Call it the borough’s “hand-over-the-heartland.”
Southern Brooklyn’s electoral map looked more like the nation’s Midwest when it bucked the citywide trend and delivered big for Donald Trump on Election Day, but it appears that the area’s community boards are just plain more patriotic, too — nearly all of them say the Pledge of Allegiance before their monthly meetings, unlike left-leaning, patriotically challenged panels in areas such as Williamsburg and Park Slope that can’t be bothered.
It’s not that northern boroughites hate America — it just never occurred to them to take the time (roughly 9 seconds) to reaffirm their loyalty to the land of the free, according to a honcho at one such board.
“Nobody has ever requested it,” said Craig Hammerman, who is the district manager for Community Board 6, which includes Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook. “It’s never been a tradition — I’ve been here for 27 years and no board members or members of the public have ever asked to do it.”
Boards 1 (Williamsburg), 2 (Downtown), 3 (Bedford-Stuyvesant), 4 (Bushwick), 5 (East New York), 8 (Crown Heights), 9 (Prospect-Lefferts Gardens), 14 (Ditmas Park), 16 (Brownsville), and 17 (East Flatbush) all forgo the oath.
Meanwhile, 7 (Sunset Park), 10 (Bay Ridge), 11 (Bensonhurst), 12 (Borough Park), 13 (Coney Island), 15 (Sheepshead Bay), and 18 (Marine Park) all enthusiastically partake in the time-honored tradition.
In fact, in Bay Ridge, reciting the Pledge is considered such a high distinction that a notable member of the community is chosen to perform “the honor of the Pledge” each month, according to Community Board 10 district manager Josephine Beckman.
“I think it’s an important tradition, and it’s nice way to start our meeting — it’s an honor to be recognized by your community and we really try to recognize civic leaders, organizations, and just anyone that is doing good,” Beckmann said.
Members of the volunteer boards don’t have to be citizens (they do have to be legal residents), but the head of Downtown’s Community Board 2 says it’s not a matter of patriotism, anyway — he claims it’s not necessary for an arm of the city government to pay tribute to the federal flag.
“We are city agencies, not federal agencies,” said district manager Rob Perris. “I’m not sure that making a national Pledge of Allegiance is necessarily even relevant at this level of government.”
But local civic functions are precisely when you ought to put your hand over your heart, according Community Board 15’s chairwoman.
“I thought it appropriate when you start a local civic meeting, you start out with a Pledge,” said Theresa Scavo, who instituted the practice in 2006.
Most city agencies do not say the Pledge before meetings. Council does before its full meetings — except for certain pols who have tried to score political points with their liberal constituents by sitting it out in recent months.
The borough’s commander-in-chief, however, refused to take a hard stance on this divisive issue.
“Any gathering of this magnitude should be a place to reinforce our patriotism through the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Borough President Adams, who appoints half of each board’s members. “That said, each board should have the ability to make its own decision.”
For an “alternatively factual” version of this story, see our sister publication BrooklynPaper.com.
— with Julianne Cuba, Ruth Brown, and Colin Mixson
