One other Harlem incumbent within the meeting has formally introduced his bid for re-election: Assemblymember Al Taylor. His opponent to date is organizer Julien Segura.
Taylor, recognized for his impeccable bowtie suits, was first elected in 2017 to the meeting in an unopposed particular election. The 71st meeting district consists of Inwood, Washington Heights, Sugar Hill, West Harlem, and Hamilton Heights. He’s additionally a pastor on the Infinity Mennonite Church positioned between 146th and 147th streets on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
A local to Hamilton Heights, Taylor served within the U.S. Military Navy Police Corps whereas incomes his GED. He then graduated from Lehman School and have become a neighborhood chief to provide again. He’s labored to assist tenants keep of their houses, fought to get weapons off the road, labored to enhance colleges, combatted hate and bigotry, and given voice to seniors and households.
Off rip, Taylor got here out swinging with large endorsements from his colleagues in authorities. Congressmember Charles Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, State senators Cordell Cleare, Robert Jackson and Luis Sepúlveda, Assemblymembers Inez Dickens and Eddie Gibbs, and District Chief Maria Luna have all pledged to assist him, in accordance with his marketing campaign.
“I’ve walked from New York to Chicago towards gun violence. I’ve ministered to those that have been undesirable and unloved. I’ve fought within the Meeting for reasonably priced housing, good colleges, protected streets, accessible well being care, and to fight local weather change. I’ve labored to make a distinction by taking daring actions,” stated Taylor in a press release.
“Our Group and our State are going through a number of crises. We have to rise collectively and confront these challenges with a daring imaginative and prescient for a greater future – a future that’s equitable and that facilities on the wants and experiences of our most susceptible communities.”
Final yr, Taylor misplaced in a crowded race for the town council seat in District 9, which went to Councilmember Yusef Salaam.
Taylor’s primary challenger is Segura, who was born and raised in Sugar Hill in Harlem. He has lived in an reasonably priced housing co-op within the district since his teenage years. He’s an activist and political strategist that co-founded the New Leaf Democratic Membership. His mother and father are each immigrants, his mom from Lebanon (Lebanese Armenian), and his father from France (Spanish Algerian).He believes that the price of dwelling in Harlem is skyrocketing. He plans to handle the necessity for low-income and senior housing, public well being and lowered prescription copays, struggling small companies, and correctly funded parks.
“Uptown has been bought out,” stated Segura in a press release. “We’d like a brand new champion to make sure that we will afford to remain within the communities that formed us.”
Ariama C. Lengthy is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam Information. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps maintain her writing tales like this one; please think about making a tax-deductible present of any quantity at the moment by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
