Elections to the local anti-poverty board on the Lower East Side were marred yesterday when a candidate walked into board headquarters and destroyed the tally sheets containing the election results, Jewish sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today. Six Jews are believed to have been among the winners.
The sources called the election a great Jewish victory, explaining that the unofficial results demonstrated a more equitable representation for poor Jews on the Lower East Side than has heretofore been the case. According to the sources, over 6000 Lower East Side residents cast ballots to fill 34 seats on the board. At 10 p.m., when the voting was over, the poll watchers in each district removed the tally sheets from the machines for transport to the anti-poverty headquarters. As officials there were about to count the results, a man identified as a Puerto Rican board candidate burst into the room with eight associates. The men yanked the long tally sheets from the tables and proceeded to tear them.
The six Jewish candidates–Harold Jacobs. Barry Goldstein, Jerry Goodman, Joel Price, Martin Price and Marcus Taubenfeld–joined by unofficial winners of other ethnic groups–called for an emergency meeting today with Jules Sugarman, Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration, to report the incident. Puerto Rican candidates also expressed outrage at the incident. The Lower East Side has been a testing ground for fair Jewish representation on the boards in the city’s designated poverty areas.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
