NY Times: Ferrer (Kind of) for Mayor

In what amounts to the closest thing to a “none of the above” endorsement editorial, the New York Times endorsed Freddy Ferrer in the upcoming Democratic primary. In fact, the editorial even failed to put Freddy’s name in its headline.

All of which confirms what most of us had thought all along: The Times had intended to endorse Gifford but questions about his campaign mailing tactics apparently killed the deal. In fact Miller, along with Freddy, was described as having, “a wide understanding of the city’s problems.”

In their endorsement of Freddy the Times also observed that “inanimate objects have been as dynamic as Mr. Ferrer.” In deciding to support Freddy, apparently with the understanding that he is the likely nominee of the party, the Times said, “If Mr. Ferrer is going to be a decent candidate in the fall, he’s going to have to start talking like the intelligent public servant that he used to be.” Once this was said the paper closed its eyes and said they’d take “a leap of faith and go with Freddy. Boy, with friends like that…

Taxes and Weiner

The Times’s main rationale for not endorsing Weiner is that, “His vow to adopt whopping tax cuts is not matched by any serious proposals for finding the lost money.” We particularly find the phrase ‘lost money’ quite droll. The revenue in question, of course, is the cash that Moneybags Mike filched from the pockets of the city’s hardworking homeowners and small businesses. Apparently, their “lost money” is the price of citizenship in a city that doesn’t understand how the high tax levels depress investment and job growth. The Times needs to learn this lesson as well and realize that Main Street is no less sacred than Wall Street (the paper disagrees with Freddy’s stock transfer proposal) when it comes to potentially stinting taxation.

For Freddy

While we have been vehement in our defense of the Weiner tax proposal and critical of the stock transfer tax we are by no means unhappy with the Times editorial support of Freddy. Ferrer has paid his dues and has the experience and requisite voter base to mount a strong campaign against the Times’ real candidate: Mike Bloomberg.

Last week we were quoted questioning Freddy’s relatively silent stance on the Bronx Terminal Market development. The context was unfair to Ferrer. The real culprits are the $1 a year public servants who crafted the self-serving mess in the Bronx. If Freddy is the Democratic nominee we are optimistic that, whatever his past associations, he will utilize the mess at the market to expose the Bloomberg team’s fraudulent anti-neighborhood, anti-small business economic development policies.

At that point in time the Alliance will do all it can to support an effort that lays bare the hypocrisy of class-based self-aggrandizement. We’ve known Freddy for over 20 years and we’ll fight side by side with him in he is the Democratic nominee.