By Gary Tilzer
Who won and who lost in the primary should not be the top political story in NY politics. The biggest story has to do with what caused 87% of the state’s voters to stay home. The Jewish Voice listened to the voters before the election and warned the media and its readers that the voters feel very disconnected from politics and government and there was a good chance they were not going to show up at the polls. The media took no notice of the low vote warning before and pathetically low primary turnout. More importantly, they are ignoring the cause of NY’s voter disenfranchisement, NY’s failed Democracy, which has serious consequences on the future of our city and state.
New York voters who stayed home, do not agree with left-wing ideologues who want to defund the police or incumbents who stay in office for decades while failing to solve problems, like crime, affordable housing, and bad schools. The Republican Party which lacks a citywide issue platform or agenda, is not even on the voters’ minds. An overwhelming majority of New Yorkers that skipped the primary feel they have no say in the government that collects high taxes from them. Many city residents are fleeing, setting up new colonies in Florida and Texas. In 1989 when Dinkins faced off against Koch, three times as many voters showed up to vote in a primary that meant something to them about their future, in a city that had two million fewer residences.
It turns out the common-sense New Yorkers, which the media ignores, understood a Sophie’s choice (no win) primary by protesting their NY broken elections system and government by not voting. It was a silent NY Tea Party, fueled by frustrated NY registered voters angry at their local government for imposing “taxation without representation.” If the media polled New Yorkers who did not vote in the primary this July 4th weekend, they would have found the 87% who stayed home were staging a rebellion because their interests and needs are no longer properly represented by the candidates running for office. Even though the Thomas Jefferson statue was removed from City Hall, we still believe in his teachings, “A properly functioning democracy depends on an informed electorate.” New Yorkers who did not vote are looking for better non-incumbent candidates that will not only address their concerns with flyers, they will not forget their promises once in office. Because of the media’s blackout of local politics, voters cannot find good candidates, even when they are running in their own district. There are good moderate neighborhood-connected candidates on the ballot, more would run if the newspapers covered them, allowing some to win.
Princeton Media Professor Paul Starr maintains that NYC lost leadership with the dying of the newspaper business. He said that city newspapers used to set the public agenda, served as the focal point of controversy, and covered the local elections.”
Elections are the Test in a Democracy That the Media Continues to Fail
Today’s local reporters do not understand politics. They think covering campaigns is to read press releases on TV, or publish them in newspapers, written by candidates, elected officials, or their consultants.
The media turn unconstitutional redistricting by one-party control in Albany, into a one-day story without blame or analysis of how it affects the overwhelming majority of NY’s registered voters who feel unrepresented. They do not think it important to even explain or ask the voters on the street why they did not vote. It is not a sign, or canary in the coal mine warning to this era of journalists that something is wrong with the NY’s election system, when 7 of 8 voters stay home. It is like a doctor ignoring a patient’s high PSA number, not ordering additional tests to find and stop a cancer.
Assemblyman Dilan is expected to win with 2344 votes, over progressive Samy Olivares who has 2154 48% of the votes. Dilan 54th Assembly District has around 150,000 residents and about 40,000 registered Democrats. That means the Assemblyman will be reelected with 5.8% of the registered voters and 1.4% of the district residents. Even the Jimmy Carter Center on Fair Election would say NY’s elections don’t meet the minimal standards for a third-world democracy when it comes to representation of the voters’ needs and wants.
The Jewish Voice In the Scripted News Era, Journalists & Elected Officials Become Actors, NY Special Interests Pull the Strings, warned that a low vote means the voters are not electing representatives, the special interests are. When it comes to NY elections, incumbents are the most powerful special interests. The NY Post reports that the 1199 healthcare union endorsed Councilwoman Carlina Rivera in the crowded Democratic primary to represent the newly drawn 10th Congressional District but does not talk to the voters of that district to report on their concerns.
Newspapers don’t report especially in the local races how candidates stand on major issues like bail, what they have accomplished or failed to accomplish in their community, and what the voters are thinking. It was not George Soros’s million dollars that elected DA Bragg in 2021, it was the fact that the media did not inform the voters of Manhattan’s new DA’s belief that he was more defense attorney, than a prosecutor whose job was to keep New Yorkers safe.
Without Media Coverage Moderate Non-Incumbent Neighborhood Candidates Like Erik Frankel Have No Way to Get Elected
In early June the Jewish Voice warned that there is not enough media coverage of local races like Erik Frankel’s challenge to DSA Assemblywoman Mitaynes, to inform the voters of Sunset Park what each candidate stands for.
As a common-sense candidate, Frankel believed the voters of Sunset Park were not being represented by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) endorsed Assemblywoman Mitaynes. Frankel was angry the assemblywoman successfully blocked along with her fellow progressives in Albany the mayor’s efforts to give NYS judges the authority to keep dangerous repeat offenders in the bail system and the seriously mentally ill in hospitals. Because of a lack of money (no public financing in state races) and no media coverage, Frankel was trounced at the polls. The fact that 75% of the city’s residents want changes to the bail laws that Frankel supported, is evidence that NY has an election system that is controlled by the two biggest political special interests in the city, progressives, and incumbents. The low vote and the progressives ability to pull voters, helped his opponent Mitaynes win reelection with just 10% of the registered voters in the 51st Assembly District.
If the NY Times, NY Post, and Daily News were covering Frankel’s Sunset Park Campaign, they would have talked to:
Citizen Maria Retired (Sunset Park) a senior woman from Puerto Rico, said her children asked her to come to join them in Florida. Maria believes the quality of life in Brooklyn is getting worse and she is thinking of joining her children. Citizen and Business Owner (Sunset Park) A woman who owned a liquor store in Sunset Park on 4th Ave claimed running her business is no longer safe. There are many drug addicts living in the shelter down the street from her business. Often people come in without enough money to purchase and harass the owner. Citizen Jacob (Boro Park), a religious Jew says he is contemplating moving to Florida with his brother. Anti-Semitism, hate crimes, and quality of life were factors that he cited for a possible move out of the city.
It is Not Enough for the Newspapers to Report on Who AOC is Going After, They Have to Listen to the Voters to Repair NY’s Democracy
NY Daily News & NY Post copied the NY Times story about the AOC challenge against six Assembly incumbents in the primary. The Times article was written three days after the Jewish Voice published WPIX’s Mannarino, All the NY Media Ignore the Big Story: AOC/Lander Left-Wing Political War to Take Over NY The papers ignored the voter’s anger and disenfranchisement that the Jewish Voice reported on, which led to 87% staying home. The voters need local neighborhood leaders to represent them. The newspapers enable a broken political system that allows progressive bosses like AOC to pick and fund social activists with no governmental or business experience to run for office. The papers also did not report on how City Hall, Albany leaders, party bosses, and their special supporters fund incumbent reelection. The people moving out of NYC blame those in elective office for not fixing the crime, homeless and bad schools problems. There is not one nonprofit group or Political PAC trying to find and fund neighborhood leaders who have served their community to run for office.
If the NY Times would break their narrative bubble on West 43 Street and use Uber to visit voters in different city neighborhoods, the paper of record would find voters who have a better understanding than them, the other media, and everyone else, that both the incumbents and progressives candidates who names appear on the ballot cannot repair our broken city. Only by listening to the voters, empowering them and their neighborhood to elect candidates who they believe in, can we rebuild our great city, and stop the exit of people who used to believe NYC was a special place to live.
The Real Estate PACs Attacking AOC Progressive Resembled the Dutch Boy Putting his Finger in the Dyke, the 2020 Census Breaks the Dam
Only one of the six incumbent candidates listed by the newspapers lost to progressive candidates, Assemblyman Cahill from the Hudson Valley. After losing the City Council in 2021 to progressives, this year the real estate PACs that circulated negative mailers about left-wing candidates won the AOC vs Adams battle, but they are going to lose the war, as new NY census numbers indicate. Former Governor David Paterson calls AOC “phantom of the media.” Does he also believe that demographics and voting patterns are phantoms? Developers and lobbyist campaign consultants are making money pushing the city’s minority and poor out of their neighborhoods. Their actions are bringing in a growing number of left-wing gentrification residents and voters into the city. The real estate developers even use lobbyists that run socialist campaigns, like Berlin Rosen. Developers like William Zeckendorf and Albert Laboz who funded the PAC to attack progressives should know that the incumbent elected officials who they helped win, have failed to stop New Yorkers and their businesses from moving out of the city. They have no strategy on how to replace moderate incumbents elected officials, as they age out or are arrested for corruption which is Albany’s time-honored tradition. Time is running out to come up with a plan to save what made NYC special, despite the Assembly beat back progressives are still progressing.
Progressives Were Pushed Back by Incumbents: But Did Make Inroads in Their Years-Long Attempts to Control the Brooklyn Democratic Party
Progressive won enough District Leader seats to threaten the leadership of Brooklyn Democratic Party Boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. There are rumors that that may be circulated by her progressive opponents; she will soon leave the party chairman’s post. Among those defeated in the primary was Bichotte’s husband, who resigned a $190,000 city job to run for District Leader, and Esther Debbie Louis, the sister of City Council member Farah Louis.
Unconstitutional Assembly redistricting, that the court-ordered must be changed in 2024, gave Bichotte two extra district leaders, this year only, in a district that connects Staten Island with Manhattan and just four residents on a houseboat in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It looks like both the progressives including independents and the County Boss Bichotte both control 22 of the 44 District Leader seats. It is impossible to know who or if anyone will be in control to pick this year’s crop of Supreme Court Judges this summer. There could be up to ten Supreme Court positions to fill by this year’s Brooklyn Judicial Convention. If they pick sitting Civil Court Judges, they will fill those positions with their hack judges with the judicial conventions as they did in the past. It is also unclear if Judicial Delegates for the conventions, elected in unconstitutional Assembly Districts, can nominate Supreme Court Judges legally.
Judicial Delegates pick the Supreme Court Judges are usually picked by district leaders in each of Brooklyn’s Assembly Districts. District leaders loyal to the machine along with Boss Bichotte, and Florida residents Seddio and Feldman pick the judges. There are parts of the leadership that seem more concerned with keeping control of the court, wonder why? This year with progressive Judicial slates challenges and leadership of the county on shaky grounds, it is unclear who is going to pick the judges. Justice Thurgood Marshall, said, “The Constitution does not prohibit legislatures from enacting stupid laws to pick judges.” NYU Brennan Center says party leaders have been in complete control of the NY’s Judicial Conventions that pick Supreme Court Judges for decades. Many of the District Leaders on both sides are not of the highest moral standards, they are looking for deals to make money or gain power to run for higher office. In 1990 after Mike Garson and the late Lew Fidler helped make Anne English a District Leader, she switched her vote from Garson county leader bid and made Clarence Norman leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, by one vote, after he agreed to make her his deputy. George Artz who is paid by the Brooklyn Democratic Party for public relations spins in the paper he controls the NY Post that Adams beat back the progressives to cover up his Brooklyn District Leader mess. The last time Brooklyn Boss Bichotte was mentioned in the NY Post was for her sponsorship of a bill mandating subway platform cameras, named after Sedrick Simon, who was shot to death waiting for a train in her district. There have been no stories in the Daily News or Times about the progressives’ challenge to take over the Brooklyn machine. Only The City nonprofit new organization which has been allied with the progressive is the only one reporting on the progressive campaign to take over Brooklyn’s Democratic Party, the largest county party in the nation.
Part II Listening to the Voters:
If The NY Times and the Rest of NY’s Local Media Will Not Listen to the Voters, the Jewish Voice Will Hope They Copy Us Again
When the late Tim Russert was working for the re-election of a president, before he became a journalist, he would travel all over the country and visit campaign headquarters. Russert would patiently listen to the local leaders who ran up to him in front of the campaign office, and then after they finished informing him what was going on in the state, he would move to the back of the office to find out what was really going on from the people who were on the streets. The greatest journalists in our lifetime knew how to find out what mattered to the voters, yet today’s reporters listen to the spins of lobbyists like Sheinkopf, Red Horse, and Berlin Rosen. Lobbyist Hank Sheinkopf who ran too many campaigns in his day told the late Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett that lobbyists “Elect Kings so They Can Eat the King’s Meat,” pay to play in slang. The Jewish Voice, lacking the budget or the healthy legs to walk the reporters’ beat, will use the candidates who the media refuses to cover, to tell the voters’ story, of what they think is really going on in our city.
Maria Danzilo is running in the Democratic Primary against the incumbent in the 47th State Senate district. Hoylman does not seem to want the Senate job, but he wants to stay on the government payroll. Last year, he ran for Borough President but lost to Mark Levine. Shortly after the redistricting for Congressional Districts, he declared himself a candidate for the 10th District Congressional Seat. Scott Stringer then announced he would run for the Hoylman Senate seat. That generated a bit of press, but then Scott dropped out when Brad abruptly changed his mind about the Congressional race, declaring he would again run for the 47th Senate District seat. The press then lost interest in the race. Besides the Stringer coverage, there has been no coverage in the media about the 47th SD race, except for a couple of press releases promoting the incumbent Senator.
Candidate Danzilo: On the door to door canvassing most people seem unengaged or interested in the Senate Race. People are barely aware of the gubernatorial primary, and even the congressional primary is generating very little voter engagement. Yesterday someone asked Danzilo why she was running against Chuck Schumer. When she explained she was running for State Senate, the person was surprised that we even have a state legislature. The lack of media coverage of campaigns has made New Yorkers ill-informed about how their government really works and how to use their vote to elect better-elected officials. The City nonprofit news organization rewrote a press release about Hoylman’s new bill the senator just wrote to pay for mental illness, that he could have written during his first nine years in office when he voted to cut hospital beds for emotionally disturbed homeless that need them.
Citizen Mark on the Crime Crisis 47SD: It would be educational for Times reporters to go out canvassing with Danzilo and meet voters like Mark, whose daughter was accosted by someone who appeared deranged and dangerous in the West 4th Street subway station. She had to take refuge in the subway booth where she was able to call the NYPD, but by the time they arrived, the man had disappeared. When Danzilo visited that station the other day, the platform was generally filthy, and open drug use was apparent with several people nodding off in a drug stupor. Danzilo says the media never informed the voters that Hoylman is one of the co-authors of the bail reform laws and helped block Adam’s proposal to allow judges to hold people arrested for a crime if their record sup
ports the fact, that they are a danger to others if released, the same standard that is in effect in every other state, including the very liberal like California. While the Times covers AOC who thinks security cameras are intrusive, the Upper West Side voted overwhelmingly in participatory budgeting to have more security cameras installed in their commercial districts. This was an idea Danzilo suggested, and it beat out dozens of other ideas for discretionary funds of a local City Council member. Citizen Nicole on Education: While campaigning Danzilo met Nicole, walking briskly with her toddler in tow. The parent said it was always her plan to raise her child in NYC, but she is now hoping to leave before her child reaches first grade. She said she has no confidence in the public school system in New York, and she doesn’t feel she can afford any other school options. Citizen David Senior Citizen: Sadly, many people with whom I spoke said they would love to leave the city. Many elderly like David seemed resigned to staying put, even though they face economic pressure from rising costs and even food insecurity, in addition to feeling vulnerable to the city’s increasing crime rate. Citizen Lucia (Chelsea): said she crisscrosses streets to avoid the areas where drug users and dealers congregate. In parts of Chelsea, a vibrant neighborhood with many shops and restaurants, residents complain about certain areas that have become havens for drug dealing and drug use.
What the Voters in the 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan are Thinking
Candidate Brian Robinson is running for congress in the newly created 10th district that includes parts of Northern Brooklyn and lower Manhattan up to 14th Street. Most of the candidates running are very progressive and well known. They include former Mayor de Blasio, Assemblywomen Yuh-line Niou, Jo-Anne Simon, Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Westchester Congressman Mondaire Jones, and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. Every candidate running is more of the same. The media so far is only covering the candidates, not the voters. Robinson is reporting to the Jewish Press what the voters in the 10thCD are telling him. Sadly, and shockingly the voters in this progressive district are thinking about moving out of the city, because of the uncontrolled crime, homelessness, and high rents. Robinson understands that the media with all the progressive big names in the race will not cover him. It is a shame that the media never looks at a moderate on crime, with a young family who is listening to the voters directly without lobbyists consultants putting words in his mouth. The Jewish Voice is Covering Robinson and the voters he talks to:
Citizen Jason (West Village): Daniel Goldman and Mondaire Jones are so disconnected from the reality of the average New Yorkers that when they are asked questions about Congressional District 10, they respond with answers about Washington DC. Citizen Chien Education (Sunset Park): Our children study hard to qualify for the Gifted and Talented Programs that Mayor de Blasio ended. Citizen Wai Hate Crimes (Chinatown): Yuh-Line does not stand up for her community. She condemns the hate crime every time an Asian American gets attacked, she is there for the photo op, then goes to Albany to block bail reforms to give judges more power to protect New Yorkers from repeat criminals and the mentally ill who push Go to her death on Times Square subway station. Citizen Shou Min Police (Sunset Park): “We don’t want to Defund the police; we want more police.” Citizen Tanya Primary Date (FIDI): There’s an election right now? They said it was August. Citizen John Fratta Bail Law (East Fidi): “We need to get rid of these radicals, the elderly are being attacked because of their liberal bail laws.”
Citizen Dusty Democrats Turn Left (West Village): “We need to take our city back. What happened to our Democratic Party.” Citizen Susan Homeless (Downtown): I was pushed down the subway steps by a homeless guy. Citizen Jacob Jewish Community (Boro Park): “Boro Park never going to vote for de Blasio, Never. I think it is a shame that some of our leaders and newspapers are pushing for him. While he was mayor, hate crimes against Jews went, crime went up. The progressives took over Albany and changed the bail laws. He ordered stores to be fined and drivers faced ticket blitzes and closed our parks. Bejal Shah Leaving City (Battery Park): A 20-year resident of the city “will wait to see how this election cycle pans out if after 20 years I decide to move out of the city.”
Candidate Yan Xiong is running for congress in the 10th CD where only the well-known candidates like the former mayor, are being heard in the media. Xiong is an unusual moderate candidate for the liberal Brooklyn & Manhattan district. A pastor, American Veteran, and activist who led anti-corruption protests in China. for the very liberal district, is both working to listen to the voters, and push their concerns as the liberal media sticks to its narrative. Xiong, an activist in two counties, has seen how our neighbors and loved ones are left behind by poor leadership, inequity, or injustice. America’s communities are built on acceptance, freedom, and hard work, that is why we all came here. It is time to rebuild NYC neighborhoods to make them safe, affordable, and inclusive for all! NYC is a great city because it allows people from all over, generations of immigrants to make their American Dream a reality.
Citizen Feng is a Chinese American business owner in Sunset Park, who talked about a friend’s mother who got stabbed in the back, while she was on her way to a pharmacy. Feng said “A shelter is proposed to be built nearby. The shelter she believed was going to attract people with mental illness, increasing crime in her community.” Citizen Sinatra (Brooklyn) originally immigrated from the Caribbean, believing elected officials only play “Politics” with voters. Even the Progressive policies are not aimed to improve the quality of life for working-class people. He is looking for “Honesty” in the candidates, not gimmicks to trick voters with campaign spins written by consultants and printed in the media. Citizen Zhou Tourism The slowdown in tourism affects small businesses in a very big way in Chinatown. But crime and homelessness are two major issues affecting the quality of lives in the community. A hairdresser in Chinatown, Ms. Zhou, immigrated from Hunan province of China 11 years ago. She complained about the stingy smell in the nearby park because of the homeless people. She said “The homeless have no place to take a shower. The homeless need a permanent home. Shelters are temporary solutions.” When asked about Yuh-Line Ndou’s position on the bail reform for repeated offenders and gun violence, Ms. Zhou said “How can she support laws to release repeated offenders and gun offenders to the street? She doesn’t care about public safety in our Chinatown.”
How NYC Can Be Saved: Find and Elect Neighborhood Leaders
A recent Siena Poll showed that a majority of New Yorkers believe the City is heading in the wrong direction. Candidates Danzilo, Robinson, and Xiong believe we live in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, with breathtaking architecture, diverse and iconic multi-cultural, racial, and religious neighborhoods, fantastic waterways, world-class dining, shopping, and arts, as well as being the center of many commercial fields, and the city of opportunities for the generation of immigrants. Neither the failed incumbent protection society nor the left-wingers in Democratic Socialist of America or the Working Families Party with their well-funded PACs think it is important to elect citizens Danzilo Robinson and Xiong. Blame the media for not covering their independent Democratic races and other candidates who would change the way NY is run.
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