The local paper for the Upper East Side AN ADULT’S JOURNEY BACK INTO CHILDREN’S BOOKS
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER
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7-13 2017
8 VIE TO STEP INTO GARODNICK’S SHOES ELECTIONS Civility, substance and passion for service carry the day in an Our Town-sponsored debate for the open City Council seat in District 4 BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
Every now and then in a local political campaign, the discussion is substantive, the tone is elevated, the discourse is civil, the mood is upbeat, the candidates are reasoned and well-informed, and the dialogue is leavened with wit and good humor and even bonhomie. It is a moment to savor. It lends credence to the notion that it is indeed possible, in Barack Obama’s felicitous phrase, for opposing advocates to “disagree without being disagreeable.” And to state the obvious, that doesn’t often happen these days in city, state or federal politics. But all those qualities were in evidence during a spirited debate on August 31 featuring a crowded field of contenders vying in the hyper-competitive race for the open District 4 City Council seat being vacated by incumbent Council Member Dan Garodnick due to term limits. Hosted by the Our Town editorial board at the paper’s Chelsea office and live-streamed on Facebook, the 90-minute face-off attracted eight of the 10 hopefuls who boast backgrounds, resumes, experi-
ences and competing visions that are as diverse as the district they seek to serve. The “Garodnick seat,” as it is known in City Hall for the Democrat who was first elected in 2005, encompasses East Midtown, Times Square, Central Park South, Turtle Bay, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village and the chunk of the Upper East Side closest to Central Park. Debate participants hoping to claim the prized plum – which takes in Carnegie Hall and Bellevue Hospital, the United Nations and a swath of the Silk Stocking District — included seven Democrats who will square off in the September 12 primary, and the lone Republican who will then face the Democratic victor in the November 7 general election. They addressed the city’s soaring cost of living, its problematic transit system, rising homelessness and the burden of the commercial rent tax. They also parried questions about small business survival, affordable housing for the middle class, pedestrian safety amid a cycling culture — and the large shadow cast by the departing and still-popular Garodnick. What’s at stake in this election? Whoever the voters choose to lead City Council District 4 for the next four years will have a direct impact on the lives, security, schooling and well-being of its 108,000 citizens — and will hold the post
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Kim Moscaritolo and Adam Roberts of the Four Freedoms Democratic Club campaigning at the 86th Street station of the Second Avenue subway in a recent photo. They are running for reelection as Democratic co-district leaders for the East Side’s 76th Assembly District, Part B, which runs from 78th Street to 92nd Street and from Third Avenue to the East River. Photo: Friends of Kim
CLASH OF THE CLUBHOUSES POLITICS The tale of a hyper-local campaign in which two East Side Democratic political clubs vie in a battle for the post of district leader BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
There is a story they like to tell at the Lenox Hill Democratic Club, a little ruefully but with affection and good cheer, that speaks volumes about the political life of the Upper East Side. It is a story about the rain. Longtime incumbent Democratic district leader Pauline Dana-Bashian was running for reelection in 2015. She had the backing of her venerable club, which has been electing politicians in the Silk Stocking district since 1956.
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Her opponent for the district leader post was Kim Moscaritolo, former president of the newly minted Four Freedoms Democratic Club. Founded in 2014, the upstart has proved itself a potent political force ever since. It is never easy to topple an incumbent. But come Election Day, it rained in the morning, drizzled midday, poured in the evening — and that might have made all the difference in Moscaritolo’s upset triumph. Rainfall as kingmaker? Actually, yes. “I lost because of the rain,” DanaBashian says matter-of-factly. “My voters were older. She had younger people. A lot of my supporters were on walkers or canes and couldn’t get out that day.” No surprise: A record 1.58-inch rainfall was recorded in Central Park on September 10, 2015, according to the Weather Underground — with most of
the downpour coming as Democratic Party primary voters selected their district leaders for the East Side’s 76th Assembly District. Meanwhile, Four Freedoms, which has tended to draw support from a younger demographic, was more successful in delivering its voters to the polls, helping to boost Moscaritolo comfortably over the top. Now 39 years old, the East 91st Street resident defeated Dana-Bashian, now 76, by a 480-to-316 margin out of a total of 802 votes cast.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, September 8 - 6:58 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
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