Democrats Sweep State Assembly Seats in Special Election
On Tuesday, Democrats won all six state Assembly seats up for grabs in a special election. Four of the six districts were in New York City.
In Brooklyn district 54, Democrat Rafael Espinal won with 44 percent over two other Democrats, Deidra Towns with 23 percent and Jesus Gonzalez with 32 percent, according to unofficial results provided by the State Elections Board on Wednesday.
Espinal had the backing of the borough’s Democratic leader, Vito Lopez, and was the only one running on the Democrat line.
Towns ran to replace her brother, Daryll Towns, who held the position for 18 years before stepping down to take a post with the Cuomo administration. Gonzalez, 26, ran on the Working Families Party line and represented the growing Democratic reform movement in Brooklyn.
In Manhattan’s 73rd Assembly District, Democrat Dan Quart beat his Republican adversary, Paul Niehaus, 66 to 34. Democrat Phillip Goldfeder won 54 to 45 over Republican Jane Deacy in the 23rd district at Howard Beach and the Rockaways. Democrat Michael A. Simanowitz won 76 to 24 over Republican Marco DeSena in Queens district 27.
Upstate, Democrats Anthony Brindisi in Utica and Sean Ryan in Buffalo won vacant assembly seats.
Work Begins Under Last 7-Line Extension Contract
Work for the last major contract signed to extend the No. 7 subway line will begin this month, the MTA announced on Wednesday.
The $513.7 million contract is part of the $2.1 billion project to extent the line to the Far West Side of Manhattan, with a new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. It is expected to be completed by December 2013.
The funding for the contract is provided by Hudson Yards Development Corporation and awarded to a business partnership between Skanska USA and the Railworks Corp.
With the award, contractors will lay tracks for the subway trains, build train guiding signals, elevators and escalators, and utility systems for new sections of the track.
The contractors have promised to hire state-designated minority-owned subcontractors for 15 percent of work and women-owned subcontractors for 5 percent.
Bike Share to Be Available by Spring
The city’s public bike-share system will be available in the spring of 2012. The Department of Transportation has selected Alta Bicycle Share to be the provider. The system will be privately funded and will not affect tax payers.
Ten thousand bicycles will be available across 600 stations in the city, making it the largest bicycle-sharing system in the United States. The price for an annual bike-share pass will cost less than an unlimited monthly MetroCard. Monthly, weekly, and daily passes are also available. It is predicted that there will be approximately 27.5 million new bicycle trips every year.
Bike share will be an alternative to subways and cabs, especially for short trips. For New Yorkers, 54 percent of all trips are less than three miles, and more than 20 percent are less than one mile, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Council.
