’Twas a night to remember — especially if you were a pol or one of their pushers.
The smiles were glued on and the back-slapping was in high gear on Monday night as more than 200 of Southern Brooklyn’s most politically astute foot soldiers wined and dined with their favorite Democrats at the Thomas Jefferson Club’s annual holiday party in Bergen Beach.
Die-hards Dems — including mayoral-hopefuls Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio and William Thompson — feasted on a festive spread of deli meats, pasta, olive salad, and subs as long as the boats anchored at the Hudson River Yacht Club where the frolic was held.
The goodwill flowed like champagne, and even a federal probe of Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D–Bushwick) and his Bushwick-based charity failed to dampen spirits in the crowd which cheered faithfully as club President Frank Seddio uplifted Lopez by telling him that he embodied late club leader Anthony Genovisi mantra of “do the right thing.”
Liu arrived fashionably late and appeared unruffled by the mounting campaign fundraising scandal threatening to devour his candidacy, posing cheerfully for photographs and holding court like a Teflon official with Seddio there to boost him.
“[John’s] had a tough with the press like most of us, but he’s enduring and he’s here,” said the president.
On Monday night, thankfully, those pesky feds were as invisible as a Grinch at a holiday party, though scores of judges did attend.
Other merrymakers included Assemblymembers David Greenfield (D-Borough Park), Annette Robinson (Bedford-Stuyvesant) and Hakeem Jeffries (D–Fort Greene), and Councilmembers Jumaane Williams (D–Flatbush), Tish James (D–Fort Greene), Steve Levin (D–Greenpoint), Darlene Mealy (D–Brownsville) and Domenic Recchia (D–Coney Island).
The Thomas Jefferson Club, one of the city’s oldest political organizations, has launched the careers of three generations of distinguished Brooklyn politicians, including Assemblyman Alan Maisel (D–Marine Park), Councilman Lew Fidler (D–Canarsie) and Seddio, a former assemblyman.
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
