Yesterday the Council chambers were in session for a little more than ten and a half hours. I was privileged to sit in the room for about an hour and half of it in the afternoon. Like any good New York political showdown, there was astroturfing by the Mayor, boos and cheers from the audience that elicited Chairman Felder's gavel and a few instances of kicking people out of City Hall and good ol' fashion public forum fun. The NYT's City Room covered it all, with many choice moments to remember, like that of a fourteen year old girl.
From The NYT City Room:
I was lucky enough to be in there for that and am proud to say I was one that burst out into applause from the balcony. She was simply brilliant. There was a little more to her speech, especially her well-timed repetition of the phrase "Mayor Bloomberg is the worst Mayor ever!"A member of the third panel of witnesses, Miss Trachtenberg gave pithy and powerful testimony in her allotted two minutes. She testified that her family moved to Bushwick, Brooklyn, recently after they were “priced out” of the East Village, said “Mayor Bloomberg is the worst mayor ever.” She added that “he gave tons of money to the Bush family and the Republicans” and deserves some of the blame for the war in Iraq and for incompetence in Washington.
“He had to spend $100 million to keep and buy his first two elections and he will spend another $80 million to buy the next one,” she said. “I hope you will choose honesty over bribery and keep term limits as they are.”
The chamber — or at least the balcony, which is packed with opponents of Mayor Bloomberg — burst into cheers. Even Councilman Simcha Felder, who is leading the hearings, said Miss Trachtenberg “deserves a round of applause.” And Councilman Alan J. Gerson predicted that the teenager just might be a future politician. (For the moment, she is focusing on her musical career with her family.)
Everyone had either spoken or left by the end at 11:32 at night and now it starts up again in the Committee room just adjacent to the Council's hearing room. Will it last as long as yesterdays? That is anyone's guess but it should be going on for weeks, not two days as the Council is speeding this bill through with lightening quickness. Ominously, Quinn didn't show up at all yesterday, which can only mean one thing, she thinks she has the votes.
I certainly hope that is not the case. There are plenty of people working on the undecided members to ensure they do the right thing. I'd be down there myself speaking, but unfortunately my chest cold went from bad to worse, so I'll have to testify in writing instead. If you can't get down there, make sure to write a letter yourself. The more pressure we put on our Council, the more likely it is that we defeat the Mayor's end run around democracy.
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