Mayor's Top Aide Emma Wolfe Continues to Stonewall Data and Field Investigators
Two Charged in Campaign Finance Case(WSJ) De Blasio Aide Backs Out of Speaking With Special Prosecutor. Emma Wolfe, director of intergovernmental affairs in the de Blasio administration, was tentatively scheduled to speak with the special prosecutor on the case, Robert Bennet Adler, next week, the person said. Emma Wolfe, director of intergovernmental affairs in the de Blasio administration, was tentatively scheduled to speak with the special prosecutor on the case, Robert Bennet Adler, next week, the person said. But in recent days, Ms. Wolfe’s attorney informed Mr. Adler’s office that she wouldn’t voluntarily speak with the prosecutor, the person said. The session was to be part of an agreement in which Ms. Wolfe would speak to the special prosecutor with the assurance that the information couldn’t be used against her, the person said.
Ms. Wolfe declined to comment through a representative. In an interview, Mr. Adler accused the defendants in the case of “gaming” the city’s campaign-finance system in which small political donations from private individuals are matched with public funds. Ms. Wolfe, who hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing, isn’t the only member of the de Blasio administration connected to the case. Camille Rivera, a deputy commissioner in the city’s Department of Homeless Services, provided information as part of the investigation, the person familiar with the matter said. An attorney for Ms. Rivera declined to comment. Mr. Adler declined to discuss Ms. Wolfe’s and Ms. Rivera’s role in the investigation, but he did say the probe didn’t involve any alleged impropriety related to Ms. Wolfe’s or Ms. Rivera’s work since they joined the de Blasio administration this year. Ms. Wolfe was a key player in Mr. de Blasio’s 2009 campaign for public advocate and served as his chief of staff when he was in that position. She previously worked as an organizing and field director for the Working Families Party. Ms. Rivera, a longtime labor operative of Mr. de Blasio, previously worked for UnitedNY, an advocacy group.
For 2 Years True News Has Been Calling WFP A Criminal Enterprise Now Criminal Charges
Data and Field Conspiracy Indictment
Election results in criminal charges for Working Families Party(NYP) The Post has learned that a lengthy investigation into a 2009 City Council race on the island has resulted in criminal charges against two individuals and two political operations — including an arm of the left-leaning WFP. TheStaten Island legislator backed by the party — Councilwoman Debi Rose — was named an un-indicted co-conspirator in an 18-page criminal complaint that special prosecutor said defrauded the city’s taxpayer-funded Campaign Finance Board. Rose supporter David Jones, and Rose treasurer Thomas were also charged with grand larceny for campaign finance shenanigans. * Councilwoman Debi Rose campaign, Working Families Partyaccused of campaign finance fraud, report says (SI Advance) Adler alleges that Ms. Rose's campaign got "sweetheart deals on services," according to the Post, and the councilwoman's campaign and its treasurer, David Thomas, lied about it in filings with the Campaign Finance Board and state Board of Elections.The complaint also alleges that the Rose campaign paid $7,200 to NY Citizen Services, a group to mask the involvement of the left-wing political ACORN group. ACORN staffer Peter Nagy worked on Ms. Rose's campaign for three months under a " sweetheart contract (that) was below market value," the complaint said. The complaint also alleges that WFP gave more than $500,000 to Data and Field Services from February 2009 to January 2010 and that Thomas, along with Data and Field Services, WFP, various unions and members of Ms. Rose's campaign worked together to file false campaign filings to the state Board of Elections and city Campaign Finance Board. Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander, an WFP ally, said, "The U.S. Attorney's Office looked at this four years ago and found no wrongdoing. Adler should stop tilting at windmills."
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CM King Fined For the Second Time By CFB
For 2 Years True News Has Been Calling WFP A Criminal Enterprise Now Criminal Charges
Election results in criminal charges for Working Families Party(NYP) The Post has learned that a lengthy investigation into a 2009 City Council race on the island has resulted in criminal charges against two individuals and two political operations — including an arm of the left-leaning WFP. The
The Charges Against WFP's Data and Field That Prosecutors Charge Give An Unfair Advantage Against Their Rivals
The criminal probe centers on whether a consulting firm set up by the Working Families Party, Data & Field Services, undercharged favored candidates for campaign services in 2009.Roger Bennett Adler, has been investigating the Working Families Party's relationship with Data & Field Services, a corporation formed by the left-leaning party to provide its candidates with get-out-the-vote staffing and expertise. Investigators are looking at whether the for-profit firm charged significantly lower fees than is typical for such service, potentially providing an unfair advantage to favored candidates. In 2009 the WFP created Data and Field as a for profit company to give them competitive advantages in campaigns. Roger Adler, which alleges that Data and Field Services, a WFP-run political consultation group, secretly providing discounted services to Rose's 2009 council campaign, which is illegal under the city's campaign finance rules, according to the Post.
Last Year True News Reported That the Media Was Covering-Up the Investigation
Three years ago, the Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., submitted a secret application to state court requesting that it appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Working Families Party and that same Staten Island race. Two years after that, a state judge secretly appointed Roger Adler a democrat with conservative leanings as special prosecutor.* Settlement Reached in Suit Against Working Families Party (NYT 2010) * A Liberal Party Faces Inquiries Without End (NYT, 2013)
The prosecutor, Roger Adler, accused Data and Field Services, a subsidiary of the left-leaving WFP, of secretly providing discounted services to Rose’s successful 2009 Council campaign. Such discounts aren’t allowed under the city’s campaign finance rules, where candidates are limited in what they can raise and what they can spend. The complaint said Rose’s campaign got sweetheart deals on services that included get-out-the vote operations, voter lists and the services of campaign workers.
Two SI Prosecutors Have Worked to Indicted the Data and Fields Scam After Being Cleared By the Justice Department
Federal prosecutors issued subpoenas and examined mountains of records before shrugging and advising that they had found no whiff of wrongdoing. The New York City Campaign Finance Board, whose staff deliberates with the speed of a Bleak House barrister, has examined the finance reports of many candidates supported by the party and has found no grand violations.
The complaint charged the campaign and its treasurer, David Thomas, with lying about the scheme in filings with the CFB and state Board of Elections. “Beginning in 2009 and continuing up to the filing of this complaint, the Debi Rose Campaign provided false and misleading documentation to the CFB in an effort to both obfuscate, and conceal, `in kind’ campaign contributions, and coordinated campaign goods and services provided by various labor unions for which `fair market value’ was neither paid, or accurately reported,” the complaint said. The WFP is bank-rolled by the city’s major labor unions. Described as a “political consultant,” Jones was paid $5,000 in city matching funds after both he and his wife contributed $625 to the Rose campaign.
But the complaint said Jones had no written contract — as required by the CFB — to justify the payment.
Lawyers for the WFP Spent Years Trying to Block Charges Against the Party and Data and Field
Are WFP Case Subpoenas Legal?(YNN) A key union affiliate of the Working Families Party is questioning the legality of the latest round of subpoenas issued by a special prosecutor investigating the labor-backed organization’s 2009 campaign activities. In an Aug. 5 letter to the special prosecutor, Roger Adler, the attorney for political action committee of the Communications Workers of America noted that by sending a July 1 subpoena to the union’s political arm, Adler was “proceeding as if that were a valid grand jury subpoena.” * WFP lawyer Avi Schick has been trying to quash subpoenas from a special prosecutor that involve a 2009 council race on Staten Island
Are WFP Case Subpoenas Legal?(YNN) A key union affiliate of the Working Families Party is questioning the legality of the latest round of subpoenas issued by a special prosecutor investigating the labor-backed organization’s 2009 campaign activities. In an Aug. 5 letter to the special prosecutor, Roger Adler, the attorney for political action committee of the Communications Workers of America noted that by sending a July 1 subpoena to the union’s political arm, Adler was “proceeding as if that were a valid grand jury subpoena.” * WFP lawyer Avi Schick has been trying to quash subpoenas from a special prosecutor that involve a 2009 council race on Staten Island
“David Jones, in turn, knowingly and criminally possessed the stolen $5,000,” the complaint said. The complaint said NY Citizen Services, paid $7,200 by the Rose campaign, was actually a front group to mask the involvement of the left-wing activist ACORN group. ACORN staffer Peter Nagy worked on the Rose campaign for three months under a “ sweetheart contract (that) was below market value,” the complaint said.
The complaint noted that the WFP pumped over $500,000 into DFS from February 2009 to January 2010.
The complaint said Thomas conspired and acted “in concert” with staffers from “DFS, WFP, various labor unions, and members of the Rose campaign to file false and inaccurate campaign filings with both the state Board of Elections, the CFB, and knowingly attempted to cover up those violations.” Adler said he hoped the case will shake up the political establishment and deter campaign corruption. “These shenanigans are sickening people. The effort to clean up corruption begins with the little campaign in the smallest borough in the city,” he said. Rose referred calls to her lawyer, who could immediately be reached. The defendants are scheduled to appear in Richmond County Criminal Court Monday.
WFP Winner 2013 Loser in 2014
The WFP Record Of Playing Fast and Lose With Campaign Finace Has Caught Up With Them
A complicated web of coordinated activities, shared resources and staff, and quiet money transfers between the Working Families Party, a secretive private company called Data and Field Services and at least six current Council campaigns, as well as Bill de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate, appears to have found several ways around the strict city campaign finance laws. Upwards of a million dollars, and possibly more, are involved, with over $1.7 million in matching funds comprised of taxpayer dollars already disbursed and more are potentially at stake.While 2013 was a great year for the WFP 2014 is turning out to be a nightmare. The WFP the 2014 campaign season betrayed by its standard-bearer, losing the senate to the GOP, weakened by dissension in its ranks and burdened by the legal expense of defending itself against a sprawling charges. The Campaign Finance Board still hasn’t released an audit of the Rose campaign, which attracted special scrutiny because of a related lawsuit filed against it.he hiring of outside counsel also demonstrates the potential conflicts within city government that could arise out of the investigation. But issues reports on other campaigns Date and Field worked in including, Bill de Blasio, Brad Lander, Daniel Dromm, Jumaane Williams and Melissa Mark-Viverito. Roger Adler, alleges that Data and Field Services, a WFP-run political consultation group, secretly providing discounted services to Rose's 2009 council campaign, which is illegal under the city's campaign finance rules, according to the Post. The chairwoman of the Campaign Finance Board, Rose Gill Hearn, was appointed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his second to last day in office last year. She had been running the Department of Investigation. "The potential violations by the WFP and Data and Field are twofold: (1) that campaigns are not paying full market value for services; and (2) the potential for non-independent expenditures due to DFS’ close affiliation with the Working Families Party and its affiliates.* The WFP party settled a civil lawsuit in 2010 brought by former Rudy Giuliani aide Randy Mastro, who alleged that the party violated campaign finance laws. The agreement led to the separation of Data and Field Services from the W.F.P.
WFP Winner 2013 Loser in 2014
The WFP Record Of Playing Fast and Lose With Campaign Finace Has Caught Up With Them
Mayor Bill de Blasio helped found the Working Families Party back in 1998, and one of his top aides Emma Wolfe has reportedly been sought for questioning by Mr. Adler. Emma Wolfe, who served as a W.F.P. operative in 2009. Mr. de Blasio was also a client of Data & Field Services during his successful 2009 run for public advocate. Data & Field Services, operated out of the same office of the labor-backed Working Families Party Investigator wants to speak with Mayor de Blasio aide Emma Wolfe in Working Families Party probe(NYDN)
9 of Rose Council Members Defend Her
"Councilmember Rose deserves exactly what the rest of us got: a timely audit of her campaign by the NYC Campaign Finance Board, and not an unjustified criminal prosecution. "Moving forward with prosecution, without an audit, when the U.S. Attorney has investigated and found no wrongdoing, is an abuse of prosecutorial discretion. It is an effort to criminalize normal political activity."The CFB extensively audited the eight other 2009 campaigns that contracted with Data and Field Services (then an affiliate of the Working Families Party). They found no wrongdoing to refer to a prosecutor. In most cases, they did not even levy a fine.
A Ruling By the CFB Seems to Differ With the Councilmembers Statement In Support of Rose The the CFB Found No Wrongdoing or Breaking of Campaign Finance Laws in the Data and Field Operation
A major CFB ruling last week took aim at the possibility of even more WFP money secretly aiding favored candidates. In essence, the board ruled that any expenditure that the party’s nonprofit arm makes in support of DFS-affiliated candidates can’t be considered an independent effort — and therefore must also be disclosed as an in-kind contribution. That followed recent reports in City Hall News that found no discernable dividing line between normal WFP operations and those the party had farmed out to campaigns via DFS. The report discovered that checks sent to DFS were apparently cashed directly by the WFP, while employees expressed extreme confusion as to which arm they actually worked for. (NYP, 2009) The CFB Ruling on Data and Field * "Based on information acquired by the Board to date, it is the Board’s understanding that DFS exists as an arm of the Working Families Party. Both organizations are located in the same space and share employees; DFS was created by Working Families Party staff; and there are no apparent firewalls between them. In light of the close affiliation, the Board presumes that any activity undertaken by the Working Families Party on behalf of campaigns using DFS as a vendor is non-independent. Therefore, these activities must be reported and accounted for by campaigns as either an in-kind contribution from the Working Families Party or an expenditure. "In determining whether expenditures by an outside party are non-independent, the Board applies the factors in Rule 1-08(f). The Board makes no determination regarding violations at this time. Every campaign will be afforded the opportunity to be fully heard regarding potential findings of violation."*Nofirewalls: Working Families Party straddles thin line between party, nonprofit (NYDN) The labor-backed party uses its aggressive field operation to get its favorite candidates elected - then pushes them to vote its way on issues like paid sick leave for workers, higher taxes on the rich and tougher rent regulations. It also operates a rent-a-campaign company, Data and Field Services, which sells its canvassing and voter turnout services to candidates it endorses. The organization is a lobbying and advocacy nonprofit group focused on the same goals as the party - but with far less scrutiny of what it spends and receives. "The Working Families Organization works closely with the Working Families Party to advance progressive policies," said Dan Levitan, spokesman for both. "The Working Families Organization is involved in no campaign-related activity." That line can get blurry, though, and hard to enforce - especially when the Working Families Organization spends money to push an issue that a Working Families Party-backed candidate supports. The organization's 2007 tax return - its most recent available, as provided by Levitan - shows it took in $658,000, almost all of it from unions. The largest by far was the national Service Employees International Union, donating $358,000. The party spent $700,000, largely on "study and formulation of improved nonpartisan public policy through coordinated use of volunteers." What does that mean? Who knows? * Campaign Finance Board retains attorney in probe (CrainsNY) The criminal probe centers on whether a consulting firm set up by the Working Families Party, Data & Field Services, undercharged favored candidates for campaign services in 2009. The Campaign Finance Board has recently been using the law firm, Debevoise and Plimpton, in dealing with Mr. Adler’s probe, sources said.
The WFP in 2009 Had A Sophisticated Hidden Structure That Included More Than the Data and Filed Arm
Nofirewalls: Working Families Party straddles thin line between party, nonprofit (NYDN, 2009)* A City Hall’s (City and State) investigation into what few seem to realize: the political party and Data & Field Services are not the only two arms of the Working Families. There are, in fact, four arms: a political party, a for-profit and two different kinds of non-profits, each of which is separate and distinct under the law. This five-part examination by City Hall into the Working Families Party’s accounting methods and finances has shown that together through these four arms, the Working Families has the benefits of a political party (legitimacy in voters’ minds, ballot line), a non-profit (tax-exemptions, uncapped donation limits and tax deductions) and a for-profit (no disclosure requirements, ability to collect fees backed by taxpayer-supported matching funds from candidates).
A Ruling By the CFB Seems to Differ With the Councilmembers Statement In Support of Rose The the CFB Found No Wrongdoing or Breaking of Campaign Finance Laws in the Data and Field Operation
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| Wolfe 2009 WFP Operative |
The WFP in 2009 Had A Sophisticated Hidden Structure That Included More Than the Data and Filed Arm
Live Blogging All Weekend On the WFP Data and Fields Charges
Homelessness Increases As Gentrification and Tax Breaks for luxury Developers Increse
As Foreign Ownership of Real Estate Increases Rules of Eviction Will Change
The Alarm Clock Worked Friday
Homelessness Increases As Gentrification and Tax Breaks for luxury Developers Increse
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In Harlem River Park in Manhattan Fort Greene Park Bronx , there are so many homeless people in one small park, Devanney Triangle, that the community board and parks department are discussing the removal of all benches.
As Foreign Ownership of Real Estate Increases Rules of Eviction Will Change
Landlord using ‘Chinese mafia’ to force tenants out: suit(NYP)
de Blasio Leading the NYPD From Behind?
As More and More Foreign $$$ Pours Into NYC Real Estate, Will Foreigns Hire Lobbyists to Control NYC Politics?
Will the New Private Tammany Hall Follow the Money to Foreign Real Estate Developers?
An Enemy In Our Own City?
Lobbyists Will Take $$$ From Anyone
State Department concerned about Chinese spying at WaldorfAstoria after sale to insurance company with possible Communist Party ties (NYDN) The State Department said it is reviewing the sale of the hotel to Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group, and that it may stop leasing space for the U.S. ambassador to the UN or the General Assembly. Anbang is reportedly linked to China ’s Communist Party, which has overseen a massive effort to use cyberspying to steal U.S. trade and military secrets.
Will the New Private Tammany Hall Follow the Money to Foreign Real Estate Developers?
An Enemy In Our Own City?
de Blasio Leading the NYPD From Behind?
BILL TROUBLE: De Blasio avoids picking sides between NYPD Commissioner and progressive City Council members over legislation on chokeholds and searches(NYDN) New York New York
As Crime Hits Home In Hipster Hoods A Turn to Law and Order
In Ditmas Park, Armed Robbers Prey on Businesses and Their Patrons(NYT) A troubling pattern has emerged: Armed robbers in hooded sweatshirts and masks are hitting local businesses not just for the cash in the registers, but for patrons’ belongings, too.
They Spent $1.4 Billion Dollars On A New Station and the Escalators Don't Work
They Spent $1.4 Billion Dollars On A New Station and the Escalators Don't Work
Fare Still Going Up
The MTA’s Fulton
They spent $1.4 billion and devoted 12 years to building the Fulton Center subway station in lower Manhattan
Saturday Update
The Post gives perennially late de Blasio an alarm clock(NYP)
The Post gives perennially late de Blasio an alarm clock(NYP)
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. Letter to the NYT Editor Nails the Mayor
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. Letter to the NYT Editor Nails the Mayor
To the Editor: Re “Mayor’s Tardiness Angers Attendees at a Memorial” (news article, Nov. 13): Mayor Bill de Blasio’s lateness is now understood as a personality trait, irritating for those affected, but part of his distinctiveness. But chronic lateness displays a lack of character and obvious disregard for the other. It is particularly galling in someone who purports to care a great deal about others. Regarding the missed moment of silence at the anniversary of Flight 587, the 2001 plane crash in Queens : His absurd excuses of not sleeping well the night before and fog delaying his boat speak for themselves. But I will add that the average considerate person leaves plenty of time to arrive somewhere, not planning the trip in a best-case scenario to arrive on the dot of the appointed time, but early! DEBBIE PLUMER Brooklyn , Nov. 13, 2014* "Mr Mayor,don't you realize that these unforced errors overshadoweverything else that you are trying to accomplish?"
Will de Blasio's His Normally Puppet Council to Shut Down the Rein in the Cops Bill?
Will de Blasio's His Normally Puppet Council to Shut Down the Rein in the Cops Bill?
Bill de Blasio avoids siding between NYPD commissioner, City Council overbills to rein in cops (NYDN)
Campaign Over Cuomo Back in the Bunker
Cuomo has not held a single public event since winning re-election on November 4, returning to a schedule Albany watchers know well—minimizing opportunities for the press to scrutinize him and ensuring that the public is unaware of exactly where their governor is going or what he is doing, the Observer reports:
Former Assemblywoman Rosa Off to Jail
Ahead offederal prison stint, ex-Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosaposts a Facebook farewell (NYDN) Rosa is scheduled to surrender at 2 p.m.
Bronxlawmaker fined for campaign finance violations (NYDN) Councilman Andy King must repay nearly $18,000 in public funds for campaign finance violations stemming from a 2012 special election, the city’s Campaign Finance Board said Thursday. City Councilman Andy King’s campaign was hit with six penalties last month and was fined more than $12,000 for failing to accurately report receipts, accepting money over the contribution limit and being unable to document $22,000 in expenditures. King received $58,000 in public funds for the November 2012 special election held to replace disgraced convicted ex-Councilman Larry Seabrook. King’s books have cost him in the past. He owed the city more than $31,000 for penalties and repayments stemming from a 2009 primary run.
True News Weekly Topic Updates
Education Topic Search
Tenure being doled out like candy under de Blasio(NYP)
All Staff at Two Brooklyn Schools Will Have to Re-Apply for Jobs(NY1)
Charter school advocates push for favorable treatment after supporting Cuomo's re-election(NYDN)
Campbell Brown left television to do battle with powerful teachers unions. Labor-affiliated groups have taken the opportunity to school Ms. Brown in the bare-knuckle way of New York City politics.
The New York City Charter School Center
Parks and Recreation — NYC-style(NYP) New York as he does here.This Administration Follows the Press
Parks Department spokesman leaves job amid bad press(Capital) Sunday Parks and Recreation — NYC-style(NYP Ed)City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver has been on the job for six months now, but you’d hardly know it from his schedule. He seems to spend almost as much time away from New York as he does here.
Ebola Doctor Leaves Hospital
A New York doctor diagnosed with the Ebola virus is now healthy and will leave Bellevue Hospital Center Bellevue Hospital
Ebola Doctor Leaves Hospital
Veterans
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, expressing his disappointment in Cuomo’s veto of the expanded veteran pension credit bill, State of Politics reports: * * While the federal government and New York State have goals for allotting government contracts to veteran-owned businesses, New York City does not,Gotham Gazette reports:
Terrorism
Closing Hospitals More on Hospital Closings
Gambling More on Gambling
NY casino reviewswill continue at least 11 more days (YNN)
Mentally Ill
Mentally Ill
Homeless
Domestic Violence Drives Up New York Shelter Population as Housing Options Are Scarce(NYT) Domestic violence has emerged as part of the housing agenda of de Blasio, who began a rent subsidy program to move abuse victims out of shelters and is stepping up counseling efforts in public housing
AG to taxi panel: Let the apps ride!(NYDN)*
Gentrification More on Gentrification
A touch of Brooklynin Queens(NYT)* Quooklyn? The Riseof Ridgewood (Everything NY)
Anyone who caresabout gentrification should stop to read @Gothamist map showing where NYC civil servants live.* Brooklyn school to getthe boot after sale (NYDN) Bushwick United Early Learning center received an eviction notice after an unnamed developer bought the Manhattan Ave. building for about $4 million.
Environment
The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a bill mandating that New York City slash its greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, the Observer reports:
Gambling
DOI Said Consultant Ran the Failed 911 System Where is the City Council Hearings?
de Bolasio Late Angers 587 Memorial Attendees
Teen to Bill de Blasio: "Kill Urself, Fucking Dumass"(Gawker)* Lower Manhattan Thursday.
After de Blasio woke up “sluggish” yesterday and showed up late for a memorial for victims of Flight 587 in Queens, the state GOP sent him two cans of Red Bull in the hopes that they would help him “cut through the fog,” Gannett Albany reports:
Mayor Arrived Late By Boat to the Rockaways Where He Discontinued Ferry Service
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The mayor’s mode of transportation struck a particular nerve: In October, his administration discontinued a ferry service between Manhattan and the Rockaways that had operated since Hurricane Sandy. Lisa O’Shea, 55, who works at a copy center near where the memorial was held, cited divine intervention. “He had the luxury of taking a boat over, like we’d like to do,” she said. “God punished him. That fog was intentional.” * Belle Harbor , Queens .
A Season of Blame and Excuses
de Blasio Blames Democrats for Not Being Progressive Enough
Democrats should not blame a Republican wave for wiping them out in the mid-term elections, de Blasio said on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show—they should blame themselves for not promising progressive policies, the Observer reports: * Bill de Blasio Takes aSwipe at Alison Grimes’ Failed Campaign(NYO)* De Blasio, in an election post mortem for the Huffington Post: * .@BilldeBlasio gives advice tored-state Dems, then dances a bit when asked how it applies to Cuomo * Doesn't seem like de Blasio's aggressive HuffPo advice-blogis helping NYC get the 2016 * Mayor Bill de Blasio offered some unsolicited advice to red-state Democrats on Wednesday, suggesting they might have survived a Republican wave last week if they had only stuck to the “core principles” that helped him win in New York City last year.* Mark-Viverito gave a half-hearted endorsement of the mayor’s latest call-to-arms to progressives across America
“(A)s a progressive, I know my party need not search for its soul – but rather, its backbone.”* De Blasio Blames 'Rough Night' and Fog for Missing Flight587 Ceremony (DNAINFO) * On Wednesday, Mr. de Blasio, who swept into office promising to reduce income inequality and promote racial equity, published an op-ed article urging Democrats around the country — many in far more conservative environs than New York City — to adopt his own policy priorities for the 2016 elections. “This year, too many Democratic candidates lost sight of those core principles, opting instead to clip their progressive wings,” Mr. de Blasio wrote.(NYT) * Blaming the non-voters — liberals’ turnout excuse(NYP) The Times has it that our voters stayed home because of “anger and frustration at the relentlessly negative tone of the campaigns.”
First he blames the fog, then it was a 'rough night'... but really de Blasio is just LATE & LAME for missing moment of silence for victims and families of Belle Harbor tragedy(NYDN) Mayor de Blasio arrived 19 minutes late — completely missing the ringing of a bell, followed by a moment of silence to pay respects to the 260 people who died on the flight. At first, staffers for the habitually late mayor blamed fog over the East River and New York Harbor for delaying the NYPD boat that brought de Blasio from Gracie Mansion
From Carriage Horses, Closed Hospitals to Stop and Frisk Another Mayors' Campaign Tool Abandoned
Police reform groupcut ties w public affairs firm closely identified w de Blasio @BerlinRosen
NYT Puts the Rose Color de Blasio Glass Back On . . . Did They Get A Call From Berlin?
.@nytimes softens headline. “De BlasioBalancing Promises W/ Reality” URL: “Liberals Growing Frustrated w/ de Blasio"
Why Does Both the Daily News and NYT Fail to Name the Mayor Flack Lobbyists Fired? Berlin Rosen, Berlin Rosen, Berlin Rosen
Finally ready to break free from veal pen, Communities United for Police Reform fires BerlinRosen (Progress Queens) In reports published tonight by The New York Times and The New York Daily News, it was hinted or announced, respectively, that a police reform group had fired its public relations firm, which has close ties to the de Blasio administration. Both articles failed to identify the public relations firm, BerlinRosen, and only the report in The New York Daily News identified the police reform group, Communities United for Police Reform, or CPR.
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This move spells trouble for Mayor Bill de Blasio (D - New York City
The Mayor's Image Maker Gets Caught Controlling A Liberal Groups Agenda
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CPR was the large umbrella group, which led the fight against stop-and-frisk in the final years of the Bloomberg administration. CPR was founded and funded with controversial grants from George Soros, an early supporter of the de Blasio campaign for mayor. Not only was CPR being funded by a major de Blasio backer, but CPR also employed an operative, Dan Levitan, from Mayor de Blasio's go-to public relations firm, BerlinRosen, as its spokesman. Mr. Levitan was also the spokesman of Mayor de Blasio's own lobbying group, the Campaign for One New York. Now that BerlinRosen is no longer in a position to control CPR's public messaging, this means that CPR may be getting ready to make greater demands of Mayor de Blasio, demands which BerlinRosen may not have been comfortable making. * Mayor Criticized for Not Moving Faster on MarijuanaPolicy (WSJ) Advocates, Some Elected Officials Frustrated With Pace of Change on Several Issues Chokeholds De Blasio maintains chokeholds should not be made illegal(NYP) * Mayor de Blasio pushes back against upcoming Council bid to criminalize NYPD use of choke hold(NYDN)
Shadow Government Deal of the Day
Astoria Cover
Even the NYT is Pushing
A New Model for Affordable Housing (NYT) Astoria Cove on the East River in Queens is an example of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to create or save 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years.
Queens clergy members push city on Astoria Cove New York Daily News
Council's Land Use Committee Approves 'Astoria Cove' Mega-Project New York Observer
Astoria Cove developers: We'll hire union workers The Real Deal Magazine
New York Daily News* The New York City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the massive Astoria Cove project, making it and a long-proposed ferry boat service for the Queens waterfront a step closer to launching, the Observerreports: * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing policy cleared its first significant hurdle Wednesday when the City Council’s land use committee voted to require that 27 percent of the apartments in a hotly debated residential project in Queens be classified as affordable, the Journal writes: * #AstoriaCove wins City Council committee support after last minute deal
Pols Like Low Voter Turnouts
New Yorkers Held Hostage By Their Election System
Incompetent Albany politicians like the system just the way it is.
Silver Hit With A Second Sexual Harassment Lawsuit In Addition to the Hush Fund Lawsuit
Will the Media and Women Leaders Notice This Time?
Suits to converge onGabryszak (TU) Filings are expected by legislative aides in harassment cases.
Judge Says Silver Failed to Prevent Vito Lopez From Sexually Harassing Female Staffers
Courts Rule Against Silver, Then He Moves Against Kellner
Saturday Update
Slippery Silver (NYDNEd)
de Bolasio Late Angers 587 Memorial Attendees
Teen to Bill de Blasio: "Kill Urself, Fucking Dumass"(Gawker)* Lower Manhattan Thursday.
After de Blasio woke up “sluggish” yesterday and showed up late for a memorial for victims of Flight 587 in Queens, the state GOP sent him two cans of Red Bull in the hopes that they would help him “cut through the fog,” Gannett Albany reports:
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The mayor’s mode of transportation struck a particular nerve: In October, his administration discontinued a ferry service between Manhattan and the Rockaways that had operated since Hurricane Sandy. Lisa O’Shea, 55, who works at a copy center near where the memorial was held, cited divine intervention. “He had the luxury of taking a boat over, like we’d like to do,” she said. “God punished him. That fog was intentional.” * Belle Harbor , Queens .
A Season of Blame and Excuses
de Blasio Blames Democrats for Not Being Progressive Enough
Democrats should not blame a Republican wave for wiping them out in the mid-term elections, de Blasio said on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show—they should blame themselves for not promising progressive policies, the Observer reports: * Bill de Blasio Takes aSwipe at Alison Grimes’ Failed Campaign(NYO)* De Blasio, in an election post mortem for the Huffington Post: * .@BilldeBlasio gives advice tored-state Dems, then dances a bit when asked how it applies to Cuomo * Doesn't seem like de Blasio's aggressive HuffPo advice-blogis helping NYC get the 2016 * Mayor Bill de Blasio offered some unsolicited advice to red-state Democrats on Wednesday, suggesting they might have survived a Republican wave last week if they had only stuck to the “core principles” that helped him win in New York City last year.* Mark-Viverito gave a half-hearted endorsement of the mayor’s latest call-to-arms to progressives across America
“(A)s a progressive, I know my party need not search for its soul – but rather, its backbone.”* De Blasio Blames 'Rough Night' and Fog for Missing Flight587 Ceremony (DNAINFO) * On Wednesday, Mr. de Blasio, who swept into office promising to reduce income inequality and promote racial equity, published an op-ed article urging Democrats around the country — many in far more conservative environs than New York City — to adopt his own policy priorities for the 2016 elections. “This year, too many Democratic candidates lost sight of those core principles, opting instead to clip their progressive wings,” Mr. de Blasio wrote.(NYT) * Blaming the non-voters — liberals’ turnout excuse(NYP) The Times has it that our voters stayed home because of “anger and frustration at the relentlessly negative tone of the campaigns.”
First he blames the fog, then it was a 'rough night'... but really de Blasio is just LATE & LAME for missing moment of silence for victims and families of Belle Harbor tragedy(NYDN) Mayor de Blasio arrived 19 minutes late — completely missing the ringing of a bell, followed by a moment of silence to pay respects to the 260 people who died on the flight. At first, staffers for the habitually late mayor blamed fog over the East River and New York Harbor for delaying the NYPD boat that brought de Blasio from Gracie Mansion
From Carriage Horses, Closed Hospitals to Stop and Frisk Another Mayors' Campaign Tool Abandoned
Police reform groupcut ties w public affairs firm closely identified w de Blasio @BerlinRosen
NYT Puts the Rose Color de Blasio Glass Back On . . . Did They Get A Call From Berlin?
.@nytimes softens headline. “De BlasioBalancing Promises W/ Reality” URL: “Liberals Growing Frustrated w/ de Blasio"
Why Does Both the Daily News and NYT Fail to Name the Mayor Flack Lobbyists Fired? Berlin Rosen, Berlin Rosen, Berlin Rosen
Finally ready to break free from veal pen, Communities United for Police Reform fires BerlinRosen (Progress Queens) In reports published tonight by The New York Times and The New York Daily News, it was hinted or announced, respectively, that a police reform group had fired its public relations firm, which has close ties to the de Blasio administration. Both articles failed to identify the public relations firm, BerlinRosen, and only the report in The New York Daily News identified the police reform group, Communities United for Police Reform, or CPR.
This move spells trouble for Mayor Bill de Blasio (D - New York City
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The Mayor's Image Maker Gets Caught Controlling A Liberal Groups Agenda
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CPR was the large umbrella group, which led the fight against stop-and-frisk in the final years of the Bloomberg administration. CPR was founded and funded with controversial grants from George Soros, an early supporter of the de Blasio campaign for mayor. Not only was CPR being funded by a major de Blasio backer, but CPR also employed an operative, Dan Levitan, from Mayor de Blasio's go-to public relations firm, BerlinRosen, as its spokesman. Mr. Levitan was also the spokesman of Mayor de Blasio's own lobbying group, the Campaign for One New York. Now that BerlinRosen is no longer in a position to control CPR's public messaging, this means that CPR may be getting ready to make greater demands of Mayor de Blasio, demands which BerlinRosen may not have been comfortable making. * Mayor Criticized for Not Moving Faster on MarijuanaPolicy (WSJ) Advocates, Some Elected Officials Frustrated With Pace of Change on Several Issues Chokeholds De Blasio maintains chokeholds should not be made illegal(NYP) * Mayor de Blasio pushes back against upcoming Council bid to criminalize NYPD use of choke hold(NYDN)
Astoria Cover
Even the NYT is Pushing
A New Model for Affordable Housing (NYT) Astoria Cove on the East River in Queens is an example of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to create or save 200,000 affordable apartments in 10 years.
Queens clergy members push city on Astoria Cove
Council's Land Use Committee Approves 'Astoria Cove' Mega-Project New York Observer
Astoria Cove developers: We'll hire union workers The Real Deal Magazine
Astoria Cove Passes Big Test Wall Street Journal
Astoria Cove site developer comes to labor union agreement for project's ...New York Daily News* The New York City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the massive Astoria Cove project, making it and a long-proposed ferry boat service for the Queens waterfront a step closer to launching, the Observerreports: * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing policy cleared its first significant hurdle Wednesday when the City Council’s land use committee voted to require that 27 percent of the apartments in a hotly debated residential project in Queens be classified as affordable, the Journal writes: * #AstoriaCove wins City Council committee support after last minute deal
Pols Like Low Voter Turnouts
Incompetent Albany politicians like the system just the way it is.
Silver Hit With A Second Sexual Harassment Lawsuit In Addition to the Hush Fund Lawsuit
Will the Media and Women Leaders Notice This Time?
Judge Says Silver Failed to Prevent Vito Lopez From Sexually Harassing Female Staffers
Courts Rule Against Silver, Then He Moves Against Kellner
Saturday Update
Slippery Silver (NYDNEd)
Assembly speaker makes a mess of sexual harassment enforcement
The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics is set to unveil a new hotline that state government staffers and tipsters can call to report sexual harassment or other complaints dealing with corruption and nepotism. Silver: New Harassment Policy Completed(YNN)* Silver Slaps Kellner Again(YNN) * Kellner Blasts Silver’s Latest Penalties, Denies New Allegations(YNN) * Sheldon Silver closing Micah Kellner’s district offices(NYP) * Vito Lopez accusers can go after Silver: judge(NYP) * Assemblyman Kellner Ordered to Shut Offices(WSJ)
A Manhattan federal judge ruled that a lawsuit claiming Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver failed to prevent Assemblyman Vito Lopez from sexually harassing female staffers can move forward State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver lost his bid to scuttle a lawsuit that claims he failed to prevent an assemblyman from molesting female staffers. Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, who say they were sexually harassed by former state Assemblyman Vito Lopez, allege Silver “created a de facto policy or custom in which sexual harassment by senior officials . . . was tolerated or condoned” and “personally assisted Lopez” by acting “deliberately indifferent” to the Brooklyn Democrat’s pervy misconduct.
Albany's Women Pink Wall of Silence
What About Hush Fund Silver?
Dozens of women’s rights activists are also coming to the State Capitol to push for the passage of some of Gov. Cuomo’s 10-point women’s equity package. The Senate has refused to pass the entire package because one bill would strengthen the state’s abortion rights laws. But the Senate has passed individual pieces of the package, something the Assembly has so far refused to do. Assemblywomen Amy Paulin and Aileen Gunther are pushing for individual bills to be taken up by their chamber, including one to crack down on human sex trafficking that has already passed the Senate. But so far, Assembly leadership has not budged
The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics is set to unveil a new hotline that state government staffers and tipsters can call to report sexual harassment or other complaints dealing with corruption and nepotism. Silver: New Harassment Policy Completed(YNN)* Silver Slaps Kellner Again(YNN) * Kellner Blasts Silver’s Latest Penalties, Denies New Allegations(YNN) * Sheldon Silver closing Micah Kellner’s district offices(NYP) * Vito Lopez accusers can go after Silver: judge(NYP) * Assemblyman Kellner Ordered to Shut Offices(WSJ)
A Manhattan federal judge ruled that a lawsuit claiming Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver failed to prevent Assemblyman Vito Lopez from sexually harassing female staffers can move forward State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver lost his bid to scuttle a lawsuit that claims he failed to prevent an assemblyman from molesting female staffers. Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, who say they were sexually harassed by former state Assemblyman Vito Lopez, allege Silver “created a de facto policy or custom in which sexual harassment by senior officials . . . was tolerated or condoned” and “personally assisted Lopez” by acting “deliberately indifferent” to the Brooklyn Democrat’s pervy misconduct.
Albany's Women Pink Wall of Silence
What About Hush Fund Silver?
Dozens of women’s rights activists are also coming to the State Capitol to push for the passage of some of Gov. Cuomo’s 10-point women’s equity package. The Senate has refused to pass the entire package because one bill would strengthen the state’s abortion rights laws. But the Senate has passed individual pieces of the package, something the Assembly has so far refused to do. Assemblywomen Amy Paulin and Aileen Gunther are pushing for individual bills to be taken up by their chamber, including one to crack down on human sex trafficking that has already passed the Senate. But so far, Assembly leadership has not budged
Albany Hush Fund Cover Up, Press Containment Timeline
GEs Welch Message Control Hacks DOE Meritocracy Not Putting Students 1st . . .
de Blasio Answers GE Welch
Welch’s bright idea(NYP Ed) New York City ’s schools do. Welch blasted Chancellor Carmen Fariña after The Post reported that seven of 15 new superintendents she just tapped had overseen below-average schools. When you put people in positions “without a meritocracy, without differentiation, you get bad performance,” said Welch. “You couldn’t run GE . . . you couldn’t run any company” like that.
de Blasio Answers GE's Welch
Jack Welch questions Fariña’s superintendent appointments(NYP) New York to oppose charter public schools.
Merge Bad School But No Closed School?
Editorial: Teachers union pet(NYDN) Facing the threatened closure by the state of the city’s two worst high schools, Mayor de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and United Federation Teachers President Michael Mulgrew locked arms in a teacher protection plan. Hard experience teaches that there is no other way to read their agreement on the futures of Boys & Girls and Automotive High Schools
It is about the UFT protecting teachers rather than putting children first like we read on all the campaign flyers
Principal of Failing BrooklynSchool Quits, Saying CityLacks an Education Plan(NYT) “The problem is, there is no plan,” the principal, Bernard Gassaway of Boys and Girls High School
GEs Welch Message Control Hacks DOE Meritocracy Not Putting Students 1st . . .
de Blasio Answers GE Welch
Welch’s bright idea(NYP Ed) New York City ’s schools do. Welch blasted Chancellor Carmen Fariña after The Post reported that seven of 15 new superintendents she just tapped had overseen below-average schools. When you put people in positions “without a meritocracy, without differentiation, you get bad performance,” said Welch. “You couldn’t run GE . . . you couldn’t run any company” like that.
de Blasio Answers GE's Welch
Jack Welch questions Fariña’s superintendent appointments(NYP) New York to oppose charter public schools.
UFT Teachers To Powerful to Fail (Be Fired)
Education Reform for Failing Schools Must Be OK By UFT Which the Mayor Needs for His Reelection in 2017
Editorial: Teachers union pet(NYDN) Facing the threatened closure by the state of the city’s two worst high schools, Mayor de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and United Federation Teachers President Michael Mulgrew locked arms in a teacher protection plan. Hard experience teaches that there is no other way to read their agreement on the futures of Boys & Girls and Automotive High Schools
More on Schools ChancellorCarmen Fariña
It is about the UFT protecting teachers rather than putting children first like we read on all the campaign flyers
Principal of Failing BrooklynSchool Quits, Saying CityLacks an Education Plan(NYT) “The problem is, there is no plan,” the principal, Bernard Gassaway of Boys and Girls High School
The NYT Should Interview Janet Gamble Who Stopped Voting Because Campaigns Full of Lies Have No Connection to Governing
New York's Falling Voter Participation Rate is A Canary in the Coal Mine Warning for Our Failing City and Democracy
2013 Was the Lowest Turnout Since Women Given Right to Vote . .
200,000 Votes Less Than 2009
2013 Was the Lowest Turnout Since Women Given Right to Vote . .
200,000 Votes Less Than 2009
The NYT Offers Nonsense Excuses But, Ignores A Broken Election System As the Reason Why Citizens Are Not Voting
OPINION: Why I will no longer vote in NYC
By Janet Gamble For Brooklyn Daily Eagle
I have been voting in New York City for nearly 30 years, and now I feel no need to vote here ever again. As a voter, you put your hope and trust in the person you cast your ballot for and want so badly ... so very badly, that they will try to come through for you. But now I see how stupid and naive I was. Now I see it is not the voters that some New York politicians are working for — its rich, real estate interests. They are the official owners of New York politics. It's not hard to see the damage these people have caused the average New Yorker. Affordable housing is almost non-existent in every borough. Once-beautiful historic blocks of brownstone housing are now dotted with newly constructed houses that resemble ugly cereal boxes. The well-off New Yorker has their pick of luxury housing, which brings me to the reason I will no longer vote.
Long Island College Hospital (LICH) has just been sold to a developer who donated money to Gov. Cuomo. Several other companies were supposed to bid on running this hospital, but trumped up excuses were made against the first two bidders and they were passed over in favor of a company that donated the most money to the governor. This should be a scandal and fodder for whoever is running against the governor this year...but it won't be. Who is going to investigate this? No one... not when you've pretty much hired everyone who could investigate you. Our current mayor got himself arrested last year, protesting the closing of this hospital, but I knew it was just a stunt to gain attention ... and it worked. I voted for him with the silly hope that he would at least try to save the hospital, and when he negotiated a deal for different companies to bid for running the hospital, I had hope again...silly, silly hope. When the bidders were rejected under odd circumstances, I knew where this ship was heading and that Gov. Cuomo was at the helm. While I am not sure if the mayor knew how crooked this deal was, his silence was loud enough. In the old days of Hollywood movies, the good guys and bad guys were always clearly seen and most of the time, there was a happy ending. But in this movie, the people (politicians) who we thought were the good guys, turned out to be the bad guys... and there is no happy ending.
The Central Park Horses Are Treated Better Than the Voters In This City
There are good politicians, on both sides, who do want to fight for us. But the rich control the rest, and they will not let anything good happen. There is this mix of emotion that I feel about this: anger, frustration, sadness and hopelessness. When you see thousands of good people losing their jobs and a community losing its hospital — knowing that the people you voted for are the cause of this ... knowing that they betrayed you, just because you were stupid enough to trust them — there is this gnawing ache … an ache of inferiority. Because I, and the average, non-rich, New Yorker, mean nothing to these people ... nothing. I know there are those who will say that if I don't vote then I should not complain when nothing changes. Well I did vote...and I voted for term limits in New York City. I signed the petition to make it a law and voted for term limits, twice.
Then I watched our former, rich mayor strong-arm the city council into overturning that law. No, no more. I will never put my faith in any of these people ever again. Some people will also say, “Just find another hospital.” Why? My luck in picking hospitals is not that great! Nearly every hospital that was affiliated with the doctor I chose has closed. St. Mary's in Brooklyn, St. John’s in Queens and now, LICH. So, I think I'll be doing you hospitals a favor by not going to you at all! I know now that I am invisible ... a nobody ... worthless... left to vent my anger in a letter that hardly anyone will see. LICH was nearly 160 years old. The Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and even the skyline of Manhattan did not exist when this hospital saw its first patient. How ironic to see it fall just because of the view that grew up before it. It was one of the first hospitals to use anesthesia. One of the first hospitals to use a dedicated ambulance corps. Every woman in this country should be angry because, the very first hospital that felt women need special care, too, gave us the first doctor of gynecology. Soon, this will be gone, replaced with luxury condos that only the richest among us can afford. And when that first bulldozer comes to tear down this historic place, I will bury my voter's registration card in its rubble. Thank you, governor ... thank you, mayor ... for nothing.
Signed,
Janet Gamble, AKA Nobody
Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn
Janet Gamble, a Crown Heights resident, was born in East New York and raised in Bed-Stuy. She has had two surgeries at LICH.
I have been voting in New York City for nearly 30 years, and now I feel no need to vote here ever again. As a voter, you put your hope and trust in the person you cast your ballot for and want so badly ... so very badly, that they will try to come through for you. But now I see how stupid and naive I was. Now I see it is not the voters that some New York politicians are working for — its rich, real estate interests. They are the official owners of New York politics. It's not hard to see the damage these people have caused the average New Yorker. Affordable housing is almost non-existent in every borough. Once-beautiful historic blocks of brownstone housing are now dotted with newly constructed houses that resemble ugly cereal boxes. The well-off New Yorker has their pick of luxury housing, which brings me to the reason I will no longer vote.
Long Island College Hospital (LICH) has just been sold to a developer who donated money to Gov. Cuomo. Several other companies were supposed to bid on running this hospital, but trumped up excuses were made against the first two bidders and they were passed over in favor of a company that donated the most money to the governor. This should be a scandal and fodder for whoever is running against the governor this year...but it won't be. Who is going to investigate this? No one... not when you've pretty much hired everyone who could investigate you. Our current mayor got himself arrested last year, protesting the closing of this hospital, but I knew it was just a stunt to gain attention ... and it worked. I voted for him with the silly hope that he would at least try to save the hospital, and when he negotiated a deal for different companies to bid for running the hospital, I had hope again...silly, silly hope. When the bidders were rejected under odd circumstances, I knew where this ship was heading and that Gov. Cuomo was at the helm. While I am not sure if the mayor knew how crooked this deal was, his silence was loud enough. In the old days of Hollywood movies, the good guys and bad guys were always clearly seen and most of the time, there was a happy ending. But in this movie, the people (politicians) who we thought were the good guys, turned out to be the bad guys... and there is no happy ending.
The Central Park Horses Are Treated Better Than the Voters In This City
There are good politicians, on both sides, who do want to fight for us. But the rich control the rest, and they will not let anything good happen. There is this mix of emotion that I feel about this: anger, frustration, sadness and hopelessness. When you see thousands of good people losing their jobs and a community losing its hospital — knowing that the people you voted for are the cause of this ... knowing that they betrayed you, just because you were stupid enough to trust them — there is this gnawing ache … an ache of inferiority. Because I, and the average, non-rich, New Yorker, mean nothing to these people ... nothing. I know there are those who will say that if I don't vote then I should not complain when nothing changes. Well I did vote...and I voted for term limits in New York City. I signed the petition to make it a law and voted for term limits, twice.
Then I watched our former, rich mayor strong-arm the city council into overturning that law. No, no more. I will never put my faith in any of these people ever again. Some people will also say, “Just find another hospital.” Why? My luck in picking hospitals is not that great! Nearly every hospital that was affiliated with the doctor I chose has closed. St. Mary's in Brooklyn, St. John’s in Queens and now, LICH. So, I think I'll be doing you hospitals a favor by not going to you at all! I know now that I am invisible ... a nobody ... worthless... left to vent my anger in a letter that hardly anyone will see. LICH was nearly 160 years old. The Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and even the skyline of Manhattan did not exist when this hospital saw its first patient. How ironic to see it fall just because of the view that grew up before it. It was one of the first hospitals to use anesthesia. One of the first hospitals to use a dedicated ambulance corps. Every woman in this country should be angry because, the very first hospital that felt women need special care, too, gave us the first doctor of gynecology. Soon, this will be gone, replaced with luxury condos that only the richest among us can afford. And when that first bulldozer comes to tear down this historic place, I will bury my voter's registration card in its rubble. Thank you, governor ... thank you, mayor ... for nothing.
Signed,
Janet Gamble, AKA Nobody
Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn
Janet Gamble, a Crown Heights resident, was born in East New York and raised in Bed-Stuy. She has had two surgeries at LICH.
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NY breaks lowest voter turnout record in governors race(NYP)
Not Voting Is A Protest Against An Election System That Only Gives Us Broken Promises
Voter's Protest: New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout
80% of the Teachers Say Parents Keep Your Kids Out of My School
Some NYC teachers: ‘Don’t send your kids here!’(NYP)
80% of the Teachers Say Parents Keep Your Kids Out of My School
de Blasio Sends Secret Pennies to Senate Dems Thru Putnam Housekeeping Fund in A Failed Message to Cuomo to Take Credit for Dem Senate Win
de Blasio Who Was Outplayed With His WFP Endorsement of the Gov, Wanted to Respond to Cuomo Setting Up the WEP and Not Helping the Senate Democrats
de Blaso couple of hundred thousand dollars funneled through a Putnam County party account to senate candidates was insignificant when you look at how much money those candidates used in their failed attempt to regain control of the senate for the democrats. de Blasio sent Cuomo pennies was a message to the governors for lack of help for the senate democratic and the creation of the Women's Party. The funds paid to de Blasio consultant friends was nothing compared to the total funds they were paid. According to CrainsNY AKPD Media got got over $100,000 from the de Blasio funds. AKPD got paid over $10,000,000 from the New York State Democratic Committee. Berlin Rosen another de Blasio consultant friend go paid over $250,000 from the NYSDC. Both AKPD and Berlin Rosen got paid millions more in other pots of money that contributed to the senate democratic campaigns, including the candidates themselves.* "A deal was cutfor Mangano to endorse Cuomo in exchange for Cuomo staying out of the Senateraces on Long Island." (NYP) Under the law, an individual can only donate a maximum $10,300 to a Senate candidate or $102,300 to a party committee.* Landlords' quiet $500K aided Senate GOP (CrainsNY)
The Man Who Lost the State Senate Again and Again
Evan Stavisky's Parkside Group was over $175,000 by the DSCC to lost the senate in 2014. In both 2010 and 2012 Parkside was also paid over $2 million to lost the senate During the 2008 election cycle, when Democrats won back the majority, the DSCC’s main consultant was Red Horse Strategies. Red House according to Parkside was helped by the the big Obama sweep in 2008. In 2012 Parkside's take of $2.2 from the DSCC also help drive that committee into debt. In 2011 Parkside had to be removed from the Weprin congressional campaign because of incompetent work. Parkside ran the $7.5 million campaign for the real estate Pac Jobs for New York which lost the council speaker position for the Queens organization for the first tine in a generation. Multiple Democraticsources said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who played an outsized role in the SenateDemocrats’ efforts to recapture the majority, was dissatisfied with Mr.Gianaris and the DSCC’s lead consultant, the Parkside Group. Mr. Gianaris, a Queens lawmaker, is close to a partner with the firm, Queens District Leader Evan Stavisky, and DSCC-backed candidates must use Parkside to print their campaign mail, an arrangement some Democrats have long bristled at.* State Sen. Michael Gianaris, chair of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, intends to continue in his role—even after Democrats suffered a wave of election defeats and chatter remains about him losing his post, the Observer reports * Michael Gianaris says he will remain as DSCC Chair.* DSCC requirement to use Parkside for mailers reminiscent of Norman's requirement to use Lendler (Progressive Queens)* Top Dems collude to line Parkside's pockets (Queens Crap) From City Hall: According to the terms of a contract kept secret during the campaign, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee was prepared to sign over a full 80 percent of all money spent on political mailers, radio commercials and robo-calls for the 2010 campaign cycle to one firm: the Parkside Group.
de Blasio Pays Off His Consultant Friends Again
Berlin Rosen and AKPD Media Win $$$ As Their Clients the Senate Dems Lose
Shadow Government Payoff
De Blasio pals cash-in even after Democrats lose the Senate According to Crain’s New York, hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by the mayor’s team for four upstate Democrats — all of whom lost — got the money and spent it onwent to two of de Blasio’s closest political consultants, BerlinRosen and AKPD Message and Media. The firms were critical to de Blasio’s City Hall win last year, and his subsequent campaign for universal pre-kindergarten. On Oct. 14, four donors gave the Democrats in Ulster County
But mega-donors, from unions to developers, can contribute up to $103,000 by routing the money through county political committees, which can then make unlimited transfers to candidates. The mayor and his team raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in mid-October, telling donors to cut checks to upstate campaign accounts. Four upstate Democrats—all of whom lost—received the money and spent it on BerlinRosen and AKPD. Anthony Scannapieco, chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party, has filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections over the transfers and called the scheme "money-laundering." But such transfers are routine in state politics, say those in the industry. Political parties or committees often raise large amounts of money that are passed to candidates, and are allowed to work together, said election lawyer Jerry Goldfeder. "It's perfectly legal," he said. One county chairman who got heavy payments from de Blasio donors—before transferring the funds to a Senate candidate—refused to say whether the mayor's camp told him where to steer the money. "I really don't have any comment right now on that," Ulster Democratic leader Frank Cardinale said last week. "I would have to think hard about that." On Oct. 14, four donors gave the Ulster Democrats more than $364,000, and the party quickly transferred $160,000 into the account of first-term Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk. Between Oct. 10 and Oct. 17, her campaign paid $155,000 for television ads produced by AKPD. Many of the payments went to pay for airtime. The firm's Mr. del Cecato was behind the famous ad featuring Dante de Blasio that fueled his father's meteoric rise to mayor. Similar transactions involving Mr. de Blasio's consultants popped up in three other Senate races. On Oct. 17, a major union supporter of Mr. de Blasio donated $100,000 to the Monroe County Democratic Committee, whose chairman then forwarded $60,000 to Sen. Ted O'Brien's campaign. (Monroe Democratic Chairman Dave Garretson told Crain's that Mr. de Blasio's team did not have "any part whatsoever" in his committee's decision.) A number of the donors from whom Mr. de Blasio's team solicited money have interests before the city. A bus-company magnate from Texas who gave $100,000 to the Putnam Democrats—and had never given in a New York election before—was the beneficiary of a $42 million city handout to private bus companies in August.* REBNY-backed candidates sweep midterm elections(CrainsNY)Outside spending: With Senate Republicans holding a significant cash advantage, the Senate Democrats will rely on unlimited outside spending from the United Federation of Teachers and the health care workers union, 1199 SEIU. On the Senate Republican side, records show, a new Washington D.C.-based group called Protect NYS PAC has raked in $200,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group that has helped flip Legislatures Republicanacross the country. The RSLC has also been poised to pour money into another outside Republican group, Balance New York . But one of its chief strategists, Susan Del Percio, left for the Cuomo administration in March, and through May, Balance New York had only $6,000 on hand. A spokeswoman for the RSLC said it plans to fund both outside groups this year. “It’s early in the cycle,” the RSLC spokeswoman said. “New York is a key priority for the RSLC and we have full confidence in both groups.” An operative working for Balance New York , Claude LaVigna, said the group was still moving forward, and had gotten $50,000 from the RSLC last week.* Super PAC spending pumps $14M so far into battle forstate Senate(NYDN)
More on Lobbyists BerlinRosen Takes Over NYC Government
So Far the Biggest Victims of the de Blasio, Sharpton, Bratton NYPD Civil War is the Press and Stringer
Progressives Push‘Consent’ as Antidote to Racial Bias in Drug Stops(NYO)* Members of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus and liberal activists are pushing a new bill that would require police officers to identify themselves when making a stop and to request permission before making a search, the Observer reports:
Bratton: Media Is Trying to ‘Scare the Hell Outof People’(NYO) “Why some of the press continue to try to scare the hell out of people in this city, that the New York City Police Department is somehow in full retreat from the practice of policies — many of which I put into effect the last time I was here — we are not retreating from enforcing the law,” Mr. Bratton said at a press conference on marijuana policy. “We are going to continually focus on improving the quality of our arrests and the focus of those arrests, and that’s exactly what we’re doing on buy-and-bust.” The New York Post first reported last week that the buy-and-bust operations for marijuana had been stopped “in a desperate attempt by the de Blasio administration to regain dwindling support from minorities.” That was just the latest story in the Post a top city official has been forced to shoot down. Mr. Bratton and Mr. de Blasio held a joint press conference just to insist that the paper was incorrect in reporting tension between the commissioner, the mayor, and Mr. de Blasio’s wife Chirlane McCray over the resignation of Chief of Department Philip Banks. Several months ago, the mayor shot down a DNAinfo story alleging Mr. de Blasio would rather jettison Mr. Bratton than lose the support of Rev. Al Sharpton.
de Blasio Attacks Press
Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire(AP)
So Far the Biggest Victims of the de Blasio, Sharpton, Bratton NYPD Civil War is the Press and Stringer
Bratton: Media Is Trying to ‘Scare the Hell Outof People’(NYO) “Why some of the press continue to try to scare the hell out of people in this city, that the New York City Police Department is somehow in full retreat from the practice of policies — many of which I put into effect the last time I was here — we are not retreating from enforcing the law,” Mr. Bratton said at a press conference on marijuana policy. “We are going to continually focus on improving the quality of our arrests and the focus of those arrests, and that’s exactly what we’re doing on buy-and-bust.” The New York Post first reported last week that the buy-and-bust operations for marijuana had been stopped “in a desperate attempt by the de Blasio administration to regain dwindling support from minorities.” That was just the latest story in the Post a top city official has been forced to shoot down. Mr. Bratton and Mr. de Blasio held a joint press conference just to insist that the paper was incorrect in reporting tension between the commissioner, the mayor, and Mr. de Blasio’s wife Chirlane McCray over the resignation of Chief of Department Philip Banks. Several months ago, the mayor shot down a DNAinfo story alleging Mr. de Blasio would rather jettison Mr. Bratton than lose the support of Rev. Al Sharpton.
de Blasio Attacks Press
Sharpton Attacks the Press Over Noerdlinger Coverage
Lots of media-bashing from @TheRevAl over coverage of @rachelnoerd. To the press: "have you no pride in your profession?" *
More Shapton Speek Saturday
Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire(AP)
.@TheRevAl says he and @BilldeBlasio have not discussed the allegations surrounding @rachelnoerd .@TheRevAl defends @rachelnoerd, says she has been victim of inaccurate attacks - including that Sharpton was father of her son. .@TheRevAl, uses fiery rhetoric to distance himself from Rubenstein case, says focus is solely on Eric Garner. .@TheRevAl compares allegations against Sanford Rubenstein (Garner family attorney) to a roadblock which they'll work around.
Azi @Azi (Capital)
.@TheRevAl and the family of Eric Garner appear at NAN headquarters in Harlem .@TheRevAl said a reporter asked if he was the father of @rachelnoerd’s teenage son. "if she is judged by her boyfriend…” —@TheRevAl defends @rachelnoerd. cc @Lis_Smith "maybe there is a need for a special prosecutor to work on this case”—new lawyer for #EricGarner family Jonathan Moore. cc @NationalAction "we’re not trying to change a story, we’re trying to change the world”—@thereval re: @rachelnoerd. "when you were choking eric, you were choking all of us”—@TheRevAl re: #EricGarner. #nypd cc @changethenypd @MarshallProj @PROPNYC "we never got any money from a lawyer or victim”—@TheRevAl re: police abuse victims. cc @NYCLU @HuffPostNY #NYPD
Dean Meminger @DeanMeminger
New #EricGarner family lawyer #JonathanMoore says there needs to be a movement to arrest the #NYPD officers involved in Garner case. @NY1 #Sharpton says he and #NationalActionNetwork don't get money from lawyers or victims. Responding to accusations that have been made for yrs. @TheRevAl says he's a diamond not charcoal. Says he had to be charcoal first to become a diamond. Says he's a changed man. Public thoughts?
McCray Plays the Race Card Against the NYP
.@Chirlane: "Too many city newsrooms do not reflect the population of NYC or the experiences of the majority of New Yorkers" .@Chirlane: "Too many city newsrooms do not reflect the population of NYC or the experiences of the majority of New Yorkers" Reading through it was an astonishing and surreal experience. It’s like the reporters created a fictional character that happened to look like me and have the same name as me. They put words into my mouth that I never said. They gave me opinions that have never crossed my mind. They made it sound like NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is my sworn enemy, when in fact he has my full support. There is a small but stubborn group of people who adamantly oppose the efforts of Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton to create a more fair and equal policing system. Myopically loyal to a status quo that serves their personal interests at the expense of everyone else, they are doing whatever they can to stop reform – and that includes spreading lies to irresponsible reporters.
OK WDP After You Help Reelected the Gov and Knock WFP on its Ass What Now?
What’s next for Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Party?(Capital)
Power Struggle Inside WFP
Power Struggle Inside WFP
Also: Liveries react as Schneiderman wades into taxi fight; NYC vs. London : airport edition.
As True News Reported Subway and Bus Fares Going Up After the Election
Why Are Pols Not Being Question On the Fare Hike During Their Campaigns?
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may raise New York City subway and bus fare to $2.75 and incrase prices for weekly and monthly passes, part of its effort to boost revenue by 4 percent next year, the Journal writes: * MTA considering twofare hike plans * Two months after the commission Cuomo charged with “reinventing” the MTA held its final meeting, its members say they do not know why their final report hasn not been released yet, Capital New York reports:
New York City is weighing whether to raise subway and bus fares a quarter, to $2.75, or leave the base fare unchanged at $2.50 a ride but trim the multiple-ride discount. What proposal do you prefer?* A monthly MetroCard will cost $116.50 with 2015's fare hike (EverythingNY)
Just Wait Till Pension Contract and Capital Budget Costs Come Due
Just Wait Till Pension Contract and Capital Budget Costs Come Due
DiNapoli also released a report showing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s short-term financial outlook has been buoyed by the economy, but simply borrowing money to close the unprecedented $15 billion funding gap in its proposed five-year capital program could be costly for riders, WNYC reports: * MTA borrowing could mean major fare hikes(NYP) Straphangers could be hit with hefty fare increases if the MTA chooses to borrow billions of dollars to help pay for its transit improvement plan, a new report warns.
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State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office found that every $1 billion the MTA borrows to help fill the massive $15.2 billion funding gap in its latest capital plan is equivalent to a 1 percent rate hike for riders. That means if the MTA were to rely solely on borrowing money from the government, it would have to raise fares and tolls more than 15 percent — bringing the price of a single subway or bus ride up to approximately $2.90. Fares are already set to rise by 4 percent every two years beginning in 2015.* The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital plan is filled with misplaced priorities, not focusing enough on needed repairs and renovations and not explaining where its funding will come from, the Citizens Budget Commission writes in a new report:
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Anyone who doubts the devotion of our armed forces needs look no further than those veterans who served their country even as it pushed them into the closet, U.S. Rep. CharlesRangel writes in the Daily News: * Editorial: Thanks of a grateful city(NYDN) * Ticker tape parade for Iraq, Afghanistan vets put on hold (NYDN) * A classic: Why Andy Rooney hated being called a veteran - (CBS)* A Salute to the Greatest Living American
de Blasio Keeps A Campaign Promise and Puts A Tax on Pot Heads . . . NYP: Kelly Started the Process Last Year
Drama in Bratton’s Second Act (City Journal)* New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said she wants to see recreational marijuana legalized in New York , even though Mayor Bill de Blasio, her ally and fellow Democrat, is opposed to full legalization, the Observer reports:
Wednesday
'SOME GUYS ARE REALLY BLAMING DE BLASIO': NYPD cops upset with new pot possession rules talk possible work slowdown(NYDB)*
A wise, well-calibrated change to marijuana arrests*
Tuesday NYPD’s new pot policy was already enacted by Kelly(NYP) “Kelly started the whole process,” one source told The Post. “It used to be that if you had weed, you could get arrested. But then he put out a memo in early 2013 saying if someone is in possession of marijuana, it is no longer an arrest, it is a summons, as long as they don’t have a warrant.”
Concerns in Criminal Justice System as New York City Eases Marijuana Policy(NYT) * New York City ’snew approach to marijuana enforcement could be a big step forward—for the cops as well as for people busted for small amounts of pot, the Post writes: * 'Equating [pot possession] to a parking ticket': New NYPD stance on small amounts of weed ignites strong opinions on both sides of the issue(NYDN) * OPINION: New York’s pot flashback! Don't arrest smokers — just tax them — and open up a flood of revenue for NYC(NYDN) * THE NEWS SAYS: NYPD preserves power to crack down on marijuana, while protecting casual users from jail time(NYDN) * NYPD not making arrests for marijuana — of any amount — defies federal laws: former DEA chief(NYDN) * NYPD's change in policy is an improvement, now let's hope it ends its 'marijuana crusade': NYCLU head(NYDN)* Cop Union Boss Claims De Blasio Marijuana PolicyTurning ‘Backs on Minorities’(NYO) * Black Leaders Criticize Pot Policy Change As 'Sugar Pill'(WSJ)
De Blasio, Bratton and Kelly Cross Paths atVeterans Day Parade (NYO)* Although the NYPD will no longer arrest people with fewer than 25 grams of marijuana and instead give them a summons, police can arrest those smoking it in public or who just finished doing so, the Daily Newsreports: * The Problem With New York’s Marijuana Policy(NYT Ed) The policy, however, does not reach the fundamental problem of discriminatory policing that disproportionately affects minorities, even though whites use marijuana at similar levels. Moreover, by shifting marijuana cases from the regular courts into the summons system, which does not identify the accused by race, the city loses the ability to track the disparate impact that petty marijuana prosecutions are having on minority communities. The city has to make the summons system more transparent. A trip to summons court can also lead to a permanent record and a nightmare encounter with the police system. Courts can issue bench warrants for people who miss court dates, who then can be arrested, handcuffed, fingerprinted and held for days in jail waiting to go before a judge.
Stop and Frisk Update
The lawyer appointed to help oversee reforms of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy has backed out and will be replaced by a retired judge, Manhattan federal court papers show, the NewYork Post writes:
In New York City,Marijuana May Mean Ticket, Not Arrest(NYT)
New policy could reduce marijuana possession arrests(NYP)
Heads to Role At DSCC After Lose of the Senate
DSCC Head Gianaris Paid Parkside $300,000 Household Account and Mark Guma $150,000 From the Household Account To Lose the State Senate
Senate Candidate Terry Gipson campaign Paid Parkside an Addition $150,000
Senate Candidate Alan Falk Paid Mark Guma an Addition $120,000
Assembly Candidate Diane Dwire paid Guma an Additional $60,000
de Blasio Hides A Bus Company Payoff In A Putnam Democrat Housekeeper Account to Fund A Senate Take Over
What's driving political donations(CrainsNY)Last month, a man named Alexis Lodde made a $100,000 donation to a Hudson Valley Democratic Party account. It was an exceptional gift from a Texan who until recently had never made a political contribution in New York . The donation came less than two months after employees at certain bus companies, including one owned by Mr. Lodde's firm, were given a $42 million grant pushed through by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Employees at Mr. Lodde's company are expected to be among the largest beneficiaries. The Daily News reported that Mr. de Blasio and associates raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the obscure campaign account—the Putnam County Democratic Committee, whose chairman quickly transferred $433,000 to help two Democratic state Senate candidates.
Mr. de Blasio has been working to facilitate a Democratic takeover of the Senate. State law prohibits gifts of more than $10,300 to a state Senate candidate, but donors can give $103,000 to county political committees, which can then make unlimited transfers to candidates. A de Blasio spokesman said the mayor had not personally requested Mr. Lodde's gift, but declined to say who had. Mr. Lodde owns Dallas-based MV Transportation, which in 2011 purchased USA United Fleet, which operated 500 bus routes for the city's public schools. MV subsidiary Reliant Bus Co. took over those deals and maintains lucrative contracts with the Department of Education. Some 900 Reliant workers are expected to get raises from the $42 million city grant. Critics warned that the $42 million set a bad precedent. Supporters portrayed it as a safety measure, saying higher pay yields better workers to transport schoolchildren. Although Mr. de Blasio's measure was primarily meant to appease union workers at Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181—whose pay had been cut when former Mayor Michael Bloomberg rebid school contracts in his final term—bus companies such as Mr. Lodde's are helped indirectly by the subsidy, said Carol Kellermann, president of the Citizens Budget Commission.
Buying the Government Right Before Out Eyes
The city can negotiate new bus contracts next year. Republican billionaire John Catsimatidis, meanwhile, told the Daily News he gave $50,000 to the Putnam County
Cuomo Slush Fund Cuomo ally pro-charter Families for Excellent Schools Inc.spent $6 million thru June...curious why not on JCOPE list * Is It "Quid Pro Cuomo" Time? Charter Dollars Pour into Governor's Re-Election Campaign (Huff Post) * Putnam County GOP files complaint over Democrats' campaigns * Bill de Blasio is a superb mayor, according to sometaxpayer-funded YouTube videos (NYP)
In NYC the Lilliputian Party Leaders Are Kings and Voters Are Disrespected
Albany What Do You Do When You Win Reelection With Fake Promises Raise Your Pay
A good number in Albany
Rumblings over potential legislative pay raise(NYDN) Albany , you need to be able to pay them responsibly.”But while not definitively ruling out a pay raise this year, the Silver source and an aide to Senate GOP Leader Dean Skelos said there have been no high-level talks on the issue as of yet. Others, however, say that could change quickly, especially if the Legislature returns to Albany before January to take up some other issues, which is possible. The Senate is expected back in the next few weeks to take up Gov. Cuomo's nomination of Judge Leslie Stein to the state's top court. * No local lawmakerswho spoke to the Albany Times Union said they would vote to raise their payfrom $79,500, but several seemed open to considering the idea as part of a larger package of pay bills and reforms:* Pay Raise Politics(YNN)During a CapTon interview last night, Strong Economy for All’s Mike Kink warned of “widespread civil disobedience” if legislators return to Albany before the end of the year to boost their $79,500 base pay and fail to take action on increasing the hourly minimum wage to at least $10.10 – if not higher.* With the floating of a legislative pay raise again underway, advocates on the left are warning state lawmakers not to hike their own salary without also raising the minimum wage, State of Politics reports: * Rumors of Pay Raise for State Lawmakers Swirl in Albany(NY1)* Lawmakers Urged to Pass Higher Wage(WSJ)* Labor leader: Link lawmaker pay raise to minimum wage hike(Capital)*Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shot down calls from some advocates that any potential legislative pay raise be linked to passage of a bill to again hike the state’s minimum wage.*The Democrat-controlled Assembly appears amenable to the idea of raising legislative pay, but possible support in the Senate—led for the past two years by the GOP, with help from the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference—is another question, the Times Union reports:
At Somos de Blasio Throws Klein's Spaghetti Against the Wall to See If Anything Sticks
De Blasio skips Puerto Rico beach for politicking(NYDN)The mayor, attending the Somos el Futuro conference along with hundreds of other
Dear NYT: State Senate Elections Have Consequences
Round Two for Gov. Cuomo(NYT) His decreased leverage makes delivering on his promises seem more challenging than ever.
NYT Why Is A GOP Senate Ab Obstacle When That is What the Governor Wanted?
One of the biggest obstacles is of his own making. He did far too little to help Democrats running for State Senate seats across the state, depriving them of financial support as well as the energy he could have brought to their campaigns.
Dear NYT: A GOP Senate Which Depended On Millions From LLCs Is Not Going to Pass Public Financing to Give Dems A Better Chance to Beat Them
First, he should figure out a way to honor his vow to reform the state’s corrupt political culture through stricter campaign finance laws and changes in the pay-to-play traditions in Albany . This task is made no easier by the fact that Mr. Cuomo himself took in $45 million in campaign contributionsfrom real estate and communications companies and other businesses.
Dear NYT With A GOP Senate Will Pass the Women's Rights Bill Without the Right to Choose Competent, Which Could Have Been Months Ago
Second, Mr. Cuomo has put women’s rights high on his agenda, and it should stay there. His package of proposals — and he should continue to demand the whole package, not pieces of it — includes stronger human trafficking laws, new protections for victims of domestic violence, protection of students from sexual violence on campuses and pay equity for women.
Dear NYT: Minimum Wage Is Being Pushed Because Pols Will Not Address the Loss Of Good Paying Jobs Overseas and to Technology
Mr. Cuomo promised to raise the minimum wage, now $8 an hour, without specifying a number. Though increasing the minimum wage is not popular with Republican legislators, it is with voters, and it should be one of the easiest changes state lawmakers can make.* Senate’s Dean Skelos touts fracking and charters(NYP)* Skelos Set to PushCharters, Tax Cuts and Fracking After Senate Gains (NYO)
It Was Actually the Cuomo-Skelos-Media Pact
Cuomo and Skelos Not So Secret Deal
Cuomo had a secret re-election ‘pact’ with Republicans(NYP, Dicker)Long Island races, a top New York GOP leader has charged. Former state Republican Party Executive Director Michael Lawler — who managed Rob Astorino’s ill-fated gubernatorial run against Cuomo — told The Post that he learned of the alleged bombshell deal between Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos and Cuomo just days ago, after suspecting for months that it existed.* Astorino, who wonthe Westchester executive race on his secondtry, is front-runner for a second crack at Cuomo (NYDN) When will the newspapers start reporting on the inaccurate polls? * Threats of primaries already being issued against Independent Democratic Conference - NY Daily News State law prohibits individuals from giving more than $10,300 to state Senate candidates.
Let Albany Vote On Closing the LLC Campaign Finance Loophole
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NYC's Progressives Never Speak Of Government Reforms Like the Founders of Their Movement Built Their Cause On
NYC Fake Progressive Movement
The 1st Progressive Era Goal Was to Destroy Political Bosses
The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s.[1] One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercuttingpolitical machines and bosses. Many (but not all) Progressives supported prohibition in order to destroy the political power of local bosses based in saloons.[2] At the same time, women's suffrage was promoted to bring a "purer" female vote into the arena.[3] A second theme was building an Efficiency movement in every sector that could identify old ways that needed modernizing, and bring to bear scientific, medical and engineering solutions.Progressives sought to enable the citizenry to rule more directly and circumvent political bosses. Many cities set up municipal reference bureaus to study the budgets and administrative structures of local governments. Charles Henry Parkhurst (April 17, 1842 – September 8, 1933) was an American clergyman and social progressive. Although scholarly and reserved, he preached two sermons in 1892 in which he attacked the political corruption of New York City government. Backed by the evidence he collected, his statements led to both the exposure of Tammany Hall and to subsequent social and political reforms. Frances Perkins and the New Deal
The Real Progressives Reform Movement 1890 to the 1920's
Today's Progressives Just Power Hungry
The Real Progressives Reform Movement 1890 to the 1920's
Today's Progressives Just Power Hungry
Progressives Make A Deal With the Corrupt Brooklyn Boss to Elect Speaker
"They went from progressive deals to back-room deals with a machine boss in record time"(Capital)
"They went from progressive deals to back-room deals with a machine boss in record time"(Capital)
Daily News de Blasio Undercut City Lawyers In Central Park 5 Settlement
Mayor de Blasio approved the settlement of the wrongful conviction suit in the 1989 rape case after ignoring the advice of city attorneys, who saw the deal as political, a Daily News investigation found.While de Blasio labeled the settlement a “moral obligation,” attorneys at the city Law Department felt the deal reeked of politics after the neophyte mayor undercut their case and ignored more than a decade of their hard work.The deal, approved by a judge in September, disregarded a recommended $15 million payout cap and blocked the lawyers from fighting a wrongful conviction suit that many viewed as winnable, according to sources. They were overruled by de Blasio, who ordered their new boss — Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter — to settle the case, leaving the lawyers to try and minimize the damage to taxpayers.* City's top lawyer decided on $41 million Central Park Five settlement: de Blasio(NYDN) * The $41 million questions (NYDN ED) Open up all the files in the Central Park jogger case
John Sampson "I had the mayor, the gov...all the unions against me& I still beat my opponents." The former conference leader breezed through the general election after fighting through a contested Democratic primary, where he faced a formidable challenge from Dell Smitherman. He did so despite a federal indictment and looming trial, where he'll try to prove he's not guilty of lying to the F.B.I. and threatening a federal witness—charges that led Democrats to expel him from their conference when he was first indicted in 2013. It didn't really matter—the Democrats were in the minority, and could afford to stand on principle. It will remain a moot question whether they would have welcomed Sampson back if they had one an additional seat in last week's elections, and under what terms he would have fallen in line behind colleagues who spurned him after the 2012 elections. * The onetime Democratic leader—a hulking, shuffling, two-pronged testimonial to the power of incumbency and the presumption of innocence—was bullish about his future but tight-lipped about his coming trial (“sometime next year”) and the nomination of his prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, as the next attorney general.
Sampson Beats Gov, Mayor and Unions Goes to Albany and Trial
Cuomo vs de Blasio Education War Reboots
Cuomo vows education reform in second term (NYP) * Gov ready to teach unions how to deal with change(NYP) Cuomo — who noted that the state teachers union didn’t endorse him in either of his two races for governor — said overhauling the education system would be as important to his legacy for him as winning approval of gay marriage and enacting strict gun-control laws. “I want performance in education. It’s that simple … Did that upset the teachers union? Yes it does. We have a difference of opinion,” Cuomo said on the Albany New York ’s big-spending, poor-performing public school system. Go get ’em, gov. Late in his reelection campaign, Cuomo told the Daily News Editorial Board he wanted to break up the “public education monopoly.
| How de Blasio Dances With Cuomo |
National Bklyn Lynch New AG
FROM BK TO DC: Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch is Obama's pick for next AG, White House says(NYDN)
Editorial: Doing New York proud(NYDN Ed)
Michael Scotto @mikescotto It looks like Rev. Sharpton is in the audience as Pres. Obama announces Loretta Lynch as AG nominee.*
NYC's Gimm Future in Washington
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| Grimm Race, NYC Congressional Delegation |
Who Does New York go to when they start cutting NYCHA, MTA and Health Care Funds?
GOP Boss Vincent Tabone Lawyer Pregnant Wants Delay
One of the Bums Who Made Sure the City's GOP Were Corrupt and Leaderless Has One More Trick to Stay Out of Jail for a While
Pregnant Lawyer Requests Delay in New York Corruption Retrial(NYP) Deborah N. Misir, who represents Vincent Tabone, a former leader of the Queens Republican Committee, told Judge Kenneth M. Karas of Federal District Court that she must avoid stress.
Photo Bomb Cuomo
Cuomo, trying to enjoy a little post-election down time, inadvertently photo-bombed a young girl’s picture at a Dunkin Donuts, which subsequently wound up on Twitter, the Daily News reports: ” Two days after cruising to victory, he expanded on his ambitions in an interview with public radio’s Susan Arbetter. * De Blasio's campaign for Democrat-ruled state Senate mayhave doomed his agenda * In Deal, Staff at 2 of New York ’s Lowest Performing Schools Must Reapply for Jobs
* Astorino To Senate GOP: Act Like Republicans (YNN) * Astorino: Republicans Need To Raise Money(YNN)* Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said he may run for governor again in 2018 and that Gov. Chris Christie’s dismissal of his race against Cuomo was damaging when he most needed to raise funds, the Daily Newsreports:
Cuomo" Leftists Wrong On Issues Public Cares About
Cuomo won with fewer votes (1.95M) than his father got when he lost in 94 ((2.36M)
Andrew Cuomo source: Leftists don't focus on issues thepublic really care about (UPDATED) New York City ," the source said. "Their biggest problem was they were talking about issues that they philosophically believe in but were clearly not shared by the voters they were trying to court for their candidates." For instance, it was ludicrous to spend money on having failed Democratic primary candidate Zephyr Teachout, a liberal Fordham Law professor, record calls for upstate Democratic state Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk days before the election, the source said. Tkaczyk lost to Republican George Amedore. UPDATE: A Democratic operative shot back at Team Cuomo. "This is silly coming from the guy that traveled the state in a women's equality bus and started a new women's party," the Dem said. "The governor underperformed and a million less less voters showed up. That has an affect." What the Frack Cuomo Cuomo faces pressure to decide fate of fracking(NYP)* Cuomo predicts lessprogressive change in 2015Crain'sNY* Republican StateSenate Hurts de Blasio but May Help Cuomo (WSJ)
Klein I Gave You (GOP) the Best Years of My Life
FRONT-RUNNER—Klein sides with power—Jimmy, filing from San Juan: The struggle between Democrats and Republicans for Jeff Klein's allegiance was supposed to be the dominant undercurrent of this weekend's Somos El Futuro conference, with impromptu poolside meetings, threats exchanged, and deals cut. After Republicans won an outright, 32-seat majority in the State Senate, Klein and his five-member, breakaway Independent Democratic Conference were no longer a must-have item. Practically, though, the I.D.C. remained very much in play, despite promise to ally with Democrats. In an interview with NY1 late Thursday, Klein picked the Republicans. "I've had a great working relationship with Senator [Dean] Skelos. I hope that continues," Klein told NY1's Zack Fink, referring to the Republican conference leader. "And I hope he agrees with me—that a coalition government was not only good over the last couple of years, but is something that works really really well in the months and years ahead."* Oliver Koppell, who challenged state Sen. Jeff Klein in a Democratic primary, criticized him for wanting to rejoin Senate Republicans and accused him of chasing “personal power,” Gannett Albany reports: * Queens Sen. TonyAvella sticking with Independent Democratic Conference(NYDN)* Klein, diminished but still desired, sides with power(Capital)* IDC May Live On Despite Republican State Senate Majority(NY1)* Skelos: Voters got our message about the economy, jobs
Klein I Gave You (GOP) the Best Years of My Life
Klein and his breakaway Senate Democrats are already facing threats of primaries in two years if they again join the Republicans but don't deliver on at least one progressive issue, the Daily News reports:
FRONT-RUNNER—Klein sides with power—Jimmy, filing from San Juan: The struggle between Democrats and Republicans for Jeff Klein's allegiance was supposed to be the dominant undercurrent of this weekend's Somos El Futuro conference, with impromptu poolside meetings, threats exchanged, and deals cut. After Republicans won an outright, 32-seat majority in the State Senate, Klein and his five-member, breakaway Independent Democratic Conference were no longer a must-have item. Practically, though, the I.D.C. remained very much in play, despite promise to ally with Democrats. In an interview with NY1 late Thursday, Klein picked the Republicans. "I've had a great working relationship with Senator [Dean] Skelos. I hope that continues," Klein told NY1's Zack Fink, referring to the Republican conference leader. "And I hope he agrees with me—that a coalition government was not only good over the last couple of years, but is something that works really really well in the months and years ahead."* Oliver Koppell, who challenged state Sen. Jeff Klein in a Democratic primary, criticized him for wanting to rejoin Senate Republicans and accused him of chasing “personal power,” Gannett Albany reports: * Queens Sen. TonyAvella sticking with Independent Democratic Conference(NYDN)* Klein, diminished but still desired, sides with power(Capital)* IDC May Live On Despite Republican State Senate Majority(NY1)* Skelos: Voters got our message about the economy, jobs
Stringer If You Attack the Mayor Expect to Be Sent A Message or Attacked Back
Or Did Stringer Piss Off Someone On Wall Street Like Liu on the Pension Pie . . . Post Repeated Attacks on Single Issue
Wednesday Stringer NYP Update
Monday Stringer Starts the Fight Back
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DOB spent $5.8million on a consultant's worksite safety plan but has fully implemented only 8of 65 recommendations: (NYDN)* An audit by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer found the Bloomberg-era Buildings Department spent millions on consultants to learn how to avoid accidents at tower projects but failed to implement proposals, the Observer reports
Update Saturday: NYP Keeps the Hit On Stringer Going
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Calls to nix NYPD ‘anti-terror’ drivers(NYP)New York City and one-time Chicago police commander, blasted the practice — saying terrorists wouldn’t target these officials. “I don’t think they need a security detail at all,” he said.* Why Has the NYPDBeen Airing So Many Grievances in the Press Lately? (NY Mag)
Sunday NYP Stringer Hit
De Blasio ducks responsibility for officials’ NYPD drivers(NYP) Mayor de Blasio ducked responsibility on Saturday — saying it’s not his decision whether the NYPD provides drivers for top city officials and punting questions on the topic to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. “I’m not sure all the facts are out there. I have a lot of faith in Commissioner Bratton,” de Blasio said Saturday in San Juan , Puerto Rico , where he’s attending the annual Somos el Futuro conference with a slew of city and state officials. “So, I leave it to their judgment,” the mayor said. “And I think all those questions should go to Commissioner Bratton and his team.” Bratton did not respond to a request for comment.
Wednesday Stringer NYP Update
NYC cops & comptrollers(NYP) JFK Airport , the New York Stock Exchange and Times Square . Granted, Kelly and/or his current employer, Cushman Wakefield, could pick up the tab for his security needs. But the real issue is more than money. It’s this: If we are going to reassess the need of a former NYPD commissioner for a police detail, shouldn’t we be having a similar reassessment for politicians chauffeured around like Turkish pashas by police officers who would be better used to do what they are trained for — fighting crime?
Monday Stringer Starts the Fight Back
Sunday NYP Stringer Hit
The @nypost due to their vendetta Against @EliotSpitzer bears some responsibility @scottmstringer's win:
Spitzerized Hit Job on Stringer
NYPD elite tapped to chauffeur low-level city officials(NYP)
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James and Mark-Viverito referred all questions to the NYPD, which determines who is assigned a security detail. The three officials can have the cops take them anywhere they want — official events, personal errands, Saturday-night parties and weekend getaways — as long as they are personally in the car at the time, the Conflicts of Interest Board ruled in 2009.* Out of comptrol(NYP) City Comptroller Scott Stringer does a lot of audits. Now someone needs to audit him. This week, The Post has reported how Stringer seems to be using his security detail for personal business, including driving his wife around — and abusing the detail’s detectives. Sources say four officers asked for a transfer recently, and a fifth, a fed-up female detective, quit last summer.
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Cops quit Stringer’s security detail after chauffeuring wife(NYP) City Comptroller Scott Stringer didn’t dump his NYPD security detail — they asked for a transfer because he made them drive his wife to work and chewed them out for being late, sources close to the detectives told The Post Wednesday. An angry Stringer called the cops at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 22 and ripped them for being a half-hour late to pick up his wife, Elyse Buxbaum, at their Upper West Side pad, sources close to the detectives said. * New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer dumped two cops from his NYPD security detail because they were late picking him up in the morning and then didn’t notice him and left an event that night and walked back home, the Post reports: * New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s audit of charter schools reeks of the same selective political targeting the IRS has become infamous for, the Post writes:
Quick Win for PA James From Mayor Who Reacts to Media Stories
Is Hell Frozen? NYP Thanks the Green Party
.@nypost edit page commends Green Party for running real candidate, attacks cross endorsements by 3rd parties and WFP
Two cheers for New York’s Green Party(NYP) We don’t normally find much agreement with New York ’s Green Party when it comes to policy. But in this year’s election for governor, the Greens stood out by doing what third parties are supposed to do — but in New York so rarely do: They ran their own candidate, giving voters a real alternative. Their man was Howie Hawkins, who ended up with more than 175,000 votes — a huge increase over the 65,000 he received last time around. In sharp contrast, every other minor party with a permanent ballot line backed either Democratic Gov. Cuomo or GOP candidate Rob Astorino, thanks to New York ’s bizarre system of allowing cross-endorsements. And except for the Conservatives, all saw their totals decline. That’s especially true of the Working Families Party, the union front that abandoned its own self-professed principles and cut a cynical deal to back Cuomo, despite strong disagreements with him. That left its leaders in the perverse position of arguing that a vote for Cuomo on the WFP line was in fact a vote against Cuomo. In a perfect world, the Legislature would put an end to this cross-endorsement circus and the corruption it invites. But too many people have a stake in the smelly status quo. So until that day comes, congratulations to the Green Party for sticking with its convictions — and showing New Yorkers what a genuine third party looks like.
MTA Security Another Failed IT Contract
MTA Security Another Failed IT Contract
Lockheed’s security system for NYC subway is totally useless(NYP) Lockheed’s security system for NYC subway is totally useless,” by NY Post’s Rich Calder, Rebecca Harshbarger and Reuven Fenton: “Defense contractor Lockheed Martin left New Yorkers with a subway security system that ‘does not function at all’ and ‘has unnecessarily endangered thousands of lives,’ putting billions of dollars of MTA property at risk, former Police Commissioner Howard Safir says in a scathing 120-page report. Safir, who was hired by the [MTA] as a consultant for the agency’s $200 million-plus breach-of-contract lawsuit against Lockheed, testified in Manhattan federal court Thursday about his findings, which include ‘threats, vulnerabilities and risks’ to straphangers and the MTA’s platforms, tunnels, railyards and other properties from its failure to deliver on a 2005 contract for a sweeping security system. … Among his findings are that the system fails on the most basic critical levels, such as quickly playing back video for cops in case of a terror attack, so, for example, they can see who left a bomb or other type of weapon in a particular location. It also fails to warn if a device, like an alarm or camera, is not working.” * NYC MTA SecurityScandal Lockhead Like hewlett-Packard Delivering Crap 911 Tech System (Troy Artist)
Courtesy of @Politico, the most embarrassing wrong calls of 2014
The problem is the tone, not the tactic. Many people don’t realize that their participation in an election is a matter of public record, unlike their actual vote. Apathy and laziness are the worst enemies of a vigorous public life, and there’s nothing wrong with reminding people of their civic responsibility through a straightforward report card. But when the language turns threatening and creepy — “we will be interested to hear why not” — it can backfire, and has already produced many complaints. If Democrats had simply said, “you’ve got a great voting record, now keep it going,” or “you haven’t voted in years, but we really need you now” it would have served the function of a reminder without the threat. The Democrats, too often maligned as the party of Big Government, should be more careful not to draw comparisons to Big Brother.* Postcards mailed to select voters in Erie County
Team Cuomo Pulled from Ethnic Strongholds
Cuomo's campaign pulled voters out from democratic and ethic strongholds in NYC. At one polling place in Flushing the vote according to an election inspector was as high as a presidential election. The Hasidic Leaders from Orange County made a deal with the Independence Party Bosses and who else (sic) to deliver their vote for Cuomo on their line
The Kosher Independence Party Line
KJ Leaders Urge Vote for Cuomo on Indy Line (YNN) A SoP reader forwarded this sample ballot being handed out in Kiryas Joel, the Orange County village of Hasidic Jews Westchester , said he’s optimistic about his chances because his voters are enthusiastic and will come out in force, the Daily News reports:
Why Does the Media Print Pols Spin Lies About What They Did in the Election? . . . Nothing About the Public's Anger At Pols
Remove the five boroughs of NY City & Rob Astorino WON this #nygov election by 100,000 votes or by 4 pts
Cuomo I Helped the Senate Campaign
Facing criticism that Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not do enough to help Democratic state Senate candidates, his campaign defended his efforts and said he “endorsed nearly every candidate,” The New York Times reports: * Having Republicans in full control of the state Senate could give Cuomo political cover, while his best opportunities might be to approve popular fiscal plans, the Buffalo News writes: *Bruno To Skelos: No Need For IDC(YNN) * Cuomo Distances Himself From Democratic Losses(YNN) * Cuomo’s Fusion Success(YNN)* Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who didn’t campaign heavily for state Senate candidates and incumbents or vulnerable House candidates, blamed a national “Republican wave” for Democratic electoral losses in New York , State of Politics reports: * Quinn Fetes WEP Success(YNN) * Andrew Cuomo and the Sad State of the Working Families Party (In These Times) * Gov. Andrew Cuomo conquered what was once viewed as a Republican stronghold, winning the Orthodox Jewish vote in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn by 70 percent.* Andrew Cuomo rejects criticism lobbed against him for GOP takeover of state Senate(NYDN)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio deflected blame for losses that gave Republicans control of the state Senate and disputed the idea that his support for Democrats had backfired, the Times writes: * 'BILL De BlASIO KILLED HIS OWN AGENDA': Mayor's campaign forDemocrat-ruled state Senate may have doomed his strategy(NYDN)* Nicole Gelinas writes in City Journal that withRepublicans in charge of the state Senate, de Blasio will need help from Cuomo to further his top goals and won’t be able to go as far as he would like to with his policies: * De Blasio reckons with a Republican Senate (Capital)* Jeff Klein told @ZackFinkNews that his #IDC may live on even though the Republicans control the state Senate: * Cuomo predicts less progressive change in 2015(CrainsNY) * Avella said if IDCwent back on its word to caucus with Dems he would leave
NY Dems Blame Low Turnout
Two New Puppet Virtual Parties NY Dems Blame Low Turnout
State Senate Democrats cited low turnout, a strong national showing by Republicans and a GOP playbook dividing upstate and downstate in explaining their electoral losses, the Times Union reports:
Fredric U. Dicker @fud31 NYT: "Republican Takeover of Senate May Aid Andrew Cuomo’s Centrist Brand."
AP:"Cuomo's liberal agenda faces divided Legislature."
Schneiderman's Analysis
Schneiderman's Analysis
Schneiderman’s Post-Election Analysis(YNN)
Cuomo Keeps Banging the Teachers Unions
Cuomo reiterated that he will tackle an overhaul of education in his second term, a sign that he is not letting up on his battle with the state teachers union, State of Politics reports:
NY Democrat Leaders Pick A Sock Puppet for Congress and Blame It On Outsiders
In trying to explain Domenic Recchia’s loss to indicted Rep. Michael Grimm, observers point to a campaign run by outsiders toStaten Island , a brutal night for Democrats and Recchia’s gaffes, the Observer reports:
In trying to explain Domenic Recchia’s loss to indicted Rep. Michael Grimm, observers point to a campaign run by outsiders to
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de Blasio Says NY GOP Wins Will Not Hurt Convention Chances . . . But What About Philly Electiong Dem Governor?
De Blasio said Democrats’ poor election performance won’t hurt Brooklyn ’s chances of hosting the 2016 Democratic National Convention, despite talk that a swing state is now a more likely choice, the Daily News reports: * NYC Bill de Blasio insisted the beating the Democrats took in this week’s midterm elections won’t hurt the city’s chances of landing the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
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Daily News Under Their Low Grading System Congratulates the BOE for Counting
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Dawn of the brain dead(NYDN Ed) At long last, the city's Board of Elections starts counting votes more smartly. What About the BOE President Fine for Hiring His family? What about the Fuck Up Ballot? What about the 164 year old voters? What about the City Council take over of the board by controlling commissioners? Great job BOE in a low turnout election. We look forward to the long lines in Nov. 2016.
Cops quit Stringer’s security detail after chauffeuring wife(NYP) City Comptroller Scott Stringer didn’t dump his NYPD security detail — they asked for a transfer because he made them drive his wife to work and chewed them out for being late, sources close to the detectives told The Post Wednesday. An angry Stringer called the cops at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 22 and ripped them for being a half-hour late to pick up his wife, Elyse Buxbaum, at their Upper West Side pad, sources close to the detectives said.
Italian Leftovers In Carroll Gardens
Italian Leftovers In Carroll Gardens
As Brownstone Money Rushes into Carroll Gardens,Families Fall Apart(NYO) Old-guard Italians, once the neighborhood lifeblood, now 'leftovers.' In Carroll Gardens Carroll Gardens
More on Gentrification
More on Gentrification
Out of Town Silver
He needs to put it in park. Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, who came on board in May, has a weekly teaching gig at Harvard University and has traveled to Singapore ...
Cuomo Loves the Mayor and WFP Like Michael Loves Fredo . . . Fuck You Lesson
Bacio de Morte Canter, de Blasio
Yes Cuomo Wanted To Keep the Senate Away From the Democrats, But His Anger Exploded When He Found Out WFP and de Blasio Conspired to Teachout Him A Lession
De Blasio Denies Dem Defeats in New York About Him(NYO)
* Working Families Party Survives, But Loses Ground (NYO) * Thomas Kaplan @thomaskaplan WFP assails Cuomo: He "squandered millions on a fake party" while "Democrats in the Legislature and in Congress withered on the vine."* "long-term strategy of offering favors & politicalcover to the gov, despite his active undermining of City Hall"…(NYT) *De Blasio reckons with a Republican Senate (Capital)
The Aftermath: All Out "War" Between Cuomo and de Blasio
Did Republican Astorino Big Win Up-State or Big Money From Deep Pocket Contributors of the Mayor and Governor Make the Senate GOP?
Dems lost seats where Cuomo underperformed (Capital) * With Republicans claiming outright control of the state Senate, a major defeat was handed down to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Daily Newsreports: * .@NYSenate Dems handed bruising loss, kept out of power (Capital)* Sen. Simcha Felder might not be the only breakaway Democratto continue working w/ the state senate GOP. * Students First NY, a group supportive of charter schools and education reform that spent $4.2 million on Republicans in key state Senate races, is touting itself as a new counterbalance to the powerful statewide teachers’ union, State of Politics reports: * Democrats were routed in the state Senate in areas where Cuomo won markedly less support than in his 2010 campaign, according to voting returns, Capital New York writes:
It Became Clear to Team Cuomo That Teachout Was Put Up Against Him By WFP With the Blessings of de Blasio to Weaken the Gov
Double
Agent Teachout Started the War
While the WFP is Blaming the Governor the Facts Show They Started the Fight Against Cuomo
Teachout the Corruption Fighter Did Not Endorse A Candidate Against Him in the General? The Cuomo primary opponent who attacked the governor all summer for corruption did not endorse a candidate against him in the general. "There was no question ... that we would have gottenmore votes on our Green Party line if we had gone with Zephyr." (Capital)
Cuomo Set Up The Women's Party to Hurt the WFP
The Governor and Team WFP de Blasio Pump Money Against Each Other Into the State Senate Control Fight
Red America . . . Blue New York . . . Red Senate
54% Cuomo 1,918,000
41% Astorino 1,442,000
Cuomo's 3rd Party
Working Families 120,028
Independent 64,226
Women;s Party50,876
WEP has crossed 50,000: BoE site shows them at 49,247, but has only 24% of the vote from Erie , where WEP won 1,421 votes.* Women’s Equality Party Hits 50K Threshold(YNN)
Astorino Conservative 236,875Greens 175,250
Stop Common Core Over 50,000 (Friday)
Legislative Bill Yes 77%
School Bond Yes 61%
* All three statewide ballot propositions passed Tuesday—voters approving a measure to create a new panel to draw district lines for legislative seats every 10 years, $2 billion borrowed for school tech upgrades and a measure that would no longer require legislative bills to be printed on paper, Gannett Albany reports:
* Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday he voted against Prop 1—a controversial redistricting ballot proposal—joining a chorus of Democrats who opposed the measure and bucking the governor, who quietly supported it, the Observer reports:
Last 4 public polls in Cuomo/Astorino showed 23-pt margin. Final margin was 13pts. Not only a big polling miss but hurtful with $$ and GOTV.
Corporate Sponsored Junket Politics
Democrat split instate Senate talk of Puerto Rico conference attended by de Blasio, NY pols (NYDN) Much of the talk this year centered on the results of Tuesday’s elections, with Dems brainstorming about how to keep State Sen. Jeff Klein in the party fold inAlbany . Klein’s a Democrat, but leads a group of rogue Democrats who caucus with the Republicans. Albany . Klein’s a Democrat, but leads a group of rogue Democrats who caucus with the Republicans. * At Somos, Hochulpromises action on Dems' agenda (Capital)* Despite criticisms of sponsor Herbalife, SOMOS 2014 fall conference continues, unabated(Progress Queens) * Mayor Tours Puerto Rican Neighborhood, Meets with IDC Head(NY1)* State Progressives Feel Weight of Setbacks at Puerto Rico Conference(NY1)
* As Republican Rob Astorino took the stage to concede defeat to Cuomo, he hinted this wasn’t the end of his gubernatorial ambitions, saying “We have planted a flag and we will be back to reclaim it and advance it further,” Gannett Albany reports * Aftercongratulating him on winning reelection, the Post asks Gov. Cuomo to pleasetell the public what he is going to do on fracking, tolls on the
Daily News Says Dems Brainstorming at Somos Keeping Klein From Joining GOP "YEA"
Corporate Sponsored Junket Politics
Democrat split instate Senate talk of Puerto Rico conference attended by de Blasio, NY pols (NYDN) Much of the talk this year centered on the results of Tuesday’s elections, with Dems brainstorming about how to keep State Sen. Jeff Klein in the party fold in
Schneiderman
Schneiderman wins second term as attorneygeneral
Groundhog Albany State Senate Stays In Hands of GOP This Time Without IDC
Working Families Party slams Gov. Cuomo for Democrats'Senate loss(NYDN)
Hikind Wins 75% and Hank Sheinkopf Loses and Get Paid
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Controller TomDiNapoli are reelected in easy victories (NYDN)
Same 3 Men in A Room Again
Same 3 Men in A Room Again
Groundhog Albany State Senate Stays In Hands of GOP This Time Without IDC
Crain’s writes that Albany will likely look like it did four years ago, with Cuomo, Senate Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver the "three men in a room," but accomplishments during 2011 and 2012 show that divided, leader-dominated government can avoidgridlock:
Working Families Party knocks their candidate -- Cuomo(LoHud)
In Rebuke to Democrats, Voters Return Control of New York Senate toG.O.P.(NYT)
REPUBLICANS SEIZE STATE SENATE: The Republican Party capitalized on a nationwide shift and won enough seats so that they will no longer have to depend on the Independent Democratic Conference to stay in power, City & State reports:
With firmer control in State Senate, GOP says forget talk ofa higher NY minimum wage. via @CapitalNewYork * Sen. Simcha Felder might not be the only breakaway Democratto continue working w/ the state senate GOP.(C&S)* Astorino 2018? He Leaves The Door Open(YNN)
Hikind Wins 75% and Hank Sheinkopf Loses and Get Paid
NBC projects the GOP will have 250 seats in the House at the end of the day. Biggest majority since the Truman admin.* Todd S. Purdum: Congress now has the power to "makeBarack Obama's last two years in office an un-shirted hell"(Vanity Fair)
GONZALEZ: Cuomo may have won easily, but not all of hissupporters are celebrating (NYDN) Many Democrats held their noses to vote for Cuomo Tuesday or even cast protest ballots for Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. Meanwhile the Working Families Party leaders are furious, feeling betrayed by Cuomo after he sought their party's nomination this year in a controversial deal brokered by Mayor de Blasio.* Rep. Michael Grimm wins third House term — despiteindictment, threat to throw NY1 reporter over balcony (NYDN) * De Blasio Still Faces Uphill Battle in Trying to Connect With Cuomo(NYT)
Liberal Gatekeeps WFP, UFT and Senate Dems are Failed
Cuomo is Just Being Cuomo - Governing From the Middle
Gov. Cuomo’s reelection campaign said to widen rift with liberal base (NYDN)
Some Democratic leaders say that in the last two weeks Cuomo’s words and deeds have harmed not healed.
Cuomo in the past two weeks:
— Created a furor among educators by referring to the education system as “one of the last remaining public monopolies.”
— Pressed New Yorkers to vote for him on the Women’s Equality Party ballot line he created — leading many progressives to believe it’s an attempt to kill or weaken the Working Families Party, which party publicly embarrassed him in May before he ended up getting the party’s endorsement after Mayor de Blasio helped broker a deal.
— Did virtually no campaigning for state Senate Democrats who are trying to take control of the chamber. Cuomo had promised to make it a priority.* Weingarten defends Cuomo on public schools (Capital) * If de Blasio helps Democrats retake the state Senate, he’ll crown himself New York ’s most important elected official and he’ll use his power to affect policy, but more important will be the money and fealty that go to him rather than to the governor, Nicole Gelinas writes in the Post: * Gov. Cuomo's closing campaign strategy has left manyDemocrats scratching their heads(NYDN) * Journalists cite Cuomo's culture of secrecy (PostStar) * How Cuomo could lose on Election Day --- to de Blasio(NYP) * ON THE HOMEFRONT: Rob Astorino faces uphill battle against Cuomo (NYDN)* @NYGovCuomo rally ends without @BilldeBlasio ever showing up* * Sen. Jeff Klein, the leader of a breakaway faction of Democrats, edged away from an agreement made with the mainline conference of Democrats earlier this year, saying that “a lot has changed,” State of Politicsreports: * De Blasio missed a massive get-out-the-vote rally for Cuomo and the rest of the Democratic ticket in Times Square —pulling up after the governor had left the stage and the television crews had departed, the Daily News reports: * Cuomo: Hydrofracking, Common Core Opposition MotivatingVoters(YNN) * Often-late NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio missed a massive get-out-the-vote rally in Times Square on Monday for Cuomo and the rest of the Democratic ticket.* Hawkins On WFP’s ‘A Silly Argument’ (YNN) Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in a radio interview on Monday said the Working Families Party is making a “silly argument” to suggest vote for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on their ballot line will send a message.* On Election Day eve, Cuomo's campaign makes a push for voteson the Women's Equality Party
True News Has Reporting On The War On the Black Now Their is A Report to Back Up Our Claims
True News Has Reporting On The War On the Black Now Their is A Report to Back Up Our Claims
"High-income white, largely single, households moved into racially diverse neighborhoods."
Report: NYC’s black upper-middle class is fading; well-off white singles numbers surge * A report set to be released by the New York City-based Citizens Housing and Planning Council found that the city’s black upper-middle class is fading, while its populations of upper-class white singles and lower-income Hispanics are booming, The Wall Street Journal reports:
Report * "It smells like gentrification," said one of theplan to bring affordable housing to the neighborhood. (DNAINFO)* New Report Explores Shifts in City's Population(NY1)
More Proof That NY's Political Parties Are Dead and Used for Person Gain
As Rent Increase Change the Racial Make Up of Crown Heights and Bed Stuy The Rent is Too Damn Hight Party Off the Ballot?
Say it ain't so! RT @gblainnydn: Jimmy McMillian of 'Rent is2 Damn High' party tossed off gubernatorial ballot
How Albany's Manhattan Real Estate Tax Breaks Are Pushing Blacks and the Poor Out of Brooklyn
Buyouts have long been part of New York City’s real estate lore, but as offers have become more common, buyouts have become instruments of illegal harassment and a growing threat to the stock of affordable housing, The New York Times writes Tenant groups cite illegal harassment and a growing threat to affordable housing, while landlords say buying out longtime tenants in low-rent apartments is lawful.* SWEATING IT OUT: Brownsville tenants live without hot water and electricity (NYDN)
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Say it ain't so! RT @gblainnydn: Jimmy McMillian of 'Rent is2 Damn High' party tossed off gubernatorial ballot
How Albany's Manhattan Real Estate Tax Breaks Are Pushing Blacks and the Poor Out of Brooklyn
Buyouts have long been part of New York City’s real estate lore, but as offers have become more common, buyouts have become instruments of illegal harassment and a growing threat to the stock of affordable housing, The New York Times writes Tenant groups cite illegal harassment and a growing threat to affordable housing, while landlords say buying out longtime tenants in low-rent apartments is lawful.* SWEATING IT OUT: Brownsville tenants live without hot water and electricity (NYDN)
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How Blacks the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Push Out of Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers
Shush . . . Income inequality is Increasing in NYC Because of Gentrification
De Blasio brought his message on income inequality to theinternational stage Wednesday with a speech in the U.K. , further solidifying his position as a leader in the activist wing of the Democratic Party.
De Blasio brought his message on income inequality to theinternational stage Wednesday with a speech in the U.K. , further solidifying his position as a leader in the activist wing of the Democratic Party.
Real Estate Market Forces: International Money, Gentrificatrion and Airbnb Are Making Affordable Housing Program into A Band-Aid on A Cancer
Is Anyone Studing the Effect of Foreign $$$ Puring Into the City
Micro-Targeting of Campaigns Kills creativity of individuals and Leaders
Death by Data(NYT) Over the past decade or so, political campaigns have become more scientific. Campaign consultants use sophisticated data to micro-target specific demographic slices. Consultants select their ad buys more precisely because they know which political niche is watching which TV show. Campaigns trial test messages that push psychological buttons. Discussion around politics has also become more data driven. Opinion writers look at demographic trends and argue over whether there is an emerging Democratic majority. Pundits like me study the polling crosstabs, trying to figure out which way Asian-Americans are trending here and high-school-educated white women are trending there. Unfortunately, the whole thing has been a fiasco.
As politics has gotten more scientific, the campaigns have gotten worse, especially for the candidates who overrely on these techniques. That’s because the data-driven style of politics is built on a questionable philosophy and a set of dubious assumptions. Data-driven politics is built on a philosophy you might call Impersonalism. This is the belief that what matters in politics is the reaction of populations and not the idiosyncratic judgment, moral character or creativity of individuals. The more you look at political history, the more you see that political imagination is the rarest and most valuable of qualities. Voters don’t always know what they want, but they look to leaders to jump ahead of the current moment and provide visions they haven’t thought of. Some politicians, like F.D.R. or Ronald Reagan, can reframe debates and envision coalitions that don’t exist. Their visions emerge out of unique life experiences, which are unusual but have broad appeal. They build trust not through a few targeted messages but by fully embodying a moment and a people. They often don’t pander to existing identities but arouse different identities.
Local TV Stations Win Campaign Commerical $$$ As the Voters Lose
Local TV Stations Win Campaign Commerical $$$ As the Voters Lose
Corporate-owned local TV rakes in political ad $, but"barely covers politics or government at all" No matter who prevails this Election Day, one tiny constituency can already lay claim to a landslide win. Thanks to our nation’s increasingly unregulated campaign finance rules, large media corporations once again enjoyed a tidal wave of political ad spending this midterm election, and none more so than the rarefied ownership of our nation’s local TV stations. But when it comes to the long-term health of both journalism and our democracy, these robust news profits are nothing but a hollow victory. Just how robust are they, though? The final numbers aren’t known yet, but the figure for political ad spending this election cycle up through mid-October was $1.3 billion, according to a Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) analysis. And that left out the final few weeks of frenzied political crunch time, which might mean the total could reach or surpass the 2010 mark of $2.1 billion.* * As he confronted a federal investigation and sagging poll numbers, Cuomo always possessed one source of comfort: No matter the adversity he faced, he could pay for enough television advertising to try to wash his problems away, The Times reports:
Local TV News Which Makes Millions Off of the Culture of Big Campaign Spending Has Not Cover the Moreland Commission
Pay to Report Local TV
Spending on advertising has fueled the increase in TV lobbying costs. Well-funded special interests funnel millions to lobbyists for public campaigns to sway lawmakers on hot-button issues (TU) Local News which is mainly weather, traffic, cooking and dog segments is making millions in lobbyists spending. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)*CSNY’s budget blitz: $3.9 million (updated)(TU) *Save NY airing tax cap ad(TU) *Budget opponents up their ads and mailers(TU) *Bloomberg Blames Negative Ads For Poor Showing In Education ...(Politico) *Save NY now airs on school money(TU) *NYC's Bloomberg Pays for TV Ads Backing Cuomo's Pension * Bloomberg Defends His Administration With TV Ad - NY1.com * Local TV News For $ale: How Special Interests Control News Content and Public Opinion
On Election Day the NYP Goes Schock and Awe On de Blasio and Chirlane
In politics, the color of one’s skin is not nearly as important as its thickness. Chirlane McCray’s can be measured in microns. Also her husband’s, Mayor de Blasio — who last week likened running City Hall to that time when he managed his now-teenage son’s Little League baseball team. “It was a real leadership and management lesson that I still think about,” he said. “Trying to get a bunch of 8-year-olds to do something is an amazing challenge.” Indeed. Sort of like getting his senior managers all on the same page regarding the NYPD — an agency that will be a long time living down the ridiculousness of this past weekend. * Minority leaders blast de Blasio over NYPD upheaval (NYP) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced a bigger crisis on Monday than just the abrupt resignation of the city’s highest-ranking black cop, as minority leaders blasted his handling of the NYPD and warned of political consequences, the New York Post reports:
NYP Tells de Blasio to Look in the Mirror to See Who Has Hurt NYC's Image
911 System Down Again And Media Hardley Notices NYC 911 emergency call system goes down, as problems withECTP continue(Progressive Queens)
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The system crash resulted in 911 operators having to take down information about emergencies by hand before manually dispatching ambulances. During the time of the system outage, approximately 400 ambulances had to be dispatched, according to the WABC report. There were "no immediate indication that any lives were threatened" as a result of the system outage.
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New York City's 911 emergency call system has been the focus of of a troubled and expensive upgrade, called the Emergency Communications Transformation Program, or ECTP, which is six years behind schedule and almost $1 billion over budget -- and it still doesn’t work. Two weeks ago, the troubled ECTP program was the subject of a lengthy Progress Queens report drawing attention to the fact that no prosecutors have ever probed ECTP's contractors, notably Hewlett-Packard, for contract bidding irregularities, hundreds of millions of dollars in over-billing, and the negligent deaths of New Yorkers, for whom emergency ambulances arrived too late to save their lives.
Surviving family members of one child killed by delays in the faulty ECTP upgradeare suing New York City for wrongful death of their loved one. In 2012, former New York City Comptroller John Liu publicly referred the findings of an audit of ECTP to theManhattan District Attorney's Office for review of possible criminality, but Cyrus Vance, the do-nothing Manhattan D.A., has never taken any prosecutorial action. At the time of the Progress Queens report, a request for an interview sent to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was not answered. True News, has been asking that elected officials, who have employed ECTP lobbyists, such as George Arzt, as campaign consultants, should be confronted and asked why do such officials employ political operatives, who have been paid to propagate Hewlett-Packard's expensive and arguably negligently deadly contract work on ECTP. Amongst government officials, who have employed Mr. Arzt to do campaign work, include Julie Menin. Ms. Menin employed Mr. Arzt in her unsuccessful campaign last year for the office of Manhattan Borough President. In an ironic move, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Ms. Menin last April as commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs.
What At Stake Election Day
Cuomo’s ‘victory’won’t be one for the books(NYP)
In a sharp slap just hours before the polls opened, national teachers union president Randi Weingarten told her members Monday that she’s voting the Democratic ticket, but bypassing the governor.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH ON ELECTION DAY: (City and State) What to know about today's general election contests, from the battle for the state Senate to a potential GOP landslide in congressional races to a potential shakeup of the state's third parties: * Bringing a nasty end to their sometimes-bitter campaign, Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday unleashed his harshest attacks yet against Republicans while rival Rob Astorino pleaded for a change from the “status Cuomo,” theDaily News writes:
Lawyered Up With control of the state Senate in the balance and some contests running exceedingly close, cadres of attorneys on Monday for both Democrats and Republicans were gearing up for recounts after Tuesday's voting,the Times Union writes: * New York Republicans are hoping a wave of discontentment with President Barack Obama and incumbents in general will carry them to wins in a handful of congressional districts, even as they struggle to compete statewide, The Wall Street Journal reports: * THOSE ARE FIGHTING WORDS! Cuomo blasts Republican ‘zealots’at rallies; rival Astorino says N.Y. ‘losing’ under governor(NYDN)* 7 things to watch for on Election Day in New York (besides oncoming traffic because#VisionZero) (Capital)* size of anti-gov lib vote & @nygovcuomo's margin todayinteresting. but campaign to control state leg. just starting: * A Tepid Thumbs Up Is the Best Many Can Muster for Cuomo(NYT) * Politicians Show Frustration After a Police Chief’s Exit in New York (NYT)* Cuomo Doesn’t Expect Senate To Be Settled Tonight (YNN)* Hochul Votes On Women’s Equality Line (YNN)* A difference between Governor Cuomo and Rob Astorino? Tryabout $40 million of them.(NYT)
Kosher Voting On the Independence Party Line
Kosher Voting On the Independence Party Line
KJ Leaders Urge Vote for Cuomo on Indy Line (YNN) A SoP reader forwarded this sample ballot being handed out in Kiryas Joel, the Orange County village of Hasidic Jews Westchester , said he’s optimistic about his chances because his voters are enthusiastic and will come out in force, the Daily News reports: v* New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito voted for Cuomo and lieutenant governor candidate Kathy Hochul on the Working Families Party line and against ballot Proposal 1, Capital New York reports: * The left-leaning Working Families Party says it's gotten complaints that the ballot and its many rows and columns are causing confusion at the polls, especially when it comes to third-party votes, the Daily Newsreports: * The Manhattan Democratic Party, headed by former state Democratic Party Chair and Assemblyman Keith Wright, sent out an email imploring Manhattan Democrats to vote on the Democratic Party ballot line,State of Politicsreports: * Democratic State Senate Committee Chairman Michael Gianaris appeared to take several jabs at Sen. Jeff Klein, leader of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, for apparently hedging over a reunion with the mainline Democrats, the Observer reports: * Rep. Charles Rangel cast what he says will be his final vote for himself, and unsurprisingly said he’d also voted for Cuomo, the Daily News * Rep. Charles Rangel cast what he says will be his final vote for himself, and unsurprisingly said he’d also voted for Cuomo, the DailyNews reports: * Rep. Michael Grimm didn’t look like an under-funded, under-indictment incumbent fighting for his seat as he strolled across a Staten Island elementary school gym to applause from poll workers and voters alike, the Observer reports * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had to fill out three ballots before his vote was counted, with multiple voting machines spitting his first two back out along with a message that said "unreadable marks detected on your ballot," Capital New York reports: * The labor-backed Working Families Party is desperately fighting to retain the 50,000 votes it needs to preserve its ballot status—a task complicated by the fact that it must convince a critical mass of Cuomo-haters to vote for Cuomo on its line, Capital New York reports:
Liberal Gatekeeps WFP, UFT and Senate Dems are Shocked
Cuomo is Just Being Cuomo Governing From the Middle
Gov. Cuomo’s reelection campaign said to widen rift with liberal base (NYDN)
Some Democratic leaders say that in the last two weeks Cuomo’s words and deeds have harmed not healed.
Cuomo in the past two weeks:
— Created a furor among educators by referring to the education system as “one of the last remaining public monopolies.”
— Pressed New Yorkers to vote for him on the Women’s Equality Party ballot line he created — leading many progressives to believe it’s an attempt to kill or weaken the Working Families Party, which party publicly embarrassed him in May before he ended up getting the party’s endorsement after Mayor de Blasio helped broker a deal.
— Did virtually no campaigning for state Senate Democrats who are trying to take control of the chamber. Cuomo had promised to make it a priority.* Weingarten defends Cuomo on public schools (Capital) * If de Blasio helps Democrats retake the state Senate, he’ll crown himself New York ’s most important elected official and he’ll use his power to affect policy, but more important will be the money and fealty that go to him rather than to the governor, Nicole Gelinas writes in the Post: * Gov. Cuomo's closing campaign strategy has left manyDemocrats scratching their heads(NYDN) * Journalists cite Cuomo's culture of secrecy (PostStar) * How Cuomo could lose on Election Day --- to de Blasio(NYP) * ON THE HOMEFRONT: Rob Astorino faces uphill battle against Cuomo (NYDN)* @NYGovCuomo rally ends without @BilldeBlasio ever showing up* * Sen. Jeff Klein, the leader of a breakaway faction of Democrats, edged away from an agreement made with the mainline conference of Democrats earlier this year, saying that “a lot has changed,” State of Politicsreports: * De Blasio missed a massive get-out-the-vote rally for Cuomo and the rest of the Democratic ticket in Times Square —pulling up after the governor had left the stage and the television crews had departed, the Daily News reports: * Cuomo: Hydrofracking, Common Core Opposition MotivatingVoters(YNN) * Often-late NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio missed a massive get-out-the-vote rally in Times Square on Monday for Cuomo and the rest of the Democratic ticket.* Hawkins On WFP’s ‘A Silly Argument’ (YNN) Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in a radio interview on Monday said the Working Families Party is making a “silly argument” to suggest vote for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on their ballot line will send a message.* On Election Day eve, Cuomo's campaign makes a push for voteson the Women's Equality Party
The Daily News Tells Readers Not to Vote On 3rd Party Lines . . . But Says Nothing Of Repealing the Law That Protects Them
The Daily News unnecessary third parties fomenting chaos and creating new avenues for corruption
Editorial: No more party time(NYDN Ed) As they reelect Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday, voters should do some housecleaning — and sweep away New York ’s clutter of election-distorting third parties.* No more party time (NYDN ED) End the third party sham. Last week, when Cuomo rightly called for creating more charter schools and holding teachers more accountable, WFP officials slammed their own candidate — and made clear that a vote on the WFP line would be a vote to undercut Cuomo’s sensible reforms.
Wilson-Pakula Keeps the Corruption, WFP and Other 3rd Parties Run by A Small Group of Insiders Alive
Cuomo Wilson-Pakula Must End
“Something has to be done about Wilson-Pakula and cross-endorsements. You have mayoral candidates that are talking about this outwardly, about what they have to do to get on the ballot. That whole electoral process stinks and has for a long time. I think there’s an opportunity to reform that,” he said. “In an ideal world,” he said, “you’d have no cross endorsements.”* Cuomo says so long to Wilson-Pakula - Legislative Gazette Unlike in most states, New York electoral law permits electoral fusion. As a result, New York ballots tend to list a large number of political parties. The endorsement of major party candidates by smaller parties can be important since smaller parties often use this ballot feature to offer a candidate an additional line on the ballot.
Elections Over Klein Dumps Back to the GOP
IDC Leader Jeff Klein started publicly backing away from hispledge to dump the Senate Republicans in favor of his fellow Democrats during a Oct. 25 interview with former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky..* Klein Edges Away From Deal With Senate Dems (YNN)
Education Groups Big Spenders Education groups are doing the bulk of the spending: $4million from @Nysut and $4 million from a pro-charter PAC (Capital) * Harry Reid's "single largest contribution total camefrom the plaintiffs (& Shelly Silver's)firm Weitz & Luxenberg." (WSJ) Expiring rent regulations, mayoral control fuelsmulti-million dollar push for state Senate (Capital) * Spending on Senate races sets up 
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC
@DomenicRecchia is Done! @repmichaelgrimm up by 19 pts. 2 million dollars down the tubes
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Any Pol That Campaign for Recchia Should Be Asked Why They Are Trying to Destroy Us?
Update
Sorting Through the Recchage: Recchia Won FewerVotes Than Harrison in ’06 (NYO)* Former Staten Island Democratic Rep. Michael McMahon is quietly floating himself as a candidate for a potential special election should indicted Rep. Michael Grimm be found guilty on tax evasion charges and forced to step aside next year, the Observer reports:
Michael Grimm is up in a Siena Poll by 19 points, a number that is one less than the 20-count indictment he faces. #ny11 * @NY1 / @capitalnewyork / Siena Poll: Independents Big forGrimm; Recchia Viewed More Unfavorably than Grimm in #NY11 * Grimm up 19 points over Recchia in #ny11, per poll by NY1, whose reporter Grimm threatened to throw off a balcony.* Oddo Denounces Recchia Mail as ‘Insulting, Infuriating andUnforgivable’(NYO) For the second time this week, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo lashed out at congressional candidate Domenic Recchia Jr. for using his picture and quotes in campaign literature — this time deeming a mailer “unforgivable.”* Michael Grimm trouncing Democratic rival: poll(NYP) * Audio: Dominic Recchia Yells At Coney Island Hearing(Village Voice 2009) * Rep. Michael Grimm takes huge lead over Domenic Recchia intheir battle for Staten Island: poll (NYDN) * Grimm Courts Crossover Dems While Recchia Dismisses OminousPoll Numbers(NY1)* Grimm vs. Recchia: A Race to Remember That Staten IslandersWould Sooner Forget (NYT)* No-Limit Contributions Boost Cuomo News Analysis: Network of interlocking accounts paid for a permanent ad campaign that made meaningful opposition all but impossible.
Daily News Follows SI Advance: Grimm Choice
Very Grimm choice (NYDNED) One is bad, the other is worse. In Domenic Recchia, the Democrats have fielded a candidate so dumb, ill-informed, evasive and inarticulate that voting for a thuggish Republican who could wind up in a prison jumpsuit starts to make rational sense.
Brooklyn Boss Seddio Who Gave Us Sock Puppet Recchia Does Not Even Vote
Top NY Dems have not voted in recent elections(NYP) The state Democratic Party needs to send menacing get-out-the-vote letters to a new group of slackers — its own leaders. A Post review of Board of Elections records found that Democratic Party brass — including state party Chairman David Paterson and Brooklyn Democratic leader Frank Seddio — didn’t vote in recent elections. The revelation comes a day after it was disclosed that the state Democratic Party sent threatening letters to a million voters warning it was going to monitor whether they voted on Tuesday. Party leaders could have used the same warning. Records show Paterson skipped last year’s Democratic runoff election for public advocate between Letitia James and Daniel Squadron. Paterson, who served as governor from 2008 to 2010, also didn’t vote in the 2005 race for mayor, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg defeated Democrat Fernando Ferrer, official records show. Soon after he became the Brooklyn Democratic leader, Seddio missed a chance in 2012 to pull the lever for President Obama. “Frank was managing several campaigns that day,” said Seddio spokesman George Arzt. “When he went to vote, the lines were extremely long and the waiting time was an hour and a half. He had to get back to campaign operations.”
Brooklyn Boss Seddio Who Gave Us Sock Puppet Recchia Does Not Even Vote
“We’ve formed every kind of fringe party for every kind of reason,” the governor said. “We have Democrat, Republican, Green, red, white, blue, working people, working short people, working tall people. We’ve never had a women’s party. This is the home of Seneca Falls . Let the women make their voice heard.” * Cuomo denies taking revenge on Working Families Party #WFP's Bertha Lewis: #Cuomo's "Women’s Equality Partyis unnecessary. I don’t like it. It’s cynical.” @CuomoWatch
Campaign's Last Weekend
Campaign's Last Weekend
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Andrew Cuomo, Rob Astorino head upstate asthey enter the final weekend of the gubernatorial campaign(NYDN) After a New York City radio interview, Cuomo held rallies in the Democratic strongholds of Syracuse , Rochester and Niagara Falls touting his efforts to transform Albany and the state’s economy. Astorino held get-out-the-vote rallies in Elmira , Binghamton , Watertown and Plattsburgh .* Bill Clinton endorses Cuomo for governor (wsj) * Cuomo: "I am less concerned with the internal politicalmachinations of who has political power .." cc @PolitiFact * Andrew Cuomo, Rob Astorino stump upstate as they enter finalcampaign weekend (NYDN) * In Home Stretch, Cuomo Aims to Get Out the Vote (NY1) Sunday Update UPSTATE BATTLES FOR CONTROL: Mayor de Blasio's hopes for a Democratic state Senate rely on races throughout New York (NYDN) Races over seats held by three first term incumbent Democrats, one for an open seat in the mid-Hudson Valley and a four-way contest near Buffalo are likely to decide which party has a majority in the 63-seat Senate in January, officials on both sides of the aisle said.
Meritocracy
Does the Daily News Think Principals Will Criticize Chancellor Farina Who Has Replaced 15 Superintendents? Fuck Meritocracy
Social Promotion? 7 of the 15 Superintendent Replacements Were From Low Preforming Schools
City principals give overwhelming approval to Schools ChancellorCarmen Fariña(NYDN) EXCLUSIVE: A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders shows a whopping 91% of principals said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Fariña’s oversight of schools in the June survey, according to results obtained by the Daily News.* A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders shows a whopping 91 percent of principals said they were satisfied or very satisfied with New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s oversight of schools, theDaily News reports:
Some Charges Drop From Sampson On the Grounds He Took the Money On An Early Date
Statute of Limitations Gets the Senator Off 2 of 10 Charges
The embezzlement charges against State Senator John L. Sampson, a Democrat, had raised questions about the statute of limitations. The government’s case against State Senator John L. Sampson lost some of its heft on Friday when a federal judge dismissed two central embezzlement charges. Mr. Sampson will now probably face only eight counts, including making false statements, concealing records, obstructing justice and witness tampering, when he goes to trial early next year. The politician, a Democrat who represents East New York and Canarsie in Brooklyn , easily won his primary and is expected to be re-elected next week. The two dropped charges had to do with Mr. Sampson’s role as a court-appointed overseer for two foreclosed properties in Brooklyn . He was supposed to give the surplus money from the sale of the properties back to the State Supreme Court after those properties sold, which was in 1998 and 2002. Instead, the government said, he held on to the money, then withdrew it for his own use in 2008. “The effective date of the embezzlement is the time in which the defendant did not return to the Kings County Puerto Rico . “It’s quite likely he’ll win his election,” Joshua N. Colangelo-Bryan, one of the lawyers, said. Judge Irizarry granted the request. * Judge tosses charges that Brooklyn Sen Sampson embezzled$440K but he still faces other criminal counts(NYP)
NYT Follow Up AG Debate Story is Still Incomplete and AG's Lobby Connection
Nothing In the NYT's Story About Cahill Charges Against Schneiderman Connection to Lobbyist Cunningham and His Herbalife Investigation
The state attorney general and his Republican opponent said donations should not be accepted from companies under investigation.Mr. Schneiderman, who has accepted at least $50,000 in contributions from the Democratic Attorneys General Association since 2010, said, “I don’t go to many of their meetings anyway, but I would consider taking steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future or stepping down.”* As @Herbalife expands lobbying efforts, will @AGSchneidermanstand up for New York Latino victims ? [UPDATED]
Interesting the NYT Left Out Cahill Question to the AG If He Was OK With Cuomo's Decision to Close Down Moreland
Cunningham's firm hired by Herbalife as Dickstein Shapiroresponds to Schneiderman's probe of Herbalife (Progressive Queens)
Miss the heated AG debate between Schneiderman and Cahill?Watch the full debate here: (NY1) * In New York Attorney General Debate, Cahill and SchneidermanClash Over Ethics and Integrity (NYT) Said Mr. Cahill, the case of an assemblyman, Vito Lopez, who resigned in May 2013 after being accused of sexually harassing female employees. But Mr. Schneiderman fired back, saying such accusations were “repugnant.” “The assertion that I had anything to do with the settlement in the Vito Lopez case was completely dismantled” by a state ethics commission, he said. “You keep saying things even though you know they are not true.”“Mr. Cahill stressed Mr. Schneiderman’s role in a state commission to investigate public corruption that was hastily dismantled in March by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, leading to a federal investigation. Mr. Schneiderman helped Mr. Cuomo form the panel, and Mr. Cahill sought on Thursday to link him to its questionable demise, calling the panel “the Schneiderman commission.”* Eric Schneiderman receives big bucks from hydrofrackinginvestor (NYDN) * State AG Eric Schneiderman, GOP challenger John Cahill sparon gun control, abortion at debate (NYDN) * AG candidates jaw in debate …Schneiderman and Cahill exchanged blows in a lively debateon TWC News and NY1. @caseybortnick has the highlights (TU) * Schneiderman and Cahill Square Off in Heated Attorney General Debate (NYO)
Daily News When de Blasio Starts in With the Superlatives Something is Wrong
Daily News When de Blasio Starts in With the Superlatives Something is Wrong
Someone zoned out (NYDN) Getting the map right for Astoria Cove. When Mayor de Blasio and his aides reach for superlatives, watch out. See: de Blasio’s “truly historic” deal to save Long Island College Hospital (R.I.P.). Now, the phrase in play is “game changer,” used by Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen to herald the Astoria Cove project planned for the Queens waterfront. Why a game changer? Because City Hall touted the project as proving that, in return for zoning approvals, it could push builders to set rents in at least 20% of their apartments at affordable levels — without granting tax abatements. Oops. Some sorry bureaucrat used the wrong map to conclude that Astoria Cove was outside a zone in which builders are entitled to get a real estate tax break in exchange for, you guessed it, making 20% of their units affordable. Actually, Astoria Cove is inside the zone, so, at present, the proposed deal is just the same old, same old. Try, try again.
While the NYT Was Soft On the AG it Slams Cuomo On LIPA's Response to Sandy
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| Don't Walk Out of A Dinner With the NYT? |
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Power Play(NYT) By THE EDITORIAL BOARDAn investigation shows that the governor was largely responsible for the Long Island Power Authority’s bumbling response to Hurricane Sandy.A New York Times investigation by Susanne Craig now shows that Mr. Cuomo’s administration meddled with the commission’s inquiry and report, partly to shield him from any blame for LIPA’s bumbling response to the storm. Kathleen Rice, who was in charge of the section of the commission’s report dealing with LIPA, dedicated several pages to staffing issues and concluded that LIPA “may have benefited” during the storm if positions like that of communications chief, the person who could have kept customers informed, had been filled. That finding did not appear in a report to the governor in January 2013. A Rally of Cuomos and Clintons, and Some Weren’t Even There(NYT) Democratic nostalgia seemed to be the theme of the night as former President Bill Clinton campaigned on Thursday for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.* Gov. Cuomo’s ugly economic legacy(NYP Ed) * The answer to Cuomo’s prayer(NYP ED) The stakes couldn’t be higher: A Democratic-run Legislature would fuel New York ’s most left-wing, radically progressive movements. Unions would move to squeeze taxpayers, businesses, job-seekers and consumers. Charter schools — and the thousands of minority kids desperate to attend them — would take a huge hit, too. Even Democratic Gov. Cuomo (as everyone knows) is praying for a GOP Senate majority, despite his vow to the Working Families Party to help Dems take charge there. He knows Senate Republicans have been key to some of his biggest achievements, e.g., his property-tax cap and a pro-charter bill.
Waiting on the Mayor's Plan for Failing Schools
Waiting on the Mayor's Plan for Failing Schools
Mayor Bill de Blasio needs to flesh out his vague policies on how and when the city should intervene.
School suspensiond steady, despite mayor’s vow to reduce them(NYP) Mayor de Blasio vowed to lower the number of school student suspensions but the figure has remained about the same over the past two school years. School administrators doled out 53,504 suspensions during the 2013-14 school year — 39 more than the previous year, according to school data.
Bully GOTV Shows Contempt for the Voters By Democratic Leaders
Elected Officials Do Not Want to Be Embarrassed By A Low Turnout So They Scare the Voters
Democrats threaten public shaming to get voters to polls(NYP) The New York State Democratic Committee is bullying people into voting next week with intimidating letters warning that it can easily find out which slackers fail to cast a ballot next Tuesday. “Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record,” the letter says. “We will be reviewing voting records . . . to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014.” It ends with a line better suited to a mob movie than a major political party: “If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.” The woman also received a report card of her voting record, pointing out that she had failed to vote in two of the last four elections. Overall, the notices were sent out to 1 million registered Democrats who had failed to vote in previous midterm elections, according to the group.* Do those ‘we know whether you voted’ warnings actually work?An expert weighs in. (Wash Post)
You Think the Rise In Homelessness Is Connected to the Gentrification and City and State Housing Policy?
The number of homeless people across the country fell this year, but in New York City the homeless population continued to swell, according to an annual federal survey.
Affordable Housing Has Become A Band-aid On A Cancer for Elected Officials to Protect Them From What They Are Doing to Our City With Their Tax Breaks to Developers
Poor Door’ in a New York Tower Opens a Fight Over Affordable Housing(NYT)
As public housing becomes a relic, American cities have grown morereliant on developers, who say they can maximize their revenues and build more affordable units, by separating them from their luxury counterparts. * Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics
How Blacks the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Push Out of Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers
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BOE Hires From the Inside and Not Small Fine Will Can A Thing
Conflicts of Interest Board Lipstick On the BOE Pig
‘Sopranos’ actor & BOE manager pays nepotism violationfine(NYP) The city’s Conflicts of Interest Board slapped fines totaling $13,000 on three board officials for hiring, promoting and supervising family members, it was announced Thursday. One of those cited for violating city regulations is Anthony Ribustello, an actor working in the board’s Bronx office who gained fame as a chauffeur for Tony Soprano on the hit mob show. In the most embarrassing case, the president of the board — Queens Democratic Commissioner Jose Miguel Araujo — was hit with the maximum fine of $10,000 for hiring his wife, Rita, as a temporary clerk between 2010 and 2012 so she could get medical-insurance coverage from the city. Board commissioners — who have the power to hire and fire — are appointees selected by borough political-party bigwigs and confirmed by the City Council. Congressman Joe Crowley, a Queens Democratic Party leader, appointed Araujo, 42, an attorney.*City Board of Elections president fined $10,000 for hiring his wife(NYDN)
There is No Shame In NY Politics
There is No Shame In NY Politics
A Win is A Win Right Comptroller
Holding our nose (NYDN Ed) The race for state controller leaves voters with little choice
Almost eight years ago, Assembly Democrats installed as state controller a loyal acolyte of Speaker Sheldon Silver who had no qualifications for the job. Since then, Tom DiNapoli has solidified his reputation as a go-along, get-along pol with no interest in changing Albany New York Onondaga County
NYT Look At the Effect of Lobbyists on States Corruption Investigation But Ignores Stopped Corruption Investigation Caused By Local Lobbyists In NY
New report asserts that lobbyists act to thwart states'corruption and fraud investigations(Progressive Queens) States' attorneys general are now being openly targeted by lobbyists in an effort to quash investigations of corporations, according to an explosive report published by The New York Times.Attorney General Eric Schniederman (D-NY) has been being lobbied by his ex-wife, Jennifer Cunningham, who had previously served as a key campaign consultant to Attorney General Schneiderman. For months, Attorney General Schneiderman had at first refused to release any e-mail communications between his office and Ms. Cunningham, then, under pressure, the attorney general released some e-mails, but not all, claiming a privilege to withhold some communication where, in some instances, Ms. Cunningham had advised his office in a capacity that was analogous to that of a state employee, an assertion that some government reform activists found difficult to believe.
Whereas The New York Times looked at the role of lobbyists being able to sway various states' attorneys general, no scrutiny was paid to whether Attorney General Schneiderman has been similarly influenced. As Progress Queens has previously reported, serious questions exist as to why state prosecutors have not prosecuted anybody for wrong-doing in connection with the Aqueduct Racino bid-rigging scandal, the unaccounted-for grants totaling $500,000 that were made to the Corona-Elmhurst Center for Economic Development, and the city's troubled Emergency Communications Transformation Program that is intended to upgrade the 911 emergency call system. The Aqueduct scandal involved prominent lobbyists, including Hank Scheinkopf and Frank Sanzillo ; the Center for Economic Development controversy involved the powerful consultant, Luis Miranda ; and the ECTP affair involved the influential lobbyist, George Arzt.
Since the state attorney general and local district attorneys must run for public office, all of the state's top prosecutors must rely on corruptive influence of campaign consultants and campaign donors to win elected office. Once a prosecutor relies on the advice of campaign consultants, that opens the door to potential lobbying, because, in New York , campaign consultants often double as lobbyists. For example, Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Scheinkopf, and Mr. Arzt each act as campaign lobbyists and have done or can also do lobbying work. The report in The New York Times failed to examine whether local district attorneys also fell prey to lobbyists and other outside pressures. Progress Queens has been asking the district attorneys for Manhattan and Queens why do their offices fail to prosecute corporate and political or campaign corruption, but prosecutors hide behind office policies that forbid them to discuss any investigation.
True News Wags the NYP On Acorn
True News Has Reported That WFP Real Power Is How It Plays Fast and Loose Breaking Gaming Breaking Campaign Finance Laws . . . Data and Field (2009), NYCLASS, United for the Future PACS (2013)
Rebranded ‘ACORN’ trying to help Dems win state Senate(NYP) A campaign arm of the rebranded, left-wing group ACORN is spending hundreds of thousands to help Democrats win control of the state Senate and protect traditional, union-controlled public schools. The new political-action committee is called New Yorkers for Good Jobs and Good Schools New York ’s porous campaign-finance laws to funnel as much money as they can into races, said a government watchdog. Donors can give 10 times more money to a political party than the $10,300 contribution maximum for a Senate candidate. The party committee then uses the funds on behalf of a candidate — thus skirting the lower candidate contribution limits. “They’re using every loophole available. The local upstate political parties are getting all this money from downstate interest groups. And there’s an increase in spending by these independent expenditure groups,” said Bill Mahoney, a researcher at the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Son of NYCLASS, Data and Field . . .
Hey Hey Hey Daily News What Happen to the Investigations?
De Blasio Fights for a Democratic State Senate With Calls,Cash and Ads (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken a leading role in the state’s Democratic campaign, encouraging contributions from A-list donors and dispatching top strategists. The mayor’s phone calls are generating a lot of signed checks. The mayor’s allies have infused hundreds of thousands of dollars into the state Democratic effort, with the donor list reading like a carbon copy of his most loyal supporters. Unite Here, for instance, a labor union run for years by a cousin of Mr. de Blasio’s, John Wilhelm, donated $100,000 this month. In some ways, the effort is an attempt to replicate the formula from Mr. de Blasio’s victory in the mayoral race last year. Emma Wolfe, a top aide who helped lead Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral run, has taken a leave from City Hall to coordinate the Senate effort. Ms. Wolfe works some days from the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers, one of the mayor’s closest labor allies.“The mayor and his team have made no secret this is a priority for accomplishing a lot of the things they want to accomplish,” said Michael Woloz, an influential city lobbyist — and Mr. de Blasio’s top bundler in the mayoral race — who facilitated the taxi donations. * Top de Blasio supporters funded anti-Quinn group(CrainsNY)* Call him Dollars Bill(NYDN)
NYT Leaves Out de Blasio's Senate $$$ in Its Discussion of Outside Money
*Outside Donors Focus More Attention onNew York State Buffalo .Most spending is still coming from Senate candidates and their parties, which have reported about $48 million in contributions during this election cycle, according to Bill Mahoney, a researcher at the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Son of NYCLASS, Data and Field . . .
Hey Hey Hey Daily News What Happen to the Investigations?
NYT Leaves Out de Blasio's Senate $$$ in Its Discussion of Outside Money
*Outside Donors Focus More Attention on
Yesterday's True NewsSon of Acorn NY Communities of Change Joins Senate Battle With $$$
Progressive group jumps into state Senate battle (CrainsNY) A new statewide progressive coalition plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of Democrats in this year's battle for the state Senate, according to a source close to the effort. The group, New Yorkers for Good Jobs and Good Schools Good Schools
The use of the Democratic State Committee's unlimited soft money housekeeping account—was not the real problem with the electoral system. Rather, independent expenditure committees that have pumped over $14 million into races for the State Senate, are major culprits
A litany of outside groups have formed this year to join the Senate battle. One of them, real estate-backed Jobs For New York, has said it will spend $2 million on behalf of Republicans, while charter-school supporters are spending millions through New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany. A group formed by the statewide teachers union, NYSUT, has been spending heavily in recent days as well. New York Communities for Change is a key cog of the labor-backed Working Families Party. Its offices are a floor below the WFP's in a building in downtown Brooklyn .* New CU Report finds nearly 1/2 of incumbents have noopposition or major challenger Real Estate Board of NY spends $323K on Senate Republicans in key upstate races Real Estate Board of NY spends $323K on Senate Republicansin key upstate races
Hawkins' Green Party Manager Slams Nation's Vander Heuvel's Magazine and WFP
Katrina vanden Heuvel WFP Campaign Flyer
In New York State
Ursula Rozum Green Party's Hawkins Campaign Manager Answers Vanden Heuvel Attemps to Save the WFP With Her Magazine
This was predictable since the Nation urged Zephyr Teachout to endorse Cuomo on the WFP line if she were to lose the primary. I worked for WFP for a short period. While there are good people in the WFP, it's little more than a staffing and marketing agency for Democrats willing to pay for it's line and field services. It's far from immune from the "money drenched politics" since most of it's funding comes from the campaign coffers of corporate Democrats. In addition to bring up good issues, Howie Hawkins has also won endorsements from teachers unions, NYC Democratic clubs and education activist Diane Ravitch. Grassroots activists should join the Hawkins campaign and help build a real electoral alternative to the two parties and independent political power - www.howiehawkins.org :) * Teachout Contributes $28K To Senate Democrats (YNN)* As the Working Families Party released a statement criticizing Cuomo for calling public education a “monopoly”, the labor-aligned party finds itself in the unusual position of trying to get voters to in essence rebuke the governor by supporting him on their ballot line, State of Politics reports: * WFP on public ed “monopoly,” or: A party criticizes itscandidate 6 days before an election: * Zephyr Teachout’s Campaign Manager Backs Cuomo on WFP Line (NYO)
Katrina vanden Heuvel's $100,000
"Mr. de Blasio is also helping the Working Families Party, the left-leaning group he helped found. As are some of his supporters: Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, donated $102,300 to the party’s campaign committee this month. Ms. vanden Heuvel did not elaborate on what she and the mayor had discussed. But she said she shared the mayor’s eagerness to bring more liberal voices into the Legislature." (NYT)
Lobbyists Consultant Lobbyist Sheinkopf About the Law, Party Affiliation and Media Quote Darling
Hank Sheinkopf is one of the most prominent Democratic political consultants in New York and is currently working as a well-paid operative for the state Democratic Party. But Mr. Sheinkopf has also been doing lucrative work for Republicans, although it’s not easy to discern from election filings. In working for two Republican clients, Mr. Sheinkopf's firm has received payments through a little-noticed entity called "Peninsula Partners," rather than through his main company, Sheinkopf Ltd. Both share the same Manhattan address. Peninsula has taken in $52,000 from Republican candidate Nachman Caller, who is running against veteran Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, and in 2012, Peninsula quietly received nearly $73,000 working as a consultant for the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. (In 2010, Mr. Sheinkopf worked as a consultant for the New York Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.) In incorporation filings, Sheinkopf Ltd.’s Andrew Moesel is listed as the CEO of Peninsula. Mr. Moesel didn’t return a request for comment, but Mr. Sheinkopf said Peninsula Partners was "absolutely not" being used to obscure work for Republican clients, and that having various companies was useful for tax filing purposes for many businesses. "We all use four or five companies, all over the country," Mr. Sheinkopf said.—CB Borough Park GOP state Assemblycandidate Nachman Caller opens wallet in bid to unseat 16-term pol Dov Hikind (NYDN) The real estate investor plans to spend $500,000 to flood airwaves and popular Jewish outlets with ads slamming his Democratic opponent, according to several campaign insiders. In response, Hikind, who has held the seat in Brooklyn for 32 years, is campaigning like never before, political insiders say.* The Outcast (New Yorker) After a Hasidic man exposed child abuse in his tight-knit Brooklyn community, he found himself the target of a criminal investigation.
Deep Secret Clients Sheinkopf and What They Stand For
Who Is The Spin Doctor Hired By "Unnamed Residents" Of New Square?
The Very Secret Sheinkopf Desperate and No Morals
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Is Sheinkropf Getting Even With Hikind For Figthing for Rights of Victims of Sexual Sexual Abuse? He Supported Thompson Over Hikind
When Sheinkropf spotted A long time of anti-sexual abuse activist in the orthodox community attending an event at Rabbi Mark Schneider Westhampton Synagogue he freaked out. His yelling and attempt to physically go after was only stopped when 4 security guards removed him from the Synagogue.
Stewart-Cousins Ignores Low Blow Flyer Intended to Help Make Her Speaker
The chair of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee would not repudiate a mailer from the statewide teachers union depicting a battered woman and accusing Republicans of blocking anti-domestic violence legislation, State of Politics reports: Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins distanced herself from controversial NYSUT mailing Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins distanced herself from – but did not criticize - a controversial mailing sent by the state’s teachers union in support of her conference’s candidates. “We are not doing that and it is not the candidates that are doing that,” Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat from Westchester , said on public radio’s Capitol Pressroom show Thursday. The mailing features a woman with a black eye and takes Republican candidates to task for opposing Gov. Cuomo’s women’s equality agenda. It was paid for by VOTE-COPE, the campaign arm of the New York State United Teachers, and sent to voters in the districts of Republican Sen. Mark Grisanti of Buffalo and Hudson Valley GOP candidates Sue Serino and Terrence Murphy.* Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins distanced herself from—but did not criticize—the controversial mailing, the Daily Newsreports: * A Hispanic registered Democratic voter in New York City received a letter Wednesday, paid for by the New York State Democratic Committee, which said that the party will be monitoring "whether or not you vote," Capital New Yorkreports
Super PAC spending pumps $14M so far into battle for state Senate(NYDN) The big-money free-for-all of Independent political action committees, which can raise and spend as much as they want, is pitting New York City real state, business, and charter school interests—which support the Republicans — against the teachers unions and other liberal activists backing the Dems.A pro-charter Super PAC, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, has spent $3.9 million on Senate Republican candidates, with Julian Robertson, a city-based retired hedge fund manger whose son runs a Red Hook, Brooklyn, charter, and hedgefunder Daniel Loeb each giving $1 million. Jobs for New York , a super PAC funded by real estate interests, has spent $1.75 million this year. The Durst Organization donated $146,100, Tishman Speyer Development gave $168,300 and Extell Development — builders of the Upper West Side “poor door” building — threw in $100,000,Another Super PAC backing Senate Democrats, New York Friends of Democracy, has dolled out $673,866 so far. The PAC has received $600,000 from Jonathan Soros, whose main issue ironically is campaign finance reform.* NYC's Unopposed Candidates: Accountability Tools (City Limits)
Election Time and the Empty Promises Dance
Empty promises: Time and again, Andrew Cuomo fails to deliver(NYP Ed)Sure, Cuomo, if re-elected, might push some new plan. And he’s certainly right that the public schools are a monopoly that needs to be broken up. But does anyone really think test scores or graduation rates will suddenly soar? That the government-run, union-driven schools cartel will finally be smashed? That the bulk of New York kids will now get the “sound basic education” New York ’s top court says they’re owed — and leave school truly prepared for college or a job? Cuomo’s reforms will “make New York a national leader in holding teachers accountable,” the governor assured us. They will “transform our state’s education system.” Oops, that’s not his latest vow; it’s what he said back in 2012, after pushing through then-new teacher-evaluation rules. When teachers unions simply vetoed plans to implement those rules, Cuomo’s promises fizzled. Remember the Port Authority’s toll hikes his first year? Cuomo (along with NJ Gov. Chris Christie) blew his stack over the astronomical increases. Agency officials later acknowledged the whole thing was staged — “Hollywood on the Hudson ,” they called it — so Cuomo and Christie could feign “shock,” demand smaller hikes and come off as heroes. Next, Cuomo rolled out re-election ads disguised as state economic-development promotions. Since the ads were part of the new tax-incentive program START-UP-NY, their $30 million cost was slapped on taxpayers. Even the ads’ claims are misleading: “There’s a new New York ,” they boast.
“Start your company in New York , and your first 10 years are tax-free.” The truth? The program applies to only a tiny fraction of the state, in areas near certain colleges and under certain conditions. All other businesses face the same-old, sky-high taxes. There’s his Moreland Commission fiasco. Cuomo set up the “independent” body to probe corruption. But word soon came that the governor’s folks were trying to steer the panel’s work. Then Cuomo shut it down cold, claiming his real goal had been only to press lawmakers to pass “ethics” legislation (yet another sham). A US attorney is now probing his Moreland maneuvers. The shtick-list goes on and on. Meanwhile, the state faces steep economic challenges, and some of the highest taxes in America . Its business climate continues to rank at the bottom. Schools here get more money per student than in virtually every other state, while two out of three kids graduate unprepared. And New Yorkers continue to move away by the busload. If the polls hold, Cuomo will waltz to victory Tuesday without having broken a sweat. But it’s not the size of his victory margin that will make that triumph stunning; it’s the fact that he got it by boasting so much while delivering so little. * Cuomo’s Latest Book Struggles in Second Week (NYT)* N.Y. voters, kept in the dark (NYDN) They've had few chances to press Gov. Cuomo on key questions about his record* Moss hits Cuomo on discrimination ads; Paterson responds
Women Ad: Voting for Cuomo on the WEP line will "changehistory ... change women's rights forever." (Video) * Astorino Rips Cuomo Over AllegedSandy Investigation Interference (NYO)* Howie Hawkins on left, @RobAstorino on right courting massive teacher vote against Dem Cuomo over comments, policies (Newsday) * Cuomo’s campaign is boosting its efforts to snag votes on the Women’s Equality Party ballot line, airing a new television ad in hopes of getting permanent ballot status for the next four years, Gannett Albanyreports: * Republican gubernatorial nominee Rob Astorino ripped Cuomo over a New York Times report that the governor’s administration slowed the workings of the troubled Long Island Power Authority and then covered its tracks by interfering with a Moreland Commission Cuomo appointed to investigate the authority, the Observer reports: * Astorino: Bill Clinton Should Be ‘Thankful’ for Westchester Tax Cuts(NYO)
Moreland Prequel
Pay to Play Halloween . . . Trick or Trick Campaign Corruption
Women Ad: Voting for Cuomo on the WEP line will "changehistory ... change women's rights forever." (Video) * Astorino Rips Cuomo Over Alleged
Mark Green @markjgreen
Post-Ebola & Cuomo's $100m+ (campaign$ + "independent"$ + StandUpNY$) v. Astorino's $4m, AMC to get 50% (I'm one), RA 38, HH 11, other 1.
Moreland Prequel
Moreland, the prequel: Cuomo meddled with investigation intoLong Island Power Authority, @susannecraig reports. *Governor "spent most of his first term redistributing New York’s taxes ratherthan reducing them." (City Journal)
Pay to Play Halloween . . . Trick or Trick Campaign Corruption
De Blasio’s Halloween party costumes were free(NYP) The Halloween costumes Mayor de Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray donned during Tuesday’s Halloween party at Gracie Mansion were paid for by a Brooklyn company that donated thousands to Hizzoner’s campaign fund last year. Broadway Stages — which city records show funneled at least $25,000 through its employees to the mayor — rented the costumes from Abracadabra, according to a de Blasio spokesperson. The ancient Greece-themed outfits cost about $350 to rent, according to the Abracadabra Web site. Broadway Stages, which bills itself as a “film, television and music production” facility, helped arrange for the mayor to appear on the CBS drama “The Good Wife” after he took office.
Media Covering A Car Fix Not Lone Wolf Terror Cause
de Blasio and Cops Divide Growing
De Blasio supports ‘stop & fix’ cop, rank and file mockhim(NYP) Mayor de Blasio completely supports the police boss who told his cops to fix a busted headlight for the mom of NYPD chokehold victim Eric Garner, according to his spokesman. But his comments infuriated rank-and-file cops, who mercilessly mocked the assistant chief online with jokes that included a doctored “Pep Boys” ad featuring him, the Rev. Al Sharpton and top cop Bill Bratton.“If he’s doing a citizen a solid, that’s not a bad thing,” mayoral spokesman Phil Walzak insisted a day after de Blasio ducked questions about the “stop and fix” scandal. “He has faith in the officers and their discretion.” Of course, the repair wasn’t done at the cops’ “discretion” — they were ordered to make it.
NYPD Brass Shake Up and Roles Apart
NYT Says Vote Down Redistricting Amendment
de Blasio Sued for Skirting Campaign Donations Limits . . . Battles Quinn Again
Other Ways Around Campaign Donations Limits: Data and Field, NYCLASS, United for the Future All Helped de Blasio
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| Funnel Campaign $$$ Loop Holes |
The head of the Putnam County Republican Committee is asking state Board of Election Enforcement Counsel Risa Sugarman to probe whether Democrats were improperly using a county committee to skirt campaign donation limits in several key Senate races. In his complaint filed Thursday, Anthony Scannapieco Jr. said the Putnam County Democratic Committee "appears to be engaging in a pattern of soliciting or receiving donations well in excess of the $10,300 limit for the express purpose of assisting Friends of Justin Wagner, a state Senate candidate and Friends of Terry Gipson, also a state Senate candidate."
First de Blasio Fought Quinn With NYCLASS Now He Fight Her WEP With Raising Funds for WFP Upstate Senate Candidates
Scannapieco referred to a Tuesday Daily News story that showed that the county Democratic committee, which had not received a donation for more than $1,000 in at least 15 years, suddenly took in nine donations in two days totaling $452,000. The committee promptly funnelled $433,000 of the money to the Wagner and Gipson campaigns. At least $50,000 of the money was donated by New York City supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, who said he gave at the urging of Mayor de Blasio. The head of a transportation company with dozens of city contracts also gave $100,000 to the committee. "The actions of this committee in transferring such clearly excessive and fraudulent contributions less than a week before Election Day is in violation of both the spirit and letter of the Election Law, which is why your investigation and intervention in this matter is critical. Scannapieco says the Democratic committee "appears to have orchestrated with others a contribution" to the Wagner and Gipson campaigns.
First de Blasio Fought Quinn With NYCLASS Now He Fight Her WEP With Raising Funds for WFP Upstate Senate Candidates
Catsimatidis' $$$ Puts Him On Both Sides of the Senate Battle
EXCLUSIVE: The developer, who did not wish to be identified, deals with the city on permitting and other land-use issues, a person who spoke with him said. The fundraiser's $50,000 suggested contribution put the developer in a tough spot, as while he likes the mayor he doesn't feel state Senate Democrats are friendly to the real estate industry.*
Jimmy Vielkind @JimmyVielkind John Catsimatidis gets explicit abt campndonations: @BilldeBlasio asked; Cats wanted to do favor, so he wrote check
VJ Machiavelli @VJMachiavelli
@JimmyVielkind @BilldeBlasio asks @JCats2013 for a favor at dinner and being a fool with billionaire he gave shame on him investigation now. @AndreaWNYC shame on u. @JCats2013 for doing "favor" for @deBlasioNYC do u do lots of business with City and u want to keep on good side
Bill Hammond @NYDNHammond
Catsimatidis: "I do a lot of business in the city. .. He (de Blasio) asked me for a favor and I wrote the check." http://nydn.us/1pWlDfl
From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You Data and Field, NYCLASS And United for the Future
If You Keep Getting Aways With Breaking Campaign Finance Laws You Do It Again and Again
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Albany Sees Hospitals As A Cash Cow . . . Not to Protect Us
Kruger, Seminerio, Boyland and Espada All In Jail In Part for Pocketing Bribes From Hospitals
Besides designating the eight hospitals, the state announcement last week also required that all hospitals follow “protocols for identification, isolation and medical evaluation of patients requiring care.”“Since 2006, 13 full-service hospitals have closed in New York City , representing the loss of each of entire facilities, strategic community resources, and the capacity of thousands of hospital beds.” The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would not comment about the impact the closure of Long Island College Hospital , or LICH, or other recent hospital closings, would have on city plans to being able to effectively contain and treat an outbreak of Ebola in New York City . The closure of LICH meant the loss of 506 hospital beds. Other important considerations raised in Dr. Farmer’s essay, like the failure of the market-driven pharmaceutical industry to develop treatments or vaccines for diseases that primarily strike people in poor countries, in low numbers at first, need to be addressed, as well.
Fariña Controls Spins Image Carefully
Fariña micromanaging town-hall meetings with parent groups(NYP) She’s been accused of micromanaging classroom teachers — and now parents. Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña is requiring that presidents of community education councils — which help shape school policies — meet with staff to answer, in precise detail, how ongoing, hour-long local town-hall sessions will be run. Questions on a printed template obtained by The Post include: “Who will greet her [Fariña]? Will there be a timekeeper? What will the stage look like? And what will the chancellor see when she arrives?”
Education Lobbyist Spend Big
Teachers, Gambling, Campaign Finance Dominate Lobbying Scene(YNN) * Charter advocates, teachers union are state’s biggestlobbying spenders (NYP)The city and the teachers unions spent a combined $3.3 million trying to influence government officials in the first half of 2014 and was listed first in the state by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which released the report. Families for Excellent Schools shelled out $5.95 million during the same period, dwarfing the union spending. Teacher Union Blasts Cuomo The city and state teacher unions blasted Cuomo Tuesday for referring to public schools as "one of the only remaining public monopolies,” the Daily News writes:
Strong Winds Blows Cuomo Christie in 72 Hr Storm Passing?
Africa , the New York Post writes: Dr. Craig Spencer at first told officials that he isolated himself in his Harlem apartment — and didn’t admit he rode the subways, dined out and went bowling until cops looked at his MetroCard the sources said. “He told the authorities that he self-quarantined. Detectives then reviewed his credit-card statement and MetroCard and found that he went over here, over there, up and down and all around,” a source said.* DefiantEbola nurse Kaci Hickox: I will not be "bullied by politicians" overquarantine order(NBC) * Nurse: I'll go to court if Mainequarantines me: A nurse who was confined against her will at a New Jersey hos...(WNBC) * Bellevue Workers, Worn Out From Treating Ebola Patient, Face Stigma Outside Hospital (NYT)*
Two Governors’ Shifts on Ebola Are Criticized as Politics,Not Science(NYT) * Cuomo’s quarantine contortions (NYDN Ed) The governor claims control, but he's not charting a steady course. When you get past Gov. Cuomo’s doublespeak and logical contortions, there may be a real case for the Ebola quarantine he and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie debuted, half-formed, on Friday. But there’s no excuse for the shoddy way Cuomo rolled it out. Or for his credulity-defying insistence that he’s been right at every point over a four-day span — when he went from declaring things “under control,” to announcing a quarantine lacking the most basic details, to seeming to fill those in on the fly in response to a very public backlash. Trying to project strength, Cuomo has instead seemed buffeted by the news winds. Cuomo says he may NOT tell the public if more people are quarantined
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Cuomo fed panic by imposing a new policy of mandatory quarantines for all healthcare workers returning from the Ebola-stricken countries of West Africa ,the Times writes: * With Ebola’s Arrival, de Blasio Stands Tall as Christie andCuomo Falter (NYT) * Quarantine This Book (Politico) Andrew Cuomo wants Ebola patients to read his terrible memoir. I skimmed it, so you won’t have to. * Cuomo, Citing Local Government Waste, Says It’s ‘Time WeFix’ High Property Taxes (NYT)
Stewart: "A tent with no heat, no shower, you shit in a box. Most New Yorkers would be like: What's the square footage?"* The federal government announced Ebola treatment guidelines that stopped short of tough measures in New York and New Jersey , while the Pentagon appeared to be setting its own course pushing for a 21 day quarantine for returning troops, The New York Timesreports: de Blasio Wins At Being Cool With a spotlight trained on City Hall, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, known more for flights of rhetoric than feats of management, has seized on a largely unfamiliar role: the coolheaded executive, the Times writes: * Trust deficit: Why public is twitchy(NYP Ed) * EBOLA'S MIA MAN: Obama's freshly appointed czar is nowhereto be found as CDC issues guidelines on deadly virus — 'It’s a theater of theabsurd... it’s laughable'(NYDN) The White House insisted Klain, appointed by President Obama, is working behind the scenes to coordinate the government's response to the Ebola virus while a top doctor called the lack of leadership 'laughable.' Meanwhile, the governors of New York and New Jersey stood by their quarantine policies despite the CDC's recommendations that they're not necessary.* Twinkle, twinkle little czar (NYDN Ed) The nation waits for Ron Klain to fix Obama's Ebola policy * Chris Christie calls Obama administration's Ebola guidelines'incredibly confusing' (WSJ) * Christie Defends His Ebola Policy as Scientists Condemn It(NYT) * "Christie, and also Cuomo, simply misread the nature ofthe public alarm"(NY Mag)* Study: Fear of Ebola Highest Among People Who Did Not PayAttention During Math and Science Classes(NY Mag)* Offering the first detailed account of New York ’s quarantine order for healthcare workers returning from West Africa , the Cuomo administration has issued guidelines that go beyond federal recommendations but seek to allow individuals to spend their isolation in a location of their choosing, The New York Timesreports: * A spokesperson for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “The City anticipates the costs of preparing for and treating Ebola will be significant – in the many millions…The City will be seeking federal assistance.”* Pols, panicsand pandemics (NYP Ed)
Teachout's Political Dance: No Green Party Endorsement And Attacks the WEP
Message Green Party Hawkins Sent to Teachout Today
Wednesday Update, Doctor Mislead About City Travels and NJ Nurse Ordered Again to Quarantine by Maine and Refuses Again
"Hero" doctor lied about self quarantine
Law-enforcement sources said the city’s first Ebola patient initially lied to authorities about his travels around the city following his return from treating disease victims in Two Governors’ Shifts on Ebola Are Criticized as Politics,Not Science(NYT) * Cuomo’s quarantine contortions (NYDN Ed) The governor claims control, but he's not charting a steady course. When you get past Gov. Cuomo’s doublespeak and logical contortions, there may be a real case for the Ebola quarantine he and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie debuted, half-formed, on Friday. But there’s no excuse for the shoddy way Cuomo rolled it out. Or for his credulity-defying insistence that he’s been right at every point over a four-day span — when he went from declaring things “under control,” to announcing a quarantine lacking the most basic details, to seeming to fill those in on the fly in response to a very public backlash. Trying to project strength, Cuomo has instead seemed buffeted by the news winds. Cuomo says he may NOT tell the public if more people are quarantined
Teachout's Political Dance: No Green Party Endorsement And Attacks the WEP
WFP tensions rise over Cuomo-backed Women’s EqualityParty(NYP)
Message Green Party Hawkins Sent to Teachout Today
Green Party candidate for governor Howie Hawkins held a media conference call today at noon to make a direct appeal to Zephyr Teachout's supporters for their votes and to discuss the Working Families Party's cynical, sad, and impotent strategy. Teachout was able to get 34% of the Democratic Primary vote (181,000 votes) by running on a progressive platform, appealing to voters furious with Gov. Cuomo's record on income inequality, taxation, fracking, schooling and corruption. In the general election the only candidate running on a progressive platform is Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. Hawkins is currently polling at 9%, which equates to 415,000 votes. Unlike Mr. Cuomo and the Working Families Party, with Hawkins and the Green Party there is no electoral fusion confusion, or ballot hocus pocus: what you see is what you get—Howie Hawkins, the People's Governor, running on his party's ballot line. Green party leaders and activists are able to comfortably endorse Howie Hawkins on the Green Party line, unlike WFP leaders and celebrities who are fighting for the very survival of their ballot status by hosting Gov. Cuomo on their ballot line though he does not hold their values or have a record they can support.* Zephyr Teachout Will Not Endorse Andrew Cuomo (NYO) * Teachout snubs Cuomo, won’t endorse him for a second term (NYP) * NYS Governor candidate Howie Hawkins tells us why he iswhats best for New York (City Limits)* Although she won’t be endorsing in the governor’s race, Zephyr Teachout said she plans to make financial and other contributions to the Democratic effort to retake the state Senate, State of Politics reports:
Less Than Six Degrees of Bertha Lewis Separation: de Blasio Teachout Edition
"The Working Families Party is urging people to vote for Andrew Cuomo by using a picture of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio"
W.F.P. mailer features Bill de Blasio(Capital) The Working Families Party is urging people to vote for Governor Andrew Cuomo by using a picture of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. The labor-backed party has faced persistent criticism since it backed Cuomo over Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout after de Blasio brokered a deal for Cuomo to endorse a Democratic takeover of the State Senate. The W.F.P. is hoping to bolster its vote total, lest it slip behind the Green Party (led by Howie Hawkins) or the Women's Equality Party (created by Cuomo.)
Less Than Six Degrees of Bertha Lewis Separation: de Blasio Teachout Edition
"The Working Families Party is urging people to vote for Andrew Cuomo by using a picture of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio"
Lobbyists Sheinkopof Working for A GOP Assembly Candidate, At the Same Time Working For the State Democratic Party, Pushing for the IDC
Veteran Democratic consultant rips idea of finding embattledcandidate a judicial nomination(NYDN) Veteran Democratic operative Hank Sheinkopf says the party's effort to get embattled Dave Denenberg off the Long Island state Senate ballot by finding him a judgeship nomination sends a terrible message to voters that could backfire. "It looks like you're manipulating the judicial process, it looks like you have no ethics by pushing someone accused of thieving for the bench," Sheinkopf said. * Sheinkopf, a well know Democratic strategist, said he wasspeaking not on behalf of the state party–where he was hired to do consultingwork—but rather on his own. (NYP)
Sheinkopof Goes Rogue Media Stays Silent About Corrupt Consultant Lobbyists Who Have Taken Over NY Election System
Sheinkopf Helping GOP Candidate Against Hikind More Than $$$
Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf is crossing party lines to join the campaign of Nachman Caller, a Republican seeking to unseat Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, [The Insider]
Story Developing
NY's Svengali Sheinkopf: The Corrupt Liar Still Running Politics and Fooling the Press
From Team Astorino
Statement from Governor Cuomo Spokesman
Hank Sheinkopf on Andrew Cuomo
April 12, 2002
Andrew Cuomo is "willing to say anything, do anything -- including distorting the facts -- to win election.'' (link) Cuomo-McCall Contest Quickly Turns Nasty(2002 NYT) More Dems adviser urging Cuomo to forget Working Families Party(NYP) * NYCLASS Hires Sheinkopf to Steer Mail Blitz - Blogs * Sheldon Silver on hot seat over racino bid as e-mails track money to political committee(NYP) Just before that scandal-plagued bidder was picked, Silver solicited “campaign dough” from Hank Sheinkopf, a friend who was lobbying for the company, the Aqueduct Entertainment Group.
Lobbyists Sheinkopof Working for A GOP Assembly Candidate, At the Same Time Working For the State Democratic Party, Pushing for the IDC
NY's Svengali Sheinkopf: The Corrupt Liar Still Running Politics and Fooling the Press
From Team Astorino
Statement from Governor Cuomo Spokesman
Hank Sheinkopf on Andrew Cuomo
April 12, 2002
Andrew Cuomo is "willing to say anything, do anything -- including distorting the facts -- to win election.'' (link) Cuomo-McCall Contest Quickly Turns Nasty(2002 NYT) More Dems adviser urging Cuomo to forget Working Families Party(NYP) * NYCLASS Hires Sheinkopf to Steer Mail Blitz - Blogs * Sheldon Silver on hot seat over racino bid as e-mails track money to political committee(NYP) Just before that scandal-plagued bidder was picked, Silver solicited “campaign dough” from Hank Sheinkopf, a friend who was lobbying for the company, the Aqueduct Entertainment Group.
Sheinkopf Up to His Balls In the FBI AEG Corruption Scandal is Somehow Working for the Democratic Party
Sheinkopf took the 5th when asked questions by the NY former state Inspector General Joseph Fisch about the AEG scandal which is still being investigated by the feds as part of the AEG investigation. The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections ... - New York Post "Sheinkopf copped a memo, (Barrett, Village Voice, 2010) too, obtaining it from an aide to the top Senate staffer, Angelo Aponte, who Sheinkopf personally installed in the key spot. He had the power to do that because the skillful Sheinkopf doubles as a lobbyist and as a political consultant, and had advised Senate Democrats in the elections that led to the 2008 majority, helping to make Malcolm Smith majority leader. Sheinkopf collected $356,741 in consulting fees from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee at the same time that he was representing AEG and its precursor with Senate Democrats. Having worked for Bill Thompson and Mike Bloomberg most recently, Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made." More on Hank Sheinkopf * Bill Thompson Has His Own Pension Pals(Tom Robbins, Village Voice 2009)
A King's Pension Deal For Sheinkopf Partner
While Sheinkopf Worked for Comptroller Thompson His Partner Norman Levy Did Well With the Pension Funds "Norman Levy “received a half-million dollars” in 2006 payments from Bill Howell, a major pension fund placement agent, and “appeared sometimes to be Howell’s partner” in controversial deals with the fund, according to a source familiar with the transactions. Investigators concluded that they were splitting fees, and not disclosing it. The payments to Levy - whose conviction for running a parking-ticket-fixing-scam decades ago was also overturned on appeal - were allegedly tied to his introduction of Howell to a principal of Global Strategies, a consulting firm whose client, Intermedia, was seeking millions in city and state pension fund investments. Howell made the placements and shared the fees with Levy, who appeared to be listed as an employee of one Howell entity. Sheinkopf received payments from Levy shortly after Levy was paid by Howell." (Voice)
Sheinkopf Up to His Balls In the FBI AEG Corruption Scandal is Somehow Working for the Democratic Party
Sheinkopf took the 5th when asked questions by the NY former state Inspector General Joseph Fisch about the AEG scandal which is still being investigated by the feds as part of the AEG investigation. The Feds are also investigating a Board Of Election (the cesspool of political corruption) contract for new machines that Sheinkopf was a lobbyist for. Feds investigate switch by Board of Elections ... - New York Post "Sheinkopf copped a memo, (Barrett, Village Voice, 2010) too, obtaining it from an aide to the top Senate staffer, Angelo Aponte, who Sheinkopf personally installed in the key spot. He had the power to do that because the skillful Sheinkopf doubles as a lobbyist and as a political consultant, and had advised Senate Democrats in the elections that led to the 2008 majority, helping to make Malcolm Smith majority leader. Sheinkopf collected $356,741 in consulting fees from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee at the same time that he was representing AEG and its precursor with Senate Democrats. Having worked for Bill Thompson and Mike Bloomberg most recently, Sheinkopf makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings he’s made." More on Hank Sheinkopf * Bill Thompson Has His Own Pension Pals(Tom Robbins, Village Voice 2009)
A King's Pension Deal For Sheinkopf Partner
While Sheinkopf Worked for Comptroller Thompson His Partner Norman Levy Did Well With the Pension Funds "Norman Levy “received a half-million dollars” in 2006 payments from Bill Howell, a major pension fund placement agent, and “appeared sometimes to be Howell’s partner” in controversial deals with the fund, according to a source familiar with the transactions. Investigators concluded that they were splitting fees, and not disclosing it. The payments to Levy - whose conviction for running a parking-ticket-fixing-scam decades ago was also overturned on appeal - were allegedly tied to his introduction of Howell to a principal of Global Strategies, a consulting firm whose client, Intermedia, was seeking millions in city and state pension fund investments. Howell made the placements and shared the fees with Levy, who appeared to be listed as an employee of one Howell entity. Sheinkopf received payments from Levy shortly after Levy was paid by Howell." (Voice)
New Leadership for Citi Bike
City Rip Off Feds Tens of Millions In Medicaid $$$ U.S. Attorney
New York City Agency and Vendor Bilked Medicaid, U.S.Says(NYT) A federal prosecutor said that the city and a contractor exploited Medicaid billing loopholes to collect tens of millions of dollars in reimbursements.The office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Monday that the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the contractor, Computer Sciences Corporation, created schemes from 2008 through 2012 that would produce reimbursements on tens of thousands of false claims for early intervention program services for infants and toddlers.* The U.S. attorney’s office is suing New York CIty and a contractor for defrauding Medicaid by using a computerized billing scam that raked in millions in improper reimbursements, the Post writes:
* Bharara sues city for Medicaid fraud (Capital)
* Bharara sues city for Medicaid fraud (Capital)
Cop Guilty In Ticket Fixing and Drugs
Jose Ramos, 45, was convicted after a nearly monthlong trial; he faces five other indictments
Cuomo Christie Ebola Quarantine Rules
Some Other Press Morning Reports Say Christie Has No Plans to Change His Policy, At 9:30 Everyone Says Nurse Going Home
Thursday
Can We Sue for Whiplash?
Cuomo and Christie say aid workers can serve quarantines athome (NYP) Gov. Cuomo, under pressure from federal officials, announced Sunday night that aid workers in
Update Nurse Could Be Out Today Reports: @GovChristie will allow nurse to leave hospital in
NYT Claims Breaking News That the Nurse Is Going to Be Released At 9:30AM, NYP Has the Same Story At 1AM
carolynryan @carolynryan
“@nytimes: Breaking News: Quarantined Nurse Can Go Home if C.D.C. Approves, Christie Says http://nyti.ms/1pQiei5 ”
Monday Update WH vs Govs The Obama administration has expressed deep concerns to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and is consulting with them to modify their quarantine orders as President Obama seeks to quickly develop a new, nationwide policy for the workers, The New York Times writes: * The state's top Republican accused New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio of "putting politics ahead of people" for having three City Hall aides out on leave to help Democratic campaigns during the Ebola crisis, the Daily News’ Ken Lovett reports: * Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino charged Sunday that Cuomo has become “unhinged and volatile’’ from the stress of the campaign, the New York Post’s Fred Dicker reports:
A new study claims Latinos hold only 5 percent of top positions in the Cuomo administration and in the state government workforce as a whole, the New York Post reports: * Companies lobby Cuomo administration state for pipelineapprovals(Capital)* ‘MY BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED’: Nurse quarantined in New Jersey after treating Ebola patients in West Africa furious at Gov.Christie (NYDN) * “At worst, Christie and Cuomo – whose respective presidential ambitions are no secret – are capitalizing on those fears to scorecheap political points by appearing to be guardians of their constituents’ safety.”
Kaci Hickox, 33, was the first person snared by the 21-day mandatory quarantine announced by Christie and Gov. Cuomo for anyone returning to New York or New Jersey after treating Ebola victims in West Africa . Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel has signed on to help Hickox sue for her freedom.* Ebola scare brings out Cuomo’s old leadership instincts (Capital) * NY Governor Cuomo Eases Quarantine Policy After Criticism * .@NYGovCuomo @ChrisChristie stake territory after doctor isdiagnosed with Ebola(WSJ) * De Blasio covers Cuomo on an Ebola issue (Capital) * Bowing To Pressure, Cuomo Will Allow Ebola Quarantine To BeServed At Home (Gothamist)
Are the Changing Plans Absurd or a Symbol on How All Government Has Failed?
Fredric U. Dicker @fud31
Democratic Party insider:"Cuomo screwed DeBlasio with the quarantine and then Obama screwed Cuomo in return.''
Pay No Attention to What I Said Before
Pay No Attention to What I Said Before
Cuomo: No Shift In Quarantine Policy(YNN) “The policy that we outlined on Friday was the policy that we detailed on Sunday,” Cuomo said. Cuomo continues to deny policy changes between Friday and today. "This is what we talked about on Monday," he says of him and Christie. To recap: Cuomo puts a kinder face on quarantine policy, which hasn't changed. De Blasio joins him for presser, expresses no position. Governor Cuomo says re; quarantine "you will be at home with your family and your visitors." What kind of quarantine allows visitors?
IDC's $150,000 To Western GOP Senator
IDC's $150,000 To Western GOP Senator
Breakaway Dems donate mystery $150K(CrainsNY) Now a mysterious $150,000 donation by the IDC's so-called super PAC—recently made to another outside group, run by the League of Conservation Voters—raises questions about whether the IDC is quietly trying to help a Republican senator in Western New York defeat a Democrat. As Crain's reported earlier this week, the League of Conservation Voters has adopted a policy this year of working unusually closely with deep-pocketed interests, which don't necessarily have environmental causes at the top of their agendas.* The pro-public financing group Friends of Democracy this month spent virtually all of its $650,000 budget on TV ads in at least two state Senate races, State of Politicsreports: * State Sen. George Latimer, a mainline Democrat, received a series of $10,000 donations from Independent Democratic Conference members Jeff Klein, David Valesky and Diane Savino, as well as from the IDC’s political action committee, the Daily News reports:
Quarantine On the Fly Without A Plan Changing By the Hour
Sunday Morning
Dallas Morning News: Nurse Says She is In Quarantine Hell Piss Off
Dallas Morning News: Nurse Says She is In Quarantine Hell Piss Off
Amid concerns that quarantining healthcare workers will dissuade them from traveling to Ebola-infected nations, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo rolled out a plan to offer job security and financial incentives to doctors willing to fight the virus abroad, the Observer reports:
'IT'S NOTHING THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED': Andrew Cuomo admitsEbola quarantine policy could be unenforceable The governor said officials had never considered whether people refusing to go along with the order could face prosecution or arrest. While Cuomo fielded questions, Mayor de Blasio scarfed down meatballs with his wife and Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett at The Meatball Shop in
Thurs: Cuomo w/ BDB urging calm; Fri: Cuomo w/ Christie calling for quarantine; Sat: Cuomo tamping down fear; Sun: WH out against quarantine
More Pre-K State Up Problems
De Blasio’s pre-K push violates rules, puts kids in danger. De Blasio’s frenzied push to expand pre-K programs has had dangerous consequences—hundreds of serious violations at unprepared centers since the start of the school year, including at least 78 for hazardous infractions that have still not been remedied, the Post reports:
Top Lobbyists Caught In the Middle Of A Terror Fight Between Mark-Viverito Vs PBA
Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin Has Hit the Jack Pot With Over A 100 New Lobbying Clients Since She Took the Speakers Office .One Wonders How the lobbying Firm Explains the Speakers Views to Their PBA Client.
Lobbyists Are the New Party Bosses and Operate as a Shadow Government
Melissa Mark-Viverito spent big bucks on speaker's race, campaign filings show
Mark-Viverito spent significant amounts on campaign consultants - paying $22,352 to consultants Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Giblin. She also owes that firm another $6250.She paid $8295 to Amelia Adams from New York Communities for Change, now a top staffer on her city payroll, $10,000 to H Strategies, where her now-communications director Eric Koch then worked, and $10,000 to Jon Paul Lupo, who worked on her speaker campaign and is now a top aide to Mayor de Blasio. She also donated $8500 to the Working Families Party. Mark-Viverito collected donations from unions 1199 SEIU, CWA Local 1180, and 32BJ. An opponent of the proposed big soda ban, she also got $1000 from Coca Cola’s PAC.* Mark-Viverito spent $106K on bid to become speaker(Capital)
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Puppet Council Speaker Controlled By the New Private Tammany Hall
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Puppet Council Speaker Controlled By the New Private Tammany Hall
Top Speaker Lobbyists Puts A Man Inside
To the Winner Lobbyists Goes the Spoils (City Council)
Since the 2013 elections Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin has picked up of 70 clients to lobby for. 51 clients to lobby the city council, 17 to lobby the office of the mayor
Another big winner of 2013 made a similar argument. Jon Del Giorno, sitting in his firm's 28th-floor conference room a few blocks from City Hall, downplayed the notion that his closeness with Ms. Mark-Viverito will help his firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which has hovered near the bottom of, or just out of, the top-10 list. Pitta Bishop has done Ms. Mark-Viverito's election-law compliance since 2005, and last year Mr. Del Giorno quarterbacked her uphill speaker bid. In a clever and unprecedented move, the firm set up a 2017 campaign account for an unspecified office with the state Board of Elections, which allowed Ms. Mark-Viverito to raise $100,000 and hire a full staff for her run, despite needing just 26 votes from council colleagues to win. More than $21,000 of the money reportedly came from Pitta Bishop's long roster of business and labor clients, and gave Ms. Mark-Viverito an edge over her rivals. Common Cause New York said the new speaker was "exploiting" the state's lax campaign-finance system.A consulting firm—Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin—that helped Melissa Mark-Viverito in her runs for City Council and Council speaker has lobbied her on behalf of four clients, the Daily News reports: Disclosure reports show an advocacy group, the East Side Alliance Against Overdevelopment, paid Pitta Bishop $15,000 in November to fight a plan by Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital to build two towers on city-owned land on E. 73rd St. Pitta Bishop lobbied Council members from Manhattan, including Mark-Viverito — who represents East Harlem — to vote against the project when it came before the 12-member Manhattan Borough Board on Nov. 21. Mark-Viverito voted no, but the project was approved 6 to 4. Mark-Viverito’s spokesman said her vote had no connection to the lobbying by her consultant. In January and February, Pitta Bishop lobbyists also met with Mark-Viverito’s staff on behalf of another client, the Vera Institute. The goal? Vera’s request for additional Council funding of a pilot program providing legal aid to immigrants. Vera received $500,000 in funding last year and wants $5 million more this year. Pitta Bishop also lobbied Mark-Viverito in January and February seeking “support for museum programming related to anti-bullying” run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Manhattan. She was asked to speak at an anti-bullying event targeted to children, which she agreed to do, her spokesman said. And Luis Miranda of the MirRam Group enjoys a close relationship with Ms. Mark-Viverito.
The Speakers Lobbyists Cash In
Even the Red Cross is Controlled and Wastes Millions on Public Relations Consultants
In the wake of Hurricanes Sandy and Isaac in 2012 Americans sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the Red Cross, but the charity botched key parts of its recovery mission, diverted “assets for public relations purposes” and made politically-driven decisions when it came to distributing relief efforts, ProPublica and NPR report:
The Shadow Government "Permanent Government" Changes the Guard and Remains in Control
Lobbyists Political Consultants Cut Themselves Into Permanent Government Since Jack Newfield Wrote the Book 1977
New Kings Makers Eat the Kings Meat and the Media Does Not Notice
Former Borough President Molinaro joins high-powered consulting firm with strong Staten Island ties(SI Advancew) Molinaro has joined the Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin LLC government relations and consulting firm, a company with strong ties to the Island. In his role as senior managing director, Molinaro will oversee the firm's new satellite office in St. George, close to many of the economic development projects that Molinaro helped become a reality during his time in office. Pitta said that the Wheel development as well as other Island projects, including the development of the Stapleton home port and the re-development of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Charleston, "are sure to spur further growth, opportunity and investment across all of Staten Island." Jon Del Giorno of the politically-prominent law firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin LLC (which manages Melissa Mark-Viverito campaign finance filings) also helped pave the way for the councilwoman's deal with Brooklyn Boss Seddio.Feds charge Senate Dems' operative (CrainsNY) Michael Cohen, who now works for the New York lobbying firm Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and Giblin, did not return a request for comment made through a firm spokesman. Pitta Bishop lists crisis management among its specialties, and is affiliated with the law firm Pitta & Giblin. Ms. Mark-Viverito was escorted around Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club recently by Michael Cohen
Harold Ickes Both Advises de Blasio and Lobbies Them . . . Shadow Govnment Member
Wednesday Update
JPMorgan Chase Drops Plan to Build 2 West Side Towers(NYT)
Harold Ickes both advises Bill de Blasio, and lobbies him (CrainsNY) A few months ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio rushed a union-backed bill through the City Council that handed $42 million in public funds to privately employed school-bus workers. Even some labor-friendly lawmakers questioned the precedent set by taxpayer-funded raises for workers at the low-wage bus companies. Behind the scenes, one of the country's pre-eminent political fixers had spent months laying the groundwork for the bill, lobbying records show. Harold Ickes, a former top
Lobbyists Secret Government Cover Up By Pols and the Media
True News Has Been Reporting About the Lobbyist's Shadow Secret Government . . . And Mr. Power the Media is Enabling the Pols to Cover It Up
Why Did the NYT Make Powell A Sports Reporter? All His Friends Have Conspiracy Theories About Why the Times Would Remove (with no replacement) A Reporters Who Understands the World Outside the Kingdoms' Bubble
Michael Consultants and favored PR firms form a powerful and growing shadow government in NYS. Pols trying to cover that up
Lobbyists the New Permanent Government
Poor Door and Lobbyists George Arzt
Everyone Been Was Asking Why the Reporters Were off Twitter or not Covering the Election
Now They Have Ebola and the Endless News Conferences As A Distraction to Ignore Doing Analysis of the Candidates Campaign Spin Commercials Dominate
Media Not Protecting Public From the Campaign Sharks
Gov. Cuomo's reelection campaign, despite spending binge,heads into home stretch with nearly $15.8 million (NYDN) Cuomo’s campaign reported $8.6 million in total expenses during the past three weeks, according to a just-filed financial statement. The expenses included more than $2.3 million spent on television ads and another $4.4 million transferred to the state Democratic Party. Despite the heavy spending, the governor still has plenty of money left over as the races heads into the final week and a half. The campaign reported a balance of nearly $15.8 million, dwarfing the $1 million that Republican challenger Rob Astorino has on hand in his campaign account.
Thomas Kaplan @thomaskaplan
Cuomo says it's "obnoxious," "irrational" and "irresponsible" to suggest he might be using the Ebola scare to his political advantage.
de Blasio Government TV: More Spin and Control of the Message
WNYC TV and Radio Was Founded to " Dissemination of public information to the people of the City of New York upon an enlarged scale and therefore of a higher caliber"
de Blasio Government TV: More Spin and Control of the Message
WNYC TV and Radio Was Founded to " Dissemination of public information to the people of the City of New York upon an enlarged scale and therefore of a higher caliber"
De Blasio turning city’s TV station into campaign arm(NYP) NYC Media, the city’s production arm that includes NYC TV, has 49 staffers on the payroll. The station’s $5.7 million budget comes from taxpayer funds, a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and licensing payments by cable providers. One weekly show, “City Scoop,” consists of one-minute capsules on mayoral ribbon-cuttings, announcements and initiatives. “Since we’re owned by the city, we’re essentially de Blasio’s media arm. We follow him around because we are his,” the insider said. A September “City Scoop” episode shows the mayor high-fiving kids while announcing after-school programs, then flashes to de Blasio at a press conference with US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Govs. Cuomo and Chris Christie. “It’s all mayor,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who wants other officials and professionals to have input. “Nobody pays any attention to this. There’s no real oversight. They can kind of do what they want.” Bloomberg also used the programming to promote his leadership, but de Blasio treats it like a campaign ad, the source claimed. “He milks it like crazy,” the insider said. “It seems like he’s still running.” De Blasio hired Janet Choi, a former TV reporter and producer, as the station’s general manager. She is a de Blasio pal and has boasted of plans to spend Thanksgiving with the mayor and his family, the source said.
Grover A. Whalen described himself as "Mr. New York " for his autobiography. Indeed, at various times he was the city's official and unofficial greeter of royalty, celebrity and the political elite. He was a businessman and a public relations guru, and is perhaps best known as President of the 1939-1940 World's Fair. "In March, 1922, a proposal came before the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for the establishment of a Municipal Wireless Broadcasting Station. Upon my suggestion as Commissioner of Plant and Structures, the Borough President of Queens made the proposal, pointing out that recent scientific developments in this new medium made possible the dissemination of public information to the people of the City of New York upon an enlarged scale and therefore of a higher caliber than was possible heretofore."*Channeling Mayor Bill (NYP) The city doesn’t need its own television station, but it seems the mayor does. As Susan Edelman and Amber Jamieson reported in The Post, the mayor is turning a “public” TV station into a vanity channel for his political and personal interests. Officially, it’s called NYC TV, but given the mayor’s role in dictating content, it would be better to call it WBdB-TV — for Bill de Blasio. The programming includes a feature the mayor ordered up on dancer and “healer” Alessandra Belloni — an old NYU pal who performed at Bill’s wedding. Her “spider dance” is supposed to help domestic-violence victims overcome trauma. It was filmed in September.
Interesting Citizens Union endorses @SenMartyGolden after news breaks of feds investigating his campaign expenditures
Goo Goos: Reforms Have Their Press Conferences . . . AndNothing Happens
Mark Green Tweets the Mayor is Not Ignoring Latinos
Mark Green Tweets the Mayor is Not Ignoring Latinos
Mark Green @markjgreen
Falcon's bean-counting is bum rap agst BdB. http://bitly.com/1tyNya1 Mayor "ignores" Latinos after Viverito, Farina, Paoli, Carrion? Com'on.
How Come Pushing Out the Middle Class is Not An Issue in Campaign 2014
RIP, NYC's middle class? (NYDN) New York is now America ’s second most racially divided city, behind only Milwaukee . And New York City now has the nation’s single most segregated public school system.
How Blacks the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Push Outof Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers
Taxes Pushing the Middle Class Out of NY
Proportionately, New York State
Should the Bellevue Doctors and Nurses Working On the Ebola Doctor Have Their Travel Restricted Govs?
Was the 2013 Election Because of PAC Spending from the Shadow Govt Illegal?
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC
Most of private $ raised by politicians running for city wide office in NYC is raised from people such as lobbyists etc * NYC campaign finance law while better than nothing falls far short of eliminating legal bribery
NYT Gives No Reason to Vote For Recchia Except His Opponent is Corrupt
Domenic Recchia Jr., a down-to-earth Democrat with an ear for the complaints of ordinary citizens. Mr. Recchia compiled a solid record of achievement on cultural and financial issues as a member of the New York City Council, where he served as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee and helped negotiate the city’s $70 billion budget. He doesn’t have Mr. Grimm’s experience in Congress, but he doesn’t have Mr. Grimm’s dubious record, either.Mr. Recchia is by far the best choice in District 11.
How Come Pushing Out the Middle Class is Not An Issue in Campaign 2014
How Come Pushing Out the Middle Class is Not An Issue in Campaign 2014
NYT says it's confirmed: A doctor in New York City... tested positive for theEbola virus Thursday"
NYC Doctor Tests Positive For Ebola, Sources Tell CBS 2 (WCBS)NYC has disease detectives tracing the Ebola patient’s recent movements. City "prepared to quarantine contacts as necessary,” says mayor. @billdeblasio confirms first Ebola case in NYC, says it is very hard to contract. Urges calm.
“Being on the same subway car” or living close to someone with Ebola isn’t in and of itself a risk, @deBlasioNYC says. * Governor Cuomo says NYC has learned from the experience with Ebola in Dallas and is very prepared * Cuomo says he's spoken with Ron Klain, the Obama-appointed "Ebola czar" and says a CDC team has been sent * Cuomo on #nyc Ebola doc: we believe he came into contact with four people during the relevant period. * Ebola patient took the A, 1 and L trains, says city health chief * Bassett: Among those Spencer has been in contact with isfiancé, two friends and a Uber driver.(WSJ) *-- Daily News: “FDNY hazardous materials specialistssealed-off Spencer’s apartment on W. 147th St. and took the doctor out on a stretcher. … the super in Spencer’s building, said firefighters took the doctor’s door off its hinges when they took him out of the apartment.”
You Want to Bet This Is the Last Time These Two Cops Dump Medical Waste in A Public Trash Can
The city's health commissioner said the Ebola patient went on a jog; took the A, 1 and L subway lines; and bowled in Williamsburg . * Bassett: Spencer's first fever was this morning. Staff is being sent to the bowling alley where he bowled * Ebola puts spotlight on Bellevue , key NYC trauma center (WSJ) * Bellevue hospital has "dedicated laboratory" in #Ebola unit, really is "self-contained," Dr. Bassett says * The Ebola patient went to the High Line, restaurant yesterday, NYC health commissioner says.* Race on to decontaminate Ebola doctor’s NYC home (NYP)* Cuomo and Christie have announced a quarantine for medical personnel returning from Ebola-stricken countries to New York or New Jersey .* Cuomo and Christie Announce Mandatory Quarantines in Wake ofEbola Threat(NYO) * New York Cityauthorities began decontaminating the apartment of Craig Spencer, the doctor who tested positive for Ebola.
You Want to Bet This Is the Last Time These Two Cops Dump Medical Waste in A Public Trash Can
Kellner Joins Silver and Lopez Sexual Abuse Tax Payer Funds
The sexual harassment defense of state Assemblyman Micah Kellner has cost taxpayers another $35,000, according to Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, the Daily News reports:
Update Kellner Appeal In Sexual Harassment Case Denied(YNN)* An Assembly hearing officer upheld sexual harassment charges against Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner, the Daily News reports:
Update Kellner Appeal In Sexual Harassment Case Denied(YNN)* An Assembly hearing officer upheld sexual harassment charges against Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner, the Daily News reports:
Sampson Lawyers He Took the Money Just Before the Feds Said . . . The Statute of Limitations Issue
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Catch Me If You Can
In Senator’s Case, Defining ‘Embezzlement’(NYT) State Senator John L. Sampson, who handily won his primary last month despite being under indictment, returned to court on Thursday to seek dismissal of two of the 10 counts against him. His lawyers did not argue that he did not embezzle from the government, but rather that he did it earlier than prosecutors have said. The issue, laid out before Judge Dora L. Irizarry ofFederal District Court Brooklyn , hinged on what action constituted embezzlement: Mr. Sampson’s transfer of the money, or his use of it? Federal prosecutors have accused Mr. Sampson of embezzling funds from sales of foreclosed properties, which he was overseeing as a state court-appointed administrator of foreclosure funds.
He is also charged with obstruction of justice, witness tampering, evidence tampering and making false statements. Mr. Sampson’s lawyers argued on Thursday that the five-year statute of limitations on the embezzlement charges expired well before he was indicted. Mr. Sampson was supposed to promptly return surplus money from the sale of two foreclosed Brooklyn properties to the New York State Supreme Court, according to the indictment. He did not. The defense agreed, for the purposes of the motion, that the embezzlement took place in 1998 and 2002, when Mr. Sampson transferred the money to escrow accounts he controlled. It is “extraneous” and “irrelevant” how and when the embezzled funds were spent, his lawyer, Nathaniel H. Akerman, said in court on Thursday. A prosecutor, Alexander A. Solomon, argued that embezzlement was “not complete until the defendant used the funds in the escrow account,” which occurred within the five-year window. udge Irizarry asked, What if someone takes the money but just leaves it in an account and never uses it? “By your reasoning, a referee who does that could never be prosecuted,” she said. Mr. Solomon said it was not clear a crime had occurred until Mr. Sampson made withdrawals and cut checks in his name. The judge seemed unpersuaded, saying Mr. Sampson’s failure to give the money back “shows some intention.”
Cuomo's Unanswered Subpoena Quesions
In Senator’s Case, Defining ‘Embezzlement’(NYT) State Senator John L. Sampson, who handily won his primary last month despite being under indictment, returned to court on Thursday to seek dismissal of two of the 10 counts against him. His lawyers did not argue that he did not embezzle from the government, but rather that he did it earlier than prosecutors have said. The issue, laid out before Judge Dora L. Irizarry of
Sampson, who won his primary last month despite being under indictment, returned to court to seek dismissal of two of the 10 counts against him. His lawyers did not argue that he did not embezzle from the government, but rather that he did it earlier than prosecutors have said.
| State Senator Sampson Arrested and Elected |
Cuomo's Unanswered Subpoena Quesions
Astorino's question to Cuomo asking if he or his staff had been subpoenaed in connection with the shuttered Moreland Commission was fair, and the governor had no one to blame but himself for it
Governor Cuomo asked for it(NYP Ed) Clearly, Gov. Cuomo was peeved during Wednesday’s debate when GOP challenger Rob Astorino asked him to swear neither he nor his staff had been subpoenaed by the US attorney, who’s probing the decision to shut down a state ethics panel. The question is “outrageous,” huffed the governor. And though Cuomo defended his handling of the panel, he declined to answer the question that was asked. Understandably, that will lead some voters to wonder if someone on the governor’s staff has indeed been subpoenaed. On Thursday, The Post gave Cuomo another chance to clear it all up. But an aide, Matt Wing, said, “We are not commenting on the US attorney’s investigation.” Let’s stipulate: Even if the US attorney, Preet Bharara, has in fact asked Cuomo or his staff for information, it doesn’t mean they are guilty of anything illegal.
Looks Like Bharara Wanted to Make A Statement About Moreland Before the Debate
“The important thing here is that thatwe have the files.” @sarbetter @WCNY *Bharara: “When you're trying to solve a problem, you need a certain amount of longevity and you need ... some independence.”* Bharara: "I have joked .. that Albany is at the intersection of ambition and greed." Bharara on his next move: "I'm not thinking about that right now." Says there's an eternal well of stuff to prosecute. Leads from multiple Moreland cases + whatever he's doing re Cuomo RT @NickReisman Bharara: "You're assuming there's one investigation." Gulp With Cuomo about to debate his opponents, Bharara talksMoreland in a radio interview * Despite the recent polls, anger in upstate New York over the SAFE Act and lingering questions that remain from the disbanding of the Moreland Commission make it possible for Astorino to win, the Post’s Seth Lipsky writes:
'Sopranos' actor backs Astorino, calls Cuomo a'big pussy' * Here's my full write-up of Preet Bharara's interview on@CapPressRoom Bharara says there is "precious little disclosure" that leads to corruption and conflicts of interest. Bharara says "unfettered outside income" is a "recipe for what we have in NY which is a little bit of a corruption disaster" Bharara says anti-corruption commissions, generally, need "longevity" and a degree of independence. Bharara won't comment on question regarding whether Cuomo's use of political leverage via Moreland Commission constitutes a crime. * With Cuomo about to debate his opponents, Bharara talksMoreland in a radio interview * Before Cuomo's debate, Bharara hints at many probes (CrainsNY) * Cuomo's post-Moreland reforms, so far, are a bust (Capital)
Zephyr Teachout @ZephyrTeachout
New Yorkers shouldn't respond to Cuomo's mismanagement of Ebola, Moreland, testing, etc by staying out. We need a Dem Senate. 9 close races.
No doubt striking fear into the hearts of fellow Democrats, Assemblyman-in-waiting Charles Barron pledges “it’s not going to be ‘go alongto get along’” when he gets to Albany.
Everyone in the Media and Politics Knew About the Love Affair
The Mayor's Flack and the City Hall Reporter
A City Hall Affair to Remember (Daily Beast) Capital New York ’s City Hall correspondent is in a relationship with the mayor’s chief spokesman, but the website’s editor insists there is no conflict of interest. And, inevitably, it’s a story about love’s complications and the awkward circumstances they occasionally provoke. In this instance, the complications and awkwardness arise from a romance between New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s chief spokesman and the lead City Hall correspondent for the Capital New York online outlet, and they are prompting questions about journalistic ethics and governmental fairness. Recently, insiders wondered about the motive for Goldenberg’s tweet after The New York Times’s City Hall bureau chief, Michael Grynbaum, wrote an Oct. 9 story about the mayor’s apparent aversion to openness regarding his wife’s chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger, and her failure to disclose details about her problematic live-in boyfriend, a man with a criminal record, including a homicide as a teenager. To illustrate the de Blasio administration’s possible lack of transparency, Grynbaum wrote that after the mayor defended Noerdlinger in a news conference and declared the controversy “case closed,” the mayor’s press staff departed from its usual practice of sending out a same-day transcript and instead delayed for days. Goldenberg tweeted: “Pretty sure transcript’s been on city site since monday”—the same day as de Blasio’s remarks. Was she rising to the defense of her boyfriend’s underlings—or simply making an accurate observation?
The Mayor Met His Wife At City Hall Also
At least one critic, Columbia University Journalism School Prof. Richard Wald, a former president of both NBC News and ABC News, suggests the arrangement smacks of “insanity” and can’t reasonably be sustained. The main dramatis personae are Sally Goldenberg, of Capital New York, and Phil Walzak, the mayor’s press secretary. Instead they are seriously dating; indeed, spend time together in their respective apartments and have been romantically involved for more than a year (and a public couple at least since the New York Daily News’ gossip column, Confidential, outed the lovebirds last January, 28 days after de Blasio took office). In an arrangement that strains the credulity of certain cynics in New York ’s media-political complex, the mayor’s office has determined that any potential conflicts of interest have been resolved by a policy in which Walzak has no workplace contact with Goldenberg regarding her stories, and instead delegates the task to a deputy. It’s unclear whether this policy applies to pillow talk.
The Mayor Met His Wife At City Hall Also
A 2 Billion Dollar 911 System and the FDNY Commputers do Not Communicate With the EMS Commputers
Human error and a fire department dispatch system that’s “unduly complicated and unacceptably flawed” delayed the response to a Queens fire in April that took the lives of two 4-year-olds, city investigators found
Kids died in blaze after ‘flawed’ dispatch delayed EMT:report(NYT) The DOI report dinged the city’s “bifurcated computer-aided dispatch system” for not allowing the FDNY and EMS to share the most basic of information — including the borough in which a fire is located.* Editorial: Calling 911 for 911 (NYDN Ed) They vowed it wouldn’t happen again, and it did: The city’s 911 emergency system inexcusably delayed dispatching an ambulance to a fire that took the lives of two children. Ten months after the system lagged by 4 minutes and 18 seconds in sending an ambulance after 4-year-old Ariel Russo was fatally struck by a runaway SUV, a full 21 minutes passed before medical help arrived for Jai’Launi Tinglin and his half sister, Ayina Tinglin. The 911 failures were of a wholly different kind, with an equally outrageous order of magnitude. NYPD 911 operator gets report of fire in Far Rockaway.John Liu asked Cy Vance to review corrupt #ECTP contract forfraud, but nothing happened. (Progress Queens)
A Poorly Designed 911 System Causes Workers Errors . . . Where the $2 Billion Go?
Operator conferences in FDNY dispatcher. Dispatcher enters information into a computer. The data appears on EMS computer screens , but the address doesn’t list the borough. Why not? Because that’s how the system was designed. More, EMS dispatchers have never been trained to use the FDNY computers.* Faulty System and Human Error Delayed Medical Help to KidsWho Died in Queens Fire (Village Voice)* Calling 911 for 911 (NYDN Ed) Investigators detail inexcusable lapses in ambulance dispatches They vowed it wouldn’t happen again, and it did: The city’s 911 emergency system inexcusably delayed dispatching an ambulance to a fire that took the lives of two children. Ten months after the system lagged by 4 minutes and 18 seconds in sending an ambulance after 4-year-old Ariel Russo was fatally struck by a runaway SUV, a full 21 minutes passed before medical help arrived for Jai’Launi Tinglin and his half sister, Ayina Tinglin. The 911 failures were of a wholly different kind, with an equally outrageous order of magnitude. Ariel’s case combined human errors with problems in a high-tech computer-assisted dispatch system that cost tens of millions of dollars to develop and that was supposed to produce seamless communications between the NYPD and the Emergency Medical Service. The case of the Tinglin siblings matched more human errors with Fire Department–EMS procedures that are a throwback and require teamwork by six people.* As deaths under ECTP rise, there's no legal scrutiny of theprogram's negligence(Progressive Queens)
How Many More Must Die Before Their A Criminal Investigation of the 911 System?
Comptroller John Liu Called for A Criminal Investigation of the 911 System in 2012 911 system contractor never should have been hired, city controller says (NYP) Hewlett-Packard overcharging taxpayers, audit finds. City Controller John Liu released a scathing audit of the 911 system overhaul Wednesday, finding a key contractor soaked taxpayers with questionable and inflated bills. Hewlett-Packard overcharged the city by as much as $163 million — and never should have been chosen to spearhead the project that has almost doubled in cost in six years, the audit found. Liu said he is concerned about possible fraud in the bidding and billing process and has asked Manhattan prosecutors to open a criminal review. “Taxpayers should be outraged at the fleecing that transpired under City Hall’s watch,” Liu said.* AS CITY TRAILS STATE, STRINGER SEIZES MWBE ISSUE: New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said that government contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses was an income inequality issue, stealing a page from Mayor Bill de Blasio, City & State reports:
But the company was doing a terrible job with both contracts.“Leadership and staff improvements have not occurred as promised,” Cosgrave wrote. “Deficiencies are not corrected. HP’s staff is not sufficiently skilled to meet program requirements, resulting in a large additional layer of administrative staff to correct mistakes.” Cosgrave found the company was even marking up prices for some products by 50% over their cost.Along with top officials in the police and fire departments, he recommended immediately rebidding the project and getting rid of HP within a year.More than a year later, HP was forced to pay back $32 million for failing to deliver a working dispatch system and replaced on that portion of the project, but it was kept on as the lead contractor for the overall program until early 2011, when City Hall brought in Northrop Grumman to take over, and it continued to do work on the project for several more years.Meanwhile, a 2012 audit by then-Controller John Liu found persistent problems of overbilling. One HP helpdesk operator, for example, was paid $185,000 annually. Some of the company’s unskilled office workers were billing for six-figure consultant salaries. Liu demanded that HP repay $163 million. Bloomberg’s aides ridiculed his audit and commissioned their own. But even their report found more than $24 million in overcharges by HP. Then in his last days in office, Bloomberg quietly reached a settlement for HP to repay taxpayers a paltry $6 million. To his credit, Stringer refused to approve that deal. Still, for all those years the Bloomberg administration kept giving second and third chances to HP and those other big name contractors.
A Poorly Designed 911 System Causes Workers Errors . . . Where the $2 Billion Go?
How Many More Must Die Before Their A Criminal Investigation of the 911 System?
Do Lobbyists Have Anything to Do With the City Not Cleaning Up Its Corrupt Commputer Contract System? YOU BET
'Weaknesses' remain in city’s handling of computer contracts, nearly four years after explosive CityTime scandal: investigators(NYDN) The report found that CityTime contractors hired sub-contractors who in turn hired their own sub-contractors, some of whom were unknown to the city. Peterson says all sub-contractors should undergo exhaustive review. The city paid an outside consultant, Mark Mazer, to oversee CityTime, but he wound up masterminding the $500 million fraud. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. DOI says the city must assign a qualified city employee to that role for all future projects. The upgrade started in 2004 and was supposed to take three years and cost $1.3 billion. By 2012 it had grown to $2 billion — and wasn’t complete. Mayor de Blasio halted it in May after dispatchers complained of glitches that regularly delayed emergency response times. And Controller Scott Stringer held up a $6 million settlement with the project’s contractor, Hewlett Packard, due to an earlier audit that found $160 million in possible overbilling. DOI is now trying to determine what went wrong and whether fraud occurred. Peters’ recommendations will likely apply to the ongoing effort to upgrade the 911 system. CityTime Scandal Time Line
More Evidence That Arzt Protects and Causes Bad Government
In 2009 Juan Gonzalez wrote in the Daily News City officials were unhappy with Hewlett Packard Company. By 2006, ECTP was suffering from so many problems that Mayor Bloomberg assigned his chief troubleshooter, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, to supervise it. In 2007 HP hired George Arzt to lobby Skyler on communications. 2013 the family of Ariel Russo, the 4-year-old who was killed by an unlicensed driver is suing the city because they believe a flawed 911 system led to the death of their daughter. The Russo lawsuit says there was a four-minute delay in sending an ambulance to the scene of the crash because of problem with the 911 system. NYC's already beleaguered 911 system crashes again and again — and again(NYDN)
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
What role did 911 lobbyists play in giving Verzon gifts to NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd? The Death of Ariel Russo Did Not Even Stop the Corruption and Incompetence of the 911 System
Daily News the What Happen But Not the How and Why
Daily News Today Says 911 System Failed Ariel Russo But Do Not Name the Lobbyist for the Contractors or the reasons for NYPD's communication director Dowd being forced out and his aides jumping ship. Former Comptroller Liu said HP overbilled the city for $163 million and didn't properly deliver for years. In 2012 Liu callled for a review of the HP contract by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “because of the possibility of fraud in the solicitation and billing process.”
Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists. Instead of putting the project back out for bid, DoITT selected HP, which had twice failed to meet the minimum technical score to manage and complete the project, Liu said. HP then hired iXP as a subcontractor on the project, Liu said. Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hetwlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications allowed the company to “drastically mark up” subcontractor bills, with project consultants overbilling the city, it said. Liu said the 911 system’s flaws echo faults in city oversight of an automated Internet-based payroll system called CityTime
The Following NYC Public Officials Should Be Asked What Do They Think of Their Political Consultants George Arzt's Involvement in the HP Contract
Queens BP Melinda Katz, Consumer Affairs Commission Judy Menin, Former DA Joe Hynes, Candidate Oliver Koppel, Assemblyman Danny Farrell, Congressman, Congressman Jeffries, Former DA Morgenthal, Senator Carl Kruger (in jail), AG Schneiderman, de Blasio (2009 Public Advocate), Councilman Rubin Wells (Indicted), Comptroller Stringer, John Liu for Mayor 2013, Former Assemblyman Kellner. Melinda Katz Before She Queens BP A Paid Lobbyist For @nypost @FoxNews @newscorp
A Machine DA Investigates A Machine 2% Win
Bronx DA looking into claims of voter fraud(NYP) The Bronx district attorney is investigating claims of voter fraud in a hotly contested Democratic primary for the Assembly that was decided by two votes. Following a hand recount, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo defeated challenger Hector Ramirez, a district leader, 1,888 votes to 1,886 votes, in the 86th District, covering University Heights , Fordham and the West Bronx . Ironically, Pichardo, by winning a special election, succeeded Assemblyman Nelson Castro, who was nailed for election fraud after nine voters were discovered registered at his one-bedroom apartment. He later cut a deal with the feds and wore a wire to ensnare other officials engaged in corruption.DA Robert Johnson has subpoenaed Board of Elections records relating to voters who submitted absentee ballots. Investigators also visited the homes of some voters, many of whom are Dominican immigrants.* Meantime Arroyo Fraud Drags On
True News Reported Two Years Ago About New York's 100+ Year Old Voters
850 people ‘officially’ over 164 years old: NYC Board ofElections(NYP) A single Bronx voter listed in official records as being 164 years old led Board of Elections officials to review their files — where they turned up another 849 New Yorkers who were supposedly alive when Abe Lincoln was president. The stunning discovery came after The Post reported last week that the birth date of Luz Pabellon, a spry 73-year-old who has been living and voting in The Bronx since the 1970s, was recorded as Jan. 1, 1850. This week, a search of the records in all five boroughs found 849 more voters with the same wacky birth date.
168 Year Old Women Does the BOE Have A 2000 Year Old Man?
Board of Elections records say voter is 168 years old(NYP) If city Board of Elections records are to believed, voter Luz Pabellon has defied the tides of time and is a walking miracle, living quietly in The Bronx at the astonishing age of 164. Pabellon’s official voter registration card puts her date of birth at Jan. 1, 1850. “AGE: 164,” the record proclaims, a number that has only been achieved in biblical stories. That preposterous age would make Pabellon a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln.A simple phone call by The Post quickly determined that Pabellon has never in fact met Honest Abe. The Bronx resident, born in Puerto Rico , is a slender, spry 73-year-old who said she is insulted that election officials placed her in the 19th century. For the record, Pabellon was born on Feb. 14, 1941. Board of Elections officials confirmed its records do indeed list Pabellon as 164. And they have an explanation, wacky as it may be: Pabellon registered to vote in 1978 and wrote “18 +” under the date of birth category on the manual voting card. When the board converted its voter files over to an electronic database, it board plugged in “01/01/1850” as the default date for those whose birth dates were unknown or unclear. The practice raises the specter that hundreds or thousands of voters are listed as being 164.
Another Albany List Of Top Movers and Shakers
Some Animals are More Equal Than Others
LIST -- “The City State: Albany’sTop 40” in The Observer: “1. Andrew Cuomo … 2. Preet Bharara … 3. Patrick Foye Port New York … 13. Benjamin Lawsky Superintendent of Financial Services … 14. Merryl Tisch Chancellor of the Board of Regents … 15. Larry Schwartz Secretary to the Governor … 16. Jennifer Cunningham Partner at SKDKnickerbocker … 17. George Gresham President 1199 SEIU … 18. Loretta Lynch U.S. Attorney, Eastern District …
19. John King State Education Commissioner … 20. Kenneth Adams President of Empire State Development Corporation … “21. Joe Percoco Executive Deputy Secretary to the Governor … 22. Liz Krueger State Michael Gianaris State Gustavo Rivera State Catharine Young State Christine Quinn Former City Adriano Espaillat State
36. Josh Gold Political Director of Hotel Trades Council … 37. Micah Lasher Chief of Staff to Attorney General … 38. Mike McKeon Partner at Mercury Public Affairs … 39. Harold Iselin Managing Shareholder at Greenberg Taurig … 40. Mike Avella Partner at Meara Avella Dickinson.” Bill de Blasio … 4. Jeffrey Klein … 5. Sheldon Silver … 6. Andrea Stewart-Cousins … 7. Eric Schneiderman … 8. Dean Skelos … 9. Thomas Prendergast [MTA] Chairman … 10.
After A String of Losses, Quinn, Rangel Race the No Shame NYT Picks Cuomo
NYT Editorial
Endorses Cuomo
Endorses Cuomo
– with caveats. It wants him to devote himself to cleaning up Albany , and passing campaign finance reform, for the next four years. Calling him a “strong governor” the New York Times Editorial Board endorsed Andrew Cuomo for reelection and urged him to use his political powers to clean up New York State Albany into a place that best serves moneyed interests and the politicians in hock to them. Mr. Cuomo himself has benefited from lax rules that have allowed him to raise nearly half of the $45 million for his campaign mostly from the developers and lobbyists giving $40,000 or more.* NYT editorial endorsing Cuomo criticizes Astorino for opposing Common Core. Cuomo abandoned the standards in new ad. Oops.
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NY Post Hits Cuomo on Judge Pick
If Gov. Cuomo wanted to demonstrate that he was above making judicial picks based on politic labels he would have given Judge Graffeo another term instead of nominating Justice Stein, the Post writes:
On D vs R @NYSenate control: #LI can't be ignored "likethe well-behaved child in a troubled family"(Newsday)
Begging to Stop the Rubenstein Cover Up
Begging to Stop the Rubenstein Cover Up
Lawyers for Rubenstein accuser beg DA to make arrest(NYP) The lawyers of the woman accusing high-powered attorney Sanford Rubenstein of rape have penned a letter to District Attorney Cyrus Vance, begging his office to make an arrest. “Her complaint along with her injuries provide a factual and legal basis sufficient for the arrest of Sanford Rubenstein,” read the letter, dated on Tuesday. The alleged victim’s lawyers, Keith White and Kenneth Montgomery, call their client a “stellar member of our community” who has remained cooperative throughout the investigation.
Council Members Who Come From District That Lack Diversity Demand That Better Performing Schools Increase Diversity
Council’s craven ‘diversity’ drive(NYP) Lander’s legislation is a Trojan horse: Its “pro-diversity” shell disguises an attack on charter schools and the “disproportionate” number of Asians attending the city’s elite specialized high schools. His bill does the bidding of the UFT, which despises high-achieving charter schools (and their young black and Hispanic scholars). Charters are overwhelmingly minority because the legislative mandate creating them required that they be placed in low-performing districts, which happen to be in racially segregated minority communities. There’s no secret racism at work here. Oddly enough, Lander and his high-minded colleagues represent racially and ethnically drawn districts that reflect our city’s racially segregated neighborhoods (or more politically correct, “ethnic enclaves”). No one has suggested creating racially integrated council districts. * Our public school system shouldn't lower the bar for admission to its best high schools, instead it should move to close the achievement gap by improving the quality of the education in schools serving African-American and Latino children, Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation's Larry Cary writes in am New York :
Social Promotion Superintendents
Seven of the 15 new superintendents appointed by New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña led schools that were rated below average
Fariña’s new superintendents led low-grade schools(NYP) Seven of the 15 new superintendents appointed by Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña led schools that were rated below average. Superintendents Maria Lopez, Mabel Muñiz-Sarduy, Leticia Rodriguez-Rosario, Danielle Giunta, and Rafaela Espinal were principals at primary schools that received poor ratings on school- progress report cards or whose students scored below city averages on state exams this year. Muñiz-Sarduy, Lopez, and Rodriguez-Rosario all led schools where students struggled on the state’s tough Common Core tests. At the high-school level, former School for International Studies principal Fred Walsh claimed he had no idea his assistant principal dismissed eighth-graders on the last day of school in June 2011 while marking them present. Joining him is Michael Prayor, whose Brooklyn HS for Law and Technology prepared only 12 percent of its students for college and had a graduation rate of merely 49 percent in 2013.*New York State
Fariña’s new superintendents led low-grade schools(NYP) Seven of the 15 new superintendents appointed by Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña led schools that were rated below average. Superintendents Maria Lopez, Mabel Muñiz-Sarduy, Leticia Rodriguez-Rosario, Danielle Giunta, and Rafaela Espinal were principals at primary schools that received poor ratings on school- progress report cards or whose students scored below city averages on state exams this year. Muñiz-Sarduy, Lopez, and Rodriguez-Rosario all led schools where students struggled on the state’s tough Common Core tests. At the high-school level, former School for International Studies principal Fred Walsh claimed he had no idea his assistant principal dismissed eighth-graders on the last day of school in June 2011 while marking them present. Joining him is Michael Prayor, whose Brooklyn HS for Law and Technology prepared only 12 percent of its students for college and had a graduation rate of merely 49 percent in 2013.*
Fariña Moves to Control Superintendents
New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, who has been blasted in recent weeks for failing to roll out a program for citywide school improvement, swapped 15 of 42 city school superintendents, or nearly 36%, in her biggest personnel shakeup since taking office, the Daily Newsreports: * The Daily News praises the education reforms championed byRegents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and State Education Commissioner John King as anecessary evolution to prepare students for a changing economy: De Blasio admin underestimated how much city would have topay in contract agreement w teachers union:(Capital)* Skills to pay bills(NYDN Ed) A wise and economically crucial step forward for career and technical education in 
Fariña fires away(NYDN Ed) Good for the chancellor for replacing many school superintendents. Principals deserve similar authority.* New York Schools Chancellor Replaces 8 Superintendents(NYT) The major personnel reshuffling was the first since Chancellor Carmen Fariña took over in January.* De Blasio has pushed for expanding access and improving quality of pre-K programs, but we still need to help parents, administrators and policy makers see that classrooms that pulse with meaningful play are our smartest investments, Bank Street College
Will All the Govt $$$ Used to Build Barclays Stadium Wind Up In the Hands of the Russians?
Bright Side on the End of the Election
We will only have to watch tax payer funded Start Up NY commercials 4 only 17 more days
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de Blasio Only Connection to Transparency Was His Campaign Promises
Team de Blasio Use Private Emails For Govt Business
Two top deputies of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who campaigned on creating a new era of government openness, commonly use their personal Gmail accounts to discuss city-related issues, the Daily News writes: * NAILED ON EMAIL: Top de Blasio aides use personal accounts for city-related issues despite mayor's transparency promise Top de Blasio aides use personal accounts for city-relatedemails despite mayor's transparency promise (NYDN)
First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris and director of intergovernmental affairs Emma Wolfe routinely communicate on city issues via their private email addresses, according to multiple insiders. Good-government groups say that’s a covert way to dodge oversight and contrary to the open government de Blasio vowed to run. First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris and director of intergovernmental affairs Emma Wolfe routinely communicate via their private email addresses, according to multiple government insiders. Good-government groups contend that’s a behind-the-scenes way to dodge oversight and contrary to the open government de Blasio vowed to run as he campaigned for mayor.
Newsday Says Long Island Dead Without A GOP Senate
Long Island voters should be “very afraid” of a Democratic takeover of the state Senate, Newsday’s Editorial Board writes, suggesting thatthe suburbs would be left with virtually no voice
Comic Says Schneiderman Used Cocaine As A State Senator
A political activist claims state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, New York’s highest-ranking law-enforcement official, snorted cocaine in the back room of a bar while he was a state senator, the Post writes:
Gillibrand Emails For Schneiderman(YNN) * The 2005 party at which AG Eric Schneiderman is alleged to have snorted cocaine was a benefit for Hurricane Katrina victims headlined by Al Franken. Attendees said there were no drugs at the event.* Activist Randy Credico, who made the allegations about Schneiderman’s drug use, now says he was “hoodwinked” by the NY Post, and he’s not happy about it. AirBnB The New York Post applauds Republican Attorney Generalcandidate John Cahill for his criticism of incumbent AG Eric Schneiderman’s confrontational approach to Airbnb as counterproductive, adding that the state should examine the laws Airbnb is accused of violating to see if they still serve the public’s interest:
Same Developer Who Wants to Gentrify Queens Took Advantage of Ratner Gentrification of Brooklyn to Raise Rents There
Protesters Link a Queens Project to BrooklynRents(NYT) Negotiations over the fate of Astoria Cove, the first new city development to opt into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s affordable housing program, have attracted no shortage of advocates and critics hoping to influence the process. Housing advocates are pushing for the developer to increase the number of cheaper affordable units. Local officials are concerned about transportation and density. Real estate executives are worried that the city’s sharpened focus on affordable housing will cut into profits. But on Sunday, the back-and-forth over the Queens project found a new set of stakeholders from another rapidly gentrifying neighborhood: Crown Heights , Brooklyn . The developer of the 1,700-unit Astoria Cove, Alma Realty, owns about 700 units around Prospect Place and is seeking to take them out of rent regulation. Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to increase affordable housing.New York Will Require More Builders to Add Affordable UnitsSEPT. 5, 2014 A housing lottery won Brandon Deese one of the apartments set aside for low-income tenants at the Chelsea Park, a luxury rental on West 26th Street . Mr. Deese’s rent is $540 a month.Affordable Housing in New York ’s Luxury BuildingsAUG. 29, 2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio presented his housing plan in Brooklyn on Monday.De Blasio Sets a 10-Year Plan for Housing, Putting the Focus on AffordabilityMAY 5, 2014* Council questions Astoria Cove plan(Capital)But at a Council hearing on Monday, officials disagreed with developer John Maurodis on the definition of affordability and how many housing units they are willing to build in exchange for their approval.
“Mayor de Blasio, don’t fail this test!” pleaded one sign at a rally outside one of the buildings on Prospect Place in Brooklyn on Sunday, when elected officials and tenant organizers urged the City Council not to approve the Astoria Cove project unless Alma Realty rolls back the rent increases in Crown Heights and addresses concerns about its plans in Queens.
Council Pushed Poor Door On Us
Council Pushed Poor Door On Us
MYTH OF INCLUSION: City Council members have recently expressed outrage over “poor doors,” but the bill allowing them was approved by Mayor Bill de Blasio the Council voted unanimously to approve them in 2009, Seth Barron writes in an op-ed for City & State:
Lobbyist For the Astoria Cove Project Davidoff Spotted At City Hall
De Blasio Performs First Marriage at City Hall(NYO) between lobbyists Sid Davidoff. and Linda Stasi, a columnist for the Daily News.Sid Davidoff, an early de Blasio backer and longtime friend whom insiders view as one of the big winners of the 2013 elections. Has gotten the following contracts in 2014 to lobby the mayor: 
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation, New York Cosmos LLC, Association of Water and Sewer Excavators Inc., Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., AMERICAN RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES INC., Election Systems & Software, Inc., Touro College, Abbott Laboratories, Times Square District Management Association, Inc., Oxford Nursing Home, Inc., New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Marshall E Bloomfield ESQ, Palladia, Inc., RCN Telecom Services, LLC, AbbVie, Inc, 2030 Astoria Developers, LLC., HUNTS POINT TERMINAL PRODUCE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION INC, Taxicab Service Association Inc., Master Plumbers Council of the City of New York, Inc, American Recycling LLC, FIGLI DI SAN GENNARO, INC. ***Here is City Hall lobbyist Davidoff telling Earl Lewis on NY1 that the mayor will be OK
Davidoff Cashing in Again 5-building complex OK'd for Queens waterfront (CrainsNY) The City Planning Department has given a preliminary thumbs-up to a proposed residential project set to include three towers, each with as many as 32 stories, plus a pair of six-floor buildings farther inland, with a total of 1,698 apartments. "This project will take what is presently an isolated and desolate, underutilized area and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use community," said Howard Weiss, chair of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron's land-use group, who is representing the developer. Astoria Cove, south of Astoria Park on a gritty waterfront peninsula, is being developed by 2030 Astoria Developers Group, which includes Queens-based Alma Realty. The property will include 295 units of affordable housing, a public school and a supermarket, plus a waterfront park that will be open to the public.
We Run A State Election and Pushing Blacks Out of Brooklyn Is A None Issue
A group of black Section 8 tenants in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood claim that their landlord wants to swap them for “more affluent white tenants” by opting out of the federal housing subsidy program.
Three women living at 781 Washington Ave. in Crown Heights — just steps from Prospect Park — are suing to stop real estate honcho Douglas Rosenberg from exiting the program and renting out the building’s 63 units at market rates. “The inevitable result of the landlord Defendants’ opt out from Section 8 will be the displacement of African-American families from the subject building and the Prospect Heights neighborhood, and their replacement by more affluent white tenants,” according to their suit, filed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court. The suit claims that Rosenberg failed to properly notify startled tenants that he planned to remove the building from Section 8 status by the end of September.
True News Give You the Why the Media Gives You Filtered News About Gentrification
NYT Reports on Gentrification In Crown Heights It Does No Report Why It is Happening So Fast?
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Gets Its Turn(NYT) The neighborhood has finally overcome a reputation for intolerance and violence that had plagued it since the 1991 riots between blacks and Hasidic Jews. In fact, residents credit the successful post-riot reconciliation between the two communities with being one of the drivers of Crown Heights’ rapid transformation — or gentrification, depending on one’s perspective.
Along Franklin Avenue, signs saying “Moving to Flatbush” have appeared on many businesses in the last couple of years, and while longtime residents don’t tack up signs, there are indications they have also been leaving in large numbers as new arrivals replace them in this community of about 140,000 people. * Nuns raise rents at immigrant home to boot longtime residents(NYDN) They’re kicking them like a bad habit. The nuns running St. Joseph’s Immigrant Home in Hell’s Kitchen are boosting the rent on young female residents and trying to boot women..* Lawmakers call for Airbnb investigation over misleadinginsurance claim.
NYT Reports on Gentrification In Crown Heights It Does No Report Why It is Happening So Fast?
Along Franklin Avenue, signs saying “Moving to Flatbush” have appeared on many businesses in the last couple of years, and while longtime residents don’t tack up signs, there are indications they have also been leaving in large numbers as new arrivals replace them in this community of about 140,000 people. * Nuns raise rents at immigrant home to boot longtime residents(NYDN) They’re kicking them like a bad habit. The nuns running St. Joseph’s Immigrant Home in Hell’s Kitchen are boosting the rent on young female residents and trying to boot women..* Lawmakers call for Airbnb investigation over misleadinginsurance claim.
Real Estate Market Forces: International Money, Gentrificatrion and Airbnb Are Making Affordable Housing Program into A Band-Aid on A Cancer
Is Anyone Studing the Effect of Foreign $$$ Puring Into the City
How AirBNB is Killing NYC's Neighborhoods
NY's Real Estate Has Become the New Swiss Hidden Banks Accounts to Hide Illegal Money
GILDED CITY – New York mag cover, “Stash Pad: The New York real-estate market is now the premier destination for wealthy foreigners with rubles, yuan, and dollars to hide,” by Andrew Rice: “Every year, the British real-estate brokerage Knight Frank publishes a document called ‘The Wealth Report.’ The latest edition produces the curiously precise estimate that there are 167,669 individuals in the world who are ‘ultrahigh net worth,’ with assets exceeding $30 million … forecasting that over the next decade, the ranks of the ultrarich will increase by 30 percent, with much of the growth coming in Asia and Africa. … New York is forecast to add more ultrahigh-net-worth individuals than any city outside Asia over the next decade.”“[S]ince 2008, roughly 30 percent of condo sales in large-scale Manhattan developments have been to purchasers who either listed an overseas address or bought through an entity like a limited-liability corporation, a tactic rarely employed by local homebuyers but favored by foreign investors. … Corcoran Sunshine, which markets luxury buildings, estimates that 35 percent of its sales since 2013 have been to international buyers, half from Asia, with the remainder roughly evenly split among Latin America, Europe, and the rest of the world. ‘The global elite,’ says developer Michael Stern, ‘is basically looking for a safe-deposit box.’ …* A study showed Manhattan’s apartment inventory is up after a two-year shortage, but the average price for a Manhattan apartment rose 20 percent to more than $1.6 million, the Times writes: * Hidden in Plain Sight: New York Just Another Island Haven()ICIJ) Lax U.S. rules and real estate industry’s no-questions-asked approach make it easy for dodgy characters to funnel wealth through high-end Manhattan apartments.
NY's Real Estate Has Become the New Swiss Hidden Banks Accounts to Hide Illegal Money
GILDED CITY – New York mag cover, “Stash Pad: The New York real-estate market is now the premier destination for wealthy foreigners with rubles, yuan, and dollars to hide,” by Andrew Rice: “Every year, the British real-estate brokerage Knight Frank publishes a document called ‘The Wealth Report.’ The latest edition produces the curiously precise estimate that there are 167,669 individuals in the world who are ‘ultrahigh net worth,’ with assets exceeding $30 million … forecasting that over the next decade, the ranks of the ultrarich will increase by 30 percent, with much of the growth coming in Asia and Africa. … New York is forecast to add more ultrahigh-net-worth individuals than any city outside Asia over the next decade.”“[S]ince 2008, roughly 30 percent of condo sales in large-scale Manhattan developments have been to purchasers who either listed an overseas address or bought through an entity like a limited-liability corporation, a tactic rarely employed by local homebuyers but favored by foreign investors. … Corcoran Sunshine, which markets luxury buildings, estimates that 35 percent of its sales since 2013 have been to international buyers, half from Asia, with the remainder roughly evenly split among Latin America, Europe, and the rest of the world. ‘The global elite,’ says developer Michael Stern, ‘is basically looking for a safe-deposit box.’ …* A study showed Manhattan’s apartment inventory is up after a two-year shortage, but the average price for a Manhattan apartment rose 20 percent to more than $1.6 million, the Times writes: * Hidden in Plain Sight: New York Just Another Island Haven()ICIJ) Lax U.S. rules and real estate industry’s no-questions-asked approach make it easy for dodgy characters to funnel wealth through high-end Manhattan apartments.
City Halls Secret Plan to Reduce Shooting In Brooklyn Gentrification
The New Secret Army of Crime Fighters
It's is Rapid Gentrification in Crown Heights that is reducing crime numbers not the "Save the Street" program that the mayor is expanding to stop the increase in gun shootings Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Gets Its Turn(NYT) In fact, residents credit the successful post-riot reconciliation between the two communities with being one of the drivers of Crown Heights’ rapid transformation — or gentrification, depending on one’s perspective.Along Franklin Avenue, signs saying “Moving to Flatbush” have appeared on many businesses in the last couple of years, and while longtime residents don’t tack up signs, there are indications they have also been leaving in large numbers as new arrivals replace them in this community of about 140,000 people.
Gentrification and Race
The NY Media Is Responsible for the Tantrum-Throwing Babies That Run NY
Tantrum-throwing babies are in charge of New York (NYP) In Albany , there is Andrew — engaging and gracious when he gets his way; surly, suspicious and menacing when he doesn’t. In February, reports Capital New York, a torqued Cuomo stomped out of a private restaurant dinner with New York Times staffers. Cuomo’s dinner date with The New York Times (Capital) While it's unclear why exactly the dinner went south, the governor has publicly acknowledged his rocky relationship with the Times, most recently in an interview with the Times itself, pegged to the release of his memoir, All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life, on shelves tomorrow via HarperCollins.
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No Follow Up to the NYT Investigation Into Cuomo's Appointed Anticorruption Commission During the Entire Governor Campaigns . . . Did the Storm Out Work?
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The Press Does Not Hold Pols to Their Campaign Promises
McMcmanus NYP " Just as he wonders why anybody would have thought he was serious last spring when he promised to campaign hard for a Democratic state Senate in return for the backing of the Working Families Party. “I won the endorsement. And that’s what’s really relevant,” he said afterward. And he has scarcely lifted a finger for Senate Democrats since. “I am the government,” Cuomo once announced. Bill de Blasio leaves a hospital protest in handcuffs (Capital 2013) And then there is Mayor de Blasio — so unfocused and self-absorbed that it’s news when he shows up anywhere on time; so unsure of his message that he can speak only in superlatives, and so eager to please the authority figures in his life that he can scarcely say no to anyone. For the mayor, there are no plain-vanilla policies. They are all “transcendent!” That is, when they are not “transformative!” Or profound!” Or “momentous!” Or maybe even, “most-bestest!” (Well, not yet. But soon!) Meanwhile, his press releases are pamphlets — chock-a-block with praise for the mayor from politicians and the public alike.
What de Blasio Says What He Really Means
What de Blasio Says What He Really Means
McMcmanus NYP "Or maybe it’s that he just speaks in tongues. A new NYPD training program meant to change the department “profoundly,” he said Thursday, includes “verbal judo [which] in effect means learning how to defuse a crisis first through dialogue before having to resort to physical means.”Here’s a rough translation: “When the Rev. Al and I get done with this department, nobody’s going to recognize it.” Which would indeed be profound."
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Is It the Press No Coverage List or de Blasio or Both?
de Blasio is the First Mayor of NY in 60 Year That Won't Talk To Gabe Press
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* De Blasio booed at Columbus Day Parade (NYP) “He’s horrible,” said
Pablo Guzmán @yoruba69 @unitedNYblogs @farrodread Mayor @deBlasioNYC knows better & should be ashamed. But Bloomberg and at times Giuliani ducked #GabePressman.
More About Gabe Pressman More
Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire
Parade comes to brief halt as 90-year-old Gabe Pressman tries to ask question to @BilldeBlasio, who has no Q&A scheduled. De Blasio refuses. * NY1 Online: Consultants Discuss Controversy Over PersonalLife of Mayor's Top Aide (NY1)
Its Not Ballot Position That Gives Power To the WFP, Its Their Illegal Use Of Campaign Finance
WFP tensions rise over Cuomo-backed Women’s Equality Party(NYP) With disaffected leftists upset at Cuomo, WFP officials are conceding privately that the Green Party will likely surpass the WFP’s vote totals with little-known UPS worker Howie Hawkins as its gubernatorial candidate. Female leaders of the Working Families Party are fuming that Gov. Cuomo has created a new party geared to women that threatens to siphon votes from their ballot line. “A Women’s Equality Party run by men? Please!” WFP co-founder Bertha Lewis told The Post. “The Women’s Equality Party is unnecessary. I don’t like it. It’s cynical.” WFP co-chairperson Karen Scharff also ripped the women’s party.
True News Wags the NYP On WFP's 50,000 Vote Problem
Cuomo’s creation of the Women’s Equality Party could potentially put at risk the Working Families Party’s 50,000 votes needed to stay on the ballot another four years despite the fact that they endorsed Cuomo, which only highlights the corruption of cross-endorsement ballot systems, the Post writes:
Did WFP Jump the Shark By Backing Cuomo?
“Women are actually the vast majority of voters in New York state, and I don’t think we should be pigeonholed in a separate party,” Scharff said on “Capitol Tonight,” an upstate cable-TV news show. “Women should be voting on the WFP line.” Said another WFP insider: “The Women’s Equality Party is Cuomo’s F U to the WFP.” The WFP awarded Cuomo its line after much wrangling, hoping to run up its vote totals Nov. 4 — an election that determines ballot position over the next four years. With disaffected leftists upset at Cuomo, WFP officials are conceding privately that the Green Party will likely surpass the WFP’s vote totals with little-known UPS worker Howie Hawkins as its gubernatorial candidate. Hawkins received about 60,000 votes — or 1 percent — as the Green candidate in 2010. Cuomo received 155,000 votes on the WFP line and 146,000 on the Independence Party line four years ago. Most of his 2.9 million votes, of course, came on the Democratic line.
Bertha Lewis A Founder of WFP In the Battle to Save It
Hawkins is now getting between 7 percent and 9 percent in polls. “We will become the alternative voice to the establishment. We’ll have two parties on the left — the Green Party and the Democratic Party,” he said. * Working Families Party co-founder and activist Bertha Lewis is sending an email to WFP members urging them to vote on the party’s line to ensure its survival, the Daily News reports: * Working Families Party members told to vote for party, notcandidate, in governor's race (NYDN) Activist Bertha Lewis is sending an email to WFP members urging them to vote on the party’s line to ensure its survival. 'Other people may vote personalities, but I believe it's also important to vote for the party — it's only through organized people that we will transform our state,' Lewis wrote.* Working Families Party founding co-chair Bertha Lewis on whyshe is joining progressives to #VoteWFP on Election Day:
More on Bertha Lewis
The WFP Has Played Fast and Lose With the Election Law
Will the WFP's Data and Field Cover Up Be Exposed By These Two Men?
A 5-year-old investigation of the Working Families Party is back on track with a special prosecutor issuing subpoenas in his probe for alleged campaign abuses. “This is not meant to be a fishing expedition,” said Roger Adler, who was appointed when Staten Island DA Dan Donovan recused himself from the case. “It’s meant to be targeted to people who have relevant information.” Adler is looking into allegations that City Council member Debi Rose, who was backed by the WFP, received improper support from the party’s for-profit campaign arm, Data and Field Services, during the 2009 election that made her the council’s first black lawmaker from Staten Island. According to a lawsuit filed by voters against the party, the WFP’s campaign arm provided discounted consulting and get-out-the-vote services to Rose’s campaign that were never disclosed, a violation of campaign-finance laws. Adler said he has issued subpoenas to the WFP, the Campaign Finance Board, SEIU Local 1199 and the Communications Workers of America.* Albany County DA David Soares says he’s cooperating fully with the federal probe into the Moreland Commission’s demise.
WFP Caused the Walmartization of NY's Politics . . . Using the Wal-Mart Business Model to Win Campaigns and Drive Out the Competition
NYC does not have a single Walmart because of the WFP and their friends in the progressive movement protesting the company unfair business practices. The protesters accuse Wal-mart of bulk purchasing and corporate financing to sell merchandise at low costs in order to drive competitors out of the market. WFP says the Wal-Mart's business model pushes mom and pop business out of the market creating an economic monopoly. It is now clear that the WFP has use the Wal-Mart unfair business model to take over NY's politics by using unfair economic advantages. In 2009 the WFP created Data and Field as a for profit company to give them competitive advantages in campaigns.
Centralization of Money And Campaign Consultants Taking the Power Out of the Local Communities to Choose Who Represent Them
WFP, Unions and Developers Sucking the Life Out of NYC Neighborhoods
Date and Field was a complicated web of coordinated campaign services at reduced prices, shared resources and staff, and quiet money transfers between six 2009 Council campaigns, as well as Bill de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate. Upwards of a million dollars, and possibly more, was involved, with over $1.7 million in matching funds comprised of taxpayer dollars already disbursed and more are potentially was at stake. Data and Field was forced to shut down as part of a lawsuit settlement against Councilwoman Debi Rose, filed by five Staten Island voters. The voters alleged that Rose was under billed for a services provided by Data and Field Services (DFS), a political company created by the WFP. Rose should have paid DFS $100,000, but the lawsuit alleged that her campaign was under billed because she was endorsed by the Working Families Party, which violates election laws. After years fighting in court the Staten Island DA has just won the right to use a special prosecutor to investigate Data and Field. Special prosecutor Roger Adler will be looking at all the campaigns run by Berlin Rosen, which is now the house lobbyists for City Hall that received funding and services from Data and Field, including Bill de Blasio, Brad Lander, Debi Rose, Daniel Dromm, Jumaane Williams and Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Centralization of Money And Campaign Consultants Taking the Power Out of the Local Communities to Choose Who Represent Them
Date and Field was a complicated web of coordinated campaign services at reduced prices, shared resources and staff, and quiet money transfers between six 2009 Council campaigns, as well as Bill de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate. Upwards of a million dollars, and possibly more, was involved, with over $1.7 million in matching funds comprised of taxpayer dollars already disbursed and more are potentially was at stake. Data and Field was forced to shut down as part of a lawsuit settlement against Councilwoman Debi Rose, filed by five Staten Island voters. The voters alleged that Rose was under billed for a services provided by Data and Field Services (DFS), a political company created by the WFP. Rose should have paid DFS $100,000, but the lawsuit alleged that her campaign was under billed because she was endorsed by the Working Families Party, which violates election laws. After years fighting in court the Staten Island DA has just won the right to use a special prosecutor to investigate Data and Field. Special prosecutor Roger Adler will be looking at all the campaigns run by Berlin Rosen, which is now the house lobbyists for City Hall that received funding and services from Data and Field, including Bill de Blasio, Brad Lander, Debi Rose, Daniel Dromm, Jumaane Williams and Melissa Mark-Viverito.
It Not the Size of the Party Its the Way They Conduct Campaigns The .0003% Potemkin WFP Party
There is no doubt that the WFP is the most powerful party in New York politics today, after taking over City Hall and making the govern of the empire state gravel on video to gain their support. What is at question is who does the Working Families Party represent and how do they operate. In a city that has 8,337,000 residents, the WFP has 2529 active members that voted in the 2013 election, just .0003% of NYC voting population. Political parties in NYC were designed by district to give a voice to each neighborhood in the city. At the height of the Tammany Hall Democratic Party, there were over 400 clubs representing the neighborhood in the city. Many in the same neighborhood competing against each other. There’s was more to the Tammany Hall story than corruption. Tammany Hall’s leaders delivered social services and took care of the residents of their district problems. They massaged justice at a time when the poor did not have access to public defenders. They gave food and jobs to those who need them. In short Tammany Hall power came from delivering services to the voters. Political parties today like the WFP gain their power by controlling ballot access, campaign consultants, lobbyist and money. Bloomberg paid millions for the GOP and Independent party line when he was mayor. Malcolm Smith tried to buy the GOP line from two party leaders who are under indictment. Not only are registered voter in the Independence Party not receiving the services that Tammany Hall democratic were provided at the turn of the century, but as the Daily News proves over and over again those IP registered voters have no idea they belong to a real party, they think they are just independent.
If only the police unions had dropped their legal challenge to a stop-and-frisk lawsuit, says the new lawyer representing Eric Garner’s family, the Staten Island man who died in police...
* A Drug Policy Alliance report shows that arrests formarijuana possession in New York City under de Blasio are on track to equal—or even surpass—those made under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, despite de Blasio’s 2013 campaign promises to curb such arrests:
Cuomo Top Aide Schwartz Connected to Moreland Shutdown and AEG Scandal
Cuomo aide to meet with prosecutors in commission probe (NYP)The top aide to Gov. Cuomo has agreed to meet with federal prosecutors investigating the governor’s disbanding of his own anti-corruption panel. Larry Schwartz voluntarily agreed to meet with prosecutors from US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office, according to a source with law-enforcement ties. Schwartz and others “want to avoid the embarrassment of a subpoena, so they proactively volunteered to go in,” the source said.Schwartz has been accused of contacting one of the panel’s co-chairs to yank a subpoena issued to an ad-buying firm that had worked for the governor’s campaign.* Top Cuomo Aide to Meet With Prosecutors(WSJ) * "the commission had identified 15 lawmakers who may have been involved in potential criminal activity .." * National Republican Committee weighs in on Moreland Commission scandal(NYDN)* National GOP Takes A Swipe At Cuomo And Rice(YNN)* Duffy: ‘I Have Faith’ In Cuomo(YNN)
A Moreland AEG Schwartz Double Header
The proposed facility earned the nickname of racino from the combinded terms of race track and casino. Mr. Schwartz’s troubles with Gov. Paterson’s troublesome selection of AEG date back to 2009, when Gov. Paterson reopened bids for the proposed Aqueduct racino after prior attempts stretching back to the Pataki administration had failed to select a winning operator. Mr. Schwartz was faulted in the Inspector General’s report for a range of failures. In minor respects, Mr. Schwartz was criticized for having failed to provide “guidance to the executive agencies despite being acutely aware of the need to refine the process” in respect of the selection of the racino operator.
In more serious respects, Mr. “Schwartz further incredulously claimed to not recall myriad meetings he organized and attended, various e-mail correspondence between himself and other individuals, and numerous conversations in which he engaged, and claimed unawareness of the Governor’s selection of AEG despite personally engaging the Governor’s press office in a colloquy about the very subject.” In spite of the critical findings by the Inspector General’s investigators, Mr. Schwartz’s role in Albany politics continued after Gov. Paterson’s administration came to an end, because, after Mr. Cuomo won the gubernatorial race, Gov. Cuomo reappointed Mr. Schwartz to the hold the same post in the Cuomo administration, shocking the conscious of AEG investigators.
As if by plan, Mr. Schwartz continued his role under Gov. Cuomo as chief advisor to and political protector of the governor, skills that he had honed under Gov. Paterson tumultuous administration. Eventually, though, Mr. Schwartz’s political machinations on behalf of the new governor would again flirt with legal boundaries when it was reported by The New York Times that Mr. Schwartz had interfered with the corruption-fighting work of panel members appointed to the Moreland Commission by Gov. Cuomo. When Moreland commissioners had subpoenaed Buying Time, a media firm that had provided key services to the Cuomo campaign, Mr. Schwartz stepped in to protect Gov. Cuomo. After Mr. Schwartz learned of the subpoena, he reportedly instructed the commissioners to, “Pull it back,” resulting in the subpoena being “swiftly withdrawn,” according to the bombshell report in The New York Times. Buying Time continues to be involved in Cuomo campaign activities that were just this week described by WNYC to appear to circumvent campaign contribution limits.* Former ESDC head "Ambassador" Gargano, "classy political opportunist," now a leader of EB-5 firm promoting Atlantic Yards investment
Did the NYP Just Send Sharpton and de Blasio A Message By Bring Up A Gambling Deal
Sharpton and Gambling Deep Roots NYP Ups the Fight Beyond Noerdlinger
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AEG Cover Up
How Come Brooklyn Boss Seddio Has Not Remove Lopez Who Refuses to Pay A $400,000 Fine Sexual Harassment As District Leader
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Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants ex-Assemblyman VitoLopez to pay up(NYDN) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has asked an Albany court to force the serial groper to pay more than $400,000 for sexually harassing staff members. Schneiderman’s office filed paperwork in state Supreme Court late Thursday seeking an order compelling Lopez to pay a $330,000 fine levied against him in 2013, plus $72,600 in interest and penalties. According to the papers, Lopez did not respond to a letter sent by the attorney general’s office in July demanding payment. If Lopez still refuses to pay, the court could order the pervy pol's income garnished or put liens on his assets.
How Come Taxes Get the Media and Pol Attention, But Pushing Blacks, the Middle Class and Poor Out of Brooklyn Gets None?
Buyouts have long been part of New York City’s real estate lore, but as offers have become more common, buyouts have become instruments of illegal harassment and a growing threat to the stock of affordable housing, The New York Times writes Tenant groups cite illegal harassment and a growing threat to affordable housing, while landlords say buying out longtime tenants in low-rent apartments is lawful.* SWEATING IT OUT: Brownsville tenants live without hot water and electricity (NYDN)
How Come Taxes Get the Media and Pol Attention, But Pushing Blacks, the Middle Class and Poor Out of Brooklyn Gets None?
Buyouts have long been part of New York City’s real estate lore, but as offers have become more common, buyouts have become instruments of illegal harassment and a growing threat to the stock of affordable housing, The New York Times writes Tenant groups cite illegal harassment and a growing threat to affordable housing, while landlords say buying out longtime tenants in low-rent apartments is lawful.* SWEATING IT OUT: Brownsville tenants live without hot water and electricity (NYDN)
NYT Reports on Gentrification In Crown Heights It Does No Report Why It is Happening So Fast?
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Gets Its Turn(NYT) The neighborhood has finally overcome a reputation for intolerance and violence that had plagued it since the 1991 riots between blacks and Hasidic Jews. In fact, residents credit the successful post-riot reconciliation between the two communities with being one of the drivers of Crown Heights’ rapid transformation — or gentrification, depending on one’s perspective.
Along Franklin Avenue, signs saying “Moving to Flatbush” have appeared on many businesses in the last couple of years, and while longtime residents don’t tack up signs, there are indications they have also been leaving in large numbers as new arrivals replace them in this community of about 140,000 people. * Nuns raise rents at immigrant home to boot longtime residents(NYDN) They’re kicking them like a bad habit. The nuns running St. Joseph’s Immigrant Home in Hell’s Kitchen are boosting the rent on young female residents and trying to boot women..*Half the homes in one of NYC’s priciest nabes vacant most of the year(CrainsNY
NYT Reports on Gentrification In Crown Heights It Does No Report Why It is Happening So Fast?
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Gets Its Turn(NYT) The neighborhood has finally overcome a reputation for intolerance and violence that had plagued it since the 1991 riots between blacks and Hasidic Jews. In fact, residents credit the successful post-riot reconciliation between the two communities with being one of the drivers of Crown Heights’ rapid transformation — or gentrification, depending on one’s perspective.
Along Franklin Avenue, signs saying “Moving to Flatbush” have appeared on many businesses in the last couple of years, and while longtime residents don’t tack up signs, there are indications they have also been leaving in large numbers as new arrivals replace them in this community of about 140,000 people. * Nuns raise rents at immigrant home to boot longtime residents(NYDN) They’re kicking them like a bad habit. The nuns running St. Joseph’s Immigrant Home in Hell’s Kitchen are boosting the rent on young female residents and trying to boot women..*Half the homes in one of NYC’s priciest nabes vacant most of the year(CrainsNY
Daily News Ignores the Suffering Caused By Unchecked Gentrification
Oh, the horror! (NYDN Ed) Gowanus suffers an attack of the NIMBYs. NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) and BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) are in a tizzy over the development of the Gowanus, the formerly industrial Brooklyn neighborhood between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens
Daily News Ignores the Suffering Caused By Unchecked Gentrification
Oh, the horror! (NYDN Ed) Gowanus suffers an attack of the NIMBYs. NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) and BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) are in a tizzy over the development of the Gowanus, the formerly industrial Brooklyn neighborhood between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens
Gentrification and Race
Airbnb Housing Market
Black Alumni Group Gives de Blasio and Farina Cover to Change Top HS Tests
Black alumni group pushing city officials to better prepareminority students for top high schools (NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: A letter addressed to Mayor de Blasio and city schools boss Carmen Fariña slammed the city for failing to help minority kids gain entrance to the city’s high schools. “It is outrageous that most specialized high school students come from just a handful of middle schools,” said the scathing missive, which was obtained by the Daily News. “As long as schools are unequal, a single test will yield unequal results,” the letter said. The letter also called on education officials to alter the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, which is used as the sole criteria for admission to the city’s specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant. Just 3% of students at Stuyvesant are Hispanic or black, but those students account for about 70% of the city’s total student body. Other elite schools display similar disparities.
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Who On Whose Side in the Battle for the Senate
The Battle for the State Senate is As Confusing As the Middle East
The fight for Democratic State Senate majority reveals political duplicity from City Hall to Queens to Albany(Progress Queens) Long Island districts the Democrats had initially hoped to poach. Democratic efforts will now focus on a Hudson Valley seat being vacated by Republican Greg Ball, a four-way race in Buffalo and contests involving incumbent Democrats Terry Gipson of Dutchess County and Cecilia Tkaczyk of Ulster County Rochester and Adrienne Esposito, who is running for an open seat in Suffolk County
No Tax Breaks by Our Elected Officials for Developers are Killing Mom and Pop Stores and the City's Middle Class
Developer-friendly rezoning, not Starbucks, is what wiped out Williamsburg mom-and-pop stores
Council progressives won't try to save Mom and Pop stores because they are controlled by the real estate $$$$ and lobbyists
Queens GOP Bottom Feeders Let Their Party Die Selling Ballot Line Over the Years
Progressive Leadership Breaking Its Own Rules Allowing Homeless to Sleep In Homeless Office
HomelessServices breaks own rules, lets people sleep overnight at office(NYP) Bronx office, The Post has learned. At other times, DHS bent the rules by shuttling people to a nearby hotel before dawn for as little as an hour — before returning them to the center. “You’re not supposed to sleep there, they’re supposed to take you somewhere. They didn’t,” said Cynthia Penns, who was with her 14-year-old son. “There were a lot of people sleeping — kids, babies, too.” The strain at the registration center comes as the homeless population has increased by 4,400 since January to more than 56,000.
NYT Covers-Up Lobbyists Berlin Rosen and Shadow Government Out of Mayor's Slush Fund 1NY Story
More to Come, Developing Story From True News
A video touting de Blasio’s pre-k program was sent from a City Hall address, under the city seal, to a list of de Blasio’s campaign supporters, among others, raising questions among legal experts and good-government groups about whether it was an appropriate form of official communication, The New York Times writes
Jobs4NY Which Failed After Spending $7 Million To Take Over the City Council Now Seeks to Keep the Dems From Taking Over the Senate
REBNY jumps into Senate battle Without the Parkside Group Which is Working for DSCC
NYT Covers-Up Lobbyists Berlin Rosen and Shadow Government Out of Mayor's Slush Fund 1NY Story
More to Come, Developing Story From True News
A video touting de Blasio’s pre-k program was sent from a City Hall address, under the city seal, to a list of de Blasio’s campaign supporters, among others, raising questions among legal experts and good-government groups about whether it was an appropriate form of official communication, The New York Times writes
Jobs4NY Which Failed After Spending $7 Million To Take Over the City Council Now Seeks to Keep the Dems From Taking Over the Senate
Jobs4NY Which Failed After Spending $7 Million To Take Over the City Council Now Seeks to Keep the Dems From Taking Over the Senate
REBNY jumps into Senate battle Without the Parkside Group Which is Working for DSCC
Jobs for New York Inc., an outside spending group that poured $8 million into New York City ’s 2013 elections, is now poised to help Republicans in the high-stakes battle for the state Senate, records show, Crain’s New York reports
Awards And Media Coverage for Failed Lobbyists Parkside Group
Lobbyists Groups Parkside Spent $7.5 Million of Real Estate Developers Money and Failed to Elected A Council Speaker. . . Making Their Queens Boss Crowley Their Benefactor A Loser
But the biggest donors to council races were the city’s real estate titans, who raised nearly $7 million in a bid to influence the election of City Council members. Spending for the PAC was coordinated by the industry’s lobbying arm, the Real Estate Board of New York. But after the elections, REBNY President Steven Spinola was quick to declare victory, asserting that 18 of the 22 candidates backed by his group had won their elections. But determining just who was doling out the big bucks proved challenging, since most of the contributions to the real estate PAC, dubbed Jobs for New York, came from murky corporate entities that are otherwise ineligible to donate directly to candidates in city elections.* NY State Senate Republicans have $2.9 million in campaignaccount(NYDN)
Awards And Media Coverage for Failed Lobbyists Parkside Group
Lobbyists Groups Parkside Spent $7.5 Million of Real Estate Developers Money and Failed to Elected A Council Speaker. . . Making Their Queens Boss Crowley Their Benefactor A Loser
Lobbyists Groups Parkside Spent $7.5 Million of Real Estate Developers Money and Failed to Elected A Council Speaker. . . Making Their Queens Boss Crowley Their Benefactor A Loser
But the biggest donors to council races were the city’s real estate titans, who raised nearly $7 million in a bid to influence the election of City Council members. Spending for the PAC was coordinated by the industry’s lobbying arm, the Real Estate Board of New York. But after the elections, REBNY President Steven Spinola was quick to declare victory, asserting that 18 of the 22 candidates backed by his group had won their elections. But determining just who was doling out the big bucks proved challenging, since most of the contributions to the real estate PAC, dubbed Jobs for New York, came from murky corporate entities that are otherwise ineligible to donate directly to candidates in city elections.* NY State Senate Republicans have $2.9 million in campaignaccount(NYDN)
De Blasio Gives UFT Their Contract Magic Class Size Is No Longer A Problem
Teachers union gives de Blasio a pass on school overcrowding(NYP)
De Blasio Gives UFT Their Contract Magic Class Size Is No Longer A Problem
Teachers union gives de Blasio a pass on school overcrowding(NYP)
Pay to Play Court Lawyers
Four Charged in a Bribery Scheme to Gain Clients in Arraignment Court(NYT)
Pay to Play Court Lawyers
Four Charged in a Bribery Scheme to Gain Clients in Arraignment Court(NYT)
Developers Pressure Kills de Blasio's Inclusionary Proposed Increase
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s forthcoming mandatory inclusionary housing proposal is more likely to hover around a 20 percent affordability requirement—a ratio associated with the current Inclusionary Housing Program—rather than the increase to 30 percent or more that some have suggested, Crain’s reports:
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s forthcoming mandatory inclusionary housing proposal is more likely to hover around a 20 percent affordability requirement—a ratio associated with the current Inclusionary Housing Program—rather than the increase to 30 percent or more that some have suggested, Crain’s reports:
Local TV News Will Not Criticize Cuomo No TV Debate Because of Feal of Losing the Benjamins
Local TV News Which Makes Millions Off of Campaign Ads, Lobbying Ads Like Airbnb and Government Public Service Ads
Pay to Report Local TV New$
Spending on advertising has fueled the increase in TV lobbying costs. Well-funded special interests funnel millions to lobbyists for public campaigns to sway lawmakers on hot-button issues (TU) Local News which is mainly weather, traffic, cooking and dog segments is making millions in lobbyists spending. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. Copy Cat Journalism * Shrinking Newspaper Coverage Means Less Real TV News More Sexy Reporters
Shrinking Coverage Means Less Real News on TV Which Reads the Newspaper Headlines Every Morning
Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)*CSNY’s budget blitz: $3.9 million (updated)(TU) *Save NY airing tax cap ad(TU) *Budget opponents up their ads and mailers(TU) *Bloomberg Blames Negative Ads For Poor Showing In Education ...(Politico) *Save NY now airs on school money(TU) *NYC's Bloomberg Pays for TV Ads Backing Cuomo's Pension * Bloomberg Defends His Administration With TV Ad - NY1.com * Local TV News For $ale: How Special Interests Control News Content and Public Opinion * Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)
Local News Wins Emmy For Keeping the Public Uninformed
That's a total reversal from the May 22 Q poll, when 48% of voters approved and 34% disapproved.
Despite the souring views of his ability to muck out the Albany cesspool, Cuomo is still wrecking all challengers in the Democratic primary and November general election, Quinnipiac found in the latest survey.
Local TV News Which Makes Millions Off of Campaign Ads, Lobbying Ads Like Airbnb and Government Public Service Ads
Pay to Report Local TV New$
Spending on advertising has fueled the increase in TV lobbying costs. Well-funded special interests funnel millions to lobbyists for public campaigns to sway lawmakers on hot-button issues (TU) Local News which is mainly weather, traffic, cooking and dog segments is making millions in lobbyists spending. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. Copy Cat Journalism * Shrinking Newspaper Coverage Means Less Real TV News More Sexy Reporters
Shrinking Coverage Means Less Real News on TV Which Reads the Newspaper Headlines Every Morning
Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)*CSNY’s budget blitz: $3.9 million (updated)(TU) *Save NY airing tax cap ad(TU) *Budget opponents up their ads and mailers(TU) *Bloomberg Blames Negative Ads For Poor Showing In Education ...(Politico) *Save NY now airs on school money(TU) *NYC's Bloomberg Pays for TV Ads Backing Cuomo's Pension * Bloomberg Defends His Administration With TV Ad - NY1.com * Local TV News For $ale: How Special Interests Control News Content and Public Opinion * Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)
Local News Wins Emmy For Keeping the Public Uninformed
That's a total reversal from the May 22 Q poll, when 48% of voters approved and 34% disapproved.
Despite the souring views of his ability to muck out the Albany cesspool, Cuomo is still wrecking all challengers in the Democratic primary and November general election, Quinnipiac found in the latest survey.
How Local TV News Make Millions Rehabilitating Candidates and Cleaning Up Policies Harmful to the Public
Charter School Rent Too Damn High Also
Management company cuts high rent it was chargingtaxpayer-funded Brooklyn charter school(NYDN) National Heritage Academies, based in Michigan , was charging a whopping $2.5 million per year for classrooms leased to Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School
Management company cuts high rent it was chargingtaxpayer-funded Brooklyn charter school(NYDN) National Heritage Academies, based in Michigan , was charging a whopping $2.5 million per year for classrooms leased to Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School
Is the Daily News Turning Into the Incumbent Protection Party Newspaper?
Attorney general reaches $925K settlement that will givemajor pay raises to 40 JFK airport skycaps giving the News Fair Pay campaignanother victory (NYDN) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached the deal with Alstate Maintenance LLC, which employs the skycaps and for years had underpaid them. His office pressured Alstate to raise the pay to $9 an hour, up from the $5.65 that many workers were receiving.
Attorney general reaches $925K settlement that will givemajor pay raises to 40 JFK airport skycaps giving the News Fair Pay campaignanother victory (NYDN) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached the deal with Alstate Maintenance LLC, which employs the skycaps and for years had underpaid them. His office pressured Alstate to raise the pay to $9 an hour, up from the $5.65 that many workers were receiving.
Lobbyists Pitta Bishop Del Giorno Which Already Control the City Council Is Seeking To Also Take Over GOP Clubs and BOE
New Boss Same As the Old Boss
Pitta & Giblin LLP Sponsor of our Annual Columbus DayDinner (Queens Village Republic Club) The members of the Queens Village Republican Club wish to extend our warmest thanks to Robert Bishop, a partner at the lawfirm, Pitta Bishop, Del Giorno, Giblin LLP for the generous donation from his lawfirm, to sponsor our annual Columbus Day Dinner on Oct. 2nd at the Knights of Columbus, St. Annes Council in Glen Oaks. Giulani Saving the Bronx GOP* The Bronx Republican Party will host a fundraising golf outing to fill its coffers Wednesday at the acclaimed Saint Andrews Golf Club in Westchester County with special guest former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Daily News reports: Two Weeks Ago A Bellevue Nurse Complained to FEMA That A Private Hospital Got $1.2 Billion and Public Hospitals Nothing
FEMA Sandy Aid to NYU Questioned Amid Public HospitalWoes (NBC) New York City 's First Avenue , two hospitals sit two blocks apart, but the scenes last week could not have been more different.Though Bellevue is New York 's biggest public hospital and the first option in responding to public health crises, including Ebola, NYU -- a private medical facility -- has secured nearly 10 times more Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid. The federal government's $1.2 billion award to NYU is the second largest sum of disaster assistance in the history of FEMA Bellevue has been given $117 million. “I find it inexcusable,” said Ann Bove, a Bellevue Hospital nurse who serves as Secretary of the New York State Nurses Association, a union that represents thousands of nurses at New York City ’s public hospitals. Last August, Bove wrote a searing letter calling the imbalance of FEMA aid “unwarranted and unfair,” particularly because Bellevue treats far more uninsured and Medicaid patients than NYU does.* $1.6B in FEMA funds for NY Sandy hospitals(NYP) * City hospitals hit by Hurricane Sandy getting $1.6B FEMA grant * NYC Gets $1.6B in Sandy Money for Hospitals(WSJ)
Today The Pols Announce A Little Money for Public Hospitals and the Media Said Nothing About the Nurse Who Complained to FEMA
NYC Gets $1.6B in Sandy Money for Hospitals Wall Street Journal
FEMA pledges at least $1.6 billion to aid Sandy-damaged public hospitals Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation is facing a $3.2 billion shortfall by the end of de Blasio’s first term, and its plans to close the gap “are at best risky and may prove unachievable,” according to the CBC. * A Citizen’s Budget Commission report found that without an aggressive gap-closing plan, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation will exhaust its cash reserves by 2016, Crain’s reports:
If the Pols Found the Money for the Public Hospital Why No Money to Keep LICH Hospital From Closing?
SUNY Closes A Hospital In Brooklyn Heights and Now Wants A Building for the Chancellor In the Same Neighorhood
SUNY should have made a deal with the developer to give Zimpher an apartment
The Real Reason Why New Yorker Vote is Decreasing
Why I will no longer vote in NYC (Brooklyn Eagle) I have been voting in New York City for nearly 30 years, and now I feel no need to vote here ever again. As a voter, you put your hope and trust in the person you cast your ballot for and want so badly ... so very badly, that they will try to come through for you. But now I see how stupid and naive I was. Now I see it is not the voters that some New York politicians are working for — its rich, real estate interests. They are the official owners of New York politics. It's not hard to see the damage these people have caused the average New Yorker. Affordable housing is almost non-existent in every borough. Once-beautiful historic blocks of brownstone housing are now dotted with newly constructed houses that resemble ugly cereal boxes. The well-off New Yorker has their pick of luxury housing, which brings me to the reason I will no longer vote. Long Island College Hospital (LICH) has just been sold to a developer who donated money to Gov. Cuomo. Several other companies were supposed to bid on running this hospital, but trumped up excuses were made against the first two bidders and they were passed over in favor of a company that donated the most money to the governor. This should be a scandal and fodder for whoever is running against the governor this year...but it won't be. Who is going to investigate this? No one... not when you've pretty much hired everyone who could investigate you.* Negative ads, voter indifference blamed for low electionturnout, experts say
UFT Has Their Contract the Students From Bad Schools Lack A Proper Plan
New York Needs a Stronger School Plan (NYT Ed) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiative adds support services, but the help may be too little and too slow for the most dysfunctional schools.
* Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to spend $150 million on nearly 100 of the city’s most challenged public schools, but while he criticized the Bloomberg administration for school closures, he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of more closures down the line, the Observer reports:
De Blasio unveiled his administration’s long-awaited plan toimprove 94 of the city’s lowest-performing schools in a major policy speech.
De Blasio Reveals Plan for Failing Schools (WSJ) De Blasio Unveils New Plans for Troubled Schools in New York(NYT) Editorial: Bill’s longshot bet Fariña (NYDN Ed) The school reform plan announced belatedly and with great fanfare by Mayor de Blasio Monday falls far short of the gargantuan challenge of improving the city’s chronically failing schools.* * De Blasio will not support an effort to extend or lift the number of charter schools that can open in New York , saying “we have a good dynamic right with the cap the way it is,” Capital New York writes: * Dennis Walcott corrects some revisionist history@NYDNOpinions | "@MikeBloomberg Saved Kids, Not Schools"…(NYD
Is the NYT Trying to Mislead New Yorkers on the WFP?
Does the Staten Island WFP Investigation Have Anything to Do With Wolfe Taking Time Off From City Hall?
2009 WFP . . . Data and Field . . . Wolfe . . .
Connecting to 2013 Spending Limits
Investigator wants to speak with Mayor de Blasio aide Emma Wolfe in Working Families Party probe(NYDN) Roger Bennett Adler sent a letter in September to Emma Wolfe, de Blasio’s director of intergovernmental affairs, asking for a sitdown, according to sources. The investigation is examining whether the party’s now-dismantled for-profit arm, Data & Field Services, gave cut-rate prices to Working Families candidates, giving them an unfair advantage in elections. The investigation is examining whether the party’s now-dismantled for-profit arm, Data & Field Services, gave cut-rate prices to Working Families candidates, giving them an unfair advantage in elections.
Prosecutor investigating Working Families Party sought interview with de Blasio aide Emma Wolfe
A special prosecutor investigating the Working Families Party’s relationship with get-out-the-vote corporation Data & Field Services wants to interview Emma Wolfe, an aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio, The Wall Street Journal reports: Since 2012, the prosecutor, Roger Bennett Adler, has been investigating the Working Families Party's relationship with Data & Field Services, a corporation formed by the left-leaning party to provide its candidates with get-out-the-vote staffing and expertise. Investigators are looking at whether the for-profit firm charged significantly lower fees than is typical for such service, potentially providing an unfair advantage to favored candidates.
WFP Lawyering Up To Stop An Investigation
According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Adler last fall sought an interview with Ms. Wolfe, who was then deputy manager and political director of Mr. de Blasio's mayoral campaign and is now his director of intergovernmental affairs. There were discussions with an attorney representing Ms. Wolfe to arrange the interview, but the interview has yet to take place, these people said. Ms. Wolfe was a key player in Mr. de Blasio's 2009 campaign for public advocate and served as his chief of staff when he was in that position. She previously worked as an organizing and field director for the Working Families Party. The party has said its support for candidates in 2009 was legal and is seeking to have Mr. Adler removed from the investigation, arguing in court papers that the process used to select him was unlawful. The Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, is slated to hear arguments in the case on Tuesday. The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office probed the party's ties to Data & Field Services in 2010, but that probe has ended. Dan Donovan, the district attorney in Staten Island, also began investigating and later recused himself from the probe. Mr. Donovan's request for a special prosecutor, which was granted, is under seal. Joe Dinkin, a spokesman for the party, said the legal requirements for appointing the special prosecutor weren't followed."The appointment should be voided and the matter returned to the DA," he said.
More On the WFP the New Progressive Machine
Mayor's PR Youtube Tax Payer Dollars
Mayor YouTube(NYP)New York already has one. It’s Mayor de Blasio’s YouTube channel. It carries videos produced by NYC TV, a taxpayer-funded public-television channel. In two exclusives, The Post has reported how Mayor Bill has injected himself into the station’s content, ordering up, for example, a feature on an old friend famous for her “spider bite” dance.
