Reading the Tea(bagger) Leaves from Next Week's New York State Assembly Special Elections
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At the start of 2010 there was a minor exodus of members from the State Assembly --dropping out to take jobs that in some cases were a step up from the assembly-- and some that seemed less like a step up than an opportunity to just get the hell out - an indication of just how powerless members of the State Assembly feel about their clout regardless of party affiliation. Governor Paterson called for special elections to take place next Tuesday, February 9th to fill vacancies in 4 assembly districts. Two seats look to be solid holds for the previous incumbent party -- and two races may be viewed as harbingers of what may happen in November 2010 election -- and particularly whether the New York State Senate will revert to Republican control or enhance the bare Democratic majority. Those who win the seats on February 9th will have the privilege of running again in November for full 2-year terms. The party candidates were not chosen by primary -- but by the respective party district leaders (read party bosses....)
Here are the 4 contests:
Westchester County -- Assembly District 89 (covers Harrison, White Plains and parts of northern Westchester – though not Scarsdale): Adam Bradley resigned this assembly seat to become mayor of White Plains in January. The Democratic party candidate is current Westchester County legislator Peter Harckham. Harckham has a background as an affordable housing developer and won election to the Westchester county board in 2007. Harckham has also received the backing of the Working Families Party and has won an endorsement from the AFL-CIO. The Republican in this race is former Lewisboro Town Board member Bob Castelli, a Vietnam veteran and former New York State trooper. Castelli unsuccessfully ran for the assembly once before in 2004 garnering the endorsement of the New York Times when it was on an oust-all-incumbents rampage. Both Harckham and Castelli vow to fight property tax increases, with Castelli vowing to fight against state mandates but also aligning himself with the populist tea party movement. Castelli has also been an active blogger and user of Twitter for the campaign. The Democrats have a 10,000 registered voter edge over the Republicans, but in a special election all bets are off. Harckham and Castelli are known in the northern Westchester part of the district -- but have limited name recognition in the higher populated southern end. This too is a jump ball and will depend on the GOTV effort waged by each candidate.
Suffolk County - Assembly District 3: Democratic incumbent Patricia Eddington decided to abdicate her assembly seat to run and win election for Brookhaven Town Clerk (state assembly to town clerk??). An aide to Eddington, Lauren Thoden was selected by the Democrats to succeed her former boss. Thoden is a lawyer who pledges to be a full time assembly member and work to cut state spending, reduce taxes maintain school aid to her district. In addition to the Democratic line, Thoden is backed by the Working Families Party and the Suffolk Independence Party. She has also been endorsed by the AFL-CIO. Her website is www.thodenforassembly.com. The Republican candidate is businessman, Dean Murray, who ran and lost a race for the Suffolk County Legislature last November against Jack Eddington, Patricia Eddington's husband. Murray owns a long island based advertising and publishing company, and is aligning himself with the school tax cap advocates -- and filed petitions to run on his home-grown School Tax Relief Party line. Murray's website is www.votedeanmurray.com. This race will be all about the get-out-the-vote effort. The party registration split in the district is relatively even between Democrats and Republicans. This is a jump-ball election.
Nassau County - Assembly District 15: The Republican incumbent Rob Walker resigned his assembly seat in order to become the Deputy County Executive to surprise the winner of the Nassau County Executive race, Ed Mangano, who defeated Tom Suozzi. The Democratic candidate in the special election, Matt Meng, is a self-described environmentalist, owns a foreign auto repair shop, and heads a civic association in East Norwich. Meng ran and lost a race last year for Oyster Bay Town Board and previously ran and lost a race for the State Senate. Meng advocates capping property taxes and reforming unfunded mandates and promotes new mass transit projects for the Long Island Railroad. Meng says he will vote to control taxes, help small businesses, and protect the environment. Meng has a campaign website at www.mattmeng.org. The Republican candidate for the special election is Michael Montesano, a lawyer and former New York City police detective. Montesano, who is also running on the Conservative and Independence Party lines, ran and lost a competitive race last year for the Nassau county legislature. Montesano vows to vote against any tax increase and wants to roll back the MTA tax and restore cuts to school districts. The assembly district registration gives an edge to the Republicans and they should hold onto this seat. A good summary of the candidates can be found here courtesy of the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot: http://bit.ly/bqBLPB.
Queens County -- Assembly District 24: Here we find a game of dynastic family musical chairs -- via New York City council term limits. This is a Weprin family legacy seat. Term-limited councilman David Weprin will be sliding over to the assembly seat formerly held by his brother, Mark, who ran and won the city council election---for David's term limited council seat last November. Mark Weprin secured the family assembly seat in a 1994 special election to succeed his late father, former Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin. For this special election, David Weprin is running on the Democratic Party, Working Families Party, and the Independence Party lines. David Weprin's opponent for this assembly seat, Robert Friedrich, was Mark Weprin's Democratic primary opponent in last year's city council race. Friedrich is a registered Democrat running on the Republican Party line. The Democratic party holds a strong registration advantage here --and given Weprin's name recognition this race will be no contest.
While Montesano and Weprin should win their races, if the Republicans take back AD#3 with Murray and AD#89 with Castelli -- this will be a sign of trouble for the Democratic party up and down the line -- likely accelerating the exit of David Paterson from the gubernatorial race -- and giving better odds to the Republicans retaking control of the State Senate in November.
David A. Singer is a former political consultant/campaign professional and political junkie currently toiling as a lawyer in Westchester and managing real estate and media investments.
Trustees Say NO to Tavern Owner
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At a special meeting on Monday night, the Scarsdale Village Trustees indicated they would vote unanimously against Frederick S. Fish’s proposal to purchase land adjacent to the Heathcote Tavern to facilitate development of 2-4 Weaver Street into a multi-use complex of residential and retail space. Residents were braced for a fight and turned out in force to voice their objections to Fish’s demands that were outlined in a January 20th letter to the Trustees. The meeting, originally scheduled for the third floor meeting room of Village Hall had to be moved downstairs to Rutherford Hall to accommodate the overflow crowd.
However, the fight never materialized. Trustee Sharon Lindsay, who had made a convincing argument in favor of a deal brokered with Fish last year, presided over the meeting, which was attended by the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition, representatives for Frederick S. Fish and a host of other interested parties.
She opened by giving the group a recap of events to date to provide background and perspective on the negotiations that go back to 2006. She explained that in 2008 Fish had a “pre-app” meeting with the Planning Board to discuss the development of senior housing on the site. At that time the Planning Board recommended that Fish ask the Village for a long-term lease or the right to purchase the contested strip of Village-owned land. During this period the Land Use Committee fully considered Fish’s proposal and commentary from concerned residents.
Based on these discussions, Fish came forward with a proposal for age restricted housing and agreed to maintain the façade of Heathcote Tavern and to investigate ways of ameliorating the traffic impact of the project by applying to Westchester County for access to the Heathcote Bypass from the rear of the property. His plan at the time called for fourteen residential units and a building no larger than 27,000 square feet.
In response to considerable resistance from the community, the Village Trustees voted in June, 2009 to return Fish’s proposal to purchase the strip back to the Land Use Committee for further study. At the time, some warned that if Fish was denied the Village land, his next proposal might not be so accommodating.
Fish’s representatives met with the Village Trustees again in the fall of 2009 to address concerns, including clarification on age-restricted housing, preservation of the façade and the timing of the contract and covenance. However, according to Lindsay, communications came to a halt after November and Fish failed to indicate whether or not he would sign a re-negotiated agreement if one could be hammered out. On January 20, 2010 a new proposal was received by the Village that outlined three scenarios.
Lindsay turned the meeting over to Michael Zarin, Fish’s attorney, who was invited to review the proposal and present the scenarios. Zarin mockingly told the group that “it was good to be back,” and said that he was here in the “hope of arriving at a reasonable agreement.” “We have been at this for almost two years,” he stated, and expresseing his desire for closure and for no “finger pointing.” However, he warned that if the Village could not consent to a land sale, “then we all have to do what we have to do.” With that ominous claim he went on to tell the group that “the world has changed since 2008 and it was now difficult to get financing for deals with age restrictions.” He went on to add that the restaurant was now empty and the property was generating no income. He added, “If we could have closed this prior we would have been in a different position.”
He presented no evidence to support why it would have been easier to get financing in June 2009 than today and did not supply any information to demonstrate that Fish had applied for, or been denied funding for age-restricted housing.
Zarin went on to review the three options presented in the proposal. Versions A and B were contingent upon the land sale and Version C is what Fish claimed is their “as of right” plan if the Village did not cooperate. Both A and B called for larger properties than outlined in the prior agreement, and did not provide for age-restricted housing. With fourteen new units, Zarin claimed that averages showed that only seven school-age children would be added to the Scarsdale Schools, a figure that raised eyebrows around the room. With proposal B, where two residential units would be built in the Tavern Building, Zarin danced around how the façade could be kept intact if these new apartments required windows. Even less clear was why Fish could no longer apply to Westchester County for access to the Heathcote Bypass. Making a vague claim about the sentiments of the “powers that be,” he told the group they would not pursue this option.
However, when he turned to explain Option C, the fallback plan, he seemed to be describing virtually the same size buildings as outlined in options A and B. This four story “as-of-right” building would contain 12 apartments in 27,000 square feet of space plus a 10,000 square foot retail space on the street level that he claimed could be rented to yet another drugstore. The developers assert they can meet the requirement for 100 parking spaces by having parking on two subterranean levels.
With that, Zarin ended his presentation, reminding the group that this has been a “dynamic process” and that they have “tried their best.”
Trustee Lindsay spoke first on behalf of the Trustees and in stern tones told Zarin that she did not find the new proposal to be within the spirit of the original agreement, which provided benefits to the Village in exchange for the land sale including senior housing, access for traffic to the bypass and a building of limited bulk and density. Since neither of the proposals provided these benefits to the Village she said, “I cannot recommend that we even consider this and recommend to the Board that they vote 'no' to proposals A and B.” Trustee Richard Toder concurred, saying that age-restricted housing was an important piece of the original plan and that he would vote against it. David Irwin reminded the group that he was against the proposal in June ’09 and added that without provision for age-restricted housing, the limitations on building size or protection of the façade the proposal was not in any effect “more favorable.” Trustee Hochvert felt no need to amplify what had already been said and at that point Lindsay indicated that a motion to deny the sale would be unanimously approved by the Trustees.
Though it was a temporary victory for neighborhood residents, Fish will certainly return with the plan to develop the site. As the owner, he does have the right to build within our zoning code and this was just one more step in a very lengthy process. However, there are many questions about how much can be shoehorned into the existing footprint and to date Fish has not provided site plans to back up his proposal.
The Heathcote Five Corners Coalition is already urging the Village Planning Board to “fully enforce all existing parking, setback and zoning requirement without variances” if Fish should apply to build on the site. They are also asking the Village to “identify and implement any action that can be taken to preserve the Tavern building” that would not be protected under our current preservation laws for another fifteen years. According to the Coalition, if Fish did want to demolish the Tavern he would need to apply to the Committee on Historic Preservation who would consider eight criteria for preservation, among which age is only one. Furthermore, the building is already listed in the Westchester County Inventory of Historic Places
In the interim, it surely would seem easier for Fish to lease the space to another restaurant and generate some income rather than leave it empty. Heathcote Tavern ran a very successful business for many years and it is puzzling why they left, and why so many others have failed in their wake. Mario Batali – can we interest you in a restaurant in Scarsdale?
Photo courtesy of the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition
Assemblywoman Paulin Responds to Child Pornography Found in Scarsdale
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In response to a report on Scarsdale10583.com last week about child pornography scattered on a Scarsdale lawn, Assemblywoman Paulin sent the following about her proposed legislation (A803 and A760) that would increase penalties against pedophiles.
(From Paulin’s Office) The bills seek to make a distinction between those who make and distribute child pornography, and those who view it. While maintaining strict penalties to the viewer, the bills will lead to harsher penalties for those who create and distribute the material.
The bill, A803, would permit prosecution of internet pedophiles in proportion to the scale and danger of their criminal activity.
The other bill, A760, would create two different classes of the felony promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child. Increasing the felony class will help increase penalties to the worst offenders.
Over the past decade, explosive growth in computer disk storage and internet technology has enabled pedophiles to store and disseminate large collections of child pornography. They can now use sophisticated trade-or-profit based mechanisms to increase their distribution.
According to Scarsdale10583.com, police arrived at a Scarsdale home on Jan. 6 when a homeowner called to report photographs of child pornography that appeared on his property. Police searched the area and found five additional images. The materials were taken to the Westchester County Crime Lab for DNA testing.
“These bills are urgently required to help law enforcement keep up with catching perpetrators of child pornography in the face of ever-changing technology,” said Assemblywoman Paulin, “Now that our bill has a Senate sponsor (Sen. Jeff Klein) we are in a good position for getting it passed during this session.”
The bills also aim to use a graduated scheme for punishing those who commit child pornography offenses. This will be consistent with other New York statutes governing distribution and possession of contraband, as well as federal statues regarding child pornography.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore supports Paulin’s bills. According to the D.A.,"In order to keep up with increasingly sophisticated computer technology, we in the law enforcement community need tools that allow us to keep pace with offenders who store volumes of child pornography on their computers. These new laws will allow police and prosecutors to hold promoters or those who possess child pornography more appropriately accountable for the quantity of material found in their possession. And as a result, we will be in a better position to protect young children from those who wish to take advantage of them in this way."
Scarsdale Students Perform Beauty and the Beast at Tarrytown Music Hall
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A group of Scarsdale students are among the cast of the Random Farm Kids’ theatre production of Beauty and the Beast, Jr. that will be presented at the Tarrytown Music Hall, January 29 – February 7th.
This 90-minute adaptation of the play includes all the well-known songs and characters from the Disney production, including illusion and dancing flatware. The production includes over 120 young people who are divided into four casts. They come from throughout the tri-state area and bring a wealth of theater, film and television experience.
Tickets for the play are $16 for children under 12 and seniors, and $18 for adults. To reserve tickets, go to www.tarrytownmusichall.org or call TicketForce at 877-0840-0457. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information, visit the theater’s website at www.randomfarms.com
Show times:
The play runs from January 29th – February 7th
Showtimes are:
Friday at 10 am and 7 pm
Saturdays at 1 pm
Sundays at 1 pm
Tarrytown Music Hall
13 Main Street
Tarrytown
Pictured here are the Scarsdale students who will perform in the show:
Top row: Sarah Cammarata, Rebecca Jacobs, Matthew Seife, Andrew Wang, Margaret Gandolfo
Middle row: Julia Rutkovsky, Alex Rossano, Shira Zisholtz
Bottom row: Sophia Roth, Lily Spitalny
What Brown’s Win Over Coakley in Massachusetts Means for Politics in New York
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The immediate political beneficiaries in New York of the Scott Brown romp over Martha Coakley are Rick Lazio and Harold Ford, Jr.
Last fall we in New York saw precursors to the Brown win over Coakley in Massachusetts: incumbent Democratic county executives (arguably doing a decent job) were ousted in Westchester (Andy Spano) and in Nassau (Tom Suozzi). In neighboring New Jersey Chris Christie defeated Rob Corzine for governor. What are the implications of the Brown win over Coakley for the statewide races coming up in New York for 2010?
Governor: While Governor David Paterson's poll numbers have risen slightly -- almost no one believes today that his aspiration for winning a full term in his own right will be realized. The probable scenario -- likely to accelerate now with the Brown win in Massachusetts, will be for Governor Paterson to announce in February or early March that in lieu of spending time fundraising and running that he will instead opt out and spend the next year focusing on the cataclysmic state budget and economy. This will pave the way for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to ascend to the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Cuomo will likely attempt to re-run the Eliot Spitzer campaign of 2006 -- relying on his AG bona fides, name recognition, and nostalgia for his father, Mario. The leading GOP candidate right now is former Congressman Rick Lazio, who will endeavor to copy the Scott Brown playbook -- and attempt to separate the man from the myth. Lazio will have things to say about Cuomo's reign as HUD secretary during the Clinton administration. Lazio sat on the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity -- which oversaw some of the programs run by Cuomo at the time. Moreover, Andrew Cuomo is not Eliot Spitzer (and I mean the 2006 pre-scandal version), and Rick Lazio will have much broader appeal statewide than the 2006 GOP candidate, John Faso. Lazio is a fiscal conservative and a social moderate -- the right (and only) recipe for a successful GOP stateside candidate in New York (ala George Pataki). And Lazio has substantially better name recognition in New York today than Scott Brown did in Massachusetts two weeks ago (and George Pataki in January 2006). Lazio is personable and affable (like Scott Brown). Lazio has been racking up local endorsements -- most recently from the Nassau County GOP. And I love Lazio's proposal to convene a state constitutional convention to dissolve the two houses of the state legislature and replace them with a unicameral legislative body. If Lazio is the GOP candidate and could inflict some doubt and damage onto the Cuomo inevitability machine -- he could conceivably be the next governor.
US Senator: while Chuck Schumer and the Obama administration cleared the decks of most of the stronger primary opponent possibilities against Senator Kirstin Gillibrand, doubts about her viability still exist - and it's looking more and more like former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., may actually take on the mission of a primary challenge. Conventional wisdom says that the only viable primary challenge to Gillibrand would be from the left -- given her prior, pro-gun, blue dog record representing a congressional district in rural upstate New York. While fringe candidate John Tasini is mounting a primary challenge from the far left, recent New York transplant Harold Ford, Jr., has taken a leave from his Merrill Lynch gig and is strongly considering a run. Gillibrand is already branding Ford as an extreme conservative -- but her criticism of Ford rings hollow coming from the former Blue Dog. Ford’s pro-choice credentials will probably be his toughest sell in New York – he has been for parent notification and opposed to partial birth abortions. Both Gillibrand and Ford had to modulate their positions on issues to satisfy their more parochial constituencies in upstate New York and Tennessee respectively. While Ford's introduction to the New York chattering class was a somewhat inartful interview in the New York Times, Ford is no Caroline Kennedy. He's an experienced, articulate, smart pol with the potential to go toe to toe with Gillibrand in the fundraising department. If the political climate continues to sour for Democrats nationally -- and in New York specifically -- Ford would be the stronger Democratic candidate against a Republican such as Bruce Blakeman or George Pataki in that Ford could more plausibly run as an outside, anti-establishment candidate.
Speaking of Republicans, the lack of a marquis GOP candidate for the Gillibrand seat at this point in the cycle is puzzling. The decliners so far include Rudy Giuliani, Long Island Congressman Peter King, and Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld. Former Governor George Pataki has not officially declined but all indications point to him opting out and making a full time run for the White House in 2012. So far that leaves as the only announced GOP candidate, Bruce Blakeman, a former Nassau County legislator, Port Authority board member, former candidate for State Comptroller and brief candidate for New York City Mayor. He's recently been noted because his ex, Nancy Shevell is dating Paul McCartney. If the Democrats stay with Kirstin Gillibrand, and runs as the establishment/favorite/incumbent -- Blakeman could gain traction.
Senator Schumer's seat is up in 2010 as well -- but no one seriously sees him at risk.
David A. Singer is a former political consultant/campaign professional and political junkie currently toiling as a lawyer in Westchester and managing real estate and media investments.
