What's Going On?

My daughter complained that I made reference in a previous Blog to my "granddogs" but never showed a picture of them. So here's some shots she took. By the way, that's Dani, herself, in the photos with the grandchildren, er, dogs.


My beautiful daughter, Dani with Brooklyn(aka Brookie)


Is this cute or what? Brooklyn with her sad face.


A very dramatic Danielle with Annie (i.e. Annapolis).
This little cocker is called a "parti colored cocker" due to her coloring.

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So, what have I been up to. Very busy times. The Barbaro campaign is picking up speed. At the same time it's picking up me. I've been getting into it. And I find it very exciting.

On Monday and Wednesday there were so-called kickoff meetings in Staten Island and Brooklyn, respectively. The Staten Island meeting was in "mid-island" and I promptly got lost trying to find the place. And I even had a map. Trouble is the map was doubly mis-printed. I was trying to find The Corner, a cute Irish pub that is at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and North Railroad Avenue. Well, the map knew about North Railroad Avenue. Now to find where Lincoln crosses it. No such place according to the index. There was a "Lincona" Avenue and "Lincona" Road but the index showed them in a totally different part of the island, not crossing or even approaching Railroad Avenue. Besides, what's the chance of mis-spelling both Lincoln streets? Apparently a very good chance as that's exactly what the map people had done. PLUS, they indexed the streets wrong, showing them in a different location. Some map!

A quick cell phone call to my friend, Larry, set me on the proper route. What would we do without those cell phones? Get lost.

Staten Island is so strange compared to the rest of the city. I'm thinking that its geography and isolation have stamped a unique mindset on many of its inhabitants. With its twisty-turny narrow roads, lack of a grid plan for the streets (like the rest of the boroughs) and large amounts of green space, you could easily feel you're in the country and not part of our metropolis. Perhaps that's why the secession movement garnered so much sympathy here. Perhaps it's also why there's a strong conservatism here. When people move to Staten Island they feel like they've left the city behind them. That's changing now and Staten Island has become more diverse. Besides that, it's only a mindset: people are people and they inevitably respond to their conditions. People who have voted for Vito Fossella (the Republican incumbent) for three terms are starting to see that the Bush policies which he so loyally espouses have been poison for them; for the economy; for employment; for the environment ... and so on. Reality is on our side not on Vito's.


Campaign Manager, Larry Moskowitz, warms up the crowd at The Corner. We kicked off the Staten Island campaign on Monday at a rousing meeting attended by labor and community activists. The excitement was palpable and Frank was given a warm and enthusiastic welcome from the overflowing crowd.


Frank with supporters before the meeting. That's Diane Savino on the left who is running for State Senate in a disrtrict that overlaps the Congressional District


Frank receives an enthusiastic welcome from the crowd of volunteers, labor and community activists from across Staten Island.

For more photos from the campaign, check out my Barbaro For Congress photo site on smugmug: Click here.

After the Staten Island meeting I had a couple of beers with my new found friends at the campaign: Mike Boland and Ray Whelan.


Mike and Ray with their beer and ketchup chasers (weird!)

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I've been keeping you posted on the progress of my friend, Bob Heisler's new restaurant The Gulf Coast Cafe. It's coming along quite rapidly now: paint, signage, lighting, cooking equipment, even an espresso machine is in place!

I stop by about once a week to see how it's going. And, it's going! After the Brooklyn kickoff meeting for the Barbaro campaign, Stacey and I met Bob and his fiance, Elisabeth at the restaurant. I wanted Stacey to see it in person (having only just heard about from my descriptions). A new mural had been mounted. This was created by a local artist and is a collage of many New Orleans scenes and more: some family shots, some partners shots, even one frame of the Louisiana demagogue, Huey Long next to the hip poet, Alan Ginsberg (what's the connection??)


A section of the beautiful new mural at the Gulf Coast Cafe.


Elizabeth and Stacey in front of the newly-signed cafe.


This is what it looks like on a nice summer night: delightful!

We were invited back again for a "tasting" night on Friday and we accepted. The food is very, very good: a lot of New Orleans style cooking: jambalaya, etouffeé, spicy skirt steak, rice and beans. I can hardily recommend this place. The ambience is nice, food is great and Bob and Burt and going to make wonderful and friendly hosts. It can't miss.


Stan, cooking up a storm in the kitchen.


Some of the guys at the cafe pose for my camera.


Meet me at the bar at the Gulf Coast Cafe!


Bob and son, Josh doing the mingle thing

The guys are looking to open on or around June 15th. The Gulf Coast Cafe is located on a quiet, charming west-Soho block at 48 Macdougal Street. That's between Houston and Prince Street. Make sure you try it.