THERE will be no packs of runners and fans on Vernon Boulevard this Sunday, nor a Halloween Parade/Haunted House/Fall Fest the day before, on what is traditionally the best weekend of the year in NYC. There will be an election on Tuesday, but I’m not sure that’ll be as enjoyable.
Yet while the heartland is fighting Covid outbreaks and Boston public schools switch to all-remote learning, PS78Q here in LIC is still open to students and finding its hybrid groove. Plus, per our prediction right before Labor Day, the waterfront parks have quieted down as we enter the seasonal crowd hibernation. The only sad remnant left from this summer is the lack of any suspect for the daylight shooting death that occurred on Borden Avenue in early September.
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“I’ve told them a hundred times: put ‘Spinal Tap‘ first and ‘Puppet Show‘ last.”
WHILE ‘The Editor’ might be opinionated, I tend to veer away from the delicate subject of politics, except when it is entwined with issues involving Long Island City. I have nothing of value to add to the conversations about the upcoming national election, but feel it necessary to spotlight grandstanding and reckless behavior when I see it in a local pol.
This week, a Queens State Assemblyman-elect named Zohran Mamdani created a letter calling on Senator Chuck Schumer to back legislation expanding the Supreme Court. He then got ~20 other local Democratic politicians, most of whom are City & State council/assembly members, to sign it (including Mike Gianaris and JVB).
Are the merits correct? Maybe, but the timing is awful. First of all, Biden has yet to be elected President, and nothing is guaranteed. Second, the possibly that the U.S. Senate majority will change hands is a toss-up at best. Most importantly, expanding the Supreme Court is a hot button issue with very serious consequences for our democracy that a lot of swing voters don’t agree with, or possibly haven’t fully ruminated over.
Yes, a new Justice was expeditiously and hypocritically sworn in, but with a week to go every vote counts. No, not in New York, but in a handful of very non-NYC friendly locations. And while this action may have been undertaken for some mix of grandstanding and umbrage on behalf of your own constituents and colleagues, when a mouse roars in NYC in late 2020 it may be just enough fuel to light the wrong kind of fire.
Sure enough, The National Review caught wind of the letter and wrote about it, and this article was then picked up in syndication by MSN and Yahoo. Meaning that this toothless threat missive could be a lot more than a self-centered rookie mistake, and could have divisive implications beyond who wins. The smart play is to keep this as quiet as possible until after the election, kind of like Hunter Biden.
Instead Zohran jumped all over the outrage and put the cart in front of the horse …and then maybe shot the horse in the foot. Take a tip from Spinal Tap: You need to win the election first, make changes last. Or maybe it’s a tip from Forrest Gump that’s in order:
Stupid is as stupid does
NYC Progressives Call On Schumer to Expand Supreme Court Or Be Held ‘Accountable’ – Zohran might end up being a moron
Big aLICe Brewing Buys Additional Site In Finger Lakes – will still maintain LIC location
City Completes New $6.25 Million Field House For Queensbridge Park – might be the last for awhile
LIC Woman Celebrates 100th Birthday – Dottie Byrne attended PS1 when it was a school!
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