cityboy is downtown....

or at least was. Left my apartment at a little after 8 in the morning with the goal of going to protest outside of City Hall. It was a protest against broken windows, the policing policy that many feel undercuts the mayor's vision of a "sanctuary city". Arrived at City Hall park a little after 9--a small crowd was up on the stops. Cityboy felt very ambivalent about joining, did not see anyone there that he knew. Watched outside for a while---then turned away. But hold on, there just happened to be another protest a few blocks away---outside the court house, a group called Make the Road had organized a protest against any rent increases at all. This was a group of mostly latino folks with a small smattering of whites and blacks mixed in. The theme was real---stop landlord harassment for low income people. This is a very serious subject. Cityboy listened to the stories and speeches of people there. Some seemed superficial, but others told of brutal landlord harassment of people who could not fight back. Landlords have so much more power, and despite the fact that they can be taken to court,  there are still many ways to harass a tenant, particularly if that tenant is poor and old, before the court rules on the case.
   It's a tale of two cities: and cityboy lives in both--but why should the realtors have so much power. The Mayor is still in debt to them--City Council members receive money from them and then try to create a balancing act between their "constituents"---those who have no money to offer them, but who need services, and their backers---usually real estate developers. So far, the balancing act has failed, and the community groups are angry. Can it be changed? Recent developments are hopeful, but there is still a long way to go.
  So where is cityboy in all this? Wouldn't he like to just walk away----after all, he is protected, let the other people solve their problems, our hero wants to go to plays, talk theater, and hang out. But he can't. He believes that the underdog should win out over the vicious. So, at times, he rejects art and tries to commit to the activist groups that he has joined. And he has made contributions that help these groups. Cityboy hopes that he will not be too tired on Monday to attend the next BAN meeting. He still wants to set up a flyer telling people that they should pay attention to whom their city council person is, and how he or she effects them.
    But that is the other issue. In this city of well informed people, of art lovers, theater makers, etc., many people refuse to focus on any of these issues---they just can't or won't get involved. Frustrating!
So this is the valley that we find ourselves. Got to push on, read as much as possible, about civic involvement.
   Brief change of pace: last night, went to Lansdowne Fall,s visited my friend the "twins", really good to see them---they are very vivacious and alive young women---nice to see them again. Restaurant itself was fairly quiet---well baseball does not begin until Sunday, and final four does not resume until Saturday. A  slow week for sports lovers.
  Tonight: plan is to go to Bronx Doc for discussion about 40th precinct with the New York Times writers who wrote the series. Should be interesting---wonder who else will show up, will report on this tomorrow.