Heard Around Town, Oct. 7, 2011

* Occupy Wall Street protesters are taking a toll on the neighborhood surrounding Zuccotti Park, which has increasingly become a home to families in the past decade. Community Board 1 reached an agreement with protesters to stop drumming after 10 p.m., said Chairwoman Julie Menin, but police barricades and other obstacles still make for a big neighborhood nuisance. The board has declined to pursue a resolution calling for the protesters get out, and dissatisfied residents say Menin is trying not to sully her political future by becoming the face of a crackdown on dissent. “It certainly seems like she’s trying to dodge a bullet,” said one source plugged into downtown politics. “It’s important to keep an open dialogue with the protesters,” Menin replied. “It’s a productive way to handle it. I never said there shouldn’t be a resolution.”

* Is Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks considering a run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand next year? That’s the word around the GOP campfire these days. Brooks, a Republican in office since 2004, is said to be mulling a challenge to Gillibrand, who is running for a full six-year term next year, or to Rep. Louise Slaughter, who represents parts of Monroe, Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties. “She’s a hot property,” said one GOP source of Brooks, also calling her “talented.” To be sure, Brooks’ name seems to come up a lot when election season nears – she was a rumored candidate for the 26^th congressional district and lieutenant governor last year. And Gillibrand would be no easy target. Last year, the junior senator fended off a challenge from former Republican Congressman Joe DioGuardi, besting him by over 25 points.

* From the “say what you want, but spell my name right” school of publicity comes the latest filing by lawyers for indicted Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., who say the jury pool for his upcoming fraud trial may be tainted by negative media coverage. They proposed a juror quiz with questions like “What is your opinion regarding the ethical behavior of politicians?” and “Do you have negative feelings about politicians?” The motion cites our stories about Boyland as examples of negative media attention, which flatters us, even though they spelled our name wrong. Memo to lawyers Richard Rosenberg and Michael Bachrach: You’re upset with us at The Capitol, not The Capital News.

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