District 16 (click to enlarge)
A Three Judge Panel has found that New York’s existing plan for delineating congressional districts failed to comply with the Constitution and so adopted a plan put forwarded by Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann. The Three Judge Panel was comprised of Reena Raggi, United States Circuit Judge, Gerard E. Lynch, United States Circuit Judge, and Dora L. Irizarry, United States District Judge.
New York State has been ordered to implement the Judge’s plan so that the 2012 elections for the House of Representatives can go forward as scheduled. New York is required to confirm in writing before noon tomorrow that all steps have been taken to implement the order. All parties have been ordered to appear in court tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse.
New Rochelle is now placed entirely within the new District 16, an area of Lower Westchester County that is today largely represented by Elliot Engle and Nita Lowey but does not include Lowey’s hometown of Harrison. The new District 17 which encompasses Upper Westchester County and Rockland County is also largely represented by Elliot Engle and Nita Lowey and does include Harrison. Lowey has announced she will run for Congress in District 17 but Mark Rosen who had recently announced he would be running against her will drop out and be placed by Rye Supervisor Joe Carvin who recently dropped out of a planned race for U.S. Senate against incumbent Kirsten Gillebrand.
For Noam Bramson, the shift of New Rochelle into the district of long-time incumbent Elliot Engel is a serious blow to any hopes that Bramson might ever be elected to Congress. Bramson has increasingly found himself boxed in by events which have left him no place to move up within the Democratic Party.
Westchester County (click to enlarge)
A complete set of information the case is on the website of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Final Court Congressional District Plan
Noam Run for Assembly – Eliott Engle is an Excellent Congressman
Eliott Engle is an excellent Congressman. He represented part of southern New Rochelle in the 1990’s.
Noam should run for George Latimer’s Assembly District this year. Noam does not risk his mayorality in doing so, but if elected will do much to advance his career. Noam can do a lot for New Rochelle, from Albany.
Please consider running for Assembly, Noam, as I am giving you great advise.
Noam should move?
You are recommending that Noam move to the South End of New Rochelle?
Bob Cox Asked Me If I Was recommending Noam Move South?
I had thought about that question before posting my suggestion.
Yes, I do think Noam should move into the South End. Besides qualifying Noam for serving in NY Assembly, it would also give him a better perspective on downtown New Rochelle. As he was elected At-Large, he would remain Mayor, at any New Rochelle address.
Considering his recent slam-dunk reelection, Noam should seek higher office, and run in 2012 for Assembly or in 2013 for County Legislator. Assembly is the much better office.
Tim Idoni will run for reelection as County Clerk, or run for County Executive, either successfully. There is no place on the that ticket for another New Rochellian to run for the other office. Noam can get elected to Assembly this year, and should jump on it.
This November will provide an excellent election year for most Democrats throughout the USA, but in particular in the Northeast. New York is a very progressive state. Westchester is extremely progressive by NY State standards.
Democrats will be elected here, to Congress, Senate and Assembly. If he wishes to progress, Noam should take advantage of this high tide, and move towards the Sound shore, to sail to a future in Albany.
AKA, the war zone.
AKA, the war zone.
Then There Was One
Good coverage. Suprised that Skelos and, to a lesser degree Silver, challenged the redistricting plan of Justic Mann. Much more in line with proper planning and yes, Andrew Beveridge was involved in the process.
Your assessment regarding Noam’s hopes and dreams does suggest a dilemma. With Latimer running for Oppenheimer’s seat, possibly something here. Don’t really think so, party has some strength in the upper reaches of this Assembly District in Rye, etc. and a New Rochelle entrant likely not a candidate.
If anything, it hinges on Timothy Idoni. He could seek a County seat. If so, that is the best option for Noam.
Assuming a desired political office path, he will have to reach out much stronger to the full community and beyond, scrap the non-working 2012 strategies, put the old ways and voices to the side, and see what really works in these days.
It is not too late to build a career, but the entitlement days are now over and we have a democratic guy with a bad stache, who likes to be in the front row to shake the president’s hand on State of the Union addresses and is still strong with his base.
Cuomo is very happy with the outcome; all he had to do was to wait a few days for the inevitable, the sustaining of Justice Mann’s plan.
So, now keep working for the right things.
The Engel Angle
Seems late in the game for New Rochelle’s chief executive to change directions. For instance; he and the council majority are thoroughly “invested” in the Forest City Echo Bay project. Do not see how he can jettison this cause and antagonize a long-time contributor just to be on the right side of Sound Shore development, trimming tax “favors”, protecting a popular and historic Naval Armory. How else is he going to snuggle up to the “full community?” Start attending Reform Club meetings? Writing for Talk of the Sound?
I don’t know. He has cast his “crony capitalist” lot with subsidized downtown development, internationalist-style Agenda 21 bromides like last year’s green “crusade” and now, “gentleman” poultry farming. These are not positions that will endear him to our traditionalist friends at the American Legion hall. I do not see what Engel has in common with them either, but he has been mollifying the more conservative parts of his district “forever” so knows all the contortions necessary for evading right-wing retribution.
But Bramson’s entire career seems to have been founded on “New Age” principles which may fly in the Scarsdale section of New Rochelle, but where else on earth?