Watching the Debates with Thies and Friends

On Friday September 26th, t.b.d. bar in Greenpoint was packed, but silent. Eighty or more people were gathered there to watch the first presidential debate, sitting hunched over and glued to the screen. The evening marked the first in a series of debate-watching parties hosted by Evan Thies, a candidate for City Council.

“This is the first time I’ve ever run for anything except homeroom monitor,” Thies, 29, cheerfully admitted. “But 2009 is going to be an important year for city government. There’s going to be a lot of turnover. Anyone who cares about changing their neighborhood should get involved.”

One of Thies’ top issues is the lack of affordable housing caused by the changing face of Brooklyn. Thies, who is the environmental chair of Community Board One and works with non-profits and environmental groups, cites his own neighborhood (Williamsburg) has changed both “for better and for worse.”

“The rezoning in 2005 left a lot of people behind,” Thies said. “Affordable housing is key, so that the people who built this neighborhood aren’t left behind. You have to provide the services only government can, like open spaces and education, make the neighborhood more livable, and New York will do the rest.”

Thies attended the debate party with his wife of just two weeks, who he married at the Prospect Park Boathouse. Although he appears clean-shaven in his campaign photos, Thies has recently grown a beard, and is trying to decide whether it “helps or hurts.” As for skeletons in his closet? He’s hoping most people don’t find out he’s a Red Sox fan.

The first of Thies’ parties surely succeeded in bringing people out to watch the debated, and pay attention to politics in an unprecedented election year. Williamsburg resident Karie Lachs, 25, said it was the first time she had ever watched a presidential debate. “McCain brought up a lot of historical references, and Obama brought up a lot more current things,” Lachs said. “I’ve never been that political, but I definitely agreed with one side more than the other.”