Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Bob Holden | Former Democrat NY City Council Member Jumps Party Lines in Getting Behind Bruce Blakeman for Governor

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Bob Holden | Former Democrat NY City Council Member Jumps Party Lines in Getting Behind Bruce Blakeman for Governor · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I miss the days when you had common sense Democrats
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: like Bob Holden. And even though Holden and I got
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a little tiff during the Curtis Sliwa days, I have
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of respect for Bob Holden. I love
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the guy. And when he jumped on the Bruce Blakeman
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: train a couple of weeks ago, I went to hug
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  Speaker 1: him and kiss him. So here he is, the former
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: great congressman, Bob Holden. Bob, good morning, buddy.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: How are you? You made me a congressman now. I did.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's better than council. That's better. The great councilman,
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  Speaker 1: Bob Holden. Good morning, Bob. How are you?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning. Good morning, Sid. Great to be on again.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Great to have you, too. You know, I was just thinking,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the first time I met you, I think, and there's
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a reason I'm talking about this, because I'm going to
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: put on a big event, me and his brother, Michael Sullivan,
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  Speaker 1: at the Bell Harbor Yacht Club in a couple of weeks.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: I think it was at Michael Sullivan's living room for
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a fundraiser. for his brother Thomas, who's running for assembly again.
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  Speaker 1: Is that right?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, just ancient history. But yeah,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: it might have been that time.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: I think it was. So are you going to be,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: are you all in for Thomas Sullivan this time again?
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Of course. Of course. That's a no-brainer. Of course. You
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: always vote common sense. You vote for the person, not
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: the party. And that's the problem with the Democratic Party.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: They stick with them. They stick with socialists, communists. This
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: has got to end. Democrats out there have to vote
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  Speaker 2: for common sense, the person. Who's going to bring public
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  Speaker 2: safety back to New York City and New York State?
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  Speaker 2: Who's going to do the right thing for the citizens
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  Speaker 2: of this city and state? So The Democratic Party has
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  Speaker 2: gone way off the rails. And that's why I'm you know,
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  Speaker 2: I've been voting the person I vote for some Democrats.
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  Speaker 2: But again, if you look at the past few years,
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  Speaker 2: it's all Republicans because they make the most sense.
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  Speaker 3: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: There's a lot of Democrats in this city who have
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: to start to think about. you know, voting Republican. And
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  Speaker 2: that's how far the Democratic Party has gone off the rails.
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  Speaker 2: When you start having a communist mayor, I mean, that's
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  Speaker 2: when you got to just kind of bail, you know,
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  Speaker 2: parachute out of the party, really.
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  Speaker 1: That is a huge statement coming from you, Bob. So
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  Speaker 1: I would ask you, when you jump on Bruce Blakeman's
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  Speaker 1: train and you're one of three very high-profile Democrats who
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  Speaker 1: did the last couple of weeks, Bonnie Lautenberg, the lovely
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  Speaker 1: widow of the great Frank Lautenberg, The very popular actress,
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  Speaker 1: Deborah Messing, and you, three very high-profile Democrats with Bruce Blakeman.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Would you say it's more that you're pro-Bruce or anti-Kathy?
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  Speaker 2: I think it's both. Kathy Hochul has been miserable. She's
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: gone again. When you start backing a communist mayor for
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  Speaker 2: New York City and endorsing him and you start doing
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  Speaker 2: the things that she's done, she's gone way, way, way
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  Speaker 2: to the socialist left. Most of them have. Tell me
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: one Democrat in office now that hasn't. By the way,
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Phil Wong, who took over for me, it worked for me.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: He's a common sense Democrat. He's on the Common Sense Caucus.
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  Speaker 2: So I would mention him. I would have him on
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  Speaker 2: if you could ever get him on. But he is
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  Speaker 2: he's good. He's he's one of the few. I like
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  Speaker 2: him to sense Democrats. And Calvin Yeager, when I served,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: was great. He's in from Brooklyn. He's now an assemblyman.
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  Speaker 2: He's a common sense Democrat. So there's a few of
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  Speaker 2: us out there. Not many. But we have to have more.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a lot more that will vote for Bruce
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  Speaker 2: because they're probably in the closet still. But they won't
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  Speaker 2: say it, but they'll vote for Bruce Blake.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what.
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  Speaker 2: We're hoping for.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, same thing. They wouldn't admit it, but they voted
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: for Trump. What are some of the policies that Kathy
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: is married to Bob Holden that scare you to death?
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Well, the sanctuary cities, that's that's a huge problem. Why
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  Speaker 2: would you protect criminals, criminal aliens? I mean, why would
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: you ever want them in this state? Why wouldn't you
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  Speaker 2: turn them over to ICE? Would you say this morning 16,000
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  Speaker 2: detainers that weren't honored? I mean, that's unbelievable. 16,000 criminals.
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  Speaker 2: You can't. You can't make this up. Again, the world,
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  Speaker 2: we're like in the bizarro world right now. You know,
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  Speaker 2: good is evil. Evil is good. This is what we're
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  Speaker 2: seeing in the Democratic Party. And Kathy Hochul is the
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  Speaker 2: leader of that party in the state. So why would
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  Speaker 2: anybody in his right mind vote for somebody like that?
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  Speaker 1: Good question. So if you were on the debate stage
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  Speaker 1: tonight and you were Bruce Blake, now that's exactly the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: same thing. What would you attack Iran? Obviously, you just
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  Speaker 1: mentioned it, the law and order, the chaos, criminals running
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  Speaker 1: the show. You got taxes, too. But what would you
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  Speaker 1: hammer home if you were Bruce tonight?
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  Speaker 2: Well, how many people have left the state? I think we,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we're the highest taxed state in the union.
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  Speaker 2: That's one. That's the first thing you should say. And
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  Speaker 2: that's a fact. And how many people have just gone
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  Speaker 2: to Florida or South Carolina? How many people? There's again,
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  Speaker 2: that's the record. You have that on record. And the
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  Speaker 2: people that have come in are people who were welcome
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  Speaker 2: and are given all the benefits undocumented. So this is
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  Speaker 2: why the state is upside down. She's mismanaged this state
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  Speaker 2: to no end. And it's clear the choice is Bruce Blakeman.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's only one choice here. And if you're
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  Speaker 2: thinking about voting for Hochul, you're going to destroy, you're
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  Speaker 2: going to continue to destroy this state.
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  Speaker 1: Bob, in your long stay here in New York and
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  Speaker 1: all those amazing decades in the city council, again, some
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: say I'm not going to argue, you're the best ever.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Have you ever seen a politician more dangerous than Mayor Mamdani?
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  Speaker 2: Well, de Blasio comes to mind, too, because he was, again,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: a closet communist, even though, you know, he would. Didn't
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  Speaker 2: he celebrate his wedding in Cuba?
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Yes. Don't we all do that?
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  Speaker 2: It's a good call. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: He was rough.
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  Speaker 2: He was rough, too.
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  Speaker 1: And he was a Boston Red Sox fan. As a
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  Speaker 1: mayor of New York, you can't have that.
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  Speaker 2: He was awful. Terrible. Terrible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, Eric Adams was not great either, but
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  Speaker 1: compared to these two guys, he's like Rudy Giuliani.
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  Speaker 2: You know, and listen, I had it out with Bloomberg
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  Speaker 2: at the end, but he was like, but Giuliani was
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  Speaker 2: the greatest mayor by far. And George Pataki, the greatest
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  Speaker 2: governor we've had. And that's why, you know, again, George
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  Speaker 2: Pataki endorsed me when I ran. He crossed party lines,
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  Speaker 2: but he endorsed me. So, you know, you just have
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  Speaker 2: to go with the best person. And look at George
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  Speaker 2: Pataki's resume. It's unbelievable what he did in his 12
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  Speaker 2: years as governor.
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  Speaker 1: He's coming up next. What a great transition from Holden
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  Speaker 1: to Pataki.
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  Speaker 2: He is.
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  Speaker 1: I've got two more on the city council for you.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the current? Speaker. One day
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  Speaker 1: I love her.
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  Speaker 2: I do.
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  Speaker 1: The next day I can't stand her. Julie Menon. I
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  Speaker 1: want to like her. I do. But she'll back up
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the mayor on something or she'll call out Bibi. She'll say, hey, Bibi,
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  Speaker 1: you need to calm down the rhetoric. Wait a second.
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  Speaker 1: He's the guy that's being threatened to get arrested every
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  Speaker 1: day by the mayor. So I kind of go back
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  Speaker 1: and forth with Menon as a former city council.
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  Speaker 2: Great.
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  Speaker 1: What do you think about her?
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  Speaker 2: I served with her. I like Julie. But she's walking
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  Speaker 2: a tightrope, and I get it. She's got to just
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  Speaker 2: keep the far, far left at bay and not get
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  Speaker 2: them too excited. She needs their support here and there
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  Speaker 2: on bills. But in the end, I think she'll make
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  Speaker 2: the right decision. Compared to Adrian Adams, who I served with,
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  Speaker 2: and she's now running for lieutenant governor, she was a
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  Speaker 2: nightmare to no end. And if she becomes lieutenant governor,
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  Speaker 2: we're really screwed.
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  Speaker 1: We had two bad Adams back then, Eric and Adrian.
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  Speaker 1: We had two bad Adams.
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  Speaker 2: No, Adrian Adams was much worse.
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  Speaker 1: Much worse. I agree.
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  Speaker 2: Eric, you could reason with. Adrian, you could not.
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  Speaker 1: Totally agree.
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  Speaker 2: He was horrible.
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  Speaker 1: Totally agree. Yes. One more. Do you realize this? I
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  Speaker 1: get a message last night that Joanne Areola, who, of course,
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  Speaker 1: is my city councilwoman out of Queens, she tweeted last night,
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  Speaker 1: about 10 o'clock last night, that the city council... at
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  Speaker 1: that point, had not, and maybe they never did, tweet
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  Speaker 1: Happy Columbus Day. They went to Happy Indigenous People Day,
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  Speaker 1: like the mayor did, and both governors of New York
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  Speaker 1: and New Jersey did. But the city council, as of
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  Speaker 1: I think 10 o'clock last night, never tweeted Happy Columbus Day.
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  Speaker 1: Is that possible?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but I experienced that. You know, de Blasio is
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  Speaker 2: the one who created that in New York City. Columbus
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  Speaker 2: Day is a national holiday. Christopher Columbus was an explorer. Again,
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  Speaker 2: you're going back to the 15th century. I mean, come on.
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  Speaker 2: It's insane that you're going to erase history because you
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  Speaker 2: don't like it or you have some rumors about an explorer.
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  Speaker 2: You've got to put yourself in the position of this
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  Speaker 2: is a different time. These were different times. This is...
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  Speaker 2: To eliminate Columbus is an insult. And the city council
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  Speaker 2: not doing that, you know, again, my experience with the
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  Speaker 2: city council, you know, I have a very, very bad experience,
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  Speaker 2: you know, in my eight years. But Adrian Adams was
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  Speaker 2: responsible for the last four, which were worse than, you know, again,
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  Speaker 2: we have a good speaker now compared to Adrian Adams. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Julie is doing a good job. I'm really happy,
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  Speaker 2: at least personally. With most of the things she's working on.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: You're right about criticizing Israel or anything else like that.
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  Speaker 2: You should stay out of that.
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  Speaker 1: Stay out of it. Last one, then. You've jumped on
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  Speaker 1: the Blakeman bandwagon. You made a very good argument. Why?
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  Speaker 1: During this great conversation, Bob Holden. Do you think, honestly,
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  Speaker 1: he's going to win?
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  Speaker 2: I think he's going to win because people are fed up.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: up and they're not going to say it maybe on
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: a poll or they're not going to answer it but
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Does anybody really like if you like the way things
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: are going in New York City, New York State, then
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: something you're you're delusional because you really have to pay attention.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: You have to pay attention to what's happening, your taxes,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: what you're paying, what you're getting in the bank for
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  Speaker 2: the buck. And it's all because of Kathy Hochul.
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  Speaker 1: Bottom line, that's it. Right. So he's going to win.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Bob Holden, it's great catching up with you. You're a
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: great man. You're a great city council member. And. You
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: really are New York, man. You really are. So thank
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you so much for hopping on, buddy.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: God bless you. Bob Holden right there, the former great
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: city council member. Love talking to that guy. That guy's
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a very, very smart guy. He really is.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
• 10:48
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• 10:51
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• 10:56
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• 11:00
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• 11:06
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• 11:09
  Speaker 3: so you never have to wonder.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?