For Mr. Rivera, the event marked an important moment in his political career: his first town hall meeting.

“And it will be one of dozens,” he said after the meeting.

Mr. Rivera held his own, taking scrupulous notes on the back of a press release and writing down each question that was asked. 

He spoke out on his support for independent redistricting, as well as the need for the state to push for a single-payer health care option.

“I think it went great, man. This is the type of stuff that I wish I could do every weekend,” Mr. Rivera said after the meeting.

Mr. Dinowitz, who ran the town hall meeting, showed support for Mr. Rivera’s first-time performance. “I thought he did good. I thought he did very good. He certainly knew his stuff,” he said.

Cannon shenan-igans

Hugo Subotovsky — an architect who works with Jackson Development — wants the Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association to retract statements it made on the proposed 93-unit building on Cannon Place. At last week’s Community Board 8 Land Use committee meeting, FIPNA handed out a stack of papers chronicling the top ten reasons why the group is not in favor of the development. On April 8, the attorney representing the architect, Jerry D. Reichelscheimer, sent a letter addressed to FIPNA’s president, Kristin Hart. Jackson points out that FIPNA spells architect Hugo Subotovsky’s last name incorrectly. It takes issue with the assertion that all Jackson buildings look the same and that past Jackson projects exceeded zoning regulations. 

In the letter, Mr. Reichelscheimer demands that FIPNA “immediately retract in writing, [its] gross misstatement of facts as this inaccuracy is both harmful and slanderous to the reputation of Mr. Subotovsky.”

FIPNA’s attorney, Ezra Glaser, sent a letter back on April 10, arguing that FIPNA’s statements are matters of opinion and therefore cannot be used as the basis of a defamation claim.