This is the first installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates.

After a great night petitioning together in Harlem, read a writeup here, StreetsPAC spoke to Vince Morgan about the transportation issues facing the new 9th Council District and his vision for the city.

StreetsPAC started the week off with a bang greeting commuters on their way to work at the Marcy Ave subway with endorsed candidate Antonio Reynoso. We collected signatures and spoke to voters about the importance of expanding public transit.

To learn more about Antonio Reynoso's campaign, please visit: http://www.antonioreynoso2013.com/

To join StreetsPAC for future volunteer initiatives, sign up on our Get Involved page.

On Saturday, StreetsPAC volunteers joined Carlos Menchaca, the Democratic challenger to Councilmember Sara Gonzalez who arrived on his bicycle, for a potluck picnic in Sunset Park before heading out in pairs with local activists to doorknock local Democratic households for signatures. In low-turnout districts like the 38th,  these personal contacts are critical to any successful candidacy and StreetsPAC had many great conversations with residents in their homes before sharing conversation on local transportation issues over lemonade and snacks with our fellow petitioners in the shade.

StreetsPAC is happy to announce its campaign manager and intern who will be overseeing StreetsPACs endorsement process and volunteer activities for endorsed candidates. 

Louis Cholden-Brown, Campaign Manager

A lifelong New Yorker, Louis makes his home on the Upper West Side where he is honored to serve on Community Board 7 in such roles as Co-Secretary, Strategy & Budget Chair and Housing Co-Chair. He is a veteran of numerous victorious New York State electoral and issue advocacy campaigns and has served as an operational consultant to various progressive organizations including Metro New York Health Care for All and the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility.

Louis can be reached at [email protected] or (646)-220-6388

Menchaca, who spent several years working in the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, has most recently served as an aide to Council Speaker Christine Quinn. A regular bicycle commuter, Menchaca looks forward to working to extend the Brooklyn Greenway from Red Hook to Sunset Park, and to launching a community-led initiative to transform the space beneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway along Brooklyn’s Third Avenue.

Reynoso, who’s been Chief of Staff to Councilmember Diana Reyna for the past four years, sees truck-route calming and enforcement as well as expanding the bike lane network for Bushwick and Ridgewood as huge opportunities to improve life in his district. Keeping trucks on redesigned, designated routes will improve street safety for local residents, while an expanded bike lane network would link residents to transit and local jobs. Reynoso has commuted by bicycle since selling his car to campaign full-time, a change that has transformed the way he looks at and experiences city streets.

Please RSVP to [email protected] to join us to help get these two transportation champions on the ballot.

On the longest day of the year, Harlem was alive with the sounds of Make Music New York, and StreetsPAC was out in force supporting Vince Morgan's bid for New York City Council.  Morgan, a challenger to long-time incumbent Inez Dickens, visited community gathering spots in his future district such as Morningside Park and Frederick Douglass Circle, to talk with constituents about safe and complete-streets issues including the introduction of traffic-calming initiatives on the notoriously dangerous Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and the extension of Select Bus Service on 125th Street.

Join StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate Vince Morgan for petitioning on Friday June 21st at 6 PM at 110th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

StreetsPAC will be out petitioning with Vince to help him appear on the ballot for the September 10th Primary. Please join us and show your commitment to electing public officials who are committed to improving the safety, mobility and livability of one of New York City’s greatest assets: our streets. 

Vince is challenging two-term incumbent Inez Dickens for this Harlem seat. Morgan is sharply critical of Dickens’s opposition to safety upgrades on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, a six-lane road that’s been one of New York City’s deadliest for pedestrians and which his children cross on their way to school. Morgan also intends to win M60 Select Bus Service for the entire stretch of 125th Street in District 9, only half of which is slated to receive the faster service.

This morning, The New York Times featured StreetsPAC's first round of endorsements in the 2013 elections that places support firmly behind two candidates running for open City Council seats, Costa Constantinides and Antonio Reynoso; two challengers to long-time Council incumbents, Carlos Menchaca and Vince Morgan; and one incumbent Councilmember seeking re-election, Melissa Mark-Viverito. Though these candidates cover a wide range of New York City, they all share a commitment to improving street safety and have made StreetsPAC's mission one of their campaign's top priorities. 

Here’s a round-up of the five City Council candidates receiving StreetsPAC’s initial endorsements:

StreetsPAC is looking forward to reviewing all the candidate questionnaires we've received thus far, and hopes that more candidates will participate before tonight's deadline.  The questionnaire is an important component of StreetsPAC's endorsement process.  How best to improve the safety, mobility, and livability of New York City streets?  The StreetsPAC 2013 Candidate Questionnaire is every candidate's opportunity to share his or her vision.  

The StreetsPAC 2013 Candidate Questionnaire is an opportunity for those running for citywide, borough-wide, and City Council office to outline their vision for creating safe, complete, and livable streets to ensure the well-being of all New Yorkers and keep our city competitive in the 21st century. Candidates' answers will help inform StreetsPAC endorsement and donation policy in the 2013 election.