Mayoral wannabes make the rounds

From left, Fernando Ferrer, C. Virginia Fields and Gifford Miller at mayoral candidates’ forum at F.I.T. on Monday night.

The Democratic mayoral candidates shuttled between two local forums Monday night. At the first, at New York University, co-sponsored by Young Manhattan Democrats, N.Y.U. Law Democrats and Village Reform Democratic Club, the mayoral hopefuls took tough stances on N.Y.U.’s growth. According to Washington Square News, N.Y.U.’s student newspaper, Fernando Ferrer said, “I don’t think it’s right to steamroller communities” and said he opposed the demolition of the Edgar Allan Poe House on W. Third St. for N.Y.U.’s new Law Building. Universities “can’t overwhelm the communities they’re in,” said Gifford Miller. “[We can’t] sacrifice the fundamental nature of Greenwich Village,” said Anthony Weiner. Fields, according to W.S.N., advocated that universities offer “community benefit packages” to residents affected by expansion. At the second forum, at Fashion Institute of Technology, attended by 800 people and co-sponsored by the Coalition for the Homeless, Metropolitan Council on Housing and New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, the candidates addressed affordable and supportive housing, rent regulation and homelessness. They were joined by Steve Shaw, a Republican candidate. Mayor Bloomberg and Thomas Ognibene, two other Republican candidates, did not attend.