Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Bernadette Castro | Former Commissioner of the New York Office of Parks & Imus Staple Reunites with Sid Rosenberg

Transcript

Bernadette Castro | Former Commissioner of the New York Office of Parks & Imus Staple Reunites with Sid Rosenberg · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let me rewind the clock about 23 years. The I-Man
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: would say, I said, Bernadette's coming in today, you gotta
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: be especially vicious.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: He'd say, what are you talking about? She's a nice lady.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Come on.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, you gotta be really, I mean, I want you
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to be just terrible. All right, I-Man, I'll do what
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I can do. So Bernadette was running the Parks Department
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: at that point, and I must say she did a
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: fantastic job, but she would sit down and I would go.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Hey, Bernie, baby.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: You want Bernie McGurk in studio?
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: What'd you find more of on the beach today? Fingers
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: or syringes? Oh, no, no.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Wait a minute.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: First of all, the beaches are free right now. You
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: know that you can go walk on the boardwalk at
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Jones beach, Robert Moses, get the fresh ocean air. You
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: don't have to pay anything. Yeah.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: No, hold on. Hold on a second.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I don't pay anything either because you know why? I
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: live on Bell Harbor. I'm exactly one block from the beach.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: So not only do I not have to pay, but
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: I deal with zero visitors. It's my own beach on
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: my own block.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: How about that?
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Listen to me. We're talking to all New Yorkers right now.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: So all New Yorkers, especially those that can get to
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: the island beaches that Robert Moses built, unbelievable. You know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: we see more people. I still say we. I can't
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: help it. at Robert Moses and Jones Beach than Yosemite
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: and Yellowstone combined.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Is that true?
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's true. And, you know, I just want to
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: say we did so much because of Pataki, and now
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: New York can bounce back because of Bruce Blakeman. You know,
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: last night I was with him, and there were some
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: people in the room, big families, big supporters, construction industry people.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: They were wowed by him. He spoke about 25 minutes,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: and he was brilliant. And he talked about everything from
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: eliminating congestion pricing. I mean, you're listeners that are lucky
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: enough to travel in by car, but think of the
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: people now take the train. They wanted to take their
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: kids to school in the car. They wanted to drop
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: the children off at school and then head into the city.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: And they have to pay $ 9 if they're at 60th Street.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Or below?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, come on.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: It's ridiculous.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: It's crazy. I know.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: He is great.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: He's going to eliminate that.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: He is great, and he's a great speaker. Look, he's
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: best friends with Trump. They're campaigning together in Syracuse today,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: and clearly he's learned a lot from President Trump because
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: he's very similar in his approach.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: But I'll ask you this.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Look.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: You know, somebody said Elise Stefanik would have been better
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: off running for governor.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: She cowardly quit. And I use the word cowardly. I'm
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: very disappointed with her. But she would have been better
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: off because it's woman versus woman.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: That's silly. Of course.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: So Bruce can't be as vicious as he wants to be.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: But I'll ask you this.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Why would a woman who actually cares about gender? I
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: think it's nonsense. I'm sick of hearing about breaking glass ceilings,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: black people, women.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Why would a woman vote for Bruce Blinken?
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: You're getting exhausted. I agree with you. I agree with you.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Women vote for the best candidate. It is insulting to
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: think that a woman votes for a woman. Just as
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: you mentioned the current attorney general being black. Guess what?
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: There are so many black mothers. Riverbank State Park in
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: the heart of Harlem, I visited there often. It was
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: under my stewardship. Those moms want safety. They put their
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: kids at Riverbank State Park. They don't want them exposed
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: to drugs. They don't want them exposed to crime. They
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: welcome more law enforcement. I bet you they're going to
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: vote Blakeman. And they're going to vote for the new
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Attorney General, Sarita, by the way. I'm going to send
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: her some money today. She was great.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Wow, awesome. That's great.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Let me tell you, don't put black women in the
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: category of the current Attorney General. Because the ones who
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: live in the tough neighborhoods, the Bronx, you know, certain
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: parts of Brooklyn, certain parts of Manhattan, they want law enforcement.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: They love cops. They don't hate cops. They want more.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: They want more protection. That's why they send their kids
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: to Riverbank State Park. We have the state park police there.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: It's safe haven for these kids. So I think the
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: vote's going to come out, the smart vote. We have
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: a lot of really good thinking people out there. Doesn't
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: matter what sex you are. Doesn't matter what race you are.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Everybody wants to be safe. Everybody wants lower taxes. Bruce
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Blakeman can deliver that. And if he had an attorney
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: general with him, The sky's the limit. Agreed. This state's
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: going to change. If those two get in, Blakeman's got
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: to get in. I mean, come on, voters. And here's
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: the deal. The polls are looking good, but it's all
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: about voter turnout. And I've been speaking with people on
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: the inside of these polls, et cetera, et cetera. Here's
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: what the polls do not show. If you get out
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: and vote, early voting starts this month. It starts a
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: week from tomorrow, October 24. Go vote. Take a neighbor
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: to vote. Get out the vote. Don't sit on your
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: butt and say you want change. If we get out
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: the vote, Blakeman's going to win. It's that simple. But
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: you've got to get out and vote. And, you know,
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: I know he's very good friends with the president. But
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: guess what? Blakeman's not controlled by anybody. And for those
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: people that think, oh, you know, if you're not a
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: Trump fan, oh, Blakeman. Let me tell you, Blakeman is
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: his own man. And if you heard him last night,
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: of course he respects the president. They're friends. But Blakeman
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: is always going to be for New York. He is
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: not going to yield to any advice he doesn't think
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: is right for New Yorkers. I know him. I've watched
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: him in Nassau County.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: No, listen, you're 100% right. He won the last two.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: He was on me, by the way, this morning at
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: 630 on the way to Syracuse.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: But he won the last two Nassau County elections. And,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: of course, we all know Nassau County is mostly Democrat.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Because even though he is close with Trump, he garners
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: the votes of Democrats and independents because he's a common
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: sense guy.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: But, you know, talk about common sense. Put it that way.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You've been around this game a couple of years. You
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: were there with Governor Pataki. What the hell is going on?
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: How do people like Mamdani win? El-Sayed is beating Mike
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Rogers right now in Michigan.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: What has gone on in this country?
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Mamdani winning was a stunner. And you know why? Because
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: everybody thought Cuomo would win it, and they sat on
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: their butts, and they didn't get out. And shame on
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: the Jewish voters that voted for Mamdani. I don't get that.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: I was with some terrific, successful Jewish leaders last night.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: They don't get it.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: If you're a Jewish voter, for gosh sakes, you've got
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: to be against Mondami. You've got to be. You've got
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: to be pro-Israel. How can you not be the strongest
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: little country, our best ally? I mean, it's ridiculous.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: No, I agree, but while you can blame the Jewish voters,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: that's not why he won. He got maybe 20-25%, which
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: is way too many. You shouldn't get one Jewish vote.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: The truth is, a part of the blame as to
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: why he did win, forget about the people who voted
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: for Cuomo, was Cuomo.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: He didn't do a very good job. He'll be the
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: first to admit it.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: No, he took it for granted. Yes. I agree with you.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: He took it for granted because nobody thought Manoni could win.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: And then you had this idiot Curtis Sliwa in the race.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: All he was doing there was to make sure Cuomo
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: didn't win. Turns out he's good buddies with Mamdani now.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: How about that?
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: Well, it's not good. It's not a good scene, but
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: it can be corrected. It's got to start at the top. Okay?
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Bruce Blakeman's got to win because he is still the
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: governor of the state. You know, the mayor of the
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: city is the mayor of the greatest city in the world.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: But guess what? Albany is in charge of a lot.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Albany has a lot of power, a lot of what
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: to say about money going into Manhattan. So if Bruce
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Blakeman wins, he can do what's right. I know he will.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: And then the next mayor, we need it. What about
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: the police commissioner running? I mean, come on. She's great.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: I think she will run. I think she'll run as
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: an independent. That's my guess. Hopefully.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: You'll have Mamdani as a Democrat, her as an independent,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: and me as a Republican. But I think she can win.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: But we'll see.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: You know, look, Jessica is in a tough spot right now.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: She's not going to walk away from this job because
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: she loves New Yorkers. Not just Jewish New Yorkers, but
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: especially Jewish New Yorkers, and she knows if she leaves,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: we're all going to be in even bigger trouble than
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: we are now. So even though she knows that Mamdani's
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: an animal, she knows that, okay?
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: She's not stupid. She's not leaving anytime soon.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, that makes sense. You always make sense, Sid.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: When I heard Lou's voice on the phone, I went,
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: come on, the Lou? I haven't spoken to you guys
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: since the I Missed Days, and it's so great. I
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: am so happy for you and the team you put together.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Your show is great.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: I'm really excited about it. I really, really am.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Now, listen, I went to this event last Friday in
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: New York City at the Pierre Hotel, and much like
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: last night, I was there when John and Margot were
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: honored by the DEA. They were honored last week by
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the Franciscans. It was a wonderful night. And when I
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: heard the guy up on stage say Bernadette Castro, I
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: made a beeline to the back of the room. You
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: were in the bathroom at the time. But I came
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: back five minutes later, and there was my beautiful friend Bernadette.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: I was so excited to see you.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: I was so excited to see you, Sid, because honestly,
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: I've been wanting to reach out to you. I'm a
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: fan of the show. I think it's great. John Katsimatidis,
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: God bless him for giving you Morning Drive. It's fabulous.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: And you're doing a great job. And, you know, the
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: guests you have on are great. It's all good. And
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: tonight I'm having dinner with Cindy Adams.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, you are?
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: Oh, we love that. She is. is a piece of work.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: She's broken the 90-year-old. I won't say how old she is.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: But she speaks her mind. The F word flies like
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: every other sentence. The last time I took her to dinner,
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: I said to her, we were sitting alone, Cindy, I'm
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: thinking about writing a book. You know what she said
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: to me? Yeah. Look out at this restaurant. Who's going
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: to buy your effing book? Tell me one person that's
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: going to buy your effing book.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's funny. I could see you saying it, too.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely. So I'm looking forward to it tonight.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: By the way, are you going to write that book?
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I disagree with Cindy. I think you'll do very well.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: I don't know. We're going to see. We're going to see.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: But she does make a little bit of sense. But anyway,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: it's just a breath of fresh air having you on
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: in the morning. And it's great that you're going to
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Bernard McGurk. daughter's wedding. He was such a great part
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: of the show, too, and left us way too soon.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: You know, there's so much good going on. But right
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: now we've got like under a month to get Blakeman elected.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: And I just can't tell your listeners enough to please
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: vote early and take people to the polls, older people
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: that don't really want to go. They don't know where
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: to go. If you just do that, it would be
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: a huge help. And if you can send him a
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: little bit of money, any money helps because he's got
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: to keep television advertising up. He said last night he
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: even has to take ads in streaming. Some people are
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: not watching network shows. The cost of advertising for these
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: candidates is huge. Crazy. Huge. Huge.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: No, multi-million dollar races. I hope that Trump and J.D.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Benz actually take care of our friend Bruce, too. We'll
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: get to that later.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: But you're right.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Send him some money. Send Sarita some money. Send Joe
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Hernandez running for comptroller against the Napoli. Send him some money.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Let's get some Republicans back in office. And on the
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: way out here, Bernadette, let's make a deal here. KT's
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: on every week. And you just mentioned my guest list.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you for that. Let's get Bernadette Castro on this
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: show every week. What do you say?
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: What?
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: That would be so great. You're in. I would be
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: so honored.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: You're in.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Wow. All right.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: We'd be honored.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: If you're in, I'm in.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: I'm in. Lou, what do you think? Lou, what do
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: you think? I am so happy to hear Bernadette again.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Isn't it great? Isn't it fantastic?
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, Lou, good to hear you, too. I'm so happy.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: The team is great, as always.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Well, you're back on the team. The I-Man may be
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: gone and Bernie may be gone, but their spirit lives
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: on this show every day.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: And, Bernadette, you're back, so thank you so much.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Oh, thanks, Sid. So great to hear you. Well, you
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: have a great, great time. You're going to Syracuse, are you?
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure yet. I'm still, because I'm going to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: be Wednesday. I've been invited by Marco Rubio to go
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: to the State Department.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: I love Marco Rubio.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I love him, too.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's my guy for president.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Me too.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, I know I shouldn't be saying that.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: No, no, say it.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Me too. I like Ted Cruz. He was on this
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: show two days ago. I like him a lot. I'm
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: not enthralled with J.D.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Vance. I love Marco.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to go see Marco and Howard Blutnick
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: at the State Department on Wednesday, then probably see President Trump.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: Well, I will tell you, Marco Rubio would do for
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: this country. I mean, he is amazing. He's got everything
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: going for him. He's smart. He can handle the press
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: in a gracious way, but he gets his point across.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: He speaks fluent Spanish. He's lived with socialism in Cuba.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: He gets it. And yet, he's just a great guy.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: What a great president he would make.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Yes, he would make a great president. Bernadette, we love you.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the show. We're so happy to have you.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Sid. You take care.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Give my best to Cindy Adams. Bernadette Castro right there,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: here on Sid and Friends in the morning. And we've
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: added another brilliant, amazing, great New York lady.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: To our already... Top of the line guest list. Bernadette,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: great job.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: mornings at 6. If you like the podcast, share it
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: with your friends and listen anytime at wabcradio.com and download
• 13:54
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• 13:57
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• 14:04
  Speaker 4: and X. See you next time for a new episode
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: so you never have to wonder.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: What the heck is going on here?