PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
At the District 2 candidates debate, from left, Ronnie Cho, Carlina Rivera, Jasmin Sanchez, Mar y Silver and Jorge Vasquez.
District 2 candidates make their case DISTRICT2 continued from p. 1
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dez’s legislative director and has the overwhelming support of local politicians; education advocate Mary Silver; Lower East Side activists Jasmin Sanchez and Jorge Vasquez; and Ronnie Cho, who was President Obama’s director of Millennial Outreach. Rivera appeared to have the most support at the event, as well, judging by the many people in the audience wearing her white campaign T-shirts, including her husband, Jamie Rogers, chairperson of the East Village’s Community Board 3. Vasquez, however, had one particularly vocal supporter — his mom — who cheered him on throughout the two-hour event. The event was co-moderated by Lincoln Anderson, editor of The Villager, and Paul Schindler, editor of Gay City News, a sister paper of The Villager. Candidates were asked their position on the Right to Know Act — a package of bills that would require police to identify themselves and explain their interaction with people during nonemergency encounters. They all endorsed the bills. They were also asked what they think the solution is to the two decades-long stalemate over the old P.S. 64, the former CHARAS / El Bohio community and cultural center, at E. Ninth St. near Avenue B. Rivera said she would be the best one to bring all parties, including building owner Gregg Singer, to the table to reach an agreement. Mendez has said that the way the community could get the building back would be through eminent domain; though the city would have to pay fair market
value — possibly $40 million — for it, and would have to put forward a viable use. “I thought Bloomberg would do that — that was kind of his thing,” Rivera reflected. “I’m going to sit across the table with this individual, so that we can truly find a community use” for the building, she said of Singer. Sanchez noted there are several old bathhouses in the district on public-housing grounds that are also sitting abandoned and that should be renovated. She blamed Mendez for not funding the renovation of the bathhouse at the Baruch Houses — where Sanchez grew up and lives — and that today “there’s a tree growing out of it.” For some reason, Vasquez, who is an attorney, said the city, at some point, had missed a chance to purchase the building for $120,000 — though it was unclear where he got that extremely low figure. The building was purchased by Singer at a city auction for $3.2 million in 1998. Silver said it was time to revitalize the vacant former school building, which she derided as a “tomb.” “It’s insane that that building has been paralyzed for 20 years,” Silver said. Sanchez, calling herself the “youth development candidate,” several times touted her work on behalf of young people. On the other hand, Silver, who is the oldest candidate in the race, a couple of times stressed that programs also have to consider the needs of seniors. She received a law degree from New York University School of Law and raised three daughters in the district, all of whom attended public
schools. Silver also advocated for the creation of the new River School in Murray Hill. “I’ve been working in the district 25 years,” she said. She said she was urged to run by the district’s principals and teachers. Cho said he represents “a new generation of leadership.” As opposed to the other candidates, he doesn’t have a long history here, having lived in the East Village for only about four years. Yet, one audience member from Gramercy, afterward said she liked how Cho “thinks outside the box.” Rivera spoke of her neighborhood roots. “This is where I learned to ride my bike, where I won basketball championships, where I fell in love, and where I have served,” Rivera said, noting she is a former Community Board 3 member. “I am someone who has spent my life building relationships and working in a collaborative way.” Rivera noted that the district – which stretches from the Lower East Side public-housing developments up to the E. 30s — has tony areas, like Gramercy, mixed with “pockets of poverty.” “I know this district corner to corner,” she said. “This is my home.” “I’m a proud product of District 2,” Vasquez said. “Min is a pure grassroots campaign,” he said, “We don’t own no one any favors.” Another question asked what the candidates think of Mayor Bill de Blasio, since the winner would have to work with him. “I give de Blasio some credit on the education issue,” Silver said, notDISTRICT2 continued on p. 21 August 31, 2017
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