Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Bernadette Castro | Former Commissioner of the New York Office of Parks Joins S&FIM For New Weekly Friday Morning Appearance

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Bernadette Castro | Former Commissioner of the New York Office of Parks Joins S&FIM For New Weekly Friday Morning Appearance · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Bernadette, the very easy question for you, because you are
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: invested in this, is my gut tells me that you
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: agree with me that that was a real ass-kicking Bruce
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Blakeman put on Kathy Hochul a few nights ago.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God. He was so friggin' good. And I'm
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: only disappointed that more people didn't watch it. So if
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: you didn't see it, please, you can watch it on YouTube.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: It'll give you a sense of who Bruce Blakeman really is.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: and how incompetent the governor was. You know, I was
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: at the Al Smith dinner last night, and very appropriately,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: they sat the mayor and the governor next to each other.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: That was great. He's going to campaign for her? I mean, okay,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: let me just say something. I love Miranda. Your Miranda's
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: a powerhouse in the Post. She's got to get the
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: investigative reporters of the Post to really understand why the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: plaza isn't closing January. It's closing Tuesday. Look, we're in
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the small commercial real estate business in Manhattan. We work
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: with scaffolding in front of our building. There is nothing
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: on the interior of the plaza. The interior is impeccable.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: It wasn't like the Waldorf where they ripped out the ballroom,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: put in a new ballroom. Nothing is wrong with the interior.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: It's the exterior. And the rules and regs are so
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: tough on the exteriors of buildings, especially older buildings. Something's wrong.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I don't think the mayor negotiated with the owners. I
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: don't think he took the time to talk to them
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: because they could have used some scaffolding and kept this
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: thing going for four years. So I really want someone
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: to look into that because James Dolan, brilliant businessman, took
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the Knicks, look where we are now, has endorsed Blakeman
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: and begging New York City businesses to Give him the
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: big money.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Not just endorsing Blakeman, but just to remind folks, if
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: you're watching New York One all morning long, which I
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: don't know why you would, but if you are, there's
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a beautiful picture of me with Bruce Blakeman at the
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Knicks game last night. Dolan put on a big fundraiser
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: for Blakeman at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks-Raptors preseason
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: game were all there together. So not only is he talking,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: but he's donated, he's endorsing. He is really enthusiastic, Bernadette,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: about Bruce's candidacy.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: If you're a Knicks fan and you like what Dolan
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  Speaker 2: did for the Knicks, why wouldn't you want Blakeman to
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: do the same thing for the state of New York?
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Trust Dolan. If you don't know Blakeman well enough, just
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: bet your money on Dolan. He needs money for this
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: TV advertising. Whatever you can give, you've got to give
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: to Blakeman. And guess what? He needs votes. If you've
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: turned 18 years old and you haven't registered, you have time.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: You have two more weeks. You have until October 24th,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: which early voting starts. Go register. If you're a young
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Jewish college student and you want to wear your Star
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: of David on the outside of your shirt, you better
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: go register and you better start voting for Bruce Blakeman.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Jessica Tisch got a big award at the Al Smith dinner.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: She stole the show. The Cardinal Dolan was incredible as always.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: But Jessica Tisch was the only one that touched, truly
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: touched on the anti-Semitism that's happening. And she told the
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: story quickly of Cain and Abel from the Bible and
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: how Cain murdered Abel. And when God asked him why,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: she spoke in Hebrew, a short sentence, and translated it saying,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: am I to be my brother's keeper? And then she
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: looked at the audience and said, yes, the NYPD is
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: the brother's keeper. What she did for the NYPD last night,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: praising them, telling the audience that You know, right now,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: there's a guy with a gun, a police officer saving
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a family. There's a police officer in the subway saving
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: your daughter. I mean, this woman is incredible. She blew
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: me away.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Oh, she's awesome. She's awesome.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: If you like Jessica Tish and you want to give
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: her more support in New York City, please get Blakeman
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: as governor.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Agreed. So let me ask you, though, about New York City,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: because you've been here for a couple of years. It's
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: nobody's business exactly how long, but you look great. You
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: look fantastic. But in all your years in this city,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like this? Nervous, anxious about what
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: this mayor and on a state level, what this governor
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: will do to this city and this state?
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: No, I've never felt this way because I feel this
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: way on a personal level with granddaughters working in the
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: city as an attorney. I feel this way from a
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: business perspective, seeing what's happened with the state as far
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: as taxation and And, you know, Bruce's point about $ 80, 000
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: per illegal immigrant. And he said, which I love, there's
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: an executive order on his desk waiting to be signed
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: that we will no longer be a sanctuary state. God
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: bless him for that. But he's got big plans, reducing utilities.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, by 50%, he wants to help regular New Yorkers,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: small businesses. You know, Mondami's thing about the grocery store
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  Speaker 2: is give me a break. He's trying to hurt the
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: small bodegas. He's trying to hurt young, small business operators.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: It's not just the big grocery store chains like your boss,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: John Katsimatidis, who I adore. It's the smaller operators. They're
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: going to be wiped out if there's free grocery stores,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: if there's, you know, discounted so heavily. You know, John
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Katsimatidis made a great point. He said, if you're going
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: to do that, are you going to reduce the real
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: estate property taxes on every supermarket, on every little local deli?
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Are you going to do that? If we own the property,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: are you going to help us? This is really anti-business,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: anti-capitalism at its worst.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: At its worst. So would you be as angry with
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the mayor if you found out that when he was
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: a little boy, his dad actually invested in a cash
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: flow convertible?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd still be mad at him.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: You would?
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Our country comes first. And my father was an immigrant.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: He learned English. He never taught me Italian. I hope
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: that doesn't offend Italian-Americans. He wanted to assimilate. I couldn't
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: pierce my ears until I was like 30, okay?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Everything was American. Assimilation. Learn English. He gave my kids
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: thesauruses with a $ 50 bill tucked in.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Did he really? That's cute. I love that.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, true story. He was a great American.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: So did you go to the Columbus Day Parade on Monday?
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: You know, I watched it on television. I couldn't get in,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: and it was fabulous. I didn't like that, you know,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Hochul was there, but of course she was the governor.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: But I don't think she got total support from the people.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: No, no. Plenty of boos. Plenty of boos there. And
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: what's funny is, you know, you're Italian, Bernadette Castro. She's Italian.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: People go to me, is she the one with the
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Castro convertibles? Other go... Is she Fidel Castro's granddaughter? I go, yes.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: I know. It's crazy, right? I'm actually half Italian. Let
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: me set the record straight. So my dad was born
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: in Sicily. My mother, Hungarian, Austrian descent, born in Pennsylvania.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: No wonder you're a killer. My God. Half Sicilian, half Hungarian.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: I know. Similar to Governor Pataki, who was there last night.
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  Speaker 2: God bless him. He's the last great governor we've had
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: and one of the greatest ever. And I think Blakeman's
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: going to be like Pataki. But here's what I want.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: I want the president to unleash Marco Rubio to come
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: into New York and spend a fly around three days
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: with Blakeman. Look, if the vice president can show up,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: why can't the secretary of state? Marco Rubio could help
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: with the Latino community. He could help with everybody loves
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Marco Rubio. You got to love him.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: I'm actually texting Marco as we speak, I swear to you.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I'm not kidding.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Please, please beg him. It would be so important to Bruce.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: You know, that would be an October surprise, okay? And
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: there's nothing Hochul can say against that.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Nothing.
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  Speaker 2: She's not going to repeat Rubio 40 times.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: No.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: That's for sure.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: 41 to be exact. I mean, just... 41 to be exact.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, well, just.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: Before we sign off, congratulations on your big award. The
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Hall of Fame... I think it's overdue. You are a
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: great radio personality. And I just, you know, I'm so
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: happy for you and proud of you. So congratulations on that.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Bernadette Castro, I love you too. And everybody's happy you're
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: back on this show. Every time we're going to hang
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: up in two seconds and my phone's going to blow up. Oh, man,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I missed her. I love her. I'm not exaggerating. I'm
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: being honest. I'm not patronizing you. My phone blows up
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and it'll blow up again this morning. So thank you,
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  Speaker 1: Bernadette Castro.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: That's so kind. Well, listen, we're going to get together.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: We're having that dinner with me, you, and your wife.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: We're going to do it.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Stay tuned on that.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: We're going to do that. I will actually be in
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the city. I'm doing something for Bruce again Wednesday night
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: with Suzanne Miller. Are you involved in that?
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not involved in that.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Well, now you are.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: I did a fundraiser for him. In Nassau County, and
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: everybody loved him. The people that hadn't heard him speak
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: were floored.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, you're going to come once a night then, okay?
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: You're coming.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: All right?
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Can we talk offline about that?
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Yes, I will text you after the show, and have
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: a great weekend. We'll talk. All right, sweetheart. Great job.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: What a great job. Thank you. There she is, the
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: lovable and brilliant Bernadette Castro, back here on Sid and
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Friends in the Morning.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 9:40
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• 9:43
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• 9:46
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• 9:51
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• 10:01
  Speaker 3: and X. See you next time for a new episode
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: so you never have to wonder.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here?