Monday, December 16, 2024
Rain. High 50 degrees.
This week won’t be as bitterly cold, but there is rain expected on Monday and Wednesday.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall
The fate of an Upper West Side Jewish man connected to a violent threat against New York City synagogues in 2022 is dividing the community, as reported by the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA).
Christopher Brown was sentenced last month to 10 years in prison for possessing a gun as part of a planned terror attack on the New York Jewish community. He was arrested at the time with a Nazi armband, a knife, and a ski mask.
As more information came out about the plot, an Upper West Side Jewish man named Matthew Mahrer was connected to the plan. Police found a gun at Mahrer’s home that authorities believed Brown planned to use in the attack.
Mahrer subsequently pleaded guilty to felony weapon charges.
“Mahrer faces a yearslong prison term at his sentencing next month. Some Jewish advocates are urging a stiff sentence for his role in procuring the weapon,” JTA wrote. “Others are calling for leniency, saying Mahrer was unaware of Brown’s plot, has a history of mental health issues and has rehabilitated in the past two years.”
Mahrer, who has high-functioning autism, has spent years at different residential treatment centers, including one where he met Brown. Mahrer’s father told JTA that Brown had claimed that he needed a gun for self-defense and that Brown then paid Mahrer to buy the gun.
Mahrer’s parents and lawyer claim that Mahrer did not know about Brown’s threats and plot against the New York Jewish community, according to JTA.
“They [Mahrer’s parents] said that the guilty plea did not make their son an antisemite. Mahrer’s grandfather and great grandfather are Holocaust survivors, and he “is very sensitive to our family history and the suffering that his grandparents and great grandparents went through,” his father told JTA. “The family does not dispute that Mahrer was in possession of the firearm, but argues that he should be granted an alternative sentence instead of prison time.”
You can read the full article on JTA, which includes the opinions of multiple Jewish leaders on the Upper West Side, as well as local congregation members, HERE.
The fallout continues from the shock closure of Absolute Bagels on the Upper West Side.
On Friday evening, somebody placed a plain bagel filled with flowers outside of the storefront on Broadway, between West 107th and 108th streets.
A fitting shrine for the shuttered bagelry.
In other Absolute Bagels related developments, somebody has listed three of the “last Absolute Bagels” on eBay.
Bidding starts at $49.99.
New York City is the largest city in the United States, but it ranked second to last in presidential voter turnout, as reported by Gothamist.
Of the 50 biggest cities in the country by population, New York City ranked 49th in voter turnout for the most recent presidential election, according to a new report by the University of California San Diego.
Of all eligible voters in the five boroughs, a total of 54 percent of city residents voted in the presidential election.
Additionally, just 23 percent of New Yorkers cast a vote in the most recent mayoral race. The report clarified that it is typical for there to be a 30 percent falloff between the number of big city voters who cast a ballot in the presidential race compared to the mayoral race.
The one large city with a lower presidential turnout rate than New York City?
El Paso, Texas.
You can read more about the topic and the effort of New York lawmakers to improve voter turnout for local elections by altering timing, HERE.
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Re: voting…
Anecdotally it seems that quite a few of the demographic of recent college graduates-young professionals who’ve moved to NYC do not vote.
Especially local elections.
Perhaps some are voting absentee elsewhere? This is what I did when I graduated from college right before a presidential election because I was registered in a swing state where my vote carried far more importance than in NY. Yet another reason to rethink/get rid of the Electoral College…
Surprising given all the protests. Is it possible the students responsible for all the mayhem are not from NYC let alone eligible to vote in the US? Guests in this country?
Oh here we go – they must be those awful “foreigners”.
I’m not sure what your comment has to do with low voter turnout. Nothing, It would seem to me,
Most of the protestors are non students and not from New York City. This was seen at Columbia.
The voting turnout numbers are even worse if you look at the primary elections for local representatives, which is where the decisions are actually made. I think the biggest thing we could do for our community is improve our democracy, and the number one way to do that is to get voter turnout up and move responsibility away from unelected community boards and to elected representatives and the experts they delegate to. Move elections to be on cycle with presidential elections, look at changing our primary elections (California and Alaska are doing some interesting things), reduce the power of community boards.
Voters don’t turnout because they (correctly!) don’t see the point. There should be an election with two clear choices – one for the status quo (limited housing growth, protection of parking and space for cars) and a candidate for changing things to produce more housing and less space for cars. We endlessly debate these issues in these comments, when the only fair we to decide is to have a clear vote and then give the winner the power to implement their mandate.
I would like to see open primaries. Where many elections get decided. I think the reasons for keeping them closed have more to do with the Democratic Party maintaining status quo than presenting a risk to democracy. Especially given the low turnout. I do think there are many Independents and even registered Republicans who should be able to weigh in on the candidates who will ultimately represent them. I see this as a more pressing concern over non citizens. The results might just surprise them!!!
I can somewhat excuse the lack of voting for president because our electoral college system largely disenfranchises us and makes our votes worthless. This is still not OK to me, but I kind of get it.
The Democratic mayoral primary is the main race that people should feel obligated to vote in, as that does usually have a huge say in who is the mayor. The actual election for Mayor is usually worthless as it will almost always be the Democrat.
However, I feel strongly about always exercising your civic duty. If you don’t vote, you shouldn’t be allowed to whine about the result. They are making it increasingly easy to vote with early voting, etc. So no excuses. Plus the free stickers and pens are great!
The Democrats have lost 5 of the last 8 mayoral elections in NYC.
No leniency. Think of it as intensive long-term residential treatment.
I support leniency for Maher. I believe his autism makes him vulnerable and he was taken advantage of. Going forward he certainly requires oversight.
Apathy by Democrats in NYC. Kamala ran such a great campaign, we all thought she would be elected. So much so, that many felt their vote would be redundent. My wife and I voted, EVERY year no matter which gov level is up for election.
I don’t know if its part of the reason, but personally, I am am very frustrated that I can’t seem to get any elected representative to listen to my thoughts and suggestions on local or national issues. It hasn’t stopped me from voting, but it does make me think that these people don’t even know what we want, and therefore are not representing us.
For example, Eric Adams hands out his text number, but if you use it, you get no reply.
Gail Brewer never answers or even acknowledges receipt of an email sent to her.
Kathy Hochul replies with a neutral form letter praising the ‘great state of NY’ and not mentioning the issue raised.
Senators from other states refuse to even listen to listen to opinions from people outside of their states.
The indifference of elected representatives is very discouraging, and gives me the feeling that we are not living in a representative democracy. So its not a big step to go from that feeling to not bothering to vote.
When I was in sixth grade, when pretty much all there was was snail mail and a rotary phone, our teacher told us that politicians don’t read every letter. Their staff just sort letters into Yes and No piles and weigh the piles.
So after that, I figured, my little expression of opinion might go into one of the piles – a cyberpile now or whatever it is. I send in emails now to Abreu et al.
A neighbor gets responses from Brewer periodically. I am inclined to think that in many cases, Brewer talks the talk but then walks the way most other politicians walk – as dictated by their donor class.
I think it’s probably too much to expect the mayor to respond individually to your text messages. The way that a representative democracy works is that people run on a platform and then when they get into office they put their plans into action. There is a sense in local politics especially that individuals should have a veto over every decision that affects them and if they don’t then it’s because they haven’t been listened to. In a city of 8 million people there are decisions that are going to get made that aren’t to your liking and it’s not because you aren’t being heard, it’s just that politicians listened to everyone and you were in the minority.
how about contacting Brewer’s office instead of emailing her personal account? the office is very responsive. Contacting an individual local elected is ok but not the best way to get results. They have staffs for a reason.
i agree about our non-responsive politicians, but a way to change that is to VOTE them out!
We’re not a swing state or even swing city and a lot of people are eligible to vote.
The primary election is the real election here. And, the primary is just a rubber stamp of the same old tired faces who have gotten us to this sorry state that we are in now. Anything beyond that is moot.
Why bother ?
Only swing states votes count. So 44 states are already predetermined. That is why we need to get rid of the Electoral College, so everyone has one equal vote.
I hope someone takes over Absolute Bagels, cleans up the mess, re-hires the workers, follows the same bagel recipe and restores what was a successful business and a neighborhood beloved gem. Ca’mon all you entrepreneurs out there!