COUNCIL
er’s ruling, the Board of Elections
and the city’s Law Department
had mistakenly set
the signature threshold too
high after misinterpreting
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
March 14 executive order that
lowered the minimum amount
of signatures to 135 in an effort
to limit in-person contact
amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo’s directive cut
short the necessary signature
amount by 70-percent for all
forthcoming elections, while
narrowing the window for
collecting petitioning signatures
from registered Democrats
from April 2 to March 17
— setting off a frantic, threeday
window to qualify for the
ballot.
That order mistakenly
stated that the Council seat’s
original threshold was 900 signatures,
and lowered it to 270
— but in reality, the original
requirement was 450, which
would be lowered to 135.
And complicating matters
further for the would-be politicos,
elections bureaucrats and
city lawyers singled out the
Council primary race as the
only election where the lower
6 COURIER LIFE, MAY 8-14, 2020
threshold did not apply at all
— arguing that City Charter
law overruled state law for
Council elections, offi cials
claimed.
Sticking to the higher standard
would have left Diaz —
who has the backing of Democratic
Party boss Rodneyse
Bichotte — unopposed in the
primary for the reliably Democratic
district.
But Judge Walker overruled
that determination, arguing
that the governor did
not “cast all health and prejudice
concerns aside” for the
city legislative seat only.
The judge’s ruling granted
two candidates a chance to
take on the party-favored contender
for the seat, which was
abruptly vacated by former
councilman Rafael Espinal in
January.
All other candidates, like
insurgent activist Sandy
Nurse and Rick Echevarría,
were denied the judge’s lifeline,
and will be shut out of the
election, Kings County Politics
reported.
Nurse — an upstart candidate
that had garnered the
support from local progressives
like Congresswoman
Nydia Velazquez and neighboring
Councilman Antonio
Reynoso — met the 135 count
but did not get on the ballot
because of a technicality that
required her to send legal documents
in person and not by
overnight mail, according to
an April 29 ruling by Walker.
She did make the ballot for
the non-partisan special election
slated for the same day as
the primary, but Cuomo called
off that vote by executive order
on April 25.
The Judge also dismissed
Echevarría’s petitions because
he did not submit the right paperwork
to the BOE, Kings
County Politics reported.
Whoever wins is likely to
sail to victory at the November
general election in the
heavily-Democratic district
and assume offi ce at the beginning
of 2021.
Darma Diaz was the only candidate
on the ballot, until a judge
reinstated two candidates.
Continued from page 1
The fi rst responders who helped save the cat. Photo by Todd Maisel
Cops save trapped feline
from car cat-astrophe
BY TODD MAISEL
Their engine really purred
without turning the car on.
Sheepshead Bay residents
were surprised to hear a noise
under the hood of a Toyota
parked on E. 23rd Street and
Avenue W on May 3. Moments
later, deep in the engine compartment,
they discovered a
kitten trapped between the
hoses and wires.
Offi cers from the 61st Precinct
and Emergency Service
personnel responded and at
fi rst tried to remove the kitten
from underneath the car
without success. After fi nding
the owner of the car, authorities
were able to dig into the
engine compartment where
they worked for some time
trying to free the kitten.
After more than two hours
of dismantling some parts,
the cat was free.
Neighbors Steven Lynn
and his girlfriend immediately
fell in love with the fragile
feline. The pair took him
home, gave him a bath, and
named him Mr. Belvedere.
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