Editor’s Note: The following is a contributed political report covering what is known as Brooklyn’s Brownstone Belt – neighborhoods mainly made up of Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Park Slope and known for its large concentration of Brownstone housing stock. These neighborhoods are traditionally progressive in politics and demographically white. While these neighborhoods constitute many of the borough’s brownstones, KCP would be derelict to not note that the traditionally black neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant also are largely brownstone housing stock. This mention is not meant for divisive purposes, but to clarify and draw attention to Brooklyn’s various ethnic demographics concerning Brownstone neighborhoods and ownership.
Parade and Petitioning
Weeks after the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND) held endorsement and executive board meetings the time had come to leave their clubhouse with clipboards in hand holding those long green forms known as petitions seeking out local registered Democrats to sign to get their candidates on the ballot.
While petitioning started on Tuesday morning June 7, IND went into high gear, in conjunction with their endorsed district attorney candidate, Anne Swern, on Saturday June 10. Starting in Gowanus the petitioners went marching straight through to Park Slope and paused to participate in the Brooklyn Pride parade along 5th Ave. Those marching included Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D-Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill). Lambda Independent Democrats again hosted the pre-parade party.
Assemblymen Robert Carroll (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) marched with acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Brownstone Brooklyn’s own, Mayor Bill de Blasio, was right at home once again participating along with fellow elected officials including Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Public Advocate Letitia James.
End of Albany Legislation Session In Sight
A consistent theme throughout brownstone Brooklyn politics is frustration with the failure of the GOP controlled New York State Senate to act on a reform agenda.
Those feelings are summed up by the headline of Assemblymen Carroll’s latest email update “2 Weeks Left, Senate Must Act.”
Among the things that Senate “Must act” on is A5885A aka “the Child Victims Act” which extends the window for sexual abuse Victims to report and therefore have the crimes be prosecuted, languishes for lack of State Senate action. Both Carroll and Simon supported this legislation as co-sponsors (the lead sponsor is Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal).
There is also hope for passage of Simon’s bill (A00947) directing the NYS Department of Health to conduct a study of areas across Brooklyn that have high Asthma rates and to develop a corresponding plan to combat the high incidence of asthma in our borough.
Watch Assemblywoman Simon’s remarks on bill A5885A can be found here
http://nyassembly.gov/mem/Jo-Anne-Simon/video/
Link to Assemblywoman Simon’s Asthma bill- http://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A00947
Assemblyman Carroll’s statement- http://assembly.state.ny.us/member_files/044/20170609/index.pdf
****After this piece was submitted , the Assembly passed Assemblywoman Simons Dyslexia bill (A8262). What the bill does is require more specific and targeted guidelines to help students who have been diagnosed with Dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. Assemblywoman Simon stated that this will ” help kids more kids learn to read and be successful students!”
Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach) sponsored the bill on the senate side.
Side Notes
The one-year anniversary of the tragic Pulse nightclub shooting was marked with a vigil Sunday evening at the Old Stone house on 3rd Street between 4th and 5th avenues in Park Slope. Assemblymembers Carroll and Simon, as well as Comptroller Stringer and Public Advocate James attended the event.
The Central Independent Neighbor Democrats (CBID) ,along with Assemblyman Carroll hosted a petitioning training event on Sunday, June 11 in advance of their final endorsement meeting. That meeting is slated for 7 p.m., Thursday June 22 at Camp Friendship, 339 8th Street and 6th Avenue in Park Slope.
