Democratic Primary Results
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with…
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with 20.2 percent); Maritza Davila, endorsed by Lopez, lost in the 34th District to Diana Reyna, a former Lopez staffer who fell out with the party boss. Incumbent Letitia James won in the 35th District with 81.2 percent of the vote, and Brad Lander took the 39th District with 41.1 percent due to, he told The Brooklyn Paper, his stances on “affordable housing, livable communities, jobs, and good schools.” In the race for comptroller, Councilman John Liu of Queens came out 8 points ahead of Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, but with 38 percent of the vote, did not have the 40 percent required to win outright. Thus there will be a runoff election held September 29. For more primary results, check out the Eagle’s coverage of the State Senate race.
33rd District: Levin Wins Handily [Brooklyn Paper]
35th District: James Steamrolls Yards-loving Foe [Brooklyn Paper]
39th District: Lander Crushes Four Rivals [Brooklyn Paper]
Liu and Yassky Headed for Runoff [NY Times]
State Senate Primary Results [Brooklyn Eagle]
“As for race relations – I cant cite a policy”
You can’t because he hasn’t done particularly noteworthy in this area. That’s not inherently bad of course, but you can’t give him credit for something he hasn’t done.
And, the fact that “we do not see virtually every racially tinged incident erupting into major confrontations and worse” has a lot more to do with our city and society than it does with Michael Bloomberg! Again, he can’t take credit here if he hasn’t done anything to impact this situation. And he hasn’t.
Finally, I don’t think Bloomberg is a racist, and I don’t “hate” him because he’s rich and a Republican. Hell, I VOTED for him the first time around, and I’m a middle class black registered Democrat! I just happen to think he’s outlived his usefulness, and it’s time to give someone else a try. That’s it.
FYI MM and fsrg, the toll system would likely use an electronic plate-scanning system (“Plate Pass”) that’s currently in use in several other U.S. cities. The city wouldn’t have to use EZ pass for this purpose, and there wouldn’t need to be toll booths.
“he also tried to cut down the size of crews from 5 to 4.”
Which would have alleviated the need to close any firehouses and which many studies show has no effect on public safety (but does on union membership)
Again I have seen nothing that shows the mayor’s actions have led to a reduction in FDNY services in any part of NYC
“$5 wouldn’t get you 10 feet into Whole Foods.”
Oh please MM- it would so get you a pack of gum 🙂
fsrg- actually it is a safety issue- he also tried to cut down the size of crews from 5 to 4. The past few years have seen an uptick of injuries and deaths. Manhattan companies weren’t on the line- but the one Manhattan house he closed was in Harlem. When he closed 212, he closed the only unit with a chemical response apparatus in the area- and that area not only has toxic issues ( the old oil spill, the jet fuel line) but a toxic waste managment company that not only takes care of chemical waste, but nuclear as well.
“sorry ENY but I think your citations are a little picayune in the context of a mayor running a city of 8M over the last 8 years.”
Like I said, we disagree. I think my citations are quite valid, and I will vote on that basis.
How many workers who DRIVE into Manhattan (below 86th St) Monday through Friday 6AM-6PM don’t have credit cards or bank accounts to link to a EZ Pass (anecdotally I dont know a single person who earns less than $200K that doesnt take mass transit into Manhattan for work) – and besides – you could always offer pre-paid EzPass.
“but don’t tell someone it could be illegal to eat fast food,”
When did he do that? – he forced FF restaurants to post their nutritional info, hardly makes Mickey D’s illegal.(maybe a bit less fun however)
Unlike some people in my circle, I don’t think Mike is a racist. He’s actually personally funded a lot of good minority causes, and I don’t think even his worse policies go out of their way to adversely impact people of color, over white folks.
HOWEVER, many of his policies, such as the Crown Heights/Bedford Armory issue, do adversely impact minorities, because many of us live in communities getting the short end of his policy stick.
I’ve always thought that Bloomberg is incapable of seeing the trees in the forest, he can’t relate to the everyday lives of people who aren’t well off. Congestion pricing is a good abstract idea for lessening traffic. It loses its appeal in the practical way of charging a toll, in the possible destruction of property for tollbooth type facilities, or the idea that an EZ pass type system will work 100%, not taking into consideration the large number of workers in vehicles coming to jobs in Manhattan, many of whom do not have bank accounts or charge cards that can be linked to EZ Pass. There would have to be toll booths. He doesn’t understand that lots of NYers do not have computers to access some of the (good) programs and resources of the city.
Mike also likes to be uber-daddy. I applaud his campaign to stop smoking in restaurants and buildings, but think it’s absurd to ban people from smoking in parks or outdoors, just as it is ridiculous to tell people what to eat. By all means make programs that help people in poor neighborhoods buy fresh produce or learn how to cook and eat more healthily, but don’t tell someone it could be illegal to eat fast food, when that could make the difference between eating or not eating at all. It’s very easy to eat healthy, eat organic, go to the gym, etc, when you have money. Stretching $5 into a couple of meals by eating rice, starches and fatty cuts of meat is an economic necessity for an awful lot of New Yorkers. $5 wouldn’t get you 10 feet into Whole Foods.
sorry ENY but I think your citations are a little picayune in the context of a mayor running a city of 8M over the last 8 years.
The fact that he doesnt take the subway the whole ride seems silly (you are aware that Bill thompson has been chauffered around the city for the last 8yrs and before that as President of Board of Ed?)
As for race relations – I cant cite a policy but clearly he has done something, because besides garnering considerable support in the Black community in his last re-election bid, and significant praise from the likes of Al Sharpton etc….I note that unlike prior administations, black and white – we do not see virtually every racially tinged incident erupting into major confrontations and worse.
As for Garbage – in 2001 Guilliani shut down Fresh Kills – -which was nice for SI but he left no plan for how to handle the massive amount of Garbage that NY generates – other than trucking it out of the city (30,000 trips a year with massive pollution). Bloomberg created, proposed and passed a Solid Waste Plan that splits the burden to marine transfer stations in each boro (including 2 highly fought ones in Manhattan) and then ships the waste out of NY by boat – thereby saving $ and TONS of truck trios, traffic and pollution.
disingenuous? He’s a politician.
“Who cares, he still on the subway from 59th street to brooklyn bridge.”
I care. Why doesn’t he walk to the subway? Look, if wants to drive that’s his business. But or him to promote he notion that he’s an environmentally sensitive, everyday subway rider is disingenuous.