Latest / The Mark Simone Show / Hour 2: Do you love cats?

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Hour 2: Do you love cats? · The Mark Simone Show

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Speaker 1: Now the Red Beret has returned to radio. Curtis Lee
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Speaker 1: guest host the Mark Simone Show on sevent ten wo R.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I just came through the tunnel here at iHeart
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Speaker 2: w R. It's all red. You know, it could be
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Speaker 2: the locker room for the Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium
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Speaker 2: now moving to Kansas. You know, like Dorothy, you know,
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Speaker 2: clicking her red shoes. But I'm festooned all in red,
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Speaker 2: red satine jacket, red beret, feeling like Sanny Claus and
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Speaker 2: also having received a gift to be able to broadcast
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Speaker 2: to all of you and our new found talk radio
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Speaker 2: station seven to ten WR that Nancy and I listened
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Speaker 2: to as often as possible. And she joins me right
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Speaker 2: now as she joined me at many times on WABC.
1:13
Speaker 2: No longer our place to be where they were always bashing, Curtis.
1:16
Speaker 2: But I know you're busy getting ready for our trip
1:19
Speaker 2: ahead the next two days, as we'll be dealing with
1:22
Speaker 2: family members on your side of the family. So I'd
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Speaker 2: like it just to give everybody here an idea who
1:30
Speaker 2: you are and where you came from as long term
1:34
Speaker 2: listeners here at seven to ten WR.
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Speaker 3: Well, that's a pretty tall order. But let's see, so
1:42
Speaker 3: where I came from. I grew up in Long Island.
1:46
Speaker 3: I graduated from Stonybrook, I went to law school in Brooklyn,
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Speaker 3: and once I got to Brooklyn, I never looked back.
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Speaker 3: You know, I love being in the city, and living
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Speaker 3: in Brooklyn was the first time that I had discovered
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Speaker 3: all of these cats that wander around outside. And that's
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Speaker 3: when I first discovered the concept of the colony cats
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Speaker 3: and all the people out there who were taking care
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Speaker 3: of them, and you know, had like regular groups of
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Speaker 3: outdoor cats because as you know, the shelter system is
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Speaker 3: so filled up, and unfortunately, you know, they're a kill
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Speaker 3: shelter in the city, so you know, they bring them in,
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Speaker 3: they warehouse them a bit, and then after that happens,
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Speaker 3: they euthanize them pretty quickly, even when they don't really
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Speaker 3: have any significant types of problems. So you know, that's
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Speaker 3: not a great place to be. And I realized that
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Speaker 3: there's this incredible community of people out there who are
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Speaker 3: doing exactly what you know, it's passionate. I'm passionate about,
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Speaker 3: which is taking care of them, realizing that they can
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Speaker 3: live outside as long as you know, it's done within,
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Speaker 3: like the structure of the colony, which is making sure
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Speaker 3: they're spade and neutered, providing them with houses, especially in
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Speaker 3: inclement weather like right now where it's cold outside, and
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Speaker 3: you know, feeding them on a regular basis, so that's
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Speaker 3: way they have a food source. So I mean, you know,
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Speaker 3: I guess that's the And then Ned, I met you
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Speaker 3: about ten years ago or so, and you know we've
3:18
Speaker 3: been together ever since, So that's that's me in a nutshell.
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Speaker 3: I guess.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember you were living in Sunset Park at
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Speaker 2: the time, and you said, there are cats living in
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Speaker 2: the alleyway, you know, swear all the garages were. And
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Speaker 2: I said, I didn't see Anny. I walked through the alleyway.
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Speaker 2: I didn't see Anny. And then you walked through and
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Speaker 2: you made this sound like the female version of Doctor Doolittle.
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Speaker 2: And I mean, cats were coming out of every Nikrannian
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Speaker 2: corner and they were rubbing up against your leg, the
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Speaker 2: tails in the air, all of them with all of
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Speaker 2: their own unique personalities as I observed them, and there
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Speaker 2: were so many people just like yourself, mostly women, some
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Speaker 2: men out of pocket who care for these animals sometimes
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Speaker 2: in distress, will also serve as a barrier because their
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Speaker 2: presence keeps the rats, the mice, the rodents away, and
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Speaker 2: so they earn their keep many times over without there
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Speaker 2: having to be pesticides and all other kinds of alternatives
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Speaker 2: they used to try to eliminate the rats and the
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Speaker 2: mice that you'll never eliminate. You could have daytime with them,
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Speaker 2: but you can keep them at bay. What was it
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Speaker 2: like when people would turn to you and it'll call
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Speaker 2: you a cat lady or disparagingly make fun of you
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Speaker 2: because you and others were reaching into your pocket spending
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Speaker 2: your own money to care for these animals.
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Speaker 3: Well, I mean, well, first of all, I don't get
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Speaker 3: offended by people, you know, I usually try to explain
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Speaker 3: it to them, because you know, the mis inception I
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Speaker 3: I would get a lot of times is like somehow
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Speaker 3: I brought them there, like I created these cats, And
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Speaker 3: I try to you know, you have to explain no, no, no,
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Speaker 3: there's so many of them that live outside all the time,
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Speaker 3: and what I'm doing is basically caring for the ones
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Speaker 3: that are here. And if if for some reason, you know,
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Speaker 3: someone calls like the you know, the shelter to come
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Speaker 3: pick them up, it just creates a vacuum in that area,
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Speaker 3: and then what happens is other cats in the area
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Speaker 3: move in. There's just so many cats you don't see
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Speaker 3: them all the time. So I'm you know, I'm pretty
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Speaker 3: tough skinned, like I wouldn't really take it when people
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Speaker 3: are getting annoyed. But that's why you also have to
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Speaker 3: make sure you take care of these things in a
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Speaker 3: decent basis. So for example, you know, you don't leave
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Speaker 3: the food around, you don't do things that are going
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Speaker 3: to clearly bother neighbors, and you know, create nuisance. So
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Speaker 3: as long as and again that's also why you want
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Speaker 3: to make sure that you get the cats fixed. I
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Speaker 3: mean that's essential. You can't keep having the kittens around.
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Speaker 3: And then plus when they're fixed, they calm down a lot.
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Speaker 3: I mean, the the aggression that happens with the mail
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Speaker 3: cats when they're not fixed, I mean, it's all territory. Also,
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Speaker 3: you know, you can get their behavior to a point
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Speaker 3: where you know they're i mean again, they're they're the
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Speaker 3: same as the indoor cats. It's just they need, you know,
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Speaker 3: the very specific attention because it's a tough it's a
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Speaker 3: tough time out there. You know, there's a lot of
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Speaker 3: cats that just inavertently stumble on poisons things of that nature.
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Speaker 3: Like I would have to explain to people like, you know,
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Speaker 3: don't inavertently throw things down, because that happens a lot too.
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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it always bothers me in the winter. Now,
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Speaker 3: obviously you see a lot of people throwing down the
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Speaker 3: like rock salt. The city throws down the rock salt.
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Speaker 3: That's actually dangerous for animals because they use like the
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Speaker 3: cheapest variety. So you know, you have this. I mean,
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Speaker 3: it's a tough life for them out there. So you know,
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Speaker 3: I just you know, I'm very compassionate. You know, I'll
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Speaker 3: have people who you know, you know, I feel like
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Speaker 3: everyone can understand it if you explain it to them,
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Speaker 3: and then if they don't understand it after that, then
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Speaker 3: to heck with them, because you know, they're living creatures
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Speaker 3: and I can't see any justification for letting someone's dislike
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Speaker 3: of them ever stop the behavior of caring for animals.
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Speaker 2: Now, what I loved about Wisconsin when I was up
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Speaker 2: there organizing Guardian Angels and Milwaukee is they don't use
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Speaker 2: rock salt because they had, you know, years ago, they
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Speaker 2: had feet of snow. It's not like that as it
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Speaker 2: used to be. But they would put down a brine
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Speaker 2: of parmesan cheese, a brine, yeah, and naturally, I mean
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Speaker 2: even some people, you know, it's, oh, parmesan cheese. They'd
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Speaker 2: be down there, you know, licking the asphalt. But there
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Speaker 2: were so many other alternatives, and I think the one
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Speaker 2: singular thing that comes across is I've noticed some time
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Speaker 2: to time you'll be walking the streets where we live
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Speaker 2: and you'll see some pigeons in distress, and you'll feed them.
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Speaker 2: Some people will refer them as rats with wings, others
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Speaker 2: as basically the official bird of New York City. Fact
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Speaker 2: that i'd been elected mayor, as you know, on the
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Speaker 2: campaign trail, I said, we would have taken the New
7:57
Speaker 2: York City flag. It's like some indescript bird on the
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Speaker 2: I would put a pigeon. That's what New York City
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Speaker 2: is known for. And I noticed some people would be
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Speaker 2: talking and she's feeding the pigeons, and I will walk
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Speaker 2: off to them and I'd say, you got a problem
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Speaker 2: with that, Oh no, Curtis, No, No, you know that's
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Speaker 2: my wife, Nancy. You got a problem with that? No, No,
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Speaker 2: And then they have spikes that they yeah, they the windowsills.
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Speaker 3: The aggression against the pigeons I find really really distasteful.
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Speaker 3: To your point, the spikes that are allowed to be
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Speaker 3: put up and then now you have pigeons that are maimed.
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Speaker 3: I mean that to me. I can't believe that's even
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Speaker 3: legal that that happened. But I definitely catch a lot
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Speaker 3: of guff for throwing down the bird seed with the pigeons.
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Speaker 3: But then usually the people who are saying something to
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Speaker 3: me are walking their dog who's urinating on the sidewalk,
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Speaker 3: so I'm not really sure where they are on their
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Speaker 3: high horse telling me anything about fendliness of animals, So
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Speaker 3: you know, to each it on, I guess right.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's a much better remedy. If you don't
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Speaker 2: want pigeons flocking around, you just put up a plastic owl.
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Speaker 2: It's like in cornfields when they put up scarecrows. That
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Speaker 2: has the same impact without damaging the pigeons. And it's
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Speaker 2: a horrific death that they suffer because they get impaled.
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Speaker 2: And some people in their minds, you know, that's a OK.
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Speaker 2: But I think the broader issue is you know, and
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Speaker 2: again it's what I based both of my campaigns on
9:38
Speaker 2: and running for New York. One of the many issues
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Speaker 2: animal welfare at Mahatma Gandhi. You know, there will be
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Speaker 2: people who criticize him because they hate animals. He said
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Speaker 2: that a society that does not take care of its
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Speaker 2: animals does not take care of its people. And you
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Speaker 2: have seen how much time and energy we in the
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Speaker 2: Guardian Angels, with your help, have put into caring for
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Speaker 2: the homeless and the emotionally disturbed because we don't take
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Speaker 2: care of them, and we don't take care of our animals.
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Speaker 2: The abuse the dogs that are raised to fight and
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Speaker 2: kill and maim, and nothing is done to stop that.
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Speaker 2: As you mentioned when spading and neutering, it would go
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Speaker 2: a long way and keeping these many animals God's creatures
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Speaker 2: out of harm's way.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, and again that's the whole goalposts of everything.
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Speaker 3: You know, you don't want to have the breeder animals.
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Speaker 3: I mean, there's no reason to keep creating you know,
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Speaker 3: these you know, dogs and cats when the reality is
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Speaker 3: there's not enough home for them all together. So I
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Speaker 3: absolutely think that that has to stop right away. I mean,
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Speaker 3: you can't be having that go on.
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Speaker 2: Well, we'll be able to travel the visit with your
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Speaker 2: mother Beth, who just celebrated her birthday, who I believe
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Speaker 2: out in Bohemia really introduced you to the life of
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Speaker 2: people who dedicate themselves to animal Would I be correct
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Speaker 2: on that. Yeah.
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Speaker 3: My mom's like first job, believe it or not, when she, uh,
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Speaker 3: you know, got a job in Long Island was working
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Speaker 3: at an animal shelter, so you know, like a veterinarian office.
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Speaker 3: Rather so during the weekend when she would be working,
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Speaker 3: I would go in with her. So it was as
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Speaker 3: though they were all like I had a whole bunch
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Speaker 3: of cats and dogs that I could visit because they
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Speaker 3: were the ones who were sort of waiting in the
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Speaker 3: the kennels, like if either they were recovering or maybe
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Speaker 3: they were for adoption. So that was actually very cool.
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Speaker 3: I mean, And I also grew up with having a
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Speaker 3: dog and cats in the household, so you know, I'm
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Speaker 3: just very familiar with them in general. And yeah, I mean,
11:43
Speaker 3: and you know, of course, growing up in Long Island
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Speaker 3: it's a lot more nature, so you know, you would
11:48
Speaker 3: you just you know, you see things more often. Like
11:50
Speaker 3: I had a neighbor next to me who had, believe
11:52
Speaker 3: it or not, chickens and roosters and things like that,
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Speaker 3: like a little farm going on, so you know, it's
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Speaker 3: just a much more natural to see these animals.
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Speaker 2: Well, the defining moment for me with you and your
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Speaker 2: passion for animals was in that first campaign when I
12:09
Speaker 2: ran against Eric Adams twenty twenty one, and I warned
12:12
Speaker 2: everybody he would be corrupt and we would have chaos,
12:15
Speaker 2: but nobody listened. About halfway through the campaign and you
12:19
Speaker 2: were scrolling on the internet the death row list that
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Speaker 2: they put up from the Animal Care and Control the shelters,
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Speaker 2: because these are kill shelters, they are not no kill shelters.
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Speaker 2: And you said, I got to run to East New
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Speaker 2: York Clennon Boulevard to the animal shelter there that's now
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Speaker 2: closed to rescue this cat. And I remember you had
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Speaker 2: cold and they said, yeah, well we're opening five And
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Speaker 2: I said, Nancy, you can't go down there on your own.
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Speaker 2: I mean, that's right by Saint Fort Shanada's that's on
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Speaker 2: Linen Boulevard, that psychology.
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Speaker 4: No, you can't go there. That's oh no, that's Cyper Sells.
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Speaker 4: They have drive by shootings. I'm gonna go with you.
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Speaker 2: Yes, we got in the animal welfare van of the
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Speaker 2: Guardian Angels and we were driving halfway there. We were
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Speaker 2: on Woodhaven Boulevard. It was like two o'clock in the afternoon,
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Speaker 2: and they called you and just relate to our listeners
13:26
Speaker 2: all throughout the Tri State area. In the world the
13:28
Speaker 2: insensitivity of the people. They're knowing you were on your
13:31
Speaker 2: way to rescue this cat that was on death row.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I had already basically secured the rescue of
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Speaker 3: this small kitten, and those are the ones that are,
13:44
Speaker 3: believe it or not, first to be put down in
13:46
Speaker 3: the shelters a lot of times because if you don't
13:48
Speaker 3: have someone to bottle feed them, they you know, they
13:51
Speaker 3: don't have full time staff like that. So we were
13:53
Speaker 3: on our way and I got to call that the
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Speaker 3: medical team. Ultimately they decided, well, well, I don't think
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Speaker 3: this cat's gonna, you know, farewell, so we're just going
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Speaker 3: to euthanize it, like you know. And that to me
14:06
Speaker 3: was incredible because when you adopt these cats, a lot
14:10
Speaker 3: of times when they do have any potential medical issues,
14:13
Speaker 3: they're not footing the bill for any of the medical care,
14:17
Speaker 3: so it's whether it's on them to you know, relinquish
14:21
Speaker 3: the animal. Knowing that any medical care you have to supply.
14:25
Speaker 3: I mean, there's no cost to them to allow you
14:28
Speaker 3: to take that animal home. So again they just decided, well,
14:31
Speaker 3: we took a second look, and we don't really think
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Speaker 3: this this cat's gonna, you know, farewell, so we're just
14:35
Speaker 3: gonna go ahead and euthanize it, knowing I was on
14:37
Speaker 3: my way to get this cat. So that was really heartbreaking.
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Speaker 2: I remember, people need to know. My wife was crying
14:46
Speaker 2: for days. She pulled the vehicle over and I vow
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Speaker 2: to you right then, I said, if I become the mayor,
14:53
Speaker 2: this becomes a priority. Can you remember.
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Speaker 3: And then the other side note to that was because
14:59
Speaker 3: you want to mention that story about what happened with
15:03
Speaker 3: the animal care and control. Right away, they've pulled my
15:07
Speaker 3: ability to actually get these animals from the shelter as
15:10
Speaker 3: like a stick of to youth type moment, apparently because
15:14
Speaker 3: they don't like when people tell the truth about what's
15:16
Speaker 3: going on in the shelter system. So right away they
15:19
Speaker 3: took me off the list of being able to adopt
15:20
Speaker 3: these animals. So that was a real nice touch.
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Speaker 2: So to all of our critics out there, including the
15:26
Speaker 2: President of the United States, I rememberless Maria Bartoloma. He
15:30
Speaker 2: was on the show Fox Business in the White House
15:36
Speaker 2: and he was railing against you and I for rescuing cats,
15:40
Speaker 2: and if I was elected, they would be in Gracie Mansion.
15:44
Speaker 2: And I'm saying to myself while I'm watching him almost
15:47
Speaker 2: with great delight, attacking us, saying, excuse me, mister president,
15:52
Speaker 2: you realize in the room you're in now was another
15:55
Speaker 2: great Republican president called Teddy Roosevelt who had eighty animals
15:59
Speaker 2: at the White House when he was president, dogs and
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Speaker 2: cats in the White House right where you're sitting now,
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Speaker 2: speaking to Maria Bartoloma. But of course he wouldn't care
16:10
Speaker 2: about that. Who cares only about Donald Trump? Up next,
16:15
Speaker 2: we got it. We have to have this conversation. It's
16:18
Speaker 2: the lead story today about student loans garnishing. The United
16:23
Speaker 2: States will bail out countries like Argentina, corrupt as they are,
16:28
Speaker 2: but our country will not bail out those who are
16:32
Speaker 2: in debt because of student loans. We'll get an update
16:36
Speaker 2: from Nancy Sleews. We work our way right into Christmas
16:41
Speaker 2: Day at your newfound station. A gift to all of
16:43
Speaker 2: you seven to ten wor Talk Radio.
16:46
Speaker 1: With Street crab literally Curtis Slaywad joined sevent ten WR
16:52
Speaker 1: to guess those from Mark Samon.
16:58
Speaker 2: At our Newfounds station seven to ten WR. For so
17:02
Speaker 2: many of you, you don't need to go where you
17:04
Speaker 2: used to listen to me or Nancy. I'll be here
17:09
Speaker 2: till January. Second substitute for Marc Simone and I. I
17:13
Speaker 2: love radio. When I was growing up, I didn't make
17:17
Speaker 2: it through high school, got kicked out by the Jesuits
17:21
Speaker 2: at Brooklyn Prep. They shine the boots on my backside.
17:23
Speaker 2: I never looked back. It's pumping gas, packing shelves at
17:27
Speaker 2: an AMP, and I remember listening to talk radio and
17:31
Speaker 2: then King of Talk Radio Bob Grant at the old WMCA,
17:35
Speaker 2: and then at nine wn W Allison Steele the Nightbird,
17:40
Speaker 2: free form music radio. It was it could. It was
17:44
Speaker 2: a mood elevator because talk radio can be a real downer.
17:49
Speaker 2: Got to reach for the title and all in advil.
17:51
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's just negativity, negativity. And so what my wife
17:56
Speaker 2: Nancy has done for me is she knows she's working
17:58
Speaker 2: all day. I'm working all day, and I'm in all
18:01
Speaker 2: the places that most people don't want to go. Can
18:03
Speaker 2: be pretty depressing. And she'll put on electronic dance music
18:08
Speaker 2: for me when I get to the house with the kiddies.
18:12
Speaker 2: You know, chain Smokers, our favorite Don't Let Me Down Paris.
18:16
Speaker 2: Last night you were playing for me was great. But
18:19
Speaker 2: you've also introduced me to songs and normally I would
18:22
Speaker 2: never listen to like Justin Bieber with that song Stay
18:27
Speaker 2: that video from Downtown LA that I'm familiar with. Wo wow,
18:31
Speaker 2: that's great. That's a mood elevator. Then Miley Cyrus, I
18:34
Speaker 2: would never listen to Miley Cyrus Midnight Sky. Oh, that's great.
18:40
Speaker 2: Post Malone, I liked him, he was out of Syracuse Sunflower.
18:44
Speaker 2: These all mood elevator's song. So boy, you really know
18:49
Speaker 2: how to get my mood back into gee And mostly
18:53
Speaker 2: it's with electronic dance music. And that's because you're of
18:56
Speaker 2: a different generation than me. I'm a baby boomer, but
19:00
Speaker 2: your generations of Millennials and Gen Zas have been just destroyed.
19:06
Speaker 2: The American dream has been robbed from you if you
19:09
Speaker 2: got sucked into these student loans. And now basically the
19:13
Speaker 2: president the government is saying we're coming after you. If
19:17
Speaker 2: you've defaulted, We're gonna take every nickel diamond penny. You
19:20
Speaker 2: have a make We're gonna have a look underneath the uh,
19:24
Speaker 2: the Castro convertible that you might be sleeping on. We're
19:28
Speaker 2: gonna get you, my little pretty if it's the last
19:31
Speaker 2: thing we do. Could you explain how this American dream
19:35
Speaker 2: has been robbed from so many of your peers and
19:39
Speaker 2: your generation.
19:42
Speaker 3: I mean, i'd say just the excess of burdens student loans.
19:48
Speaker 2: Uh.
19:49
Speaker 3: That's that's the really most surprising part to me that
19:52
Speaker 3: when I when I got out and you know again,
19:55
Speaker 3: you're you're kind of going through the motions. It's you know,
19:58
Speaker 3: it's it's kind of forced on you in a way
20:00
Speaker 3: as you're going through you know, junior high high school,
20:03
Speaker 3: like obviously you have to go to college. Like how
20:05
Speaker 3: else would you expect to get any sort of job
20:08
Speaker 3: of values that you're going to need to have in
20:10
Speaker 3: the future. So, you know, and they're very quick to
20:15
Speaker 3: throw paperwork in front of you, where, well this is
20:18
Speaker 3: how you go.
20:18
Speaker 5: You just sign you know.
20:19
Speaker 3: It's like, you know, again, I think it's very hard
20:21
Speaker 3: to comprehend when you're you know, like I was barely eighteen.
20:25
Speaker 3: I think when I signed it, because I graduated, it
20:27
Speaker 3: was July. You know, I turn eighteen July, and you know,
20:31
Speaker 3: you're basically taking on this level of debt that is
20:35
Speaker 3: really incomprehensible, and by the time you actually graduate from school.
20:40
Speaker 3: What really surprised me was that the amount that I
20:42
Speaker 3: owed was way more than what I even borrowed. So
20:46
Speaker 3: you know, they funt end it with the interest, so
20:50
Speaker 3: it'll take you, you know, years, like paying the normal
20:54
Speaker 3: payment that you have to pay, it'll take you years
20:56
Speaker 3: just to get down to what you initially borrowed in
20:58
Speaker 3: the first place. And you know, they kind of have
21:02
Speaker 3: it where it's you know, like sort of based a
21:04
Speaker 3: little bit on your income, like the federal loans, at least,
21:06
Speaker 3: you know, they try to be a little bit more
21:09
Speaker 3: flexible in terms of what your salary is, so you know,
21:13
Speaker 3: they'd have like they call it like income sensitive and
21:16
Speaker 3: you know, just all based upon that. But the reality
21:19
Speaker 3: is so anytime that you start to make a little
21:22
Speaker 3: bit more money, the student loan increases, like, you know,
21:25
Speaker 3: incredibly more so again, when I started working at the
21:28
Speaker 3: law firm and I was making an okay salary the
21:30
Speaker 3: first time, that's when the student loan And that's also
21:33
Speaker 3: when the Obama care kicked in because I didn't have
21:36
Speaker 3: health insurance. So all of a sudden, now I was
21:38
Speaker 3: getting a penalty for not having the health insurance. And
21:41
Speaker 3: I had this massive student loan every month. I mean,
21:43
Speaker 3: you can bailu your fort to just live, just pay
21:45
Speaker 3: your rent and pay your basic bills when you're looking
21:48
Speaker 3: at things like that. I mean, I was paying like
21:49
Speaker 3: twenty five hundred close of three thousand a month just
21:53
Speaker 3: in student loans. I mean, and this is you know,
21:55
Speaker 3: looking down like the line of knowing you're going to
21:59
Speaker 3: have to be paying it for a decade or two,
22:01
Speaker 3: you know, based on how much you ultimately owe. So
22:04
Speaker 3: unfortunately I had to borrow a lot of money for everything,
22:08
Speaker 3: and law school is just way expensive. So yeah, I
22:12
Speaker 3: mean it's it's it's really tough to get started in
22:15
Speaker 3: your life. When you're right off the bat, you're paying
22:18
Speaker 3: you know, several grand.
22:19
Speaker 2: A month, and so it makes you angry, makes you
22:22
Speaker 2: angry that that dream that was promised you if you
22:25
Speaker 2: did your four years, You graduate school, you get your degree,
22:28
Speaker 2: you know, your financial analysts, CPA, a lawyer, whatever, you
22:33
Speaker 2: do all of that, and now you're living in an
22:35
Speaker 2: apartment still with three other people like you're back in
22:37
Speaker 2: your dormitory in school.
22:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I yeah, thankfully I didn't have to
22:44
Speaker 3: sort of go into that direction of having like multiple people,
22:48
Speaker 3: but I always had like maybe one roommate possibly, Yeah,
22:52
Speaker 3: I mean, but but again it's you know, you look
22:54
Speaker 3: at the the costs for everything within New York City,
22:58
Speaker 3: I mean. And the first thing too that blew my
23:00
Speaker 3: mind was realizing that not only they're more expensive live
23:03
Speaker 3: in New York City, but then when you do your taxes,
23:05
Speaker 3: you're getting a city tax on top of that. Like wait, what,
23:08
Speaker 3: Like it already costs so much money to live here
23:10
Speaker 3: in the first place, and I'm not even sure what
23:12
Speaker 3: I'm paying for.
23:13
Speaker 2: Maybe some people from what you've just said, understand the
23:16
Speaker 2: anger that led to the election of Zorahan Mandami, who
23:20
Speaker 2: it was all about a cost of living affordability. And
23:24
Speaker 2: then to hear our presidents say, if you vote for
23:27
Speaker 2: Javier Milai of Argentina, my friend will bail out Argentina
23:33
Speaker 2: for the twentieth time. These dead beats, we bail them out,
23:38
Speaker 2: but won't even bail out people from this student loans
23:41
Speaker 2: in the United States.
23:43
Speaker 3: Unbelievabah, Like, I mean, I could see if you if
23:45
Speaker 3: you're if you have the money if and again I
23:47
Speaker 3: think they the disconnects too between the charges that they
23:53
Speaker 3: have for you know, higher education to begin with, and
23:56
Speaker 3: then the likelihood of getting a job that really sort
24:00
Speaker 3: of fits the criteria to be able to pay that back. Like,
24:02
Speaker 3: I don't think there's any ramifications for these higher educational
24:08
Speaker 3: institutions to really I mean, they're not guaranteeing you jobs,
24:13
Speaker 3: so you know, the best they can do is maybe
24:15
Speaker 3: tell you, you know, try to like you know, sort
24:17
Speaker 3: of gear you in the right direction, but you know,
24:19
Speaker 3: to be putting so much money in for something that
24:21
Speaker 3: you may or may not get down the road. I
24:24
Speaker 3: you know, I feel like they do take advantage of
24:26
Speaker 3: a lot of the young people out there. I always
24:29
Speaker 3: thought when I was younger too, that, oh, the people
24:31
Speaker 3: who straight out of school, when they just went into
24:34
Speaker 3: a job so like you know, especially like the ones
24:36
Speaker 3: that require more of like the technical skills like the
24:39
Speaker 3: plumbing and things like that.
24:41
Speaker 5: I was like, oh, well, that.
24:42
Speaker 3: Those people aren't going that Like I had no idea
24:44
Speaker 3: how much ahead of the curve that they were, because
24:46
Speaker 3: right out the gate they have a skill that's you know,
24:50
Speaker 3: that that kind of really less a test of time.
24:52
Speaker 3: And then plus they don't have any of the student
24:54
Speaker 3: loan debt, and they start making money years before you
24:56
Speaker 3: even get a chance to start making money. So those
24:59
Speaker 3: those people really know what they're doing out there.
25:00
Speaker 2: Well, on that note, you have a chance to speak
25:03
Speaker 2: to Nancy. The best thing that ever happened in my life,
25:06
Speaker 2: my wife and yours truly right here at our new station,
25:10
Speaker 2: our favorite to listen to, seven ten WOR at one
25:14
Speaker 2: eight hundred three to two one zero seven ten. That's
25:17
Speaker 2: one eight hundred three to two one zero seven.
25:19
Speaker 1: Ten, Street Smart Straight Talk. Curtis Leewall guest host for
25:25
Speaker 1: Mark Simone on sevent ten woar.
25:35
Speaker 2: Two Great Christmas Presents broadcasting here on our new favorite station,
25:42
Speaker 2: seven to ten WOR. The many of you are discovering
25:45
Speaker 2: for the first time, I say we it's my wife, Nancy.
25:48
Speaker 2: It is the best present that I've ever had, best
25:51
Speaker 2: thing that ever happened in my life of seventy one years.
25:55
Speaker 2: And she remains on the line. But it's time for
25:58
Speaker 2: our listeners to be heard now and see let's go
26:01
Speaker 2: to Madeleine, who's calling from the Bronx. Oh what a
26:06
Speaker 2: great day it is Madeline.
26:09
Speaker 6: Yes, especially because I'm talking to you and there I
26:12
Speaker 6: remember you from I think nineteen seventy eight. That's for
26:17
Speaker 6: but number four trained Rep Brigade. I always tell you
26:21
Speaker 6: that we're not full of books here anyway.
26:24
Speaker 2: Hold on, hold on, hold on, if you can police,
26:27
Speaker 2: hold on. You're coming in broken up, Crash, Let's see
26:30
Speaker 2: what you can do. I'd hate to see if the
26:32
Speaker 2: disconificator is preventing us from hearing folks from your borough,
26:37
Speaker 2: the Bronx and the borough where I started the Guardian
26:39
Speaker 2: Angels in nineteen seventy nine. On that note, while Crash
26:44
Speaker 2: goes to work on that, let's go to Carlatto, who's
26:48
Speaker 2: calling from Brooklyn. Your turn to be heard here at
26:51
Speaker 2: seven ten wr Well.
26:54
Speaker 7: How do you do it? Merry Christmas? And God bless
26:56
Speaker 7: you for staying in the race, because if you order
26:59
Speaker 7: went out, we were being down to one party, a
27:01
Speaker 7: hard social and a thought social who could have turned hard.
27:05
Speaker 7: And this is very serious because if you weren't dropped
27:08
Speaker 7: out the way I look at it down, this is
27:10
Speaker 7: a Crown Jule in New York. Down the road, the.
27:12
Speaker 3: Same thing could happen. We are going to go into
27:15
Speaker 3: one party this is very scary times.
27:18
Speaker 7: The Marxists are here.
27:22
Speaker 2: Let me explain, Carlotta, it's already here. When I return
27:27
Speaker 2: Friday morning, I think I will be to have connected
27:31
Speaker 2: all the dots of how Republican leadership through Congresswoman at
27:35
Speaker 2: least Stephanic under the bus and created the pathway for
27:40
Speaker 2: Bruce Blakeman eliminating a superstar. I mean, Republicans are the
27:47
Speaker 2: worst enemy of Republicans in New York City and in
27:49
Speaker 2: New York State. They do everything to help the Democrats
27:53
Speaker 2: to keep it a one party system. And I saw
27:55
Speaker 2: the grifter in chief last night. She was all over
27:59
Speaker 2: New Yor York with Eric Adams Swaggerman with no plan. Oh,
28:03
Speaker 2: they were having a love fest. And she was surrounded
28:08
Speaker 2: by Republicans all day long who are making backroom deals. Oh,
28:16
Speaker 2: you had better be listening Friday morning. Hopefully I will
28:20
Speaker 2: have connected all the DUTs by then. Let's go if
28:23
Speaker 2: we can to Lenny, who's calling from Staten Island. You're
28:28
Speaker 2: turning to be heard here at seven ten wr Lenny.
28:32
Speaker 5: Hey, Curtis, we know each other. Good to hear your
28:35
Speaker 5: voice on the radio. And you gave me an early
28:37
Speaker 5: Christmas present. Let me tell you my son is on
28:41
Speaker 5: the DMZ in Korea. He just got promoted yesterday, the
28:44
Speaker 5: sergeant staff sergeant Lenny, right, And that's why people listen
28:51
Speaker 5: to you. You bring the real stuff to us by
28:55
Speaker 5: mentioning our servicemen who cannot be home for this time
29:00
Speaker 5: of year. It really it touched my heart and I
29:04
Speaker 5: thank you very much for giving that shout out to
29:07
Speaker 5: the servicemen that are away from their families this time
29:11
Speaker 5: of the year. God bless you.
29:13
Speaker 2: Thank you, Lenny, and to your son serving us there
29:16
Speaker 2: in the DMZ. Remember that's a war that never ended
29:19
Speaker 2: nineteen fifty three, still on there, separating South Korea from
29:25
Speaker 2: the evil seed of Kim Jung mentally ill and the
29:28
Speaker 2: crazies of North Korea. On that note, Nancy, as you
29:35
Speaker 2: prepare for our swinging soiree through the Tri State area
29:39
Speaker 2: members of your family, what was it like for you
29:44
Speaker 2: growing up in Bohemia and Suffolk County looking forward at Christmas?
29:50
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I mean, obviously it's I always enjoyed
29:54
Speaker 3: Christmas growing up. My mom this years very into the tradition,
30:00
Speaker 3: and you know, the Christmas tree, the outdoor decorations.
30:07
Speaker 5: We would have.
30:07
Speaker 3: You know, either people would come over. I mean mainly
30:10
Speaker 3: it was always kind of hosted at our house to
30:12
Speaker 3: some extent, so you know, I didn't really do a
30:15
Speaker 3: lot of traveling to other family member's house. It was
30:17
Speaker 3: just always you know, stationed at our house. And you know,
30:21
Speaker 3: back then we used to have in the real winters,
30:23
Speaker 3: so a lot of times there was snow, which is
30:25
Speaker 3: always nice. And then being off of school as a kid,
30:28
Speaker 3: you know, you can't go wrong with that either. So
30:30
Speaker 3: it was always just a nice time out in Long
30:32
Speaker 3: Island growing up.
30:33
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering how many people listening to us in
30:36
Speaker 2: the Tragity State area and beyond throughout the world on
30:40
Speaker 2: the internet. At wor seven remember that last minute present
30:47
Speaker 2: that either Mam or Dad or maybe your older brother
30:50
Speaker 2: or sister would get you at the Hesh gas station,
30:55
Speaker 2: which was the HESH truck, the hash car, you know,
31:00
Speaker 2: a quickie. Many people would never go to Hesse because
31:03
Speaker 2: it was considered low budget gasoline. Low budget. It wasn't
31:07
Speaker 2: like Sinoco, you know, with all the five seven grades.
31:10
Speaker 2: But they drive into Hesse where they wore the white
31:13
Speaker 2: suits and it came out and pumpedy gas and they said, no, no,
31:17
Speaker 2: not here for the gas and please don't put that
31:19
Speaker 2: dirty squeegee on my window. I'm here for the Hess truck,
31:24
Speaker 2: last minute present, and it's still available even though there
31:30
Speaker 2: are no more Hest stations. Hessel, Murada, they had the
31:34
Speaker 2: huge petro chemical plant and the refinery in New Jersey
31:39
Speaker 2: along the Cancer Belt. When you're on a New Jersey
31:42
Speaker 2: Turnpike and you're going south, once you pass Newark Airport,
31:47
Speaker 2: which is always a dollar short in a day late
31:49
Speaker 2: for everything, hit south DM boy. Then you look at
31:52
Speaker 2: all the petro chemical plants, You look at all the
31:55
Speaker 2: refineries that used to be Leon Hess's refinery. Who owned
31:59
Speaker 2: the New York that's at one point.
32:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, I never I never got a Hess truck, nor
32:03
Speaker 3: did I give a Hess truck. But I would say
32:06
Speaker 3: I always look forward to the stocking more than even
32:09
Speaker 3: the presidence. You know, I didn't have like a lot
32:11
Speaker 3: of presents, but to me, the stocking was the best part,
32:15
Speaker 3: like going there and then seeing that it was all
32:17
Speaker 3: filled up and there was always nice goodies in there.
32:19
Speaker 3: So I was really a fan of the stocking.
32:22
Speaker 2: Let's go if we can to George, who's calling your
32:26
Speaker 2: turn to be heard here at seven ten w or George.
32:31
Speaker 8: How are you, Curtis is George the core clerk. I
32:33
Speaker 8: just wanted to tell you they did you bed in
32:36
Speaker 8: one way. I don't want to keep bringing back the past.
32:38
Speaker 8: Like Einstein said, only God could change the past. When
32:42
Speaker 8: they said, you know about the Republican Party, you had
32:45
Speaker 8: the real you had the seat, they gave it to you.
32:48
Speaker 8: The fact nobody wanted to run against you, they gave
32:51
Speaker 8: it to you, and that was very unfair. And also
32:54
Speaker 8: about the guy at night, Lionel, he's a smart guy.
32:58
Speaker 8: He's a great vocabulary in all that.
33:00
Speaker 3: You know.
33:01
Speaker 8: I have a statue in my backyard and I'm not
33:03
Speaker 8: a school ball. It was a court clark for many years.
33:05
Speaker 8: I'm a normal guy. I have a statue of Saint
33:08
Speaker 8: Francis in my backyard. I feed birds, and Saint Francis said,
33:13
Speaker 8: treat your animals like your brothers and your sisters. People
33:16
Speaker 8: who don't like animals are weird. And that's you know,
33:19
Speaker 8: people who people who did harm to animals, or half
33:25
Speaker 8: of them when they used to come to court. I
33:27
Speaker 8: used to read in their background they used to abuse
33:30
Speaker 8: animals when they were a kid. I'm not saying Lionel
33:32
Speaker 8: did that, and I also say one other thing, if
33:34
Speaker 8: I could sure. This is just a suggestion, and Nancy's dad,
33:39
Speaker 8: she should listen to this. You are a very popular
33:42
Speaker 8: guy and in Brooklyn, and then I know you're not
33:45
Speaker 8: going to do it. I try to call you a
33:47
Speaker 8: few months ago or when things were getting hot for
33:49
Speaker 8: mayor and said, who run for borough president in Brooklyn?
33:53
Speaker 8: And this is why you have a say in the
33:55
Speaker 8: Brooklyn Zoo, which is world class, the aquarium. The you're
33:59
Speaker 8: half Polish, I know you are half Italian. The people
34:03
Speaker 8: in Greenport, uh, green Point love you, even the yuppies.
34:07
Speaker 8: They'll vote for you because you know the crime there.
34:10
Speaker 8: The Russians will vote for you. The Hasidic will vote
34:13
Speaker 8: for you. The people in Coney Island will vote for you,
34:16
Speaker 8: even the Gumbas, most of them. The Italians will all
34:19
Speaker 8: for you. Even the Gumbaugh gangsters will vot for you.
34:21
Speaker 2: Well, well, let me let me step in one second here.
34:24
Speaker 2: You were born in green Point to.
34:27
Speaker 3: Nancy, Yeah, I was, Yeah, I was born in green Point.
34:33
Speaker 2: You know.
34:33
Speaker 3: I lived in Ridgewood for until I was about six
34:36
Speaker 3: seven years old. That's before we went on to Long Island.
34:38
Speaker 2: And you went to a Catholic school there where they
34:40
Speaker 2: spoke Polish.
34:41
Speaker 3: Right, Well, let's see, so they did speak pol but
34:45
Speaker 3: it wasn't primarily Polish. I went to, you know, our
34:49
Speaker 3: Lady of Miraculous Metal, so that was very you know,
34:53
Speaker 3: like you had the nuns teaching type thing. I went to,
34:57
Speaker 3: you know, and I went to I guess what the
34:59
Speaker 3: I'm not even sure you called the equivalent of like
35:01
Speaker 3: the preschool at this point they had Polish speaking there.
35:06
Speaker 3: But yeah, in the actual Catholic school itself, it was
35:10
Speaker 3: you know, definitely English, definitely English.
35:12
Speaker 2: Well, George, the old Clark Court clerk, you could forget
35:16
Speaker 2: about running for Brooklyn Boro president. All you do is
35:19
Speaker 2: cut ribbons.
35:20
Speaker 4: You do nothing. Most of these elected officials they're impotent.
35:26
Speaker 4: They can do nothing. Oh boy, we're in for a ride.
35:32
Speaker 2: Zara Mandami will be sworn in on January first by
35:36
Speaker 2: Bernie the out the CACA Sanders originally from Brooklyn went
35:39
Speaker 2: to Brooklyn the College and Tish James will be holding
35:45
Speaker 2: the Bible and look, he's entitled to an opportunity to
35:50
Speaker 2: put his agenda into effect. A grace period. Every person
35:54
Speaker 2: who was elected mayor should have a grace period. I
35:57
Speaker 2: know some of you are mumbling and grumbling. He won.
36:01
Speaker 2: He kicked Cuomo's butt in the primary where Cuomo was
36:05
Speaker 2: expecting a carnation, and then instead of going back to
36:09
Speaker 2: his hovel and sliding under the rock in the Hamptons
36:12
Speaker 2: with his billionaire friends, he decided to re emerge and say, well,
36:15
Speaker 2: this time I'll do it better.
36:16
Speaker 5: Ha.
36:17
Speaker 2: How did that work out? And Republicans backed Cuomo destroyed
36:24
Speaker 2: the party here in New York City. And when I
36:26
Speaker 2: return on Friday, after visiting relatives on my wife side
36:33
Speaker 2: all throughout the Tragy State area, I believe I will
36:36
Speaker 2: have connected the dots and can tell you how Republicans
36:40
Speaker 2: stabbed at least staphonic in the back. Oh yeah, Republicans
36:45
Speaker 2: in New York State and New York City seemed to
36:48
Speaker 2: be all gaga. Google for anyone who's a Democrat in
36:51
Speaker 2: this case, the grifter in chief, Kathy Hoko