Celebrating Community
Erik Frankel is a fourth generation family business owner in Sunset Park. While he has spent much of his life in Sunset Park, Frankel has also spent 15 years living in Vietnam. Frankel does not have a political background but is frustrated with the direction Red Hook and Sunset Park have gone. He is unhappy about some of the big […]
One can debate the justice, or the lack thereof, of the rapid fade of Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, based upon allegations that, 20 years ago, he engaged in acts which, if proven, would constitute the crime of “forcible touching,” a Class-A misdemeanor, which would carry a penalty of up to a year in prison, if the statute of limitations hadn’t […]
Pretty much by accident, I was right there when Bill de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign came to life. Lightning may have struck twice as I think I might have been at the beginning of another candidate’s rise. That first time, I was covering a protest meant to save Cobble Hill’s Long Island College Hospital, when a mayoral candidate given little […]
Six candidates have their eye on the city council seat once held by Mayor Bill de Blasio in Brooklyn’s 39th district, spanning the neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington. In terms of private funds, it’s the second richest race in Brooklyn, with each hopeful having raised more than $30,000 and total fundraising exceeding […]
Last month, I wrote about the recent Brooklyn Dems’ County Committee meeting, and related antics and fiascos, but one cannot understand where we are, and where we may go, without understanding where we were before. The modern era of the Brooklyn Democratic Party really started with 1961. Brooklyn’s Democratic Leader was then Joe Sharkey. He was not only County Leader, […]
2020…trash but still ironic The irony of 2020 also being synonymous with perfect vision is hard to miss, as last year was definitely illuminating – racial injustice, health care disparities, government unpreparedness, and the loss of several cultural icons. Then there was the presidential election, centered amidst an ongoing pandemic. The election spilled into 2021 as Georgia Senate runoffs took […]
It is generally believed that Henry Kissinger, a man Republicans were happy to refer to as “Doctor,” even though he lacked any sort of medical degree, was responsible for the quote “Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.” It’s such a great line, better even than his more famous “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” that […]
The coronavirus hasn’t delayed New York’s June 23 Democratic primary. In fact, it has added to the ballot a presidential contest – rescheduled from April 28, then cancelled (which prompted a lawsuit from candidate Andrew Yang), then restored, then challenged again in court, then affirmed – where 10 candidates who’ve suspended their campaigns will compete for delegates to August’s Democratic […]
Since March, 60.6 percent of U.S. households have responded to the 2020 Census, which will determine each state’s share of congressional representation and (to a large extent) federal funding for the next 10 years. With a 55.6 percent self-response rate, New York State trails New Jersey (62.6 percent) and Connecticut (64 percent). The self-response rate refers to the percentage of […]
During the first half of my twenties, I cared about art, not politics. I skimmed the news about wars and oil spills and participated in elections as a matter of civic duty, but deep down I intuited that nothing good or exciting would ever happen in Washington – or probably anywhere in the real world, which I found alienating and […]