The Independent View: Tribeca Film Fest Street Fair Plans to Rock The Vote

Colorful opening marks film fest’s 10th year: The Tribeca Film Festival celebrated it’s 10th year with an opening night screening and concert at North Cove in Battery Park City.

This year’s Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair will have a new, added political component, spurred on by the recent population boom in Lower Manhattan. But like the film festival itself, the event will be geared to all audiences, at least politically speaking.

Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1, came up with the idea to host a "Rock the Vote" campaign at the street fair as a way to take advantage of the new families and singles that over the last few years have chosen to call Lower Manhattan their home. She contacted Rock the Vote’s main headquarters in Washington, D.C. and then reached out to any and every political group in the city that shared her passion to register new voters during the hugely popular event.

“It’s the first of many events we’re going to do,” said Menin. “There’s 30,000 people that have moved into Community Board 1 since 9/11 and that’s a large number of new Downtowners. Maybe they never did a change of address.”

The street fair takes place this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Greenwich St., from Hubert to Chambers Sts. At 12 p.m. sharp on the main stage local elected officials will join Menin to kick off the event.

Menin stressed the bi-partisan aspect of the campaign. Groups such as the New York City Independence Party Organizations, Working Families Party, the Metropolitan Republican Club, the Log Cabin Republicans of NYC, Manhattan Young Democrats, the Downtown Republican Club, and the Downtown Independent Democrats are all co-sponsoring the event.

The IPNYC Manhatten Chair, Cathy Stewart, secured an invitation for the NYC Independence Party Organizations to participate this SATURDAY in a voter registration drive at the TriBeCa Film Festival. We will educate folks about IP and register voters. Cathy Stewart will also be there for the program.

If you are in the area drop by our table.