Laurie Cumbo

Laurie Angela Cumbo is an American politician and the Democratic New York City Council woman for the 35th district, representing the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Crown Heights, and Prospect Heights.

Elected in 2013 in a crowded primary race, Cumbo did not face a challenge from a Republican candidate^[1] and succeeded Letitia James; she was handpicked to run by Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.^[2] Cumbo's political leanings are said to be more conservative than her predecessor,^[3][4] and she has been the subject of controversy prior to her taking office.

Early life and education

She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997, receiving a degree in Fine Arts.^[5][6] She received a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University in 1999.^[5] From 2001 to 2011, Cumbo served as a graduate professor in the in the Arts and Cultural Management Program at the School of Art & Design at Pratt Institute.^[6]

Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts

Based on her NYU graduate work, Cumbo founded^[7][6] and served as the executive director of MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts.^[1][8] The museum is currently located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.^[7]

Political career

Cumbo's political activity concerns local issues in Brooklyn. Her political campaign received nearly $80,000 Jobs for New York PAC, a pro-development political action committee unpopular in a rapidly gentrifying area.^[4] In an AARP-sponsored discussion a week later she claimed that she received no money from the Real Estate Board of New York (backers of Jobs for New York), and that they have given no contributions to her campaign.^[9]

Cumbo had previously denounced the practice and encouraged voters to blow the whistle on excessive corporate support of political campaigns.^[10] She did not appear at the public debate before the primary election for the council district seat on August 21, 2013.^[11][9] Despite this, she won the council seat in a crowded race^[11] on a platform, in part, of expanding and developing arts and cultural tourism in the district and making improved use of public spaces including parks.^[1] She was also handpicked to run by Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and endorsed by Walter Mosley,^[2] from which a plethora of labor endorsements followed.

Controversy

In December 2013, a series of attacks took place targeting Jewish residents of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The attacks in were alleged to be part of a trend of "knockout attacks", and antisemitism was cited by a number of community leaders, politicians and media outlets as a precipitating factor in the attacks.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} Following the attacks, Laurie Cumbo wrote that her African American and Caribbean constituents had expressed fear of being “pushed out of their homes by Jewish landlords”, and that resentment towards the Jewish residents of Crown Heights "offer possible insight as to how young African-American/Caribbean teens could conceivably commit a 'hate crime' against a community that they know very little about." Cumbo's comments were widely reported alongside criticism by local activists, both Black and Jewish. The Anti Defamation League stated that Cumbo's letter "evokes classic anti-Semitic stereotypes." The story was first covered by the New York news website DNAinfo.com,^[4] and subsequently received wider coverage.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

Cumbo's statements raised concerns among Jewish residents,^[22][23] and the story was also featured in local Jewish media outlets.^{[24][25][26][27]} Cumbo later apologized to her Jewish constituents for her remarks.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Earlier, in April 2010, while head of MoCADA, she was quoted in the New York Times's Local with another remark that has been taken as anti-semitic, where she also equated Jews as being part of the Brooklyn establishment. She said, "I’m trying to figure out new ways to do what I want to do to grow the museum.... You have a Jewish children’s museum, but you don’t feel that there should be a black-centered museum?"^[32] In the same interview, she compared anonymous blog commentators with members of the Ku Klux Klan.

References

External links

Official 2013 campaign website

v t e Members of New York City Council Speaker: Melissa Mark-Viverito (D) Majority Leader: Jimmy Van Bramer (D) Minority Leader: Vincent M. Ignizio (R) Manhattan 1. Chin (D) 2. Mendez (D) 3. Johnson (D) 4. Garodnick (D) 5. Kallos (D) 6. Rosenthal (D) 7. Levine (D) 8. Mark-Viverito (D) 9. Dickens (D) 10. Rodríguez (D) The Bronx 11. Cohen (D) 12. King (D) 13. Vacca (D) 14. Cabrera (D) 15. Torres (D) 16. Gibson (D) 17. Arroyo (D) 18. Palma (D) Queens 19. Vallone (D) 20. Koo (D) 21. Ferreras (D) 22. Constantinides (D) 23. Weprin (D) 24. Lancman (D) 25. Dromm (D) 26. Van Bramer (D) 27. Miller (D) 28. Wills (D) 29. Koslowitz (D) 30. Crowley (D) 31. Richards (D) 32. Ulrich (R) Brooklyn 33. Levin (D) 34. Reynoso (D) 35. Cumbo (D) 36. Cornegy (D) 37. Espinal (D) 38. Menchaca (D) 39. Lander (D) 40. Eugene (D) 41. Mealy (D) 42. Barron (D) 43. Gentile (D) 44. Greenfield (D) 45. Williams (D) 46. Maisel (D) 47. Treyger (D) 48. Deutsch (D) Staten Island 49. Rose (D) 50. Matteo (R) 51. Ignizio (R) D = Democrat R = Republican