We had a great petition kick-off and want to thank all of our members and friends for showing up and getting their petitions to get signed! Please join the process by knocking on doors in your building or going to your favorite corner to get them signed. The first gathering to turn in petitions and get more blanks if needed will be on Sunday, March 19 at Saluggi’s from 7-9pm. We will also be setting up some tables over the next two weeks (see schedule below) and invite you to come join us. It is usually more effective and more fun when there are several of us around.
Local
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Climate and Sustainability Group Report — March 2023
Thank you, Mary Jo Burke for sharing the Climate and Sustainability Update and to Alec Appelbaum for the update on Army Corp of Engineers Resiliency plans.
- There is a drug take-back bin located in CVS, at the corner of Grand and Willet Streets, located near the pharmacy. Use this link for information about which drugs are accepted and which are not included for takeback.
- The Lower East Side Ecology Center will have an electronic recycling takeback event in Thomkins Square Park on Sunday March 19th, from 10am – 2pm.
- Precycle is hoping to open their space in Essex Market during the week of March 20th, 2023. Keep your eyes open for their booth when you’re in the Market.
- Governor Hochul signed into law the “natural organic reduction”, or human composting, legislation. Further work will be required to regulate the activity within the state. Recompose is a company that is based in Washington State, and they currently provide human composting for anyone in the US. They work with local funeral homes to handle the death care which will facilitate transportation of the body to Recompose in Washington. Articles on the legislation from Bloomberg News, The Guardian, and SILive.
- For information on the orange compost bins in lower Manhattan, including a link to the app, FAQs and bin locations, use this link. Bins are accessible 24/7.
The Army Corps of Engineers has produced the first iteration of a multi-stage study on how to prioritize federal funds for protecting the waterfront communities of New York and New Jersey from storm surge and sea level rise. Its favored solution is fugly and impractical, relying heavily on walls. Enter you, the citizen. If you send comments to NYNJHarbor.TribStudy@usace.army.mil (deadlne extended to March 31st) and include ‘Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study” in your message, they promise to take you seriously, The civic activists at Rebuild by Design offer this “comment writing template” to make effective comments easy and replicable.
Folks should email Alec Appelbaum with questions or concerns. Thanks again and be well.
Climate and Sustainability Group Report – May 12, 2022
The Climate and Sustainability Committee has 3 action items:
- Mayor Adams suspended Curbside Compost program. The City Council introduced a bill to make it more accessible citywide. Thank Speaker Adrienne Adams for publicly supporting the bill.
- The Build Public Renewables Act passed the NYS Assembly Corporations Committee. Thank our Assemblywoman, YuhLine Niou, for being a co-sponsor.
- Join Weekly Hour of Action with Climate Change Makers
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Petition, Pizza, & an Inauguration
Primary season means it’s time to collect signatures to ensure our endorsed candidates get on the ballot! Join us for our GSD Petitioning Kick Off party on Sunday, March 5th, noon, at Saluggi’s. Speak to endorsed candidates, get a quick training and collect your petitions. Afterward, we are invited to attend Assemblymember Grace Lee’s inauguration ceremony at the Seward Park Educational Campus. RSVP info below!
At our general meeting on February 13, we endorsed Caroline Laskow and Lee Berman for reelection as District Leaders. Prior, we endorsed Council Member Christopher Marte for reelection. All three will join our slate of county committee members, judicial delegates and alternate judicial delegates on our petitions. Pizza on us!
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After Multi-Club Forum, Marte Wins
Last night, GSD hosted a forum on Zoom with our sister club, Downtown Independent Democrats, for City Council District 1 endorsement. Each candidate gave a 5 minute opening statement followed by 15 minutes of questions. After the forum, GSD discussed and at 9pm online voting was closed. Council Member Christopher Marte won GSD’s endorsement. GSD previously endorsed CM Marte in 2018 & 2020 for State Committee and for City Council in 2021.
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City Council Forum & Endorsement Vote Jan. 23
During our scheduled monthly meeting on January 23, we will hold a forum with the candidates for City Council District 1, including incumbent Christopher Marte. The meeting is scheduled to take place over Zoom due to the spike in Covid. Our vote for the endorsement of our City Council candidate will happen directly after the forum on Jan 23–look out for an invitation to vote via OpaVote.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87990705426?pwd=QlgwMWVDTWFxRVhVVm91OUQ3Vm9YQT09#success
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GSD Celebrates the Community in a Parade
GSD marched in the annual event on Three Kings Day for the children of Loisaida, the Lower East Side and the East Village. Each year the festivities begin with a parade through the streets of Loisaida with a marching band. Local residents, organizations, and small businesses join along the route which delivers everyone to St. Mark’s Church On The Bowery. There a live camel greets the parade and a large gathering of children from the neighborhood, including students from Henry Street Settlement, one of the main sponsors. As children pose for photos with the camel, they receive small hand crafted figurines of the nativity. At 4:20 we begin the performance of Angie Hernandez’s Gifts Of The Magi which tells the story of the Three Kings using Puerto Rican music and dance, bringing this story home to the children from the neighborhood. After the show children receive wrapped gifts from cast members.
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January Welcome Wednesday Postponed
Please note that our January 11th Welcome Wednesday is postponed due to the current covid surge. We will resume on February 8th at Manousheh.
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Council Member Christopher Marte Reelection Party
Since GSD’s formation, the club has always promoted events hosted or organized by members for candidates before the club endorses. Sometimes those candidates go on to win, sometimes they don’t. The first event hosted by GSD members for the upcoming June primary is for Council Member Christopher Marte. CM Marte is up for reelection after only two years due to redistricting. GSD previously endorsed him for City Council last year and for State Committee in 2018 and 2020. Please join GSD members and CM Marte on December 19 at 6pm at LES Enfants de Boheme (177 Henry Street). RSVP to justin@votemarte.com. To donate to the Marte campaign, visit: https://contribute.nycvotes.org/campaigns/christophermarte/contributions/new -
Go Warnock, Thank You Eileen, Join Toy Drive
We were overjoyed at the news that Senator Raphael Warnock won his runoff in Georgia this Tuesday.Thank you to all who helped to GOTV for Georgia. Special thanks to GSD member Eileen Garvey for getting people involved in writing letters with Vote Forward. If any members want to spearhead projects for the club, we welcome your ideas and participation!
Last week we mentioned holiday events that members can contribute to or participate in. One such event is the annual Toy Drive organized by Councilmember Chris Marte and his brother, Coss Marte. Last year, Councilmember Chris Marte, Coss Marte and several other businesses in the LES (Loisaida Realty, LESCC, LESsba SET LES, Scars Pizza, Stop 1 Bodega on Suffolk, Joey Bats, Lower Beast Side & Mikey Likes It Ice Cream), raised funds to provide gifts to kids who are living below the poverty line in homeless shelters around the area. They’re seeking to raise $5k to purchase, wrap, and deliver toys to 100+ kidsPlease see below for details and how to contribute.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-our-annual-toy-drive
Join us for our next Welcome Wednesday on December 14, 2022 from 6-7:30pm at El Castillo de Jagua 2 at 521 Grand St. Small bites and good company will be provided. There is a Community Council meeting directly following at the 7th precinct.
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Organize for Climate
Sarah Richardson held a zoom meeting on November 13th with people who expressed an interest in working on projects relating to climate and sustainability. Current projects will include outreach to neighborhood businesses to encourage the use of reusable containers, connecting with a state-wide campaign about funding the environmental justice and decarbonization goals set out in New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), and supporting efforts in renewable energy, including locally. Regarding, city-wide curbside composting, at this time, the city is only offering this program in Queens. Use this link to find your closest drop-off site and information about which materials are accepted.
At the November meeting, Mary Jo Burke talked about the Purple Air monitors that LES Breathe, a division of East River Park Action, has installed in our neighborhood, the East Village and in Williamsburg. Use this link to find out more information about LES Breathe and the sensors. Use the dropdown menu of the “Breathe” header to find more information. Here is a link to the Purple Air map to see air quality readings in our neighborhood and around the world.
As part of the 2019 Climate Act, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is conducting a yearlong air quality study, as part of its efforts to reduce air pollution. The air quality is being tested in (10) disadvantaged communities around the state, including portions of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. The Lower East Side is one of the areas being studied. The monitoring is being conducted by driving hybrid vehicles around the study areas at random times, every 2 weeks or so. Analysis of the data will be available to the public after the study is completed. The first quarterly update meeting for Manhattan was held on December 6th via zoom. Click here for recording. To find more information about the program, including a map showing the areas within Manhattan that are being studied, use this link.