Brooklyn Bids for 2016 Democratic National Convention

From a few years ago spanning back to, oh,
always, it would have been unthinkable for New York City to vie for
a major national event by offering to hold it in Brooklyn.
But in a formal bid announced Friday, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is
seeking to
host the 2016 Democratic National Convention at downtown
Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. 

“The shift to Barclays Center from Madison Square Garden, a
Manhattan institution that has played host to four Democratic
conventions and one Republican, would be freighted with symbolism,”

writes The New York Times‘ Michael M. Grynbaum.
“Bill Clinton, who ushered in a new era of Democratic centrism, was
nominated for president in 1992 after a dramatic entrance into the
Garden’s cavernous arena.” 

But Clinton-era Democratic centrism is as out-of-vogue as ironic
trucker hats in Williamsburg. Perhaps a nominating convention in
Brooklyn “would be a way to underscore any leftward tilt in the
Democratic Party’s platform,” Grynbaum suggests.

The Barclays Center, is should be noted, is part of
the controversial
Atlantic Yards redevelopment project. Unlike the more organic
growth in other parts of Brooklyn, this redevelopment involved the
city coming in with eminent domain statutes blazing and totally
gutting an entire neighborhood. The area around the Barclays
center—which de Blasio describes in his bid letter as “one of the
most dynamic and resurgent neighborhoods” in the city—is now a
cesspool of chain stores and restaurants surrounded by some of the
worst traffic I’ve ever encountered in all of New York
City. 

“The progressive spirit of New York City has never been stronger
or more vibrant that it is today,” de Blasio wrote in his letter to
the Democratic National Committee (DNC). New York was among 15
cities invited by the DNC to submit convention bids.

The recent trend in Democrat and Republican nominating
conventions has been to hold them in swing state cities, the better
to rally the soccer moms. But there are a few reasons why Democrats
could ultimately choose Brooklyn for 2016—the most obvious being
that the ostensible frontrunner for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton,
has made NYC her adopted home. 

Also, without another candidate like circa-2008 Barack Obama,
Democrats will face a typically tough time getting young voters
motivated (unless the Republicans go full-tilt so-con, that is).
Though today’s 20-somethings may skew liberal, they don’t
necessarily skew Democrat. So building a little millennial
fervor at the convention, if possible, couldn’t hurt. And it seems
a whole lot more possible to attract young liberal types in and to
New York City than, say, middle America. 

Anyway, for a fun take on all this see The Washington
Post, where Philip Bump reports live
from an imaginary future DNC convention in Brooklyn. “We
strongly recommend that you not leave the greater
Barclays/Bloomberg/Uber area,” our future tour guide cautions.
“It’s not dangerous, as such, but outside of the immediate vicinity
we will not be able to provide you with the proper trigger warnings
for your excursions.”