Ball Call Brings Thoughts of Mandelbaum
By Michael Kaufman
I got a phone call the other day from Greg Ball, the 2010 Republican candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional District. It wasn’t a real phone call from Mr. Ball. It was one of those “robot” calls with a recorded message of his voice. I usually hang up on those kinds of calls…even the always cheerful holiday messages from Meir Borenstein, the local Chabad rabbi. For some reason he gets on my nerves even though I love his Brooklyn accent. “Hello! This is Rabbi Meir and Rivkie Borenstein calling to wish you a Happy Purim and to tell you about…” [Click]
But I listened carefully to Ball’s message and when it was over I felt a chill, because if I didn’t know better, based on what he said in that phone call I would vote for the man. It was an artful piece of demagogy crafted to appeal to anti-war voters like myself. No doubt he has a far different message for telephones that ring in households of his Republican base.
In my phone message Ball never identifies himself as a Republican. He begins by reminding listeners that they voted for change last November, including the election of our “current Congressman,” who ran as a peace candidate. John Hall’s name is not mentioned. Ball observes, correctly, that Hall….er, the current Congressman, has been something of a disappointment because of his support for the Obama administration’s continuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end he sounds more like a Peace and Freedom Party candidate than a Republican.
This is the same Greg Ball who spoke not long ago at a Republican fundraiser at the Warwick estate of Jonah Mandelbaum, the millionaire developer who never met a green field he wouldn’t like to build on…unless it was close to his house. As noted by fellow Zester Jeffrey Page, one of the big-name guests at this shindig was Bernard Kerik, the disgraced former police commissioner of New York City.
When it was Kerik’s turn to speak he defended the use of torture when questioning suspected terrorists. “Imagine if we could have prevented 9-11 with enhanced interrogation techniques like sleep deprivation, loud music, and even water boarding,” said the soiled ex-cop. “Would we have done that to save 3,000 lives? You bet.” This takes quite a bit of imagining, especially since no evidence has been presented that a single life was saved by the extensive water boarding that took place after 9-11. We do, however, have Dick Cheney’s word for it….and also Peter King’s.
King, a right-wing Republican Congressman from Long Island, was the main speaker at the Mandelbaum gathering and he blasted the United States Justice Department for announcing plans to investigate the legality of such practices by CIA interrogators. King called it “a declaration of war against the CIA,” adding, “the information we obtained saved thousands of lives.” A newspaper report of the event noted there “appeared to be little disagreement” among the attendees. Needless to say, there was nary a peep on the matter from candidate Ball.
A photo accompanying the news article showed Ball addressing supporters and offered a glimpse of one of the spacious rooms at the Mandelbaum home. It reminded me of a scene in Mel Brooks’ “Silent Movie:” Above the urinals in the well-appointed men’s room of the fancy corporate headquarters of the Engulf and Devour corporation is a sign that says, “Our toilets are nicer than most people’s homes.”
Mandelbaum’s spacious estate is a world apart from the apartments at Liberty Green, the senior housing complex he recently erected near where I live. The apartments, though small, seem nice enough inside, but the exterior qualifies it as one of the ugliest residential buildings in Warwick. It has already increased traffic on Grand Street to the point where several new stop signs have been added.
Liberty Green
Liberty Green is one of several Mandelbaum projects enabled by a $10.5 million grant awarded to his company by New York State last year, the largest multi-project award of its kind ever granted. “We’ve been meeting the demand for well-built, safe and affordable senior housing since 1996, when we built Devon Woods,” Mandelbaum was quoted in a local newspaper article reporting on the grant. “This award is an honor and we are committed to continuing to meet the housing needs of our senior citizens.” The article goes on to say that Mandelbaum is “well-known in Warwick for his contributions to civic and charitable organizations.”
I don’t know about his contributions to charitable organizations but he has donated many thousands of dollars over the years to local, state, and national political candidates. With the exception of a $5,000 donation in 2007 to the Democratic Senatorial campaign (an election in which the Republican candidate had no chance) all of his donations were to Republicans. The most intriguing is a 2005 donation of $1,000 to Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.
I suspect the local and state political donations have at least as much to do with the grant award than Mandelbaum’s commitment to quality, affordable housing for seniors. They also likely have something to do with the ongoing glut of development in Warwick. The Liberty Green home page links to a popup promoting the proposed “Community Business Zone” on Route 94 and to the official Town of Warwick Web site, which promotes the virtues of the recently formed Warwick Development Coalition. Mandelbaum is a member, of course, along with local elected officials and other Warwick luminaries. Do you think maybe I am on to something or am I just being too cynical?
Michael can be reached at michael@zestoforange.com.
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