Photo: Luis Roca, Flickr

Assembly District 65 Environmental Candidate Forum

September 7, 2016

On September 1st, the six candidates in the Democratic primary for New York’s 65th Assembly district gathered to discuss their views on environmental issues in their district with advocates and community members at Southbridge Towers on the Lower East Side.

District 65 faces a number of environmental policy challenges from the area’s accelerating development and congestion and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The district also continues to grow more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and to address these issues candidates addressed topics ranging from community parks to congestion taxes in their discussion of strengthening resiliency.

Incumbent Alice Cancel and candidates Don Lee, Gigi Li, Paul Newell, Yuh-Line Niou, and Jenifer Rajkumar responded to questions from the audience, as well as from a panel of environmental experts from New Yorkers for Parks, Transportation Alternatives, the Lower East Side Ecology Center and the Waterfront Alliance. Although candidates largely agreed on the environmental challenges facing their district, there was divergence on a number of proposed solutions, including the preservation of Elizabeth Street Garden and policies relating to the regulation of plastic and carryout bags, among others. NYLCVEF livestreamed the event on our Facebook page, and you can view the footage here.

NYLCVEF would like to thank Southbridge Towers for hosting the forum, to our nonprofit partners for their insightful questions and participation, and all of the citizens who turned out to listen and submit questions to their candidates.

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