Lower East Siders held a “victory press conference” at Columbia St. near Delancey St. last Friday to celebrate the repair of the long-neglected sidewalks outside the Masaryk Towers retail strip. Speakers included neighborhood resident and activist Samuel Vazquez, Bishop Cortez of COMPAS and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
A five-year struggle to fix the dangerously deteriorated pavement culminated in a July 2010 press conference to demand the repair of what were dubbed “the worst sidewalks on the Lower East Side.”
“We have the pleasure of announcing our total victory,” Vasquez said in a press release. “The sidewalks have been fully repaired. No more broken bones will occur. The people united will never be defeated!”
