By Rachel Wilgoren
Recently, I was lucky enough to attend “Libations with Liz,” an annual fundraiser hosted by Democratic New York State Senator for the 26th District, Liz Krueger. It was a wonderful opportunity for me, as one of her constituents, to hear her speak and to get to know her a little.
The event’s name “Libations with Liz” says much about Sen. Krueger. I mean, come on, who else is cool enough to host this event? She is simply “Liz” to most people, although I will refer to her as Sen. Krueger here. She is, unquestionably, of the people, rather than above the people. She has no airs about her, but, rather, is unusually down-to-earth and approachable. One gentleman I met told me a story about how he had first met Sen. Krueger some 10 years ago when she was petitioning for something outside his children’s elementary school. A decade later, he is a staunch supporter.
Held in a private room at Opia in the Renaissance Hotel on East 57th Street at Lexington Avenue, the event was refreshingly unpretentious. In fact, the first thing I noticed upon entering was the diversity of the crowd. This was not a group of “ladies who lunch.” On the contrary, I met people representing many different professions (lawyers, doctors and architects) and was especially interested to meet and speak with union workers from the Civil Service Employees Union as well as the Clerical Workers Union at NYU who really felt that Sen. Krueger does an admirable job representing their interests.
