Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
The Rock Upon
Which New York is Built
His Honor Eric Adams, Mayor of New York, is into magic
rocks and crystals, part of the reiki / chakra / ouija / enneagram / pyramid world
of self-obsessed low-prole fantasy that would embarrass a sixth-grader.
His bracelet of little stones was noticed when he ran for
office, but the assumption was that these were but ornaments – the mayor is a
man of fashion. Someone mentioned that one of the stones was from West Africa,
and that’s certainly a nice thing, a connection with one’s ancestral homeland.
But apparently, according to several sources (hey, they’re
on the InterGossip; they must be true, right?), the mayor believes that
different rocks and crystals possess special powers. One stone is for healing,
another for protection, another for peace, and so on, all rather Harry
Potter-ish.
And this is surprising in a grown man with a solid (maybe
even rock-solid) background: his father was a butcher and, sadly, an alcoholic.
His mother cleaned houses. He was something of a street tough and was arrested
for criminal mischief, doing a few days in juvy and then probation. A police
officer and a minister appealed to his better self, and young Eric finished
high school, worked different jobs to pay his way through community college and
then a B.A. in criminal justice and a Master’s in Public Administration. He joined
the New York Police Department as a street cop, retiring as a captain after
twenty years to go into politics.
His life and hard work are an inspiration, and suggest a
man grounded in reality, and yet the bit about the rocks and crystals and the spiritual
influence of the rock strata on which New York is built are disturbing. Eric
Adams is mayor of New York City and thus the leader of one of the most powerful
leaders in the world. If New York were its own nation its economy would be
larger than that of most nations.
According to the (Countries With A Bigger GDP Than New York - WorldAtlas),
only China, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Brazil, and Canada
have larger economies than New York City.
Last autumn the people of New York put their great
economy into the hands of Eric Adams, so, yes, the illogic of his belief in
rocks and crystals is at least curious if not worrisome.
Whatever Eric Adams does is not a local issue; it impacts
all of us. Let us hope he does not forget where he came from, his parents’ hard
work, the beat cop and the minister who saw something in him others did not,
and those long shifts patrolling the subways and the streets in service to the
people.
The New Identity Politics of Eric Adams - POLITICO
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