Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Tom Sullivan | New York State Assembly District 23 Candidate Speaks on His Campaign Six Days Out From Election Day

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Tom Sullivan | New York State Assembly District 23 Candidate Speaks on His Campaign Six Days Out From Election Day · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I love Tom Sullivan so much. This guy, he served
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: in Iraq. He served in Afghanistan. He served in Kuwait.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: He literally, working by the World Trade Center, in there,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: dragged bodies out, saved lives.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, this guy is an American hero.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And if he ever showed up any place in New
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: York dressed as a peanut, I'm voting for Pesacocina.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Have you ever done that, Tom Sullivan?
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: No, no, no. I should get into the spirit, though.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I've got to disagree with you a little bit. I
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: have a wonderful sister-in-law who does a great Halloween. I
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: get to enjoy it, and I should participate a little more.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: No, you shouldn't. Your sister-in-law is crazy. Which one of
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: them is this now?
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  Speaker 3: Whose wife? That's Karen. That's your next-door neighbor.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: The great Karen Barbano married to Brian.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they got to stop that. They're adults. They're not kids.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: They got to stop. Your brother Mike doesn't get dressed up.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: What does it go on? Is it a roast beef sandwich?
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  Speaker 3: No, no, no.
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  Speaker 2: A cheese beef?
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  Speaker 3: Mike and I just dress normally.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Right, because you're normal. Exactly right.
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  Speaker 1: And Russ doesn't do it. He's in Virginia anyway. Seven brothers.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: You guys, you are Breezy Point. You are Rockaway. We'll
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: be so excited to host your party tonight. At the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Bell Harbor Yacht Club. Now, this is, Tom, if I'm correct,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: this is your third attempt at this seat.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Is that right? Yes. Third attempt. 2022 was the first.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: And I'll tell you, a lot of people remember that
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: race because we were up on election night in late December,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: shortly before, you know, the holidays came along. We lost
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: by 15th. And back then, you know, fairly unknown quantity
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  Speaker 3: in politics and going up against a generation of politicians there.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: And so it was a tough run, a great run.
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  Speaker 3: And naturally, I was already committed to running a second time.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Why not?
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Because you're being nice. She cheated.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Stacey Pepper Amato cheated. Her mother and father, God bless
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: them both, in politics.
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  Speaker 2: One's a judge. I don't even know what they do.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. You went to bed. You were winning.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: We've seen this before.
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  Speaker 1: And amazingly, they found more and more votes as the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: days moved along.
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  Speaker 2: So I'll say it. She cheated.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And so you ran again, and this time around, I
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: don't know much about this Osina guy. I do see
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  Speaker 1: TV commercials where Amato actually does the commercials.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Don't get paysocked. You see that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, all the time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're everywhere, especially during the NFL games.
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  Speaker 3: We have a few commercials out there now, too. We
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: do good, good, good, good, good.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, this guy just came out of nowhere. Who
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  Speaker 2: is this guy that you're facing?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's one of the things. You know, he's been
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: around for 20 years working in various city council offices.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: He worked for the speaker, Adrian Adams. And, you know, look,
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  Speaker 3: he's a nice enough guy. We pass cross all the time.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: We had a debate last night out in Bayswater. It's
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  Speaker 3: just he's beholden to these, you know, frankly, anti-police and–
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: democratic social views. And these are all the people that
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: have endorsed them. They put him out there as the candidate. And,
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: you know, I worry about where his votes are going
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: to go and where he's going to lead. So we're
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: out there with the same good message, trying to give
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: people an alternative. You know, some of the things I
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: say now out there is there has 2.4 million people
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: in Queens, right? there hasn't been a Republican representative in
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  Speaker 3: the borough of Queens in 30 years.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 3: And for the Rockaways, there hasn't been a state representative
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  Speaker 3: to represent the Rockaways, which is where you live and
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  Speaker 3: I live. It's been 1947. Oh, my God. When I
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  Speaker 3: go to these civic meetings and these community boards and
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  Speaker 3: people say the Republicans, Republicans, I say, what Republicans?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but the weird thing is, every one of my
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  Speaker 1: neighbors is a Republican. I think I got two Democrats
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  Speaker 1: in a 10-block radius. They all got the American flags.
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  Speaker 1: When Trump runs, almost everyone has a President Trump flag.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I love my neighborhood mostly because I'm surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by great Republican Americans.
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  Speaker 2: So why don't we win races? I don't get it.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you just said the key word, neighborhood, right? I
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  Speaker 3: don't know what And I know why. I know why
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  Speaker 3: the the assault on all the neighborhoods.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't matter. Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Broad Channel, the
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  Speaker 3: Rockaway Peninsula. These were all once single family homes. Right.
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  Speaker 3: Like still Bell Harbor is holding on and the Ponson
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  Speaker 3: and Rockaway Beach to some extent. But with this housing,
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: this message of need more affordable housing, they're trying to
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  Speaker 3: bring everybody into the city, right? You talked about it
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  Speaker 3: in the six o'clock hour, how Hochul just has to
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  Speaker 3: come to Manhattan, right? Bruce Blakeman has to go all
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: over the state to the less dense areas. So it's
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  Speaker 3: not a mystery as to why they want to put
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  Speaker 3: so many people into one area, right? That's where the
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  Speaker 3: base is. And even up in Ozone Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, right?
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  Speaker 3: That's state-owned property. It's 110 acres. I sat on several
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  Speaker 3: of the Empire State redevelopment plans. Everything's about 10 and
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: 14-story buildings. And it's all about affordable housing, affordable housing.
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  Speaker 3: They just want everybody packed into the cities. It's a strategy.
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  Speaker 3: It's the long game for them. And you won't have
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  Speaker 3: to campaign anywhere except for, you know, the five boroughs. Right, right.
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  Speaker 2: So, right.
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  Speaker 3: No, you're right. So in terms of all our neighbors,
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  Speaker 3: it is. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: So in terms of endorsements last time around, you picked
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  Speaker 1: up Dov Hyken.
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  Speaker 2: Because you need that Jewish vote. down there by the
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  Speaker 2: other Rockaways.
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  Speaker 1: And I know you got a guy like Bob Holden,
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  Speaker 1: who's also endorsing Bruce Blakeman, another Republican candidate, because he's
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: a common sense Democrat. Who are some of the bigger
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  Speaker 1: names involved in local politics that are on the Tom
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan train like I am?
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Well, when you talk about local politics, right, probably one
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: of the most important endorsements is Councilwoman Joanne Areola, right?
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  Speaker 3: She's a Republican in the city council. There's only two
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  Speaker 3: in Queens, her and Vicki Palladino. So her endorsement matters
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  Speaker 3: quite a bit. And I talk about this a lot.
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  Speaker 3: It's great to have big-name endorsements, but locally people are
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  Speaker 3: familiar with these folks. So that's an important endorsement for
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  Speaker 3: me there. Something that's never happened in the six years–
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: is I have the endorsement of six or seven police unions. Huge, huge.
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  Speaker 3: And associations. Yeah. And you know this, my whole family,
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  Speaker 3: Secret Service, Port Authority, police, NYPD, FDNY, these folks didn't
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  Speaker 3: even want to talk to me in 2022 or 24.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: And so that's a big change, right? And that dynamic
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  Speaker 3: changed when Stacey decided not to run. Right. She, her
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  Speaker 3: mom had been there for a long time. They had
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  Speaker 3: these alliances and it was a very difficult nut to crack.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: And that's why we're back for the third time. I
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: haven't given up. You're going to win this time. We
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: are going to win this time. It will happen. It
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: will be the first time that Queens has a New
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: York state Republican representative. Right. in 30 years.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Take me back to the debate with Osina last night.
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  Speaker 1: Did it get heated at any point? Was there one
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  Speaker 1: policy difference for you guys? Because you're a pretty calm guy, Tom.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, for a war hero, and.
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  Speaker 2: You really are. You're humble, but you're an actual war hero.
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  Speaker 1: It's unbelievable because when you meet you're like this nice guy,
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  Speaker 1: a war hero and a guy that saved lives on 9-11.
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  Speaker 2: Stuff that most mortals just don't do. And you did it.
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  Speaker 2: You really did it. But again, you're a pretty calm guy.
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  Speaker 2: Did it get heated at all last night?
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  Speaker 3: Not at all. So there's reasons for that, right? We
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  Speaker 3: use the word debate, but it's really not a true debate.
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  Speaker 3: They don't give you that 30-minute, 30-second rebuttal. It's really
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  Speaker 3: like they ask a question, you get the response.
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  Speaker 2: Excuse me, who did this debate last night?
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  Speaker 3: So this was the Civic. This was the Bayswater Civic.
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  Speaker 3: Last week was the Bell Harbor Property Owners Association, right?
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  Speaker 3: They did a fantastic job. The week before that was
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  Speaker 3: our neighbor's civic. So really, it's tough to get into,
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  Speaker 3: but they just give you an opportunity to introduce yourself,
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  Speaker 3: answer a few questions. You both answer the same questions.
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  Speaker 3: So it's tough to get in there. You know, if
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  Speaker 3: you see his literature, you would think he's a Republican.
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  Speaker 3: That's funny.
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  Speaker 2: They all do that. Swazi does that too.
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  Speaker 3: They all do that.
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  Speaker 1: They come off like they're Republicans or at the very
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  Speaker 1: least common sense. And then as soon as they win,
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  Speaker 1: they become lunatics.
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  Speaker 2: And this guy will do the same thing.
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  Speaker 3: Trust me. me. No, that's what it's about. So, you know, when,
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  Speaker 3: especially when it comes up to public safety, right. Hey,
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  Speaker 3: I'm looking at my commercial now.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, how cool is that?
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  Speaker 3: So I'm Fox news. So, yeah. So there's really not
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  Speaker 3: a chance to call each other out unless you want
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  Speaker 3: to consume some of your time. And I did that
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  Speaker 3: once or twice at one of the other debates. And
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  Speaker 3: like I mentioned, he's a nice enough person. I believe
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  Speaker 3: I'm much more qualified. And I don't think it's a
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  Speaker 3: good thing that you've been in the city council working
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  Speaker 3: for these members for 20 years. These are the people
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  Speaker 3: that gave us these laws.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Oh, maniacs.
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  Speaker 3: Anti-police sentiment. Maniacs. And it's more of a culture that's
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: been created. And I want to point out one right now.
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  Speaker 3: I'm in Beach 130th Street. What they wrote on the
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  Speaker 3: walls and the storage container down there. I saw that. Right? Yeah, bad.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Very bad.
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  Speaker 3: Yesterday, they're defacing the 9-11 memorial.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, tell me about this again.
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  Speaker 1: I keep telling everybody that you save lives in the
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: World Trade Center.
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  Speaker 2: So where they have the names... of the people that.
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  Speaker 1: Perished on nine 11 by the fountains. There was graffiti
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  Speaker 1: written on it last night. It's on your Instagram page
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: this morning. I know you take that very, very closely.
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  Speaker 3: Very personal, right? First of all, these were my friends.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: These were, uh, teammates. These were people that would come
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: to family functions, closest families you can get. And, uh,
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  Speaker 3: I just, you know, you talk about me being a
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  Speaker 3: calm person. That kind of crap has to stop. It
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  Speaker 3: was only four days ago that some maniac went ahead
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  Speaker 3: and decapitated some of the heads off the Iwo Jima
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: statue outside the Marine Corps base down in Virginia. Oh,
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  Speaker 3: my God. Yeah, I mean, it's cost a half a
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  Speaker 3: million dollars worth of damage. And... It's a sickness. It's
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  Speaker 3: an absolute sickness that people can get away with this stuff.
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  Speaker 3: The ignorance and hatred is a horrible combination. And I
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: know you know that because that's what we see with
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  Speaker 3: what's happening with the Jewish community. Yeah. And it's ignorance, hatred, and...
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  Speaker 3: It's not good for any of us.
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  Speaker 1: I don't have to worry about you guys when it
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: comes to fighting anti-Semitism.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I don't have to worry about the Sullivan family.
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  Speaker 1: You guys are great friends of the Jewish community. So
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  Speaker 1: on the way out, my dear friend Tom Sullivan, again,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: stop by the Bell Harbor Yacht Club tonight. We've got
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: a big party for Tom and the amazing attorney Thomas
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Knipp is going to be there. I'll be there hosting.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Who knows who else may show up? Lou's going to
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: be there. MJ's going to be there. But folks, I
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: want to give you a couple of bucks before Tuesday's election.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: What's the easiest way to do that?
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: The best way is to go to SullivanStateAssembly.com, and you'll
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: see the opportunity to donate. Every donation is appreciated. Listen,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: I was outspent 12 to 1 on a lot of
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: these campaigns, you know, a couple of million dollars spent
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: on the other side. I don't pride myself in spending
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: other people's money like this, you know. But it just
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: helps get us through the finish line. And third time's
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: a charm for us. And we're going in for the
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: win here.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: You're going to win.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: Tom Sullivan, you're a terrific guy. Your whole family is beautiful.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I love all you guys, all seven of you guys
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  Speaker 1: and your beautiful mom. But you specifically are a very,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: very special guy. I mean that, Thomas. You know, Daniela,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: my kids feel the same.
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  Speaker 3: You got it. Good luck to her. Thank you. And
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: her efforts. You mentioned an award she received the other day.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: for running on different races.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: And different continents, right? Well, the marathon, much like tennis
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and golf, they have majors. And there are three domestic races,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: New York, Chicago, and Boston. And there are three international races,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: which include Berlin, Tokyo.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: And London.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: She's done them all. By the way, this year, they
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: entered a seventh Australia race. is now part of it,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: but Danielle luckily got the Abbott Award when it was
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: only six, and yeah, she's done all six.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, pretty amazing. Good luck to her.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Thank you, buddy.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: We will see you tonight. I love you to pieces.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Tom Sullivan running a great campaign. You will win, and
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: we'll all celebrate next Tuesday night.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Thomas.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: You got it. By the way, the cereal, the containers
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: help keep the ants out, and it lets you know
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: when you're running low.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Well done.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Tom Sullivan right there, folks. Part of that amazing Sullivan family.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: I love them all. Thomas is a very, very special guy.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 15:05
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• 15:07
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• 15:11
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• 15:15
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• 15:26
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• 15:29
  Speaker 4: so you never have to wonder.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: What the heck is going on here?