Game of Bleecker: If anyone needed further convincing that last Saturday’s Bleecker St. Art and Commerce Festival was the place to be, fans of “Game of Thrones” might have recognized that actor Kit Harrington was among the crowd checking out the many tables of arts and crafts. On the show, Harrington plays Jon Snow, whose chilling family motto is “Winter is coming.” For most of the day, though, it was just the opposite, sunny and beautiful. But by late afternoon, thunderstorm, not winter, was coming.
It’s a race! Chairperson Gigi Li told us she’s running unopposed for re-election to a fourth one-year term as chairperson of Community Board 3 this month. So The Villager doesn’t have to worry about endorsing in that one, she quipped to us. But this week she announced that she is running for Democratic district leader for the 65th Assembly District, Part C, challenging incumbent Jenifer Rajkumar. This particular Assembly part is very gerrymandered, with a large chunk of it down in Lower Manhattan and Battery Park City and the rest in part of the Lower East Side, with a bit in the East Village. “I’m proud and excited to be running for Democratic district leader, because I know that together we can make incredible strides and get the real results our community needs,” Li said in a statement. “In the coming weeks I’ll be speaking directly with residents across the district about my plan to take on challenges like preserving affordability, tackling the school overcrowding crisis and protecting the authentic, historic character of our neighborhoods. This September, voters in Lower Manhattan will have an important decision to make about who they think can truly get the job done on the issues that matter — and I’m looking forward to it.” In 2012, Li became the first Asian-American in New York City to be elected a community board chairperson.
No question, though, she will have her hands full against Rajkumar. Last month, Rajkumar was glowingly endorsed for re-election by a phalanx of elected officials, including Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Public Advocate Letitia James and Assemblymember Keith Wright, the Manhattan Democratic Party leader. In a statement this week, Rakumar said, “For the past four years, I have devoted my energy and emotion to fighting for tenants, families and small businesses in our district. As our district leader, I am excited to continue and expand upon the important work we have done and the great progress we have achieved. Ms. Li does not live in our district and has no connection to or record in our community whatsoever. She and our community would be far better served if she would pursue her ambitions in the Chinatown district in which she actually lives and in which elected office presumably is offered. I encourage her to do just that.” In fact, Li lives in one of the other three Assembly parts in the district. Sean Sweeney, a leading member of Downtown Independent Democrats, said he checked with all the local party leaders and has come to the conclusion that Councilmember Margaret Chin, if she didn’t outright encourage Li to run, is strongly supporting her campaign. Sweeney feels this is “payback” for Rajkumar having challenged Chin two years ago in the Democratic primary race for City Council. However, an incensed Sweeney said Chin refused to meet with him so that he could personally lobby her to persuade Li not to run. Although district leader is the lowest political office, with no salary and one main responsibility of making sure voters go to the polls, this race seemingly will hold extra significance. Word on the street, we’re told, is that Shelly Silver won’t be seeking re-election next year, which will open up his Assembly position. Names that have been mentioned as potential candidates for the former powerful Assembly speaker’s seat are Rajkumar, Li and District Leader Paul Newell. Is Li perhaps running just to raise her name recognition or is she in it to win it? If she gets trounced in the district leader race, Sweeney said, it’s not exactly going to help her future political aspirations. Plus, the part includes a section of Hell Square, Sweeney noted, and Li banned the LES Dwellers from participating in C.B. 3 meetings two years ago. Does she really expect to get any votes there? he scoffed. But one wonders perhaps doth Sweeney protest too much? Is he afraid Li might actually win? We asked Li why she isn’t running for the Assembly part in which she lives, meaning she would challenge District Leader Jenny Lo, but she didn’t respond. A spokesperson for Councilmember Chin also did not respond to our queries as to whether Chin is, in fact, trying to be the “queen maker” behind Li’s candidacy. “Chin will deny that she is behind this, but I know from the highest levels that she is behind this,” Sweeney asserted. As for C.B. 3, we asked Chad Marlow why he’s not running for chairperson again, after having given Li a spirited challenge last year. The Villager endorsed him in that race. He said he’s just feeling like the deck is stacked against him. “The politics of Board 3 are not unlike the election of FIFA,” he said. “No matter how bad things were going at FIFA, based on the internal politics of FIFA, that guy was going to be re-elected.” … In other district leader races, Terri Cude is challenging incumbent Jean Grillo and Dennis Gault is opposing John Scott. D.I.D. has endorsed both Cude and Gault in what is a further playing-out of a split in Downtown politics that saw a dissident faction break off from D.I.D. and form Downtown Progressive Democrats two years ago after D.I.D. endorsed Rajkumar for election over Chin.
Play ball! Congrats to the baseball team from East Side Community High School, which faced off against High School of American Studies at Lehman College Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the PSAL AA Championship game. As of press time, we still didn’t know how the East Village squad had fared, but we will have a report and photos in next week’s issue.
