CityHallNews.com

As the final week of the City Council’s budgeting process nears, long-existing and deeply-rooted racial and internal tensions within the Council’s 16-member Brooklyn delegation have bubbled over into the already-tense negotiations, according to several African-American members.

Several in the delegation say tensions have been lingering since last year’s race for Brooklyn delegation chair and this year’s race for speaker, but have mounted during discussions of how to appropriate the borough’s annual capital and expense funding priorities.

The conflict comes at a time when racial tensions within the delegation have already been heightened over the highly-contentious, racially-charged race for Brooklyn’s 11th Congressional district, in which Council Members Yvette Clarke (D) and David Yassky (D) are vying to succeed Congressman Major Owens, who is retiring. African-American leaders, led in part by Council Member Al Vann (D), who has endorsed State Sen. Carl Andrews (D), have been outspoken in criticizing Yassky for entering the race and calling on him to drop out in order to ensure the seat stays in African-American hands.

The Brooklyn delegation has begun to fracture along the same racial lines as the Congressional race, with some of its members endorsing Clarke, others Yassky, and still others avoiding the situation altogether.

Clarke was unavailable for comment, and Yassky’s spokesman declined an interview on the topics of either the Congressional race or the budgeting process.

Several delegation members are frustrated with the finalized list of organizations for which the group has agreed to propose funding in the coming fiscal year.

Council Member Charles Barron (D) said the tension over the budget process resulted from two clashing “cliques” within the delegation, formed during the contentious races for the Brooklyn delegation leadership: a series of battles in which Council Member Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn) defeated incumbent Chair Lewis Fidler (D-Brooklyn), only to then give way to Council Member Erik Martin Dilan (D-Brooklyn), who came to power with enough support to avoid suggestions for a Co-Chair.

Vann added that there was still a lot of additional tension within the delegation over the contentious race for Council Speaker last year, in which Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) defeated de Blasio.

“I think there’s tension based on how Brooklyn came down in selecting the speaker,” he said.

The race was a flashpoint for tensions within the delegation as several of its members, including Fidler, broke with the delegation and voted for Quinn instead of De Blasio, who is from Brooklyn. Since then, the delegation has gradually split along largely racial lines, a situation that has only been exacerbated by recent budget negotiations and the uproar over the race for the 11th district seat. According to Council rules, the names of the organizations, how much funding they receive and how many votes they get are kept from the public record.

But an internal memo obtained by City Hall shows 18 groups selected, including: the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Jewish Children’s Museum, Brooklyn College, the Church Avenue Merchants Block Association (CAMBA), the Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Brooklyn, Wyckoff Heights Medical, the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island, Kings County Hospital Center, and the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council. [See chart for full list and number of votes each item received.]

None are specifically African-American organizations.

Barron, who has endorsed Clarke in the 11th district Congressional race, agreed that there had been conflict over the approved budget requests within the delegation’s closed-door sessions.

“Yes, there is tension around the groups that got selected,” Barron said. “Little or no money went to black organizations.”

According to the memo, issued by the DiLan’s office, none of the Black organizations that solicited the delegation for funding received the nine votes required for approval.

Council Member Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), who has not endorsed anyone in the 11th Congressional race, disagreed with the characterization of the Brooklyn delegation meetings as “tense.”

Fidler also denied that there was any more tension over this year’s budget negotiations than in previous years, and called those playing up the notion of conflict within the delegation “very, very partisan and very non-objective.”

Fidler acknowledged that at least one member of the delegation “blew his stack, as he usually does,” but declined to specify who.

BROOKLYN DELEGATION EXPENSE REQUESTS VOTING RESULTS

Organization Request Votes
Brooklyn Arts Council $400,000
14

Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island $432,408
11

Kings County Hospital Center $732,440
11

St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis Neighborhood Improvement Assocation $300,000
11

The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council $300,000
10

El Regresso $800,000
10

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council $200,000
10

Tanger Hillel $50,000
10

Lutheran Family Health Centers $400,000
9

BROOKLYN DELEGATION CAPITAL REQUESTS VOTING RESULTS
*Organization*	Request	Votes
Jewish Children’s Museum	$1,000,000	12
Brooklyn College	$2,550,000	11
CAMBA	$500,000	11
Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Brooklyn	$500,000	11
Wyckoff Heights Medical	$1,173,500	11
El Regresso	$1,000,000	10
Wyckoff House and Association	$1,550,000	10
Lutheran Healthcare	$1,211,600	9
Victory Memorial Hospital	$900,000	9

BROOKLYN DELEGATION EXPENSE REQUESTS VOTING RESULTS
Organization	Request	Votes
Brooklyn Arts Council	$400,000	14
Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island	$432,408	11
Kings County Hospital Center	$732,440	11
St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis Neighborhood Improvement Assocation	$300,000	11
The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council	$300,000	10
El Regresso	$800,000	10
Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council	$200,000	10
Tanger Hillel	$50,000	10
Lutheran Family Health Centers	$400,000	9