Nobody's Opinion Really Seems To Count...Here's Why!

Every reporter has that one piece, that one project, that one “simple” assignment that they take on without thinking of the challenges and roadblocks they’re about to encounter. Mostly, they’re thinking about the prestige, the professional reputation they will gain and possibly the financial gain involved in the assignment - and perhaps they even care about how that one story will open doors to other rewarding projects.

It’s sad when a simple assignment - a straight-forward project that has a beginning and end - provokes you to learn more about who you’re surrounded by and how lackadaisical they are when it comes to their community.

I recently took on the Canarsie Courier’s weekly column: “What’s Your Opinion.” It’s a fun to read forum - usually compiled by different freelancers who are bold enough to hit the streets and survey residents on their opinions about certain topics. I was honored to take on this new role (if ‘honored’ sounds corny, it’s okay - I spent many years as the newspaper’s editor assigning people to ask a different opinion question every week).  This new endeavor wasn’t a problem for me socially or professionally!

So "simple" yet so opinionated!!

I was able to formulate the questions myself, as I kept the inquiries local and realistic. I mapped out the locations I would ask random people these questions. I was also prepared to show residents a published column from the week before so they could see what the finished product entailed. All I needed were a handful of people to answer a simple question and get their photo.

Great!

Those who are professionally close to me know that I’ve grown out of my shyness. I can approach anyone (who will actively respond) and I've had no problems addressing large crowds at meetings to foster a relationship between organizations and the newspaper. There’s nothing I fear about speaking to strangers. Everyone’s a stranger until you talk to them and make a connection…right?

I guess I gave myself too much credit during my second round as a roving reporter!

I planned on asking residents a simple question: How do you feel about the quality of transportation in our community? Also, what would you change about the local bus routes - or would you add a route to an under-served block/avenue? I know a lot of people are upset about transportation issues around here -so it should have been easy to obtain at least a couple good answers! 

Sadly, my attempt at trying to publicize how "outraged" people are about the MTA was brutally unsuccessful. One woman waiting for a bus at East 105th Street near Flatlands Avenue blatantly got the “no passengers” hand signal from a driver passing the stop. She was fuming.

Great! A chance to ask her what she would change about the local bus service.

“Hi miss. I’m with the local newspaper and we do a column every week surveying residents on quality of life issues. This week we want to know how you feel about the local bus service….”

“No, I can’t talk, there’s too much going on in my mind right now…” She uttered quickly, even though she clearly had plenty of time on her hands because her bus wasn’t coming. I rolled my eyes, knowing that if I mentioned the incident with this woman in the newspaper, she’d never read it because she has “too much on her mind” to care about what’s being published in her local newspaper.
  

I was also close to getting a great answer from one gentleman who was waiting for the B60 bus on Flatlands Avenue near Rockaway Parkway. He had all the right qualms for all the right reasons.

“It’s terrible! I live right there on East 86 Street and come all the way down here to get the B60 and it never comes - I wait 20 minutes for one bus!”

Wow, perfect! Of course, too perfect…He pulled the breaks on being a good candidate when I said I just needed a headshot of him to go with the statement.

“No…No..I can’t …..No..Sorry.”

No? What - is he a criminal? Is he wanted by the police and that tiny headshot in the Canarsie Courier would happen to be the ONE place authorities located him? Does he owe child support and his biggest fear is “baby mama” seeing his face plastered in a two-by-two column in the local newspaper?

I just didn’t get it - until I realized that these types of people in our community - the ones who didn’t want to have their words and face printed on paper - are the very residents who most likely don’t go to meetings, don’t want to influence change and don’t care about their community. They “have too much on their minds,” “don’t have the time” and don’t want to show their faces where/when it matters!

For all these shy/scared residents know, I could have done a full story on the quality of public transportation in the area and perhaps connected them with resources to help improve bus service. I felt like saying, “Well, you know why the bus service is so horrible? Because people like you don’t want to have their voices heard or their faces accounted for!”

I did finally get my answers from people I knew in the community and those who weren’t ashamed to tell me what needed improvement.

In the end, I didn’t care if people shoved me off - it gave me a clearer understanding of how unimportant it is for residents to express themselves to the press. It made me realize why the same familiar faces always go to civic meetings and you’ll rarely see dozens of new people at a time coming out to make a reputation for themselves in order to implement change. They're simply too afraid to be accounted for!

Let’s get real! Most people are busy or would rather hide behind social media and take “selfies” - where they’re only proud enough to show themselves to people who can’t influence change. They’re not looking to give their opinion on anything because they’re not annoyed enough or feel strong enough to show their faces. 
In my opinion, that’s an unfortunate way to operate in a small and quaint community.

Oh Rats! A Great Idea Ruined By Humans!

After a short hiatus from sounding off against quality of life issues, my latest rant renews all of the flavors and sentiments of an angry New Yorker just trying to make sense of this crazy city...

Now that I travel on New York City Transit every day to work in the city, I understand the real difference between rats and rats. You have the small animal rodents, which scurry out of street openings, train tunnels and subways looking for food/water/garbage...Then you have the human rats, which travel through the streets and subway system - depositing their food/water/garbage. 

With a new "plan" proposed by the city to invest $32 million in anti-rat receptacles, it's hard to say who's ratting out who when it comes to trash and the blame game.

To be honest, I don't get freaked out when I see rodents in the subway. Yes, I DO flip out when a mouse is in the clean space of my apartment! However, the world of the underground and the dumpy disasters that exist on our streets in our disgusting city has plenty of dirty, dark pits with feces-ridden crevices for rodents to camp out and multiply.  Despite reports that the city will buy 336 solar-powered trash cans that supposedly keep out rats with a mailbox style opening, it's humans that are at the root of many sanitary problems - and that's not something a fancy garbage bin will change.

I've considered a few points that make the city's initiative a go-nowhere plan:

- New Yorkers are filthy litterbugs. Okay - maybe you're not a litterbug...Maybe you take your trash with you to dispose of in a garbage pail. Maybe you have..um..manners! From what I've witnessed, commuters and city folk have NO problem leaving their garbage on the street, "accidentally" dropping paper wrappers or left over foodstuff somewhere in their travels. I've seen people leave empty bottles on the streets and others take bags of bulk trash from THEIR OWN HOMES and leave it on a street corner for the city to collect.  Don't get me started on illegal dumping! Those piles of refuse from God knows where attract vermin and other critters to make a perfect home. 

- New York City is one big toilet bowl. An exaggeration, perhaps - but not really. In my travels, I've seen more people use our public streets as bathrooms than I should have. One day while I was on my way into a train station, I saw a young woman crouching down by the subway stairs with her pants halfway down, urinating right there! To make matters worse, she had a youngster with her, obviously showing the child that it's okay to defecate public property in our city. And you know the offensive phrase "men are dogs?" Well, in one sense I can say it's true. I've seen way too many men in our community sidle up to a tree or against a building and empty their bladder as if they were an anxious dog on a short walk! With all of the human waste that uncouth citizens deposit onto our city, is it any wonder why the stale and funky conditions of our streets DO NOT deter rodents from joining what I call the "defecation parade"?

-Rats aren't bummed out by people. With the homeless population increasing, the number of people rats can get food from is also increasing. When you see a homeless person with their bags laying in the street, chances are, the bum is also harboring food and liquids somewhere in their makeshift "home." Perfect places for rodents to curl up and find a meal! I'm no exterminator, but rodents don't need much to thrive other than food and water. Whenever I see a homeless person on the street laying in a corner with bags of food or bottles they probably found in the garbage, I also see a perfect opportunity for vermin to join them and have a nice meal. 

The Daily News reported last week that the city's prior efforts at wiping out rats simply weren't combative enough. Poisoning and blocking their burrows? Come on! That's like using cotton balls to fight heavily-armed military troops! 

Other efforts to battle the beady-eyed monsters include requiring buildings in the city's most infested communities with ten or more units to put out their trash for collection after 4 in the morning instead of in the evenings. 

With a few other alterations in the works to fend off the furry creatures - including cementing the basements of city buildings that have foundations made of dirt (yeah, okay - they can't even allocate a budget to make structural repairs for their tenants!) - NONE of the plans include enforcing HUMANS to be cleaner. There aren't many residents who even see the value in being clean and sanitary. Why don't residents care that THEY are the reason rodents are overpopulating the city? Why doesn't that guy throwing his food onto the streets care if his filth attracts vermin? 

In a world where so many diverse cultures - clean and unsanitary - live among animals, New Yorkers simply represent another population of humans that must learn to live with the critters we've enticed.

Clown Cars And NYC Charter Schools

Don't you just love to laugh at those circus acts where dozens - sometimes hundreds - of clumsy clowns exit a really tiny car? The way they fumble out the doors, onto the ground and on top of each other, you know they were hiding in some hatch underneath that small automobile. Still, the thought that they're trying to create a "magic" scene of stuffing the red-nosed entertainers into a Volkswagen Beetle is, I think, a hilarious comparison to how the general public tries to smush lots of things into considerably small physical spaces. 

Let's see how many we can get in here!!!

Speaking of smushing things into small spaces, a recent report in the New York Daily News revealed that charter school representatives are upset with city officials for turning down various requests to facilitate public space.

One group claims that the city has denied 79 percent of applying charter school requests to occupy space in public buildings.

Considering how many meetings I've covered for the Canarsie Courier that focused on charter schools requesting space in an already-established public school - where studies show there is "underenrollment" - I was angered at the Daily News article for being so broad in its disheartening report.

Over the years, public engagement sessions have been hosted all over the city so that parents and teachers could provide feedback on charter schools seeking to co-locate at a certain school. Charter schools seem to be the bane of the general public's existence. Parents by and large have claimed students from a new school will take away resources available to pupils who already attend the public school. Some parents have also voiced their concerns over academic competition among charter and public school students.

Let's get real! Charter school reps shouldn't blame the city in general for denying them space in a school - they should blame the yammering parents, teachers and civic leaders who fight to keep charters out of buildings they consider a second home to the community's children. It's true - if you fight hard enough against an issue and you make enough noise, you just might frighten away those who are looking to share your home!

There are more schools in the city now where multiple "academies" exist in one building. Doesn't matter how small the school building is physically - it only matters that the ratio of students to classroom space is under a certain percentage. The Department of Education (DOE) typically calls these schools "underutilized" and, of course, school officials who don't want to share their space will challenge the DOE about those figures and the space their school actually has available.

In some instances, charter schools may be turned down because public engagement has so strongly protested egregious co-locations, such as placing an elementary school inside of a high school. Concerns over the safety of younger students sharing space with teenagers is reason enough to take that co-locating idea back to the drawing board.

Personally, I refer to buildings like South Shore High School in Canarsie the Clown Campus,  where more than a handful of small academies - some with long and highfalutin names to make them sound pretentious and overly successful - are jam packed into one space. Say all you want about how much space is "physically available"...Show the us the crazy "formulas" created by some intelligent agency whose engineers may or may not even have children enrolled in that public school! Every year or so the DOE manages to shove another school inside of a school building with multiple academies! Is this the DOE's way of treating our children like clowns in a circus? Just get as many of them in there as you can!!!

Even though there haven't been many complaints about charter schools that share space with public schools, as a community we have a right to protest their requests and turn them down just like any other plans brought to the table that will effect childrens' learning experience.

Hey - I'm sure if you asked all those clowns coming out of that tiny car if they wanted a separate ride to the circus instead of piggybacking off someone else's already-cramped trip, they'd gladly go where they're not packed into a place they're probably not welcomed.

Sheltering Our Homeless Isn't The Biggest Problem

When I exit the Times Square train station every week day, I'm reminded of the growing homeless problem in New York City. With dozens of bums setting up makeshift beds compiled of flattened cardboard boxes, stuffed garbage bags and metal chairs, you can't walk down one block and NOT see a trash-strewn body radiating the stench of human feces.

Now that I've created a visual (and perhaps stirred your nostrils) I can definitely attest to the fact that since Mayor Bill de Blasio has been in charge, the homeless problem is getting worse. Not only is  the percentage of bums in the street increasing, the homeless are also taking over the subways. When I get on the L train at around 6 in the morning, there's at least one or two homeless men in each car - some lying down - taking away seats from those who are on their way to work - some are sitting crouched over in a two-seater with huge garbage bags next to them.

Some of the homeless people I've seen on the trains travel with shopping wagons filled with GARBAGE. Real garbage - not items like their clothes or perhaps blankets. They travel with TRASH - including dozens of empty soda bottles or bottles filled with what appears to be their own urine. Also attached to their mini-home-on-the-go are torn up plastic bags that obviously can't be used to hold anything! Other homeless individuals are trekking around with years-old newspapers and ripped up literature that I'm sure has no lucrative purpose...right? Are these people able to function normally? What person in their right mind (who is mentally healthy) travels all over the city with dozens of bottles filled with their own urine? Did I miss something?

Rent-free, perfect home! Courtesy of NY DAILY NEWS

Let's get real! Now that Mayor de Blasio has planted his pipe dreams of establishing more homeless shelters in the city, should we feel better about the possibility of there being less homeless people on the streets? Or are his elusive plans - which don't pinpoint specifically where the 90 new proposed shelters will be located - proof that he's clueless about how bad the situation really is?

I've been known to strike a few negative chords among my blog readers, who think I'm cold and heartless due to my general statement/belief - that most of the homeless population does NOT want help or housing. Many officials have found that homeless individuals do NOT want to stay in shelters because the conditions there are worse than the streets or subways.

Put it this way - if there were an increasing amount of homeless people turning their lives around and becoming a productive part of society, where are all of those reports??? In my opinion, instead of highlighting de Blasio's plans which may or may not involve using hotels to house the homeless, what percentage of that "growing homeless population" WANTS to live a productive life?

Has anyone surveyed how effective drug abuse programs are and how effective treatment is for those wagon-pushing street dwellers? As we've heard from various news reports, there are homeless people mad/insane enough to push an innocent straphanger onto train tracks!

Mental health facilities may be able to diagnose and medicate those who have imbalances and diseases like schizophrenia. Sadly, people with mental diseases - which prevent them from functioning at a job - may never live in a clean and habitable home.

What about those who point the blame at the high cost of living in our city? Certainly, if you're reading this blog and you have a job/career and a roof over your head, you're functioning normally enough to know that you need to make money and be a productive part of society - no matter where you live or how many roommates you have to tolerate at once to have your own "place."

The New York Daily News does an excellent job of contradicting its own reports with diverse/contrasting articles. In their March 1st edition, they showcased de Blasio's "Nowhere Plan" on page 5. However, to prove that displaced residents with brains - who function normally and want out of the shelter system - they published a story on page 12 in the same issue titled: "Grad To Be Here," which highlights Rosemary Rodriguez, a once-homeless teen who earned a "Beat the Odds" scholarship worth $10,000. As the article states, the 17-year-old and her family were forced to seek refuge in a shelter. But the determined youth didn't let unfortunate circumstances stop her from taking vital steps that could lead to her professional success. The article proved to me that if a teenager could fight through a tragic situation, why can't a normal adult (carrying torn shopping bags in their feces-laden pockets) turn their lives around to be...I don't know...a city worker? Maybe a drug counselor?

What excuse will we make for the thousands of homeless who increasingly refuse to even TRY to make a decent living? If homeless individuals are content with their day-to-day operations and if they're perfectly fine with wreaking of alcohol and yelling out obscenities to strangers for no reason during a quiet morning commute, then why convince them to live otherwise? Some people collect urine bottles while others collect pipe dreams of wiping out homelessness...

Juggling With The End Of An Era

At The Greatest Show On Earth:2010

I wasn't one of those children who were frequently taken to the circus. Growing up, my parents took me to museums, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, zoos and libraries in and around Canarsie. I remember going to an Easter parade and school trips usually included a visit to a theatre to see some type of play or musical that got our young creative juices flowing.

It wasn't until I began working for the Canarsie Courier that received tickets to see Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth," which will finally close its curtains at the end of May.  

I can't even begin to document the problems and adversities faced by circus performers. Animal cruelty, punishment, unfair treatment of tigers, cats, elephants...all which have reportedly led to the decline in ticket sales.

While many animal rights' groups coined this the "cruelest show on earth," I still think it's a sad day when you can no longer take your child to see a show where humans are performing some of the craziest physical challenges. They're taking exciting looking risks most of us wouldn't even try. A fire-eater? A tightrope walker? Acrobats who spend weeks - if not months - honing their balancing skills? Where else can you watch a show that makes you say, "Wow! How did they do that?"

Feld Entertainment has had an announcement posted on their web site that states the "high costs" of performances, along with the decline in ticket sales, has made the show unsustainable to the company. Of course, we all know that it's not just about "times they are a'changing." The more people who protest against the way animals are trained/tortured, the less people are likely to buy tickets to see the circus.

I do question the timing of all this protesting. Let's get real! Many circus companies survived for centuries. Why didn't animal cruelty come to light in the 1950s through the 2000s? Where were all the animal rights activists when the shows began?

Nowadays, with help from social media, videos of cruel treatment is constantly leaked to the public so that we finally get a "behind the scenes" look at how elephants, lions and horses are trained under unfair conditions.
What about the humans? How are those clowns treated? Any allergic reactions to all that paint they have wear on their face? Is the fire-eating man getting compensation for the horrid acid reflux he's probably developed years ago?
While circus performers have their own unions that enforce their rights and provide legal backing, animals don't have the same protection in that capacity. So why don't we just keep the circus about humans and NOT animals?

The handful of times I went to see the circus as an adult, I admired the time, effort, energy and training that went into the show. Even if it seemed unnecessary to whip an elephant in such a way that it would jump on its hindlegs, I was still amazed at the show overall!
Where else can you see so many colors, hear so many sounds, and smell so many foods only served at the circus? Closing the circus not only means the memories that can be made for many children no longer exist, it means the next generation will never know the value of watching a LIVE show performed by individuals who challenged their physical abilities.
They're only gonna be able to view those shows on YouTube. Watching clips of the circus will be tantamount to witnessing a duel from the gladiator days - when REAL brawn and battles to the death existed throughout the Roman Empire! Well, not that barbaric - but challenging performances that once took ultimate skill and practice will be a distant memory and future generations will never see that type of energy again!

Our Brooklyn community saw the beginning of the end when former digraced State Senator Carl Kruger protested a segment of the Cole Bros. Circus which included acrobatic cats being thrown around like rag dolls. The Democrat said it was cruel for an animal to risk its life for the sole purpose of entertainment. Following that wave of awakening about the circus, the negative attention just kept on growing.

No more acrobatics to challenge the masses!

But can a circus survive and draw crowds without any animals in the show? Trapeze artists and magicians perform acts that the average person may never master. I still think a tiny bicycle steered into a circle of flames by a fat clown is hilarious! I know it's "outside the "box" to state this, but the existence of a circus also gives children hope that maybe some day they can be part of a show that travels all over the world. When a kid isn't cut out for college or aiming to obtain a highfalutin degree, what's wrong with the appeal of joining the circus? 

There are plenty of human circus acts - including Cirque du Soleil - that enlighten and inspire the masses. It's sad that the Ringing Bros. performances are now associated with animal cruelty and is no longer the greatest show on earth. Nothing will ever replace it, but then again, that's show biz!

Curse That Which Destroyed Cursive Writing!

When I was 8 years old and attending P.S. 115 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, my teacher appeared to be in her 60s or 70s (as was the style at the time - no young hipster-looking teachers back then). She wore those horrid loose-fitting multi-colored sweaters with tight necklines and bland dress pants. If it wasn't bad enough, she smelled like centuries-old perfume. A short woman, she sported gaudy necklaces that accentuated her tacky attire, she had those strings attached to her granny glasses, which she kept near the tip of her nose while peering down at us in disapproval.

I remember cursive writing...HBU???

How do I remember all of these details from my 3rd grade experience? 

As soon as the Department of Education (DOE) and Chancellor Carmen Farina announced that cursive writing is returning to our schools, it brought me back to my childhood and a time when something that was as simple as learning script seemed so frustrating and useless.

There's something regal about cursive writing - something classy and old fashioned about signing one's name or writing a personal letter in script instead of print. The question is - are children these days ever really going to use cursive writing in their adult years?

Sadly, I can say with confidence that I have no use for cursive writing at this point in my life. Other than signing my name on a check or to approve a credit card purchase in a store, when does one actually need to use cursive writing?

The renewal of cursive lessons isn't mandated and it will be up to individual school administrators to decide if and how the lessons are executed. One official said learning script would improve reading and spelling among students. They can also be better tuned in to reading historical documents like the Declaration of Independence.

Let's get real! Our writing culture is now an embarrassment to the amazing expressions/communications and evolution of Egyptian and Chinese writings - even though some were harsh, others were eloquent in style.

Hey - I never learned cursive writing so that I could head to a museum and decode scrolls of ancient script written in verbose styles never to be used again! Did I miss something? The only thing I remember about learning cursive writing was standing in line behind my classmates so that our ugly-sweater wearing teacher could yell at me for not fluidly forming my "r's" so that they didn't look like "n's". UGH!

After middle school in the 1990s, penmanship and technology changed the way students submitted their assignments. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, you weren't allowed to print OR use cursive writing in your book reports or for any academic submissions! Maybe it was because teachers, overall, found it so hard to read students' handwriting or maybe they wanted students to get a handle on technology and use word processors/computers to complete 10-page papers? 

At some point in the last two decades, the DOE and teachers mandated that handwritten academic submissions weren't just unacceptable - and abolished - they became reasons to penalize a student and give them a poor grade. Teachers would throw ANY and ALL handwritten assignments/homework back to you as if you'd passed them a snotty rag or the plague! How's that for creative encouragement and teaching students the art of writing! 

By the middle of high school, just about all handwritten assignments were banned. When I was enrolled at South Shore High School in 1994-1995, they cast us off to typing classes where our grades were based on how fast we could peck at the right keys on a keyboard without making mistakes!  This was a skill needed more than any other in the workforce - if you're not typing more than a certain amount of words per minute, you're useless to a company!

Good bye cursive, hello speed typing!

Go ahead, teach our children how to sign their names away - when they're adults it'll be their signature on a mortgage they probably can't afford - or on a check they won't use because as adults they'll pay their bills online. Yes, it's distinguishing to learn cursive writing and novel to revive its authentic style. But grading students for penmanship that isn't going to exist in their adult years serves no purpose.

"LOL" and "LMAO" all you want and say "WTF" when it comes to reading someone's atrocious handwriting! Children are growing up in a world where technology/ acronyms rule and a pen is just a silly and ancient writing tool...

Get A Hygienic Handle On Paying For Plastic

Every now and then I carry a canvas tote bag with me when I go shopping. I've collected a few free canvas bags over the years that are sturdy, somewhat spacious and have comfortable handles that don't give my arms or hands rope burn. How safe and savvy! 

Get your fill of juicy bacteria! Stop using plastic bags!

What if I had to make a habit of using those economically-friendly tote bags for every-day food shopping? Well, in the words of former American Idol judge Simon Cowell: "That's a no from me..."

I felt a bit relieved when the 5-cent fee proposed for plastic shopping bags in New York City was nixed. With yammering coming from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and State Department of Environmental Conservation's Commissioner Basil Seggos, the public is being convinced that sooner or later, they're going to have to dig into their pockets for change to buy plastic bags. For at least another year, legislation on the plastic ban is on the back burner. 

On a personal note, I would be hygienically disgusted if the ban/fee resulted in consumers having no choice but to use - and reuse -  their own material packaging. I don't want to be petty - but, hey, I'm going to be petty with this issue!

The first thing that comes to mind about having to food shop with a reusable material bag is the amount of germs that that thing is going to collect and spread.

You're going to place dozens of groceries that came out of a possibly dirty transporting truck - and packaged raw meat with hundreds of bacteria particles like salmonella and e coli - in your canvas bags to take home? Without disposable plastic shopping bags to create a barrier between leaks, germs and post-delivery dirt, you're directly placing all of those gross and raw items together in tote bags and into an impure environment.

Assuming that you're going to take about a dozen of those material bags with you when you have a massive amount of shopping to do, you're also going to be sitting those "environmentally-safe" canvas bags down on supermarket counters and floors in order to fill them with purchased groceries. Sounds simple enough right? 

Consider this - those canvas bags will touch dozens of nasty surfaces and then you will place those bags in your home while you're unpacking, subsequently transferring the bacteria and dirt to your living space. Hey - that's what you'll get for not paying 5-cents for plastic bags (if there are any available in stores by the time our Mayor is done!) 

Imagine having to be extra careful how you place those packages of raw chicken and beef in your material bags? That'll show those environmentalists that you're willing to risk your health to save the earth!

When you go to the supermarket now, the cashier probably separates raw meat/fish from the rest of your groceries in plastic bags.  Hygienically speaking, this is a safe way to transport food - especially if you don't want the package of meat to get punctured by other groceries. You know you're safe when contaminated, raw chicken juice doesn't wind up all over the place! As a matter of fact, if you Google "Preventing Cross Contamination" web sites across the board will advise consumers to use separate plastic bags for raw food.

You'll also waste more time cleaning those material bags - whether you want to or not. Those of us who are skeeved out by bacteria (and I hope that refers to the masses) will have to wash and disinfect canvas bags out immediately after heavy duty food shopping! If you're not grossed out by transferring dirt, raw food liquid and bacteria from the supermarket to your house..well, you should be!

As "toxic" as plastic bags are for the environment, they are easily disposable/reusable and safely help consumers transport raw food to their home in separate spaces. If poultry or fish comes out of its packaging for any reason and there's slimy goop at the bottom of the plastic bag, you can throw it out! No stains, no odors, no cross-contamination!  

It strikes me as odd that in a world where scientists are telling us about the "dangers" of raw... everything...and how cross-contamination is a serious issue - the State is more concerned about shop owners imposing a fee and telling us how plastic is our enemy! I don't think anything should change - and instead, our leaders should be focusing on more important environmental issues that will make us healthier.

If Mayor de Blasio wants to ban the use of plastic bags altogether, get ready for the biggest germfest of all time! If I had to choose between being political over plastic or looking out for my risk of exposure to harmful bacteria and contracting food poisoning...I think the answer is in the bag!

Our Mayor Derailed His Chances Of A "New" Year!

Many of us make New Year's resolutions based on things we need to do more of in the coming year or habits we need to kick. The list of "resolutions" usually includes healthier life styles, being the "best version of ourselves we can be," and conquering those financial demons that left us flooded with debt.

When a Mayor's reputation crashes...

Of course, somewhere in the midst of trying to accomplish our "resolutions," some of us lose sight of what matters and we lose the motivation needed to follow through with our commitments to "self-improvement."

Whether you're sticking to your self-fulfilling promises for 2017 so far, there's always living proof that you don't even need to bother making resolutions in the first place. Bill de Blasio is approaching his final weeks and months as Mayor of New York City. If there's anyone who needs to be "the best version of himself" it's de Blasio! The Mayor, who rarely shows up on time -if he shows up at all to an important event/catastrophe - needs to look at his reputation and how he's been prioritizing his time. If you ask me, 2016 wasn't a good year for the Lurch-looking Mayor and he couldn't even start 2017 off on the right foot!

After more than 100 commuters were injured on the LIRR train derailment at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn on January 4th, the slow-witted Mayor - who's been known to oversleep and skip attending important events all over the city - decided he didn't "need" to be at the scene of the horrific rush-hour disaster. For a politician who has one of the worst approval ratings in the city's recent history, he's the last person who should be absent from an accident of this magnitude simply because it doesn't "fall under his jurisdiction" and because the injuries sustained by passengers "wasn't serious enough."

Come on de Blasio! Do you know how many of those riders - carried out of the train station on gurneys by paramedics - voted for YOU? What's your real excuse? Are you tired of carrying out the responsibilities that comes with being the Mayor?

According to reports, our sorry excuse for a Mayor left the responsibility of the derailment to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Why? Because he's impatient for someone else to take over? There's no excuse for de Blasio's absence other than his laziness and poor personal choices. To say you're not going to the scene of an accident that's the center of scrutiny because "no one died" is the coldest response I've heard from a politician following a tragedy. If only ONE person died, would he say, "I didn't need to go - one death doesn't warrant an appearance"?

I have a challenge for New Yorkers when it comes to making New Years resolutions. Be more vigilant and selective when choosing a Mayor! Don't re-elect de Blasio and his poor ethics! New Yorkers should resolve to support a leader who attends all the events they possibly can - especially accident scenes and locations of mass chaos.
Stop picking a leader solely based on their party affiliation and whether or not you think they will "help minorities." Bitter Bill hasn't shown much compassion for his city in the past year - and right about now, ANYONE who runs against him seems like a better pick!

Okay, so our lanky city leader skipped an important hearing with state lawmakers last year that focused on the renewal of HIS control over city schools. Big deal!...
Okay, so he didn't think attending Goundhog Day 2016 was a big deal even though it's commonplace for mayors to be part of this annual tradition. No big whoop!


However, he was more than happy to help unveil the city's LinkNYC internet kiosks at the beginning of 2016. Did he think that public launch/appearance to reveal flimsy technology was enough to cover him for the rest of the year?

How many more events will Bozo Bill skip before his last day as Mayor? Not only does his absence echo a leader who doesn't care, it echoes an individual whose priorities aren't well thought out.

I did meet the Mayor informally a few times - once at a press conference in Canarsie where he thanked the janitorial staff at I.S. 211 for getting the building back in order after the basement was flooded from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Sure, he sat down with custodians and maintenance workers - treated them all to sandwiches and tried to be like "one of the locals". But there's something about a guy who's constantly late or absent that can't be fixed by minor appearances.

Please, if there are any resolutions New Yorkers should make, it's to improve our quality of life by being more involved in the political process and choosing a Mayor with a strong set of values who has a vested interest in being there for citizens - no matter how small or big the event may be.

De Blasio's ratings aren't going to get back on track. Perhaps he's better off retiring to the yard so a new fleet of leaders can emerge out of the tunnel...