Pipe down Rudy and let the fat lady sing.
Mayor de Blasio defended the Metropolitan Opera's right to stage 'The Death of Klinghoffer' and told critics such as former mayor Rudy Giuliani to get a grip.
'I really think we have to be very careful in a free society to respect that cultural institutions will portray works of art - put on operas, plays, that there will be art exhibits in museum,' de Blasio said Monday.
'And in a free society we respect that,' he said. 'We don't have to agree with what's in the exhibit, but we agree with the right of the artist and the cultural institution to put that forward to the public.'
De Blasio specifically took aim at Giuliani, who is leading the charge against the opera and once threatened to yank funding for the Brooklyn Museum over a display of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung.
'The former mayor had a history of challenging cultural institutions when he disagreed with their content,' de Blasio said. 'I don't think that's the American way. The American way is to respect freedom of speech. Simple as that.'
Hizzoner conceded he has not seen the controversial opera, which is based on the 1985 murder of the wheelchair-bound Klinghoffer aboard a hijacked cruise ship by Palestinian terrorists who shot him and dumped him overboard.
'The only thing I know about the opera is that the Metropolitan Opera has a right to show it,' he said.
De Blasio said he shared the concerns of people worried about the recent rise in anti-Semitism 'particularly in western Europe,' but going after an opera won't solve that.
'I think there is a serious problem today in the world that has nothing to do with this opera,' he said. 'I don't think an opera is what the focal point should be right now.'
De Blasio weighed in just hours before the John Adams opera was to premiere at the Lincoln Center and as Giuliani was to lead a protest against the show.
Expected to join him was Rep. Pete King (R-Long Island), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-The Bronx), former governor David Paterson, former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik and defense attorney Benjamin Brafman.
There is also expected to be a caravan of 100 wheelchairs in memory of Klinghoffer.
Giuliani is a big fan of opera - and dramatic gestures. Back in 1995, he had Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat booted from a Lincoln Center concert he had arranged for world leaders.
Also, Rabbi Avi Weiss led a prayer vigil in Klinghoffer's memory at noon.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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