Giuliani for Trump: At Republican candidate Lester Chang’s Assembly campaign fundraiser in Chinatown, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was asked if he would endorse Donald Trump over Ted Cruz. He has previously said he prefers Trump because he feels the businessman-turned-candidate is more “practical.” On Monday, he didn’t back away from that, saying, “If the primary was between him and Cruz, I would back him” — “him” obviously meaning Trump. We asked Giuliani who he would support in a potential Trump-vs.-Hillary Clinton match-up. “What’s your name?” he asked us, and we told him. “I would support you over Hillary!” he told us with a grin. He hasn’t endorsed Trump yet, though, he said, but is trying to figure out the right time and place to do.
Cohen on prez follies: Of course, in interviewing radical attorney Stanley Cohen for last week’s issue, East Village journo Sarah Ferguson couldn’t resist asking him about his prognosis for the current wild presidential election. Cohen on Donald Trump: “It’s funny that the one area that Trump has the least support is New York City, because we know Trump. He’s a f—ing ugly, ignorant, racist wing nut.” On Bernie Sanders: “The f—ing guy was mayor of Burlington, Vermont. That’s his background. Look at the guy’s record on people of color — he talks s—. He did not oppose federal sentencing guidelines and Safe Streets Act funding, which have been the main cause for the incarceration of millions of largely people of color. Go back 10 years. His record is terrible on these issues. I call him Mao Tse Sanders.” On Hillary Clinton: “The one thing I like about Clinton: There’s no pretext to her as a corporate thief. I think Clinton will end up winning, and we’ll be miserable as dogs and go further down the road of hell, and that will be life.”… And, well, that’s the way it f—ing is!
Forum is forming: The candidates forum for the 65th Assembly District that The Villager is co-sponsoring with the League of Women Voters on Thurs., March 31, is looking good. So far, three of the four candidates have confirmed they will attend, Alice Cancel, Yuh-Line Niou and Dennis Levy. Lester Chang’s campaign says he can’t make it because he has two previously scheduled fundraisers that night, but we’re hoping he will be able to come by for at least part of the time. The forum — at which the public will be able to hear the candidates’ positions on the issues — will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lower Manhattan Alliance business improvement district’s new LMHQ space, at 150 Broadway, 20th floor.
Front-runner feels the heat: With the special election to fill the vacant 65th Assembly District seat just three weeks away, presumed front-runner Alice Cancel, the Democratic nominee, is being dogged by rumblings that she is just “not out there,” that no one is seeing her campaigning at events or seeking endorsements around the Lower Manhattan district. On Monday, the New York Post ran an article, headlined “Democrat running to replace Silver seems to be in hiding.” As the article reported, “The Democratic candidate for convicted crook Sheldon Silver’s former Assembly seat has been so invisible in the Lower Manhattan district that observers and critics are wondering if she’s in the political equivalent of the witness-protection program.” Indeed, local politicos had been telling us similar things. As Scoopy’s Notebook reported last week, Cancel didn’t attend the recent endorsement meeting of Coalition for a District Alternative, even though its leading member, Councilmember Rosie Mendez, had personally endorsed her. Yuh-Line Niou, a Democrat who is running on the Working Families Party line in the April 19 contest, was the only candidate to show up and seek CoDA’s support. But the club ultimately decided not to endorse in the special election and instead wait for the primary election in September when the Democratic field opens up. Monica Guardiolia, president of Cancel’s political outfit, the Lower East Side Democratic Club, is working as Cancel’s treasurer, scheduler and campaign spokesperson. Asked by us for a response to the Post article, Guardiola sent a statement by Cancel, stating, “I want to state on the record that I am not in hiding. Unfortunately, I have been sick and unable to keep to the intense campaign schedule required of all candidates participating in the special election. So, simply put, I’ve been trying to balance my health needs with that of the campaign. I am working diligently, going door to door to speak to my neighbors about my qualifications and commitment to the district that I have lived in for 40 years and represented, in part, for 24 years as the Democratic district leader.” The New York Observer this week reported that Guardiola worked as Silver’s liaison to the district’s Hispanic community for the past 12 years. “I was just an employee, and I live in the community,” Guardiola told the Observer. “I was in the community, working with the community, with minorities, speaking Spanish, because that was what he had.” Meanwhile, Niou and Republican candidate Lester Chang’s campaigns have been piling on Cancel for her low profile and her support of Silver, whom Cancel has been quoted calling a “hero.” “There are huge questions being raised by her lack of campaigning and her lack of support,” Matt Rey, Niou’s spokesperson, said of Cancel. “She’s canceling interviews…no one’s seeing her out. She’s the invisible candidate because she’s the puppet candidate. We’re knocking on doors, phone-banking. We’re reaching hundreds of people per day.” Rob Ryan, Chang’s campaign manager, quipped that Cancel’s name is fitting, because she keeps “canceling” endorsement meetings. “If I had such a close association with someone who had been convicted of political corruption, I’d be trying to hide from the media, too,” Ryan said. In addition, Cancel reportedly recently backed out of an endorsement meeting at Tenants PAC, the state’s leading tenant organization, which ultimately decided to back Niou. The Post reported that it took 10 days for Michael McKee, the group’s treasurer and — as we well know — a longtime Silver critic, to track down Cancel, who then canceled the interview, citing an ankle injury. “Yuh-Line is a smart, tough progressive who will fight for tenants and for stronger rent laws, which is exactly what Downtown needs,” McKee said. “With developers displacing longtime residents and housing costs skyrocketing, tenants need Yuh-Line in the Assembly to make sure we roll back the affordable housing losses caused by Sheldon Silver’s corruption.” In accepting the tenants group’s endorsement, Niou said, “Protecting and expanding housing that’s truly affordable for working New Yorkers and seniors needs to be a top priority in Albany. Downtown is booming, but too many residents are losing their homes due to landlord harassment and unfair rent hikes. I know we can stand up to the special interests and big money to protect and expand rent-stabilized housing.” Former Councilmember Margarita Lopez is also working on Cancel’s campaign as field coordinator. We’ve also noticed that Cancel’s husband, John Quinn, the Lower East Side’s Democratic state committeeman, has been hard to reach these past weeks since Cancel was nominated by the Democratic County Committee. The garrulous, ever quote-worthy Quinn is usually more than eager to riff with us about the local political picture, but has been keeping a sort of radio silence lately, other than sending a few scattered text messages here or there in response to our questions. Told of that, Sean Sweeney, a leading member of Downtown Independent Democrats — who previously had been talking with Quinn nearly constantly about which candidate L.E.S.D.C. would back in the County Committee vote — said, “Very unlike him. Indeed. Very unlike him.” In addition, critics are pointing out that Cancel has barely raised any cash and has no Web presence. Obviously, however, being the Democratic candidate and a known quantity in the community from her years of service, she probably doesn’t feel she needs to do either — she and Quinn are sort of “old school” in that way, in a positive sense — or even campaign much, if at all, for that matter. Again, Cancel is presumably the front-runner as the Democratic nominee, so her opponents — and media outlets that want to tar her as the pro-Shelly Silver candidate — are teeing off on her. And the Republicans are hoping (fantasizing?) for a “perfect storm” — a mix of disgruntled Democratic voters angry over Silver’s corruption conviction, plus a prayed-for Donald Trump coattail effect — to help send Chang to Albany. Yet, Niou clearly wants it badly, and has raised around $140,000 compared to Cancel’s only around $3,000. Meanwhile, as Cancel cited an ankle injury for slowing her down, Niou last month reportedly was in a bad car crash on her way to pick up her mother at the airport, which left Niou with a black eye and badly injured knee. “Yuh-Line has been hobbling around with a banged-up knee,” said Virginia Kee, president emeritus of the United Democratic Organization. “Her knee is bad. She has to wear a brace. The orthopedist is not happy that she’s still walking around. They want her off her legs. She had her seat belt on, but the shoulder strap fell off. She was sleeping in the back seat. It was an Uber car. She’s strong and she’s determined.” Her spokesperson Rey said the accident happened about a month ago around the time of her Tenants PAC interview and that she has recovered.
