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BK Dems Wage “Civil War” in Court

BQE Admin on September 9, 2026

The three district leaders reluctantly answer questions after a reporter blocks the elevator doors.

BY JACK DELANEY

jdelaney@queensledger.com

DOWNTOWN — A lawsuit over sweeping rule changes within the Brooklyn Democratic Party has been delayed by a week due to a clerical error, increasing the pressure for a resolution before a key leadership vote next month.

That’s not to say its first two hearings have been uneventful: From an attorney yelling “I will speak!” at the bemused judge, to a pregnant reporter body-blocking the elevator doors as three district leaders tried to make an Irish exit, the suit’s early skirmishes suggest that the losing side — whichever way the verdict falls — will go down swinging.

The dispute dates back to June, when current party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn seemed set to lose her position after candidates affiliated with two anti-establishment groups, the New Kings Democrats (NKD) and Brooklyn Can’t Wait, flipped eight of the nine contested district leader seats in the primaries — a result that bumped the reform coalition’s numbers up to 22, securing the majority it needs to oust her.

But Bichotte Hermelyn struck back. On August 19, she proposed a raft of amendments to the party’s by-laws, adding 48 new members to the executive committee and raising the voting threshold to revert the changes to 85%, which lame-duck district leaders narrowly approved several days later at a secretive meeting in Mill Basin.

The rule changes triggered widespread backlash, briefly uniting such unlikely allies as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Senator Chuck Schumer. Hakeem Jeffries, the top-ranking Democrat in the House, said he was “suprised” and “opposed.” Longtime Brooklyn rep Brad Lander called it a “naked power grab.” Tony Melone, the president of NKD put it in terms that were just as stark: “We can’t have another January 6 moment in Brooklyn.”

The reformers, who have united behind Julio Peña III as their pick to replace Bichotte Hermelyn, sued to overturn the amendments before the meeting, but Kings County Supreme Court Justice Jill Epstein ruled that they would need to re-file once the measures had been formally adopted.

So the coalition returned on September 2, holding an abbreviated press conference in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall before funneling into a nearby court building. The anticipation was palpable — lawyers for the reform camp had opted to sue on the grounds that outgoing district leaders do not have the power to vote on rule changes after they’ve been defeated. How would the defense frame its counter-argument?

The first hearing offered few answers. Conspicuously, Bichotte Hermelyn never appeared. But as the attorneys filed up the aisle to their seats before the dais, three district leaders listed in the suit — Anthony Beckford, Arleny Alvarado-McCalla, and Heriberto Mateo — followed them and sat waiting to be called.

It quickly became clear that the defense was looking to postpone the case, maintaining that the trio had not been given enough time to find legal representation. Yet Epstein insisted that because her decision would almost certainly be appealed, further delays would scuttle any chance of resolving the suit before the leadership vote.

Up sprang Anthony Genovesi, Jr., the law chair of the Brooklyn Dems and a partner at Abrams Fensterman, a firm which counts Frank Carone — the disgraced aide to former Mayor Eric Adams — and ex-party boss Frank Seddio as alums.

“They don’t have rights?” said Genovesi loudly, pointing his finger at the three district leaders, who technically were not being represented by him. As Epstein calmly explained her reasoning, his voice grew louder, until the court reporter finally interjected to say that she wasn’t able to transcribe the hearing accurately since he was interrupting the judge.

One facet of the situation was particularly strange: As law chair, Genovesi had played a direct role in electing Justice Epstein to her seat. In fact, a simple Google search by journalists in the courtroom’s second row returned an image of Epstein posing shoulder-to-shoulder with Bichotte Hermelyn, beaming. That was to be expected — one of the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s main sources of power is its monopoly on nominating county-level judges, which incentivizes candidates to stay on the party’s good side. (The reform bloc did not object to Epstein overseeing the case, though the initial judge assigned to the case, Kenneth Sherman, recused himself.)

In the end, Epstein gave the district leaders a reprieve of one day. When the hearing resumed the next morning, neither Alvarado-McCalla nor Mateo showed; Beckford, sporting an intricately-carved cane, said he would represent himself.

But there was a new roadblock to the case proceeding. The night before, the petitioners’ attorneys — led by Mark Hanna — and Genovesi had both noticed a clerical oversight: Hanna and his team had omitted Bichotte Hermelyn’s name from a key document, the order to show cause. Genovesi pounced, arguing that although she had been served with a notice of the lawsuit, the error meant that his opponents had failed to follow protocol.

Epstein, initially skeptical, probed whether Bichotte Hermelyn had really been left in the dark. “I believe you appeared for her yesterday,” she told Genovesi.

“We’re arguing now whether we should just entirely circumvent the order to show cause,” he retorted. “The case law on this is not discretional. It’s absolute.”

“It is a jurisdictional defect,” Epstein said thoughtfully. Eventually, she relented: “I would want [Bichotte Hermelyn] to have the opportunity to be here personally. Given that her name is not on the paper, I would question that.”

Hanna and his partners, sheepish, looked on as Epstein explained that the hearing would be rescheduled to Tuesday, September 8.

Afterwards, foot soldiers from the reform coalition lingered in the hallway, outlasting the journalists who gradually filtered off to write their stories. Down by the benches outside Borough Hall, Anthony Beckford stood laughing with a friend.

COBB: Remembering 9/11 in Greenpoint

BQE Admin on September 9, 2026

“View from Williamsburg,” a controversial photo by Thomas Hoepker. While he initially chose not to publish the image because of the group’s relaxed demeanor, it was eventually released in 2005.

By Geoffrey Cobb | news@queensledger.com

As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, those of us who lived through the terrible tragedy recall that awful day.  I was teaching at Newtown, High School in Elmhurst, Queens, which had such a huge population that we had three shifts of students. I was on the late shift and about nine in the morning I left for school, driving East on the Long Island Expressway. I was listening to a rock radio station when the announcer mistakenly reported that a small plane had struck the Word Trade Center.

When I got to school there was complete pandemonium and real fear. I was teaching English as a Second Language and my Muslim students were particularly frightened, believing that New Yorkers would single them out for reprisals, which thankfully never happened. When I got a break I went straight for the school’s roof, which offered a clear view of Manhattan. One of the towers had collapsed and another one was burning, a sight that is seared in my memory.

When I drove home to Greenpoint, the Long Island Expressway was crowded with fire vehicles trying to get to Manhattan.  The exceptionally clear skies accentuated the huge plumes of smoke, which bellowed from the wreckage of the towers.

We were close enough to the Twin Towers that documents from the buildings were blown across the East River and landed locally.

For days after the attack, you could smell the distinct odor of burning material that emanated from the smoldering pile.

I recall pictures of missing loved ones appearing on the walls of the Union Square subway station, a haunting witness to the personal loss many New Yorkers felt.

At least eight people with Greenpoint connections died in the tragedy, but the figure is probably higher.  After the attack, local residents erected an impromptu memorial at at the intersection of Conselyea Street and Graham Avenue with the names of eight residents.

Among the firefighters who perished that day were Greenpointers. Lt. John A. Crisci of Haz-Mat 1 perished on that day. Lt. John Napolitano, forty-four-year-old firefighter Thomas E. Sabella, Lt. Carl J. Bedigian of Engine 214, who grew up in Greenpoint and Lt. Andrew J. Desperito of Engine 1 were all firefighters with local roots who died that day.

Saint Cecilia’s parish erected a plaque to honor the victims, one of whom was Catherine Fagan, a widow and a mother who lived on Haussman Street. Debbie Manetta was just thirty-one years old and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald when she perished. Computer technician Paul Ortiz was just twenty-one years old when he died.

There was another tragedy after the attack. The Department of Environmental Protection mistakenly assured fire fighters and others working on the smoldering rubble that it was safe to work without a respirator. More fire fighters died from inhaling toxic fumes after the disaster than initially died in the attacks.

For Greenpoint and many other communities across the country, the attacks left a profound legacy of loss and sadness. Time has not diminished the loss and pain many of the victims’ families still feel more than a quarter century after the disaster.

Geoffrey Cobb is the author of “Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past.”

SCHWARTZ: I’m Being Hunted (By My New Cat)

BQE Admin on September 9, 2026

The author’s new cat, Gus.

By Lana Schwartz | news@queensledger.com

I apologize for the alarmist headline. However, my acknowledgement of the tone taken here doesn’t make its underlying statement any less true.

Last week, I did something I never thought I’d do. I adopted a cat. Not that there is anything wrong with having a cat — I just didn’t think I’d ever have one of my own.

Then, seasons change. Life moves in directions you could never expect. You find yourself coming around on an idea that previously seemed like it would’ve belonged to someone else entirely. This is what happened when I thought: It might be nice to have a pet. I can’t get a dog. What if…I got a cat?

Practical down to the very last drop, I began on a trial basis. I fostered a young cat named Yodel, knowing that if I didn’t enjoy his company — or the company of any cat at all — I still would’ve fulfilled my promise of giving a cat off the streets a home for a little while. What can I say? I fell in love with the little guy. I signed the adoption papers and renamed him Gus.

So now, I have a cat. A cat with a sweet, good-natured temper who loves to sit on your lap and watch Cheers with you. But he’s still a cat. And that means he wants, no, needs to hunt. And sometimes that means he wants to hunt me, the person who feeds him and looks after him and stands over him with a wand so that he doesn’t succumb to boredom. He lurks around corners, waiting to pop out and surprise me. He peers out over his paws, waiting for the right moment to strike, to climb onto his hind legs and clench my shin between his claws, right when I least expect it. When I’m standing over the sink, washing my dishes, or grabbing a plum out of the fridge, those are his favorite times to strike. There are no sounds to hear, no warning signs; the only evidence, his little teeth and little claws in my skin.

Unfortunately for Gus, I’m onto him. I’ve come to identify his hiding spots, to search corners before I turn them. All in all, I can tell it makes for a much less satisfying game for Gus. It’s time for him to evolve his strategy. And I have every faith he will find a new way to keep me on my toes. He is my cat, after all.

Lana Schwartz is a writer who was born and raised in Queens and today lives in Brooklyn. Her writing has appeared on The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney’s, and more. She is the author of the books “Build Your Own Romantic Comedy” and “Set Piece.”

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