Abstract

Enter the New Party

The New York City, New York chapter of the New Party announced it would merge with a group called the Majority Coalition for a New New York, a collection of reformers and activists put together by Dennis Rivera, the head of health and hospital workers Local 1199 and a major David Dinkins supporter. The truth is that the party wants to go bigetime fast. In New York , a party wins ballot status for a four-year period if its gubernatorial candidate receives 50,000 or more votes. The New Partyers see the mayoral race as a kind of dress rehearsal. If they can organize people to circulate petitions and do the legwork needed to get Dinkins, say, 30,000 votes on their line in 1993, that's a respectable starting point from which to garner 50,000 votes next year.