Two subjects. First, Shirley Chisholm is as worthy as anybody for a statue. But I wonder why all these “monuments” and bridge renamings are only for politicians, as if nobody else is worthy of a monument. Also, the million dollar price tag would sicken her. It’s “only” a million. But to paraphrase old Senator Dirksen, “A million here, a million there....pretty soon you’re talking about some real money!” And there are plenty of “ only a measly million” situations in NYC.
Second! Oh great! Double Citibikes. This at the same time that the city council wants to legalize motor bikes and motor scooter use in the city. Screw the poor ever harried pedestrian and, I might add, make it more unsafe for car drivers and all else alike. Madness! But.. follow the money I say. Somebody has got to be spreading plenty of cash around to even have an asinine proposal like this considered. Someone’s looking to cash in big on this. Pedestrians...venture out onto the street at your own risk!
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This is all good. Women in the past have been overlooked and a careful review of them is in order with more statues of them.
Here is what not to do:
1-Become identity obsessed and demand that 50% of all statues be women.
2-Take down statues of men who were not perfect in the past despite the fact that did great things.
3-Condemn all men today because their ancestors did not recognize these women.
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It's about time!! There are so many women who should have been remembered with statues years ago! It has nothing to do with race or where they were born or anything else. It has to do with their contributions to not only this city, but this country.
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guessing there is a huge difference between shirley chisholm and chirlane mc cray.
how on earth does it cost $1M to erect a statue in front of a park?! no, seriously ...
"a federal housing official say she may stay" ... for all the deblahsio talk of expanding low income housing the local govt seems hardly able to properly manage what housing they already have (recent reports of buildings having no gas / hot water the last three months, not to mention the lead paint fiasco).
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@AC - "how on earth does it cost $1M to erect a statue in front of a park?! no, seriously".
Great to see you back and in a good mood! Excellent point. She might suggest her husband use his fully-paid detail for his daily Brooklyn workout for only 2 hours a day instead of the current daily 3 hours it takes. All that money for that freed-up hour, every day - in a month you'd pay for the statue and have enough left to pay for painting three tunnels for the Governor at normal non-government pay scale.
The workout's only one hour a day, and we're all paying for three hours a day. For 57, yes, he looks amazing - but to see the cost-benefit of that much working out, I can (maybe) go see "Moulin Rouge" and get carefully written drama too, and there it's made all better by a great Megamix - unlike the also-heart-pounding but haphazard drama we seem to get every other day from City Hall. (Hmm, that might work. Maybe each new de Blasio or Cuomo "revelation" could be followed by a Megamix to go with the verbal tap dancing and side stepping.)
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@AC
You can easily Google the cost of erecting a statue, then factor in the materials, the (wo)man hours to create it, and last but not least -- the tons of NYC red tape and permits it'll cost in order to finally exhibit it.
Another thing.
There are vast differences between Shirley Chisholm and Chirlane McCray -- no need to guess.
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Please get rid of the numbers!
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1. In 1972 - my first year of eligibility - I voted for Shirley Chisolm in the NYS presidential primary. Seeing what - and who - came next, I was right.
2. "A federal housing official says she may stay in a city-run public-housing apartment until (Nycha) fixes chronic heat and hot water problems." Sometime in the late 20th century, Major Jane Byrne of Chicago took up residence at the Cabrini Green housing projects. I wonder how that turned out.
3. Metropolitan Diary: Credit card companies supposedly don't allow participating vendors to see minimums for use of their products. You could look it up.
2
“Sorry Brooklyn: your 31-foot menorah is the second largest.”.
Tune of I Have a Little Dreydl
We had a tall menorah
We lit it for eight nights
They’d come around to see it
And watch us light the lights
But now keineine-hora
Which means “no evil eye”
The Plaza has outdone us
So we cry a gesh-rei
Oh, Plaza, Plaza, Plaza
You’re tallest for this year
But next year we’ll be ready.
The record comes back here!
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Another great one Freddie; thank you! Have a great weekend and Happy Hanukkah. Allen
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I too, cast my vote for this choice. Brilliant move -- and Happy Birthday, Shirley Chisholm!
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The numbers are back!
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@Ziggy
Yes, they are. And I'm not exactly thrilled about it.
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Maybe they're trying alternating? That way, everyone is happy that they're being heard? :)
What I'm trying to understand is why they can't just put the 2nd largest Menorah (by the Prospect Park tabbies courts in Brooklyn) on a two-foot platform and not let Brooklyn be outdone by Manhattan. In the Luna Park/Coney Island of my yute, we'd have just brought in the platforms from the drama group, put plastic slipcovers over the base and have a crowd to not let people get close enough to check, and told the Plaza Hotel people "There's your tallest Menorah."
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I'm not either. Was so excited when they were gone yesterday....
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It will be pure pleasure to see it! She's so worthy.
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Rep. Chisholm would be appalled at the state of the subways and degradation of services, all the worse for constituents of her former district, many of whom work lower-wage jobs for which they are docked or even risk firing for every minute they report in late.
I think she would also like to have a full examination of the MTA as an enterprise, a review of their books, and executive compensation to understand why an organization that has a city of at least 5 million daily users is always strapped for cash and needing to raise fares. It doesn't make sense and it seems all NY politicians are afraid of thoroughly examining the MTA.
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@NativeSloper
She'd probably be even more appalled at this president and, city, state and national politics today.
Who could blame her?
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@NativeSloper,
regarding "I think she would also like to have a full examination of the MTA as an enterprise, a review of their books,"
This came up the other day, that an audit of the MTA in 2013 found an unanticipated $2-billion surplus. (Didn't it seem like they had to get rid of that surplus so fast, and no one, except the press and public and everybody but the MTA, even thought maybe save it for a rainy day?
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/09/28/mta-audit-reveals-unanticipated-surplus-of-nearly-2-billion/
Shirley Chisholm in the 1960s and 1970s somehow touched so many in Brooklyn (and I hope all over) who felt like an "other" for whatever reason or reasons. I'd prefer to see a museum section on what she meant and her legacy, but every step towards keeping her name on people's minds helps!
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I've got a feeling Ms. Chisholm would prefer to have that million bucks go to making the lives of the people in her former district better.
4
Yay! to the Shirley Chisholm statue. Looking forward to seeing it! We do need to see more women represented publicly in life and in art. It is way overdue. After the recent rebuild of the Kosciuszko Bridge along the BQE I personally renamed it Marilyn Monroe. Now another bridge is being built right next to it. The original - Marilyn, the new one - Monroe. Nice fit. How wonderful culturally speaking to finally honor some of the greats of our time.
1
Waste of money. The subways are a mess. Spend the money on something meaningful.
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Adding more bike stands is just going to increase congestion - along with construction vehicles & street closings; bike lanes that narrow streets to one lane for traffic; closed streets near Trump's towers, delivery vans and trucks.
Not fair to charge drivers for the mess...
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@Anne
For the most part, the bicycles aren't even used much making the bike stands feel like a waste of space, but if it's a good way to help promote congestion, it has the votes of those anti-car fanatics over on Streetsblog and Transportation Alternatives.