8 MAY 11 - MAY 17, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Congressional candidates
descend on Bay Ridge for forum
BY HELEN KLEIN
HKLEIN@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Of the nine candidates vying
for the Congressional seat
representing Bay Ridge,
Dyker Heights, Gravesend and all
of Staten Island, a whopping seven
were on hand for a candidates forum
organized by AARP 3630 on Tuesday,
May 8.
Speaking to the largely senior
citizen audience gathered in the
community room at Shore Hill, 9000
Shore Road, were former Congressmember
Michael Grimm, who’s
challenging the current seatholder,
Congressmember Dan Donovan, for
the Republican nomination, as well as
Democratic hopefuls Michael DeVito,
Zach Emig, Max Rose, Paul Sperling
and Omar Vaid (a Brooklynite), and
Green Party candidate Henry Bardell.
Only Donovan, who was in Washington
the day of the event, and
Democratic candidate Radhakrishna
Mohan, were absent.
While the race between Donovan
and Grimm — the former rep, who
gave up the post after pleading guilty
to tax evasion, and who served seven
months of an eight-month sentence —
has been heated, to say the least, with
charges and counter-charges flying
freely, the forum was relatively free
of fireworks, in part because each
candidate was given eight minutes to
present, there were no questions, and
there was no back-and-forth between
the participants.
But, Emig — a bond trader by profession
who spoke at length about
his support for the impeachment of
President Donald Trump and sported
a button proclaiming, “Yes, Impeach
Now” — managed to sneak in at least
one zinger, telling the group, “I’m
one of the businessmen who hasn’t
served jail time,” a direct dig at
Grimm. “If you want one, you’ll have
to look elsewhere.”
Trump’s possible impeachment
was also on Grimm’s mind. The
former congressmember slammed
today’s Democratic members of Congress
as a whole for the impeachment
talk of some, seeming amazed that
such a suggestion would be made.
“The Democratic Party of today is
not like the Democratic
Party of my parents
and grandparents,”
Grimm said, adding,
“I wasn’t a big fan of
Barack Obama, but
you never once heard
me get up and give a
speech about impeaching
the president of the
United States because I am a patriot.
You might not like President Trump
but he’s our president and he’s
trying.”
Asserting that the economy has
improved under Trump, Grimm
contended, “The idea that he only
cut taxes on the rich is just not true.
When you file taxes, you’ll see it.”
He definitely played to his senior
citizen audience. “We’ve actually
forgotten what makes America
the greatest country in the world,”
Grimm told the crowd. “It was called
the greatest generation for a reason,
because they knew it took hard
work and sacrifice to get ahead. No
one came here with their hand out
like they do today. They raised their
children with
family values
and so
on, and that
mattered.”
O v e r a l l ,
the Democratic
candidates
who spoke
sha red a
constellation
of priorities —
improving access
to healthcare;
tackling
the the opioid crisis and the plague
of income inequality, which many
contended has been exacerbated by
the new tax law (“The middle class
is now the new poor,” said DeVito,
“and the poor is being imprisoned
by debt and lack of opportunity.”);
revamping the nation’s infrastructure,
both on the ground and online;
and preserving Social Security and
Medicare for future generations
(“Republicans want to privatize it,”
said Sperling, adding, “The next
time the economy goes down, we’ll
all be out of luck, but I believe we
can keep Social Security solvent
for generations to come by raising
the payroll cap on millionaires and
billionaires.”)
The need to revitalize this country’s
manufacturing sector was
also brought up, with Vaid — one
of several candidates with union
ties — bemoaning the fact that “You
can’t buy an American-made cloth
flag in this country” and recounting
the difficulties he faced when he went
to buy an American-made suit, and
discovered that almost all the suits
for sale were made elsewhere.
“A Chevy is as important as an
American flag,” Vaid contended. “It
would be a shame if there wasn’t a
Chevy. To me, it’s about protecting
things that are valuable to all of us.”
Ending the gridlock in the nation’s
capital was also discussed, with Rose
calling it “despicable.
“The country’s best days can’t be
behind us,” Rose contended, adding
that change could occur, “If we
just start electing people who put
country first, not worry about their
political party. We can be so much
better.”
The primary election will be held
on June 26. The general election will
be held on November 6.
Omar Vaid.
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Helen Klein
AARP’s Peter Killen with Michael Grimm, Paul Sperling,
Michael DeVito, Zach Emig and Henry Bardel.
Max Rose.