Panelists include:  George Bliss, biker and owner of Hudson Urban Bicycles (HUB0 and an advocate for safer bikes; Steve Vaccaro, biker and lawyer dealing with the legal aspects of bike-riding in the city; Caroline Samponaro of Transportation Alternatives and the Bike Share Program; Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s office with pending legislation dealing with electric bikes and other relevant issues.

The forum is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served.

To see all the pictures of our friends, click here

It was a great turn-out for our 55th Anniversary, with warm feelings all around.   Long-missed faces, like William Stricklin and Chad Marlow…and our honorees Norman Siegel, Friends In Deed and Gale Brewer were clearly wowed by the celebration.

Thanks to all who attended and who donated.  Some deserve special recognition for making this happen.  Our Gala Committee of Katharine Wolpe, Ellen Peterson-Lewis, Tom Conner and Sharon Woolums put in the long hours of planning, strategy and arranging. Extra help was provided by Deley Gazinelli, who set up the award placques. Eli Hausknecht monitored the ticket purchases and arranged the event check-in and revenue. Eli, this could not have happened without you.

Celia Wu also worked on the tickets and brought our prominently displayed VID banner to the event, and helped me set up Paypal on the VID website. Reinforcements for the phone tree included Nadine Hoffmann, Tony Hoffman, Keen Berger, Brad Hoylman, Frieda Bradlow, and Kathy Jacobson. And our top table team, taking tickets, was attended by Peter Crosta, Georgina Christ, Tim McNerney and Teresa Hommel.  Sharon handed out drink tix and Katharine Wolpe directed traffic. Tony Hoffman served as photographer. Our well-placed and elegantly presented Villager ad was designed by Yayoi Tsuchitani.

I want to say a special word about our outstanding District Leaders, Keen Berger and Brad Hoylman. Somehow during my opening remarks I lost a card and thus skipped over their leadership over the past year on the St Vincent’s matter and the park and the new middle school at 75 Morton, the opposition to NYU2031, and so many other issues. Brad and Keen exemplify the heart and soul of VID. Thank you both for turning our ideals and goals into realities.

It was honoring Annette Zaner and Yvonne Sherwell, who have been two of the pillars of VID that was the sweetest verse of this song. This was our moment to embrace you. Annette, Yvonne, it is far too little recognition for your many years of fierce and longstanding dedication to VID, but I know that it lifted us — all of us — and so I hope it lifted you as well.

Happy 55th Gala, VID.

Jonathan

55^th Annual Awards Gala & Cocktail Reception

6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

411 Lafayette St.

(between Astor Place & East 4th St.)

 View Our Invitation Here                                                                                                              R.S.V.P Here

     Honoring                                                                        

     Hon. Gale A. Brewer, New York City Council   For her progressive and passionate public service

     Friends in Deed    For 20 years of support services to those with life‐threatening
illnesses, grief and bereavement

     Norman Siegel, Esq.   For a lifetime of commitment to civil rights

     Yvonne Sherwell, Village Independent Democrats   For dedicated service to tenants’ rights

     Annette Zaner, Village Independent Democrats  For a lifetime of community activism

See our Gala Page for more information                                                                                                

US Congressmember Jerrold Nadler

Village Independent Democrats &
District Leaders Keen Berger and Brad Hoylman

invite you to a

Petitioning Breakfast for the Re-election Campaign of
Congressman Jerrold Nadler

Saturday, March 31, 2012, 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

VID Clubhouse
26 Perry Street (near 7th Avenue South)

Join VID members and Congressman Nadler for bagels, coffee and conversation before we hit Abingdon Square and other areas to collect signatures to get our progressive Representative on the ballot!

VID Newsletter Editor: Nadine Hoffman. You will also find a copy in your mailbox.

What happened to winter? Although we seem to have skipped a weather season, we do have an extra-long political season. The Republican primaries have provided us with quite a circus; the debates, a side-show and the document dumps eye-opening. They have afforded us elite northeast liberals who ride the subways an inside view of what a Newt/Romney/(fill in the blank) presidency would look like. We have seen the right-wing future and it is frightening. By the time you read this, we will probably know who the nominee is (maybe, maybe not) but does it really make a difference?

All the more reason to begin the VID campaign for Barack Obama and Joseph Biden and, of course, our local United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congress members Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, New York State Assemblymember Deborah Glick, State Senator Tom Duane, and State Committee Member Rachel Lavine.

We are lucky to be represented by strong progressive leaders and must work to have them re-elected. Fortunately, none of them seem to have any stiff challenges, with the possible exception of Kirsten Gillibrand. VID members went door-to-door in upstate New York when Kirsten was running for Congress in 2006. We will work just as hard for her re-election to the Senate this year.

To make certain that VID takes a proactive role in all the campaigns, Jonathan has appointed Tony Hoffmann and Peter Crosta as chairs of VID’s Campaign Committee. They have begun meeting and will report on their ideas to move the campaigns forward and strategies to complement them….Nadine Hoffman, March 14, 2012

You can download the whole March 2012 VID Newsletter  here.

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, VID endorsed

The Village Independent Democrats held its Candidate Forum and Endorsement Meeting on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at Greenwich House. The Forum was held in conjunction with Downtown Independent Democrats and was co-chaired by DID President Jeanne Wilcke and VID President Jonathan Geballe. There was an impressive turnout of candidates, including candidates for Civil Court and Surrogate’s Court.

We were pleased to hear from Congressman Jerry Nadler, State Senator Tom Duane and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, among many others. Sean Gavin appeared for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and we also heard from Scott Noren, M.D., who is running for NY State Senator as an Independent Democrat, but who is not a candidate in the primary.

US Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, VID endorsed

Because we shared the forum with DID certain candidates outside our district also appeared or were represented: Councilmember Rosie Mendez appeared to speak on behalf of Congressmember Nydia Velazquez, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney was represented, State Senator Daniel Squadron was represented, and State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh appeared, along with Rachel Lavine and Arthur Schwartz from the NY Democratic State Committee.

After the forum, VID endorsed the following – please note the three primary election dates for these candidates:

President: Barack Obama  - The Presidential Primary Election is on April 24,2012; the last day to register for this primary is March 30,2012

US Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, VID endorsed

The Federal Candidate Primary is on  June 26, 2012; the last day to register to vote in this primary is  June 1, 2012
US Senator: Kirsten Gillibrand
Congressmember: Carolyn Maloney
Congressmember: Jerrold Nadler

The New York State Democratic Candidate Primary is September 11, 2012; the last day to register to vote in this primary is August 17, 2012
NY State Senator: Tom Duane
NY State Assemblymember: Deborah Glick
NY Democratic State Committeeperson: Rachel Lavine
Judicial Candidate: Rita Mella (Surrogate’s Court)
Judicial Candidates: Verna Saunders and Melissa Crane (Civil Court, Countywide)
Judicial Candidate: Debra Rose Samuels (Civil Court, 2nd District)

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appearing at the NY Hotel & Motel Trades Council event Monday, March 19

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will be appearing at the NY Hotel & Motel Trades Council event Monday, March 19, 2012 at 2:30 p.m., 305 West 44th Street betw 8th and 9th Avenues. VID members and friends are welcome. This is a great opportunity to see our Senator in person.

Please RSVP Sean@kristengillibrand.com or call 212-481-2010. See attached flyer.

Candidates will speak between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. VID’s endorsement discussion and vote will take place the same night and location at 9:00 p.m.

We are inviting candidates (or their representatives) seeking the Democratic Party ballot line for the following offices:

President and Vice President of the United States
U.S. Senator
U.S. Representative (8th District)
U.S. Representative (14th District)
NYS Senate (25th Senate District)
NYS Senate (29th Senate District)
NYS Assembly (66th Assembly District)
Surrogate’s Court – New York County
New York City Civil Court Judge
Democratic State Committee — Female and Male

*This meeting will replace our General Membership Meeting (originally scheduled for March 8).