Yesterday morning, we reported City Councilman Alan Gerson lost the endorsement of the Downtown Independent Democrats to Pete Gleason. Today the Downtown Express is out with more details. Reporter Josh Rogers called the defeat a "body blow" to Gerson's re-election efforts. Explaining the influential club's vote, Rogers wrote, "Gerson has lost the support of some Downtown political leaders who previously helped him get elected."
Gerson supporter Bob Townley said his candidate is facing more opposition in this election, in part, because voters were expecting new blood in District 1. Gerson would have been prevented from running due to term limits, but he supported Michael Bloomberg's campaign to extend the limits for the mayor and the Council. Townley said Gerson should be re-elected due to his experience and track record helping Lower Manhattan. But a former Gerson supporter Julie Nadel says while she likes him personally she beieves he's "totally disorganized." For Gerson's part, he noted that he won most of the other club endorsements and that the DID "does not represent the district."
Gerson's other opponents are Margaret Chin, PJ Kim and Arthur Gregory. Chin's campaign manager, Jake Itzkowitz, told us she directed her supporters to vote for Gleason so Gerson would not win the endorsement. Itzkowitz says it was a demonstration of Chin's organizational prowess. Incidentally, we'll be interviewing Chin next week. During the campaign, we hope to conduct Q & A sessions with all of the candidates and to cover the 1st District race extensively.
The New York Post reports Police are looking for a teenage girl who stole a pocketbook from a woman on Hester Street (between Orchard & Ludlow), then pushed her to the ground. The incident happened the afternoon of May 13th. The victim, a 47-year old woman, injured her head during the mugging. Anyone with information should call the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The mugging was caught on tape:
Representatives of the Parks Department and Community Board 3 will meet with Lower East Side residents tonight to discuss plans for refurbishing Luther Gulick Park/Playground. The park borders Delancey, Willett, Columbia and Broome Streets. Over the years, there have been various complaints about noise and dangerous conditions in the park. As a result, the 7th Precinct requested the removal of certain equipment, like the built in chess tables that used to be there. Some people in nearby buildings have called for the removal of barbeque grills in Luther Gulick, saying the smoke wafts up to their apartments and poses a danger to small children on the playground.
The park was originally named for State Senator Bernard Downing in 1933. But in 1985 it was renamed in honor of educator and community leader Luther Gulick (see Google map above; maybe they didn't get the memo. You can zoom in for a closer view). It's also sometimes called Sheriff Park. The city's Parks & Recreation web site says this about Luther Gulick:
"…the park has
benefited from extensive renovations in recent years. In 1999, nearly
$200,000 was allotted to a reconstruction effort that provided new
asphalt pavement, modular play equipment, a sprinkler system, and a
roller-skating area. Yet older attractions remain: visitors can still
sit in the shade of the pin oak and London Plane trees, or, with the
park’s first namesake in mind, play a game of basketball."
Residents might take issue of this characterization. Many people feel the park is in serious disrepair and in need of a facelift. The meeting takes place at 7pm near the handball courts. No decisions are expected tonight. This is an opportunity for people in the community to offer their ideas for the park's future.
Representatives of the Parks Department and Community Board 3 will meet with Lower East Side residents tonight to discuss plans for refurbishing Luther Gulick Park/Playground. The park borders Delancey, Willett, Columbia and Broome Streets. Over the years, there have been various complaints about noise and dangerous conditions in the park. As a result, the 7th Precinct requested the removal of certain equipment, like the built in chess tables that used to be there. Some people in nearby buildings have called for the removal of barbeque grills in Luther Gulick, saying the smoke wafts up to their apartments and poses a danger to small children on the playground.
The park was originally named for State Senator Bernard Downing in 1933. But in 1985 it was renamed in honor of educator and community leader Luther Gulick (see Google map above; maybe they didn't get the memo. You can zoom in for a closer view). It's also sometimes called Sheriff Park. The city's Parks & Recreation web site says this about Luther Gulick:
"…the park has
benefited from extensive renovations in recent years. In 1999, nearly
$200,000 was allotted to a reconstruction effort that provided new
asphalt pavement, modular play equipment, a sprinkler system, and a
roller-skating area. Yet older attractions remain: visitors can still
sit in the shade of the pin oak and London Plane trees, or, with the
park’s first namesake in mind, play a game of basketball."
Residents might take issue of this characterization. Many people feel the park is in serious disrepair and in need of a facelift. The meeting takes place at 7pm near the handball courts. No decisions are expected tonight. This is an opportunity for people in the community to offer their ideas for the park's future.
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver now has a proposal of his own to fix New York's ethics oversight commission. He's calling for four separate commissions to oversee state government. As the Times put it, the plan would "preserve the Legislature's tradition of regulating itself." Since Silver is at odds with the governor and State Senate leader Malcolm Smith, nothing is likely to happen soon. The governor says he hopes to take the issue up again in the fall.
According to the New York Post, celebrations after the NYFD's "Medal Day" got a little out of hand yesterday. A woman named Rebeca Izquierdo claims, as the Post paraphrased it, "A party bus blasting hip-hop and reggaeton music pulled up at Allen and
Stanton streets on the Lower East Side as 30 of New York's Bravest
stumbled out. Izquierdo said, "They were all in uniform with open containers and they were soliciting
young girls to get on the bus." A Fire Department spokesman says they are looking into the situation.
A coalition that includes the United Federation of Teachers, the Alliance for Quality Education, the
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity will hold a rally at City Hall today at noon. They'll urge Mayor Bloomberg to restore money cut from the the Dept. of Education budget. Yesterday, we reported how the New Design High School is coping with the budget cuts. The group will also protest the elimination of funding for community-based after school programs. We profiled the Educational Alliance's Teen Program, which is among the organizations set to lose its city funding.
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