MARK GREEN LAUNCHES BID TO REGAIN PUBLIC ADVOCATE POST

“Because we’re now in a deepening economic crisis, it's even more important to have a government that works for you.”

New York – Mark Green, New York City's first Public Advocate, today announced that he would run to be its third one.

Green declared his intention in a five minute video addressed to his supporters and the media – along with the launch of a new web site, MarkGreen.com. Green invited citizens to send him their ideas on how to fix City problems, adding, "In a time of crisis, the City needs leaders who combine proven experience with new ideas."

The Public Advocate traces its origin to 1831 and the President of the Board of Alderman and then, in 1937, the President of the City Council. This office-holder is next-in-line to the mayor in case of a vacancy and is regarded as the "ombudsman" who answers citizen complaints about government and investigates city services. The Public Advocate, according to a court decision, is regarded as a counter-weight to a powerful mayor.

In his video and statement (attached), Green explains:

"I'll be seeking the office again this year because I love public service, love the vitality and variety of this special place, love the City that welcomed my immigrant grandparents a century ago and is now welcoming my two children as they begin their careers. And since their futures and ours are at risk during this economic meltdown, now is no time to sit on the sidelines.”

Green, who served as Public Advocate from 1993-2001 – winning election with 60% of the vote in 1993 and then with 73% in 1997, garnering more votes than Mayor Giuliani – enters a crowded field of five other candidates expressing an interest in running. Green won the Democratic nomination for Mayor in 2001 and then lost by two points to Mike Bloomberg that Fall.

Green, 63, was born in Brooklyn, graduated with honors from Cornell University and Harvard Law School, where he was editor in chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He was a public interest lawyer with Ralph Nader in Washington in the 1970s, has written or edited 22 books, was the NYC Consumer Affairs Commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins, then elected Public Advocate -- and since 2007 has been the president of Air America Media in New York City, which he took out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and which is now on 60 broadcast affiliates and XM.

Green now lives in Manhattan with his wife, activist Deni Frand.

Green’s campaign strategist, Paul Rivera, who met Green when both were leading the Kerry for President Campaign in New York State, announced that the campaign manager would be Anne Strahle, the pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the Internet and technology strategist EchoDitto, and the campaign's counsel Jerry Goldfeder of Strook & Strook & Lavan.