Schumer Shows Up At Upper East Side Community Board Meeting

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side community board received an unexpected visit Wednesday night from a powerful guest: U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who fielded questions and recapped his legislative agenda during the board's monthly meeting.

Schumer began his 40-minute appearance at Community Board 8 by recounting the events of Jan. 6, which started with the revelation that he would achieve his long-held "dream" of becoming senate majority leader thanks to the Democrats' twin victories in Georgia.

Hours later, however, began the siege on the U.S. Capitol by a group of rioters Schumer referred to as "racist, arrogant, horrible bastards."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," he said of the rollercoaster day.

Schumer's appearance was the latest stop in a tour of community boards he has undertaken in recent weeks. Consisting mostly of updates from Washington, some have speculated that the visits serve to ward off a primary challenge from the left in 2022.

Schumer next gave an overview of Democrats' priorities over the coming months — topped by President Joe Biden's infrastructure package, which he said would deliver funding to help "extend the Second Avenue Subway up to East Harlem" and complete the long-stalled East Side Access project at Grand Central.

Chuck Schumer just joined our Community Board meeting. And he got a call from Senator Stabenow during it. “Deb, I’ll call you back.” #AllPoliticsIsLocal pic.twitter.com/Sn0oWwHetV
— Billy Freeland (@BillyFreelandNY) May 20, 2021

Later, Schumer was pressed by Saundrea Coleman, a resident of the NYCHA Isaacs Houses, about whether the infrastructure bill would include increased funding for the city's beleaguered public housing system. (Schumer has called for doubling the bill's $40 billion commitment for public housing nationwide.)

"I just want to press you to make that happen for us because the conditions are not great — it’s unhealthy [what] we’re living in," said Coleman, who is suing the city for repairs at the Upper East Side complex. (Schumer said he would "fight hard" for funding.)

Other topics raised by the board members included judicial nominees (Schumer pledged to ramp up confirmation of Joe Biden's judges), the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza (he declined to criticize House members that have voiced support for Palestine) and aid for performers and gig workers (Schumer pointed to the "Save Our Stages" funding and increased unemployment benefits.)

In one unexpected reunion, Schumer took a question about reopening schools from Peter Patch, a board member with whom he attended college 50 years earlier.

"We were in the same class," Schumer said. "You had black hair once."