New York’s city-councilman Doctor Kendall Stewart grew up on some rough streets in the Caribbean. He was born on Union Island, and lived in Grenada, St. Vincent and Trinidad (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). He is a fighter. He came to New York here from rather humble circumstances, and has made a success of himself as a podiatrist, realtor, entrepreneur, impresario and politician. Don’t underrate his fortitude and independence. Sometimes he swims upstream against the crowd; other times he cuts against the grain. He can be somewhat unpredictable at times; but in general I like him as a human being. And no; that isn’t because he was the only district leader to endorse and support me when I ran for the State Assembly in 1998; it’s because he and I have been friends for more than twenty years. I first met him at one of his social clubs on Church Avenue, way back when I was a much younger man-still hanging out on weekends looking for action.
Over the years, Kendall and I have had our share of political disagreements; once we almost came to blows during an AIDS march/lol; but I do consider him a friend. We have often had loud arguments where we shouted at each other in lively political debate; and believe me when I say that he pissed me off when he supported Governor Pataki in 2002; but I think that he is one of the more courageous electeds in Brooklyn: on many levels. Earlier this week the NYC council voted on the controversial “congestion pricing” bill and Stewart voted for it. That vote took courage; that vote took balls. Hurray to Stewart.
Whenever there is a controversial bill facing the council, many members duck and dodge; not Stewart: he stands up like a man. When the mayor moved to ban cigarette smoking in public places many were up in arms; that could have been an easy one for Stewart (personally): after all he is a club owner in Brooklyn. Instead of voting his own selfish and narrow minded interests, Kendall Stewart voted for the ban. It was a vote for all New Yorkers.
Next September Stewart faces Senator Kevin Parker in a democratic primary. As the challenger to a sitting incumbent you would think that Stewart would take no chances on as controversial a bill as “congestion pricing”; not Kendall. He could have abstained or stayed away: like Helen Foster of the Bronx did. Foster is supposedly running for Boro Prez next year, and many feel that she didn’t show up to vote exactly because of that; I don’t know, so I can’t say why she didn’t show. All the other members of the council did. The vote ended up 30-20 in favor of the pricing. Detractors say that it is tantamount to an eight dollar tax on middle class people. Supporters say it was long overdue. Time will tell the real deal here.
Today, Senator Parker opportunistically jumped on the bill and stated that he is opposing it; why didn’t he make his position public before? As this bill works its way to Albany expect lots of pressure on many electeds to vote against it; expect many to play games with the public. My position is simple: something had to be done about the traffic congestion problems of Manhattan. And since there were no alternatives forthcoming that seemed doable, the council did the right thing: “when better can’t be done then the worse (or worst) always prevails”.
Ask those in opposition what they would have preferred done; also ask them what they would have proffered. In fifteen to twenty years from now we will probably gain another two million residents to this city; asthma rates are already too high, it will get worse if things continue apace. Already, over a million vehicles criss-cross 34th and 42nd streets every fortnight; and getting around the town is damn near impossible during the daytime. Don’t even forget the pollution from carbon monoxide. Are we to wait until we become smoggy like Los Angeles before we do something?
Beyond asthma, there are many other health issues of concern to public health officials. And beyond the health concerns, there are genuine fears about getting emergency vehicles around the city, in the event of another 9-11 type cataclysm. Mayor Bloomberg has again shown a lot of courage as a leader. I have to say that he has earned my respect again; and this doesn’t mean that I don’t have other issues with him: I do.
In explaining his vote to me, Stewart said that the city stood to lose over 350 million dollars from the feds, if nothing was done about the congestion. He also said that this vote forces everyone to focus on maintaining and upgrading our public transportation systems. He said that while Parker may criticize his vote, the fact remains that 97percent of the residents of his district use public transportation to get to Manhattan. Stewart calls this a vote for the masses and not for just the minority car owners. He says his next battle is to keep subway fares steady by avoiding any increase there. I agree.
Stay tuned-in folks; Kendall and Kevin will probably end up in fisticuffs before September/lol. I will have more on this soon.