The Prodigal Daughter Returns

October 27, 1993
Barbra returned to the old neighborhood on October 27, 1993.  The occasion was to stump for David Dinkins who was seeking reelection as Mayor of NYC.  Dinkins, who was severely lagging in the polls behind Rudy Giulliani called on friend, native Brooklynite and staunch Democratic supporter Barbra Streisand to help give a boost to his campaign.  I was there along with a few hundred others that evening to witness this unique event in NYC politics.

Staging a Barbra Streisand political event in downtown Brooklyn - at The Brooklyn Academy of Music no less - should have been the perfect prescription to inject desperately needed life into the lackluster Dinkins campaign: the prodigal daughter returning to the town of her birth to lend a hand.  It was a political coup of brilliance designed to garner a massive infusion of votes for Dinkins. 

Barbra made an impassioned political speech blasting Giulliani in her plea for voters to reelect the mayor.  She and Dinkins arrived promptly at 6 PM - along with Marilyn and Alan Bergman in tow (Barbra was in town collaborating with the Bergmans and preparing for her upcoming New Years concerts which were only eight weeks away).  Barbra's speech lasted about a half an hour. 

Oh yeah. Giulliani beat Dinkins in a landslide. The rest is history.