Brooklyn elects it's first Mayor since 1892, Bill deBlasio!

I'm happy to report what you already know, Bill deBlasio is our new Mayor of New York City.

I didn't hate Bloomberg, (Hell I've actually go a photo of he and I shaking hands) but I often disagreed with his managerial style as it was too macro&micro view for me. Blanket policies worked in my opinion on bike lanes and pedestrian plazas, but failed to consider basic human rights as in "Stop & Frisk". So thanks to democracy we get to try a new way.

I've expected Mr. deBlasio to be our Mayor since this past August. But as recently as April I would have been stunned at yesterday's election result. I expected Speaker Quinn to be a stronger more able candidate. Nobody say Weiner coming. And what he did beside remarkably demonstrating it was possible to sink his public persona lower than it was after he disgraced himself out of congress, is remind optimistic liberals that we actually had a choice other than Ms. Quinn who many such as myself saw as a Bloomberg reboot. I think it's possible without Weiner entering, we could have just as easily had a Mayor Thompson or Quinn as deBlasio.

But we got what I and 72% of voting New Yorkers wanted, a clean break, a new guy, a new day.

I also find it very fascinating, (and someone who gets paid to write and explore these topics we'll surely pick up on this) that Brooklyn largely voted this Mayor in. A Brooklyn local, diBlasio's strong showing in Brooklyn during the primary provided protection against the wide field of candidates against him. Liu took most Asian neighborhoods, Quinn took most of Manhattan below Central Park, Thompson did well in Manhattan above as well as in Queens, and Carrion diluted the vote in the Bronx. But none of those groups could overcome the Brooklyn base that came out for diBlasio.

In yesterday's voting diBlasio continued to carry Brooklyn winning over 80% of the Kings County vote.

So much is appropriately and stupidly attributed to Brooklyn. The yawn-going conversation about whether we're the "New Manhattan" or whether someplace hundreds of miles away is the "New Brooklyn" (I'm looking at you Dutchess County, give it a rest) never seems accurately describe the actual impact Brooklyn has as an incubator of new city culture, and vault for treasured NYC tradition. but in this moment when Brooklyn is so central that we rate a Presidential visit, it seems spot on that Brooklyn has elected it's first Mayor* since 1892 and the time of Brooklyn Mayor Frederick W. Wurster.

(*btw I know Giuliani was born in Brooklyn, but Staten Island voted him in the first time. I ain't claiming him and I doubt I'm alone.)

Not to be out done, another Brooklynite, Councilwoman Leticia "Tish" James has quietly become the 1st African-American woman elected to city-wide office in New York City and by her position as the new Public Advocate, she becomes 2nd in line for Mayor of New York. Fantastic!

And last but by no means least, the vote for Brooklyn District Attorney. Who's going to police the police and prosecute those who break laws, you can argue it hasn't been out going Bklyn DA Hynes (who thought he was so nice we had to vote him out twice) but going forward it's no question, our new Brooklyn District Attorney is Ken Thompson and I believe he will work hard for the benefit and protection of law abiding Brooklynites.

"Manhattan keeps on making it, Brooklyn keeps on taking it"

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Brooklyn Where You At? (On the map)

How does one man become the decider of local neighborhood boundaries?

I dunno, ask google, but Matthew Hylan seems to be that man according to an article in today's NY Times:

If you're like me (born in Crown Heights, until the mid 90's when the real estate push activated the time machine and altered my birthplace to be Prospect Heights) you'll want to check in with Mr Hylan and his google map assessments (above) to find out where you (and we) are now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/nyregion/amateur-mapmakers-reshape-new-york-neighborhoods-online.html

The Times attempts to paint Mr Hylan in favorable and impartial tones, describing him more of an "Umpire" than activist but umpires make decisions so I'm sticking with my labeling.

I checked out the google map maker site, which is the google map we've come to know overlaid with neighborhood shapes defining specific areas. These area definitions were submitted by users and approved/co-signed by Mr. Hylan.

I don't want to wax on too long so I'll sum my thoughts into a few sentences; when brooklyn was majority natives (persons living here for one generation or more) we didn't have all these baby-bite-sized names or needs. You lived on your street, in an area of Brooklyn. Your area was Flatbush, Greenpoint, Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant and it could stretch for miles. Clearly that time is gone and people native and new with much reduced map reading skills and attention spans (based on the numerous people who ask me weekly for the name of the subway station they're in as they stand next to and under the subway station's sign) are benefitted by more delineation, but lets not over do the neighbor cinching and lets not erase or push boundaries to the exclusion of people and past.

Since the main instigator for all these new neighborhood delineations is division, attempts by real estate people and some home owners wanting to separate themselves form the less desirable elements of their own neighborhoods, my suggestion is this, lets go back to full on areas those of say 1970 South Brooklyn, Flatlands, Bushwich, (one) Williamsburg, Crown Heights etc and then modify those areas with their subsections.

For example:

Cobble Hill & Carroll Gardens in South Brooklyn.

Ditmas Park, Prospect Park South & Lefferts-Prospect Gardens in Flatbush.

Lets give this a shot, because despite what intrenched interests will tell you, we all, over the course of the last 400 years, made these names up from our desires anyway.

As the a quote from Barry F. Hersh, a professor at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University in the Times article notes, "The telephone company once decided which neighborhood you were in".

Photo Wednesday 07/27/11: Paper Subway Crane

I noticed this as I was decending down into the subway one day a few weeks back, a paper crane. was someone trying to tell us something?



Speaking of the subways and what not, I just learned that only two years into his six year contract MTA Board head Jay Walder is leaving for a gig outta town. He will stay on until October of this year, then he's Hong Kong bound.

The articles below all reported the story when I missed it last week (when I was probably in the middle of the eighth shower that day)

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/jay-walder-m-t-a-chief-resigns-suddenly/

http://gothamist.com/2011/07/22/outgoing_mta_ceo_jay_walder_to_make.php

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/07/21/mta-chief-jay-walder-resigning/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henry-j-stern/mta-chief-walder-leaves_b_907389.html

You'll see in the articles above the range of opinion on the story as views differ on what this says about Walder and more importantly the effect it will have on mass transit riders in the city.

Some are trying to make him out to be the railyard equivalent of LeBron James (<--Btw this clip is very amusing if you havent seen it) for taking his talents elsewhere, but as the Gothamist article points out he was make $500k in London then left that job to come here and work for $350k and Hong Kong is offering almost a million annually.

Plus the transit works union, (and I am prounion) has a big sway over the agency thanks to the necessity of the MTA for city life and their contract is coming up at the end of the year while the MTA still struggles to pay off the debt incurred by huge borrowing over the last ten years, (thanks Pataki).

If you dont know Walder is credited with an attempt to modernize the MTA specifically city buses and subways. Things I havent liked under his watch, the cut off of bus service in the boroughs, and shortening of schedules but most of that was the result of budget cuts and a lack of public fighting to keep necessary services. As well as the constant problem with the MTA, that they are not politically accountable to anyone because they are a half private half goverment agency.

Things I have liked under Walder's watch, continued modernizing of the trains (I'm not a fan of robo trains though) and the update and addition of schedule clocks, (mentioned in a previous post) which every major city's subways (London, Tokyo, etc) have. I also like the realtime bus tracking and priorety bus lanes in the city. This and more was the promise and expectations that surrounded Walder's arrival as MTA head.

But yeah, Walder's a native New Yorker, and we know a few things with certainty; when the road's about to get bumpy and what a good deal looks like. I can't fault him for his choice but I'm not very optimistic that Cuomo will find anyone nearly as able to run this city's MTA and complete the turnaround Walder attempted to start.



Looks like NYer's will have to fold up our hopes and dreams into another, this bird has flown.

Photo Wednesday 01/06/10 : 1st look back Edition

End of a year, end of a decade, honestly I didn't even realize the latter until two weeks ago. Around that time it snowed. Since everyone still seems to be in the mindstate of looking back where we've been I thought these two photos were appropriate for today's "Photo Wednesday". I didn't intend the contrast when I took the second photo, but I did feel the sense of deja vu as I gloved back up and walked away from the snowy Fort Greene Park scene.


It's almost the same spot albeit closer in the winter scene, but yup, same hill.

Ten years seems like near and far to me. Do we really need to look so far back to find significance? How far removed must we be to see clearly. I look forward to finding out.