Latest / D-constructing Topics / From Park Bench to City Hall: David’s 2029 NYC Mayoral Bid

Transcript

From Park Bench to City Hall: David’s 2029 NYC Mayoral Bid · D-constructing Topics

0:00
What's going on, folks, and what's going on, my legendary people?
0:05
Oh, we got another good one. My name is David.
0:09
Let me introduce myself. My name is David, and I'm your host of this legendary podcast.
0:15
And I'm that legendary, how can I say, host of the legendary Deconstructing Topic podcast.
0:21
And welcome to my podcast. If you're new, if you're not new, whatever it is.
0:25
Once again, we always got to hit the like, the subscribe.
0:29
Please feel free to comment And all that good stuff
0:32
And once again my links is all in
0:34
the description Because we got a good one Shout out
0:37
to Tegos TV You already know Subscribe to
0:40
that little channel We got a lot of independent people in
0:43
that little space there Where they talk about a little bit of it all as well
0:48
But in this one In this podcast It's very personal It's going to be very personal
0:54
And once again I'm glad that you're tuning in Because this podcast It's going
0:59
to be personal And I guess,
1:01
you know, I just throw it right off the bat What this podcast is going to be
1:05
And the question would be Why does David,
1:08
the deconstructing topic podcast host Wants to rerun familiar in 2029.
1:14
Let's get it Let's get it on once again And I appreciate everybody that's listening
1:19
to this podcast And all that good stuff The people that support me The people
1:24
that just came across me The people this podcast and this episode and came at a,
1:30
opportune time where if that's a word where
1:33
more than 20 people have reached out to me in the last couple
1:36
of days last couple of weeks wait david what
1:39
do you think what do you think well what do i
1:42
think about myself and why i am
1:45
thinking about throwing my hat in the 20 29 mayores
1:49
race in new york city because we're gonna
1:52
make it happen and once again welcome to my podcast i
1:55
just got a couple of stories just off the bat so we
1:58
could know where we at and why why this
2:02
legendary host would want to run familiar it's
2:05
like damn david okay that's crazy maybe for president
2:08
who knows 2028 but 2029 why why is david and i just want to share a couple of
2:13
stories here it's a little bit personal but you see i'm doing this because what
2:18
i do i love and i love all you all out there and everybody that's listening to this podcast.
2:27
And I remember years ago, a while back ago, probably a couple of decades ago,
2:32
maybe a couple of people. They always kind of label me the wolf man.
2:36
Oh, yes, yes. The constructors like, wow, the constructors changed into a wolf.
2:41
Is he a werewolf? Is this that Halloween time?
2:43
Is he transforming? But no, maybe.
2:47
Oh, let's go. But anyways, I remember this story. And I'll say this to you folks out there.
2:53
I remember there was a native elder years ago.
2:56
And also a system in arms that uh you know they were in tune into the animal
3:02
spirit and so on and they kind of told me hey david you remind me of the wolf
3:05
and there was this quote out there,
3:09
where you know it's basically saying that the tiger and the lion is stronger
3:13
than the wolf but the wolf is the one animal you won't see in the circus.
3:20
That's right and that's because the wolf thinks on its own as independent The
3:26
wolf doesn't need somebody else to tell them unless you are part of a wolf pack.
3:30
And one of the reasons why they told me that I channel that wolf spirit is because
3:36
for years, I consider myself this independent lone wolf.
3:41
And they always say the wolf is as strong being alone. That's why they got the lone wolf.
3:46
Just as the wolf is as strong as being part of a wolf pack.
3:51
And that's where I say to myself, I need a wolf pack.
3:55
Or at least, I'll be honest, I could lead a Wolfpack or I could be part of a Wolfpack.
4:01
But I definitely need a Wolfpack and that's why New York City,
4:04
I need you more than ever. Oh, let's make it happen.
4:10
The other story would be is this. As a teenage homeless, you know,
4:15
family struggle, whatever the case might be.
4:17
You know, there was a couple of times, more than a couple, a few times where
4:20
I kind of stood in the streets, staying, even sleeping. And there was one day
4:26
where I had like $1.20 something, you know, I had $1.24 or something like that.
4:31
And there was a pizza shop where the pizza was $1.25. We're talking about mid-90s,
4:35
New York City, downtown.
4:37
And all I needed was just one penny so I could complete $1.25.
4:42
Your boy Deconstructed, I walked many streets, many hours, just to look for
4:49
that one penny so I could complete that $1.25.
4:52
Once I did, for some reason, I feel a little bit ashamed to give the pizza shop
4:57
five pennies, even though they can't deny it, but I'm just saying.
5:00
And there was a muslim brother you know in
5:03
a newsstand for those people of age newsstands yeah we still got a couple of
5:08
newsstands here in new york city you know what i mean you know we get newspapers
5:11
magazine candies paid a lot of extra money for those candies but it's that convenience
5:17
hey i need water i'm thirsty hey go to a newsstand jesus three dollars three dollars.
5:24
But it was this little newsstand, and the brother says, you okay,
5:27
brother? You know, with a little bit of heavy accidents, like,
5:29
no, can you change these five pennies for a nickel?
5:32
And he gave me the nickel. But I'll take it my five cents. I went to that pizza shop.
5:37
Boy, that slice of pizza, $1.25.
5:40
And I was starving.
5:42
And I believe it was like around 11 o'clock, and I just sit down on this park bench.
5:47
And I had some little tears going on, and I had my little notebook where I was
5:51
doing my writing and so on.
5:53
And I would just wonder like damn what's going on
5:56
with this struggle everybody around me got their family and
5:59
all that what's going on with the struggle what does what does this
6:01
mean as I'm eating this pizza little tears
6:05
is coming up I'm like damn should I give up
6:07
got little tears going on you know what I mean what should
6:11
I do and lo and behold I look
6:14
up once I finished that pizza while I was eating the pizza and there was this
6:18
white building and lo and behold was New York City city hall and what i said
6:23
to myself maybe one day i'll be there so i can help people like me and that's
6:29
the story of why deconstructing topic podcast and i don't want people to think,
6:34
and it should not be a thought that when i say maybe one day i'll run for millions
6:38
not for clicks i'm not here for people to just kind of follow me oh man you
6:42
know it's each just saying that though there's a story behind it as i'm looking
6:46
at uh the main race in 2025 better podcast on that Mandani Cuomo Sliwa.
6:54
If there's one thing that I have noticed, is that those people are not New York City.
6:59
I'm not going to argue back and forth, whatever the case might be.
7:02
You know, oh, but Cuomo, oh, but Bonatti, oh, but Sliwa, they're not New York City.
7:08
You know who's New York City? That's me. You know who's struggling in New York City? That's me.
7:13
And there's going to be people that are going to question me,
7:15
but David, what are your credentials?
7:18
What have you have done? And so on. I'm a surviving teenage homeless in New York City.
7:25
And I'm a beautiful success story and I will continue to be a success story,
7:30
because you know what happened to me?
7:33
As I'm sitting down on that park bench, even growing up, even being in New York
7:39
City, even as I got older and I still struggle, the fact is this,
7:44
New York City has a lot of cracks.
7:46
And when I say cracks, we're talking about cracks in.
7:50
The philosophical way where am I
7:53
saying that right whatever but you know you got to just people
7:56
fall through these cracks and for every person
7:59
like me who have survived and is able to do this podcast is that there's hundreds
8:06
even thousands of people don't matter what age will fall through that crack
8:12
don't matter if you're smart whatever it is New York City will grab you drown you,
8:18
take you through those cracks and forget about it.
8:21
But I'm here telling that story because even at that time, I always knew there
8:26
was something and I always knew, you know what,
8:29
New York City needs New York City and what more New York City than me. These people that are.
8:39
I don't think so. And people are going to ask me, David, again,
8:42
what are your qualifications? What have you done?
8:44
You're talking about a person who have two decades in the labor movement,
8:51
three decades helping people.
8:54
I got a lot of men who are better fathers, better husbands, because I opened the door for them.
9:04
Women who are great wives, mothers, because I opened the door for them and helped them.
9:11
You got kids, I've done every drive, I set a drive-by, never been into a drive-by,
9:18
but toy drive, cold drive, food drive.
9:21
Whatever the case might be, there are times that even if I had the most minimum
9:25
of dollars, I was there to support a cause, to help people,
9:30
to help a lot of kids to mentor kids who did not grow with a father don't have
9:35
a positive male figure guess who was that that was me that's what i want to
9:40
you know one of the reasons i created this podcast,
9:43
because we could get out there those in between whatever you belong to in the
9:48
lbgt whatever it is that you belong to that you just in in between not a parent
9:54
whatever it is i make sure that i help you and i listen.
9:59
And I want to say, listen, I still hold conservative values, but I'm here to help you.
10:06
Whatever it is that our difference is when it comes to religion,
10:09
sports, philosophy, whatever it is.
10:13
All I said, how can we help each other?
10:16
What's your problem? What's your pet peeve? How can we help you?
10:20
How can I help you get out of there?
10:24
I've done help so many people, so many organizations. I've done it all, just about, just about.
10:32
Matter of fact, I take this proudly. I spent half a decade keeping somebody alive.
10:39
Very endearing to me. That person knows who it is.
10:43
Half a decade believing in their stories, their struggles, their family struggles.
10:48
Sister, whatever it is. Parents, whatever it is. Grandparents,
10:52
whatever it is. I was there.
10:55
Excuse me. You know what I mean? You know, I get a little emotion because I
10:59
know that if I do my thing, people are going to question me.
11:03
And I said to myself, you question them.
11:06
Don't question me. I'm New York City, and New York City definitely needs me.
11:11
And this country needs those regular people that struggle. People coming out,
11:15
hey, listen, I always tell people, I got a master's degree in PhD,
11:20
right? Or let's say I got a PhD in the streets.
11:23
Poor, hunger, and depressed. That's what PhDs stand for.
11:26
Because I've done it all. Listen, I've done some dirt, but I'm here to tell that story.
11:31
And I don't want people to think, oh man, this person right here was doing this
11:35
dirt, doing this thing, but they don't know the story why they did it.
11:39
I struggle. My family struggle.
11:42
But my family's always been in tech in a sense.
11:45
And we try the best to kind of talk and be united. And that's what it is, what New York City is.
11:51
It's that we need to find that common ground with somebody who was as common
11:56
in struggle the same way as we did.
12:00
Can I say Cuomo's struggle just as that common person? If you go 80% of the
12:05
people that's going to vote next week for the mayor's race, excuse me.
12:10
They're going to be people that are going to sound like me, or they went through
12:13
that thing, or even worse.
12:15
And I'm going to say it's this. That's one of the reasons why I was looking
12:18
at that city hall when I was a teenage homelid.
12:20
There's people out there who got it more worse than I do.
12:24
But there's no one out there that's that mentor, that person that you can be like, oh, my God.
12:30
This person, I know they're struggling because I've been there.
12:33
Give them that beacon of hope.
12:36
So Ron Mandani, whatever it is that's been in this country, mid-30s,
12:39
I don't know if he's New York City.
12:42
I don't know if he knows what it is to have struggled, to be shot at.
12:47
Wake up and remember in junior high school, you hear the PA announce principal,
12:54
kids, we are not going to let you outside because there's a possible shootout.
12:59
See, New York City is beautiful. I grew up in the Bronx.
13:03
The Bronx is beautiful. There's a lot of places in the Bronx.
13:06
There's a lot of beautiful people, smart people, way smarter than me,
13:11
but they don't get that break because of why? because they struggle.
13:14
Maybe they don't have that little master's degree in whatever university, whatever college.
13:20
There's people out there that struggle and went to college and they made proof
13:25
of point that I could do it, that we could do it.
13:28
But the sad thing about those individuals and a lot of these common people here
13:33
that we got in New York City is that we're not represented by the common people.
13:37
We're not represented by people like us.
13:40
With all due respect to the Congress lady Alejandra Ocasio-Cortez, AOC.
13:46
She's not us. She might tell a story that might, well, you know,
13:50
my parents went through a lot and whatever, but they're not us.
13:54
What is the struggle of New York City? New York City ain't easy.
13:57
This is the capital of the world.
14:00
Wherever New York City goes, the world goes. But what people tend to forget
14:05
is that New York City has a lot of people.
14:09
People that wake up wanting to Delete themselves because they can't make it
14:14
Because that's that pressure in New York City And I'll be damned if those people
14:18
Who are thinking like that They need help I'll be damned if they should be representative
14:22
About some people that don't even know their struggle I got through my little
14:26
mental issues I'll be straight up.
14:30
A little dark cloud, a couple of dark clouds that are hanging over my head as
14:33
we speak. Things that I want to address.
14:36
People that I hold very endearing to me in my heart because I believe in them.
14:42
And it hurts me to be like, damn, if I was there for you and you can't be there for me, that hurts me.
14:49
Because at the end, what makes you be elected in New York City?
14:53
It's not just you saying or anybody who's listening to my podcast,
14:57
whether you're a good friend,
14:59
family member anybody who's ran around my circles don't tell me that you can show me,
15:07
it's gonna probably take millions of dollars to you
15:10
know run a campaign in new york city millions i'm fighting
15:13
against the machine running independent on
15:18
my own if the republican democrat party want to throw a bone or those donors
15:22
want to throw a bone by all means just don't throw me a bone and be like oh
15:26
well because we gave you a hundred thousand k that means that you have to do something for us no no.
15:35
Things that are, you know, and I try it in, you know, it's policies that I don't
15:40
want to talk because, again, I don't want nobody to be taking my ideas here. You know what I mean?
15:46
Domestic violence is a thing in New York City.
15:48
I grew up in that household. My mother's a survivor.
15:52
And sometimes, you know, we tend to forget that. Hey, listen,
15:55
domestic violence, when it comes to the black community, Latino,
15:58
one and two, that it goes deeper than just, for the most part,
16:01
of being a woman being abused, it trickles down to the family, everybody.
16:07
It affects everybody.
16:09
And that's one of the things that I kind of have been speaking about,
16:13
that we see a lot of people from young brothers and sisters from the black community.
16:18
At a young age, they gravitate to gangs and all this.
16:22
We don't know that story. We might say, oh, well, you know, there's knuckleheads
16:25
and we're their parents.
16:27
Have we thought about what's going on, what's behind that? If they grew up in
16:31
a household with domestic violence Which is like 30-40% If I'm not mistaken,
16:36
Then you're going to gravitate to that life,
16:39
Because it's not an easy way out It's the only way out.
16:43
I made it through. Hey, listen, again, I ran, you know, in the streets, again, doing some dirt.
16:50
But it's something that always reminded me is like, why?
16:55
Why did I struggle? Why did I end up staying in the street, being a teenage homeless?
17:00
Why? Why was that question? Why did I, you know, we came as a family to this country?
17:05
Born in Puerto Rico. I forgot to mention that.
17:09
Again, that's what makes me New
17:11
York City. The melting pot. part of the solution of what we need to do.
17:17
Because once again, there's struggles in the streets.
17:20
People, you know, and it breaks my heart that, yes, we do got knuckleheads in
17:23
the streets and the ghettos, you know what I mean?
17:26
But a lot of them, what's the solution that we come up with?
17:30
What are the people that they're looking up to?
17:35
Pirates, puppets of the system? People that they look like you,
17:38
sound like you, but they're not you? Is that what it is?
17:41
You know, my pet peeve, I always remember when there were a lot of the channel
17:47
MTV Corporation putting all these rappers, black rappers, men and women,
17:53
90% worshipping Tony Montana. Come on, like, really?
17:56
They're not worshipping Malcolm X, Martin Luther King?
18:01
I'm just saying the list could go on and on and on. But that's the system.
18:05
But you see it's that time for us to
18:08
fight that system so that we could put more people that
18:11
are common in places that they
18:14
should belong in this case mayor for New York City mayor for New York City don't
18:19
need Cuomo don't need Sliwa don't need Zora don't need Eric Adams all those
18:24
puppets New York City needs me that's why I'm pleading that when you listen
18:29
to this Listen to my podcast.
18:32
Share. Share. Tell people we could finally put somebody in office that is us. Not like us.
18:40
Don't look like you.
18:44
Still got my Puerto Rican, beautiful Puerto Rican. Look, I'm just saying.
18:48
Where we see him, where we struggle, there's a lot of people, smart people.
18:52
Again, people smarter than me that think outside of the box,
18:55
they never got the chance.
18:58
Even to this day, I come across people. They fell through the system.
19:02
There's substance abuse, whatever it is that happened, they fall through the system.
19:08
And then they depend on that system that it's not really there for them.
19:12
Hey, you struggle, that's on you. That's on your own. Oh, you're homeless, that's on your own.
19:17
Again, I was a homeless teenager Was that me or my own?
19:21
No We struggle And I said we As a family, we struggle,
19:25
And I could easily be like Okay, let me start doing this Let me start doing
19:29
that But I continue to believe in myself Because I believe in myself so much
19:34
And that's why I believe in everybody,
19:37
That I help Men, women, all those in between Because I believe in you And I
19:43
believe in you so much because I believe in myself.
19:47
There's close people that I consider family. Not friends, family.
19:52
And those people, they thank me every time. If it's not for you,
19:56
whatever the case might be, you know what?
19:58
Enough of that. Enough of that.
20:01
If you believe in me, then I'm going to need you four years from now.
20:05
All hands on deck. We got to make it happen. Because New York City,
20:09
once again, they need New York City. and David is New York City.
20:15
But we make it happen again. That is my thing.
20:19
That is my goal. That is my mission. That is my vision.
20:22
That it is what I've been since I was a young teenage homeless there.
20:28
I don't want to let that young kid down. I could easily, easily,
20:33
easily that day giving up.
20:35
But I'm not going to give up because I felt that the city needs me.
20:40
And there's a lot of people out there who has, again,
20:45
what is that I do that needs me, that need that thing, that want to feel inspired,
20:51
that, wow, this mother effer who slept in the streets, who did this,
20:58
who did that, became something.
21:00
But I'm not here just to do things on my own. I'm here to help a collective
21:05
and be part of that Wolfpack, New York City Wolfpack.
21:08
Oh, but we definitely making it happen.
21:11
Much love out there to people out there.
21:13
Once again, hit the like, comment, share.
21:17
All my information is in my description. we can make something and this is that
21:21
one chance to finally make something happen because together we can make it
21:28
happen i'm out of here peace.