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An Observation About Rockville Centre

Rockville Centre is, I believe, one of the “Five Towns” on Long Island. I’m not exactly sure what the other four towns are, except that one is Valley Stream, and that they all focus around shopping malls, the Long Island Rail Road and a shitty college.

Actually, I’m pretty sure at this point that Rockville Centre is not a town at all, but an incorporated village. Nassau county has lots of incorporated villages. I’m not really sure what their function is, but they all seem to have police departments whose main function is to write traffic and parking tickets.

The actual governmental structure of Nassau seems to consist of a county legislature and executive, who can establish prevailing wage laws like the NY City Council and…well, I’m sure they can do other things, too. Within the county, are three major townships (Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay), which manage some public housing for seniors, maybe collect taxes and might even collect garbage. I’m vague on these details. Within Nassau are two independent cities, Glen Cove and Long Beach, which act like any other city that lies within the borders of a county (rather than encompassing five entire counties). While I’m still unclear on how these borders and responsibilities overlap, I’m impressed that I’ve learned this much in the space of two weeks, after living two and a half decades in such close proximity to the edge of the world. I figured this information would be a lesson, of sorts, to my readers, which is why I share it.

My observation about Rockville Centre is that residents actually press the “pedestrian waiting” button at street light intersections! Consistently. Reliably. Their naive faith in governmental authority is enviable.

I’m sure you’re familiar with these buttons. Accompanied by a sign that says something along the lines of “Press button and wait for green light,” these are the busy-work doohickies that can be found at most city streetlight intersections. Seasoned city slickers probably allow themselves a private chuckle when someone actually presses the button, expecting a green light light that will come sooner than that crazy scheduled light change.

In New York City, at least, we have have two buttons on any corner; you known, to signal which direction you intend to cross, north or east, south or west.

In Rockville Centre, they have only one button per corner. How this is supposed to tell the computerized traffic gods which light you hope to turn which color is beyond me, but the fact that residents – seniors, workers, businessman, school children and crossing guards, alike – dependably press this button while waiting for a light change kinda warms my heart. I envy that naive faith in truth in advertising, governmental honesty and patience as a virtue.

Come to think of it, I saw a lot of Bush re-election bumper stickers there, too.

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Twenty Days Left to Make History in Brooklyn

A message from Gloria Mattera, Green Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President.


With just 5 weeks to go before election day on November 8, our campaign is having a real impact. We’ve brought Cindy Sheehan to Brooklyn and had her speak in front of 500 cheering supporters; today (Oct. 1) we protested outside Chuck E. Cheese’s on Flatbush Avenue for its showing of Department of Defense videotape to small children, and last week I had fun blasting Marty Markowitz on the Ratner project in a public debate.

Equally exciting, we’re just $15,000 short of the $50,000 we need to qualify for city matching funds of $200,000. A few weeks ago this target seemed unattainable, but now it’s within our grasp.

I can not emphasize enough what reaching matching funds will mean for this campaign. If we succeed, we will achieve a level of visibility not enjoyed by an independent progressive candidate in this city for decades. In fact, we are already scheduling television and radio spots, and plans are being made for an election day mobilization that will shock the incumbent with its scope and energy. If we fail…well, that’s simply not an option.

You are the key to our success. Matching funds will only happen with your help.

Please make a donation today and be part of this historic effort. Up to $250 per person is matchable by the city, but even a small contribution will bring us one step closer to our goal.

Call a friend, get she or he to donate too.

You can donate online at: www.electgloria.org/donate.php. Or you can mail a check (made out to Committee to Elect Gloria Mattera) to 437 2nd St., Brooklyn, 11215. If you mail the check, you will need to print and fill out the attached form. This is critically important!

Matching funds will allow us to reach hundreds of thousands of Brooklyn residents with our message:

* No to Ratner and other land grabs
* Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
* For Community Control of Land Use
* End Military Recruitment in Brooklyn’s Schools – Troops Home Now!
* For more green space
* Enforce “no idling” laws
* Make Brooklyn a leader in energy conservation
* For a Sustainable Brooklyn grounded in racial and economic justice

Together we can do this.

In hope and solidarity,

Gloria Mattera

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The Whole World Should Be Watching

Over a quarter of a million people filled the streets of Washington yesterday to protest the war in Iraq and the Bush regime, but our nation’s corporate media has given the event scant coverage. The demonstration itself, with a large turnout from labor, was broad and impressive.

There is much debate in the anti-war movement about the value of these large mobilizations. The side that I am on argues that these are the most visible manifestation of the movement against war and Bush that we can muster, and that there is an additional value in buoying our spirits by bringing so many of us together.

Another side argues that we’ve been marching by the millions against this stupid war since before it began, failed to stop it then and have since been losing momentum and turning out fewer people (yesterday was the largest turnout in a year). It’s time for new tactics and strategies, they say, and I don’t necessarily disagree.

The problem with a march on Washington that the media ignores is that it’s like a tree falling in a forest, with no CNN corespondent there to ask the tree why it chose today to fall and then interview three anti-tree-falling counter protesters to ask why they think the tree should keep standing.

My friend John Nichols argues in his book, “It’s the Media, Stupid!” (co-written by Bob McChesney) that the left should prioritize media reform amongst our many issues since the media has such an overbearing influence on public discourse and debate that they can effectively pretend we don’t exist no matter how many hundreds of thousands os us march in the streets. It’s on days like today, scanning the papers for any coverage of yesterday’s huge demonstration, that his argument should have a special resonance.

Today and tomorrow, dedicated activists remain in Washington to engage in acts of civil disobedience in order to ratchet up the pressure against the administration and its war. Most likely, they’ll block a few traffic intersections and maybe drop a banner or two from public places. Talk about overused and ineffective tactics.

I’ve believed for a few years now that our comrades who engage in direct action should focus on the headquarters and newsrooms of major media companies. Let’s see if NBC news can ignore the antiwar movement if activists block the entrance to their news studios and prevent Brian Williams from sitting in his comfy chair. Let’s see the NY Times ignore protests and arrests in their lobby. How about simultaneous CD’s and banner drops outside the various “window on the world” studies of the morning newscasts?

Remember “the whole world is watching?” Well, it’s not. Not anymore, and not yet again.