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| "Meet the Mayor" booth, complete with one Mayor but no refreshments |
UPDATE:
A GA reader just sent the following:
Dawn had a mayor booth at the festival for many years. She used it not only to meet residents but to educate them about important issues by displaying boards about RBD etc.
Thank you for clarifying.
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What glorious weather we had today at Hoboken's 842nd Arts and Music Festival! No matter how many hundreds one goes to, they never get old; the fresh air, the food, the art and music... what's not to like?
Okay, well... there is something not to like. It's that Get your Ass to the Suburbs booth with its Wall of Shame (WOS).
You can't miss it. The Wall of Shame is a giant vinyl sheet hung like flypaper with a list of hundreds of suburban school districts allegedly better than Hoboken's. Its shock-and-awe message to Hoboken parents: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, draws them in. Stunned parents cling to that giant Wall of Shame, waiting for a realtor to slither over. Wouldn't your little Buffy or Harrison Jr. be better off in Whitetopia? Read the wall!
You can't miss it. The Wall of Shame is a giant vinyl sheet hung like flypaper with a list of hundreds of suburban school districts allegedly better than Hoboken's. Its shock-and-awe message to Hoboken parents: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, draws them in. Stunned parents cling to that giant Wall of Shame, waiting for a realtor to slither over. Wouldn't your little Buffy or Harrison Jr. be better off in Whitetopia? Read the wall!
GA's got a question. Why does the city rent a booth to a vendor whose business model is shitting on Hoboken? Seriously.
Would we rent a booth to ex-pats who said the schools are better in Norway? Or a Westfield restauranteur that said Hoboken restaurants suck? When does Hoboken's Art and Music Festival send the Wall of Shame Team packing? When??? Replace that vendor with one with a positive message about our community-- or at least a neutral message, for G-d's sake. (Most district parents I know hate that f*cking Wall of Shame 'cause they love our schools and teachers. I certainly did.)
Wall of Shame aside, the festival was lovely. I don't recall ever seeing a "Meet the Mayor" booth, and it was right next to one for Constituent Services. Did Mayor Zimmer do that? (YES.)
Well, GA was about to walk over to say hi to Bhalla, when I noticed a line of folks waiting their turn like at a bakery. Number 12... your buns are in the bag!
Yep, a line of maybe five or six people were waiting to meet the mayor. And I know for sure that they were waiting for him because unlike a bakery, there were no croissants. Not even a raisin! That's the new DeFusco-Giattino-Ramos-Fisher-Cunningham Zero Snack-Tolerance Policy. No croissant for you! No coffee! No pizza! Die, you hungry old bag!
Yep, a line of maybe five or six people were waiting to meet the mayor. And I know for sure that they were waiting for him because unlike a bakery, there were no croissants. Not even a raisin! That's the new DeFusco-Giattino-Ramos-Fisher-Cunningham Zero Snack-Tolerance Policy. No croissant for you! No coffee! No pizza! Die, you hungry old bag!
I didn't wait in the line. But nice to see how much access the public has to this Mayor; how he gives face-time with Hoboken constituents.
And speaking of politics, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Hugin had two booths to Bob Menendez' one. Oh, dear. Listen people... if this past week hasn't taught you that the Senate doesn't need another white-haired, filthy-rich Republican geezer, I just don't know what to tell you. Please, hold your nose and vote for the Democrat. Please. Just DO IT.
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| NO! |
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| YES! |
Lastly, the music! GA enjoyed two great bands on the Observer Highway stage: Joe Gruschecky & the Houserockers and the Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw. Yeah! Oh, GA bumped into Al Sullivan, which is always exciting.
Back at ya later.
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| Waiting for the Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw |
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| The Smithereens |
That "to the 'burbs" guy is an ass. The city shouldn't be renting him a booth. And he's too stupid to realize most people at the fair already live in the "burbs". If they're so great, he should move there too.
ReplyDeleteHe has at least one big fan. Brian Murray is quite fond of Brian Murray.
DeleteTotally agree about the City not renting that business a booth, Anon @ 12:52PM. Why does Hoboken endorse a business that disparages our community schools? That booth is there like clockwork at every fair... yesterday there were TWO of them! Didn't mention it but there was an uptown and a down town Wall of Shame. Maybe district parents need to contact the mayor's office. All I can tell you is, that upsets a lot of parents whose kids were/are/will be educated in the Hoboken district.
DeleteHe's a hypocrite. He uses unfounded fears about the local schools to convince people to leave town, only to sell their homes to who? People he doesn't bother to tell about his personal beliefs about how bad the schools are? I think it's a tactic to just keep the real estate market churning. That's how communities are destroyed. Why are real estate agents almost always slimy creeps?
ReplyDeleteSometimes they are slimy creeps, and sometimes they are tiny creeps.
Delete