UPCOMING EVENTS ON 8thSTREET February 21 - 27, 2013
Meadows enters the Council field Continued from page 1 and is currently represented by openly lesbian Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who faces term limits and is running for mayor. The other candidates in the race include Corey Johnson, chairperson of Community Board 4, and activist and civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland. Meadows, 36, has lived in the district for seven years, two of those in Hell’s Kitchen and the last five in the Village. A first-generation, openly gay Cuban American, he grew up in Florida. He’s forthright about having been raised in a dysfunctional family environment with an abusive father, and about having to overcome hardship. “He’s held guns to our heads — he’s threatened out lives,” he said of his father’s tormenting him and his family members. When his mother finally divorced her husband, the family found themselves struggling to get by on food stamps. Meadows volunteered on Quinn’s reelection campaign in 2009. Prior to that his main political experience was running for student council at his Florida high school, a race he won. He was also a student senator at the University of Florida. Diabetes runs on both sides of his family — his father died of the disease at age 53 — which compelled Meadows to enter the healthcare field, specializing in the disease. But he lost his job in the economic downturn a few years ago, which is how he wound up volunteering with Quinn. Now he is in estate management, overseeing a handful of real estate holdings. Given his family background, health is an important campaign issue for him. Others include education and school safety; caring for seniors; improving public transportation; preserving and expanding affordable housing; fighting for civil rights — especially for the transgender community; and also ensuring quality, accessible healthcare. “The closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital was a tragic loss for our entire district,” he said. An animal lover, he said, if elected, he would work to ban the use of horsedrawn carriages in the city. “And we should not allow residential development on Pier 40 or in any public parks,” he added. Meadows is a member of several local political clubs, including Village Independent Democrats — in which he is corresponding secretary, making him a member of the club’s executive committee — and Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, on which he’s also an executive committee member, as well as Stonewall Democrats and Chelsea Reform Democratic Club.
NLE CURATORIAL LAB EXHIBITION
“GATHERING PLACE”
February 22nd–March 23rd, 2013 Opening Reception Feb 22nd, 7-9pm Weekly Exhibition Hours, Fri-Mon 1-7pm
Alexander Meadows is running for City Council.
Some C.B. 2 members, however, have sniffed that Meadows “isn’t a serious candidate,” mainly because he’s newer to the local political scene and doesn’t have as extensive a network of supporters as Kurland or Johnson. Meadows claims to have already raised $100,000 when public matching funds are factored in, though he still has a way to go to catch up to the other two candidates. Yet, Sean Sweeney, a leader of the Downtown Independent Democrats club and a fellow C.B. 2 member, said not to count Meadows out, though he’ll face a challenge against two strong candidates. “Alexander’s a rising star on the community board and the local political scene,” Sweeney said. “He works well with people and applies himself. However, Corey and Yetta have laid a strong foundation over the past couple years and Alexander will have to work hard to catch up.” Meanwhile, fiery preservationist Andrew Berman still hasn’t announced if he’s decided to enter the race or not. Another candidate who has been thinking about running also didn’t respond by press time as to whether he’s made up his mind. In other campaign doings, Kurland, courting the animal lovers’ vote, recently launched a “Kittens for Yetta” Facebook page.
24 West 8th Street (btw 5th/6th Aves) WINTER BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENT
2012“STATE OF THE VILLAGE” REAL ESTATE RECAP Wednesday, February 27th 6:00–7:30pm Capital One Bank 21 University Pl (@E8th St) RSVP required to (212) 777-2173 EXPLORE OVER 400 UNIQUE SHOPS & RESTAURANTS AT VILLAGEALLIANCE.ORG Find us on Facebook & Twitter @villagealliance
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