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Last Updated June 22, 2005
Over the last two decades, hundreds of thousands of immigrants have been moving into many of New York City's modest neighborhoods--neighborhoods that had been emptying out as the children of the immigrants who came to New York between 1890 and 1924 died or moved to the suburbs or Florida. These are places which affluent New Yorkers and traveling journalists seldom see as they whiz by on freeways to destinations in Manhattan--rather, these are the neighborhoods pop star Jennifer Lopez sings about. Most of the housing here was built in the decades after 1910, when the subways first started connecting these neighborhoods with job sites in Manhattan. You can find many of these neighborhoods in the East Bronx, off the Bruckner Expressway and near the cluster of highways north of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge--places like Bruckner, Morris Park, Schuylerville, and Throgs Neck, which is named after Dutchman John Throgmorton, who settled the area and farmed the land. The district includes the Hunts Point meat and produce markets, where some of the nation's toniest restaurants handpick their daily provisions. Increasingly these neighborhoods are full of Latinos, many from Puerto Rico, but many also from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean and Latin countries. Lopez hails from Castle Hill; her On the 6 album is a reference to the Number 6 train that whisked her to Manhattan auditions. Here are two massive apartment projects: Parkchester, built just after World War II by Metropolitan Life Insurance in the center of the Bronx, and Co-op City--35 buildings and more than 15,000 apartments that were built in the late 1960s by a consortium of labor unions on marshy land near Eastchester Bay. Out past the bay is City Island, a Cape Cod-like resort area with boatmakers and plenty of fish restaurants; it is hard to believe here that you are in New York City. Across the bridges in Queens are Jackson Heights, home to Little India and a sizable Latino community; Elmhurst, a place so diverse that one local high school counts students from 100 different countries who speak 57 different languages; and Woodside, a long-settled Irish enclave with residents from 49 nations who speak 34 languages. These are the places serviced by the Number 7 elevated line--you can find Pakistanis and Peruvians, Koreans and Dominicans, Indians and Filipinos, Mexicans and Bangladeshis. These Bronx and Queens neighborhoods are all in the 7th Congressional District of New York. The district is polyglot indeed: its population in 2000 was 17% black, 40% Hispanic and 13% Asian. Politically, the 7th District votes heavily Democratic in presidential and congressional elections. But more important for its political future may be those who don't vote at all. In 2004 only 129,000 people voted in this district of 654,000, not much more than half the 254,000 who voted in the nearby suburban 4th District. The congressman from the 7th District is Joseph Crowley, a Democrat first elected in 1998 and effectively chosen by one man, his predecessor Tom Manton, who remained the boss of the efficient Queens County Democratic Party. Crowley grew up in Woodside, where his family was involved in politics; his uncle Walter Crowley was elected to succeed Manton on the City Council in 1984. When Walter Crowley died in 1985, Crowley wanted to succeed him, though he was only 23; Manton chose his chief of staff, Walter McCaffrey, instead. In 1986 Assemblyman Ralph Goldstein from Elmhurst died; fresh from Queens College, Crowley ran and won at 24, with support from Manton. Crowley was interested in Irish affairs and sponsored the law that requires public school students to be taught about the Irish potato famine. He played guitar and sang tenor with the Budget Blues Boys, a group of assemblymen who performed on cold Albany nights. Crowley's elevation to Congress came suddenly. In 1998, Manton filed for re-election by the July 16 filing deadline. Then at 11:00 a.m. on July 21, he convened a meeting of Queens Democratic committeemen, announced he was retiring and got them to vote in Crowley as the Democratic nominee. Other potential candidates were not notified ahead of time and were naturally miffed, but quickly accepted the reality. Manton argued that Crowley, at 36, was in a good position to accumulate seniority and power in Washington. Crowley was plainly delighted. "What you're hearing is not so much about the process, but sour grapes. What happened here is simply that I was offered an ice cream cone, and I took it." His Republican opponent had no money and no chance. Crowley won in November 69%-26%. Once elected, Crowley voted with moderate Democrats and he demonstrated his legislative experience and leadership ambition. He served six months as the freshman Democrats' class president. Despite his opposition to abortion, he cited his experience in witnessing crude abortion practices in Malawi as he fought for $50 million in annual family planning funds for the United Nations. The House defeated his amendment to the highway bill to create a pilot program for buses fueled by natural gas at the nation's busiest airports. The September 11 attacks struck a grievous blow to Crowley's community, with the loss of many local firefighters, including his first cousin, who was a battalion chief; he passed in the House an amendment to issue the Public Safety Officers Medal of Valor to 414 who died on September 11. He fought to change funding formulas for homeland security, which he said shortchanged New York. On the Financial Services Committee, he advocated Wall Street interests and encouraged bipartisanship. He responded to constituent interests by urging the State Department to permit India to buy Patriot missile systems from the Army, and he urged steps to make India a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. He worked with Majority Whip Roy Blunt as a leader on behalf of business interests in gaining approval of the free-trade agreement with Australia; Blunt praised his efforts to secure a majority of Democratic votes. Still bitter about how Crowley was elected in 1998, several Queens Democrats threatened to challenge him in the 2000 primary. But City Councilman Walter McCaffrey, the only one to actually file, withdrew in July at the prompting of party leaders after disclosures that he had spent campaign money for personal expenses. Crowley again defeated a token Republican opponent. Redistricting radically reshaped his constituency. In the old district, Queens cast 74% of the votes and the Bronx only 26%. In the new district in 2002, the Bronx cast 62% and Queens 38%. But Crowley has been reelected easily. He also has worked to help Democrats win more House seats. In 2002, he made an effort to help elect Tim Bishop in Suffolk County; in 2004, he was like a big brother in providing money and connections to Brian Higgins in the hard-fought and successful campaign to take the open Buffalo area seat. After the 2004 election, Crowley sought to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, highlighting his fundraising connections to New York's financial community. But he suffered from having been an active supporter of Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, who had named Crowley one of eight chief deputy whips, and the post went to Rahm Emanuel. Crowley also failed to convince Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in his bid for a Ways and Means Committee vacancy. But he was named to lead the DCCC's Business Council, a key fundraising post, and he expressed again his interest in a leadership position. His enthusiasm and ambition, plus his relative youth, should give him plenty of opportunity to be a player in the House.
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