It seems we are coming
out of the pandemic
lockdown more and
more every day. Things
are certainly not back to
normal but there has been
more and more daylight
shining into our eyes from
the end of the tunnel and
we can imagine walking
around in the sunshine of
normality again. I’d like to
address some of the parts of
our lives I don’t think will
be going back to how they
were before.
The fi rst is family, or the
household, or social relationships
generally. Many
of our households have
changed, from death of a
loved one or relationships
breaking up or children’s
independence cramped or
far more time alone than
we expected. But for many
of us, we also experienced
new intimacies with our
loved ones. The contraction
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COURIER L 18 IFE, MAY 14-20, 2021
of our social lives placed
more emphasis then on the
interpersonal bonds that
remained.
Outside of our immediate
households, those social
bonds were usually maintained
through technology.
We’ve been living digital
lives more and more for
years, but lockdown caused
further changes in our behavior.
We are almost all of
us now completely addicted
to our communication technologies.
They are what got
us through the pandemic,
but I do fear that going forward
many of us will be habituated
to rarely leaving
the comfort of our various
home screens.
And this technology is
making us crazy. It is making
us anxious and irritable
and outraged. It groups
us into echo chambers and
seems to make the central
focuses of our culture stupider
and more absurd.
This is mostly a very old
complaint, but the change is
changing faster now than it
used to. And our new technologies
greatly aid most
of us in believing some or
another comfortable delusion
about how our country
works, or who we are in it.
For we have been clearly
divided now, by the work
that we perform. Most of us
still have to go somewhere
to do work but a substantial
minority are now freed
from the burdens of location.
The new remoteness
is mostly benefi cial for the
workers, I think, but not everyone
gets to enjoy it. The
bosses mostly want us back
in the offi ce, but whether
they are able to achieve
their wish will vary by industry
and fi rm and type of
job.
I think most working-age
people have at least somewhat
changed what they
were looking for in their
work since the pandemic
began. Those who lack freedom
and creative outlet and
opportunities for advancement
in their work feel
these burdens all the more
strongly now. A host of industries
are having trouble
hiring enough workers at
the moment.
I see signs all over that
people have refocused away
from work and back on
their personal lives. This
is often because they have
more money in their bank
accounts than they did at
the beginning of 2020.
Probably when the
money runs low many will
be forced back into similar
jobs to what they had before,
but the dream of something
else, something freer,
will still remain.
Nick Rizzo is a former
Democratic District Leader
and a political consultant
who lives in Greenpoint.
Follow him on Twitter @
NickRizzo.
In last week’s column, I
discussed and did my
best to explain rankedchoice
voting.
I also explained that, on
my ballot, the number one
spot for comptroller would
go to Brad Lander; for
Brooklyn Borough President,
it would go to Jo Anne
Simon; and for City Council,
it will go to Lincoln
Restler. I also said I’d rank
Kathryn Garcia very high.
Since then, she received
The New York Times’ endorsement
and I sarcastically
tweeted that the
Times’ editorial board must
be “Racioppo Readers.”
I’ve continued to mull
over where I’d rank her
and what we need our next
mayor to do. Getting out of
this pandemic and defi ning
the future will be determined
by the choices we
make, and, aside from the
defeat of Donald Trump,
deciding who becomes the
110th Mayor of New York
City may be the most important
one we make in
NYC. However, as we’ve
seen, especially with our
previous president, neither
knowing the intricacies of
the job or competent management
skills are a prerequisite
for running or being
elected to the job.
To make the right choice,
one fi rst needs to understand
the job for which the
candidates are applying.
Considering the limitations
of policy options in areas
like taxation and other statedetermined
aspects, being
mayor is being a public administrator.
It just happens
to be the most diffi cult and
important public administration
job on the planet,
and ideally, only world-class
public administrators would
apply (run) for it.
Mayor is a super local
job, but it also grants the
occupant international
name recognition. While
those two things are true,
the most important realization
is that it’s a local position,
just with a head swelling
outsized international
audience.
Well, in my opinion, after
looking at her track record,
it’s clear Garcia is a
world-class administrator.
After speaking with her,
it’s clear she also understands
the role of things
like community boards,
which I bring some knowledge
of since my day job is
as a Community Board District
Manager.
That isn’t to say she
wouldn’t be deserving of international
recognition;
she’d be the fi rst woman to
be elected mayor of New York
City. Also, anyone who can
run the Department of Sanitation,
deliver meals to over
one million New Yorkers a
day, and be the chair of NYCHA
deserves a promotion.
I understand the appeal
of other candidates, and
other candidates understand
the appeal of Garcia.
Andrew Yang, for example,
says he’d hire her and is reportedly
telling her once a
week that a Yang administration
will “need her.”
Well, I think they are
right; they would need her,
but not so vice versa. After
careful consideration, I’ll
be ranking Garcia number
one on my mayoral ballot
this June.
Mike Racioppo is the District
Manager of Brooklyn’s
Community Board 6 and has
been an adjunct professor at
Brooklyn College. Follow
him on Twitter @Racioppo-
Mike.
MIKE DROP
Mike Racioppo
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo
OPINION
Wanted: World Class Administrator
What we might not get back post-pandemic
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