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Learn more about this district in Searchlight 2002
General
Election Results
x-Bill DeBlasio, Dem 16,906 - 71 percent
Robert A. Bell, Rep 3,976 - 17 percent
Gloria Mattera, Gre 2,458 - 10 percent
Edward F. Clancy, Con 570 - 2 percent
Primary
Election Results
Bill DeBlasio 5,161
Steven R. Banks 3,529
John W. Carroll 2,955
Anthony J. Pugliese 2,182
Paul Bader 1,439
Craig Hammerman 803
(Official Vote Count from the Board of Elections)
Incumbent: Stephen DiBrienza (can't
run in 2001)
The Candidates:
Contributors to these candidates, according to the Campaign
Finance Board:
Contributors
to Paul Bader
Contributors
to Steven R. Banks
Robert A. Bell has not filed
Contributors
to John W. Carroll
Edward F. Clancy has not filed
Contributors
to Bill DeBlasio
Contributors
to Craig R. Hammerman
Contributors
to Gloria Mattera
Contributors
to Anthony J. Pugliese
City's
Official Primary Election Voter Guide for Residents of District
39
Campaign
Tangle:
Paul Bader was the only Democratic candidate to be briefly knocked
off the ballot. The challenge came as a surprise to Bader, who
thought that the Democratic candidates had made an agreement not
to challenge each other's petitions. Bader appealed the Board
of Election's ruling and four days later was reinstated. Republican
David Greene was also removed from the ballot, but he has yet
to win an appeal. Posted 8/22/01
Campaign
Feature:
[Campaign
Update]
Making the Gowanus Bloom
The 39th District, a long sliver of Brooklyn near the borough's
western edge, snakes its way down from affluent brownstone neighborhoods
in Cobble Hill through stable blocks of Carroll Gardens and Windsor
Terrace, where generations of working-class families have sunk
deep roots, to Borough Park, where Southeast Asian immigrants
and Orthodox Jews lay claim to the real estate. The district skirts
Red Hook and immigrant Sunset Park, neighborhoods that were all
but destroyed 50 years ago by the completion of the Gowanus Expressway,
an elevated road that links the Verrazano Bridge to the Brooklyn-Battery
Tunnel.
The questions for many voters in the 39th District is which candidate
is best able to lift up the schools, and help sink the Gowanus
Expressway.
Stephen DiBrienza's district sports a significant stretch of
the decaying, elevated highway, and leaders in Carroll Gardens
and Park Slope are gearing up to fight for a multi-billion
dollar plan to put the whole thing in a tunnel underground.
Add to the looming civic battle the fact that candidates vying
for the seat include some of the most high-profile contestants
in the city, many of whom are well-qualified, and you have a recipe
for what the Daily
News calls perhaps the most intriguing race in the city.
The candidates include Bill DeBlasio, Hillary Clinton's Senate
campaign manager; and Steven Banks, the legendary Legal Aid attorney
for the homeless. DeBlasio has been building neighborhood credentials
from a seat on the
Community School District 15 board. Banks, meanwhile, has
lined up endorsements from former Mayor Ed Koch, one-time Democratic
mayoral candidate Ruth Messinger, council members Ronnie Eldridge
and Tom Duane, the Met Council on Housing, and several union locals
at DC 37.
Though some politicos portray the race as a head-to-head contest
between Banks and DeBlasio, Brooklyn insiders caution against
seeing it that way yet. "This race really has an abundance of
qualified candidates," says John
Rizio-Hamilton, political columnist for Brooklyn Courier Life
newspapers.
Development issues overall are key in the district, which is
tightly packed with both affluent newcomers and long-time residents
of more moderate means. "If you travel around Carroll Gardens
and other communities, there's not a single parcel of land left,"
says John W. Carroll, a candidate and life-long resident. "Land
use is really the $64 million issue. It's what blood is spilled
over."
"These neighborhoods are destinations now," says candidate Craig
Hammerman, who has served as district manager of Community Board
6 for 11 years.
A key battle could be fought over the empty manufacturing lots
around the newly clean Gowanus
Canal. Since the city reactivated a flushing pump on the canal
in the late 1990s - after thirty years of neglect - fish, oysters
and vegetation have begun to flourish, inspiring development fantasies,
including most recently a possible Ikea store.
Buddy Scotto, a long-time civic leader who is known locally as
the mayor of Carroll Gardens, sees a South Street Seaport/Battery
Park City-like development along the canal. But such projects
could prevent the return of heavy manufacturing and shipping to
this part of Brooklyn.
One candidate, Paul Bader, a small business owner, hopes that
city-owned property near the canal, as well as elsewhere in the
district, will be used for affordable housing and housing for
seniors. "You have to take advantage of what you have," Bader
says of the city-owned property. "I feel very strongly that public
land should only be used for purposes that benefit the public
instead of trying to sell it to the highest bidder."
Whatever becomes of the land, John Carroll says the community
should help decide. Having been involved in development battles
as an attorney for community groups, he advocates amending the
city charter to expand the power of community boards on land use
questions. "The question is, where would I rather see these decisions
being made - by an elite group or a group that is closer to these
developments. "
The development issue many of the residents feel closest to is
the proposed Gowanus tunnel. But the views of the candidates are
not unanimous.
The state estimates that building an underground roadway would
cost between $7 billion and $9 billion, but Gregory Atkins, chief
of staff for Brooklyn
Assemblywoman Joan Millman says that figure is probably an
exaggeration. Still, he adds, "even if putting the expressway
underground cost twice as much as rebuilding the elevated highway,
it would be a cost benefit. The highest rates of asthma in the
city are along the Gowanus Expressway. A tunnel would eliminate
traffic, noise pollution."
Craig Hammerman, the candidate who manages Community Board 6,
has his doubts. " Frankly, I'm not convinced that the tunnel doesn't
bring its own problems," he says, "so I'm waiting for the environmental
impact statement for information on how I would like to see it
constructed."
Candidate Steven Banks sits on Community Board 7 and says he's
cautious about tunnel plans that require the state to condemn
homes and businesses. "When people say are you for or against
a tunnel I always say it depends on which tunnel it is. Is it
one in which there's no increase in traffic, one that preserves
homes and businesses? I'm for that kind of tunnel."
Education is the other big issue in the district. Several candidates
see the creation of better options for middle school and high
school students as critical to the long-term vitality of District
39 neighborhoods. "We need more middle schools with varied programs
so we can convince parents to stay in the district instead of
taking the next MetroNorth out of the city as soon as their kids
reach middle school," says John Carroll.
Bill DeBlasio has played a role in developing new secondary programs
for the district. He sits on Community School Board 15 and has
been involved in a popular plan to upgrade of John Jay High School
by creating several smaller schools to be housed in the building.
But during his tenure the district underwent a minor but convulsive
scandal. Frank DeStefano, the superintendent, was forced to resign
in January amid allegations that he mismanaged hundreds of thousands
of dollars of district funds.
Anthony Pugliese, a lifelong resident of Carroll Gardens and
member of Community Board 6, is running for city council in part
to fight for the district's schools. "We're losing teachers. We
have programs with no books. We have parents raising money for
teachers," Pugliese says. His two children attend public school
in the district.
Columnist Rizio-Hamilton says the trick to winning this race
will be holding onto the brownstone vote in Park Slope and Cobble
Hill while putting together a strong showing in the heavily Orthodox
Jewish Borough Park portion of the district. "It's going to be
a great race," he says. "It's going to be very closely watched.
It might get nasty: In crowded fields like this where ideology
isn't an issue, small differences really do get pounced upon.
Posted 3/30/01
Campaign
Update:
The high-profile candidates in the Democratic race for district 39 are
raising a lot of money, almost $1.4 million combined. And questions have been
raised about where the money is coming from. Three candidates ’§î Bill
DeBlasio, Steve Banks, and Paul Bader ’§î have collected more than half of
their money from outside of the district, and even outside the borough.
Bill Deblasio, who has raised $114,081 on his own and $189,431 with public
funds from the Campaign Finance Board, has received about 63 percent of his
donations from outside of Brooklyn. Some have come from as far as San
Francisco and Washington, D.C. When asked if he thought that this would
affect his ability to represent his community, DeBlasio says no. "These
donations, all of which are under $2,500 and most of which are near $200, are
not going to sway me on legislation," DeBlasio says. "I will work hard for my
community."
DeBlasio is not alone. Paul Bader, who has raised $128,915 with public funds,
has collected 58 percent of his contributions from outside of the borough. A
nd Steve Banks, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, has collected 53
percent of his donations from outside his borough.
Jack Carroll, unlike his opponents, says he has raised most of his money in
Brooklyn. "While I don't think it's fair to say that my opponents'
contributions will affect their ability to legislate," says Carroll, "I think
it shows a lack of community support. They don't have sufficient contacts in
the district."
Paul Bader missed the first round of matching funds because he was briefly
off the ballot. Bader said that the challenge, which came from opponent
Anthony Pugliese, caught him by surprise. According to Bader and several
other Democrats in the race, the candidates were asked at a forum held in May
if they would challenge an opponent's petitions, and they all said "no."
A spokesman for Pugliese's campaign said that Bader did not get that many
signatures and thought a candidate for City Council should be prepared to
work hard. So Pugliese challenged the fact that Bader's petitioners were not
from the 39th district. The Board of Elections ruled that indeed they were
not, and invalidated hundreds of signatures. But Bader appealed the ruling
saying that the requirement that petitioners be from the district where they
are collecting signatures used to be the law, but it is not anymore.
The law was changed, fittingly, by Bader and other council candidates who
filed a lawsuit against the Brooklyn Democratic party, claiming that the rule
put them at a disadvantage. As a result of the lawsuit, the organization
repealed the rule in June. Bader appealed the board's decision immediately,
and was reinstated on the ballot four days later. "People deserve to have
their choice of candidates," says Bader. "Their vote is how the election
should be decided."
Meanwhile three other candidates have joined the race, each pursuing a
different party's nomination. Edward Clancy, Jr. joined as a Conservative,
and Robert Bell is running on the Republican ticket. Neither returned calls
for an interview. Bell had one Republican opponent, David Greene, but he was
knocked off the ballot.
Gloria Mattera, a health care professional and community activist, is running
as a Green party candidate. She says her main focus if elected will be to
address the ever-widening income gap between New York City's most wealthy
residents and its poorest. She proposes raising the income tax rates for the
rich, reinstating the stock transfer tax that was removed under Ed Koch, and
freezing interest payments on the city's debt -- a plan that alone would save
the city $4 billion a year.
"The current council members have not used their power to speak up for the
ordinary citizen," says Mattera. "I want to be a spokesperson
for people who aren't usually heard."
Posted 8/22/01
Candidate Biographies
Paul Bader, involved in Democratic politics since 1970,
chairs the political action committee of the Independent Neighborhood
Democrats, and is a former member of the Land Use Committee on
Brooklyn's Community Board 6. He has also worked as a campaign
manager for numerous city politicians, including Ed Koch. He currently
owns a design shop, City Imprint. At one point in the 70's he
was a cab driver. In November, he wed Congresswoman Nydia Valazquez,
and they now live in Carroll Gardens.
Steve R. Banks has been a community lawyer at the Legal Aid Society
for twenty years. Currently, he is the Deputy Attorney-in-Charge
of the Society's Civil Division, where he provides legal services
for senior citizens, survivors of domestic violence, tenants,
working families, and the homeless, among others. He has also
worked with the government at all its levels to advocate improved
spending on programs in those fields. Banks served on Community
Board 7 on the Community Planning Board, and he is currently a
member of the Executive Committee. He lives with his wife and
two children in Windsor Terrace.
Robert A. Bell (no information available)
John W. Carroll has been a community activist and preservationist
in Brooklyn for thirty years. He has founded five community organizations,
including Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a housing service group
that helps to keep seniors in their homes, and the 17th Street
Brooklyn Association, which creates affordable housing in Park
Slope. Carroll is also a former president of the Central Brooklyn
Independent Democrats. He is currently an attorney, and is considered
to be one of New York's top 1st Amendment lawyers. He has defended
citizen's rights to run for office. He lives with his wife and
three children in Kensington.
Edward F. Clancy, Jr. (no information available)
Bill DeBlasio is Senator Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager.
Prior to that, DeBlasio was the highest ranking official in the
New York/New Jersey region for the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, where he worked to direct increased federal
funding for affordable housing, senior citizens housing and economic
development in the region. He is currently a member of Community
Board 15. He lives with his wife and two children in Park Slope.
David Greene (no information available)
Craig R. Hammerman is the District Manager for Community Board 6 in
Brooklyn. He has been on the Board for 11 years, and has overseen
numerous projects such as the reconstruction of 9th Street, and
the building of the new NY Methodist Hospital. As the District
Manager he is involved in daily constituent services, quality
of life issues, and improving citizen's relationships with municipal
government. He serves on a Mayoral Brownfield Task Force and a
Mayoral Task Force for Community Boards to improve the effectiveness
of their service. Before serving on the Board, Hammerman was a
Director of Operations for a cosmetics manufacturer and a high
school science teacher in Midwood and South Shore. He lives in
Park Slope.
Gloria Mattera is a health care professional who directs a child development
program at a public hospital in New York. She has worked for sixteen
years in this field. She serves on the Executive Board of the
New York Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program,
which advocates health care reform. Mattera worked for Ralph Nader
as a coordinator of labor during his last presidential race. She
is currently a member of Brooklyn Parents for Peace and the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom. She was born and raised
in Brooklyn.
Anthony J. Pugliese is a member of the New York City District Council
of Carpenters. He has played a leading role in Jobs With Justice,
and has been involved with numerous organizations, including the
Park Slope Food Co-Op, the Sierra Club, and the Committee to Improve
Carroll Park. He is also the former vice president of the P.S.
58 Parent Teacher Association and served on the School Planning
Committee. He lives in Carroll Gardens with his wife and two kids.
Campaign Trail
08/30/01
New York Times endorsement:
"39th District (Borough Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope,
Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill): Even in a year when the quality of City
Council candidates is exceptional, this race stands out. Bill de Blasio, a
local school board member, is better known as the campaign manager for
Hillary Clinton's Senate race. Steven Banks, a Legal Aid lawyer, has a
national name for his work on behalf of the homeless. Jack Carroll is an
attorney who pioneered the development of low- and moderate- income housing
in his Windsor Terrace neighborhood. Any of the three would make a fine
Council member, but we endorse Bill de Blasio, who has the most potential as
leader for the district and the city."
Among the myriad open City Council seats this year, few have attracted as
many candidates with the political credentials and connections as those in
the six-way race in the Democratic primary in the 39th Council District. The
candidates' résumés cover the spectrum of local politics in what is commonly
known as brownstone Brooklyn, but their names are known outside the borough
and each one can boast of influential endorsements. Steven R. Banks, the
director of the Homeless Rights Project of the Legal Aid Society, has made a
name for himself as an advocate for the homeless. John W. Carroll is
president of a powerful Democratic club in Brooklyn, and has also served as
counsel to several neighborhood and preservation groups. Bill de Blasio, a
member of the community school board in District 15, is a veteran Democratic
strategist who worked for Andrew M. Cuomo at the Department of Housing and
Urban Development and was the manager of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate
campaign last year. Paul Bader, a longtime neighborhood advocate who owns a
print and design shop, is married to United States Representative Nydia M.
Velázquez.Craig H. Hammerman has been the district manager of Community
Board 6 for 11 years. And Anthony J. Pugliese is a carpenter who has been a
longtime community activist and an organizer for his union.The district
stretches from the relatively affluent Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens
sections of Brooklyn through a portion of Park Slope and Kensington and into
Borough Park. For the last 10 years, the district has been represented by
City Councilman Stephen DiBrienza, who is running for public advocate.
(NY Times)
08/10/01
The Times reports that Paul Bader is one of the fortunate few
to get reinstated on the ballot after being disqualified for invalid
petitions. Bader appealed the first ruling and won. (New York
Times)
08/8/01
Paul Bader was removed from the ballot yesterday after one of
his five Democratic opponents challenged his petitions and got
enough of his signatures invalidated at the Board of Elections
to bump him off the ballot.
Until he can win an appeal, he will be ineligible for matching
public funds. But Mr. Bader said that his campaign was going forward
despite those setbacks, and he has appealed the ruling in State
Supreme Court. (New York Times)
08/06/01
The New York Times called this one of the ten races to watch.
The race to succeed Stephen DiBrienza has produced an assortment
of high-profile candidates. They include Bill de Blasio, who ran
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign, and Steven Banks, a
Legal Aid Society lawyer, and other candidates, including Paul
Bader, a small- business owner and longtime community activist
who is married to Representative Nydia M. Velázquez. (New York
Times)
07/17/01
Two of the candidates for District 39, Bill DeBlasio and Paul
Bader received over half of their campaign money from people who
don't live in Brooklyn. One other candidate, Steven Banks, has
received one-third of his money from Manhattan. The rest of the
lot's finances are a little more homegrown. (Daily
News)
07/16/01
Steve Banks got the endorsement of two major housing groups, the
Metropolitan Council on Housing, and the Tenants Political Action
Committee. Banks is a Legal Aid attorney involved with housing
policy. His experience with housing issues is important for District
39, which includes Park Slope, where gentrification is a reality.
(Park Slope Courier)
07/2/01
Senator Hillary Clinton's visit to Park Slope on June 24 has "ruffled
some feathers" in the race for Council District 39, reports John
Rizio-Hamilton. Two candidates say that Clinton's visit was a
partisan show of support for Bill DeBlasio. Gloria Mattera and
Paul Bader both got the impression that this was a DeBlasio campaign
event, even though it was supposed to be nonpartisan. In other
news, candidate Jack Carroll has been endorsed by State Senator
Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblymembers Jim Brennan, Felix Ortiz,
Roger Green, and Representative Major Owens. (Courier
Life Newspapers)
06/25/01
Bill DeBlasio held a campaign event with Senator Hillary Clinton,
even though she did not endorse anyone in the race for District
39. DeBlasio is Clinton's former campaign manager. The event was
touted as a "thank you" from Clinton, who received a good percentage
of the vote in the area. (Daily
News)
06/18/01
Brooklyn's City Council candidates made their pitch to the Lambda
Independent Democrats, a lesbian and gay political club. The LID
decided to endorse Steve Banks in District 39. It is confirmed
that Senator Hillary Clinton will be coming to District 39 to
speak on behalf of candidate Bill DeBlasio, her former campaign
manager. However, the event is being billed as a Clinton event,
not a DeBlasio campaign event. Hillary won 70 percent of the vote
in District 39 in her race for Senator, so she is coming to thank
the people. (Flatbush Life)
06/11/01
The Brooklyn Democratic Party repealed a rule that requires petition
witnesses to live in the district where they are petitioning.
They did so voluntarily after a lawsuit brought against them by
several City Council candidates who believed that the rule put
them at a disadvantage against the party machine. A federal court
declared the rule unconstitutional. A spokesman for the Brooklyn
Democratic Party said that the rule was intended to prevent "party
raiding," which is when outsiders enter a district and s upport
a candidate. Three of the candidates involved in the suit were
from District 39--Steve Banks, Jack Carroll, and Bill DeBlasio.
(Park Slope Life)
05/21/01
State Senator Marty Marokowitz and Council candidate Jack Carroll
have traded endorsements. Carroll was formerly the president of
Markowitz's home club. (Park Slope Courier)
4/11/01
A few months ago, Bill De Blasio was managing Hillary Clinton's
Senate campaign. Now the 39-year-old consultant is furiously trying
to succeed Council member Steve DiBrienza and he could easily
end up coming in third. (New
York Observer)
4/09/01
Greg Atkins, chief of staff, for Assemblywoman Joan Millman has
announced he will not run for council in the 39th district. The
Brooklyn Papers
03/12/01
David Waid, legislative aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver,
has dropped out of the District 39 race to spend more time with
his ailing child. "This is going to be the Council race to watch
this year and I would have loved to be a part of it." Dan Tietz,
president of the Lambda Independent Democrats has left his job
at Housing Works to become campaign manager for Steven Banks.
(Brooklyn
Courier Life)
02/26/01
Is there an appendicitis curse on the 39th City Council District:
On January 19th Greg Atkins had his appendix removed. A few weeks
later, Jack Carroll's appendix burst. It gets spookier: The first
time Stephen DiBrienza ran for the seat, his appendix burst in
the middle of the campaign. (Brooklyn
Courier Life)
Bill DeBlasio got checks from Clinton allies Harold Ickes and
Ann Lewis, Miramax Pictures Harvey Weinstein and Mario Cuomo aides
Tonio Burges and John Marino. (Daily
News)
2/4/01
Hillary Clinton campaign chief Bill DeBlasio, running in Park
Slope, got checks from Clinton allies Harold Ickes and Ann Lewis,
Miramax Pictures' Harvey Weinstein and former Mario Cuomo aides
Tonio Burgos and John Marino. (Daily
News)
12/31/00
Bill DeBlasio's election is not a done deal. He's facing Steve
Banks, named by American Lawyer one of the nation1s top public
interest lawyers under age 45. (Daily
News)
12/24/00
Paul Bader objected to ACORN's endorsement of Bill DeBlasio, calling
it a Tammany Hall-style backroom deal. (Daily
News)