Oct. 17 St. Vincent's Hospital rally

Oct. 17 rally for a new hospital in Lower West Side - St. Vincent's Hospital - Call to Action

Please join us for a rally on Sunday, October 17, at 2 p.m. We are meeting outside of the main building of the former St. Vincent's Hospital at the corner of 7th Avenue and West 12th Street.

Click here to register to attend the 100 days without a hospital rally.

We want to express to our politicians that the community is united in believing that we need a hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

St. Vincent's Hospital closed on April 30 under shady conditions, with no notice to the public. In an emergency, every minute counts. Meanwhile, here we are now way past 100 days that the Lower West Side has been without a hospital.

This rally is fully-accessible for the disabled. For the hearing impaired, a transcript of the video follows :

I want to encourage folks to come to the rally on October 17th. We really need a hospital in this neighborhood. Having an Emergency Room close by is very important.

The closing of St. Vincent's was really a disaster for this neighborhood.

Hello, please, you must come to our rally on October 17th in front of St. Vincent's at 2 p.m. We are hoping we'll get 1,000 people -- at least. Your life could count and depend upon having a hospital in our community.

Unless we have over 1,000 people come out on October 17th at 2 p.m., the powers that be and politicians will think that we are accepting this. And that is wrong, because everybody that I talk to knows that it's wrong, and they are very upset over the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

We've heard of 45 minute waits for ambulances, to start with, and then trying to get cross-town on 14th Street ?

When you are having an emergency, every minute counts.

Is that enough to convince you that your life depends upon attending this rally. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you there.

Bloombo Dicto to Bloggers : Drop Dead

''Mike Bloomberg Still Thinks Bloggers Are Lawless Partisans''

The Village Voice today published a post on its Runnin' Scared blog about comments that Mayor Michael Bloomberg made in an interview with The New York Times :

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By Jen Doll, Mon., Sep. 20 2010 @ 10:38AM

​Today the New York Times City Room (blog) runs excerpts from an interview with Mayor Bloomberg in which he's asked a range of questions about whether he'd run for president (no, but maybe), how much he likes shaking hands (a lot), how much he likes being "popular" (well, who doesn't?), and, oh yeah, how does he feel about bloggers?

His answer:

The bloggers -- you know, the New York Times, for better or worse, has some standards as to who they hire and how much experience you have to have. And then they have an editor who looks at the story and sees whether it's fair and accurate and that sort of thing. And they have lawyers that make sure they don't violate the law. Bloggers don't have any of that. And that also leads to some of the partisanship.

And thus, a nation of bloggers dismissed in one fell swoop. Except, presumably, for those at the New York Times City Room (blog). Bloomberg, how 'bout you just call us all writers and we'll call it a draw? Seriously, some of us even get dressed in the morning these days!

Anyway, last we heard, that "popularity" was in question. Probably the fault of some bloggers.

[via New York Times]

Bloomberg's 3-Tier Campaign Finance Structure

Haggerty, Sheekey planned to hide campaign payments

''Indicted campaign aide John Haggerty points finger at Mayor Bloomberg's former deputy mayor,'' reports The New York Daily News.

In motion papers filed yesterday, lawyers for indicted campaign worker John F. Haggerty, Jr., asserted that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 reëlection campaign had structured ''donation'' payments from the mayor's private bank accounts to the Independence Party, with the participation of Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey.

"Bloomberg's money went into the party's 'housekeeping account,' which is supposed to support only general party activities," reported Adam Lisberg from The Daily News.

Besides the millions that Mayor Bloomberg spent from his campaign committee account, he also has spent unknown millions from his personal (private) bank accounts, as well as having made millions of dollars in ''donations'' to charitable organisations in exchange for their political support in overturning the term limits law.

Here we begin to see clear evidence of a three-tiered campaign funding operation, where only one tier was ever meant to be disclosed or reported.

After Freak NYC Storm, UCT 911 Dispatch System Criticised

Firefighter criticises Mayor Bloomberg's draconian budget cuts to FDNY and controversial Unified Call Taker-911 dispatch and emergency call system.

On the Queens Crap blog, an anonymous FDNY firefighter has submitted a comment that draws attention to the complete failure of New York City's UCT-911 emergency call system. "Over 10 preventable fire fatalities so far because of UCT911[.] DONT LET THIS CONTINUE!!" wrote the firefighter, who submitted the anonymous comment. As far away as the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, it was reported that, as a result of yesterday's tornado-like microburst storm, "The city's 911 switchboards were inundated with calls of injuries, a Fire Department spokesman said."

The New York Daily News has criticised the Bloomberg administration's funding of the controversial UCT 911 dispatch system for its dangerous flaws. The Uniformed Firefighters Association has also criticised the UCT 911 dispatch system for errors that can result in threats to public safety.

"The $2-billion project is meant to shave seconds off emergency response times, and it includes the Unified Call Taker system, which Fire Department unions have condemned, saying that it resulted in units being sent to wrong addresses."

Meanwhile, according to the following YouTube video : "Leaders of three FDNY uniformed unions joined together to speak out and detail how the Bloomberg Administration's new 911 Unified Call Taking (UCT) dispatch system is 'fatally flawed.' "

NYPD gay entrapment lawsuit update

City Fails in Bid to Block Porn Bust Suit ; Judge rules Robert Pinter’s allegations, if proved, show no probable cause for arrest -- Gay City News

"A federal judge Tuesday refused to toss out a gay Manhattan man's malicious-prosecution suit against the city, saying the NYPD's actions in arresting him appeared 'unsettling and inappropriate,' " The New York Daily News reported.

Mr. Pinter had been arrested in 2008 under a systematic and organised progam by NYPD that targeted sex shoppes ; by early 2009, community backlash to the entrapment arrests had begun to culminate in protests ; one such protest took place near New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Upper East Side townhouse. The mayor oversees and is ultimately accountable for the actions by the NYPD.

The NYPD have to end their systematic, organised, and targeted discrimination against the GLBT community. And the mayor has to do something about it, he can, you know? So, let's see him put his money where his MOUTH is.

Mayor Bloomberg is responsible for appealing a 2005 court ruling that favoured marriage equality ; meanwhile, Bloombo Dicto marches in Gay Pride Parades ; meanwhile, Bloombo Dicto recruited homophobic Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, who refused to acknowledge Gay Pride in Indianapolis ; meanwhile, GLBT politicians still align themselves with this two-timing mayor.

By 2009, Bloombo Dicto was again courting the GLBT vote by supporting marriage equality, but this time GLBT voters had begun to wise up. It is high time for more voters to take Mayor Bloomberg, and his enablers, to political divorce court.

Ground Zero Mosque Protests

Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports Freedom of Religion, but he invalidates voter referenda and term limits.

New Yorkers turned out for two simultaneous demonstrations near the former site of the World Trade Center on Sunday, August 22, 2010, to either support or oppose the building of Park51, which has been described as the ''Ground Zero Mosque.'' Listen to Debra Burlingame criticise Mayor Bloomberg for supporting freedom of religion ; she also uses grief and anger to lash out at all Muslims.

On the side against the Mosque, speakers tried to link grief over the September 11 attacks with anger towards Muslims and opposition against the Mosque. At the same time, over at the demonstration in support of building the Mosque, at least one speaker raised the issue of Zionism as all the more reason to support the Mosque.

Meanwhile, there are opportunist politicians, like Rick Lazio, who are fanning the flames of hatred and 9/11 grief, in order to win sympathy from voters, who still grieve over the attacks of 9/11.

For his part, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be using the Ground Zero Mosque issue to deflect attention away from the Charter Revision Commission farce and other scandals.

This was perhaps the most difficult YouTube video I've ever made. Is it possible for people of different religions to be inclusive and welcoming to one another ? We are finding out, in the debate over the Ground Zero Mosque.