DON'T MISS - NY State Assembly District 65 Candidate Forum

The six candidates running for New York State's 65th Assembly District will face off at a special forum on Tuesday, August 23rd at Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Arts Center from 6pm to 8pm. Sponsored by The Women's Political Caucus of New York (WPC-NYC), Henry Street Settlement (HSS), and WABC-TV, the forum will be moderated by WABC's Eyewitness News Correspondent N.J. Burkett, together with some outstanding young adults, who will question the candidates on the pressing issues affecting the 65th district, which encompasses the Lower East Side, and much of Lower Manhattan. As part of its on-going commitment to keeping the public informed about the latest in news and public affairs, WABC will stream the entire forum LIVE on its website abc7ny.com. Coverage will also include questions posed by audience members.

“Henry Street is thrilled to host this forum; the Settlement has a venerable history of participation in the political process and this election is very important to all of us on the Lower East Side,” said David Garza, Executive Director of Henry Street Settlement. “We are especially pleased to have such a diverse range of our community members, from young adults to seniors, participating to see the democratic electoral system firsthand.”

“WABC-TV is excited and proud to partner with HSS and WPC to sponsor the 65th Assembly District Candidate Forum,” noted Saundra Thomas, VP of Community Affairs at WABC-TV. “We consider this a part of our mission to make sure voters have what they need to make informed decisions.”

According to Sharon Nelson, President of the Women’s Political Caucus-NYC, “Getting to the heart of the issues and making them make sense to the public is one of the many roles that we at WPC-NYC are proud to take on. This collaboration with media and community is ideal to realizing our goals in civic engagement.”

The 65th Assembly District is currently represented by Democratic Representative Alice Cancel, who won a 2016 special election in April prompted by the removal of Democratic Representative Sheldon Silver (convicted last year on federal corruption charges.) The forum will bring together the following candidates vying for the seat originally left vacant by Silver:

- Alice Cancel - the incumbent

- Don Lee - Community Activist

- Gigi Li - Former Community Board 3 Chairperson

- Paul Newell - Local District Leader

- Yuh-Line Niou - Former Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Ron Kim

- Jenifer Rajkumar - District Leader

WABC-TV New York - Channel 7, is the flagship station of the ABC television network, located in New York City, covering the New York, New Jersey, Long Island and all of the greater New York areas. Its ABC7 Eyewitness News is known as New York’s source for breaking news and live streaming video online. WABC-TV is owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of the Walt Disney Company.

Henry Street Settlement, one of New York City’s most venerable human services agencies, was founded in 1893 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Today, Henry Street provides 60,000 New Yorkers with innovative social service, health care and arts programs each year.

Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC-NYC) - Founded in 1971 by multi-partisan political women in Washington, DC, the National Women's Political Caucus provides training for Women to secure federal leadership positions. The Women's Political Caucus of NYC, the local chapter of NWPC, was re-established in 2015 to develop multiple opportunities for grassroots Civic Engagement and leadership training, igniting more possibilities for Women to win political and non-profit executive positions.