Ben Nadeff-Haffrey
speaker
1,009 appearances
5 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 6 Aug
Ben Nadeff-Haffrey’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 5 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 3.
Appearances
It describes Staten Island, but it also describes places that are resentful because they feel remote, even if they're landlocked.
It's the psychology of distance plus misunderstanding, which leads to resentment.
Weyland's deep understanding of Staten Island had given him an almost prophetic understanding of American politics today.
How did you know it?
And some of the same dynamics were in play with the election of Trump as they were for people voting for secession.
What they wanted to escape was often people of color and poor people.
If New York City had always represented the dream of liberalism, this was the final chance to leave that dream behind, to be Staten Islanders, not New Yorkers.
That identity ran deeper and stronger than David Dinkins' idea that the city was a mosaic.
It was much more emotionally resonant than David Goldfarb's reasoning about the facts and figures, or even everyone's complaints about the dump and the voting structure of New York City.
And the word that expressed it best was secession.
We'll be back.
On October 5th, 1993, the vote yes and the vote no people gathered at the Staten, the island's catering hall, for climactic debate.
It was just weeks before the vote that would decide the fate of Staten Island and New York City.
It was the big showdown, broadcast live on Staten Island cable.
And the city had sent one of its officials, a Staten Islander named Bob Federa, who argued that Staten Island should not secede.
There were questions from the audience.
A guy in tinted shades with slicked back hair stands up.
Federer tries to respond.
This question seems like it should be a grand slam for Federer.
But actually, he's in a very tight spot as a representative of the first Black mayor of New York City.
Showing 681–700 of 1,009 · page 35 of 51
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