Take Back the House

Sunday, January 14th-Canvas for Tom Suozzi. The special election for NY Congressional District 3 is February 13th. Democrats elected Tom Suozzi to run for the seat vacated after George Santos was ousted from Congress. Democrats must take back the House seats in NY! GSD is proud to join this impressive list of folks in co-sponsoring  Manhattan For Suozzi, as we bus out to Bayside and knock on doors to Get Out The Vote for Tom Suozzi!! Click here to RSVP

GSD Party Rocks the Lower East Side

This past Tuesday, GSD threw its annaul fall party. The bar was packed with members, district leaders, and judical candidates. All the pizza was eaten! Thank you to every local elected offical for sponsoring (CM Marte, Rep. Goldman, State Senator Kavanagh, Assemlymembers Lee and Epstein, District Leaders Laskow and Fariello, and State Committee Member Minsely). We were thrilled to present awards to amazing community leaders Debbie Cox, Don Hong and Eric Diaz. We look forward to another party in the near future.

Grand Street Dems’ Annual Fall Party

Join us at Donnybrook NYC on Tuesday, October 17th. We will gather together for drinks, food and good conversation and to honor local activists. Tickets for non-GSD members and/or for sponsorship opportunities: purchase here.

Thank you to our sponsors:

  • State Senator Brian Kavanagh – Sustaining Sponsor
  • Assemblymember Grace Lee – Sustaining Sponsor
  • Councilmember Christopher Marte
  • Assemblymember Harvey Epstein
  • Congressmember Dan Goldman
  • Scott Stringer
  • District Leader Caroline Laskow
  • District Leader Vittoria Fariello
  • State Committee Member Morton Minsley

TICKETS FOR CURRENT MEMBERS: GSD membership has been renewed every two years since 2017. This October marks the renewal date. Membership is still $60 for two years (or “no pay” option for those who need). This year instead of a free t-shirt included, we are offering a free ticket (& drink) to the GSD Party on October 17. Renew membership here.

Elevators for All

Join us one week from today for our September General Meeting on Thursday, September 28th, 7-9pm, in-person at the Seward Park Community Room on East Broadway. We plan to livestream the meeting on Facebook Live. We preemptively appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the technology!  On the agenda is a vote on a “Resolution for Making the Essex-Delancey Subway Station Fully ADA-Accessible”.

Currently, the Essex-Delancey the subway station is not at all elevator accessible. The closest elevator accessible subway stations to our neighborhood are:

  • The L Train at First Avenue and 14th Street;
  • The Broadway-Lafayette Station (B, D, F, M, 6)
  • Canal Street (6 train only)
    All of these are far from the Lower East Side / Two Bridges neighborhood.

We need to back up the politicians’ letter with more community support, partially to keep
the elected officials convinced this is an important community issue. We also want to bring in Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to our effort. We need to talk it up as much as possible in the community. Resolution:
1) The executive committee of the Grand Street Dems supports the community’s demand that the Essex-Delancey Subway Station be made fully ADA- accessible in the next immediate round of subway station modifications.
2) We request that our elected officials bring their influence and authority to bear on the MTA, the DoT, and the management team of Essex Crossing to include plans for an elevator-accessible station in the upcoming re-design of the neighborhood transportation and traffic infrastructure;
3) We request Community Board 3 bring its influence and authority to bear on the MTA, the DoT, and the management team of Essex Crossing to include plans for an elevator-accessible station in the upcoming re-design of the neighborhood transportation and traffic infrastructure.

Join GSD at the Why Not Care LES United Festival

The annual Why Not Care Lower East Side Festival will take place August 27th. The festival is geared towards providing the community with schools supplies, program information and access to free resources throughout the Lower East Side, East Village and city of New York. So far they have given out over 12,000+ book bags in 5 years. With your help we can keep bringing these much needed resources into the community and help keep our youth stay equipped and ready to take on the world. GSD will be providing 168 book bags to children, including migrants. GSD will also be handing out the bags and we encourage members to volunteer.

COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER FOR GRACE LEE

Assemblymember Grace Lee is coming off of a very productive first legislative session, passing bills related to environmental conservation, justice reform, support for our Asian American community, healthcare, reproductive healthcare, community safety, and more!

We are pleased and excited to share a community event in support of Assemblymember Lee taking place on Thursday, August 3rd, 6-8pm, at the Paul Taylor Dance Studio right here on Grand Street. The event was initially postponed, and we are thrilled that it is finally here. Please RSVP here or on the invitation below to RSVP and secure your tickets today!  Can’t make it? Please make a contribution to Grace Lee for New York here.

Thanks to New York’s Matching Funds Program, your contribution, at all levels, goes a long way (see below)!

Marte Mandate Sweeps Across Part A

This past Tuesday, June 27, Council Member Christopher Marte won re-election by an impressive margin with almost 65% of the vote. CM Marte explained “It’s been a really long day, a really long two weeks but I’m happy to get across the finish line and have so much support from the community,” Marte said from his victory celebration Tuesday night at Lee’s on Canal, “It feels like it’s a mandate to continue to advocate, to do the work that we’ve been doing for these 16 months and so it feels great.”  Marte called this victory “sweeter, because it was based on a track record.”

In our neighborhood, CM Marte won the election districts in Part A with 65% of the vote. Overall, Part A accounted for about 20% of the total vote across the district. GSD attended the victory party and Marte expressed gratitude to the club for all their hard work and support. GSD is looking forward to continuing working with the Council Member!

Vote Early Conveniently

Early voting will take place at JHS 56, 220 Henry Street, New York, NY 10002. The entrance is Madison Street Playground – Top of The Ramp and the accessible entrance is Montgomery Street (NYC Center for Aerospace). Lines should be short.

Dangerous Turf

On May 30, AM Grace Lee joined Grand Street Democrats, local residents and activists to tour East River Park and discuss it’s synthetic turf fields and the dangers they pose to our local environment. The tour focused on the playing fields at Pier 42 and Corlears Hook. It’s blowing into the East River, potentially harming wildlife, gets hot in summer, off-gasses, traps bacteria, etc. NYC needs less, not more astroturf!