Alice CancelThe April 19 special election to fill Sheldon Silver’s Assembly seat is expected to go to the Democratic nominee, Alice Cancel, but that hasn’t stopped others from throwing their hats in the ring.
Yuh-Line NiouThe Working Families Party has endorsed Democrat Yuh-Line Niou. Niou was competing for the Democratic endorsement too until it became clear she would not be supported by Silver’s Truman Club here on Grand Street. Niou recently gained the endorsement of the teachers’ unions, NYSUT and UFT, which both have strong political arms.
Lester ChangThe Republican in the race, businessman Lester Chang, will also be on the Independence and Reform Party lines. (The Reform Party has been renamed from the Stop Common Core Party started by Rob Astorino in the last gubernatorial race.) Chang is clearly running an anti-Sheldon Silver campaign, highlighting the former Speaker’s federal conviction and promising a break from Albany corruption.
A fourth candidate has entered the race on the Green Party line: Dennis Levy is a longtime AIDS activist and president of the New York State Committee to Legalize Marijuana. Here’s Levy’s announcement video:
Finally, keep in mind that this special election will quickly be overshadowed by the campaign for September’s primary for the same seat. Democrats Paul Newell, Jennifer Rajkumar, and Gigi Li all lost the closed-door nomination fight last month but have promised to run a full campaign in the fall.
Several racks have been placed outside Cozy Deli, on Madison Street at the entrance to building 2, and along the north side of Grand Street between buildings 1 and 3.
Personally, I like anything that encourages bike riding in the City, and I’ve often wished there were more places to lock my bike up for an hour if I’m running in and out. On the other hand, too many of these make for a cluttered sidewalk, especially if there are bikes locked up permanently.
Board president Gary Altman has distributed a petition for Albany to increase support of seniors through NORCs (naturally occurring retirement communities) like the one hosted at East River.
Click to download or print.
Our coop budget already contributes approximately $40k per year for the NORC. Services provided at NORCs help seniors retire at home, without needing to relocate to retirement communities. It’s a good model, and a good cause, for seniors and those of us who hope to be one.
(The flip side to this item is that this petition effort from Altman is a first look at the post-Silver reality on the lower east side: if you want something from Albany, you’re going to have to work for it.)
Yesterday’s New York Times looks at the special elections in Manhattan and Long Island to replace convicted felons Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos and finds a key difference: no potential Skelos successor is willing to stick up for him, while the Democratic candidate to replace Silver has called him a “hero” and dismisses his conviction on federal corruption charges as something “in his private life.”
It’s a sign that Silver’s reputation as a defender of the community — in particular, a reliable supplier of state funds to local charities and public projects — may withstand the revelations that he was eager to leverage his office for personal profit.
Alice CancelIn fact, Silver is still able to influence old friends and allies from the Grand Street establishment by advocating for the woman who would succeed him, Alice Cancel, the Democratic nominee in the April 19 special election. The Times quoted a source from the Truman Democratic Club (headquartered above Frank’s bike shop) who says that Silver and his chief of staff Judy Rapfogel (an East River cooperator) personally appealed to Democratic delegates to vote for Cancel. Cancel was selected overwhelmingly at a meeting of the local Democratic committee two weeks ago.
Yuh-Line NiouCancel will have two opponents in the April 19 election: Democrat Yuh-Line Niou, running on the Working Families line, and Republican Lester Cheng. Because of our district’s high percentage of registered Democrats, most people expect Silver’s candidate, Cancel, to win.
That evidence was put forward by federal prosecutors last fall but denied to jurors through successful arguments by Silver’s defense attorneys. Freedom of Information Act requests by the New York Times and NBC now put Judge Valerie E. Caproni in the position of deciding how to balance the rights of privacy for people named in those motions and the right of the public to have all the information gathered by lawyers from both sides. Judge Caproni seems to be leaning toward releasing all material but redacting the names of anyone not introduced formally as part of the trial.
The timeline calls for expeditious release, within the next two weeks.
Since the moment Sheldon Silver was convicted of federal corruption charges in December, we’ve been without a representative in the New York Assembly. On April 19, voters of the 65th assembly district will go to the polls to elect someone to fill out Silver’s term — and now we know who the candidates are going to be:
Democrats this past weekend designated long-time party official and neighborhood activist Alice Cancel to be their candidate.
The Working Families party is putting forward Yuh-Line Niou, an assembly staffer who was also vying for the Democratic endorsement but withdrew her name from consideration shortly before the committee vote on Sunday.
And Republicans have selected a businessman and U.S. Navy Reservist named Lester Chang.
Yuh-Line NiouAlice CancelSunday’s Democratic committee meeting was not without some drama. Based on party rules, about 180 party insiders — some elected, some appointed — had the responsibility to choose a nominee for the special election. There were five candidates, three of whom, including Cancel, are elected district leaders for the 65th assembly district.
Niou came into the meeting on the wings of the Working Families nod and endorsements from NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and former Comptroller John Liu. But during her short speech before the vote, Niou withdrew from consideration citing the undemocratic nature of the selection process. She remains on the ballot in April on the Working Families line.
Paul Newell, who ran an unsuccessful primary against Sheldon Silver in 2008, had a spirited presence at the committee meeting, with supporters and volunteers waving signs. But he was battling for support within his own Democratic club, Downtown Independent Democrats, with his fellow district leader, Jennifer Rajkumar, also a candidate. Rajkumar ran an unsuccessful primary against City Councilwoman Margaret Chin in 2013. Chin, meanwhile, endorsed CB3 chair Gigi Li, who received a total of zero votes on Sunday.
After April’s special election, everyone who wants will get a chance to run for a full term in September’s regular primary and November’s general election.
Democratic Committee members will meet this Sunday to designate a nominee for the April 19 special election to fill Sheldon Silver’s vacated seat in the state assembly. Given our district’s high percentage of registered Democrats, their pick will likely become our next representative in Albany.
There’s no official sign-up sheet for candidates, but the Lo-Down has been tracking potential contenders. Notably, there is no candidate from Grand Street, and the local Truman Club — one of four major Democratic clubs in the district — has not endorsed any of the people currently seeking the party designation.
Committee members will meet Sunday starting at 2:00 at the Manny Cantor Center on East Broadway. After nominations, ballots will be taken until one candidate reaches a majority. After each ballot, the lowest vote-getter will be dropped from the next ballot.
The governor has called for a special election on April 19 to fill the Assembly seat vacated by Sheldon Silver upon his criminal conviction last year.
Democratic and Republican insiders will select nominees to appear on the ballot at upcoming party conventions. With the district’s high percentage of Democratic voters, it is expected that whomever is chosen by the Democratic County Committee will fill the seat for the remainder of Silver’s term. A handful of candidates are already jockeying for support and raising money; others were waiting until the governor set the election date.
One thing that could inject some drama into the public side of this campaign is that April 19 is the same day as the presidential primary, with all the unusual politics of that race. The Working Families Party has endorsed Bernie Sanders, and is likely to campaign heavily for him in the WFP’s home city; could a candidate for Assembly get an outsider’s boost on the WFP line? (And who will Donald Trump endorse?)
Anyone who wins in April will be up for election again this fall for a full 2-year term. A regular party primary in September will precede the November election.
The snow has all but ended; still some flurries possible through 3:00 am. Sunday will be clear with a high of 35.
Management this evening sent the following update on cleanup efforts:
January 23, 2016
TO: All Shareholders
East River Housing / Hillman Housing
FROM: Shulie Wollman
Re: Snowstorm/ Removal/ Safety
We continue to monitor the snowstorm now affecting our area. Following a late afternoon assessment, we are concentrating our snow removal efforts primarily on Grand Street. Earlier today sections of walkways and lots were cleared, but the continued snowfall has overwhelmed these efforts. We will make sure Grand St. sidewalks are plowed and accessible. The travel ban earlier today helped us in rerouting snow removal from the parking lots.
We have a full crew working around the clock and will direct resources to all areas, multiple times, as we continue to work through the night, tomorrow and Monday. Please be patient, as this cleanup will take several days.
Relax indoors and enjoy the snow from your window!
Are you doing your taxes already? Itemizing deductions? If so, the coop has published tax deductions for 2015, as usual for real estate taxes and interest on our underlying mortgage. They’ll distribute this door-to-door, but you can also find it online.
