Defending “The Bailey’s” Right to Kung Pao Chicken and an SUV
DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall and her husband Senator Charles Schumer enjoy a meal with The Bailey's.
This week's New Yorker has a Jeffrey Goldberg Talk of the Town piece about Senator Charles Schumer's new book, Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time. Schumer's protagonist is an imaginary, average middle-class American family called "The Baileys" who accompany the Senator wherever he goes and advise him "on all manner of middle-class concerns."
Schumer tells Goldberg that his imaginary constituents live in Massapequa, Long Island and are both forty-five years old. Joe works for an insurance company, Eileen is a part-time employee at a doctor's office. The Bailey's wouldn't be the types to order chicken and steamed vegetables at Hunan Delight, Schumer says. They'd get the kung pao chicken.
And how would the Bailey's get to Hunan Delight? Not in a Toyota Prius, that's for sure...
Liberal élitism, [Schumer] said, as he stirred Sweet 'N Low into his tea with a chopstick, alienates middle-income families from the Party. "Middle-class people don't think everybody should have to drive a tiny little car to achieve improvement in global warming," he said. Invoking opponents of expanding the tuition tax credit to the middle class, he went on, "If we listened to the New York Times editorial board, we'd have twenty-one votes in the Senate."
Photo: New York Social Diary
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Justice Dept., Citing Streetsblog Reporting, Threatens to Sue NYPD Over Cops’ Sidewalk Parking
The city is now facing a major civil rights suit from the Biden Administration if it doesn't eliminate illegal parking by cops and other city workers.
What to Say When Someone Claims ‘No One Bikes or Walks in Bad Weather’
Yes, sustainable modes are more vulnerable to bad weather. But that's why we should invest more in them — not less.
NYC Transit’s New Operations Planning Chief Wants To Fight ‘Ghost Buses’
One-time transit advocate and current MTA Paratransit VP Chris Pangilinan will oversee bus and subway operations for the whole city.
Friday’s Headlines: Gimme Bus Shelter Edition
The days of the Landmarks Preservation Commission reviewing every proposed bus shelter in landmarked districts may be no more. Plus more news.
Deal Reached: Hochul Says ‘Sammy’s Law’ Will Pass
The bill, though imperfect, has been four years in the making.
