Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from wor Now the wr Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good morning and welcome to Saturday Morning. Coming up on
today's show, Republican candidate for Mayor Curtis Lee was here
to talk about his fight to keep Ion battery factories
out of the outer boroughs and why he has a
real shot of being the next mayor of New York City.
Councilman Robert Holten doesn't hold back in his criticism of
fellow Democrat mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Brad Lander. There
(00:34):
is a new off Broadway play about a founding father
that history forgot. We'll talk with historian and playwright Professor
Robert Blecker, and the legendary Dion Warwick is with us
to talk about her grand return to the Apollo Theater.
But let's begin with Republican candidate for Mayor and founder
(00:54):
of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Leewa. Curtis, where are you
right now?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Ah?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Larry, I'm right outside with train station on the upper
West side, ready to jump in the subway.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
You know that's my limbo, no gens down there. But also,
since since we last.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Talked, I have qualified on an independent line, first ever
protect Animals, which stands but no kill shelters and prosecuting
abuses of animals. First time it's ever been done in
any election cycle in the United States.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So people have two lines to vote for me on.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
If they can't vote for me as a Republican, they
can vote for me on the independent Protect Animals signed.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
The election laws in this city are so screwed up.
Everybody gets an independent line, everybody gets to run. The
primaries don't even matter anymore.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Curtis, that is correct, And I know everybody's getting called
tied up and not what happens if mon DONI somehow
pulls an upset against Cuomo in the Democratic primary, Larry
wor audience, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
In the general election, there will be five of us.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
There will be my Domi, there will be Cromo, there
will be Adams, there will be a guy nobody really knows,
Jim Walton, and then there will be me and I
start out with thirty percent of the vote.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So just do the math.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
If you do the math, you can understand why Curtisy
was going to be the next mayor of New York City.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
You told me this a few months ago, and I thought, oh,
that's interesting. That's an interesting theory. It's playing out to
be absolutely true. And the great thing is you're skating through.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Oh yeah, because remember they're all Democrats. All four of
the others who will be in the general election are
registered Democrats. That means they're going to continue the blood
bat or cut each other up. Meantime, I'm the only
Republican and I can basically believe it or not Larry
curtisly would take the high road in this campaign.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Wow, that would be Nobody would believe it. Nobody would
be able to believe that was you. At that point,
you will be able to help yourself.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Come on, Well, the interesting thing is I'm out there
in the outer boroughs and I'm talking about all the
issues that are important to people in the Bronx, Brookland,
Queens and Staten Island.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Nobody's doing that.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Notice how in that last Democratic debate they will all
ask what borough do you travel to least, and they
said Staten Island and then laughed and giggled about it.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Because that's the way they view the outer boroughs.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
If it isn't Manhattan, if it isn't Manhattan centric to them,
it doesn't count. I'm talking about the fact we're going
to have no more migrant shelters. We're going to cap
the number of shelters we have for Americans and manage
them well and eliminate the City of Yes, which is
going to lead to the destruction of residential housing in
the outer boroughs because of corporate developers and no lithium
(03:40):
ion battery warehouses. They have ninety of them schedule to
be built in the Bronx, Brookland, Queens and Staten Island.
Not one of them larry On Park Avenue or Sutton
Place or Billionaires a Row in Manhattan.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That's what I love about your campaign, and I've been
following it very closely. I love about your campaign that
you were going in after issues that are not talked
about at all in the debates, not talked about it
all by these candidates, but in the neighborhoods in Queens,
in Brooklyn and Staten Island and the Bronx, they are
extremely important, including the ion battery factory. Just for people
(04:15):
who may not be aware of what's going on because
it's not getting as much coverage it as should. Explain
what's happening.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Curtis, They are building these lithium ion battery warehouses to
basically store energy in the outer boroughs. They're doing it
in Nassa on Suffolk and other areas around the country.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
They've had forty explosions.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And when these batteries explode, as you've seen in small
fires just in New York City with lithium ion battery
propelled the e bites and scooters and occasionally a Tesla
car with the A battery, it takes them hours to.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Put it out, and you can't put it out with water.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Now, imagine a hundred refrigerators sty sized batteries when they
go up in smoke, and they do, it takes five
to six days for it to burn itself out.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
They don't know how to put these fires out. There'll
be an.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Eight square mile pluma hydrochloric acid. It'll be a minichure noble,
you'll have to evacuate. When you come back, your property
will be worthless. And God only knows the health dangers
that will accompany anybody who decides to stay back. You're
going to have basically many love canals.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We lose them. Just then those damn democrats cut his phone.
That was what was great about what he was just
talking about is he's talking about issues that are extremely important,
extremely important to the neighborhoods, that nobody's talking about on
the Democratic side, nobody. All they're talking about is money, money, money, money, money, money,
(05:51):
money for the city, what they're going to give way
for free. It seems to me that the Democratic Party
is running in Manhattan and manhatt only that that's all
they care about, because all they talk about are Manhattan issues.
If you follow Curtis Leewa, and you should if you don't,
on social media, he is constantly out in the outer
(06:14):
boroughs and talking about things that no one else is
talking about. You heard him just a moment ago talking
about the city of Yes and how people are being
run out of their own neighborhoods by developers. You heard
him talking about the ion batteries. These are things. Did
you hear one mention of any of those topics, any
of those topics in the Democratic primary? None, in the debate. None.
(06:36):
All right, you're back. We just can be lost your
phone there for a second. Did you get on the subway?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
No?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
No, no, no, I stay out of the subway when
I'm talking to you and your wor audience. Larry, a
guy actually inadvertently bumped me. I had to pick him
up he was falling down.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So we're back on track.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Ah, you're still out there saving lives. Look at that.
You know we have to wrap this up real quick.
Do you have a clone using message for the voters.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, don't get into a panic over this Democratic primary.
We still have a marathon. You want to find out
more about what I stand for, which is different than
any of the other candidates in the general erase race,
just go to Sleewood for NYC dot com at Sleiwoop
for NYC dot com. And there is sanity in my campaign,
(07:23):
whereas there is complete insanity, chaos and corruption in everybody
else's campaign. Let's not continue to make the same mistakes.
Let's finally realize your vote for the New York City guy,
Curtis Sleewe. I didn't live in Port Lee and I
didn't live in the Hampton Site Cuomo.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Thanks a lot, Curtis Leeve, we are Republican candidate for
New York City Mayre. There is a new off Broadway
play that commemorates one of the seminole moments of the
American Revolution. The playwright, Professor Robert Blecker is next now
more of the WOOR Saturday Morning Show. Larry, Welcome back.
(08:02):
Two hundred and fifty years ago, doctor Joseph Warren died
a hero at Bunker Hill, but history has forgot all
about him. Now there is a new off Broadway play
that brings him back to life. Playwright and historian Robert Blecker, Professor,
thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Thanks so much for having me, Larry.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Let's talk about Father Anonymous. First, let's talk about the
significance of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.
We all know about Lexington and conquered on April eighteenth
and nineteenth, seventeen seventy five, and Paul Revere's famous ride.
By the way, very few of us know who actually
sent Paul Revere on that ride, and that was doctor
Joseph Warren. He sent Paul and then he stayed back
and he ran the American Revolution for the first two months,
(08:53):
ran the war, and on June seventeenth, seventeen seventy five,
Joseph awoke, fagued by the morain headaches that plagued him
and the cannonade had begun, he could hear it, and
over the protests of those closest to him, he rushed
to Bunker Hill and to engage in the fight. And
although he had been commissioned a major general, he refused
(09:16):
command when he got there and insisted on fighting as
a volunteer, and over the entreaties of Colonel Prescott, who
said famously, don't fire till you see the white of
their eyes, most often misquoted as the whites of their eyes,
he refused to return to Cambridge to run the war,
and instead went into the hottest spot, this fort that
had been constructed by the way in the wrong spot,
(09:38):
on Breed Hill rather than Bunker Hill, and his men,
who thought they were being sacrificed because they were almost
out of ammunition, that saw their beloved leader join them
and so assumed that therefore they were not being sacrificed.
And the British did storm, they did run out of ammunition,
the Patriots they fled. Joseph was last to leave, treating
the wounded and the dying, turning back into the doctor
(09:59):
that he ultimately was, and took a bullet in his
head and died at thirty four the great first martyr
of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Why don't we know more about him in.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
One sense because we're lucky in another sense because he
was unlucky. We don't know more about him because he
didn't survive the war, having died in the first major
battle at Bunker Hill, and so he didn't play the
part that he was supposed to play. Samuel Adams had
chosen him to lead America and play the role that
George Washington ends up playing. America got really lucky. We
(10:30):
had two great leaders at the same time, and the
one dies ironically the very same day June seventeenth, seventeen
seventy five, two hundred and fifty years ago. Joseph dies
on Bunker Hill at the same day that George Washington
in Philadelphia is being handed his commission as Commander in Chief.
(10:50):
And he went on, as we know, to be the
great iconic leader of America. And so Joseph didn't play
the part that he had been designated to play because
he had sacrificed himself early on in the American Revolution.
But there was no conciliation after that because Joseph had
fallen and if Joseph had martyred himself and supplied the
leadership that he did. Then we weren't going to conciliate.
(11:12):
We were going to keep going and win this fight
for American liberty.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But the story is so fascinating, and being one of
the first great martyrs for the American Experiment and the
American Revolution, you would think that we would know his name,
just like we know Sam Adams, just like we know others,
just like we know we know Benedict Arnold. But we
don't know doctor Joseph Warren. And it's so wonderful that
(11:38):
you're remembering him, And it's so wonderful that you wrote
a play. Tell me what your inspiration was, why you
took this so far that you wanted to write a
play about this.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, I was a constitutional history professor for over forty years,
and in that context I studied some of the major
documents of the American Republic and the American experience. In
one of them, which it has also become lost to
American memory for most people, was the Suffolk Resolves. Joseph
wrote those in seventeen seventy four, and Paul Revere rushed
(12:08):
them down from Boston to Philadelphia. You know, we all
know Paul Revera's famous ride, but his more important ride
was actually earlier, and he rushed the Suffolk Resolves, and
it was in essence a declaration of American legislative independence,
and the First Continental Congress embraced them and enacted them.
It was the first enactment by the Continental Congress. And
(12:29):
as a result, America was on record of no obedience
to acts of Parliament that violated our fundamental rights. Obedience
to the king only conditioned upon the respect for the
American traditions that we inherited from Britain. And you know,
you asked the question about being lost to history. At
the time Joseph was so well known and so widely mourned.
(12:50):
There were fourteen counties named after Joseph Warren in the
United States. Only three presidents have more Warren County, New York, Pennslvania, Ohio,
New Jersey, et cetera, et cetera. And yet he has
fallen into obscurity, as you point out, ironically, so did
Paul Revere. He had been lost to American consciousness until
Longfellow's famous poem. And when I started writing the play,
(13:10):
so had Samuel Adams. But then the beer came about
and now he's on the lips of many people in
many bars in America. So we have a habit of
losing sight of our heroes. And the play, it seems
to me, is important because it takes these cardboard characters
that we learned in American history, and we learned to
dismiss in some ways America, at least, I was taught
(13:32):
to dismiss our heroes, not to learn from them, not
to emulate them and follow from their examples, not to
realize and recognize the sacrifices they made and the obligation
they felt for the sacrifice sacrifices that have been made
in the past, and the obligation they felt to future generations.
And so driven by that, driven by love of America,
(13:54):
driven by the rediscovery of Joseph Warren, and the felt
need to celebrate our heroes and learn from them and
emulate them. I worked on this play and wrote it,
and if it succeeds for the audience, it brings them
to an emotional relationship with the American Revolution. You'll see
these cardboard characters come to life on stage and realize
(14:15):
that the war was a product of emotional relationships and
deep constitutional commitments, and it's time to celebrate America. You know,
the cast comes from different political persuasions and disagreements with
that policy. But what unites us and what hopefully will
restore the common feeling about America is how much we
really have in common constitutionally, how much we're deeply committed
(14:38):
to the basic principles of this Republican Well, I love.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That you're doing this, and I love that you're remembering
a man that history for good and should be remembered.
Tell people how they can get tickets and where they
can see the play.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
It's at the AMT Theater, which is a charming off
Broadway theater literally right off Broadway on forty fifth Street
between eighth and ninth Avenue. Go to the website, which
is Father Anonymous play dot com. Put in two hundred
and fifty and you get discount for the tickets. The
tickets are not expensive, and the experience is live and
(15:11):
lively and real and funny and cheerful. And celebrate America.
Celebrate the best of our traditions in our history.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Historian Robert Blecker, who wrote the play Father Anonymous. It's
playing off Broadway now still to come on Saturday, morning,
the Great Dion Warwick is returning to the legendary Apollo
Theater for one night and one night only. We'll talk
with the legend Just ahead. Brad Lander was arrested after
(15:39):
trying to stop a federal officer from taking an illegal
immigrant off the streets of New York and City council
Member Robert Holden was not impressed in the least. We'll
talk with the councilman.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Here Larry Minty with more of the WOOR Saturday Morning Show.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Welcome back. This week, brad Lander made national news by
trying to stop ice officers from doing their job, and
Democrats praised him for his efforts, but not all Democrats.
City council Member Robert Holden wasn't impressed in the least.
So you're not buying that he was just out there
for the common good.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
It's this is uh, this is par for the course
for for brad Lander. We call him brad Pander because
that's what he does. I'm telling you, you know, what
they don't realize is that many there are many Democrats
like me who support Donald Trump's President Trump's deportation of
criminal illegal immigrants. So uh, there's there's many of us,
(16:41):
and this is like was grand standing and it's funny.
He fools a lot of the media so many times
with this, with these antics. But he's you know again,
he was up there to provoke ICE agents. Of course,
he's got cameras all around him on purpose his own
many times, and he's doing this and it's a it's
(17:02):
a publicity stunt, that's all it is. And it's again,
it's like out of some playbooks by some of these
democratic elected officials like Mayor Ross Baraka of Newark who
got arrested, you know, trying to to block Ice. Who else, Senator.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Alan Alex Paedia.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah, there's a.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Whole bunch of them. This has been done many times,
and I hope they keep getting arrested, but I just
don't let's really charge them with something, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, it is I heard a great term. It's performative chaos.
And I will push back when one thing you said,
you said he fools the media, He's not fooling anybody.
They support him. The media is just as bad the media.
If they've done polls on this, eighty eight percent of
the media are Democrats and liberals, and so when he
(17:55):
does something like this, they are fully supportive. It's not
fooling them. The media is support.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Yeah. But you know again you got it was a
three ring, three ring circus outside the courthouse because you
had Kathy Hulkl. That was pathetic. First of all, that
she was there and she comes marching out of the
you know, in a photo op out of the ice
detention area. She comes walking out that was with brad Lander.
That was really uncalled for, and I think she looked
(18:25):
very bad also announcing she's fifty million dollars for undocumented
immigrant defense. I mean you it was a circus out there.
And again it was all planned, all planned by Brad Lander.
And that guy doesn't even do his job as control.
He doesn't do it, you know, he's everywhere else. So
(18:46):
why doesn't he just focus on his job. He's running
for It's bad enough he's running for mayor while he's working.
But then he's got to put this, you know, get
in and get in the way of Ice. Certainly a
fish that that is like against the law. First of all,
what is he doing there? Uh, he's walking every migrant
(19:09):
up upstairs and trying to block Ice come on.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And hoping to get arrested. What what is wrong with
your party, councilman holding.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Up, don't ask me, I'm the wrong guy. I just
can't figure it out. There used to be moderate Democrats,
but now even you know, Kathy Hogel was a moderate
when she first was running and first got in. Now
she's a wokester, just like you know many of them.
They went far left and that's where they lost me.
(19:38):
Uh And there's so many running for mayor now, it's
just you can't even keep track. But what you know,
what is what do we do with with the Democrats
that are really for law and order? And even you know,
former Governor Cuomo got you know, on on on X
and was saying, you know that I saw thugs again.
(19:58):
You know, he said that years ago and now he's
saying the same thing. They're all demonizing Ice. These are
law enforcement enforcement officials that are there to protect us,
and you got the governor speaking out against them. You
know what's going on with this? It's because of Donald Trump.
It was you know again when Barack Obama did this
(20:19):
and the deported individuals who were here illegally. You didn't
hear a peep out of them.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
No, you're absolutely right, Robert hold and New York City
Council member, co chair of the New York City Council
Common Sense Caucus. Everybody's going to be following you now
on X. Thanks so much. That was a great That
was a great post. Still to come. The legend Dion
Warwick returns to the Apollo this weekend, and she's here
to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Next here again is Larry Minty with the wr Saturday
Morning show.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Welcome Back.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Dion Warwick is
back on stage for one night Friday, June twenty at
eight o'clock at the legendary Apollo Theater. And I had
the great honor of talking with the legend Dion. This
is really exciting. Do you have a connection with the
(21:11):
Apollo Theater?
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Absolutely, as I started. I started at the Apollo with
my gospel group on amateur night, and as it turns out,
we won that night, which is amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Oh, that's wonderful. You must be excited to be on
the stage with your son, who, in his own right,
he's won several Grammys as a producer. Damon Elliott, tell
me how you two were going to work together during
this show.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Well, Damia will be asking me questions that everybody in
the audience basically wants to know. And they're beginning the
absolute true stories as opposed to what I thought, Well
didn't you do this? Or we thought, you know, they'll
now get the I know.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
That's how is Damon doing. I mean, he's got an
incredible career.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
It's absolutely incredible, and I'm so proud of him. He's
Holmes this crapped. I mean to the point that not
only he's producing a lot of other people, he's they
didn't have to. He's done a couple of my CDs.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
That's wonderful. It must be so much fun. And so
you must be so honored, and he's honored to work
be able to work with your son. It's that's great.
By the way, I've read some of your tweets, some
of the things you have on x You've become a
star of Twitter. I mean, you're being followed by everybody,
and all the comments I'm reading is how funny you are.
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Yeah said, I missed my calling. I should have been
a comedian after I love it. And it's a good
way to begin and in the in the conversation because of.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
That, and you have you have thousands maybe millions of
new fans because of social media.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
In fact, knowing that the youngsters are now a part
of my life. They've shown me that they understand what
I'm saying, they love what I'm saying, and even said
they've been taken some of the things that I said
I did or I wish I had done, and have
gone on to greater things. It's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So and by the way, what is their Twitter handle again?
So people can follow her right now?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Twitter?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah? Of course who else would have that? Who else
could possibly You're just maybe Queen Dion Warwick. But so
tell us about the show we've we've established you're going
to answer questions and your sons somebody on the stage
with you. But will it be will be all.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
The hits, It'll be most of them. You'll be having
questions that people have always thought I did or didn't
you do that, that kind of thing. They'll get the
absolute truth from the source myself. There'll be film. You'll
be last thing as well, and those that come from that.
(24:25):
Is there anything of me not only talking? There'll be
a few songs here and there, of course, But people
have said, you know, we well, we thought you didn't,
and now they know what I actually did.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Has there been I mean, you've brought this up now
a couple of times, you're gonna hear the truth. Has
there been a lot of disinformation about you and your
career over the years.
Speaker 6 (24:49):
Always, I don't think I'm the only one I said disinformation.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I mean, is there things that you feel like you
need to clear up?
Speaker 6 (24:59):
I've I think that people want to know the absolute truths,
you know, and I think they're going to feel that
they've gotten it based on the fact that I'm the
one telling them what it actually is or was.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Well, this is really exciting for New York, for the
Apollo Theater. I'm sure for you and your son to
be able to go back to the Apollo Theater. And
it's really great that you're doing this before all the
renovations start. It's going to be closed down for a
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, And so what do you think the feeling is
going to be?
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Like?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Have you been there for rehearsals?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
No?
Speaker 6 (25:38):
I don't think I need to rehearse at the apologs
in this several times. Right, it's like going home. You know,
it's going to be wonderful. And as it turns out,
I'm closing the Apollos the last day it's going to
be opened.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I didn't know that. Wow, what a great way for
them to go out for a couple of years. Dianne,
thanks so much for spending some time. It was a
real honor.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
Well my pleasure Daylin, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Dion Warwick Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. She
is coming to the Apollo Theater, Dion Warwick, don't make
me over one night only, Friday, June twenty seventh, at
eight o'clock. That wraps up Saturday morning for this week.
Thank you for listening, and thanks to producers Peter Arolano
and Natalie Vaka. I'll be back Monday morning from six
(26:27):
to ten for Minty in the Morning. Hope you join us.
This has been a podcast from wor
This is a podcast from wor Now the wr Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good morning and welcome to Saturday Morning. Coming up on
today's show, Republican candidate for Mayor Curtis Lee was here
to talk about his fight to keep Ion battery factories
out of the outer boroughs and why he has a
real shot of being the next mayor of New York City.
Councilman Robert Holten doesn't hold back in his criticism of
fellow Democrat mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Brad Lander. There
(00:34):
is a new off Broadway play about a founding father
that history forgot. We'll talk with historian and playwright Professor
Robert Blecker, and the legendary Dion Warwick is with us
to talk about her grand return to the Apollo Theater.
But let's begin with Republican candidate for Mayor and founder
(00:54):
of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Leewa. Curtis, where are you
right now?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Ah?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Larry, I'm right outside with train station on the upper
West side, ready to jump in the subway.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
You know that's my limbo, no gens down there. But also,
since since we last.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Talked, I have qualified on an independent line, first ever
protect Animals, which stands but no kill shelters and prosecuting
abuses of animals. First time it's ever been done in
any election cycle in the United States.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So people have two lines to vote for me on.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
If they can't vote for me as a Republican, they
can vote for me on the independent Protect Animals signed.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
The election laws in this city are so screwed up.
Everybody gets an independent line, everybody gets to run. The
primaries don't even matter anymore.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Curtis, that is correct, And I know everybody's getting called
tied up and not what happens if mon DONI somehow
pulls an upset against Cuomo in the Democratic primary, Larry
wor audience, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
In the general election, there will be five of us.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
There will be my Domi, there will be Cromo, there
will be Adams, there will be a guy nobody really knows,
Jim Walton, and then there will be me and I
start out with thirty percent of the vote.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So just do the math.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
If you do the math, you can understand why Curtisy
was going to be the next mayor of New York City.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
You told me this a few months ago, and I thought, oh,
that's interesting. That's an interesting theory. It's playing out to
be absolutely true. And the great thing is you're skating through.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Oh yeah, because remember they're all Democrats. All four of
the others who will be in the general election are
registered Democrats. That means they're going to continue the blood
bat or cut each other up. Meantime, I'm the only
Republican and I can basically believe it or not Larry
curtisly would take the high road in this campaign.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Wow, that would be Nobody would believe it. Nobody would
be able to believe that was you. At that point,
you will be able to help yourself.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Come on, Well, the interesting thing is I'm out there
in the outer boroughs and I'm talking about all the
issues that are important to people in the Bronx, Brookland,
Queens and Staten Island.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Nobody's doing that.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Notice how in that last Democratic debate they will all
ask what borough do you travel to least, and they
said Staten Island and then laughed and giggled about it.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Because that's the way they view the outer boroughs.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
If it isn't Manhattan, if it isn't Manhattan centric to them,
it doesn't count. I'm talking about the fact we're going
to have no more migrant shelters. We're going to cap
the number of shelters we have for Americans and manage
them well and eliminate the City of Yes, which is
going to lead to the destruction of residential housing in
the outer boroughs because of corporate developers and no lithium
(03:40):
ion battery warehouses. They have ninety of them schedule to
be built in the Bronx, Brookland, Queens and Staten Island.
Not one of them larry On Park Avenue or Sutton
Place or Billionaires a Row in Manhattan.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
That's what I love about your campaign, and I've been
following it very closely. I love about your campaign that
you were going in after issues that are not talked
about at all in the debates, not talked about it
all by these candidates, but in the neighborhoods in Queens,
in Brooklyn and Staten Island and the Bronx, they are
extremely important, including the ion battery factory. Just for people
(04:15):
who may not be aware of what's going on because
it's not getting as much coverage it as should. Explain
what's happening.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Curtis, They are building these lithium ion battery warehouses to
basically store energy in the outer boroughs. They're doing it
in Nassa on Suffolk and other areas around the country.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
They've had forty explosions.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And when these batteries explode, as you've seen in small
fires just in New York City with lithium ion battery
propelled the e bites and scooters and occasionally a Tesla
car with the A battery, it takes them hours to.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Put it out, and you can't put it out with water.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Now, imagine a hundred refrigerators sty sized batteries when they
go up in smoke, and they do, it takes five
to six days for it to burn itself out.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
They don't know how to put these fires out. There'll
be an.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Eight square mile pluma hydrochloric acid. It'll be a minichure noble,
you'll have to evacuate. When you come back, your property
will be worthless. And God only knows the health dangers
that will accompany anybody who decides to stay back. You're
going to have basically many love canals.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We lose them. Just then those damn democrats cut his phone.
That was what was great about what he was just
talking about is he's talking about issues that are extremely important,
extremely important to the neighborhoods, that nobody's talking about on
the Democratic side, nobody. All they're talking about is money, money, money, money, money, money,
(05:51):
money for the city, what they're going to give way
for free. It seems to me that the Democratic Party
is running in Manhattan and manhatt only that that's all
they care about, because all they talk about are Manhattan issues.
If you follow Curtis Leewa, and you should if you don't,
on social media, he is constantly out in the outer
(06:14):
boroughs and talking about things that no one else is
talking about. You heard him just a moment ago talking
about the city of Yes and how people are being
run out of their own neighborhoods by developers. You heard
him talking about the ion batteries. These are things. Did
you hear one mention of any of those topics, any
of those topics in the Democratic primary? None, in the debate. None.
(06:36):
All right, you're back. We just can be lost your
phone there for a second. Did you get on the subway?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
No?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
No, no, no, I stay out of the subway when
I'm talking to you and your wor audience. Larry, a
guy actually inadvertently bumped me. I had to pick him
up he was falling down.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So we're back on track.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Ah, you're still out there saving lives. Look at that.
You know we have to wrap this up real quick.
Do you have a clone using message for the voters.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, don't get into a panic over this Democratic primary.
We still have a marathon. You want to find out
more about what I stand for, which is different than
any of the other candidates in the general erase race,
just go to Sleewood for NYC dot com at Sleiwoop
for NYC dot com. And there is sanity in my campaign,
(07:23):
whereas there is complete insanity, chaos and corruption in everybody
else's campaign. Let's not continue to make the same mistakes.
Let's finally realize your vote for the New York City guy,
Curtis Sleewe. I didn't live in Port Lee and I
didn't live in the Hampton Site Cuomo.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Thanks a lot, Curtis Leeve, we are Republican candidate for
New York City Mayre. There is a new off Broadway
play that commemorates one of the seminole moments of the
American Revolution. The playwright, Professor Robert Blecker is next now
more of the WOOR Saturday Morning Show. Larry, Welcome back.
(08:02):
Two hundred and fifty years ago, doctor Joseph Warren died
a hero at Bunker Hill, but history has forgot all
about him. Now there is a new off Broadway play
that brings him back to life. Playwright and historian Robert Blecker, Professor,
thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Thanks so much for having me, Larry.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Let's talk about Father Anonymous. First, let's talk about the
significance of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.
We all know about Lexington and conquered on April eighteenth
and nineteenth, seventeen seventy five, and Paul Revere's famous ride.
By the way, very few of us know who actually
sent Paul Revere on that ride, and that was doctor
Joseph Warren. He sent Paul and then he stayed back
and he ran the American Revolution for the first two months,
(08:53):
ran the war, and on June seventeenth, seventeen seventy five,
Joseph awoke, fagued by the morain headaches that plagued him
and the cannonade had begun, he could hear it, and
over the protests of those closest to him, he rushed
to Bunker Hill and to engage in the fight. And
although he had been commissioned a major general, he refused
(09:16):
command when he got there and insisted on fighting as
a volunteer, and over the entreaties of Colonel Prescott, who
said famously, don't fire till you see the white of
their eyes, most often misquoted as the whites of their eyes,
he refused to return to Cambridge to run the war,
and instead went into the hottest spot, this fort that
had been constructed by the way in the wrong spot,
(09:38):
on Breed Hill rather than Bunker Hill, and his men,
who thought they were being sacrificed because they were almost
out of ammunition, that saw their beloved leader join them
and so assumed that therefore they were not being sacrificed.
And the British did storm, they did run out of ammunition,
the Patriots they fled. Joseph was last to leave, treating
the wounded and the dying, turning back into the doctor
(09:59):
that he ultimately was, and took a bullet in his
head and died at thirty four the great first martyr
of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Why don't we know more about him in.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
One sense because we're lucky in another sense because he
was unlucky. We don't know more about him because he
didn't survive the war, having died in the first major
battle at Bunker Hill, and so he didn't play the
part that he was supposed to play. Samuel Adams had
chosen him to lead America and play the role that
George Washington ends up playing. America got really lucky. We
(10:30):
had two great leaders at the same time, and the
one dies ironically the very same day June seventeenth, seventeen
seventy five, two hundred and fifty years ago. Joseph dies
on Bunker Hill at the same day that George Washington
in Philadelphia is being handed his commission as Commander in Chief.
(10:50):
And he went on, as we know, to be the
great iconic leader of America. And so Joseph didn't play
the part that he had been designated to play because
he had sacrificed himself early on in the American Revolution.
But there was no conciliation after that because Joseph had
fallen and if Joseph had martyred himself and supplied the
leadership that he did. Then we weren't going to conciliate.
(11:12):
We were going to keep going and win this fight
for American liberty.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
But the story is so fascinating, and being one of
the first great martyrs for the American Experiment and the
American Revolution, you would think that we would know his name,
just like we know Sam Adams, just like we know others,
just like we know we know Benedict Arnold. But we
don't know doctor Joseph Warren. And it's so wonderful that
(11:38):
you're remembering him, And it's so wonderful that you wrote
a play. Tell me what your inspiration was, why you
took this so far that you wanted to write a
play about this.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, I was a constitutional history professor for over forty years,
and in that context I studied some of the major
documents of the American Republic and the American experience. In
one of them, which it has also become lost to
American memory for most people, was the Suffolk Resolves. Joseph
wrote those in seventeen seventy four, and Paul Revere rushed
(12:08):
them down from Boston to Philadelphia. You know, we all
know Paul Revera's famous ride, but his more important ride
was actually earlier, and he rushed the Suffolk Resolves, and
it was in essence a declaration of American legislative independence,
and the First Continental Congress embraced them and enacted them.
It was the first enactment by the Continental Congress. And
(12:29):
as a result, America was on record of no obedience
to acts of Parliament that violated our fundamental rights. Obedience
to the king only conditioned upon the respect for the
American traditions that we inherited from Britain. And you know,
you asked the question about being lost to history. At
the time Joseph was so well known and so widely mourned.
(12:50):
There were fourteen counties named after Joseph Warren in the
United States. Only three presidents have more Warren County, New York, Pennslvania, Ohio,
New Jersey, et cetera, et cetera. And yet he has
fallen into obscurity, as you point out, ironically, so did
Paul Revere. He had been lost to American consciousness until
Longfellow's famous poem. And when I started writing the play,
(13:10):
so had Samuel Adams. But then the beer came about
and now he's on the lips of many people in
many bars in America. So we have a habit of
losing sight of our heroes. And the play, it seems
to me, is important because it takes these cardboard characters
that we learned in American history, and we learned to
dismiss in some ways America, at least, I was taught
(13:32):
to dismiss our heroes, not to learn from them, not
to emulate them and follow from their examples, not to
realize and recognize the sacrifices they made and the obligation
they felt for the sacrifice sacrifices that have been made
in the past, and the obligation they felt to future generations.
And so driven by that, driven by love of America,
(13:54):
driven by the rediscovery of Joseph Warren, and the felt
need to celebrate our heroes and learn from them and
emulate them. I worked on this play and wrote it,
and if it succeeds for the audience, it brings them
to an emotional relationship with the American Revolution. You'll see
these cardboard characters come to life on stage and realize
(14:15):
that the war was a product of emotional relationships and
deep constitutional commitments, and it's time to celebrate America. You know,
the cast comes from different political persuasions and disagreements with
that policy. But what unites us and what hopefully will
restore the common feeling about America is how much we
really have in common constitutionally, how much we're deeply committed
(14:38):
to the basic principles of this Republican Well, I love.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That you're doing this, and I love that you're remembering
a man that history for good and should be remembered.
Tell people how they can get tickets and where they
can see the play.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
It's at the AMT Theater, which is a charming off
Broadway theater literally right off Broadway on forty fifth Street
between eighth and ninth Avenue. Go to the website, which
is Father Anonymous play dot com. Put in two hundred
and fifty and you get discount for the tickets. The
tickets are not expensive, and the experience is live and
(15:11):
lively and real and funny and cheerful. And celebrate America.
Celebrate the best of our traditions in our history.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Historian Robert Blecker, who wrote the play Father Anonymous. It's
playing off Broadway now still to come on Saturday, morning,
the Great Dion Warwick is returning to the legendary Apollo
Theater for one night and one night only. We'll talk
with the legend Just ahead. Brad Lander was arrested after
(15:39):
trying to stop a federal officer from taking an illegal
immigrant off the streets of New York and City council
Member Robert Holden was not impressed in the least. We'll
talk with the councilman.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Here Larry Minty with more of the WOOR Saturday Morning Show.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Welcome back. This week, brad Lander made national news by
trying to stop ice officers from doing their job, and
Democrats praised him for his efforts, but not all Democrats.
City council Member Robert Holden wasn't impressed in the least.
So you're not buying that he was just out there
for the common good.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
It's this is uh, this is par for the course
for for brad Lander. We call him brad Pander because
that's what he does. I'm telling you, you know, what
they don't realize is that many there are many Democrats
like me who support Donald Trump's President Trump's deportation of
criminal illegal immigrants. So uh, there's there's many of us,
(16:41):
and this is like was grand standing and it's funny.
He fools a lot of the media so many times
with this, with these antics. But he's you know again,
he was up there to provoke ICE agents. Of course,
he's got cameras all around him on purpose his own
many times, and he's doing this and it's a it's
(17:02):
a publicity stunt, that's all it is. And it's again,
it's like out of some playbooks by some of these
democratic elected officials like Mayor Ross Baraka of Newark who
got arrested, you know, trying to to block Ice. Who else, Senator.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Alan Alex Paedia.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yeah, there's a.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Whole bunch of them. This has been done many times,
and I hope they keep getting arrested, but I just
don't let's really charge them with something, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, it is I heard a great term. It's performative chaos.
And I will push back when one thing you said,
you said he fools the media, He's not fooling anybody.
They support him. The media is just as bad the media.
If they've done polls on this, eighty eight percent of
the media are Democrats and liberals, and so when he
(17:55):
does something like this, they are fully supportive. It's not
fooling them. The media is support.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Yeah. But you know again you got it was a
three ring, three ring circus outside the courthouse because you
had Kathy Hulkl. That was pathetic. First of all, that
she was there and she comes marching out of the
you know, in a photo op out of the ice
detention area. She comes walking out that was with brad Lander.
That was really uncalled for, and I think she looked
(18:25):
very bad also announcing she's fifty million dollars for undocumented
immigrant defense. I mean you it was a circus out there.
And again it was all planned, all planned by Brad Lander.
And that guy doesn't even do his job as control.
He doesn't do it, you know, he's everywhere else. So
(18:46):
why doesn't he just focus on his job. He's running
for It's bad enough he's running for mayor while he's working.
But then he's got to put this, you know, get
in and get in the way of Ice. Certainly a
fish that that is like against the law. First of all,
what is he doing there? Uh, he's walking every migrant
(19:09):
up upstairs and trying to block Ice come on.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And hoping to get arrested. What what is wrong with
your party, councilman holding.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Up, don't ask me, I'm the wrong guy. I just
can't figure it out. There used to be moderate Democrats,
but now even you know, Kathy Hogel was a moderate
when she first was running and first got in. Now
she's a wokester, just like you know many of them.
They went far left and that's where they lost me.
(19:38):
Uh And there's so many running for mayor now, it's
just you can't even keep track. But what you know,
what is what do we do with with the Democrats
that are really for law and order? And even you know,
former Governor Cuomo got you know, on on on X
and was saying, you know that I saw thugs again.
(19:58):
You know, he said that years ago and now he's
saying the same thing. They're all demonizing Ice. These are
law enforcement enforcement officials that are there to protect us,
and you got the governor speaking out against them. You
know what's going on with this? It's because of Donald Trump.
It was you know again when Barack Obama did this
(20:19):
and the deported individuals who were here illegally. You didn't
hear a peep out of them.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
No, you're absolutely right, Robert hold and New York City
Council member, co chair of the New York City Council
Common Sense Caucus. Everybody's going to be following you now
on X. Thanks so much. That was a great That
was a great post. Still to come. The legend Dion
Warwick returns to the Apollo this weekend, and she's here
to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Next here again is Larry Minty with the wr Saturday
Morning show.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Welcome Back.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Dion Warwick is
back on stage for one night Friday, June twenty at
eight o'clock at the legendary Apollo Theater. And I had
the great honor of talking with the legend Dion. This
is really exciting. Do you have a connection with the
(21:11):
Apollo Theater?
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Absolutely, as I started. I started at the Apollo with
my gospel group on amateur night, and as it turns out,
we won that night, which is amazing.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Oh, that's wonderful. You must be excited to be on
the stage with your son, who, in his own right,
he's won several Grammys as a producer. Damon Elliott, tell
me how you two were going to work together during
this show.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Well, Damia will be asking me questions that everybody in
the audience basically wants to know. And they're beginning the
absolute true stories as opposed to what I thought, Well
didn't you do this? Or we thought, you know, they'll
now get the I know.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
That's how is Damon doing. I mean, he's got an
incredible career.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
It's absolutely incredible, and I'm so proud of him. He's
Holmes this crapped. I mean to the point that not
only he's producing a lot of other people, he's they
didn't have to. He's done a couple of my CDs.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
That's wonderful. It must be so much fun. And so
you must be so honored, and he's honored to work
be able to work with your son. It's that's great.
By the way, I've read some of your tweets, some
of the things you have on x You've become a
star of Twitter. I mean, you're being followed by everybody,
and all the comments I'm reading is how funny you are.
Speaker 6 (22:47):
Yeah said, I missed my calling. I should have been
a comedian after I love it. And it's a good
way to begin and in the in the conversation because of.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
That, and you have you have thousands maybe millions of
new fans because of social media.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
It's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
In fact, knowing that the youngsters are now a part
of my life. They've shown me that they understand what
I'm saying, they love what I'm saying, and even said
they've been taken some of the things that I said
I did or I wish I had done, and have
gone on to greater things. It's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So and by the way, what is their Twitter handle again?
So people can follow her right now?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Twitter?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah? Of course who else would have that? Who else
could possibly You're just maybe Queen Dion Warwick. But so
tell us about the show we've we've established you're going
to answer questions and your sons somebody on the stage
with you. But will it be will be all.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
The hits, It'll be most of them. You'll be having
questions that people have always thought I did or didn't
you do that, that kind of thing. They'll get the
absolute truth from the source myself. There'll be film. You'll
be last thing as well, and those that come from that.
(24:25):
Is there anything of me not only talking? There'll be
a few songs here and there, of course, But people
have said, you know, we well, we thought you didn't,
and now they know what I actually did.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Has there been I mean, you've brought this up now
a couple of times, you're gonna hear the truth. Has
there been a lot of disinformation about you and your
career over the years.
Speaker 6 (24:49):
Always, I don't think I'm the only one I said disinformation.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I mean, is there things that you feel like you
need to clear up?
Speaker 6 (24:59):
I've I think that people want to know the absolute truths,
you know, and I think they're going to feel that
they've gotten it based on the fact that I'm the
one telling them what it actually is or was.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Well, this is really exciting for New York, for the
Apollo Theater. I'm sure for you and your son to
be able to go back to the Apollo Theater. And
it's really great that you're doing this before all the
renovations start. It's going to be closed down for a
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, And so what do you think the feeling is
going to be?
Speaker 5 (25:34):
Like?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Have you been there for rehearsals?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
No?
Speaker 6 (25:38):
I don't think I need to rehearse at the apologs
in this several times. Right, it's like going home. You know,
it's going to be wonderful. And as it turns out,
I'm closing the Apollos the last day it's going to
be opened.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I didn't know that. Wow, what a great way for
them to go out for a couple of years. Dianne,
thanks so much for spending some time. It was a
real honor.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
Well my pleasure Daylin, Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Dion Warwick Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. She
is coming to the Apollo Theater, Dion Warwick, don't make
me over one night only, Friday, June twenty seventh, at
eight o'clock. That wraps up Saturday morning for this week.
Thank you for listening, and thanks to producers Peter Arolano
and Natalie Vaka. I'll be back Monday morning from six
(26:27):
to ten for Minty in the Morning. Hope you join us.
This has been a podcast from wor
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