Bill Perkins Retains Rep Position on Council

Amid the turmoil and the disruptions of the attacks on the World Trade Center and even the comparably mundane confusion about the postponed mayoral primary, Bill Perkins managed to keep his District 9 City Council position on Tuesday against a contentious field of Democratic candidates.

District 9 encompasses Morningside Heights between 110th and 123rd Streets as well as Central Harlem. Harlem, along with Morningside Heights, is undergoing an economic boom, and much of the debate between Perkins and his opponents was over how to ensure that Harlem's new wealth benefits its residents.

Perkins, who has ambitions to be the first African-American speaker of the City Council, is known for walking the thin line between supporting new development and preserving the atmosphere of his district's neighborhoods. He has spoken out in favor of his constituents' neighborhoods remaining places where the residents and local businesses are not pushed out by large chain corporations.

For Perkins, though, at least the immediate future of his tenure in office and the policies he advocates will be heavily influenced by the World Trade Center attacks. "The recent bombing of the World Trade Center and the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan both physically and emotionally will determine much of what we do," he said.

The rebuilding, according to Perkins, affects all of Manhattan's communities, including District 9. The district has lost firefighters, police officers, parents, and the jobs that employed many of his constituents, Perkins said. To make matters worse, Perkins said, the housing shortage that has made rents in Harlem skyrocket in recent years has only gotten worse in the aftermath of the attacks.

The challenge now, he said, "is for the bureaucracy to reorganize and resituate itself to respond to human needs."

"The current administration was a hostile experience for those asking for public assistance," he continued. "The administration treated them as though they were people who did not want to work." Perkins hopes that the attacks will help people realize that many need public assistance occasionally, especially the working poor and that "when they go to ask for it, they should be treated with respect and courtesy."

Perkins also endorsed Bronx President Fernando Ferrer in the mayoral race. He said that while no one has the experience to deal with the rebuilding necessary for lower Manhattan because of the unique nature and scale of the events, Ferrer is best suited to reorient the City administration because of the experience he gained in rebuilding the Bronx. "Ferrer is a team player and a team leader with a proven track record," Perkins said.

Perkins is currently working with a group of black executives from different social services agencies to set up a system to address some of the problems that have arisen from the World Trade Center attacks and which he hopes can be emulated in other parts of the city. Perkins has also been in contact with Columbia about the possibility of increasing its employment opportunities for those who have been displaced by the destruction downtown.

Perkins said he hopes the city will be able to get more than the $20 billion already promised by the federal government to help improve the public school system and city services, and promises to continue to ensure that the State Legislature honors the State Supreme Court's ruling of rewriting its budget to cover the $1.4 billion city budget deficit.