Photo of the Week: Night Swimming

The latest recycling craze to hit Brooklyn is swimming pools made from…wait for it…dumpsters. As reported in The New York Times this past week,  the design company Macro-Sea created three connecting pools in dumpsters on the banks of the Gowanus Canal (sterilized, of course). But don’t try to get there–the space is reserved for invite-only, exclusive parties. For the common folk, there’s a video. Hmph.

Photo by Yana Paskova for The New York Times.

The Writing On The Wall

Ah, the perils of Facebook.  When will rising political stars learn that a Facebook wall is not an appropriate venue for unsavory comments?

The latest culprit in a string of Facebook wall-offenses is (was) the Deputy Press Secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.  Lee Landor posted a comment to her Facebook account earlier this week in which she lauded Cambridge, MA police for “doing [their] job” and stated that President “O-dumb-a” should not have involved himself in the issue of the controversial arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as he attempted to enter his home.  Landor wrote:

“You know what, I am really getting SICK of hearing about how white people are evil racists. Black people, Hispanic people, Indian people, Asian people, whoever, are being over-the-top racists in recent weeks, as highlighted in the media since the Sotomayor-New Haven issue,”

After a friend left a shocked reply to her initial post, Landor went on to respond:

“And racial profiling does exist, but for good reason.  Take a look at this country’s jails: who makes up the majority of the inmates.  Exactly.” (for a screenshot of the remarks, see City Hall News article)

Ms. Landor was asked to resign in the wake of her comments after they circulated through the local political community. This follows a similar incident from Audra Shay, the newly elected president of Young Republicans of America.  Shay was criticized for laughing at a comment made by someone else on her Facebook wall in which a racial slur was used to refer to President Obama.  Shay’s wall comments were made just before the YRA elections and while many speculated it would taint her candidacy, she was, nonetheless, still elected as the group’s president.

Is it right that Landor was forced to resign?  Maybe we should all seek comfort in the knowledge that an elected Democrat considered Landor’s Facebook faux pas an actionable offence while Republicans rewarded Shay by electing her to a leadership position. Conversely, is it reasonable to assume that what one chooses to post on Facebook is a private matter?  Either way the definitive answer seems to be that what is posted on the internet/Facebook is fair game, especially when you are representing an elected official.  One is most certainly entitled to his or her personal views but a public forum is, perhaps, not the best place in which to express them.

So, aspiring politicians, beware the interwebs!

Help Out Our Buddies @ Drinking Liberally

The founder of Drinking Liberally needs your help! Many of you met Justin Krebs at our annual kickball bout with the Young Republicans. Please take twenty seconds to sign the petition.

You know Rudy’s?  The dive bar with $9 pitchers and free hot dogs?
The place where Drinking Liberally began?
The place that keeps the hell in Hell’s Kitchen?

It’s backyard has been closed by the city for 7 months… and now we need your help to reopen it.

Check out our petition — http://livingliberally.org/rudys — it’s a letter to the Department of Buildings Commissioner asking him to expedite the steps that will let them reopen.

The reasons for the closure are bizzare, byzantine and quite possibly corrupt.  Why couldn’t they just have paid off the auditor?!?!

This affects me personally because Drinking Liberally now has to meet inside — it’s dark, loud, crowded and we can’t invite candidates into this environment.  The backyard has been the home of our anniversaries and holiday parties, our stage for guest speakers, and our base of operations.

Help us out! 

http://livingliberally.org/rudys

-j

#geographyFAIL

Good job, Fox News: 

As The Kids Would Say, “Geography Fail” – TAP

Ballot Shenanigans

Councilman Bill de Blasio is back on the ballot for NYC Public Advocate. He’s “back” because the Board of Elections tried to kick him off late last week, for a typographical error:

New York City’s election laws are notoriously unfair, and few events make that point as well as what happened on Thursday to City Councilman Bill de Blasio. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat from Brooklyn, has been running for the job of public advocate for New York City. He has raised more than $1 million and courted thousands of voters. To get on the ballot, he needed 7,500 valid signatures of city voters. To be sure he got enough, his campaign gathered 125,000.

But Thursday afternoon, Mr. de Blasio’s name was removed from the Democratic Party line on the ballot by the New York City Board of Elections. The reason? A cover page on his packet of signatures said that there were 131 folders when there were actually 132.

As they prepared to challenge the ruling last week, De Blasio’s campaign manager said mildly, “We don’t believe the law was intended to prevent a candidate with over 125,000 signatures from getting on the ballot because of a typo.”

Ya think?

Many MYDers are themselves on the ballot for county committee seats on the Open Seat Project, and they learned through the “Basics of Change” petitioning workshop about the BoE’s ridiculously stringent enforcement. Its about time they started changing their ways. As the Times wrote in reference to recent upheaval in Albany, “Given how bad New York lawmakers are at governing, voters need more choice, not less.”

Also, remember! MYD is hosting a Public Advocate candidates forum on August 19th. Stay tuned for more details.

For A Typo? – New York Times

David Silversmith, Political Insurgent, 30

Last week, we promised that the person who joined MYD as our 100th dues-paying member would be profiled on our blog. No sooner than one hour later, David Silversmith became that lucky guy, a “living, breathing, progressive-agenda-wielding testatment to how far MYD has come over the past seven months” and the recipient of a brand-spanking-new “Don’t Vote for Pedro” t-shirt.

And so it is that we kick off our new blog series “MYD Member of the Week”. Every week, we’ll profile a (dues-paying) member of MYD–stick ‘em in the spotlight and make ‘em look good. Jealous of David? Email me at newmedia [at] goMYD [dot] com if you want your two-and-a-half minutes of fame. Have questions you want to ask the profilees? Ditto.

David Silversmith

David has spent a grand total of four years out-of-state, so to call him a New York native might be a bit of an understatement. He grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in Manhattan, and his years abroad were spent at the University of Maryland. Not only does his expertise of New York run deep, he was “practically born into politics”–with a father who has run for office four times (for State Senate in 1976 and 1978, and for Judge in 1995 and 2003) and a mother who was a delegate for Ted Kennedy to the 1980 Democratic National Convention.

But that doesn’t mean this thirty-year-old has sold out to the oft-unsavory political establishment here in New York. Quite the contrary, David worked on Brian Kavanagh’s insurgent Assembly campaign as well as Daniel Squadron’s insurgent State Senate campaign, both of whom beat out powerful incumbents in the state legislature. He counts election nights for these campaigns as two “great political moments” among many in his life. But David no doubt joins many of his fellow MYDers when he defines his best political moment: that historic November night in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President.

A CPA by trade, David’s signature policy issue is taxation–and he has a penchant for “combat[ing] Republican misrepresentations on taxes, specifically on the Estate Tax as well as Income Taxes.” That one no doubt keeps him busy. 

A big welcome to David, and happy 100th member, MYD! 

What Is A Comptroller?

I would wager many MYDers are in the same boat as the many young New Yorkers featured at the beginning of this video. 

Important note! Our posting of this video is NOT an endorsement of David Yassky’s candidacy for City Comptroller. MYD is an official part of the Democratic party and cannot endorse candidates in contested primaries. But in the interest of full disclosure, David, a City Councilman for Brooklyn, attended our barbeque earlier this summer. We bump into him quite frequently at many events geared towards the young and politically active, like the New Leaders Council, and we also saw him at the Brooklyn Pride Parade. 

Advice From Across the Aisle

Former Republican leader of the NYS Assembly John Faso dishes out some advice for New York State on the pages of that bastion of conservative thought, the Wall Street Journal. Unsurprisingly, Faso focuses on making NY competitive from a business standpoint–lower taxes, investment in infrastructure. He also calls for more efficient government, particularly the legislature. What say you, MYDer? Do you agree or disagree?

So, how does New York experience a rebirth? First, the state needs to cut spending. Spending has increased by 30% over the past five years and even increased by 10% in the current budget, despite plummeting tax revenues. The state should enact emergency legislation to freeze scheduled wage increases for all public employees. This action alone will save approximately $2 billion next year.

Second, local property taxes need to be capped. A version of this plan has worked well in Massachusetts since 1980. New York property taxes are 70% above the national average. Not surprisingly, the New York City metro area has some of the highest-taxed counties in the nation. However, when compared to home values, property taxes are actually highest in economically stagnant upstate New York. By that measure, nine of the top 10 taxed counties in America are in the upstate region.

Third, get back to basics. The state needs to fund its road, bridge and transit infrastructure on a more consistent basis. The state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority carries one-third of all the commuters in the entire U.S. each day. But the state has systematically starved its transit infrastructure of needed capital expenses. The state will never grow its downstate economy unless businesses have a reliable and efficient mass transit system.

Fourth, the state needs to act like Wal-Mart and give taxpayers better bang for their buck. With more than 700 school districts, the state should consolidate costs by eliminating redundant administration and buying services in bulk for noninstructional functions like employee health insurance.

Fifth, the state should dramatically simplify its complex and confusing tax system to a one- or two-bracket tax, thereby lessening costs of compliance for taxpayers. It should also consolidate the New York City tax system with that of the state to further reduce costs.

Sixth, it needs to make its legislature a truly part-time enterprise, allowing citizens with real jobs to run for office. This also means reducing salaries, perks and staff. A more focused legislature will get the people’s business done more quickly and efficiently.

How To Stop New York’s Meltdown  – WSJ

Oh, How I Wish I Worked For The Port Authority

It must be so great to work for a semi-public agency over which no one has clear oversight. Check out the perks!

The payroll for the bloated bi-state agency that runs the three airports, the bus terminal and six bridges and tunnels saw the number of employees making six-figure salaries soar by 205 in 2008.

Some executives received 20 percent raises, even as the authority increased tolls and bungled World Trade Center construction.

Last year, the agency spent $161 million to cover the salaries of 1,298 employees who earned more than $100,000 — about 18 percent of its workforce — according to records obtained by The Post. In 2007, the PA doled out $134 million to 1,093 employees raking in six-figure salaries.

Apparently their reasoning is:

“The Port Authority operates some of the most sophisticated transportation projects,” agency spokeswoman Candace McAdams said. “We benchmark our management positions against both public and private sectors to attract and retain talent.”

If you replace “operates” with “bungles”, it’d probably be closer to reality.  And I am someone who actually does believe paying more in the public sector would be beneficial, and attract much-needed talent. But people should only get 20%+ raises where deserved. With higher bridge tolls, increased PATH fares, and practically nonexistent WTC redevelopment–I’d quote our former President and describe the PA as doing nothing short of a “bang-up job”.

The Pork Authority – NY Post

#100

We are proud to announce that MYD has reached 100 dues-paying members for 2009. The lucky individual who will go down in history as #100 is: Mr. David Silversmith!

David: Thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy the shirt, and the numerous discounted drinks that will be yours over the course of the rest of the year.

Profile to follow.

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