The rumors are true. Rick Lazio will be dropping out of the race for Governor today. However, he may still appear on the ballot in November.
According to election law in the State of New York, there are three ways for his name to be removed as the Conservative Party's nominee for Governor: he dies, he moves out of New York State, or he gets nominated for a judgeship (the deadline, for which, I should add, is today).
Due to Paladino's use of "hateful rhetoric," Mike Long, the Chairman of the New York Conservative Party, does not want a Paladino win (source: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/rick-lazio-out-of-governors-ra.html).
Provided that Lazio's name was removed from the Conservative Party line today, Paladino has 1 day (deadline: tomorrow 9/28/2010) to get the Conservative Party's nomination (source: http://www.elections.state.ny.us/NYSBOE/law/2010OfficialPoliticalCalendar.pdf). I mention this because no Republican has won any statewide office without the endorsement of the Conservative Party of New York.
To all of you, I suggest you follow the news closely for the next 36 hours to see if there will be any political game changers.
Update (12:29 PM): The Bronx County Republican Chairman Jay Savino has announced that Rick Lazio will be nominated for a judgeship tonight. In other words, Lazio will be out of the race for Governor following tonight's proceedings.
Update (12:37 PM): Rick Lazio has announced that he will not endorse Carl Paladino for Governor
Update (1:08 PM): Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long has said he will recommend to party leaders that Carl Paladino receive the party's nomination.
Showing posts with label Rick Lazio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Lazio. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Some Numbers May Actually Lie
We all heard about how Carl Paladino is a mere 6 percentage points behind Andrew Cuomo in the race to be the next Governor of New York. Well, that was just one poll. Cuomo said that Paladino was up because of the media coverage regarding his from-behind win to becoming the the Republican nominee for Governor. Well, that was one poll.
Since the first one, by Quinnipiac University, two more have come out. One by SurveyUSA and another from Siena College. I don't know how the polling for SurveyUSA was conducted, but I do for the other two. The Quinnipiac poll surveyed "likely voters" and only gave two options (Andrew Cuomo or Carl Paladino). The Siena poll surveyed "registered voters" and gave three options (Cuomo, Paladino and Rick Lazio). What is the difference between "likely voters" and "registered voters?" Likely voters do not include first-time voters (and, may, exclude voters that did not vote in recent elections).
Below is a break-down of the results of the polling data for all of the state-wide races:
Since the first one, by Quinnipiac University, two more have come out. One by SurveyUSA and another from Siena College. I don't know how the polling for SurveyUSA was conducted, but I do for the other two. The Quinnipiac poll surveyed "likely voters" and only gave two options (Andrew Cuomo or Carl Paladino). The Siena poll surveyed "registered voters" and gave three options (Cuomo, Paladino and Rick Lazio). What is the difference between "likely voters" and "registered voters?" Likely voters do not include first-time voters (and, may, exclude voters that did not vote in recent elections).
Below is a break-down of the results of the polling data for all of the state-wide races:
| Governor | Quinnipiac | SurveyUSA | Siena |
| Andrew Cuomo | 49% | 49% | 57% |
| Carl Paladino | 43% | 40% | 24% |
| Rick Lazio | 8% (listed as "other") | 8% | |
| Undecided | 3% | 10% | |
| Attorney General | Quinnipiac | SurveyUSA | Siena |
| Eric Schniederman | 37% | 45% | |
| Dan Donovan | 36% | 32% | |
| Undecided | 27% | 23% | |
| Comptroller | Quinnipiac | SurveyUSA | Siena |
| Tom DiNapoli | 46% | 51% | |
| Harry Wilson | 30% | 25% | |
| Undecided | 24% | 25% | |
| Senate (Full Term) | Quinnipiac | SurveyUSA | Siena |
| Charles Schumer | 54% | 54% | 63% |
| Jay Townsend | 38% | 53% | 30% |
| Undecided | 3% | 6% | |
| Senate (Special) | Quinnipiac | SurveyUSA | Siena |
| Kirsten Gillibrand | 48% | 45% | 57% |
| Joe DioGuardi | 42% | 44% | 31% |
| Undecided | 4% | 12% | |
| Democratic Republican Conservative | |||
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What A Night It Had Been
Editor's Note: The times, percentage points, and number of precincts listed are estimates based on the writer's recollection of the evening.
What an insane night it was last night. Here is my story.
My evening did not get interesting until 9pm last night when my class was dismissed. I took the Ram Van down to Lincoln Center. I was told the night before that the Eric Schneiderman and Carolyn Maloney parties would both be at the Grand Hyatt.
On the ride down to Lincoln Center, I was anxiously checking my Twitter feeds for results (Twitter, I find, is one of the best and fastest source available for breaking news). The first surprise of the night came in: Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party and Sarah Palin-backed Republican, beat moderate Republican Congressman Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican primary. For a candidate of whom I didn't even know until two weeks ago, I was amazed. It was obvious to everyone that the Democrats had just won the Senate seat previously held by Joe Biden. Within minutes, the story on Twitter changed to how Delaware Attorney General, Beau Biden (son of the Vice President) must have been feeling at that moment since he chose not to run for that Senate seat.
I asked a friend for confirmation that the Schneiderman party would be at the Hyatt. I was told it would be, but my friend said that she was at the primary election night party for Assemblyman Jonathan Bing. I responded that I wanted to be at the party with all of the cool kids.
After getting to Lincoln Center, I hailed a cab and I was taken cross-town
By 10 PM, there were some early reportings on NY1. Tea Party-backed Carl Paladino, with about 1% of the precincts reporting, already had a sizable margin of about 35 points over the establishment-backed candidate Rick Lazio. As these numbers showed up on the screen, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer walked past me. Stringer has had a few not-so-nice words to say about Paladino (see: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/08/manhattan-bp-scott-stringer-ca.html and http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/manhattan-bp-scott-stringer-ca-1.html). I found the timing of this scene to be interesting.
The races we all were watching were the 14th Congressional District (Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney versus Reshma Saujani -we cared about the margin of victory; Maloney won with 81% of the vote), the 33rd State Senate District (Gustavo Rivera versus Pedro Espada), and the 39th Assembly District (Francisco Moya versus Hiram Monserrate).
With the early sets of returns, Rivera was leading Espada by about 30 points. Still, there were allegations of dirty tacits by the Espada camp (see: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/gustavo-rivera-accuses-team-pe.html). Meanwhile, Monserrate, in the course of 20 minutes, at one point in the evening, went from being 30 points down, to up 30, and down 30 again over Moya.
Of course, the race we all were watching was Attorney General. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice was taking an early lead of about 10 points over Manhattan State Senator Eric Schniderman with Sean Coffey in 3rd place by only a few percentage points.
By 10:30, it was becoming obvious that Carl Paladino was about to win the Republican Party nomination for Governor. A few minutes later, NY1 announced that Espada had conceded the race. At 11pm, the Associated Press called it for Paladino. That left just one race: Attorney General.
A little after 12am, my group of friends and I decided that we would head to the Schneiderman party. By this point, Schneiderman was up by 3% points over Rice with about 70% of the preciencts reporting. We hailed a cab and headed over the the Grand Hyatt. In attendance at the Schneiderman party were many notable local politicians including Governor David Paterson, Congressman Jerold Nadler, State Senators Daniel Squadron and Eric Adams, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
As the minutes passed, the number of precincts reporting steadily rose. A rumor began to spread that once 90% of the precincts were reporting and Schneiderman was still in the lead, the Senator was going to declare victory. The projector in the ballroom where the party was being held was tuned to Fox5 and then, later, NY1. One of the networks (I can't remember which one) showed the Rice election night party in Carle Place, Long Island. It was completely bare. Not a sole was there. It was empty. The room became very optimistic.
By 1am, my BlackBerry's battery was on its last legs. I grabbed my backpack and sat on the floor in the hallway at an outlet to let it charge. Around 1:10, I heard a chanting coming from the ballroom of "Er-ic! Er-ic! Er-ic!" I knew that either the Senator was up at least one more percentage point, we had reached the magin 90% number, or, maybe, just maybe, someone was ready to declare a victor. I pulled my charger out of the wall socket, shoved it and my BlackBerry into my pants' front right pocket, hoisted my backpack onto a shoulder and dashed into the ballroom.
I arrived exactly when the President of NARAL Pro-Choice NY, Kelli Conlin, began to speak. I didn't have to look at any screen or ask anyone what had happened. The energy of the room said it all. Eric Schneiderman was officially the Democratic Nominee to be the next Attorney General of the State of New York. At the end of his speech, the Senator introduced the next senator from the 33rd Senate District: Gustavo Rivera. Two great winners of the night together. Words cannot describe the feeling we all had/
I didn't get home until 3:00am this morning. I didn't fall asleep until about 4:15 and, even then, it seemed more like dozing than anything else. My voice, as of this writing, still has not recovered. The energy and enthusiasm you get when your candidate wins makes up for it all. If you all want to remember how I felt last night, recall November 4, 2008.
Photos from last night coming soon
What an insane night it was last night. Here is my story.
My evening did not get interesting until 9pm last night when my class was dismissed. I took the Ram Van down to Lincoln Center. I was told the night before that the Eric Schneiderman and Carolyn Maloney parties would both be at the Grand Hyatt.
On the ride down to Lincoln Center, I was anxiously checking my Twitter feeds for results (Twitter, I find, is one of the best and fastest source available for breaking news). The first surprise of the night came in: Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party and Sarah Palin-backed Republican, beat moderate Republican Congressman Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican primary. For a candidate of whom I didn't even know until two weeks ago, I was amazed. It was obvious to everyone that the Democrats had just won the Senate seat previously held by Joe Biden. Within minutes, the story on Twitter changed to how Delaware Attorney General, Beau Biden (son of the Vice President) must have been feeling at that moment since he chose not to run for that Senate seat.
I asked a friend for confirmation that the Schneiderman party would be at the Hyatt. I was told it would be, but my friend said that she was at the primary election night party for Assemblyman Jonathan Bing. I responded that I wanted to be at the party with all of the cool kids.
After getting to Lincoln Center, I hailed a cab and I was taken cross-town
By 10 PM, there were some early reportings on NY1. Tea Party-backed Carl Paladino, with about 1% of the precincts reporting, already had a sizable margin of about 35 points over the establishment-backed candidate Rick Lazio. As these numbers showed up on the screen, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer walked past me. Stringer has had a few not-so-nice words to say about Paladino (see: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/08/manhattan-bp-scott-stringer-ca.html and http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/manhattan-bp-scott-stringer-ca-1.html). I found the timing of this scene to be interesting.
The races we all were watching were the 14th Congressional District (Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney versus Reshma Saujani -we cared about the margin of victory; Maloney won with 81% of the vote), the 33rd State Senate District (Gustavo Rivera versus Pedro Espada), and the 39th Assembly District (Francisco Moya versus Hiram Monserrate).
With the early sets of returns, Rivera was leading Espada by about 30 points. Still, there were allegations of dirty tacits by the Espada camp (see: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/gustavo-rivera-accuses-team-pe.html). Meanwhile, Monserrate, in the course of 20 minutes, at one point in the evening, went from being 30 points down, to up 30, and down 30 again over Moya.
Of course, the race we all were watching was Attorney General. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice was taking an early lead of about 10 points over Manhattan State Senator Eric Schniderman with Sean Coffey in 3rd place by only a few percentage points.
By 10:30, it was becoming obvious that Carl Paladino was about to win the Republican Party nomination for Governor. A few minutes later, NY1 announced that Espada had conceded the race. At 11pm, the Associated Press called it for Paladino. That left just one race: Attorney General.
A little after 12am, my group of friends and I decided that we would head to the Schneiderman party. By this point, Schneiderman was up by 3% points over Rice with about 70% of the preciencts reporting. We hailed a cab and headed over the the Grand Hyatt. In attendance at the Schneiderman party were many notable local politicians including Governor David Paterson, Congressman Jerold Nadler, State Senators Daniel Squadron and Eric Adams, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
As the minutes passed, the number of precincts reporting steadily rose. A rumor began to spread that once 90% of the precincts were reporting and Schneiderman was still in the lead, the Senator was going to declare victory. The projector in the ballroom where the party was being held was tuned to Fox5 and then, later, NY1. One of the networks (I can't remember which one) showed the Rice election night party in Carle Place, Long Island. It was completely bare. Not a sole was there. It was empty. The room became very optimistic.
By 1am, my BlackBerry's battery was on its last legs. I grabbed my backpack and sat on the floor in the hallway at an outlet to let it charge. Around 1:10, I heard a chanting coming from the ballroom of "Er-ic! Er-ic! Er-ic!" I knew that either the Senator was up at least one more percentage point, we had reached the magin 90% number, or, maybe, just maybe, someone was ready to declare a victor. I pulled my charger out of the wall socket, shoved it and my BlackBerry into my pants' front right pocket, hoisted my backpack onto a shoulder and dashed into the ballroom.
I arrived exactly when the President of NARAL Pro-Choice NY, Kelli Conlin, began to speak. I didn't have to look at any screen or ask anyone what had happened. The energy of the room said it all. Eric Schneiderman was officially the Democratic Nominee to be the next Attorney General of the State of New York. At the end of his speech, the Senator introduced the next senator from the 33rd Senate District: Gustavo Rivera. Two great winners of the night together. Words cannot describe the feeling we all had/
I didn't get home until 3:00am this morning. I didn't fall asleep until about 4:15 and, even then, it seemed more like dozing than anything else. My voice, as of this writing, still has not recovered. The energy and enthusiasm you get when your candidate wins makes up for it all. If you all want to remember how I felt last night, recall November 4, 2008.
Photos from last night coming soon
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Ground Zero Mosque Part II
Two nights ago, I posted a story arguing why people from outside the Ground Zero area (let alone Alaska, Washington, Albany, or even Westchester County) should not involve themselves in the debate regarding the "Ground Zero Mosque." Now, I will discuss the politics around the issue.
Last week, the National Republican Trust PAC produced an ad that denounced the mosque's construction. CBS and NBC refused to air it.
Later in the week, Sarah Palin endorsed New York Assistant Attorney General Ann Marie Buerkle who is running against freshman Democratic Congressman Dan Maffei for Congress in NY's 25th Congressional District which consists of the Syracuse area. Buerkle is a Tea Party favorite already. It has been hinted that Palin, then to up the ante of her endorsement, then decided to discuss what she felt to be a local issue. On Sunday, she tweeted "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." However, as many people pointed out, "refuidate" is not a word in the English language. Palin later deleted that post and replaced it with "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in the interest of healing." I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't find anything provoking about the Islamic center (nor can I figure out whom it is provoking since "provoke" means to provide a stimulus for a response typically of a confrontational manner). As for healing, I, for one was never hurt. Maybe it is the New York spirit in me, but what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Was 9/11 a tragedy? Yes. But terrorism aims to invoke terror, if we need time to heal, the terrorists have won.
Later, the former governor humorously tweeted "'Refudiate', 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.'" English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"
To go off on a small tangent, to be honest, Sarah Palin is no William Shakespeare. Though, I am not an expert in English linguistics, I doubt that there are a dozen writers alive today that match his skill. The brilliance of Shakespeare are the number of ententes he could make in a single sentence, how prop-use and stage direction could be determined from the text, and how his texts were written in such a way that (with a few obvious exceptions like Julius Caesar) the story lines could be used in any time period. The words that Shakespeare invented were used for these causes. It should also be noted that the words were being coined during the early development stages of the Modern English Language; so, of course, the ability to add words would be much simpler. An interesting factoid that I leaned from my English teacher in my senior year in high school is that there are roughly 100,000 words in the English language; the average college graduate knows 10,000; William Shakespeare coined 1,000 words. 1% of the English language versus the "word" "refudiate," and Sarah Palin thinks she has earned the right to compare herself to Shakespeare? Whatever.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed the proposed Islamic Center, which, I did not learn until this morning is more of a YMCA (complete with community rooms, meeting rooms, a gym, ad a pool). The center's only "mosque" element is a Muslim prayer room.
Following the tweets by Sarah Palin, Bloomberg staffer Andrea Batista Schlesigner took to Twitter herself saying "@SarahPalinUSA whose hearts? Racist hearts?" And, later "@SarahPalinUSA mind your own business." The tweets were later deleted. However, Schlesinger explained herself "Deleted post bc I regretted curt response. But the fact is, I believe this city belongs to everyone - and no one more than another."
Her next tweet said "Unlike @SarahPalinUSA, I was born here and grew up here. Was showing off to a visitor today - look how beautiful and diverse my city is." That tweet personally speaks to how I feel about New York City as well. Once, I had to take an out-of-towner around the city. On an A train, there was a cross-gendered man, I thought nothing of it. My guest, however asked me "Is that a tranny?" I matter-of-factly replied in the affirmative. My guest, however, remained uneasy for the rest of the train ride.
Schlesinger's final response to the former governor read "I felt the pain of 9/11, the trauma. I got through it by believing in my city. Not through fear and hate." That is the New York spirit. I see crazy people on the subway singing randomly "Adam at a party, Adam at a party, Adam at a party, Adam at a cel-e-brat-ion" (as was the case with my commute yesterday morning) and I think to myself "I love New York." We realize that there are much bigger things with which to concern ourselves than petty disagreements, divisions, and judgments.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser told Politico's Maggie Haberman, in response to Schlesinger's tweets "Andrea was only speaking for herself, she has the right to her own opinions." Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg said "In terms of her [Schlesinger] comments about Sarah Palin, I don't agree at all. I don't think Sarah Palin is remotely racist." Then, the mayor came to Schlesinger's defense saying that as to Palin's comments about the Islamic Center, he "couldn't disagree more."
Republican NY gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio lately has been attacking his Democratic New York opponent Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for not investigating the funding of the Islamic Center. Cuomo has claimed that he would not investigate based on mere here-say out of respect for freedom of religion. However, Cuomo spokesman Rich Bamberger said "Anyone who has evidence of wrongdoing [as per the funding sources] should send it to us [the Attorney General's Office] and we will review it." Still Lazio is calling the center Cuomo's "trophy mosque"
Interestingly, NY1 did an interview with the Islamic Center's developer, Sharif El-Gamal, and he said that the reason for building the center was, in fact, to spite the terrorists that attacked while highlighting New York's diversity and community. "What happened that day affected me personally, affected my city. I was one of the first people that was down there at 9/11 and for 48 hours I was there helping my heroes, helping the firefighters, the policemen and I was giving water to everyone. What happened that day was a personal attack on me as a New Yorker. Something that I will never forget, never forgive those terrorists for what they did. And those terrorists did not act in the name of Islam. [my emphasis added]" The reason for the Islamic Center, from what I can read from that quote, is to denounce radical Islam and how Islam is a mainstream religion that does not wish to do harm against others. What place better than New York City, two blocks from the World Trade Center, to give the middle-finger to the terrorists by personifying in a building what we believe in as a nation, a city, and a society?
I reiterate, if just because it will irk the terrorists to end because us Americans live in a pluralistic and diverse society and the Islamic Center will be proof-positive of that, I support the project.
Last week, the National Republican Trust PAC produced an ad that denounced the mosque's construction. CBS and NBC refused to air it.
Later in the week, Sarah Palin endorsed New York Assistant Attorney General Ann Marie Buerkle who is running against freshman Democratic Congressman Dan Maffei for Congress in NY's 25th Congressional District which consists of the Syracuse area. Buerkle is a Tea Party favorite already. It has been hinted that Palin, then to up the ante of her endorsement, then decided to discuss what she felt to be a local issue. On Sunday, she tweeted "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." However, as many people pointed out, "refuidate" is not a word in the English language. Palin later deleted that post and replaced it with "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in the interest of healing." I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't find anything provoking about the Islamic center (nor can I figure out whom it is provoking since "provoke" means to provide a stimulus for a response typically of a confrontational manner). As for healing, I, for one was never hurt. Maybe it is the New York spirit in me, but what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Was 9/11 a tragedy? Yes. But terrorism aims to invoke terror, if we need time to heal, the terrorists have won.
Later, the former governor humorously tweeted "'Refudiate', 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.'" English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"
To go off on a small tangent, to be honest, Sarah Palin is no William Shakespeare. Though, I am not an expert in English linguistics, I doubt that there are a dozen writers alive today that match his skill. The brilliance of Shakespeare are the number of ententes he could make in a single sentence, how prop-use and stage direction could be determined from the text, and how his texts were written in such a way that (with a few obvious exceptions like Julius Caesar) the story lines could be used in any time period. The words that Shakespeare invented were used for these causes. It should also be noted that the words were being coined during the early development stages of the Modern English Language; so, of course, the ability to add words would be much simpler. An interesting factoid that I leaned from my English teacher in my senior year in high school is that there are roughly 100,000 words in the English language; the average college graduate knows 10,000; William Shakespeare coined 1,000 words. 1% of the English language versus the "word" "refudiate," and Sarah Palin thinks she has earned the right to compare herself to Shakespeare? Whatever.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed the proposed Islamic Center, which, I did not learn until this morning is more of a YMCA (complete with community rooms, meeting rooms, a gym, ad a pool). The center's only "mosque" element is a Muslim prayer room.
Following the tweets by Sarah Palin, Bloomberg staffer Andrea Batista Schlesigner took to Twitter herself saying "@SarahPalinUSA whose hearts? Racist hearts?" And, later "@SarahPalinUSA mind your own business." The tweets were later deleted. However, Schlesinger explained herself "Deleted post bc I regretted curt response. But the fact is, I believe this city belongs to everyone - and no one more than another."
Her next tweet said "Unlike @SarahPalinUSA, I was born here and grew up here. Was showing off to a visitor today - look how beautiful and diverse my city is." That tweet personally speaks to how I feel about New York City as well. Once, I had to take an out-of-towner around the city. On an A train, there was a cross-gendered man, I thought nothing of it. My guest, however asked me "Is that a tranny?" I matter-of-factly replied in the affirmative. My guest, however, remained uneasy for the rest of the train ride.
Schlesinger's final response to the former governor read "I felt the pain of 9/11, the trauma. I got through it by believing in my city. Not through fear and hate." That is the New York spirit. I see crazy people on the subway singing randomly "Adam at a party, Adam at a party, Adam at a party, Adam at a cel-e-brat-ion" (as was the case with my commute yesterday morning) and I think to myself "I love New York." We realize that there are much bigger things with which to concern ourselves than petty disagreements, divisions, and judgments.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser told Politico's Maggie Haberman, in response to Schlesinger's tweets "Andrea was only speaking for herself, she has the right to her own opinions." Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg said "In terms of her [Schlesinger] comments about Sarah Palin, I don't agree at all. I don't think Sarah Palin is remotely racist." Then, the mayor came to Schlesinger's defense saying that as to Palin's comments about the Islamic Center, he "couldn't disagree more."
Republican NY gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio lately has been attacking his Democratic New York opponent Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for not investigating the funding of the Islamic Center. Cuomo has claimed that he would not investigate based on mere here-say out of respect for freedom of religion. However, Cuomo spokesman Rich Bamberger said "Anyone who has evidence of wrongdoing [as per the funding sources] should send it to us [the Attorney General's Office] and we will review it." Still Lazio is calling the center Cuomo's "trophy mosque"
Interestingly, NY1 did an interview with the Islamic Center's developer, Sharif El-Gamal, and he said that the reason for building the center was, in fact, to spite the terrorists that attacked while highlighting New York's diversity and community. "What happened that day affected me personally, affected my city. I was one of the first people that was down there at 9/11 and for 48 hours I was there helping my heroes, helping the firefighters, the policemen and I was giving water to everyone. What happened that day was a personal attack on me as a New Yorker. Something that I will never forget, never forgive those terrorists for what they did. And those terrorists did not act in the name of Islam. [my emphasis added]" The reason for the Islamic Center, from what I can read from that quote, is to denounce radical Islam and how Islam is a mainstream religion that does not wish to do harm against others. What place better than New York City, two blocks from the World Trade Center, to give the middle-finger to the terrorists by personifying in a building what we believe in as a nation, a city, and a society?
I reiterate, if just because it will irk the terrorists to end because us Americans live in a pluralistic and diverse society and the Islamic Center will be proof-positive of that, I support the project.
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