Joan Millman

Earlier this afternoon, a diverse cast of politicians gathered in front of the Brooklyn House of Detention on Atlantic Avenue to protest the Bloomberg administration's plan to reopen and expand the downtown jail. (It was the Bloomberg administration that closed it back in 2003, due to high costs).

Councilman and city comptroller candidate David Yassky, comptroller and likely mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, State Senators Marty Connor and Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and Randy Mastro, a deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani, were among the rally participants. They all gave the current administration an earful for creating what they portray as a serious impediment to the goal of creating a financial hub in Brooklyn.  read more »

So in the wake of the serious but apparently but quite fatal failure of congestion pricing in the legislature, I had a chat with Assemblywoman Joan Millman of Brooklyn, who was outside City Hall earlier today.

Millman said legislators outside the metropolitan area didn’t want the end of session to be consumed with congestion pricing, an issue that basically has nothing to do with them.

“New York State is not only about New York City.”

So, who understands better how to get legislation through the legislature: the governor or the mayor?

“I can’t talk about the governor because the governor hasn’t’ been there, but certainly the mayor doesn’t seem to get it.”

Eliot Spitzer hasn't enjoyed particularly close relations with the Assembly since arriving in Albany. But recently, he's quietly had a number of Assembly members over to the mansion for wide-ranging breakfast and dinner conversations about policy. 

This morning, Spitzer had breakfast with the Assembly Democrats and Republicans from Western New York; last night, Assembly Democrats from Brooklyn dined at the mansion; Wednesday morning, it was Democratic Assembly members from Queens having breakfast at the mansion.

"He kind of asked us what was on our minds," said Assemblywoman Joan Millman of Brooklyn. "Many of our colleagues spoke about housing, the lack of affordable housing. I spoke about transportation."

"We all sat at a very large dining table," she said, "I thought it was a very free-wheeling conversation," she said.

Asked for an explanation, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson pointed out that today's breakfast was "bipartisan, to discuss issues of importance to Western New Yorkers."

She added, "The governor looks forward to the opportunity to sit with other lawmakers and discuss issues of importance for this session and for their districts."

She confirmed that the other two meetings were exclusively with Assembly Democrats, with whom Spitzer has had a particularly tense relationship. (Although in fairness, how many Republican Assembly members are there in the city anyway?)

Eliot Spitzer’s plan to introduce a bill legalizing same-sex marriage later today may not become law. But it may succeed, for the first time, in getting many state legislators to stake out clear, yes-or-no positions on the issue.

“You had a governor, under Pataki, it wasn’t even discussed,” said Assemblywoman Joan Millman of Brooklyn. “Now you have a governor that is openly supporting it. But it’s still going to be a long haul.”

The opposition to same-sex marriage -- or at least the reluctance to address it -- isn't just in the Republican-led state Senate.

I asked Millman, who has been in the Assembly for 10 years, if she knew where Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stood on the issue.

“No, I don’t," she said. "I know he’s been quoted as saying he wants to see where his conference is on this. And I think the conference is going to be all over the lot because some people are very conservative or represent very conservative districts.”

Millman, who supports same-sex marriage, isn't optimistic. “It’s going to be a real sticking point. I don’t know if it’s going to be something that gets through this session,” she said.  read more »

Here is a letter from three Brooklyn Assembly members asking for changes in the design of the Atlantic Yards project, but stopping short of actually opposing it.

Assembly members James Brennan, Joan Millman and Annette Robinson said the venture should be scaled down, with guaranteed affordable housing and more extensive disclosure of the project's finances.

"A delay of several months while concerns are incorporated into the Project will cause no harm to Atlantic Yards and major long-term benefits to the community."

The letter was emailed out today by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and posted on the group's website, although the moderate tone seems to be at odds with DDDB's more absolutist opposition.

Is this a sign that the Atlantic Yards opposition is beginning to coalesce around an eventual compromise position? Or am I just reading too much into this?

-- Azi Paybarah