, and concluded that they probably played at least one game of one-on-one when they were students, though neither of them could say for sure.

“I wish I would have known then,” Gianaris joked.

Gianaris is currently single, but who knows? Maybe he will soon have a date at the White House—for a game of pickup, that is.

Many comedians draw from personal experience to create their material. Anthony Hogrebe is no exception.

“Personal politics certainly informs what you fi nd funny and ridiculous,” he said.

Hogrebhe is indeed in touch with his funny bone, trying a hand at sketch comedy whenever time allows. He was even a member of a comedy troupe, Quasi, now defunct.

Hogrebe certainly does not lack confi dence, or ambition.

Growing up just beyond the reach of the fi ve boroughs in Woodbridge, N.J., Hogrebe said he always knew he would make his way to New York.

As a senior in high school, he met the mayor of his hometown—who later became better known to the world for his ignominious exit as a New Jersey governor—James McGreevy, at a school football game and began working in his offi ce.

“Before I knew it, I made a career out of it,” he said. “It can be addictive.” But when Hogrebe attended college at Cornell, he did not study political science.

Instead, he got his degree in English Literature and even took a stab at acting. And though Hogrebe thinks it might be a bit of a stretch to say politics crept into

that too, he did take a role as the king’s son, Haemon, in Antigone. “There’s a saying,” he said. “All art is political.”

Single

AGE: 26

OCCUPATION: Deputy Press

Secretary, New York City Council

Anthony Hogrebe

In a relationship

AGE: 38

OCCUPATION: Assembly Member

Michael GianarisDivorced

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Linda Gibbs may be a lifetime bureaucrat, fi rmly devoted to managing and advancing the mayor’s

health and social service programs, but there will always be a small piece of her that thrives in the deep snows and high hills of Upstate New York.

She was born in a small town upstate and attended college in Buffalo. But for the record, Gibbs loves the entire state equally. (Well, maybe the city a little bit more.)

“There is nothing that compares to the energy and talent in New York City,” Gibbs said.

Still, this Valentine’s Day, Gibbs and her family are headed north to the Adirondacks for some skiing and relaxation. But snowboarding will not be on the agenda.

“My daughter broke her wrist twice snowboarding,” Gibbs said.

Run-of-the-mill skis will suit Gibbs just fi ne. She said she personally cannot wait to start tearing up the slopes.

“It’s the closest you can get to fl ying as a human being,” she mused.

Back at City Hall, Gibbs said that Valentine’s Day takes on a special signifi cance because it also happens to be her boss’s birthday. This year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) will be 67.

Two years ago, Gibbs recalled that the mayor’s team got together to present him with a very special birthday gift: a reduced fare MetroCard for senior citizens.

“He said he couldn’t wait to try it out,” she added.

For Kevin Sheekey, the most relaxing part of the day is between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., the hours when he is usually at the side of Mayor Michael

Bloomberg (Ind.).There is no respite in the rest of the day.“I have seven-year-old twins,” Sheekey said by way

of explanation. He is the enigmatic, wise-cracking, backroom-

dealing, former Democratic-operative-turned-political-mastermind for a formerly Republican mayor. But despite their close connection, Sheekey said, he defi nitely does not take his grooming tips from Bloomberg. For those, Sheekey says he is more likely to consult with Bloomberg’s West Coast political soul mate, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).

“Especially for tips on getting rid of gray hairs,” Sheekey added.When there is downtime (and there rarely is when you are orchestrating a variety of campaigns that may or

may not ever get off the ground), Sheekey said he and the other deputy mayors have been known to converge at a local watering hole for post-game analyses. The location of said watering hole, unfortunately, is not subject to Freedom of Information Laws, he said.

Even rarer is the opportunity to go out in his own neighborhood in the Upper West Side. But when he is not attending to billionaire mayors or rambunctious twins, Sheekey said he has been known to enjoy a cold one at any unpretentious bar within walking distance.

“As an Irishman,” Sheekey said, “it has always been and will always be beer for me.”

AGE: 42

OCCUPATION: Deputy Mayor for

Governmental Affairs

Kevin Sheekey

AGE: 49

OCCUPATION: Deputy Mayor for

Health and Human Services

Linda Gibbs

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To describe how she ended up with a job in New York politics, Sarah Krauss has one word: “Accidentally.”

But when asked to elaborate, Krauss can come up with two more words.“Stu Loeser,” she said, referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Ind.) shrewd, fast-

talking press secretary. Back when Loeser worked for Sen. Charles Schumer (D), he hired Krauss as a press

intern. After three years at Camp Schumer, Krauss said she left to try out the private sector, but with little success.

“After Chuck,” she said, “nothing really compared.”In Betsy Gotbaum, Krauss said she found a “true public

servant who understands that helping people is the best news you can make.”

She admits to being disappointed when Gotbaum declined to run for a third term as public advocate. But rather than pursue her long-held dream of opening a bakery in Brooklyn, she said she will probably continue in a job in the public sector.

In between press conferences and public events, there is little time for a social life, though Krauss said she manages to fi nd time to continue in her quest to explore, with her partner Laura, all the food establishments in the city of New York.

Also on her list of goals: getting to sit in the grand public advocate’s chair in the Council chambers.

“Not yet,” Krauss said, when asked if she had had the chance. “But I will make a point of it before December 31, 2009.”

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AGE: 32

OCCUPATION: Press Secretary,

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum

Sarah Krauss

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For Assembly Member Matt Titone(D-Staten Island), quality time with his long-term partner is a top priority. On

Valentine’s Day, amid long work hours during state budget negotiations, there is still time for a quiet evening at home.

“Our tradition is to do a lobster dinner at home, or a nice fi let mignon,” Titone said. “Something extravagant.”

Titone is a native Staten Islander who was born into a political family. His father, Vito, was a judge on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

When he won his Assembly seat in 2007, he made history by being the fi rst openly gay politician in New York from outside Manhattan.

His culturally diverse North Shore district, home to downtown Staten Island, means there

is no shortage of options when he hits the town with his partner or other Assembly Members from the borough.

“Sometimes we go to a very nice restaurant or sometimes relatively cheap,” Titone said. “Occasionally, a good burger and a beer.”

When stuck in Albany, Titone enjoys his date nights with fellow beautiful person Janele Hyer-Spencer (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), who represents the neighboring district in the Assembly.

“It keeps us out of trouble,” Titone said.

Whatever you do, do not call Assembly Member Janele Hyer-Spencer (D-Staten Island/

Brooklyn) “Barbie with a briefcase.” She has heard it before, and she is sick of it.

“Women can be feminine and have brains too,” she said.

Nor, she added, is she interested in being compared to Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate whose background as a beauty queen became a sticking point during the 2008 campaign. Hyer-Spencer, a veteran of the beauty pageant circuit herself, said the experience actually helped her develop skills important to her political career, such as arguing a position and stage presence.

Born in Missouri, Hyer-Spencer grew up in Chicago before moving to New York to attend CUNY Law School in Queens. Once here, she quickly established herself in her career as a public interest lawyer focused on domestic violence and child abuse cases. After gaining a reputation as an experienced prosecutor, she turned her attention to politics, where she said she saw an opportunity to effect even more change in her areas of interest.

Her husband, Douglas, whom she met in sixth grade gym class, is used to her being center stage, she said, whether it’s at a beauty pageant, a courtroom or on the fl oor of the Assembly.

The budget negotiations currently embroiling Albany will be a signifi cant test for the whole state, she said.

“It’s a ripe opportunity,” she said, with the aplomb of a contestant accepting a bouquet of fl owers. “Especially for young leaders like myself.”

Between the federal stimulus package in Washington and the work at home in her district, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) obviously has very little time for socializing.

But when the time comes to lay aside policy and constituent concerns, Clarke says she can tear it up with the best of them.

“I’m of that generation that’s between R&B and hip-hop,” she said. “I can go back to the Chi-Lites, but I can do some Kanye West too.”

Her tastes, in fact, are much broader even than that. “I can go from salsa to merengue to reggae to dancehall,” she said giddily. “I love to

dance. I will party in a heartbeat.”Her love of music, much like her love of politics, is

a gift she attributes to her Jamaican immigrant parents. Clarke worked at several Bronx-based non-profi ts before running to succeed her mother, Una Clarke, in the City Council. She then followed her mother into the House, taking the Congressional seat once held by Shirley Chisholm, the fi rst black woman elected to Congress.

Clarke says she also inherited her mother’s activist spirit. Some of her earliest memories are of attending backyard barbeques and fundraisers in Brooklyn.

“In those days, there was no daycare” she said.And while she is well-versed in late night legislative

sessions and after-hours community events, Clarke says she never worries about losing touch with those she loves.

“I have really understanding friends and family,” she said. “God bless ‘em.”

AGE: 44


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OCCUPATION: Member of Congress

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AGE: 48

OCCUPATION: Commissioner,

Department of Transportation

Janette Sadik-Khan

The appointment of Janette Sadik-Khan to run the city’s sprawling Department of Transportation two

years ago set many hearts afl utter among the cycling and car-hating residents of the city.

But while she will happily pose on a bicycle or two for the sake of some good P.R., Sadik-Khan said her job is as serious as gridlock.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “I’m really the largest real estate developer in the city, if you think about it.”

To that end, Sadik-Khan kick-started a massive, citywide effort to create hundreds of miles of new bike lanes, open up New York’s waterfront to bikers and pedestrians and reduce much of the congestion that has snarled the city’s streets.

Or as she puts it simply: “Making it easy for people to get around.”

There have been speed bumps along the way, such as the defeat of the mayor’s congestion pricing plan and community opposition to new bike lanes in Brooklyn and Manhattan. But there has been no diminishment of Sadik-Khan’s enthusiasm for her work.

“I love my job, I love my job,” she repeated. Of all the many boardwalks and romantic strolls

in New York, Sadik-Khan recommends the Staten Island Ferry for Valentine’s Day.

“You could have a romantic ride on the ferry with your sweetheart in your arms,” she said. “It’s getting there that’s half the fun.”

Shams Tarek never meant to get into politics.

“I had no political connections. I wasn’t even registered in a political party,” he said.

“But I very quickly got thrown into some intense situations—I caught the bug.”

Tarek, press secretary to Council Member James Gennaro (D-Queens), started out as a journalist at the Queens Tribune, in his native borough.

After applying for higher profi le journalism positions with daily newspapers and magazines, Tarek chose to take a job as the press secretary for former State Sen. John Sabini (D-Queens) and continued there for four years.

“[Journalism] is where my heart is, really,” he said. “But there was a point where I needed a grown-up job.” Tarek said he employs the same skill set in his position as he did as a journalist—promoting newsworthy

material that the general public fi nds interesting. In his free time, which Tarek admits is sparse during a campaign year, he is a patron

of the arts, frequenting live music showcases at the Rockwood Music Hall in the Lower East Side, where new bands take the stage every hour until closing, seven days a week.

He plays the guitar himself, but just as a hobby, he assures. Tarek is also an amateur shutterbug, showcasing his photographs last year for the

fi rst time in Jackson Heights. He does not, however, see a future as a photojournalist.“I still feel camaraderie with journalists,” he said. “I fell into this job unexpectedly,

but now I love it.”

Women love a man in uniform, so it stands to reason that Pete Gleason should have attracted a few in his day—he has worn both the blues of the NYPD and FDNY.

Gleason, a Tribeca resident, was a police offi cer for three years until leaving in 1986 to join the fi re department. He spent a decade with them, even posing in the fi rst FDNY calendar in 1992.

“It was before they mandated that the fi refi ghters take their shirts off,” he said. “Had that been the case, I don’t know if I would have been chosen.”

Gleason said his years working at both city agencies led to his decision to get into politics.

“It was really an eye-opener seeing how city government worked and to see how I thought things could be better,” he said.

This year, Gleason is running against Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan) to represent Chinatown and Lower Manhattan.

He said his campaign is time consuming, but he does manage to make time for his 8-year-old son and his favorite hobby, coin collecting—though he might soon be looking for a buyer to make a little extra money.

“I’m probably going to sell now because the economy is in the tank,” he joked.

But even this admission does not scorch Gleason’s easy sense of humor. He has already suggested a City Council calendar as his fi rst order of business if elected.

The ball is in your court, Alan Gerson.

AGE: 30

OCCUPATION: Press Secretary,

Council Member James Gennaro

AGE: 45

OCCUPATION: Lawyer, Council candidate

Shams Tarek

Peter Gleason

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It will take more than a recession, billion-dollar budget crisis and the threat of massive municipal job losses

to bring Susan Chin down.“You’ve got to try to keep the situation light,” she

said, after recounting her frequent trips back and forth between City Hall and District Council 37’s headquarters on Barclay Street during this latest budget season. “You make the best of what you can.”

With an optimistic smile, she said she still manages to balance the needs of her union’s diverse and sprawling membership.

“Accountants to zoo workers,” she said. “It’s challenging.”

Born and raised in the Bensonhurst-section of Brooklyn, Chin was young when she started out in the world of lobbying and politics (just 20 years old), before rising up the ranks of DC 37. Her husband, Ross Brady, a senior attorney at the Interstate Environmental Commission, is sympathetic to the fast-paced nature of her job, she says. In May, the couple will be celebrating their 10th anniversary.

“Interestingly enough,” she said somewhat woefully, “our anniversary is during budget season.”

So no trip to the Bahamas. To stay grounded, Chin said she relies on her family

and friends, as well as her favorite hobby: shopping. Recession be damned, she says, nothing can keep this labor maven from her favorite boutiques.

“It’s a very bad habit,” she admitted.

AGE: 36

OCCUPATION: Assistant Director

of Political Action Department,

District Council 37

Susan Chin 30THE

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AGE: 38

OCCUPATION: Executive Director,

Transportation Alternatives

Life-long bicyclist Paul Steely White has always believed in living green.

After leaving his hometown of Rockford, Ill.—via mass transit, no doubt—White moved to New York and took a position with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, where he worked on environmental transportation projects.

He later joined Transportation Alternatives, a politically active group that advocates for the increased use of public transit, as well as more walking and bicycling throughout New York City.

White considers the crusade of greening transportation a personal passion.

“Greening is one of the most powerful ways to save the planet,” he said. And his two-month-old daughter, Anna Jane, might soon be joining the ranks of bicycle enthusiasts.

A friend also involved in urban environmental issues purchased the infant a LikeABike, a toy bicycle that helps children develop motor skills and balance. But White said he and his wife of seven years, Zoe, are waiting for their daughter to learn to sit up before beginning lessons.

“Balance is important in bike riding and politics,” he joked. If you are near the Ninth Avenue and Grand Street bike lanes, you might just catch

White racing along—he said those are his favorite rides in New York City. “On a nice day you always fi nd people riding and exchanging smiles,” he said.

For Amanda Burden, heading the Department of City Planning has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world,” she gushed, “who has the most archaic expertise.”

She has been to Greenpoint and Williamsburg 200 to 300 times. She has strolled the Far Rockaways a good 50 times. She says she knows the city like the back of her hand.

Born and raised in New York, Burden comes from old money, the daughter of a socialite and an oil fortune heir. She got her degree in city planning from Columbia,

where she wrote an award-winning thesis on solid waste management. Her career since has been diverse, working for an architecture fi rm or teaching public school in Harlem.

Lately, she has found a lot to like about Coney Island, that strip of beachfront Americana in South Brooklyn currently slated for a big development upgrade.

“What a great chance to make it a year-round entertainment district,” Burden said.

For research purposes, she has ridden the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone, an experience she dubbed “thrilling and terrifying.”

With harsh winter winds blowing off the Atlantic, Coney Island may be a bit too cold for a Valentine’s Day locale, Burden said. But she would not write it off completely.

“What about the Tunnel of Love?” she asked. If you build it, they will come.

AGE: 64

OCCUPATION: Director, Department of City

Planning; Chair, City Planning Commission

Paul Steely White

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Marissa Shorenstein has worked for some heavy hitters in her day: Al Gore, Bill Clinton, David Dinkins, Carl McCall

and now David Paterson.But none so far have measured up to the New York

Jets. Shorenstein represented the football team during

the notorious West Side Stadium negotiations, a period she rarely looks back on with much happiness.

“It’s still a fresh wound,” she said dejectedly. But she said she still walked away from the

experience with some important knowledge of politics.

“I consider politics to be its own brand of contact sport,” Shorenstein said.

She knows a few things about athleticism. As a former ballet dancer, she enjoys going to the New York City Ballet to catch up with old friends and see a few performances.

“It’s strange to sit in the audience,” she said. “Sort of depressing.”

She acknowledges that doing communications for Gov. David Paterson is “a different kind of dancing.” And with Paterson a bit on the ropes these days after bungling the Senate selection, Shorenstein is sure to be pirouetting more than usual. But she has the stamina for it, she said, and the stature.

“I’m very short,” she said. “The only type of sport I could fi nd myself in is the sport of politics.”

AGE: 38


Hakeem Jeffries

In 2002, when Michele Titus (D-Queens) was eight months pregnant, she was elected into the Assembly. Now, with two young children, she says she approaches everyday like a new challenge, where work and her home life are all intertwined. She is no Kirsten Gillibrand, though, she said.But whether her commitment to public service extends to encouraging her own kids

to enter politics, Titus stops short.“You’d have to ask Hevesi and Weprin whether they like being in politics like their

fathers,” Titus said of her two fellow Queens Democrats (and political heirs), Andrew Hevesi and Mark Weprin.

Titus got her own start in politics working for former State Sen. Ada Smith (D-Queens). She also did a stint as a lawyer at the Board of Elections and as the executive director to the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus.

While she normally looks forward to the surprises her husband, Eric, concocts for her on Valentine’s Day, this year will be spent upstate in Albany, for a meeting of the caucus. But Titus, who enjoys the serenity of upstate, said she does not mind. But can the capital compete with the sights and smells of Queens, arguably the most lively and diverse place in the country?

“There’s no place like home,” Titus said. You said it, Dorothy.

AGE: 29

OCCUPATION: Deputy Communications

Director, Gov. David Paterson

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Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) may be one of the most beautiful politicians in New York, but

it is not from lack of stress.Jeffries splits his weeks between

Brooklyn and Albany, taking care of his district constituents and trying to spend time with his seven- and four-year-old sons whenever he can.

“Even when you’ve had a long or stressful day, no matter what has taken place, the children are always there to provide you with unconditional love,” Jeffries said of his sons. “That really helps to sustain you.”

Jeffries began his political life after graduating from New York University law school, becoming active in public safety and police community relations in his hometown of Brooklyn.

He decided to run for Assembly in 2000, but subsequently lost the bid to incumbent Assembly Member Roger Green.

Once Green decided to run for a congressional seat in 2006, Jeffries wasted no time going after the opening Assembly seat and won the three-way race. In his fi rst year, Jeffries took on the issue of affordable housing for middle income families in the faltering economic climate.

Jefferies spends his little free time playing chess, reading political biographies and taking his college sweetheart and wife of 11 years to the movies.

But there will be no romance for the lovebirds on Valentine’s Day. Jeffries will be spending the day in Albany at the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, and Hispanic Legislative Caucus.

And he will not be getting off easy.“I have to make it up when I get back down to the city,” he said sheepishly.

Married

AGE: 39


Michele TitusMarried

In a relationship


AGE: 28

OCCUPATION: Budget and Policy

Coordinator for Brooklyn Borough

President Marty Markowitz

Loving Brooklyn is easy when you work with Marty Markowitz everyday.

“Being around Marty, you can’t leave Brooklyn,” said Carlos Manchaca, who works in Markowitz’s chief of staff offi ce, also known as the “ring of fi re.”

Manchaca’s New York story is one of a college student who fell in love and never left. After growing up in El Paso, Texas, Manchaca relocated to San Francisco for college and was selected by the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs to take part in a nine-month leadership training program.

He was drafted to New York by the program and began working in the Brooklyn borough president’s offi ce; he was hired full-time a year later.

Manchaca said much of his job is urging Brooklynites to “stay local” in an effort to charge Brooklyn’s economic engine. He’s been instrumental in the success of Markowitz’s “Shop Brooklyn” campaign and many of the capital projects that come out of the borough president’s offi ce.

“My job is to make it user-friendly,” he said. “I take [Markowitz’s] ideas and translate them into a reality.” But Manchaca does not just promote Brooklyn’s economy—he contributes as well. He considers himself a Brooklyn patron, frequenting the museums, cultural

institutions and parks. He also blames much of his love for the borough on his boss.“He really knows how to sell a loyalty to community,” he said. As for Valentine’s Day, Manchaca sees himself staying in the borough for the

evening. “I’d like to go see a show at BAM and maybe hit up a hot new restaurant,” he said.He is still negotiating with his date, however.

Dealing with residents of West Harlem, Inwood and Washington Heights day-in and day-out has left Wendy

Olivio with little time for a social life. But remarkably, the 34-year-old native of the Dominican Republic does not mind that much.

“These people I deal with always say, ‘Why don’t you have a boyfriend?’” she said. “I say, ‘I don’t have time because I’m talking to you!’”

When she is not pocketing the phone numbers of the available grandsons of Jackson’s constituents (she says she is not interested and in a relationship), Olivio enjoys taking her two sons, age 6 and 12, to play basketball and volleyball. One of her sons is already showing off some latent political talents, she says, walking up to strangers and introducing himself with a powerful handshake.

And while she would support either of her boys if they decided to run for City Council, Olivio says she hopes that would just be the fi rst stop of a long political career.

“Supreme ruler of the world would do,” she said. Working for Jackson, who is known for pulling no

punches in his public statements, also keeps her on her toes. When the Jackson gives speeches, Olivio says she crosses her fi ngers.

“It’s like, ‘Oh my god, I hope he doesn’t say this,’” she said. “It’s almost like hearing your dad give a speech.”

Carlos Manchaca

AGE: 34

OCCUPATION: Community Liaison,

Council Member Robert Jackson

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Wendy Olivio Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) does not like to talk much about his personal life.

But others do.Maybe it is because several years ago he reached the age when Jewish mothers like

his start asking regularly about grandchildren. Maybe it is because he does his best to present himself as an interesting character, making people wonder what dating him would be like. Maybe it is because his relationships with women have become the stuff of tabloid gossip, from his rumored escapades in Washington to his on-again, off-again, on-again relationship with Hillary Clinton aide-de-camp Huma Abedin.

Or maybe it is because of his strong features and wiry physique, which have been known to turn a few heads.

Whatever the reason, being an object of attraction will no doubt be a good thing this year, as Weiner mounts a second run for mayor, competing for votes in the primary with Comptroller William Thompson (D) and, if successful, against Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.). His middle class, outer borough platform helped propel him to a surprisingly strong showing in 2005, and the four years since have seasoned both his policies and his looks. Making the appeal to New Yorkers on both fronts might help throw him over the edge to victory.

And if so, no doubt his personal life will be the subject of even more discussion.

AGE: 44

OCCUPATION: Member of Congress

Anthony Weiner

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When Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was tapped to fi ll Hillary Clinton’s seat, immigration advocates almost

immediately pounced on her voting record during her term in the House. And no one responded more forcefully to the selection than Assembly Member Peter Rivera (D-Bronx), Albany’s senior Latino legislator. In a Jan. 23 press release, he stated that Gillibrand’s record on immigration “borders on xenophobia,” and that “Gillibrand wants a guest worker program that basically serves as 21st century slavery.”

Since Rivera and a group of Latino lawmakers met with the new senator, however, both sides have undergone serious changes of heart: Gillibrand has modulated her positions on immigrations and Rivera his on Gillibrand. Following their tête-à-tête, Rivera spoke with City Hall about the experience, refl ecting on why he feels so strongly about the issue of immigration, why he reacted so outspokenly to the Gillibrand appointment, and what eventually changed his mind.

What follows is an edited transcript.

City Hall: What was your fi rst thought when you heard Sen. Gillibrand had been selected by the governor?Peter Rivera: I criticized the governor for the whole process. The process as a whole was not transparent. In other states, the process was resolved much earlier. As for Sen. Gillibrand, I thought she was a good, professional representative for the district she was in. But I was very disappointed that she was nominated. I felt that it was close to impossible—based on her voting record, based on a number of stances that she had taken—that she couldn’t even begin to have an understanding about what life for immigrants is about. About 50 percent of the working population of New York City happens to be immigrants, which is substantial. And so I felt that she would not change, and she could not change—because of her positions and her stances in her prior congressional district.…Lo and behold, she has recovered very strongly. And today she wrote a letter to the president basically restating the issues that we spoke about with her: sanctuary cities, the INS conducting raids and breaking up families with these raids. She now believes there can be sanctuary cities. She’s also for amnesty—she believes in a pathway to citizenship. A whole slew of issues that are front and center when it comes to the immigration issue.

CH: Gillibrand has been quoted as saying that immigration is not her area of expertise. Did you think when you talked to her that she just did not know a lot about these issues before, and that this explains her voting record in the House? PR: She was very honest about it. She said that Republicans had tried embarrassing those colleagues, like her, representing districts with preconceived

notions about illegal immigration, and that it was more about Republicans trying to hurt her. In representing the entire State of New York, she had to show that she was willing to change. I think it that was a very positive and very courageous response that she was willing to do so.

CH: Some people might say, though, that that’s fl ip-fl opping…PR: I think she can be easily criticized for that. But I think it’s a sign of courage. I make mistakes all of the time, and I change my positions on legislation. So if I am willing to change, I appreciate people that have the same understanding. Some might say fl ip-fl opping, but I

like to call it courage. I don’t want to call it fl ip-fl opping; I want to call it growth and a willingness to change.

CH: You are from Puerto Rico originally and came here when you were a young child. How does that inform the way you view the issue of immigration?

PR: Even though Puerto Rico is part of the United State, I still consider myself an immigrant. I’ve always self-identifi ed. I didn’t speak English until the fi rst grade. So I know, coming into a foreign environment, the confusion

that comes with that. What I think about are the many, many people that don’t have relatives, that don’t have siblings in this country. When I came here in the 1940s, I think many people in the Puerto Rican community, in the Hispanic community, had to adjust by themselves, without any immigrant services. There was really nothing there to help with the transition. They’re tired, they’re fi red, they’re often dislocated. I personally can self-identify with that.We have one major problem with immigrants, from whatever country they come from: that the fi rst generation really does not participate. And the government really does not do a good job of attracting, informing and teaching. We don’t participate in a whole array of services that are available to us.

CH: Are you working on legislation for this session to address some of your concerns about immigrant issues?PR: We have a piece of legislation that deals with districts throughout the state that are at-large districts, diluting the ability of immigrants to effectively participate. So what my legislation would do is change these districts, based on various triggers, from at-large districts, to geographical districts. And these geographical districts would be able to elect their own representatives, rather than the top three, four or fi ve vote getters, like in at-large districts. Let’s take, for example, the village of Port Chester. The way it works right now, people in Port Chester feel disenfranchised, and to change that, they have to go to federal court, which could take years. My legislation would

accelerate the process.

CH: Is there anything more the government can do to help fi rst generation immigrants?

PR: The fi rst thing the government should be aware of is that there are “breaks” in communications. And it should focus efforts, energies and resources to ease those breaks. Unfortunately, there is no true, solid, longstanding, continuing effort on the part of the government to eliminate them. There are a lot of piecemeal efforts, but it’s a longstanding question: How do we reach these people? That’s why we have the low participation of these persons in police departments, in fi re departments, in law schools.…My sister came here with me. She was encouraged, when we fi rst moved, to work in a factory. Her guidance counselor tried to convince her that she would be a good factory worker. Today, she’s the supervising nurse at a major hospital in Brooklyn. Yet she was not encouraged to pursue that kind of career. She had to encourage herself.

CH: And you started out as a police offi cer, right?PR: Right. I was the fi rst police offi cer in my family. I was the second high school graduate in my family. I was the fi rst college graduate in my family. I became the fi rst lawyer, as a result of which my son is an attorney. My grandson—his mother is an attorney. You open up the routes of assimilation to a whole slew of people, just by what I’ve been able to do. And I believe we need that experience. C

— By Chris [email protected]

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“I don’t want to call it flip-flopping; I want

to call it growth and a willingness to change.”

Initially outspoken on Gillibrand’s immigration policies, As-sembly Member Peter Rivera has softened his opposition.

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Immigration Conciliation

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City Hall - February 9, 2009

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