BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | The kickoff for Terri Cude’s district leader campaign brought about 50 backers to Panchito’s Mexican restaurant on MacDougal St. on July 27, in what Cude and her allies hailed as an impressively strong and broad show of community support.
Cude is running in the 66th Assembly District, Part B, which extends from the South Village down to Battery Park City, versus incumbent Jean Grillo. Cude’s running mate is Dennis Gault, who is challenging another incumbent, John Scott, for Part B male district leader. District leader, which is unsalaried, is the lowest-level party position, with the main duty of turning voters out to the polls at election time.
The Friends of Terri Cude event attendees each paid from $75 up to $250 to fund a campaign for “new and dynamic energy and representation in the district.”
Jenifer Rajkumar and Paul Newell, the district leaders from the neighboring 65th Assembly District, Part C, were on the host committee.
There was grassroots support from the area’s various political clubs, including Jeanne Wilcke, president of Downtown Independent Democrats; Bradford Sussman, president of Village Reform Democratic Club, and members of Village Independent Democrats.
There were even some prominent local Republicans in the house, including G.O.P. District Leader Janet Hayes along with Connie Masullo of 505 LaGuardia Place.
Also cheering on the Cude campaign were members of the Elizabeth St. Garden, LaGuardia Corner Garden, Friends of LaGuardia Place, BAMRA (Bleecker Area Merchants’ and Residents’ Association), Noho Neighborhood Association, Community Action Alliance on N.Y.U. 2031 (CAAN2031) — including Cude’s co-chairperson on that group, Marty Tessler — Sophie Gerson Healthy Youth and many neighbors from both nearby and throughout the district.
In her remarks, Cude noted she has “a big mouth” and is not afraid to use it to speak up for her community.
“There’s a history of that,” said former Councilmember Alan Gerson. He noted that the Village has a proud tradition of activist district leaders with big mouths, notably Ed Koch, who led fights against the powers that be, such as to get cars and buses out of Washington Square Park. He added that his late mother, Sophie Gerson, would be “watching” to make sure Cude and Gault take good care of the Village.
“Sophie would have approved that you use your voice to help the Village,” he said of his late mom, who was a leading member of the community school board.
Cude assured the guests that all parts of the district would get “TLC,” which, in addition to meaning “tender loving care,” also happens to be her initials.
At another point, speaking to The Villager, she offered as her motto, “A day without a backhoe — make that an N.Y.U. backhoe — is a good day in the Village.”
The community recently suffered a crushing defeat when the state’s highest court approved the university’s massive four-building South Village development plan. But Cude said the fight isn’t over.
“The developers find loopholes to build stuff. We’ve got to find loopholes to delay it or make it more appropriate for the Village,” she said of the nearly 2-million-square-foot N.Y.U. project.
Cude is a business consultant who lives on Bleecker St. Gault is a teacher for autistic students and a union leader at P.S. 19, the Asher Levy School, at First Ave. and E. 11th St., who lives in Battery Park City.
The running mates said that with Gault — a longtime Executive Committee member of Community Board 1 — in the lower half of the district, and Cude — first vice chairperson of C.B. 2, in addition to a board member and volunteer for many community groups — in the upper half, the entire district would be well covered if they win.
The district leader Part B also needs some “northern exposure,” she added, since both Grillo and Scott live in Lower Manhattan.
“I’m trying to balance this out and get some representation north of Canal St.,” she said.
“And I work hard,” she added, referring to local free events that she has led educating people on identity theft, as well as providing document shredding, children’s ID’s and kids’ bicycling classes.
It could well be a close race, Cude predicted.
“This is going to be a such a low-turnout election,” she said. “This could turn on very few votes. It’s an off-year election.”
Asked why he is running for district leader, Gault said, “The governor has been a great motivation because he’s underfunding our schools.”
Cude assured that she doesn’t have her eye on higher office.
“This isn’t a stepping stone. This is the goal,” she stated of district leader. “I never had political ambitions. I’m doing this because we need someone to hold our elected officials’ toes to the fire.”
