{"id":336381,"date":"2026-09-02T22:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/336381\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T22:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:40:14","slug":"hearing-on-brooklyn-democratic-party-rule-change-delayed-after-party-members-arrive-without-legal-counsel-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/336381\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing on Brooklyn Democratic Party rule change delayed after party members arrive without legal counsel \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

A court hearing on controversial rule changes within the Brooklyn Democratic Party was adjourned Wednesday to give three respondents more time to secure legal counsel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Supreme Court justice Jill Epstein<\/a> had been set to hear arguments in a case seeking to overturn a series of party bylaw amendments proposed by sitting chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn in an apparent bid to maintain control of the party and approved<\/a> in a last-minute, closed-door meeting last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three days after that meeting, on Aug. 28, four reform district leaders \u2014 including Julio Pe\u00f1a III<\/a>\u2014 filed suit against Bichotte Hermelyn, the Brooklyn Democratic Party, and 11 individual members of the party\u2019s Executive Committee, seeking to toss the amended rules.<\/p>\n

The Executive Committee members named in the suit were lame ducks who had either lost or opted not to seek re-election in June and are set to be replaced by newly-elected District Leaders later this month. Pe\u00f1a and the reformers say state election law and party bylaws bar those committee members from voting, which Bichotte Hermelyn disputes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"brooklynJulio Pe\u00f1a III (front) and other District Leaders rallied against the rule changes ahead of Wednesday\u2019s hearing. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

The reform group New Kings Democrats, which for years has pushed for change within the party, had finally won a majority of District Leader seats in June, giving them the ability to vote Bichotte Hermelyn out of her position as chair. One of the most significant amendments approved last week added dozens of voting members to the party\u2019s Executive Committee, effectively nullifying the new majority and ensuring Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s re-election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the start of Wednesday\u2019s hearing, lawyer Anthony Genovesi, who is representing Bichotte Hermelyn and the party, told Epstein that three individuals named in the suit \u2014 Anthony Beckford, Arleny Alvarado-McCall and Heriberto Mateo \u2014 wanted to retain counsel.<\/p>\n

The trio had not been served with the lawsuit until Monday morning, Genovesi said, and had not had enough time to find lawyers before the hearing. He asked whether Epstein could delay the hearing to allow them to secure representation.<\/p>\n

Mark Hanna, an election lawyer and Brooklyn district leader representing Pe\u00f1a and the reformers, objected. The suit was filed on Friday, Aug, 28, he said, providing \u201cample time\u201d for Beckford, Alvarado-McCall and Mateo to find representation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The case has a tight deadline, he said, as the organizational meeting where the party will vote for a new chair has to take place between Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, so the case must be settled before then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this is a delay tactic,\u201d Hanna said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they don\u2019t have rights?\u201d Genovesi said of Beckford, Alvarado-McCall and Mateo, asking whether they should have found lawyers \u201csince yesterday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are co-district leaders with him,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy are they not afforded an opportunity to get counsel?\u201d<\/p>\n

Epstein noted that the same parties had been in court a week earlier, after Pena and the reformers filed for a restraining order to prevent the Aug. 25 meeting. At the time, she said the request was \u201cpremature,\u201d and declined to grant it, but said they could file again after the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"rodneyseRodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn after the Aug. 25 meeting and vote. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Both parties knew the second lawsuit was coming, Epstein said, and were ostensibly \u201con notice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said she could adjourn the hearing until 9:30 on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 3 \u2014 24 hours after it was initially scheduled \u2014 and Beckford, Alvarado-McCall and Mateo if they could secure counsel by then.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealistically, no,\u201d Beckford said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Epstein said the trio could opt to represent themselves, or have Genovesi represent their \u201cinterests,\u201d which are likely aligned with the interests of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to represent myself \u2026 I don\u2019t even know why I\u2019m here today,\u201d Matteo said.<\/p>\n

Alvarado-McCall said she, Beckford and Mateo hold unpaid elected positions and \u201cdon\u2019t have the funds\u201d to pay lawyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need ample time \u2026 I can\u2019t say that that\u2019s reasonable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After a five minute recess called so Beckford, Alvarado-McCall and Mateo could decide whether they wanted to adjourn or not \u2014 a conversation Genovesi declined to join \u2014 Beckford asked if they could return in two days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t do that,\u201d Epstein said. \u201cI\u2019m happy to give you until tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our right to be represented,\u201d Beckford told reporters while exiting the courthouse. \u201cWe don\u2019t have legal counsel. A day is not realistic for anybody, especially from our communities. I think the courts need to reflect on our actual communities to see and understand when it comes to financial burdens and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said they have not considered asking Genovesi \u2014 who serves as law chair to the Brooklyn Democratic Party \u2014 represent them in court.<\/p>\n

The initial lawsuit had not named Beckford, Alvarado-McCall or Mateo by name, only the Executive Committee. Because of the way things shook out, Hanna said, they had to name the lame duck members who had taken part in last week\u2019s vote individually, and they are entitled to have counsel.<\/p>\n

\"anthonyAnthony Genovesi, (center), is not representing members of the Executive Committee named in the suit, though he is representing the party and Bichotte Hermelyn. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

But, he said, it was strange that Genovesi was not representing them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the thing that\u2019s so confusing to me. It\u2019s them claiming, \u2018Oh, we don\u2019t have anybody to represent us.\u2019 But when your interests align with the party\u2019s interests at any other time during the election season, you have counsel. The party provides it for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Genovesi has represented the Brooklyn Democratic Party in past battles to knock would-be Democratic candidates off the ballot on behalf of the party\u2019s chosen candidates, Hanna said. He guessed that Beckford, Alvarado-McCall and Mateo would return on Sept. 3 with Genovesi as their lawyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the party that we have, [it] has always been this way. It\u2019s always been violently vindictive against anybody that fights against them,\u201d Hanna said. \u201cSo, you know, I expect they\u2019ll come back and they\u2019ll have representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genovesi declined to give comment to reporters as he exited the courthouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A court hearing on controversial rule changes within the Brooklyn Democratic Party was adjourned Wednesday to give three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[126354,126355,126356,98,18390,100,99,10916,17200,126357,2659,2979,126358,126359,5112,54530,91,2148,126360,9,24,12,370,63,20192,87,17961,126361,2220],"class_list":["post-336381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-anthony-beckford","tag-anthony-genovesi","tag-arleny-alvarado-mccall","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-democratic-party","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-supreme-court","tag-chair","tag-counsel","tag-election","tag-hearing","tag-heriberto-mateo","tag-jill-epstein","tag-judge","tag-julio-peu00f1a-iii","tag-lawyer","tag-legal-representation","tag-mark-hanna","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-party","tag-politics","tag-rodneyse-bichotte-hermelyn","tag-rule-change","tag-vote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}