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PHIL REISMAN

Queen City Politics: Getting Mad and Even, Too, in New Rochelle

Phil Reisman
preisman@lohud.com
Columnist Phil Reisman

Revenge politics appears to be alive and well in New Rochelle.

Mayor Noam Bramson and the city’s Democratic leadership have been waging a campaign to get even with Councilwoman Shari Rackman, an incumbent Democrat who angered the mayor when she crossed him on the contentious Echo Bay waterfront development proposal.

After she was denied the party endorsement, Rackman said she would run in the Sept. 10 primary.

That opened a floodgate of attacks against her — including a June 18 letter sent by the mayor to Democratic primary voters that claimed Rackman had “lost the confidence of past supporters who know her well.”

Bramson wrote that denouncing an incumbent was “rare,” but “(in) this case, there were compelling reasons, much broader than any single issue.”

He didn’t list any issues, either. However, it was clear that he felt Rackman wasn’t on his team. It’s likely that this disaffection stems, at least in part, from the explosive events surrounding Echo Bay.

Echo Bay was Bramson’s pet project.

Conceived by Forest City Ratner — the makers of Ridge Hill of Westchester in Yonkers and Atlantic Yards of Brooklyn — the idea was to build a mix of residential units and retail space on 11 acres of prime real estate on the Long Island Sound.

But Bramson ran into a buzzsaw of citizen opposition, much of it from Republicans.

Critics felt that the mayor, who had just lost a bruising race for county executive, was trying to ram Echo Bay down their throats. They objected to the drastically scaled-down size of the project and charged that the deal involved too many tax giveaways to Forest City.

It all came to a head at a raucous Nov. 12, 2013, council meeting.

During a recess, Bramson called Rackman into a side room and closed the door. Witnesses in the hallway said they could hear the mayor shouting, and that the councilwoman appeared downcast and stunned when she came back to the council chamber.

As it happened, a week or so later, the Forest City proposal was scuttled once and for all with a 6-1 vote — with Bramson registering the lone “yes” vote. Afterwards, Rackman said she had considered all the terms of the deal, but couldn’t vote for it. “I felt I’d be short changing the city if I did,” she said at the time.

On Monday Rackman said she believed her falling out with Bramson began with Echo Bay. She noted that another Democrat, Ivar Hyden, had also opposed the mayor at the November meeting but Bramson chose only to scold her because “I’m female.”

“I was the weakest link in his mind,” she said. “I was the girl.”

Some have speculated that Rackman further alienated some members of her party when she didn’t support the reappointment of Marianne Sussman to the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency. Sussman lost her IDA post.

And so it was Sussman, a former Democratic councilwoman herself, who placed the name of Liz Fried in nomination for District 6 — Rackman’s district.

What seems to be at work here is a simple hardball lesson of politics: stray from the herd and you’ll be first for the slaughter.

It certainly looks as if the Democrats are determined to end Rackman’s political career in New Rochelle. When word circulated that the city GOP might be interested in nominating Rackman should she lose in the primary against Fried, the Democrats demanded that Rackman “clear up any ambiguity” as to her party loyalty. That challenge came in July.

On Aug. 6, Rackman wrote back to party Chairman Arnold Klugman. Sidestepping the question of running as a Republican, she reiterated her intention to win the primary and appreciated constituent support “from all parties.”

She wrote, “there is no Democratic or Republican way to best pick up the leaves, collect the garbage, repair potholes, or continue to provide the essential services the residents of New Rochelle all rely on.”

Rackman told me Republican leaders have not approached her about a GOP nomination.

Nevertheless, the pounding continues. A campaign flier was mailed last weekend to primary voters, attacking her as a divisive pawn of the Republican Party.

“A vote for Shari Rackman is a vote for de facto Republican control of our city government,” it says.

Control? Well, that’s a stretch. Even if Rackman turned out to be a Republican in disguise, the GOP would still be a minority on the council. Bramson has no opponent in this year’s general election so his seat is assured in a city in which enrolled Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 3 to 1.

Nevertheless, the message from the party leaders is clear: A vote for Rackman is a vote against Bramson. Can’t make it any more personal than that.

“Look,” Rackman said. “There’s no secret, he wants me out.”