Person of the Week: Hugh Atkin

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Farewell, Brooklyn

The Mayoress in 2004

After living in Brooklyn for over 11 years, my entire time in New York City, I'm moving to Manhattan today.  And being the sentimentalist I am, I thought it important to write an ode in closure.

I'm beyond excited to move to the city, for reasons both practical and superficial.  I'll be able to walk to work, get everywhere I go in far less time, be near my friends again.  But I'll be the first to admit, I'm a little tickled by the, well, status of a 100-- zip code.  But that's just buying into cultural keeping-up-with-the-Combses. Who you are doesn't depend on where you live.

What I will not become is a Manhattan snob, in the way of self-imposing a quarantine to the island unless I'm on my way to JFK.  There's too much that's too great about Brooklyn.  Instead of the ignorant quizzical face when someone references a neighborhood in our biggest borough, I'll nod and add something to the conversation.  And I make these promises:

I will come see my friends in Brooklyn and not demand that we meet in the city.
I will go to bars and restaurants in Brooklyn, because there are tons of excellent places of all kinds that simply are not anywhere else.  Well, except Portland.
I will go to a game the second they actually finish the Nets arena.
I will run the Brooklyn half-marathon if the NYRR every year I can.
I will go to cultural events in Brooklyn, because there are plenty and they are great.
I will stick up for my first borough when haters try to hate.

Because Brooklyn is its own borough.  A completely unique, wonderful, sometimes magical place.  It is not in competition with Manhattan, it is amazing in its own right, a stand-alone destination, whether to live or to visit.

My favorite part about Brooklyn is that it's undiscovered.  Every block of Manhattan is known, but I still stumble on amazing, historical, architectural, artistic marvels in Brooklyn that most people I know don't even know about.  That's an amazing thing in New York.

And in what other borough - what other city - can you take the subway to the beach; go to Coney Island and watch a baseball game, ride a roller coaster, and see a burlesque show all in one night; drink on the cheap; get lost in Prospect Park; be in a gallery all by yourself in the huge Brooklyn Museum; see the most splendid blossoming of spring at the Botanic Gardens; see the best views of the city and harbor from Red Hook (seriously, watch the sunset from Ikea); meet the most amazing characters from every walk of life - one of the best being our boisterous borough president Marty Markowitz; and most importantly, not stumble over tourists.

So, I love you Brooklyn.  Like Jay-Z, it's time for me to relocate - but after a mind-blowing 11 years, I got your back forever.

Your Weekly Metaphor

Truth of the Day

Thanks to Brian for this one...

In Which The Mayoress Bribes La Policia

Add this one to my negative campaign PR list, opponents!

Yes, it's true - my second mayoral campaign-threatening run-in with the law happened only days into the New Year.

I'm not going to get into the sordid details, but suffice it to say that I was NOT actually participating in any law-breaking activities, that a Mexican policeman can in fact turn out to be quite enjoyable when mimicking his perception of lawbreaking activities in order to illustrate his point, and that a mere 400 pesos can keep you out of handcuffs and give you an excellent blog post to boot.  A bargain, I say!

The Mayoress Makes Some Resolutions for 2012

Can you believe it, dear constituents?  It's not only a new year, it's an election year, and will mark the fourth year of Meet the Pressler.  How the time does fly, much like a soaring bald eagle in the opening credits of The Colbert Report.

I swore in 2008 that a) if the Republicans won, I would move out of the country for a year, or b) no matter who won, I would be out of here for the 2012 election cycle.  I was just too exhausted from the emotion, involvement, and constant news onslaught of '08.

But here we are, it's 2012, and I don't plan on leaving the country (disregard the fact that I am currently out of the country).  So, in accordance with keep my sanity and yours as we enter Obama v Romney (prediction!), here are my three 2012 resolutions to you:

1. I'm going to stay more objective.  Not because I am - barring any major revelations, I'm voting for Obama, let's just get that out of the way (more on why later).  But rather than get emotional about it...

2. I'm going to go all pundit on your ass.  Opinions backed up by sorta facts but mostly other opinions!  But for serious, if I distance myself a bit in order to evaluate strategic moves, especially when it comes to my specialty of marketing and PR, I'll emerge far less emotionally exhausted.  Also, watch for me on CNN or MSNBC or Comedy Central.  Don't blink!

3. I'm going to wear my now-vintage Obama tank from '08 more often.  I can't resist gold metallic, people.  Gold metallic!

Winning.

In Which The Mayoress Encounters the Chair of the NYC Cultural Affairs Committee

On the rare occasion, my passionate career in promotion and persistent participation in politics (as well as absolute adoration of alliteration) intersects.

Last Wednesday, my client Fractured Atlas hosted a conversation with NYC 26th District Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer (Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside), also Chair of the NYC Cultural Affairs Committee.

If you have ever had the privilege of encountering Van Bramer, you undoubtedly share my full-blown political crush. Though it shall remain unrequited (Sorry ladies, he’s gay! Sorry boys, he’s engaged!), I am content, as I am fully in support of any politician who can make me laugh while making me think – and isn’t afraid to drop a few F-bombs and thinly veiled insults along the way.

The Mayoress with the hosts of the evening.

The event had a surprisingly fantastic turnout, and Van Bramer stayed an hour late just to answer every question from the overflowing audience of artists, whether from his district or not. He was candid, cohesive, informative, and passionate. He explained how things work and how any of us can influence that process.

I say “surprisingly” not because it was an FA event – as the nation's largest nonprofit arts services organization, their following is strong, and deservedly so. I was surprised because it is very difficult to get almost any audience – let alone artists who work long hours with full schedules – to take time out to find out about the political system and how it affects their life, work, and funding; and how they can improve the way it all happens. Huge kudos to those who showed up, asked questions, gave input. They were heard.

But if you’ve never been to an event like that, or otherwise been in contact with your elected official, whether City Council, Community Board, City Executives, State Senate, State Assembly, State Executives, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, or U.S. Executives (whew!), or if you do not vote, not only in November elections but in primaries, you are not heard.

Your opinions, effectively, do not matter.

Here is where I begin my rant, and reason for writing this post. If you read this blog you’ve heard it before, but I’d rather be a broken record than not pound home the point.

You cannot complain about something happening – or not happening – if you are not willing to do something about it. This is America, you have many avenues toward trying to make a change. You can vote, you can participate, you can write your representatives.

Here’s what I don’t think a lot of the frustrated-while-uninvolved people understand: most people are also frustrated but uninvolved. So if you join the very small ranks of the involved, heard, and counted, you are heard.

Every elected official I have come into contact with beyond a handshake bases his or her decisions heavily on what his or her constituency thinks. How do they know what their constituency thinks? Well, all they can base it on is what their constituents tell them that they want and need. So the very small percentage who bother to do so are the ones who dictate what life will be like for everyone else in their district.

When I attended a city council campaign debate in ’05 while volunteering on a campaign, do you know what topics they covered? Whether bikes should be allowed to ride on the sidewalks and whether they would do something about it.

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

But guess what? The people who showed up cared about that. And I won’t mention the neighborhood, but you better believe the Upper East Side had a lot more revenue that next year in the form of tickets to bicycle riders.

If you want things to be a certain way, you have to tell your elected official. Complaining to yourself or the closest person who will listen may be effective for letting off steam, but not for moving the world forward.

I'll be the first to admit: I’m not satisfied with how much I do to make my neighborhood, city, state, or country, the place I’d like it to be. But I do do something, even if it’s not yet at the level I hope. I write this blog so I can sway your opinion. I volunteer periodically. I donate to causes I care about. I write my elected officials when I’m really hot and bothered. (It takes both conditions, you see, because I try to be the former on the daily, what what.)

Van Bramer made allusions to a future run for mayor, but it seems his campaign will be about 15 years before mine, so I graciously nod to his Bramerness and offer my early support.

Why the 99% Should Demand More

Absolute must-read editorial from my favorite Paul Krugman.

For who are the 0.1 percent? Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution.

Why The Mayoress Supports the 99%

Three words: changing the dialogue.

Hey, remember the Tea Party?  Though a fringe group and certainly not the majority, they swung the overall American debate on all issues extremely far right.  Candidates on the right and some on the left had to start answering the questions they were asking.  Some even ran on their platform.

The #Occupy movement stands to do the same for the left, bringing a balance back to the discussion in this all important year before a major election.  Their theatrics invite media attention, which means that pundits and candidates have to respond in order to be newsworthy.  Perfect.

Yes, it would be nice if there were clear leaders and a well-outlined platform.  But you know what?  It would probably be less effective at this point.  Because now, you and I and most everyone we know are the 99%, and we can see a glimmer of our dissatisfaction with The Way Things Are, the way things are working - and more importantly - not working, in their frustration.  And that sympathy makes the movement more widely accessible, and gives it more possibility, at least for now.

So, cheers to everyone who believes in America enough to try to fix it.  As always, I admire those who get up and say or do something, even when I don't fully agree, over those who sit on their couches and talk about it.

Ode to Lisa Bloom

I cannot recommend Lisa Bloom's book Think highly enough.  It's one of the most personally influential books I have read this year.  Every woman must read it, and men should pick it up too.

The jist of Lisa's book in two words is: read more.  The point is that women are still unequal because we give up our power in so many ways, ie caring more about celebrities than current events, giving away our time by allowing spouses/live-in partners to do less of the housework and child rearing, reality TV, errands and chores that just aren't worth our time.

"Women's accomplishments are rarely celebrated in our media unless the 'accomplishment' is in one of these five areas: appearance, romance, marriage, pregnancy, or babies."

This book allowed me to exhale.  As a single woman with Patti Stanger yelling in my ear that looking hot is all that matters, it was such a breath of fresh air to remember how wonderful it is to embrace being smart.  As you can see from the book cover, Lisa gets that this culture won't allow us to completely dial out of exterior-consciousness, but she candidly shares her own experiences being subject to attractiveness standards (and maintenance!) as a TV personality, and has struck an admirable balance.

I actually got rid of cable after reading Think.  I still watch TV online - but it's more likely that I'll also watch a documentary on Netflix than collapse into a Housewives marathon.  The amount and quality and frequency of my reading has vastly improved in the past couple months.  Not to mention doing more writing - and look! - blogging.  And just like when you eat more vegetables and less candy, I just feel better.

My only issue with the book is that it's definitely for people from the middle class or above -- hiring a housekeeper to create more time or buying pre-cut vegetables just isn't going to happen for a single mom struggling at minimum wage.  But for the women I know, both peers and those younger who are creating their paths, I truly hope they'll take the time to explore the issues Lisa so smartly explores and brings to light.

You go, girls.

--

Update!  The inspiration to finally write this post was that @LisaBloom tweeted she was on a local radio show - I called in and got on!  Thanked her for all she's doing and asked about her recommendations for female mentorship.  Too awesome.  Never would have happened if I was watching Bravo.  Just sayin'. ;)

The Herman Cain Thing.

I don't really care about Herman Cain; from where I stand today, Romney's taking it anyway (more on that later).

I'm really upset - in a throw up my hands and walk away way - that the American public and media is automatically suspicious instead of compassionate when a woman has the courage to come forward about alleged harassment.  Who the hell would want to go through all the mess of accusing a famous person of harassment or rape or anything in between, even for a big payday?

We have got to change this culture of victim blaming.  We need to take these accusations seriously.  We should run any man who treats women poorly out of town, much less elect him to office. We need to create a culture where women are respected - then these things won't happen in the first place.