UFTer challenges seniority foe for Assembly seat

Washington Irving HS Chapter Leader Gregg Lundahl (right), who’s running for state Assembly, chats with City Comptroller John Liu at the City Hall rally to “Save Our City” on June 16.

The UFT has given its enthusiastic endorsement to Washington Irving HS chapter leader and union activist Gregg Lundahl in an effort to oust incumbent Assemblyman Jonathan Bing.

The Upper East Side Assemblyman was the chief sponsor of now dead-in-the-water state legislation that would have given the DOE unchecked power to lay off whom it chooses.

“Bing needed a challenger, and we’re fortunate to have someone of Gregg’s caliber stepping up,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

The UFT Executive Board on June 7 voted to recommend that NYSUT endorse Lundahl in Manhattan’s 73rd A.D. in the Democratic Party primary in September. The NYSUT Executive Board endorsed Lundahl on June 16.

Lundahl, a 20-year veteran social studies teacher and UFT Executive Board member, has been a resident of the East Side Manhattan district for more than a decade.

“My father taught me that complaining was fruitless; if I wanted change, I had to make that change,” said Lundahl, who is the son of a Lutheran minister.

Lundahl charged that Bing, who was first elected to the post in 2002, has served his district poorly.

“Bing has dropped every ball he’s ever juggled, including the Second Avenue subway build that’s been a roadblock for the elderly, a drain on local small businesses and a boondoggle for connected developers,” Lundahl said. “With traffic getting worse even on side streets, air quality deteriorating, gentrification of what little affordable housing is left in the district, overcrowded schools and a lack of city and state services for those unfortunate enough not to be rich, Bing has not only been bad for teachers, he’s bad for residents. We deserve better. I can do it much better.”

Lundahl is the UFT’s citywide director of high school workshops. A longtime civil and human rights advocate, Lundahl was tapped to speak in 2004 on closing the education achievement gap at Harvard University celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education court decision.

“Elected officials must be leaders, advocating for those they represent,” Lundahl said. “If that means alienating colleagues, spotlighting abusive landlords, or just plain making a pest of yourself, that’s the job — and that’s the job I’m running for.”

Go to www.greggforassembly.com for more information about the campaign.