Thompson Stirs Supporters At Borough Hall Rally
Bill Thompson greets supporters at Borough Hall
“The mayor doesn’t see homeless people on the streets,” said a voice amplified by a bullhorn near Borough Hall last Saturday. “All he sees is a fat wallet.”
City Comptroller, and Brooklynite, Bill Thompson was about to kick off his five-borough mayoral campaign swing on the steps of Borough Hall and his supporters were intent on emphasizing the comptroller’s average New Yorker credentials at the expense of his incumbent opponent, Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“He’s been focused on the people at the top,” said Mr. Thompson rounding out the equation for his supporters from the podium. “Meanwhile unemployment’s the highest it’s been in 16 years, water fees have skyrocketed and MTA fares have risen.”
Over the course of the speech, the comptroller made oblique references to the mayor’s personal wealth no fewer than six times. Mr. Thompson, who is in his second term, said his opponent would lose the election despite his fortune because the comptroller would “knock on more doors, hand out more fliers and make more phone calls.”
Mr. Thompson, however, can only do that with a little help from his friends – the volunteers. Meet some of the young people behind him, after the jump.
Hersh Parekh
Rego Park, Queens
Intern with the Thompson campaign
“I thought which candidate me and my family can relate to more, who understands the kinds of things we’re going through and I found nothing in common with a billionaire mayor. The comments he’s made have not been reflective of the kinds of things that I value and I believe in. I think that the kinds of things Bill has done as comptroller, the fact that he comes from New York, has New York roots, is something that I relate to. I’m a born New Yorker, grew up in a middle class family and I really found that he’s someone I can relate to.”
Tommy Torres
Williamsburg
Gym Teacher
“[Bill Thompson] is going to stand up for real New Yorkers, he sees what’s going on in the neighborhood – blacks, Latinos, we’re being pushed out. It’s not happening any more if we elect someone like Bill Thompson – he’s going to make sure that middle class, working class are going to be able to remain here in the city.”
Jill Merkel
Astoria, Queens
Jon Liu for Comptroller Volunteer
Financial Services Administrator
“I’m not the biggest Bloomberg fan and I think that Thompson did a really good job as comptroller. Plus, I’m a Democrat. I usually vote the party line.”
Keston Royce
East Flatbush
Student / Intern with State Senator Eric Adams’s Youth Task Force Initiative
“We’ve had someone who’s been in power for eight years just doing what he wants to do, which was to turn over the term limits. Now he’s saying he has the power to do so and he doesn’t need the input of the voters to do it. We don’t need a dictatorship in this city. We need somebody who understands the needs of New York City, not just the millionaires and billionaires, but the working class.”
Karen Muir
Park Slope
Pension Policy Advisor, Comptroller’s Office
“I work on behalf of the shareholders, as custodians of the pension fund. We go out and get to be corporate watchdogs and make sure that our money is invested in the right places and the companies we work with are doing the proper things. Working for Bill Thompson, I get to go home feeling proud of what I did, every day.”
Chad Alonzo
Lefrak City, Queens
Unemployed
“I maybe felt that [Bloomberg] was maybe using his money to boost his appeal. As far as Thompson is concerned, he’s working from the bottom up, he’s a citizen like us and worked his way up to where he’s at today and he’s dedicated to common New Yorkers.”
