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March 25, 2022 • Schneps Media
TVG
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
In a Democratic primary contest
shaping up as a test of which
candidate can most persuasively
claim the progressive mantle,
Ryder Kessler, a tech entrepreneur
who spent the past several years
working in national Democratic
politics, is taking on State Assemblymember
Deborah Glick, a 32-
year incumbent in the 66th District
that encompasses Greenwich Village,
Soho, Noho, and Tribeca.
Kessler, an out gay 2008 college
graduate, faces off against the State
Legislature’s first and longest-serving
openly LGBTQ member, a pioneering
record he made a point of
praising in a recent interview with
Gay City News.
At the same time, in noting that
the district’s median age is 35, Kessler
hinted at something of a generational
challenge to Glick’s long
tenure in Albany. Pointing out that
the district supported Cynthia Nixon,
with whom he is pictured on his
campaign website, over incumbent
Governor Andrew Cuomo in the
2018 primary, he said, “I am very
much where the district is.”
Glick, who also spoke with Gay
City News, pushed back against any
effort to use her years of service
against her.
“This is not something I’m
just doing now,” she said. “I am
proud of serving this community,
which I have done exceptionally
well, without any diminution of
my enthusiasm.”
As is often the case in Democratic
primaries in this city, there
are many issues on which the two
candidates largely agree, putting
an onus on Kessler to sharpen
the distinctions on those matters
where they don’t see eye to eye —
including decisions about the area’s
streetscape as well as a recent Soho
rezoning he said will finally increase
affordable housing in the district.
Kessler — who was a co-creator
of a digital product that allows for
the tipping of service workers by
customers paying with credit cards
— worked on ballot protection in
Maine in 2020 and during the critical
early 2021 US Senate runoffs in
Georgia. He has also served since
2019 on Manhattan Community
Board 2.
One hot-button issue on which
Kessler hoped to distinguish himself
from Glick — the decriminalization
of sex work — seems likely
to fade in importance with the recent
decision by the incumbent to
endorse the full decriminalization
stance the challenger also supports.
Until recently, Glick did not support
full decriminalization, telling
the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic
Club, an LGBTQ group that supports
Kessler, in January she was
not a sponsor of the legislation and
challenging the club’s characterization
of the alternative as “dangerous.”
Since that time, she has signed
on to the full decriminalization bill
put forward by her Manhattan
colleague Dick Gottfried.
Glick’s shift in position is emblematic
of fissures in feminist
circles on a number of important issues.
She faced criticism in the LGBTQ
community for her resistance
to legalizing gestational surrogacy
contracts in New York, something
sought by would-be gay parents,
championed by her out gay Manhattan
Senate colleague Brad Hoylman,
and signed into law in 2020.
Like some other Assembly feminists,
Glick voiced concerns about
the well-being of a surrogate paid to
carry a baby to term.
PROVIDED
Ryder Kressler
More political coverage online at
POLITICS
Ryder Kessler challenges Glick over progressive momentum
Older Women Are Moving New York Forward
Throughout New York’s history, women
have taken incredible strides to create
a more equal and just society. As we celebrate
Women’s History Month, we recognize
the great work that New Yorkers
like former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt,
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and
Congresswoman Bella Abzug accomplished.
But there is still much work to be
done. Fortunately today, women elected
officials are showing that age does not
matter. In these difficult times, the experience
and knowledge these women bring
to government are clear advantages to
implement and understand the needs of
their constituents.
One of my first jobs was at the same agency
I have the privilege of leading today,
the Department for the Aging, where in
1979 I became the Bureau Chief. After
decades of working in various leadership
positions in government and non-profits,
the experience I gained has allowed me to
grow as an effective leader.
Unfortunately, ageism still permeates to
the workplace. Studies have shown that
managers, in some cases without realizing
it, have biases against workers of
a certain age. Some claimed that these
employees do not want to seek a promotion
because they are at the end of
their careers. But there are many woman
elected officials today in New York
who defy ageism and demonstrate how
effective older women can be.
At the age of 63, Governor Kathy Hochul,
the first women ever to lead the state, is
continuing her life’s work to help New
Yorkers. Just this January she signed a
bill into law expanding the definition of
elder abuse to include identity theft. Then
to keep older adults safe and able to live
independently, the Governor extended
property tax exemptions so they can continue
to afford to live in their homes.
Then there is our state’s Attorney General,
Letitia James, who became the first person
of color and first woman, to ever be
elected to this office, and is now leading
it in her sixties. Attorney General James
has led national efforts against companies
who are defrauding seniors and is working
with her colleagues in government
to pass legislation that would help prevent
these frauds from occurring.
Speaking of our state legislature, Assemblywoman
Helene Weinstein is one
of the most influential lawmakers in the
entire state. First elected to the State
Assembly over 40 years ago to represent
the 41st District in Brooklyn, she
currently serves as Chairwoman of the
Ways and Means Committee, giving her
an outsized role in the budget process.
She has also helped pass legislation to
increase property tax exemptions for
older adults, while bringing insurance
companies and long-term care providers
together to make sure those who
need it can receive the care they need.
We also have older women leading at the
local level. In January, the City Council
voted for Adrienne E. Adams to be
its Speaker. A proud grandmother, the
61-year-old has represented Council District
28 in Southeast Queens for the last
five years. As Speaker, Ms. Adams has
considerable say in the city’s budget and
the body’s legislative calendar.
New York has always relied on women
and older adults to move our city forward,
and that tradition continues today. Whether
it is in the workforce or right in their
own communities, these women demonstrate
that older New Yorkers know how to
get things done.
By Commissioner
Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez