Early birds vie for Canarsie pol’s seat
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■
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’ve got their eyes on his
prize!
A handful of hopefuls are
already jockeying to succeed
Councilman Jumaane Williams
(D–Canarsie), weeks
before he would leave offi ce if
voters elect him to the citywide
position of Public Advocate in a
February special election.
Mayor DeBlasio on Dec. 29
offi cially set the city’s fi rst nonpartisan
election for Feb. 26 —
but that has not stopped at least
six eager beavers from making
moves to replace Williams, who
also represents parts of Flatbush,
Flatlands, and Midwood,
and was among the fi rst to declare
his candidacy in the race
that now features more than a
dozen competitors.
Early birds looking to succeed
Williams include his Deputy
Chief of Staff Farah Louis;
Monique Chandler-Waterman,
the founder of community
advocacy group East Flatbush
Village; Xamayla Rose, a
campaign consultant for former
Borough President Markowitz;
and Crown Heights lawyer
Anthony Alexis, according
to a Jan. 3 City and State
New York report .
And days later, the president
of Brooklyn’s chapter of
the Black Lives Matter organization,
Anthony Beckford,
joined the fray by announcing
his candidacy on Monday.
Both the premature race
to replace Williams — and the
Public Advocate race itself —
will only likely heat up over
the coming weeks, now that
former Public Advocate Letitia
“Tish” James offi cially
vacated the position to be
sworn in as New York State’s
Attorney General on Jan. 6,
and as two planned February
debates hosted by the city’s
Campaign Finance Board approach,
according to Board
spokesman Matt Sollars.
Meanwhile, the watchdog
role will be fi lled by Council
Speaker Corey Johnson (D–
Manhattan) until voters elect
James’s offi cial replacement.
Williams moved closer to
the front of the pack of Advocate
contenders after recently earning
endorsements from both
self-proclaimed progressive
and more traditional Dems.
Bushwick’s new Democratic
Socialist state Sen. Julia Salazar
, the infl uential Thomas
Jefferson Democratic Club ,
and Kings County Democratic
Party Boss Frank Seddio all
pledged their support for Williams,
following his December
endorsement by clubs the New
Kings Democrats and the
Central Brooklyn Independent
Democrats.
The Canarsie legislator
also won the backing of the
city’s fi rst Public Advocate,
Mark Green, who held the offi
ce from 1994-2001.
• • •
He’s banking on all things
green.
Another Brooklynite running
for Public Advocate,
Councilman Rafael Espinal
(D–Bushwick), posited
himself as the green candidate
on Tuesday by announcing
a slate of environmental
policies he would introduce if
elected to the offi ce.
Espinal’s platform includes
a bill to create a jobs
program that will train young
New Yorkers in how to install
green infrastructure — such
as solar panels, roof gardens,
and wind-energy equipment
— at commercial and residential
buildings across the city,
starting with public-housing
complexes, he said.
The pol believes that introducing
such legislation in
the citywide role would give
it a greater chance of passing
than if he proposed it while in
an offi ce that represents a set
district, according to his rep.
“The Public Advocate platform
is citywide, so the councilman
would have the platform
to stand up and make it
for the whole city,” said Robin
Campbell, who added that Espinal
may still introduce the
bill if he does not win the February
election.
• • •
Felder’s been snubbed —
again!
Midwood state Sen. Simcha
Felder, who won a fourth
term in November after running
on the Democratic, Republican,
and Conservative
party lines, will be a lone fi gure
in Albany’s upper house
this year, because its new
true-blue majority refuses to
welcome the turncoat legislator
into their conference after
his years of caucusing with
the GOP to give that party a
majority, according to a New
York Daily News report .
Dems hold a comfortable majority
in the state Senate without
Felder, and are focusing on
a more progressive agenda that
seemingly does not require the
bipartisan pol’s support, Senate
Democratic spokesman
Mike Murphy said.
“New Yorkers elected the
largest Democratic majority
in memory, consisting of
candidates who ran on a robust
progressive agenda,” he
told the Daily News. “As such,
we have decided to remain a
39-member majority.”
PARTY LINE
TALKING BORO POLITICS
WITH KEVIN DUGGAN