Grand Street Democrats voted this week to endorse Ben Yee for Public Advocate.
Ben is a “traveling civics superhero” who has brought workshops in civic engagement to groups throughout the five boroughs. His platform is aimed directly at engaging citizens, empowering community groups, and punishing bad actors who degrade our civic institutions.
Ben Yee speaking to a packed house at Manny Cantor Center 1/29/19.
We made our endorsement last night after a heavily attended candidate forum at Manny Cantor Center where we heard from 14 candidates running in the February 26 special election. (Many thanks to the other downtown political clubs and community groups that supported the event.)
We will let you know more about Ben in the coming weeks. For now, if you are so inclined, you can contribute to Ben’s campaign. With public matching funds, your small donation is multiplied nine times to make a big contribution to this short campaign:
Councilmember Carlina Rivera has called a City Council hearing for Wednesday, January 23 at 1:00 pm to discuss the East Side Coastal Resiliency project that would completely rebuild East River Park for flood protection.
There are many unanswered questions about the current plan. Anyone interested in the fate of our local park is encouraged to attend and to testify.
Following superstorm Sandy in 2012, federal funds were allocated for flood protection along this stretch of NYC shoreline. Much of the East Village is built up on a flood plain, and, as we learned that fall, is particularly susceptible to rising sea level and tide surges that we should expect more of as climate change makes an impact.
A design process over four years produced a plan that would maintain the park’s primary recreational facilities and protect residential areas with berms and flood walls along the FDR Drive.
Last fall, the Mayor presented a revised plan that would also protect the park itself from flooding by raising the entire park with landfill above the flood line. As presented, the project would close the entire park for the duration of construction, estimated at 3.5 years. This new plan was designed to take less time but cost more money, and for many people in the neighborhood the radical nature of the park reconstruction finally hit home. (The headline in this weekend’s New York Times neatly summarized the crux of the problem: “To Save East River Park, the City Intends to Bury It.”)
The city council hearing on Wednesday is an opportunity to let the City know how vital this park is to East Village and Lower East Side residents, and raise questions about how the project will impact our lives. Is such a dramatic rebuild really necessary to protect the neighborhood from floods? Is complete closure of the park necessary for construction? How can we believe the City’s accelerated timetable when all other construction projects along the waterfront have been many years behind schedule?
If you are able to come out on a workday for this important hearing, please do.
We’re pleased to announce that Educational Alliance President & CEO Alan van Capelle has agreed to moderate our forum on 1/29 with candidates for NYC Public Advocate.
Alan runs one of the most significant community organizations in the city, lives right in our neighborhood, and has participated in many important progressive movements in New York and nationally.
As president of Bend the Arc, Alan launched that Jewish action organization to the forefront of the national progressive movement. As executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, he helped pave the way for marriage equality in New York State.
Update: Alan was not able to make it on Tuesday, but Joanna Samuels, Executive Director of Manny Cantor Center, stepped in and did a fantastic job moderating the candidate forum.
Two important neighborhood initiatives have moved steadily through the process of community input over the past few years only to have plans upended recently by our elected executives. For the upcoming L Train repairs and East River Park rebuild, what we are left with right now are a lot of questions.
East River Park
Photo: Kevin Case
After Superstorm Sandy in 2012, federal funds were allocated to build flood protection for lower Manhattan. Because of the vulnerability of Con Ed at East 14th St, and flood-prone neighborhoods of the East Village, the waterfront from East 23rd St. to Montgomery was prioritized and plans were developed over years with plenty of community involvement.
But at the end of last year, the Mayor’s office announced some significant engineering changes to the plan and, for the first time, proposed a real timetable for the project, which included the entire park being closed for the duration of new construction, estimated to be three years.
The immensity of this project is finally hitting home, and community members are demanding more answers. Council member Carlina Rivera has pushed for a hearing a City Council hearing on the project on January 23, starting at 1:00 pm at City Hall.
L Train shutdown
Photo: Pat Arnow
Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared there will be no L Train shutdown, instead proposing repairs take place on nights and weekends. New York City Transit president Andy Byford told CB3’s Transportation Committee this week that Cuomo’s plan needs to be vetted through independent engineers and a full safety review before getting approved. So the fate of the shutdown is still unknown.
If Cuomo’s plan does go through, a lot of local questions will have to be answered again. Will the Williamsburg Bridge still be limited to HOV and bus traffic? Will the Clinton Street approach to the bridge still be closed?
Join us as we celebrate our first full year and honor two local citizens who inspire and motivate us.
Grand Street Dems Holiday Party
Tuesday, December 4 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Eastwood (E. Bway & Clinton)
Ticketholders will receive free Eastwood appetizers and 1 drink ticket. A cash bar will be available all evening. Reserve your place at our holiday party by making a contribution below.
Member
$25 per person
Supporter
$50 per person
Silver Host
$100 per person
Gold Host
$200 per person
Platinum Host
$300 per person
Online payments processed by PayPal. Political contributions are not tax deductible.
Andrew Cuomo will appear as the nominee of four different parties on Tuesday’s ballot. But only by voting for him on the Democratic line can you help increase the number of delegates our neighborhood gets to Democratic Party conventions, increasing your influence on important local elections.
For example, when there is a vacancy to fill in the NY Assembly or State Senate (as has happened for us twice in the last three years), delegates to the convention to select a successor have a weighted vote based on how many votes were cast for Governor on the Democratic line in their election district. Something similar is true for delegates to the judicial convention for NYS Supreme Court.
So more votes for Governor on the Democratic line give our neighborhood a stronger voice at these decisive party conventions.
The New York City Charter serves as our local constitution, creating a structure for City government.
Amendments to the Charter can be proposed by a Commission established by the Mayor or City Council, then must be approved by referendum.
There will be three Charter revision proposals on Tuesday’s ballot, proposed by a Mayoral Charter Revision Commission. Grand Street Democrats members voted to make the following recommendations:
YES on Proposal 1
Campaign Finance
This proposal would amend the City Charter to lower the amount a candidate for City elected office may accept from a contributor. It would also increase the public funding used to match a portion of the contributions received by a candidate who participates in the City’s public financing program.
NO on Proposal 2
Civic Engagement Commission
This proposal would amend the City Charter in several ways to create a new, vaguely defined, Civic Engagement Commission under the Mayor’s authority. The Commission would have a few appealing responsibilities that are already managed by other offices and would be an unnecessary addition to the City’s bureaucracy.
NO on Proposal 3
Community Boards
This proposal would impose term limits for community board members and would, in conjunction with Proposal 2, supplant local land use advisors on each community board with advisors from a central pool. Term limits for volunteer members would weaken community boards by eliminating years of local experience. Centralized land use advisors would be more likely to advocate for Mayoral political priorities without consideration for the the local community.
Elected members of the Manhattan Democratic County Committee gathered last night at City College to consider several changes to the Committee’s governing rules. All rules changes proposed by the Rules Committee — presented and voted on as one package — were approved.
The one potential amendment not recommended by the Rules Committee and therefore not considered last night was the most contentious one, to prohibit the County Leader from being a registered lobbyist or working for a company whose business is lobbying. But with the rules changes that did pass, proposing new rules changes for subsequent meetings becomes much easier, and it’s likely that the County Committee will be asked to vote on this prohibition next year, before County Leader Keith Wright is up for re-election.
These rules changes have no impact on the national political drama most of us are consumed with. But they do directly address the flawed process by which we selected a new State Senator after Dan Squadron resigned in 2017 — elected County Committee members in Manhattan now have even more say in the selection of Democratic nominees for vacated State Assembly and State Senate seats.
The rules changes also help make the Manhattan Democratic Party more open, accessible, and available to change. For many of us, it’s important that our own party institutions reflect our small-d democratic values. In New York City, the Manhattan Democratic Party is leading the way on internal progressive reform.
