We were joined by members of the Chinatown Working Group to discuss their proposal for special zoning districts in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. We also had a chance to meet Erin Hussein, who is challenging Councilmember Carlina Rivera in District 2.
Not shown in the meeting video was our members-only discussion and vote to endorse candidates for Civil Court in Manhattan and Judicial District 2.
Grand Street Dems last month called for the suspension of work on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project until the City would allow a full and independent engineering review of the project.
Since then, the City finally released the document it had previously said did not exist — the report from the value engineering study in 2018 that led to the current plan — with heavy, unexplained redactions.
Now the Sierra Club is calling on the City Council to conduct oversight hearings to get to the bottom of the “secrecy, inadequacy, and sequence of events and information releases [that] have left many perplexed and disturbed.”
As the Sierra Club’s letter makes clear, redacted sections of the report include “critical information” such as the names of outside “technical team members”; pro/con comparison of eleven “significant proposals” and five “recommendations”; process for arriving at cost estimates (which is a huge part of the City’s justification for its preferred plan); and discussion of alternatives.
“The Sierra Club feels certain that you recognize that it remains the duty of the City Council with its subpoena powers to investigate what is going on as millions of dollars are being spent and bids are being placed on a quasi-secret $1.4 Billion plan. Most importantly, it remains the Council’s responsibility to safeguard the public health and uphold our City’s environment.”
There are two open seats this year for Manhattan Civil Court (county-wide) and two more open seats for Civil Court Judicial District 2 (where we live), with a number of candidates who were rated “most highly qualified” by the New York County Independent Judicial Screening Panel for Civil Court Judges on Feb. 8.
On Saturday we will have a chance to hear from all these candidates, and then will vote at our general meeting Tuesday whether to make any endorsements for these seats.
Manhattan Civil Court Candidate Forum
Saturday, February 20, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Zoom link: tinyurl.com/civilCourtForum
Thank you to Downtown Independent Democrats for putting this forum together for all of us.
Candidates for Civil Court Judge County-wide
Candidates for Civil Court Judicial District 2
With upcoming primaries for New York City officials, from Mayor to City Council, this is a critical moment to express our policy priorities for the next city administration.
One important topic we have discussed but never acted on: the Chinatown Working Group’s detailed proposal for special zoning districts in the Lower East Side and Chinatown that would promote affordability, limit displacement, and still allow for development that fits within appropriate height limits.
Next week we will hear a presentation from CWG representatives and have the opportunity to signal our support for their plan (joining dozens of other local organizations).
GSD February Meeting
Tuesday, February 23, 7:00 pm
Register for Zoom: grandstreetdems.nyc/zoom-2021-02-23
We also have one last set of endorsements to make for 2021, for Civil Court Judges, and will be discussing what petitioning will look like in March to get all our endorsed candidates on the ballot.
At last night’s marathon endorsement meeting, Grand Street Dems endorsed a full slate of candidates for New York City’s epic 2021 primary.
Grand Street Dems 2021 EndorsementsSCOTT STRINGER for Mayor (endorsement updated 5/10/21)
BRAD LANDER for Comptroller
LINDSEY BOYLAN for Borough President
ALVIN BRAGG for District Attorney
CAROLINE LASKOW and LEE BERMAN for District Leaders
And a reminder that we had already voted to endorse CHRISTOPHER MARTE for City Council District 1.
Club members voted to make no endorsement for City Council District 2, where Carlina Rivera is running for re-election.
New York City’s 2021 primaries may be the most consequential we’ve ever had. Mayor, Comptroller, Manhattan Borough President, Manhattan District Attorney are all open seats, with many qualified candidates running in all these races, and the post-pandemic fate of our city on the line.
Add to that the unpredictability of ranked-choice voting being offered to voters for the first time ever, and the burden on voters to educate themselves on the candidates and issues becomes even heavier. You can’t just decide who your favorite candidate is, you should be thinking of four other candidates you find acceptable as well.
That’s even more true for members of local political clubs like Grand Street Dems, who are often asked by their neighbors for advice about complicated local races.
GSD will be voting on endorsements in all these races on Monday, February 8. Below is a compendium of information we have for each of the campaigns and candidates.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is term-limited. There are too many candidates to review in full; many of them have done so little fundraising and campaigning that it’s fair to say they have no chance of getting elected. We are focusing on a still-large number of viable candidates.
Watch our candidate forum from February:
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Eric Adams | Brooklyn Borough President | Link | |
| Shaun Donovan | Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Link | |
| Kathryn Garcia | Former Commissioner, NYC Department of Sanitation | Link | |
| Ray McGuire | Former vice chair, Citigroup | n/a | |
| Carlos Menchaca | Councilmember (CD-38) | n/a | |
| Dianne Morales | Executive Director/CEO, Phipps Neighborhoods | Link | |
| Scott Stringer | NYC Comptroller | Link | |
| Loree Sutton | Former Commissioner, NYC Department of Veterans’ Services; Retired Brigadier General | Link | |
| Maya Wiley | Professor, New School; Former Chair, CCRB; Former counsel, NYC Mayor’s office | Link | |
| Andrew Yang | Founder, Venture for America | Link |
Jumaane Williams won a special election for Public Advocate in 2019, and is now running for re-election against three challengers.
Our virtual forum with these candidates will be on Saturday, February 6 at 12:00 pm.
Register for Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/downtownPAforum
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Theo Chino | 2019 Public Advocate candidate | Link | |
| Gwen Goodwin | 2019 Public Advocate candidate; City Council candidate in 2013 and 2017 | n/a | |
| Tony Herbert | 2019 Public Advocate candidate; 2014 NY Assembly candidate (AD-55) | n/a | |
| Jumaane Williams | NYC Public Advocate (incumbent) | n/a |
Current Comptroller Scott Stringer is term-limited (and running now for Mayor). At least five candidates are now running for this open city-wide position, though the final list of candidates is still in flux (Zach Iscol, for example, just recently announced he would not run for Mayor and is running for Comptroller instead).
Watch our candidate forum from January:
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Brian Benjamin | State Senator (SD-30) | Link | |
| Zach Iscol | CEO/Founder, Grid North Group | n/a | |
| Brad Lander | Councilmember (CD-39) | Link | |
| Kevin Parker | State Senator (SD-21) | Link | |
| David Weprin | Assemblymember (AD-24) | Link |
Current B.P. Gale Brewer is term-limited (and now running for City Council). We have six candidates running for this open seat.
Watch our candidate forum from January:
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Lindsey Boylan | Former Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Housing for the State of New York | Link | |
| Elizabeth Caputo | U.S. Government Engagement, World Economic Forum; former Chair of Community Board 7 | Link | |
| Brad Hoylman | State Senator (SD-27) | Link | |
| Ben Kallos | Councilmember (CD-05) | Link | |
| Mark Levine | Councilmember (CD-07) | n/a | |
| Kim Watkins | President, Community Education Council District 3 | Link |
Current D.A. Cyrus Vance does not appear to be running for re-election (though has not yet officially made his intentions clear). There are eight candidates running to replace him.
Note that since this is technically a state position, there will not be ranked choice voting for this position in June; you will only be able to vote for one candidate, and whoever wins a plurality will be the Democratic nominee.
Watch our candidate forum from December:
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Tahanie Aboushi | Civil rights attorney; Partner, Aboushi Law Firm | n/a | |
| Alvin Bragg | Former Chief Deputy Attorney General, NYS Attorney General | Link | |
| Liz Crotty | Partner, Crotty Saland PC; Former prosecutor, Manhattan DA | Link | |
| Tali Farhardian Weinstein | Former general counsel, Brooklyn DA; Former counsel, US Attorney General | Link | |
| Diana Florence | Former Attorney-in-Charge, Construction Fraud Task Force, Manhattan DA | Link | |
| Lucy Lang | Former Executive Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College; Former special counsel, Manhattan DA | Link | |
| Eliza Orlins | Public defender; Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society | Link | |
| Dan Quart | Assemblymember (AD-73) | Link |
Current Councilmember Carlina Rivera is finishing her first term and running for re-election. She is running unopposed for the Democratic primary.
Watch our candidate interview with Rivera:
| Candidate | Current Occupation | VID Questionnaire | |
| Carlina Rivera | Councilmember (CD-02) | n/a |
Grand Street Dems members met with District 2 Councilmember Carlina Rivera and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who are both running for re-election this year.
We also discussed, and passed, a resolution on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, requesting that the City suspend the project until an independent engineering review can be completed.
These are the last of our 2021 candidate interviews for two races that are not heavily contested but nevertheless very important to our community — City Council District 2 and NYC Public Advocate.
GSD January Meeting
Wednesday, January 27
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Register for Zoom
We will also be participating in full candidate forums for Public Advocate on Feb. 6 and NYC Mayor on Feb. 7 ahead of our big endorsement meeting on Feb. 8.
Grand Street Dems was proud to sponsor this forum with other Democratic clubs from Downtown Manhattan. Please take the time to watch or listen to this forum before our large endorsement meeting on February 8.
There are a lot of candidates and a lot to take in, but it’s worth watching (or listening to) this candidate forum for Manhattan District Attorney since there are so many outstanding individuals running to bring real systemic justice reform to the office of Manhattan’s top prosecutor.
Grand Street Dems was proud to sponsor this forum with other Democratic clubs from Downtown Manhattan. We will do so again in January and February for the several other big NYC campaigns — Manhattan Borough President and NYC Comptroller on January 10, and NYC Mayor and Public Advocate on February 7.