‘Stay strong, stay active’

Squadron’s community convention takes a national tone

By Madeleine Thompson

State Senator Daniel Squadron’s ninth annual community convention last Sunday was studded with stars of the political scene, from Public Advocate Letitia James to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. Schumer railed against President Donald Trump and praised Squadron, who was his former aide and co-authored his book “Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class Majority One Family at a Time.” “[Trump] scares us in so many ways,” Schumer said. “But I will tell you this: I am ready for the fight. Stay strong, stay active, keep protesting. We will take America back.”

The convention’s keynote speaker was Akeem Browder, whose brother Kalief committed suicide at age 18 after being held on Rikers Island for three years without a trial, sparking a demand for criminal justice reform. “The system of policing has earned our mistrust in the community,” Browder said. “At its best, the practice allows community members to feel heard, respected and empowered to help police control crime in our neighborhoods, rather than feeling that the officers are solely there to enforce the law.” Squadron introduced legislation called “Kalief’s Bill” in 2015 to ensure that criminal cases go to trial in a reasonable time frame, but it was blocked during the most recent budget negotiations. A bill to end the trial of 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, however, was passed.

After more words from Council Member Margaret Chin and Comptroller Scott Stringer, attendees were shepherded to workshops held in the classrooms of Stuyvesant High School where they discussed topics such as tenants’ rights and transportation. Maureen Koetz, a Lower Manhattan resident who challenged former Assembly Member Sheldon Silver in 2014, was eager to participate in the environment-related workshop. “The air, land and water capacity of the city of New York is already overloaded,” she said. “Lower Manhattan is already in the middle of an outrageous building boom, and we can’t carry the systems and the requirements that we already have for people, for schools, for natural capital absorption.”

Even as a Republican, Koetz said she has been impressed with Squadron’s leadership. “I think he takes the time to be knowledgeable about the actual issues,” she said. “He does more governance and less politics.” She went on to say she is also a fan of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and newly elected Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, though she is disappointed with Chin.

Since the presidential election, Squadron has been an outspoken critic of Trump. On November 15, a town hall he held to follow up on last year’s community convention was overrun with residents wanting to know how he would stand up to the man who had been elected just hours before. Koetz, for one, is confident that Squadron is the right man for the job. “What we really need for him to do, though is to help communities get the help they need,” she said.

Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com