A Slice Of Life From Queens On Election Day @3:10 PM
A dispatch from Jackson Heights, where faces are pressed against the glass to see if Hiram Monserrate can slash his way back into the State Senate. Our correspondent reports:
Pretty quiet here in JH. The poll lady said there was a "middling" turnout. She said this twice.Here is a face-slash flyer, tossed to the ground (in disgust, I hope?) and the voting machine–do unemployed gays count as "Working Families"? Sure hope so! Also, the "Yes We Can" party made me larf.
WWPD (What Would Plouffe Do?)
Happy Bizarre Queens Election Day! @9:22 AM
This is the first and only morning that I've woken up and thought "I sure wish I lived adjacent to La Guardia"! (Although I can see it being useful, what with all those flights and stuff.) But yes today our friends in Jackson Heights get to vote in the best special election ever. (We welcome on-the-ground reports from readers). The choice? Three men, including a not-very-interesting, middle-of-the-road (ish) conservative, a fairly consistent working-class liberal Democrat and… in the far corner… in the red trunks… rootin' tootin' face-slashin' Hiram Monserrate! I personally despise Monserrate for non-face-slashing reasons; having sat in on his Veteran Affairs committee meetings when he was a City Councilman, I watched him glad-hand adorable elderly gay veterans, only to later turn around and slash them in the face by opposing gay marriage in New York in the Senate. Ah, the land where you can marry your face-slasher but only if he's not of the same sex. But your reasons to despise him may be varied and diverse! For people who may be voting in this election, there's an actually useful breakdown from the Queens Tribune. READ MORE 8
Massachusetts Election Makes Internet Fun Again @3:00 PM
Wonkette turned us on to the fantastic Boston Globe "poll-watcher" "user-generated content" shindig going on today. Some recent faves: "Scott Brown will give my boss a tax cut who will then give me the raise he's been promising for the last 5 years! GO BROWN!" And: "I am voting for Scott Brown who will hopefully cut funding to those pesky cops who spend all day in chat rooms pretending to be teenage girls." The Internet is rad, dude. 14
The stock market "thinks" that Republican Scott Brown is likely to win Senator Ted Kennedy's vacated seat. @12:05 PM 6
How Many People Voted On Your Block? @11:11 AM
This awesome map aggregates all the voter data and breaks it down block by block, across the city. Mmm, data. (Sadly we have to wait some time for the Board of Elections to put together all the votes for the other candidates, so we can see how many votes Bernie Goetz and Charles Barron got!) So, 142 people voted on The Awl office's block—with fewer than 2/5ths of them voting for Bloomberg. 14
Mike Bloomberg's Crushing Loss @10:13 AM
There are many reasons to appreciate Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is now, with just 51% of yesterday's vote, the fourth mayor to be elected to a third term in New York City since Manhattan sucked up the surrounding cities into boroughs in 1898. He is wonderful source of entertainment, because he is so snippy. He is a terrible dresser, particularly for a billionaire, and therefore is fun to watch. At City Hall, he eats cereal in meetings and when he is done he slurps milk from the bowl. As for the matter of his insane overspending on his most recent campaign to the tune of $100 million or so, it must be noted that in 2007 alone, between his foundation, his company's charitable giving and his own pocket, he gave $205 million to charity. READ MORE 21
The Awl Voter Guide For September 29, 2009 @8:45 AM
Attention New York City Democrats: Today's election—did you know there was one?—may be the only such event in your lifetime in which your vote makes a difference. I was at my precinct at 8 this morning, and the poll workers were already desperate for human contact. The choices today are not exactly inspiring, but that's the price you pay for a stultified political culture in which civic involvement often seems discouraged. If you are, in fact, inclined to vote, here are our endorsements: READ MORE 8
