Shaw Is Heckled On Housing Issue At F.I.T. Debate

One of Mayor Bloomberg’s Republican challengers was received with jeers and heckling last night as he answered questions at a candidates’ forum about city housing issues.In a packed auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Steven Shaw, an investment banker who argued that the mayor has neglected his conservative base, tried to explain his views on solving the city’s housing problems. Mr. Shaw did his best to clarify why he was against forcing landlords to freeze rents temporarily and why he opposes mandating developers to include a certain percentage of “affordable” housing when they are granted permission to build.Neither of those positions went over well with the audience, made up mostly of students and left-leaning housing activists who have been lobbying for both of those causes. Nonetheless, the Democratic mayoral hopefuls sitting alongside Mr. Shaw at a narrow conference table on stage said he deserved credit for showing up at an event knowing the crowd would be hostile to his views.The Democratic candidates came down on the same side of most of the detailed questions, which hit topics ranging from emergency shelter services to housing for the poor and disabled. The forum was unusual in that several of the candidates were on stage at the same time, giving the audience an easy way to compare their answers and styles, rather than listening to them address the crowd sequentially.The former borough president of the Bronx, Fernando Ferrer, left early, and some of the others arrived late, leaving little time for exchanges.The speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, the borough president of Manhattan, C. Virginia Fields, and Rep. Anthony Weiner were on stage together for most of the 90-minute session.On the way out, those in the crowd filled out exit polls rating candidate performances. Though the tally will not be counted until today, several advocates said they liked Mr. Weiner.A volunteer with Develop Don’t Destroy, a Brooklyn group that is lobbying against the proposed Nets arena in the borough, said the Brooklyn-Queens congressman did a better job of “connecting” with the audience. The volunteer, Steven Estroff, said Mr. Weiner was quick on his feet with incisive suggestions for solving some of the city’s toughest housing conundrums.Mr. Bloomberg and his other GOP challenger, former council member Thomas Ognibene of Queens, did not attend the forum.

Shaw Is Heckled On Housing Issue At F.I.T. Debate

Shaw Is Heckled On Housing Issue At F.I.T. Debate

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