There is a “Vote Aqui” sign on the outside wall, old-fashioned paper
ballots to fill out inside. And there is, in the late morning, a slow,
steady procession of people from this neighborhood, the ones who believe
de Blasio when he tells them that he will be the mayor of them before
anybody else.
Matthew Thompson, black, 71, and a retired truck driver, comes walking slowly from the corner of Fort Washington, leaning hard on the cane in his right hand, saying he has walked down here from W. 189th St. to vote for Bill de Blasio for mayor.
RELATED: BILL DE BLASIO WILL NEED TO BATTLE THE LACK OF DEBATE
You ask Thompson what message from de Blasio resonated the most with him and he says, “Stop-and-search.”
Just inside the doorway, he passes William Chester, black, 74, whose first vote for a New York City mayor was cast for John Lindsay.
“I can’t tell you every single thing (de Blasio) said I agreed with,”
Chester said in this church room. “But when de Blasio did talk, he
seemed to be talking directly to me.”
PHOTOS: BILL DE BLASIO: HIS ROAD TO CITY HALL
Bill de Blasio ran and won out of rooms exactly like this, neighborhoods like this, so many of them filled with people of color, all the ones who turned him into the people’s champ over the last two months of this political season, one of the most surprising, because of the way he ran away with it, the city has ever seen.
Now we will begin to find out if Bill de Blasio, suddenly beloved by so
many who weren’t giving him a second look last summer, can actually
lead as well as he campaigned, be strong somewhere other than an
amazingly weak field.
He ran a brilliant campaign against Michael Bloomberg and against what Matthew Thompson of Washington Heights called “stop-and-search” on Election Day in New York; ran like someone who saw the possibilities of Zuccotti Park and Occupy Wall Street and turned it into a real political movement and not just loud, vague possibilities.
RELATED: BILL DE BLASIO ELECTED MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY
But on this day when he won as big as he did, he would have been best
served looking at another big runaway winner on Tuesday, from the other
side of the George Washington Bridge that is right in front of you at
Holyrood Episcopal. That means New Jersey, and Chris Christie, who has become the kind of leader over there who should make smart Republicans want to run him for President.
We knew nothing about how much game Christie had when he beat Jon Corzine, the way we know nothing about de Blasio’s qualifications to actually run a city the way Christie has run his state. What we have found out about Christie, though, is that he is a natural-born leader, the kind who doesn’t care whose feelings he hurts if he thinks he is right and needs to get things done.
You will always remember Christie walking with President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, unafraid to stand next to the incumbent President running from the other party. Mostly you remember Christie looking like the bigger man that day, in all ways. “I wanted a second term to finish the job and now watch me do it,” Christie said on the night when he won with 60% of the vote this time, a number the whole country saw.
RELATED: HOW BILL DE BLASIO'S NIMBLE CAMPAIGN MADE HIM MAYOR
Bill de Blasio, with huge numbers of his own, has to show he can lead, do more than make promises he can't keep about raising taxes on the wealthy because that sounded good running against Bloomberg; somehow command respect in Albany and in Washington, D.C., as well. Starting now, de Blasio has to do something more than be carried along by the roar of the crowd, and loyal opposition to rich white New York.
“Let me be clear,” de Blasio said in Brooklyn Tuesday night, “our work is just beginning, and we have no illusions about the task that lies ahead. Tackling inequality is never easy.”
“The people of this city have chosen a progressive path,” he said. “Together we set forth on it as one city,” before he began to speak in Spanish to the crowd, and the crowd did roar in Brooklyn.
President Obama, whose politics are de Blasio’s, has always had the words, has not become a great leader. Christie is that kind of leader in Jersey, whether you agree with all of his politics or not. He does more than talk a good game. Now we find out if Mayor de Blasio can do the same.
Matthew Thompson, black, 71, and a retired truck driver, comes walking slowly from the corner of Fort Washington, leaning hard on the cane in his right hand, saying he has walked down here from W. 189th St. to vote for Bill de Blasio for mayor.
Nancy Siesel/Demotix/Corbis
Bill de Blasio is well-liked,
and he and his family entertained the crowd on Election Night at the
Park Slope Armory YMCA in Brooklyn.
You ask Thompson what message from de Blasio resonated the most with him and he says, “Stop-and-search.”
Just inside the doorway, he passes William Chester, black, 74, whose first vote for a New York City mayor was cast for John Lindsay.
JASON SZENES/EPA
Bill de Blasio hugs his son Dante after winning the mayoral election — the first Democrat to do so in 20 years.
Bill de Blasio ran and won out of rooms exactly like this, neighborhoods like this, so many of them filled with people of color, all the ones who turned him into the people’s champ over the last two months of this political season, one of the most surprising, because of the way he ran away with it, the city has ever seen.
Mel Evans/AP
We knew very little about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — seen with his wife Mary Pat — when he beat Jon Corzine in 2009.
He ran a brilliant campaign against Michael Bloomberg and against what Matthew Thompson of Washington Heights called “stop-and-search” on Election Day in New York; ran like someone who saw the possibilities of Zuccotti Park and Occupy Wall Street and turned it into a real political movement and not just loud, vague possibilities.
RELATED: BILL DE BLASIO ELECTED MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY
Anthony Behar/Sipa USA
Bill de Blasio has a choice — will he talk like President Obama or lead like Gov. Chris Christie?
We knew nothing about how much game Christie had when he beat Jon Corzine, the way we know nothing about de Blasio’s qualifications to actually run a city the way Christie has run his state. What we have found out about Christie, though, is that he is a natural-born leader, the kind who doesn’t care whose feelings he hurts if he thinks he is right and needs to get things done.
You will always remember Christie walking with President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, unafraid to stand next to the incumbent President running from the other party. Mostly you remember Christie looking like the bigger man that day, in all ways. “I wanted a second term to finish the job and now watch me do it,” Christie said on the night when he won with 60% of the vote this time, a number the whole country saw.
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio
and his family dance after his victory speech. De Blasio ran a smart
campaign — will he run a smart office?
Bill de Blasio, with huge numbers of his own, has to show he can lead, do more than make promises he can't keep about raising taxes on the wealthy because that sounded good running against Bloomberg; somehow command respect in Albany and in Washington, D.C., as well. Starting now, de Blasio has to do something more than be carried along by the roar of the crowd, and loyal opposition to rich white New York.
“Let me be clear,” de Blasio said in Brooklyn Tuesday night, “our work is just beginning, and we have no illusions about the task that lies ahead. Tackling inequality is never easy.”
“The people of this city have chosen a progressive path,” he said. “Together we set forth on it as one city,” before he began to speak in Spanish to the crowd, and the crowd did roar in Brooklyn.
President Obama, whose politics are de Blasio’s, has always had the words, has not become a great leader. Christie is that kind of leader in Jersey, whether you agree with all of his politics or not. He does more than talk a good game. Now we find out if Mayor de Blasio can do the same.
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