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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Petitioning begins
To get Caroline Laskow and Lee Berman elected to Democratic District Leaders in September election, first we need 500 registered Democrats to sign our Designating Petitions. That means we need an active volunteer corps to knock on doors and stand on street corners getting those signatures. This is one of the most important things you can do for the campaign! Please sign up for as many volunteer slots as you can, and encourage your friends to join you.
