Commissioner Bratton and Mayor de Blasio say we have community policing, but the police can't even speak Spanish to communicate with the community. And when I translated that the man's arm is broken, the cops put him in a impossible situation, and they painted the man as uncooperative. The man has an injured or broken arm ; he's handcuffed, but the cops complained that the man would not stand up. Before I started filming with my iPhone, I witness one police officer putting his foot on the small of the man's back to hold him down.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Mark-Viverito fires Council whistleblower for disputing Commissioner Bratton's stats on NYPD use of force
City Council aide Artyom Matusov was fired for exposing a misrepresentation by Commish Bratton that "implied the percentage of arrests in which force was used had dropped in recent years"
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Speaker Mark-Viverito's War on Whistleblowers A Harvard University Kennedy School of Government-educated City Council staffer was fired on Friday after he blew the whistle on inaccuracies in the official testimony provided by NYPD Commissioner William Bratton last Monday. In the City Council hearing, on the subject of police use of deadly chokeholds, Commissioner Bratton testified that police use of force was declining, stating that police officers used force in about 3 per cent. of the time out of an annual arrest rate of about 400,000. After City Council staffer Artyom Matusov heard the testimony, he did some number crunching, and Mr. Matusov discovered that Commissioner Bratton's calculations couldn't hold water. According to statistics analyzed by Mr. Matusov, Commissioner Bratton's testimony was incorrect, because police officers self-reported arrests in which force was used at a rate more than double than the rate to which Commissioner Bratton testified. That doubled rate covered approximately only 10 per cent. of annual arrests, meaning the actual use of NYPD force during arrests could be extrapolated to be at a much higher rate.
In an interview with The New York Daily News, Mr. Matusov claimed that speaking out about Commissioner Bratton's faulty testimony cost him his job, because Speaker Mark-Viverito retaliated against him to protect Mayor de Blasio from any political fallout from Commissioner Bratton's perjury. Mr. Matusov noted how Speaker Mark-Viverito owes her political career to Mayor de Blasio, telling The New York Daily News that, “Remember, he appointed the speaker.” |
RELATED Council aide claims he was fired for disputing Bratton (Capital New York) City Council aide says he was fired for exposing Bratton’s bogus data (The New York Post) Melissa Mark-Viverito Won’t Say Race Was a Factor in Eric Garner’s Death (The New York Observer)
Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. |
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Rousing 2011 #OWS speech reminds us of role of St. Vincent's Hospital on 9/11
Read your lipservice on 9/11, but we have no full-service hospital below 14th Street since St. Vincent's closed. #Rudin @Partnership4NYC
— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) September 11, 2014Crucita Alvarado - Missing Person - Coney Island
Call 911 or (800) 577-8477
Tomorrow will mark one month since Crucita Alvarado was last seen. She has been missing since Tuesday, Aug. 12, and her family is searching for her. Ms. Alvarado is also known by her nickname, ''Lucy'' or ''Miss Lucy.''
RELATED : Grandmother, 73, Missing For More Than A Week From Coney Island (WCBS2 New York)
Ms. Alvarado, who is 73 years old, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and she is believed to have wandered off and gotten lost. If anybody recognises her, please call 911 or the NYPD tips line at : (800) 577-8477.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Did de Blasio's endorsement, and lingering anger over LICH closure, cost Peter Sikora the election ?
Press won't even mention voter anger over closure of Long Island College Hospital as factor in rejection of de Blasio endorsement, Sikora loss
Overlooked in the aftermath of yesterday’s Democratic Party primary elections across New York state is the loss of candidate Peter Sikora in the 52nd Assembly District in Brooklyn. Mr. Sikora, who benefitted from the endorsements of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Working Families Party, and the New York State Nurses Association, lost the election to Jo Anne Simon. In trying to justify Mr. Sikora’s loss, the media has proposed all number of excuses, ranging from the fact that Mayor de Blasio’s endorsement didn’t amount to much, because he made so many, diluting any impact that they might have ordinarily had, to the fact that the machine candidate, Ms. Simon, had more institutional support. Unacknowledged is the lingering and growing voter anger over the closure of Long Island College Hospital. In the 52nd Assembly District in Brooklyn, which encompasses the catchment area formerly served by LICH, the voter anger against Mayor de Blasio’s betrayal of his central campaign promise to stop anymore hospital closings rubbed off on Mr. Sikora, even though he had the NYSNA endorsement, meaning that Brooklyn voters were able to see through the mayor’s politically-expedient machinations, as well as Mr. Sikora’s. |
RELATED In Hotly Contested Races, the de Blasio Endorsement Only Goes So Far (The New York Observer) |
Monday, September 8, 2014
Twawking Tweets - Pilot Video - NY Democratic Primary for Governor
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"Twawking Tweets" - Pilot Video "Twawking Tweets" is a pilot video for a TV show that gives voice to voters' concerns as expressed entirely over Twitter. In this format, tweeted messages from average voters are highlighted and discussed within the context of larger political, social, and economic issues. Entirely Twitter-driven, this show will amplify the voices of regular people, giving power to their views and opinions. For more information, contact Louis Flores at : louisflores (at) louisflores (dot) com. |
Friday, September 5, 2014
Teachout and Wu sue State Democratic Party, Cuomo, and Hochul
The New York State Democratic Party is violating campaign finance laws by funneling money to prop up the Cuomo-Hochul ticket in next week's gubernatorial Democratic Party primary election, alleges a legal petition filed by the Teachout-Wu campaigns. The petition seeks a temporary restraining order against the State Democratic Party from coordinating the spending of party money on behalf of the Cuomo-Hochul campaigns, amongst other legal reliefs.
While the judge refused to grant the temporary restraining order, a hearing was scheduled for Monday to hear arguments in furtherance and in response to the filing of the legal petition.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Past NYPD experience with video cameras shows pattern of editing to thwart accountability for misconduct
The NYPD have a history of manipulating their own videos, as a 2004 City Council report found
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Excerpt from Chapter 7 of "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn"
How can CCRB, much less the public, have faith and trust in NYPD officers maintaining control over their own body cameras ? According to news reports, the New York Police Department are considering a pilot program to video record police officers on duty. NYPD Commissioner William Bratton told reporters that the pilot program under consideration would allow police officers to control the activation of their own body cameras, raising concerns amongst police reform activists and civil libertarians. How can the press honestly report that this is a "pilot program," and that a police department program aiming to film their own operations is about to be created ? The NYPD have been filming their own operations for years. What is more, many charge that the NYPD make video recordings of activists' peaceful and lawful political activities, which constitutes violations of activists Constitutional, civil rights, civil liberties, and other rights. Some of these records also violate a court order known as the Handschu Agreement. The proposal to use body cameras has been criticised by civil libertarian advocates, who question the police motivations to record innocent citizens. With the NYPD's experience and technology, they have already demonstrated a track record of how they mishandle their own video records and of the recordings of innocent New Yorkers. Based on a report about police misconduct published over a decade ago by the New York City Council, it has been shown that the NYPD cannot be trusted to record themselves, because, in the past, the NYPD have deliberately edited videos of their own performance with the blatant intention to circumvent accountability and oversight for their own misconduct, brutality, and other violations of police procedures. Some police reform activists believe that recording police while they are on duty is a good reform, but not all police reform activists agree. Others take share the same concerns of civil libertarians. However, if there is a way to fully address the concerns of civil libertarians, for the use of body cameras to work, police officers should not be able to control, limit, turn on, or turn off their body cameras in any way. For body cameras to work, both the audio and video should be recorded during the entire duration of police officers' shifts. This information should be stored for as many years as it would be needed to facilitate the frequent federal, state, and municipal investigations into police misconduct. However, it remains to be seen whether the concerns of civil libertarians can truly be addressed. Over the decades, the NYPD have created so much distrust in New York City. The proposal to use body cameras is already polarising some in the police reform activist community. Based on the lack of trust and faith between the NYPD and citizens, it's difficult to tell whether everybody's concerns can be fully addressed. |
RELATED 50 NYPD cops set to begin wearing body cameras in pilot program (The New York Daily News) ''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' by Louis Flores (Scribd) 
Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist. Flatiron Massage is located in New York City. |
Like a young Richard Nixon, Christine Quinn trying to make a political comeback
PUBLISHED : THURS, 04 SEPT 2014, 05:05 PM
UPDATED : THURS, 04 SEPT 2014, 09:10 PM
Political bloggers fear that Christine Quinn is organizing a come-back into politics after the electoral thrashing she received last year. After Richard Nixon lost embarrassing campaigns in 1960 and 1962, he finally won in 1968 and again in 1972.
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Last September, almost 85% of Democratic Party primary voters cast their ballots against Christine Quinn After former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn suffered a humiliating defeat in last year's mayoral race, she has been in relative hiding, licking her wounds, plotting her political comeback. During that time, she's limited her public appearances. She reportedly turned down a job offer to lead the troubled AIDS services organization GMHC, and she has tested the waters by joining the boards of a couple of nonprofit organizations, an area she exploited over two decades ago to launch her political career. Although to some degree Ms. Quinn has become politically radioactive, due to a long record of community betrayals and allegations of corruption, she has managed to latch onto another failed politician, who has similarly become the target of voter anger : Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 
In exchange for fluffing his sagging reelection campaign, Gov. Cuomo has apparently promised to Ms. Quinn a way around the wrath of angry voters by offering her a rumored appointed commissionership after Ms. Quinn made statements to the press, offering superficial validity to the governor's astroturf political party, the Women's Equality Party. Ms. Quinn's propaganda confers to the governor some hope of tricking some voters to cast their ballots for him on the politically-expedient Women's Equality Party line. Gov. Cuomo has faced a tough reelection battle ever since his administration began a downward political following the launch of an investigation by federal prosecutors into alleged obstructive acts by the governor's office to thwart the corruption-fighting work of the now-defunct Moreland Commission after the panel began looking into some of the governor's political allies. To further Ms. Quinn's political reset, she deleted her old Twitter account and began anew, erasing the Twitter history of her failed political past. For her part, Ms. Quinn is no stranger to controversies about her political ethics. Activists and the media have drawn attention to the corruptive role of big money campaign donations in government, but no meaningful legal reforms ever came about during Ms. Quinn's 15 years in public office. In a 2008 report published by The New York Times, the two largest real estate contributors to the candidates expected to run for mayor in 2009, of which Ms. Quinn was one, were the owners of Rudin Management Company, who would become entangled in a protracted real estate battle over the fate of St. Vincent’s Hospital, and people tied to the Related Companies, one of the final two developers selected to work on the Hudson Yards project. When activists demanded that the local district attorney investigate the shady closing of St. Vincent’s, talk of an investigation went nowhere. Former Council Speaker Quinn approved the Rudin luxury condo conversion of St. Vincent’s, she approved decreased affordable housing requirements at the Hudson Yards project, and she exempted the living wage bill from applying to parts of the Hudson Yards project. Credible information exists about how a former campaign donor of former Council Speaker Quinn got access to a meeting involving the creation of legislative proposals and about how discretionary City Council funds from a secret reserve fund were steered to groups in former Council Speaker Quinn’s district. But when established patterns of political activities spanning for years potentially rise to the level of violations of law involve the potential for prosecution of significant political or government individuals, who may pose special problems for the local prosecutor, no federal prosecutor sees a special need or purpose to bring an federal indictment necessary for a successful prosecution of the government’s case against these individuals. An overhaul of this broken system is impossible when there is no fear of prosecution to create the political will to end the exploitation of this broken system. It’s a catch-22. |
RELATED Back in Politics, Quinn Will Be Adviser on Abortion-Rights Strategy (The New York Times) ''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' by Louis Flores (Scribd) |
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
After early ridicule, Tim Wu calls out de Blasio as "accomplice" in Hochul's voter deception
Gov. Cuomo's running mate, Kathy Hochul, supports the Keystone XL energy pipeline, which the fracking industry needs to keep expanding their water-poisoning extraction across North America
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The Cuomo administration is under federal investigation for reportedly obstructing the anti-corruption work of the now-defunct Moreland Commission, and Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito don't care. They're endorsing the Cuomo-Hochul ticket. Once it became clear that the self-anointed progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio was going to endorse former Rep. Kathy Hochul for lieutenant governor in this year's Democratic Party primary, the first reaction from the Teachout/Wu campaign was to give Mayor de Blasio and his enablers the room to double-cross progressive voters. Many government reform activists see Mayor de Blasio's endorsement of Ms. Hochul's campaign as a betrayal of voters' progressive sensibilities. Not only is Ms. Hochul a supporter of the fracking industry, but she has also voted to limit or roll back regulations under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. She once earned the endorsement of the N.R.A., and she also voted to repeal Obamacare while she was in Congress. Even the specter of a federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's role in reportedly obstruction the corruption-fighting work of the now-shuttered Moreland Commission hasn't stopped Mayor de Blasio and his cronies from propping up the Cuomo/Hochul ticket. Nevertheless, the Teachout/Wu campaign initially didn't want to publicly question Mayor de Blasio's motivations for planning to endorse such an abysmal and conservative record as Ms. Hochul's. However, once government reform activists began to question the Teachout/Wu's silence, the Teachout/Wu campaign took a different approach. Pressure on the Teachout/Wu campaign kept building this morning, especially after some wise political reporters began to notice the blatant contradictions in Mayor de Blasio's spin, leading Ms. Hochul's opponent, Tim Wu, to call out Mayor de Blasio for his duplicity. In a press conference this morning, Mr. Wu reacted to news of Mayor de Blasio's impending endorsement of Ms. Hochul with some of the harshest words yet expressed of Mayor de Blasio's dishonest portrayal of Ms. Hochul as a "progressive." "When it comes down to it, Kathy Hochul's record is out there. No one can look honestly and deeply at that record and say she's a progressive Democrat," Mr. Wu said at his press conference, adding that Mayor de Blasio was "serving as an accomplice" in "misrepresenting her record." For her part, Zephyr Teachout, Mr. Cuomo's opponent in the gubernatorial race, said, "I'm thrilled that Bill de Blasio's my mayor, I supported him, but he's wrong on this. Kathy Hochul's a conservative." |
RELATED Tim Wu: Mayor de Blasio serving as ‘accomplice’ to Hochul (Capital New York) Cuomo, de Blasio Panic As Progressive Candidate Tim Wu Gains Traction (The Gothamist) Activists fear Teachout will back Cuomo in General if she loses in Primary (NYC : News & Analysis) |
Monday, September 1, 2014
1199's Kevin Finnegan to NYC community hospital patients : Kiss Off !
Cuomo “first governor we haven’t gotten into a fight with in a long time,” said Kevin Finnegan. http://t.co/XsqYPbIMaw @1199SEIU #saveLICH
— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) September 2, 2014The corrupt political mercenaries running unions lead rank and file astray. 1199's Finnegan is Cuomo's lackey. @HammerDaily
— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) September 2, 2014La rentrée 2014 : Election and Omnibus Update
Reforms come about by taking action
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Remember the hospital closing crisis was manufactured by the Gov. Pataki's Berger Commission and by Gov. Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team AS NEW YORKERS PREPARE FOR THE ANNUAL REENTRY, it's that time of the year when everything happens all at once : the summer ends, a new school year begins, the high season of the arts is upon us, and the primary elections are only one week away. The last year has been remarkable for civic engagement and activism. We made many gains, like voting Christine Quinn out of office. We still face many challenges, like holding the de Blasio administration accountable to fully overhauling the New York Police Department and implementing other reforms. Voters are building upon this by vowing to hold Gov. Andrew Cuomo accountable in the Democratic Party primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Ever since news broke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's admitted interference with the Moreland Commission's anti-corruption investigations, the Cuomo administration has been in a downward spiral. Voters are angry that each year, politicians promise us a "change election," but no change ever comes. Gov. Cuomo campaigned for office in 2010, promising to end corruption up in Albany. By many press accounts, it took less than four years for Gov. Cuomo to embody the culture of corruption up in Albany. Back in 2010, the Cuomo campaign told St. Vincent's activists, "We'll see you after the election." What happened ? Not only did the governor fail to take action to save community hospitals in New York City, but he appointed mean old man Stephen Berger of the 1990's Berger Commission to keep closing full-service hospitals across New York City. Gov. Cuomo turned out to be another weasel of a politician, who had no intention of serving the common good. Instead, he was intent on an austerity agenda that would dismantle hospital infrastructure and enact Medicaid cuts that would negatively impact entire communities across New York City. This reoccurring pattern of political and community betrayal was what finally led voters to vote former Speaker Quinn out of office after 15 years of failure. That long period of time exasperated voters. It finally woke voters up to the opportunity cost of reelecting unprincipled incumbents, who gamed the system for their own benefit, not the communities'. Voters no longer have patience for wasting time on failed leadership. This impatience explains why activists began to protest mayor-elect Bill de Blasio last December, after he announced his regressive appointment of William Bratton as NYPD commissioner. In the time since, all New Yorkers have come to see how Mayor de Blasio was never fully committed about ending police brutality or overhauling other controversial police policies, like the Broken Windows approach to policing that essentially criminalises the poor and minorities. Minorities in New York get arrested trying to use public transportation. That stark example of discrimination that once ran rampant in the racist South now takes place right here in New York City. If the mayor was committed to a complete overhaul of the NYPD, then he would have each of appointed a culturally competent police commissioner, ended Broken Windows policing, and updated and strengthened civilian police oversight, disciplinary proceedings, and other forms of police accountability. The true test of reforms is very simple : Does the status quo come to a complete end once reforms are implemented ? Other issues awaiting the mayor that will determine if he is going to truly roll-out an aggressively progressive reform agenda, or if he is just going to keep recommending neoliberal policies that are approved by big business lobbyists. Only a civically-engaged electorate can hold elected officials' feet to the fire. As promised in a previous newsletter, here is an omnibus update :
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RELATED USAO mum on new revelation about Cuomo's e-mail deleting policy (NYC : News & Analysis) |
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Green Party candidate slate banner at West Indian Day Parade
.@NYGovCuomo. Labor Day $15 hr min wage, full employment through 100% clean energy by 2030. http://t.co/6is8CeZMCN pic.twitter.com/qUi2BJdlVx
— Howie Hawkins (@HowieHawkins) September 1, 2014His political and legal problems mounting, Cuomo now blames Hochul
Having turned on itself, the ‘‘System’’ is becoming more and more unpredictable
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Waiting in the wings : Preet Bharara Ever since news broke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's admitted interference with the Moreland Commission's anti-corruption investigations, the Cuomo administration has been in a downward spiral. An egotistical fuck, Gov. Cuomo has tried to deflect blame, pretend like everything is normal, gone into hiding, and now, in a final act of sexist desperation, is looking to make somebody the fall gal. Due to rising discontent amongst Democratic Party primary voters, Gov. Cuomo is reportedly examining the scorched earth option of dumping his running mate, former Rep. Kathy Hochul, candidate for lieutenant governor, in order to substitute Lt. Gov. candidate Tim Wu as his running mate, if Mr. Wu wins the Sept. 9 primary. Gov. Cuomo has until Sept. 16 to make this substitution. Motivating this substitution is the fact that many Democrats have become angry at the conservative bent in Gov. Cuomo's economic and social policies, and although Gov. Cuomo's opinion poll ratings remain high, word on the street is that his pick of former Rep. Hochul for lieutenant governor is vulnerable. Obsessed with winning by a huge margin of victory, Gov. Cuomo is taking drastic measures as his political and legal future becomes bleak. Following revelations that top ranking officials in the Cuomo administration reportedly obstructed the work of the Moreland Commission's anti-corruption investigations, Gov. Cuomo faces the fallout of a federal investigation into obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and possibly other crimes. As it stands, three officials connected with his administration or the Moreland Commission should have already met with federal prosecutors, to discuss their activities in the alleged obstruction :
As Gov. Cuomo becomes more and more desperate, he appears to be looking to blame others for his impending political and legal downfall. Whilst Gov. Cuomo tries to shore up his trouble reelection campaign, some political bloggers and government reform activists privately speculate whether federal prosecutors will be able to hand down criminal indictments before the primary and general elections, further adding to Gov. Cuomo's political and legal troubles. |
RELATED ‘‘Wu is me’’ : Cuomo may dump Hochul, fearing a Tim Wu primary win (The New York Post) |
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Teachout calls for investigation into LICH sale
‘‘Classic corruption’’
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Statewide “whistleblower tour” brings Teachout to Long Island College Hospital
Joining Ms. Teachout at the demonstration outside LICH was Doug Biviano, candidate for the Democratic Party primary in the 52nd State Assembly District race. Mr. Biviano told The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that he looked forward to Ms. Teachout drawing attention to the “special interest relationships, the power grabs behind all this,” referring to the closure and the sale of LICH to a luxury housing developer. Mr. Biviano added that there was reason to worry about the close relationships between the “political machine,” Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Working Families Party, Brooklyn Democratic County boss Frank Seddio and his law partner and SUNY attorney Frank Carone, according to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle's report. |
RELATED In Brooklyn, Teachout calls for investigation into LICH sale (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle) |
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