Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries defeated Councilman Charles Barron in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District last night, setting the stage for a general election battle against Republican businessman Alan Bellone and third party candidates in November.
Jeffries supporters outnumbered Barron supporters at the polls by a wide margin, with the victor racking up 25,712 (71.9 percent) votes to Barron’s 10,063 (28.1 percent), according to the New York Times. It was one of the most well-attended elections in New York State last night, with more than 35,000 voters turning out - putting it neck-and-neck with the much more widely promoted primary for Charles Rangel’s seat.
Meanwhile, Congressman Bob Turner, who currently represents Sheepshead Bay, may be out of a job come January. His district is being eliminated, and last night he lost his bid for the Republican nomination to take on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Turner received 35.6 percent of the vote, losing out to Manhattan lawyer Wendy Long, who took 50.9 percent.
In the 9th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Yvette Clarke won the party’s nomination to proceed to November’s election, handily defeating upstart Sylvia Kinard, who took in only 11.7 percent of the vote. Clarke will now face off against Republican candidate Daniel Cavanagh.
The Sephardic Community Federation (SCF) is actively working to inform their members and supporters of their stance on congressional candidate Charles Barron.
The SCF-sponsored full page ads in various major Jewish publications over the weekend, according to Yeshiva World News. They spent $16,000 in media ads and sent out over 10,000 mailers to residents of Brighton Beach, Canarsie, Coney Island, Crown Heights, Marine Park, Manhattan Beach, Mill Basin, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Seagate.
In the ads, they write about his viewpoints and encourage residents to come out and vote against him tomorrow, June 26.
Barron is running against Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. The winner will be the Democratic candidate in the November election for the congressional seat currently occupied by Ed Towns, who is retiring.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Some voters could care less — and others may be unaware — that there’s a primary election tomorrow for the seat being vacated by retiring 15-term Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns.
(Check out our guide to the congressional primaries, with info on all the local districts, the incumbents, and the candidates for both the primaries and the general elections.)
To begin with, the end of June is more suited for end of public school year activities, graduations and the start of summer vacations than an election.
Nevertheless, this primary, which is expected to produce an inconsequential voter turnout, has pundits and politicians anxiously awaiting the outcome, mostly because of the two candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the newly-created 8th Congressional District that cuts a swath across Brooklyn from Fort Greene and Bed-Stuy to East New York and Canarsie, and from Mill Basin and Bergen Beach to Brighton Beach and Coney Island. It even stretches east into Howard Beach and Ozone Park in Queens.
State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and City Councilman Charles Barron are facing off to succeed Towns. It would, without a doubt, be a huge mistake, if Barron was the victor.
New York, December 20, 1909. "S.L. Clemens." Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, aboard the Bermudian after a trip to Bermuda, four months before his death. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. Source: Shorpy
“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” ― Ray Bradbury
BETWEEN THE LINES: About 18 months ago, a debate took place at a Canarsie elementary school over a book of poems, when parents objected to some content, such as an anti-war poem with a line that President Bush “loves war so much he gets an erection,” and another about a crack-addicted hooker performing lewd acts.
City Councilman Charles Barron, who wrote the forward to the 2006 collection — which was authored by his goddaughter, Tylibah Washington — defended the book, noting it “speaks to the experiences and struggles of inner city youth,” though he subsequently acknowledged portions of it might be inappropriate for pre-teens.
Local elected officials representing Southern Brooklyn communities, joined by former Mayor Ed Koch, stood before the Museum of Jewish Heritage yesterday morning to denounce Brooklyn City Councilmember Charles Barron as an anti-Semite, and urged voters to ensure defeat for Barron’s attempt to become a congressman.
Barron is competing against Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in a June 26 primary. The winner will be the Democratic candidate in the November election for the congressional seat currently occupied by Ed Towns, who is retiring.
Because of redistricting, the current 10th Congressional District will become the 8th District and move further south, covering neighborhoods including parts of Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach. With an area so densely populated by Jewish residents, Koch end the local elected are urging voters to show up on June 26 and stop a candidate they say has pushed an extreme anti-Semitic and anti-Israel agenda.
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, running to replace Congressman Ed Towns as the representative for the newly redrawn 8th Congressional District, visited the Manhattan Beach Community Group last week to introduce himself and discuss his stance on the issues expected to play a key role in this year’s election.
Jeffries talked about Israel, the economy and restoring trust in government, while also touting his background in both the public and private sectors. He also worked in mention of a handful of local issues, including waterfront issues, transportation and safety.
“One of the things that I’ve found all across this congressional district is that there are a lot of things that unite folks,” Jeffries told the crowd about the newly redrawn district, which will span across neighborhoods from Downtown Brooklyn to Crown Heights, to East New York to Mill Basin, to Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach. “It’s a wonderfully diverse district, but … people want good schools, people want safe streets, people want a strong economy for all. Those are the issues that I really hope to work on if I had the privilege of representing you down in Washington.”
The race kicked off after current Congressman Ed Towns announced that he will not seek reelection this year. Vying for the Democratic ticket are City Councilman Charles Barron, a controversial figure with a strong following in his East New York, Brownsville, East Flatbush, and Canarsie base, and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who has won the endorsement of many of our local elected, who represents Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Crown Heights in the Assembly. The primary is set for June 26.
We’ve been following the news that Walmart may be moving to the Gateway Center ever since rumors surfaced last April. In the face of a City Council hearing about the big box retailer, Walmart has launched a massive advertising blitz, with direct mail, broadcast advertisements and a NYC-oriented website. The nation’s largest retailer is taking its case to the people.
They are decidedly not, however, taking it to the City Council. The business declined to participate in the hearing, blasting the politicians for singling them out while other retailers, including Target, get by with no scrutiny. They claim the city is cowtowing to special interests.
Walmart’s best opportunity for a Brooklyn location is still the soon-to-be-built Gateway II development. But one lawmaker said he’s got the developer’s word that Walmart won’t be considered.
City Councilman Charles Barron, whose district covers the proposed Gateway II shopping center, said he extracted a promise during the site’s approval process that Related Cos. – the developer – wouldn’t accept Walmart as an anchor tenant.
“I had to accept Related’s verbal commitment,” Barron told NY Post. “If they want to go against their word, they’re going to have to deal with city officials in other projects who will see them as a company that cannot be trusted.”
“A majority of national retail is non-union,” Steven Restivo, Walmart’s director of community affairs, told Brooklyn Paper. “When you look at retail and what we offer employees, we’re very competitive to both full-time and part-time workers.” He added that chain stores as Target, Walgreens, Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s are all non-union.
An employee at one of Target’s three Brooklyn locations told the paper part-time employees start at $8.50 an hour, comparable to wages earned at a New Jersey Walmart. According to an employee, part-time Walmart employee wages range from $8–$15 per hour, depending on department.
But union reps aren’t buying it. They say Walmart is different than Target because of the larger role it plays in the American business scene. Walmart is the nation’s top retailer in sales, while Target is the fifth largest.
“Walmart may create jobs on the front end, but they erode them later,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the city’s retail, wholesale and department store union, told the paper. “Union-busting, neighborhood-crushing Walmart forces out good jobs and reliable retailers while bringing down wages and benefits.”
The 630,000-square-foot Gateway II shopping center off Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn is among the sites Walmart is eyeing in a renewed push to build its first New York City store, sources familiar with the situation say.
Union leaders, fearful of a potential Walmart deal at the Related Cos.-owned site near Spring Creek Towers, are planning a protest in the next 10 days, but so far both the Arkansas-based retail giant and the developer insist there is nothing to announce.
“We know that New Yorkers want to shop and work at Walmart, and as a result, we continue to evaluate potential opportunities here,” says Steven Restivo, the company’s director of community affairs. “New Yorkers want quality jobs and affordable groceries, and it remains our goal to be part of the solution.”
So far, no lease has been signed between Walmart and Related Cos. But, according to Crain’s, Gateway offers an as-of-right development site, meaning Walmart’s plans won’t need to be voted on by the City Council, where the elected are heavily dependent on union votes.
Gateway is also looking pretty snazzy to Walmart suits because it has a “low-income population nearby and pent-up demand for jobs and supermarkets.”
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries defeated Councilman Charles Barron in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District last night, setting the stage for a general election battle against Republican businessman Alan Bellone and third party candidates in November.
