I like this one. I wonder what the chances are for the commy bastard to beat Sliwa. By the way I remember Barry Farber schooling listeners on his Polish pronunciation, with the w pronounced as a v.
I think Curtis adopted an "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude about the pronunciation of his name. You might remember a classmate of ours named Tony Jimenez, who pronounced his name with a hard "J" sound, "JIM-en-EZ." When he first told me his name, I said, "Don't you mean Hee-MEN-ez?", and he said, "Hey, Man, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
This is far and away one of your best ever essays. I take issue only with your inclusion of Mike Bloomberg together with Bill deBlasio and Eric Adams. Bloomberg, following the strong leadership of Rudy Giuliani transformed and returned the city to its once golden age. Under his leadership, we saw incredible development, improved services, cleaner streets and safety - once again, I could ride the subways again without fear. In fact, he himself proudly rode the trains to work! His mayoralty was a peak moment in NYC history. Sadly, we’ve gone downhill or rather jumped into an abyss after he left office.
I remember Bloomberg as being not exactly a proponent of personal freedom; his banning of smoking and of trans fats might be seen as constructive, but his attempt to dictate how much soda people could drink, which earned him the nickname "Little Big Gulp," was a bridge too far, and inspired the following joke:
Mayor Bloomberg was sitting on a bench in Central Park when a young man sat down, reached into a shopping bag, and pulled out a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. The young man unscrewed the cap and proceeded to guzzle down the entire bottle.
The young man then produced a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi-Cola, and guzzled it down in the same fashion. He then produced a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper and had guzzled about half of it when Mayor Bloomberg could no longer contain himself.
"Young Man," the mayor said, "you really shouldn't be drinking all that soda. It's profoundly unhealthful; it'll give you acne, make you fat, and even give you diabetes. Furthermore, if I have my way, it will be ILLEGAL to drink that much soda!"
The young man paused and said to Mayor Bloomberg, "I'll have you know that my grandfather drank SIX 2-liter bottles of soda every day of his life, and he lived to be 102 years old!"
Mayor Bloomberg said, "Well, that's certainly impressive. But surely you don't believe that your grandfather attained that ripe old age BECAUSE he drank all that soda!"
And the young man replied, "NO, he attained that ripe old age because HE knew how to MIND HIS OWN FUCKING BUSINESS!"
• • •
I'm also remembering that Bloomberg was not exactly a proponent of the 2nd Amendment.
So, despite the positive things that he might have done, I'll never be a fan.
Well said, and what a great essay that you wrote!
This says it all!
I’m sharing this!
🙏
I like this one. I wonder what the chances are for the commy bastard to beat Sliwa. By the way I remember Barry Farber schooling listeners on his Polish pronunciation, with the w pronounced as a v.
I think Curtis adopted an "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude about the pronunciation of his name. You might remember a classmate of ours named Tony Jimenez, who pronounced his name with a hard "J" sound, "JIM-en-EZ." When he first told me his name, I said, "Don't you mean Hee-MEN-ez?", and he said, "Hey, Man, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
This is far and away one of your best ever essays. I take issue only with your inclusion of Mike Bloomberg together with Bill deBlasio and Eric Adams. Bloomberg, following the strong leadership of Rudy Giuliani transformed and returned the city to its once golden age. Under his leadership, we saw incredible development, improved services, cleaner streets and safety - once again, I could ride the subways again without fear. In fact, he himself proudly rode the trains to work! His mayoralty was a peak moment in NYC history. Sadly, we’ve gone downhill or rather jumped into an abyss after he left office.
I remember Bloomberg as being not exactly a proponent of personal freedom; his banning of smoking and of trans fats might be seen as constructive, but his attempt to dictate how much soda people could drink, which earned him the nickname "Little Big Gulp," was a bridge too far, and inspired the following joke:
Mayor Bloomberg was sitting on a bench in Central Park when a young man sat down, reached into a shopping bag, and pulled out a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. The young man unscrewed the cap and proceeded to guzzle down the entire bottle.
The young man then produced a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi-Cola, and guzzled it down in the same fashion. He then produced a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper and had guzzled about half of it when Mayor Bloomberg could no longer contain himself.
"Young Man," the mayor said, "you really shouldn't be drinking all that soda. It's profoundly unhealthful; it'll give you acne, make you fat, and even give you diabetes. Furthermore, if I have my way, it will be ILLEGAL to drink that much soda!"
The young man paused and said to Mayor Bloomberg, "I'll have you know that my grandfather drank SIX 2-liter bottles of soda every day of his life, and he lived to be 102 years old!"
Mayor Bloomberg said, "Well, that's certainly impressive. But surely you don't believe that your grandfather attained that ripe old age BECAUSE he drank all that soda!"
And the young man replied, "NO, he attained that ripe old age because HE knew how to MIND HIS OWN FUCKING BUSINESS!"
• • •
I'm also remembering that Bloomberg was not exactly a proponent of the 2nd Amendment.
So, despite the positive things that he might have done, I'll never be a fan.
It took 25 years ( I know that’s just a drop in the bucket for Muslims) and here they are. Again.
Your Christian friends in California are praying for a miracle for New York.
I agree with Laurie. This is one of your best essays that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I’m sharing too.
Great piece!