Did you know that this year a federal judge created a special petitioning period just for federal races? New York has been out of compliance with a federal law designed to give military and overseas voters sufficient time to vote, and that would require a summer primary. Legislators in Albany weren’t able to come up with a plan to address this, and the courts had to step in.

So what does that all mean? It means this year we get to have three primaries, and we need to do three rounds of petitioning for our candidates. Round one was for the presidential election, and was largely handled by the Obama campaign. But round two starts this week, and it’s time to get out and support Carolyn Maloney’s reelection campaign.

The club has petition sheets, so if you’d like to go out on your own and talk to neighbors, send over an email to dillon (at) lenoxhilldems.org and we’ll make sure you get some sheets and a clipboard.

And if you’d like to do more and coordinate a petitioning event for a club, shoot over an email with a time and a date, and once we get a few times, we’ll be sending out a club petitioning calender.

We’ll be heading back to Molly Pitcher’s again this Thursday to handle the second half of our endorsements. Since many of the Judicial Candidates will be arriving in a staggered and unscheduled manner throughout the evening, you’re encouraged to attend the whole meeting. We’ll be socializing between speeches and voting near the end of the meeting. You must have been a member in good standing for the prior 60 days to vote at this endorsement.

At this meeting we will be voting to endorse the following positions:

65th AD State Committeewoman
65th AD State Committeeman
Civil Court Countywide
Civil Court 6th District
Surrogate Court
Judicial Delegate
Judicial Delegate Alternate

Any candidate interested in running for these positions can speak for up to five minutes at any point during the meeting. Anyone who is unable to attend, but interested in running, is encouraged to send a (please don’t make it very long) written message to be read at the meeting. Send anything to dillon (at) lenoxhilldems.org as late as 5pm on Thursday.

As was announced at our last meeting, Heather Leifer has stepped down as the 65th Assembly District’s Female District Leader.

Per our club’s constitution, the President has appointed a Nominating Committee to accept resumes and letters of interest from interested candidates.

Resumes and letters should be emailed to dillon (at) lenoxhilldems.org, and will be accepted until 5pm on Friday, March 16th. The nominating committee will be meeting the following week to discuss and interview candidates. A report will be issued before the next club meeting.

In order to fill this position, you must live within the 65th Assembly District.

Tonight we’re meeting at Molly Pitcher’s Ale House on 2nd and 85th at 7PM. State Senator Liz Krueger will be joining us to talk about redistricting, how her No Bad Apples PAC is helping to elect good government Democrats throughout New York, and her plans for the upcoming year.

Also joining us is Monica Atiya, the group coordinator of UES for Change, which is the Upper East Side’s local Obama for America chapter. She’ll be talking about the ways you can get involved with the Obama campaign over the next few months and about why Philadelphia is so important to the campaign’s strategy.

And finally, tonight we’ll be endorsing for the following offices that are up for election in 2012:
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
New York State Senate
New York State Assembly

(Other offices, positions, and alternates will be endorsed at a later meeting.)

This month we’ll be meeting on Thursday, March 8th, at Molly Pitcher’s Ale House on 2nd and 85th. Topics for discussion will include the annual cocktail reception, events this summer, and how New York’s redistricting process is proceeding.

Also, this bar has assured us that their back room will be free of compressor noise: that’s 100% better than our January meeting!

In our January meeting, and again at our February Executive Board meeting, we had some spirited discussion on the Research Works Act, and the club was considering drafting a letter expressing our views on the bill.

In a statement released on Monday, Representative Carolyn Maloney announced with her co-sponsor Darrell Issa that “we want Americans concerned about access to research and other participants in this debate to know we will not be taking legislative action on HR 3699, the Research Works Act. We do intend to remain involved in efforts to examine and study the protection of intellectual property rights and open access to publicly funded research.”

The full text of Representative Maloney’s announcement can be found on her house webpage here:
http://maloney.house.gov/press-release/issa-maloney-statement-research-works-act

The Lenox Hill Democratic Club
Annual Cocktail Reception
Thursday, April 12, 2012
7:00 PM – 9:00PM
The Players
16 Gramercy Park South (20th Street East of Park Ave)

We are especially pleased to announce that this year the club will be honoring:

State Assemblyman Micah Kellner

Assembly Member Kellner represents New York’s 65th Assembly District which encompasses the Upper East Side, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island. Since his election in 2007, Assembly Member Kellner has become the State’s leading advocate for people with disabilities and has fought to improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers. This past year, he played a crucial role in expanding access in New York City’s transportation system for people with disabilities.

Dear Club Members and Friends:

We hope that you will take this opportunity to become sponsor of our event by purchasing a ticket at one of the following contribution levels: Co-Chair at $1,000, Benefactor at $500, Patron at $250, and Friend at $150.

All sponsors will appear on the formal event invitation and program.  Formal invitation will be sent out. Please return this form no later than March 1st, 2012 to be sure your name will be included on the invitation.  A regular event ticket will be $125. The event cost for dues paying members of the Lenox Hill Democratic Club is $100 per ticket.

The form to become a sponsor can be found here.

For further information, please contact Michael Dillon at dillon (at) lenoxhilldems.org

One good thing about being involved in politics in this city is experiencing the moments when the vibrant culture we live in every day intersects with the politics that we all enjoy. Today I’d like to let you know about two upcoming events: one cultural, and one that blends politics and culture together.

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Our own assemblyman, Micah Kellner, brings us an event which bridges the world of politics and film: a documentary on the dangers of hydrofracking. Gasland has been called“one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years” by Robert Koehler of Variety and was the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. If you haven’t had a chance to see this enlightening film, you owe it to yourself to join Assemblyman Kellner for this special presentation.

Be sure to RSVP!
Please register online with Food & Water Watch at or call Assembly Member Kellner’s office at 212-860-4906.

Wheelchair Access: Enter through the Black Hall entrance located at 133 East 77th Street and take elevator ‘24′ to floor ‘LA.’ Take a right out of the elevators. Through the doors at the end of the hallway is Einhorn Auditorium’s stage with a wheelchair lift.

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The second event come to us from a member of the East Side Democratic Club, Leon Negrin:

Eight years ago, Leon’s wife, Eliette Markhbein, suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a speeding car. After her rehabilitation, she set about creating large scale portraits of other TBI survivors who have gone on to become role models for others. Twelve of these large scale portraits are being exhibited from March 15 to April 15th in the Medical Science Building Gallery at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Please join her for the Opening Reception on Thursday, March 15th from 6 to 8 PM.

The invitation can be found here.

Anyone who picked up a presidential delegate petition at our last meeting, and hasn’t turned it in yet, please give Dillon a call at (518) 506-4601 or shoot over an email to dillon (at) lenoxhilldems.org to arrange a pickup. Petitions are due this weekend, and the club is coordinating people who will be collecting them through out the weekend to get them turned.

Lenox Hill Democratic Club February Executive Board Meeting

Thursday, February 9th, 2012
7 PM
Brown Gardens Community Room
225 East 93rd Street (between 2nd and 3rd Ave)

On Thursday, February 9th, at 7PM, at Brown Gardens (225 East 93rd Street), the Executive Board of the Lenox Hill Democratic Club will be meeting to plan our Annual Fundraiser, discuss the Research Works Act letter from the January meeting, and begin planning events for the rest of the year. Executive Board meetings are open to everyone, and anyone interested in helping to plan club events is encouraged to attend.