Imagine yourself as the Mayor of New York City, a regular guy named
Rudy Giuliani. You have a reputation for getting things done,
though with a hand just a mite high. Out there in the rest of
the State, they think of you as just another part, albeit an
important one, of the pure craziness that is
Gotham-Gomorrah-by-the-Sea.
You're in perpetual off-and-on conflict with the Governor, another
regular guy who happens to be a member of your party.
And you want to run for the U.S. Senate.
Let's see: What can you do to look good out there in Watertown,
Dunkirk, Brocton, Silver Creek, and Jamestown?
Here's a thought:
How about standing up to the Governor by pre-empting one of his own
campaign planks þ parkland. Challenge the administration in
Albany to use the most valuable remaining parkland in both City and
State wisely. Tell him that Southpoint, far from becoming the
home of a twin-tower hotel that would turn small-town Roosevelt
Island into just another chunk of the overcommercialized Big Apple,
should become a place of calm and contemplation for all the people
of the City, the State, and the world.
What's great about this is that you, as the Mayor of New York and
the keeper of its treasures, have the power to make it stick.
You have a Lease, a General Development Plan, and an Island of
residents þ all on your side.
Do this, and you can point to yourself as the small-town
environmental candidate who saved one small town in the heart of
your larger community from being overpowered by the actions of a
runaway appointee of the Governor. And chances are the
Governor, weary of his uncontrollable RIOC President, will sign on
quickly. He might even up the ante.
More important for you as a candidate and statesman-in-waiting, you
improve your chances in the hundreds of towns and villages out
there where people revere their parks. You'll pick up some of
the tree-hugger vote. What an opportunity!
You know what else? It just happens to be the right thing to
do.
MetroOrphans
Joyce Mincheff reports that when Mayor Giuliani's signers for the
hearing-impaired left the Island Thursday night, they had a
perplexing moment at the Tramway. "Where do we put our
MetroCard?" asked one.
Joyce told them the Tramway is the only part of the City's
transportation system without MetroCard, and suggested they remind
the Mayor of that.
The signers' response: "That's outrageous."
How well we know.
