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Voting Tuesday? There's More On The Ballot Besides De Blasio
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 4, 2013
Modified Nov 5, 2013
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Gothamist
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 4, 2013
Modified Nov 5, 2013
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On Tuesday New Yorkers will go to the polls and unanimously elect Marxist slacker narcoleptic Bill de Blasio to be our next mayor. Drugs and hugs for criminals everywhere! Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and you can find your polling place here. Remember, it's perfectly legal for you to take selfies of yourself hanging brain in the voting booth, but you should also be aware that tomorrow is not JUST de Blasio coronation day. There are six proposals on the back of the ballot [pdf] that you may want to read up on before you're asked to vote on them:
- Proposal 1: Authorizing casino gambling in New York State; possibly seven in upstate New York, with an option to open one in NYC in seven years. Opponents say casinos are a regressive tax on poor people, while Governor Cuomo and the casino industry see dollar signs. What do you see?
- Proposal 2: Civil Service Credit for Veterans with Disabilities. This would give veterans extra points when applying for civil service jobs. There is literally no one who opposes this, so don't be that guy.
- Proposal 3: Exclusion of Indebtedness for Sewage Facilities. Basically, allowing upstate communities to spend money/take on debt to build sewage and water treatment facilities. Whatever makes them happy!
- Proposal 4: Settling Disputed Title in the Forest Preserve. As progressive Democrat District Leader Paul Newell puts it, this one "shouldn’t be on a statewide ballot. It will help a few families in remote upstate New York get title to the land they’ve lived on for generations." Opponents say it would set a troubling precedent for land disputes. We really wish we didn't have to get together an informed opinion on this one, but democracy's a bitch! The Times article on this is actually pretty interesting.
- Proposal 5: Land Exchange in State Forest Preserve with NYCO Minerals, Inc. This is the most controversial proposal. It would allow a mining company to use 200 acres of old growth forest from the Adirondack preserve for strip mining, in exchange for donating a larger tract (1,500 acres) to the preserve. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups oppose the measure.
- Proposal 6: Increasing Age Until Judges can Serve. The mandatory retirement age for certain judges would be increased from 70 years old to 80 years old. (Harry Anderson turned 61 last month.)
WNYC has more on each of these proposals if you want to dig deeper. If you're voting in Brooklyn, remember that lifelong Democratic DA Charles Hynes is running for reelection on the Republican and Conservative lines, after losing a primary challenge to Ken Thompson. (Vote early and often!) New borough presidents will also be elected tomorrow, as well as Public Advocate and Comptroller—Letitia James has no Republican opponent for Public Advocate, so that's pretty much a lock. And Stringer has had Comptroller in the bag ever since he won the coveted cronut vote.
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Election 2013
voting
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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