Those lucky registered Democrats. They get to pick their
choice of four candidates running for mayor in today's primary.
Of course, many of them do not realize how lucky they are and
probably will not show up to vote today, which is a pity.
Republicans, as usual, have no choice, because GOP leaders in New
York City tend to be pragmatic rather than principled. Save for
the rebels in Queens County, all of the county organizations have
endorsed Mayor Bloomberg, because he is likely to be reelected,
not because he represents Republican ideals. The mayor's one
challenger, Thomas Ognibene, was kept off the primary ballot when
his petitions were challenged successfully by a man who is on the
Bloomberg campaign staff, John Haggerty Jr. On the Web site of
the former City Council member from Queens,
www.ognibeneforny.com, Mr. Ognibene says the mayor spent a
fortune to keep him off tomorrow's ballot, "But I've got a
message for Mayor Bloomberg ... this election is not for
sale."
Thus far, the mayor's ad campaigns have been expensive and,
according to the Libertarian candidate for mayor, Audrey Silk,
misleading as well. Ms. Silk was just one of several individuals
who contacted me after my column "Republicans Against
Bloomberg." The founder of CLASH (Citizens Lobbying Against
Smoker Harassment), she disputes the mayor's reports of the
effectiveness of the smoking ban and the increase in tourism
measured by hotel occupancy rates. Ms. Silk, who is a former city
police officer, cites the lost revenue caused by closed bars and
other restaurants due to the ban. She also has received
correspondence from tourists who feel they were tricked because
they were unaware of New York's draconian anti-smoking law. One
tourist, Matt Montano, came with his wife with $3,000 to spend
here but ended up sitting in his hotel room drinking cheap beer
instead of dining at the Campbell Apartment, which he said was
once a smoker-friendly bar. "The city and its mayor has
destroyed the magic that NYC was," he wrote.
Ms. Silk - whose Web site iswww.audreysilkfornycmayor.com- has
also pledged to put a stop to the harassing summonses by the
Police Department. The Police Department, however, is not the
only city agency infuriating residents, particularly those on
Staten Island. Just last month, the city's Health Department
issued fines and threatened to put a lien on the home of a nearly
blind 79-year-old man because of his unkempt garden. Anthony
Melnick's increasing impairment prevented him from maintaining
his property, and the front-page story of his plight in the
Staten Island Advance resulted in a surge of Good Samaritans,
including Borough President James Molinaro, who came to his aid
to clean up the untidy, but not unhealthy, yard.
One writer to the Advance complained about getting a $100 fine
for putting her trash out in the afternoon, instead of the
evening, before a scheduled pickup. Residents on my block have
been given warning notices about open trash cans, which the
sanitation inspectors claim will attract rodents. The lids are
usually taken off by bottle- and-can scavengers who pick through
unwitting homeowners' garbage, but guess who will get the ticket?
Last year, my son and his girlfriend were given bench summonses
for entering Silver Lake Park after dusk. It had rained steadily
for almost two weeks, and these two exercise enthusiasts were
anxious to get in a run around the reservoir on the first clear
evening. The policeman chided them for not carrying enough ID and
told them they were in violation of the city's vagrancy law. They
both lost a day's pay to appear in court, but their cases were
immediately dismissed by the judge, who seemed annoyed by yet
another frivolous waste of her time.
It was that latest assault on law-abiding citizens that made my
husband comment: "The biggest difference between Rudy
Giuliani and Bloomberg is that Rudy went after the
quality-of-life criminals. Bloomberg is going after our quality
of life. He's making sure that the fines and tickets are being
given to people who can pay the tickets."
If New York City is starting to enforce its vagrancy law, then
that should do away with those homeless men who take up residence
outside that Fifth Avenue church every winter, right? That's not
likely to happen, is it?
If those hapless Democratic candidates had quit picking each
other to pieces and concentrated on issues that actually resonate
with the ordinary citizen, they might have noticed another big
difference between the Republican mayors: Mr. Giuliani went after
the squeegee men, while Mr. Bloomberg's going after the citizen
inside the car.