Who Can Lead NYC to Recovery?
Dear Editor:
As a New York City patriot, I am greatly pained by frequent reports on the exodus from New York. We’ve been reading pieces like this from the Wall Street Journal and many other credible sources.
Those of us who had lengthy periods of senior government service – in my case for elected officials of both major parties – have horrific visions about what lies ahead. We see all those others who say, “We survived the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, the 1987 crash, 9/11, 2008; we’ll get through this, etc.” Really?
Who do we see in this one-party town ready to emerge to our rescue? Where is an Ed Koch / Harrison Goldin, a Rudy Giuliani, a Mike Bloomberg? A state legislature and an incumbent Mayor who opine that the “rich pay their fair share” – now over 50% City-State-Federal – will they be paying closer to 60%? No – they’ll continue to flee to Florida and Texas.
The Mayor’s priority is an “equal recovery.” What does that mean? And the public knows that when the virus recedes, that we will be left to the mercy of criminals released before AND after the pandemic, under the “No Bail” law which, contrary to false statements by the legislative leadership and the Governor is NOT being amended in the new budget other than cosmetically.
The subway system will be a Petri dish of both potential illness AND rising crime. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and his officers will be powerless in this potential return of crime to 1970s-1980s levels.
The $1 billion wasted under the auspices of the Mayor’s wife, ostensibly to improve mental health exhibits its success by unprecedented homeless, many potentially infected, many exacerbating the City’s filth – on our streets and subways.
This and more is before we even consider the nigh-impossible recovery of our valued institutions – Broadway, Lincoln Center, theatres, museums and the like.
The titans of industry- real estate, finance, manufacturing, construction and other major industries must convene, perhaps under the auspices of the NYC Partnership, or other respected umbrella – and find that person who can lead this City to recovery as in the past. That person must have widespread backing fiscally and otherwise to mount a campaign, regardless of his or her party. The NYC party establishment which defines mediocrity and worse- will equally oppose any such “interloper” from either party.
Alas, absent such a hard-handed approach by business – and leaving NYC to its pseudo-socialist warriors – the City of New York will have seen its best days, and the exodus will be fatal.
Sincerely
Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld
Stockholm Syndrome
Dear Editor:
The maps of Abbas’ Fatah, and Hamas, clearly show “Palestine” as all of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea-with no Israel anywhere. So how then to explain IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, J Street, Bernie Sanders’ alignment with Arabs who reject all peace offers, who refuse to even accept Israel’s right to exist? Rabbi Matthew Green, Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim chimes in on facebook, “Our presence has given a heksher to bigots. I feel it’s necessary for me as a rabbi to #SKIP AIPAC this year and onward.” He wrote of Sanders: “It excites me that the most prominent Jew in America today reflects the values of the American Jewish future.” Really?
“Sanders addressed the Islamic Society of North America featuring speakers who express hatred of Jews, homosexuals, and other minorities. Sanders’ surrogates are antisemites and anti-Zionists. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Linda Sarsour, Amer Zahr, and Ariel Gold, are relentless Israel Boycott slanderers. Sanders campaigned in London for Jeremy Corbyn, former Leader of the Labour Party, an unapologetic antisemite. Rabbi Lord Sacks, recipient of multiple Distinguished Awards said, “Corbyn is an anti-Semite who defiles our politics, demeans the country we love, has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map”.
Sanders aligns with IfNotNow. “fNotNow’s true agenda is to sow division in the Jewish American support for Israel, while providing cover for those who seek its destruction. They received extensive funding from anti-Israel organizations, such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund who also supported Jewish Voice for Peace.”, Camera.org. ADL reports: “Jewish Voice for Peace is a radical anti-Israel group that advocates for a complete boycott of Israel. JVP leaders believe that expressing support for Israel must also be viewed as an implicit attack on people of color and all marginalized groups in the United States.”
So, how to explain these unholy alliances, these anti Israel “Jewish” individuals and groups? ‘The Stockholm Syndrome’ is a psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands. Perhaps this sheds light on what cannot be explained rationally. If anyone has a better explanation for these ignorant kapo Jews (and non-Jews) endanger us all, do let us know.
Sincerely
Janet Coback
