FUMING MAD
Bx. pols react to new Council Speaker’s snub
THE BRONX was burned.
New Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito handed plum appointments to 47 of the 51 Council members, including a group of longtime backers and even a few rookies.
But she gave the cold shoulder to Andy King and Annabel Palma of the Bronx.
“This is a form of political retribution,” fumed a spokesman for Palma (D-Parkchester), who opposed Mark-Viverito in her bid to gain the speakership.
Another Bronx lawmaker who sought the Council’s highest post, James Vacca, was stripped of his transportation committee chairmanship despite a list of legislative successes in recent years. Vacca (D-Throgs Neck) will now head up the Council’s technology committee while uptown Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez will take over the plum post, which is likely to be a focal point as the de Blasio administration makes the reduction of traffic fatalities a major priority.
“The Bronx is in a very bad position as far as negotiating,” said one political insider. “We had the Transportation Chair, the Health Chair and the Majority Leader. Now we have a handful of meaningless committees.”
“The appointments tell the story,” the source added. “It shows that the County Dems have no power left. It’s going to be very hard for the Bronx to get discretionary funds, or lulus, or even table scraps.”
Perhaps the only Bronx Council member who landed on solid footing was a freshman, Ritchie Torres, who went out of his way to support Mark-Viverito, bucking the county machine. The new Speaker rewarded Torres by naming him to her leadership team and also as chairman of the public housing committee.
“In terms of personality and power politics it sends clear messages,” said Michael Tobman, a Brooklyn-based political consultant. “Legislative leadership battles produce situations where not everyone comes out with plum assignments.”
Two other Council members, Rory Lancman of Queens and Rosie Mendez of the Lower East Side — who also opposed MarkViverito’s run to the top — also got boxed out.
“I’m going to be able to get things done whether I have a gavel in my hand or not,” said Lancman (D-Hillcrest).
The Queens lawmaker was one of the biggest supporters of failed Speaker candidate Dan Garodnick (D-Upper East Side).
King (D-Williamsbridge) was less sanguine over the snub.
“Things at City Hall don’t always make sense,” the Bronx lawmaker said shortly after the positions were announced.
“I hope and pray that she surrounds herself with the right people,” he added of Mark-Viverito.
The committee leadership posts were doled out through a largely closed-door process designed to reward many of MarkViverito’s supporters.
On the flip side, 13 of Brooklyn’s 16 members were named to chair a committee or subcommittee.
The appointments include stipends from $8,000 to $25,000 on top of the lawmakers’ $112,500 annual salary.
The Brooklyn delegation’s support for Mark-Viverito’s candidacy was key to her victory, but the Bronx and Queens delegations held out until the bitter end.
“Unfortunately, there are winners and losers in politics,” said longtime political consultant George Arzt. “There are people who didn’t back Melissa, or were resistant to backing her even after it was clear she was going to be the winner, and they suffered.”