What's New with ADA

What's New

March 11, 2003

Over the past two months we met with City Project's Executive Director Bonnie Brower and the Fiscal Policy Institute's Senior Fellow David Kallick, who gave us their take on the city and state budgets and what can be done about them. This month we are going to hear reports from our City Issues and State Issues Committees, and then vote on a Legislative Agenda for the chapter. All ADA members are welcome to vote on ADA policy. The meeting will be held on March 25^th.

February 12, 2002

Second time's a charm, as ADA endorsee Liz Krueger beats Republican challenger Jon Ravitz for Roy Goodman's State Senate seat. Krueger had narrowly lost to Roy Goodman a year earlier, but defeated Ravitz handily.

November 1, 2001:

Endorsements Page updated for the general election.

October 2, 2001:

Election Bulletin! New York City Americans for Democratic Action endorses Norman Siegel for Public Advocate in the primary run-off. Siegel is best known as the head of the NYCLU, and we believe his intelligence and independent spirit make him the best candidate for the job. Go out and vote on October 11^th, for Siegel, and for mayoral candidate Mark Green!

September 11, 2001:

The acts committed on this day will continue to be in the forefront of our lives for some time to come. As New Yorkers, we will not soon escape the feelings of grief, anger, and fear which come from the realization that someone out there is trying to kill us. While ADA members probably do not all agree precisely how we should respond to this attack, we are united in our revulsion at the slaughter of innocent civilians, and in our desire for swift justice to those responsible. We are also united in our sympathy for those who have lost loved ones, especially for those who died trying to save lives.

We applaud the work of Mayor Giuliani, who has been both reserved and gentle, yet strong and decisive. Though we have disagreed with him, and continue to disagree with him, on a wide range of issues, he has shown true leadership in a crisis, and we should be thankful for his help and support. We should be thankful also to the thousands of city workers working tirelessly to try to return our city to normalcy after the worst tragedy in its history.

It is difficult to express the enormity of these events. I leave you with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 4^th Inaugural Address in 1945:

"Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief. We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test. It is a test of our courage-of our resolve-of our wisdom-our essential democracy. If we meet that test-successfully and honorably-we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.

As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen-in the presence of our God-I know that it is America's purpose that we shall not fail. In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total victory in war.

We can and we will achieve such a peace. We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately-but we still shall strive. We may make mistakes-but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle. I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled: 'Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights-then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend.'

Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy. And so today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons-at a fearful cost-and we shall profit by them.

We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that 'The only way to have a friend is to be one.'

We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction. The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world. So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly-to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men-to the achievement of His will to peace on earth."
July 26, 2001:

We made a number of endorsements, including Councilmember June Eisland for Bronx Borough President and Councilmember Ken Fisher for Brooklyn Borough President. We decided not to endorse in the Queens Borough Presidency. We had some trouble with some of the other City Council races important to ADA, and made two dual endorsements! While we generally try to avoid doing so, there were two races where we met two candidates so impressive we couldn't make up our minds. In the 7^th District we split between union activist and CFE plaintiff Robert Jackson, and local activist and Credit Where Credit Is Due founder Mark Levine. In the 39^th District we split between Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless counsel Steve Banks, and Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager Bill DeBlasio. We decided to support union leader Arthur Cheliotes in the 19^th District, local activist Rudy Greco in the 25^th District, and local activist Ken Diamondstone in the 33^rd. See our Elections 2001 page for a complete list of endorsements.

June 28, 2001:

We endorsed Mark Green for mayor. Mark has supported ADA causes for a long time now, and we feel he would make the best choice for mayor. We decided to support Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, and a number of incumbent Councilmembers who have done a great job, including Phil Reed, who faces a serious primary challenge. We also made a few other endorsements in City Council races, including Rocky Chin in the 1^st District, who we think would make a wonderful successor to Kathryn Freed, longtime progressive Gale Brewer in the 6^th District, and G. Oliver Koppell, former Assemblymember and State Attorney General, in the 11^th District. See our Elections 2001 page for a complete list of endorsements.

May 24, 2001:

We endorsed Kathryn Freed for Public Advocate! We made the decision at our meeting after listening to the candidates speak and asking them questions about their vision for the office. Kathryn is a well-known City Councilmember and advocate for many causes in the First City Council District (the southern tip of Manhattan). We believe that she will be a great successor to Mark Green.

We recently wrote the members of the City Council to encourage them to vote for the override of Giuliani's veto of the city's new campaign finance laws. After a few weeks, the Council voted overwhelmingly to override the veto.

We also recently asked our members in Queens to write Claire Shulman to tell her to withdraw her request for resignation to Terri Thomson, her appointee to the Board of Education. Thomson was being punished for her failure to vote for Giuliani's chosen candidate, Ninfa Segarra, for President of the Board.

April 24, 2001:

We heard from the Berman and Thompson campaigns for Comptroller, and decided to endorse Bill Thompson! We will be encouraging our members to vote for him.

March 22, 2001:

We had a meeting where we heard from the four mayoral candidates. We decided not to make an endorsement at that time, though all four spoke well.

January 16, 2001:

Liz Krueger lost to incumbent Roy Goodman, after a full count of affidavit and absentee ballots was carried out. We had a meeting on election reform in New York, with ADA board member and election expert Henry Berger, and Citizens Union head Linda Davidoff.

November 14, 2000:

The election is still unsettled, not only in Florida, but on the East Side of Manhattan, where ADA endorsee Liz Krueger looks to have squeaked by incumbent Roy Goodman by a small number of votes. To learn where ADA stands in the presidential race still ongoing, consult the national site.

November 7, 2000:

See how ADA candidates fared in election 2000.

July, 2000:

We endorsed a large number of candidates for office. The list is available here. The explanations of our endorsements are here.

We are honoring Congressmember Charles Rangel at this year's Roosevelt-Humphrey Day Dinner, October 19^th. AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, a former honoree, will chair the dinner.

Ann Lewis has agreed to speak at our September 28^th meeting and convention. Our convention is the annual meeting at which we elect new board members.

July 6, 2000:

ADA National Director Amy Isaacs addressed the Democratic National Platform Committee. Find her testimony here.

June 19, 2000:

We wrote a letter to the New York City members of the State Senate, supporting the institution of a $6.75 minimum wage, already passed by the Assembly. While it is a Republican-dominated Senate, fear about possibly losing control to the Democrats this election year has prodded the Republicans to vote more liberally lately, so it is possible we may be able to win votes like this.

June 13, 2000:

You may notice in browsing the site that there are a few photographs scattered here and there. We will be trying to bring you more pictures of ADA involved in events in the future, so that you can see what we're doing in the city.

June 1, 2000:

At left, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney led a protest against the high cost of prescription drugs for the elderly on Medicare. The drugs cost more for our elderly than the same drugs cost for animals that require veterinary care. ADA members were prominent at the press conference.

Shown above is Congressmember Maloney, holding her pet cat, Slippers. Behind her is ADA's Manhattan Vice President, Jean Krampner, then to the right, Dr. Keith Manning of the East Side Animal Hospital, longtime ADA Member Alice Ostrow, and longtime ADA member Herbert Krampner.

May 24, 2000:

We had a meeting with guest speakers political consultants Jerry Skurnik and James B. Chapin, on May 24, 2000, at 6:00 PM. We endorsed Barry Ford for the 10^th Congressional District unanimously.

May 10, 2000:

You can now access our site by using www.nycada.com as well as the more

James B. Chapin (left) and Jerry Skurnik (right) at NYC ADA May meeting.

complex www.spacelab.net/~ada. There is no need to change your bookmark if you have us bookmarked, although it may be more convenient if our site moves in the future.

April 25, 2000:

As of today we have joined the Justice for Janitors Campaign 2000, as you might have noticed from the flashing banners on the site. Please take some time to have a look at what we believe to be an important effort for workers' rights.

April 17, 2000:

Every year national ADA analyzes the performance of our members of Congress by giving them an ADA rating from 0 to 100%, based upon their votes on a number of issues we find important. Absences are counted as votes against the ADA position. Every election year our chapter's political committee takes these ADA ratings into account and decides on a benchmark of liberalism past which we re-endorse Congressional candidates automatically. This year we decided that Congressmembers of more than two years with a lifetime ADA rating of 90% or over would be automatically endorsed by NYC ADA. As a result, we endorse the following candidates:

Congressmembers Gary Ackerman, Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, Major Owens, Charles Rangel, Jose Serrano, and Nydia Velazquez.

We are having a meeting coming up with guest speaker Melanie Whatley of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, on April 26, 2000, at 6:00 PM. As with most ADA meetings, it is open to the general public.

April 10, 2000:

Obviously, what's newest of all is the web site: to those of you who haven't been to the ADA page before, it's newly updated in all sorts of ways. Over the next few weeks, I will be trying to update it and track down the dead links, as well as the links which themselves look old and wrinkly. The main highlight of the new page is its division by area of interest, so that the casual browser can come and find out our position on, for example, campaign finance. In cases where the national has a more thorough description of the ADA position, I will try to link the position page to theirs (currently those links go to the national's home page). I'm depending upon you, the members and readers of the page, to let me know what you think of the new design; what you think should be added, what you think should be improved, and your general opinions on the site.

Thanks,

Jim Chapin
Executive Director

Other ADA news: We recently endorsed Al Gore for president. At our last board meeting (March 22) we heard from Brian Honin of the Tenants & Neighbors Coalition, who told us about the rent control fight and other housing issues ADA ought to be concerned about. In our latest newsletter, we told you about McCain's voting record, and told you how Democratic delegates are selected in New York City.

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