A petition for democracy

East Side Encounters

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Democrat Party time — Petitions, primaries, politics — If it’s June, it’s petitioning time and petition carriers, most from local Democrat Party clubs this year, will be asking you to sign to get candidates on the ballot in November. If there are candidates competing for the same office, their names will appear on different petitions and there will be a primary election in September. In order to get on the ballot, candidates for each office require a certain number of qualifying signatures.

The names of candidates who are endorsed by a local political club will appear on the petitions they carry. Some candidates may have petitions with only their name on it. Up to them. This year there will be a primary in the 76th Assembly District, which runs from 61st to 92nd Streets, east of Third Ave plus Roosevelt Island, but does not include Ruppert/Yorkville Towers (90th to 93rd Streets east of Third Ave). There are candidates competing for Civil Court (6th Judicial District) and for male member of the State Committee as well as for judicial delegate and alternate delegate. [Full disclosure: I’m a candidate for judicial delegate.]

Getting on the ballot is not automatic. Hence, your favorite elected official with no opposition has to petition to get on the November ballot when their term of office is up. So don’t be surprised to see State Senator Liz Krueger or Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright on many petitions, along with the names of candidates for the other races. In the Civil Court race, there are three candidates competing for one seat. Only Housing Court Judge Sabrina Kraus came out of the screening panel for the 6th Judicial District for the East Side. She also previously came out of the New York County Screening Panel and is endorsed by two of the three Democratic clubs that cover the 76th Assembly District — the Lexington Democratic Club and the Lenox Hill Democratic Club. Her name appears on their petitions. The candidate endorsed by the Four Freedoms Club (of which I’m a member) withdrew from the race. So no judicial candidate’s name appears on the Four Freedoms petition. The other two candidates in the race are Len Silverman, an attorney who lives on the Upper East Side, and Susan Avery, who is also a Housing Court Judge. So if you’re a registered Democrat and live in the district, sign a petition to get candidates on the ballot. You can then vote or not vote for them in September or November. Signing just gets them on the ballot. The American way.

When tweets were for the birds — Coffeehouse cum bakery in the East 80’s on a Friday afternoon. Door opens. Two men, busily chatting, pass through the portal as a bird unexpectedly flies in. One gent heads for a table. The other for a latte at the counter. The bird goes straight for the sprinkling of crumbs on the floor near the bakery entrance. Noticing the bird, a lady screeches and runs for the door. The bird, having cleaned up the crumbs, follows right behind her. I thought I heard a tweet. Not sure. These days, tweets are seen, not heard.

When more is less — Dunkin’ Donuts had a special: medium coffee, $1.99. Small coffee, $2.99. I report. You decide. Someone in the echelons of Dunkin’ must have gotten the word that a ban on medium-sized cups is on the way. Don’t laugh. Could happen.

Indicia, indicia – How do you know when a restaurant is going bye, bye? I found out when I was sitting at the bar at Cinema Café on the southeast corner of 34th and Third and ordered a bloody mary. No stirrer. No celery. No filling for the dumplings from the app menu. All on a Saturday evening. A conversation started up at the bar and the word was out that, in April, commercial tenants had been served with vacate notices and would have to be out by the end of July. Somebody said that the building was sold and that the residential tenants would be gone too. The Italian restaurant, La Giara, right next door to Cinema Café, has closed. Someone said that the landlord owned La Giara. Apropos of Cinema Cafe’s fate, I’m wondering what it means that Jacques Brasserie, farther uptown on East 85th Street, has taken pate off their menu?

Bus plus — You won’t find moi having anything good to say about NYC/MTA buses. Just doesn’t happen. Not with the long waits and the caravans of buses not picking up passengers. But it sure is delightful to note some of the nice things you see along some of the bus routes. Traveling down Lexington Avenue on a weekday at the southwest corner of 46th/47th Streets, a swing band was playing on the plaza of an office building. Thanks to Arts Brookfield’s “Swinging Into Summer.”