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Grand Street Democrats

  • Truman Club and its candidates continue to violate campaign finance laws

    Candidates for Democratic District Leaders with ties to Sheldon Silver continue to violate campaign finance laws by failing to disclose political contributions and expenses as required by state law.

    Last month the New York Post reported that the Truman Democratic Club and its candidates had not filed financial disclosure forms for at least 18 years, despite clear legal requirements to do so. Disclosures of expenses from other candidates who have attended Truman Club fundraisers show evidence of more than $91,000 amassed by the Truman Club. But since private donors and corporations do not disclose their donations, the Truman Club is likely hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Subsequent to that report, District Leader Karen Blatt registered a re-election committee with the Board of Elections. This week Committee to Re-elect Blatt disclosed a single in-kind contribution from the Truman Club for $1,689.25, which is above the $1,000 legal limit for contributions in this race. Blatt, who was appointed by Sheldon Silver to her position as co-executive director of the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Appointment, also ran for office in 2015 without making any financial disclosures.

    Jacob Goldman, a local real estate agent also running for District Leader with support from the Truman Club, waited until after financial disclosures were due to register with the New York State Board of Elections, despite participating publicly in fundraising activities and distributing printed campaign material during the past three months.

    NY1 reported this month that Judy Rapfogel, Sheldon Silver’s former chief of staff, who was “considered Silver’s enforcer and gatekeeper in Albany,” “has been very active and is currently involved in the race for district leader.”

    An official complaint has been filed with the New York State Board of Elections Division of Election Law Enforcement, asking that an investigation of the Truman Club’s finances commence immediately. The complaint said, “Voters have the right to know who is supporting political activity in our neighborhood, and how that money is being spent.”

    District Leader candidate Lee Berman said, “When you ask your neighbors for their votes, you have to start by following the law. You’d think after Silver’s convictions, even the Truman Club would get that. Instead, their candidates continue to act as though the law does not apply to them.”

    Caroline Laskow, also running for District Leader, added, “As a first-time candidate, I made sure to register with the state and file proper financial disclosures. Why wouldn’t the incumbents do the same? What are they spending all that money on?”

  • Downtown Democrats deserve a voice in the selection of a new State Senator

    Daniel Squadron

    State Senator Daniel Squadron resigned abruptly last week. The process for selecting his successor is still unclear. A special election will probably happen on November 7, along with other city-wide races like for Mayor and City Council. But since it’s too late to get names on the September 12 primary ballot, there are a couple options for how the Democratic candidate will be selected. The Lo-Down had a good summary of these options last week.

    Caroline and Lee are sending the following letter to Chairman Wright, co-signed by all 22 Grand Street Democrats candidates for county committee, urging him to convene the county committee after September 12 so Democratic voters — you! — have a chance to select new county committee members who will participate in the nominating convention.

    County Leader Keith Wright
    New York County Democratic Committee
    108 West 39th Street, Suite 1201
    New York, NY 10018

    Dear Leader Wright,

    We write regarding the selection process of a Democratic nominee for the 26th State Senate district in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, following Daniel Squadron’s recent resignation.

    We want to make sure you are aware that there are contested races for County Committee in AD65 Part A covering eleven election districts on the Lower East Side. These party positions will be determined by Democratic voters only four weeks from now — that’s why we recommend you set a date after the September 12 primary for a nominating convention.

    As Sen. Squadron himself said in a letter to you last week, “It is important that the vacancy for this seat be filled in the most transparent and fair way possible.” Sen. Squadron also wrote, “I strongly urge you to make this process as democratic as possible.”

    In this spirit of fuller democratic participation, we urge you to hold a full vote of County Committee members after the upcoming primary. Any decision made before this time would deprive local rank and file Democrats of the chance to participate in the selection our next State Senator — and diminish that candidate’s credibility and support in the general election.

    As the members of Grand Street Democrats, a new political club seeking to bring fresh progressive engagement on the Lower East Side, one of our primary goals is to energize Democrats in our community to increase their participation in local politics. Our County Committee candidates, and more importantly the voters who will support them on September 12, deserve to be heard at this critical juncture.

    Sincerely,

    Lee Berman
    Democratic State Committee Member, AD65
    Democratic District Leader Candidate, AD65 Part A

    Caroline Laskow
    Democratic District Leader Candidate, AD65 Part A

    Candidates for Democratic County Committee:
    Joree Adilman
    Lisa Arbisser
    Moira Brennan
    Anthony Brownie
    Heather Cousens
    Allison Gordon
    Lauren Forsch
    Peter Herb
    Martha Hornthal
    Brett Leitner
    Tommy Loeb
    Mark Lynch
    Michael Marino
    David Pass
    Mathew Quezada
    William Rockwell
    Daria Segalini
    Melissa Shiffman
    Hariette Skidelsky
    Michelle Stern
    Wei-Li Tjong
    Kenneth Wind

  • NY1: “Silver’s enforcer and gatekeeper” campaigning for Truman Club candidates

    For those of you steeped in Grand Street politics, this will come as no surprise. For everyone else, here are two minutes from NY1 that might open your eyes:

    There are important local issues to fight for in this campaign: traffic mitigation, more reliable public transportation, and improved public schools. And local Democrats are looking for ways to engage directly local elected officials, so that we can impact decisions made in City Hall, Albany, and Washington.

    But part of this campaign is also about wiping the neighborhood clean of disgraced former assemblyman Sheldon Silver and his allies. As Lee Berman says in this report, “What we are trying to do is fight against the Truman Democratic Club, which is a machine that has been in power for 40-plus years. It is ostensibly controlled by Judy Rapfogel, Shelly’s former chief of staff.”

    Reporter Zack Fink rightly calls Rapfogel “Silver’s enforcer and gatekeeper in Albany” and reminds viewers that “her husband, Willie Rapfogel, was convicted of stealing millions of dollars from a Jewish charity, and served nearly three years in prison.”

    We’ll say it again: Grand Street needs new Democratic leadership.

    Here’s the original NY1 story.

  • Join us! Neighborhood Voter Outreach Marathon: Wednesday, August 9, 6pm to 9pm

    Next week we want to make sure everyone on Grand Street is talking about our campaign for new Democratic leadership. We’re having a neighborhood outreach marathon on Wednesday, August 9 from 6pm to 9pm, and we want to meet every single Grand Street Democrat in one night. Will you join us?

    We want all our neighbors to know what you know: that this hyper-local campaign for two Democratic District Leaders is our best chance to make local elected officials engage directly with Grand Street constituents on a regular basis. If we win on September 12, you and your neighbors can impact decisions made in City Hall, Albany, and Washington.

    But without your help, your neighbors might not even know they have a choice this year. Please volunteer for this one evening – Wednesday, August 9 from 6pm to 9pm – to help the campaign.

    Sign up below:

  • Silver’s corruption still haunts Grand Street

    Yesterday’s news of Sheldon Silver’s appellate court reprieve is a tough reminder of Silver’s dark legacy in our neighborhood. Consider that the Truman Club — Silver’s “base of operations” where he “appears to still be pulling strings” — still controls political endorsements, judgeships, and access to local officials. Or consider that the Truman Club’s Democratic District Leaders have never condemned Silver’s behavior.

    We know that many Democrats on Grand Street are as appalled as we are by Silver’s history of corruption as a trusted elected official, and that’s why we are more determined than ever to campaign for new Democratic leadership on Grand Street.

    As Common Cause/NY Executive Director Susan Lerner said, “Let us be clear, the facts are not in question. Mr. Silver used his position in government to direct state resources into a scheme that paid out $4 million into his pocket.” Not even Silver’s lawyers disputed the basic outline of the charges against him during trial, they just called it “business as usual.”

    We believe what Silver did was wrong, and that he will be convicted again when federal prosecutors retry the case. His conviction was overturned not on the evidence, but on a technicality (the exact wording of instructions to the jury, based on a Supreme Court decision seven months after his trial ended). As former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “The evidence was strong. The Supreme Court changed the law. I expect Sheldon Silver to be retried and re-convicted.”

    Personally, we wish no hardship on Sheldon Silver. We’re his neighbors too, and are glad for his family at their good news yesterday. But his legacy haunts Grand Street. It’s time to turn the page on Silver and his political allies in the Truman Club.

    — Caroline & Lee

  • Local Progressives Submit Challenge to Sheldon Silver’s L.E.S. Political Club

    July 10, 2017 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Caroline Laskow and Lee Berman are running for Democratic District Leaders against Silver’s political allies on Grand Street

    More than 1,200 Democrats signed petitions over the past four weeks to put two new progressive candidates on the ballot for Democratic District Leaders on the Lower East Side. This represents the first real challenge to former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s political club following his conviction on federal fraud, extortion, and money laundering charges.

    Caroline Laskow, a documentary filmmaker and author (she co-wrote The Soup Club Cookbook with three neighbors), has lived in Seward Park Cooperative since 2003 with her husband and two children who attend public school. Lee Berman, a lifelong East River Cooperative resident, has been an active public school parent in the district, serves on the board at East River, and was recently appointed to Community Board 3.

    They are challenging the incumbent District Leaders, Karen Blatt and Jacob Goldman, who are the candidates of the Truman Democratic Club, “a longtime base of support for Mr. [Sheldon] Silver” (WSJ, 4/12/16 link). The Daily News says that even after his conviction on federal corruption charges in 2015, “Disgraced former Assemblyman Sheldon Silver appears to still be pulling strings” (link).

    Said Laskow, “We want our elected officials to hear our community’s concerns about traffic on Grand Street, overcrowded schools, and excessive development. The Truman Club has done nothing to organize Democrats on Grand Street despite the many challenges facing our neighborhood.”

    The candidates also won’t shy from national party issues. “Ours is a strong Democratic district,” said Berman. “We should be joining with other Democrats to engage in meaningful action against Trump’s radical policies. The Truman Club didn’t even hang up a Hillary poster in its window last year. It’s time for new, progressive leadership on Grand Street.”

    Laskow and Berman also lead a full slate of challengers for the Democratic County Committee in Assembly District 65 Part A. Last year the Truman Club’s County Committee members were criticized for selecting a candidate to succeed Silver based on that person’s long, friendly ties to Silver; when Democratic voters weighed in a few months later, the Truman Club candidate came in fourth in a six-way primary.

    After this year’s election on September 12, these new County Committee candidates, along with Laskow and Berman, plan to form a new Democratic club called Grand Street Democrats in order to further reduce the influence of Silver’s Truman Club on local politics.

    ###

    Lee Berman and Caroline Laskow, candidates for Democratic District Leaders, Assembly District 65 Part A (Photo credit: Larry Bercow)

    For more information, please contact:
    Jeremy Sherber, campaign manager, Grand Street Democrats
    jeremy@sherber.com | 917-543-3918 | grandstreetdems.nyc | @grandstreetdems

  • Sign up for Neighborhood Voter Outreach

    This summer, Caroline and Lee want to meet every single voter they can before September 12 — and they’d like to do that with you. Will you sign up below to walk with the candidates through your building for one or two evenings this summer?

    Voter turnout in local elections is always very low. Caroline and Lee want to change that by encouraging Democrats one by one that this race is important in many ways.

    Please sign up below with three dates when you are available, and the campaign will be in touch to settle on a schedule.

  • “The man with the pink sticker”

    When Councilmember Margaret Chin called on Tommy Loeb last night at the mayor’s town hall she called him “The man with the pink sticker.” That’s because Tommy — a long-time resident of East River Coop — was there at Caroline and Lee’s request to ask the Mayor for a traffic agent to be stationed at the intersection of Grand and Clinton to help alleviate the dangerous driving and incessant honking that comes from this access route to the Williamsburg Bridge.

    This is what can happen when everyone works together — local elected officials who have already raised the issue with the Department of Transportation, almost 600 local residents who have signed a petition to close the Clinton Street approach to the bridge, and then one local resident to push the issue right to the mayor.

    DOT Commissioner Polly Trachtenberg acknowledged there is a broader study underway to examine the entire traffic pattern from the FDR to the Williamsburg Bridge, which is absolutely necessary. But that sort of study and implementation can take years. It’s already been years since the traffic on Grand became intolerable. Caroline and Lee thought there was something that could be done right now, and asked Tommy to bring their request to the mayor.

  • Mayor promises traffic agent to alleviate Clinton-Grand traffic jam

    At tonight’s District One town hall with Councilmember Margaret Chin and Mayor de Blasio, the Mayor pledged to dispatch a traffic agent to the Clinton-Grand intersection to alleviate the problems of pedestrian safety, congestion, and incessant honking while a Department of Transportation traffic study gets underway on this over-used approach to the Williamsburg Bridge.

    Cars lined up on narrow Clinton Street to get on to the Williamsburg Bridge. (Photo from The Lo-Down.)
    Last night’s action was prompted by a question at the Town Hall by East River cooperator Tommy Loeb, representing Grand Street Democrats at the town hall. The Mayor, Steve Hellman from NYPD’s 7th Precinct, and DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg all agreed with Tommy’s suggestion.

    This troubled intersection has been the focus of a local petition that now has almost 600 signatures and a letter from local representatives urging the DOT to study the issue.

    The traffic issue at Grand & Clinton — resulting in grid lock all the way east on Grand Street, with cars honking and jockeying for position — has a been a problem for years. In 2012 the street patterns were changed to alleviate congestion on Delancey that had resulted in serious pedestrian accidents. Since then, Grand Street residents have been saying that Clinton Street was never designed to be a major approach to the Williamsburg Bridge, which is what it has become. With Essex Crossing construction, the problem has become more acute and is likely to get worse.

    Pressure needs to be maintained on city officials and local representatives to make sure this problem finally gets solved.

  • Caroline Interviewed by WNYC’s Brian Lehrer

    Brian Lehrer of WNYC had a segment of his show Tuesday devoted to new candidates for public office … and Caroline was in the audience to tell Brian and his listeners why she’s running for Democratic District Leader.