Watch and Decide: See Which City Council Candidate Speaks to You
Candidates for City Council in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary. Photos: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
In the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Sept. 12, the voters of Lower Manhattan will choose the next person to represent them in the City Council for District 1. (The district runs from the tip of Lower Manhattan up to the Lower East Side and parts of Greenwich Village.) Below are brief videos from three candidate forums to help you decide. For additional information on the candidates go to their web sites or the New York City Campaign Finance Board Voter Guide.
In April, the candidates spoke at a forum sponsored by the Village Independent Democrats. It was the first time they appeared together. Here are excerpts from each of their presentations, with information about each candidate.
This is Chin’s sixth City Council race, having lost her first three. First elected in 2010 she won reelection in 2013. She is chair of the Council’s Committee on Aging and serves on Education, Youth Services, Rules and Transportation committees. Chin, 62, immigrated with her family from Hong Kong at age 9 and grew up in Chinatown. A graduate of City College with a degree in education, she worked with immigrants in LaGuardia Community College’s adult education division and in her job with the advocacy organization Asian Americans for Equality, which she helped found.
In the Voter’s Guide published by the New York City Campaign Finance Board she lists her three top priorities: 1. Create and preserve affordable housing 2. Fight for our seniors 3. Improve residents’ quality of life.
Foldenauer, 41, is a native Virginian who lives in the Financial District. He came to New York City 12 years ago after graduating from the University of Virginia Law School and, according to his web site, he has “worked on leading business disputes and intellectual property lawsuits before government regulators and courts across the United States.” He said he has put his legal career “on hold” to run for City Council full time. In the New York City Campaign Finance Board Voter Guide he lists his three top priorities: 1. Preserve our historic, affordable neighborhoods 2. Prevent displacement of small businesses 3. Protect the environment.
A lifelong resident of the Lower East Side, Imperiale is an artist, filmmaker and former tenants association president and activist who counts as her major accomplishment, in 2010, the negotiation “along with city, state, federal agencies and landlord to secure forty years of affordability until 2050” for 600 families in her building on Grand Street. She attended “some college in fashion design.” In the New York City Campaign Finance Board Voter Guide she lists her three top priorities: 1. Stop predatory development 2. Stop overdevelopment 3. Preserve our historical neighborhoods.
The son of Dominican immigrants, Marte grew up on the Lower East Side and holds a B.A. from Long Island University. He has worked as an intern in the Brooklyn district attorney’s office and as an investment analyst for a banking firm and for IBM. Marte says he has a special interest in prison reform because his brother had been incarcerated. He served as a consultant with an organization, started with his brother, called Conbody, which helps ex-convicts become certified personal fitness trainers. In the New York City Campaign Finance Board Voter Guide he lists his three top priorities: 1. Community-based land use policy 2. Participatory budgeting and transparency 3. Waterfront resiliency.
In May, at P.S. 234 in Tribeca, the Tribeca Trust sponsored a candidate forum. Here are excerpts from that event.
The candidates appeared together at their last forum on Sept. 5 at the Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side. Here are their closing statements.