Johnson's Top 3 list, p. 8
Volume 83, Number 18 $1.00
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Hudson Square, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933
October 3 - 9, 2013
James wins bitter, and costly, runoff for public advocate By GerArd FLynn Signaling what may be the beginning of a left-leaning trend in city government, Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia “Tish” James easily defeated state Senator Daniel Squadron in the Democratic runoff election for public advocate Tuesday night. In a bitterly fought campaign, James took close to 60 percent of the vote. With no Republican opposing her in the November election, she is expected to be the first
woman of color to hold citywide office, and will take over the position from mayoral candidate and close friend Bill de Blasio. On Tuesday evening, a tearful James thanked her supporters and promised as public advocate to be a strong voice for the city’s underserved. She also used her acceptance speech to criticize congressional Republicans, as well as the New York Police
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Green candidate’s seed of an idea: Wall St. ‘fair tax’ Photo by Tequila Minsky
From left, Sarah Neilson, Gwen Evans, Veronica Bulgari, Betsey Ely and Justine Leguizamo in Washington Square Park.
Conservancy wants to help the park, not run it, they say By LincoLn Anderson They have their Twitter account up and they’re tweeting. Their Web site went live two weeks ago. This past summer, they hired a playground associate to improve kids’ playtime. But they need more volunteers, and they’re also pushing for a late-night trash pickup. “I’d love to buy a power washer for the benches — and a Zamboni for the pavings,” Betsey Ely interjected, as her
colleagues broke up in laughter. “The park workers would love that.” While a Zamboni is a familiar sight smoothing down the ice at Rangers hockey games — who knows? — maybe someday one of the massive machines really will be polishing the park’s pavement to a pristine sheen. The steering committee members of the fledgling Washington Square Conservancy gathered at Cafe Nadery on W. Eighth St. last week to give The
Villager an update on what they’ve been up to for the past four months. Along with Ely, the group’s chairperson, they included Veronica Bulgari, a member of the famed luxury-goods family; Gwen Evans; and Justine Leguizamo, wife of actor John Leguizamo. The conservancy was approved by Community Board 2 at the board’s June meeting. Before the vote, there was copious testimony from the public both for
By HeATHer duBin With no Green Party candidate in sight for the City Council District 2 race, Miles Budde decided to step up to the plate. A few months ago, a friend of Budde’s told him the Green Party was looking for a candidate to run in the East Side district. Budde agreed to help with the search, and said if they could not find anyone, he would take it a little further and be the candidate — and the offer stuck.
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5 15 C A N A L STREET • N YC 10 013 • C OPYRIG HT © 2013 N YC COMMU NITY M ED IA , LLC
During an interview this week at Ost Cafe in the East Village, the 23-year-old spoke about the Green Party, and what he would do if elected. Budde’s opponent in the November general election is City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who has represented the district — which includes the East Village, part of the Lower East Side, Union Square, Gramercy, Kips Bay
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ediToRial, leTTeRs PAGE 12
aT no loss FoR WoRds PAGE 17