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Here’s how to watch our TV debates!

By Gersh Kuntzman
The Brooklyn Paper

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Our popular “Debate Week” is back on the BCAT TV Network!

Starting tonight, and continuing all week until the very eve of the Sept. 15 Democratic primary, the powerhouse local media outlet will be re-running crucial debates sponsored by Community Newspaper Group and Brooklyn Independent Television that were filmed last month.

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“It was exciting enough to see these debates the first time — and if you’re still on the fence about who to support in the eleciton, this is must-see TV,” said Brooklyn Paper Publisher Emeritus Ed Weintrob, who organized the candidates debates.

Here’s the schedule:

Public Advocate: Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 9 pm

City Council District 33: Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10 pm

City Council District 39: Thursday, Sept. 10 at 10 pm

City Council District 45: Friday, Sept. 11 at 10 pm

City Comptroller: Monday, Sept. 14 at 10 pm.

All debates will be cablecast on BCAT, which is channel 56 on Time Warner customers and channel 69 for Cablevision subscribers. They are already available to be watched at Community Newspaper Group’s awesome new Web site BoroPolitics.com and the Brooklyn Independent Television Web site www.bricartsmedia.org/BITspecials.

The debates provided the material for our endorsements, which can be read on The Brooklyn Paper Web site.

They weren’t all Lincoln vs. Douglas, but several of the debates made headlines, including the 39th Council district, where candidates Brad Lander and Josh Skaller went at it over the schooling of Skaller’s son.

And in the 33rd Council race, the debate nearly featured moderator Gersh Kuntzman having to physically restrain candidate Ken Diamondstone in his relentless questioning of rival Jo Anne Simon.

Great TV, great for democracy — all on BoroPolitics.com and BCAT TV.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

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Reader Feedback

Ben from Park Slope says:
Thank you for hosting the debates, and for making them so readily available to the public.

While I thought the debates were informative and well-run, I found the 30-second cap on candidates' answers to be extremely limiting. It led more frequently to stumbling or sound bites than to focused responses, which I assume was the intent of the constraint. On the one hand, you squeezed an admirably broad range of topics into an hour, but on the other, it was often difficult to get a good sense of the nuances of candidates' positions on these issues. In future debates, an extra 15 or 30 seconds per response would go a long way.
Sept. 8, 2009, 6:34 pm

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