Quantcast

Heavy weight humor

City Councilmember Lewis Fidler (D-Mill Basin, Marine Park) is bringing some wry humor to bear on his re-election campaign.

At two separate civic meetings, he asked area residents to vote for him by poking some gentle fun at himself, telling members of the United Canarsie South Civic Association, “I’d like the support of everyone in the room to be for the chubby councilman from Canarsie,” and remarking to members of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association, “ I hope you have a great deal of sympathy for rotund incumbent councilmembers.”

The jesting didn’t end there. When one Madison-Marine member made a remark about rooting for the Yankees, who were on the cusp of the American League championship series, Fidler rejoined, “Before an election, I’ll forgive anything.”

Some may say community activist Gene Berardelli is in way over his head challenging incumbent Lew Fidler for the 46th Councilmanic District seat. But, still, he’s been a pretty lucky guy lately.

After all, Berardelli actually managed to secure start-up money to build a new park at Brigham Street when others told him the project was little more than a lawn-covered pipedream. And just this weekend Berardelli won a $1500 Knights of Columbus raffle at Family Day festivities in Gerritsen Beach.

“I wish I had that kind of luck in my election,” Berardelli conceded.

The Republican challenger says he promptly turned over his winnings to KofC officials.

“One good thing that came out of my campaign, if nothing else, the K of C benefitted,” Berardelli said.

The political newbie wasn’t without a consolation prize, however. That came in the form of an official endorsement last week from none other than Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Gene Berardelli has been a dedicated civic leader and would be a great Councilmember,” the mayor said in a statement.

The GOP hopeful still says he wants an apology from Fidler for calling him anti-Semitic.

“He should not only apologize to me, but the whole community,” Berardelli said. “Something like that is so divisive and poisonous to the community.”

A Flatbush state senator blasted former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s recent remarks that the city’s crime-ridden days would return if Mayor Bloomberg is not re-elected.

Giuliani’s remarks came last weekend while he was on the campaign trail with Bloomberg in Borough Park.

Adams characterized the remarks as “attack-dog style attempts to divide the city by fomenting the most vile and dishonorable of emotions.”

“The unfounded claim that our city will experience an upsurge in crime makes little logical or common sense, and it is a blatant attempt to terrorize New Yorkers and stir up divisive emotions,” said Adams, a former city cop.

While Bloomberg distanced himself somewhat from Giuliani’s remarks, he did try to make an analogy to Detroit before admitting Detroit’s problems arose “really because of economics as opposed to some other things.”

But Adams feels Bloomberg should repudiate the remarks in no uncertain terms and took another shot at the incumbent.

“The former mayor must believe New York City to be a house of cards, safeguarded only by an indispensable leader without whom the whole edifice will come crashing down. However, our eight million hard-working residents know better, and they believe in the term limits that they passed twice through referendums,” said Adams.

Assemblymember James Brennan (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington) was recently spied ambling to civic meetings on a set of crutches, prompting this column to inquire about his health and well being. The Flatbush/Kensington/Midwood/Park Slope/Windsor Terrace lawmaker happily reported that he’s on the mend after tearing cartilage in two locations in his right hip. The hip was surgically repaired four weeks ago, and Brennan said he still relies on the crutches about 75 percent of the time. “I’ll need a couple of more weeks to recover.” The lawmaker, who is a co-plaintiff on two lawsuits challenging the controversial Atlantic Yards project, said foul play had no role in his current predicament.

Being a Republican in Park Slope’s heavily Democratic 39th District is a lot like being an iguana looking for friends in the arctic %u2013 no matter where you go, you’re not warming up to anyone and no one is warming up to you.

Not so said candidate Joe Nardiello, who announced this week his new fan club “Democrats for Joe”, an assemblage of district Democrats who have side with the Republican challenger against Democratic candidate Brad Lander and Green Party candidate David Pechefsky.

Nardiello said that the groundswell of Democratic support for his candidacy comes from his promise to “do away with the dividing lines” and “crossing over to work with people no matter their party affiliation.”

Democrats for Joe is led by the sometimes course but always colorful Celia Maniero Cacace, 73, who, like Nardiello hails from Carroll Gardens, which she still likes to call south Brooklyn. The 39th District includes Park Slope and Carroll Gardens as well as Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Borough Park.

“I like his platforms, we discuss issues and I like what he’s about,” said Cacace. “We don’t agree on everything, but we get along — because his door is always open to discussions and debate.”

There are currently twenty “Democrats for Joe.” The list, Nardiello said, continues to grow.

All he needs is a few thousand more fans and he could give Lander a run for his money.

Political wonks felt like kids all over again as they dove into the “Pechefsky for City Council Activity Book” distributed by the Green Party candidate for the 39th District.

After learning about the candidate vying to replace City Councilmember Bill de Blasio (D-Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Kensington, Borough Park) voters were able to color a picture of Pechefsky carting recyclables on his bicycle and find their way through a maze marked with horrible pitfalls such as legal constraints, the Speaker of the Assembly, lobbyists, borough Democratic bosses and the every scary Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.

They were also able to play connect the dots. The message: “Vote Green.”

Now to spend campaign money on an activity book could be a gamble, after all, even Green party candidates know that children can’t vote.

But Pechefsky’s team said the move paid off.

“It’s cute and people love them,” said one campaign staffer. “It’s really different and it’s getting our message out there.”

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights) is ramping up the pressure for the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up two of the most polluted sites in New York City, which happen to lie within her congressional district, by declaring them Superfund sites.

“Among the most contaminated sites in the country, the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek have threatened the health of New Yorkers for long enough and kept these neighborhoods from realizing their full potential,” said Velazquez.“With nearly three decades of experience, the EPA has the expertise and resources to carry out a comprehensive remediation of these sites, creating a safe place for New Yorkers to live and work.Through the EPA’s help, these local treasures will become a revitalized waterfront for the people of Brooklyn.”

The EPA has extended its public comment period to December 23, on its recommendation to designate Newtown Creek a federal Superfund site.For instructions to submit comments go to http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/pubcom.htm or contact Ildefonso Acosta, Region 2 Acting NPL Coordinator at (212) 637-4344 or acosta.ildefonso@epa.gov.

No matter who you’re voting for on November 3, just get out there and vote!

So said City Councilmember Lew Fidler at a meeting of the Mill Basin Civic Association

“We had a seven percent voter turnout in the primary,” the pol said. “We need to make sure that whoever you vote for %u2013 whether you vote for me or against me or for the mayor or, hopefully, against the mayor %u2013 you need to bring people out to vote.”

Send political tips, gossip and hearsay to politics@cnglocal.com.