Paterson’s popularity in Harlem has plummeted

New York State Gov, David Paterson talks to the media in Utica, N.Y., Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

For Harlem residents, March 2008 was a proud time. David Paterson, the man who was being sworn in as New York’s 55^th governor, had represented their neighborhood in the State Senate for more than 20 twenty years.

“He [was] a Harlemite, with uptown experience,” said Rev. Luonne Rouse, 54, of the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church, at 126^th Street and Madison Avenue. “[He showed that we, in Harlem,] can make a major contribution to the state.”

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Bronxites unhappy with Albany

Photo Credit: Thorsten Schier

Councilman Oliver Koppel has seen a lot of political wrangling in the 39 years he has been active in New York City politics.

Even he is shocked, however, by the current state of the government in Albany. “It seems fairly clear that there are problems,” Koppel said in an interview. “It is a result of the heavily partisan nature of politics in New York.”
Koppel spent 23 years in the State Assembly and is currently the Democratic councilman for District 11 in the Bronx. He sees Senate Majority leader Pedro Espada as particularly responsible for the turmoil. “He’s been terribly irresponsible in the manner in which he has conducted himself. Some of his failures are shocking,” Koppel said. Continue Reading

“Selling” the President on 125th street

Photo Credit: Diya Chacko

Street vendors have comfortably parked themselves on every block of Harlem’s bustling 125th St. to hawk incense, homemade CDs and self-published urban literature. Some booths are piled high with T-shirts, many featuring the face of President Obama.

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Simon Perchik at Hot and Crusty. Photo credit: Sarveen Abubaker

On the Upper West Side, disdain for state politics

Simon Perchik sits by himself in the busy Hot & Crusty outlet on Broadway and 88th Street, scrawling neatly on a sheet of paper. On the table is a book of poems by Vicente Aleixandre, the 1977 Nobel Prize winner for literature. There are no airs about Perchik: asked what he thinks of Albany politics, he smiles warmly and settles down to take questions. Continue Reading