Wednesday, November 28, 2007
People suggested for Bloomberg’s job
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
There should be a way to clone Michael Bloomberg. I have heard that more than once, along with a recital of his faults.
Looking at the list of the Democratic candidates already rallying to take over the Mayoral duties in 2009, one has the premonition of identity agendas, worthy campaign workers as Commissioners, payroll and city funds directed to repay for party and contributor loyalty, a restructure and politization of appointed jobs with scant regard to merit, and all those things that an establishment bestows on its trusted front people, reward-worthy district leaders and their substructures. Campaign fund contributors will be granted their wishes. Internecine warfare among the expected huge field of Democratic candidates will, as customarily, take a huge toll in the credibility of the eventual emerging contender. The usual mess.
At least four all-but-announced dandidates lead the field, collecting contributions and supporters. All of them already have campaign fund caches from $1 M to $3+M, Christine Quinn and Adolfo Carrion at the low and William Thompson at the high end, with Anthony Weiner in the middle.
Christine Quinn, 41, is the first openly gay City Council President, elected by her fellow council members to the 2nd most powerful position in NYC. She started in NYC politics by managing the 1991 3rd Councilmanic District campaign of Thomas I. Duane, and became his Chief of Staff, five years later moving over to be the Executive Director of the NYC Anti-Violence Project and a member in Giuliani’s NYC Police/Community Relations Task Force. In 1999, when Duane was elected to the NYS Senate, she successfully ran for his 3rd CCD seat. As the only woman candidate and the only gay representative in the race, she has advantages.
William Thompson is seen as a good NYC Comptroller, but has low visibility, despite a long career. His connections to the former Brooklyn Democratic boss Clarence Norman may be a disadvantage.
Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion succeeded Fernando Ferrer in 2005. An urban planner who has worked on improving the Bronx economically, he has announced his ambitions early. Has much energy, Hispanic and some Catholic backing.
Brooklyn Congressman Anthony Weiner made a run for Mayor in 2005, and wisely conceded to Fernando Ferrer. He is associated with Senator Schumer.
The less visible “probables” include John Catsimatidis, CEO of Gristedes, who has announced his interest. He’s not likely to be too popular, having closed 39 supermarkets in the past 10 years. He explains that increasing rents are driving NYC grocers out of business, and his other chain, Red Apple, is surviving because of oil and real estate investments. Memories of D’Ag!
Raymond Kelly, Commissioner of Police, NYPD, would be an instant major contender, but has not made the necessary noises. An ex-Marine serving in Vietnam (he retired from the Reserves as a full Colonel), with two law degrees and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School, he has 33 years with the NYPD in all positions, including the 1992-94 and current 2003-continuing terms as Commissioner of Police. He has also been 1st Deputy Commissioner in Houston, Undersecretary of Treasury, for enforcement (1995-98, in charge of Customs, Secret Service and the Bureau of ATF), Director of International Police Monitors in Haiti, and the Vice President of Interpol, for the Americas. He did turn down an offer to head the FBI once, in 1993, after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and may feel the same way about the Majorality
Marty Markowitz, BP of Brooklyn, advocate of Atlantic Yards, does not reverberate much in T&V Country.
Maybe we should look at some other rich men who might have a civic duty urge, maybe carry an environmentalist gene, feel a need for fame other than that of aggregating major bucks, and nurse a feeling for this city and the thought that they might help it regain its position in the world.
I am thinking of such as Bruce Wasserstein, ex-Wasserstein Perella, who collected a billion plus from Deutsche Bank from the sale of his firm, and now is the second biggest shareholder in the Lazard Group, after Michel David-Weill.
Then there is Stephen Schwartzman, supporter of the arts, whose Blackstone firm went public with a bang, Henry Kravis, another arts lover, and George Soros, let’s be careful now, who might be too much of a public figure to have his neutrality accepted. Maybe Richard Parsons, soon-to-leave as CEO of money-loser Time Warner, not quite the super-rich tycoon, who will likely get tagged with losses on AOL merger and high consumer fees charged by the cable company. Maybe Mort Zuckerman, Leonard Lauder, Preston Tish – who knows!
And then there is Tom Golisano, always a gubernatorial candidate, with Buffalo connections. He may want to change to a warmer climate.Some of these men are not the paragons of civic interest and altruism that we need, but feel free send me more potential candidates' names, let's examine them. They'll optimally have to turn Republican, to avoid the internecine warfare that destroys the Democratic candidates, but that's life. Paris is worth a mass, said the Protestant prince, Henry of Navarre, when he changed his faith to accept the French crown.
There should be a way to clone Michael Bloomberg. I have heard that more than once, along with a recital of his faults.
Looking at the list of the Democratic candidates already rallying to take over the Mayoral duties in 2009, one has the premonition of identity agendas, worthy campaign workers as Commissioners, payroll and city funds directed to repay for party and contributor loyalty, a restructure and politization of appointed jobs with scant regard to merit, and all those things that an establishment bestows on its trusted front people, reward-worthy district leaders and their substructures. Campaign fund contributors will be granted their wishes. Internecine warfare among the expected huge field of Democratic candidates will, as customarily, take a huge toll in the credibility of the eventual emerging contender. The usual mess.
At least four all-but-announced dandidates lead the field, collecting contributions and supporters. All of them already have campaign fund caches from $1 M to $3+M, Christine Quinn and Adolfo Carrion at the low and William Thompson at the high end, with Anthony Weiner in the middle.
Christine Quinn, 41, is the first openly gay City Council President, elected by her fellow council members to the 2nd most powerful position in NYC. She started in NYC politics by managing the 1991 3rd Councilmanic District campaign of Thomas I. Duane, and became his Chief of Staff, five years later moving over to be the Executive Director of the NYC Anti-Violence Project and a member in Giuliani’s NYC Police/Community Relations Task Force. In 1999, when Duane was elected to the NYS Senate, she successfully ran for his 3rd CCD seat. As the only woman candidate and the only gay representative in the race, she has advantages.
William Thompson is seen as a good NYC Comptroller, but has low visibility, despite a long career. His connections to the former Brooklyn Democratic boss Clarence Norman may be a disadvantage.
Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion succeeded Fernando Ferrer in 2005. An urban planner who has worked on improving the Bronx economically, he has announced his ambitions early. Has much energy, Hispanic and some Catholic backing.
Brooklyn Congressman Anthony Weiner made a run for Mayor in 2005, and wisely conceded to Fernando Ferrer. He is associated with Senator Schumer.
The less visible “probables” include John Catsimatidis, CEO of Gristedes, who has announced his interest. He’s not likely to be too popular, having closed 39 supermarkets in the past 10 years. He explains that increasing rents are driving NYC grocers out of business, and his other chain, Red Apple, is surviving because of oil and real estate investments. Memories of D’Ag!
Raymond Kelly, Commissioner of Police, NYPD, would be an instant major contender, but has not made the necessary noises. An ex-Marine serving in Vietnam (he retired from the Reserves as a full Colonel), with two law degrees and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School, he has 33 years with the NYPD in all positions, including the 1992-94 and current 2003-continuing terms as Commissioner of Police. He has also been 1st Deputy Commissioner in Houston, Undersecretary of Treasury, for enforcement (1995-98, in charge of Customs, Secret Service and the Bureau of ATF), Director of International Police Monitors in Haiti, and the Vice President of Interpol, for the Americas. He did turn down an offer to head the FBI once, in 1993, after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and may feel the same way about the Majorality
Marty Markowitz, BP of Brooklyn, advocate of Atlantic Yards, does not reverberate much in T&V Country.
Maybe we should look at some other rich men who might have a civic duty urge, maybe carry an environmentalist gene, feel a need for fame other than that of aggregating major bucks, and nurse a feeling for this city and the thought that they might help it regain its position in the world.
I am thinking of such as Bruce Wasserstein, ex-Wasserstein Perella, who collected a billion plus from Deutsche Bank from the sale of his firm, and now is the second biggest shareholder in the Lazard Group, after Michel David-Weill.
Then there is Stephen Schwartzman, supporter of the arts, whose Blackstone firm went public with a bang, Henry Kravis, another arts lover, and George Soros, let’s be careful now, who might be too much of a public figure to have his neutrality accepted. Maybe Richard Parsons, soon-to-leave as CEO of money-loser Time Warner, not quite the super-rich tycoon, who will likely get tagged with losses on AOL merger and high consumer fees charged by the cable company. Maybe Mort Zuckerman, Leonard Lauder, Preston Tish – who knows!
And then there is Tom Golisano, always a gubernatorial candidate, with Buffalo connections. He may want to change to a warmer climate.Some of these men are not the paragons of civic interest and altruism that we need, but feel free send me more potential candidates' names, let's examine them. They'll optimally have to turn Republican, to avoid the internecine warfare that destroys the Democratic candidates, but that's life. Paris is worth a mass, said the Protestant prince, Henry of Navarre, when he changed his faith to accept the French crown.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Morgan Library and Museum are reborn
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The old book cemetery in the Renaissance palazzo on 36th Street has been revived, earlier in 2006, with 75,000 sq. ft. of modern glass wall structures by the Pritzker-Prize-winning architect, Renzo Piano. He has created a cheerful and imaginative complex, a campus that expands the show rooms and unites the 1906 Mansion (one of the last works of Charles McKim), the 1990s garden courtyard, the 1928 Morgan residence and the 1855 Stokes/Lutheran Church Addition, corner Madison and 37th Street.
Starting at the airy Madison Ave entrance that brings you into a Lobby/Court/Café expanse, after paying the $12 admission you move on, towards the skylighted court, with a small café on your left, facing the largest fichus benjaminus tree in captivity (nicknamed Ben). You may want to strengthen yourself with a Strozzapretti pasta or a Pierpont salad, or a $9 cruet of South African Railroad Red for two, before proceeding with the real visit.
Begin with the old Library, up a ramp just past Ben, his younger brother and the glass-walled open-air grove of tall bamboos. Here is the old world, starting with J. Pierpont. Morgan’s office, with genuine treasures on the walls – four austere Hans Memling portraits, surrounded by more cheerful Italian paintings - and a huge illuminated 15th Century Psalter on a high stand, the writing large enough to be read by all the members of the choir. The room is dominated by a Morgan portrait, looking papal in a bright red robe. You can visualize him there, entertaining Lord Duween and Bernard Berenson with a show of rare books, fetched by his exotic librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, from the breath-taking Library, down the marble hall, three stories of glassed in bookcases, the bindings gleaming. It seems inaccessible, until the attendant reveals the two hidden narrow staircases behind swinging-out sections of shelving, just like in a secrets-filled Borgia palace. You will recognize them by the small brass handles, on both sides of the Library’s entrance door (don’t forget to look at the ceiling panes by Henry Siddons Mowbray.)
This library holdings include three Gutenberg Bibles, Dickens and Mark Twain manuscripts. Although over the years of my library haunting I had never seen a soul visiting the stacks, the Morgan has an extensive research facility, providing scholars with access to the great manuscripts and early printers’ work. The basements hide great values of book treasures and art, for which even the expanded Museum exhibit facilities are inadequate. J. Pierpont and his son were incessant collectors and givers, also responsible for filling some walls of the Metropolitan Museum with their acquisitions.
Among the current seasonal shows in the new rooms an iconic one stands out, Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-66, the trip that started when young Robert Zimmerman was 15, with a harmonica and guitar. By the age of 20 he had reached Greenwich Village, as opener for Lee Hooker at Gerdes Folk City, and kept moving. Worshippers bump each other, ogling the souvenirs of the trip (all current exhibits are open through Jan. 6, 2007.). If your music is Mozart, the composer’s 250th birthday is celebrated with a display of his manuscripts, from age five on, even the early ones showing a rushed hand, with corrections , notations and instructions on sections to be filled in, as though he knew that time was short, in tight 5x8 note books, loose sheets and larger volumes. This is in contrast to such orderly hands as those of Karl Maria von Weber’s (whose Invitation to Dance manuscript is accompanied by two contrasting recordings that you can play), and Arnold Schoenberg’s, whose tall volume of Gurrelieder took 10 years to complete. There is also one of the five known printed copies of the Italian libretto of The Marriage of Figaro, annotated, and one of 50 copies of a Wagnerian opera, hand-corrected to reflect the composer/librettist’s changes. What insights for us!
Speaking of artists in a hurry, Morgan collected the art of Jean-Honore Fragonard, seen in the museums as the painter of leggy girls on swings (in the style of his teacher Francois Boucher). Morgan’s collection reflects Fragonard’s virtuoso freehand draftsmanship, in black and red chalk and grey washes, in emotionally charged illustrations for Orlando Furioso (by Lodovigo Ariosto, 1516), as well as that of his contemporaries Hubert Robert, J.-B. Greuze and his student Francois Andre Vincent, all working on the eve of the French Revolution, keenly aware of the changes in progress.
The exhibit is on the occasion of the artist’s 200th death anniversary. Aquatint is the book medium for this form of art. If the exhibits leave the visitor too emotionally charged and keenly aware to part directly, one can taper down in the Café, with an old-fashioned cocktail, such as a Knickerbocker Gimlet, circa 1857, famous from Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, 1950. They research their drinks in the Library before serving you.
The old book cemetery in the Renaissance palazzo on 36th Street has been revived, earlier in 2006, with 75,000 sq. ft. of modern glass wall structures by the Pritzker-Prize-winning architect, Renzo Piano. He has created a cheerful and imaginative complex, a campus that expands the show rooms and unites the 1906 Mansion (one of the last works of Charles McKim), the 1990s garden courtyard, the 1928 Morgan residence and the 1855 Stokes/Lutheran Church Addition, corner Madison and 37th Street.
Starting at the airy Madison Ave entrance that brings you into a Lobby/Court/Café expanse, after paying the $12 admission you move on, towards the skylighted court, with a small café on your left, facing the largest fichus benjaminus tree in captivity (nicknamed Ben). You may want to strengthen yourself with a Strozzapretti pasta or a Pierpont salad, or a $9 cruet of South African Railroad Red for two, before proceeding with the real visit.
Begin with the old Library, up a ramp just past Ben, his younger brother and the glass-walled open-air grove of tall bamboos. Here is the old world, starting with J. Pierpont. Morgan’s office, with genuine treasures on the walls – four austere Hans Memling portraits, surrounded by more cheerful Italian paintings - and a huge illuminated 15th Century Psalter on a high stand, the writing large enough to be read by all the members of the choir. The room is dominated by a Morgan portrait, looking papal in a bright red robe. You can visualize him there, entertaining Lord Duween and Bernard Berenson with a show of rare books, fetched by his exotic librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, from the breath-taking Library, down the marble hall, three stories of glassed in bookcases, the bindings gleaming. It seems inaccessible, until the attendant reveals the two hidden narrow staircases behind swinging-out sections of shelving, just like in a secrets-filled Borgia palace. You will recognize them by the small brass handles, on both sides of the Library’s entrance door (don’t forget to look at the ceiling panes by Henry Siddons Mowbray.)
This library holdings include three Gutenberg Bibles, Dickens and Mark Twain manuscripts. Although over the years of my library haunting I had never seen a soul visiting the stacks, the Morgan has an extensive research facility, providing scholars with access to the great manuscripts and early printers’ work. The basements hide great values of book treasures and art, for which even the expanded Museum exhibit facilities are inadequate. J. Pierpont and his son were incessant collectors and givers, also responsible for filling some walls of the Metropolitan Museum with their acquisitions.
Among the current seasonal shows in the new rooms an iconic one stands out, Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-66, the trip that started when young Robert Zimmerman was 15, with a harmonica and guitar. By the age of 20 he had reached Greenwich Village, as opener for Lee Hooker at Gerdes Folk City, and kept moving. Worshippers bump each other, ogling the souvenirs of the trip (all current exhibits are open through Jan. 6, 2007.). If your music is Mozart, the composer’s 250th birthday is celebrated with a display of his manuscripts, from age five on, even the early ones showing a rushed hand, with corrections , notations and instructions on sections to be filled in, as though he knew that time was short, in tight 5x8 note books, loose sheets and larger volumes. This is in contrast to such orderly hands as those of Karl Maria von Weber’s (whose Invitation to Dance manuscript is accompanied by two contrasting recordings that you can play), and Arnold Schoenberg’s, whose tall volume of Gurrelieder took 10 years to complete. There is also one of the five known printed copies of the Italian libretto of The Marriage of Figaro, annotated, and one of 50 copies of a Wagnerian opera, hand-corrected to reflect the composer/librettist’s changes. What insights for us!
Speaking of artists in a hurry, Morgan collected the art of Jean-Honore Fragonard, seen in the museums as the painter of leggy girls on swings (in the style of his teacher Francois Boucher). Morgan’s collection reflects Fragonard’s virtuoso freehand draftsmanship, in black and red chalk and grey washes, in emotionally charged illustrations for Orlando Furioso (by Lodovigo Ariosto, 1516), as well as that of his contemporaries Hubert Robert, J.-B. Greuze and his student Francois Andre Vincent, all working on the eve of the French Revolution, keenly aware of the changes in progress.
The exhibit is on the occasion of the artist’s 200th death anniversary. Aquatint is the book medium for this form of art. If the exhibits leave the visitor too emotionally charged and keenly aware to part directly, one can taper down in the Café, with an old-fashioned cocktail, such as a Knickerbocker Gimlet, circa 1857, famous from Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, 1950. They research their drinks in the Library before serving you.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Siena Poll explains NY political climate
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
There are good opinion polls, those that have a consistent base of respondents. While not necessarily trustworthy for absolute numbers, they can still be trusted for reflecting changes in public opinion over time.
The Siena College Research Institute is one. Located in the Capitol District, with 620 respondents in their base, conducting monthly surveys, they have shown the shifts in the thinking of 620 registered New York State voters about our leaders through the years.
As of their November 13, 2007 poll, the biggest changes are in Eliot Spitzer’s standings. His job performance is rated as good by 33% of respondents, moving down from 55% in May, and 41% have a favorable opinion of him, down from 75% in January, mostly due to the Troopergate and his intent to grant drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens (single tier license was objected to by 70%, three-tier by 65%). If it provides any comfort, note that such first-year falls from grace were shared by Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Al DeMoto, both of whom nevertheless were reelected twice.
On the track for Presidency, in the favorable opinion category both Clinton and Giuliani dropped, she from 60% in January to 53%, he from 63% to 49%. Hillary’s drop is due to waffling on big issues, unwilling to risk losing the Left to Obama, with the vague threat of Edwards dropping off and coming out for the man from Chicago. Giuliani loses points because his noble faithfulness to friend Kerik has not enough weight to offset his lack of judgment.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg’s favorable rating is high, at 65%, and the talk about his candidacy for Presidency is picking up, not to speak of that for the Governorship.
Hillary’s potential for Presidency has already raised questions about her succession, with politicians vying to be the person whom Governor Spitzer will appoint to fill the balance of her term, to 2012. Several interest group candidates are maneuvering for position, first of all Lt. Gov. David Paterson, of whom little is heard state-wise, with Congressman Gregory Meeks of Queens and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown also mentioned as interested. On the Latino side, State Senator Jose Serrano sees that the Hispanic population of New York has grown to the point that they deserve recognition beyond the House. His father, Rep. Jose Serrano, and Rep. Nadia Velasquez are prospects.
On the gender front, our Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (14th CD, since 1992), former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, and currently chair of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, dealing with banks, and vice-chair of the Joint Economic Committee, dealing with urgent matters, and founder of the House 7/11 Common Caucus, is meritorious. And Rep. Nita Lowey, from Westchester, who graciously stepped aside for Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senatorial race, is owed.
If you wonder about our 14th CD, it is the former 17th CD, the glorious Silk-Stocking District once represented by John Lindsay, Theodore Kupferman and Ed Koch. In 1973 it acquired Staten Island, with Guy Molinari in Congress, in 1984 it became the 14th, expanding to Queens, and since the 1993 and 2003 redistrictiings it has Astoria, including Long Island City, Sunnyside and parts of Woodside, and Roosevelt Island. That’s all because NYC lost population, and the redistricting was good for politics, meanwhile losing the neighborhood's identity.
Back to Siena, there’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose quick evaluation of what is now known as Troopergate caused Spitzer some grief. Cuomo’s Siena favorable rating is up to 56%, well above the early readings in the 40-odd percent category. Other potentials are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the Hudson River environmentalists, to take his fathers former seat, and Thomas Suozzi, the Nassau County executive and former mayor of Glen Cove, a budget maverick who ran against Spitzer in the primary as a pro-life and anti gay marriage candidate (he’s now with Spitzer). And finally, the possibility that Spitzer will shortcut his upward path by appointing himself to fill the Senate vacancy, with Paterson succeeding him in the Governor’s Mansion..
Is New York on the right track? This Siena pollster question elicited 32% yeses and 46% nos in November, as against 45% and 26% in May. Thomas DiNapoli, the Long Island Assemblyman who was appointed Comptroller by the NYS Legislature Joint Committee after failing in the selection committee (did someone whisper Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s name?) to replace Alan Hevesi, against Spitzer’s wishes, has doubled his “favorable “ rating from 7% to 15% (he’s still at the 74% “who he” level). He is the one who warned earlier in the year that NYS is facing a $13B budget shortfall over the next three years.
So, is New York on the right track? Don’t ask me, all I know is what I read in the papers (this time, thanks to NY Times, NY Observer and more, including Alan Chartock, son of the inspiring Dr. Shirley Chartock) – but compared to the nation and the world, we do not have that much to worry about.
There are good opinion polls, those that have a consistent base of respondents. While not necessarily trustworthy for absolute numbers, they can still be trusted for reflecting changes in public opinion over time.
The Siena College Research Institute is one. Located in the Capitol District, with 620 respondents in their base, conducting monthly surveys, they have shown the shifts in the thinking of 620 registered New York State voters about our leaders through the years.
As of their November 13, 2007 poll, the biggest changes are in Eliot Spitzer’s standings. His job performance is rated as good by 33% of respondents, moving down from 55% in May, and 41% have a favorable opinion of him, down from 75% in January, mostly due to the Troopergate and his intent to grant drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens (single tier license was objected to by 70%, three-tier by 65%). If it provides any comfort, note that such first-year falls from grace were shared by Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Al DeMoto, both of whom nevertheless were reelected twice.
On the track for Presidency, in the favorable opinion category both Clinton and Giuliani dropped, she from 60% in January to 53%, he from 63% to 49%. Hillary’s drop is due to waffling on big issues, unwilling to risk losing the Left to Obama, with the vague threat of Edwards dropping off and coming out for the man from Chicago. Giuliani loses points because his noble faithfulness to friend Kerik has not enough weight to offset his lack of judgment.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg’s favorable rating is high, at 65%, and the talk about his candidacy for Presidency is picking up, not to speak of that for the Governorship.
Hillary’s potential for Presidency has already raised questions about her succession, with politicians vying to be the person whom Governor Spitzer will appoint to fill the balance of her term, to 2012. Several interest group candidates are maneuvering for position, first of all Lt. Gov. David Paterson, of whom little is heard state-wise, with Congressman Gregory Meeks of Queens and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown also mentioned as interested. On the Latino side, State Senator Jose Serrano sees that the Hispanic population of New York has grown to the point that they deserve recognition beyond the House. His father, Rep. Jose Serrano, and Rep. Nadia Velasquez are prospects.
On the gender front, our Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (14th CD, since 1992), former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, and currently chair of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, dealing with banks, and vice-chair of the Joint Economic Committee, dealing with urgent matters, and founder of the House 7/11 Common Caucus, is meritorious. And Rep. Nita Lowey, from Westchester, who graciously stepped aside for Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senatorial race, is owed.
If you wonder about our 14th CD, it is the former 17th CD, the glorious Silk-Stocking District once represented by John Lindsay, Theodore Kupferman and Ed Koch. In 1973 it acquired Staten Island, with Guy Molinari in Congress, in 1984 it became the 14th, expanding to Queens, and since the 1993 and 2003 redistrictiings it has Astoria, including Long Island City, Sunnyside and parts of Woodside, and Roosevelt Island. That’s all because NYC lost population, and the redistricting was good for politics, meanwhile losing the neighborhood's identity.
Back to Siena, there’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose quick evaluation of what is now known as Troopergate caused Spitzer some grief. Cuomo’s Siena favorable rating is up to 56%, well above the early readings in the 40-odd percent category. Other potentials are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the Hudson River environmentalists, to take his fathers former seat, and Thomas Suozzi, the Nassau County executive and former mayor of Glen Cove, a budget maverick who ran against Spitzer in the primary as a pro-life and anti gay marriage candidate (he’s now with Spitzer). And finally, the possibility that Spitzer will shortcut his upward path by appointing himself to fill the Senate vacancy, with Paterson succeeding him in the Governor’s Mansion..
Is New York on the right track? This Siena pollster question elicited 32% yeses and 46% nos in November, as against 45% and 26% in May. Thomas DiNapoli, the Long Island Assemblyman who was appointed Comptroller by the NYS Legislature Joint Committee after failing in the selection committee (did someone whisper Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s name?) to replace Alan Hevesi, against Spitzer’s wishes, has doubled his “favorable “ rating from 7% to 15% (he’s still at the 74% “who he” level). He is the one who warned earlier in the year that NYS is facing a $13B budget shortfall over the next three years.
So, is New York on the right track? Don’t ask me, all I know is what I read in the papers (this time, thanks to NY Times, NY Observer and more, including Alan Chartock, son of the inspiring Dr. Shirley Chartock) – but compared to the nation and the world, we do not have that much to worry about.
Siena College Research Institute poll explains NY political climate
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
There are good opinion polls, those that have a consistent base of respondents. While not necessarily trustworthy for absolute numbers, they can still be trusted for reflecting changes in public opinion over time. The Siena College Research Institute is one. Located in the Capitol District, with 620 respondents in their base, conducting monthly surveys, they have shown the shifts in the thinking of 620 registered New York State voters about our leaders through the years.
As of their November 13, 2007 poll, the biggest changes are in Eliot Spitzer’s standings. His job performance is rated as good by 33% of respondents, moving down from 55% in May, and 41% have a favorable opinion of him, down from 75% in January, mostly due to the Troopergate and his intent to grant drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens (single tier license was objected to by 70%, three-tier by 65%). If it provides any comfort, note that such first-year falls from grace were shared by Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Al DeMoto, both of whom nevertheless were reelected twice.
On the track for Presidency, in the favorable opinion category both Clinton and Giuliani dropped, she from 60% in January to 53%, he from 63% to 49%. Hillary’s drop is due to waffling on big issues, unwilling to risk losing the Left to Obama, with the vague threat of Edwards dropping off and coming out for the man from Chicago. Giuliani loses points because his noble faithfulness to friend Kerik has not enough weight to offset his lack of judgment.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg’s favorable rating is high, at 65%, and the talk about his candidacy for Presidency is picking up, not to speak of that for the Governorship.
Hillary’s potential for Presidency has already raised questions about her succession, with politicians vying to be the person whom Governor Spitzer will appoint to fill the balance of her term, to 2012. Several interest group candidates are maneuvering for position, first of all Lt. Gov. David Paterson, of whom little is heard state-wise, with Congressman Gregory Meeks of Queens and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown also mentioned as interested. On the Latino side, State Senator Jose Serrano sees that the Hispanic population of New York has grown to the point that they deserve recognition beyond the House. His father, Rep. Jose Serrano, and Rep. Nadia Velasquez are prospects.
On the gender front, our Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (14th CD, since 1992), former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, and currently chair of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, dealing with banks, and vice-chair of the Joint Economic Committee, dealing with urgent matters, and founder of the House 7/11 Common Caucus, is meritorious. And Rep. Nita Lowey, from Westchester, who graciously stepped aside for Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senatorial race, is owed.
If you wonder about our 14th CD, it is the former 17th CD, the glorious Silk-Stocking District once represented by John Lindsay, Theodore Kupferman and Ed Koch. In 1973 it acquired Staten Island, with Guy Molinari in Congress, in 1984 it became the 14th, expanding to Queens, and since the 1993 and 2003 redistrictiings it has Astoria, including Long Island City, Sunnyside and parts of Woodside, and Roosevelt Island. That’s all because NYC lost population, and the redistricting was good for politics, meanwhile losing the neighborhood's identity.
Back to Siena, there’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose quick evaluation of what is now known as Troopergate caused Spitzer some grief. Cuomo’s Siena favorable rating is up to 56%, well above the early readings in the 40-odd percent category. Other potentials are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the Hudson River environmentalists, to take his fathers former seat, and Thomas Suozzi, the Nassau County executive and former mayor of Glen Cove, a budget maverick who ran against Spitzer in the primary as a pro-life and anti gay marriage candidate (he’s now with Spitzer). And finally, the possibility that Spitzer will shortcut his upward path by appointing himself to fill the Senate vacancy, with Paterson succeeding him in the Governor’s Mansion..
Is New York on the right track? This Siena pollster question elicited 32% yeses and 46% nos in November, as against 45% and 26% in May. Thomas DiNapoli, the Long Island Assemblyman who was appointed Comptroller by the NYS Legislature Joint Committee after failing in the selection committee (did someone whisper Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s name?) to replace Alan Hevesi, against Spitzer’s wishes, has doubled his “favorable “ rating from 7% to 15% (he’s still at the 74% “who he” level). He is the one who warned earlier in the year that NYS is facing a $13B budget shortfall over the next three years.
So, is New York on the right track? Don’t ask me, all I know is what I read in the papers (this time, thanks to NY Times, NY Observer and more, including Alan Chartock, son of the inspiring Dr. Shirley Chartock, and above all, the Siena College Research Institute) – but compared to the nation and the world, we do not have that much to worry about. Happy Thanksgiving!
There are good opinion polls, those that have a consistent base of respondents. While not necessarily trustworthy for absolute numbers, they can still be trusted for reflecting changes in public opinion over time. The Siena College Research Institute is one. Located in the Capitol District, with 620 respondents in their base, conducting monthly surveys, they have shown the shifts in the thinking of 620 registered New York State voters about our leaders through the years.
As of their November 13, 2007 poll, the biggest changes are in Eliot Spitzer’s standings. His job performance is rated as good by 33% of respondents, moving down from 55% in May, and 41% have a favorable opinion of him, down from 75% in January, mostly due to the Troopergate and his intent to grant drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens (single tier license was objected to by 70%, three-tier by 65%). If it provides any comfort, note that such first-year falls from grace were shared by Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Al DeMoto, both of whom nevertheless were reelected twice.
On the track for Presidency, in the favorable opinion category both Clinton and Giuliani dropped, she from 60% in January to 53%, he from 63% to 49%. Hillary’s drop is due to waffling on big issues, unwilling to risk losing the Left to Obama, with the vague threat of Edwards dropping off and coming out for the man from Chicago. Giuliani loses points because his noble faithfulness to friend Kerik has not enough weight to offset his lack of judgment.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg’s favorable rating is high, at 65%, and the talk about his candidacy for Presidency is picking up, not to speak of that for the Governorship.
Hillary’s potential for Presidency has already raised questions about her succession, with politicians vying to be the person whom Governor Spitzer will appoint to fill the balance of her term, to 2012. Several interest group candidates are maneuvering for position, first of all Lt. Gov. David Paterson, of whom little is heard state-wise, with Congressman Gregory Meeks of Queens and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown also mentioned as interested. On the Latino side, State Senator Jose Serrano sees that the Hispanic population of New York has grown to the point that they deserve recognition beyond the House. His father, Rep. Jose Serrano, and Rep. Nadia Velasquez are prospects.
On the gender front, our Rep. Carolyn Maloney, (14th CD, since 1992), former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, and currently chair of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, dealing with banks, and vice-chair of the Joint Economic Committee, dealing with urgent matters, and founder of the House 7/11 Common Caucus, is meritorious. And Rep. Nita Lowey, from Westchester, who graciously stepped aside for Hillary Clinton in the 2000 Senatorial race, is owed.
If you wonder about our 14th CD, it is the former 17th CD, the glorious Silk-Stocking District once represented by John Lindsay, Theodore Kupferman and Ed Koch. In 1973 it acquired Staten Island, with Guy Molinari in Congress, in 1984 it became the 14th, expanding to Queens, and since the 1993 and 2003 redistrictiings it has Astoria, including Long Island City, Sunnyside and parts of Woodside, and Roosevelt Island. That’s all because NYC lost population, and the redistricting was good for politics, meanwhile losing the neighborhood's identity.
Back to Siena, there’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose quick evaluation of what is now known as Troopergate caused Spitzer some grief. Cuomo’s Siena favorable rating is up to 56%, well above the early readings in the 40-odd percent category. Other potentials are Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the Hudson River environmentalists, to take his fathers former seat, and Thomas Suozzi, the Nassau County executive and former mayor of Glen Cove, a budget maverick who ran against Spitzer in the primary as a pro-life and anti gay marriage candidate (he’s now with Spitzer). And finally, the possibility that Spitzer will shortcut his upward path by appointing himself to fill the Senate vacancy, with Paterson succeeding him in the Governor’s Mansion..
Is New York on the right track? This Siena pollster question elicited 32% yeses and 46% nos in November, as against 45% and 26% in May. Thomas DiNapoli, the Long Island Assemblyman who was appointed Comptroller by the NYS Legislature Joint Committee after failing in the selection committee (did someone whisper Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s name?) to replace Alan Hevesi, against Spitzer’s wishes, has doubled his “favorable “ rating from 7% to 15% (he’s still at the 74% “who he” level). He is the one who warned earlier in the year that NYS is facing a $13B budget shortfall over the next three years.
So, is New York on the right track? Don’t ask me, all I know is what I read in the papers (this time, thanks to NY Times, NY Observer and more, including Alan Chartock, son of the inspiring Dr. Shirley Chartock, and above all, the Siena College Research Institute) – but compared to the nation and the world, we do not have that much to worry about. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
An update on local politics – 74th Assembly District , NYC
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The political season seems to be year-round these days, with serious Presidential candidates starting their campaigns with at least a two-year lead, right after the Congressional elections, or even earlier. Let’s see who likes whom in our much turned-ovcr 74th Assembly District (Steve Sanders to Sylvia Friedman to Brian P. Kavanagh – welcome to T&V, Steve!), which runs from Delancey to 48th Streets, and has four Democratic club Parts.
Part A belongs to CODA (Coalition for a District Alternative) Club, which has chosen not to endorse a Presidential candidate. The club has a rule that if a candidate fetches under 60% of the members’ votes, there’s no endorsement, and their vote was about even between Edwards and “no endorsement.” Clinton was not in play, there is much anti-war feeling in the neighborhood. The club territory is south of 14th Street, Mike Farrin is the State Committeeman , and the District Leaders are Anthony Feliciano and Carmen Perez (since September, replacing Katrina Monzon, who stepped down).
The history of our Alphabet City South of the Border –14th Street – neighbor community is interesting. CODA was founded in 1992, when Antonio Pagan beat Miriam Friedlander in the 2nd City Councilmanic District race. This was after the 1989 New York City Charter Revision that divided 34 City Councilmanic Districts into 51, and this multi-racial and multi cultural neighborhood got some culturally uniform base. Distressed by gentrification and the subsequent displacements of local people who had established roots in this dynamic neighborhood, they decided to step forward, with Pagan, who came from the Lower East Side Coalition Housing Development. Later, in the 1997 election, concerned with Pagan’s development philosophy and connections, CODA members pushed forward a social worker, Margarita Lopez, to become the City Councilperson. She gave up her seat to her Chief of Staff Rosie Mendez in 2005. Note that this is a huge district, 150,00 people 10% of Manhattan, the size of Syracuse. Pagan, who had an unsuccessful run for Borough President, and joined the Giuliani cabinet as Commissioner of Employment. Lopez also lost her BP race in 2005, joining Bloomberg’s Housing Authority.
Part B, the GSID (Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats) Club, which covers Stuyvesant Town (not PCV), with DLs Tom Nooter and Virginia LePree, has not endorsed as yet. There is a division between the Clinton and Edwards’s people (ex-Assemblyperson Sylvia Friedman is rumored to be running for an Edwards delegate spot), with some members still hoping for a Gore candidacy (a feeling not unique in this 74th AD club). The club has an endorsement meeting scheduled at the Seafarers, 123 East 15th Street on Tue. 11/27, 7:30 pm.
Part C, the Samuel J. Tilden Democratic Club, 14th to 26th Streets, has voted overwhelmingly in their October meeting to endorse Hillary. The DLs are Louise Dankberg and Steven Smollens, and if you want to get involved in the Hillary campaign, call NYState Clinton Campaign chair Robin Chapelle, 212-213-3717. Part D, the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club, covering 23rd to 45th Streets, DLs are Molly Hollister and Charles Buchwald, and they have not announced plans for an endorsement meeting. About non-endorsement: when there is a disagreement within membership, a club can opt for “captain’s choice,” that is any member can support any candidate, using the club as a base. A straight “no endorsement” means the same, except it does not allow using the club as base.
On the Republican side, the uptown County Committee has endorsed Rudy Giuliani. Frank Scala. DL of the Vincent Albano Republican Club, has his hesitations, given that Giuliani is not a true Conservative. He still remembers that when he was running for the State Assembly with Giuliani, assured of an endorsement, he found Giuliani’s campaign literature printed back-to back with Virginia Field’s. New York voters are a non-homogeneous bunch, in general, not willing to be bound by party lines and affiliations, with a limited number of “yellow dog” loyalists among them, so you never can tell where they will go, particularly when voting for the Mayor – of which more next week. The above expression comes from the South of old, when a politician claimed that he’d rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican.
This Southern attitude took a 180 degree Republican turn in the Civil Rights era, along with the politicization of family values, evangelical Christianity and the Silent Majority, but don’t be surprised that it has taken a shift again. Television evangelist Pat Robertson is backing ex-Mayor Giuliani, as a “proven leader who knows what lies ahead,” notwithstanding Rudy’s views on abortion and gay rights. Wow! The other strong military-minded candidate who has not catered to the fundamentalists in the past, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has received the backing of the withdrawing evangelical Christian Presidential candidate, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Further, Bob Jomes III, Chancellor of his fundamentalist family university, is backing the unabashedly Mormon .ex-Gov Mitt Romney. Go figure.
The political season seems to be year-round these days, with serious Presidential candidates starting their campaigns with at least a two-year lead, right after the Congressional elections, or even earlier. Let’s see who likes whom in our much turned-ovcr 74th Assembly District (Steve Sanders to Sylvia Friedman to Brian P. Kavanagh – welcome to T&V, Steve!), which runs from Delancey to 48th Streets, and has four Democratic club Parts.
Part A belongs to CODA (Coalition for a District Alternative) Club, which has chosen not to endorse a Presidential candidate. The club has a rule that if a candidate fetches under 60% of the members’ votes, there’s no endorsement, and their vote was about even between Edwards and “no endorsement.” Clinton was not in play, there is much anti-war feeling in the neighborhood. The club territory is south of 14th Street, Mike Farrin is the State Committeeman , and the District Leaders are Anthony Feliciano and Carmen Perez (since September, replacing Katrina Monzon, who stepped down).
The history of our Alphabet City South of the Border –14th Street – neighbor community is interesting. CODA was founded in 1992, when Antonio Pagan beat Miriam Friedlander in the 2nd City Councilmanic District race. This was after the 1989 New York City Charter Revision that divided 34 City Councilmanic Districts into 51, and this multi-racial and multi cultural neighborhood got some culturally uniform base. Distressed by gentrification and the subsequent displacements of local people who had established roots in this dynamic neighborhood, they decided to step forward, with Pagan, who came from the Lower East Side Coalition Housing Development. Later, in the 1997 election, concerned with Pagan’s development philosophy and connections, CODA members pushed forward a social worker, Margarita Lopez, to become the City Councilperson. She gave up her seat to her Chief of Staff Rosie Mendez in 2005. Note that this is a huge district, 150,00 people 10% of Manhattan, the size of Syracuse. Pagan, who had an unsuccessful run for Borough President, and joined the Giuliani cabinet as Commissioner of Employment. Lopez also lost her BP race in 2005, joining Bloomberg’s Housing Authority.
Part B, the GSID (Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats) Club, which covers Stuyvesant Town (not PCV), with DLs Tom Nooter and Virginia LePree, has not endorsed as yet. There is a division between the Clinton and Edwards’s people (ex-Assemblyperson Sylvia Friedman is rumored to be running for an Edwards delegate spot), with some members still hoping for a Gore candidacy (a feeling not unique in this 74th AD club). The club has an endorsement meeting scheduled at the Seafarers, 123 East 15th Street on Tue. 11/27, 7:30 pm.
Part C, the Samuel J. Tilden Democratic Club, 14th to 26th Streets, has voted overwhelmingly in their October meeting to endorse Hillary. The DLs are Louise Dankberg and Steven Smollens, and if you want to get involved in the Hillary campaign, call NYState Clinton Campaign chair Robin Chapelle, 212-213-3717. Part D, the Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club, covering 23rd to 45th Streets, DLs are Molly Hollister and Charles Buchwald, and they have not announced plans for an endorsement meeting. About non-endorsement: when there is a disagreement within membership, a club can opt for “captain’s choice,” that is any member can support any candidate, using the club as a base. A straight “no endorsement” means the same, except it does not allow using the club as base.
On the Republican side, the uptown County Committee has endorsed Rudy Giuliani. Frank Scala. DL of the Vincent Albano Republican Club, has his hesitations, given that Giuliani is not a true Conservative. He still remembers that when he was running for the State Assembly with Giuliani, assured of an endorsement, he found Giuliani’s campaign literature printed back-to back with Virginia Field’s. New York voters are a non-homogeneous bunch, in general, not willing to be bound by party lines and affiliations, with a limited number of “yellow dog” loyalists among them, so you never can tell where they will go, particularly when voting for the Mayor – of which more next week. The above expression comes from the South of old, when a politician claimed that he’d rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican.
This Southern attitude took a 180 degree Republican turn in the Civil Rights era, along with the politicization of family values, evangelical Christianity and the Silent Majority, but don’t be surprised that it has taken a shift again. Television evangelist Pat Robertson is backing ex-Mayor Giuliani, as a “proven leader who knows what lies ahead,” notwithstanding Rudy’s views on abortion and gay rights. Wow! The other strong military-minded candidate who has not catered to the fundamentalists in the past, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has received the backing of the withdrawing evangelical Christian Presidential candidate, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Further, Bob Jomes III, Chancellor of his fundamentalist family university, is backing the unabashedly Mormon .ex-Gov Mitt Romney. Go figure.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Rabbi Irving J. Block Program Features Role of American Volunteers in Israel
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The late Rabbi Irving J. Block of the Brotherhood Synagogue (1955 to 1994), a WWII veteran, in 1947,while studying during the day at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem joined Haganah, the Jewish defense organization, to help guard the city at night. Tthe Fifth Annual Irving J. Block Program at The Brotherhood Synagogue, held in his memory on Sunday, November 4, 2007, commemorated the role of American volunteers in Israel’s War of Independence.
Speakers offered personal accounts of wartime in Israel, starting with Mrs. Ziva ben-Reuven, who grew up in the 1930s-40s, near the coast town of Netanya, and as a youngster would wake up at night and find the kitchen filled with strangers, who would be gone by the morning. It turned out that the men in her family were wading into the sea at night to carry ashore the boat people, illegal immigrants, on their shoulders. By the time the British soldiers came searching for hidden illegals, even the wet clothes were dried. Everyone in the family belonged to Haganah, organized in 1920 by the Jewish Agency, to protect Jews against their attacking Arab neighbors. There was a massive massacre of Jews in Yaffo in 1921 that intensified the Haganah activity. Its 1930s outgrowth was the more aggressive Irgun Zwai Leumi, who attacked the British, although in 1943 over 5,000 Palestinian Jews joined their Jewish Brigade Group to fight the common Fascist enemy.
The story was continued, in words and film, by Simon Spiegelman and Prof. Samuel Klausner, past Presidents of AVI, the American Veterans of Israel organization, representing approximately 1,500 US and Canadian men and women who volunteered during the 1946 through 1949 period, either as crew on ships bringing illegal Jewish WWII survivors to Israel (Aliyah Bet), or by joining the military to fight for Israel during its War of Independence (Machal). Between 1939 and 1944 some 16,000 immigrants were clandestinely landed , in 25 sailings, After WWII Haganah and Irgun ships in 65 trips brought in thousands more, although many ships were captured at sea and the immigrants put in detention camps on Cyprus.
The AVI, from its museum in Gainesville, FL, also contributed a collection of collages of historic photographs and clippings on eight boards that tell the story of the American efforts, in which 40 men and women died. One had the tale of Exodus, carrying survivors of German death camps, also told in a book by Leon Uris (1956). The ship was seized, and 4,515 refugees were taken back to Marseilles, where the journey originated, but the passengers refused to disembark, Since the French would not use force, they eventually were taken off shipboard in a German port, within the British Occupation Zone. The story received world-wide sympathy, and in 1948 the Exodus people were finally able to get to Israel. Exhibits of the Israeli military told of assembling an air force with Czech-built German Messerschmitt ME-109 fighters and American war surplus planes, such as the Curtis-Wright C-46 freighters, purchased through a dummy Panamanian airline and Czech fronts. Three B-17 bombers made it out of Miami, though another was stopped in the Azores and confiscated and the pilot was arrested, under the US Neutrality Act. The planes were flown by veteran WWII fliers of all nationalities, so that the official air language had to be English. The intensive and detailed AVI exhibit boards elicited much interest, and should be available in a more widely accessible New York public environment. Presently they are going on a nation-wide tour.
An additional exhibit by Dr. Stanley B. Burns, a physician with an extensive archival collection of historic photographs, told of the earliest Aliyah Bet ship, the Ben Hecht, named for the noted playwright who contributed the earnings of his play, A Flag is Born, for the purchase. Interned in Cyprus, the ship was eventually refitted and served honorably in the Israeli Navy. Prof. Klausner was a Hebrew University classmate and Haganah partner of Rabbi Block, and told stories of Haganah adventures on mined roads, travel under Arab fire and encounters with King Abdullah’s Jordan Legion.
More of these warlike events were recited by Herbert Block, the Rabbis son, now a lawyer and executive of the American Joint Distribution Committee. As for Rabbi Block stature as a man of peace, the builder of consensus, tolerance and moderation, it was not neglected.
Another young lawyer, Arthur Dobelis, told of his growing up as a Brotherhood Hebrew School student and getting through the turbulent 1980s, and the role that his Rabbi Block played in helping him pass the challenges and instilling in him a sense of social responsibility.
Between stories the audience sang a capella with Avram Pengas, noted Israeli musician, and heard narrative introductions and linkages by Robert Wolf, President and Phillip Rothman, Executive Director of the Synagogue, and Jerome Salomon, meber of the Block Lecture Committee. Many AVI veterans attended, some in wheelchairs, and were honored during the proceedings.
The late Rabbi Irving J. Block of the Brotherhood Synagogue (1955 to 1994), a WWII veteran, in 1947,while studying during the day at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem joined Haganah, the Jewish defense organization, to help guard the city at night. Tthe Fifth Annual Irving J. Block Program at The Brotherhood Synagogue, held in his memory on Sunday, November 4, 2007, commemorated the role of American volunteers in Israel’s War of Independence.
Speakers offered personal accounts of wartime in Israel, starting with Mrs. Ziva ben-Reuven, who grew up in the 1930s-40s, near the coast town of Netanya, and as a youngster would wake up at night and find the kitchen filled with strangers, who would be gone by the morning. It turned out that the men in her family were wading into the sea at night to carry ashore the boat people, illegal immigrants, on their shoulders. By the time the British soldiers came searching for hidden illegals, even the wet clothes were dried. Everyone in the family belonged to Haganah, organized in 1920 by the Jewish Agency, to protect Jews against their attacking Arab neighbors. There was a massive massacre of Jews in Yaffo in 1921 that intensified the Haganah activity. Its 1930s outgrowth was the more aggressive Irgun Zwai Leumi, who attacked the British, although in 1943 over 5,000 Palestinian Jews joined their Jewish Brigade Group to fight the common Fascist enemy.
The story was continued, in words and film, by Simon Spiegelman and Prof. Samuel Klausner, past Presidents of AVI, the American Veterans of Israel organization, representing approximately 1,500 US and Canadian men and women who volunteered during the 1946 through 1949 period, either as crew on ships bringing illegal Jewish WWII survivors to Israel (Aliyah Bet), or by joining the military to fight for Israel during its War of Independence (Machal). Between 1939 and 1944 some 16,000 immigrants were clandestinely landed , in 25 sailings, After WWII Haganah and Irgun ships in 65 trips brought in thousands more, although many ships were captured at sea and the immigrants put in detention camps on Cyprus.
The AVI, from its museum in Gainesville, FL, also contributed a collection of collages of historic photographs and clippings on eight boards that tell the story of the American efforts, in which 40 men and women died. One had the tale of Exodus, carrying survivors of German death camps, also told in a book by Leon Uris (1956). The ship was seized, and 4,515 refugees were taken back to Marseilles, where the journey originated, but the passengers refused to disembark, Since the French would not use force, they eventually were taken off shipboard in a German port, within the British Occupation Zone. The story received world-wide sympathy, and in 1948 the Exodus people were finally able to get to Israel. Exhibits of the Israeli military told of assembling an air force with Czech-built German Messerschmitt ME-109 fighters and American war surplus planes, such as the Curtis-Wright C-46 freighters, purchased through a dummy Panamanian airline and Czech fronts. Three B-17 bombers made it out of Miami, though another was stopped in the Azores and confiscated and the pilot was arrested, under the US Neutrality Act. The planes were flown by veteran WWII fliers of all nationalities, so that the official air language had to be English. The intensive and detailed AVI exhibit boards elicited much interest, and should be available in a more widely accessible New York public environment. Presently they are going on a nation-wide tour.
An additional exhibit by Dr. Stanley B. Burns, a physician with an extensive archival collection of historic photographs, told of the earliest Aliyah Bet ship, the Ben Hecht, named for the noted playwright who contributed the earnings of his play, A Flag is Born, for the purchase. Interned in Cyprus, the ship was eventually refitted and served honorably in the Israeli Navy. Prof. Klausner was a Hebrew University classmate and Haganah partner of Rabbi Block, and told stories of Haganah adventures on mined roads, travel under Arab fire and encounters with King Abdullah’s Jordan Legion.
More of these warlike events were recited by Herbert Block, the Rabbis son, now a lawyer and executive of the American Joint Distribution Committee. As for Rabbi Block stature as a man of peace, the builder of consensus, tolerance and moderation, it was not neglected.
Another young lawyer, Arthur Dobelis, told of his growing up as a Brotherhood Hebrew School student and getting through the turbulent 1980s, and the role that his Rabbi Block played in helping him pass the challenges and instilling in him a sense of social responsibility.
Between stories the audience sang a capella with Avram Pengas, noted Israeli musician, and heard narrative introductions and linkages by Robert Wolf, President and Phillip Rothman, Executive Director of the Synagogue, and Jerome Salomon, meber of the Block Lecture Committee. Many AVI veterans attended, some in wheelchairs, and were honored during the proceedings.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The politics of watching World Series 2007
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
As a watcher of aberrant behavior (shall we call it subprime, to match the current mood) this observer finds the recent furor over Rudy Giuliani’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series a bit over the top. A senior writer for the Daily News likens it to treason, and another reporter finds a Yankee Stadium bartender who compares it to switching to the Soviet side in the Cold War. Maybe it is typical of the current political scene of irrational outbursts. For myself I’d like to save my anger for real evildoers and murderers, and not pour it on young people from another state who have bested my favorite overpaid players in a game of skill and mood.
Not to sound superior, this household also gives up on foreign and domestic political events for the October madness, rooting for the Yankees in the divisional and AL pennant races, and in the World Series, if we luck out. If not, we watch the winners compete, often rooting for one or another, mostly Boston or Atlanta. The Red Sox, mostly, enjoying the elegant shortstop Nomar Garciaparra earlier in the century and fussing at the management when he was let go, right before the streak of successes that led to the Sox’s victory in the 2004 World Series.
It was therefore upsetting to see Rudy’s rooting for the American League winner turned into accusations of treason. I have no great liking for Giuliani, except that I will not forget the human words of compassion and confidence that this heretofore banal and callous Mayor was able to summon, in a crisis during which he was on the front line from the first moment on, while the Nation’s leadership vacillated. It is true that Giuliani has flipped his views on abortion and gun control and we can rightfully accuse him of playing for the votes of the Religious Right and such, and he is also looking for Red Sox fans in the New Hampshire primary, but, look here, most rational people can temporarily shift their allegiances when their team is shut out, and can admire superior play regardless of the source.
It was in the divisional playoffs that we first fearfully recognized good playing by foreigners, the Cleveland Indians, who left our Yankees behind at 13-3 in the first game, and won the series, three games to one. When Boston, playing them in the pennant series fell behind three to one, we really worried for our side, the East Coasters, but perked up when the Sox pulled themselves together to win four out of seven games. The big-dollar stars Matsuzaka, Lugo and J.D. Drew were good, as expected, but the homegrown and drafted youngsters like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia were more interesting, along with pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, trade throw-in Mile Lowell, not forgetting older players Kevin Youkillis, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. The hitters were amazing, when the front four failed , the back team succeeded. With two outs, the back team might still load first and second bases.
This pattern persisted in the World Series, with the Colorado Rockies unable to establish a lead long enough to matter, and the 2007 World Series was won by the Red Sox in four games. The younger Reds continued to be amazing, playing like the Yankees at their best, waiting out the pitchers and drawing walks as well as hitting singles and doubles that developed into scores. One had to feel sorry for the Rockies. Which brings me back to the Yankees, an older team with bad pitching and erratic hitting. Sorry for them? My Yankees will recover, despite bad management. Should the idiots have tried to punish Torre with a moneywise meaningless but demeaning cut in pay, after 12 winning years? The man has pride and resigned, he does not live from paycheck to paycheck.
Now Alex Rodriguez is saying goodbye to the Yankees. He claims it is because he is afraid Mariano Rivera and others will leave and the team ill fall apart, but we know it is because better pay than $30 million a year is available. Greed over loyalty, just like in the big commercial world. And he might be right, some players who stayed connected by loyalty to Torre may leave, now that a relative outsider has been chosen to lead the team instead of the homie Mattingly.
Which brings me back once more to the other homie, Giuliani. Selena Roberts, of the Paper of Record, now twits him of being stupid as a politician by declaring himself for the home league, AL, in the country of evangelicals and the Silent Majority, where a ball team begins the day with a prayer. I submit that Rudy might get more respect for being loyal to where he came from rather than claiming another new fealty with the West. Yes , he criticized Hillary about wearing a Cubs cap, but were the circumstances comparable?
Trust Rudy not to get caught anywhere near a Red Sox cap. If he does, expect the picture to be a fake.
As a watcher of aberrant behavior (shall we call it subprime, to match the current mood) this observer finds the recent furor over Rudy Giuliani’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series a bit over the top. A senior writer for the Daily News likens it to treason, and another reporter finds a Yankee Stadium bartender who compares it to switching to the Soviet side in the Cold War. Maybe it is typical of the current political scene of irrational outbursts. For myself I’d like to save my anger for real evildoers and murderers, and not pour it on young people from another state who have bested my favorite overpaid players in a game of skill and mood.
Not to sound superior, this household also gives up on foreign and domestic political events for the October madness, rooting for the Yankees in the divisional and AL pennant races, and in the World Series, if we luck out. If not, we watch the winners compete, often rooting for one or another, mostly Boston or Atlanta. The Red Sox, mostly, enjoying the elegant shortstop Nomar Garciaparra earlier in the century and fussing at the management when he was let go, right before the streak of successes that led to the Sox’s victory in the 2004 World Series.
It was therefore upsetting to see Rudy’s rooting for the American League winner turned into accusations of treason. I have no great liking for Giuliani, except that I will not forget the human words of compassion and confidence that this heretofore banal and callous Mayor was able to summon, in a crisis during which he was on the front line from the first moment on, while the Nation’s leadership vacillated. It is true that Giuliani has flipped his views on abortion and gun control and we can rightfully accuse him of playing for the votes of the Religious Right and such, and he is also looking for Red Sox fans in the New Hampshire primary, but, look here, most rational people can temporarily shift their allegiances when their team is shut out, and can admire superior play regardless of the source.
It was in the divisional playoffs that we first fearfully recognized good playing by foreigners, the Cleveland Indians, who left our Yankees behind at 13-3 in the first game, and won the series, three games to one. When Boston, playing them in the pennant series fell behind three to one, we really worried for our side, the East Coasters, but perked up when the Sox pulled themselves together to win four out of seven games. The big-dollar stars Matsuzaka, Lugo and J.D. Drew were good, as expected, but the homegrown and drafted youngsters like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia were more interesting, along with pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, trade throw-in Mile Lowell, not forgetting older players Kevin Youkillis, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. The hitters were amazing, when the front four failed , the back team succeeded. With two outs, the back team might still load first and second bases.
This pattern persisted in the World Series, with the Colorado Rockies unable to establish a lead long enough to matter, and the 2007 World Series was won by the Red Sox in four games. The younger Reds continued to be amazing, playing like the Yankees at their best, waiting out the pitchers and drawing walks as well as hitting singles and doubles that developed into scores. One had to feel sorry for the Rockies. Which brings me back to the Yankees, an older team with bad pitching and erratic hitting. Sorry for them? My Yankees will recover, despite bad management. Should the idiots have tried to punish Torre with a moneywise meaningless but demeaning cut in pay, after 12 winning years? The man has pride and resigned, he does not live from paycheck to paycheck.
Now Alex Rodriguez is saying goodbye to the Yankees. He claims it is because he is afraid Mariano Rivera and others will leave and the team ill fall apart, but we know it is because better pay than $30 million a year is available. Greed over loyalty, just like in the big commercial world. And he might be right, some players who stayed connected by loyalty to Torre may leave, now that a relative outsider has been chosen to lead the team instead of the homie Mattingly.
Which brings me back once more to the other homie, Giuliani. Selena Roberts, of the Paper of Record, now twits him of being stupid as a politician by declaring himself for the home league, AL, in the country of evangelicals and the Silent Majority, where a ball team begins the day with a prayer. I submit that Rudy might get more respect for being loyal to where he came from rather than claiming another new fealty with the West. Yes , he criticized Hillary about wearing a Cubs cap, but were the circumstances comparable?
Trust Rudy not to get caught anywhere near a Red Sox cap. If he does, expect the picture to be a fake.
The politics of watching World Series - Rudy Giuliani
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
As a watcher in aberrant behavior (shall we call it subprime, to match the current mood) this observer finds the recent furor over Rudy Giuliani’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series a bit over the top. A senior writer for the Daily News likens it to treason, and another reporter finds a Yankee Stadium bartender who compares it to switching to the Soviet side in the Cold War. Maybe it is typical of the current political scene of irrational outbursts. For myself I’d like to save my anger for real evildoers and murderers, and not pour it on young people from another state who have bested my favorite overpaid players in a game of skill and mood.
Not to sound superior, this household also gives up on foreign and domestic political events for the October madness, rooting for the Yankees in the divisional and AL pennant races, and in the World Series, if we luck out. If not, we watch the winners compete, often rooting for one or another, mostly Boston or Atlanta. The Red Sox, mostly, enjoying the elegant shortstop Nomar Garciaparra earlier in the century and fussing at the management when he was let go, right before the streak of successes that led to the Sox’s victory in the 2004 World Series.
It was therefore upsetting to see Rudy’s rooting for the American League winner turned into accusations of treason. I have no great liking for Giuliani, except that I will not forget the human words of compassion and confidence that this heretofore banal and callous Mayor was able to summon, in a crisis during which he was on the front line from the first moment on, while the Nation’s leadership vacillated. It is true that Giuliani has flipped his views on abortion and gun control and we can rightfully accuse him of playing for the votes of the Religious Right and such, and he is also looking for Red Sox fans in the New Hampshire primary, but, look here, most rational people can temporarily shift their allegiances when their team is shut out, and can admire superior play regardless of the source.
It was in the divisional playoffs that we first fearfully recognized good playing by foreigners, the Cleveland Indians, who left our Yankees behind at 13-3 in the first game, and won the series, three games to one. When Boston, playing them in the pennant series fell behind three to one, we really worried for our side, the East Coasters, but perked up when the Sox pulled themselves together to win four out of seven games. The big-dollar stars Matsuzaka, Lugo and J.D. Drew were good, as expected, but the homegrown and drafted youngsters like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia were more interesting, along with pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, trade throw-in Mile Lowell, not forgetting older players Kevin Youkillis, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. The hitters were amazing, when the front four failed , the back team succeeded. With two outs, the back team might still load first and second bases.
This pattern persisted in the World Series, with the Colorado Rockies unable to establish a lead long enough to matter, and the 2007 World Series was won by the Red Sox in four games. The younger Reds continued to be amazing, playing like the Yankees at their best, waiting out the pitchers and drawing walks as well as hitting singles and doubles that developed into scores. One had to feel sorry for the Rockies. Which brings me back to the Yankees, an older team with bad pitching and erratic hitting. Sorry for them? My Yankees will recover, despite bad management. Should the idiots have tried to punish Torre with a moneywise meaningless but demeaning cut in pay, after 12 winning years? The man has pride and resigned, he does not live from paycheck to paycheck.
Now Alex Rodriguez is saying goodbye to the Yankees. He claims it is because he is afraid Mariano Rivera and others will leave and the team ill fall apart, but we know it is because better pay than $30 million a year is available. Greed over loyalty, just like in the big commercial world. And he might be right, some players who stayed connected by loyalty to Torre may leave, now that a relative outsider has been chosen to lead the team instead of the homie Mattingly.
Which brings me back once more to the other homie, Giuliani. Selena Roberts, of the Paper of Record, now twits him of being stupid as a politician by declaring himself for the home league, AL, in the country of evangelicals and the Silent Majority, where a ball team begins the day with a prayer. I submit that Rudy might get more respect for being loyal to where he came from rather than claiming another new fealty with the West. Yes , he criticized Hillary about wearing a Cubs cap, but were the circumstances comparable?
Trust Rudy not to get caught anywhere near a Red Sox cap. If he does, expect the picture to be a fake.
As a watcher in aberrant behavior (shall we call it subprime, to match the current mood) this observer finds the recent furor over Rudy Giuliani’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series a bit over the top. A senior writer for the Daily News likens it to treason, and another reporter finds a Yankee Stadium bartender who compares it to switching to the Soviet side in the Cold War. Maybe it is typical of the current political scene of irrational outbursts. For myself I’d like to save my anger for real evildoers and murderers, and not pour it on young people from another state who have bested my favorite overpaid players in a game of skill and mood.
Not to sound superior, this household also gives up on foreign and domestic political events for the October madness, rooting for the Yankees in the divisional and AL pennant races, and in the World Series, if we luck out. If not, we watch the winners compete, often rooting for one or another, mostly Boston or Atlanta. The Red Sox, mostly, enjoying the elegant shortstop Nomar Garciaparra earlier in the century and fussing at the management when he was let go, right before the streak of successes that led to the Sox’s victory in the 2004 World Series.
It was therefore upsetting to see Rudy’s rooting for the American League winner turned into accusations of treason. I have no great liking for Giuliani, except that I will not forget the human words of compassion and confidence that this heretofore banal and callous Mayor was able to summon, in a crisis during which he was on the front line from the first moment on, while the Nation’s leadership vacillated. It is true that Giuliani has flipped his views on abortion and gun control and we can rightfully accuse him of playing for the votes of the Religious Right and such, and he is also looking for Red Sox fans in the New Hampshire primary, but, look here, most rational people can temporarily shift their allegiances when their team is shut out, and can admire superior play regardless of the source.
It was in the divisional playoffs that we first fearfully recognized good playing by foreigners, the Cleveland Indians, who left our Yankees behind at 13-3 in the first game, and won the series, three games to one. When Boston, playing them in the pennant series fell behind three to one, we really worried for our side, the East Coasters, but perked up when the Sox pulled themselves together to win four out of seven games. The big-dollar stars Matsuzaka, Lugo and J.D. Drew were good, as expected, but the homegrown and drafted youngsters like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia were more interesting, along with pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, trade throw-in Mile Lowell, not forgetting older players Kevin Youkillis, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. The hitters were amazing, when the front four failed , the back team succeeded. With two outs, the back team might still load first and second bases.
This pattern persisted in the World Series, with the Colorado Rockies unable to establish a lead long enough to matter, and the 2007 World Series was won by the Red Sox in four games. The younger Reds continued to be amazing, playing like the Yankees at their best, waiting out the pitchers and drawing walks as well as hitting singles and doubles that developed into scores. One had to feel sorry for the Rockies. Which brings me back to the Yankees, an older team with bad pitching and erratic hitting. Sorry for them? My Yankees will recover, despite bad management. Should the idiots have tried to punish Torre with a moneywise meaningless but demeaning cut in pay, after 12 winning years? The man has pride and resigned, he does not live from paycheck to paycheck.
Now Alex Rodriguez is saying goodbye to the Yankees. He claims it is because he is afraid Mariano Rivera and others will leave and the team ill fall apart, but we know it is because better pay than $30 million a year is available. Greed over loyalty, just like in the big commercial world. And he might be right, some players who stayed connected by loyalty to Torre may leave, now that a relative outsider has been chosen to lead the team instead of the homie Mattingly.
Which brings me back once more to the other homie, Giuliani. Selena Roberts, of the Paper of Record, now twits him of being stupid as a politician by declaring himself for the home league, AL, in the country of evangelicals and the Silent Majority, where a ball team begins the day with a prayer. I submit that Rudy might get more respect for being loyal to where he came from rather than claiming another new fealty with the West. Yes , he criticized Hillary about wearing a Cubs cap, but were the circumstances comparable?
Trust Rudy not to get caught anywhere near a Red Sox cap. If he does, expect the picture to be a fake.
