Here in ultra-progressive Greenwich Village, there is no such thing as a Republican running a competitive race for an office at any level — local, city-wide, state or federal. The only contests are between the left and the far left, or maybe the far, far left. All local and city-wide races are decided in the Democratic primary, and generally the Republicans do not even field candidates for the State Legislature and City Council races.
All of which makes the current issue of our local community newspaper, West View News, so remarkable. It is unlike any issue of this or any other local newspaper in this neighborhood that I have seen in an election season at any time in my nearly 50 years living here.
West View News (“The Voice of the West Village”) is a monthly (or so) rag published as basically a one-man operation by a local character named George Capsis. It does not overly emphasize political issues, certainly not national ones, and it does a very conscientious job covering local matters like new real estate developments, stores opening and closing, landmarks preservation, transit, hospitals, local public schools, and the like. It also covers crime, but until recently we haven’t had much of that for a long time. To the extent it dabbles in the political, it is with an emphasis on the local, and, at least until now, always taking the standard progressive side of the issue — rent control good, landlords bad, pro gay rights, all hospitals must be kept open forever at taxpayer expense, etc. I have been reading this thing for decades, and I cannot remember them ever having one good word to say about a Republican.
And now we come to the current (October 2022) issue. The election is set for November 8. All statewide races are on the ballot — Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller — as well as the State Assembly and State Senate. (City races occur in the odd years.)
The entirety of page 14 of this issue is devoted to a piece promoting Republican Lee Zeldin for Governor. The headline is “Lee Zeldin for Governor: What New York Voters Should Know.” The author is a young woman named Anastasia Kaliabakos, identified as a current senior at Holy Cross College. Although not stated, it is likely that the young Ms. Kaliabakos is either a relative or family friend of Capsis. So is this piece an official endorsement of the Republican candidate by West View News? You could certainly read the headline that way. The piece itself does not go quite that far, but close. The first two-thirds of it are devoted to a favorable review of Zeldin’s background and record in the U.S. military, state legislature, and Congress. Then this summary sentence:
His past accomplishments in the State Senate and Congress make him a very well-rounded candidate, and he will undoubtedly bring much to the table if he is elected in November.
And finally a quote from Democratic New York City Council member (from Queens) Robert Holden, who has endorsed Zeldin:
“Just look at the current condition of New York City and New York State: There’s mayhem in our streets, in our courts, in our jails… We’re headed in the wrong direction. The handwriting is on the wall. Lee Zeldin is the best option for voters.”
The paper contains no comparable article saying anything favorable (or unfavorable) about Zeldin’s opponent, incumbent Kathy Hochul.
Next up is even more remarkable. Our State Senate district is number 27. It has been held by a guy named Brad Hoylman for 10 years, he having been the chief of staff to the prior guy and having succeeded to the office by divine right when that guy retired at the end of 2012. As usual Hoylman has no Republican opponent in this election. However, he is being challenged by another Democrat named Maria Danzilo, now running on a third party line. Danzilo ran against Hoylman in the Democratic primary in August, and got a respectable 27% of the vote in that very low turnout election where only the leftmost of the left show up. And then, Danzilo didn’t give up. She got herself an endorsement by something called the Parent’s Party, and apparently got sufficient signatures to get herself on the ballot.
And lo and behold, here we have the entirety of page 15 of West View News devoted to a piece mostly supporting the Danzilo candidacy. The author is Jason Curtis Anderson, and the headline is “Cast Your Ballot To Reduce West Village Crime.” The piece points out that Hoylman (as you might suspect for a guy with ultra-progressive views holding an ultra-safe seat) is one of the principal authors of our bail “reform” legislation, with more similar stuff in the works if he gets re-elected:
Brad Hoylman, the proud father of the bail reform bill is running to be your local Senator and has more criminal justice bills in the pipeline. One of those bills is the Clean Slate Act, which would prevent landlords from being able to run criminal background checks on new tenants, helping them gain more access to NYC real estate.
Anderson comes right out and advocates a vote for Danzilo:
If you oppose Brad and his pro-criminal legislation, now is your opportunity to vote for Maria Danzilo, a common-sense Democrat with deep roots in the West Side of Manhattan.
And for good measure Anderson then advocates a vote for the Republican candidate in the race for Attorney General:
Another place you can make a difference is the Attorney General race, where Michael Henry is running against incumbent Tish James. Tish James also supported the bail reform bill and has made no effort to address the increase in crime New Yorkers have experienced during her tenure as AG.
The Anderson piece is accompanied by this photograph by photographer Maggie Berkvist:
Ms. Berkvist is an elderly lady who regularly provides photographs to West View News, and happened to be present at the event shown in this picture. From the original article accompanying the picture, which ran on July 8, 2022:
WestView captures theft in action. As WestView photographer Maggie Berkvist steadied her camera to photograph her dining companions in the outdoor shed of the Left Bank restaurant on Greenwich at Perry Street, four motorbikes roared up and demanded of the two white-shirted pedestrians their valuables and then roared off.
Even the oldest liberals can finally get mugged by reality.
I would think that Ms. Danzilo’s race against Hoylman is a long shot, although with much higher turnout in this election, and Republicans and Independents included, she may actually have a chance. As to Zeldin, if he can get close to 40% in New York City, he’s going to win. That is looking more and more likely.
If the blue wall is weakening even in its most solid sections, like Greenwich Village, that has to be a good omen for the country as a whole.
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