THE NYC MAYOR RACE — How come such a big deal is putting us all to sleep?
The NYC Democratic mayoral primary, also known as the election, is creeping up on us like a sleeping big deal as we all crawl out of the post pandemic fog. Maybe the fog comes along with the new normal of waking up each day without morning sickness over the latest presidential brain fart.
The hollow slogans of the Democratic candidates have as much to do with the reality of running New York as “Tide Knows Fabrics Best” has to do with how clothes get clean.
The Mayor of New York has power and control over this town similar to the power and control of a rodeo bull rider fighting to not get thrown into the dirt. When the new Mayor is sworn in on January 1, 2022 he or she will be gripping the reins to avoid getting tossed and trampled by this town’s roster of loud and cranky power bases, including;
- the cops bridling at criticism, like a street gang of short tempered adolescents with guns and badges, coping with a new era in which abuse can no longer be hidden thanks to viral citizen videos;
- the real estate industry which has been doing its blindered best to make New York City affordable only to newly minted MBAs now facing a post pandemic wreckage of vacancies;
- Wall Street that sees the City through only one metric- their year end bonuses;
- Ethnic and racial voting blocs poised to lash out;
- Unions ready to shut things down and
- New Yorkers with money who bridle at any threat of unpleasantness.
At this point with the June 22 primary six weeks away here’s one guy’s four ranked choices;
- Katherine Garcia — light on charisma and progessive values but a decent soul with deep roots in NYC government who knows how to clean streets, fix stuff and run things;
- Scott Springer — a nebbish who has been in government since kindergarten but recently took a torpedo hit from the the kryptonite of 21st century American politics— the penis- in this case, his.
[I have a hypocritical double standard about allegations against Democrats but it seems unfair to end a career in minutes based on a, never even hinted at, 20 year old allegation, from a political lobbyist, weeks before an election, at a press conference which ended with her lawyer saying she won’t be answering any questions.] ]https://theintercept.com/2021/05/04/nyc-mayor-scott-stringer-jean-kim
3. Maya Wiley — A civil rights lawyer and MSNBC talking head with a fancy resume, the child of racial justice warriors putting all her chips on minorities and Bernie voters and the hope that very few people actually vote in the NYC Democratic primary
4. Diane Morales- grew up poor, worked as an organizer advocate and her website says don’t vote for me if you are a rich developer. She doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.
I won’t be voting for Shaun Donovan, a bland, liberal white guy with a whiny voice and a massive cash infusion from his Dad, relying heavily on pictures of him with Obama, when he was HUD secretary (2009–2014) to distract people from asking what he actually accomplished when he was Bloomberg’s housing commissioner (2004–2009)
The guys who scare me are;
Andrew Yang — an empty smiling suit without a soul, pumped up with a handful of policy gadgets and counting on the internet bros who love him like he’s the next Iphone.
Ray McGuire -made boatloads of money in international finance, with no clue how the city works but seems driven mostly by retirement terror.
Eric Adams -Brooklyn Borough president who joined the NYPD after getting beaten up by cops as a young man but his only idea for changing police culture is to hire more black cops. He sees the world through a racial lens and once blurted out that the new white kids in Brooklyn should go back to Iowa.
