Yetta Kurland, a civil rights attorney who has served New York and the LGBT community for almost two decades, is running for New York City Council and just released her first paid video ad. The 90-second spot showcases her work in the community, including fighting to save St. Vincent’s Hospital and helping residents in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the New York/New Jersey metro area especially hard.
Kurland, who talks about the importance of “coalition building” in her new video, is running to represent the Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea  and West Village neighborhoods, a seat currently held by NYC mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, who is term-limited.
In the video Kurland, who recently hosted a weekly radio show, promises to “fight to make sure that we have a hospital for our community.”
“As a civil rights attorney, I’ve represented New Yorkers in their fights to keep affordable housing,” Kurland says. “I’ve represented folks to make sure that they’ve had fair work environments and fair wages for their work. I have stood up to the most powerful special interests in this city to fight to restore hospital services. And as the next City Councilmember for the lower West side of Manhattan, I will fight to make sure that we have a hospital for our community.”
New York City’s St. Vincent’s Hospital, founded in 1849, was a major teaching hospital that housed a large HIV/AIDS program. It closed in 2010 under what many believe were suspicious circumstances and to make way for real estate development, leaving the neighborhood without hospital services.
“Kurland identifies the need ‘to come together as a community’ and references her strong background in coalition building to deliver for New Yorkers,” a press release states. “Kurland boasts a wide range of endorsements ranging from key unions such as DC37, women’s groups such as the National Organization for Women NYC Chapter, and leaders in the LGBTQ community or communities of color such as City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez.”
“Yetta Kurland is a civil rights attorney and small business owner who has created jobs in New York for close to twenty years. As an attorney, she has represented tenants in housing cases and won court victories in the struggle for equality for LGBT people. When St. Vincent’s Hospital was closed to make way for luxury housing, Kurland led the fight for a new hospital for West Side residents, leading the Coalition for a New Village Hospital. Kurland is running for City Council in District 3, her home for more than two decades. The district encompasses Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and the West Village. Kurland lives in Chelsea with her two Italian Greyhounds, Luca and Salvatore.”
Kurland was honored earlier this month by the Women’s Democratic Club of New York City and has received dozens of endorsements, including most recently endorsements from former NYC Mayor David Dinkins, former NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Emily’s List, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Democracy for America and Jim Dean, and Patricia Rudden and Judith Slomack.
Kurland is online, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
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