Former Parks Chief Opposes NYU Expansion Plan

Henry Stern, Former Chief of Parks, Joins Legal Effort to Block the NYU Expansion.

From The Wall Street Journal :

Henry Stern, who led the Parks Department for 15 years under mayors Ed Koch and Rudolph Giuliani, said in an affidavit filed Friday that the city had for decades "either expressly or impliedly" dedicated the four sections on the superblocks between Houston and West Third streets as public parks. Mr. Stern's affidavit was part of a legal effort to block the NYU expansion.

The tracts of land—LaGuardia Park, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Mercer Playground and the Mercer-Houston dog run—would be taken for either the permanent or temporary use of NYU in the construction of its planned 1 million-square-foot development. The City Council voted to approve the expansion plan in July, over the opposition of some neighborhood groups and members of the university's faculty.

"It was always the City's intent in continuously making these sites available to the public for recreational use over many years to treat them as dedicated parkland," Mr. Stern's affidavit says.

Read more : Former Parks Chief Opposes NYU Expansion Plan

Cut Oil Subsidies

Middle class families should not be forced to scrape by with less while oil companies get away with more.

@StopNYMRT Tweets On SUNY Downstate #LICH Closure Plan

SUNY Downstate submits closure plan for Long Island College Hospital ; nobody makes connection to @newyorkmrt nydailynews.com/new-york/brook… #LICH

— StopNYMRT (@StopNYMRT) February 21, 2013

Closure plan for Long Island College Hospital lets @nygovcuomo and @newyorkmrt off hook for responsibility nydailynews.com/new-york/brook… #LICH

— StopNYMRT (@StopNYMRT) February 21, 2013

Closure plan for #LICH follows pattern of other shady luxury condo conversions of hospitals #StVincents nydailynews.com/new-york/brook… @chriscquinn

— StopNYMRT (@StopNYMRT) February 21, 2013

Closure plan for #LICH is win for #neoliberalism and loss for #publichealth @nygovcuomo @newyorkmrt nydailynews.com/new-york/brook… @healthcarefor99

— StopNYMRT (@StopNYMRT) February 21, 2013

Where is Coalition for a New Village Hospital on #LICH closure plan ? nydailynews.com/new-york/brook… @yettakurland

— StopNYMRT (@StopNYMRT) February 21, 2013

The Wrath of Quinn : Endorse Her Or Else No Slush Funds For You !

City Council Members Fear Budget Revenge if They Don't Endorse Quinn

From DNA Info :

Many City Council members are wary of endorsing candidates in the 2013 mayoral race until after budget season because they're afraid a vengeful Speaker Christine Quinn will cut their share of $50 million in discretionary funds, DNAinfo.com New York has learned.

The funds, which are controlled by the speaker, are dished out to members each summer to fund constituent-pleasing services, such as community centers and seniors programs. While Quinn’s office has long insisted that the money is allocated based on districts' needs, it’s no secret that members on Quinn’s good side tend to profit — while those who cross her get their budgets slashed.

And many Council members now worry that endorsing a rival in the mayor's race, where Quinn is widely perceived as the front-runner, will result in the same fate.

“I definitely think that discretionary funds will be wielded as a weapon in the fight for endorsements,” said one Democratic Council member, who, like nearly a dozen others who spoke to DNAinfo.com New York, asked for anonymity to avoid angering Quinn.

“Certainly, that is the elephant in the room,” another member said.

“It’s a legal form of blackmail," still another member said.

To avoid retribution, some Council members are weighing postponing their endorsements until July, after the budget is adopted and Quinn no longer has sway over the money.

See also : Endorse Quinn - or else ! (via Queens Crap)

"To This Day" anti-bullying video

Very moving and touching anti-bullying video, like you have never seen, but should. "To This Day" by Shane Koyczan.

At 1:20, he reminds us all what we heard growing up.

At 2:07, we meet another girl who was bruised by words.

At 2:57, we learn why she's awesome.

At 3:12, we meet a kid who was pummeled by pills.

At 4:28, we learn how many kids have to deal with this to this day.

At 5:23, if you've been bullied, you REALLY need to hear these words.

At 6:00, seriously, listen to these damn beautiful words.

And at 6:49, we get to the point that everyone should take to heart.

Help confront bullying by sharing this using the buttons below. It needs to be called out in spectacular fashion.

Help this message have a far reaching and long lasting effect in confronting bullying. Please share generously. For more information, visit : http://www.tothisdayproject.com

Christine Quinn is looking for endorsements and voters in the cemetery

Reality Sets In For Quinn, Isay : Early Poll Numbers Are An Illusion.

Greg David: "The idea that Ms. Quinn is the front-runner is a media fallacy." Via @crainsnewyork crainsnewyork.com/article/201302…

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) February 20, 2013

More and more, the Christine Quinn mayoral campaign are acting desperate.

Greg David published an editorial in Crain's New York Business giving everybody a reality check : The early polls portraying that Council Speaker Christine Quinn was an early leader in the crowded Democratic primary field are a fallacy !

Because Josh Isay, Matt Tepper, and Speaker Quinn's other campaign advisers know this, they are pulling out all the stops to maintain a public veneer of being in a leadership position, when in reality they could be further from it.

Earlier today, The New York Times published an article about how Speaker Quinn is now trolling through cemeteries and crematoriums for campaign endorsements. Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign is trying to figure out how to milk the endorsement she received from Ed Koch before he died. (An Endorsement Hard to Pass Up, and Harder to Promote)

''The idea that Ms. Quinn is the front-runner is a media fallacy,'' wrote Mr. David.

How low can Speaker Quinn go, for an endorsement ?

“If I were running against her, what do you say? ‘How low will she go, six feet under, or more?’ ” quipped Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College. “The question is, how voters will respond to it, what they will think of a candidate who uses it.”

If Mr. Isay and Mr. Tepper try to push former Mayor Koch's endorsement of Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign, then Speaker Quinn risks triggering a major backlash from LGBT political and healthcare activists.

Has 32BJ union been infiltrated by real estate group ?

Has the union 32BJ SEIU become co-opted by the Real Estate Board of New York ?

A notable union representing doormen and service workers, 32BJ SEIU, appears to have become co-opted by the Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association of slumlords.

32BJ and REBNY will be screening mayoral candidates together in joint meetings. From the appearance of such an arrangement, the union and the trade association appear to be collaborating on a joint endorsement, which would mark the death of the independence of unions.

Already, Rob Speyer, chairman of REBNY, said in a statement, "Early on we realized that the interests of REBNY and 32BJ actually align in more ways than not."

Read the full story at : A union and a real estate lobby will screen mayoral candidates, together (Capital New York)

The neoconservatism of the REBNY has translated into neoliberalism at the unions. We are doomed.

Witness how New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn booby-trapped the ATU Local 1181 bus strike by issuing a statement on February 12, in which she called on the union to end its strike and engaging in a "cooling off period."

There's more than one way to bust a union, either by dooming a strike, or by infiltrating it to sabotage its own best interests. Or so it apparently seems...

2013-02-12 Christine Quinn Statement of New York City Council Re ATU Local 1181 Bus Strike Union Busting by

Bloomberg: "No One Is Sleeping On The Streets"

#madeinny @mikebloomberg #homeless "no one is sleeping on the street"?! Take the subway b4 rush hour, walk around NYC & observe. Seriously?!

— Eleni Bourinaris (@EleniBourinaris) February 19, 2013

Mike Bloomberg is blind to the homeless problem. No surprise.

Homeless advocates are criticizing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's assertion that "no one is sleeping on the streets," after he was asked today about a report that the city shelter system is turning away families during cold winter days. (NY1)

How can anybody take Mike Bloomberg seriously, if he is so blind to his own elitist worldview ? Will anybody take him seriously when he makes an endorsement in the mayoral campaign ?

A Gay Man Shuts Down Hateful Urban Preacher on NYC Subway

A man, who identified himself as gay, spoke up for himself and on behalf of all LGBT people, after an urban preacher began to shows hateful religious messages. At one point, the gay man calls the urban preacher a "false prophet." After some back and forth, the other straphangers applauded several times in a show of support to the gay man.

The video was posted on YouTube on Saturday, February 16, and it has begun to go viral.

Christine Quinn Caught In Stop-And-Frisk Trap

At tremendous political peril to Christine Quinn, the leader of the NAACP plans to make ''stop-and-frisk'' a major mayoral campaign issue.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been so close and chummy with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's and NYPD Commish Ray Kelly's unconstitutional and racist policy of ''stop-and-frisk.'' She has been waging a neoliberal campaign that is hard on crime by being harder on people of color.

But now comes NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, who is sick and tired of the racial profiling that underpins the entire ''stop-and-frisk'' program, The New York Post reported.

Mr. Jealous "trashed" the stop-and-frisk program during remarks he made at Nazarene Congregational Church in Brooklyn yesterday, and Mr. Jealous's comments were seen as criticism of Mayor Bloomberg's and Police Commissioner Kelly's ill-conceived support for the use of stop-and-frisk. Indeed, Mr. Jealous portrayed Mayor Bloomberg and Commish Kelly as "villains."

“We intend to ensure through every legal means that stop-and-frisk becomes a thing of the past with the next mayor of this town,” Mr. Jealous said.

Three of the four major Democratic candidates — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson — have all said the practice should be reformed but not scrapped. Quinn has yet to take a position on a package of bills before the Council to scale back the program.

City Comptroller John Liu wants to abolish stop-and-frisk altogether.

Jealous also said he wants the next mayor to get rid of Kelly, who consistently polls higher among Democrats than any elected official.

Quinn has signaled she would keep Kelly on board if she won the race and Kelly was willing to stay.

Her competitors in the primary have not made the same commitment.

For her past support of Commish Kelly and for going along with fully funding the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program all these many years -- over 3.7 million stop-and-frisks have occurred whilst Christine Quinn has been speaker of the City Council -- Speaker Quinn has been targeted by activists for enabling the NYPD's discrimination against people of color. (Another blog post about the protest against Christine Quinn's support of stop-and-frisk.)

Read more : Christine Quinn Caught in Stop-and-Frisk Political Trap

GMHC, It's A Chop : Protest against 2013 Latex Ball at LGBT Community Center

On Friday night, activists continued their protests against the New York City-based AIDS organisation, GMHC.

Activists and representatives from the Ballroom community question where does GMHC receive the funding to sponsor the lush and plus Latex Ball.

The protesters also questioned the motivations of GMHC to become so involved in sponsoring a runway ball, when the AIDS organisation's primary mission is to "fights to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." Protesters wonder how can GMHC accomplish its mission in respect of the Ballroom community, if the Ballroom community feel manipulated and exploited by GMHC.

Read more : GMHC : It's a Chop ! Report and Flyer : Why you should boycott the 2013 Latex Ball.

Thousands March in Spain Against Healthcare Privitisation

AP VIDEO: Thousands march in Madrid to protest plans to privatize parts of regional public health care system.

Big protests in Spain against health care reforms (The sign reads : "I'm a patient, I'm a voter.")
By HAROLD HECKLE Associated Press
Updated: 02/17/2013 12:41:01 PM EST

Protesters march as they hold a banner reading "Health care system not for sale" during a demonstration against regional government-imposed austerity plans to restructure and part-privatize the health care sector in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. Madrid proposes selling off the management of six of 20 public hospitals and 27 of 268 health centers. Spain's regions are struggling with a combined debt of $190 billion as the country's economy contracts into a double-dip recession triggered by a 2008 real estate crash. ((AP Photo/Andres Kudacki))

MADRID—Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of 16 Spanish cities Sunday to protest plans to part-privatize the public health care system, with some questioning the government's motives.

It was the third "white tide" demonstration in Madrid, named after the color of the medical scrubs many protesters wear. But it was the first time cities other than the capital took part, including Barcelona, Cuenca, Murcia, Pamplona, Toledo and Zaragoza. Protesters marched carrying banners saying "Public health is not to be sold, it's to be defended."

Health care and education are administered by Spain's 17 semiautonomous regions. Some indebted ones, like Madrid, have announced the part-privatization of some services, with some people openly suspicious that the move is more a political-motivated ploy than an attempt to cut costs.

Civil servant Javier Tarabilla, 31, said Spain's welfare state was being dismantled to be handed over to the private sector.

"This is pillaging of our public services, looting something we've all contributed to through taxes, to give it to private companies to run for profit," he said.

Madrid regional health councilor Javier Fernandez-Lasquetty has called the protests irresponsible, saying public money savings were essential to lift Spain out of debt and onto the road of economic recovery.

"These protests create conflict and are not in the interest of public health, but they do favor the interests of those who organize them," Fernandez-Lasquetty said.

Transgender teacher fired from Queens Catholic school

Sign the petition : St. Francis Preparatory High School: Formally Apologize to Mark (Marla) Krolikowski for Sexual Discrimination

From WABC Eyewitness News :

Transgender teacher fired from Queens Catholic school
By : Sarah Wallace, Eyewitness News
Web produced by Cristina Romano, Eyewitness News

QUEENS (WABC) -- Meet Marla Krolikowski. She no longer has any reason to hide. For 32 years, Krolikowski lived a dual life, teaching at St. Francis Prep School in Queens as a man, Mark, who professionally dressed in a suit and tie.

"I valued the job so much that I was willing to internalize everything, because the job met so much to me," said Krolikowski.

Krolikowski says she did start to add more feminine touches over the years, but claims no one seemed to mind. There are plenty of yearbook photos of her like that.

"I noticed it was a bit more feminine, but I mean, I didn't think it was anything to write home about," said former student Christina Guarino, "so it didn't matter, no."

Apparently, a parent did care. Krolikowski says in October of 2011 that school officials brought her in and confronted her.

"They said, 'are you a drag performer, are you a female impersonator?'" Krolikowski said, "they gave me all these different things, so finally I said 'I'm transgendered and I identify as a woman. Then everybody's jaw dropped, and then, I said, 'Oh God, what did I do?'"

Krolikowski said that someone told her "it sounds like you're worse than gay", and it took all her strength not to cry.

Krolikowski claims she was told to tone down her appearance, and did, but was fired anyway.

When September came, she was not going back to school for the first time in 32 years.

In a statement denying the allegations, St. Francis said: "Mr. Krolikowski's employment was terminated for entirely appropriate and professional reasons, and in no way discriminatory."

"All he wanted to do was to be judged by who he is and not what he is, and it's a horror that in this day an age, the school has chosen to judge him by what he is and not who he is," said Krolikowski's attorney, Andrew Kimler.

"My time is running out. I'm 59 years old and I want to live the way I was intended to be," adds Krowlikowski, "which is as a woman."

Krowlikowski has had breast implants, has started hormone treatments, and plans to have more surgery. She says she doesn't want people to look at her as a freak, because she didn't get to do all the things that girls got to do.

Krowikowski says she has been overwhelmed by support from thousands of current and former students who have signed an on-line petition on change.org. She doesn't have long-term plans but does have an immediate goal - to attend Lady Gaga's Born Brave bus tour that is coming to New York later this month.

Sign the petition : St. Francis Preparatory High School: Formally Apologize to Mark (Marla) Krolikowski for Sexual Discrimination

Anti-Quinn Activists Need More Resources To Educate Voters

NY1 Exclusive : Anti-Quinn Activists Still Have Work To Do : New Poll Shows Quinn In Front Of Other Potential Democratic 2013 Mayor Candidates

Last night on the Road To City Hall program on NY1, it was mentioned amongst the panel of experts that, given voters' relative low negative perception of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Stop Christine Quinn protest effort still has work to do, because voters are not yet educated on Speaker Quinn's horrible record while in office.

One of the activists, Louis Flores, has posted a solicitation for resources, in order to escalate his efforts.

Here are some of the poll findings :

What are New York City Democrats’ impressions of these mayoral aspirants ?

• 65% have a favorable opinion of Quinn, while 17% have an unfavorable one. 18% have either never heard of her or are unsure how to rate her.
• 49% have a favorable impression of Thompson, while 20% do not. 31% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• 48% of New York City Democrats have a positive view of de Blasio, while 20% have an unfavorable one. 32% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• When it comes to Liu, 43% have a favorable impression of him while 27% have an unfavorable one. 30% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
• 26% of Democrats have a positive opinion of Albanese while 20% have an unfavorable view of him. 54% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.

Poll results have a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percent.

Left unsaid during the panel discussion was the impact of all the totally biased/fluff pieces being published by The New York Times, which favours Speaker Quinn, like her Betty Crocker story with its staged photo, the café story, and her luxury condo feature story.

It seems that Speaker Quinn's favourability ratings are being artificially inflated due to the biased and deliberately fluff news pieces being published about her.

VIDEO : Explosion and Boom from Russian Meteor Strike

MOSCOW – Bright objects, tentatively identified as fragments of a meteorite, streaked through the sky in western Siberia early on Friday, accompanied by a boom that damaged buildings across a vast swath of territory. Around 500 people were reported to have been injured, most from breaking glass. (The New York Times)