Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Gwen Lowenheim, Educator at Pace University, on open primaries and engaging independent voters
1:14:26
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3 min
Gwen Lowenheim, an educator at Pace University and a lifelong independent voter, testifies in support of open primaries. She states her political views have never been represented by either major party and questions why a two-party system is equated with democracy.
Lowenheim, who has been an educator since the 1980s and a grassroots organizer, is inspired by her students who see ways out of political polarization. She expresses hope they do not become as alienated by the process as she has, noting that people in their age bracket are overwhelmingly independent, and argues that opening primaries would unlock fresh ideas, particularly for issues like housing.
Gwen Lowenheim
1:14:26
I'm Gwen Lowenheim.
1:14:28
I live in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn right here.
1:14:31
I grew up in Borough Park, and I spent most of my life in this area.
1:14:36
I'm very happy to be here and to be able to speak directly to the New York City Charter Revision Commission, and I'm honored to contribute to these hearings on open primaries in the city where my grandparents immigrated, my parents raised their kids, and I raised my daughter, and she now has three children.
1:14:56
I was raised to always take our democracy seriously, and yet my political views have never been represented by either of the two parties, an exclusion I take very seriously.
1:15:08
For from a young age, I wondered why two parties was related to as interchangeable with democracy, so I never registered in either.
1:15:18
And as we know, the impact of that is that I have not been able to really vote in the election.
1:15:24
I've been an educator since the nineteen eighties and currently teach at Pace University where I'm also the coordinator of an international conversation groups and facilitator training for undergraduate and graduate students from The US and around the world.
1:15:40
I also train teachers in innovative approaches to student retention, which we know is a big issue.
1:15:47
And when I'm not in the classroom, I've been a grassroots organizer, and I actually first experienced grassroots organizing as a student at Erasmus Hall High School, right right here.
1:16:00
I'm inspired by the work of I'm inspired by the students I work with.
1:16:04
They're in their twenties and in their late thirties.
1:16:07
They see ways out of the polarization of the two parties and are enthusiastic about creating new possibilities.
1:16:15
I hope they do not become as alienated by this whole process as I have been.
1:16:22
And as we know it, as we've spoken about a lot tonight, people in this age bracket are overwhelmingly independent.
1:16:31
If we opened our primaries and gave independence a real voice, we'd unlock a flood of fresh ideas and practical solutions for our economy, for housing.
1:16:44
I really support the passionate direction about what needs to be done for housing tonight.
1:16:52
Let some innovation come through.
1:16:54
The two parties are too connected to real estate interests.
1:16:57
I just I just walked down downtown Brooklyn.
1:17:01
Everybody should do it.
1:17:02
Go downtown towards the bridge.
1:17:04
There's a whole new city there.
1:17:06
And where is all the housing of the people that grew up there?
1:17:11
I don't think the two parties are gonna solve this issue.
1:17:16
So bring in the new voices, the new ways of seeing what's possible, and that's really what I had to say.