Neighborhood-level ethnic tensions are a funny thing. They’re usually stressful, frustrating and embarrassing – even to observers. But in America, they’re also incredibly dependable.
So predictable are they that I can write a template article to be used for the clash between established residents and immigrant newcomers in any neighborhood during any point in history. It would go something like this:
August 19, 2010: Congressman Anthony Weiner puts his Brooklyn Tech High School yearbook photo as his Twitter account’s profile image.
August 20, 2010: Internet trolls, irreverent commenters and snarky bloggers die and go to comedy heaven. Simultaneously, Jennifer Gray and Janis Ian find relevance again. Briefly.
August 21, 2010: Weiner has more Twitter followers than Ashton Kutcher.
[Weiner's Twitter account - Daily Politics via Daily Intel]
This really has very little to do with neighborhood news, but sometimes these things irk me. And I have a soapbox. So I’ll abuse it.
On Monday, we told you about Lance Stephenson, the former Lincoln High School basketball star and Indiana Pacers rookie that tossed his girlfriend down some stairs. At the end of the article, we had to ask, “Do you think the New York Post would’ve repeatedly referred to Jasmine Williams as Stephenson’s ‘baby mama’ if he were not black?” Well, our question fell on deaf ears, as they published at least four more reports using the arguably racist term.
Now we’ve got more eyebrow-raising reporting, as the fawning sportswriters over at the Daily News forget just who it is that’s the victim. They questioned Sebastian Telfair, another Lincoln H.S. basketball alum, about advice for Stephenson to overcome the apparent hurdles of his abusive, shithead nature.
Telfair says the Indiana Pacers rookie can bounce back as long as he owns up to his actions.
“He has to understand that it’s a mistake he made, and the quicker he gets over it, the better off he’ll be in life,” Telfair told the Daily News Wednesday evening at the Most Precious Blood community center in Gravesend, Brooklyn, where he treated nearly 150 kids and coaches from his 3T Family basketball tournament to trophies, food and refreshments. “Sometimes we go through things, we make mistakes and we dwell on it for too long. I hope he knows (Sunday’s incident) doesn’t make who he is as a person. He’s going to show his character as a good person, which I know he is. He’ll be all right.”
…
“It’s an unfortunate situation, but this isn’t the first obstacle he’s had to jump over,” Telfair said. “I’m sure he’ll get through it and come out strong. He has a lot of talent and with the opportunity, he’ll be able to do great things for himself.”
Wouldn’t “Stop beating your girlfriend” be better advice? This isn’t just one mistake Stephenson made. It’s just the one he got caught on. Family friends said Williams has been the victim of his temper before.
Daily News’ reporting almost left me feeling bad – sympathetic even – for this douchebag. How will he ever bounce back from this cosmic tragedy baring down on his life and career? How?!
Oh, then I remembered this maggot is the one that caused his own problems, and he physically hurt someone else in doing it. And he still gets to walk away with his $1.5 million contract.
Boo. F’ing. Hoo.
Congressman Weiner and Councilman Fidler in a pointlessly photoshopped image.
Councilman Lew Fidler isn’t finding an ally in Congressman Anthony Weiner for his crusade to protect consumers from feuding cable companies and content providers. But the councilman says it’s just a matter of time before he successfully woos the federal representative to his aid.
In a comment left on Sheepshead Bites, the councilman asked constituents to contact their federal representatives and “DEMAND that broadcast stations—the ones who seek and accept a license from the FCC to use YOUR public airwaves—NOT be permitted to charge retransmission fees. I will stay on this soapbox and continue to raise this issue tho the City Council has limited power over this largely Federal issue.”
Fidler will need the aid of federal representatives, since the companies are governed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Legislators will need to direct the agency to take up the issue and enact new policies.
But Congressman Weiner is reluctant to get involved, and said the contracts are a private business issue and should be left between the participants.
L Magazine must have known we needed some lettered love. The publication of the city’s uber-hip took a rare look down under (ie. below Park Slope) in a search for the borough’s best local blog. And what they found is that Sheepshead Bites is hard at work bringing you original reporting about one of the city’s most under-appreciated neighborhoods.
In their “Best of Brooklyn (and Manhattan Too)” feature, the magazine singled out Sheepshead Bites as the “Best Local Blogger.” They wrote:
You wouldn’t think you’d care what was happening way the hell out in Sheepshead Bay, but Ned Berke’s tireless reportage at Sheepshead Bites is endlessly fascinating—a mysterious dead body washed ashore? Racist Tea Partiers want to stop a mosque? Rest assured, his blog isn’t just links to Courier Life stories—the one-time journalism student is on the scene, snapping pictures and interviewing witnesses, when he’s not collecting tips and photos from readers.
Well, I’d love to take all the credit, but Sheepshead Bites isn’t just a one-man band. I’ve got to thank Ray Johnson, Samantha LoSapio, Rachel Vasilets, Daniel Gershburg, Joseph Reisman, Arthur Borko, Erica Sherman, Ariela Baranova and all the countless tipsters who help keep this site so rich with content.
Now, there’s no cash reward or champagne-fueled party to go along with the title. In fact, no one from L Magazine even notified us (that came by way of Facebook reader Kathleen L.). It’s all good, though. I’m appreciative because it gives me the chance to once again say thank you – not just to the writers – but to all you awesome readers who keep this site going and constantly evangelize the blog and the neighborhood. Keep it up!
Now… back to work…
Secrets of New York was a show financed by the City of New York starting back in 2005, under NYC Media Group (a.k.a. NYCTV, now NYC Life), about the secret histories and mysteries in the five boroughs. While I wouldn’t say Sheepshead Bay qualifies as “hidden” – the title of this segment – or a secret, it’s a well-done video. Far more style than the Parks Department piece I posted on Monday.
But why shouldn’t it be of higher quality? It was put together by one of our own, reader Philip Ng, who served as co-writer/producer/director on it along with Kelly Choi, who’s now on Top Chef Masters. Thanks, Philip, for bringing it to my attention.
Happy birthday, Bay News! You’re 65!
But you knew that. After all, you recently released a pile of dead tree to pat yourself on the back, jam-packed with indefatigable praise of your own accomplishments.
And you deserve it, too. From your humble beginnings as a paper for servicemen, to your development into a Brooklyn-wide chain, and your eventual snowballing with one of the world’s largest media conglomerates (Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, owner of such paragons of journalism as the NY Post and Fox News) – you’ve come a long way.
But could you be nearing the end of the line?
Keep reading my praise for the Bay News on its 65th birthday.
The granddaddy of Brooklyn advertising circulars, Newsday’s Marketeer, has folded after more than 20 years, depriving tens of thousands of coupon clippers of local business bargains.
For me, the loss is personal.
Before Marketeer was purchased by Newsday in the late 90s, I was a columnist. It was my first writing gig, and I was all of 13 years old. I wrote a kid’s column for about half a year, part of the paper’s effort to expand offerings by adding value for parents. Without much guidance, a school buddy and I wrote weekly columns about video games, toys, local shops, et cetera.
In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.
With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.
And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Continue Reading »
There were no surprises in the local City Council races, as incumbents Lew Fidler (46th District) and Michael C. Nelson (48th District) bested their opposition in this year’s races by a wide margin.
Fidler picked up 79.23 percent of the vote (17,101), leaving Republican opponent Gene Berardelli with 19.46 percent, or 4,201 votes. Libertarian candidate Derek Sacerdote took the remaining 1.31 percent (282). Nelson’s lead was larger, with 89.83 percent (12,528), versus Conservative candidate Stephen Walters, who collected 10.17 percent (1418).
As readers of Sheepshead Bites know, the race for the 46th District was spirited, with often heated back-and-forths between Berardelli and Fidler on this site (here and here), culminating in a taped debate. At issue were term limits, discretionary funding, and negative campaign tactics.
In the end, Fidler attributed his win to running a positive campaign, telling Yournabe.com “negative campaigning isn’t tolerated” in the 46th district, a dig at Berardelli’s website, TheFidler.com.
***
On an editorial note, this hardly passes as news, as Democratic candidates are almost never ousted in Brooklyn. Just take a glance at Yournabe.com’s front page, and you’ll see headlines – probably written days before – like this: “DeBlasio wins in landslide…”, “Gentile has easy win…”, “Williams coasts to victory…”, and so on.
Such headlines are so predictable, even before campaign season starts, that it’s ingrained into the mind of every voter, candidate, and reporter from the outset. So when Fidler attributes his win to the other side’s negative campaigning, we have to wonder if it has more to do with self-fulfilling prophesy.
This year was the first time I’ve ever reported on campaigns. And as I followed the fights, it became obvious to me that I was the only one that did. Except for token articles about scandalous claims – like the “anti-semitism” debacle – even the local media didn’t bother reporting the opposition. And for that, we all suffer.
Brooklyn needs real elections to fix its problems, and for that, it needs more media covering the opponents. I’m not saying the Democrats need to be voted out, but elections – especially City Council elections – are a time for discussion about a community’s future. When the opposition isn’t taken seriously, the people are deprived of that discussion, and the incumbent slips by with little accountability.
During various times in our reporting, Fidler intoned – though never said – that Sheepshead Bites’ coverage was biased towards Berardelli. I think Fidler would’ve considered biased any coverage of Berardelli that didn’t lampoon him. And I don’t blame him, candidates in Brooklyn are not used to seeing their general election opponents taken seriously, so any attempt to is cast in a light of suspicion.
That needs to change. Not to the detriment of Fidler or other incumbents, but to the benefit of us all. Courier-Life editor Ken Brown told one caller who asked about more coverage for the opposition, “Republicans aren’t newsworthy.” That needs to change. When anyone – civic group, blog, or business – holds a debate between all the candidates and it doesn’t get a lick of coverage, that needs to change.
Sheepshead Bites was proud of our part in reporting on the 46th District campaign. We wish we had the resources to have covered the 48th District – and others – better. And we’re also proud that a councilman like Lew Fidler, who believes in communicating with his constituents and engaging his opponents, represents an area we cover.
But our pride is tempered by the realization of a failure of an entire industry to even partially fulfill its raison d’etre. News media exists to inform the public. This elections proved to me just how cataclysmically they fail at that. And they wonder why their future looks as grey as the paper they print on.
