They came from throughout the city---from Manhattan (obviously) from Queens, where the Willets Point condemnation made them angry, from Brooklyn, where the bloggers challenge Atlantic Yards and the Coney Island redevelopment, and from Staten Island, (Staten Island? Yes!) where apparently strong anti-Bloomberg sentiment does exist. They came to share and plan, and build a grass roots strategy that might unseat the Mayor.
Listening to the anti-Bloomberg sentiment by about 50 people was heartening; finally, I felt, a chance for the disparate groups that feel the Mayor should not have a third term to unite and share stretegies. But in discussion, I (and several others) stressed that simply communicating and planning by e-mail would not be enough; to make this movement work, New York is awash with summer festivals: free concerts, movies, etc., distractions are everywhere, and the "average" New Yorker, that is, one who was not aware of why Bloomberg should not have a third term, had to be made aware.
This was brought home to me the other evening, when a friend and I were having a beer in a bar near Columbia University. The bar was pretty empty, so I asked the bartender, a personable young man in his twenties, if he was aware of what the office of Public Advocate was responsable for, whether he knew if that office was up for election this November, and indeed, if he even knew that the office existed? In all cases his answer was "no". I explained to him as succinctly as I could how the Public Advocate could serve as a responsable check on the Mayor, and gave him an example of how the office could also help citizens on an every day basis. Now I'm sure that some of his lack of awareness stems from the fact that Betsy Gotbaum, the current Public Advocate has kept an incredibly low profile for the last eight years, but still, I wish that he had at least been aware of the office's existence.
So what is the message of the day? Go out and educate your bartender? Possibly, but I simply think that there are a lot of people out there who need the input. Maybe the buttons and posters, as they emerge around the city, will make a difference.