Peter's Place

Zohran Mamdani's Mandate and the Death of the Old Playbook   As John Lennon sang,  Imagine all the people, livin' life in peace... I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one. This week, the world took a step closer toward living as one as the city serving as the world's stage, New York City, elected a person as mayor with that same vision, albeit half a century later. Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory, powered by a record-breaking turnout of over two million voters, was not just an election--it was a mandate. It was a clear, unambiguous declaration from the people that the "same-old, same-old" isn't working anymore. But before this new future can be fully realized there remain many struggles ahead a little bit of housekeeping to take care of. That housekeeping concerns the "establishment playbook"—a cynical set of tactics that says if you can't win on facts, use fear. It’s a playbook that relies on dirty, underhanded tactic...

Voters going to the polls for tomorrow's elections should be aware of a story of great importance regarding potential corruption and unethical practices in the Registrar of Voters office that city officials such as Mayor Bronin and the council would rather be kept quiet. Vanessa Garay-Jackson (fmr) Deputy Republican Registrar of Voters City of Hartford, CT Early last month, the Deputy Republican Registrar of Voters, Vanessa Garay-Jackson, was terminated from her position by the Republican Registrar of Voters, Sheila N. Hall, for no discernable reason other than what appears to be retribution for Garay-Jackson's successful bid against Hall to become the Republican Registrar of Voters. Upon reviewing documents I obtained regarding the termination, Garay-Jackson was initially dismissed from her position by Hall without notice on Friday, September 25, 2020 "effective the close of business today." No reason was provided in the termination notice, signed by Hall. A subseque...

At 9am today, 68 year-old West Hartford resident Sujitno Sajuti must check in with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at JFK Airport in New York City to be deported back to his home country of Indonesia—a land he hasn't seen in nearly 40 years. A practicing Muslim, Sajuti has no ties to any family there, no assets, no anything. Mr. Sujitno Sajuti I have been living here for almost four decades—nearly forty years, more than half my life. If I am sent back to my native country, I wouldn't even recognize it. I have nothing there, I know no one. All my assets are here, in this country. I would have no money, no house, no retirement, no income, no jobs, no pension, no family, no friends, no medical, nothing. I would be an outcast, due to my failure [in completing my PhD program]... I would not be able to help anyone, as I do here. My wife and I enjoy, so much, helping people in our community. I could not work, due to forced retirement age. I would be useless, ju...

NYC Council Elections, Bronx CD #18, Part 4 I would be remiss as a journalist were I not to include the candidate whom everyone in The Bronx's Council District #18 has been talking about in today's NYC Council primary race: Michael Beltzer . I am sorry that family obligations prevented me from completing this Part 4 of my series of articles on the candidates in this race until the morning of the election, as opposed to last week when I had planned to release it. Beltzer is the third millennial in the race who is fighting the establishment's pick and who by far is the furthest removed from them. A Long Islander, he has made the Soundview  section of The Bronx his home for the past decade. There, he raises his daughter, Isabella Rose, who attends public school, which is one of many reasons why Beltzer is such a strong advocate of public education. In this way, Beltzer stands out from his opponents in that he supports free public education, including free public hig...

Amanda Farias NYC Council Elections, Bronx CD #18, Part 3 It took less than ten minutes from the time I'd sent the email to the time my phone rang. This can't be possible, I thought to myself. It must  be a bill collector. But on a Sunday afternoon? A short while later, it didn't take long for me to spot the maelstrom of information working its way down the block. There was a very familiar feeling here, not quite one of déjà vu but certainly one of comfortable familiarity. There was an ease with which the central figure I was focusing on worked with the people, not apart from them. "Yes, that must be her," I thought as I approached whom in fact turned out to be the person I was seeking, Amanda Farias . We had only a brief moment to meet so that I could observe her in action on the campaign trail. Which, to be honest, looked not much different than her in action at work, or at home in her community. She engaged with people, spoke with them, cared about ...