With Rick Santorum suspending his campaign on April 10, it’s a sure bet that the Republican candidate will be Mitt Romney. Santorum’s name, however, was still on the ballot, along with Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, who still have active campaigns. As expected, though, Romney won by a considerable margin in New York, with 56.4 percent, and swept the other states.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, in New York state, 162,990, out of the about 2.9 million registered Republicans, voted—significantly less than those that have voted in past primaries. In the 2008 primary 670,078 Republicans voted out of around 3 million registered Republicans.

The Republican primary’s importance seemed even less significant in a Democratic town like New York City. Republicans are also a minority in Brooklyn. In the 2010 Presidential election, 581,159 voted for Obama and 138,930 voted for McCain in Brooklyn.

But there are red areas in the borough, particularly in Southern Brooklyn, where Republicans represent neighborhoods, such as Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Gravesend. And Republican leaders in the community are optimistic about the ground they’ve gained in the borough. Although Democrats outnumber them, they feel that they provide a strong oppositional voice to the other party.

“We might be in the minority, but we’re sure on the winning side these days,” Craig Eaton, chair of the Brooklyn’s Republican Party said. “My guess is that in 2012 we’re going to take back even more seats in the senate and assembly.”

In the past few years, Republicans have won seats over Democrats in Southern Brooklyn, including some incumbents. These elections show that the party is gaining more visibility and presence in that area of the borough. Though most of Brooklyn and the city are still blue.

“Being a Republican in New York is certainly difficult,” says Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who represents District 60, covering parts of Staten Island and Bay Ridge. Malliotakis is currently the only Republican woman elected to any office in New York City.

At one voting location in Malliotakis’ district, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church on the corner of 4th Avenue and 80th Street in Bay Ridge, 39 people had voted by late afternoon. John Pawson, the coordinator for this location, said the turnout was low, but did expect more people to come after work (polls closed at 9 p.m.).

The candidates, he said, were still trying to win voters in the state right before the primaries, and on Monday, he received two robocalls asking him to vote for Romney.

One person that did come to vote, Zach N., 31, who did not feel comfortable giving his full name, recognized that Romney is going to be the Republican nominee, but felt it was still important to cast his ballot. “I still want to show numbers,” he said.

Before the primary, Malliotakis hoped voters would come out and vote for the same reason. “These people are very opposed to the policies put forth by President Obama. And this primary having a large turnout in support of a Republican candidate would be a referendum on the president,” she said.

Zach N. admitted that it was difficult to be a Republican, especially a young one, in New York City, and often said he has to keep quiet when he hears someone criticizing a member of the party or its policies. Though he admitted in Bay Ridge, it’s a little easier to be a Republican.

Voting booths in Bay Ridge for the April 24 Republican Primaries. (Cristabelle Tumola / The Brooklyn Ink)

According to poll worker Pawson, this voting location in Bay Ridge is in a “swing” area of Brooklyn because the vote can go either way.

Malliotakis, who represents this area of Bay Ridge, is one of two Hispanic Republicans (she is half Cuban and half Greek) in the New York state legislature, and one of four Republicans from New York City in the legislature, along with State Sen. Marty Golden from Brooklyn.

Malliotakis said that though Republican state representatives are few in number, they add important components to the political discussion, and do a good job of holding the opposite party accountable.

In 2010, two Republicans, Malliotakis and U.S. Congressman Michael Grimm, beat Democratic incumbents representing Brooklyn, and Marty Golden was reelected. In a September 2011 special election, Republican Bob Turner won the U.S. Congressional seat vacated when Anthony Weiner, who represented parts of Queens and Brooklyn, resigned.

After a special election last month, there is still no clear winner between Democrat and city council member Lew Fidler and Republican David Storobin for the New York state Senate seat in District 27 (southeast Brooklyn). The vote was extremely close, and has ended up in the courts, in a battle reminiscent of the 2000 presidential election.

The state Senate adjourns in June. If a winner isn’t declared before that time, the newly elected state senator will not be able to vote in Albany because the seat will be eliminated through redistricting.

Weiner’s former seat will also be eliminated, but Brooklyn Republicans are optimistic because of the ground they have gained in the borough. There is also the possibility that a Republican can win a newly created heavily Orthodox Jewish state senate district that includes Flatbush and Borough Park. Storobin has stated that he wants to run for that seat.

“We see ourselves branching out into other areas of Brooklyn, as the people are getting sick and tired of the policies of the Democrats and really want a choice,” said Malliotakis.

Christie and her "crew" hang out at a beach in Southern Brooklyn. (Patrick Harbron / Oxygen Media)

Drinking, cursing and fighting Italian-Americans are nothing new to television thanks to the reality show, “Jersey Shore.” Because of that program’s popularity, Bay Ridge gets its moment in the TV spotlight this month, but residents, especially Italian American ones, aren’t too happy about it.

“Brooklyn 11223,” a reality show that premieres Monday March 26 on Oxygen, focuses on a group of 20-something friends that live in Bay Ridge and the surrounding neighborhoods of Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bensonhurst and Gravesend. Like most successful reality shows, it also centers on the group’s drama.

The show has been compared to “Jersey Shore,” and it’s negative portrayal of Italian-Americans. Except for a couple of cast members, the rest of the 18 people featured in “Brooklyn 11223” have Italian heritage.

One of the most publically vocal opponents of the show has been Councilman Vincent Gentile, who represents Bay Ridge.

“‘Brooklyn 11223’ is NOT what Bay Ridge is about, NOT what Bay Ridge wants and NOT what Bay Ridge needs,” he posted on his Facebook page about a February 24 rally held in the community to protest the show. “We refuse to stand by and let ‘Hollywood’ portray the hardworking, proud, cultured and creative residents of Bay Ridge in this disparaging light.”

At the press conference, Gentile was surrounded by local women, and said, “We’re here to present the real women of Bay Ridge,” reported the Brooklyn Eagle.

On March 15, the paper started a series called “The Real Women of Bay Ridge,” which profiles accomplished women from the community. The most recent woman featured, was one of Gentile’s aides, Sara Steinweiss, on March 22. Before joining Gentile’s staff in September 2011, she was a teacher for 12 years.

In an editor’s note, the Brooklyn Eagle said the series is in celebration of Women’s History Month, and in response to “Brooklyn 11223,” and its depiction of “women cursing, drinking and fighting in Bay Ridge and other neighborhoods.”

“Brooklyn 11223” isn’t the first reality show to cause backlash, and it’s also not the first one to take place in Brooklyn. It’s one of three reality TV programs based in the borough that are premiering within a couple months of each other.

“A Slice of Brooklyn,” about a famous tour company of the same name, premiered on March 7 on the Travel channel. On April 28, Rambug, a reality show about Rambug Pest Control, an extermination company located in Brooklyn, is premiering on A&E.

All three of the shows include Italian-American cast members, a population that Brooklyn has long been associated with.

The latest, “Brooklyn 11223,” centers around two groups of friends, or “crews,” one led by Joey Lynn Tekulve, 24, from Gravesend (the actual neighborhood with the 11223 zip code) who has Sicilian roots, and Christie Livoti, 22, also Sicilian and from Gravesend. The girls used to be close friends, but have not spoken since Christie accused Joey Lynn of sleeping with her boyfriend.

In a release, the show’s executive producer, Michael Hirschorn, said, “the inspiration for the show came from a Broadway revival of ‘West Side Story.’”

The first episode’s opening highlights the show’s location as a “hard, full-blooded Italian neighborhood,” where people look out for each other and have a “hardcore exterior.” Within about the first minute, the word drama is repeated multiple times.

A slogan Oxygen has been using with Brooklyn 11223 is “This Ain’t Jersey. It’s Brooklyn.” And that doesn’t please too many residents. Lex Steppling, who lives in Brooklyn said this claim is “kind of ironic seeing as they are going to be portraying Bay Ridge as a very similar place,” in a comment left on The Brooklyn Ink’s Facebook page.

“A Slice of Brooklyn” and “Rambug,” also highlight their Brooklyn and Italian heritage. A Slice of Brooklyn’s company motto is “Manhattan? Fuhgettaboutit!” A&E, in a press release about “Rambug,” says the show is about “a brawny group of hard-working, over-the-top Italian exterminators from Brooklyn who dress in camouflage and wage war on the city’s nastiest critters.”

But “A Slice of Brooklyn” and “Rambug” are quite different than the drama-filled, partying that takes place in “Brooklyn 11223.” Instead they center on two successful Brooklyn businesses run by Italian-Americans.

A Slice of Brooklyn, a popular tour company founded by Brooklyn native Tony Muia, gives tours of Brooklyn’s famous landmarks, movie scenes and neighborhoods. Its particular focus: the history of pizza from Italy to Brooklyn, as well as a Christmas Lights and Cannoli Tour.

Rambug is the story of Rambug Pest Control, a family-owned Brooklyn company that has been in business for over 30 years, killing bugs throughout the tristate area.

The three newest shows have a predecessor, which perhaps has an even tougher reputation for stereotyping. “Russian Dolls,” a Lifetime reality series that takes place in Brighton Beach, was criticized in 2011 for its negative portrayal of the neighborhood and the Russian community. The show, which focuses on the drama of its mostly 20-something cast members, has also been compared to the “Jersey Shore.”

In an August 2011 New York Times article following the show’s premiere, one Russian woman said, “The show only entrenched American stereotypes of hard-partying Russians.”

Another series famous for centering on young partying types, the Real World had its 21st season in Brooklyn. It premiered on MTV in January 2009 and featured eight cast members living in a house in Red Hook.

More new reality shows in Brooklyn probably won’t be far off. An A&E casting call posted on the website RealityWanted.com in November asked for “fun Brooklyn girls with big personalities to appear on a new A&E reality shooting in Brooklyn.”

According to the New York Post, former “The Real Housewives of New York” cast member Alex McCord and her husband Simon van Kempen are shopping around for a reality show about 30-something parents living in Brooklyn. During McCord’s time on “The Housewives,” many scenes were shot at the couple’s brownstone in Cobble Hill where they live with their two young sons.

“Brooklyn 11223” premieres Monday, March 26, at 11 p.m.

Restaurant Anopoli in Bay Ridge is celebrating its 115th anniversary on 6th March. It is especially popular with the older generation who savor the delectable homemade ice-cream

Produced by Sarah Munir and Purvi Thacker

Read more at the NYPost.com

As the uprising in Syria worsens, the Syrian community in Bay Ridge reflects on the situation with feelings of grief, hope and anger (photos by AP and video footage by AP and YouTube)

Produced by Sarah Munir and Purvi Thacker

The Brooklyn Lens webcast for the week of February 10, 2012.

A crowded street in Sunset Park. The 2010 Census shows that this neighborhood is now home to the largest Chinese enclave. (Tiffany Ap / The Brooklyn Ink)

Asian-American civic groups are pushing for redistricting in Brooklyn that would give growing Asian ethnic groups a district and representation of their own.

Claiming that the Asian vote is too diluted across many districts, the groups are hoping to splice together sections of Sunset Park, Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights in a new district that would have a majority population of Chinese immigrants and their descendants.

After holding a public hearing last month, the New York State Legislative Task Force is expected to release a first draft of new district lines in January. District boundaries are remapped every decade to reflect demographic changes demonstrated by the federal census. If drawn correctly, districts should be areas of people that share some a common denominator. The law also stipulates that it must be contiguous and reasonably compact: its length should be no more than twice its width.

“We’re seeing in places like Sunset Park—and we’re seeing throughout New York—that the Asian population is currently at 20 percent or more and we think that could necessitate, or in theory you could argue for, the creation of more Asian-American districts,” says Rachael Fauss, the Policy and Research Manager for Citizens Union.

Research from the group shows that 15 assembly districts in the state have Asian-American populations of more than 20 percent and three are at 40 percent or more— not that you would ever know it by looking at the state legislature. No Asian-American has ever won an election in Brooklyn and currently, there is only one Asian-American representative, Grace Meng of Queens in a lower house made up of 212 legislators.

Meng’s district encompasses Flushing and was created during the last redistricting in 2000 to better represent the flourishing Chinatown in Queens. The new lines helped lead to Meng’s election as the first Asian-American in the state legislature.

“They drew that with kind of an eye towards empowering the Asian-American community,” says James Hong who works with the MinKwon organization and the Asian-American Community Coalition On Redistricting and Democracy (ACCORD). “I feel that everybody thinks that was well done.”

“But other than that, most of the Asian-American communities—East Asian, South Asian—were cut up. There was definitely potential for much stronger pluralities. Instead they were cut up into two, three, four, or five districts. I hope other districts will do what that district did, which is to keep a community of interest together.”

A map of the Assembly Districts that have an Asian-American population above 20 percent. (Map courtesy of Citizens Union)

The current district boundaries were drawn using the 2000 Census numbers when Asian-Americans were 5.5 percent of the state’s population. The latest 2010 Census shows that the Asian population surged by a third in New York City and is now 7.3 percent of the population, making it the fastest growing racial group in the state.

Underrepresentation is not a uniquely Asian problem. “There’s also been a growth among the Latino population,” Fauss states. “Something we’ve been pointing out is that the state legislature doesn’t currently reflect the diversity of New York state.”

The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires that districts not be drawn to weaken or abridge minority voters.

Various civic groups say that the status quo is doing precisely that, however. In Brooklyn, the neighboring Chinese communities in Bensonhurst, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge are split into several electoral districts.

Hong says Asian-Americans are denied the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the political process as a result:  “At almost every level of government and almost every neighborhood, you see that it is split up so collectively, their voice is weakened. They can’t really come to the polls and have a unified impact through the electoral process.”

The new lines must be drawn by next summer. ACCORD officials say that many people still misunderstand the reasoning behind their push for uniting sections of Sunset Park, Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights.

“We’ve said over and over again that this is not purely an attempt to get more Asian-Americans into office,” Hong said.  “Though if the districts happen the way we want them, that may happen in the next few years.”

He makes it clear they are not lobbying for any particular candidate either. “There are—and I think there will be—some white candidates or candidates of other ethnicities that represent an Asian community well and vice versa. You don’t necessarily have to have an Asian representative to represent an Asian community. That’s never been part of our platform.”

Their focus is on seeing voters empowered and keeping them in the same district when they belong in the same community of interest. “We’re saying, hey, there’s something that looks like voter dilution that’s happening as a result of these lines, and we’re just trying to remedy that.”

In fact, the Supreme Court ruled in Shaw v. Reno that race could not be the predominant factor in setting district lines, though it could be one component.

Jerry Vattamalla, a staff attorney for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, says it’s not enough for one area to be dominated by any particular ethnic group to call for redistricting. The people need to “vote similarly and have similar interests.” Other areas the city taskforce will look at include common cultural background; shared language and language access needs; media markets; immigrant concerns; and public transportation.

Vattamalla says redistricting takes time and intense analysis because of all the competing interests. People grouped together by current districts may also have concerns about being split up in order to create this majority Asian-American district. “Nobody wants their community divided. That’s something the task force will have to decide on,” he said.

A vacant lot on Fourth Avenue that will be renovated in the coming months. Maane Khatchatourian/The Brooklyn Ink

If all plans are finalized by the borough president, one of Brooklyn’s major thoroughfares will become unrecognizable in the coming years as it evolves from an accident-prone access road to a pedestrian-friendly commercial district.

A vision plan announced this summer calls for safety, beautification and commercial efforts to make Fourth Avenue more inviting. Long denigrated as the borough’s eye-sore and one of its most dangerous and congested traffic zones, the plan is intended to make the area comparable to Park Slope’s thriving Fifth and Seventh Avenues.

Josh Levy, chair of Park Slope Civic Council’s FORTH onFourth subcommittee, said the projects are also intended to correct problems arising from a 2003 rezoning law that resulted in residential buildings without ground-floor retail space.

“In 2003, there was a rezoning of a large swath of Fourth Avenue,” Levy said. “It allowed for large developments to occur. Starting in 2004, 2005, a lot of buildings went up … with disregard, reckless abandonment for the streets. Instead of getting retail at street level, interesting boutiques, cafes, stores, even professional offices — anything really — all we got were parking lots, empty walls, not anything that would grow the thoroughfare, encourage patronage.”

Carlo Scissura, the project task force chair for the borough president’s office, said the Fourth Avenue facelift will revive the district’s unique flare and unify the borough’s differing communities.

“It’s really such an important thoroughfare in Brooklyn,” Scissura said. “It brings [together] a group of diverse neighborhoods from downtown Brooklyn — from Park Slope, Sunset Park, Bushwick and Bay Ridge.”

Elected officials, community groups and task force committees are currently brainstorming potential courses of action. The ideas will be pooled together and passed on to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who will compose a more concrete development strategy by this summer then seek funding for the project from city agencies.

P.S. 133 is under construction, one of the many development projects part of a Fourth Avenue facelift. Maane Khatchatourian/The Brooklyn Ink

According to Levy, the development efforts will consist of planting trees, creating street-level retail space, addressing community-wide traffic and safety concerns and enhancing subway lines.

“It’s going to be a long-term project — eight to 12 years,” Levy said. “It’s not a quick fix to transform a boulevard.”

The first step is to plant a few thousand trees and planters up and down the street, especially from 39th to 15th Streets, Joan Botti, chair of Community Board Seven’s Fourth Avenue Task Force, said.

One Fourth Avenue beautification project, the reconstruction of the Ninth Street subway station, is already underway.

For the first time in 40 years, Levy said the subway’s east station house is being opened for retail space.

“It will become the nicest and most renovated subway station outside of Manhattan, with the exception of [the station on] Atlantic Avenue,” Levy said.

Botti said the Fourth Avenue venture was born out of an older Ninth Street station rehabilitation effort. Markowitz allocated $2 million to refurbish the shopping area in the subway station, prompting Park Slope’s Civic Council to conceive the idea of the beautification of Fourth Avenue.

Other measures include installing elevators and security cameras in the R subway stops lining the avenue as well as improving the train schedule, Botti said.

“One of the items that has been coming up constantly is the lack of service or the tardiness, I should put it that way, of the N and the R train,” she said. “That’s one of the goals of the transportation committee, this committee and the task force itself to [decrease] the time between the R train and the N. What do they say, ‘rarely for the R and never for the N’?”

While plant life will make the street more environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing, the remodeled subway station with elevators will increase access for the elderly and handicapped and commercial businesses will promote economic growth, safety measures are developers’ primary concern. Proposals include increasing street signage, expanding medians between cross lights and alternating traffic patterns. Countdown timers were recently installed and traffic lanes reduced on Fourth Avenue.

Lifelong resident Duane Jackson attributed the increased development efforts to the other major construction initiative near Fourth Avenue — the Atlantic Yards project.

“The [Barclays Center] stadium has a lot to do with what’s happening,” Jackson said. “[The city] wants to make sure the area’s nicer to promote the stadium. That’s why I don’t understand the complaints, aside from being displaced. … I’m all for beautification.”

As Brooklyn neighborhoods become increasingly gentrified, concerns over displacement surround new development projects.

Local organizers said they would ensure that the area doesn’t turn into a sea of luxury high-rises that drive out lower income and rental tenants from the neighborhood.

Michael McLeer, also known as Kaves, poses in front of his work. Aby Thomas/BI

At a chic, dimly-lit party held at a stage in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, a crowd of wine connoisseurs and artists cheered Brooklyn-based graffiti artist Michael McLeer, better known as Kaves, for his latest drawing—not on the side of a building, but on the label for this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau from internationally renowned winemaker Georges Duboeuf.

Kaves’s drawing combines images of a Parisian streetscape with an urban Brooklyn vibe, showing a lively scene at the corner of ‘Live’ and ‘Love’ streets. Putting a graffiti drawing on an elite brand of wine might represent a kind of establishment recognition, but in Kaves’s hometown of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Kaves’s art doesn’t get much respect.

Graffiti vandals have been striking at locations all over the Bay Ridge neighborhood, with lampposts, mailboxes, storefronts, etc. bearing the brunt of the onslaught, and the community frowns upon the attacks. In response, State Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) has launched a new campaign using social media to clean up graffiti in Bay Ridge.

“We stand here to remind everyone that graffiti cannot be tolerated.  I call on all citizens of our community to say something if you see it. Together, we can make our community a great, beautiful place to live, to work, and to raise a family,” he said, in a press release.

He encouraged residents to report graffiti in the neighborhood by taking pictures, posting them on his Facebook page, and alerting his office directly by phone or email.

Golden hopes posting the pictures on Facebook will help bust the vandals spreading graffiti in the neighborhood.  He has also hired CitySolve, a non-profit organization, to remove graffiti that are reported by the residents.

John Quaglione, Golden press representative, said the senator’s action was prompted by a sudden spike in graffiti in the neighborhood between 70th to 80^th streets in the past few weeks, primarily on the commercial streets on Third and Fifth avenues.

Residents who have had their walls or storefronts defaced by graffiti are welcoming the move. “It is an eye-sore, and I’m glad they are cleaning it up,” says Marianne Fitzgerald, who works at a printing shop on the corner of 81^st Street and Third Avenue, whose wall has been scribbled with graffiti.

Kaves, however, shakes his head at the anti-graffiti drive in the neighborhood. Kaves, who became part of the graffiti phenomenon at the age of ten in the early eighties, says that by posting the pictures of graffiti on social media, the senator is feeding the desire for infamy that the kids who spread graffiti are looking for.

Graffiti in Bay Ridge. Aby Thomas/BI

“The reason why kids get an adrenaline rush doing graffiti is because they are looking for some sort of notoriety, some sort of fame,” Kaves explains. “They [the Senator’s office] don’t understand… the more notoriety the kids get, the more amped up they get that they got their names on the most wanted list!”

Putting pictures of graffiti up on Golden’s Facebook page could lead to kids wanting to ‘bomb’ Bay Ridge more, Kaves warned. “If you’re going to give them fame by trying to make them ‘America’s Most Wanted’, then, they are going to get off on that,” he says.

Golden’s approach is just an “easy fix,” he said.

“It’s not as hard to fix as homelessness or drug addiction or prostitution. But this is something that children do, so it’s easy to go after children, and say that we’re going to fix this problem that plagues our community.”

Kaves runs a tattoo parlor, Brooklyn Made Tattoo, in Bay Ridge and admits that his storefront has been the target of graffiti as well. But Kaves still feels that penalizing graffiti writers is not the way out, and instead, a long-term resolution needs to be considered.

“Instead of smacking them on the wrists, my idea would be to build a park, or have a designated place where kids can come and paint their graffiti, perhaps competitively paint… The light at the end of the tunnel for these kids could be getting a scholarship to college, or high school, or some sort of an art program—some kind of help, you know? A kid would much rather fight for that, than fight to get his tag on a Facebook page.” Kaves says.

Kaves claims that he’s friends with Sen. Golden, and wishes Golden had discussed a more positive approach on the graffiti problem with him. He says he’d be happy to talk with Golden and discuss how kids writing graffiti could be helped to move in the right direction, perhaps by interning at his tattoo parlor. “But this is the dialogue that needs to happen, rather than shunning and looking down on graffiti,” he says.

Kaves sees his way of doing graffiti art as part of a million dollar business. The future looks bright for him. In January, he heads to Los Angeles to work on a painting for an art show for the rock band, Metallica.

“I went from being a Bay Ridge kid writing my name on a handball court to becoming the first American to paint his graffiti on a most prestigious, celebrated wine bottle,” Kaves says. “However, in my neighborhood, they look at my wine label and call it ghetto.”

Senator Marty Golden and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis celebrate their ping pong win at the Bay Ridge Third Avenue Street fair. (Photo: Rose D

Democrats and Republicans faced off on the southwest corner of 80th Street at Bay Ridge’s annual Third Avenue street fair.

The crowd gathered around two teams comprised of a city councilor, state senator and two Assembly members. Frank Morano, a political commentator, provided play-by-play analysis as the crowd gasped at each exciting turn.

“Coming into this game, Democrats were heavily favored,” Morano said. “All that has changed.”

The crowd cheered loudly shortly after. The faceoff ended. “It’s over, it’s over! The Republicans have won the battle of Bay Ridge.”

The Republican team celebrated in full view of the losing Democrats. There was no room for congeniality in this fierce, best-of-three table tennis match.

While such political contentiousness is prevalent across the country, here in Bay Ridge the real battle may be between two Democratic organizations that are seeking to regain political losses in the neighborhood.

The 2010 election results not only brought a wave of Republicans into elected positions nationally, but also gave the impression that Bay Ridge leans Republican even though the rest of Brooklyn tends to vote Democrat. In that election, Bay Ridge elected two Republicans over long-term Democrat incumbents.

Following the 2010 elections, the two Democratic organizations in the neighborhood are on the offence, looking to achieve better results next November. But while they hope to establish a stronger Democratic presence in the area, the clubs have opposing strategies. The Brooklyn Democrats for Change is a seven-year-old organization that is largely focusing on redistricting efforts while the Bay Ridge Democrats, a newly established club, seems to concentrate on developing connections that go beyond local politics. This, in turn, has left Democrats fragmented in a neighborhood that is already politically polarized.

Kevin Peter Carroll speaks at the October meeting for the Brooklyn Democrats for Change (Rose D'Souza/The Brooklyn Ink)

“I think the biggest issue is redistricting and it is an issue for a lot of people. If you divide a neighborhood up, you’re not focused on the needs of that neighborhood. We’re losing our voice,” Kevin Peter Carroll says.

At 25 years old, Carroll is already on his way to becoming a veteran in local politics. Carroll is the 60th Assembly district leader and a founding member of the Brooklyn Democrats for Change. He was the club president before he won the district leader election last year.

Five Assembly members, two state senators and one Congressman represent parts of Bay Ridge because of district mapping. And although Democrats won four of the five assembly districts that cover Bay Ridge, Carroll and the Brooklyn Democrats for Change focus on the 60th Assembly district. The district boundary represents a large section of Bay Ridge, but more than half of the district’s territorial boundary covers Staten Island’s East Shore.

When Republican newcomer Nicole Malliotakis upset the incumbent Democratic candidate Janele Hyer-Spencer in the last election, she only won the Staten Island section of the district. Hyer-Spencer won Bay Ridge.

“We have some State Assembly people who have never stepped foot in Bay Ridge and that’s a problem. It’s not fair to the constituents they represent,” Carroll says, explaining why he and the Brooklyn Democrats for Change prioritize redistricting on their agenda.

Carroll is not one to hold back an opinion, which is why other local Democrats do not necessarily support him.

“I was attacked for that last year for my willingness to work on redistricting reform with leaders of the conservative party,” Carroll explains.

Justin Brannan, seated in the center, oversees the meeting of the Bay Ridge Democrats. (Photo: Rose D

After Carroll was elected, the local Democratic scene went through several organizational changes. Two of the three local Democratic organizations at the time joined together to form the Bay Ridge Democrats. Justin Brannan, Councilman Vincent Gentile’s media representative, serves as the president of the Bay Ridge Democrats. Brannan was a member of the Brooklyn Democrats the previous year.

Unlike the Brooklyn Democrats for Change, the Bay Ridge Democrats do not believe that redistricting is Bay Ridge’s biggest political problem.

“The local Republicans like Kevin’s idea. That’s a red flag for me,” Brannan says. “If the Republicans like something I’m doing, that probably means I’m doing something wrong.

In fact, Brannan thinks that the current district mapping can be beneficial.

“The more people you have fighting for your neighborhood, the better,” Brannan says. “More representation means more people who can bring home money to the district for our parks, schools and streets.”

The difference between the two clubs is subtle but noticeable. Bay Ridge Democrats members are younger and have stronger connections to local politicians. And while both clubs invited many of the same guest speakers in the past year, the Bay Ridge Democrats appears to command more legitimacy within Democratic circles outside of Bay Ridge. The Bay Ridge Democrats is less than a year old but has already had well-known guest speakers like Senator Charles Schumer and hosted a high-profiled panel on redistricting last March.

Carroll and Brannan, on the other hand, share similarities. They are young, ambitious Brooklynites — born and raised — who bring a nontraditional, fresh presence to Bay Ridge’s older political field. They also both downplay the idea that there is tension between their two organizations.

“There are divisions in Bay Ridge. There are divisions in the Democratic Party. In general, people have different ideas, different things for the community,” says Carroll.

Carroll insists that, political differences aside, he and the Brooklyn Democrats are only seeking what they believe is best for the neighborhood, which they think they can achieve by making Bay Ridge a single district.

“The status quo is a problem. We want to shake things up a little bit,” Carroll says. “I feel like we’re not going to get a single district if the same old people are drawing those lines because they’re not watching out for neighborhood concerns. They’re watching out for themselves.”

Brannan is more cautious in his explanation of why the clubs won’t be joining together any time soon. “It would be wonderful if we were just one big, happy family and that’s how we’d be most powerful — but what are you going to do? We can’t force other clubs to join ours — all we can do is make overtures,” he says.

“We took two old clubs that were around for a long time and formed [them] to make the Bay Ridge Democrats,” Brannan says. “Why didn’t [the Brooklyn Democrats] join us? I don’t know, it’s up to them.”

While Brannan doesn’t believe the clubs are rivals competing for the same Democratic audience in the neighborhood, he says his club is different because of its non-partisan, community approach.

“I think we have more of a different vision as a club. We also do stuff that’s apolitical, like we’re trying to save the local post office,” he said.

Katherine Khatari, a longtime social activist in Bay Ridge, says she doesn’t want to pick sides between the organizations. “I love Kevin and I love Justin.”

Instead, Khatari is more concerned about the future of the Democratic party in Bay Ridge, which is why she tries to attend many of the clubs’ activities such as their monthly meetings.

But Khatari hesitantly admits that, so far, the Bay Ridge Democrats have been more successful than the Brooklyn Democrats. “Justin is a powerhouse. He’s done so much for the community in a short span of time. That’s why [his club’s] taken off the way it has.”

“Kevin’s also a good guy. So it’s like having two sons and I’m the mother. I can’t show favoritism. I got to love them both.”

More Stories on The Brooklyn Ink:

Supreme Court Election Has Low Turnout

Bay Ridge Gets Tough on Liquor License Applications

Bay Ridge Seniors to Government: Help!