The 3rd Council District includes West Side neighborhoods that make up the heart of gay life in New York City: Chelsea, the West Village and Hell’s Kitchen. Christine Quinn is leaving the Council seat to run for mayor, and the race to replace her has been competitive-even though the daily papers have not paid much attention. We endorse civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland, who has lived in these areas for more than 20 years. We trust her because she is whip-smart, big-hearted and deeply experienced. Not only does she have a bold vision for how to improve day-to-day life on the West Side; she also has the intelligence and know-how to be effective on the City Council.
In fact, Yetta’s resume reads like a training manual to prepare an effective government advocate for ordinary New Yorkers:
Yetta opened and ran a language school when she was 23 years old to teach immigrants and visitors how to speak English.
She’s a graduate of Brooklyn Law School.
She started a civil rights law firm that has defended the victims of anti-gay violence, protected tenants from unfair eviction, and taken the city to court to win equal treatment for women in the workplace.
She has won significant cases that have helped establish legal equality for LGBT couples, and has worked as part of the coalition that won marriage equality in New York.
As an advocate for families on the West Side, she built a huge coalition of 8,000 people and community groups to fight for a new hospital to replace St. Vincent’s. A small new hospital is being built, a modest community victory that Yetta played a key role in winning.
Everyone knows that the cost of living in New York has skyrocketed in recent years. Yetta has been an outspoken and consistent voice in favor of policies that look out for working-class and middle-class New Yorkers.
Yetta is a crystal clear choice for West Side voters. If you share our concern that overdevelopment has driven up rents and made life in the city too expensive, and that we need someone who can stand up for the little guys and gals, we urge you to vote for Yetta Kurland.
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