Not For Publication:
A Look Back At The Words Of 2002 - Part II

By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

On Mayor Mike Bloomberg: I am impressed.

The school governance, the teachers’ contract, the budget — although I personally would have liked to see the Council’s education tax surcharge — highlight your most recent successes. You have in your first six months in office very effectively functioned as this City’s CEO, instilling confidence in the people and bringing government to a new moral high. While effectively negotiating, you have apparently not fallen prey to the obscene political deal-making that has marred our City in the past, nor have you presented yourself in the autocratic manner that was so divisive in the past administration.

Mike, I applaud your exceptional beginning as Mayor.

On Queens College : My alma mater, Queens College , gave me a first rate education for free. It is no longer free — hasn’t been for a while. However, for what is a pittance compared to schools of equivalent quality, Queens continues to offer – or maybe it is offering again – a first-rate college experience. It is indeed the jewel of CUNY and does our borough proud.

On Queens Political Parties: Okay, politics is about power. But in this country, it is also about participating in the greatest democracy in the world. We have a system that offers voters a choice.

We have matured into a two- party system with a number of vital third parties. But no matter what, you know that the Republicans will challenge the Democrats and the Dems will return the favor. Having opposition keeps everything honest.

There are no free rides here. The United States stands proudly as one of the few great democratic nations where the person in office is always challenged at election time.

Not so in Queens. . .

Is it all just one big comfy, cozy family of incumbents?

On The Bus Strike and Lawyers: Perhaps, the solution is as simple as reading the appropriate section of the contract — only maybe, nobody can find it.

We asked the DOT press office to let us know how many times copies of the contract have been requested since the labor dispute began back in January.

“Your request is the first,” was the response.

Perhaps the solution will require a clean sweep: throw out the contracts; throw out the bus companies; throw out the union.

But first, throw out the lawyers.

On Politics and Money: It’s the tale of the political tape and it isn’t pretty. Like previous years, the numbers tell the story: if campaigns are not publically financed, the playing field cannot be close to even – incumbents have a big advantage.

In a redistricting year where, historically, incumbents can lose their advantage as district lines move, the bucks say something else. . . Incumbents, on average, have more than 23 times the amount of money for this campaign than their challengers.

Play with the numbers, play with our analysis. But sadly, when you go to vote, the almighty buck may make your decision for you.

On Power Of Incumbency: The moral of the story is not very exciting.

Our system grinds, it doesn’t jump — except in extreme times. This is not one of those. Expect all incumbents to return to office. Expect business as usual. Expect politics and money to walk along hand-in-hand.

Also expect the good people of our City, of our State and nation to keep reading and thinking. They’ll listen to the candidates. They’ll study the issues. They’ll vote with their mind and heart and not based on the endorsements of parties or politicians. They’ll give the little guy (read: “under-funded”) a chance; they’ll vote in term limits, if necessary. They’ll demand campaign finance reform. It’ll take time. But there will be change.

You gotta start somewhere: read, think, vote!

On Art and Politics: When art and controversy share a canvas, discussions of culture come to the kitchen table. People get involved and interested and begin to think.

On Art and Controversy: Art is beautiful.

Provocative art is beautiful for a whole different set of reasons.

On The NYS Assembly: We were in fact rather surprised that Cummings responded to us at all. You see, she died nine months ago.

And it’s not the least bit surprising that no one has bothered to update the mail server of the NYS Assembly.

We’ve seen how quickly they pass a budget; they’ll get around to it someday.

On The 1964 Murder of Civil Rights Worker Andy Goodman: The Goodman story is almost four decades old and the tributes – like the mountain naming – come less frequently, but to those who were a part of the civil rights movement of the 60’s, Andy was a giant — a martyr.

To those of us fortunate enough to know the gentle 20-year-old Queens College student, his death will always be part of our consciousness. . . . And now there is a mountain in Andrew Goodman’s memory.

And I still can’t make much sense of it all.

On New York City and The Nation: And one acknowledgment brought the [ Texas ] house down. Wayne pointed out a table from Staten Island – the groom’s side – and saluted three New York City firefighters in attendance. It occasioned a standing ovation.

Yes, even in the heart of Texas , the soul of New York City is alive, well and celebrated.

America is one.

On Bill Clinton Today: I’ve met the President twice before — had my photo taken with him both times. The first time was in the first year of his Presidency and the last time in its final days. His hair grew grayer, his face now shows the lines of stress, but his eyes are unchanged. He looks right at you – at each person he talks to – and in his eyes is the vision of the world as a better place and mankind hard at work making it better.

Yes, Bill Clinton concluded, the personal attacks that marred his life in the White House were a small price to pay to work for the good of labor and management, business and the environment, the poor, the less fortunate and peace throughout the world.

On The Olympics 2012: The Olympics, the world’s games, the athletes of all nations competing, the televisions of all nations watching, as Queens houses the Olympic Village and a variety of athletic venues.

The International Olympic Committee still must choose. And New York has some pretty heavy competition — London , Paris .

But my friends, when I heard the news, it was true poetry.

Something magical happened.

I had the memories of the 1964 World’s Fair and the Unisphere. . . I had the images of the ’39 Fair and the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly right here in Queens — in the very same building which now is the Queens Museum. I knew that runners from 98 nations would be running through our Queens streets in Sunday’s New York City Marathon. It was all there, that spiritual link that connected our borough and the world. The spirit of Queens . . .now glowed as brightly as ever.

Even though it’s not a done deal, for those few moments listening to the news, I knew that the stage was again set for the people of Queens and the people of the world to be one. The Olympic torch and the spirit glowed brightly in Queens .

Welcome to Queens : home to the world!

On Small Business: It is those types of bumps that small businessmen deal with regularly. You have to admire the entrepreneurs that fuel a large portion of our borough’s economy. There are the experienced ones like myself and there are those who are new to this country and face the bumps as well as the government bureaucracy and language barriers.

Friday’s experience gave me a renewed respect for small businesspeople. The experience gave me renewed respect for all of those who have a business dream and dare to follow it. They are indeed a courageous lot and are at the heart of the borough of Queens .

On The City Fiscal Crisis: The message is simple. There will be new taxes. There will be service cuts. There will be layoffs.

We all have to be ready to deal with them and live with them. They are essential in this economy.

Mike Bloomberg and Giff Miller have the rare challenge and opportunity to bring some sense and some solutions to this awful situation.

They must work together. They must avoid politics. They must serve our City.

The system seems to have worked. We have two people, gifted and capable, ready to serve. We have a Council that cares.

They are going to do their jobs.

The rest is up to all of us.

On The Reacquisition Of The Queens Tribune

The paper has come home to Queens .

Earlier this week, an odyssey I began a year-and-a-half-ago ended as a group of investors joined Gary [Ackerman] and me in purchasing the Queens Tribune, the PRESS of Southeast Queens and Multi Media – our printing, promotions and public relations company.

I shall serve as president and CEO of the new company with the mission of building and growing the business while providing the people of Queens with expanded comprehensive coverage of the borough and continuing our tradition of innovation and advocacy journalism.

In this space – in weeks and months to come – you’ll hear more about our unique publishing adventure. We are here to serve the communities that have been part of our life well before Gary and the presses gave birth to the Tribune more than three decades ago. We are here to serve the advertisers who continue to support us because they believe in the borough and in our unique response-oriented style of publishing. Above all, we are here to serve the people — our loyal readers and our new readers — because it is their stories that fill our pages and give us the reason to exist.

Yes, in the most recent leg of its 32-year journey, the Tribune has come home to Queens . But the biggest challenge and the greatest rewards lie ahead.

Come share them with us.

The Tribune is your paper.

Let us know what you think.

Not4Publication.com by Dom Nunziato

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Michael Schenkler can be reached at: MSchenkler@queenspress.com