Henry J. Stern
June 6, 2007  


The contretemps over the City Council's consideration of the renaming of four blocks of Gates Avenue in Brooklyn  to honor the  memory of Sonny Carson has had some unforeseen consequences.
 
Speaker Christine Quinn emerges from the contentious issue with her reputation enhanced.  By making the decision to delete Carson's name from a mass renaming by the Council and submitting it for an individual up or down vote, she showed courage.  She knew that she would be attacked by Councilmember Charles Barron, and possibly by others, but that did not intimidate her.  In our judgment, she gains more than sze any individual, she loses from people who were unlikely to have voted for her anyway. Although Ms. Quinn did not criticihe was told publicly by Mr. Barron that,  by refusing to support the inclusion of Carson as an honoree, she had done more to divide the city than Carson ever had.   That is highly unlikely in fact, but the allegation exemplifies the political technique of arguing a case ad feminism.
 
Local community board 3 in Brooklyn had approved the renaming, and Barron argued that, in a matter of this nature, the board's wishes should be followed.  In most cases, that would be true.  If a local board recommended naming a street for someone who was obscure, or not particularly distinguished, you would follow the local board.  But if a board recommended,  to take the obvious example, naming a boulevard for Adolph Hitler, the Council would deny that request.    Carson was no Hitler, but surprisingly, one Brooklyn Councilman, Al Vann, said he had no problem with naming a street for Hitler if that were the wish of the German community in which it were located..  Carson organized the boycott of Korean groceries by African-Americans, which preceded the Crown Heights three day riot against Jews. Carson's best- remembered remark came when he was accused of anti-Semitism, he said that he was not anti-Semitic, he was anti-white.
 
The problem in this case was similar to that in Rule 17-C: "Who will bell the cat?"  That rule derives from a story about mice in a house, who were being picked off one by one by a large cat, who silently pounced on them and chewed them up..  The mice held a meeting on the subject of what to do about the clear and present danger which they faced.  A clever mouse suggested that, if bells were placed around the cat's neck, as the cat moved, the bells would tinkle, the mice would hear the noise and flee to the hole in the wall that led to their nest.  The other mice applauded the idea, until one mouse rose, and said, "Yes, that is a very good idea, but who will bell the cat?"

In this case, the speaker took the initiative of separating out the controversial name change from the innocuous ones, which were all approved in one bill.  In the old days, each street or park naming had its own bill, and it was pointed out that 40 per cent or so of the Council's work were these renaming.  Now many changes are combined into one bill, so no one can any longer raise the complaint about many bills, but the number of name changes has not been reduced.
 
In the Council, we were sometimes in a situation where something ridiculous or foolish was about to happen, and the issue was whether to rise and protest, or sit quietly as the folly was adopted by the body.   Sometimes, convinced that nothing would be changed, we remained silent.  Other times we spoke up to object.  The impetus not to object was that you would antagonize people on the other side, while the measure would pass anyway because it had the support of the leadership.
 
Mayor Bloomberg faced a similar situation from 2002 to 2005 when, during Gifford Miller's term as speaker, bill after bill was passed to which the mayor objected for financial, legal or policy reasons.  He realized that the Council would over-ride his veto, and that he might then be perceived as a weaker mayor, but he vetoed the bills anyway. In some cases, he just refused to enforce them on the ground they were unconstitutional, and the courts upheld his right do that.

 As a result in part of their difficult relationship, when it came to an extremely important bill which would have forestalled the construction of a waste transfer station in Speaker Miller's (and my) home district, the Speaker was unable to attain the 34 votes (2/3 of the 51-member Council) needed to over-ride the mayor's veto.  The balance of  power had begun to shift.
 
The roll call on the proposal to name the street for Carson showed some racial division, but many minority members abstained to show their disinclination to approve the measure, coupled with their fear of abuse if they opposed it.  The vote was 15 in favor, 25 opposed, 7 abstaining, and 4 absent.   The requirement to pass a bill is 26 affirmative votes, which is a bare majority of the Council.  The roll call at the May 30 meeting::
 
Yes: Arroyo, Avella, Barron, Dilan, Foster, Jackson, Liu, Mark-Viverito, Mealy, Mendez, Monserrate, Reyna, Sanders, Vann, Rivera
 
No: Addabbo, Brewer, DeBlasio, Felder, Fidler, Gallagher, Garodnick, Gennaro, Gentile, Gioia, Gonzalez, Ignizio, Katz, Koppell, Lappin, McMahon, Nelson, Recchia, Sears, Vacca, Vallone, Weprin, Yassky, Oddo, Quinn
 
Abstained: Baez, Comrie, Dickens, Eugene, James, Martinez, Stewart
 
Absent: Gerson, Palma, Seabrook, White
 
After the vote, and hopefully in the heat of passion, Ms. Viola Plummer, the $51,575 chief of staff to Councilman Barron, said of Queens Councilman Leroy Comrie, "If it takes an assassination of his ass, he will not be Borough President of the borough in which I live."   This language may misconstrue the origin of the word 'assassin'. It is derived from the Arabic 'hashishiyyin', which refers to users of hashish, a radical sect of Ismaili Shi'ites, who often assassinated their enemies, using hashish to build up their courage by smoking  because they often died themselves in the assault.
 
  The word 'assassin' has nothing to do with the American vulgarism 'ass', which is derived from the British 'arse'  Its root is the Latin 'asinus', which means donkey, or ass..  The adjective 'asinine', meaning foolish or inane, is also descended from 'asinus'.  Ms. Plummer may have been unaware of the etymology, or she may  have been punning by using the words assassinate and ass in one sentence. A bullet in this ass is unlikely to result in assassination if proper medical treatment is promptly undertaken.  Nonetheless, the threat is highly offensive.

By the way, for her prior public acts and encounters with the law, google Viola Plummer.  It was particularly inappropriate for the chief of staff to one councilmember to threaten, predict, or speak of assassination in the very room where Councilman James E. Davis was shot to death by an assassin, who was also a political rival, on July 23, 2003.  There is a British saying: "Do not mention rope in the home of one who has been hanged."  It makes sense.
 
An article by Heidi Singer in today's Post, p2, QUINN EYES AX FOR BARRON 'SLAY' AIDE,  quotes Speaker Quinn: 'We're researching what our legal options are as a speaker and as an institution to take action.  For the vast history of the City Council we have never had an employee who has acted in such an outrageous, unacceptable way."   The  story continues: "Barron has praised his aide's remarks and said the 70-year-old grandmother posed no physical threat to anyone.  "Tell them to bring [the disciplinary action]. They've got something, bring it.  I'm going to give her a raise just because they're trying to get rid of her -- even if it's just a penny." Ms. Plummer responded as well: "I could care less.  I'm 70 years old.  Do you really think that I would be concerned about a job at this point in my life?"
 
We do not know what, if any, will be the consequences of this dispute.  No one wants to see the City Council divide along racial lines, and with all its limitations, the Council has not yet been suckered into playing the game of bloc voting by race.  The vote on Carson was not a bloc vote, and credit goes to the seven members,six from black districts,  who abstained.  Normally, abstention is a mark of weakness, but in this situation it was a show of strength.
 
Now is the time to get back to the serious business of governing New York City.
June is budget month, we assume the Council will be occupied constructively.  

 
#380  6.06.07  1437wds