Man v. Machine

Those who might still be wondering about the need for a housecleaning of the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s leadership need look no further than the treatment being meted out to Tony Eisenberg, a Russian-born candidate for the City Council. In recent years, an influx of Russian immigrants into the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and Bensonhurst has created a vibrant community, one now taking the first steps into the political process by seeking to elect a candidate to local office.Over the decades, one of the commendable attributes of the city’s Democratic county organizations was the ability to incorporate successive waves of new Americans, from the Irish and Italian immigrants to their modern Latino and Caribbean successors. But things have gone to rot in Brooklyn: the Democratic Party boss, Clarence Norman, executive director Jeffrey Feldman, and their associates on Court street are working overtime to keep the nascent Russian community from getting any sort of political foothold.To keep Mr. Eisenberg from challenging incumbent Council Member Domenic Recchia, the party’s lawyers convinced the board to invalidate Mr. Eisenberg’s nominating petitions, charging that Mr. Eisenberg “illegally” changed his name, from the Slavic-sounding Anatoly Eyzenberg to the Americanized Tony Eisenberg.Long-standing legal custom, normally followed by the Board of Elections, allows an American to change his name at will without registering the change with the government. One could argue that this introduces opportunities for election fraud, but in the instant case, Mr. Eisenberg doesn’t seem to be trying to fool anyone. Nevertheless, the party is arguing that Mr. Eisenberg was required to go back and re-do his voter registration with the new spelling of his name — a specious claim that the board would have done well to reject on the first hearing.Next, the party subpoenaed half a dozen of Mr. Eisenberg’s senior-citizen supporters, none of whom could speak enough English to understand the court proceedings without an interpreter. They were the core of a group of volunteers for Mr. Eisenberg who gathered 2,843 signatures of Democrats on nominating petitions, of which 1,699 were declared valid by the Board of Elections. Only 900 are required to secure Mr. Eisenberg a spot on the primary ballot.But the party’s lawyers hauled Mr. Eisenberg’s elderly supporters into court for hours at a time and questioned them under oath about how they collected petition signatures. It was an attempt to intimidate and demoralize them. The maneuver also seems aimed at siphoning off Mr. Eisenberg’s time and money, which are now being expended on court expenses rather than on his campaign.The matter will go to trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court next week, as Mr. Eisenberg seeks to secure merely the right to run for office. Justice Joseph Levine, who will hear the case, has it within his power to remedy this problem by swiftly rendering a bench verdict on behalf of Mr. Eisenberg. Or, better yet, Council Member Recchia could call off the whole disgraceful spectacle with a single phone call and choose the high road of seeking re-election on merits.

Man v. Machine

Man v. Machine

More from the New York Sun

How Dallas Cowboys Undrafted Rookie Shiyazh Pete United the Navajo Nation at Phoenix

Postal Service Awaits Supreme Court Ruling Ahead of New Mail Voting Requirements, Federal Access to State Voter Rolls

Billy Idol Still Has Some Rebel Yell To Give

Jaguar Still Can’t Seem To Turn the Corner

‘10 Kilos’ Gets Weighed Down by Familiar Genre Fare

‘The Marching Band’ Plays a Familiar Tune, But With Spirit and Social Awareness

USS Doris Miller

Johnson Warns Kushner Not To ‘Bet Against’ House Republicans After President’s Son-in-Law Meets With Jeffries

More from the New York Sun

How Dallas Cowboys Undrafted Rookie Shiyazh Pete United the Navajo Nation at Phoenix

Postal Service Awaits Supreme Court Ruling Ahead of New Mail Voting Requirements, Federal Access to State Voter Rolls

Billy Idol Still Has Some Rebel Yell To Give

Jaguar Still Can’t Seem To Turn the Corner

‘10 Kilos’ Gets Weighed Down by Familiar Genre Fare

‘The Marching Band’ Plays a Familiar Tune, But With Spirit and Social Awareness

USS Doris Miller

Johnson Warns Kushner Not To ‘Bet Against’ House Republicans After President’s Son-in-Law Meets With Jeffries