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Tony Simone aims to be Chelsea’s fi rst LGBTQ assemblymember BY PAUL SCHINDLER Tony Simone has been a visible player, dating back 25 years, in LGBTQ, political, and non-profi t circles in New York. He has worked on the staffs of the late State Senator Catherine Abate, former State Comptroller Carl McCall, and former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn; served on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 US Senate campaign and volunteered in Quinn’s several Council runs as well as her 2013 mayoral campaign; and worked at non-profi ts including People for the American Way and Hudson River Park Friends. Now, the 52-year-old Democrat is looking to seize a fi rst-inhis lifetime opportunity — succeeding State Assemblymember Dick Gottfried in representing Manhattan’s District 75, which encompasses Chelsea and portions of Hell’s Kitchen and the West 60s. Simone was born less than a year before Gottfried — who in December announced his retirement effective POLITICS Tony Simone at the end of this year — fi rst assumed offi ce. When a legislative seat opens up for the fi rst time in more than half a century, it’s no surprise that well known local leaders are primed to seize the opportunity. PHOTO COURTESY OF GAY CITY NEWS Simone is competing against a formidable fi eld of candidates in the June 28 Democratic primary that also includes Lowell Kern, a member of Community Board 4 as well as the Hudson River Park Trust; Chris LeBrón, a former More political coverage online at City Council staffer who also serves on Community Board 4; Layla Law-Gisiko, a 16-year veteran of Community Board 5; and Ambur Nicosia, the president of the affordable housing community Penn South. In recent candidate forums, before the Hell’s Kitchen Democrats and the Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, the fi eld of hopefuls largely agreed on major issues facing the district and the state. The candidates voiced similar views critical of a plan supported by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams for the area around Penn Station, saying it was driven primarily by development opportunities at the expense of the transit hub’s needs and the area’s demand for affordable housing. Each spoke with passion about the lack of progress on increasing low and moderate income housing availability and on ensuring equal resources for every student and school. If elected to the Assembly, Simone said, “I would have a signifi cant network — in government and the non-profi t world — to tap into.” Those connections, he emphasized, not only speak to his advocacy and organizing skills, but also to his ability to work in coalition. “I would never say I’ve done these things alone,” he said of his accomplishments. On the Penn Station redevelopment issue, Simone said there is no need to rush into a plan that he and his fellow candidates agree privileges development over any certainty about improvements to Penn Station’s transportation network or the construction of adequate affordable housing — the funding for both of which is reliant on revenues from the development projects. “It is a development plan and not a transportation plan,” he said, in urging a “pause” in the current rush to fi nalize approval. �� OPERATING YEAR MIN ANNUAL FEE VS % OF ANNUAL GROSS RECEIPTS �� Dial-in #: +1 646-893-7101�� Access Code: 226 217 820#�� Press # on further prompts�� March 7, 2022. ��February 25, 2022 ��March 7, 2022�� February 25, 2022.�� 12 March 3, 2022 Schneps Media