COURIER L 22 IFE, NOV. 13-19, 2020
OPINION
I closed my previous column
by hoping that, by
the time you read it that
former Vice President Joe
Biden would be “President-
Elect Joe Biden.”
Well, outside of the coupcurious
Republican/Trumpist
party, Biden and his running
mate Kamala Harris
have been declared the winner
by all credible sources and
Fox News.
I’m inclined towards cynicism,
but walking around
my district on Nov. 7, the day
the race was called, and seeing
the organic celebrations
take hold was something I’ll
never forget. The joyous relief
spreading at President Donald
Trump’s defeat was the only
good ”infectious” thing I can
think of in 2020.
On some level, I think we
all needed that joy just to be
reminded that it’s still possible.
Let’s not confuse that joyous
relief for an end of perilous
times. It is not an automatic
improvement of any
material conditions. It doesn’t
put an end to the pandemic, or
grant more time to deal with
the climate crisis.
However, it holds the
prospect of a federal government
that is not openly hostile
towards New York City
and State or towards science
based solutions. That is
smoothing that can’t be understated.
The fi rst goal has to be to
get COVID-19 under control,
and when a vaccine is available,
make it widely and freely
accessible.
The next goal has to be
for our federal government,
state, and city to “go green.”
While it’s a great name hardening
back to F.D.R., I don’t
care if this effort is known as
the “Green New Deal”. What
matters is that our common
priority is addressing climate
change while spurring the
economy and attacking economic
inequality.
This means green jobs that
change how we move, how we
build, and how we live. It also
means that governments stop
doing business with polluters
and those that aren’t “green.”
It’s not going to happen overnight,
but scientists say we’ve
only got 11 years to deal with
this. We’re trying on the city
level (i.e., Green New Deal,
Pension Divestments), but
now we’ve got a chance, and
let’s make sure we take it.
Maybe we can fi nish the redevelopment
of Penn Station in
a greener way, and President
Biden can roll into town via
Amtrak more famous than he
is right now.
Mike Racioppo is the District
Manager of CB 6.
Cynicism gives way
MIKE DROP
Mike Racioppo
Is a right-wing revolt possible in
the United States?
I’m writing this column
more than a week after
the election, and
you’re reading it at least
several days after that.
For as long as this is my
newest column, it’s likely
neither you nor I will know
the results of several local
elections, or whether Donald
Trump is recognizing
the results of the national
election that turned him out
of office.
Nicole Malliotakis appears
to have defeated
Max Rose for Congress,
though incumbent Rose
has not yet conceded. It
is not yet clear whether
state Sen. Andrew Gounardes
and Assemblywoman
Mathylde Frontus
were defeated by
their Republican challengers.
Assuming the success
of at least one outer-borough
right-wing populist
in Malliotakis, let’s
engage in a flight of
fancy: could a right-wing
outer-borough multicultural
populist backlash
take over New York City
Hall?
The closest this city
ever came to a Trump
or even a Rob Ford was
probably Rudy Giuliani,
seen last week in the
parking lot of the Four
Seasons Total Landscaping
in Northeast Philadelphia.
Giuliani, a Yankees
fan from Brooklyn, ran
all three of his mayoral
campaigns against Manhattanites,
with heavy
support from the outerboroughs.
Considering
how the city voted in the
presidential election, I
don’t think we are returning
to the likes of
Giuliani any time soon.
Michael Bloomberg
also represented a different
model for a politician
than this city had seen
for a while. Bloomberg
skipped the Democratic
primaries, which he
couldn’t have won, and
went on to three successful
terms, inspiring
over-confident rich men
and women for decades
to come.
But for the purposes
of this discussion, two
things are essential to
know about Bloomberg.
First, he was a unique
case: both the city’s richest
man and also fi rst elected
in a confused and hurried
election after 9/11.
Second, he is the very
opposite of an outer-borough
populist: he is a
gun and sugar-limiting
internationalist plutocrat
with rarefied tastes.
It seems very unlikely
a right-winger could get
by this city’s Democratic
primary electorate,
which seems to get more
radically progressive every
four years. (So far, I
am not complaining.)
This city is so Democratic
in its lean these
days during the general
election that I think it is
very difficult to imagine
the next mayor of New
York being anyone other
than the winner of next
year’s Democratic primary.
These primaries tend
to reward real insiders.
The two frontrunners
are City Comptroller
Scott Stringer and
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams. Only
when the candidate of
the Democratic activists
totally fails to connect
with regular New Yorkers
is an outer-borough
right-wing populist revolt
possible.
For 20 years, Democrats
were denied City
Hall, but now recreating
those conditions is like
catching lightning in a
bottle.
For now, the bottle
seems to get smaller every
year.
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