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Ben Yee making his pitch for endorsements at Sunday’s forum for public advocate candidates. Photo by Tequila Minsky

BY SYDNEY PEREIRA | The Village Independent Democrats endorsed Ben Yee for public advocate on Sunday.

The special election for public advocate, set for Tues., Feb. 26, is jampacked with nearly two-dozen candidates who have tossed their names in the hat after former Public Advocate Letitia James was elected New York State attorney general. Not all will likely make it onto the ballot, though.

Yee — the secretary of the Manhattan Democrats and Democratic state committeeman for the 66th Assembly District — comes to the race as an activist, educator and entrepreneur. Though Yee nabbed support from V.I.D., he faces a tough race against several current and former politicians. Prominent among them are Councilmember Jumaane Williams, who ran for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Cynthia Nixon last year, and former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

At a forum this past Sunday sponsored by several Downtown Manhattan Democratic clubs, 17 candidates made their case for the clubs’ endorsements.

Twenty-two V.I.D. members supported Yee, another 16 went for Williams and four voted for no endorsement.

“Ben is the reason I’m president of the club and the reason I’m even a member of this club,” said David Siffert, the club’s recently elected president. Siffert, among others at V.I.D., was inspired by Yee’s civics workshops that have rallied newly involved politicos to join Democratic clubs and activist groups.

The 34-year-old East Villager has developed a platform inspired, in part, by those workshops. If elected, Yee has proposed creating a citywide civics-education program, as well as a “311 Hotline” for the public to ask questions about government processes. He also advocates for helping forge community “grassroots coalitions,” starting with coordinating community boards, school committees and precinct councils to develop a citywide perspective.

“It came down to Ben and Jumaane, who are very, very different candidates,” Siffert said. “There’s definitely something to be said for someone who has been in legislation and been involved in actively shaping policy,” he said of Williams. “But there’s definitely something to be said for someone who’s been involved in education and been involved in getting people involved.”

More than a dozen other candidates showed up Sunday. Among them was Williams, who railed against the mandatory inclusionary-housing program — the city’s program to increase affordable units in new developments. He said the program must be re-evaluated. He leaned on his past experience as a councilmember and tenant organizer.

“There are landlords who need to be in jail and their buildings should be taken from them,” Williams said.

Other prominent candidates included former Council Speaker Mark-Viverito, Councilmembers Rafael Espinal and Ydanis Rodriguez and Assemblymembers Latrice Walker, Michael Blake, Ron Kim and Danny O’Donnell.

Some Villagers slammed Rodriguez for his support of the hotly disputed Inwood rezoning, plus his campaigning for former state Senator Marisol Alcantara. Alcantara  formerly aligned herself with the Independent Democratic Conference, which was partly why former Councilmember Robert Jackson was able to defeat her in last September’s primary and win her seat.

Others pushed former and current councilmembers on why the Small Business Jobs Survival Act has been denied a vote for years in the Council. Mark-Viverito cited constitutional issues the bill may face. Rodriguez emphasized he was a co-sponsor of the bill, while Espinal voiced support for the bill, too.

High-profile activist Nomiki Konst also made her pitch. Saying her background as an investigative journalist gives her skill in tracking money, Konst proposed creating a “conflicts-of-interest grid” to show which corporations are contributing funds to lawmakers.

Other contenders included attorneys Jared Rich and Dawn Smalls; David Eisenbach, a Columbia professor and advocate for the Small Business Jobs Survival Act; John Jay College adjunct Sami Disu; Theo Chino, an activist and bitcoin entrepreneur who was detained after protesting the mayor’s Fair Fares press conference last week; and Daniel Christmann, a charismatic plumber who blasted the governor on his handling of the L-train shutdown and Amazon deal. Ifeoma Ike, another activist candidate and attorney, touted her work with the Innocence Project, which, through DNA testing, exonerates people wrongfully convicted.

After three hours of candidates’ pitches, V.I.D.’ers debated among themselves nearly an hour before voting.

Tiffany Hodges, a V.I.D. member who has taken Yee’s civics workshops, said, “He knows how to use the office for what it was created to do — to really create transparency between what the public knows and what government doesn’t want the public to know.”

WHAT: Designs by Leah Israel Fall Sample Sale

WHY: Designs by Leah Israel is opening her showroom for her biannual Sample Sale. Welcoming back loyal customers, new-comers and anyone looking for a high-end clothing line made for the modest dresser or religious woman. Wholesale prices directly from the designer.

Shop ready-to-wear, gowns and special occasion dresses. Sizes 0-20.

Cash & carry only.

WHEN: 11/18 - 11/20; Sun-Tue (noon-6)

WHERE: 265 West 37th Street
Floor 12A, Suite 6B
New York, NY 10018

For the complete list of today's sales and sample sales check HERE.

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WHAT: Prive Winter Sample Sale

WHY: Women's and men's contemporary and designer brands at up to 80% off retail at the Prive Winter Sample Sale.

Shop outerwear, footwear, sweaters, dresses, and more.

Cash, Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Apple Pay accepted. Fitting rooms available

WHEN: 12/26 - 12/31; W-Sat (11-7), Sun (11-5), M (11-3)

WHERE: Chelsea Market
75 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10011

For the complete list of today's sales and sample sales check HERE.

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Community Board 9 may embrace a street safety redesign that it has long opposed for upper Amsterdam Avenue — and all it took was a young woman’s death along the notorious speedway.

Or maybe not.

Members of the board — including street safety foe Carolyn Thompson, the board’s longtime Transportation Committee chairwoman — announced a hastily planned press conference for Tuesday morning, four days after Erica Imbasciani was run down and killed by a drugged-up driver, police said, along a stretch of Amsterdam that city officials have wanted to fix for two years, but have delayed because of the board’s opposition.

“Press conference denouncing the reckless actions of an individual that led to the tragic loss of life of Erica Imbasciani,” the board statement declared.

The board said its members would gather at the CB9 offices in West Harlem “to express their sincere condolences to the family of Erica Imbasciani.” The board, in a statement, said it would also call on the Department of Transportation to “address the concerns raised by CB9 so that appropriate traffic calming measures can be introduced in the near future.”

The board’s suggestion that DOT is to blame will certainly rankle many inside the agency. Beyond its support for unfettered driving, CB9 members suggested without evidence that the city plan would cause more pollution.

In March, 2017, DOT officials presented an initial plan to eliminate one lane of car traffic each way on Amsterdam between 113th and 162nd streets to accommodate turning bays and a painted bike lane. The plan also called for  concrete median islands to provide a refuge for pedestrians and to slow turning motorists at 14 intersections. An unspecified number of intersections were supposed to get painted curb extensions to slow turns and shorten crossing distances.

But some board members, including Thompson, did not like the plan. When DOT returned in December with a watered-down version, Thompson was unappeased.

“You’re still removing a lane. And that’s what we don’t want,” she said, ignoring evidence that DOT’s four-to-two road diets deter speeders, yet do not adversely affect overall travel times.

Another CB9 veteran, Ted Kovaleff, also spun the safety improvement as “cutting out a lane to be able to put in a bike lane.” He and Thompson took similar positions during a 2015 discussion of a road diet for Riverside Drive, which Thompson and Kovaleff also fought.

Given all that history — and the fact that CB9 has not reached out to DOT, a source said — it’s unclear what board members will do on Tuesday, days after activists vented their anger at the do-nothing board.

Since the DOT first presented its plan, there have been 927 reported crashes on that stretch of Amsterdam in question, resulting in injuries to 27 cyclists, 58 pedestrians and 116 motorists, plus the death of Imasciani. Thompson did not return two calls seeking comment. Imasciani’s mother posted a heartfelt tribute on Facebook.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer — who has appointed and re-appointed Thompson and other street-safety foes to the board — also sent mixed signals on Monday morning, telling Streetsblog, “I grieve along with the friends and family of Erica Imbasciani — a young life with so much promise lost way too soon. It’s now tragic that a street redesign hasn’t been implemented on this stretch of Amsterdam Avenue.”

Brewer continued, “But not even redesigns can prevent crashes caused by motorists who drive under the influence.” That comment was similar to what the board said in its statement, blaming the driver who killed Imbasciani and ignoring that good road design does serve as a deterrent to bad driving.

Brewer declined to answer follow-up questions, specifically why she has reappointed Thompson and others to the board. She did speak positively in general about safer streets: “Street redesigns have historically proven to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and everyone else that uses New York City’s streets, and I will always support smart, effective ways to keep New Yorkers safe.”

Tune in tomorrow.

Gov. Cuomo has a message for New York municipalities debating whether to allow e-bikes and e-scooters on their streets: Figure it out yourselves.

The governor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget creates categories for both types of currently illegal vehicles — then punts to the localities to decide whether to legalize one, both or neither.

The categories are “locally authorized motorcycles” (what non-bureaucrats commonly call e-bikes) and “locally authorized scooters,” meaning e-scooters [PDF – Page 103]. Localities could then “authorize such operation by local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation,” according the legislation.

The proposal appears to address a question looming over city policymakers ahead of a city council hearing on the topic next Wednesday: whether state action is necessary for the city council to pass a set of proposals permitting the vehicles on city streets.

A group of council members is all-in for e-bike and e-scooter legalization, but Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson have been more cautious.

For his part, Johnson has said the city lacks the authority to permit the vehicles on its own, because state law does not (yet) explicitly permit the operation of so-called “limited-used vehicles” without registration. E-bikes lack federal Vehicle Identification Numbers and therefore cannot be registered.

Cuomo’s budget speaks directly to that concern. “Locally authorized motorcycles” would be any two-wheeled saddled vehicle “other than one registered or capable of being registered … as a motorcycle or limited-use motorcycle,” the document says.

The legislation outlines a maximum size for e-scooters, which would only be allowed on streets with speed limits at or below 30 miles an hour.

E-bike speeds, meanwhile, would be legally capped at 20 miles per hour. Helmets, lights and reflective clothing would be required for any night-time use of either type of vehicles — but the law also gives municipalities the power to “further regulate the maximum speed, time, space and manner of … operation.”

“It’s a big budget with details on lots of topics to review, including this important one,” Johnson said in a statement to Streetsblog. “As I’ve said before, I have concerns about e-scooters and e-bikes but am open to them in some form if we can work out the legal issues and address real safety concerns.”

Devil doggo. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Halloween comes but once a year, yet this year, its midweek arrival means at least five nights of spooky fun. Here are 24 ways to party this year.

1. Get very ghoulish.
Kick off Halloweekend tonight with the annual screening of Nosferatu at the Halloween Extravaganza at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Afterward, stand back for the procession of ghouls, created by the Ralph Lee’s Mettawee River Theatre Company.

2. Hit up a haunted house.
Perhaps you’re looking for some spooky-house action. You can visit the tried-and-true massive phantasmagoria that is Blood Manor, which has moved its den of ultra-high-tech UV lights, animatronics, and gore-filled makeup to Broadway. Or try New York City College of Technology’s haunted-hotel-themed Gravesend Inn for $10. Also $10, the walk-through Ridgewood Asylum, in the spacious bar the Deep End. Enter at your own risk.

3. Or just pretend you’re hitting up a haunted house.
Get the feel of a haunted house without (many) scares at Nightmare Machine, the phobia-themed Instagram walk-through. Take photos in a slaughter room or get itchy when the creepy-crawlies take over.  Don’t get too complacent, though, as ghouls will come out when you least expect them.

4. Pet some pups in costume.
The best kind of parade is a doggy-costume parade. The Halloween-loving hound dogs come out this Sunday at Fort Greene Park at the 20th annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest. Last year, there was an overwhelming number of puppy Handmaid’s Tale (Tail?) costumes. Maybe this year it’ll be Sharp Pupjects?

5. Channel the ghost of Houdini.
Investigate the untimely death of a celebrated illusionist in the new immersive play, The Girl Who Handcuffed Harry Houdini. Everyone’s a suspect, as the play takes place throughout three floors of a Prohibition-themed East Village townhouse.

6. Dance your way into darkness.
For its last hurrah, Videology goes all in with Dario Argento’s Suspiria, transforming into the Tanz Dance Academy of Freiburg with specialty cocktails served by witches and dancers, a raffle for the new soundtrack by Thom Yorke on vinyl, and back-to-back screenings of the 1977 version. It all starts at noon on Saturday.

7. Dress up for a fancy ball.
Tonight and Saturday, You Are So Lucky and MATTE Projects will throw one of their epic masquerade balls, converting an abandoned three-acre location in NYC for “How Did Our Dreams End Up Like This.” Some 125 performers, musicians, and DJs explore the spirit of dark and light in the multisensory experience.

8. Try to stay alive at a Murder Mystery.
An unidentified skeleton has been found at the Mount Vernon Hotel, and in this Halloween Murder Mystery, it’s up to you to collect clues and solve the case … if you dare. Reservations are available for tonight and Saturday.

9. Taste some gourmet candy options.
It’s not Halloween without sweets, and Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate has the creepy, fancy goods, with special Halloween Eye Balls filled with caramelito whipped ganache, Tahitian vanilla marshmallow, and speculoos cookies. They’re $6 a piece.

10. Take a trip to the Merchant’s House Museum.
The Merchant’s House Museum is always a good bet for Halloween happenings. Check out its new exhibition, “A Good Death: 19th Century Lessons in Dying Well,” take a candlelight ghost tour (some at midnight), spend an evening listening to the chilling tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and more.

11. Do the Monster Mash.
There’s no shortage of parties to choose from. If you’d like one hosted by G-Eazy, head to Marquee on Saturday. Also on Saturday is the themed Rub dance party at the Bell House. On Wednesday, the House of Yes has the Gala of the Gone, with tarot readings and Ouija boards, among other things, while Sunday in Brooklyn has an ’80s-themed Glow party with food and drink specials. Start looking for some spandex.

12. Vogue.
The Madonnathon at the Highline Ballroom makes your costume decision easy: Just pick your favorite era and go, then possibly get to express yourself onstage with the band if your outfit wins a prize. If you opt for the cones, just try not to poke someone’s eye out.

13. Get spooked by some stories.
The Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast wants to bring the dead to life, and they’re doing it this Sunday and next Wednesday at Joe’s Pub through spooky stories. Hear NYC urban legends like you never have before: with professional sound effects.

14. Prove your love of Hocus Pocus.
Show your appreciation for all things Bette Midler & Co. with a Hocus Pocus trivia night, Monday at Taco Electrico. It’s free, but reservations are recommended. On Wednesday, see actors re-create the movie (with lots of booze) at a Drinking Game NYC Presents: Hocus Pocus on Halloween at the Brooklyn Bazaar. And if you just want to see the movie, catch a free screening at SVA, also on Wednesday, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the movie.

15. Dia de Los Muertos for a cause.
On Sunday at Flora Bar in the Met Breuer chef Ignacio Mattos hosts a Dia de Los Muertos dinner with a percentage of the proceeds donated to Edible Schoolyard NYC. The three-course dinner includes cocktails, plus live mariachi.

16. See a big-ass pumpkin.
Last weekend may have been Giant Pumpkin Weekend at the New York Botanical Garden, but on display through October 31 is the biggest pumpkin grown in 2018, a 2,528-pound megagourd grown by Steve Geddes of Boscawen, New Hampshire. They say it’s the weight of two grizzly bears. We’ll take their word for it.

17. Scare it all off.
You can dress up, but the ladies onstage will be taking it off in scary style at the Wasabassco Halloween Costume Party and Burlesque show this Saturday at City Winery.

18. Do the time warp.
Don your best corset for the Rocky Horror Picture Show Live Karaoke Revue and Halloween Extravaganza, Wednesday at the Bell House. Come early to sign up to sing your favorite tune, and stay for film clips, a costume contest, and two full karaoke sets, with proceeds benefiting the Center for Anti-Violence Education.

19. Have a Mahaloween.
Tiki and spooky go together (spootiki?) at this rummy “Mahaloween” celebration at the Polynesian, with themed drinks, games, and an island-fantasy costume contest with prizes, including a private “Rum 101” session and tiki mugs. It’s a pirate’s dream.

20. Try some chilling ice cream.
Through Halloween, the Republic of Booza is offering a couple of spooky options: the Dracula’s Bloody Mess, a white chocolate rocky road with marshmallows, chocolate chunks, almonds and a sour cherry bloody swirl; and the Choc-o’-Lantern, pumpkin booza with ribbons of dark-chocolate ganache. Beware of chilling brain freeze.

21. Learn from history.
Brooklyn is the home to ghosts, both alive and dead, and this Halloween, the Brooklyn Historical Society focuses on the latter, with Boroughs of the Dead founder Andrea Janes. Plus an exploration of funerary traditions with funeral director Amy Cunningham, and more, all free.

22. Reimagine the end of life.
Death is a big part of Halloween, but it doesn’t have to be scary. From Saturday through November 3, the Reimagine End of Life New York festival features more than 350 events exploring death. Go to a seminar on Jewish practices around death, write a six-word memoir, go to a Morbid Anatomy open house, plus much, much more.

23. Drag up your night. 
See Aja and Valentina from Drag Race plus a live performance from Trina in this “Godmother” Halloween blowout presented by VFILES on Halloween night. Plus DJs and a marching band and whatever else they can dream up.

24. Love a parade.
All the ghouls come out for the 45th annual Halloween Parade, which begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. This year’s theme is I AM a Robot, and you can gain access to a special VIP Robot section in the parade for $25. (Tom Cruise costumes not accepted, probably.) Are you man? Or machine?