Sen. Schumer Misses Park Slope Town Hall Because Of Plane Issues

PARK SLOPE, NY — Sen. Chuck Schumer was supposed to hold his first town hall of the year in Park Slope on Monday night, but airplane issues left him stuck upstate and constituents in an unair-conditioned synagogue.

After a year of being pressured by local groups to host the town hall, Schumer was forced to cancel it because mechanical issues kept his plane in Utica and the event was hastily switched to a telephone town hall instead.

The cancellation of the in-person town hall happened shortly before doors of the Congregation Beth Elohim doors opened on Monday night, leaving some attendees to call into the telephone town hall outside or pack into the hot room for a meeting, the New York Times reported.

"The town hall is all about public accountability," Liat Olenick, founder of Indivisible Nation BK who pushed for the town hall, told the Times. "When you phone it in, there’s no real accountability."

Olenick told the paper that the telephone town hall wouldn't do and was going to try and reschedule an in-person one with Schumer in the future.

During the phone town hall, Schumer called for unity in fighting against a potential President Donald Trump Supreme Court pick who could roll back Roe v. Wade instead of trying to delay a confirmation, Politco reported.

"I’m willing to entertain using any of the procedural tools available at the appropriate time," Schumer said at the town hall. "But I think if we put all of our eggs in that basket, we’ll have less of a chance to focus on the substantive issues."

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