Semi-Colonial Dynamic

Per a New York Post article, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is now whining about the " semi-colonial dynamic" between New York City and New York State, and about the "arbitrary approval process in Albany" for the City to do what it wants to do.

Like most all other municipalities in the USA, New York City exists as a creature of the State in which it is situated (or, in the case of Washington, DC, the United States Congress).  New York City has long viewed Albany as its dedicated ATM machine (and was doing so even before there were ATMs).

I do agree with Blaz that NYC needs to go to Albany for too many non-fiscal approvals, most notably the City University of New York.  But New York City is treated differently than the rest of New York State for purposes of drivers' licensing, firearms permits, and other matters.

Problem is, New York City has long abused its ATM privileges in Albany.  My wife and I have been quite fortunate that our son has (for the past few years, at least) been fiscally responsible with our money.  We can now give him our credit card and not worry about him going on a spree with it.  But I know too many people whose children are not so responsible, many of whom have taken away their childrens' credit cards.  And I know a few who have declined to institute any such tough love measures, to the detriment of their children and to the detriment of their bank accounts.

New York City has cast itself in the role of a dependent colony of Albany.  Unless and until NYC starts showing some fiscal wisdom and stops the proverbial wallet from hemorrhaging, there should be nothing "semi" about the colonial dynamic between the City and the State.

The Cost of School Security Guards

The New York City Council has just enacted legislation providing reimbursement for the cost of unarmed security guards in non-public schools (as this is written, the measure has yet to post on the NYC Council website).

I do have mixed sentiments about the whole thing.  On one hand, it obviously is a measure to pander to certain vested interests whom Mayor de Blasio has slighted in the past.  On the other hand, my son once attended an eligible non-public school in the City of New York.  And, if a law can be evaluated by those who oppose it, there are some Blaine Amendment criticisms now being bandied about.

The catch:  The security guards, it seems, would be "unarmed" and accordingly, of limited value in actually protecting the schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, in Florida, a burglar named Matthew Riggins was eaten by an alligator while trying to evade the sheriff's deputies who were pursuing him.

Perhaps the alligators could be flown in from Florida to guard the schools.

But Blaz's legislation not only requires that the guards be unarmed, but that they be paid a minimum of $18 per hour.  Will the animal rights activists demand parity pay for the gators?

And everyone, have a Happy Chanukah!

The Rioting in Baltimore

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.

Another Turning for Congressional Democrats?

Interesting things are happening; not all of them bad, by any stretch of the imagination.  Been preoccupied, will continue to be preoccupied, and really shouldn't be wasting too much time in recreational activities, blogging included.

Nevertheless ...

Now the Congressional Democrats are wringing their hands over the question of whether or not to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's upcoming address to Congress.  Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress, a prerogative, so says the White House, reserved for the Executive Branch and not the Legislative Branch.  And now, Obama is applying some no-so-veiled pressure to the Democrats in either chamber to absent themselves from Netanyahu's address.

It certainly is their right to do so.  But, pray tell, how many of those congresscritters who now are entertaining even the slightest suggestion of a thought to do so were questioning the propriety of NYPD rank-and-file's turning of their backs upon New York City's Commissar de Blasio during the funerals of slain NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu?

Turning on Blaz was labeled as disrespectful; on Netanyahu, not so much.

De Blasio is still de Blasio: Res Ipsa Loquitur

Less than one hour after this posting is posted, New York City's alleged Mayor Bill de Blasio is scheduled to hit the stage in Harlem, at Al Sharpton's National Action Network for the annual tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

Put another way, Mayor Sharpton has invited his sock puppet de Blazio to help him stir up racial tensions and disharmony.  Because if racial harmony were ever to break out, and people were to be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, then Sharpton would fall behind on his car and mortgage and credit card payments, be evicted from his luxury condo, and be sleeping in the lower corridors of Penn Station with the other homeless who have been attracted by New York City's welfare magnet, but who would rather not knuckle under to the extortionist gangs that effectively run the City's official homeless shelters.

Back to the Mayor: A Postmortem

 The prior posting predicted, with no elevated degree of premonitory clairvoyance, a significant number of New York's Finest and other law enforcement personnel pivoted 180 degrees when Alleged Mayor de Blasio gave the eulogy for Detective Wenjian Liu at today's funeral.

I am of two minds on the subject.  On one hand, if substantially all of the NYPD rank-and-file had heeded Commissioner Bratton's precatory advice to not diss de Blasio during the funeral, then they would have placed a significant degree of bargaining power into the Commissioner's hands, and the Bratton might now have a little bit more of the upper hand in his dealings with City Hall.  By ignoring Bratton's entreaties, they have now placed Bratton into somewhat of a tight corner.  Though he does have a legal right to prohibit his troops from acting in such a disrespectful manner, his ability to make any such ukases stick is in serious doubt.  This is the point where the slope downward towards constabulary unruliness and anarchy starts to get slippery and steep.

On the other hand, the same standard can be applied to de Blasio and his team, including and especially Al Sharpton.  Sharpton, you will recall, ignored Blaz's entreaties to hold back on the disruptive protests.  Good chance that Sharpton may show at the tomorrow's rally called for in front of the courthouse by Eric Garner's daughter.  If so, and if Sharpton is up to his usual modus operandi, then Blaz will not occupy any moral high ground with respect to the NYPDers dorsal disrespect display.  Blaz and Sharpton were molded from the same piece of excrement, and are fused together.

My concern is for the safety of New York City.  While the NYPDers can certainly not be expected to pretend that they enjoy the lack of support they have gotten from Commissar Blaz, there is reason to fear that, in their zeal to right the situation, they -- and de Blasio -- may well make safe streets a secondary if not tertiary priority.