Author: admin

There is really nothing quite like failure as a motivator. As Samuel Beckett once said “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Today I was disappointed that something didn’t go my way which I had fully expected to go my way. In moments that disappointed turned into a fire under my tail.

I was determined that I would get something to succeed, if for no other reason than to make myself feel better. So I got to work tackling a daunting computer programming problem that I had been putting off.

Sure enough, I got it working. And I probably never could have done it without having a good and proper failure under my belt.

Maybe there is some sort of law of conservation of failure. When something doesn’t work out, it just motivates us to try harder to accomplish something else.

Suppose the president of your country, the one that you voted into office a year ago, just spent the last month trying to starve your family. Is that grounds for losing faith in him?

I wonder how many Americans are trying to figure that out right about now.

I was talking with some friends this weekend, and somebody brought up the topic of the Titan submersible. We talked about how that terrible tragedy was precipitated by the hubris of OceanGate and of its founder Stockton Rush.

Then I said “Can anyone think of any other examples of great hubris leading to a great implosion?” In response, people just gave each other knowing looks, and we quickly changed the subject.

Our wealthy New Yorkers understand that everyone in this city needs to work together to protect the hardworking immigrants who wake up early every day to build our buildings, deliver our packages, prepare the food in our restaurants, keep our streets clean, and do all of the millions of tasks that make our city run. Those immigrants are our friends and our neighbors, and we cherish them.

And just has been true in the case of Central Park, most of those wealthy New Yorkers will wish to protect their home and their neighbors. They will not stand for the world’s greatest city to be turned into a war zone just to satisfy one man’s fragile ego and lust for power.

Recently in San Francisco, the dogs were called off because a wealthy friend of the president called him up on the phone and said that he didn’t want that kind of thing happening in the city where he lived. I suspect that if necessary, the White House (what’s still left of it) will get a similar phone call from New York.

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There will be some wealthy New Yorkers who will leave NYC because their politics and world view is fundamentally aligned with that of our president. But that profile is not a good fit for most wealthy New Yorkers, just as it is not a good fit for New Yorkers in general.

In the coming war (and yes, it will be a war) between the forces of community and kindness, versus the forces of selfish acquisitiveness, most wealthy New Yorkers will choose the former. I know many wealthy New Yorkers, and I can tell you first hand that the great majority of them are not at all like our president.

Those New Yorkers will be willing to pay more in taxes because (1) They understand that it is actually fair to do so, and because (2) They believe in this city, and understand what a unique and rare privilege it is to live here. The right wing fantasy that having a lot of money makes you as morally low functioning, narcissistic and sociopathic as our president is just that — a fantasy.

More tomorrow.

… except, that is, spending the entire weekend with good friends. 🙂

Eventually you realize that there is nothing better than spending a day with good friends.

Officials in New York State, from Governor Hochul on down, have been preparing for months for the possibility of a military-style assault on the city by our federal government. There have been coordinated meetings, contingency plans, and strategic workshops on how to engage in peaceful protest without letting the invaders succeed in provoking violence.

A key player in all of this is the moneyed class. The fantasy that those people will flee the city because of higher taxes is just that — a fantasy.

If you have all the money in the world, New York City offers a life experience that cannot be duplicated anywhere else. You have, at your fingertips, world class theater and opera and concerts and museums and galleries and shopping and cultural events of all sorts.

This is important because in the defense of the city from military-style invasion designed to provoke violence, the wealthiest New Yorkers have a special role to play. More tomorrow.

Due to the results of our recent mayoral election, our vengeful federal administration is poised to wage war on New York City, as it has done in Chicago and Portland. NYC represents everything that MAGA fears: It supports diversity, welcomes immigrants (and in fact is kept in operation by immigrants), and embraces its role as a great hub of international culture.

So how can a 34 year old mayor fight such a foe? A clue to Mamdani’s strategy can be found in his choice to retain Jessica Tisch, a scion of one of the nation’s wealthiest families, as police commissioner.

Let’s circle back to one key fear-mongering talking point during the mayoral campaign. Right wing commentators claimed that if NYC raised taxes on the wealthy, the wealthy would go live elsewhere.

But what is the reality? I think the answer can be found in the Central Park Metaphor. More tomorrow.

One great thing about Central Park in NYC is the way it creates common cause between rich and poor. When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed the park, they understood this.

The park is free and open to all — you don’t need to be wealthy to enjoy it. Yet at the same time, it caters to the wealthy in a brilliant way.

After all, one of the perks of being a billionaire in NYC is having a gorgeous apartment, perhaps a duplex, overlooking Central Park. Because the super-rich have homes that line the park, they are emotionally invested in it.

The takeaway point is this: The park creates common cause between rich and poor. It gives the rich and powerful a stake in caring for something that benefits the common citizen.

This all relates, in a good way, to the the outcome of yesterday’s mayoral election. More tomorrow.