From left: District 3 City Council candidates Maria Passannante-Derr, Yetta Kurland and incumbent Christine Quinn
A City Council candidates’ forum on historic preservation issues was more amicable discussion than debate last night as two of three candidates for Manhattan District 3′s City Council seat cheered preservation in the district.
Candidates Yetta Kurland and Maria Passannante-Derr both advocated for increased preservation efforts and community involvement in the district at an event sponsored by the Historic Districts Council and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. The candidates applauded each other as often as they received applause from the roughly 30 attendees. The incumbent in the City Council seat, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, did not attend.
“Our physical surroundings [are] a reflection of ourselves and our identity,” said Kurland, a civil rights attorney and tenants’ rights advocate who argued that preservation is tied to broader community issues of housing and affordability. More
