Council Candidate Steve Levin: Bored by Nydia, Unenthused by Reform

Though the Optimist used his post yesterday to sneak over the Pulaski Bridge from his home in Greenpoint and weigh in on Queens politics, rest assured, dear readers, that doesn't mean he has stopped paying attention to the important affairs of his own community.

Quite to the contrary, the Optimist has been keeping careful watch on the Council race to succeed David Yassky. That's why David Michaelson's account of this weekend's Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) Annual Dinner was of particular interest to him.

The following is an excerpt from Michaelson's (a.k.a. Mole333) account of the event, in which he describes Council candidate Steve Levin's reaction to our Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez's speech about the excitment of the new Obama Administration. If you've never heard Levin's name, you may have nonetheless seen him joined at the hip to his boss Vito Lopez. Personally, every time I see Levin, who is in his late 20s, he strikes me as a person who has sacrificed his youth to the cold, calculating cynicism of old age. I'll let you decide for yourself. Here's Mole:

An interesting side note was that Steve Levin, Vito Lopez's candidate for the 33rd City Council district (where I have endorsed Jo Anne Simon) was in attendence. I was across the room from him during Nydia's speech on helping small businesses and on the thrill of being a Democat with Obama as President. I was struck at how bored and unenthusiastic he seemed on these subjects. I had heard that, despite being Vito Lopez's pick for the seat, he was a nice, decent guy. Yet there he was looking like a teenager someone had dragged to a political event, bored and surly. He would pointedly not clap or clap sarcastically while everyone else was enthusiastically applauding Nydia and Obama. What was up with him?

Then I realized. It was the fact that he WAS Vito Lopez's kid, and Vito Lopez HATES Nydia Velazquez. You'd think Levin would prefer, at a reform Democrat event like CBID's dinner, to show he is NOT so intimately linked to the corrupt Vito Lopez, but instead he chose to emphasize that Vito's petty grudges are his petty grudges.

Either that or he just had indigestion. But the impression he made was not a good one at a moment when the rest of the crowd was quite enthusiastic as progressives and as Democrats.

Congressman Vito?!? (Part II): Senate Majority Leader Dilan?!?

Since I posted about the possibility of Congressman Vito Lopez a few hours ago, I have gotten bombarded with interesting emails from people with various opinions on the subject (most of whom apparently prefer to comment off the record for fear of retribution).

The most interesting tip I've received concerns a move Vito appears to be orchestrating behind the scenes to clear his path to Nydia Velazquez's Congressional seat. The Optimist's source, who claims to have inside knowledge of the dealings, says that State Senator Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, one of the three remaining members of the now infamous Gang of Three, has abandoned his push for State Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. of The Bronx to become Senate Majority Leader and now favors Senator Martin Malavé Dilan of Brooklyn for the job.

While no one seriously thinks right now that Marty Dilan could bypass Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and get elected to the State Senate's top post, the fact that these moves are even being made casts a fascinating light upon Vito's skillful maneuverings. If Dilan became Minority Leader, Vito would be rid of his chief potential rival for Velazquez's seat.

Yes, this is all still speculation, but that doesn't mean it can be simply dismissed as idle chatter. Never underestimate Vito. After Clarence Norman went down, no one ever thought Vito would be able to take over the Brooklyn Democratic Party either. We've all seen how right they were.

Congressman Vito Lopez?!?

All this talk about Hillary becoming Secretary of State has my head spinning.

If Hillary does take the job, she could single-handedly start a chain reaction that could change a good portion of the political landscape of Brooklyn overnight.

It all starts with the open U.S. Senate seat. As Liz Benjamin reported last week in The Daily News, Governor Paterson would likely appoint Brooklyn/Manhattan Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez to replace Clinton. The rationale behind the move makes sense. Paterson is under fire by a duo of rogue Democratic State Senators from the Bronx for the dearth of Latinos in leadership positions - a sharp thorn in Paterson's side given that the two State Senators are threatening to keep the State Senate in Republican hands if the Democrats don't make concessions. Elevating Velazquez to the Senate seat could go a long way to diffusing this criticism, while at the same time scoring points for Paterson with women voters.

Here's where things get crazy. If New York suddenly has Senator Velazquez, who is most likely to run for her Congressional seat?

(drum roll)

Vito Lopez!

Would any elected official in Brooklyn dare oppose him? I doubt it. And why wouldn't Vito want to be Congressman? Being a Congressman means way more money and power - the two things Vito loves most. What better promotion could he hope for?

And he could eat his cake too! Rep. Joe Crowley in Queens is both a Congressman and chair of the Queens Democratic Party. There's no reason why Vito couldn't keep his iron hold on Brooklyn's Democratic Party - and then some. Especially now that Mayor Bloomberg owes Vito big time for lining up Brooklyn's Council Members to hand Hizzoner another term.

Congressman Vito Lopez? I think I already hear Vito salivating. It finally seems appropriate that Vito left all of the Hillary for President signs up in the window of his office for weeks after Obama won the Democratic nomination. Could anyone be pulling harder for Secretary of State Clinton than Vito?

Oh, and who would run for Vito's Assembly seat if it became available? Diana Reyna? Erik Dilan? Then, would that mean more open Council seats in Brooklyn? Start your speculations now. If everything plays out according to Vito's wildest dreams, a lot of politicians' plans could be changing in the very near future.

Brooklyn Politics: Who are Brooklyn's U.S. Congress Members? (2008)

A number of the Optimist's readers have reached out to him over the past year asking for a complete list of Brooklyn's elected officials. This is a very good question! As easy as it would seem in the age of the internet to get this kind of basic information, it's actually a lot more difficult than you might think.

So, as a public service to my fellow Brooklynites, I present the following series of posts to make it transparent and easy to track down the names of all your Members of Congress, State Senators, Assembly Members, Council Members, and even the District Leaders for the Democratic Party.

To make the list as helpful as possible, I've linked each name to the elected officials' homepage, except for in the case of the District Leaders, who generally don't have a website. If you want to reach your District Leaders and can't find their number, leave a comment on this page or send me an email at brooklynoptimist@gmail.com and I'll make sure to get you their contact information.

If you don't know in what district you live, you can find out everything you need to know by entering your address into the New York City Board of Elections' website right here.

So, here they are, your Members of Congress:

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REPRESENTING KINGS COUNTY (6 Total)

8th CD: Jerry Nadler (also represents Manhattan)
9th CD: Anthony Weiner (also represents Queens)
10th CD: Edolphus Towns
11th CD: Yvette Clarke
12th CD: Nydia Velázquez (also represents Queens and Manhattan)
13th CD: Vito Fossella (also represents Staten Island - NOTE: Fossella is not seeking re-election because of a host of scandals that have been widely reported by the national news. All political experts would agree that his likely successor following November's general election will be Democratic nominee Mike McMahon.)

Brooklyn Losing Power in the U.S. House, but Strong in Senate

According to Congress.org's recently released 2008 Power Rankings for the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Brooklyn's Congressional delegation doesn't have as much weight to throw around as borough residents might think. Out of the nation's 435 members of the House, only one Brooklyn Congressman, Rep. Edolphus Towns, slips into the top 50 most powerful at #43 on the list. Despite his prominent placement, Towns is still likely disappointed by his Power Ranking. In 2007, he came in at #18 on the list.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, who comes in next at #63, also lost influence from last year according to Congress.org, which ranked him as #43 last year. As did Jerrold Nadler, who went from #128 in 2007 to #162 in 2008. Brooklyn's sole Republican member of the House, Vito Fossella, tumbled precipitously from #116 in the 2005 Power Rankings to #315 this year, though his decline reflects the fact that his party is now in the minority, rather than his performance. Fossella actually bettered his 2007 ranking of #365.

The only other member of the Brooklyn delegation to ascend the list was my congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who leapt to #96 from #180 last year.

Our borough's newest member of Congress, Rep. Yvette Clarke, who won her seat in 2006, almost doesn't register in the rankings. After premiering at #366 on the list last year, Clarke has fallen to #402, giving her the dubious distinction of the 5th LEAST influential Democrat in the House.

Despite our decline in the House, Brooklynites can console ourselves with our seniority in the U.S. Senate. Both New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton place in the Top 10 most powerful members, Chuck at #5 and Hillary at #9.

Brooklyn's Mysterious Superdelegates

With all the national talk about the role superdelegates will have in deciding who will be the Democratic nominee for President, you might just forget that our borough has its own fair share of these shadowy power brokers.

Brooklyn's superdelegates are Reps. Yvette Clarke, Anthony Weiner, Nydia Velazquez, Edolphus Towns, and Senator Chuck Schumer. Guess who they're all supporting?

If you answered Hillary Clinton, you're a winner. (And I guess Hillary is too!)

Brooklyn's superdelegates didn't exactly go out on a limb. Every superdelegate from New York who has pledged their support for a candidate so far has gone for our state's junior senator. The fact that Hillary has in her corner her colleagues from New York's congressional delegation is no surprise. After all, every superdelegate from Illinois, save the Mayor of DuQuoin, Illinois John Rednour, has already weighed in on Barack Obama's side.

It looks like Democrats will have a deadlocked National Convention to look forward to in August. Who knows? Maybe Brooklyn's superdelegates will end up tipping the nomination in Hillary's favor. We could be like Florida in 2000!