Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and senior editor-at-large at The Epoch Times, Roger Simon, in-studio who discussed his recent disappointing trip to New York City, the city’s future, and the race for mayor.
Leahy: We are joined in studio by the newest all-star panelist on The Tennessee Star Report. My former boss at PJTV. Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, novelist, great tennis player, and editor-at-large with The Epoch Times. Roger Simon. Good morning, Roger.
Simon: Good morning. I’m back from a dangerous zone.
Leahy: So, Roger, because you are an intrepid and courageous reporter, you went to a very, very dangerous local, and really, it’s on the edge of civilized society.
It’s a place called New York City, New York. (Simon sings Sinatra) You went there because out of just the importance of your mission to report to our audience what’s happening in the country today.
Thank you for your bravery. Tell us about what you discovered on your mission to New York City.
Simon: It’s the city of my birth, so it was a pretty sad adventure. What I did was, I went to an Epoch Times event that was being held in New York near their new offices. We are expanding.
But I stayed at a place called the Stewart Hotel, which is across the Street from Madison Square Garden, virtually. And it was sort of like visiting a Third World country.
It’s the first time I’ve been in New York since COVID. And most of the time, most years, I’d be there four times a year at least. And the feeling is at night, as you’re walking down the street with your head down and wish you had a hard hat.
It’s a really sad situation. And I’d like to be able to joke about it because I joke about most things. (Chuckles) But you can’t. This is the former capital of the world, really.
Leahy: The financial capital, media capital. And for a period of time, about a couple of years, the capital of the United States of America way back in 1789.
Simon: Right. But it’s none of the above right now. Well, they’re still fighting to be the financial capital, but it really shouldn’t be.
I don’t know how it’s ever going to come back to what it was. I don’t know. There are a lot of people there and there are people in the street, but they’re all wearing masks.
Leahy: They’re still wearing masks in the street.
Simon: A lot of people.
Leahy: Oh my goodness. Now, Mayor Bill de Blasio mercifully is leaving office. They had a primary up there on the Democratic side after a lot of problems, shall we say, about what was an accurate vote and what was not.
It looks like the winner of the Democratic primary is the former police captain who’s a little bit of a lefty.
Simon: A little bit? He was a Farrakhan supporter.
Leahy: More than a little bit of a lefty. What’s his name? Eric Adams.
Simon: And he’s going to be running against the Republican, which is not a real election. Curtis Sliwa.
Leahy: The Guardian Angels guy.
Simon: The Guardian Angels guy.
Leahy: He’s a talk show host.
Simon: I’m told it’s pretty good – A good friend of mine who is working for him.
Leahy: It will be 70-30.
Simon: But it’s not a real election.
Leahy: 80-20.
Simon: I mean, it’s a product of everything that’s happening in our culture, including the educational system, that you get a vote like that in New York City. Kind of like Nashville. No, not quite as bad. (Chuckles)
Leahy: Not quite bad. But now let’s talk about this. Are you optimistic or pessimistic that this very dangerous place where you were born and was beautiful when you were born there? Great city.
One of the greatest cities in the world. Now it’s a very dangerous place. What do you think the future holds for New York City?
Simon: Nothing good in the near future. It’s hard to say. The old Yogi Barra line: Predictions are dangerous, especially about the future. (Leahy laughs)
Leahy: But if you come to a fork in the road take it.
Simon: I remember New York in the 1950s when I was a kid. My friends and I used to get on the subway ourselves at the age of 11 to go to the Yankee games, sit in the bleachers for 65 cents, have a great time, and come back at 10 p.m.
Leahy: Safe. And your parents weren’t worried.
Simon: And our parents wouldn’t say anything. Oh, your back! I can’t imagine it being like that now. I mean, it’s so different. It’s a different universe. And it’s not a better one.
Leahy: When is the general election between Eric Adams and Curtis Silwa? Is it August?
Simon: I guess so. Yeah, I think it is. That’s right. But it’s not an election.
Leahy: It’s a coronation of Eric Adams. When he is inaugurated as the new mayor of New York City, will New York City be better, worse, or about the same as under Bill DeBlasio?
Simon: Better. A little. He’s an ex-cop. He’ll support the NYPD a bit more because that’s one of the worst parts about it. You feel unsafe in Manhattan.
I wasn’t even in the outer boroughs. I didn’t have time. In the heart of Manhattan, you feel unsafe.
Leahy: Not a very ringing endorsement for the city of your birth.
Simon: No.
Leahy: Not at all.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Eric Adams” by Krystalb97. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss the ranked-choice voting system mistake Tuesday night during the NYC Democratic Mayoral primary.
Leahy: Crom Carmichael, the story that broke last night in New York City, you’re gonna start smiling when I tell you this. Joel Pollak from Breitbart, my colleague. New York City’s Board of Elections, withdrew its latest vote count in the Democratic primary for mayor Tuesday evening after 135,000 test ballots were mistakenly included in a tally earlier in the day under the ranked-choice system.
Carmichael: How is that possible?
Leahy: How is that possible?
Carmichael: How is it possible that there might be voter fraud? My goodness.
Leahy: My goodness.
Carmichael: I thought that there was never, no matter what the circumstance, that no matter what the circumstance an investigation or a relook was always wrong. Always wrong. Checking to see if you did it right (Leahy laughs) in voting, according to Merrick Garland, is always wrong.
Leahy: I wonder if he’s going to do an investigation of New York City. Now, Here’s what’s interest.
Carmichael: That is the natural next question. And it’s the only one that’s actually still a live issue.
Leahy: Exactly.
Carmichael: So if he’s going to investigate any of them, it ought to be this one.
Leahy: By the way, you know who’s been hurt by this?
Carmichael: Who?
Leahy: The Black candidate, Eric Adams, who was leading in the first tally when they introduced these 135,000 bad test ballots that corrupted the system. His lead virtually disappeared. What does that sound like to you?
Carmichael: That might have corrupted the system.
Leahy: Might have.
Carmichael: Might have. In other words, we don’t know that. That’s why we’re supposed to do an audit.
Leahy: So actually, the Associated Press in that, let me read their lead sentence. They’re lefties.
Carmichael: Oh yes.
Leahy: Here’s what they said. They use the word corrupted. The Democratic primary, premier of New York City, was thrown into a state of confusion Tuesday when election officials retracted their latest report on the vote count after realizing it had been corrupted by test data never cleared from a computer system. That’s their words, not mine.
Carmichael: My goodness. This is going to be fascinating. Remind me and our listeners, of the Black guy who’s running. He was a former policeman, is that correct?
Leahy: Yes.
Carmichael: And the second place person is a wild leftist, is that correct?
Leahy: Wild leftist.
Carmichael: Making Bill DeBlasio look like Thomas Jefferson.
Leahy: That is funny. That is funny. (Laughs)
Carmichael: So describe what’s the name of the alternative? Ranked voting is where nobody gets a majority?
Leahy: They eliminate the bottom person, and then they go to the second choice and add them to the vote. It’s a big mess.
Carmichael: And so in this case, the did you say they were 135,000 test balance that they did to test the integrity, this is great, the integrity of the voting process. And then they left them in there.
Leahy: They left them in there. And they reported the results yesterday. And then they said, whoops! We forgot to take those out.
Carmichael: We forgot to erase the test.
Leahy: And the Black guy went from a big lead to almost tied because of that.
Carmichael: Okay, so the election has not been overturned.
Leahy: No.
Carmichael: Are they going to be able to identify the 135,000 ballots specifically?
Leahy: I don’t know. I don’t see how they’re going to do it.
Carmichael: They can’t do an audit.
Leahy: That would be evil. (Laughs)
Carmichael: It would be evil to do an audit.
Leahy: But wait. But wait. There’s more Crom. I know this would surprise you, but President Trump weighed in on this about an hour ago.
Carmichael: What did he say? Let me read this state and then get your reaction.
“Just like in the 2020 presidential election, it was announced overnight in New York City that vast irregularities and mistakes were made, and that Eric Adams (he’s the Black guy) despite an almost insurmountable lead, may not win the race. The fact is, based on what has happened, nobody will ever know who really won. The presidential race was a scam and a hoax with numbers and results being found that are massive, shocking, and determinative. Watch the mess you’re about to see in New York City. It will go on forever. They should close the books and do it all over again the old-fashioned way when we had results that were accurate and meaningful.”
Carmichael: That might as well have been said by De Blasio (Leahy laughs) about his own city because what Trump said there is entirely accurate about the election in New York City. It’s entirely accurate.
Now give us an update, because Mr. Garland is now trying to insert the Justice Department not only in whether or not there will be a recount, isn’t he now trying to do it in Fulton County? Isn’t he trying to stop that recount using the Justice Department, do that as well as overturn?
Leahy: If that’s happened, it’s recent. But he might have. I wouldn’t put it past him.
Carmichael: Or maybe it was a judge. Maybe it was a judge. Maybe I’m speaking out a step here. There was something about Fulton County where an audit is going to be able to proceed.
Leahy: That was from last week. Last week Merrick Garland, mercifully not on the Supreme Court, basically is suing the state of Georgia for passing an election integrity law that they’re claiming was intentionally designed to keep Black votes away. I don’t know how they see intent out of this.
Carmichael: They won’t be able to find that.
Leahy: But the audit of the absentee ballots, that review is proceeding under a few little complications, but we don’t know when it’s going to start, but it is scheduled to proceed.
Carmichael: And that’s in Georgia as well as in Maricopa County. Is that audit still ongoing?
Leahy: They’ve actually completed the audit. Now they’re writing the report from what I understand in Maricopa County. That report will come out in August. And so we’ll see what happens.
Carmichael: And did Arizona also pass election law reform?
Leahy: They are the leader in election reform. So the next thing you are going to see is Merrick Garland sue them. What a shock.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed City Journal associate editor and author of his new book, The Last Days of New York to the newsmakers line to describe the escalating crime in New York and who’s running for mayor.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line by Seth Barron, a New York City-based reporter and editor who’s been the associate editor of City Journal for some time. He is the author of a great new book.
You gotta read this. Last Days of New York. Welcome, Seth. I’ve been looking forward to talking to you for some time.
Barron: Thanks, Michael. I’m glad to be here.
Leahy: So New York City went through a rejuvenation when Rudy Giuliani became mayor. They had the famous broken windows policy where they cleaned up all the little small crimes in New York City and made it safer. Then-Mayor Bill De Blasio happening all of a sudden overnight, it’s a war zone. I guess your book tells that tale.
Barron: That’s right. And it wasn’t just De Blasio, although he was instrumental. But he had a whole team of friends and allies, progressives in the City Council, state legislature, up and down the government helping.
And, yes, they decriminalized quality of life crimes, public urination, littering, the instituted bail reform. We have a bunch of DAs who just released or who just dropped charges on all the rioters and looters from last summer. So all of this combined has turned things around in a bad way.
Leahy: Is poverty the root of crime?
Barron: Well, this is what you hear a lot. Like AOC said, that when people are shooting someone on the street in broad daylight while he’s walking with his kid, that this is because they need money to pay the rent.
But no, I wouldn’t say poverty is not the root of crime because there’s a lot of poor people. Most of them don’t shoot each other. And these shootings all have to do with disputes, beefs or they’re just gang-related.
They’re not economic. It’s just people who are encroaching on each other’s turf or insulting each other. Or someone doesn’t like the way someone looked at him on the subway. So he slashes his face. That’s the sort of thing that’s driving it, not poverty.
Leahy: So yesterday there was a primary election in New York City for the new mayor on the Republican primary, which doesn’t really matter. But the winner was Curtis Lee. On the Democratic primary, a former New York police captain Eric Adams got 31 percent of the vote. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez endorsed, what’s her name? Maya Wiley got 22.
Barron: Wiley.
Leahy: Andrew Yang was in fourth place with 11%. So he’s conceded he’s not going to be mayor. Now, they’ve got this ranked-choice voting thing, which I really don’t understand. So it’s going to be a while before they determine who the winner of that is.
I guess it’s down to Eric Adams, the former police captain, and this Maya Wiley. Between the two of them, who is worse?
Barron: Well, Maya Wiley would be a disaster. There’s actually another candidate, Catherine Garcia, in there, too. Maya Wiley is the George Soros candidate, she’s in favor of defunding the police. She would just be an absolute disaster.
The worst possible candidate. Eric Adams, he’s a former police captain, as you said, and he’s made some of the right noises about law and order. But the problem in New York is that, like, chaos has been codified.
All of this stuff has been institutionalized. They’ve changed the laws, and there’s a whole like I said, the DAs are in there. They have bail reform. The NYPD is under a federal monitor. They got rid of qualified immunity for the police which makes them much less interested in doing or willing to do their jobs proactively.
Criminal discovery reform has terrified witnesses from coming forward. There are just all these reasons why even a strong law and order mayor wouldn’t be able to turn things around. And Eric Adams, he’s okay, but he’s no Rudy Giuliani.
Leahy: One of my favorite television programs of all time was Law and Order. 20-year run, I think it ended up about 15 years ago, but it was a great program. It was about the police officers and the DAs in Manhattan. If they had to redo that program, wouldn’t they call it Law and Disorder?
Barron: That’s sort of the way things are headed in New York. I’m not going to say that everywhere you go there are bullets flying by. But here’s the thing. We’re heading starkly in the wrong direction.
New York has never seen a rise in crime as sharp it is experiencing. Now deterioration and public disorder on the street is increasing and the city is dirtier, dingier, and somewhat scarier than it was just two years ago. I think that that would be apropos name.
Leahy: Paint two different scenarios for New York City in 2021 and beyond. Mayor Eric Adams, Mayor Maya Wiley. What are those scenarios look like over the next couple of years?
Barron: Unfortunately, I’m not so sure it would be that different. Maya Wiley would come in and she wants to defund the police and put more money into the community. She says we’ll have violence interrupters.
Leahy: (Chuckles) Violence interrupters? What on Earth is that?
Barron: Well, this is a big program. This is Bill DeBlasio’s main program.
Leahy: I mean, there really is a program called violence interrupters.
Barron: Oh, yeah.
Leahy: Oh, my goodness.
Barron: You send people out. Like former gang members or trusted community leaders, and they go out and try to talk to gang members before they start shooting each other.
Leahy: Oh, my goodness.
Barron: It has no success.
Leahy: It sounds to me it’s like, are you going to be a violence interrupter. Sounds like they’re asking you to be the person who throws your body in front of the bullet headed for somebody else?
Barron: It does sound like that. And unfortunately, that’s what it winds up being. And even Eric Adams, who should know better, last year, when people lighting illegal fireworks, suggested that people not call 911 if they’re bothered by fireworks, but go out and try to talk to the people, setting them off and see what they’re up to.
Leahy: (Laughs) Boy, that’s stupid. That’s stupid.
Barron: A woman got shot and killed doing exactly that. Here’s the thing. The police are professionals, so it’s an impersonal relation for them. They’re not angry about whatever the dispute is that people are trying to settle.
So they’re not personally invested. And so they know how to de-escalate it. Whereas if people are settling their own problems, it can get worse.
Leahy: Seth Barron, author of Last Days of New York. Last question for you, Seth. When are you moving to Tennessee?
Barron: Well, I’ve got one of my colleagues moved down there, and he loves it. I’ve got a good friend from there. I was very fond of Chattanooga when I visited, and I like Tennessee a lot, so I may be coming down.
Leahy: Call me. We’ll give you a tour. We’d love to have you. (Barron chuckles) Seth Barron, thanks for joining us today.
Barron: Thank you.
Leahy: All right. Seth Barron, author of The Last Days of New York.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Seth Barron” by Seth Barron.
