Rajkumar report: In case you haven’t noticed, Jenifer Rajkumar isn’t running in the First District City Council primary race. We had heard before that she had vowed never to run for Council again. More to the point, she resigned as Democratic district leader a month ago to take a job in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration. News India Times reported that Rajkumar has been appointed his director of immigration affairs and special counsel for the Department of State. It’s not considered kosher to stay a district leader when taking this kind of political position, so she gave up the seat. Rajkumar will join the governor as a “driving force” for immigration projects in the state, Mercedes Padilla, a Department of State spokesperson, told N.I.T. Rajkumar told the outlet, “One of my priorities is to make sure immigrant families are protected, especially in this climate where ICE is very active,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. District Leader Paul Newell is leading the search for a “suitable replacement” for female district leader. The Democratic State Committee members from the Assembly District’s Part C will elect the candidate in a month or so.
Chin no-show: Speaking of City Council races, the Downtown Independent Democrats held a well-attended candidates night last Wednesday. Eyebrows were definitely raised, though, when Councilmember Margaret Chin did not show up. Yet, Chin did put out a release touting her endorsement by the Lower East Side’s Truman Democrats — former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s club. As for what happened Wednesday, Paul Leonard, her communications director, said, “She had prior engagements and unfortunately could not attend the D.I.D. event.” Though it’s unlikely Chin would have picked up D.I.D.’s endorsement, the club’s Sean Sweeney said, “We would have treated her civilly.”
Whitney flap: Things have calmed down at the Whitney Museum on Gansevoort St. where Black Lives Matter activists were, at least for a while, standing in front of a painting of Emmett Till, titled “Open Casket,” to block people’s view of it. They charged the painting’s white female artist, Dana Schutz, from Brooklyn, had no right to “appropriate” the gruesome image of Till, the black 14-year-old brutally killed in 1955 by Southern racists for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The painting is part of the Whitney’s Biennial show. Museum spokesperson Sara Rubenson said, “Currently, no protests are taking place. There were only protests on March 17 and 18, more than a week ago.”
