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- Election Thoughts - Mamdani and ABC Organizing, Finally, a UFT Win in a Mayoral Race, My Interview with Daniel on the '75 UFT Strike
- A Mayoral Mess: Is Mamdani Support Fading Despite Cuomo Massive Transgressions, Sliwa Hangs In, UFT Retirees Battle Each Other
- The 1975 NY Teacher Strike: Its History and Impact - Norm on Talk Out of School Tonight at 7PM
- Tuesday Musings: A Film on Medicare, Retired Teacher Chapter Exec Bd, Plus a Drawing Class
- Join Me When I Lead: OCTOBER WALKING TOURS OF MURRAY HILL’S 14 DESIGNATED LANDMARKS and TWO HISTORIC DISTRICTS 11 am to 1pm
- More Recent Articles
The most important outcome of the Mamdani win, and why he represents a threat to the right and the corporate Dems, is the potential for building a movement of people ready to act using the 100k volunteers for his campaign. Full disclosure: I was one and am ready to take more action if called upon. People are reminded of Obama in 2008 and the movement he built - and then let dissipate after he won and thus had no way to call out troops to battle the rise of the tea party in 2010. The Majority Report with Sam Seder, my fave, talked about this yesterday, speculating it was the influence of authoritarian Rahm Emanuel, the anti-left, corp Dem supreme who will run for president, who made sure the voice of the people wouldn't interfere with the usual suspects who want to run the world. The theme of this post touches on a theory of organizing related to elements of the Mamdani campaign and how I relate it to the ABC campaign on the fly last year where I find certain similarities based on not prioritizing personal and organizational ideologies over checking the pulse of those whose votes you are trying to get. I compare that approach to that of the legacy caucuses, and I include Unity, where the ideology of the leadership - and make no mistake, they all are leadership run, some for decades by the same people. Mamdani is a socialist but he didn't run on his socialism, though his socialism certainly has influenced his thinking. But no matter the attacks, you won't see him trying to take over the means of production, though I wouldn't mind it if the entire healthcare industry was taken over - wait, wait - like the NY Health Act. My contention here is that ABC was member-driven in the recent UFT election and expects to continue on that track. Thursday, November 6, 2025 Hey - big news -- the UFT leadership finally got one right - though it would have been nice to see an endorsement before the primary. But the way the endorsement went down has led many UFT members to object and there was a lot of push back from non-Mamdani supporters ---- and this dovetails with the theme of this election analysis: Listen to people first - check the pulse and be guided by what you hear. Mamdani is being credited, even by some on the right, with doing exactly that and shaping his campaign around listening. There is some irony in the out and out support for Mamdani Check out some of my commentary over the endorsement in July: But first, a plug. The 1968 strike gets all the attention, but the 1975 strike was in many ways more consequential. Here is a link to Sunday's interview with Daniel for "Talk Out of School" on WBAI. It was my third strike with the UFT but my first as an activist. Sunday Daniel
and I covered a lot of ground, including the opposition to Unity
leading up to the strike, its impact - short and long term, my guess
that the lessons were never to strike again, how the UFT descended from
the most militant union in the early 60s, the 1995 and 2005 contracts,
the divided opposition post-strike that continues today. Daniel's questions were excellent guides into a deep dive in my memory.
I still want to write in more detail using some of the resources from the 70s buried in my basement.
Now on to some election thoughts related to our union work. Mamdani Listened - Similar to ABC's Member-driven agenda -- Over a year ago, before anyone heard of Mamdani, A Better Contract/UFT decided to listen to the members and came under criticism from some members of the ARISE coalition. Ken Klippenstein touches on the Mamdani touch.
People’s comments were insightful for anyone who cared to listen. They were the message. Zohran Mamdani won by literally meeting people where they’re at — in
bodegas, subway stations, busy sidewalks, even at the New York Marathon.
He met people on the streets, not to pitch them, but to listen and
learn. These conversations informed his successful campaign more than
his charm, social media prowess or any of the other superficial
explanations major media are offering. ... The video
stood out from usual campaign content in how little of it focused on
the candidate. He didn’t “approve this message.” There were no gotchas,
no fact checking his opponents, no issue-oriented rejoinders. Virtually
every shot focused on the interviewee rather than Mamdani, whose face
you could not even see at times. He just stood there, quietly listening
to what people had to say. As Mamdani sees it, facing the public, even if it might heckle you, is
part of the job of being an elected official. Obvious as this may seem,
it is a more genuine and humble attitude ofthe Washington national
figures who believe that their role as philosopher kings is to reign
over and above the public. Mamdani’s view of a politician’s job contrasts sharply with the political establishment’s zero tolerance attitude toward risk. Mamdani’s magic is his understanding that the masses are the message.
Yes. Fundamentally, Mamdani didn't emphasize his own ideology, though that played a part in his activism, but listened to people - yes, even those who voted for Trump.
Horrors. How often was ABC attacked by ARISE for "listening to people who voted for Trump" -- we were accused of trolling. And yes, there are some people (a few it seems) who may be Trump backers, and at times there may be some tension, but so far they don't feel shunned. ABC people seem to believe that the way to build a winning coalition if you aim to win an election in the UFT, is to be broad-based and non-judgemental.
Yet Mamdani, the darling of the leftists in ARISE, did the very same thing and built his campaign around the issues people were telling him concerned them. Trust me, they will not learn a lesson. The ideology of most people on the left is baked into their DNA. In the recent UFT election and beyond, an ARISE steering committee member and a caucus co-chair has persistently criticized ABC for not taking political positions on certain issues ABC deemed divisive and outside the bounds of a UFT election sphere - it was termed being "apolitical" rather than what it was -- member driven. In other words, we would focus our campaign on what we detected in the pulse of rank and file in our schools and out surveys - our colleagues - and beyond. Rather than apolitical, we would try not to let our personal ideological views take precedence. The election results showed that was a potential winning strategy when we got 32% in a 3-way race, especially notable for a group of individuals that had existed for only a few months. My criticism of the ARISE coalition and how they operated was that they took an opposite tack -- the ideologies of the leadership of the 3 groups in the coalition -- MORE, New Action and Retiree Advocate - would drive their campaign. If you weren't somewhere on the left, you wouldn't be very comfortable - and they did pretty much attract the left to run with them and in the election, leftists in the UFT were more likely to vote for ARISE. And 14% of the voters did vote for them. Does 14% give us an accurate picture of the left in the UFT? Since only 28% voted think of what that 14% represent. Part 2
Well, I'm glad my usual pessimism didn't work out as I guessed 43% Mamdani 39% Cuomo 18% Sliwa The
Sliwa collapse was significant and those votes had to go to Cuomo, so
think of this -- Cuomo was probably in the low thirties and there may
have been a late Trump bump. Yes Mamdani went over 50%, but barely and the combined vote against him would have made this a nail biter in a two person race. My Rockaway neighborhood in Belle Harbor voted 10% for Mamdani, surpassed by Breezy Point's 7%, 186 votes, and I think I convinced a bunch of friends. That little blue area in Rockaway is Arverne (53%) Edgemere (57%) where I canvassed with 40 other mostly local volunteers. Note the solid Cuomo blocks in Staten Island through south Brooklyn, though Bay Ridge went for Mamdani and the northeastern Queens block. Also note the east side of Manhattan. My Murray Hill area went 59-36 for Cuomo. My politics are not safe anywhere. I pushed back against the NYC Retiree attacks and pro-Cuomo position. He had stated he was opposed to Medicare Adv --and I trust a socialist on that issue more than his opponents. But now is a time to try to get our issue in front of him as 1096 will expire on Jan. 1 and a new bill will be needed. Some of his allies on the City Council do back the bill. However, DC37 and the UFT are opposed and he does owe them -- I have a lot more to say on the election but I have to catch the ferry for my painting class at the UFT - I'm shlepping a bunch of acrylic paints and art supplies - this artistic stuff can tire one out.
Which is the bigger threat to Mamdani's winning? Cuomo/Bloomberg/Trump - an unholy alliance - or the UFT's perpetual loser mayoral endorsement? I just got a call from some of the few liberals in Breezy Point asking
my advice on the propositions and I informed them on what an awful
person Cuomo is -- I put him in Trump personality territory and may have
won two votes for Mamdani.
Who knew, that Orthodox rabbis support and defend Mamdani for speaking
truth to power? Their defense is so very smart and compassionate. https://youtu.be/7NmGPStXWl0?si=enDu0QNRIEphOZUU
While Mamdani has some big enthusiasm but there is not a lot of enthusiasm among some voters for either candidate - who do you hate more - Cuomo or Mamdani? No one really hates Sliwa.
President
Trump urged Republican voters in New York City late Monday to cross
party lines and support Andrew Cuomo for mayor as part of an 11th hour
bid to stop Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani from taking over the
reins at City Hall.
Wow - looks like Trump is getting desperate - why is he threatened by Mamdani? My guess he fears his ability to mobilize people - imagine if he has 90K volunteers, imagine a million people on the street. Oh, and Eli Musk just joined the anti-Mamdani crowd. Even Trump backers admit Mamdani has run a disciplined effective campaign. That scares them.
Monday, Nov. 3 - Election Eve I wanted to get this out before tomorrow and I hope to have a follow-up by tomorrow night. Surprise, surprise - It might be rambling just a bit. Even as I finish this up, polls show the election tightening to 4 points and tomorrow it could be 2 points. Bloomberg has tossed millions joined by other billionaires in a desperate attempt to stop Mamdani -- thus joining Trump who endorsed Cuomo. The negative ads seem to be working. I hope he not only wins but wins big. 45% to 40% with Sliwa dropping to 15%. Yet another poll shows: The most recent polls place Mamdani 14.7 points ahead of Cuomo, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average. The voting so far looks good for him -- especially this weekend's young people turnout, while last weekend it was the older folks which might favor Cuomo. Given the attacks on Zohran, ask yourself why Trump is so desperate for him to lose? One would think he would be happy to have a foil. To me that is the best sign of the threat Mamdani represents ideologically to Republicans and the corporate Dems who run the party. And to the billionaires. Just looking at the line-up against him should get him votes. The joy Mamdani's backers felt in June, though, has been morphing into some jitters, as his machine begs his 90k volunteers to go out and canvass to the last minute. (I hate canvasing but forced myself to do some.) Today's NYT takes one more swipe at Mandani with this headline:
Questions of Readiness Persists for Mamdani: Even some of his backers worry about his thin resume. "He is not ready," said Maria Fattore (from his Astoria territory), saying she had unhappily switcher her vote from Mamdani to Cuomo. And in Manhattan, an old hippy who was leaning Mamdani, admitted to misgivings. I'm not sure he has the experience to deal with what's going on in this city..."
I'll admit to some worries, especially based on my conversations with liberals who are voting for Cuomo - mostly non-Jews by the way, so Israel is not a factor, though one close Jewish friend from Long Island is very concerned and told me Rabbis in many synagogues are railing against him. Some people just don't care for him - they see phony charm and a
child of privilege - intellectual privilege for sure but also economic -
if he hadn't been accepted to Bronx Science, he would have never gone
to a public school - and a college few could afford. While he is adored
by many, we need to keep some level of skepticism. I have fallen for his charm and love his interactions on long interviews - see the one he did with John Steward on The Daily Show last Monday. He was also on Sam Seder's Majority Report last Wednesday - he has no fear of talking to anyone. I voted Brad
Lander #1 and Mamdani 2 in the primary, though my left-leaning instincts
pushed me towards the latter and still does. But if it were Lander
running instead of Cuomo at this point, I think he might win. Even some leftists see Zohran as a privileged scion, reaching above his head, as we see in this comment from a mid-career NYC teacher:
I say this as someone who voted for Mamdani twice; with all due respect, I think he’s an arrogant little prick who thinks really highly of himself for little reason. But, given the alternative, he’s got my vote. My frustration with Mamdani is that he has accomplished almost nothing in his life. But, he talks big. That’s all fine. But, when he’s finally at the moment of actually accomplishing something big (for himself), he turns his back on pretty much one of the only people (Marianne Pizzitola) I’ve seen in this city who has actually done something for working people. [I will delve deeper into the Zohran/Marianne controversy in a follow-up).
I don't agree with his assessment but it shows how some of his voters are thinking. On the other hand, much of the left is still glowing, as this In These Times Oct. 31 piece indicates where so much of his support is coming from. “Why are you so excited to show him to everyone?”
“Because we love him,” says Alam, who works the night shift from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
It’s a sentiment I hear from taxi drivers, nurses and restaurant workers. Zohran Mamdani on the Night Shift for Mayor: As Election Day nears, the Democratic mayoral candidate returns to his base among New York City’s multiracial working class.
The article points to how many city unions support him, including our own beloved UFT - and that has caused more than a little rancor in the ranks -- but that gets complicated, which I will try to untangle further down. Based on my political instincts, conversations with liberals, and my usual pessimistic outlook, I'm worried. The continuous fear-mongering attacks on him with the influx of billionaire money has had an impact - their goal is not just to make him lose, but to weaken him and make him ineffectual to prove socialist thinking doesn't work is their goal. Last weekend most voters were on the plus side of 50, which did not look good. But this past weekend the younger people came out -- so maybe it's a wash. Warning signs ahead. I will feel more nervous than elated if he wins. I see him as a unique political talent - his thoughtfulness in interviews even as he duck some issues and his likeability and sense of humor will carry him - but only so far. Thought and ideas are good, but as John Stewart pointed out to him last week: If you fail to deliver on the basics of running the city, there will be a harsh reaction -- remember Mayor Lindsay and the Feb. 1969 snow storm.
I believe that the honchos in both parties have a big stake in seeing a socialist failure as a way to put a stake into the heart of any progressive move to take over the Dem Party. That is what makes me nervous --- he will turn into Hope and NO CHANGE. Or worse, will be as unpopular as Chicago left wing mayor Brandon Johnson - though I don't follow Chicago very much nowadays and was proud when a Chicago union teacher was elected - but some of his speeches turn me off. I've been working on a piece on this election for over a week and the more I talk to people the more confused I get. I voted and canvased for Mamdani, but I go from enthusiastic support to questions. What keeps me in line are his opponents - the awful Cuomo and the Republican Sliwa, who I would actually prefer to Cuomo, who is an awful human being and not to be trusted, especially around women. I found the attacks on Zohran over the Medicare issue coming from retirees disconcerting because those attacks pointed us to Cuomo.
Can I make a guess based on my own personal contacts or my own "feelings"?
For instance, my sense of the Jersey gov race is that the Dem is an awful candidate and may lose - today's polls show a dead heat -- in some ways I think a loss for a center/right corporate anti- progressive Dem would not be the worst thing, though the Virginia gov candidate seems much better and will win. But I think Trump's cancellation of the Hudson tunnel helps the Dem.
In my circle of liberal friends I see danger signs. Last night I ran into a liberal friend (not many in my area), who is a neighbor. I reminded her of election night 2008 when she invited us over to celebrate the Obama victory. She is voting for Cuomo because she doesn't trust a guy as young as Mamdani. Another Rockaway liberal friend has mocked Mamdani and a couple we know from Brooklyn feel the same way -- even having a level of disgust towards him. None of these people are Jewish, so Israel is not a factor. My sense it is more about how young he is, their feelings he hasn't done much and is arrogant for running. In other words, his age and lack of a resume are resonating as much as the issues.
I get this from people -- they view Mamdani as a rich kid playing politics. So, how many people are voting for Mamdani or against Cuomo? If Brad Lander has run as an independent instead of Cuomo, I'd give him an even chance -- he would gather votes from the Cuomo haters and more Republican votes. Last week, in conversations with people I met in some of my classes and tours I gave, including some UFT retirees, there was clear support and even enthusiasm for Mamdani. But I had lunch last week with a guy who was on my Murray Hill tour -- from Riverdale with an 11 year old daughter - not a teacher but a businessman running his own business in the city -- and he brought it up - he was excited at Mamdani -- he looked to be in his early 50s. So, personal conversations are a mixed bag -- and I have to adhere to this dictum: judgments
based on snippets of conversation may not reflect a person's
considered, complete, or public stance, leading to misrepresentation. NYC Retirees attack retirees who back Mamdani. I was about to get into the retiree battles in the UFT over the anti-Mamdani position Marianne Pizzitola has taken and the reaction to it, but let's wait until tomorrow or the next day -- but I will say, she has taken a risk in dipping too deep into divisive politics and even some her most loyal supporters are disturbed -- Did she fail to follow her own advice she gave to UFT retirees to stick to the issue? Well, in some ways she did and in some ways she did not. I may even dip into my changing views on Israel -- which reflects growing feelings in the Jewish community, 30 or more % going for Mamdani.
I will attempt to untangle it all tomorrow - or maybe never. Meanwhile check out these NYT articles: Who Should Be Mayor of New York City?The
Democratic Party and its liberal allies refuse to call for mass
mobilization and strikes — the only tools that can thwart Trump’s
emergent authoritarianism — fearing they too will be swept aside.
I spoke to Daniel this morning for almost 2 hours that he has to squeeze into one hour. His questions had me going deep, not only into the history -- I actually got up early this morning to visit the archives in my basement and discovered new information on the organizing efforts in the years before - and after. I have an engagement at 7 so can't listen but when I have a link I will elaborate further.
Boy I had a busy day on Tuesday, taking an 8:15 AM ferry to get to my drawing class at the Manhattan UFT, followed by an RTC Ex Bd meeting and then off to view " The Power to Heal" sponsored by NYC Retirees with Marianne Pizzitola at the Tribeca Viewing room with some city officials and some fellow retirees.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 I've been too busy to blog. I'm doing the BBG tour guide training which lasts until the end of March. Saturdays have been tied up and I actually have homework. So I missed the massive No Kings rallies on Saturday which I hear had 400 people in Rockaway. I joined 40 people in Edgemere on Sunday to canvas for Mamdani. Luckily I was teamed with a young lady I know from the Rockaway Theatre Company who is an experiened DSA canvasser and led me through the process. The RTC Ex bd meeting had a number of interesting elements but I am in a rush as I have to get to MSK for a vaccine shot for Meningitis which I need because I no longer have my spleen. So I will deal with the RTC situation, which I am not happy with, another time and will focus a bit on the film and discussion afterwards. Listen, I have been involved in the fight over Medicare and the attempt to push us into Medicare Advantage, the movie and discussion afterwards made things clearer than every. I can't remember some of the people on the panel and Marianne was on target as usual but they all made so many great points. Medicare is social insurance while Medicare Advantage is corporate for profit insurance, which led me to think back to the Mulgrew arguments that they were the same. Was Mulgrew duplicitous or just plain stupid? You chose. We saw only the sort version of the movie and Marianne will arrange a showing of the full version of The Power to Heal, the essence of which was that many hospitals, especially in the South, either banned or minimized care for Black people and it was the new Medicare program in 1966 that forced them to integrate in order to be eligible for the federal funds.
I had never made the connection before. It was pointed out in the discussion that Medicare is not an entitlement - we pay for it throughout our working and retirement lives. It is never free and then we have to over for the 20% not covered and while most people have to pay for that, NYC retirees were guaranteed free coverage, which Mulgrew and Co tried to take away. Of course now we face the biggest threat to Medicare from the Trump administration, not that the Dems had no role in promoting the privatized MedAdv programs, which by the way are dropping people who might get older and sicker. Risk pools without younger and healthier people will leave Medicare in an untenable situation and healthcare in this nation will get worse and worser, a reason I know people who are seeking dual citizenship if they can. I have one Japanese friend who travel back to Japan every 3 months for treatments she cannot afford here. It was pointed out that the badly managed MedAdv plans cost many lives through denials of service and nit-picking, often now being done by AI. Under Medicare, doctors make decisions while under MedAdv doctors are second guessed. And MedAdv plans cost the governement a lot more money, especially due to the 15% paperwork charges vs. 3% for Medicare.
We also talked about the NYC Health Act and flaws were pointed out. A retiree said that some younger teachers are yelling at her for fighting for Medicare instead of for the NY Health Act but it was pointed out that out of state retirees would not get the same coverage and since they make up a significant portion of retirees, their being cut out would raise prices. There's a lot more to say about the film and the discussion which went so deep and I didn't get back to my apartment until after 8PM. Keep an eye out for Marianne's notice to post the full film and I hope the political people in the room get fully invested in the battle. From the website:
ABOUT THE FILM
|
POWER TO HEAL is
an hour-long public television documentary that tells a poignant
chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to
healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a
new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic,
coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the
country in a matter of months.
Before Medicare, disparities in
access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation's
hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3
of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.
Using
the carrot of Medicare dollars, the federal government virtually ended
the practice of racially segregating patients, doctors, medical staffs,
blood supplies and linens. POWER TO HEAL illustrates how
Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the
federal government to achieve justice and fairness for African-Americans.
Through the voices of the men and women who experienced disparities and fought against them, POWER TO HEAL will
introduce a broad, prime-time national audience on PBS to a missing
link in the Civil Rights Movement -- a struggle over healthcare from a
half-century ago, that raises questions that resonate today: is
healthcare a human right? Must the federal government intervene to
ensure equality? | I love the Murray Hill neighborhood in mid-town east. But oh those hills. Yes, there are hills in Murray Hill. I'm doing the tours this weekend. I've been too busy to blog since I started, also training as a Brooklyn Botanic Garden tour guide, which is pretty intensive with full days on Saturdays and learning different areas of the garden. But I do know Murray Hill and looking forward to this weekend and hopefully good weather. OCTOBER WALKING TOURS OF MURRAY HILL’S 14 DESIGNATED LANDMARKS and TWO HISTORIC DISTRICTS 11 am to 1pm
Timings: October 25 @11am – 1pm and October 26 @11:00 am – 1:00 pm60th ANNIVERSARY OF NEW YORK CITY LANDMARKS LAW (1965-2025)
2025 WALKING TOURS OF MURRAY HILL (OCTOBER) A specially curated Walking Tour of Historic Murray Hill covering all 14 of Murray Hill’s. designated
landmarks and its two historic districts has been developed as part of
the Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the NYC Landmarks Law. Tours
will be conducted each month over two weekend days. The next weekend
tour is Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26 from 11:00 am to
1:00 pm each day. Total cost per weekend: $60 MHNA members, $70
non-members. Tours are limited to 10 guests. (For continuity and
completeness, we encourage full weekend participation but understand if
this is not possible. Cost for one-day tour: $40 MHNA members and $45
non-members.) In addition to a copy of the Historic Murray Hill
Walking Tour brochure, participants will also receive a copy of Murray
Hill’s special Landmarks60 Commemorative Booklet containing full-page
color photos and histories of all 14 of Murray Hill’s designated
landmarks. The booklet also includes the history of Murray Hill and the
Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, and information about other
preservation groups. The total tour area will extend from 34th
Street to 40th Street and Third Avenue to Madison Avenue covering both
the four-block Murray Hill Historic District, the Sniffen Court Historic
District (one of Manhattan’s few remaining mews), and all 14 designated
landmarks. The inception of NYC’s Landmarks Law, challenges to
the law, and current landmarking efforts will be discussed. The tours
will also focus on several of the architects who designed some of Murray
Hill’s magnificent buildings, and some of the famous people who lived
here. Guides are neighborhood residents and members of Murray
Hill’s Preservation & Design Committee, passionate about the
character and history of New York City, and well-versed in Murray Hill
lore. The Preservation & Design Committee’s mission is to
preserve Murray Hill’s historic buildings and districts and to
communicate to the public the history and beauty of the neighborhood.
The walking tour fees provide funding towards the publication of walking
tour maps, brochures and booklets, programming of lectures and
educational programs, and special projects. There will be a 20%
discount for Walking Tour participants at Björk Cafe & Bistro at 58
Park Avenue when they dine after 2:30 PM on Saturdays or Sundays. Please
note that Björk’s last seating on Sundays is at 4 PM and on Saturdays
at 7:15 PM CLICK HERE To
reserve a place on the October tour, or for information on future
weekend tours, group tours, or private, custom, or special occasion
tours, contact preservation@murrayhillnyc.org More Recent Articles
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