For years, Jerry Kassar has posed as a serious "conservative" commentator for a local paper in the Bay Ridge corner of Brooklyn — How does he get away with that ?
Kassar’s December 10th column “Common Sense: Let’s be fare” is completely dishonest and basically unfair
When Jerry Kassar is lost in the woods with nothing really good to say about his boss State Senator Martin Golden or his pet party, the NYS Conservative Party, he often resorts to a roundup of the routine suspects or lashes out with some heavy corporal beating on some widely recognized whipping boy. In this instance, the Port Authority emerged as both a routine suspect and the widely recognized whipping boy (See “Common Sense: Let’s be fare” by Jerry Kassar, 12/10/13, Home Reporter/ Spectator [http://www.homereporternews.com/news/opinion/common-sense-let-s-be-fare/article_dd78b62c-61e4-11e3-bb79-0019bb2963f4.html]).
Instead of insightful commentary, Kassar seems more like a coyote baying at the moon when he complains, “The recent toll increase on the Port Authority Bridges -- locally the Goethals, Outerbridge and Bayonne – is an absolute disgrace. *** These pre-programmed increases, which will continue at a regular pace for years to come, are no better than tax increases. They long ago surpassed the point of affecting business and residents who need to take the additional cost into account before deciding where to shop, or even locate....”
Buried in the text of Kassar’s column is this completely indefensible bit of puffery: “Locally State Senator Golden, whom I serve as chief of staff, Assemblymember Malliotakis and Congressmember Grimm, as well as most legislators have been very vocal in opposing these increases. *** They have spoken out, written, rallied and at least in the case of Malliotakis, sued the agencies....” Even if some part of that were true, it would be a testament to the complete and pathetic ineffectiveness of the named officials to exercise any political might or will on the issue of the objectionable tolls. Kassar then resorts to complete dissembling when he continues, “...They [Golden, Grimm and Malliotakis] probably deserve a share of credit for things not being even worse...”
How could things be worse ? As things stand the tolls are astronomical and are scheduled to go even higher. Everybody knows that toll increases like the ones Kassar is harping about are damaging our local economy, as a whole, and hurting lots of real people in Brooklyn and Staten Island, with plenty of spillover into parts of New Jersey. Clearly, hurting the real people and economy of Brooklyn and Staten Island is something for which Kassar doesn’t want Grimm, Golden and Malliotakis to be held responsible; unfortunately, they are just as responsible as the governors of New York and New Jersey.
Kassar also made some vacuous remarks about the upcoming race for governor in 2014. What he didn’t talk about is how the activities of his NYS Conservative Party have made it almost impossible for the Republican Party to put forward a competitive candidate for that office for quite some time.
And now for something completely different.... Instead of bridge tolls that neither he nor his boss can seem to do anything about, Kassar needs to get on top of the growing local scandal involving the Boro Park non-profit group, Relief Resources.... The NY Post has done a pair of reports that the Moreland Commission is looking into that local group and a couple of others that share its address. Before it’s all over, the Moreland Commission will probably tie those cans to the tails of a few politicos very near and dear to Kassar himself.
Do any of those "... politicos very near and dear to Kassar himself" include the man Jerry Kassar works for, State Senator Golden?
ReplyDelete#1 on the list Simcha Felder: Democrat State Senator that lines up with Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos, also endorsed by Kassar's Brooklyn Conservative Party, funded Relief Services while on the City Council.
DeleteJerry Kassar does a column opposing toll increases and talks about Republican-Conservative officeholders and their opposition to the tolls. Somehow you attack Kassar for doing the column and Republicans Grimm, Golden and Malliotakis, both for their opposition and their failure to stop the increases. How can Jerry, Marty, Nicole and Mike be equally responsible for the toll increases with Governor Cuomo when all of them publicly opposed the increases? Your post makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteI attacked Kassar's December 10th column because it is a pointless exercise. It's little more than a gripe fest about high bridge tolls on the Staten Island Bridges.
ReplyDeleteI specifically attacked his nonsense like this: “...They [Golden, Grimm and Malliotakis] probably deserve a share of credit for things not being even worse...” That is cheap praise for doing virtually nothing.
As far as blaming the elected Republican-Conservatives Grimm, Golden and Malliotakis, my position is simple and straight forward. If any of them actually opposed any of these increases, they were completely ineffective in that opposition. They are equally guilty because they are part of a government that imposed the increases --- if they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem.