On Peter Weiss, pandemics
COURIER LIFE, F 16 EBRUARY 12-18, 2021
OPINION
Sadly, Peter Weiss, who
for decades was one of
the most dedicated activists
and campaigners in
Brooklyn politics, died Feb.
8 at the age of 73. I was lucky
enough to get to know him,
call him a friend, and talk
over happenings in the political
world — and even get
recommendations for credit
cards for traveling. This
happened as recently as last
week.
I, and so many others,
will note his passing and
miss him. May his memory
be a blessing, and I offer my
deepest condolences to his
family and all who cared
about him.
In regular times I’d link
to information about funeral
service, but in 2020 (and now
2021), the coronavirus pandemic
tests the French Philosopher
Blaise Pascal’s line
that “All of humanity’s problems
stem from man’s inability
to sit quietly in a room
alone.” Epidemiologists say
that, if it were possible to
just make all humans freeze
in place — at a safe distance
or in a room alone — for
14 days, the virus that has
paralyzed our world would
largely die off.
Now, for a host of reasons,
some unavoidable, others
the result of bad policy,
this stasis is not possible but
getting as close as we can
should be the goal. The first
step to this would be ensuring
that everyone has a room
in which to sit alone. With
homelessness, housing insecurity,
overcrowding, and
evictions, it’s obvious that
not everyone has a room in
which to even try to quietly
isolate.
So what can be done?
I’d love to say there will be
ample funding from the federal
government to build a
housing supply commensurate
with our needs. However,
that’s still unlikely, so
we have to rely on what the
state and city can do.
Where to start? The first
thing to do is legalize accessory
dwelling units otherwise
known as ADU’s. ADUs
are smaller homes on the
same lot as a primary residence.
This includes garage
conversions, basement
apartments and, broadly
speaking, housing units
that are not part of the primary
residence but which
can be made safe and habitable.
This is a way to increase
the affordable housing supply
and increase state tax
revenue. Homeowners have
another source of income
which, when trying to make
a mortgage, is always welcome.
In cases where people
are already living in such
units, ADU legalization
would give tenants legal
and safety protections that
go along with a standard
apartment.
There’s a bill in the
state legislature right now
that would do just this. It’s
called the New York Accessory
Homes Enabling Act (S.
4547/A. 4854) and hopefully
it’s passed and signed into
law as soon as possible.
If you agree, let your state
representatives know. If you
don’t, or are unsure, take
some time to sit quietly in a
room and read about it.
Either way you’ll be an
accessory to a pandemic.
Mike Racioppo is the District
Manager of Community
Board 6. Follow him on
Twitter @RacioppoMike.
and accessories
MIKE DROP
Mike Racioppo
A Ranked Choice Voting pecking circle
This year’s is the fi rst New
York City mayoral primary
in which Ranked
Choice Voting is being used,
but what effect it will have,
people disagree about. Lots of
people claim that many of its
effects are unknowable.
I think this is hogwash.
Ranked Choice Voting has
been used in San Francisco
elections for 19 years and
Oakland elections for 11. It’s
just the famous New Yorker
Magazine cover about a
Manhattanite’s view of the
universe. If you study elections
that occur under this
new and better voting system,
you can draw clear conclusions.
A recent poll taken last
month but out this week
showed Andrew Yang leading
the current mayoral field
with 28 percent support.
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams had 17 percent
support and City Comptroller
Scott Stringer had 13 percent.
A total of 84 percent of
primary voters said they’d
heard of Yang, whereas just
60 percent said they’d heard
of Adams and 68 percent of
Stringer
This time eight years ago,
Bill de Blasio was hovering
between third and fourth
— behind Christine Quinn
and Bill Thompson, neck-inneck
with Anthony Weiner
and only just above John Liu.
So a lot can still change, but
Yang looks fairly strong (albeit
over-exposed and weak
on the issues) right now.
No less a personage than
New York Times political
reporter Maggie Haberman
believes that while there’s
plenty still to come, Yang’s
somewhat surprising staying
power makes him a
strong candidate. Political
observer/journalist and former
State Senate candidate
Ross Barkan then pointed
out that the worst thing that
could happen to Yang would
be if the other candidates
start attacking him on television.
Maggie agreed, and
agreed that they might.
Max Allstadt, who returned
to New York City
from the Bay Area in 2016,
wrote a great tweet thread
about what we can expect in
a ranked choice election. The
third-to-last tweet was his
most important:
“Because NYC is so much
bigger than any Bay Area
city, we will see both unsuccessful
and successful attempts
by candidates who
poll behind 1st place to gang
up on number one. Frontrunners
with high negatives are
in trouble. Boring ones are in
less trouble.”
When Donald Trump ran
for president in 2015 and
2016, the more boring and
traditional candidates polling
behind him hesitated to
take him on directly, because
they knew they needed the
positive feelings of his supporters
eventually. We see
now a similar dynamic in the
mayor’s race with the “Yang
Gang” but some candidates
will almost surely decide to
try to take Yang down publicly
in the next few weeks.
The toughest-to-predict
and most-complicated City
Council races are starting
to come into focus. Some in
Brooklyn have a frontrunner
and some don’t. Probably
the two most complex fields
in Brooklyn are in the 36th
and 40th districts, so Bedford
Stuyesant and Flatbush.
One trend we’ll see across
the borough, though — mark
my words — is groups of candidates
circling up to peck at
the frontrunner.
Nick Rizzo is a former Democratic
District Leader and a
political consultant who lives
in Greenpoint. Follow him on
Twitter @NickRizzo.
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo