Category: News and Opinion

If you want to get a pulse beat on what’s really going on in Trinidad and Tobago society, then all you have to do get down there during the carnival season and go to the calypso tents. Calypso usually reflects the harsh realities of life in these twin islands; and sometimes they can be brutally harsh with their truths. During the past three carnival seasons, many a calypso singer has recorded his/her disgust with the leadership of Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the ruling political party (PNM). 

As I write this column, the naked truth is this: on any given day, you are about ten times more likely to be murdered in Trinidad than in New York. And if you compare crime stats coming out from the island(s) with those from England, then London is over 50 times safer than TNT; similarly situated (though lower) is Canada, Cuba and near every other state in the USA.

Last August, the New York Times published a story that pointed out that little noticed proposal then being considered could force New York to change the date of our Primary Elections.

Our 1997 Saturn station wagon has reached 13 years old, the average age at which a private motor vehicle in the U.S. is scrapped. On that basis, and with some pretty comprehensive (exceptions below) records on spending, I can tell you what it cost my family in today’s dollars: $67,658 in total, or $5,200 per year, or $434 per month, or 80 cents per mile. That isn’t the typical cost of having a car in Brooklyn; it may be fairly described as the minimum average cost. We don’t use the car to go to work or school, and only average around 6,500 miles driven per year, which not only reduces variable costs such as gasoline and tolls, which in any event are merely 19.1% of the total, but also cuts the cost of insurance. We also have a clean driving record, qualify for every insurance discount out there, and went with liability coverage only after four years. We don’t pay to park, although we have gotten parking tickets despite doing our best to avoid them. And the car itself is small, fuel thrifty and bought stripped with a manual transmission and no AC. Even so, the cost of having our own car has been a significant part of our total budget. Was it worth it, and what are the alternatives?

City Outsourcing Jobs

By Michael Boyajian

Reports by city workers have surfaced stating that not only has the Bloomberg Administration refused to hire qualified workers from nearby Long Island and Westchester not to mention Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland, but are unable to fill positions from the pool of people living in the city.

Real Politicians Don’t Eat Quiche

By Michael Boyajian

There was a popular book in the 1980s titled Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche and it was meant to bolster the macho strength of Republicans.  My how things have changed and nowhere is this more apparent then when comparing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Those of you who have been following my columns and posts for the past five years must be aware that I have written many columns directly relating to Senator Kevin Parker’s explosive temper. Initially there were those detractors who would come up on the blogs to attack me for highlighting his lack of decorum and his uneven (sometimes volatile) temperament. And then there were those who suggested I was angry for not being the senator, since I did initially consider running for his seat (when newly created in 2002). I also demonstrated that he lacked integrity, for going back on his word during the early 2002 campaign for the 21st senatorial district. It was one of the reasons why I withdrew from the race back then. 

With all due respect to the United Federation of Teachers, what wrong with parents having a choice on Charter Schools?

It breaks my heart with the percentage of children that are not graduating from High School. Pick a city—select any state, and it is mostly children of color that are dropping out in record numbers.

Charter schools are one of the big debates in Harlem these days with State Senator Bill Perkins being adamantly against them yet parents in the district are deciding in droves to support such schools “with their feet.”

Andrew Cuomo is the present Attorney general for the state of New York. He has held this position since the first day of January 2007. He has done reasonably well for himself in this spot. He has avoided any personal scandals recently, and got sympathy from most folks when his high profile marriage to one of the “Kennedy” girls didn’t work out. C’est la vie! 

He is the son of a former three-term New York governor (Mario Cuomo-1983 thru 1994), who was the sweetest political speaker before Barack Obama.

Shoot! Mario’s speeches dripped saccharin. He talked about issues. He offered solutions to problems. He talked about social- justice and equality. He talked about poverty and civil rights. He talked about building a shining city on the hill, inclusive of everyone- no matter what race, religion, ethnicity or nationality; but he probably built as many jail cells as school-classrooms for that shining city: during his mediocre tenure. Still, his feel good speeches inspired New Yorkers to vote him into the governor’s mansion three times in a row. 

Tom Robbins in this week’s Village Voice in a column titled – Pedro Espada's Enablers -The people who brought you Albany's greatest scoundrel, goes after various developers & landlords who have contributed to notorious State Senator’s campaign.

Robbins writes –

… it should be worth the trouble to aim some of that fury at Espada's enablers. These are the deep-pocketed sponsors who have been all too happy to profit from this scoundrel regardless of his obvious taint.

The names on the checks to New Yorkers for Espada are among real estate's most prestigious. They came from the Rudin family, the respected builders, who gave some $4,000; from Leonard Litwin, the grand old man of luxury rentals, who gave another $5,000; from Donald Capoccia, the successful developer who depends on government subsidies, who gave thousands more.