"NICK:" "Yeah, I was on hold, but I got disconnected." "From Yonkers." "The mayor of the city." "Yeah, Wasicsko." "W-A-S-I-C..." "No, no, no, as in "Charles."" "as in "Sam." yeah, right." "Yeah, yeah, I called before." "From Yonkers, that's right." "Yonkers, New York." "Because if the governor were to act and maybe remove some of these recalcitrant council member, then we could get the city out of contempt and get some control over the..." "Yeah, sure, I'll hold." "Believe me, I've been calling Governor Cuomo's office nonstop, and they keep trying to pass me over to the Westchester Republicans." "Like the Republicans are gonna ride to the rescue of public housing for a Democratic mayor." "L..." "That's true, no doubt, but Senator Moynihan has been known for taking politically courageous stands." "And I think that if he were to come down to Yonkers..." "Okay, you know what?" "Tell Mario that I know that he knows he's got the power to bounce these buffoons for malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance..." "Any of the "feasance" family." "(MUSIC PLAYING ON PHONE)" "What if the senator issued a statement saying that he supports the City of Yonkers obeying the judge's order?" "Yeah, you know, just like a..." "A paragraph saying that we're trying to do the right thing here." "Nay!" "Sure, yeah." "Can I just talk to the governor?" "Can I, please?" "Can I hear that from him?" "Well, because I was under the impression that Mario Cuomo was like, you know, some great white hope for liberals everywhere." "And I could really use a little hope right now." "S-I-C..." "No, no, as in "chump."" "as in "Sam,"" ""K," as in "kite." O." "Right, as in "Oh, shit, it's that guy from Yonkers calling again"," ""asking if he can get any help from anybody"" ""in the goddamn Democratic Party from the State of New York."" ""WOMAN"." "Hold, please." "Sure, I'll hold." "Why not?" "That's fine." "(MUSIC PLAYING ON PHONE)" "(MUSIC CONTINUES)" "MARY:" "Oh, sure." "There are two black girls on my bowling team." " Mmm-hmm." " I haven't been in their homes, but I've driven them home up in, uh, Runyon Heights." "So, it's not about race?" "No, no." "What is it, then?" "It's an economic issue." "People are worried about their property values." "They're worried about the drugs and crime that are in the projects." "Have you seen those pictures that Councilman Spallone has?" "Yeah, I heard about them." "But does Mr. Spallone speak for you?" "I think he speaks for most of the people in Yonkers." "I do." "But why are you talking to me?" "Talk to him." "You came all the way to report on this." "I will, but you've become one of the most vocal of the Yonkers residents." "Well, I don't miss a council meeting." "I don't miss a community meeting or a protest." "No, you sure don't, Mrs. Dorman." "I joined "Save Yonkers"" "because of this Judge Sand and what he's trying to do." "He wants to take low-income housing and put it all in one place in East Yonkers." "That's seven, eight hundred people, and just drop them right here." "So, if the housing gets built, will you move from here?" "I love this house." "I have always loved our little house." "It's on my favorite block in the whole city." "It's true." "I always said to my husband," ""Buddy, if I can't have a brick house on Saint John's Avenue," " "I don't want a house." - (CHUCKLES)" "It is beautiful." "It is." "Thank you." "It really is." "I fell in love with it the first time I saw it." "Do you think the families that might move into these houses..." "Do you think they might see those houses the same way as you see yours?" "Well, if they did, then Mr. Spallone wouldn't have those pictures to show everyone, right?" "If they did, then they wouldn't need to move out of the projects in the first place." "They'd take care of their homes." "I just think you shouldn't take people with one lifestyle and, uh, put them smack in the middle of a place with a different lifestyle." "(INDISTINCT CHATTER)" "(HORN HONKS)" "(CHATTERING)" "WOMAN:" "Come on." "WOMAN:" "So we've been staying up in Mulford Gardens, um, with some folk, but..." " (BABY CRYING)" " That's my grandmother by my husband, and he died, so we can't stay there long." "Other family here in Yonkers?" "My parents, they live all the way in Jersey." " (CRYING CONTINUES)" " I live here now." "Well, with the baby, you're on our priority waitlist." "But right now, you know, we have nothing open anywhere." "Not School, not Schlobohm, not Mulford Gardens..." " You don't have anything?" " Not in Yonkers." "Um, we do have a room in emergency housing in Yorktown Heights if you want that." "Yorktown Heights?" "Where's that?" "(BABY CRYING)" "(SHUSHING)" " Who lives here?" " Nobody." " Who owns it?" " I don't know." "It's been on the market forever." "I've been coming here for, like, a year." "Look." "Look at this view." " Wow. (CHUCKLES)" " Right?" "I mean..." "This is where I imagine myself, right up here." " You, me, a couple of kids running around." " (LAUGHS)" "I mean, I could walk to work from here." "Kids ask, "Where's Dad?" And you point over there." "You're like, "Council meeting's on tonight." "See?" " "Lights are on." "He's in his office." - (CHUCKLES)" "Unless, of course, I'm in Congress already, in which case, you'd point somewhere in that direction over there." "So you want to buy something like this?" "Are you crazy?" "Yeah, probably." "Come here." "I mean this..." "This could be the best house in Yonkers." "You know, a little work, a little money." " A lot. (CHUCKLES)" " Always wanted a house like this." " How much is it?" " I have no idea." " (GIGGLES) You don't know?" " No, no, no." "I never called the number." "Shit, I didn't have you with me." "I wasn't mayor of Yonkers." " "Youngest mayor in America," right?" " Mmm-hmm." "No, I was just a councilman." "I hadn't done anything to deserve a home like this." "You know, I was against the housing and I won." "And now I'm for the housing, and I'm getting my ass kicked for it, so maybe I had it coming to me." "But I think for the first time I am on the right side of something, and I am all alone." "I'm not getting any help from the council, the party, Cuomo, Moynihan, none of them." "Why won't the governorjust remove Spallone and the others, you know?" "He won't even get on the phone with me, much less lose votes over this thing." "But the thing is, people just want a home, right?" "It's the same for everybody." "This whole mess is over 200 homes in the city of tens of thousands of homes, and so what?" "I mean, we lost our fucking minds over this shit." "We're about to bankrupt the city, and, I mean, at some point people come to their senses and lwin." "And I come out of this looking better than ever." "Maybe I come out of this and give D'Amato a run for his money, you know?" "I don't know." "Senate might be too big of a jump, but congressional seat at least." "Right?" "Yeah, it could be a beautiful house." "(CHUCKLES)" " I know, right?" " Mmm-hmm." " (GIGGLES) You're gonna call on it?" " Yeah." "Well, maybe it's cheaper than we think." " Maybe it's haunted." " (GIGGLES)" " Maybe it's on an Indian burial ground." " No." "Oh, shit, maybe it's on Oscar Newman's list of alternate sites for public housing units." "(LAUGHING)" "Ma, we ain't taking no." "Now, this is what they call an "intervention."" "So, I'm 47 years old, raised both of you out of diapers and piss pants, and now you intervening in my life?" "You need some help." "Pat and Phyllis come over most every day." " And Tasha here..." " What about when I'm in school?" "The government will pay for a home health aide to come help out." "We just have to fill out the application." "The same government that turned down my disability paperwork?" " You finally got that, though." " Because of Pat." "But you got it, and we'll get this." "Ma, you'll still be able to go out, and we'll still be here with you." "Come on." "WOMAN:" "Carmen." "Carmen, Carmen?" " Carmen!" " (WHIRRING STOPS)" "Your mom called from the D.R. She wants you to call her back when you can." "Gracias." "(PHONE RINGING)" "Anita, it's Carmen." "Fefipe?" "(BANGS)" "Emergency Financial Control Board of Yonkers is now in session." "In light of the pending fines proposed by the US District Court, the resolution before the board is to freeze all hiring and discretionary spending by the City of Yonkers." "Madam Chair, if I may?" "Instead of tying the city's purse strings, how about the board ask Governor Cuomo to step in and do something about it?" "Mr. DeLuca, this is the City of Yonkers' problem." ""You have a responsibility to yourself and to your city's future" ""to express your reasoned concern to the four people you elected" ""who have brought you to this precipice." ""If the council does not purge its contemptuous behavior,"" ""you face the prospect of no municipal services whatsoever."" ""No policeman when you call for help,"" ""no firefighter when your house is burning."" ""No garbage pickup as the trash piles up on the curb."" ""No senior citizen services,"" ""no water as the tap runs dry."" ""The question is,"" ""can you reasonably accept these consequences,"" ""which loom as a direct result"" ""of your city council's refusal to uphold the law?"" "(BABY CRIES)" "(SHUSHING)" "It's okay." "We got this, little man, huh?" "All right." "(CRYING CONTINUES)" "(SHUSHING)" "All right." "(BABY COUGHS)" "Okay." "Let's just check it out." "(SHUSHING)" "(SPEAKING SPANISH)" "Listen to me." "Listen to me, Javier, because I'm gonna tell you in English." "English, yes." "Do you know why?" "Because, Felipe, he is a US citizen, and you cannot kidnap a US citizen." "Because if you do, I am going to have you rot in..." "Javier?" "(CLATTERS)" "(LINE BEEPS)" "OPERATOR:" "Please hang up." "There appears to be a receiver off the hook." "This is what they call "upstate," isn't it?" " Upstate New York?" " (SCOFFS)" "I guess." "People say this is where the Ku Klux Klan at." "I mean, people say that." "We downstate girls, ain't we?" "The "Doomsday Plan"" "calls for laying off 447 employees, almost a quarter of the workforce, by Saturday in order to accommodate the million-dollar-a-day fines that begin Friday." "Madam Chair?" "I do not see the need for 447 workers and their families to be hurt." "The city's plan extends services through November 24th." "Besides, a solution might come this week." "This is really severe." "MADAM CHAIR:" "With all due respect to the city manager, the board feels the most essential priority is to keep police and fire protection as long as possible." "And therefore, we're making more cuts upfront." "The City of Yonkers must confront reality in a very decisive way." "The time for finger-pointing is over." "The time for punting is over." "This board was sent from Albany to save Yonkers from itself." "Do you wanna go to Tuckahoe, get something to eat?" "You mean something other than Gail Shaffer's shit?" " This is humiliating." " Nick, if you have the votes, then..." "Fucking Yonkers and its weak mayor system." "You know, even if I had control over more of their patronage," "I'd at least have a chance of pulling more votes." "But between Spallone, Longo, and even DeLuca," "I'm like a fifth wheel." "NAYI HOW did Martinelli do it?" "Angelo didn't have to deal with this fucking housing nightmare." " I saw to that." " Mr. Mayor?" "More good news?" "The Second Circuit upheld Sand's contempt finding against the city and the councilmen both." "On the upside, they capped the fines at a million a day, which the city hits on day 15, and then it's a million a day after that." "So the city goes bankrupt more slowly?" "How about the Supreme Court?" "The Appeals Court is counting on it." "They're holding the fines a week so we can ask the Supremes for a stay." "Okay." "And what about Spallone, Longo, Chema, Fagan?" " They're still in contempt?" " Each of them pays 500 a day." "They still face jail time beginning September 5th." "(CHUCKLES) All right." "That's nice to think about." "You know, those four hotheads in the cooler?" "Maybe that'll change some minds." "What about the Supremes?" "What do you think?" "Don't hold your breath." " All right." "That's something." " Yeah." "(CROWD CHATTERING)" "MAN:" "Oh, here's the baby mayor." "Wasicsko!" "Hey, hey, hey" "No, Pete." "It's all right." "Let them come." "Hey, what can I do for you?" " What you can do for me?" " Come on." "What you can do for us is you can fight the housing or resign." "ALL:" "Yeah!" "I can't do either of those things, Jack." "I'm sorry." "Yeah, that's 'cause you're gutless." "I'm sorry you feel that way." "What's your name?" " Oh, like you care." " Bobby." "Bobby Amalfitano." " I live over on Nevada Avenue." " Okay." " And I voted for you." " We all voted for you." "I trusted you." "Thank you for your vote, Bobby." "Now explain to me what I've done to let you down." "Explain to you what you've done to let me down." " Are you serious?" " You ran against the housing, and we thought you'd fight for us." " We believed you." " Mary, right?" " Right." " How have you been?" "We trusted you, and now 200 of these damn townhouses are within walking distance of my house," " and I don't want it." " I understand..." "Understand?" "That's 200 families with who knows how many in each house?" " Mary, I understand your frustration." " You don't understand!" "What would you do about it if it were your neighborhood?" "But it's not, is it?" "And if you can't fight for us, then you step aside, just like Jack says, and make room for somebody who is not afraid!" "MAN:" "Come on, step up." "(CROWD SHOUTING)" "(STAMMERING)" "So I took him to the doctor, and Dr. Chadha said that the baby just can't be healthy living like that, what with his bronchitis." "His father had asthma real bad." "He died from it." ""My patient, Jaron Watts..."" ""it is imperative that Jaron reside in a well-ventilated home"" ""where his mother is able to tend to his needs."" "Right there." "You can see." "(PHONE RINGING)" "WOMAN:" "No, that's a three-bedroom." "No, that's a bedroom." "He called me at work this afternoon and said he wasn't bringing Felipe back." "He's keeping him." "I should've never taken him back to D.R. That was a mistake." "Whatever money I thought I could save gets used up on long distance." "And, yeah, it's better there than here, I know!" "Dama, but, God, I miss my children." "ItOld him..." "I told him, "Javier, if he's not back in 24 hours,"" ""I'm going to go down to D.R. myself."" ""And I'm gonna go to your house and I'm gonna kill you and all your family."" " Oh, my God." "Carmen..." " I told him," ""People think you're crazy?" "They don't know crazy." "I'm crazy."" "What did he say?" "He hung up on me." "Imagine that." "No." "One thing I do know is Felipe needs to come home." "He's only five." "He belongs here with me." "And when Javier refuses?" "I'll have to kill his whole family." "A shame, too." "I kind of liked his mother." "(BOTH CHUCKLE)" "(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)" "(SHUTTER CLICKS)" "(SHUTTER CLICKS)" "(SHUTTER CLICKS CONTINUE)" "Who are them taking little pictures?" "We not doing nothing." "Well, there you have it." "When I showed that first batch of pictures to the council meeting, there were people there who thought I was trying to exaggerate." "See for yourself." "What do you expect?" "If you don't respect yourself, you can't respect anybody else." "Councilman, I spoke with Oscar Newman, and he argues that by concentrating the poor in projects like this, you pretty much guaranteed the outcome." "He said that by scattering low-income housing..." "Yeah, I know everything Oscar Newman said, and it doesn't work." "All it takes is one or two bad houses, and pretty soon the whole block goes to hell." "Just ask people what happened in the Bronx." " Well, the Bronx..." " Oh, now you gonna tell me what happened in the Bronx?" "Don't bother." "I know." "I was there." "Oscar Newman and Sussman and that goofy judge, they don't know what the hell they're talking about." "I mean, look at it." "Look for yourself." "The buildings, the trash, the drugs..." "And them mutts want to move these people to our neighborhoods in East Yonkers." "I mean, you want this living next to you?" "Huh?" "No, goddamn right you don't." "Yeah, write that down." "They don't never know how to leave nobody alone." "Anyway, I was talking to Mambo, and we're gonna go down Friday night and..." "You go to school today?" "I'll see you later, Billie." "What you doing home from school?" "Huh?" "I was shopping." "I been shopping." "I'm not going to school no more." "Really?" "No more school?" "And what you gonna do instead?" "Shop?" "How long this been going on?" "Girl, you tripping." "All right, well, you leave school, you need to find a job." " Ain't no free out here." " I've been looking for a job." "Well, there's plenty of openings at the home." "Working with those children will give you a good taste of what it's going to be like working the rest of your life with no schooling." " I'm not going..." " You're not what, Billie?" "You're not working?" "(SCOFFS)" "You got another thing coming, baby girl." "You're gonna work." " Hey!" " Leave me alone!" "(PHONE RINGS)" "(NICK GROANS)" "(PHONE RINGS)" "Hello?" "Yeah, of course I'm awake." "I had to answer the fucking phone." "(NAY GROANS)" "Yeah?" "Yeah." "At midnight?" "Oh, shit, I..." "I'd hoped that they had stayed the fines until October." "You know?" "Give me some room to maneuver." "What?" "Why?" "What was the logic in that?" "Oh, all right." "Um, let me get my act together here." "I'll call you back, all right?" "What happened?" "The Supreme Court refused to stay the contempt finding or the fines against the city, which now begin at midnight." "Meanwhile, they lifted the fines on the fucking Fantastic Four assholes until the court can hear the case." "So Spallone and them are off the hook?" "I kind of imagined it was gonna be the other way around." "NAY:" "Oh, Jesus." "(NAY SIGHS)" "Where are you..." "Where are you going?" "Wait, wait." " I need you." "Come here." " (SIGHS)" "I need you now." "Don't leave me." "I'm not gonna leave you." "No matter what happens, all right?" "Okay?" "(SOFTLY) I'm not gonna leave you." " Let me get it." "No, I'll get it." " All right." "You guys wanna get the mattress?" "I'll get the chairs." "Thank you." "Hey" "What you think, little man?" "Better than that welfare motel, right?" "Yeah, you know it." " (BABY FUSSES)" " Oh." "Oh, yeah, that's right." "You're a superstar." "That's right." "(DOORBELL RINGS)" " SUSSMAN:" "Hi." " Thanks for coming." "SUSSMAN:" "Of course." "You, uh, got any coffee?" " I even have donuts." " (LAUGHS)" "Foosbafl?" "REPORTER: (ON TV) Protesters have gathered here at the Grinton Will Library to demand its reopening." "It was closed by Mayor Wasicsko in compliance with the state control board's emergency management of the city's finances." "It's bad enough that the mayor is not listening to people about the housing." "And now he wants to close our library?" "Yeah, right." "Yeah, I'm closing it." "MAN: (ON TV) Enough is enough." "REPORTER: (ON TV) This is Cristina Andrada, reporting live from the Grinton..." "Now enough is enough." "Everything up until now was just a walk in the fucking park." "You threaten to lay off 600 workers, nobody blinks." "Talk about bankrupting the entire city?" "No worries." "You close one library and senior center?" "Did they think this was all make-believe?" "Christ." "Well, you know what?" "He's right." "When he's right, he's right." "I am wrangling four fucking votes or I'm gonna die trying." " WOMAN:" "Hello?" " Yeah, get me Longo." "And it's Sénchez, who goes to Rodrigo." "Rodrigo back to Sénchez," " who forwards the ball up to Sussman." " (DOORBELL RINGS)" "Sussman, the lone Jewish import on the team in Brazilian soccer, and Sussman shoots." "Then he scores!" "It's unstoppable!" "Sports fans, there's no defense for the Hebrew Hammer." "I was gonna play him for the housing plan till I saw his bank shot." "He skunked me 7-0." "Yeah." "I play to win, gentlemen. (CHUCKLES)" "No, tonight." "I want a vote tonight." "Fuck Fagan and Spallone already." "Fuck them both." "They're lost balls in tall grass." "I got me, Oxman, and Cola." "That's three." "And I either pull Longo or Chema and I ram it through." "I'll shove the layoffs and the closings in their faces and rub their fucking noses in it until they cave." "Yeah." "Look, I need to round up these guys now." "I'm almost scared to say it, but this is actually going pretty well." "Get the politicians out of the room, the lawyers get reasonable." "Hey, I'm a politician." "Well, sort of." "You're a city manager." " You're, uh..." "You're only half a problem." " (ALL CHUCKLING)" "Uh, maybe somebody ought to tell the mayor what we've been up to." "No." "Now, what we need to do is call Chema and Longo at home, get them down here, and see if they'll sign off." "Okay." "Neither of them?" "What the hell?" "Are they playing ball together?" "I got Oxman and I got Cola." "I need three to make a quorum." " Just find these mooks." " (PHONE RINGS)" "Hold on." " MAN:" "Hello?" " Yeah?" " JIM:" "Nick, It's Jim." " Yeah, Jim." "JIM:" "Look, I found them." "You won't believe this." "They're at Pickelle's house." "What?" "They're where?" ""AM"." "At Pickelle's house." "Well, did anybody think to maybe call the goddamn mayor of the city?" "Christ Almighty!" "Fucks!" " Where to, boss?" " Wherever the fuck the government of Yonkers is at the moment." "Yeah, well, I can't believe" "I might have to change my vote after all this." "I mean, how am I supposed to do that?" "WOMAN:" "On your left." "NICK:" "Thank you." "I'll call you back." "Is this your conspiracy?" "Just trying to get the train back on track, Nick." "Yeah, right." "Okay." "Well, I'm done being mad, all right?" "How's it going?" "You got something?" "I thought so." "We just called the judge." "He refused to hear any compromise plan." "Sand just shot us down." "SUSSMAN:" "You know, he even surprised me." "He just does not want to hear about change or compromise, not until after the city complies with his order." "You know, look." "I thought about it, you know." "I just..." "I don't see what I can do here, you know?" " I promised my constituents..." " NICK:" "Shit, people." "I just talked to Gail Shaffer, and the control board has agreed to suspend the layoffs if we vote to comply tonight." "And the judge did say we wouldn't have to pay the fines for yesterday and today if the ordinance is approved before midnight." "And that's a million-eight right there." "NICK:" "Look, there's five of us." "That's a quorum, right?" "So we go back to the City Hall and we do our goddamn jobs." "We govern." "The fines may have been overturned, but Judge Sand could still order jailed for contempt, Councilman." " What do you say to that?" " Judge Sand has me arrested, I'm ready." "I don't go anywhere without one." "WOMAN:" "Way to go, Ed." "Councilman, have you left the negotiations?" "There you have it from Councilman Ed Fagan, who says he's not changing his vote against the plan and he's not spending any more time this weekend talking about it." "SCULNICK:" "What else..." "What else could he do?" "It's a no-brainer." "The Supremes leave you guys dangling, it looks worse changing the votes." "That would look like it was about the money." "Yeah, now you could say you came around because of the layoffs to the other city employees." "It scans way better." "Come on, Nicky, what's it gonna take for you?" "Huh?" "(DELUCA CLEARS THROAT)" "Pete, what about you?" "Look, I can't vote for this as it stands now, right?" "There's got to be some room for negotiation." "Negotiation with who, Judge Sand?" "Nicky, get a grip" "Our backs are to the wall here." "Hank was never gonna vote for any plan, anyway." "We're better off without him here." "Yeah, Fagan neither." "It comes down to you two guys." "(MUSIC PLAYING)" "(MEN ARGUING OUTSIDE)" "(GUNSHOTS)" " (MEN ARGUING) - (DOG BARKING)" "(MUSIC CONTINUES)" "CROWD: (CHANTING) Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "(EXHALES)" "Jesus Christ." "What do you think?" "You think Nicky and Pete are gonna feel that?" "They're going to melt into that noise?" "Oh, yeah." "That's gonna blow them down." "All right, get me the police commissioner." "It's bad." "Fucking idiots." "Do you want a cup of coffee or something?" "Does it look like I need a cup of coffee right now?" "Yeah?" "Oh, for Christ's sake." " (DOOR CLOSES)" " How's it going?" "Joe, hey, look, is it possible that we can get the noise level down out there?" "It's just..." "It's important it not sound riotous." "And I don't need Pete and Nicky to get cold feet." "There's no meeting going on." "If there was, I'd have a reason." "Okay." "CROWD: (CHANTING) Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "(CROWD BOOING)" "(CHANTING CONTINUES)" "(BANGING)" "I call to order the meeting of Friday," "September 9, 1988." "(CHANTING CONTINUES)" "Let the record reflect that this meeting has been called to order at 11:57." "We'll now take a 15-minute recess." " I thank you for your patience." "{BANGS" "What is he doing?" "Hank!" "Hank!" "All right." "Now tell them to go shut the fuck up." "You got it." "CROWD:" "Justice!" "MAN:" "When do we want it?" "CROWD:" "Now!" " What do we want?" " CROWD:" "Justice!" " When do we want it?" " CROWD:" "Now!" " What do we want?" " CROWD:" "Justice!" " When do we want it?" " CROWD:" "Now!" " What do we want?" " (CROWD BOOING)" "Hey, man!" "Fuck you, pig!" "(BOOING AND JEERING)" "Ladies and gentlemen." "Ladies and gentlemen, the council meeting is in session." "So, if you persist, I'm going to have to ask you to move 300 yards from the premises so that the council can conduct its business." "Fuck you!" "Go fuck yourself, you motherfucker!" "Get him out of here." "Get that guy out of here." "(JEERING CONTINUES)" " Six hundred and thirty layoffs." " Jesus Christ." "That's right." "The cost is real, guys." "There's no more bullshitting ourselves." "He's right, Pete." "We're about to go from martyrs to murderers." "We're about to economically murder 630 families." "Oh, look at this." "Oh, my God." "I mean, these are people I shared backyard barbecues with." "I attended their weddings, the christenings of their children not as their councilman, but as their friend." "I'm gonna be sick." "What do you think about all this?" "To be honest, I can't believe this is happening in Yonkers." "After all we've been through, to have a day like this and a night like this?" " I mean, I just don't..." " MAN:" "Give 'em hell, Hank!" "You bet I will." "You bet I will!" " I'll fight for the city." " (CROWD APPLAUDING)" "CROWD: (CHANTING) Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "Vote no!" "(CROWD BOOING)" "(BOOING AND SHOUTING)" "MAN 1:" "Traitor!" "MAN 2:" "You're all going to rot in hell!" "(BOOING AND JEERING CONTINUES)" "I'm calling this recessed meeting back to order." "(GAVEL BANGS)" "I want to thank everybody for their patience." "I want to remind everybody that this is the most important council meeting" "I think that the City of Yonkers has ever had," " and I'm going to demand that..." " MAN:" "You chickenshit!" "I'm going to demand that everybody in, uh, the audience be respectful of the councilmen as they conduct their business." "And I have directed your police commissioner to ensure that." "Mr. Longo, do you wish to speak on the item?" ""LONGO"." "Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor." "Uh, this is, uh... (SHOUTING CONTINUES)" "This is not a very pleasant time for anyone who serves in government." "(BOOING INTENSIFIES)" " Ladies and gentlemen, please." " (GAVEL BANGS)" "For anyone who..." "For anyone who serves in the government in the City of Yonkers." "Or for anyone who lives in this city!" " Ladies and gentlemen, please." " (GAVEL BANGS)" "It seems to me that we have no alternative at this point but to adopt the ordinance as is and..." "MAN:" "Longo, you piece of garbage!" "(GAVEL BANGING)" "(STAMMERING)" "We did not vote the consent decree because..." "MAN: it was fine the day before, you stinking bastard!" "We fight!" "No way!" " (SHOUTING CONTINUES) - (GAVEL BANGING)" "Nicky, you no-good..." "(BOOING AND SHOUTING)" "Roll call vote, Mr. Clerk." " CLERK:" "Mayor Wasicsko?" " Yes." " CLERK:" "Vice Mayor Spallone?" " No." "CLERK:" "Majority Leader Cola?" "Yes." " CLERK:" "Minority Leader Longo?" " Yes." "CLERK:" "Councilman Fagan?" "No." "CLERK:" "Councilman Chema?" "Yes." "(CROWD BOOING)" "CLERK:" "Councilman Oxman?" "Yes." "Five ayes and two nays." "The ordinance passes." "(CROWD SHOUTING)" "MAN:" "How could you do this to us?" "MAN 1:" "Stay back." "MAN 2:" "Shame on you!" "(BANGING)" "(CROWD SHOUTING)" "What's the matter with these people?" " Mr. Mayor, you need to go!" " It's okay, sweetie." " (NAY SCREAMS)" " NICK:" "Jesus Christ." "Come on, you guys." "(POUNDING CONTINUES)" "NICK:" "The clerk will call the roll." "The clerk will call the roll." "The clerk will call the roll." "(CROWD SHOUTING)" "(WHISPERS) It's okay." "It's all right." "(EXHALES)" "Ma?" "It's me, Mom." "NORMA:" "Yeah, I'm in here." "Where's the health aide?" "DWAYNE:" "She's supposed to start this week, right?" "I waited all day yesterday, and she never showed up." "So I called her agency, and they said she couldn't find the apartment." "What?" "I think someone's telling stories somewhere." "Well, are they sending someone else?" "Somebody with a map?" "They said so, but nobody so far today." "These places are certified by the government." "They got to follow the rules." " Where's their number?" " In the kitchen." "I'll call them." "Ain't no way." "I'm not going back there." "Not with that boy." "Nah, I'm quitting." "You took the job." "You can't just walk away." "Do you like doing this every day?" "I do what needs doing." "How many people in the world you think get up every day and do what it is they like doing?" "Some." "And how many of those people do you think live in Schlobohm?" "Or School Street?" "That's what a job is, Billie." "I don't care." "I'm not going back there." "I'm not washing that boy." "Him in the tub, banging his retarded fucking head against the wall, water going everywhere, him screaming." "This is the real world, girl." "Live with it!" "You live with it." "What did you say?" " Nothing." " Mmm, that's what I thought." "WOMAN: (ON PA) All for American Airlines flight 953..." "What is taking so long?" "To Buenos Aires, now boarding at gate six." "Boarding call for flight 953..." "What are we going to do if he doesn't come?" "Just calm down." "I don't know." "(SPEAKS SPANISH)" "CARMEN;" "Felipe!" "WOMAN: (ON PA) American Airlines passenger Mary Jane Donahoe, please report to the information desk." "Give me a kiss." "(LAUGHING)" "WOMAN: (ON PA) American Airlines passenger Mary Jane Donahoe..." "Are you okay?" "I'm sorry." "This is not the court's problem." "Your Honor, you saw what it took to get the consent of the city council to even a general statement of compliance with the court." "I am asking you, in the name of all that is holy, to please name a replacement location for the housing units that were formerly sited at the St. Joseph's Seminary." "Been quite a year for you, Mr. Mayor." "(CHUCKLES)" "Uh, yeah, you could say that." "And now you're facing a reelection campaign just around the corner." "Two-year terms." "What fun." "Well, my best wishes to you going forward, Mr. Wasicsko." "Thank you, Your Honor." "But let's keep those sentiments to ourselves." "You know, your endorsement doesn't exactly bring out the vote in the City of Yonkers." "(CHUCKUNG)" "Justice is not about popularity." "No, it's not, but politics is." "Please?" "Well, since the Yonkers City Council again refuses to act, and Mayor Wasicsko has asked that I take the decision out of the city's hands," "I am formally picking the Gramercy location as the replacement for the St. Joseph's Seminary site." "Thank you, Judge." "Your Honor, if I might?" "JUDGE SAND:" "Mr. Newman." "I realize our options are limited here, but there's a number of problems on the Gramercy location" "I feel I have to bring up." " Bring up again." " Again." "First off, because only seven sites are apparently all that's ever going to be available to us, as many as 48 townhouses will have to be built" " on the Gramercy site." " And?" "And my research shows that crime increases with the number of units in a housing project." "I've tried to limit that number to a maximum of 24 per site." "Now we're looking at twice that." "Oscar, you're fighting the last war." "But consider this, because of the configuration of this site, putting that number of townhouses here will require an internal road system be built at a significantly increased cost." "Well, as I've said, any increase in cost beyond the HUD guideline is going to have to be borne by the city." "Here's my real worry." "On the Gramercy site," "I can't make the townhouses disappear into the fabric of the middle-class neighborhoods." "It's too isolated." "And my concern is that isolation will allow a criminal element to flourish, that the public housing residents alone can't control." "Come on, Oscar, you're fearmongering, and it reflects your ideological baggage." "I got to tell you this is..." "It's basically racist." "OSCAR:" "What's so difficult about this?" "The smaller the site, the greater the contact, the more the middle-class neighbors can exert their values and control." "Simple as that." "We are going to build these houses." "The judge and the council vote have seen to that." "But let me ask, do we want this to succeed or not?" " BILLIE:" "She just knows." " (MUSIC PLAYING)" "Knows if I'm late, if I take the day off, if I go home early." "I really don't get it." "Just tell her." "She's not gonna let me quit no matter what, not unless I go back to school." "So what are you gonna do?" "I got to get my ass fired somehow." "MAN:" "Ladies, ladies." "Hey, Hot Stuff." "Hot, this is Billie." "John my real name." "Anyone for a beer?" "I'll take mine in a glass." "Glass, huh?" "(BOTH CHUCKLING)" " JOHN:" "Meeka, you?" " A bottle is fine." "(INDISTINCT CHATTER)" "(TELEVISION CHATTER)" "(EXHALES)" "I talked to Miss Clarkson myself." "You should've asked her to send a Jamaican health aide." " Those old Jamaicans don't scare." " (CHUCKLES)" "I'm sure she's just running late." "Nobody's coming, child." "(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)" "(MUSIC FADES AWAY)" "OSCAR:" "What is it with Yonkers?" "It's like that game where, uh, you hit the animal that..." "Where it keeps popping up?" " Whac-A-Mole?" " That's it." "Every time I resolve one problem, another one jumps up." "But this..." "insisting on two apartment walk-ups rather than single-family homes is just so shortsighted." "Mr. Smith, does the city housing authority agree?" "Yes, Your Honor." "We've bought Oscar's "Defensible Space" theory." "We believe it's the way to go." "Well, then what is HUD's objection?" "Cost." "They think it'll be more expensive to build the townhouses." "And it may well be." "But the idea of walk-ups just flies in the face of everything I've tried to bring to this project." "There can be no interior public areas." "No stairs to a second unit." "Nothing." "And every family must have its own front and rear yards, and the front entry must be directly off the street." "Why the hell can't they see that?" "Cost can be a prohibitive hurdle, Oscar, even for the government." "OSCAR:" "Public housing residents are no different than any other renters." "They will jealously guard and maintain what's theirs." "Problems arise when projects have nebulous public areas that are like a sort of no-man's-land." "That's the place that gets trashed." "That's the space that gets used for loitering and drug dealing." "You know, every year HUD spends millions repairing the vandalism done in the public areas in the high-rises and the walk-ups." "It's a given." "It's in the budget." " And?" " And..." "I'm just wondering if an argument can be made that the townhouses would be cheaper in the long run." "I mean, without the public areas, we don't have the additional cost of maintenance and security." "It's an argument we could offer." "(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)" "You guys want a shot with me?" "(CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)" "JOHN:" "My father used to beat me bad when I was little." "For real?" "Well, he wasn't my real father." "I mean, my real father walked out before I was born, but I called him my father." "I didn't find out till a couple of years ago he wasn't." "He walked out, too, when I was 12." "I would never do that to my son." "You have a son?" "Yeah." "He's named Noel." " He was born on Christmas." " Oh." "I don't see his mother no more, though." " She wanted to get married." " (CHUCKLES)" "I told her I was too young for that stuff." "She thought I was older." " So, can I kiss you?" " Huh?" "You mind if I kissed you?" "(MUSIC CONTINUES)" "Deluxe Homes of Ben/vick, Pennsylvania, has the low bid for the first 142 units." "The good news is that they'll be built out of state." "That eliminates any potential trouble like threats, protests, vandalism." "So the, uh, prefab units will be trucked into Yonkers?" "And then literally bolted onto the foundations here." "The bad news is the bid came in $5 million more than what we have." "Under HUD's guidelines we have $11.3 million available." "Deluxe came in at 16.1." "That's about $33,000 a unit." "Mayor Wasicsko has raised the shortfall possibility with HUD, as have we." "Also, uh, Senator Moynihan has started working back channels for us, and Jack Kemp has told him that he will find a way to make this happen." "Believe it or not, we have a pretty good relationship with the Secretary's office." "With such open lines, you would have thought the last War of the Walk-ups could have been avoided." "Well, Your Honor, sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't." "The important thing is HUD made the right call despite themselves and we're finally on track." "It's all a technical problem now, right?" "The politics is done." "Which is why I'm here today to announce that I am running for Mayor of Yonkers." "(CROWD CHEERING)" "Never before has the opportunity been so right to bring about meaningful political reform..." "And I will restore the government of Yonkers to the people's government!" "(CROWD CHEERING)" "Yonkers is at a crossroads." "Together we can return Yonkers to a city of gracious living." "I am asking that you return me to a second term as your mayor." "And this mayor, who has been shortsighted in handling the whole thing." "He has shown absolutely no compassion for either the homeowners or the people of Yonkers." "(CROWD CHEERING)" "And I also ask that you reject the four councilmen who caused our city to be held in contempt and any candidate who would support it." "(CROWD CHEERING)" " Let's clean up City Hall." " (CROWD CHEERING)" "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "CROWD: (CHANTING) Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "Clean sweep!" "DOREEN: (READING) "Dear Jaron, you are my son and I love you more than anything."" ""But you've been born in a hard place."" ""And you and your mama are alone now."" ""I didn't plan it this way."" "(DOREEN SIGHS)" ""Truth is, my daddy says I didn't plan anything."" ""That it's because I didn't have a plan that you and me are in this mess."" ""But I know that isn't true."" ""I loved your daddy, and I wanted you to be a part of that love,"" ""to come from that love."" ""And I don't have any regret about that."" ""People who say that isn't a plan don't know my heart."" ""What I didn't plan was for being alone so fast."" ""I knew what having a kid meant, that it was all kinds of responsibility."" ""But I thought I'd be doing it With your daddy"" ""and every day would be a little bit better."" ""I thought if I could get a place of my own and a family of my own,"" ""that everything else would come with that."" ""I'm not sure where I'm going or even where I am."" ""This was supposed to feel like home for us."" ""This isn't home."" "Excuse me." ""And I don't know what comes next."" ""I know that I can't stay here without falling down,"" ""and I know I can't go home."" ""I can't listen to my father tell me his lessons,"" ""and I don't know how to learn the lessons my own self."" ""I'm just here waiting."" ""I'm waiting, and I'm not sure what it is I'm waiting for."" "(EXHALES)" "(PAGER BEEPING)" "Ah." "(SNIFFS)" " (EXHALES) - (PAGER BEEPING)" "(RETCHING)" "(couemwe)" "(BEEPING)" "(BEEPING)" "(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)"