Primary Day

Today is primary day.  I am away in Chicago for a couple of days (I already voted by absentee ballot, though!) and in my absence I am rerunning one very important Guest Post from a few weeks ago about why it is important that we support Lynn Nunes for State Senator over the truly awful Shirley Huntley, and another new Guest Post with an interesting take on our political culture. I hope you find them both informative and good reads. And don’t forget to vote! It’s one of the most important things we can do as citizens of this great country!

My Letter To My State Senator, Shirley Huntley

By Jeff Newman

The recent post about Shirley Huntley made me think of the letter I sent her on the day after the NY State Assembly made a ruling denying equal rights and protection to Gay New Yorkers:

December 3, 2009

Senator Huntley,

Your vote against equality was upsetting and disappointing. As an African-American woman, I would expect you to have better respect for what are clearly issues of Equal and Civil Rights for all human beings. I equate your vote to someone voting no on Loving Vs. Virginia.

State Senator Shirley Huntley

Your shameful vote keeps our state, which should be a beacon to the nation, as yet another example of failure to enter the 21st century. In 50 years, when students talk about the victory of the election of the first President of African Descent, it will be paired with the shame of denying full rights to all Americans.

Bottom line, I hope you can sleep at night with your vote for a modern day Jim Crow law.

Sincerely,

Jeff Newman

I am neither gay nor a person of a color but this upset me as a human being. I felt that based simply on whom she was, Sen. Huntley should have a better view of what is fundamentally right and wrong as opposed to just appealing to the current anti-Gay marriage sentiment in our district. It is a historic chance to right an inequality inherent in our society and she threw it away. Eventually, when this issue goes before the Supreme Court, the court case I cited (Loving vs. Va) will be what this is based upon.

Three years ago, Mrs. Loving made a public statement as regards Marriage of all types:

“

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about. (from Wikipedia)

This says it better then I ever could. I felt that a re-print of this letter might be intriguing to people, so I passed it along to “Edge of the City”.

Regards,

Jeff

———————————————————————

Politics as Usual?

By Parker

Today is Primary Day.  Here’s what I consider when selecting a candidate.

Looks often matter more than brains something Sarah Palin can’t “refudiate”.  Mitt Romney and Scott Brown looks can take a candidate much farther than intellect and good intentions alone.  I choose the best looking candidate because I want attractive politicians on the news when they’re arrested for fraud, embezzlement, or having a “wide stance” in public rest rooms.

Does the candidate and their family have a strong bond and work well together?  It takes a cohesive family unit to hide, misrepresent & cover up misappropriated funds for the phantom “charity”, “school” or “community group” their relative “runs”.

Is the candidate a loving & devoted husband and father like Vito Fossella and John Edwards?  Does he give equal time to both his wife and his mistress and the children he has with both?

Does the candidate believe that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?  Mayor Bloomberg defended the constitutional rights for the “Ground Zero Mosque” to be built without government interference.  He ignored opponents’ reasonable questions about why THIS location was so important, and if Constitutional rights trump consideration for the feelings and emotions of others.  The Mayor’s position implied that our Constitution and laws are absolute.  But, in September 2008, Bloomberg thought only he could guide us through an economic crisis, so he planned to overturn voter-sanctioned term limits without voter input.  Despite public outcry, and potential political fallout for those supporting this change, his backroom deals were successful.  With Bloomberg running again, viable candidates left the race and his wealth became an obstacle for anyone remaining.  What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, unless the gander is a billionaire.

Does the candidate believe that changing the definition of marriage will destroy the traditional family and be the catalyst for America’s collapse?  I believe having an affair, announcing your separation on TV, a nasty public divorce battle, and hurting your children to the point where they won’t speak with you, is probably more damaging to the traditional family – the Giuliani one.  I think incompetent politicians, greedy Wall Street executives, and the dishonest mortgage lenders who drove the economy off a cliff will do the greater harm.

I’m jaded with politics – the endless campaigning, the attack ads, and feel-good, empty rhetoric, style over substance speeches.  Politicians talk out of both sides of their mouth and promise the sun, the moon & the stars to every Tom, Dick & Harriet.  Most politicians want to effect positive change and have the best intentions.  But a broken system where the fox guards the hen house leads to rampant dishonesty and corruption.

During campaigns candidates flood my inbox with solicitations for donations and, to offer my support, I forward these e-mails to my Nigerian friends who have an abundance of funds.  I figure hooking up those seeking favors for money with those seeking money for favors is a win-win situation for everyone.

My Letter To My State Senator, Shirley Huntley

By Jeff Newman

The recent post about Shirley Huntley made me think of the letter I sent her on the day after the NY State Assembly made a ruling denying equal rights and protection to Gay New Yorkers:


December 3, 2009

Senator Huntley,

Your vote against equality was upsetting and disappointing. As an African-American woman, I would expect you to have better respect for what are clearly issues of Equal and Civil Rights for all human beings. I equate your vote to someone voting no on Loving Vs. Virginia.

State Senator Shirley Huntley

Your shameful vote keeps our state, which should be a beacon to the nation, as yet another example of failure to enter the 21st century. In 50 years, when students talk about the victory of the election of the first President of African Descent, it will be paired with the shame of denying full rights to all Americans.

Bottom line, I hope you can sleep at night with your vote for a modern day Jim Crow law.

Sincerely,

Jeff Newman

I am neither gay nor a person of a color but this upset me as a human being. I felt that based simply on whom she was, Sen. Huntley should have a better view of what is fundamentally right and wrong as opposed to just appealing to the current anti-Gay marriage sentiment in our district. It is a historic chance to right an inequality inherent in our society and she threw it away. Eventually, when this issue goes before the Supreme Court, the court case I cited (Loving vs. Va) will be what this is based upon.

Three years ago, Mrs. Loving made a public statement as regards Marriage of all types:

“

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights. I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about. (from Wikipedia)

This says it better then I ever could. I felt that a re-print of this letter might be intriguing to people, so I passed it along to “Edge of the City”.

Regards,

Jeff

Defeat Her on September 14th

I love it when people who strive to deny rights to others then turn around and claim that they are the victim. It’s a commonly used tactic of the most intolerant in our society. Turn the most powerless and persecuted of our society, the victims, into the one’s we all should fear. Such gross distortions of reality have led people to commit some of the most despicable acts in history.

This woman seems to devote an inordinate amount of her time trying to deny the right of our fellow gay and lesbian citizens to marry. And she goes even further, distorting and hijacking religion to support such bigotry. She should be defeated. Such intolerance is disgraceful, especially in a Democrat.

This blog supports the election of this woman’s opponent, Lynn Nunes, as our State Senator.

NY State Senatorial candidate Lynn Nunes.

What Makes Us Unique

I recently ran across this very interesting article in New York magazine which revealed how the City has been changing over the past couple of decades. We all probably know it already, but it was still interesting to sift through the data in the article about the changing demographics.

Basically, it says that the “white flight” of the 70’s and 80’s, which saw the city’s white population flee the city to the suburbs, has begun to reverse itself. For the first time since those years, whites comprise the majority of the population of Manhattan.

As a child of the suburbs, who moved to Manhattan in my early 20’s, and then out to Brooklyn, and then Queens, my reaction to this is “What took them so long to figure out that the City is a better place to live than the suburbs?” The suburbia where I grew up was a cultural wasteland. The city was just a short LIRR ride away, but it might as well have been a world away. There was so much more to see and do, and so much more energy. The City was alive.  The suburbs, where I grew up anyway, were pretty dead.

What does Manhattan’s changing demographics mean for Forest Hills and our part of Queens? Well, it’s already happening — with Manhattan and other areas of the City already gentrified, more and more people priced out of these areas are looking for the few affordable areas left, and Forest Hills is one of them.

But while Manhattan is now becoming increasingly homogeneous — it’s amazing to think that is possible, but it is — we here in Forest Hills and the rest of Queens have a great, special advantage: our diversity.

As many have been forced out of the Manhattan market because of the high rents, we have begun to benefit. It’s no coincidence that Forest Hills has suddenly begun to see some great new restaurants and shops open in the past couple of years, and with the current trends this will only continue, and yes, I think so even despite the economy. New York City is a unique place and its resurgence continues unabated. Forest Hills is feeling the effects of that.

We are also lucky in another way — there are entire swaths of the area that await redevelopment, or at least improvement. Both sides of Queens Blvd. east towards Kew Gardens is one example. It’s not surprising that one of the best new restaurants to open in the past couple of years, Tuscan Hills, chose a location there to do so. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess the proprietors got a pretty sweet deal. And other fine restaurants have begun to open near it.

As Forest Hills, like Manhattan, continues to change, I only hope we are able to harness the one thing that really makes us special — our diversity. If Manhattan’s fate is to be an urbanized, upper class Disney World, then hopefully we can corner the market on what makes New York City really special: its amazing mix of cultures.

The Fashionable of Forest Hills

In case you missed it, Fox’s Good Day New York recently paid us a visit. And guess what?  We’re getting a little hipper. At least that’s what Christal Young says at the end of her report. And come to think of it, that’s fine with me. We can use a little more hip here in the Hills. And I don’t mean the artificial kinds. We have plenty of those already. 🙂

Click here to watch the segment:  Where’d You Get That? Forest Hills — Christal Young Reports

A Jewish Magnet In Central Queens

An interesting article discussing the changing Jewish community in Queens.

A Jewish Magnet In Central Queens.

Latest on New Mall in Flushing

The Wall St. Journal reports on the new Sky View Center, an 800,000 square-foot shopping mall and residential complex opening in the business district of Flushing.

Here’s the link to the development’s website: http://www.svcnyc.com/