Making of the Mayor 2013

This November, New Yorkers will be going to the polls and electing a new mayor. For the first time in 12 years, an incumbent mayor won't be running for re-election since Mayor Bloomberg is term-limited (for real this time!). 

So the job is open, and it's anyone ball game.

Several candidates, both Democrat and Republican, have either declared their candidacies or are planning to declare soon. The game is on. 

This election promises to be an epic battle for the soul of this city. Will we continue down the road of the Bloomberg authoritarian corporate city or will become a more equitable, middle-class friendly town? Will our government keep punishing the poor and coddling the rich -- or not? What will our city's future be?

As the year grinds on, I plan on covering the battle for the mayoralty as it develops. I'm sure it'll be interesting, with lots of candidates, lots of wars or words, lots of ads, lots of noise.

The noise has already started. Last week, Bloomberg criticized some of the candidate as sounding "ridiculous" -- because he, of course, never is.

This will be interesting. Make sure to come here to find out more as it goes on. 

Ya'll listen now! Ya' hear?

NYC hasn't had a country music radio station in over 17 years.

Believe it or not, this town actually used to have a thriving country music station (I believe it was called WYNY) but since this is, you know, New York City, it eventually died out and it wasn't replaced.

Why? you wonder

Who knows? But it's probably safe to say that the Bush presidency didn't exactly make New Yorkers thirst for redneck music on their radio.

But now it's back! 

Apparently a nationwide radio station called NASH has snagged a place on the NYC radio dial at 94.7 FM. Yessir, ya' wanna listen to some Alan Jackson or Garth Brooks or .... whatever ... you gotta place for it on the dial. 

So put on your cowboy hat, chew some tabakky, break out some moonshine, and enjoy.

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir Sings at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration

Christmas In Hollis - 25th Anniversary

Gotta NOT love these New Yorkers

Election 2012 was one of the biggest progressive victories in American politics since the LBJ landslide of 1964. Americans not only re-elected its first black Democratic president, increased the Democratic majority in the US Senate, and reduced the Republican majority in the US House, but Democrats gained state legislatures, and liberal ballot initiatives -- pot legalization, marriage equality, tax increases to fund education -- passed in a number of states. 

It was a great progressive victory.

This included New York State. Obama won the state, our junior senator was re-elected in a record landslide, Democrats gained congressional seats, and also won control of the New York State Senate.

For decades, literally, through gerrymandering, Republicans maintained control of the state senate. They cut a deal with the Assembly Democrats to draw district lines where the Republicans had a virtually unbreakable lock on the state senate while Democrats had a similar lock on the state assembly. It was a sleazy bi-partisan disgrace and it kept our state government dysfunctional and, more importantly, our laws behind the times. 

But times changed. 

New York is more liberal and Democratic today. The Republican party is all but finished here. It hasn't won a state-wide race since 2002 when Governor Pataki won his last term. We haven't had a Republican senator or Attorney General since 1998 or a Republican comptroller since 1993. The New York State Congressional Delegation is overwhelmingly Democratic and our few Republican Congresspeople are way more liberal than Republican congresspeople from the rest of the country. The one last bastion of Republican power in this state was the State Senate and, despite gerrymandering the hell out of it, the Democratic tidal wave broke through in 2012 and Democrats won control of the chamber -- 33 to 30.

Until they didn't.

Last week, six so-called Democratic State Senators broke away from the Democratic caucus and agreed to create a "coalition" with the Republicans. These means that even though voters in this state went the polls and voted for a Democratic state senate, six "Democrats" cut a deal with the GOP to keep that party in power while also getting some power for themselves. 

Banana Republic time in Albany. 

This cabal -- sorry, coalition -- is absolutely breathtaking in its arrogance, venality, and dishonesty. It is undemocratic and wrong. Voters voted one way and the people they elected decided to go the other way. These six people presented themselves as Democrats, got the party to nominate them, got people to donate to and vote for their campaigns as Democrats -- and then gave power of the state senate to Republicans. Wow.

Of course, the leaders of this "coalition" see it differently. They talk about the glories of "bipartisanship" and "reform" and "putting politics aside" -- all a bunch of cynical, dishonest crap. They don't mean a word of it. They have put together a complicated, idiotic "power sharing" agreement where they will share control of the state senate and its agenda. They claim they will pursue progressive legislation like hiking the minimum wage and campaign finance reform. 

Well, if they want a progressive agenda, why not create a progressive caucus in the state senate? It defies logic because, of course, there is no logic there. Only greed and power.

The GOP and these six "Democrats" have warped the desires of the New York State electorate and continued the corrupt practices of Albany. They are unfit to serve. This is an attempt by a dying political party and six state senators to cling to power that the people of this state do not want them to have. Sick.

Let's hope that one day they will pay a heavy price for this.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting 2012

Gotta Love New Yorkers

Great story today about a conductor of the Queens College Aarron Copeland School of Music. His name is Maurice Press, he's 82 years old, and has been working as a conductor and a teacher for over 60 years. These are the kind of NYC characters I love -- and whose company I could only hope to aspire to.

How Obama Won NYC

In the presidential election just past, it probably goes without saying that President Obama swept the vote here. In fact, "swept" is an understatement -- he got 81% of the vote, close to Soviet levels.

Romney got 18%. Ouch.

If Obama was running for mayor of NYC, he would have won the biggest landslide in city history.

So what were the demos of Obama's NYC win? This article tells the story.

Obama won every borough. He won every precinct in Manhattan except one. He did very well in Brooklyn, naturally, except in areas with high Orthodox Jewish populations. He did well in Queens but his margin in white neighborhoods was small and, perhaps not surprisingly, he did much better in black neighborhoods. In Staten Island, easily the most conservative borough, Obama won 50%-49%. And in the Bronx he got an an astonishing 91% of the vote.

Obama will never be on the ballot again but NYC can take pride that it sent him back to the White House for four more years. 

Along with Ohio. 

Classic Mr NYC

Now that winter is coming -- WINTER IS COMING -- it's nice to start thinking warm thoughts. And there's nothing warmer than a Turkish bath.

This clip from 2008 about the Russian & Turkish Baths should do the trick.

Truman Capote Reads From Breakfast At Tiffany's April 7, 1963.