Dawn Zimmer became the first female Mayor of Hoboken after Peter Cammarano, the youngest Mayor of Hoboken, stepped down after his arrest in a federal corruption probe.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Dawn Zimmer is Sworn in as Interim Hoboken Mayor
Dawn Zimmer became the first female Mayor of Hoboken after Peter Cammarano, the youngest Mayor of Hoboken, stepped down after his arrest in a federal corruption probe.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Mourning Michael Jackson
There was an eerie silence at the cross roads of the world today as scores of fans, tourists and the curious gathered in Times Square to watch the public memorial for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, on the JumboTron. Men women and even some children sat in plastic deck chairs, looking up at the screen with strained necks. Spectator, Juan Vasquez, 47, regretted not being able to hear the memorial. "I wish I could hear what they were saying," he said to no one in particular. Spectators could watch the memorial on the big screen but there was no sound. The NYPD blocked off half the road between 43rd and 44th Street so people could watch the memorial.There was a genuine honesty, dignity or maybe it was respect, emanating from those who stopped in Times Square today; something Jackson was not afforded in life. It was as if those who were there for the memorial or those who stopped by, while on a lunch break, genuinely felt a sense of remorse when they saw Jackson's gold casket on the screen. There was a distinct lack of commercialism and exploitation that I found front and center at the public memorial in Harlem, last week.
Ashton Jones, a native New Yorker, flew in from Los Angeles last night, so he could come to Times Square and watch the memorial on the big screen with fellow New Yorkers. “I wanted to come to Times Square to be with other people,” Ashton said. He admitted to being in shock when he heard Jackson died. “He was brilliant. He had ‘it',” Ashton, a former back up singer for the famous gospel family, the Winans, said. He described Jackson as an inspiration both as a singer. and dancer. "They can’t take that away from him," he said. Emily Waelder, a 27-year-old teacher in Carnaise, Brooklyn, was able to separate Jackson’s personal failings from his public persona, as she watched the memorial in silence with a friend. Allegations of child abuse never swayed her opinion of the star. “All celebrities are messed up,” she said. Walder went on to say, she celebrated with friends when Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2003. Waelder told me she first heard Jackson’s music when her sister, who was 10-years older than her, introduced her to 'Thriller' when she was in 8th grade, the same grade she now teaches in high school.
Ashton Jones, a native New Yorker, flew in from Los Angeles last night, so he could come to Times Square and watch the memorial on the big screen with fellow New Yorkers. “I wanted to come to Times Square to be with other people,” Ashton said. He admitted to being in shock when he heard Jackson died. “He was brilliant. He had ‘it',” Ashton, a former back up singer for the famous gospel family, the Winans, said. He described Jackson as an inspiration both as a singer. and dancer. "They can’t take that away from him," he said. Emily Waelder, a 27-year-old teacher in Carnaise, Brooklyn, was able to separate Jackson’s personal failings from his public persona, as she watched the memorial in silence with a friend. Allegations of child abuse never swayed her opinion of the star. “All celebrities are messed up,” she said. Walder went on to say, she celebrated with friends when Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2003. Waelder told me she first heard Jackson’s music when her sister, who was 10-years older than her, introduced her to 'Thriller' when she was in 8th grade, the same grade she now teaches in high school.
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