
Before moving to NYC, I'd always liked New Yorkers Trump and Rudy
Giuliani from what I'd read, because they seemed like "can-do" straight-talking kind of guys. Then once I got here, I find that the citizens of the city seem
to hate them for all kinds of reasons! Not a reason for ME to dislike them (I hate "conventional wisdom"), but once I learned more, I actually did think a lot less of them.
Trump: I'd always heard in the media about the skating rink that he
took over building from the city years ago. The city's effort was
haphazard. Union workers were lazy, the budget was out of control, the
project was way behind schedule. Then Trump took over, and got the
damn thing built within months. I admired that efficiency! I also
liked his personality and intelligence when I saw him on talk shows
like Letterman. He seems very well-spoken, funny, and down-to-earth.
But since I've gotten to NYC, some of his fugly new buildings have
been pointed out to me! I love the character and history of the
architecture of New York, but Trump is directly responsible for what
locals (rightly) call the "Houstonization" of NYC---big, ugly, generic
buildings that block others' views with their monolithic mirrored selves and add nothing to the character of the place.
Giuliani: I'd always admired him for standing up to the Mob as a
prosecutor back in the '80s, and for being a straightforward,
common-sense, law-and-order mayor of the city in the '90s. (Also, I'd
seen him on Letterman, and thought, too, he was well-spoken, funny,
and down-to-earth. I also liked that he once dressed in drag for a
political fundraiser and was pro-gay rights!) But now that he's
running for president, he's surrounded himself with extreme right-wing
advisers and he's suddenly non-committal on gay rights and
internationally, pro-Iraq-war and pro-torture... Not so "funny" or
"straightforward" any more!