Greetings,

A few reminders and more Brooklyn ballots.

First, a reminder that today is Veterans Day. For city services, alternate-side parking is suspended; schools, government offices, and the DMV are closed; there’s no trash or recycling collection; and there's no mail. As noted previously, it also means our November Full Board meeting is next Wednesday, November 18th, at Van Alen and on Zoom. I want to offer a general thank you to those who’ve served and may be reading this, and specifically thank CB6 Member, Principles Cafe owner, and Marine Corps Veteran Katie Bishop.

Second, in a prior newsletter, I made the point that the most competitive election in the Brownstone Belt wasn’t even the election, but the 5 charter changes on the back of the ballot. They are also the most useful to break down. A candidate wins or loses. A ballot question tells you what a neighborhood wants, block by block. Here, all five passed in every CB6 election district with votes counted, 72 of them, with 75 to 82 percent voting yes.

So I went back. I've pulled together CB6's voting record on the back of the ballot questions, both city and state initiated, that we have records for. I'm working back through every question since the vote that put Brooklyn in the city, and I'm still compiling. Over the last ten elections, spanning a dozen years, CB6 has had 42 questions on the back of its ballots. We voted yes on every one supporting housing, transportation and faster review. So did Brooklyn and the city as a whole, but not by as much: CB6 ran 4 to 13 points ahead of both on each.

That is not a district that votes yes on everything. It is a trend of voters showing discretion, and it is especially true here. Two years ago CB6 voted no on all five city questions, and the city passed four of them anyway. And even on the least contentious matter, last year's digital city map, we showed up: 89 percent yes, the highest of any community district in the city. You can see it election district by election district, on the site or a download away.

Brooklyn, as a borough, is born out of a ballot measure. In 1894, eight places voted on whether to become one city, and Brooklyn said yes by 277 votes out of nearly 130,000. Now you can cast that ballot yourself. Pick your county, pick your slip, “For Consolidation” or “Against Consolidation,” the way voters did then, and your vote is added to the running count on the page. Then see if you would have drawn the city differently: Build Your Own City lets you put Mount Vernon or Nassau in, take Staten Island out, and see what that city would look like today.

Mike Racioppo, District Manager
Brooklyn Community Board 6
250 Baltic Street, BKLYN, NY 11201
e. Mike@bkcb6.org