You have officially arrived at the unofficially soft launch of our new column, Rocklandia! (Trademark coming soon! Maybe?!) The goal of Rocklandia(!) is to inform you, dear reader, about stuff (news, stories, people, politics, public safety, music, movements, wild animal versus human interactions, etc.) going on in Rockland County, from a Nyack-centric perspective.
Here is the plan for our new adventure, which will hopefully evolve and perhaps involve an audio element.
Essentially, in this space I will try to cover as much news as possible in the impossibly short amount of time I have to create this type of what I consider to be a kind of hybrid journalism. (Editorial note: your author has a full-time job that is not journalism. This is what I do for fun! And, you know, the greater good of the community, etc.)
My plan is to produce some new or original “journalism” — doing research, conducting interviews, synthesizing and analyzing observations, data and any other type of information — while also highlighting stories produced by other local and national platforms.
You’ll probably see a lot of links to lohud, News 12 Hudson Valley and Rockland Business Journal, who, despite all the odds and challenges, are still doing the real work of local journalism (support them, too!). You’ll see clips from social media. You’ll read some terrible jokes. Hopefully, you’ll learn something new, find clarity on some confusing issues and, occasionally, god forbid, laugh.
I’ve always felt news could be delivered in a more entertaining and accessible fashion. We can focus on facts and be serious when we need to, but we can also have fun. Let’s give it a shot.
We’ll start here. With a joke. About Portland.
Colin the Chicken! So good! Is it local? LOL!
You should know my ulterior goal here, beyond informing you about local news, politics and culture, is to be able to write a skit that captures Rockland as perfectly and hilariously as Portlandia captures Portland. It probably has to be something about people outing careless dog owners who refuse to clean up after Killer the chihoodle (a hypoallergenic cross between a full-sized Poodle and a chihauhua), right?
(Please, send your much better ideas to alex@nyacknewsandviews.com; shout out to all the homies in P-Town!).
Before moving on to the actual news, we need to take a moment of silence and pour out a small amount of Olde English onto the curb for the passing of the iconic but too-long-languishing “The Villages” column, which was our sometimes very consistent news roundup-type column. Dave Zornow, Cheryl Langus, Kate Pastor, Bill Batson, “a.staff” (and anyone else who took on the Villages challenge over the years): Thank you for your service, Rocklandia will take it from here.
In any case, that’s the plan.
The Lineup:
- Open Secrets: Where is the NY-17 congressional money coming from?
- The Nyack Porchfest Wars
- A Shooting in Nyack
- Socializing and Other News
- Nyack’s Top 5 Sandwiches
- Musical Outro
Opening Campaign Finance Secrets
Trying to wade through campaign finance information, at least for journalists, is like going on a hike in the Adirondacks: it seems like a really good idea until you’ve been hiking for two hours and realize you’re not even halfway to the top, you already have blisters, it’s too humid, mosquitos squadrons are dive bombing your ears and your 14-year-old daughter’s friend just had an asthma attack but forgot her inhaler but says she’s fine even though you’re wondering if a helicopter could somehow reach into this awkward pocket of the mountain on a Tuesday morning.
But then, you just keep going, one step at a time, and suddenly, you start to see the view peeking through underbrush — the ridges of mountains, vast forests of trees and valleys full of mysterious Super PACs peddling dark money with impunity. And you realize that’s why you came out here in the first place.
That is all to say that, a) I’m well short of my life-long goal of becoming a 46er, but have not given up; and b) I have a few insights into the campaign finance situation in the humidly-contested NY-17 congressional race between incumbent Republican and proud Rocklander Mike Lawler and former military special operations leader and intelligence official (and general “bad ass”) Cait Conley, currently a Westchester resident with campaign headquarters in Ossining.
Let me introduce you to Open Secrets, the invaluable nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that tracks government and campaign spending. Open Secrets is great at tracking elected officials, but not as great with challenging candidates. So, I was able to glean some interesting info about Lawler here, but not as much with Conley. For Conley, I needed to track her filings with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which is tasked with providing this type of public information.
Whereas the Open Secrets platform is engaging, intuitive and easy to navigate, the government’s FEC site is chaotic, confusing and sometimes can make you feel completely discouraged and give up all hope for the very near future of our Republic.
In any event, I was able to squeeze out some notable facts from the FEC, including that, if you hadn’t already guessed, this NY-17 showdown — one of only about two dozen or so competitive races in the entire country — ain’t a scene, baby, it’s a god damn arm’s race. (Cue Fallout Boy!)
With filings updated through June (which is significant — the primary where Conley emerged victorious was only on June 23, so there’s probably been noticeable movement that will hopefully show up soon), Lawler is enjoying a huge cash advantage, which often, but not always, is the difference maker come election day in November.
As of June 30, Lawler’s campaign had raised $8,172,045.60, a total that ranks in the top 10 of all candidates, incumbent or challenger, running in the 435 congressional races this election cycle. Conley’s raised about half that amount: $4,317,457.32.
Caveat: I expect an obscene amount of money to flow into both of these races, especially with Conley emerging from a crowded Democratic race where her inter-party Rockland rival Beth Davidson raised more money than all but 15 other challenger candidates in the whole United States of America. But I also think it will be a significant gap that will remain decidedly in Lawler’s favor until the end game in November.
I imagine the money game here would be like if the Knicks went down big like they did all the playoffs, but instead of coming all the way back, they would have just kept it even and remained 21 points behind for the rest of the game. So, like, if Jalen Brunson didn’t actually play. I have no idea where this analogy is going, but I’m glad we managed to weave the Knicks and Jalen into this first Rocklandia column — we’ve succeeded, I’ll just stop writing now.
Psyche. We’re back.
So, you’re probably wondering, if you’re still reading, where is all of that money coming from and where is it going?
Let’s start with the latter and the answer is simple. Almost all of the money being used by both campaigns is going to make their case (or anti-case) on digital media. Probably targeted social media, websites and search engines. I saw some classic cable news buys as well. But the vast majority of expenditures is on buying digital media advertising.
The “where does it come from” question also appears to have a rather simple answer — I hope I’m not being simplistic, always a possibility when writing on a time crunch. I’ll do my best.
Lawler’s being bankrolled by two primary entities: first, the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC, one of the most powerful advocacy groups in the country — they show up all over his campaign finance reports, as Lawler is unapologetically pro-Israel and a true ally) and Win Red, which is a massive Republican fundraising apparatus that pours money into contentious national races. Those two groups make up well over half of Lawler’s accessible war chest, which includes more than $4 million in cash on hand.
On the Democratic side, the vast majority of Conley’s campaign funding comes from Act Blue, which appears to be the Democratic counterpart to Win Red. (Because they’re both part of national party-based fundraising operations, both candidates are getting money from all over the country.
Lawler’s getting a lot of love from Californians, Texans and Floridians.
Meanwhile, Californian’s are also dreaming of helping Conley. Plus, Blue stalwarts like Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington, DC are also placing bets on the West Point grad from Hopewell Junction.
But if you look into some of the individual donations for both candidates, it gets a little more interesting.
One of Conley’s biggest donors is a guy who shares a name with a famous Sportscenter anchor but is, in fact, a chief engineer at a solar power company. Former New York attorney general and governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned under heavy scandal, gave Conley $7,000. A couple of her larger individual donors work for cutting edge-type global security firms, including a “public benefit company” called Second Front that, from what I can tell, brings really good Wi-Fi to the battlefield?
Now, to get a little more granular on our incumbent, let’s take a look at Lawler’s top 20 contributors:
Here’s another way of looking at Lawler’s support, courtesy of Open Secrets:
The “Single issue / Ideology” sphere is clearly AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby. Finance, insurance, real estate fits with many of the names you saw above. Not sure if “other” is the Crypto money you see with the Coinbase, or if that falls under Finance, too.
In any case, I’m not here (today, at least) to draw sweeping conclusions about the values or politics behind this spending — that would take much more digging and sorting and synthesizing (and we haven’t even gotten into the whole Dark Money of it all! Hint: it’s dark, like pitch black, super duper dark and scary.)
Regardless, I hope we could shed a little sunshine on this cloudy campaign finance system. And I’m happy we did this, even if we did need to listen to my daughter’s friend wheezing her way to the top of Big Slide.
(Editor’s note: Stay tuned for more campaign coverage here in Rocklandia, where we’ll do our best to dive into all of the important races roiling Rockland’s rock stars, aka you, dear readers!)
Porchfest Wars
Ok, we spent way too much time on campaign finance (I thought you said this was supposed to be fun, Mr. Rocklandia — to which I reply, “And, is it local? Yes. Absolutely. Ok, just one more question, are you sure it’s local?”), so let’s get down to business on the Porchfest Wars.
The short story is this: two highly-civic-minded partners from the Hudson Valley came together around an idea to create a day-long “Porchfest,” complete with micro concerts on porches all over the village and bigger venue “porches” like the gazebo in Memorial Park.
The partnership fell apart over, let’s say, creative differences (editorial note: we definitely don’t and won’t pretend to know the whole sordid tale, but apparently, it’s a little, um, sordid, and you can probably trace its origins to social media, where all evil in this world resides), which means we now have two (2!) porchfests happening in Nyack.
The first porchfest, which is officially dubbed “Nyack Porchfest,” is happening on Saturday, August 22. It is unclear where or when performances are happening, but the site does note three featured artists Parkway South, Albert Ahlf and Eleanor Kaufman. Nyack Mayor Joe Rand said permits for Memorial Park and Hezekiah Easter Park were granted for this porchfest, but not the other one …
Which is coming on Saturday, September 26, and now known as “The Nyack Neighborhood Music and Arts Festival (A Porchfest).” This porchfest actually includes a schedule for actual concerts on actual porches! (Look, they have a schedule and everything!)
Moral of the story, there’s room on the porch for everyone.
No Arrests in Nyack Shooting
Sadly, we have to cover this. If you didn’t hear about it earlier, here’s my rendition of the police report of a recent shooting in Nyack last month:
Right around midnight on Saturday night, July 12, Orangetown police responded to a report of gun shots being fired near the corner of Franklin Street and Depew Avenue, a block away from the police substation in Nyack.
When they arrived, they found a victim lying in the grass around the entrance to 403 Nyack Plaza, which is the complex right next to the big community garden on Franklin. He was bleeding from “several” gun shots wounds to his body and officers applied tourniquets to his arm and leg before Nyack first responders — Nyack Ambulance Corps and Rockland Paramedics — made it the scene and took over his care.
The victim, who wasn’t identified, was taken to Westchester Medical Center for what were considered “serious” injuries. It’s unclear what happened to the victim, but we have reached out to the Orangetown police for any updates.
Police said they conducted a “canvass of the area” to find the shooter, who apparently fled before officers arrived on the scene, but came up empty. Detectives are asking for the public’s help. You can contact the Orangetown Police Department with any information at (845) 359-3700.
Socializing and Leftovers
This is where we do some quick hits on stories people may have missed and drop in on some local multimedia.
Good reporting and context from our friend Tina Traster at Rockland County Business Journal on the underwhelming (read non-existent) tourism bump for Rockland County hoteliers during this summer’s World Cup.
Residents are not excited (i.e. adamantly opposed to) a new plan to bring a series of mega warehouses to route 303 near Congers, according to lohud.
Plans for the development would look like this:
- Lot 1 would include commercial buildings totaling 380,780 square feet of warehouse space with 72 loading berths and office space, with 394 parking spaces.
- Lot 2 would house a fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru, and 34 parking spaces.
- Lot 3 would have two warehouses totaling of 180,740 square feet with 199 parking spaces. About 2.5 acres would be placed in a conservation easement.
Exactly. I know what you were thinking: what drive-thru restaurant are we talking about?
And in our next segment, it’s Joe Rand versus a bizarre Hudson Valley News 12 non-story about a guy who thinks Nyack’ just ain’t what it used to be — specifically, it’s lost its daytime traffic and nightlife buzz — plus, some shots of empty store fronts.
And then Joe Rand, as always, pushing back super hard with a 10-point (with multiple sub-points) Facebook explanation of the ins and outs of Nyack’s economic situation and the public perception of it.
In fact, Rand does agree that Nyack is not the same in terms of the drinking and bar scene. He delivers a compelling, Randian-style, set of factors, including:
- “*COVID really put a hurt on bars and restaurants. We all spent a year cooped up promising that when we could leave the house we’d go out more, travel, all that stuff. And then what happened was that we all got too comfortable just sitting at home and now we quarantine ourselves for now reason.
- “*People don’t drink as much, so they don’t go to bars as much. They stay home popping gummies and engaging with friends through online gaming and video.
- “*People used to go to bars to meet people they could try to have sex with. Now, they go on apps to meet people they want to try to have sex with. Seriously, when was the last time any of you single people dated someone you met at a bar (like I met my wife, God bless her)? I haven’t been to a wedding where the couple met at a bar in years. I think this is an underrated reason why the nightlife scene has suffered – Match and Tinder and Grindr and all that reduced a lot of the incentives to go out and just meet people.
- “*Also, nostalgia is a powerful drug. This photographer guy from the story basically says that he remembers going out in Nyack years ago in his 20s and having all this fun, and now he doesn’t have as much fun. It’s not all societal changes, my friend — some of it is THAT YOU ARE GETTING OLDER.
Ok, Joe, we get it (and appreciate the hopefully-intended allusion to Chappelle Show’s famous Rick James character’s cocaine-fueled catch phrase), but be careful, friend, that last one hit a little close to home. WE DON’T NEED THE REMINDER!
Remember this:
Well, now you can take a deeper dive with the crazy dude energy of “Wild News”:
Food for Thought: Top 5 Sandwiches
For those around for my last attempt at the Villages, I tried to include a little section on the local food scene. Well, we’re back baby! This was inspired by a Nyack friend who recently told me the biggest thing missing from Nyack was a really good sandwich shop. Hence, my list of the top 5 best sandwiches in the Nyacks:
- 1) Didier’s prosciutto and brie baguette
- 2) Noble Experiment’s cheesesteak (Note: seriously, just go and get one now, it’s legit! And recency bias is clearly clouding my judgment)
- 3) Wild Radish’s Tikka Chicken Naan
- 4) El Cunao: The “El Cunao” Torta
- 5) Scott & Joe’s “The House Favorite”
- Honorable Mention: Art Cafe’s eggplant malawach, Mekong’s fried fish Ban Mi, and Mumbai Dreams’ fried chicken sandwich
Exit Music
Because every good show needs some good exit music to send you on your way! Please be in touch, this DJ takes recommendations: alex@nyacknewsandviews.com. See you next time! (Estimated arrival: August 23!)
