Seventh Heaven Politics: Brooklyn's Giant Street Fair
Today, Father's Day, is one of Brooklyn's biggest street fairs: Seventh Heaven, all along Seventh Ave.
My wife and I live just off 7th Ave on Garfield. We were hoping, after I put in a bit of time at work in the morning, to do some petitioning if we could hook up with folks with petitions for candidates we wanted to help. One of our biggest problems was keeping our baby, who really wanted to be out in it, cool enough in the heat. So we had to take it in stages, stopping at home or at a supermarket to cool him, and us, off. Finally he started to look sleepy, so we just now took him home.
We never did hook up with anyone representing Chris Owens or Eric Adams, the two candidates we want to help whose districts include at least parts of 7th Ave. Bill Batson is outside of the district, so we didn't expect to meet up with his folks. But we were surprised not to meet a single person petitioning for Chris or Eric.
My wife and I only covered the distance from Flatbush to 10th St. The fair does indeed extend further south and it is quite likely that other candidates were covering the southern part of the fair. But for the northern region, only two candidates were out that we could see and they were out in large numbers: David Yassky running for Congress and Sean Patrick Maloney, running for Attorney General.
So here's the thing. Seventh Heaven is PRIME petitioning territory and the northern end is perhaps extra prime territory. I am pretty sure both the 20th SD and 11th CD include much of that northern section of the fair. So where were the candidates?
David Yassky, for all I differ with him on issues, knows how to run. He also has the bucks to get people on the streets with glossy pamphlets. Hell, not all of his volunteers bothered carrying petitions. Some just handed out those glossy pamphlets. Yvette, Carl and Chris: you ceded some prime territory to David today. I wish Joy and I had gotten petitions in advance for Chrs Owens and Eric Adams. We would have been able to cover some of that territory. But, we didn't and so we are part of the problem.
The other candidate out there in force was Sean Patrick Maloney. Rivaling even Yassky in numbers and enthusiasm. No sign of Green. And, of course, Cuomo would have no reason and no interest in actually soiling his hands with the people. Hell, he could barely stomach dealing with most of our district leaders and State Committee members, let alone you and me. But Maloney was raking in the signatures. Interestingly, my personal observation was that most people refused to sign Yassky's petitions while most people agreed to sign Maloney's. I certainly didn't see anywhere near a reasonable sample size, but it really seemed that Maloney's people were getting a better response. Both Sean and David were out there. Yassky saw us and waved. I am glad my recent more harsh criticisms haven't prevented him from continuing his cordial relationship with us. I am souring on him more and more as a politician, but I still like him as a person.
Given the attention race is getting in Brooklyn politics, I can't help but comment on this. Yassky's volunteers were almost 100% white. I believe I did see one black volunteer. But most were young, affluent-looking, fresh-faced whites who were genuinely eager for their candidate. In sharp contrast, Maloney's volunteers covered the entire racial spectrum, including Muslims with headscarves, whites and blacks. They too were enthusiastic as could be. I hadn't realized that Maloney had popularity among such a diverse group. I found it extremely refreshing given the racial splits over CD-11.
In 2005 I bemoaned the failure of the grassroots to get out there for the best candidates. I know the grassroots are more together this year than last, but if Seventh Heaven and my recent conversations with various exec board members of various clubs and organizations is any indication, this year may be another failure of the grassroots. We have several excellent candidates this year who are depending on the grassroots: Chris Owens, Bill Batson and Sean Patrick Maloney being the three main ones. There are others as well, though Eric Adams, for one, doesn't need the grassroots to win, from what I can see. Of all the grassroots candidates I am excited about, only Maloney seems to have the actual bodies out there. Why? Where is the disconnect within the grassroots that prevents the excellent candidates and the enthusiastic activists from getting together? People wonder why IND is the top club. It is because they deliver the most petitions with the most valid signatures. The grassroots rarely reach the level of effectiveness that the clubs manage. How can great folks like Bill Batson and Chris Owens win without people doing the footwork? They can't. And if the grassroots falls flat, it is money and machine politics that wins elections.
Am I drawing too many conclusions from observations of just one end of one street fair? I don't think so. Because my observations today match what I saw in 2005 and they match what I am hearing from the grassroots organizers. Folks. If you want to win the game you gotta put in the effort for the candidates.
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2006 Elections | Activism | Candidate | Elections | Identity | Petitions | Politics | New York | New York City | Brooklyn
Not really
Submitted by mole333 on 18 June 2006 - 7:58pm.
I heard some others being far more harsh. Major dissatisfaction in the ranks over him. Of course I am sure if he is the candidate, we will bite the bullet. I bit the bullet and worked hard for Ferrer, I could do it for Cuomo if I had to.
volunteer for Bill Batson her
Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 12:44am.
Guys-- please take this insul
Submitted by Owens Fan (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 1:37pm.
Guys-- please take this insulting article down or greatly revise it for accuracy.
I'm sorry-- if you're not going to at least ASK the campaign if they were there before attacking them in print for not being at an event that not only were they at most of the day (I was there!) but also brought their candidate to.
Chris was there, Yvette was there at the end with some signs, and Yassky and Marty held hands like the pro-eminent domain blowhards they are so proud to be.
Thanks for your comments.
Submitted by mole333 on 19 June 2006 - 2:06pm.
And thanks for saying who was there, as a previous comment made clear.
My information was accurate for the period I was there and for the area we covered. The 20-some block length I saw was saturated with Yassky and Maloney people and no one else was visible over the couple of hours my wife and I were out there. And we were LOOKING for Owens people in particular.
May I suggest that you come in and inform us that the other people were there and where they covered. But my comment was accurate for the period and area I claim it to be accurate for. I probably know as much about who was there than you think. But visual observation indicated a gap in coverage by the campaigns I most support while Yassky was out there in huge force, saturating the area. Yassky had signs (illegally, I will note) posted on light poles. Owens had no presence at all during that period. Sorry if you don't like that.
Petitioning
Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 1:48pm.
Mole if you actually went to the 10th street you would have seen the CBID booth carrying Chris Owens Petitions. And if you kept your eyes open you would have seen all the volunteers from Chris' campaign from Flatbush to 16th Street. Chris may not have had buttons but lets face it, what really mattered was getting the signatures and Chris got a lot I saw.
Was specifically looking for CBID!
Submitted by mole333 on 19 June 2006 - 2:18pm.
I wish we had caught sight of them! We turned around right around that point. We crossed 9th (that was where the one black Yassky vounteer was) and made it roughly to 10th, but we may have turned around just short.
As for Owens petitioners from Flatbush to where we turned back, they were absolutely not visible when we were along there and we were LOOKING for green petitions, asking everyone who wasn't obvious who they were petitioning for. Only one petitioner did I avoid (don't worry about why or who he was with...he WASN'T for Chris). All others I sought out.
I certainly hope Chris did kick ass getting signatures. But from Flatbush to roughly 10th, during the two hours we were walking, we saw HORDES of Yassky and Maloney people. Anyone else was very under-represented during that prime period and area.
Don't mean to be denegrating anyone's efforts. But constructive criticism is something to be appreciated, not to be defensive about.
My big mistake was not making sure I got petitions last Thursday when I stopped by CBID. I assumed I could just run into people.
Mole Unfiar
Submitted by Gatemouth (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 2:12pm.
Mole unfair to Chris Owens? Do I say "for shame!" or "as if" ?
I calls them as I sees them
Submitted by mole333 on 19 June 2006 - 2:34pm.
People are sometimes are surprised when I think independently. And that includes people in all the groups I generally interact with, whether I am largely friendly or not-so-friendly. I may not be as keen to piss people off as Bouldin is, but I am an independent blogger, not blindly with one person or another. Whether it is DDDB, IND, the Owens campaign, the Yassky campaign or whoever, I cirticize when I see reason to (hoping to mainly be constructive) and I praise when I see reason to. If someone is used to mainly praise from me it's not because I am unwilling to criticize, it is because I by and large find reason to praise.
I don't want to be denegrating anyone's efforts. I know how hard it is to be out there. But we were on the prowl specifically to meet up with folks carrying for particular candidates. They may all have been beyond 9th. We were extremely observant up to 9th. At about 9th our baby's fussiness got our attention because we were keeping an eye on him getting too hot. Too bad because apparantly we were less than a block from my primary goal, the CBID table.
Here's a clue for those who are pissed at me: visibility is key. Yassky had the visibility. Maloney, with less money and no buttons, had the visibility. No one else did during the 2 hours we were LOOKING for them and in the specific area I specified.
Sheesh. I am attacked by Owens' people and friendly with Gatemouth. Must be a sign of the Apocalypse.
visibility
Submitted by rwallnerny on 19 June 2006 - 3:10pm.
I walked up and down the whole street and the only candidate who had real visibility was Yassky. To the average person there who did't know any better, they might have thought Yassky was the only candidate running. I didn't see the CBID table but clearly they should have had big Owens signs and banners if they wanted to get noticed. Most of the petitioners that I saw were for Maloney, and I signed one for somebody running for a judgeship. But I saw one Clarke petitioner. I talked to Chris Owens for a few minutes and he had no petitions, he was carrying flyers, and there was nobody remotely near him carrying petitions. Although I also met his office manager and she may have had some that I just didn't see.
I think all the candidates should have been out there. Where was Carl Andrews? Although for the same reason I won't criticize David Yassky for campaigning in specific areas, I won't criticize Andrews for not campaigning in specific areas. Its all gamesmanship.
Petitioning
Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 3:20pm.
There were many volunteers for Owens and Owens alone during the fair on Sunday. You (mole) may not have seen them because they didn’t have buttons or posters but they got what counted a ton of signatures and that is a fact! Also a lot of people were carrying an omnibus petition with Chris, Brennan, and others so sometimes you have to read the fine print. Things are not as cut and dry as you would like to think and things don’t always appear as they seem. Also did you see all the Yassky petitioners they were kids and not neighborhood activists who actually care for the community and what happens to it. His presence was entirely from hired hands who live outside the district so if that’s what you think a great presence than Yassky will win this campaign but he wont because the voters are not stupid and realize who cares about this election and who is trying to buy it.
Congratulations
Submitted by mole333 on 19 June 2006 - 3:39pm.
Congratulations on successful petitioning.
But I know petitions. Don't lecture me on petitions. I don't need to look at the fine print on the SINGLES I saw. They were pretty clear cut. Those green sheets stand out to me. Maloney's folks had no clear identifying buttons! I even noticed one guy way off on the side of the street and went up to ask who he was petitioning for.
But what is interesting to me is that you miss my main point. My main point was that if we want grassroots candidates to win, all those folks who talk grassroots better get busy. Somehow I think you would LIKE that message.
But, genuine congratulations on successful petitioning.
Thanks for the lowdown, Mole.
Submitted by Owens Insider (not verified) on 19 June 2006 - 4:30pm.
Thanks for the lowdown, Mole.
Sorry you didn't see us... hope you know that the campaign respects your position and we know that it isn't your fault you didn't see us. It's ours.
Or, better yet, no one's. It was a crazy day and there was a lot going on. The point is, we got petitions signed, we got the message out there, and most people were happy to see us and had avoided Yassky's camp.
Keep up the great observational work. We look forward to your next post on the race.
No problem
Submitted by mole333 on 19 June 2006 - 6:21pm.
I know how hard it is to run a grassroots effort and how hard it is to get enough people on the ground. I don't even blame the campaign so much as the general gestalt of the grassroots which too often talks a good line but doesn't follow through with carrying petitions and all.
And it was partly my fault because I could have been the person covering some of that northern area.
I also know that after a hot day of busting your ass, the last thing you want to hear is "where were you guys." Still. My wife and I both were groaning since it seemed Yassky was reasserting his hold over the voters in our neighborhood. We actually found his kind of homogenous band of volunteers a bit creepy, I have to admit, though they did seem enthusiastic enough. And I did see many people shaking their heads when Yassky's folk approached them even as people eagerly signed Maloney's petitions.
I am thrilled that you guys had a good petitioning day. Some people have asked me how Chris has been doing with the petitions. I can now tell them he is doing well.
I was there working, didn't see you
Submitted by sidnora on 21 June 2006 - 9:49am.
I don't want to seem too critical of a fellow supporter, but with a minimum of advance planning you could have hooked up with us. A single phone call to the Owens headquarters would have told you where and when petitioning coordination was happening.
And I would repeat your own words back to you: if you want to win the game you gotta put in the effort for the candidates.
I was there working, didn't see you
Submitted by sidnora on 21 June 2006 - 9:49am.
I don't want to seem too critical of a fellow supporter, but with a minimum of advance planning you could have hooked up with us. A single phone call to the Owens headquarters would have told you where and when petitioning coordination was happening.
And I would repeat your own words back to you: if you want to win the game you gotta put in the effort for the candidates.
street fair
I too was out there and interested to notice that Yassky had his table set up right next to a big table for Marty Markowitz, and it was obvious the people working Marty's table were Yassky supporters. One of them was all but telling somebody that Yassky would be "Marty's Man" in Washington. I had not heard of Marty endorsing anyone in the 11th CD race, but the placing of their tables was far from coincidental. I half expected to see Yassky and Marty Markowitz walking down the street like best buddies or something. Yassky also had numerous signs plastered on polls from about 9th st. on down.
Though the only candidate in that race I actually saw there was Chris Owens, hard at work shaking hands and sweating buckets. Politicians shouldn't have to wear longsleeves and ties in this weather. For some reason he had no petitioners though, the petitioners I saw were for Yvette Clarke. Go figure.
Eric Adams was also out there hard at work. Nice day.