Tuesday is primary election day here in New York City. Like many New Yorkers, we’re studying the flyers that we’ve been handed at subway stops, perusing endorsements, and visiting candidates’ websites and social media.
Here in District 9, five Democrats, one Republican and one member of the Reform Party are vying to unseat Bill Perkins, a Democrat who won a seat on the city council during a special election last February.
Perkins, who previously served on the council from 1998 until 2005, is reminding voters that he stood with the Central Park Five when no one else would. (Donald Trump called for their execution.)
But in this, his second stint on council, the incumbent is showing signs of the office slipping away from him. His answers “even to softballs on major issues were embarrassingly blank,” the Daily News wrote after meeting with Perkins.
The Daily News endorsed Marvin Holland, the political and legislative director for Transit Workers Union Local 100, who began his career cleaning subways. We like that Holland calls for ending so-called broken windows policing, which leads to injustices, and strengthening ties between police and the community.
Cordell Cleare, who served for a decade as chief of staff to Perkins, is the lone woman in the race. We met her one morning outside the 3-train stop. She says she aims to preserve affordable housing, which matters in a district that is experiencing gentrification.
We also like her commitment to justice. “If you choke a man to death who said, ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times you should go to jail,” Cleare said recently at a debate, referring to the death of Eric Garner.
Cleare earned the endorsement of the Amsterdam News, which says “it’s not possible” to cite Perkins’ successes without noting the contribution of Cleare.
Tyson-Lord Gray, an environmental advocate and lawyer who has lived in the district for a decade, is running as well. We admire his work to introduce minority students to careers in conservation. Gray, whose grandfather was a farmer, holds a doctorate in environmental ethics from Vanderbilt.
Marvin Spruill has lived in the district all his life. At a recent forum, he spoke “with a depth of feeling about policing” but otherwise “displayed little understanding of the issues,” noted City Limits. We like Spruill’s bio on Twitter, where Spruill says he’s “going all in, to go all out for our community!!” (emphasis in original)
Julius Tajiddin, another Democrat who’s running, opposes bus lanes, which evidence shows speed traffic. That’s enough reason for us to oppose him for council. (We’d like to see portions of Manhattan car-free.)
The Republican in the race is Jack Royster Jr., a pastor who found Christ after prison. We admire his being part of a prayer group whose morning walks aim to counter violence in the community.
Pierre Gooding is running as a member of the Reform party. He’s a lawyer and former teacher, who says residents should not be forced to make the choice that his mother made when she moved her family out of Harlem to a community with better public schools.
It’s a good group of candidates, but to us the choice is Cleare.