Koppell tries to persuade club with endorsement

Councilman Oliver Koppell on Monday announced his endorsement of state Sen. Adriano Espaillat for Congress.

Mr. Koppell’s public show of support comes more than a week ahead of the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club’s meeting to consider an endorsement. The Ben Franklin Club backed Mr. Espaillat in his winning state Senate bid against Mark Levine in 2009 and furiously campaigned for him in Riverdale. 

But Bronx elected officials, including Bronx Democratic chair Carl Heastie and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., have endorsed longtime incumbent Charlie Rangel in this year’s race for Congressional District 13.

And Mr. Espaillat — who currently represents many Riverdalians, including Mr. Koppell, as a state senator in Albany, is only one of the challengers taking on the 81-year-old Mr. Rangel.

Cylde Williams, a Harlemite with an extensive resume in Washington, D.C. politics, Harlem activist Joyce Johnson and Craig Schley are also campaigning for the seat.

Mr. Koppell, a prominent member of the club, said he hopes his early endorsement will persuade fellow Ben Franklin Club members.

There are rumblings that the club will not make any endorsement in the race and Mr. Koppell said he hopes if it does not back Mr. Espaillat, that it remains neutral.

“In part, I wanted to influence their deliberations,” he said. “I like the club and very much like to be on their side, but I don’t make my decisions based on what the club does.”

Mr. Koppell said his endorsement is not only a show of support for Mr. Espaillat, but a rebuke of Mr. Rangel, who was censured from the House of Representatives on ethics violations in 2010. 

“We have a new district and we have a new day and I think it calls for a new face and new leadership,” Mr. Koppell said on Monday morning at the New Capital Restaurant on Kingsbridge Road, where Mr. Koppell and Mr. Espaillat sat next to each other in a booth. 

The endorsement was supposed to take place across the street at the Kingsbridge Armory but was moved due to heavy rain. 

“There’s no question in my mind that the Congressman did things that he shouldn’t have done and didn’t do things that he should have done and that was the reason for his censure from the House. I think it’s more than relevant to take that into account and it was part of my consideration,” Mr. Koppell said.

Mr. Koppell said he thought Mr. Espaillat could “transcend various ethnicities” and that he had proven that in Riverdale.

“He’s known best as being a Dominican representative and being a representative of the Latino community and yet, he became very popular in Riverdale because he reaches out to people of all different backgrounds,” Mr. Koppell said.

This is the fist time Mr. Koppell and other Bronx elected officials have ever needed to weigh in on a race in which Mr. Rangel was a contender. 

It was only after 2010 Census data was released and New York lost two seats that the traditionally Harlem and Upper Manhattan-based district held by Mr. Rangel since 1971 was expanded into the Bronx. Now, the district is comprised of approximately three-quarters Manhattan voters and one-quarter Bronx voters. It is predominantly Latino.

“… there’s a special appeal, we can’t deny that, to a representative who comes from the same ethnic group, the same background,” Mr. Koppell said.

Mr. Koppell’s Council District, which he has represented for a decade, overlaps with Congressional District 13 in Kingsbridge, Van Cortlandt Village, Norwood and Bedford Park.

Mr. Espaillat, who has been using a Jackie Robinson analogy to describe his bid to Congress (he would be the first Dominican American in Congress), referred to Mr. Koppell as Pee Wee Reese.

In 1947, when Jackie Robinson was faced with racist hecklers before a game, Pee Wee Reese, the white captain of the Brooklyn Dodgers, put his arms around Mr. Robinson in a sign of acceptance.

“Pee Wee Reese threw his arms around [Jackie Robinson’s] shoulders. It sort of made things better after that point,” Mr. Espaillat said.