I surfed on over here via your comment in Bill Rice's substack. Glad to have your substack, and good wishes on your move. I understand. I used to adore NYC. Now the idea of setting foot there gives me the creeps. But I'm optimistic, life can be splendid in new ways.
Thought I'd be missing it but I don't even want to visit. Had more faith in people there being able to standup to BS directives. I was wrong. Fear rules the majority into "expert" prescribed behaviors. Doesn't matter how wrong they have been. It's easier to keep believing than come to terms with the truth.
One thing that did impress me mightily was the number of people who had refused the jabs who testified at the September NYC council meeting. I transcribed a bunch of them. Some of them were really heart-breaking. But I really appreciate their spirit. Perhaps this one most exemplified that spirit:
New York City Committees on Oversight and Investigations & Civil Service and Labor
EMILY ZAPANTIS [via Zoom]: Yes, hello? Can you hear me? Yes, hi, good afternoon. [Removes headphones]
I'd like to thank all the council members that are so valiantly sitting there listening to all of us today. Thank you.
I am a former New York City school administrator and assistant principal for 17 years and an educator for 23 years in the City of New York before I was terminated. I'm also part of the Educators for Freedom. [https://educatorsforfreedom.com ] And I am also one of the ones that worked during the 2020-2021 year when everybody stayed home because of their body mass index and their body fat content. I went into work every single day so that I can advocate for my beautiful students and my parents and the community in Jamaica, Queens that I have been a part of for so many years.
It's egregious what they have done to us. And, more importantly, to the economy of New York City that I have been a member of for almost 56 years of my life, as I was born and bred in Queens, New York.
You want the best workers? You had the best workers. Educated, highly educated people. Personally, three diplomas and three certifications in education myself.
It's egregious that I had to sit there and listen to the woman in the green dress, the Circleback D-class woman, to lie in front of the council people there today. We were not on payroll as we waited and waited to be accepted by the city-wide panel and the determination of whether our religious exemptions was going to be accepted or not and our accommodations denied four times in a row. But it's OK. The worst part of it all for me—
MALE VOICE: Time's expired.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: —it's not the money that's been lost, even though I was making more than the principal, as an assistant principal, because I had more seniority. The worst part of it for me was that my religion was being in questioned. As a Sunday School teacher, that was the worst part of it. And about 12 years ago—
GALE A. BREWER: Can you wrap up? I'm sorry, can you wrap up? Thank you.
EMILY ZAPANTIS [putting on headphones]: I'm sorry?
GALE A. BREWER: Can you wrap up? Because we've got more speakers.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: I found myself sitting at the Queens Museum with about 5 - 6 of my teachers and we learned about the Flushing Remonstrance that day because we were doing professional development. And the Flushing Remonstrance, for all those people that don't know, really should look it up, was the precursor—
GALE A. BREWER: M'am, we really do—
EMILY ZAPANTIS:— to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights for religious freedom—
GALE A. BREWER: —we do need to wrap up.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: —and it all started—
GALE A. BREWER: We need to wrap up. OK?
EMILY ZAPANTIS: Yeah.
GALE A. BREWER: We need to wrap up.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: It all started—
GALE A. BREWER: M'am, we need to wrap up because we have more speakers to go. Alright?
EMILY ZAPANTIS: Yes. Thank you. I just want to let everybody know they should look up the Flushing Remonstrance, which was the precur—
"Seventeenth-century settlers in Flushing drafted a protest that became a watershed of religious freedom in the New World. Let’s both put this remarkable piece of paper in context and outline its significance. Flushing—the city in Queens—was originally Vlissingen, after a Dutch city of that name. It was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which stretched across the Middle Atlantic region of what would become the United States. New Netherland is best remembered today for its capital—New Amsterdam—which became New York City, and for its last director, Peter Stuyvesant. The Dutch brought several things to the region they colonized. Most notable was an idea they more or less invented in the seventeenth century: “tolerance.” This idea got transferred to the New World colony.
"Its Dutch character is one reason why New York grew into a vibrantly multiethnic culture: one reason why New York became New York. The English of New England undeniably gave us their language and many aspects of government, but they were at this time in American history very far from enunciating such an ideal of religious freedom. What we see in the Flushing Remonstrance is a fledgling American colony applying hard-won rights from the Old Country to a New World setting, where they would flourish in an entirely new way. The mixed peoples who founded New Netherland would become a wellspring of American religious liberty, and also a source of America’s notion of equality.
"Excerpted from “The Importance of Flushing” by Russell Shorto in New York Archives (Winter 2008)."
Just found your substack after seeing your comments on 2nd Smartest Guy's stack. Found this comment interesting:
"I have often witnessed someone staring at a phone in the middle of a crosswalk, paying attention to neither the approaching vehicle traffic, nor the "Don't Walk" sign. I'm sure the drivers love it too. It's horrifying each time I see it, and thankfully I have not seen anyone get hit. Is whatever they are texting worth the potential hospital bills, permanent injury, or death?"
There's a democratic aspect to a big city.
If you are there you can walk around the streets and look at everyone, and at the buildings.
Whether well off or not you can see the same things.
Okay, if you're really down and out you will receive bad vibes, and if you are oozing luxury you will get more respect.
Seeing oneself through others' eyes is a free experience.
Yes, farewell New York. I know that I will not return.
Best wishes to you Tom.
I surfed on over here via your comment in Bill Rice's substack. Glad to have your substack, and good wishes on your move. I understand. I used to adore NYC. Now the idea of setting foot there gives me the creeps. But I'm optimistic, life can be splendid in new ways.
Thought I'd be missing it but I don't even want to visit. Had more faith in people there being able to standup to BS directives. I was wrong. Fear rules the majority into "expert" prescribed behaviors. Doesn't matter how wrong they have been. It's easier to keep believing than come to terms with the truth.
One thing that did impress me mightily was the number of people who had refused the jabs who testified at the September NYC council meeting. I transcribed a bunch of them. Some of them were really heart-breaking. But I really appreciate their spirit. Perhaps this one most exemplified that spirit:
New York City Committees on Oversight and Investigations & Civil Service and Labor
Gale A. Brewer, Chair, September 9, 2022
https://councilnyc.viebit.com/player.php?hash=U2mDNKAEkDJA
Source: https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx
TRANSCRIPT
4:36:39
EMILY ZAPANTIS [via Zoom]: Yes, hello? Can you hear me? Yes, hi, good afternoon. [Removes headphones]
I'd like to thank all the council members that are so valiantly sitting there listening to all of us today. Thank you.
I am a former New York City school administrator and assistant principal for 17 years and an educator for 23 years in the City of New York before I was terminated. I'm also part of the Educators for Freedom. [https://educatorsforfreedom.com ] And I am also one of the ones that worked during the 2020-2021 year when everybody stayed home because of their body mass index and their body fat content. I went into work every single day so that I can advocate for my beautiful students and my parents and the community in Jamaica, Queens that I have been a part of for so many years.
It's egregious what they have done to us. And, more importantly, to the economy of New York City that I have been a member of for almost 56 years of my life, as I was born and bred in Queens, New York.
You want the best workers? You had the best workers. Educated, highly educated people. Personally, three diplomas and three certifications in education myself.
It's egregious that I had to sit there and listen to the woman in the green dress, the Circleback D-class woman, to lie in front of the council people there today. We were not on payroll as we waited and waited to be accepted by the city-wide panel and the determination of whether our religious exemptions was going to be accepted or not and our accommodations denied four times in a row. But it's OK. The worst part of it all for me—
MALE VOICE: Time's expired.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: —it's not the money that's been lost, even though I was making more than the principal, as an assistant principal, because I had more seniority. The worst part of it for me was that my religion was being in questioned. As a Sunday School teacher, that was the worst part of it. And about 12 years ago—
GALE A. BREWER: Can you wrap up? I'm sorry, can you wrap up? Thank you.
EMILY ZAPANTIS [putting on headphones]: I'm sorry?
GALE A. BREWER: Can you wrap up? Because we've got more speakers.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: I found myself sitting at the Queens Museum with about 5 - 6 of my teachers and we learned about the Flushing Remonstrance that day because we were doing professional development. And the Flushing Remonstrance, for all those people that don't know, really should look it up, was the precursor—
GALE A. BREWER: M'am, we really do—
EMILY ZAPANTIS:— to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights for religious freedom—
GALE A. BREWER: —we do need to wrap up.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: —and it all started—
GALE A. BREWER: We need to wrap up. OK?
EMILY ZAPANTIS: Yeah.
GALE A. BREWER: We need to wrap up.
EMILY ZAPANTIS: It all started—
GALE A. BREWER: M'am, we need to wrap up because we have more speakers to go. Alright?
EMILY ZAPANTIS: Yes. Thank you. I just want to let everybody know they should look up the Flushing Remonstrance, which was the precur—
GALE A. BREWER: Thank you. Thank you very much.
4:39:52
# # #
Transcriber's Notes:
From https://history.nycourts.gov/about_period/flushing-remonstrance
"The Flushing Remonstrance, 1657"
"Seventeenth-century settlers in Flushing drafted a protest that became a watershed of religious freedom in the New World. Let’s both put this remarkable piece of paper in context and outline its significance. Flushing—the city in Queens—was originally Vlissingen, after a Dutch city of that name. It was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which stretched across the Middle Atlantic region of what would become the United States. New Netherland is best remembered today for its capital—New Amsterdam—which became New York City, and for its last director, Peter Stuyvesant. The Dutch brought several things to the region they colonized. Most notable was an idea they more or less invented in the seventeenth century: “tolerance.” This idea got transferred to the New World colony.
"Its Dutch character is one reason why New York grew into a vibrantly multiethnic culture: one reason why New York became New York. The English of New England undeniably gave us their language and many aspects of government, but they were at this time in American history very far from enunciating such an ideal of religious freedom. What we see in the Flushing Remonstrance is a fledgling American colony applying hard-won rights from the Old Country to a New World setting, where they would flourish in an entirely new way. The mixed peoples who founded New Netherland would become a wellspring of American religious liberty, and also a source of America’s notion of equality.
"Excerpted from “The Importance of Flushing” by Russell Shorto in New York Archives (Winter 2008)."
CONTINUE READING at:
"https://history.nycourts.gov/about_period/flushing-remonstrance/
Just found your substack after seeing your comments on 2nd Smartest Guy's stack. Found this comment interesting:
"I have often witnessed someone staring at a phone in the middle of a crosswalk, paying attention to neither the approaching vehicle traffic, nor the "Don't Walk" sign. I'm sure the drivers love it too. It's horrifying each time I see it, and thankfully I have not seen anyone get hit. Is whatever they are texting worth the potential hospital bills, permanent injury, or death?"
Perhaps you'll find this interesting:
Look Up by Gary Turk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY
ITM! I’m in NC. We should get together sometime. Maybe see you at an NA meetup. Love your work and reading your posts.
I have been hearing about some of the meetups in NC from a friend down there. It's very possible! Thanks for reading!