I haven't been blogging for the past few months because I have been writing a book Seeing Cities Change for Ashgate that should be out by December. It seems, however, that no one has missed me and my missives. Then today I got a Facebook message from Otto Capelli asking:

What's your take on the Same-Sex Marriage Bill the New York State Senate just passed and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law?

Everyone seems to be talking now about the new New York State law that gives non-heterosexual couples the right to get married, but to me it is really about belatedly and begrudgingly recognizing homosexuals as what they are --- ordinary people. Unfortunately the equal rights of my friends, neighbors, and relatives seemed to be dependent upon wealthy Republicans with Libertarian points of view who also support the idea that those who have shouldn't pay taxes to help those that don't. So I am very happy for my friends, neighbors, and relatives but at the same time regret that our Governor Andrew Cuomo has an easier time asking rich people for help to give homosexuals their due than asking rich people to pay their fair share of New York State's expenses. It is these same rich people who have done so well during the fiscal crisis, even though they caused it by disregarding the rest of us, straight and not. The "victory" has also stimulated more buzzing about Andy as a Presidential candidate, but I wonder which party he will best fit into. If truth be told, and it seldom is, if I were a registered Republican, I would vote for him in the Republican Presidential Primary over Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney but as a Democrat he would be hard sell, even to what's left of liberal Italian Americans.
As to the gay rights to riches story, my first search yielded this one by Ujala Sehgal who in