Friday, February 8, 2013

The Media Filters Out the Real Roll of the BOE and Reports Who Won the Horse Race

Nobody is Fighting for Justin Wax Jacobs Right to Run For Public Office
The commissioners scandal, the inability to count and the mess on election day offers the best chance to give young Jacobs and dozens of other Jacobs their  right to run for public office.  But first the public must get mad and demand the pols reform the Board of Elections.  To get mad the public must be informed. Year after year the BOE knocks candidates off the ballot or ties them up for weeks in expensive challengers who are running agaisnt the party leaders candidates. For three weeks True News has been trying to inform the media and get them to write stories about the commissioner scandal.  Up until yesterday not a word has been written.  Yesterday CrainsNY wrote the commissioner scandal was a power play City Councilman Eric Ulrich to take over at least a couple BOE commissioners. In Today's Daily News Celeste Katz copy cats CrainNY article  This fact was reported in True News three weeks ago.  But that is not the point.
True News was trying to show how the latest scandal could be used to pressure the pols to demand changes to stop the BOE's Tammany Hall rulers who protect incumbents or those chosen by party leaders. The idea that Ulrich has taken over for party leaders in controlling commissioners is still anti democracy, is as expected he uses that control to push candidates he supports and block those from getting on the ballot of those he opposes. A point missed by both CrainsNY and the Daily News reporters.  The media should demand that Speaker Quinn and the council demand changes at the BOE before they appoint or reappoint any commissioners, which they are legally required to do.


More on Justin Wax Jacobs Attempted Run for Public Office
College student Justin Wax Jacobs was knocked off the ballot on a technicality this year so a machine backed candidate could run without democratic opposition.  Jacobs somehow gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent. Yet even though he posed no real threat to Mayersohn's chief of staff Michael Simanowitz, Queens Democratic election lawyer Frank Bolz working for Queens Boss Crowley was on hand at a Board of Elections hearing Tuesday to make sure Jacobs was thrown off the ballot. Challengers after challenger each year is either knock off the ballot or has to spend a large amount of campaign cash and time to remain on the ballot.* In Queens, Political Center Is in Surrogate's Court - NYTimes.com


joe crowley is amazingCongressman Joe Crowley on His Duet With Stephen Colbert(NYO)
Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest at today’s House Democratic retreat, where he performed a “dramatic” duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Rep. Joe Crowley 

Daily News' Katz Calls True News A Snake



Katz from the Daily News even sent us a tweet wishing us a joyous Year of the Snake after we suggested the reporter include the roll the speaker and Council will play in reappoint or appointing new commissioners.




Black Listing True News By New York's Gang of Group Think Political Blogger 

True News Broke the BOE Story 3 Weeks Ago and Liz Benjamin of YNN and Celeste Katz of the Daily News and City and State , did not link the reports in True News that broke the story.  Benjamin and Katz did not link the story until CrainsNY Publish A Story That True News had 2 weeks ago.  The NY Bloggers McCarthy like Black Listing of True News is A Little Like Being on Nixon's enemies list, A a Badge of Honor. True News favorite jouranalist is Edward R. Murrow.
There’s upheaval at the NYC Board of Elections, related entirely to Republican commissioners.* GOP Councilmen seize opportunity to appoint election commissioners in Queens, Brooklyn, overruling county party leadership (NYDN) With the shrewd power play, the three Republican representatives on the City Council will now have some influence on who the city's Board of Elections can hire and fire.


Seize the Moment Not
Citizen Union Instead of Demanding Reforms In the Management of the BOE the Fake Good Government Group Tries to Save Two Commissioners


It is clear BOE is in more trouble than it has ever been.  Quinn and every good government group should be demanding change in the entire structure and function of the BOE.  Instead the citizen union works to save a couple of commissioner who are key keep the corrupt operating.  Commissioners the Goo Goos are trying to keep is Fred Umane the financial guy and J.C. Polanco. Alex Camarda said we much keep reform minded Polanco who is pushing for early voting.  Polanco was appointed by the Bronx Democratic Boss. Everyone from Speaker silver to the Daily News has been pushing for early voting, interesting that Camarda credits Polanco.  This is the second time the citizen union tried to get Quinn out of a big mess. In 2008 the Citizen Union back thespeaker in reforms meant to help her get out of the slush fund scandal mess. None of the reforms to the council member program that Quinn and the Citizens Union announced in a press conference ever were put into effect.Citizens Union sticks up for two GOP commissioners(CrainsNY)
Some suggestions from Common Cause/NY, The League of Women Voters and NYPIRG on questions potential commissioners should have to answer (publicly) about their qualifications and goals. Document Drop: Good Gov't Groups Have A Few Questions For NYC Elections Commissioners(NYDN)



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Political Corruption


Boyland claimed to be in Albany on 609 days but was elsewhere said the comptroller, who is withholding future reimbursements
Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. can’t collect travel expenses until he proves earlier costs are valid(NYP) * Mystery Deepens as Staten Island Woman’s Body Is Returned From Turkey(NYT)
* Audit Snags Assemblyman(WSJ) * Brooklyn assemblyman must repay $67,000(Fox 5)“Assemblyman William F. Boyland Jr. has run afoul of the authorities to an extent that is unusual even for the caldron of scandal that is New York’s capital.”Boyland improperly claimed reimbursement for travel to Albany more than 600 times over several years and must repay the state $67,497, according to a state comptroller’s audit conducted at the Albany County DA’s request.


Judge Pan is Not Nuts Liu's Treasure and Contributor Trial to Start April 15th
The judge in NYC Comptroller John Liu’s campaign finance case ruled his fundraiser, who is currently hospitalized, is competent to stand trial.




Reports: Lopez for City Council
Lopez does not live in Brooklyn Moving from One Fake Address to Another

  1. A serious source informs me that Vito Lopez will very likely run for NYC council! Announcement may be imminent.The New York Post reports that Assemblyman Vito Lopez is “ogling” a City Council seat and telling insiders he will indeed make the campaign he’s long been mulling.
    Vito Lopez May Be Announcing Council Run, Hiring a Moving Company (Barkan)*
    Breaking: sources say Assemblyman will not run for Diana Reyna's City Council seat. * Gropez ogling a council seat(NYP)

     Brooklyn Dem boss Vito Lopez is hard to find at Bushwick home, but spends much of his time in Queens(NYDN 2010)
 


 A surrender date has yet to be set for GOP consultant John Haggerty, whose conviction on charges related to the theft of $1.1 million from Bloomberg during the 2009 campaign was upheld by a panel of appellate judges.

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Campaign 2013



 Voice Say 5% of New Yorkers Will Pick the Next Mayor
In 2009 True News Reported that John Liu Won the Run Off With 2% of the Voters of NY

The Next Mayor? You Don't Care, Do You?(Village Voice) Aside from voter apathy and a weak field, the mayoral race is really shaping up.


Manhattan Borough President Gives State Of The Borough Address(NY1)



Prosecutor’s Appeal for a 7th Term: ‘We’re Not Done’(NYT)  Longtime Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes officially launched his campaign for a seventh term with more than a dozen elected officials in attendance, and announced the endorsement of former New York City Mayor David Dinkins* Joe Hynes Kicks off Reelection Campaign With a Big ‘Love-Fest’(NYO) 


Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis has found a new issue to focus on: standing up for the Chinese Lunar New Year and the Asian community writ-large. “The MTA has no respect for the Asian people. It’s terrible,” Mr. Catsimatidis said of the 7-train having limited service during the holiday, adding, “The Asians are very important element to our city and our small businesses are a very important element to our city.”


Lincoln Restler Sees a ‘Political Deal’ in North Brooklyn Council District Map(NYO)“This was a political deal made by the Speaker and the local council member and it’s clear throughout the entire process that it’s nothing more than an incumbent protection program.”


Redistricting still leaves some gerrymandered(Queens Crap)

From the Times Ledger: Queens activists and civic associations were upset and dumbfounded about two specific areas Tuesday when the commission released its final draft of the new lines ahead of the vote.Just north of downtown Flushing lies the border between areas represented by Councilmen Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone). The Northeast Flushing Civic Association, the Broadway-Flushing Homeowners Association and the Queens Civic Congress, along with Koo and Halloran, had united over a plan to fairly divide the two districts along neighborhood lines, keeping low-density housing in Halloran’s domain and high density housing in Koo’s.


LHOTA PAC


Koch's Second Mayoral Term Included A Run For Governor That Fell Flat(NY1)



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Education
The Black Emails
The Bloomberg administration was denied its request to keep secret a series of emails surrounding the selection of failed New York City schools chancellor Cathie Black, after a reporter for the Village Voice had tried to access the emails
City loses battle to keep e-mails about hiring of failed schools chancellor Cathie Black secret(NYP)

 Picketing school bus workers bemoan long strike, too(NYDN)*
Bus Strike Looms Large During Hearing On School Transportation(NY1)

Audits found special ed providers stole $500k(NYDN)

School, Affordable Housing Fill Pocket in East Harlem(WSJ) 
Reports Say City Schools Not In Compliance With Laws For Phys Ed Programs(NY1)
School Mistakenly Shared Private Admissions Data(NYT)

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NYS Government


Minimum Wage
Business groups and state Senate Republicans are exploring options for a compromise on a raise to the minimum wage, including a potential “training wage” that would apply to young workers in the first months of their employment, the Times-Union writes

Sen. Smith explains decision to join IDC 

Bloomberg admins bash Liu of contract rejection(NYDN)

A conservative group will protest Senate Co-Leader Dean Skelos next week over his support of the SAFE Act and what they call his cozy relationship with Cuomo.

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Health Care


They Got Away Wtih Closing St. Vincent's Hospital and Selling for Housing Now They Are Doing the Same with LICH
Closure Plan for Brooklyn Hospital(WSJ) * Nurses, Officials Protest Closing Of Long Island College Hospital(NY1) * Vote set on Brooklyn hospital closure(Fox 5) *  The News advocates for the closure of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn in order to help fix the money woes that SUNY Downstate Medical Center—which took over LICH—is facing:* The sale of the LICH complex, which SUNY Trustees may vote to close today, could fetch quite a pretty penny.
Bellevue Reopens(WSJ) * SUNY board unanimously approves closure of LI College Hosp and crowd erupts "Shame! Shame!" * The DN thinks LICH should close to help assuage SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s money woes.* SUNY Board Votes to Close Long Island College Hospital(NYT)
Long Island College Hospital to close: trustees(NYDN) *  Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital shut down after 150 years Read more:(WPIX)

Ninety-nine days after it was evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Bellevue Hospital Center fully reopened yesterday. 

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Fracking



Fracked with indecision(NYP Ed) * Here he goes again. Every time Gov. Cuomo comes close to meeting one of his own deadlines to approve fracking, he finds another excuse for delay — which starts the whole process all over again. So, with all eyes on a Feb. 27 deadline to draw up regulations and OK the drilling process, we weren’t surprised on Monday to hear the head of the governor’s Department of Environmental Conservation admit it will be “difficult to . . . get the regulations finalized” on time.

Yoko Ono films anti-fracking ad(NYDN)*  Pro-drilling advocates hope the film “FrackNation” serves as an antidote to Josh Fox’s “Gasland.”
- The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York plans to sue if the DEC misses the Feb. 27 regulations deadline.
- Three outside experts assisting with a health review of fracking say their work was complete more than a month ago, which DEC Commissioner Joe Martens didn’t reveal at a legislative budget hearing.
Sens. Cecilia Tkaczyk and Tony Avella issued a joint statement on NYC officials concerns that fracking could disturb the series of aquifers that supply drinking water for the metropolis.
Activists Protest As Fracking Deadline Looms(NY1)


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MTA


Throwing a lifeline to commuters?(NYDN) Straphanger overboard. The MTA should consider placing safety kits with rope on platforms so riders could toss a line to anyone who tumbles to the tracks, Councilman Peter Koo (D-Queens)
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Environment

Sanitation Dept. Wants Styrofoam Use To-Go(NY1)



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Hate At Brooklyn College

Pro-Palestine Speakers at Brooklyn College Attract Protests Outside(NYT)  Controversy has grown at the college, where nearly a fifth of the undergraduate population is Jewish, over the event organized by a student group, Students for Justice in Palestine.





Brooklyn in the spotlight: College showdown draws sharp views from around the globe(Brooklyn Paper)
* Brooklyn College hosts controversial event on Israel 
* Controversial Brooklyn College Event With Anti-Israel Speakers Goes On Calmly: The speakers talked about ...


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Bloomberg in London

The Sun Will Never Set On the Bloomberg Empire 
As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ponders his next step after City Hall, he is slowly exporting his vast quantities of financial, social, and political capital to London, where he already has the ear of London’s Mayor Boris Johnson

For a Global Life, Bloomberg Builds His Own British Empire(NYT)*
"A public relations firm was hired to make introductions in London society." via * Bloomberg Unimpressed by Prince Charles’s House(NY Mag)

 

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Gambling
To boost AC, Christie Will Allow Online Gambling

Jersey sure bet (NYP) Nj Gov. Chris Christie has changed his mind. In a gamble to save an embattled Atlantic City, the governor essentially legalized online gaming yesterday — paving the way for bets being placed via a computer from anywhere in the Garden State.* Politics of Christie's Weight(WSJ) * Cuomo Wants To Limit Casinos To Upstate New York(NY1) * Right back ‘atcha gov: Before the Seneca Nation of Indians pays even part of the $572 million it owes the state and local governments in casino revenue-sharing money, it wants the Cuomo administration to make several concessions, including giving it casino development rights in downtown Rochester.

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Sandy

FEMA Extends Sheltering Program For Sandy Victims Once Again(NY1) * FEMA shelter extension beats the storm; advocates take aim (SI Advance)



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Lena Dunham

I Voted . . . Maybe
Gatemouth reflected on whether or not Lena Dunham‘s vote would have been counted. “When the Board of Elections counts affidavit ballots, it must first check each ballot in its data base, to see if it is eligible to be counted,” he explained. “Normally, when one does that, one also logs each voter’s participation into the database at the same time. To go back and do it later would be a preposterous waste of time and taxpayer money. But this year, it is credible.”


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Queens Hollywood East

Queens Loses a Street and Gains a Slice of Hollywood(NYT) Kaufman Astoria Studios is closing off one block of 36th Street in Astoria, Queens, and turning it into a back lot.









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Washington
Obama’s pick for CIA chief comes under fire for drone strikes during Senate hearing(NYP) * Drones Are Focus as C.I.A. Nominee Goes Before Senators(NYT) * To Kill an American(NYT Ed) A new document underscores the Obama administration’s chilling analysis of executive power.

Republicans rip defense bigs over Benghazi(NYP)
White House Blocked Rebel Arms to Syria(WSJ)

Call Obama's Sequester Bluff - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
Just Kick the Can Down the Road - Paul Krugman, New York Times
Geithner Doctrine Lives On in Libor Affair - Neil Barofsky, Financial Times
Public Focuses on Jobs, D.C. Changes the Subject - Byron York, Examiner
Obama Must Fight One More Campaign - Robert Shrum, The Daily Beast

President Did Nothing to Save Lives in Benghazi - Joel Pollak, Breitbart
GOP's Resistance to Medicaid Expansion Is Eroding - Ron Brownstein, NJ
Liberal Media Hypocrisy on Obama's Kill Lists - Nick Gillespie, Reason
Guns--Not the Mentally Ill--Kill People - Abby Rapoport, American Prospect
Obama Incorporated - Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon
The Persistence of Racial Resentment - Thomas Edsall, New York Times
Is a Franken-Bachmann Showdown on the Horizon? - Scott Conroy, RCP
Fertility and Immigration - Jonathan Last, Los Angeles Times
The Declining-Fertility Non-Crisis - Ruy Teixeira, The New Republic
So God Made a Fawner - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
Pop Vitamin C Tablets, Get a Kidney Stone - Alex Berezow, RealClearScience
Clint Romesha, the Bravest of the Brave - Jake Tapper, CNN
Video Highlights: Obama | Paul | Carson | Brennan | McConnell | More
John Brennan and a Long Overdue Discussion - New York Times
Death of Jobs Council: Mission Accomplished - Las Vegas Review-Journal
Will Postal Service Shock Congress Into Action? - Washington Post
F-16s to Egypt, But Not to Taiwan? - Investor's Business Daily
Schools taking serious look at putting armed police in schools after massacre(Wash Post)
Peggy Noonan Trashes 'Soft,' 'Dazzled' Steve Kroft For 'Embarrassing' Obama/Clinton Interview 
Jesse Jackson Jr. signs plea deal, may face jail time: report(NYP)
Hillary Clinton is more popular than President Obama, according to a new Q poll.
 

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Wall Street

Mary Jo White at the S.E.C.(NYT Ed) She has smarts and guts, but she needs to make clear that she can be a strong regulator of Wall Street. *Standard & Poor’s Stands Accused(NYT Ed) But will the Justice Department make the civil fraud charges against the credit-ratings agency stick?* Probe Adds to Rating Firms' Woes(WSJ)  AG Eric Schneiderman this week subpoenaed Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and formally requested information from Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings to examine ratings they issued in the run-up to the financial crisis.

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Media

Rupert Murdoch's News International settles 144 phone hacking suits 

 Capture-3 Jon Stewart & Co. Take On Absurdities Of Spending Cut Fight: 'It's As Stupid As It Sounds'



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Gun

Schneiderman On Sharpton Highlights Gun Show Efforts(YNN) * Glaser Defends Cuomo’s Gun Control Record(YNN) * A bipartisan quartet of senators, including two National Rifle Association members and two with “F” ratings from the potent firearms lobby, (Sen. Chuck Schumer is among them), are quietly trying to find a compromise on expanding the requirement for gun-sale background checks.*  Gabrielle Giffords ties gun control push to State of the Union:(Politico)
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Law and Order

Bail Reform in New York State(NYT Ed) Too many poor defendants who pose no risk to public safety are require to post bail, a system that is unfair and expensive.

Stop and Frisk

The News is skeptical of a new app issued by the New York Civil Liberties Union that would document police abuses, specifically instances of illegal stop-and-frisks DN: Will NYCLU share all videos collected through its stop-and-frisk app, or just those that make the NYPD look bad? 

Around the Bronx: An endless hunt for illegal guns(NYDN)

I-Team: NYC Kids Take Class Trip to Shooting Game Facil(NBC)
 


Cop killer Ronell Wilson is competent enough to face possible death sentence, judge rules(NYP)

SI wife slain in Turkey had sex in bar restroom with paramour: reports(NYP) * Mystery Deepens as Staten Island Woman’s Body Is Returned From Turkey(NYT)

Teen who tossed 9-year-old from roof indicted(NYDN)

Child sex abuser's sentence cut by more than half(NYDN)The prison sentence of convicted child molester Nechemya Weberman was slashed by more than half when he was shipped upstate last week, records show. While a Brooklyn judge gave the unlicensed Hasidic counselor …* Hasidic Counselor’s Prison Term for Sex Abuse Is Cut in Half(NYT)
Brooklyn teacher's aide pleads guilty to producing child porn(NYP)




Cannibal Cop' Trial Jury Selection(Huff Post)

Potential 'cannibal cop' jurors shaken after judge describes shocking evidence
[image]New Push to Execute Detectives' Murderer (WSJ) A federal judge ruled that a Staten Island man convicted of killing two New York Police Department officers is "not mentally retarded," clearing the way for prosecutors to seek his execution a second time.* Judge: Man Who Killed Two NYPD Officers Can Face Death Penalty(NY1)
Video Shows Six Robbery Suspects Leaving Scene in Queens (NYT)
Wait for 'killer nanny' pysch tests; she's accused of murdering (NYP)
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Terrorism
 
 Man Expected To Plead Guilty In Alleged Federal Reserve Bomb Plot(NY1)
Man Admits to Fed Bomb Plot(WSJ)