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Poor David Yassky: It Seems That He Can't Catch a Break
The first time I met NYC councilman David Yassky it was at a candidate’s forum at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. This was back in 2001; he was running against a quality field of democrats in a primary. He was quite impressive with his knowledge of political issues and public policy; but then, after all, he did work once with Senator Charles Schumer; just as Anthony Weiner-the current congressman and mayoral candidate- did at one time. These are two bright individuals folks; albeit, little cocky and arrogant at times (both of them). Yassky is much humbler than Weiner though, but they are both: smart, talented, educated and articulate. Weiner went from City Council to Congress, replacing his boss with each step; then in 2005, he ran for mayor and did well for himself; to the extent that he is now the democrat’s front-runner in the upcoming 2009 mayoral primary. Yassky moved around a bit-trying to find the right location to launch his bid(s) for public office- and eventually won his seat in a somewhat surprising victory. He wasn’t the favorite for his race in 2001; Mr. Cohn was, if I do recall. Then last year, David Yassky got himself involved in a contentious race for the 11th congressional district; you see, the demographics of this seat didn’t favor a liberal white Jew, and as such, many detractors thought that Yassky was being opportunistic, in moving to the district and jumping into a race where four blacks were already entering. I remember getting my ass blazed for defending his right to run (even though I didn’t support him, nor did I endorse him for this race). Caribbean-Americans were at my throat for publicly coming to his defense; and Afro-Americans also took me to task on the issue. I stand firmly behind my position, even to this day: David Yassky has (and continues to have), every right to run for this seat. We must escape this imprisoning racial predisposition to things political, folks; eventually we have to. Most of us tend to look at political things through these race-prisms, which are really prisons enclosing our wisdom, common sense, decency and understanding. For a fleeting minute back there it looked as though David Yassky was on his way to Congress, but then one of the four black candidates withdrew from the race. I remember making Yvette Clarke the favorite when this happened, and stating emphatically that it was her race to lose at that point. My detractors on these here blogs dumped on me: something fierce; they didn’t understand my commentary. I wonder what they say about my political analysis now that Yvette Clarke won. I eventually endorsed Chris Owens, but that’s because I thought he was the best candidate in the race; not because I thought he was the pre-race favorite. David Yassky came in a respectable second in that race out of four candidates. I have no doubt that he would have won if Nick Perry had stayed in. Poor David couldn’t catch that break in that race; but he was close/lol. So with New York’s eight year term limits bringing his city council tenure to an end in 2009, Yassky had to look around for another vehicle for his political ambitions. At first it was rumoured that David yassky would run for the Brooklyn's District Attorney position; that rumor quickly evaporated. Then it seemed as though David had caught a break; he was mentioned as the possible successor to Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn Borough President). Then that rumor fizzled out because Bill DiBlasio jumped right into the race, and ostensibly beat him to the spot (as they say in basketball/lol). You see, as far as my sources are telling me, Bill DiBlasio will have Bertha Lewis and Acorn, plus the Working Families Party, plus the Bilary Clintons, plus some of the progressive political clubs in Brooklyn, plus umpteen trade unions, with the endorsements of many electeds (black, white and Hispanic), all supporting him in this race. He will be a formidable candidate; even better yet, if he gets Lew Fidler aboard. Then apart from DiBlasio, there were possible runners like the enigmatic NYC councilmember Charles Barron, black state senators Velmanette Montgomery and Eric Adams, the Jamaican-born assemblyman Nick Perry (again), Nick’s fellow-country girl Yvonne Graham (Brooklyn’s Deputy Boro Prez), well known political activist Chris Owens (again), councilmember Mike Nelson and/ or state senator Krueger. Where was poor David Yassky to go? The race was getting stacked like a fugitive’s backpack. Then it was said that David Yassky may run for Congress again in 2008- in a one on one against Yvette Clarke. That too fizzled out, and rightly so: Yvette would have whipped him like he was butter or cream; or worse yet, whipped him like he was a thief. Back in the day, and back in the Caribbean, we would severely whip someone who steals something from another-once they are caught by the public first, and not by the cops. You could lose your life because of vigilante justice folks. If David Yassky were to run against Yvette Clarke next year, he would be politically dead after the primary. As weak as Yvette is at present, she would beat Yassky into a pulp, in a one on one race; unfortunately the demographics there have never been good for David Yassky. Only Chris Owens can take out Yvette next year, but Chris doesn’t feel it in his gut; so she will probably get a free ride. Everybody then knew that Yassky was now down to two choices: ether run for Public Advocate or NYC Comptroller. He chose the latter. He announced this recently and even started raising the money to be competitive; something he has been successful at in the past, since David Yassky is a good fundraiser. At first glance it seemed that his chances of winning this position were fair enough; after all, the declared entrants at that point weren’t all that formidable. Assemblyman Jim Brennan is a very nice man (and I have met him many times over the years) but he is no political heavyweight; despite a fight or two here and there. He is only known in his district, plus downtown Brooklyn and also in Park Slope. Melinda Katz has the feminine thing going for her (as the only woman in the race), but she too isn’t the most well known person in the town square. Councilman David Weprin of Queens comes from a large political family, but outside his borough you couldn’t even single him out of a police line up. There were two other names mentioned as possible candidates; councilmember Simcha Felder and assemblymember Frank Boyland jnr.,altogether these were the declared runners: until today. Then this morning Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion declared that he was running for City Comptroller in 2009, after deciding not to pursue the mayoralty at this point in time. This was a wise decision on his part; and one that has tremendous impact on the make-up and outcomes of both races. For openers, and relative to the comptroller’s race: you can stick a fork in all the other runners; they are done. For closers, and relative to the mayoral race: Billy Thompson just got some mouth to mouth resuscitation for his moribund mayoral campaign; and he needed this like a breath of fresh air. As for poor David Yassky; well he is out there somewhere today, running around in the snow and holding his head up trying not to shed real tears. I could swear I heard him grumble under his breath: “when am I going to catch a fucking break”? (Lol). Stay tuned-in folks: politics is the only game in town. What about DA?
Rock, you forget one other office. Since Yassky considered runnning for Brooklyn DA in 2005, I think he should now consider it again.
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Carrion is an educated, experienced and articulate candidate with crossover appeal, a competitive campaign warchest, a County Leader behind him and a natural base of support in the Bronx. He has everything he needs to win the Comptroller's race, and that makes him the number one target for opposition researchers. Therefore, attempts to discredit him as a qualified manager with substantive fiscal and budgetary experience will be the main objective. Stories involving "cozy" relationships with real estate developers or improper campaign contributions will become highly sought after prizes for rival campaign operatives. However, this won't be enough - Carrion himself will have to make the kinds of self-destructive errors that have ruined many a campaign, and he doesn't appear to be that kind of candidate.
Carrion is one of the few pols I've actually had a conversation with, as I knew him as a fellow young city planner back in the day. He's a very thoughtful and knowledgable guy. So I was surprised when he suddenly became a top politico in the Bronx, given the sort of people who run the place. But then Tammany Hall did eventually decide to give us Al Smith.
I noticed, and appreciated, that Yassky stood up for those screwed by the tax code, the self-employed, and he has made some other throughtful and fair minded calls I've become aware of. But he sure does collect a lot of money. I guess what you have to say is that guilt by association is unfair, because in that case only the guilty are even able to get on the ballot. Thus far Weiner has ticked me off by pandering to those who have better deals and want even more, and who never consider those who are worse off. A great political strategy, it seems, but one that will get no credit on my blog.
Thompson ticked me off at first by trying to gain popularity by promising even more goodies for seniors (arrgh, see taxes and generational equity). One of the first things I wrote here blasted him for it. Since then, however, he's had a whole lot of thoughtful things to say on a range of topics, so I'm not so bothered by that anymore. I like our city pols, these and others, a whole lot more than our federal or (gasp) state pols. Term limits work! None of the folks I think are decent would be there without them.
 I saw David at a holiday party last night (I break with my usual formality because I know him well and have even been to his lovely home (the one he moved to to be in Major Owens's district)). He seemed his usual wonkish self, but I couldn't help but wonder how bad a day he was having. I didn't bring up Beep Carrion's announcement, but it became a major topic at the party once I mentioned it to a few people who hadn't heard about it. As to Mr. Carrion (who I've also met and like a lot), let's not forget there will all-but-certainly be a run-off. My guess would be someone from Queens, probably Ms. Katz v. Carrion (incidentally, speaking of war chests, you forgot that Liu is weighing a run as well). The winner of the Comptroller run-off could very well be influenced by whether and who is in the mayoral run-off. If it's Weiner v. Thompson, that could bode well for the only woman running for Comptroller. If Speaker Quinn makes the cut (which I really doubt will happen, see, e.g., Gifford Miller and Peter Vallone, Sr.), having a woman at the top of the ballot may hurt Ms. Katz. Not that gender is the be-all and end-all, but it will be a factor. But yes, poor David, I didn't think this was a wise move for him before, (another white guy from Brooklyn?), but now it's a lost cause. Even his most supportive donors will not waste much money on a race that he probably cannot win. He would have been smarter to run for Marty Connor's Senate seat. Ken Diamonstone proved that Sen. Connor is vulnerable, and a real candidate like Mr. Yassky would have a chance of taking out an incumbent former-minority leader who is seen by many as way past his prime. It's hard to believe this primary will be 21 months from now considering how much time people like us are thinking about it. I mean, the Carrion story was on page B3 of the Times.  Based on my conversation with John Liu at City Hall on Wednesday, and also based on other things I have been hearing for some time now, I am getting the strong vibes that he isn't going to run for comptroller.
I've heard him say, quite inartfully, actually, that he is running citywide, but "has not decided" what for (opportunistic much?). Thus, unless he's running for mayor, and if Rock's addendum is correct, it must be Public Advocate.
I don't see how Mr. Carrion is considered so strong considering he has never had a difficult campaign in his short life. The only two candidates that have had tough political campaigns have been Councilman Yassky and Councilwoman Katz. I think Mr. Carrion must have been struggling to raise money for his mayoral campaign so this is a distraction. Your assement you can stick a fork in all of the other candidates shows quite an ignorance of New York City politics. You make a comment that Yassky and Katz are not well known throughout the City, however, they both have enormous support amongst the influencial Democrats. I am not sure if you watched the ABNY speech yesterday or his interview on New York One last night - I did and he was very unimpressive and inarticulate as to why he is running for Comptroller. The impression was it was a consolation prize because he couldn't be Mayor. That is not a compelling reason for people to elect someone, especially when Yassky and Katz have considerable experience for the job. You may want to explain yourself if you want folks to take your political assessments more seriously! I actually think he came across very well on NY1. He seemed to grasp all the ins and outs of the pension fund and seemed to have all the numbers down. He is a young, good looking, dynamic public official. I wasnt at the speech but I heard from numerous people that he was extremly inspiring. Look at what he has done in the Bronx. You can disagree with some of the tactics but there is no denying things are much better up there.
Perhaps David Y could call Moshe the moving man and relocate to Staten Island or Queens to run for Borough Prez as the incumbants are term limited. he has previous experience relocating for a job opening.
Adolfo is going to have a difficult time talking about the Great Bronx Turnaround he created - that suggests the borough was in total disrepair when he took office! Everyone who is talking about the what he did with the Bronx are the same people who said Freddy Ferrer created the Great Bronx Turnaround - YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! The Bronx was either turning itself around under the leadership of Freddy Ferrer or it was in such bad shape that Adolfo turned it around - unless of course you are suggesting the Bronx is going around in circles??? Are all these guys and gals insiders looking for the next open seat, and unwilling to rock the boat?
Some of them are parts of political dynasties, but what about the rest? If the goal is to do some good, where is the need? Is the taboo against running against an incumbent that strong? You don't have to take me seriously but I will tell you this: whenever I make a hard call such as this one, it is because I have done my home work. If Carrion doesn't win the primary on the first ballot (40% of the votes), then he wins in the runoff. I am willing to bet on this; are you willing to take me on?
I think the worst part of this is, we will probably lose some good people because there is nowhere for them to go. Carrion will probably run away with Comptroller. I think Katz is the goods but, in all honesty, she doesn't have real mass appeal. check her race for Congress and you will see that she did not connect, hence a Weiner victory. I have a question about all of this - why aren't these term limited council members "challenging" tired state incumbents? Why are the only ones running for state seats doing so as a result of a "trade"? It proves once again that these are just all cozy relationships. The true spirit of term limits would have the energetic ousting some of these dead weight state legislators. The worst part about it is, a lot of them can win. They choose not to because that would upset the apple cart, the cozy relationships they all enjoy. It would be an interesting exercise to try to plot out some dead weight state legislators being ousting by some term limited council members, like Alan Gerson ousting Marty Connor, Yassky ousting Joe Lentol, anybody ousting Rhoda Jacobs, Melinda Katz moving and ousting Nettie Mayerson, Larry Seabrook ousting Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Foster ousting Michael Benjamin, Koppel ousting Dinowitz, Comrie ousting Scarborough or Clarke. There are many possibilties. They should have at it. That would make me like term limits. I wonder if Carrion running for Comptroller will tempt Freddy Ferrer to make yet another run for Mayor? Surely someone will step forward from the hispanic community to run. So what is Chris Owens going to run for next? It has been mentioned that he has interest, or had interest, in running for Brooklyn Borough President, but that seems like a pipe dream given the other announced candidates. I think he ought to take one last run at his dad's old seat vs Yvette. In a two person race he might have a chance.+
Attucks proposes a Boston Massacre Yassky would have to move to run in Lentol's district, and he'd get his clock cleaned. Lentol is a mjaor Albany player who tends to his sitrict and brings home the money. Does any district Katz ever represented overlap Mayersohn's by even one solitary block; or does Crispus think all Jewish women are fungible? As bad as Hassell-Thompson is, Seabrook ousting her would be the opposite of progress. And Koppell ousting Dinowitz would be infantacide (There are many possibilties. They should have at it. That would make me like term limits.)
The problem, as I see it, is that in the Democratic primary only special interests linked to incumbents show up, and in the general everyone votes for the Democrat. Meanwhile, the press ignores challenges, which means they can only get their message out with money, which can only be had from those same interests.
In addition to speaking my mind, I tried to show that one could get around that, but didn't succeed. Perhaps if they all did it as a group, someone would pay attention.
Anonymous wrote:
First of all, it won't be Freddy Ferrer, he ran three times. That's pretty much the limit (unless you're Ken Diamondstone, (I kid Ken Diamondstone, he's never run three times for the same position)). As to another Latino candidate? I think not. It's pretty clear to me that a deal was struck here. Whether or not it was official or just a lot of pressure being brought to bare by lots of power brokers, this seems so obvious. The same people that pressured Mr. Carrion to "step down" to comptroller will be heavily discouraging anyone else who's not white from running. Besides. Who is there? State legislators have trouble running city-wide. They are usually only known in their districts. In my lifetime one member of congress has become mayor (Koch) and Rep. Weiner is trying to replicate that. I hardly see Nydia Valasquez running for major, although I think she's a dark horse to replace Hillary Clinton if she wins next year. So who else is there? And Rock is right. Without a huge scandal, the next Comptroller of New York will be Adolfo Carrion. And, assuming he has no major scandals in his 8 years, he will be frontrunner for Mayor in 2017. And I already said what Yassky should have done: run against Marty Connor. Seriously that's a battle he could have won. As to Chris Owens, at this point does anyone care? He has talked about running for district leader if Allen Fleishman doesn't seek another term, but other than that, does anyone think Mr. Owens will ever be elected to office? He can run for Brooklyn Beep, but he will do worse than his finish for his father's seat. And no, even in a two person race, he can't beat Yvette Clarke now. Mr. Hackshaw, As we can see from the fundraising reports, you were wrong, wrong, wrong. David Yassky and Melinda Katz cleaned Adolfo Carrion's clock when it came to fundraising for the past 6 months! Now we know the real reason Adolfo dropped down from running for Mayor - he had very little support. It looks like Yassky has quickly earned the right to take on the leading candidate (Katz) and my prediction is Adolfo will drop down to run for Public Advocate before the next fundraising reports in July. Any other insightful predictions about Yassky's future? FOR THE RECORD: I like, admire and respect David Yassky. OKAY. Now, with that said, David Yassky always did well at fundraising; so i am not surprised that his numbers are good. I just don't see anyone beating Adolfo Carrion that's all. I don't. Not in this race. Now, if Carrion departed for another race I will then re-evaluate this comptroller race.
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