Let's go to the polls, shall we? While NYC tends to suffer a bit of a letdown in November on non-presidential election years, since our largely Democratic city chooses most of its winners in the primaries. However, there's enough intrigue on the ballot to make a trip to the local school worth your while. Like...
A) You can choose NOT to vote for your Democratic nominee in any election you like. Yes, you DO have free will!
B) Vote Sylvia Kinard for Council on the "Rent Is Too Damn High" Party Line and send Councilman Eugene the scare of his life. The Q is done with trying to unseat him with zeal, but I'm still not giving him my vote. Though I do look forward to working with whomever the voters choose. That's how it works, right? You can't be fighting a battle for four years. Six months is plenty.
C) Choose Bill de Blah Blah Blahsio and remember you're choosing the first full-on liberal Democrat for Mayor in 20 years. And if you don't like him after four years, you could always find another billionaire to run in 2017. God knows we got enough of 'em.
D) Vote for Tish James for Public Advocate. Tish will kick ass, no question about it. She was born for the job.
E) Vote for Eric Adams for Borough President. How cool is it that your State Senator will now be in Borough Hall? Eric is awesome and accessible. I trust him to listen when we have issues we need dealt with. A lot of us know him personally. This is a great and historic vote for the borough.
F) Ballot Measures!!
The Q loves ballot measures! Today, you get to vote NO to Casino Gambling. YES to letting geezer judges serve as long as they're able. NO to mining in the Adirondacks. YES to letting towns slide on their debt for the purpose of sewage (hey, you gotta get rid of the sewage NOW and pay later). And YES to giving veterans a civil service credit.
I can't tell you what to do with that 2nd District Supreme Court line because I don't know any of the candidates and it's fair to say neither do you. So why are we voting for them? This seems real weird, and an opportunity for the political parties to wield undue influence in picking the candidates.
Question: How DO you choose when you have five to pick from seven? By name? Gender? Political Party? I'm not a fan of voting for anyone with a common name who uses their middle initial. Signifies pomposity if you ask me.
26 comments:
Sadly, De Blasio has a huge lead in the polls. If elected, his administration will set new records for tax increases, uncontrolled spending for the city's employment contracts -- and we will see the kind of city hall corruption that hasn't been part of the mayoral experience for decades.
De Blasio knows nothing about managing a large and extraordinarily complex organization. Thus, the gnomes will take taxpayers for a ride.
At the same time, the police department will probably lose Ray Kelly whom De Blasio will replace with a liberal hack who will go easy on the criminals, figuring they've had it tough for the last 20 years and need a break.
And, let's not forget that De Blasio will do whatever's possible to choke off the creation of more charter schools.
Of course, on the inside, he's secretly an elitist. His kid goes to Brooklyn Tech, thereby escaping from the usual NY City high school experience that as mayor he'll have no capacity to improve.
Will Dennis Walcott stay? Or go? The Dept of Education already spends about $22,000 per student per year. But overall results are dismal.
The kids in the Gifted Program are okay, and many of them end up in high schools like Brooklyn Tech. But the rest of the crowd, well, things ain't so great for them, however a lot of that is due to the pathologies of urban life, factors De Blasio will avoid because he won't continue Kelly's policing standards.
Universal pre-K? Corruption in the making.
It won't take long before millions of New Yorkers start chattering about a recall election. Bring back Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, would Mayor De Blasio allow his kid to remain at Brooklyn Tech? Or will that kid find himself enrolled in a private school -- for his own good? De Blasio, unlike Bloomberg, will pack up and head for Gracie Mansion. It's a long trip from there to Brooklyn Tech. And who knows what kind of security issues would come into play.
So look for his kids to attend private school for the next four years.
Wish all these Anons will leave some kind of identifiable moniker and, be responsible for the crap they post! Total cowards!!!!
Don't forget his trip to the USSR in the '80s, where he was brainwashed by lizard-people KGB officers into being a cold-hearted communist. Also, when elected mayor, we'll be forced to offer our first-born kittens for ritual sacrifice to appease the pagan god he will build a temple to at ground zero.
APOCALYPSE NOW!!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
-Paul G.
It looks like today's the day for high comedy in the comments section. There's so much nonsense it's hard to single anything out, but I think "Universal pre-K? Corruption in the making" gets the prize :-)
Thanks Anon 7:34 for reminding us that not ALL New Yorkers are liberals.
Your negativity is astounding. No one is advocating a return to the worst days of crime. At most, de Blasio offers tweaks. Ray Kelly is old and ready to retire. Losing him will likely offer a new guy (and yes, it will be a guy) a chance to create some new positive relationships with communities that Kelly has pissed off. And if you think the cops are good now you haven't talked to enough of the good cops. They complain too about the lethargy and incompetence that run throughout the system.
Since you seem to think only billionaires are above corruption, perhaps you can suggest a Charter amendment that running for Mayor be means tested? Say, only those with net worths of $100 million or more? We wouldn't want to set the bar TOO high and prevent TOO many people from running.
I actually think your attitude about the DoE is outdated. Given an extremely diverse and largely poor population, NYC is head and shoulders above most big city schools systems. And it's getting better and innovating all the time. Get off your ass and be part of the solution.
My experience, and that of many others, is that Universal Pre-K is a blessing and an important opportunity for kids to get close to the same level in preparation for kindergarten, making it easier to learn and grow TOGETHER in a diverse environment. Corruption? What's your evidence?
Holding charter schools accountable for their results and limiting their numbers to only those who've shown they can run a quality school is hardly the polar opposite of what we have now. He's not advocating eliminating them...he actually has the more CONSERVATIVE approach of not letting them grow without checks and balances.
Calling a politician an elitist is an oxymoron. It's how they vote and the policies they champion that count. Oh, and a little thing called leadership, given the bully pulpit and the ability to communicate to effectively with and to constituents about complex issues. De B seems strong on all those. Hey, I liked Bloomberg, but the law says it's time for a change and the people prefer a new direction.
Your negativity is consistent with all your other comments on this blog. For that, your loyalty to your misguided vision, I commend you. Start listening to the people who live in this City rather than your own rigid, angry sense of moral outrage and you might find yourself moderating on certain issues. And you might decide to comment with your real name for a change, which takes courage. Until then, you're comments reek of bitterness. You seem to have no interest in joining the political dialogue, only hurtling insults from the cheap seats.
It is hard to argue with the fact that 20 years of non Democrats as mayor has been pretty darn good for this city. Not perfect but pretty darn good. So anon has some reason to be worried.
The two areas where I fear a slide backward are crime and education. The city will not become Thunderdome after De Blasio is sworn in but there is already a fear among many rank and file police officers that they will not have an advocate in city hall and that they will be an easy target for the new mayor to score political points. That leads to tentative enforcement, which will allow those small crimes to slowly start creeping up again. This is not just about stop and frisk it is about broader support for the police department.
By the way, on stop and frisk, I have not seen many commenters here mention that the Second Circuit destroyed the opinion of Judge Schindlin and its clear bias against the police department.
On education, De Blasio's promise to charge rent to charter schools will destroy the parent choice movement and will not discriminate between good and bad charters. We can also forget about evaluating teachers. They get a decent salary and a pension but if they do not do a good job our kids are stuck with them. So in the end we will not have school choice and will not have any way to ensure that the public school teachers are as good as our children deserve.
These issues don't affect the billionaires and millionaires. It affects the people in our nabe that have to deal with failing schools and high crime.
Lhota might not be such a bad person but his vision for this city is something we don't need after 12 years of Bloomberg. And why is Giuliani with him? He's just conceded the race by having a polarizing figure campaign for him. De Blasio might not an exiting candidate but he's certainly a thousand times better than Lhota.
And can we please put to rest this stupid notion that crime will go up under De Blasio? Shootings were up under Bloomberg for the past couple of years. Sure, people aren't dying like they were in the early 90's, but it's still too much to handle. And other crimes have gone up as well including rape and grand larcenies. Why don't I hear any of you ever talk about that?
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mayor-bloomberg-admits-stop-and-frisk-policy-hasn-lessened-shootings-article-1.1090652
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/crime-is-up-and-bloomberg-blames-iphone-thieves/
Even the NY P.O.S.T (Piece of you know what tabloid) acknowledges this:
http://nypost.com/2012/07/28/mayor-bloomberg-says-theres-no-need-to-increase-nypd-staffing/
A new police commissioner with some solid credentials can put to rest any qualms the NYPD rank and file have about De Blasio. Someone like former commissioner Bratton. Not saying him personally but someone with his credentials might do that.
Yes, I did vote for "The Rent's 2 Damn High" Kinard. If I can stick it to the man ... The man being Eugene... I will! --Elizabeth
Also Caton Ave polling is empty as usual...
when i have to vote for the judges i tend to vote AGAINST ones who are listed on 2 or more tickets at once just cuz it makes me feel like i'm in a 3rd world country. somehow though i fear i'm making a terrible mistake...
Mathieu would never admit it but if sylyia kinard gets even 30 percent it would be a huge embarrassment. His plurality, but not majority, in the primary has already been notedby his colleagues and he is going continue to be the weakest council member in the entire city. it's a real shame it wasnt just him vs saundra thomas.
I would love to see the look on Tim's face after tonight. Not that I would want to look at your mug Tim, but I do enjoy watching you and your followers wallow in defeat. It's very therapeutic.
Matheiu Eugene will once again, win reelection for the second time in two months. After many failed attempts to unseat Dr. Eugene, this election WILL end all of that.
Voting is sexy, but you sure aren't.
Goodbye!
if you have not noticed, there is very little written about sylvia kinard and to be honest, outside of her own efforts, no real attempt to defeat mathieu after the primary in September.
even the previous posts states that kinard getting only 30 percent would be something to note of for her and does not entertain the possibility of her winning. keep in mind that mathieu did not win a majority in the primary. he won a plurality. look at races around the city and compare his results with other incumbents in their primary. getting below 50 percent is a sign of weakness in terms of support from your district. especially one in which the only party that has any power is the democratic party.deserved or not that is how the political class will look at it.
it's no coincidence he is 48 out of 51 in terms bringing dollars back to the district. not only does he not care to craft policy he is unable to to cultivate the necessary relationship with his colleagues in order to get any real legislation passed. when i say real, i mean binding laws or changes to how the city is governed.
you look at the bills he is the lead sponsor of they are, primarilly, resolutions which are non binding. for example the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJP1FrvYE4E
he is only calling on the federal government to in crease funding for stroke research and treatment. this is literally doing NOTHING for anyone. look at the video and see who is standing with him, not a single other elected official. the only person that endorsed him with any sort of force was assemblymen nick perry. other than that yvette/eric adams's endorsement was never issued by their offices, and marty markowitz always supports incumbents(see marty conor vs dan squadron).
What all those facts mean is that the 40th district has no leadership in its representation. so, sure, take pleasure in kinda wanting to see tims face tonight? but think about what the lack of policy and funding for the district means. but, having said that, you usually get the representation you deserve. this of what it would be like if you had brad lander, or jumaanee.
Eugene *can* take office... But he can't convince us he should. Not that he really seems to try. Clearly you've made Eugene's blog watch, Tim! Congrats! --EC
Stroke research? What the f---....
SMDH.
Anon 2:06. Goodbye? You're leaving? So soon? But I didn't get a chance to turn you on by wearing my thong bloggini...
What a waste of time. This is why we are the laughing stock of Brooklyn.
Hey Mr Eugene, why don't you focus your efforts on bringing businesses to our area? Nostrand Ave south of Empire is in desperate need of an economic boost! How about crafting a policy that focuses on public safety? You know, so that people don't get hit by speeding taxis or reckless bus drivers while crossing the street on Flatbush?
I have never seen such incompetence in my life. The Democrats made a BIG mistake picking Eugene. If you are reading this and haven't voted, get off your ass and go vote for Sylvia Kinard.
@yoshi sadly just posting on this blog indicates a greater awareness of politics and government then 99% of those that support eugene. Hell, it's a greater awareness of politics and government then eugene has. notice, that when he is questioned about not doing something, he refers back to being a councilman and that just by the virtue of being one he somehow has an inherent understanding of situations. which, of course, makes no sense whatsoever. so your hopes that he would work towards policies that encourage business's to move to the 40th district are sadly misplaced. he does not understand policy and he does not understand his job.
Saundra would have been great but in a 4 person race there would have to have been a candidate that could dent his support in the religous/patriachal/ portions of the 40th district. there were rumors of pastor gil monrose running against him. it is a real shame he didnt.
Ray Kelly is likely to retire after De Blasio takes office. But his departure means DeB will appoint someone who share his liberal sensibilities.
We won't see Bill Bratton returning as Police Commissioner.
Clarkson, it's remarkable you overlook the obvious when it comes to the direction the city will take with DeB in charge.
Perhaps it's news to you but these pre-K programs accomplish only one thing-- they create some paychecks for ersatz teachers while doing nothing special for the kids.
As for the schools, your comments reveal a perspective shaped by very little experience. One child at the beginning to the school pipeline isn't much to go on.
DeB won't stop the Teachers' Union from hogtying the charter system and pretty much stopping it from functioning.
As for listening to people who live in the city, well, having been born here and having lived here most of my life, I've managed to talk to plenty and get an inside view of things.
People's opinions range from the insightful to the idiotic. That's not subject to change. And people have a strong inclination to speak out in favor of whatever benefits them no matter what the cost to others.
Or, the other side, they oppose policies and practices, like stop-and-frisk because the idea offends them, even though the practice appears to have contributed to a reduction in shooting crimes.
DeB is one of those people who's offended by S&F, so he'll find a soft-touch police commissioner who'll talk up some new sociological theory involving the kindness of policing and hope nothing terrible happens.
More guns will appear in the city because DeB won't spend his own money, as Bloomberg has, to identify the rogue gun shops selling to people who smuggle guns into the city.
Well I did my civic duty and don't need a sticker to prove it! I tried to make the poll worker stop, but she cheerfully slapped one on me before I could get out my polite, "No thank you."
And what really, truly, infuriated me was all the people ahead of me who, unbidden, whipped out their drivers licenses for the poll workers like it was normal.
I wanted to drag them away and ask them, "What are you doing? Don't you know voting rights are under attack all over this country, and you are only helping that cause?"
Why isn't civics taught in school anymore? Why don't people realize the precious freedoms on which this country was founded are under attack?
Very depressing - we are sheep leading ourselves to our own slaughter.
Hey, Cheryl, clearly the first Anon works for Lhota (and congrats, Tim, on attracting a better class of troll than your usual rabid yet ignorant right-wingers and ungrammatical Mathieu Eugene sympathizers/relatives) and as for the other one with his/her "trip to the USSR" idiocy, boy did that make me laugh - are we back in the McCarthy era? No worries, my dear, ultimately justice will prevail!
Not only was linden polling site late to open up, they weren't accessible for my neighbor who cannot walk. Elevator was broken -there were two sets of stairs to climb. Boo hooey hoo.
Who's a likely replacement for Ray Kelly? It won't be Bill Bratton. It won't be anyone known as a hardnosed cop.
De Blasio will make a big leap when he attempts to appoint a new police commissioner. Undoubtedly one of the names on his short list will be Al Sharpton.
Political amateurs.
Incumbents are difficult to unseat. That is a fact. Surely you people know this, or not. If you don't like Matheiu Eugene, well.. tough sh**. He had over 90% of the vote. Sylvia Kinard barely got 10% of the vote. That's an embarrassment for her.
Where was the anti Matheiu Eugene crowd on Tuesday? What happened to this juggernaut of voters that Tim warned me about?
LOL, You guys talk more than you deliver. Face it, the majority of the dissent here is from a small fringe who aren't that interested in politics. You guys don't vote. You don't show up for the meetings but you think you know everything.
Matheiu Eugene is here to say which mean more progress for our district. More jobs, more development (Tim knows this), and more money for our local hospitals. He's an advocate for public health, but people mock him which is ok because he isn't bothered by such nonsense. I hope nothing but the best and anyone who wishes otherwise does not have people's interest at heart.
"Political amateurs"?
Perhaps, but anyone who knows the least bit about NYC politics knows that the Council seat was decided in the primary, where Eugene DID get a plurality. His win in the general election was a forgone conclusion and the lopsidedness of it was meaningless. I, for one, was glad to have the chance to vote for Kinard as a protest, knowing full well that she had no chance of winning. At least I felt far better voting for her than I did casting a protest vote for a Trot candidate four years ago. The real losers are the citizens of the 40th CD who will have to endure four more years of incompetent representation.
Beware of the political amateurs, they have four years to enlist a strong candidate.
The pressure is on Mr. Eugene now to serve the people of the 40th.
Change is coming!
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