As noted in the 14
April 2015 posting, we are in the process of selling our house and
relocating to Israel for what is shaping up to be a protracted period. This, of course, has consumed our time and
energies in ways that go beyond what will be covered in this posting; our
realtor now is trying to get everyone together in the same room for the sale
closing, with her sights on the middle of next week. This will leave us legally homeless; not to worry, though, because
my wife's sister and her husband have graciously offered to put us up in their
home for the few weeks between the closing and our departure. And the date of our departure is now subject
to change; my wife's gig in Israel is trying to get her to start a few weeks
earlier than planned. We shall see how
that one plays out.
One thing that has garnered the attention of me and my wife is
the disconnect between, on one hand, what we read in the news media and hear on
campus; and on the other hand, our own experiences in making the various and
sundry relocation arrangements. Last
week we visited, among other things, three banks, one insurance agency, a dry
cleaner, and, in the case of my wife, a nail manicurist and a wig stylist. Not one of the personnel encountered in those
visits was Jewish, yet, each and every one of them expressed more than a little
bit of excitement and congratulations for our upcoming move. On the other hand, while I did encounter
similar enthusiasm from various contacts on the college campus where I teach,
there were a few instances of getting "that look" from some
far-leftward leaning academics; one even made a comment bordering on the
derogatory. Considering the sources of
the comments and attitudes, pro and con, we know that we are doing the right
thing.
So, in the strictest sense, the Baltimore riots are not a
direct concern for me because I will be far from Baltimore very soon, and have
no plans to visit Baltimore between now and our move.
Except that this presumes that the Baltimore rioting will
stay in Baltimore. I remember the Long
Hot Summer of 1967, and the 1968 riots which used Dr. Martin Luther King's
murder as a pretext for lawlessness. I
am not a gambling man, but if I were, you would need to offer me very, very
long odds to make book on the Baltimore rioting not spreading elsewhere. And if the riots come to New York City, there
are some areas of Long Island that are naturals to follow suit.
And I will be frequenting various and sundry locales in New
York City and on Long Island on an almost daily basis, probably until I leave
for Israel.
I am willing to bet that IF New York City remains reasonably
tranquil, then Long Island would be spared any major rioting. And that big IF depends, in no small measure,
upon how Mayor Bill de Blasio plays his cards.
Blaz ran on a "progressive" (read "Far Left")
platform that implicitly if not explicitly promised to hand out lots big pie
slices to various disadvantaged minority groups. Now that Blaz is ensconced in Gracie Mansion,
he needs to act like an executive and run the city -- which means making do
with limited resources, and saying "No" to more than a few
supplicants. He has already developed
friction with many groups typically thought of as his constituency, and which
did in fact support his bid for Mayor.
I note that he moved very quickly to smooth over the rift
that developed with the Police Department.
This, I do believe, was motivated not so much from the bombast of
Patrick Lynch, the police union head honcho, but by de Blasio's pragmatic
knowledge that he needs the NYPD to keep order in the city.
But given Blaz's engagement of the likes of Al Sharpton as
bedfellows, his relationship with NYPD can never be ideal.
Everyone seems to be watching Baltimore. I'm watching New York City.
Labels: Baltimore, Bill de Blasio, Israel, NYPD, rioting
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