Ben Franklin Club backs Cohen

The Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club overwhelmingly endorsed Andrew Cohen for City Council last week.

In a packed room in the basement of Tibbett Towers in Kingsbridge, near the club’s headquarters on West 231st Street, 84 club members cast ballots to endorse their fellow member, Mr. Cohen. Five ballots were cast for Shelley Keeling; three for Cliff Stanton; one write-in ballot for Bob Press; and four votes not to endorse any candidate.

The club also voted overwhelmingly to endorse Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who is running for re-election unopposed.

The endorsement of Mr. Cohen by the Ben Franklin Club, a juggernaut in Bronx politics, comes as no surprise. Many of the club’s leaders, including Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Oliver Koppell and Rep. Eliot Engel endorsed Mr. Cohen when he announced his candidacy in November.

Mr. Koppell will be term-limited out of his Council District 11 seat come November. 

“I’m going to make this club proud,” Mr. Cohen said after the tally was called at about 9 p.m. on Jan. 16.

Each candidate spoke for five minutes and were then peppered with questions from club members.

Mr. Cohen did not need to introduce himself to most of the people present because he’s been active in the club for the 12 years that he has lived in the community. He said he had been in the trenches with many of the members present, most recently during the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama. He said he was focused on reforming the city’s education system by allowing more input from parents; on public safely, particularly quality of life crime; and on sensible development of the area.

“I think that I can be effective by bringing people together,” Mr. Cohen said, citing his experience as a court attorney in Bronx Supreme Court.

Ms. Keeling, who many members of the club did not know was running until that night, touted her 25 years as a Riverdale resident and her experience as a track coach at Ethical Culture Fieldston School. She focused her speech on adding more competitive sports to schools, on reforming the co-op system and on loosening regulations for small businesses.