Op-Ed: How to Exercise Political Power – Why Crown Heights Political Activists and Voters Are Diverging
by Former city council candidates: Benny Rosenberger and Yehuda Shaffer
This upcoming primary election has exposed a growing tension in Crown Heights. While some in the political establishment has united behind an incumbent, many voters feel increasingly alienated.
This divide comes from two different views of how to exercise political power.
Current political activists value the status quo and their relationships with incumbent politicians. After years of building connections with political officials, they see access as a means to being able to request occasional favors for the community. From their perspective, maintaining those relationships is often the risk-free strategy.
Most voters judge politics by results. For years, voters trusted the judgment of the activists, believing these relationships would protect the neighborhood when it mattered most.
The tension arises when a clear “red line” is crossed — such as an incumbent sponsoring legislation to place additional homeless shelters in Crown Heights.
Current activists’ response to the CH homeless shelter legislation is pragmatic: the bill has passed, and damaging relationships now could invite retaliation and reduce future influence. Better to remain at the table than lose access in the future.
But many voters see it differently. If a relationship cannot stop a politician from advancing policies that burden the neighborhood, then what value does that relationship truly hold? In fact, moral hazard dictates that politicians will feel comfortable supporting such measures precisely because they know that the community activists will prioritize access over accountability.
The incumbent activists argue that low voter turnout is the problem, claiming the community would gain more power if more people voted. However, that’s putting the cart before the horse — low turnout is actually the result — not the cause — of this strategy. When voters see no consequences when important boundaries are crossed, they begin to feel their votes no longer matter. Over time, apathy replaces engagement.
Historically, it has been rare for the Crown Heights establishment to break with an incumbent. One notable example followed the 1991 riots, when support shifted to Rudy Giuliani. But a community should not need a crisis of that scale before enforcing political boundaries and accountability.
True leadership must be clear: What is the standard required to keep the community’s endorsement? Relationships can secure occasional favors, but without accountability, a community risks becoming politically predictable — and eventually politically ignored — regardless of voter turnout. Our greatest political power is realized when the community votes unified, choosing values over expediency. We will create a win either way, earning the respect of those in power.
So get registered bring your eligible friends and family along, and cast your vote. And if you want the undersigned political activists’ opinion: when given the opportunity, vote for someone from our community.
