Today is Primary Day in New York City for local races. As I
went to vote (for candidates for mayor, public advocate, and city council) at a
local public school, I passed a table surrounded by volunteers for the incumbent,
Mark Levine, and a few feet away a large sign and a young black man handing out
campaign cards for the challenger, Thomas Lopez-Pierre.
After I
voted, I stopped by the young man to ask him some questions about Lopez-Pierre.
The candidate’s campaign materials all note that, first of all, he is
Christian. This struck me as an odd way for a New York City candidate to
identify himself, though many who live in the district are Hispanic,
and probably Christian. Another campaign handout listed campaign contributions
he had received from landlords or other real estate figures, but the photographs show
obviously Jewish men wearing yarmulkes. Lopez-Pierre even explicitly claims, on
his Web site, that Mark Levine is supported by “greedy landlords,” again showing
those men in yarmulkes.
I had to
find out what this young man thought of the overtly anti-Semitic campaign of
the man whose campaign cards he was passing out. But after I’d said I wanted to
ask him some questions, he explained that he probably wouldn’t be able to
answer them well. You see, he had just arrived in New York a couple of weeks
ago from Mississippi and had seen this job listed on Craig’s List. Aha, he was
being paid; Lopez-Pierre didn’t even have enough, if any, volunteers to hand
out his materials. When the young man heard what my questions were about, he
was concerned and said if he’d known this, he wouldn’t have taken the job.
We then had
a nice conversation. His name is Jonathan, he’s a photographer, and wants to
finish his art degree. He’s come to New York because his girlfriend is
attending the New School. I welcomed him to New York, and we shook hands,
smiled, and exchanged names. Maybe this encounter will even get Jonathan
interested in politics in his new home.
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Slice of Life Tuesday over at Two
Writing Teachers. Check out this encouraging and
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