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Volume XX • Number 10 • March 7 - 13, 2013 •
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Third mayoral hopeful backs Cohen for City Council By HAYDEE CAMACHO The results are in. City Council candidate Andrew Cohen has won the straw poll of presumed Democratic mayoral candidates. Former New York City Comptroller and current mayoral candidate Bill Thompson endorsed Andrew Cohen, the local attorney and community board member, in his bid to fill the District 11 Council seat soon to be vacated by threetime term holder Oliver Koppell. Koppell is prevented from seeking reelection due to the city’s term limits law. The endorsement took place last Friday and was held outside PS 81 on Riverdale Avenue. “I am proud to endorse Andrew Cohen for City Council,” Thompson said. “Standing outside P.S. 81 shows his commitment to education. As a member of Community Board 8 Andrew has been an advocate for our young people, fought for a better education for our students, and protected our city parks. His work points to an understanding of the issues and commitment to his community. Andrew has always demonstrated a passion for New York City and a willingness to fight for people. I know he will make an excellent addition to the City Council, and I look forward to working with him to help residents in the 11th council district and all across this great city.” Thompson’s endorsement is the latest in a string of high profile endorsements including mayoral hopefuls, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Speaker Christine Quinn, the local incumbent Council
member, Mr. Koppell, neighboring Council member James Vacca, former District 11 Councilwoman June Eisland, Rep. Eliot Engel, state Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). “I’m honored to receive the endorsement of Bill Thompson, a great public servant and strong advocate for all the people of New York,” Cohen said. “From his time as President of the City’s Board of Education, to his successful stint as Comptroller, Bill has always been a fighter for our schools and a champion of accountability. I am grateful to have his support in this race.” Thompson ran against Mayor Bloomberg four years ago, and finished surprisingly well despite being hugely outspent. After the endorsement, Cohen and Thompson toured Riverdale Neighborhood House with Executive Director Daniel Eudene. In other election related news, the Law and Ethics Committee of Community Board 8 refused to take up a request by former Board chair Damian McShane, a political ally of Cohen’s main opponent, Clifford Stanton, to remove Cohen as chair of the Board’s Aging Committee for the duration of the campaign. McShane cited the (unsuccessful) efforts by some associated with Cohen to defeat Anthony Perez Cassino as Transportation chair of the Board prior to his (also unsuccessful) run for City Council four years ago.
Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson gives his backing to Council hopeful Andrew Cohen
Historian sheds light on curious boundary between Manhattan and The Bronx
By HAYDEE CAMACHO A standing room only crowd of 65 filled St. Gabriel’s Community Hall on Thursday, February 28th to hear Manhattan Borough Historian Michael Miscione tell the story of the 1984 murder trial that generated a startling legal decision that re-ignited an old border dispute about the legal jurisdiction of Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood. The event was sponsored by the Kingsbridge Historical Society.
In his presentation, People V. Boyd: The Murder Trial That Nearly Redrew The Map of New York City, Mr. Miscione recalled the history of Marble Hill, which had been on the Northern most point of Manhattan until a ship canal was dug along its southern edge in 1895, turning it into an island. In 1913 the surrounding Spuyten Duyvil creek was filled in with landfill, attaching Marble Hill physically to the Bronx. Although Marble Hill was no longer attached to Manhattan Island, noted Miscione, politicians, mapmakers, and the court system, treated it legally as if it were still part of New York County, not Bronx
County. Marble Hill residents voted for the New York County representatives and served on New York County juries. The assumption was challenged in 1984 when one of the potential jurors for the New York County murder trial, People v. Boyd claimed that since she lived in Marble Hill, she did not belong on a New York County jury. The case lawyers requested a ruling from the presiding judge, Peter McQuillan who researched the historical status of Marble Hill. He concluded that based on historical documents, Marble Hill was indeed part of Bronx County. The ruling did not carry enough weight to change the legal borderline, but it cast the validity of that borderline into question. There was concern that Judge McQuillan’s ruling could be used to argue that if the county lines were wrong, countywide elections that were held based on those lines should be declared invalid. In addition, a defendant
tried and convicted in a New York County court by a jury containing a Marble Hill juror could argue that his trial was invalid since, by law, his jury must consist only of jurors from New York County. To prevent such challenges, Marble Hill legislators led by then Assemblyman Brian Murtaugh, introduced a bill in the legislature to declare that Marble Hill “is, was, and always will be,” according to Murtaugh, a part
of New York County. Despite a handful of “nay” votes from Bronx representatives, the bill was quickly passed and signed by the governor. The engaging, hour-long presentation featured a recent video interview with Judge McQuillan, former Assemblyman Murtaught and Mark Dwyer of the New York District Attorney’s office. At the presentation’s end, Miscione took questions from the lively audience.
Historian Michael Miscione speaks at St. Gabriel’s last Thursday.