Housing Works Forum

We're still well into the John Hughes-montage phase of these primary races, but one important event slipped by. It was a bit outside my coverage area, but from the sound of it, it was pretty important, especially when these forums and debates tend to blend together. Fortunately, City Hall was there. Read on:
Green Blasted For Absence At Raucous HIV/AIDS Forum, Katz and Mendola Relate Personal Stories
Andrew J. Hawkins
In the middle of a raucous HIV/AIDS forum for the public advocate and comptroller candidates in Bedford-Stuyvesant last night, the moderator, Manny Rivera, paused a moment to remind the audience about one candidate who was missing.
“Who will support Mark Green for public advocate, after today’s non-attendance at this forum?” Rivera asked.
“Noooooo!” the crowd boomed.
“Let’s understand something,” Rivera continued, as the other candidates—Eric Gioia, Bill de Blasio, Norman Siegel and Alex Zablocki—looked on and nodded. “If you can’t get a meeting before someone gets elected, try to get a meeting after they get elected.”
Rivera, visibly angry, added one final thought.
“He may be ahead in the polls, but he’s not ahead in our poll,” he said. “He’s failed our poll.”