I've been working for Doug "Biv Against the Machine" Biviano, who is running for City Council in Brooklyn's 33rd district. Saturday morning I was headed to the office in Brooklyn to get ready for an 11 am press conference where Congressman Dennis Kucinich would be endorsing Doug's City Council run...A big deal for me and for a campaign fighting to build momentum in its last hours(As I write this I'm overcome by the thought that I should be trying to sleep instead as polls open in less than 8 hours!)
I left my apartment in Manhattan a bit later than I had hoped (I usually give myself an hour for the 20-40 minute sojourn). My (YELLOW) elevated level of fear of being late reached an (ORANGE) heightened level when I got to the train station and realized that the 2 and 3 express train which I desired was running local! OB VI OUSLY! Because its a de facto rule in nyc these days that the train schedules will be jived up in some way on the weekends. This is a point which has particularly bothered me since every job I've had in the city has included weekends...fnugh.
Just before the now local 2 train I was riding on reached 14th street the train came to an all stop in the middle of the tunnel. After a moment the conductor announced the standard response to being told to stop "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are being delayed due to train traffic ahead of us, please be patient, we will be moving shortly" which could and does apply to anything. No real cause for greater worry, until a few minutes passed and the conductor repeated his announcement. Then again a few minutes later. Finally, after about 15 or 20 minutes, the conductor gave us the bit more slender skinny that "We are being held because there is a stalled train at 14th Street, we will be moving as soon as it is cleared". While moans and groans were abound, there wasn't much panic because at least we've been given a slightly clearer picture of what is actually happening. The conductor repeated his announcement every few minutes, but there was still no cause for raising lateness fears to (RED) severe levels: until the conductor made an almost identical announcement with the addition of a well annunciated "INDEFINITELY" (picture some threatening bit of happening on the bridge of the Enterprise and Commander Riker shouting "shields up, red alert!). Just after I was able to get off a text warning that I would likely be late, the train starts to move.
We arrived at 14th street to a mad loading and unloading of passengers. Mildly relieved but still running late on a local train (lateness fear levels down to ORANGE) I began to do the only thing I could do to rectify my situation...attempt to will the train to become express with my mind. Just as I thought to myself that this wish was not even an entirely selfish one, as this train becoming express would likely alleviate some of what must be an immensely thrown off schedule after an almost half hour lag in train activity, the conductor announced "due to the delay reaching 14th street this train will be making express stops only". Being that I had just gotten what I needed and I had potentially willed the change myself, I let out a mildly inappropriatly loud Ric Flair like "WOO!".
Although the Lateness Fear Advisory System (L.F.A.S.) was down to YELLOW. The event that immediately followed would rocket the Holy Shit Advisory System (H.S.A.S.) level to a deep MAHOGANY.
Moments after my "WOO!", the man sitting directly across from me screamed "NOOOOO!", jolted up into the aisle between the subway doors, kicked one of the the doors shattering the glass, fiercely sat back down, pointed to me and screamed "FUCK YOU!". The other passengers and I tensely sat in silence, having all clearly "seen something" but collectively refusing to "say something", for what would prove to be a long slow ride from 14th street passed all the local stops to Chambers street where Osama Been-Ragin' deboarded.
I arrived at the office moments after the press conference ended, though at that point I didn't mind all that much, glad to have arrived at all.
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One of the front runners in the City Council race is the teenage looking Stephen Levin. He is the most glaring example of what Doug Biviano calls the "Machine Candidates" in that he is the candidate (and chief of staff) of corrupt Democratic party boss Vito Lopez of the NY State Assembly. Despite Lopez's assembly district only overlapping the 33rd City Council district by a mere sliver, Lopez is intent on Levin taking the seat.
This is Levin's latest piece of campaign literature.
At the top it "quotes" the New York Times as saying "Stephen Levin is a 'Prime Candidate' for City Council". The problem with this assertion is that it directly misrepresents the actual quote from the New York Times which read "Stephen Levin WOULD BE a prime candidate for City Council EXCEPT for his entanglement in the Brooklyn Democratic machine". To quote Benjamin Disraeli, "What a fucknut". Levin sent out the mailing this weekend so that there wouldn't be enough time for rivals to notice and discredit him. The Daily News picked up our press release about it, but I fear the mailing has done its damage.
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Now I'm off to sleep.
Tomorrow I'm going to be outside the polls at PS-8 in Brooklyn Heights from 10 am - 9pm, then back to the office for a (victory?) party.
Then I'm going with Celeste (who got me the job on the campaign to begin with) to see The Roots play their weekly Tuesday night show at the Highline Ballroom at midnight.
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sleep
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