November 19th
Dear ones,
Well, the schools are closed today. We knew it was coming, but it seems heartbreaking to me. How did we get here? In the usual way, according to Politico:
Mayor Bill de Blasio delayed his planned briefing by five hours. Gov. Andrew Cuomo convened a press conference where he shouted at reporters asking whether the schools would be closed, while presenting a different set of infection rate metrics that do not match the city’s. Then the decision leaked via an email sent to principals, and was confirmed by the mayor in a tweet just around the time the school day was ending. Parents spent much of the day in mass confusion. State Sen. Jessica Ramos, a mother of two, channeled the frustration: “MY BOYS ARE SITTING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS RIGHT NOW AND I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT THE F—ING PLAN IS RIGHT DAMN NOW.” Sen. Alessandria Biaggi added: “We have children leading our city and state.”
Yesterday, Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer brought a lawsuit against De Blasio to get the Mayor to “turn over documents key to an investigation of City Hall’s COVID-19 crisis response.” As with so much else, the mayor has been dragging his feet. This is more action that we get from the petulant, incurious child in the Oval Office. Over 250,000 Americans have lost their lives, including over 1900 people just yesterday, but the Administration remains entirely uninterested in addressing the tragedy.
The president’s Make America Wait campaign is endangering lives. I am reminding you again to forward this link to friends and family members around the nation so that they can contact their elected officials and ask them to make sure that the incoming Administration gets the resources for a smooth and efficient transition now.
One of the defining traits of this Administration has been its norm-breaking behavior, and the presidential transition offers troubling opportunities to break things. Trevor Noah offered a disturbing explication of how ‘faithless electors’ could change the outcome of the Electoral College by refusing to support the candidate who won the popular vote in their state. Apparently New York law does not prohibit an elector from casting a faithless vote. There is a bill that has passed in the NYS Senate that stipulates that the vote of a faithless elector will not be counted and will serve as the elector’s resignation, so that a faithful elector can cast a vote. Please contact your representative to demand their support for Assembly Bill A10340B;
Here’s some much-needed good news: Late-breaking New York election results are following the pattern of the 2020 presidential election: Republican election-night leads — the apparent ‘red wave’ — have reversed, as absentee ballots are counted. Yesterday, Brooklynite Andrew Gounardes pulled ahead of his Republican challenger to retain his seat in the NYS Senate. Two other Democrats, one on Long Island and one in Monroe County, also declared victory yesterday.
And finally, here is a treat for your soul: the Brooklyn Public Library’s Inside Art series features my friend and teacher, Riva Blumenfeld, who will be presenting Jacob Lawrence’s American Struggle series tonight! Sign up here to participate in tonight’s virtual talk. If you're not completely zoom-trodden by the end of the day, I recommend it highly.
Keep your head up!
with love,
L