Scurrying Off, In Secret, Away From The Press

Mayor Bill de Blasio has secret rendezvous with American-Israeli group behind closed doors ; French President has secret rendezvous with Julie Gayet behind closed doors

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was "forced to defend himself Friday after a Thursday speech to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee was left off his public schedule," The New York Daily News reported, adding, "A reporter from the website Capital New York who found out about the event and tried to cover it was ejected by security, the outlet said."

Separately, Capital New York reported that Mayor de Blasio blamed AIPAC for refusing entry to the reporter, noting that, "The mayor insisted AIPAC wanted the dinner to be closed to the press, but agreed he should have informed reporters regardless."

• RELATED : What Private Life ? François Hollande, the N.S.A., and Article 13 (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : Bill de Blasio Secret Recording at AIPAC, 1/23/2014 (via @CapitalNewYork)

This isn't the first time that Mayor de Blasio has locked out reporters from covering a controversial event. Last month, Capital New York reported that then the mayor-elect attended a fundraiser for New Yorkers for Clean Livable & Safe Streets (NY-CLASS), the backers of a controversial $1 million Super PAC that exceeded Campaign Finance Board restrictions to defeat the mayor's chief challenger, Christine Quinn. The NY-CLASS fundraiser was also closed to reporters. (And all the behind-the-scenes lobbying that the mayor did to select Councilmember Mellisa Mark-Viverito as the new Council speaker hasn't been exactly transparent, either.)

During the aftermath of the post-Christmas 2010 blizzard, then Public Advocate Bill de Blasio excoriated Mayor Michael Bloomberg for being absent while the city lay buried in unplowed snow.

"The City Council is calling for an investigation into why so many neighborhoods were still buried in snow, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio sent a letter to Bloomberg demanding to know what happened," the local ABC News affiliate reported at the time.

So much for a real progressive reform agenda when it comes to government transparency and openness. Mayor de Blasio's secretive disappearing acts remind us of embattled French President François Hollande, who took to a motor scooter to travel to a secret rendezvous now and then with his mistress, the actress Julie Gayet.

Does the First Lady have anything to worry about ?

Found Blizzard Pictures Trilogy

Found: Lost Pictures of New York Blizzard

Following the post-Christmas Blizzard of 2010, Todd Bieber found a canister of 35 mm film in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. In January, he made a YouTube video, to try to locate the owners of the film. What happens next is life imitating art à ''Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain.''

Watch the beautify story unfold in the YouTube trilogy, as Mr. Bieber takes us on an inspiring adventure to reünite the film with its owners.

Found: Part 1

Found: Part 2

Found: Part 3

Read The Village Voice article : Lost NYC Photo Adventure Finds Happy Ending in Paris.

NY Senate Democrats Outraged by Bloomberg's Disgraceful Comment

Senate Democrats Didn't Take Kindly To Mayor Bloomberg Calling Their Time In The Majority "A Disgrace," Reported Celeste Katz.

Earlier today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in Albany for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address, after which the mayor insulted the Democrat Senators.

"I thought, if you take a look, it was a disgrace what happened in the last couple of years in the Senate. Most people, regardless of party, think that," said Mayor Bloomberg.

Upon hearing the mayor's insult, Senate Democrats reacted with anger.

"The actual disgrace is failing to manage a fatal blizzard because you and all of your top aides were on vacation and nobody was left in charge," a Senate Democratic source told Ken Lovett of The New York Daily News.

For the past two years, Democrats in the New York State Senate carried out Mayor Bloomberg's Republican agenda, and now Mayor Bloomberg has expressed a lack of gratitude by calling the Democrats a ''disgrace.'' Where have we heard the word ''disgrace'' come from the mayor before ? Oh, that's right. When the mayor was confronted with his ''rationale'' for extending term limits, Mayor Bloomberg called the brave reporter a ''disgrace.'' Here is that famous video :

Mayor Bloomberg Was Biggest Obstacle To Snow Removal

Inaction and Delays by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as Deadly Blizzard Bore Down

The post-Christmas blizzard of 2010 stranded EMS, ambulances, and other rescue services in unplowed streets all across New York City, resulting in fire-related deaths and even the death of at least one baby.

Now comes The New York Times, which has reported that the Bloomberg administration did nothing to prepare for the deadly blizzard :

''At 3:58 a.m. on Christmas Day, the National Weather Service upgraded its alert about the snow headed to New York City, issuing a winter storm watch. By 3:55 p.m., it had declared a formal blizzard warning, a rare degree of alarm. But city officials opted not to declare a snow emergency — a significant mobilization that would have, among other things, aided initial snow plowing efforts.''

Finally, after a barrage of criticism, Mayor Bloomberg ''conceded that the city’s response to the blizzard had been inadequate,'' reported The New York Times.

What is the mayor going to do about all of the deaths that resulted from his gross neglect ?

Blizzard Destroys NYC Ambulance Readiness

With Ambulances Stuck in Snow, New York City Abandons Emergency Response ; Leaves Residents Open To Harm And Injury ; With No Ambulance, Baby Died In Crown Heights Following Delivery.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended the city’s response to the storm on Tuesday, and called the digging out of ambulances the city’s first priority. He said nearly 170 stranded ambulances had been dug out by emergency crews, with 40 more still stuck Tuesday morning. Still, the impassibility of many streets made routine ambulance runs into odysseys, sometimes with life-threatening or fatal consequences.

In East Midwood, volunteer ambulances managed to complete nine calls on Monday between getting stuck in drifts and between abandoned cars. One was to a 74-year-old woman on Lawrence Avenue who appeared to be having a stroke. Her home-health aide had called 911 at 9 a.m. on Monday, said Yakov Kornitzer, the chief of operations for the East Midwood Volunteer Ambulance company, and in the early afternoon, she finally ran to the local precinct station for help.

When the ambulance arrived at 3 p.m., it was unable to get closer than several blocks away. Two emergency workers, two paramedics and six police officers carried her on a stretcher through knee-deep snow, but by then she was unresponsive and her limbs were already flexed, indicating serious damage to her brain tissue.

“We did the best we could,” Mr. Kornitzer said. “If small cars wouldn’t have gotten stuck, we would have been able to get through.”

Source : The New York Times : Read the article, to learn about the outrageous story about the baby who died following delivery in Crown Heights : it took almost 9 hours from the time that the 911 emergency call was made until paramedics could show up to treat a woman in labor -- by the time they arrived, paramedics found that the baby had been delivered, but it was not breathing : Snow Blocks Hundreds of Ambulances From Patients

Danny Dromm's Reaction To Lack Of NYC Snow Removal Plan

City Councilman Daniel Dromm, standing in front of his office on unplowed 75th Street (in front of stuck cab) in Jackson Heights.

From 1010 WINS Radio: By Juliet Papa

City Councilman Daniel Dromm shook his head and came short of stamping his feet on two feet of unplowed snow on 75th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens.

“The fact that there has been no plow in this neighborhood at all is a disaster,” Dromm said. “It’s hard to understand why the city was so unprepared for this storm because we knew for a long time that it was coming.”

“This is going on day three and usually what we see is a plow coming down the street on the day when the storm starts, then you see something coming the day after and basically the third day you expect it to be clear but that’s not what happened here,” he added.

Many are putting the blame on Bloomberg. “He is not doing what he is supposed to do,” one woman said. ”He’s not running the city, we’re wondering what is happening.”

“I think the Mayor must be living in another world if he thinks that the response to this has been satisfactory,” Dromm said.

Click here to hear Danny on Juliet Papa's report on 1010 WINS.

Please feel free to contact Council Member Dromm's Community Office at: 718-803-6373 if you need any assistance.

Snow Removal FAIL Viral YouTube

NYC Sanitation Workers Destroy an SUV - SNOW REMOVAL FAIL #Snowpocalypse

New York City workers destroy a Ford Explorer trying to free a snowbound front-loader in Brooklyn Heights, New York, after the post-Christmas Blizzard of 2010.

Somebody in City Hall has to take accountability for each of this accident and for the larger failure of the city to be prepared to clear the snow from the streets following the blizzard.