Upper East Side: Losing the Silk Stocking DistrictJune 3, 2004 By Jennifer Sabella
In a city overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats, Republicans for decades
could at least count on support from Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Nicknamed the Silk Stocking District, a reference to the affluence of
its voters, the area's congressional and state senate seats were held
predominantly by liberal Republicans for much of the past 30 years.
However, since the mid 1990s, this has begun to change - due, some
observers say, to the increased conservatism of the national Republican
Party.
Going back at least to the 1958 election of liberal Republican John
Lindsay to Congress, Upper East Side Republicans have tended to be more
liberal than other Republicans. Lindsay represented the area from 1959
until 1965, when he became the 103rd mayor of New York City. (Another
congressperson from the district, Democrat Ed Koch, also went on to
become mayor.)
Now the district, which has been redrawn to include more Democrats, is
represented in Congress by Democrat Carolyn Maloney. She ousted
Republican Bill Green from the seat in 1992 and has held onto it ever
since.
A similar change has taken place in the area's 26th state senate
district, which elected Republican Roy Goodman for three decades.
Goodman was considered a "Rockefeller Republican" - a Republican who
takes conservative positions on fiscal questions and liberal stands on
social issues. He resigned in 2002 to take a post in the Bloomberg
administration and was replaced by a Democrat — Liz Krueger.
Republicans also once represented the area in the City Council. But
after Andrew Eristoff, now state budget director, resigned in 1999,
Democrat Eva Moskowitz defeated a Republican candidate who spent $1
million of her own money. Moskowitz has won twice since then. Republican
Eristoff meanwhile tried unsuccessfully to become state senator from the
district.
While the area's politics have gone through a shift, the district
remains affluent - its median income ranks the highest among all the New
York City council districts - and white.
But while the district has not changed, some observers say, the
Republican Party has. In an interview, Krueger indicated this might
explain the apparent loss of Republican support in the area. "The state
Republican Party has moved to the right, while our state has not," she
said, adding that national Republicans tend to be
"anti-choice, anti-labor and anti-rent regulation." Because of this,
Krueger said, "Manhattan Republicans have … been forced into pretending
not to be Republicans in order to get elected."
Even then, the voters may hold them responsible for the actions of their
party. "New York City Republicans are at a disadvantage because their
upstate colleagues are so anti-New York City" on issues such as
education spending, Krueger said.
But Republican consultant Bill O'Reilly sees the absence of Republicans
more as a question of individuals than policies. "Just a few years ago,
there were four East Side Republicans in office," he said. "Today there
are none. But it's important to note that not one of those elected
officials — Roy Goodman, John Ravitz, Andrew Eristoff and Charles
Millard — were defeated at the polls. Each of them left office to
pursue other challenges. Had they not, they would continue to hold
office today."
Councilmember Moskowitz takes the opposite view - that the Republican
dominance of the area is the aberration, not the current situation.
"Historically, these seats have been Democratic seats," she said. "For a
brief period of time, perhaps partly because of ideology and partly
because Republicans took advantage of special election mechanisms, these
seats went to Republicans."
Regardless of the reasons for their apparent demise in the area,
Republicans remain optimistic. "The Republican Party is alive and well
in Manhattan," said O'Reilly. "There is simply too much talent and
thoughtfulness in our ranks to allow us to fade away."

Proposal Replaces Robert Moses Park with New UN BuildingJuly 30, 2003 The United Nations Building complex, started in 1947, is sorely in need of renovation. The UN in planning to perform this work is looking to build an expansion building next door to house dislocated personnel during construction. Unfortunately this location is currently the site of one of the few pieces of open space in the neighborhood, Robert Moses Park.
Robert Moses Park surrounds one of the ventilation shafts for the midtown tunnel. It is a patchwork of asphalt areas sectioned off in chain link and wrought iron fencing. There are a few trees, but not much other greenery. It contains some of the few sports courts and the only dog run for 20 blocks in any direction.
In exchange for the community space taken for the new building, the UN has proposed a 20 foot esplanade, over the East River, from 41st to 42nd St. Their proposal calls for an expanded hockey field and an adjacent passive park. This plan may raise environmental issues and involve several Federal Agencies because of building over the water. This plan would obviously take so much time, that it would not be complete before construction of the new building could begin. It would also not satisfy the need of the community for another park equal in size and function to the Robert Moses Park.
The Turtle Bay Neighborhood Association and the East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development are promoting the use of an abandoned Con Edison parking lot as a replacement
The Con Ed parking lot at 685 First Avenue is presently being cleared in preparation for the pending sale of the Con Ed properties in this area. It is also being used as an access area for the Third Water Tunnel. This lot sits between St. Vartan’s Park and Esplanade Park and would provide a natural extension between the two.
To become the replacement park, New York City would first have to condemn the lot and then deed the lot to the public for use as a park. Condemnation requires that market value be given for the lot. The value of the property is presently under negotiation between Con Edison and the designated developer of the 5 blocks of property being sold by Con Ed. Again designating this lot as a replacement for the Robert Moses Park, would not happen swiftly.
While rumors abound that the UN may not currently have the funding to renovate the Secretariat Building on the main UN , the head of the land use committee of Community Board 6, has been asked to get involved in the selection of architects for the UN Building.
The two neighborhood groups are bird dogging the issue and additional information may be found at http://www.eastmidtowncoalition.com/index.html & http://turtlebay-nyc.org/index.html.

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ALL DISTRICT 4 MAJOR ISSUES Upper East Side: Losing the Silk Stocking District
(Jun 03, 2004)
Proposal Replaces Robert Moses Park with New UN Building
(Jul 30, 2003)
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