KCC President Hosts Congressman
by Alejandro Pena

On the Monday before the Kingsborough campus would come alive with swarms of students making their way to their first week of classes, the second of the President's Leadership Breakfast brought those same students, faculty and administration to a discussion with Congressman Anthony Weiner and Daily News columnist Errol Louis.

At the second of a series of discussions and Q&A sessions with leaders of business and politics, President Regina Peruggi hosted the Ninth New York Congressional District that includes Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach.

As a former editor of the New York Sun and a Daily News columnist for three and a half years, Mr. Louis had no problem asking Congressman Weiner questions as controversial as his opposition to parts of the plan for congestion pricing and his stance on major developments in Brooklyn such as the Atlantic Yards project.

Like many politicians who have been listening to themselves talk for a long time, Congressman Weiner had a tendency of taking a single question that Mr. Louis had asked and just running with it.

Sitting through the entire event felt like watching a stump speech rather than watching an enlightened discussion between two leaders of their respective fields.

When the time had finally come to open up questioning to the audience the stump speech continued, stretching out three questions into a lengthy trip down memory lane as Congressman Weiner evoked his 2005 Mayoral Candidate persona to answer the audience's questions.

Despite the ‘I've seen this episode before' feeling, in Congressman Weiner's voice could be heard a true sense of pride to represent a great number of people in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

A third breakfast is tentatively planned for late spring.