September 3rd, 2009
City Council member Alan Gerson was endorsed this afternoon by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. During a rally on Greenwich Street, several other political leaders and organizations lined up to support him, including three fellow City Council members and the United Federation of Teachers. Gerson is running for a third term against four challengers in the September 15th Democratic Primary.
Two of his opponents, Pete Gleason and Arthur Gregory showed up at today's rally. Gerson and Gregory exchanged pleasantries – Gerson even asked for his endorsement. Gleason, however, was run off by District Leader David Reck before the event got underway.
City Council members Gale Brewer, Jessica Lappin and Dan Garodnick joined Stringer in endorsing Gerson, as did Justin Yu, represnting the Chinatown Consolidated Benevolent Association. Gerson is competing for support in Chinatown with Margaret Chin, who has been a community organizer and affordable housing advocate downtown for many years.
September 3rd, 2009
District 2 City Council member Rosie Mendez plans on making an endorsement in the First District City Council race soon. But she doesn't seem to be too pleased with the incumbent, Alan Gerson. Speaking of Gerson's failed amendment to hold a referendum on extending term limits, Mendez says, “Alan…all I can say about that amendment is it was lame — and everyone knew it.” After the proposal failed in the Council, Gerson voted to extend the limits. Mendez voted "no." Some good news for Gerson: he'll be endorsed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer this afternoon.
SPURA update via The Villager: "Steven Van Zandt, a.k.a. Little Steven of the E Street Band,
a.k.a. Silvio Dante of “The Sopranos” fame, recently toured part of the
site, specifically the old market buildings along Essex St. south of
Delancey St. (City Council member Alan) Gerson said Van Zandt was interested in creating a 'recording-studio complex' at the location, but then the stock market
crashed, and everything got put on hold. Gerson said, in addition to
eying the renewal area for cultural uses, he’s pitched the area to the
garment industry as a place for fashion manufacturing, design and
retail…"
A man died in the aftermath of a fight that broke out at a homeless shelter on the Bowery.
Work is progressing on the Allen Street Mall. This from Curbed: "Yes, friends, that's a brand spanking new protected bike lane that's coming to life… a bike lane that's going to reduce Allen Street to a mere two lanes, a move planners hope
will curb excessive driver speed through Chinatown and the LES. To
follow: "higher curbs, permanent planting beds, and post and chain
fencing."
NYC's non-profits are continuing to struggle, even as there are new signs of life in other parts of the city's economy. Danny Rosenthal of the Educational Alliance says its hasn't been easy absorbing cuts in the organization's city contract to provide childcare services.
The New York Post takes a look at the Howl Festival.
September 3rd, 2009
The Villager/Downtown Express (sister publications) have endorsed Margaret Chin in the Democratic Primary coming up September 15th. She's one of four candidates taking on incumbent Alan Gerson in the First District City Council race. The downtown newspapers say Gerson's vote to extend term limits was "deeply troubling" but that's not the reason they decided to withhold their support:
Gerson has accomplished some things, but his record is mixed.
Probably his two best achievements as a councilmember were several
years ago, and we don’t see him getting better after eight years. He is
rightfully proud of securing a city agreement that led to the Spruce
St. School and the P.S. 234 annex, and for bringing the problems of
unsafe diesel storage to light, but his more recent record has not been
as strong. Lower
Manhattan may never get a city councilmember who is so well versed in
all of the details of the area’s issues, but Gerson somehow takes that
formidable trait and makes it a flaw. His habit of explaining every
nuance of an issue makes it hard for people to figure out where he
stands. This is not a superficial point — it goes directly to a council member’s effectiveness working with constituents and public
officials…. We
have not just heard about Gerson’s chronic office disorganization from
partisans, we have heard it from supporters, government officials
without an ax to grind, and we’ve experienced it ourselves. Now, in the
last weeks of a close political campaign, he recognizes that it could
be a problem, and says he is willing to use personal funds to get a
consultant’s help. That would have been a really good idea about seven
years ago.
As for Chin, the newspapers says:
(She) has passion, deep community roots and a strong record of
accomplishment. She has been fighting for Downtowners for decades… (She has) fought hard for affordable
housing all over Downtown and has helped get hundreds of apartments
built in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. She also has worked for
many years on voter registration and rights, and will be good solving
constituent problems. We
did have concerns that she would not focus enough on the west side of
the district, but she has also been active on the quality-of-life
issues, including traffic safety and congestion, as well as schools and
affordable housing, that are issues all over Downtown. She and her
family have lived in the Financial District for more than two decades.
We’re confident she will fight hard for the entire district.
The editors say PJ Kim has a bright future in politics, but needs to gain more experience and spend more time getting to know the neighborhoods of the First District. They said Pete Gleason would be better than Gerson at using the "bully pulpit," but that he should be better informed: "a candidate should know a few specifics on his own key issues, but we
found Gleason woefully under-informed. He did not know what schools
were already under construction Downtown, yet he was certain that Lower
Manhattan would need more schools after they opened." They call Arthur Gregory an effective advocate for businesses, but says his views on other matters are not always clear.
Still to come – the New York Times endorsement.
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