A new NY1/YNN-Marist poll finds that for the first time in a decade, a majority of New Yorkers are optimistic about the direction in which their state is moving.
Fifty-two percent of New York voters who responded to the poll said the state is moving in the right direction, compared to 40 percent who say the Empire State remains on the wrong track. Marist noted the last time a majority of New Yorkers thought the state was moving in the right direction was in Oct. 2002, when 51 percent of voters said New York was on the right track.
The poll also noted that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a 58 percent approval rating, while 76 percent of respondents said they have a favorable impression of the governor. Seventy-six percent of registered New York voters also described Cuomo as a good leader for the state.
Cuomo had a 55 percent job approval rating in a NY1/YNN-Marist Poll in November--less than five months after he signed the state's marriage equality bill into law. Seventy-five percent of New York voters who responded to that poll described the governor as a good leader for the Empire State.
A new NY1/YNN-Marist Poll finds that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo remains popular among New York voters a year after he was elected.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they think Cuomo has done either a good or excellent job in Albany, while 70 percent have a favorable impression of the governor. Another 75 percent of voters who responded to the poll described Cuomo as a good leader for New York. And 65 percent of respondents said they believe the governor has fulfilled the promises he made on the campaign trail.
Cuomo signed the state’s marriage equality bill into law on June 24. The governor’s $132.5 billion state budget for 2011-2012 that lawmakers approved in late March contained the first spending reduction from the previous year since 1995. Cuomo also signed an ethics reform bill into law in August designed to curb corruption that has long-tarnished state politics.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said that Cuomo is having a positive impact in Albany.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday, Oct. 28, introduced a bill that would prevent any agency that receives federal funding from disqualifying prospective adoptive or foster parents solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.
“New York is a leader on ensuring that any family can adopt children and sets a great example for the rest of the country,” said Gillibrand in a statement that announced the introduction of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act. She pointed out that New York increased its pool of prospective foster parents by 128,000 when the state eliminated all LGBT-specific barriers.
"This legislation would open thousands of new foster and adoptive homes to children ensuring they are raised in loving families,” added Gillibrand.
Utah, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina and Michigan currently bar same-sex couples from adopting children, while six others prohibit gay and lesbian parents from adopting their partner's children. Gillibrand points out that more than two dozen other states do not specifically address treatment of prospective LGBT foster and adoptive parents.
“We must support all qualified adults who are interested in providing a nurturing, adoptive home—regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation," said Linda Spears, vice president of policy and public affairs for the Child Welfare League of America. "Having a real life, caring parent is incredibly important for ensuring a child’s success. Sen. Gillibrand’s bill represents progress for these children whose goal is to simply be loved.”
House Speaker John Boehner will swear in Congressman-elect Bob Turner in the House of Representatives at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Turner, who succeeds former Congressman Anthony Weiner, defeated state Assemblyman David Weprin by a 54-46 percent margin in a special election in the Ninth Congressional District on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 shook large swaths of the East Coast shortly before 2 p.m.
The earthquake’s epicenter is near Charlottesville, Va., but I certainly felt the tremor here in Bushwick. I was actually on the phone with my boyfriend in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., when the pots and pans hanging above my stove suddenly began to sway. I initially thought that a gust of wind had caused them to move, but I realized it was an earthquake when the floor started shaking. I grabbed my keys, walked outside and watched several other people come out of buildings on Jefferson Street.
Aside from no cell phone service, everything appears to have returned to normal here in Bushwick. Social media networks remain uninterrupted. And the tremor managed to push Dominique Strauss-Kahn from the headlines.
Started writing at 9:12 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, while listening to the rain and thunder from inside Ocean Beach and reading Tweets about the increasingly likely downfall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
It’s another rainy Sunday night here in Ocean Beach, but the weather is nothing like last weekend’s deluge that left the village waterlogged for days.
The weather fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon one’s perspective) did not damper Countess Luann de Lesseps’ performance at the Ascension kick-off party in Fire Island Pines on Friday, Aug. 19. Kelly Killoren Bensimon joined her “Real Housewives of New York” cast mate on the balcony. Congressman Barney Frank made a brief appearance, while Bensimon had an impromptu performance of her own when she climbed onto the bar at High Tea and began to dance.
A flip flop malfunction did not stop us from reveling among the cute boys with minimal bathing suits at the Ascension pool party on Saturday, Aug. 20. A complimentary cocktail from the Absolut vodka boys at Canteen proved a refreshing respite from the day’s festivities as we watched the world pass along Harbor Walk on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. And the Ascension tea dance and fireworks over the day rounded out a perfect Saturday in the Pines.
As if Saturday didn’t feature enough revelry, the beach party on Sunday, Aug. 21, proved Ascension’s seminal event (at least for these two non-circuit queens.) The weather held out long enough for Dragonette to perform “Hello.” Actor Wilson Cruz, porn star Arpad Miklos and Reichen Lehmkuhl of “The A-List: New York” were among those whom prying eyes spotted throughout the day.
It’s almost time for bed, but snarky source’s astute observation seems particularly appropriate: Mother Nature certainly proved herself a fag hag over the weekend.
Sunset from the Ascension tea dance on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Ascension detritus.
At the Ascension pool party on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Hanging out on the dock in Fair Harbor on Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Awaiting the fireworks at the Ascension tea dance on Saturday, Aug. 21.
It was certainly a dramatic early evening on Fire Island on Monday, Aug. 1, as a series of thunderstorms brushed the beach.
A downpour drenched Fire Island earlier in the afternoon--dark clouds were quickly gathering as I was walking back to the cottage in Ocean Beach from the beach between Fire Island Summer Club and Robbins Rest around 1:45 p.m. The same storm system produced torrential downpours, gusty winds and even hail as they passed through the Hudson Valley, Queens and Long Island.
Started writing in Marble Hill at 4:48 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26.
The eye candy proved particularly sweet in Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines on Saturday, July 23. A combination of Calcutta-like weather, mosquitoes, an incompetent water taxi dispatcher and a laptop malfunction, however, conspired to create a less than ideal weekend on the beach for this increasingly exacerbated reporter.
Now that I have that rant out of my system, it’s on to the things that actually went well over the weekend. These included welcoming wounded veterans to a sultry Ocean Beach on Friday, July 22, attending the Hetrick-Martin Institute’s annual Pines pool party and Dancing on the Bay on Saturday, July 23. I rounded out the day with Jonny Mack at the Ice Palace in the Grove.
News that Amy Winehouse had been found dead in her London apartment spread like wildfire across Fire Island on Saturday afternoon. Porsche paid homage to the troubled British chanteuse at her Saturday night show at the Ice Palace. “Back to Black” and “Rehab” provided an appropriate, if not tragically ironic, soundtrack for the post-Dancing on the Bay walk between the Pines and the Grove.
In far more positive news, the state’s marriage equality law took effect on Sunday, July 24. I was standing on the dock in the Grove at the stroke of midnight—and I learned that Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd had successfully become the first same-sex couple to legally marry in New York when I saw pictures of their wedding at Niagara Falls streaming on Facebook and Twitter while I was on a Seaview-bound water taxi. Two gay couples from Fire Island exchanged vows later on Sunday after they obtained marriage licenses at Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville. The New York Times posted a picture on their website of newlyweds Jim Kelly-Evans and Dan Evans from the top of the ferry as they returned from the mainland.
Congratulations Jim and Dan and other same-sex couples on Fire Island who either married on Sunday or plan to tie the knot in the near future.
Passing south of West Island on the 12:45 p.m. ferry to Ocean Beach from Bay Shore on Friday, July 22.
At the Grove Hotel pool on Saturday, July 23.
Looking towards the bay from inside the Belvedere Guest House in the Grove on Saturday, July 23.
Sunset from Dancing on the Bay in the Pines on Saturday, July 23.
Porsche pays tribute to Amy Winehouse at the Ice Palace in the Grove on Sunday, July 23.
Marriage equality is officially a reality in New York!
I was on the dock in Cherry Grove when the law officially took effect at midnight, and the marvels of Twitter and Facebook allowed me to read that Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd had become the first same-sex couple to legally marry in New York. The DJ at Cherry's played Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" shortly after midnight, but there were no outward celebrations of the historic milestone.
A few hours later, I was finally able to board a water taxi from Ocean Beach. A large rainbow flag flew above an American flag on the end of the dock in Grove. In the Pines, an ecstatic Robin Byrd proclaimed in the harbor that it "was about damn time" that same-sex couples could marry. Florist Erin Black was busy putting the final touches on a flower assortment and matching boutonnieres for a gay couple who went to the Brookhaven Town Clerk's office in Farmingville to get married.
I ended this historic day at the LGBT Community Center in lower Manhattan where state Sens. Tom Duane [D-Manhattan] and Diane Savino [D-Staten Island], New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry, Ross Levi of the Empire State Pride Agenda and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah joined dozens of same-sex couples who married earlier in the day.
Here are some snapshots that capture the day.
Newlyweds Stacey Minondo and Barbara Tremblay shortly after they stepped out of a cab at the LGBT Community Center in lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn women were the first same-sex couple to marry at Borough Hall in Brooklyn on Sunday, July 24.
Eufemio and John Torres of Brooklyn attend the LGBT Community Center's wedding reception on Sunday, July 24.
Pride and patriotism flew high in Cherry Grove on Sunday, July 24.
This message certainly resonated among some of those who celebrated marriage equality in New York on Sunday, July 24.
With five days to go until gays and lesbians can legally marry in New York, city officials earlier today unveiled a lottery designed to accommodate the expected crush of same-sex weddings on the day the marriage equality law takes effect.
The lottery, which will accommodate 764 same-sex and heterosexual couples, opened at noon. It will close at noon on Thursday, July 21.
"We are going to make history on Sunday, with the eyes of the nation once again turning to New York City," said Bloomberg as he spoke at City Hall alongside City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Clerk Michael McSweeney. "We’ve done our homework, and it’s clear that the number of couples who want to marry on Sunday is more than the City Clerk’s offices could possibly handle. And the last thing we want is for couples to wait on line for hours and hours, only to walk away upset on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. The fairest way to determine who gets the chance to wed on Sunday and ensure everyone can properly plan for their own big day is through an even-handed lottery system."
Started writing at 1:04 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, while lying on the Grove Hotel’s pool deck.
Mother Nature has once again blessed the beach with beautiful weather—a deep blue sky with low humidity and a refreshing ocean breeze. In other words, it is the perfect time for this reporter to write by the pool between the Cherry Grove Community Association’s July meeting and the Fire Island Dance Festival in neighboring Fire Island Pines.
This weekend’s busy schedule included Larry Kramer’s talk at the Blue Whale in the Pines, a late night moonlit walk from the Grove to Ocean Beach after Daniel Nardicio’s underwear party at the Ice Palace on Friday, July 15, the Fire Island Pines Fire Department’s annual block party and Gay Men’s Health Crisis’ reception at Whyte Hall in the Pines on Saturday, July 16. The day’s schedule ended with SAGE’s annual Grove fundraiser.
On this busy mid-July weekend, it seems appropriate to acknowledge some of the characters whom I observed and/or encountered since I arrived on the beach early Friday afternoon. These include the two-year-old boy who was holding court in downtown Cherry Grove on Friday night who will become a future mayor of the hamlet one day, the long-time Grove archivist who remains proud of his community’s history, the sexy Complexions Contemporary Ballet dancer who wowed this reporter and other FIDF supporters at Whyte Hall on Friday night and the “A-List” crew members who were shooting scenes around the Pines harbor on Saturday morning. Five drag queens—Ariel Sinclair, Jason Cosmo, Dallas Dubois, Logan Hardcore and Sabel Scities—also boarded my Ocean Beach-bound water taxi in the Grove while I was on my way home from FIDF. They were scheduled to perform at the Island Mermaid at 9 p.m.
Welcome to summer on Fire Island!
Moon over Point O' Woods around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 16.
Grove beach scene on Sunday, July 17.
Some gusty winds in the Grove!
At the Fire Island Dance Festival in the Pines on Sunday, July 17.
Members of the Complexions Contemporary Ballet at Whyte Hall on Friday, July 15.
Started writing at 3:11 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, at the pool at the Grove Hotel in Cherry Grove.
It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon here on the beach with a deep blue sky, low humidity and DJ Chuck spinning Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” before Ariel Sinclair’s first number.
This post-July 4 weekend included Congressman Tim Bishop talking about marriage equality in New York, the Defense of Marriage Act and other LGBT-specific measures on Capitol Hill and local beach management. Lambda Legal’s annual Fire Island Pines fundraiser took place on Saturday, July 9, while Logan Hardcore thankfully did not nearly drown anyone at the Grove Hotel this weekend. And a group of Islip lifeguards who were trying to raise money to attend an upcoming lifeguard tournament on Saturday night quickly learned that Cherry's patrons are far more generous to those who take off their shirts.
On a far more serious note, Grove firefighters thwarted a potential catastrophe on Friday, July 8, when they quickly extinguished a fire at Xanadu at Lewis and Gerard Walks. The blaze only damaged the second floor of the complex’s guesthouse, but it could have been far worse. Those sitting here at the pool show watching Sinclair prance around the pool in a gold-sequined dress may not realize that one spark or one carelessly tossed cigarette butt can quickly become a raging inferno.
Mother Nature—there was no wind and it was raining when the fire broke out around 6 p.m. on Friday—certainly spared the Grove from a potential disaster. One Xanadu resident summed it up best while praising firefighters’ quick response and local residents who helped with the cleanup.
“The heart of the community showed that night,” she said.
Indeed.
Impromptu modern art at a Pines home on Saturday, July 9.
At the pool show at the Ice Palace on Saturday, July 9.
Another beautiful sunset from the Grove's dock on Saturday, July 9.
Ariel Sinclair at the Ice Palace's pool show on Sunday, July 10.
Began writing at 10:21 p.m. while sitting on my desk in Brooklyn.
The happiness over last night's historic marriage equality vote in Albany was palpable on Fire Island today. Those who attended Porsche's show at the Ice Palace in Cherry Grove last night began to cry when they learned the state Senate passed the measure in a 33-29 vote. A large banner reading "Thank you, New York. We do!" hung from the High Tea deck in Fire Island Pines, and state flags flew at Low Tea. Drag queens, cross-dressers, couples and almost anyone else who marched in the Grove's annual Pride parade earlier today rejoiced in the fact that marriage equality will soon come to Fire Island and the rest of New York.
Congratulations to gay and lesbian Fire Islanders who will soon be able to legally marry in the Empire State.
The state Senate earlier tonight approved a marriage equality bill by a 33-29 margin. The measure will become law 30 days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs it.
Speaking at the LGBT Community Center earlier tonight, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer once again urged state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry.
Speaking at the LGBT Community Center's annual Garden Party at Pier 54 in Manhattan earlier tonight, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she expects the state Senate will vote on the marriage equality bill on Wednesday, June 22, or Thursday, June 23.
Marriage equality activists are also planning to rally at noon on Tuesday, June 21, in Albany.
This panorama shot from the roof deck of 548 Beachcomber Walk in Fire Island Pines on Saturday, June 18, is among the myriad of reasons that I return to the beach each summer.
Started writing at 8:48 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, while waiting for a Babylon-bound train at the Bay Shore train station.
A fine mist has once again begun to fall. And while the weather on Fire Island was certainly less than ideal today, it was still good to be on the beach after a particularly tumultuous week.
Today's agenda included attending a memorial service in Fire Island Pines and interviewing two long-time Cherry Grove residents about the 30th anniversary of the first reported cases of what became known as AIDS. I went inside the Woodhull School in Corneille Estates for the first time. And I even became an Ocean Beach scofflaw by eating a handful of pistachios on a public walk outside the village's commercial district.
Here are three notes and observations from the previous day. 1) I had never interviewed anyone while wearing only my underwear until I sat down with two lesbians in the Grove earlier this afternoon. My jeans became wet after I walked to their house during a downpour, and they were in the dryer during our interview. 2) Perhaps Congressman Anthony Weiner will seek refuge on Fire Island during his leave of absence from the House. 3) Inside voices should apply to any place where other people are not interested in hearing about someone else's cocktail ring or quirky parents. The loud woman on the 8:05 p.m. ferry to Bay Shore should take particular note.
The Land of No means business!
A Fire Island school bus parked outside the Woodhull School.
City Councilmember Diana Reyna [D-Bushwick] was among the Latino elected officials, activists and clergy who spoke in support of marriage equality on the steps of City Hall earlier today.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly maintained nuptials for same-sex couples remains one of his top legislative priorities, but he has said he will not introduce a marriage equality measure until he is sure it has enough votes in the state Senate to pass. The current legislative session is scheduled to end on June 20.
While Congressman Anthony Weiner does not represent Bushwick on Capitol Hill, one could not help but feel a bit sorry for the normally loquacious lawmaker when he confessed to reporters in Midtown this afternoon that he sent the now infamous lewd photo to a Seattle college student.
Weiner was scheduled to participate in an LGBT health care forum in Jackson Heights earlier this evening, but one can obviously assume he did not make it. The congressman maintained he will not resign, but today's revelations are almost certainly not the last shoes to drop in the ongoing Weinergate saga.
