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 For Peace: Protesting Iraq 5 Years Later

Remember that war everyone used to talk about? There were two of them actually, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan. Well, five years and over 4000 American lives later we're still fighting them and despite some successful recent propoganda from the Bush Administration about last year's surge, they're still not going too well.

Thankfully, the grassroots organization Brooklyn for Peace hasn't succumbed to the fatigue that has lulled our media's coverage of the war to sleep. This Wednesday, March 19th, Brooklyn for Peace is holding two rallies to mark the fifth anniversary of George Bush's "preemptive and unjustified war against Iraq".

The first will be held at 12 Noon at the Brooklyn office of "War-Hawk" Republican Congressman Vito Fossella: 8505 4th Ave. (at the corner of 85th St. and Bay Ridge).

The second event, the "Brooklyn Says No To War" March, will begin at Grand Army Plaza at 6 p.m. and continue on to the U.S. Army Recruiting Station at Flatbush Ave. & Livingston St.

Finally, there is a citywide protest organized for 12 Noon this Saturday, March 22nd. Protesters will aim to form a human chain from the East River to the Hudson River across 14th Street in Manhattan.

For more details on any of these rallies or how you can get involved in the anti-war movement in our borough, call Brooklyn For Peace at 718.624.5921 or go to their website: www.brooklynpeace.org.

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.

My Morning Read

Happy President's Day. I hope everyone has the day off! My poor fiancée had to slog to work, so I figured I'd bite the bullet too. But for those of you at home, here's some stuff to occupy your time:

Via Katharine Jose's morning round-up at the Observer's political blog, I found this story in the Washington Post about Governor Spitzer's proposed tax on illicit drugs. The idea isn't quite as wacky as it sounds, but it's still leaving lots of people in Albany, like Brooklyn State Senator Martin Golden, scratching their heads. Look for this to end up the latest legislative (and public relations) disaster for the Spitzer Administration. It's already being derided as the "crack tax".

Mole333 reports at The Daily Gotham that Gloria Steinem is hosting a fundraiser on February 27th for Democrat Steve Harrison in his bid to oust Republican Congressman Vito Fossella of Brooklyn and Staten Island. Suggested donations start at $100.

"Breakfast Beer Run in Brooklyn Turns Heroic". The Gothamist's headline says it all.

Pardon Me For Asking informs her readers that the films of comic genius (and the world's first action star) Buster Keaton are coming to Cobble Hill.

The much-anticipated 15th Annual Book Sale at Park Slope United Methodist Church is this weekend, so sayeth Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.

The Purchase Building in DUMBO will soon be leveled to improve the view of the planned Brooklyn Bridge Park, according to McBrooklyn.

And Rumproast has ten reasons why life is worth living.

My Morning Read

On this sleepy Sunday morning, there's a lot to discover from the comfort of your home:

Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn writes about "Definitely, Maybe", the latest movie lensed by Park Slope cinematographer Florian Ballhaus.

Miss Heather at New York Shitty has an adorable kitten named Hooper in need of adoption.

Hideyoshi at DUMBO NYC has a bunch of cool links to neighborhood events, including an invite only Erykah Badu show.

The Brit in Brooklyn's got a spectacular desktop image of the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building.

And even Republican Congressman Vito Fossella is appalled by President Bush's proposed $200 billion cut to Medicare's funding, according to The Brooklyn Eagle.

Steve Harrison vs. Domenic Recchia for Congress

Kudos to Daniel Millstone at The Daily Gotham for calling Steve Harrison and Domenic Recchia on to the mat to clarify (sound-bite free) their positions on the issues for their Democratic primary showdown to challenge Congressman Vito Fossella for his seat in the 13th District. Millstone reminds us that we should be less concerned with fundraising and political affiliations than what the candidates would do if they got into office.

Both candidates are in for an uphill battle, but it is imperative that one of these guys succeeds in silencing the conservatives on Staten Island who keep Fossella in office to do the Republicans' bidding.