Dear ones,
Here’s Tuesday’s post on Monday evening. Why? Because I have something important to mention if you haven’t yet voted in Brooklyn.
There’s an electoral contest that eluded me: the open seat on Brooklyn’s Surrogate’s Court:
Judicial races often fly under the radar for all but the most plugged-in voters. New York’s judiciary is incredibly convoluted, with several different ways lawyers can end up on the bench.
In low-information races like these, having institutional support is crucial, as is being associated with better-known candidates on the party’s slate. But while at one time the county party committee would have had near total control over who winds up on the bench, insurgent races have recently become more common, testing the influence of Democratic machines.
This year, the race to watch is for Surrogate’s Court in Brooklyn, which handles estate and will cases, as well as the public agency that handles the estates of people who die without wills. The race pits Civil Court Judge Dweynie Paul – who has the Brooklyn Democrats’ support – against Supreme Court Justice Rosemarie Montalbano.
The upshot is that Montalbano supports legislation that would make the appointment of the public administrator, who is on the city payroll, a mayoral appointment, like other commissioners. Dweynie Paul opposes this reform, preferring to “maintain a status quo that has traditionally helped party insiders.”
Machine politics are generally not in the best interests of the people.
Vote for Rosemarie Montalbano for Surrogate’s Court.
With the first federal Juneteenth holiday behind us, we need to keep our sleeves rolled up. Among the substantive issues that affect Black lives is the burning need to improve the way we teach about race and racism to all Americans.
Sign this petition in defense of teaching Black History, which is an inextricable part of American history.
Here’s some good news, essential preparation for Tuesday:
NYC is scaling up a pilot program done by NYC Kids Rise to help address the persistent racial wealth gap. In the coming fiscal year, the city will invest $15 million by depositing at least $100 in a 529 college savings account for every NYC child enrolled in public kindergarten.
New York City Council passed Intro 1572-B, the first expansion of fair housing law since 1968. The bill would require new data tools to facilitate measurement of equitable development.
The substance of racial equity reports would vary by application type, but all would include a statement of how the proposed project relates to the goals and strategies to affirmatively further fair housing and promote equitable access to opportunity. Residential projects would state the expected rents for market rate and affordable units and the incomes needed to afford them without incurring housing cost burden.
The new city legislation was the culmination of organizing efforts by Churches United for Fair Housing.
Only two council members, Borelli and Matteo, both of Staten Island, opposed the bill. Even this critique of the bill, by a city planner calling on the mayor to veto it, struck me as an argument in its favor:
In effect, the council gives opponents carte blanche to demand more—more affordability, more union jobs—until the project is either enmeshed in a thicket of government control or as dead as Amazon’s HQ2 or Industry City’s zoning change is today. No one need be against housing or jobs; they just have to be “equitable”—that is, to activists and council members, not to the people taking business risks.
Work has begun to convert a lane of car traffic into a protected two-way bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s easy to complain about the slow pace of building bike infrastructure in the city AND we can celebrate this finally happening. The bike lanes are projected to open in the fall, at which time the boardwalk will be devoted entirely to walking and standing around gaping at the view.
If you haven’t voted yet, don’t forget!
with love,
L