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.”

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 Endorsements
SCOTT STRINGER for Mayor (endorsement updated 5/10/21)
JUMAANE WILLIAMS for Public Advocate
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.

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.