Dov Hikind and his family in their Purim costumes. (Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Karim Camara, chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, is "deeply shocked and outraged" by his fellow lawmaker Dov Hikind's "black basketball player" Purim costume. In his statement on the costume, Mr. Camara described it as "insensitive," compared it to the "blackface minstrel show" and demanded an apology.

"I am deeply shocked and outraged by the insensitive actions of Assemblyman Hikind, to dress as a black basketball player complete with tanned skin and an Afro wig," Mr. Camara said. "We, as leaders have to be extremely careful that we foster understanding amongst our different cultural groups and not use the images of one as a tool for humor. In speaking with many African Americans both leaders and average citizens, the outrage is widespread."

Mr. Camara compared Mr. Hikind's costume to stereotypical "blackface minstrels" that were once common in this country.

"The history of the blackface minstrel show is something deeply painful in the African American community. It brings back the memories of African Americans being reduced to 'buffoonery' just to gain access to the entertainment industry," he said. "The stereotypes embodied in blackface minstrels have played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes and perceptions, which are still painful and offensive today."

Mr. Hikind has dismissed the criticism of his costume as "Political Correctness to the Absurd." However, Mr. Camara said, at a minimum, Mr. Hikind should offer an apology to anyone he offended.

"I find the actions of the Assemblyman to be callous and repugnant," said Mr. Camara. "At the very least, an apology should be issued to those who found his portrayal objectionable."

Mr. Camara isn't the only local lawmaker who has spoken out against Mr. Hikind's Purim getup. Councilman David G. Greenfield, who represents the Boro Park neighborhood along with Mr. Hikind, told Gothamist he disagreed with the Assemblyman's defense of the costume.

"He should've known better," Mr. Greenfield said.

Councilman Charles Barron told the Daily News Mr. Hikind's justifications for the outfit were "a bunch of crap."

“It is racist," said Mr. Barron. "He is trying to justify his racism."

Mr. Barron continued by saying Mr. Hikind should have used a different strategy if he wanted an outlandish Purim costume.

"If he wanted to find somebody who [looked] strange, wild and crazy, he should look in the mirror," Mr. Barron said. "He didn’t have to pick on us."

(Photo: Getty)

After months of rumors, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has officially decided to run for City Comptroller next year. He was previously considering a campaign for mayor, but he said his experience exploring that race convinced him to run for the city's top financial office. Mr. Stringer spoke to Politicker about his decision earlier today and said he will formally launch his campaign in three weeks. Rather than an avoidance of the crowded mayor's race, Mr. Stringer characterized his entry into the comptroller race as a move to confront the most crucial issues currently facing the city.

"What's needed right now is an experienced hand who can partner with the mayor when it's in the best interests of the city, but also someone with the independence and backbone to stand up to special interests, to call out wasteful spending and to safeguard the city's pension funds," said Mr. Stringer. "That is what I've done my entire career and that's what im going to as comptroller, so I'm not dropping down, I'm stepping up." 

As of now, Councilman Dan Garodnick is the only other candidate who has officially launched a campaign for comptroller. Councilman Domenic Recchia has also been mentioned as a potential candidate. This is a far less crowded field than the mayor's race, which is expected to include Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former comptroller and 2009 mayoral runner up Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the current Comptroller John Liu, among others. However, Mr. Stringer said city's need for strong leadership on financial issues, specifically in the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is what motivated him to enter the comptroller race rather than a desire to stay out of the mayoral fray.

"The comptroller's office is important and it has never been more consequential,"  Mr. Stringer said. "I think I can contribute to helping to get the city back on sound financial footing and protect our most essential services."

Mr. Stringer also noted the city economy was struggling prior to the hurricane with an "unemployment rate stuck at ten percent" and "budget gaps as far as the eye can see."

"As I traveled the city exploring the mayor's race, I heard from working people, middle class people about the economy....People are really struggling. There's a sense that people are paying a lot of taxes and not getting the services to which they're entitled," said Mr. Stringer. "Someone's got to watch out for peoples' bottom line and I started to think that this could be an important way to serve the city. And I just decided this moment, because I think this office has never been more important. This new government that's going to be constituted in January 2014 is something I wanted very much to be a part of and this is how I decided was the best way to serve."

Mr. Stringer described himself as uniquely suited to the job given his "natural interest" and past experiences identifying reforms to cut costs in government programs.

"As Borough President, I've issued 50 reports on government waste, calling out agencies and holding people accountable....As Borough President, I chaired the Assembly's Oversight and Investigations Committee. I also chaired the Real Property Taxation Committee....As Borough President, I served for 7 years as a board member for the New York City Employee Retirement System, a $42 billion pension fund where I have for over seven years promoted transparency, integrity and professionalism in our pension investments," Mr. Stringer said.

In his role with NYCERS, Mr. Stringer said he "led the effort to ban placement agents who got money for doing nothing," "pioneered important  reforms to integrate prinicples for a responsible investment in pension funds" and "played a very important role in getting the pension fund to initiate important policies for emerging managers that will diversify and maximize the talent there." He also cited his experience analyzing large government contracts, including the Time Warner and Verizon contract renewals, as a member of the Franchise and Concession Review Committee.

"I've played a role in audits, played a role in pensions and, as a member of the FCRC--Franchise and Concession Review Committee, I've looked at and analyzed the big contracts," said Mr. Stringer. "I have been in the room, negotiated, watched the comptrollers in that role. And when you put all that together, I think my skill set is something that really can help new yorkers with this job."

Along with officially launching his campaign for comptroller today, Mr. Stringer is rolling out a series of high-profile endorsements; former Mayor Ed Koch, Congressman Jerry Nadler, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holzman and Assemblyman Karim Camara, who chairs the Assembly's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.

"These are just a few New Yorkers who, I think signal that we're going to run a broad-based five borough campaign that's multiracial and diverse," Mr. Stringer said.

In addition to his own endorsements, Mr. Stringer hinted he might be willing to make an endorsement in the mayor's race.

"I haven't decided who to endorse for mayor, but it's possible," he said.

Your next county leader. (Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Karim Camara, who was for a time the one hope reformers had to block Frank Seddio from succeeding Vito Lopez as the head of the Kings County Democratic Party, officially backed Mr. Seddio this afternoon in a move to unify the party right before the vote to replace Mr. Lopez. Barring a large meteor striking the planet or a something of that magnitude, Mr. Seddio now seems all but certain to be the new leader of the Kings County Democratic establishment.

Mr. Camara said he was particularly heartened by Mr. Seddio endorsing the removal of the controversial "at-large" district leaders, who were simply appointed by past county leaders and had an equal vote as the democratically elected leaders in terms of shaping the direction of the county organization.

"While I am honored that so many people whom I respect and whose opinions I value would like me to run, I am confident that Frank Seddio, will work to establish the inclusive, unified and transparent Kings county political party that so many are yearning for," he said. "Through a series of meetings and conversations with Frank I have heard firsthand his willingness to broaden the Kings county leadership team in a way that is unparalleled in recent Kings county history."

He added, "That step alone is already unifying a party that had become Balkanized and distracted from its goal of electing good Democrats and being a progressive beacon for the state."

View Mr. Camara's full statement to the press below:

"When the Kings County leader announced several weeks ago that he would not seek another term as County Leader, I believed that there was a real opportunity for change and a fresh start for the Democratic party here in Brooklyn. Under the right leadership, we could harmonize the discordant voices within our party, expand the decision making circle so that it represents the wisdom of the entire party, and reform the county rules in order to have a vibrant organization with transparency and accountability of action. Since that time, many good Democrats and labor leaders --both inside and outside of Brooklyn-- have urged me to run for County Leader. They believed that I could unify the party, make it more inclusive, and implement the reforms necessary so that the Kings County organization was the envy of other party organizations across the state.

"While I am honored that so many people whom I respect and whose opinions I value would like me to run, I am confident that Frank Seddio, will work to establish the inclusive, unified and transparent Kings county political party that so many are yearning for. Through a series of meetings and conversations with Frank I have heard firsthand his willingness to broaden the Kings county leadership team in a way that is unparalleled in recent Kings county history. That step alone is already unifying a party that had become Balkanized and distracted from its goal of electing good Democrats and being a progressive beacon for the state. In addition, Kings County will now have real reform, including the elimination of party leadership controlled "at large district leaders", increased party meetings to discuss the important issues of the moment, and full transparency and accountability on the party's fiscal matters. Further, Frank and I served briefly in the state legislature together and, from knowing him for several years, I know that he has the exact people skills and passion we need. I am confident that he will lead this county into an era of good will and good deeds. I look forward to being a part of the leadership team in Brooklyn to help make this happen."

Hakeem Jeffries and Walter Mosley campaigning outside P.S. 375 in Crown Heights. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

Last Thursday, Walter Mosley was elected to succeed Hakeem Jeffries in Brooklyn's 57th Assembly District. Mr. Mosley was supported by Mr. Jeffries, who left the seat to run a successful congressional campaign, and the race was largely seen as a referendum on Mr. Jeffries' ability to deliver for another candidate in his Central Brooklyn base. Politicker sat down with Mr. Jeffries yesterday to get his post-game analysis on Mr. Mosley's campaign and the endorsements that didn't go their way. Mr. Jeffries also talked about his plans for moving to Washington, his thoughts on the future of the Brooklyn Democratic Party in the wake of the Vito Lopez scandal and discussed ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ on the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Mr. Jeffries said he was quite happy with the result of Thursday's election, which, according to unofficial results from the Board of Elections, Mr. Mosley won by a margin of about 33 percent over his closest competitor, Ola Alabi.

"We were extremely pleased that Walter Mosley prevailed," said Mr. Jeffries. "He's a great candidate and will continue to provide the people of the 57th Assembly District with the public service that they deserve moving forward. These remain very challenging times. There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved in the State Legislature. I'm confident that Walter Mosley is the right man for the job. I'm very pleased that an overwhelming majority of the public reached that conclusion as well."

Mr. Jeffries' margin of victory in his June congressional race against Councilman Charles Barron was about 42 percent, even bigger than Mr. Mosley's margin last week. We asked whether he thought their respective results indicated a new movement or base coalescing around him in Central Brooklyn.

"I'll leave the term movement to my good friends out in East New York," Mr. Jeffries said referring to Mr. Barron. "Good public service makes for good politics. Over the last six years, I've worked as hard as I can to be the best possible public servant and I'm thankful that it has translated into an ability to generate excitement and support amongst the electorate."

Despite his hesitation to use the word movement, Mr. Jeffries said he believes a "partnership" between himself, Mr. Mosley and Councilwoman Tish James in the area came out of the recent pair of races. Ms. James supported both Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Mosley. Mr. Jeffries said this group will be ideally positioned to address the main challenges facing Central Brooklyn, which he identified as gun violence and the "foreclosure crisis."

"These problems will require intense intervention and relationships that will span city, state and federal offices," said Mr. Jeffries. "One of the wonderful things about this campaign is that the partnership that emerged between Walter, Council member James and myself will translate into our capacity to govern in a way that will improve the quality of life for the people that we serve."

Though Mr. Jeffries is optimistic about new alliances coming from this summer's campaigns, not everyone was on board with him and Mr. Mosley in their races. Notably, DC37, New York's largest municipal public employee union endorsed both Mr. Jeffries' erstwhile opponent, Mr. Barron, and Mr. Mosley's rival, Ms. Alabi. Mr. Jeffries was decidedly not complimentary about the union's picks. He also cited other labor unions who did back him and Mr. Mosley.

"DC37 supported a candidate in June and a candidate in September, those candidates lost by a combined 75 points and I think the results speak for themselves,"  Mr. Jeffries said. "We did receive an extraordinary level of support from labor organizations in June like 1199, 32BJ, CWA and the TWU. In the Assembly race, Walter received tremendous support from the UFT and we are both looking forward to continue our partnership with organized labor moving forward on behalf of working families all across New York City."

Another endorsement that didn't go to Mr. Mosley's was that of The New York Times, which backed Martine Guerrier, who came in a distant third behind Mr. Mosley and Ms. Alabi with just 6.93 percent of the vote in the unofficial results. Mr. Jeffries speculated the Times wanted to support someone unconnected to the political establishment given the recent scandal surrounding the leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

"The New York Times is always a critical endorsement. In this particular race, they decided to support a candidate who was the most disconnected from the existing political infrastructure given all that is happening with the State Legislature and the County organization," said Mr. Jeffries. "I can understand the decision of the Times editorial board to support an outsider. In this particular case, Walter Mosley was the best candidate and, not withstanding some of the endorsements that went against him, we were able to convince a significant majority of the people that he would best represent their interests."

Since Mr. Jeffries alluded to the situation with Mr. Lopez, we asked who he believes will be chosen to replace the former party boss.

"It's still too early to speculate, even though the election for next County Leader will take place next Wednesday. There are so many different factors that come into play, particularly some of the results in this past primary election where at least two and possibly more incumbent District Leaders lost," Mr. Jeffries said. "The landscape is still undefined. Frank Seddio is a strong candidate and Karim Camara has been a tremendous legislator who's got the respect of many important institutions all across the State of New York. We'll see what unfolds over the next few days."

Many observers have counted Mr. Camara out of the race due to eligibility rules that bar those who have not served as District Leaders from running for County Leader. Mr. Jeffries said he believes these regulations should be changed "to provide for the selection of the best possible candidate." With the race for County Leader coming up so soon, it seems like a longshot that the rules would be changed in time for Mr. Camara to take the position, but Mr. Jeffries seems to think he has a chance.

"Anything can happen in politics, particularly in Brooklyn," said Mr. Jeffries of the possibility the regulations could be modified in time for Mr. Camara to run for the office.

As far as his own future, Mr. Jeffries is in the process of making arrangements for himself and his family when he has to travel to Washington to serve in the House of Representatives.

"I'm a Brooklynite, will always be a Brooklynite and look forward to aggressively representing the people in Brooklyn and in Queens in the 8th Congressional District. My family will remain here in Brooklyn and I'm going to spend as much time as I can here in the District," he said.

Because he wants to stay in New York as much as possible, aides to Mr. Jeffries told us he was considering sleeping in his House office rather than setting up a more permanent living situation in Washington. However, Mr. Jeffries told us he quickly abandoned that idea once he learned about the conditions in the House office buildings.

"It was a passing thought, but I quickly disabused myself of that notion when one of the current members of Congress who does sleep in his office warned the rest of us to be concerned about the growing rodent infestation problem," said Mr. Jeffries.

In the meantime, before he heads down to D.C., Mr. Jeffries still has plenty keeping him busy here in New York. This morning he rang the opening bell at NASDAQ. Today is the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests and protesters announced plans to disrupt the markets this morning. Mr. Jeffries wasn't worried about protests disrupting today's opening bell.

"I think the Occupy Wall Street movement was a very fruitful movement as it relates to shining a spotlight on income inequality and economic injustice," he said. "The one year anniversary will appropriately mark a movement that did contribute to an important public policy dialogue in America, but I'm otherwise unconcerned that it will be disruptive in a way that would cast the movement in a negative light."

Indeed, though the financial district was filled with protesters, police and arrests this morning, the markets opened without a hitch.

Frank Seddio (Photo: Facebook)

Last night, Brooklyn's African American district leaders met in an effort to emerge with a united voice for Assemblyman Karim Camara to replace Assemblyman Vito Lopez as the chairman of the borough's Democratic Party in the wake of his sexual harassment scandal. According to multiple accounts of people familiar with the meeting, this effort was unsuccessful.

The plan was to consolidate a significant number of district leader votes for Mr. Camara, which would provide a counterweight to the establishment favorite Frank Seddio for Mr. Lopez's job. However, a substantial number of African American district leaders did not attend the meeting, Mr. Camara apparently wasn't making the necessary calls, and not everyone agreed that all the stops needed to be pulled out for Mr. Camara's candidacy.

Consensus did emerge to meet with the county leader candidates, however.

"Home from meeting with Black State Committee members in Brooklyn. Consensus: Meet with all County Leader candidates during weekend of 9/15, then move from there," one of the attendees, Chris Owens, posted on Facebook. "Possible candidates at the moment: Karim Camara, Felix Ortiz, Frank Seddio, Jo Anne Simon ...?"

Even before the meeting, sources told the Politicker that Mr. Seddio had the necessary number of votes secured to become district leader, so last night's development only cements that further.

"It is apparent there was not consensus among the African-American district leaders, which will in all likelihood ensure Seddio is the new boss," one disappointed critic of the establishment told us.

For his part, Mr. Seddio has been going on a confident media tour to introduce himself. He pitched himself as a change candidate to the Daily News, and said of one of his rivals, Ms. Simon, “It’s kind of like running a marathon, where I’m coming in number one and she’s number 6,367.”

Karim Camara (photo: assembly.state.ny.us)

The race to replace Assemblyman Vito Lopez as the head of the Kings County Democratic Party wages on tonight.

Supporters of Frank Seddio are privately very confident they have secured enough votes, but those hoping for a win by Assemblyman Karim Camara are meeting right now to plan their upset and capture the needed majority of the county's district leader vote.

The plan in question is effectively a double-bank shot.

First, they need unity among the county's black district leaders in order for their campaign to have credibility going forward. Of Brooklyn's 53 elected district leaders, at least 15 of them are African-American, so this would be no small number if they act in unison. However, this is also no easy task as these leaders have diverse backgrounds and do not automatically represent a monolithic block. As one source told the Politicker, "There are a lot of egos at play."

"The biggest obstacle to this is the black members themselves," Mona Davids, who's president of the consulting firm The Protea Group and has been monitoring the negotiations, explained. "They need to come together."

Indeed, there are already signs of disunity. Multiple sources said Jesse Hamilton, the district leader in Mr. Camara's seat who aims to run for higher office soon, has shown resistance to the idea of resigning his position so that a majority of the district leaders, if they so desire, can vote Mr. Camara in to replace him. This is a prerequisite to making Mr. Camara eligible for Mr. Lopez's position, but there is a workaround of implementing a rules change to allow non-district leaders to serve as the county's top Democrat. This would also take a majority of the vote.

If tonight's meeting goes swimmingly and the black district leaders emerge unified, the thought is that other district leaders then might start to look at Mr. Camara as viable and consider aligning with him. As Mr. Camara's support builds, Mr. Seddio's political opponents then plan to set their sights on the 11 "at-large" district leaders, which were hand-selected by previous county bosses. Six were selected by Mr. Lopez in 2010, and caused controversy at the time, even from establishment players like Councilman Lew Fidler, as the added Lopez loyalists diluted the strength of existing district leaders' votes.

Mr. Camara's backers hope to try and reignite that outrage and secure a majority of the vote to remove these district leaders. After all, their argument goes, why should Mr. Lopez's "cronies" still be around weighting the vote in his favor when Mr. Lopez is no longer the county leader? However, this is not necessarily a simple maneuver as those eleven district leaders will very much get to participate in the vote for their own existence. And Mr. Seddio's backers may not want to play along, of course.

"This vote-counting process is more complicated than people are counting," one supporter of Mr. Camara's countered when we brought up this difficulty. "These are Vito's at-large leaders, not Frank's."

As any vote to replace Mr. Lopez is likely to be weeks away -- after the September 13th primary elections, where several leaders are retiring and others are facing competitive elections -- the supporter went on to say that they will have time to make the case for Mr. Camara.

That is, if everything goes according to plan.

Vito Lopez and Frank Seddio (Photo: Facebook)

With Assemblyman Vito Lopez's announcement that he will not seek to continue his leadership in the Kings County Democratic Party, the race to replace him has currently shifted its focus to three names: District Leader Frank Seddio, Assemblyman Karim Camara and District Leader Jo Anne Simon. Mr. Seddio, an establishment favorite, is currently the frontrunner, and sources told Politicker that county insiders believe he's already secured the necessary number of votes.

Ms. Simon's and Mr. Camara's paths to challenging Mr. Seddio are not equally steep, however.

Ms. Simon is most aligned with the reform-minded wing of the party, which controls roughly three votes out of the fifty-three total district leaders. On the other hand, Mr. Camara could potentially unite the reform vote with many of the African-American district leaders, eager to have their presence felt. While Mr. Camara, who endorsed the Lopez-backed candidacy of Councilman Erik Dilan when he challenged Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, isn't the typical anti-Lopez reformer, he has shown some breaks with the establishment and has stature as the chairman of the Legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.

However, Mr. Camara is not a current or former district leader and would thus need either a rules change or another district leader, Jesse Hamilton, resigning in the hopes that Mr. Camara could take his position in a special vote to replace him. Sources told the Politicker that some district leaders are meeting today to explore that very possibility.

Another problem Mr. Camara acknowledged could potentially block his path is the 11 at-large members hand-selected by previous leaders, including Mr. Lopez. This is a fairly reasonable concern, as in a vote taken last year to replace outgoing District Leader Darryl Towns, these unelected votes helped hand Mr. Lopez a 36 to 10 margin against a sitting congressman, Ed Towns, seeking his son's seat.

“I don’t know whether at-large members will be voting on who the next county leader is,” Mr. Camara told City & State. ”I would have to look at the rules and regulations of the state party and look at the legitimacy of that group. That’s something that would be the main question.”

At-large members, while undemocratic and controversially added in 2010, aren't necessarily uncommon. The New York Post reported that every other county organization in the city has them, with Staten Island's 14 at-large members equaling its total of elected ones. Kings County Democratic Party Rules dictate that its 11 at-large votes are weighed equally with the other 42, so either a rules change or outside intervention is needed to eliminate them.

Even discounting the at-large members -- the establishment-aligned list of which includes the president of Mr. Seddio's club -- Mr. Camara's path would not be easy, as Mr. Seddio is well-positioned to resurrect the coalition that first elected Mr. Lopez in 2005. And while there are multiple district leader races happening on September 13th, only a couple, notably Lincoln Restler's reelection bid, have the potential to really sway votes to or from Mr. Seddio, assuming Mr. Camara is able to consolidate support among the African-American community.

Indeed, Mr. Seddio, while declining to speak to the press, has all but openly campaigned for the position. Just this morning, Borough President Marty Markowitz announced an official endorsement for him, as Mr. Seddio "embraces the diversity of Brooklyn like I do, and among his greatest assets is the ability to work with everyone, being open and responsive to fresh ideas."

Those opposed to Mr. Lopez's rule, however, don't seem ready to give up without a fight, and plenty of political fireworks seem like they're ready to fire off.

Members of the stop and frisk delegation including State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilwoman Mellissa Mark-Viverito and Assemblyman Karim Camara meeting with officials in Washington.

A number of New York City and State elected officials are in Washington D.C. this afternoon to address their concerns about the NYPD's controversial stop and frisk policy. They are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the NYPD's use of stop and frisk as a civil rights violation.  The NYPD stopped a record number of people last year, the vast majority of whom were minorities.

“New Yorkers are fed up with this policy that continually targets our communities,” Assemblyman Karim Camara, Chairman of the New York State Black Puerto Rican Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus said in a statement. “The numbers tell a tragic story. One recent report said that more young black men were stopped than actually lived in the city.  We cannot get away from the fact that there is implicit racial bias in this tactic used by the NYPD.  Since City officials refuse to listen, we are taking our cause to Washington.  It’s time for some high-powered back up to advocate for the civil rights of New Yorkers.”

The delegation is holding closed-door meetings with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus. They also delivered a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

“Last year alone, New York City Officers stopped 684,330 people under the stop-and-frisk policy. This amounted to a 14 percent jump from the previous year. Even more shocking is the 600 percent increase in stops made since the data collection began in 2002," the letter said. "Most of those who are stopped are not arrested or even issued a summons; further igniting concern that the policy amounts to nothing more than racial profiling and harassment.”

Members of the delegation included Mr. Camara, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Mr. Rangel's primary opponent in the 13th District, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilman Jumaane Williams and several other members of the State Legislature and New York City Council.

"'Stop and Frisk' is an assault on the civil rights of New Yorkers," said Mr. Espaillat, who is Chair of the State Senate's Latino Caucus. "It harms law and order by creating distrust between police and local communities; it violates the civil liberties of individuals who are stopped without rhyme or reason; and it violates every notion of justice and due process our society is built on. The Federal Government has an important role to play in protecting the rights of citizens and we are calling on the Justice Department to step in and stop this unconstitutional and unjust practice from continuing."

Karim Camara (Photo: assembly.state.ny.us)

Assemblyman Karim Camara, who heads New York State's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, announced his caucus' opposition to the legislative redistricting plan and suggested many legislators will vote to send the plan back to the drawing board today.

Mr. Camara argued the State Senate's plan violates the Voting Rights Act because it splits minority communities in Long Island, as well as other places, where they could be kept whole.

"We expect it to come to a vote today and we expect ... it will have significant opposition to it. But our concern isn't whether this bill passes or fails," Mr. Camara told Fred Dicker on his radio show this morning. "Our concern is to use every legal recourse available, including the courts, to challenge the lines, which would include a strong possibility of a lawsuit by the caucus against the lines [regardless of] whatever happens today."

Traditionally, the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Republican Senate have allowed each other to gerrymander their own lines in a partisan fashion to expand their majorities. However, there is no inherent reason for this to be the case as the lines will be voted as a package in both of the two chambers.

Mr. Camara's caucus, in a statement today, "vowed to vote against the lines as they have currently been written for both the Assembly and Senate." If they acted in unison, there would be a strong possibility of derailing this package in the Assembly where the caucus possesses significant influence.

However, Mr. Camara, who called the Senate lines an "egregious assault on the Voting Rights Act" while praising the Assembly's map this morning, said no such unifying act was on track to occur.

"We have some members who will vote yes, some will vote no, for various reasons," he said. "We're not questioning the values of people voting either way. But, again, we're united in saying these lines are an assault on the Voting Rights Act."

When he was asked if could see the redistricting legislation being successfully voted down today, Mr. Camara responded, "Of course, there's always that possibility."

Karim Camara (Photo: Facebook)

Governor Andrew Cuomo was conspicuously absent through much of the annual New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus association weekend in Albany. Though he held a birthday reception honoring Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell, the governor missed the gala caucus weekend finale dinner due to what a representative from his office described as a "family event." Assemblyman Karim Camara, the chairman of the caucus told The Politicker he understood the governor's absence at the dinner.

"I think that we are in an all-consuming business and every one of us, at some point, has missed significant events because of family obligations," Mr. Camara said.

Though he acknowledged some people may have been "disappointed" not to see Governor Cuomo at the dinner, Mr. Camara said the governor's policies were more important than the "symbolism of being at the dinner."

"He's been a partner with us on many of the issues the last legislative session; the change in the tax code, the $75 million for the youth works program," Mr. Camara said. "So, what's more significant is the policy and the substance of the policy as opposed to the symbolism of being at the dinner. Maybe people were disappointed he wasn't there, of course, he's the governor, but we understand if he had a fam obligation."

Governor Cuomo was protested and booed at last year's dinner by  a group including New York City Councilman Charles Barron and his wife, Assemblywoman Inez Barron. Mr. Barron told Capitol Tonight he believes the governor skipped the gala because he "wanted some assurances" he wouldn't face protests this time around "and he couldn’t be given that."

Mr. Camara said he was told the governor wouldn't be at the dinner "earlier in the week."

"I was informed by the governor's office that he would not be able to be in attendance," he said.