The more things change the more they seem to be the same, but the fire still burns to represent Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay and East Flatbush in Albany.
So says incumbent Democratic Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein who has been representing the 41st Assembly district for 35 years, and is now facing Republican Ramona Johnson for the seat in the Nov. 8 general election.
“A lot of the current changes over the years in the district isn’t as much on issues as it is on the change of population and the needs of that population,” said Weinstein, who employs Russian and Chinese language speakers in her office. “When I first took office, I didn’t need to focus on different languages, but now I have to focus on several – Russian and Chinese and Creole and Urdu. So some of the constituent issues is they need help navigating and applying for programs they qualify for.”
Weinstein said quality of life issues remain the focus districtwide including the recent sighting of two homeless shelters – one on Emmons Avenue, which opened last year, and the other on Glenwood Road between Schenectady Avenue and East 46th Street.
“When you drop hundreds of people into a neighborhood of one-family homes you face impacts on schools and other services,” she said.
Weinstein said for the most part, the district remains a middle class enclave save for NYCHA’s Sheepshead/Nostrand Houses, which is actually two public housing developments built side-by-side, and taken together is one of the largest NYCHA developments in Brooklyn.
Weinstein said she just had a meeting at the development last week and has gotten a $2 million allocation to put security cameras in the elevators.
Through it all, Weinstein said she remains passionate about representing the district. “I don’t run up and down every flight of stairs as I used to do, but I still enjoy it,” she said.
For Johnson, a single parent living in the Sheepshead/Nostrand Houses, the issue is Weinstein losing tough with the concerns of the district after such a long tenure.
“Helene has done good work in the 36 years she has been there, but when you’re in a position so long you grow comfortable,” said Johnson. “We can’t negate the fact that in 2013 the city cut services to the seniors and the community, and she doesn’t understand some of the issues that senior face. My thing is we have to protect the seniors and keep them safe. These are retired people living on fixed incomes and these are the people who need help.’
Johnson said a food pantry is desperately needed in Sheepshead Bay and more services are needed to help both the aging population and people with disabilities.
Other issues Johnson sees are the challenges single parents face in finding work with livable wages that includes adequate childcare services, an uptick in unreported crime and the continuing need for a speed bump in front of PS 194 on Avenue W and Knapp Avenue.
“A couple of kids have been hit by cars around there, and Helene said she would do something about it and has done absolutely nothing,” Johnson said, adding part of the problem is Weinstein in considered an untouchable within the Democratic Party.
“No one from Helene’s Party allows anyone to run against her and that’s really bad. There should be term limits. No one should be in office for 36 years. She has the Working Families Party endorsement and yet she’s out of touch with what working families go through. She’s disenfranchised from the real people who are the working families.”
