WE WON! — ´GANAMOS!
But why did Ydanis Rodriguez have to be such a loser?
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En español: ´GANAMOS!
"Possibly on the moon," says the great cartoonist Carlos (CABE) Bernales in this wonderful depiction of DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and his senseless decision to exclude Puerto Rico from the new medallions that will be installed on the Avenue of the Americas.
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Dear friends, 1/20/23
For the past few weeks, since the death of my dog Don Quijote and my own bouts with health problems, I have been out of social media and leaving the “Save the Medallions” campaign to my students and some community activists who have joined us. They have continued writing letters to city officials and gathering signatures for our two online petitions. As you may know, a second petition became necessary when, after stealing and taking credit for our idea of restoring the Medallions on the Avenue of the Americas, NYC Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez excluded Puerto Rico from the list of medallions that would be restored. He never recognized that he stole the idea from our student project and never gave us credit, and now it looks like he is about to include Puerto Rico medallions without admitting that he screwed up in the first place, and that we had to scream “What about Puerto Rico?” before he heard us. |
Photos of remaining medallions by Miguel Pérez from Sunday April 10, 2022
DOT'S DISHONEST PRESS CONFERENCE, 10/13/222
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A city official has now acknowledged that Puerto Rico medallions will be included among those that will be restored. But they are obviously doing it “under the radar,” without acknowledging or explaining why Puerto Rico had been left out initially. In an email sent to one of our supporters, community activist Mildred Martinez, a DOT “executive deputy commissioner” notes that “I will let you know when we have the final approvals for the PR medallion to be placed.”
And so, I’m happy to report that we won! Again! To those of you who supported our campaign, muchisimas gracias! We won when the city adopted our idea to restore the 300 medallions representing the nations of the Americas and we won again now that city hall acknowledges that Puerto Rico will be among them. But did Ydanis Rodriguez have to be such a loser? After reacting to our idea in the news media, did he have to take sole credit for it (as if it was his own idea) in a press conference six months later? |
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We proved that Puerto Rico could not be excluded:
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It would have been so easy for him to recognize our initiative and then takeoff with our idea. Instead of getting praise for an idea he knows he stole, instead of now being exposed as a tremendously shameless, slimy politician, he would be getting praise even from me and my students. He could have been the hero instead of the villain of this story.
Although recently I have been out of the medallions campaign for health reasons, I had warned my students to expect another shameless, underhanded move by the transportation commissioner. Just like he never admitted he stole our initial idea, I didn’t expect him to acknowledge that he had excluded Puerto Rico. He still thinks he can cover the sun with one finger. But he has taught my students a vivid lesson on how slimy politicians operate. And they are not likely to forget him and his dishonesty. |
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For those of you who have expressed concern over my absence from social media recently, again ´muchísimas gracias! It's still hard. When I write nowadays, I still feel Don Quijote watching me.
But don’t worry. I’ll be back! And I expect to be able notify you when OUR new medallions are installed. Un fuerte abrazo! Miguel Pérez To see all that has transpired since WE began the “Save the Medallions” campaign last spring, go to: HiddenHispanicHeritage.com |
