A week from today, voters on the Lower East Side and throughout the 65th Assembly District will be asked to choose Sheldon Silver’s replacement in Albany. A special election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19. The Lo-Down moderated two public forums, offering voters a chance to hear from the four candidates on the ballot. We’ve posted the audio from those forums (here and here), but in the event you don’t have a spare three-and-a-half hours to listen, here’s a recap.
The most recent event was held this past Wednesday evening. It was hosted by Asian Americans for Equality, Educational Alliance and the Chinese American Voters Association. I moderated with questions being asked by reporters from four Chinese language news organizations (World Journal, China Press, Sing Tao Daily and SinoVision).
The candidates taking part included Lester Chang (R), Alice Cancel (D), Yuh-Line Niou (Working Families Party) and Dennis Levy (Green Party). Cancel departed after about 45 minutes to attend a tenant meeting elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Opening Statements/Qualifications
Lester Chang recounted his upbringing, saying, “I am a product of the Lower East Side, born on Eldridge Street, where the bathtub was right next to the kitchen sink in a tenement building.” Chang, now a consultant for an international shipping company, talked about the struggles of growing up in an immigrant family. His father died of lung cancer when Chang was 8 years old. His mom kept the family together, running a Chinese restaurant. Chang called himself a “product of (New York’s) public education system” and highlighted his service in the U.S. Navy Reserve, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Yuh-Line Niou also emphasized her immigrant roots. She came to this country as an infant after her parents left Taiwan. Niou, chief of staff to Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim, said, “I chose to make downtown my home (two years ago, after moving in with her fiance in the Financial District). I’m running because I really believe in public service.” She listed top legislative priorities, including: stronger rent laws, equal rights for all, funding for public schools, stronger environmental standards and solutions to address income inequality. Niou added, “We really need to clean up Albany. I think everyone knows that now.” Niou said she would be prepared to offer the district “constituent services on day one,” since she already knows how to run the office of a freshman assembly member.
Dennis Levy opened by telling members of the audience, “I’m a 67-year-old grandfather living with HIV and AIDS, of mixed race. My father was Jewish. My mother was African-American.” Levy top issue is the legalization of marijuana and hemp. He also says the two main political parties have proven they are incapable of leading, and it’s time to give the Green Party a chance. “We don’t have to go with Democrats or Republicans,” he argued. “We can try someone else, a real fighter. I believe Albany will take notice when I step in.” A resident of the Alfred E. Smith Houses, he has developed AIDS education programs, youth employment initiatives and founded the New York State Committee to Legalize Marijuana. Levy said he’s graduated from the “school of hard knocks.”
Alice Cancel said, “I have spent over 30 years serving our residents of public housing, fighting senior evictions, battling landlords and fighting for affordable housing alongside (former Council member) Margarita Lopez and (current District 2 Council member) Rosie Mendez.” Cancel, who has come under heavy criticism for perceived ties to convicted Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, pointed out that she’s sometimes opposed the former speaker on community issues. She gave the example of the 40-plus year battle to create affordable housing in the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (Silver blocked housing on the parcels for years before backing a community board plan).
In one segment of the forum, we gave the candidates an opportunity to address questions raised about their campaigns.
Critics of Alice Cancel have pointed to the process used to choose her as the Democratic nominee. About 180 party activists linked to the district’s four political clubs picked her during a meeting on Super Bowl Sunday. Her own club, Lower East Side Democrats, obviously offered Cancel strong support. So did the Truman Club, Sheldon Silver’s political organization. Silver’s former chief of staff, Judy Rapfogel, played a high-profile role at the County Committee meeting, applauding when Cancel was elected. When asked about the issue, this is how Cancel responded:
I have to correct you. I was chosen, but it wasn’t from the Shelly camp. It was from my community. These are the people who asked me to come out and run… Over 180 people came out to nominate me that day… I knew I would take the heat… However my candidacy has nothing to do with Silver or with his club. But I will say to you, as a district leader I have worked with many local elected officials, such as (State Sen. Daniel) Squadron, (City Council member) Margaret Chin, (City Council member) Rosie Mendez and, yeah, Sheldon Silver, to make sure our district got what was needed.
Yuh-Line Niou dropped out the county committee contest moments before balloting began. She called the process undemocratic. Her critics have argued that Niou hasn’t lived in the district long enough (two years) to know the people or the issues important in Lower Manhattan. They’ve also suggested that forces outside the 65th Assembly District tied to the Working Families Party and the political establishment in Queens are behind her campaign. Niou’s response:
I have never lived in Flushing. I worked in Flushing (as chief of staff to Assemblyman Kim). I’m sure there are many people who worked in many places where they could find jobs. I was very proud to have had my position with Assembly member Ron Kim. it really brings a cadre of experience to our district… I’ve only met (Queens Democratic Party boss) Joe Crowley twice (at Christmas tree lightings). I’m sorry to disappoint everyone.
Lester Chang was questioned about being a Republican in a district dominated by Democrats, many of them left-leaning. Chang said voters should not be concerned that his ideology is out-of-step with most Lower Manhattan residents:
I tell people in the campaign, don’t look at me as a Republican or as a reformer or as an independent or my new party, the “Let’s Clean Up the Mess Party” … The Republican Party just gave me a platform… But the important thing is that I don’t have any clubs. Maybe the only club I have is the American Legion… I am so pure in terms of my background. I will represent the people. I came from a poor background, public school, lived here for several decades, military service, willing to sacrifice — I’m still willing to sacrifice my life, with or without my uniform, for my community and my country. So that’s what I represent.
Dennis Levy was asked about his big passion — legalizing marijuana and whether he’s a single issue candidate:
Most people who (are HIV positive) use medical marijuana to help with HIV and AIDS, the side effects from the medicine. It has been found to actually help in slowing the progression of the virus. It’s also helped cancer patients and it has a lot of medicinal benefits. Marijuana isn’t just about smoking to get high. But i will say this, if we’re talking about a recreational substance, pyt marijuana up beside tobacco and alcohol and I’ll pick marijuana every time… All of the death and destruction that has come from those two legalized substances. I definitely support legalizing marijuana… It is a billion dollar industry. When we talk about creating jobs… This is jobs for everybody.
Cleaning Up Albany
The candidates weighed in on their plans for ethics reform in Albany. A major issue in Sheldon Silver’s trial was income the former speaker collected in the form of legal fees from individuals and corporations with business before the state.
Niou: I will not be accepting outside income. I think that is one of the tools we can use to have more transparency. But I think there are lots of tools to have better transparency for our government. I would start with campaign finance reform. I think we need to see where the money is coming. We need to see where the money is going. We have a really great model in our city level… We need a more diverse legislature, obviously, and I think that would be very helpful to make it so more people can run with less… Another thing we can do is take away the pensions of people who have been convicted in the legislature.
Cancel: I will not accept any outside moneys, absolutely not. But if we really want to clean up Albany, we must restore honor and dignity to government with tough new ethics standards, expanded disclosure requirements, independent investigations to root out and punish corruption and an overhaul of campaign finance laws. We must remove legislative redistricting from the partisan election politicians and place it in the hands of an independent commission that works only for the people. We must hold a constitutional convention to rewrite the state’s very political DNA… That is what I promise I will do.
Chang also said he would accept no outside income, with the possible exception of his salary for military service. He called for term limits on committee chairmanships, since that’s where the real power in Albany rests. In the next round of questions, the other candidates also expressed support for term limits.
On the issues, answers from the candidates tended to be brief and lacked specifics. Here’s what they told the audience on several key topics of importance on the Lower East Side and in Chinatown.
Affordable Housing
Chang said he’s against offering tax exemptions for developers of luxury housing. “We have to stop that right now,” he asserted. Chang said he’d like to see a new version of the Mitchell Lama program to create “100% affordable housing” developments. Noting that he lives in a rent stabilized apartment, Chang said Albany should “get rid of” vacancy decontrol or raise the rent caps, making it more difficult for landlords to eliminate rent regulated apartments.
Cancel said, “I will fight for laws and funding to preserve existing affordable housing and to build new affordable housing in this community.” She promised to advocate for public housing tenants and seniors. Cancel called on Albany to repeal the 1971 Urstadt Law, which took away New York City’s power to enact rent regulations.
Levy called for a city-wide moratorium on luxury developments. “Let’s stop building them right now until we can sit down and talk about building them for the poor and working poor. I don’t want to see any more luxury towers go up.
Niou said her top priority would be making sure the Legislature strengthens New York’s rent stabilization law by ending vacancy decontrol. “When new developments are built,” she added, “we have to make sure we’re not exploited by them… Our communities have to have a voice.”
Education
On the subject of charter schools and mayoral control of the New York City schools, the candidates expressed differing points of view.
Niou: I think we need to fund our public schools first. We are already owed $44.6 million just in CFE funding alone. We have to fight for that up in Albany… We’re taking away the dreams of young people when we don’t fund our public schools. [Later in the evening, Niou added, “I think we do need mayoral control because the system isn’t set up for anything else.”]
Levy: We should take mayoral control of our schools and put it back in the hands of the community. I raised two kids and I think we were doing a fine job… (Charter schools are) all right, but not one penny of public money. Plenty of money for charters from Wall Street.
Chang: I’m very clear. I support charter schools because they’re what people want. That’s what parents want. That’s what I’ve been hearing out in the streets. Charter schools are funded by public money but run differently. Miss, Niou, you say you want an increase in public resources for public schools. Does it also mean you will fund charter schools?… I’m very clear about my position.
Cancel was not present for this portion of the forum, but a similar event several days earlier said:
I have three sons I raised in the public system. I have four grandchildren… Basically we need back control. We’ve got to take control back from the mayor because if we don’t — first of all — our voices haven’t been heard… We don’t have that voice anymore. We don’t have any community school boards anymore.
Minimum Wage/Small Business
There were also differences of opinion about New York’s recently enacted $15 minimum wage law. For larger companies, it increases to $11 per hour at the end of this year, $13 at the end of 2017 and $15 per hour at the end of 2018. The increases are more gradual for mom-and-pop businesses with 10 workers or fewer.
Niou: We need a $15 minimum wage and I’m glad we passed it in our budget just recently… There is concern about impact on small business… But I think we can protect our small businesses in more ways. I think when people have more to spend, they end up spending locally… When there’s more money in the pockets of working families, we are able to make sure that our economy grows. I think that’s something that’s been proven.
Chang: We’re talking about (a) 20% a year (increase) for the next three years, and the businesses will have to pass down that cost somehow in higher prices. So folks who are fixed income, they will feel it. They will feel the pain.
On the topic of small business survival, Chang said spiraling commercial rents are obviously hurting a lot of independent operators. “Property taxes have gone up,” he said, “and landlords try to cover those costs ,and businesses can’t cover those costs unless they raise their prices. I’d like to propose an incentive for landlords” (to keep commercial tenants in place). Chang also said he believes some landlords are “warehousing” spaces, leaving them empty with the hope of attracting higher rents in the future. He noted that New York might want to look at imposing penalties for doing that, similar to an ordinance in San Francisco.
Niou suggested it might be time to consider “commercial rent regulations of some sort.”
Intercity Buses
The candidates were asked about the law enacted in Albany several years ago that allowed New York City to regulate intercity buses. Some people think the legislation is too weal, while others believe the police department and Department of Transportation are simply failing to enforce the law properly. Direct answers on this topic were hard to come by. Chang spoke about the commuter vans that go back-and-forth among Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn Chinatowns. Levy brought up the need for congestion pricing and electric cars. Niou responded, “The legislation could be strengthened by making sure we tow violators… I think there is a slight enforcement problem.” She called the bus onslaught in the community “a huge safety issue.”
In the last portion of the forum, the candidates took written questions from members of the audience. They were asked to weigh in on the Chinatown Working Group’s plan to rezone much of Chinatown and the Lower East Side. The sweeping proposal is meant to curb over-development and promote the construction of affordable housing, but the de Blasio administration has expressed little enthusiasm for the idea. The candidates were also asked their opinions about the 80-story luxury tower from Extell Development on Cherry Street. Again, responses were not very comprehensive.
Chang: I think that (the Extell project) was a crooked deal by the former Assembly Speaker, the way he rammed this deal through (with tax incentives for the developer). That’s a crooked deal and there should be a call-back on that… I would ask the community board to look at it again.
Niou: I think we definitely have to make sure we pay attention to zoning because, you know, the concerns about Extell, they were able to build as-of-right and as high as they did, and it’s something that is concerning to all of us.
Here’s what the candidates had to say about the need to increase funding for anti-terrorism measures in Lower Manhattan:
Levy: You know what? I live in a NYCHA building. We’re still trying to wait on security cameras to fight crime. We haven’t even thought about terrorism… I can’t even begin to think what kind of protections we need to put in place for terrorists because we haven’t even done the simple things to protect families from crime in NYCHA buildings.
Chang: I will be an advocate, I will be the biggest squeaky wheel to bring more money for national security.
Niou said she’d had recently attended a rally held by the union, 32BJ, to advocate for better pay for building security workers. “We need to make sure they get a fair wage and can protect their families,” said Niou.
The earlier forum was held March 29 at the East River Co-op on Grand Street. It was hosted by Cooperatively Yours, a resident organization. The group’s leader, Jeremy Sherber, opened the event by telling audience members, “We thought it was important to bring the candidates down to Grand Street because for 40 years we have been represented by our next door neighbor (Silver lives in the Hillman Cooperative)… Members of this community were used to having a direct line to the speaker’s office, with all the influence and prestige that brings.”
Alice Cancel, Yuh-Line Niou and Lester Chang were invited. Chang said he could not attend due to scheduling conflicts.
The issues covered were similar to the Educational Alliance forum, but there were some differences in topics addressed and in tone. Members of the audience had the opportunity to take the microphone and ask questions of the candidates directly.
Here’s a sampling.
Essex Crossing
The candidates were asked for their top priorities as the big mixed-use project in the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area comes to fruition:
Cancel: I would fight for affordable housing because that particular site that you’re talking about, SPURA, was something that I, in this community, fought for (with Margarita Lopez and Rosie Mendez). We fought to make sure that anything that was built there was supposed to be affordable for our community… I still want to make sure we do get that affordable housing for our community.
Niou: We have to hold the developers accountable to make sure they keep their promises, but the one thing I will fight for as we move forward is to make sure we have funding for that school… We actually should have taken the opportunity — (We need to make) sure we hold the developers accountable and we get that school funding. [A school site has been set aside on Grand street but the Education Department has not agreed to provide funding.]
Nightlife/Liquor Licenses
On the subject of liquor licenses, the candidates were asked whether they believe state law offers the local community enough tools to balance quality of life concerns with the Lower East Side’s nightlife industry. Cancel simply answered that the State Liquor Authority must be accountable to communities. Niou said:
I don’t want us to become a neighborhood with all bars and no grocery stores. That’s kind of where we’re headed. One of the things is we have to make sure — we have retail diversity and there needs to be enforcement on bad actors in the bar industry. Loud bars with obnoxious patrons need to have a threat of their liquor licenses being taken away… Maybe we can explore the idea of a probationary period for licenses.
There was a lot more discussion at the first forum on the County Committee process that resulted in Cancel’s selection as Democratic Party nominee. Here’s what both candidates had to say on the issue:
Cancel: Yuh-Line actually, and I’m going to be very honest, did not have the numbers to become the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Yuh-Line was knocking on everybody’s door, on all the county committee (members’) doors trying to get support. I am only telling you the truth… Yuh-Line’s club, the (United Democratic Organization), did not have enough numbers to pull her over. Yuh-Line decided that the process was not fair… (She} didn’t feel the process worked her way, so she decided to go in the Working Families Party.
Niou: I am so proud to have knocked on so many doors… You guys deserve a vote!… You guys deserve to choose who your elected official is and that is why I’m running on the Working Families Party Line so that you have a vote… The county committee process is very old, and I am going to plan on changing it, I’m going to work very hard on changing it, because it shouldn’t be decided by a couple of people — 200 – not even. It should be decided by you the voters!
Top Priorities in Albany
Asked what they would focus on during their first weeks in office, the candidates said:
Cancel: It will be a very short period from now until the primary. To be honest with you, I don’t think there’s going to be much business taken care of until actually the end of the year. That’s the truth. [Cancel said the winner of the special election will be required to spend a lot of time campaigning for the regularly scheduled Democratic Primary, which takes place in September.]
Niou: The first week, I’m going to make sure I have a district office up and running so that you guys can have the constituent services that you deserve. I’m already setting up training for staff.
Finally, a man who has lived on the Lower East Side for 36 years asked Cancel to address mainstream media coverage (he referenced this New York Times piece) suggesting that she is a surrogate of Sheldon Silver rather than an independent candidate. He also asked her to talk about allegations that the County Committee process was undemocratic. Cancel responded angrily:
Cancel: Let me explain to you in full detail sir, because you don’t know what a democratic process is. I am not Sheldon Silver. I have not been hand-picked. If you really want to call me hand-picked by the County Committee, which is the community, which apparently you are not part of! You are not part of! If you really want to know who is actually hand-picked on this panel, it wasn’t me! I was hand-picked by my community. Why don’t you go talk to Yuh-Line, who was hand-picked by — excuse me, excuse me! Queens! She was hand-picked by Queens. She’s not from here. So if you want to attack somebody, it’s not me, my dear. You got the wrong person.
Niou: I’m not really sure what to say to that. I’m here to provide you a choice. It’s really a choice… This is your chance on April 19th to speak up, to say what you want and don’t want, what you want a continuation of and what you want a stop to. This is your vote… I promise I will be a candidate who will fight for you. I am making sure you see me face-to-face. I am the person who is reaching out to you the most.
We’ll have more coverage of the campaign for the 65th Assembly District throughout the week…
