By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

The front-page story of last week’s PRESS of Southeast Queens brought to light a local controversy concerning insensitive art. The Daily News, CBS-TV news and others, have picked up the Press story about artist Sharon Paz’s work on display at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL).

At presstime, that artwork had been removed from the windows, and there goes the chance for discussion, thought and healthy debate.

The view outside of JCAL Photo by Shams Tarek Last week’s PRESS of Southeast Queens

“Falling,” a Sept. 11 memorial, consisted of paper cutouts of “falling people” and was affixed to JCAL’s windows.  While the artist described her work as, “my therapy … my own way of dealing with my fear,” Queens Beep Helen Marshall claimed: “this is insensitive. We need healing now, and this opens wounds.”

Councilman Leroy Comrie: “They [JCAL] do wonderful work in the arts; they just dropped the ball with this.”

JCAL Director of Programs Alan Lynes : “It’s the kind of piece that elicits a strong response … Some people were very supportive and some people were very offended. We thought it was done gracefully. Yes, it’s breathtaking, but we shouldn’t forget the loss of life.

Although JCAL’s  Harlan Chaney, claimed this is not “shock art,” many disagreed.

In recent years, we’ve seen a religious group’s attempt to cover naked statues at the Queens Museum, a Mayor objecting to a feces covered depiction of the Virgin Mary, and just last week, a public outcry against an artist sculpture of a 9-11 splattered woman caused its removal from Rockefeller Center.

Last week’s PRESS editorial insisted, “Regardless of what your opinion of the piece is, there is one thing that is clear.

“Art makes you think, and thinking improves our dialogue, our minds, and our democracy.

“When art is the impetus for discussion and debate, only learning and understanding can come out of it.

“In this instance, it has opened up a dialogue on an important piece of history and brought the discussion to street level. It’s gotten people looking at the Center, thinking about that day, and expanding their perspectives.

“We are pleased that the artist did not have to be afraid and used her freedom of speech to its fullest.

And we encourage our readers to do the same.”

JCAL will still be hosting a public Q&A session with the artist on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. but our borough has already lost a chance to grow from this free expression.

When art and controversy share a canvas, discussions of culture come to the kitchen table. People get involved and interested and begin to think.

Art is beautiful.

Provocative art is beautiful for a whole different set of reasons.

A Not-So-Gentle E-mail

Michael,

I am shocked that you have not commented with regards to Councilmember Charles Barron’s invitation to Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s dictator, who addressed the entire Council in City Hall’s Chambers. 

As well documented, Mugabe’s irrational land-seizure program could potentially cause the starvation of millions in his nation.  Even Amnesty  International has criticized him for this. 

This is outrageous to think  that this man was an honored guest at the citizens of New York’s City Hall!  And to add to this, not one of Barron’s colleagues had the backbone to step up and publicly rebuke him  for this.

These are the same council-members that you have glowingly referred to in several of your prior columns.  I am also  disappointed that – as a loyal reader and admirer of your work – you did not use your column to comment on this story.

While I am a strong believer in free speech, I also believe the
councilmembers of New York should not have be held captive to the rantings of an ideologue,  when they should be working on  behalf of the taxpaying public.  I also believe that  councilmembers and journalists who work hard to protect and encourage these rights, have a responsibility to exercise them on behalf of the public.

P.S.: while I am disappointed, I will still read.  It’s only strike one!

Thanks, Keith Walsh, Maspeth

Keith: You’ve done the job well for both of us. Thanx, Mike

Ethnic Redistricting Politics

There’s an on-going debate whether political lines should be drawn to group people of the same ethnicity in the same district. It certainly makes sense if we believe needs and desires are ethnically based. It also can enable an ethnic minority to have elected representation.

In last year’s Council election, we saw the first Asian-American and Hispanic-American elected to office from Queens. Flushing’s John Liu and Corona’s Hiram Monserratte indeed ethnically mirror the communities they represent. District lines were compact, contiguous and resulted in meaningful representation.

Eight years earlier, a tri-county, badly gerrymandered district  – known as the “Bullwinkle” district because of it’s boundaries roughly mimicked the shape of the cartoon character’s head – was drawn to elect a Latino to Congress. Nydia Velazquez won the Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan seat with the smallest turnout in a hotly contested Congressional Primary that this writer recalls. Several years later, the Supreme Court struck down the “Bullwinkle” District and two others in the country that were gerrymandered just because of ethnicity. Although ethnic makeup was valid to be considered, the court refused to allow it to be the overriding consideration.

The district was redrawn in a manner to comply with the court’s vague directives and enable incumbent Velazquez to retain the seat.

This year, redistricting created three Queens seats drawn to enable minority representation: Flushing’s 22nd Assembly District drawn for an Asian, and drawn for Latinos, Jackson Heights 39th A.D. and Elmhurst’s 13th Senate District. The lines apparently comply with court mandates.

In these three districts, winning the Democratic Primary usually assures an election night victory. Jose Peralta was the only ethnic minority candidate to win. Peralta beat two other Latino candidates and will be Queens’ first Hispanic in Albany.

Barry Grodenchik a white Jewish Democratic district leader won the 22nd AD over two Chinese and a south Asian candidate. Grodenchik had only 36.85 percent of the vote. The two Chinese candidates – Jimmy Meng and Ethel Chen – had a combined total of 55 percent. Although no one can be sure, it seems likely, that had only one of the two Chinese candidates been in the race, they would have won. Grodenchik now has two years of incumbency to win overthe Asian voters.

It seems likely that even with the advantages of incumbency, should Grodenchik, at any tine in the future, have to run head-on against a single strong Asian candidate, the seat could change hands.

Slightly to the west, longtime District Leader and former Councilman John Sabini won the 13th Senate District with 44.5 percent of the vote. The remaining 55.5 percent was split between two Latino candidates. Although the future is not as ominous for Sabini as it maybe for Grodenchik, Sabini may not have been the victor had he faced one Latino candidate with united support.

Ethnic and national differences may prevent the Chinese in the 22nd A.D. from unifying, while political and national differences may prevent the Latinos in the 13 S.D. from uniting behind a single candidate in the future. However, we would expect that with the changing population, the registration of more minority voters and the maturation of new Americans entering the political process, that when this decade ends, the number of members of ethnic minorities in elected positions and positions of power, will increase.

It’s a good thing.

Politics: Crossing Over?

Those of you who read this column regularly are aware that the New York State Legislature is not one of my favorite deliberative or legislative bodies. The gang that can’t pass a budget on time is an embarrassment to the people of this State. Decisions on anything that matters in the legislature are made by two people – Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. They’ll consult the Guv, if they have to. But it seems that all they care about is preserving their own power.

I don’t know what goes on in the other 49 states, but I’d be surprised if there are any worse. Yeah, New York is at the bottom.

And so, I was not the least bit surprised when I emailed an inquiry to an old Queens list of Assembly members and quickly got back an auto-response from Assemblywoman Pauline Cummings representing the 31st District of southeast Queens.

As you can see from the email, Cummings comments about the volume of email she receives and gives her Albany and Far Rockaway office addresses and phone numbers in case more than an automatic email response is needed.

No, we really don’t need anything else. We were in fact rather surprised that Cummings responded to us at all. You see, she died nine months ago.

And it’s not the least bit surprising that no one has bothered to update the mail server of the NYS Assembly.

We’ve seen how quickly they pass a budget; they’ll get around to it someday.