The man you see (indistinctly) in the photo above is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who spoke before a packed crowd at the Women’s National Republican Club last night on a variety of subjects. Although the invitation I responded to billed the evening as a discussion of sanctuary cities, Vance did not address the topic until prompted by an audience member during the question and answer session, approximately 40 minutes or so after he began speaking.

I can’t say I was surprised by his reluctance to address the subject, despite its topicality. The New York County District Attorney’s office is charged with the prosecution of those who violate the laws of New York State. Those who violate federal law are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York-a point Mr. Vance emphasized when I pressed him on a recent decision to release a violent, self-declared member of MS-13 who was in this country illegally from prison.

That said, his office does occasionally come into contact with illegal immigrants through their encounters with the New York Police Department, which he implicitly acknowledged when he spoke of protecting the status of those who had been victims of crimes while residing in this country illegally. Putting aside the circular logic of this argument, i.e. aren’t predatory criminal aliens, such as the illegal day laborer who murdered acclaimed actress and director Adrienne Shelly, protected under the same umbrella sheltering domestic abuse victims, there is another objection to be raised. Namely, there is already a federal program, known as the U Visa, which ostensibly protects these individuals.

The idea that New York City needs to codify policy which directly conflicts with federal law in order to protect the safety of those in this country illegally is the height of absurdity. To the contrary, these directives actually imperil the lives and safety of those they ostensibly seek to protect-as well as the lives of American citizens-as those criminal aliens who abuse and terrorize their partners and children are given blanket immunity for crimes which would otherwise place them in the deportation pipeline and out of the reach of those whose lives they have destroyed. In fact, after Mr. Vance’s talk had concluded, a (legal) immigrant shared a personal anecdote with me about a hairdresser whose husband had attempted to suffocate her to death, but was allowed to remain in this country-illegally, naturally-even after being brought to the attention of the relevant authorities.

It should be said in Mr. Vance’s defense that he stated categorically that illegal aliens who had committed violent crimes should be deported, which is a far cry from Mayor De Blasio’s stance. However, it’s worth noting that the Manhattan DA is a political post, which is dependent upon the will of the voters, which in this case happened to be a group of New York Republicans. Just as his avowal of support for stop and frisk might have been downplayed before more progressive venues, it’s possible that he might have temporized even more on this subject if speaking to a group like the National Council of La Raza, or the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.

Overall, the audience was surprisingly receptive to DA Vance’s message, which in retrospect probably shouldn’t have been that surprising. The Republican Party of New York City, but particularly the desiccated husk of a party which still exists in Manhattan, is run primarily by the Rockefeller and Lindsay Republicans who once exercised real power in this city and state. Adele Malpass, who delivered some introductory remarks before Cyrus Vance stepped up to the podium, praised the District Attorney’s efforts to kill a bill which would have prevented the arrest of innocent New Yorkers carrying gravity knives. I’m sure the GOP mainstay who asked him later in the evening what he was doing to crack down on gun dealers appreciated this bold stance against individual rights, but I was left rather unimpressed.

For what it’s worth, I thought the event was worthwhile, despite my many disagreements with Mr. Vance, including his apparent belief that compulsory voting, along the lines of Australia, could serve as a civic inducement. Having a public official willing to submit himself to cross-examination, however circumscribed, by the public is increasingly rare and worthy of praise. Hopefully, the officials responsible for some of the problems we encounter in this city on a daily basis will embrace this willingness to engage the public, but I won’t be holding my breath.

The photograph above is, of course, one of former Speaker of the House and current Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. He was in town to sign his new book, A Nation Like No Other, along with his wife, who has a book of her own. But the most important part of his visit was a town hall forum held in the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomfield, Staten Island, which was sponsored by the Staten Island Tea Party. 

There were a number of interesting aspects to this event, not the least of which was the decision to hold such an important campaign appearance in the backyard of former Staten Island borough president Guy Molinari, who’s not only an important Mitt Romney backer but also a personal foe of Gingrich dating back to their days as backbenchers in the House of Representatives. This goes to the heart of his presidential campaign, and perhaps points to the essential duality of Newt Gingrich as a political personality. While critics would view this gambit, like his Eli Manningesque certainty of being the eventual Republican presidential nominee, as an example of Newt’s insuperable arrogance, supporters would cite it as merely another illustration of their candidate’s confidence in the resonance of his ideas among the public. It’s that quality that impelled him to challenge President Obama to a series of seven Lincoln-Douglas style debates, should he be the Republican nominee. Without question, it’s something that the media and potential primary voters and caucus-goers will focus on as the Gingrich campaign progresses.

There’s no question that rhetorically Newt Gingrich cuts an impressive swath, and would be a formidable opponent in a theoretical race against the President. Yet, the discursive nature that was on full display yesterday is a double-edged sword. A perfect example was a period in his speech where he quickly transitioned, mid-stream, from a critique of this administration’s hostile actions towards Israel, to a somewhat glib suggestion that the job of tracking illegal aliens should be outsourced to private corporations like Fed-Ex, to a more thoughtful, holistic analysis of the fundamental distinction between the private and public sectors. Some of his observations are spot-on, for example, his point that Russian organized crime is indispensable to Medicaid and Medicare fraud in this country, particulary in the state of California but throughout the entire country. Whether he’ll be able to synthesize these conceptually intriguing themes into a systemic philosophy that will appeal to a majority of the electorate remains to be seen. Like the immigration question-which others have finally come to recognize as the defining issue of this Republican primary campaign-this is something that Newt Gingrich will have many opportunities to address if and when he becomes the de facto alternative to heretofore presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Putting those caveats aside, here are some scenes I captured while I was attending yesterday’s town hall, including some interesting neoclassical and modernist sculpture.

I arrived at the Hilton a few hours before the town hall was slated to begin, but the event organizers were kind enough to let us inside of the banquet hall early.

There was lots of Gingrich campaign paraphernalia available to those who wanted it.

Including that ubiquitous election prop, the campaign button.

In addition to ones advocating the election of Newt Gingrich, there were also others espousing more generic conservative and libertarian  free market themes.  Including Bureaucrash buttons:

As well as a variation on the Gadsden Flag, which has become the Tea Party’s unofficial banner.

The rattlesnake made several appearances throughout the day, which this website can’t help but appreciate.

The Gipper was also given his due:

I was surprised by how quickly the hall filled up, although perhaps I shouldn’t be, considering the notoriety of the speaker invited.

I unexpectedly ran into several friends and compatriots there, including Long Island political activist Grace Colucci of the Independent Sentinel and Conservative Society for Action. A good friend of American Rattlesnake, Grace is also a Republican Party committeewoman in Suffolk County and an example of the necessity of participation to effect political change.

I was also able to meet Ilya Galak, the creator of Citizens USA, as well as a  leader of the recently created Jewish Tea Party.  Born in a country that was once part of the USSR, I’m sure he recognizes the sentiment expressed in the sticker below:

Also there was Andy Sullivan, of Blue Collar Corner, who has been active in what’s come to be known as the anti-Ground Zero mosque movement.

Of course, the memes derived from the Occupy Wall Street movement were inescapable, even in a tony hotel on the West Shore of Staten Island. While several OWS attendees attempted to disrupt Gingrich’s speech-all of them responded to in kind by Gingrich supporters-there were several people who used the opportunity to reframe the dialogue about class and politics that has been shaped by those with tendentious anti-capitalist viewpoints.

There were a bevy of well-connected politicos at the Hilton, including the current chairman of the Staten Island  Tea Party, Frank Santarpia, pictured below.

Newt himself was greeted by thunderous applause, as well as the wholly inexplicable Dog Pound “woof” normally associated with the former late night talk show host Arsenio Hall. Regardless of the peculiarity of the greeting, it can’t be denied that his supporters are enthusiastic about his candidacy, in decided contrast to those endorsing Mitt Romney.

Time will tell whether the throngs who eagerly awaited his signature yesterday will translate into primary victories a few months hence.