NY City Council and a rubber stamp (Henry Stern, 1965)

[bapopik at AOL.COM]

Henry Stern was the Parks Commissioner and now leads NY Civic. He can be contacted here:
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http://www.nycivic.org/
StarQuest at nycivic.org.
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In 1965 (I can't find the quote then, but ask him), Stern said that the New York City COuncil was less than a rubber stamp, because "a rubber stamp makes an impression."
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Tragedy of the Council
839 words
14 January 2004
The New York Sun
English
Copyright 2004 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. All rights reserved.

Last week, on the occasion of being unanimously re-elected speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller delivered an address to the body in which he - however unintentionally - demonstrated the truth of that famous crack by former Parks Commissioner and ex-Council Member Henry Stern that the only difference between the council and a rubber stamp is that a stamp at least leaves an impression.
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Poll Confirms Ferrer's Fall; Mayor, Fields Are All Smiles
ANDREW WOLF
945 words
28 April 2005
The New York Sun
Yesterday, I paraphrased a great quote about the New York City Council being less than a rubber stamp because at least a rubber stamp leaves an impression.

Lest anyone think that I was clever enough to come up with that jewel on my own, allow me to disabuse you of that impression. The brilliant author of that observation is Henry Stern, the former parks commissioner who himself served as council member-at-large from the borough of Manhattan. Mr. Stern came up with this oft-quoted phrase more than 40 years ago, a description still as fresh as the morning dew.
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Moskowitz Misses the Mark
ANDREW WOLF
852 words
18 November 2003
The New York Sun
The president of the UFT, Randi Weingarten, arrived at Thursday's hearing with the head of the city's Central Labor Council, Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, and a Democratic power broker, Howard Wolfson, in tow. Presumably, they were there to stare down the committee members. Did you forget, Ms. Weingarten? This is the City Council, the legislative body that the former parks commissioner, Henry Stern, said is less effective than a rubber stamp - because at least a rubber stamp leaves an impression.
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Metropolitan Desk; B
City Council Wakes Up but Still Lags
By ALAN FINDER
2,409 words
29 January 1988
The New York Times
A celebrated bit of lore was invoked by many people trying to describe how poorly regarded the Council was. Henry J. Stern, now the Parks and Recreation Commissioner, characterized the body this way when he first ran for the Council, unsuccessfully, in 1965: ''The Council is less than a rubber stamp, because a rubber stamp at least leaves an impression.''
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CITY; As He Leaves, Vallone Scorns Calls for Change; Looks Back With Pleasure on His Record
DIANE CARDWELL. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Dec 24, 2001. p. F4 (1 page) :
Even Henry J. Stern, the former council member and current parks commissioner who once said that the Council was less than a rubber stamp because even a rubber stamp makes an impression, allowed that under Mr. Vallone the Council had "made some progress on dealing with substantive issues."