Koppell to run... again

By N. Clark Judd

The younger men gunning for Oliver Koppell's job can't understand why he won't give it up.

At 68, Mr. Koppell has served more than two decades in the Assembly, a brief stint as an appointed attorney general and is now finishing his second term on the City Council. Many thought the lifetime lawmaker's career in politics would end on Dec. 31, 2009, the end of his eighth year on the council.

But a change in the term limits law that allows officials to serve three full terms instead of just two has changed all that. Mr. Koppell and his friends say eligibility for a third term - which Mr. Koppell has long advocated and which he successfully worked for - allows him to continue doing the only thing he ever wanted to do with his life: serve in public office.

That's not what Mr. Koppell's rivals want to hear. They think Mr. Koppell has served the people long enough, and that it's time for him to go. But Ari Hoffnung, 35, one of two men seeking to replace Mr. Koppell, believes the incumbent shouldn't even be in the race.

"As far as I'm concerned, seeking a third term is illegal," Mr. Hoffnung said.

The third man in the race, Tony Cassino, 43, believes Mr. Koppell has not been effective since he left the Assembly.

"Clearly I think that his star is not the same as it was years ago," said the former Community Board 8 chairman, "and clearly I think that his better days are behind him. I don't think his tenure in the council has been his shining moment."

It's true that Mr. Koppell's City Council tenure could be called lackluster compared to his Assembly career. The passage of the Bottle Bill, which introduced a deposit on carbonated beverage containers, crowned his time in the state legislature, but he also had a hand in drafting one of the first Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital plans and crafting the legislation that requires environmental impact statements for public projects.