Not-so-special election? With seemingly each passing week seeing yet another candidate announce interest in the 65th Assembly District seat, now we’re suddenly hearing there might not even be a special election on April 19. Governor Andrew Cuomo had said he was considering calling a special election for that date to fill former Speaker Shelly Silver’s empty seat. Cuomo had said it would save money to hold special elections — including one for the now-vacant seat until lately held by another Preet Bharara victim, former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos — to coincide with the New York presidential primary. However, Zack Fink, who we’re told is a Battery Park City resident, writing last week on the State of Politics blog, reports that because there are separate computer programs for local and national elections, it would actually overwhelm the New York City Board of Elections to hold all the elections on that day. The special election could be pushed back to June, Fink said he’s hearing, in which case, the 200 members of the local Democratic County Committee — a.k.a. “party insiders” — would pick the nominee; or there might not be a “special” at all, and everyone could run in September in the regularly scheduled Democratic primary in a free-for-all. That last scenario would mean that the 65th A.D. would not have any representation for about a year. One candidate, Yuh-Line Niou, was quick to put out a statement, urging Cuomo to stick to his original plan. “The residents of my community deserve a voice standing up for them in Albany in this crucial legislative session,” she said. “The 65th Assembly District has an overwhelming majority of Asian, Latino and African-American voters with unique needs that deserve to be represented as critical decisions are made on affordable housing, the minimum wage, our education system and funding for senior centers. There is no valid excuse for a delay. While the process for picking a candidate may be arcane, we cannot afford to wait any longer. After nearly two months without representation, I encourage Governor Cuomo to act swiftly in calling a special election for April 19 or sooner.” We asked all the other candidates — Paul Newell, Jenifer Rajkumar, John Bal and Don B. Lee — for their thoughts on the matter, but only Newell responded by press time. “I can’t really comment on rumors,” Newell told us. “The governor has said his plans, and I’m sure he will inform people if he changes them. For now, I’m focused on talking to our neighbors, and trying to build a different kind of leadership for Lower Manhattan.” In a follow-up question, we asked if it makes any difference to him whether or not there is a special election in April or if the district has to wait until September to get representation. “Surely it makes a difference — to me and to Lower Manhattan,” he answered. “But I’m not gonna comment on rumors.” At least he responded, though!
Village boy: Former Councilmember Alan Gerson was at the Three Kings Day party last week where District Leader Alice Cancel announced she, too, is in the running for the 65th Assembly District seat left open after Silver was convicted in federal court on two pay-to-play schemes. Gerson told us he had been asked by numerous people if he was running for the Lower Manhattan seat. But he said he doesn’t live in the district — and doesn’t want to give up his apartment at 505 LaGuardia Place. We don’t blame him for not wanting to leave the beautiful I.M.-Pei designed Modernist building, which was landmarked, along with its two sister Silver Towers buildings and their central “Portrait of Sylvette” Picasso sculpture, in 2008. Plus, it’s a Mitchell-Lama building, meaning the rent is affordable.
Correction in sha Allah: Last week’s article on the interfaith service at the East Village’s Madina Masjid should have said that the service was led by Imam Achmed Abu Sufian, who is the E. 11th St. mosque’s imam. As the article reported, the mosque’s Muhammad Shahidullah also spoke at length during the event.
