Homeless Youths File Federal Lawsuit Against New York City

"Homeless youths sue city for not providing enough shelter" : NYPost

The Legal Aid Society has filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn, against the City of New York on behalf of several homeless youths. The plaintiffs fault New York City for failing to provide sufficient shelter.

"The Brooklyn federal court lawsuit claims that while the city is legally obligated to provide beds for all homeless people ages 16 to 20, it turns away hundreds of applicants every night," The New York Post reported earlier this week, adding, "With 3,800 kids currently homeless in the city and only 253 shelter beds available, the waiting lists are growing, the suit states."

A coalition of LGBT organizations, including the Ali Forney Center headed by Carl Siciliano, created the Campaign for Youth Shelter, which would press the city to provide additional funding in a lockstep rate of "$3 million in annual funding to create 100 new shelter beds every year," according to a report in The Advocate.

Perhaps the Legal Aid Society's lawsuit was inspired by the activism surrounding the Campaign for Youth Shelter, as one insider said, but the lawsuit has a larger ambition : seeking the resources to provide shelter for every homeless youth today. If successful, the Legal Aid Society's lawsuit would appear to be the answer to this social issue. If so, now would be the time for the Campaign for Youth Shelter to update its plans for how a larger shelter system could be created once all the resources become available.

In the past, Mayor Bloomberg would seek budgetary cuts to homeless LGBT youth programs, but these cuts would get restored during the budget negotiations.

2013-12-30 Legal Aid Society USDC EDNY NYC Complaint Re Homeless Youth by Connaissable

Some noted the irony that the lawsuit would not be defended by the Bloomberg-Quinn administration, which was largely responsible for growing inequities between a new guilded generation of the very wealthy and the famous 99%, a term coined by Occupy Wall Street to describe everybody else. But the flip side to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg always playing the boogyman was the fact that the City Council, headed by former Speaker Christine Quinn, was always comprised of a supermajority of Democrats, yet the City Council never confronted the mayor to demand the resources to fully address any social ill. By the same token, the Public Advocate's office was never visible in the fight for full budgetary resources, either.

This lawsuit seeks to address the deprivation of homeless youths, who have nothing. One activist noted that Mayor Bloomberg's successor, Bill de Blasio, will now have to put his newly-confessed economic sensibilities about "A Tale Of Two Cities" to the test : it will be incumbent upon Mayor de Blasio to fully fund the resources that homeless youth community groups need to provide adequate shelter to homeless youths.

That litigation is being brought now is a sign that the Legal Aid Society means to force the city's hand, and that homeless shelters would no longer be willing to engage in the annual, farcical "budget dance" -- the cut-and-restore budget negotiation process that leaves important community groups unable to adequately plan long-term operating budgets. Based on how the former Public Advocate failed to champion the cause of homeless shelters, the Legal Aid Society seems to not want to take chances now that the former Public Advocate has become mayor.

Stop-and-Frisk Mic Check and Speak Out Protest at Bill de Blasio Inauguration

Stop-and-Frisk Freedom Fighters demonstrate to oppose Bill Bratton's appointment as NYPD commish

Mic check and speak-out by Jose LaSalle. Mr. LaSalle is one of the city's most visible community organizers leading the charge to put pressure on Mayor Bill de Blasio to reconsider his appointment of William Bratton as NYPD commissioner.

Already, activists, including Mr. LaSalle, have led a series of demonstrations against the Bratton appointment, even before the mayor was sworn into office on Wednesday.

ACT UP Protest at Bill de Blasio Inauguration

ACT UP Protest at Bill de Blasio Inauguration

On Wed. Jan. 1, 2014, at 11AM, ACT UP protested the inauguration of newly-elected mayor, Bill De Blasio, for his refusal to meet with community groups regarding HIV and AIDS since the election. De Blasio's AIDS platform is vague at best, but his appointment to the city's Health Commissioner COULD reverse rising HIV infections in at-risk communities like young men who have sex with men and trans women and men.

WE NEED a new Health Commissioner. The current one, Tom Farley, has ignored HIV/AIDS for the past 4 years and is actively deterring use of current HIV prevention tools, like PEP and PrEP.

High NYPD, Secret Service Security at Bill de Blasio Inauguration ; Use of Armored Personnel Vehicle

NYPD Armored Personnel Vehicle (Tank) at de Blasio Inauguration : Lenco-Bearcat armored vehicle.

Earlier today, the New York Police Department shut down Broadway south of Canal Street in preparation for the inauguration of Bill de Blasio. The security was heaviest around City Hall, and across the street sat parked a Lenco-Bearcat armored personnel vehicle.

Because the dignitaries taking part in the mayoral inauguration included Alejandro García Padilla, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Sen. Charles Schumer, and former President Bill Clinton and his wife, the former First Lady Hillary Clinton, security precautions were high. One police officer rudely refused to allow me to take photographs from the opposite side of the metal gates where protesters were locked behind. It appears that the heavy military-like force of the NYPD, which proved to be controversial under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will continue under Mayor de Blasio.

Quinn joins Cuomo in Lifeboat rushing to save sinking U.S.S. Crowley Party Boss

Holy Shit In The News : Quinn helps Queens make the case against Mark-Viverito

As one of my activists friends said, "This does NOT mean that Melissa Mark-Viverito is bad or that Garodnick is good." I want to add to that by saying : This is all about the great lengths that corrupt political insiders go to, to strike backroom deals to determine the who becomes selected to be the next Council speaker. In this insider race, the people have absolutely NO say. The same machinations that former Council Speaker Quinn is using, each of Mayor de Blasio and Councilmember Mark-Viverito are using. How is this making "progress" ? How is this consistent with ending the rubber-stamp City Council that we had during the Bloomberg-Quinn era ? All the people, who say, "Let's reform how we pick the Council speaker ‪#‎nexttime‬," you give former Council Speaker Quinn free license to do her shit right now. How is this ‪#‎winning‬ ? Me, I've lowered my expectations. Instead of hoping that people will come forward to make a demand for reforms, I'm just hoping that one side will get so desperate to win this Council speaker race that they will break so many laws that it will trigger a federal corruption investigation. We've got about 7 days to go. Let's see who gets burned ?

Quinn's involvement augments earlier reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also answering Queens County Democratic Political Boss S.O.S. signal.

It would be one thing if the Queens County Democratic Party was moving in a truly reform direction vis-à-vis Mayor de Blasio and Councilmember Mark-Viverito, but that's not been explained. If the Queens County Democratic Party were going to serve as a check on the mayor's expansive influence over every corner of city government, that would be great. There's room for a populist check to emerge to balance the mayor's anticipated neoliberal bent, all his fake "progressive" talk notwithstanding. But it remains to be seen how the Queens machine "evolves" in a new political landscape, where the mayor has emerged to be so dominant.

Bill de Blasio never got back to me about his AIDS platform in August

Did Bill de Blasio exploit the LGBT community for votes, only to dump core community issues now that he's gotten elected ?

After mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio took advantage of a few LGBT celebrities to undermine Christine Quinn's LGBT base of support, it appears that Mr. de Blasio was all talk and no action.

After several attempts at getting a meeting with Mr. de Blasio, who will be sworn in as the next mayor of New York City in just two hours, word comes forth of a planned protest by ACT UP at the mayor-elect's public swearing-in ceremony, it seems that the mayor-elect has brushed off any sincerity about proposing a truly reform agenda to help end the decades of official municipal neglect on a core LGBT issue: ending the HIV/AIDS crisis.

➔ RSVP : ACT UP Protests Bill de Blasio's Mayoral Inauguration

Below is the unanswered e-mail I sent to the de Blasio campaign. I was later told by supporters/enablers that I was too controversial of an activist for Mr. de Blasio to ever respond to my query.

Not enough attention has been paid to all of President Barack Obama's political operatives, who have had hand in the mayor elect's campaign and transition teams. The mayor elect's exploitation of the LGBT voting block resembles President Obama's corrupt playbook. Candidate Obama promised to pass comprehensive LGBT workplace protections, but has thus far refused to sign a presidential executive order. Former President Bill Clinton famously curried the LGBT vote, only to betray the LGBT community by passing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and enacting the military's discriminatory policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

When will the LGBT community wake up and stop getting exploited for cheap election year gimmicks ?

Begin forwarded message:

From: "LF (g-Male)"
Subject: Ed Koch and HIV/AIDS
Date: 1 août 2013 15:49:42 UTC-04:00
To: bill@billdeblasio.com, veday1945@aol.com
Cc: "LF (g-Male)"


Hi,

I saw on the Internet that Bill de Blasio praised former NYC Mayor Ed Koch as one of our "greatest mayor" :

http://politicker.com/2013/02/bill-de-blasio-is-a-little-sick-of-bloombergs-royal-reign/

I hope you know that Ed Koch is seen as a failed LGBT leader for having done nothing to stop the initial outbreak of HIV from becoming the AIDS pandemic we all now know. Because he was afraid to come out of the closet, he let thousands of people die, especially gay men. Former Mayor Koch refused to take bold action during the 1980's out of fear of being associated with gay issues. He was and still is seen as a self-hating, closeted gay man.

So, it seemed astounding that Mr. de Blasio would praise former Mayor Koch.

If Mr. de Blasio is going to try to court the LGBT vote, we hope to hear from him soon about details of his plans to step up HIV/AIDS prevention, improving access to prevention/treatment medication, and other steps that he plans to take as part of his HIV/AIDS plan.

I'm writing this note independently, but I plan to share it with a few activists. So, I plan to share your response with some of my activist friends, too.

Thanks,
-- Louis


Louis Flores
1 (646) 400-1168
lflores22@gmail.com

Bill de Blasio appoints AIDS criminal to advisory post

Bill de Blasio just appointed Stanley Brezenoff, who formerly ran the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) during the 1980's under the late Mayor Ed Koch, to be an unpaid advisor to the First Deputy Mayor. This is the same man, who did shit under Mayor Koch to fight AIDS.

Stanley Brezenoff, who did nothing to help stop AIDS crisis under closet-case Mayor Koch. @gracerauh @actupny

— de Blasio Sold Out (@deBlasioSoldOut) December 31, 2013

Scott Levenson, who has close ties to Bill de Blasio, was paid to defeat several LGBT City Council Candidates

Sign our Change.org Petition : Bill de Blasio : Do not attend NYCLASS fundraiser to benefit Scott Levenson

WATCH : Will LGBT Groups Protest Scott Levenson for Anti-Gay Attack Ads ? (YouTube)

@boldprogressnyc @HRC @maslowsneeds Are you asking if Democrats overlook behavior in Democrats for which they'd pillory Republicans? Yes : (

— Charmian Neary (@CharmianNeary) November 21, 2013

The Advance Group, which is providing unpaid consultants to Mark-Viverito, worked for the City Action Coalition PAC, which lists 'traditional marriage' as its platform and supported opponents of gay City Council candidates. (The New York Daily News)

Did Scott Levenson sabotage LGBT civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland's political campaign ? (Scott Levenson : Biggest Loser Of The Week * NY Pop Culture & Politics)

E-mail me if you would like to plan a protest against Scott Levenson : louisflores (at) louisflores (dot) com

… the Advance Group's work on behalf of City Action Coalition-backed candidates conflicted with its work for two of its own council clients. And the outside work for the teachers union raises another potential conflict: the Advance Group not only produced mailers promoting Manhattan council candidate Yetta Kurland for the NYCLASS independent expenditure, but Strategic Consultants produced mailers touting her opponent, Corey Johnson, that were paid for by the teachers union. Mr. Johnson won the primary. (Teachers union paid $370K to fake consultant * Crain's Insider)

Why aren't the LGBT civil rights activists protesting against Scott Levenson and his "anti-gay agenda" ? And how can LGBT civil rights activists stay quiet while Ms. Mark-Viverito uses a political consulting operation that hires itself out to work against candidates specifically based on their identity ? This is discrimination and prejudice. How can Mr. Levenson and Ms. Mark-Viverito call themselves "progressives," yet enable bigotry ?

Tacopina - Kerik - Cease and Desist Demand

------ Forwarded Message
From: Louis Flores
Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2013 00:29:52 -0500
To: "fiatjustitiaNYC@aol.com"
Subject: Re: Tacopina - Kerik - "Cease and Desist Demand "----------STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

I don't know what you are talking about, you don't even identify yourself, but I'm blogging this email.

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 31, 2013, at 12:13 AM, fiatjustitiaNYC@aol.com wrote:

Dear Mr. Flores and web site operators,

I noticed my name was found on your web site (NY Pop Culture & Politics, etc....) regarding a "disciplinary complaint" you or someone you publish assert I filed against Mr. Tacopina. Whether this happened or did not happen is not the point of this inquiry. I am asking you in good faith and as a requirement, that you redact my name for any web articles as I did not give permission for my name to be used nor was I ever contacted by any reporters and such stories violate protected NY privacy rights. This is in reagrd to an allegation that I filed a complaint against Mr. Tacopina after an expose by the N. Y. Daily News. Moreover, you should be advised that by publishing any complaints without the permission of the parties and the Court is a serious violation of N. Y. Judiciary Law § 90. If a complaint was filed such records are sealed by the Appellate Division to prevent privacy leaks. There are many reasons for this. As such, it is my position that you immediately CEASE AND DESIST using my name or actions on any web sites immediately. Any inquiries must be in writing. Any failure on your part to take this matter seriously may and will lead to significant damages that you may be fully responsible for. Unless you respect my position, I will take it that you, you agents and carriers assume any and all liability. Thank you for your prompt attention to this timely matter.

Regards,

Joe B.


The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone or by replying to the message and deleting it and all of its attachments from your computer. Thank you.







------ End of Forwarded Message

The Council speaker race : Where are the reforms ?

The Council speaker race : Where are the reforms ?

The Council speaker race : Where are the reforms ? #constantcontact http://t.co/3VU7srogoE

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) December 30, 2013

India’s Efforts to Aid Poor Worry Drug Makers

India has almost no choice but to over-ride drug patents. $18,000 for one course of breast cancer-fighting treatment is like 10 Lakh Rupees. Even when some drugs are priced at $140 per month, that still comes out to over Rps 8,000. These are astronomical sums for poor people.

Alka Kudesia's story is heart-breaking, and it's no surprise that pharmaceutical companies are worried by an Indian drug company's plan to begin manufacturing a generic version of Herceptin.

As it stands now, about 23,000 Indian women need Herceptin, but they cannot get it.

Dr. Peter Bach's comment is smug, insensitive, and not entirely true. There's always been pressure on highly profitable pharmaceutical companies to stop exploiting the sick and frail. Among African countries, there have been pressures for Big Pharma to lower drug prices. That India forsakes begging for lower drug prices and opts instead to over-ride patents reflects how pharmaceutical companies wrongly put profits over people.

Maybe India can over-ride many other patents and set up new drug factories -- and be the change we need to see in revolutionizing global access to live-saving medications ? Crowd source it, maybe you might find helpers.

NY-CLASS member Robert A. Halperin defends corrupt backroom speakership deals

Animal-lovers "adopt" corruption playbook, just like LGBT activist Christine Quinn did ages ago.

Robert A. Halperin, a member of NY-CLASS, the animal rights group that helped to fund a controversial $1 million Super PAC in the recent mayoral election, today defended mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's offers of Council leadership posts, the disbursements of lulus, and other inducements, to strong-arm the City Council to pick Melissa Mark-Viverito as the next Council speaker.

“No speaker has taken that job.. w/o discussing committee assigns w possible supporters” said @fidler4senate::/ @informedvoting @nypost

— Robert A. Halperin (@RobHalperin) December 29, 2013

It further appears that Mr. Halperin was defending the in-coming de Blasio administration from comparisons to out-going Council speaker, Christine Quinn, who had a reputation for making backroom deals, thwarting the democratic process of the City Council, and of using Council leadership positions and the distribution of corresponding lulus as ways to undermine the independence of Councilmembers.

.@informedvoting: U C everything as unethical! Its normal legal politics here. Should they pick comm-chairs out of a hat? @katetaylornyt

— Robert A. Halperin (@RobHalperin) December 29, 2013

What is notable is that in the campaign for mayor, candidate de Blasio aggressively pursued the Madame Speaker as violating the principles of checks-and-balances, because, essentially, Mr. de Blasio accused Speaker Quinn of subverting the will of the Council in deference to outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's big business agenda. In the past, others have also noted that Speaker Quinn had subjugated herself to Mayor Bloomberg years ago, but when she first started out in politics, Ms. Quinn had been a flamboyant torch-bearer for the progressive brand. The same thing happens to everybody in politics, who start out as firebrands for reform : they flame out the minute they adopt the corruption playbook of the broken political system.

Now that it's Mayor-elect de Blasio, who is the Council's puppet master, all the phony reformers, if that's how you'd classify Mr. Halperin, have backtracked, finding no problem with how the mayor-elect plans to subvert the independence of the City Council himself.

Where are the progressive reforms ?

Isn't it sad to see a progressive-influenced movement, like the campaign to end the horse carriage trade, be corrupted into playing by the corrupt rules of the broken political system ? Isn't there an honest way to bring about reforms without having to play by the same dirty tricks as the corrupt politicos, who have spent years refusing to ban the use of horses to pull the carriages through Manhattan ?

Major Snow Storm To Hit NYC, But de Blasio Has Yet To Name Sanitation Commissioner

Are we going to have a sanitation commish to plow us out ? http://t.co/euHGsUNwFD

— de Blasio Sold Out (@deBlasioSoldOut) December 29, 2013

Major Snow Storm Alert Who is our Sanitation Commissioner Mayor De Blasio SOS http://t.co/LiOIi5R4RD

— Suzannah B. Troy (@suzannahbtroy) December 29, 2013

Do you remember the last time we had a major, who didn't take a major snow storm seriously ? Sanitation trucks got stuck in the snow, because they started too late, and some side streets in Queens looked like barricades of snow got dropped down on us, with no way of possibly getting out.

Bill de Blasio late in making top city appointments

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who has a problem showing up on time, is now late in making all the top city appointments of his new administration.

Progressives Make Pay-to-Play Deals In Council Speaker Race

Pay-to-Play in Council Speaker Race

"According to sources close to the situation, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has promised a number of committee leadership posts to City Council members in order to guarantee that Melissa Mark-Viverito is named Speaker come Jan. 8," The Queens Tribune reported today.

See : Committee Chairs Found Under The Christmas Tree (The Queens Tribune)

Three original members of the City Council Progressive Caucus, Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Woodside), and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), were reportedly offered leadership posts in exchange for supporting Ms. Mark-Viverito's speakership.

Ms. Ferreras would be named the Majority Leader, whilst Mr. Van Bramer would be named as chair of the Finance Committee, and Mr. Dromm would head the Education Committee.

The backroom deals that reportedly secured Ms. Mark-Viverito's speakership also included an offer to David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) to head the Land Use Committee "as a means of swaying Brooklyn," The Queens Tribune report added. Committee chair assignments in the City Council come with annual bonuses called a payment in-lieu-of expenses, more commonly referred to as "lulus." Lulus can range from $4,000 to over $20,000.

See : Corrupt Lulu Payments (The New York Daily News)

---

What Makes The Committee Assignment Offers An Example Of Pay-to-Play ?

It’s the votes that the City Council members must “pay” to select Ms. Mark-Viverito as the next speaker in exchange for receiving the lulus that come with the committee chair assignments.

The quid pro quo is revealed in the threat that was reported in The Queens Tribune, namely, that "If you're not with them, you're not getting a committee" assignment and the lulu that comes with it. This is what makes it pay-to-play.

Granted, we don't normally think that the inducements involved in securing the votes of City Council members as pay-to-play, but when players are told that the "price of admission" is framed as a vote for a Council speaker candidate, that's another way to examine the speaker candidate votes in order to receive plum Council committee assignments and lulus.

---

That these Council leadership posts, and the valuable lulus that come with them, are being doled out in backroom deals proves that some amongst the next class of powerful Council leaders will owe their allegiance directly to the mayor, betraying democratic principles of separation of powers and checks-and-balances between the mayor's office and the municipal legislature.

In years past, it was widely reported that the out-going Council speaker, Christine Quinn, awarded (or withheld) Council leadership posts as a way to recompense her allies (or to punish her critics). Speaker Quinn defended this practise as a way to bring "discipline" to the City Council, which was code for being able to exert the power to single-handedly control the Council's legislative agenda. The use of committee assignments and lulus as inducements to support a Council speaker candidate would appear to be a continuation of corruptive coercion over City Council members. Speaker Quinn's own ascension to power was clouded by the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups, including County Democratic bosses, compounded by the distribution of Council leadership posts and lulus.

See : The Outsider Comes In (The Village Voice)

See also : Filling Committee Leadership Posts (The New York Times)

Much of this was documented in Chapter 8 of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn.

The political ethic of progressivism is supposed to be about delivering reforms, not exploiting the possibility of pay-to-play. Indeed, The Queens Tribune report indicated that City Council members were being pressured into supporting Ms. Mark-Viverito's speakership. "If you're not with them, you're not getting a committee," one source told The Queens Tribune. The campaign promises by this bunch of progressives to administer the city differently from the outgoing administration are about as credible at this point as Speaker Quinn's recent protestations that she had remained faithful to her progressive roots. If there is any difference, it is that the next class of elected officials is already selling out, before they even take their oaths of office.

Left unsaid is whether these latest allegations of pay-to-play will lend urgency to other investigations into possible violations of campaign finance and ethics regulations connected to Ms. Mark-Viverito and to the lobbyists working on her speakership campaign.

Conflicts of Interests, Violations of Ethics : Clash of the Titans in the Fight to Select the Next Council Speaker

The ''Clash of the Titans'' to select the next speaker between the Democratic County bosses and their lobbyists vs. the new ''progressives'' and their lobbyists is escalating. Ms. Mark-Viverito is now threatening to fire all central Council staff that have loyalties to the Democratic County Bosses. Isn't this a violation of civil service regulations ?

See : Melissa Mark-Viverito Lobbyist Firm Never Quit, Continued Lobbying Despite Investigations

See Also : Exploiting NYC, NYS Campaign Finance Law Loopholes

Donate your Twitter account to "LGBT Civil Rights"

Please donate your Twitter account to "LGBT Civil Rights" on Donate Your Account.

The New York Times still has its head stuck in the sand on Christine Quinn

85% of Democratic primary voters rejected Christine Quinn in the mayoral election, but The New York Times still defends its baseless endorsement of a corrupt political hack.

In it's hasty review of political lowlights of 2013, The New York Times reporters Andy Newman and Annie Correal included a brief reference to Christine Quinn's loss in the Democratic mayoral primary.

The newspaper's reporters prefaced the mention of Ms. Quinn's campaign loss by framing her political career as showing "No major ethical lapses here."

The reporters seem to ignore Ms. Quinn's backroom machinations, her term limits betrayals, her enabling of 10 hospital closings in New York City during her speakership, and her slush fund scandal, amongst other ethical lapses, as documented in "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn."

In its round-up of political lowlights, The New York Times seems to rationalize that the corruptive influence of money in politics that marred John Liu's Democratic mayoral campaign didn't also play out during Ms. Quinn's political career when, for example, by January 2013, executives from developers and landlords had donated over $800,000.00 to Ms. Quinn's political campaign for the 2013 election cycle, representing by one estimate to be 14% of the $6 million that Ms. Quinn had raised as of that point for her next political campaign. By this time, Ms. Quinn estimated that New York City had lost a total of 300,000 affordable housing units, and she blamed politicians up in Albany, even though as the City Council speaker, she was in a position to make a difference. But Ms. Quinn failed to deliver greater protections for Mitchell-Lama residents, and she herself accepted lower affordable housing requirements at the Hudson Yards project. Near the end of Mike Bloomberg’s mayoralty, it was reported that the billionaire mayor had managed to rezone 37% of the land in New York City. Under Ms. Quinn's leadership, the City Council failed to seize on this opportunity to make affordable housing a priority. As speaker of the City Council, Ms. Quinn had the most influence over land use issues, and the large role that real estate developers had in her campaign finance war chest suggests that Speaker Quinn wasn't about to stand up to developers when they were such a large source of campaign contributions.

So, when The New York Times talks about the corruptive influence of money in politics, it will condemn Mr. Liu for it, but it will stick its head in the sand when it comes to Ms. Quinn. Many believe that the editorial bias that favors Ms. Quinn stems from the former metropolitan editor, Carolyn Ryan, who has since been promoted to the politics editor and has been moved out of town to Washington. Activists have staged protests in the past to denounce Ms. Ryan's editorial bias that seemed to favor Ms. Quinn (VIDEO 1) (VIDEO 2) (VIDEO 3) (VIDEO 4).