The five candidates competing to represent District 1 in the City Council will take part in a candidate forum this evening at the Terrace Club, 380 Rector Place. The forum is sponsored by the BPC Neighbors Association. It begins at 7pm. The Lo-Down will, of course, be there and have a wrapup tomorrow.
The headline in City Hall News reads, "Among Asian Candidates, Divide Between First and Second Generation." One of the examples given in the piece: the rivalry between Margaret Chin and PJ Kim:
Despite the fact that Kim is Korean and Chin is Chinese, Kim seems to
be getting some reception in Chinatown, where a number of people appear
to be buying into his argument that he would offer more effective
representation. Had Council Member Alan Gerson’s legal efforts
to be restored to the ballot not been successful, Kim likely would have
been the one to get the lion’s share of the Council member’s ample
support among Chinatown civic and business leaders, according to one
person involved in the discussions. But even with Gerson back on the
ballot, Kim has been generating support in the neighborhood, pulling
support from people like Eddie Chiu, head of the Chinatown community
group the Lin Sing Association.
Per EV Grieve, a memorial service for Eric "Taz" Pagan will take place Friday at the Immaculate Church on 14th Street. Pagan was murdered late Saturday night outside the "Forbidden City" club on Avenue A. The New York Times and the Daily News have new details about what Police believe happened – and about the suspect now in custody. In the aftermath of this tragedy and a shooting on Avenue C a little over a week ago, residents are planning a news conference tomorrow. Here's the news advisory:
LOWER EAST SIDE COMMUNITY RESIDENTS JOIN TOGETHER TO PETITION ELECTED OFFICIALS and GOVERNMENT TO WORK TOGETHER TO STOP THE VIOLENCE, PROVIDE JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND RESTORE FUNDING TO COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 11am CAMPOS PLAZA TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION 205 AVENUE C at 12th STREET (ENTER THROUGH THE ‘L’ on 12th and C)
As we reported earlier, the artist Marco has been painting a mural in front of a stalled construction site on Orchard Street. He has since moved around the block to the others side of the site on Stanton Street. Here, he tells The Lo-Down what he loves about the Lower East Side.
We wanted to hear what people in the neighborhood had to say in the aftermath of the shootings at a club on Avenue A late Saturday night. As we've been reporting, 42-Year old Eric "Taz" Pagan was fatally shot. Two others are recovering from gun shot wounds. Police now have a suspect in custody. The first man on the video below is Richie Alvarez. He was friends with Pagan for more than 10 years. Next is Dereese Huff, the Tenant Association president at the Campos Plaza Housing Project. The last woman interviewed is Aida Salgado, a longtime LES resident and mother. Dereese and Aida have been concerned about the escalating violence in the neighborhood for some time. They are among a group planning to hold a news conference Wednesday at 11am, to call for more resources in the community to fight crime and help kids stay away from drugs and violence. We'll have more details about that later today.
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