Alas, you've succumbed to a common error: Both of LaGuardia's parents were Italian born: His father was a lapsed Catholic & his mother was from a distinguished Sephardi family. He was raised as an Episcopalian & had a pivotal ally/follower in East Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio. Also, you miss Lower East Side born Al Smith who was NYS Governor & as Democratic candidate for President faced the winds of the anti-Catholic outcry. His gubernatorial cabinet was an incubator for what would become the New Deal. Traitor-to-his-class FDR leaned on nominally liberal Republican LaGuardia. Fast forward throw your excellent compilation: Mamdani failed to attract East Asian voters: Folks in NE Queens & Sheepshead Bay went for Cuomo. So, at this stage, there's a limit. Also, let me express concern for the physical safety of the yet to be sworn in mayor & his family.
Democracy looked different back in that day. If I remember the 1960's correctly, the police force was an Irish fief; education was Jewish; transport and social work was Black, and sanitation Italian.
History is so ignored! This is a post that proves how valuable it is. Today I was demonstrating for the Palestinians on the street with a Palestinian flag and my sandwich boards. One of the boards reads, "Thank you NYC! Liberty and Justice for All"
A passerby stopped to tell me she appreciated the sign and that she is a NYC resident. A white woman, she told me she was astonished at how Islamophobia had surfaced in several of her friends that she had not thought felt that way.
Mamdani is proof of what should not need proof - that there are good people present in all groups. The challenge is to get them to run for office. The ancient Greeks had a practice of going out and grabbing a good man from his farm fields, informing him that he had no choice but to serve in office. I wouldn't want to go that far! : )
Alas, you've succumbed to a common error: Both of LaGuardia's parents were Italian born: His father was a lapsed Catholic & his mother was from a distinguished Sephardi family. He was raised as an Episcopalian & had a pivotal ally/follower in East Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio. Also, you miss Lower East Side born Al Smith who was NYS Governor & as Democratic candidate for President faced the winds of the anti-Catholic outcry. His gubernatorial cabinet was an incubator for what would become the New Deal. Traitor-to-his-class FDR leaned on nominally liberal Republican LaGuardia. Fast forward throw your excellent compilation: Mamdani failed to attract East Asian voters: Folks in NE Queens & Sheepshead Bay went for Cuomo. So, at this stage, there's a limit. Also, let me express concern for the physical safety of the yet to be sworn in mayor & his family.
Democracy looked different back in that day. If I remember the 1960's correctly, the police force was an Irish fief; education was Jewish; transport and social work was Black, and sanitation Italian.
great piece!
A great piece. I love the photos, so evocative of the times. I hope NY will keep Mamdani safe.
History is so ignored! This is a post that proves how valuable it is. Today I was demonstrating for the Palestinians on the street with a Palestinian flag and my sandwich boards. One of the boards reads, "Thank you NYC! Liberty and Justice for All"
A passerby stopped to tell me she appreciated the sign and that she is a NYC resident. A white woman, she told me she was astonished at how Islamophobia had surfaced in several of her friends that she had not thought felt that way.
Mamdani is proof of what should not need proof - that there are good people present in all groups. The challenge is to get them to run for office. The ancient Greeks had a practice of going out and grabbing a good man from his farm fields, informing him that he had no choice but to serve in office. I wouldn't want to go that far! : )
Thanks for the thoughtful perspective. It's certainly a time of great optimism for NYC. Let's hope it lasts.