Lincoln Restler.

For many months, Lincoln Restler, the winner and loser of two incredibly-tight, back-to-back district leader campaigns, has been a chief antagonist of Brooklyn Councilman Steve Levin and was seriously exploring a highly-anticipated run against him. Today, however, Mr. Restler ultimately decided against the bid, freeing Mr. Levin of his most serious opponent this year.

"A number of people have asked me about my plans to run for office again and I wanted to share my thinking directly with you," Mr. Restler wrote in an email to supporters this evening. "I have decided not to run for City Council this year. While I've had my share of disagreements with Councilmember Stephen Levin, I also respect that he has been a member of the Progressive Caucus, has brought participatory budgeting to our community, and has strived to actively represent our neighborhoods."

Mr. Restler's electoral plans, like his re-election bid to his district leader post, were complicated by redistricting. Over his firm protestations, Williamsburg's Hasidic community was further consolidated in Mr. Levin's district, giving the incumbent a firm base of support to ward off a potential challenge. Mr. Levin declined to immediately comment on the development.

In his email, which you can view below, Mr. Restler also endorsed Public Advocate Bill de Blasio for mayor.

I hope this note finds you well. The 2013 elections will be transformational for our City, as we elect a new Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate and Brooklyn Borough President, and at least half of the members of the New York City Council will be new to the chamber.

A number of people have asked me about my plans to run for office again and I wanted to share my thinking directly with you. I have decided not to run for City Council this year. While I've had my share of disagreements with Councilmember Stephen Levin, I also respect that he has been a member of the Progressive Caucus, has brought participatory budgeting to our community, and has strived to actively represent our neighborhoods.

In all sincerity, it has been my greatest privilege to represent the 50th Assembly District and to help make local government work better in our community. My experience as a Brooklyn activist and elected representative has been guided first and foremost by the desire to help my neighbors and give back to our neighborhoods. I don't believe we need a political office to advocate for the issues that matter most to us. For my part, I will keep fighting for reform in the Brooklyn political system, responsible development that meets our needs, improved mass transit, and the creation of more green spaces. I am now leading the New York City Employment and Training Coalition, where I'm focused on ensuring New Yorkers are attaining quality training and employment.

While I do very much hope to have the opportunity to represent our community again in the near future, this election year presents a remarkable opportunity for us all to profoundly shape our City's future. I am committing my energy to helping elect some true progressive reformers that will help us realize the Brooklyn and New York City we deserve. I hope you will join me in supporting City Council candidates Antonio Reynoso to succeed Diana Reyna in Williamsburg and Bushwick and Carlos Menchaca in the neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Red Hook, and South Park Slope. I am proud to be supporting Public Advocate Bill de Blasio for Mayor - as the time has come for a progressive Democrat to lead our City.

In the weeks ahead, I hope we can work together to improve our neighborhoods and to support leaders running for office who can help us build a brighter future for our City. Please never hesitate to contact me directly if I can ever be of assistance and I will keep you posted as the campaigns heat up.

Thank you for your extraordinary support,

Lincoln Restler

The 33rd Council District. (Photo: Districting Commission/Google Maps)

One of the fiercest disputes over the decennial redistricting process raged on after the final versions of the new City Council district maps were released this week. Councilman Steve Levin insisted the process through which the districts were drawn was focused on substance while his potential rival, Lincoln Restler, repeatedly dismissed the new Council maps as rooted in political concerns.

"There was never a serious discussion," Mr. Restler argued. "This was a political deal made by the Speaker and the local council member and it's clear throughout the entire process that it's nothing more than an incumbent protection program."

Mr. Restler's long-rumored bid to unseat Mr. Levin took a significant hit when the redistricting dust finally settled. In their final lines, the commission tasked with the decennial redrawing of City Council boundaries upheld an alteration to Mr. Levin's 33rd District that added tracts of Hasidic Jewish voters likely to back Mr. Levin and removed parts of Brownstone Brooklyn favorable to Mr. Restler.

Though neighboring Councilwoman Tish James supported Mr. Restler in his ultimately fruitless bid to undo the change, which was unveiled in an earlier draft, the Commission held its ground arguing the boundaries were amended to ensure Ms. James's district kept a black majority in compliance with the Voting Rights Act while also uniting a local community of common interest: Orthodox Jews.

Mr. Levin, in a lengthy explanation, laid out arguments for why the new district, which cuts out Park Slope and includes the neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill, is now more logically configured. He agreed with the commission's reasoning, and also pointed out travel from Park Slope to Brooklyn Heights to Greenpoint, via car or public transportation, could be unwieldy if he wanted to conduct multiple meetings in those neighborhoods on a single night, thus justifying the new fourth avenue boundary that shed Park Slope from the district.

"If you see the map of the district, the district as it currently is resembles some type of dinosaur skeleton," Mr. Levin said. "The Districting Commission has a very smart staff and they're balancing a lot of considerations. To me, this is actually above politics. So I think the Commission, if you talk to them, you see they have to specifically address interests in opposition to each other, which is a tough thing to do."

Although he promised in January that he would make an announcement in regards to his possible City Council bid at this week's meeting of his New Kings Democrats club, Mr. Restler didn't end up clarifying his plans and declined to comment on the subject.

It was the multicultural American Dream, the only hope of ambitious Russian immigrants and the possible death knell of Orthodox Jewish communities, all at once, at least according to some of those testifying at the redistricting hearing last night in Brooklyn.

It was not the controversial draft map that placed potential Council candidate Vito Lopez in a neighboring district--the aspect of this year's redrawing of the City Council lines to reflect the new Census numbers that has attracted the most media coverage--that sparked the controversy last night. Rather, two versions of Councilman Michael Nelson’s 48th District offered alternating realities for competing demographic groups, dominating the public hearing in front of most members of the Districting Commission.

Along with the term-limited Mr. Nelson, Orthodox Jewish leaders packed the hearing to affirm their opposition to proposed council lines that they said would split their Midwood area stronghold into two districts, Mr. Nelson’s and the neighboring 45^th, represented by Councilman Jumaane Williams. The proposed district also ropes in Russian-populated apartment complexes in Coney Island and Brighton Beach like Luna Park, Trump and Sea Breeze. Everyone testifying at the hearings agreed that Mr. Nelson’s district would become more Russian, which was thrilling for Russian media mogul Gregory Davidzon.

“Almost everybody who spoke today asked to keep communities together. African-American, Orthodox Jew, Chinese people and everybody has to be together,” Mr. Davidzon said. “You created a district with all Russians together. What’s wrong with this?”

Much is at stake for both factions. If the district lines are indeed altered significantly from Mr. Nelson’s current district, the probability of the emergent Russian community electing their first member of the City Council increases. After the revised district lines became public on Nov. 16, Brooklyn Councilman David Greenfield tweeted that, “First thing that jumps out in S. Brooklyn is creation of Super-Russian-American 48^th Council District.”

If the lines are adopted, the clout the Orthodox Jews have in their district with Mr. Nelson could be less likely to be replicated with the new council member. Orthodox Jews fear funding for crucial community programs will dry up and the district could lose some of its conservatism as less religious communities are added. Mr. Nelson and his allies sought to defend the current district as a multicultural bastion.

“The new lines that are proposed will disenfranchise our wonderful community,” said Josh Mehlman, an Orthodox Jewish civic leader. “Many people will not sit back and just allow it to be divided up. If this goes forward unchanged it will certainly backfire and cause problems that may be unforeseen. The Orthodox community has grown exponentially and this attempt to divide us is unconstitutional in our opinion and will certainly be a detriment to our community.”

If the proposed district is adopted, there will be ripple effects in the neighboring 47^th District being vacated by Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. While John Lisyanskiy, a candidate of Russian descent, has already leaped into the race to replace Mr. Recchia, other candidates are holding off making their official declarations until the lines are finalized.

A possible candidate much further north, former district leader Lincoln Restler, saw his chances of victory take a hit when the commission unveiled a seemingly slight alteration to Councilman Stephen Levin’s Brownstone Brooklyn 33rd District that joined a Satmar community in northern Bedford-Stuyvesant with the influential Satmars of south Williamsburg, expanding a voting bloc supportive of Mr. Levin. Opinions among Orthodox Jews themselves were decidedly mixed; one Satmar said he didn’t want to live “in a Jewish ghetto,” preferring two council members for his community, while another praised the commission for uniting a “community of interest.”

Mr. Levin argued that the move was intended to increase the percentage of African-Americans in Councilwoman Tish James’s 35^th District. More speakers at the hearing were in Mr. Restler’s corner than Mr. Levin’s, including the term-limited Ms. James.

“Establishing a separate council district that would primarily affect the Orthodox population actually divides these residents from their longstanding neighbors,” Ms. James said. “Many leaders from the Orthodox community have shared their concerns about this Bed-Stuy area being rolled into a new councilmanic district, as they seek to have multiple legislative representatives.”

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch.

“Look, this election is a whole lot bigger than just one person, especially a little guy like me who needs to stand on this chair,” 28-year-old Lincoln Restler declared as he artificially towered over a packed room at the Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago. “The machine has their candidate, they’re going to pour all of the resources they’ve got into this district leader race. But, for every hack elected official that they’ve got on payroll, we’re going to have to reach out to 10 of our neighbors.”

The “machine” in this case is the Kings County Democratic Party and its chair, Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Mr. Restler sees his re-election campaign as a critical aspect of the effort to topple what he describes as the corrupt status quo in Mr. Lopez’s organization.

Mr. Restler, who has the honor of holding the obscure position of district leader, is very aware of the fact that despite the lofty rhetoric of his campaign, he’s talking about an unpaid office with few official responsibilities.

“Any elected office, even an elected position you’ve probably never heard of, is a platform to advocate for one’s community,” Mr. Restler said in his speech, still standing on the chair. The crowd rightfully laughed after “you’ve probably never heard of.”

New Yorkers have a hard enough time remembering who represents them at the City Council, State Assembly, State Senate and congressional levels, so the idea of caring about who represents your district on the executive board of the county Democratic organization indeed seems a little laughable on the face of it.

However, Mr. Restler has managed to elevate his position and is often mentioned as a potential challenger for the City Council seat held by Lopez ally and onetime-staffer Steve Levin—and the district leader job is a potential stepping stone. In what some of Mr. Restler's supporters see as an effort to head off such a possibility, Mr. Levin has recruited Community Board 1 chairman Chris Olechowski to run against Mr. Restler for district leader.

“Lincoln challenged somebody else, and now somebody challenged him, and he’s crying all over the place, and I guess you have a right. He’s shooting from the hip at everybody, including me,” Mr. Lopez put it bluntly. “That’s the name of politics. If I didn’t do anything, people would say that’s not an active political organization.”

Before he was elected by the barest of margins in 2010, Mr. Restler was simply an activist who organized on behalf of the Obama campaign in 2008. After the presidential election, Mr. Restler’s allies approached Mr. Lopez about getting involved in his organization.

“He brushed off our interest in getting involved and eventually told us joining the community board was the only way for us to get active in our neighborhoods,” Mr. Restler said of their efforts when we talked last weekend over huevos rancheros on a patio near McCarren Park.

“We decided we wanted to recruit emerging leaders in this borough to run for state committee,” Mr. Restler continued. “And I promise you, we asked smarter, better looking, more dynamic people in the 50th Assembly District to run before me, and when they said no, I eventually stepped up to the plate.”

In that race, he ran against Warren Cohn, the son of the man who held the post for almost three decades prior. The election, which Mr. Restler described as “seriously intense,” had a rather intense conclusion as well: he won by only 121 votes despite raising more than $60,000, a gigantic sum for a district leader race.

The closeness of the race can be attributed to Mr. Lopez’s significant political sway in northern Brooklyn. One of the largest constituencies in the district is Williamsburg’s Hasidic community, where the largest sect consistently delivers a huge bloc of votes to Mr. Lopez’s candidates. Additionally, Mr. Lopez chairs the housing committee in the State Assembly and has a significant amount of electoral influence in public housing projects, creating a favorable environment for allies like Mr. Cohn in 2010, or an unfavorable one for ongoing opponents like Mr. Restler.

Mr. Lopez actually occupies a Bushwick-based district that neighbors Mr. Restler’s current one, but the similarities between the two end there. Mr. Restler fashions himself as Mr. Lopez’s chief antagonist, and he frequently points out that three of the last four heads of the Brooklyn Democratic Party have been indicted for corruption and hints the same may be eventually true for the current leader, thanks to investigations into a large nonprofit Mr. Lopez founded.

And outwardly, the two could hardly be more different. Mr. Lopez—a gruff, 70-year-old man whose large frame can dominate a small room, strikes a marked contrast with horned-rimmed glasses-wearing, brownstone Brooklyn-raised Mr. Restler, whom The New York Times once wrote “looks as if he could play Harry Potter.”

And, of course, in terms of power, they are miles apart. Mr. Restler is one of just a few district leaders who passionately oppose Mr. Lopez’s leadership, and Mr. Lopez is working to defeat several of them, including Mr. Restler, in the voting booth this year.

“I do know that more people respect where Brooklyn is now than they ever did,” Mr. Lopez said, defending his party from criticism. After ticking off a list of additional African-American, Haitian, Russian and Dominican officials elected in the borough during his tenure, Mr. Lopez exclaimed, “Brooklyn is back!”

When it came to Mr. Restler’s faults, Mr. Lopez focused primarily on his fundraising abilities and the wealth of his parents, which he felt had an undemocratic impact in the race. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s father works in private equity and contributed just over $10,000 to his efforts in 2010, a significant portion of his overall sum (Mr. Restler counters this argument by pointing to a plethora of small donations to his campaign).

“Say it’s disgusting,” Mr. Lopez suggested for this story’s focus. “The headline should be: ‘Can Lincoln Restler Buy Another Election?’”

Mr. Restler will undoubtedly need every penny he can get, however, as he faces what all observers think will be an incredibly tight re-election battle. His former apartment and part of his electoral base in Fort Greene were cut out of the seat in this year’s redistricting process, and the Hasidic voting bloc will be an even higher percentage of the overall vote than it was in 2010. And, complicating matters further for the incumbent, he faces a very credible opponent in Mr. Olechowski, who has an impressively deep résumé for a district leader candidate.

“He’s an eminently qualified candidate, he’s been in the neighborhood for many years, over 40 years,” said Councilman Steve Levin, who asked Mr. Olechowski to run. “He has a professional track record in the community.”

And, as supporters of Mr. Olechowski are quick to point out, he has deep ties to the large Polish-American community in Greenpoint in particular.

“The Polish community—you’re not going to write about it—are working to elect the first Polish community leader,” Mr. Lopez said of the race, suggesting Polish political empowerment should be the focus of this article instead of Mr. Restler’s re-election efforts. “They’re really caught up in his candidacy.”

Mr. Olechowski also heavily framed the election as a way to encourage the typically apolitical Polish community to participate more in civic life, citing the cause as his campaign’s raison d’etre.

“I found it as an opportunity to energize and empower ... the Greenpoint community, which really doesn’t have a very good track record of voting in local elections,” he explained. “I thought that there’s a constituency that I’ve been involved with for many, many years, people in the Polish community especially, that I would really like to challenge myself to get them to vote—and not only vote for me because I’m running, after all, for an unpaid political position.”

He declined to overly criticize the incumbent, simply saying he hasn’t heard much from Mr. Restler during his short tenure in office.

“I don’t know what Lincoln has really done,” he opined. “I know he’d like to do a lot of things, but I know a lot of people who would like to do a lot of things. I think the question is: what have you done?”

Mr. Lopez described Mr. Restler’s record in less charitable terms, suggesting Mr. Restler’s primary role is that of an acolyte of another one of his rivals, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

“Tell me what he’s done,” he said. “Nydia doesn’t represent much of that area, and he’s up her butt—and that’s fine. He’s right next to me as a leader, and we’ve never met, and he doesn’t want to meet.”

For his part, Mr. Restler and his supporters ticked off a long list of tangible things he’s played a role in, including helping to bring a new supermarket into Fort Greene and organizing the initial petition efforts for maintaining the G-Train service on the southern extension of its route.

The irony, of course, is that despite all the talk of accomplishment, district leaders aren’t really supposed to be doing things. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s touted record largely consists of things unrelated to his office’s perfunctory duties. Nevertheless, he insists that the platform of the position is not only important to deliver results but central to his efforts to eventually expand his reform coalition beyond its current base in gentrifying and upscale neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn.

“I can help lead that effort, as an elected leader, as I would never be able to contribute to from the outside,” Mr. Restler said. “Moreover, every day that I’m sitting there at an executive committee meeting, I demonstrate to people, to Brooklynites, this man who is so feared can be beat.”

Mr. Lopez, unsurprisingly, was less than impressed with Mr. Restler’s desire to fundamentally change the course for the local Democratic Party.

“Does that help build the Democratic organization, does that give energy to Democratic candidates throughout the borough?” he asked. “Infighting does no one any good.”

ccampbell@observer.com

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito

The City Council passed Resolution 1172 yesterday opposing the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which declared corporations have the same first amendment rights as individuals, a concept that has come to be known as corporate personhood. This decision, which was made just shy of a year ago, prohibited the government from placing limits on individual contributions and has become a favored target of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Protesters affiliated with Occupy Wall Street supported the passage of the Council's anti-corporate personhood resolution and approximately twenty of them packed the observation balcony during the stated meeting yesterday where they applauded for the bill and booed dissenting members. In addition to expressing opposition for the Supreme Court decision, the resolution called for a Constitutional amendment "to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or 'rights' of natural persons, specifically so that the expenditure of corporate money to influence the electoral process is no longer a form of constitutionally protected speech."

Council members Brad Lander, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Steve Levin, all members of the Progressive Caucus, sponsored the bill. It was co-sponsored by the rest of the caucus membership. After the bill was passed, the Progressive Caucus released a statement saying the resolution showed "restoring confidence in government and strengthening democratic participation" are among the core principles of the caucus.

"We believe that corporations should not share the same rights as people, that unlimited and unreported corporate donations meant to sway the electoral process should not be considered freedom of speech, and that the government should regulate the raising and spending of money by corporations intended to influence elections," the statement said. "We cannot allow corporate money to manipulate our democracy."

With the passage of Resolution 1172, the City Council joins several other local government bodies who have passed similar resolutions. Los Angeles, Oakland, Albany and Boulder have also come out against corporate personhood in recent months.

Councilman Levin's photo of the event (Photo: Facebook)

Most of the media might have moved on from the Occupy Wall Street protests, but for at least two Brooklyn City Council Members, the protest efforts won't be so quickly forgotten. Councilmen Jumaane Williams and Steve Levin attended last night's General Assembly, joined by prominent civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, and experienced what Councilman Williams generally referred to as a productive and peaceful affair.

Recently, the Occupy movement in New York City has been engaged in a dispute with 100 William Street's building management over the use of their space.  According to Mr. Williams, these differences are now settled. "I came out tonight to observe, to help make sure that the threats to right to assemble and protest are quelled," the Councilman recalled last night. "Council Member Steve Levin, Norman Siegel and I were able to help mediate with the building management and the NYPD to maintain an acceptable balance of everyone's concerns."

Councilman Williams in particular has an interesting relationship with both the NYPD and Occupy Wall Street protests in recent months. In the past year, he has been arrested once voluntarily at an Occupy protest and again involuntarily at an unrelated event. But yesterday's General Assembly had minimal conflict between police and protesters. "I was heartened to see the cooperation of the individual police officers on the scene," Mr. Williams said. "In fact, it restores my belief that many in the NYPD sympathize with the message of Occupy Wall Street and want to work with, not against, the protesters."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would consider being Mitt Romney's running mate.

Albany is no longer occupied. 

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito made her acting debut.

Brooklyn Councilman Steve Levin is getting his band back together.

Assemblyman Carl Heastie played bartender at the Bronx Democrats' holiday party last night.

The Post covered the birth of Anthony Weiner's child with their trademark class and restraint.

Is the "Draft Hillary" effort a GOP plot?

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman rejoiced after a federal commission denied the company that owns the Indian Point power plant's appeal to overturn a decision ordering them to provide detailed environmental and safety reviews.

City Council member Jumaane Williams

The City Council's progressive wing and their labor allies threw their support behind the Occupy Wall Street protesters, backing "the day of action" the movement has planned for Thursday.

“It is shameful to use the cover of darkness to trample on civil liberties without fear of media scrutiny or a public response,” the City Council’s Progressive Caucus said in a statement. “In the aftermath of the eviction, we reiterate our support and look toward the future. We know that the fight is far from over, and that last night’s events will only fuel the fire for change.”

Signatories include some of the earliest New York politicians to march with--not just express support for—Occupy Wall Street, including Jumaane Williams of Flatbush, who stood with the protesters during the raid last night. Unlike colleague Ydanis Rodriguez, however, he managed to escape arrest.

The council members will be marching to “hold the banks accountable and call for a fairer economy” this Thursday, Nov. 17, when OWS will mark its two-month anniversary by attempting to shut down the NYSE, “occupying the subway,” and having a “musical” march from Foley Square accompanied by a gospel choir and marching band. The other signatories were Gale Brewer, Daniel Dromm, Letitia James, Brad Lander, Steve Levin, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Rosie Mendez, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, and Jimmy Van Bramer.

Also weighing in are the Communications Workers of America (CWA), who have used the Occupy movement as a springboard to publicize their dispute with Verizon over cuts to their benefits package. A dozen CWA workers have been marching from Albany since last week, and plan to join the march by Thursday afternoon after protesting outside Verizon headquarters on West Street.

“Mayor Bloomberg may have cleared the park for now, but Occupy Wall Street's message cannot be silenced,” CWA District 1 vice president Chris Shelton said in a statement. “No one can evict an idea whose time has come. Now more than ever, CWA members will join the massive day of action on Thursday, November 17.”

The mayor took further flak from workers from the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, whose members have been particularly active in the Occupy protests against a propsed Walmart in East New York.

“Mayor Bloomberg should apologize to the media and to the protestors whose constitutional rights were trampled on by his militaristic misadventure. He has escalated tensions unnecessarily and shown an alarming lack of judgment and leadership,” RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “He has yet to learn a simple lesson: how to listen."