Bloomberg seeks to end progressive era reforms

March 2011 Update : Over seven months after our original post, we see some validation from reporters Fred Siegel and Sol Stern : Bloomy's bubble bursts : New York City voters finally realize -- there's no there there

Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Goldsmith want to unwind the improvements in checks and balances that were instituted in response to the political corruption during the Tammany Hall era.

At a July 20, 2010 breakfast meeting, Stephen Goldsmith, the new Deputy Mayor of New York City, was compared to Jane Jacobs for the way he applied ''urban renewal'' to Indianapolis. (Meanwhile, Ms. Jacobs fought ''urban renewal'' when Robert Moses tried to ''apply'' it to Greenwich Village, but accepting the comparison to Mr. Goldsmith would have meant we were talking about historical facts, which doesn't seem to ''apply'' to what Mr. Goldsmith has learned about New York City's history.) Now that he is in New York City, Mr. Goldsmith has joined forces with Mayor Michael Bloomberg to transform New York City.

In the presence of political reporters Erik Engquist and Michael Scotto, the new deputy mayor described his political beliefs, which serve to underpin his worldview and approach to government.

Mr. Goldsmith said that a progressive form of government developed after the political corruptions scandals associated with Tammany Hall, and Mr. Goldsmith credited progressive reforms with professionalising the way that cities work. He said that we don't hire ''buddies'' anymore. Neither do we award government contracts in ways that would be questioned, he said. (Again, whether the hiring of, and awarding contracts to, ''buddies'' no longer happens is a matter of historical fact, and we'll let you decide the truth.)

But now, Mr. Goldsmith said, all the rules that made government free of corruption have worked to make government more complex. He cited as an example that all these rules have created a lack of authority in the city, and the city needs to get rid of the requirement of having to need permission from another level of bureaucrats before anything could be done if city officials hope to bring efficiency to the way the city government could be run. He seemed to say that he believed that the rule-based system needed to be changed, so that city employees could be ''liberated,'' and that this would result in civil workers being able to be creative while also being held accountable.

The way that he sees things, Mr. Goldsmith said, public service used to attract people, who were interested in helping the public. Instead, he said, public service is now only about enforcing the rules.

To Mr. Goldsmith, rules may be problematic to the kinds of changes he envisions bringing to New York City government, but rules have a reason for being : they are needed, because people are apt to have lapses in integrity. Anytime that politicians have an opportunity to privitise government services, there is a temptation to award government contracts to their well-connected friends or political allies.

The model of how he privatised government services while he was mayor of Indianapolis would be difficult to do here, in New York City, because he believes that the progressive rules in New York City give no discretion to the city's workers.

According to Wikipedia, ''Keeping corruption out of politics was a main goal of the progressive era, with many Progressives trying to expose and undercut political machines and bosses.''

To be fair to Mr. Goldsmith, his opinions about reforming the rules that govern city employees extend to ''unlocking'' the potential of the existing city workforce. He said he believes that progressive era rules were set because one could not trust the discretion (or judgment) of government employees. But once you begin to give higher level government employees discretion, one very quickly creates a situation, where political leaders begin to misuse that discretion. Political bosses are often associated with dishonesty, self-dealing, conflicts of interest, profiteering from government, and other forms of corruption.

Take, for example, the way that Mayor Bloomberg came to win a th3rd t3rm as mayor.

Before the end of his second, and what should have been his final, term in office, Mayor Bloomberg advocated for an extension of term limits, which would have resulted in the possibility that he could have run for a th3rd t3rm as mayor. With help from the City Council and a secret deal with Ronald Lauder, Mayor Bloomberg won the change in term limits through a vote by the City Council instead of through a voter referendum. (The New York Times even reported at the time that the mayor was ''pressing many of the community, arts and neighborhood groups that rely on his private donations to make the case for his third term,'' and the newspaper of record has just reported that at least one of those charity organisations, the Doe Fund, received millions of private monies for, what amounts to, its support for changing the term limits law.) What the mayor did was rely on the discretion of the City Council to change the law governing term limits, and, in a clear case of a conflict of interest, he urged the charities, which have depended on his private donations and government contracts, to support the controversial change in term limits law. Last year, Mayor Bloomberg was elected to a th3rd t3rm ; it was reported that he had spent approximately $109 million only to win by an unexpectedly slim margin of less than 5 per cent. Meanwhile, nobody knows whether electioneering payments amounting to $1.2 million that were made from the mayor's personal accounts to the Independence Party were intentionally not made from the mayor's campaign account in order to circumvent campaign disclosure requirements.

To get the new kind of ''better, faster, cheaper'' governance structure that the mayor wants, for example, the CityPragmatist blog has reported that there is a current movement by the 2010 Charter Revision Commission to, among other things, increase the mayor's discretion over city agency reports. If we had a City Council that could collectively do an honest thing, then the increase of the mayor's discretion would come at the cost of City Council's ability to review and ''extend or enhance'' any city agency report. But the reality is that right now, we have a City Council that has compromised its own integrity, because it is currently involved in a scandal over the disposition of discretionary slush funds.

Research and history published on Wikipedia indicate that some of the reforms of the progressive era brought more transparency to government. ''Progressives moved to enable the citizenry to rule more directly and circumvent political bosses ; California, Wisconsin, and Oregon took the lead. California governor Hiram Johnson established the initiative, referendum, and recall, viewing them as good influences for citizen participation ....''

What were the motives of City Council members,
who supported Mayor Bloomberg's extension of
term limits ?

Artist and social media commentator Suzannah B. Troy was also present to witness Mr. Goldsmith's speech at his July 20, 2010 breakfast meeting. She has described the vote by City Council to allow an extension of term limits a conflict of interest, because the same extension of terms limits was self-serving : it allowed many council members to run for, and win, a th3rd t3rm, including Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Ms. Troy has criticised the mayor for denying voters a referendum on the change in term limits.

Two months after the questionable City Council vote to extend term limits, a judge affirmed the mayor's tactic, The New York Times reported. (It was in the 1990's when terms limits had originally come into being in New York City after having twice been approved by, ironically, voter referenda.) We are now so far removed from progressive sensibilities that not even judges appreciate or respect voter referenda that are concerned with checking the power on politicians (in other words, to prevent the rise of political bosses). Going back to the history about past political corruption in New York City, the term ''Tammany Hall'' is "used to refer to a corrupt system of buying or controlling votes." Wrestling away from voters the control over term limits is precisely what the mayor, City Council, and now the judicial system have done. Surely, all these signs indicate that we are returning to a modern-day ''Tammany Hall'' era.

And based on the mayor's use of his private donations to charities, we are witnessing the very revival of political patronage : expecting, receiving, and rewarding groups for their electoral support. Add to that the fact that Mayor Bloomberg makes large and questionable electioneering payments from his personal accounts to political parties, and you have a situation that is rife with potential abuses.

Respected political reporter Gabe Pressman has described how the influence of money can corrupt politics.

"Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg of his ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. He didn’t mean government of the fat cats and by the fat cats. With all due respect to the feline family -- and I happen to love cats -- Lincoln was an apostle of democracy in a purer sense. ¶ The machinations of millionaires and billionaires are foreign to what he believed. The lack of strict laws governing campaign expenditures continues to be a disgrace to our country."

Meanwhile, in a recent blog post on The New York Times, somebody commented, "How many times do we have to vote for term limits before they become permanent law ?" While we may still think that history shows us that we can count on established legal precedents and codified progressive reforms for how our votes get counted and how our government works, Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Goldsmith believe otherwise. And it is their twisted and warped sets of beliefs, which are not based on facts, that seem to carry the day.

Bloomberg's 9/11 Hypocrisy

Even as he tries to lay-off firefighters and close firehouses, NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg accuses Congress of disrespecting 9/11 first responders.

''Mayor Michael Bloomberg is lashing out against Congress’s decision to drop a bill to provide health coverage for September 11th first responders,'' reported NY1.

''This is an attack on America,'' Bloomberg said. ''People that went in for rescue and recovery, it’s Americans trying to help Americans, and Congress is unwilling to stand up. They preach patriotism and when it comes down to it, partisan politics.''

While the mayor criticizes Congress for failing to pass a $7.4 billion measure that would have provided health coverage for September 11th first responders, the mayor is, at the same time, trying to layoff firefighters, who provide a critical level of support for public safety and national security here in New York City.

Listen to the new Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith talk about how the Bloomberg administration believe that laying off firefighters, cutting their retirement benefits, and closing down more firehouses are important goals during the remainder of Mayor Bloomberg’s ill-fated and karmically-doomed third term.

And while New York Representative Anthony Weiner may go ballistic on his colleagues for opposing healthcare for September 11th heroes, who is keeping the mayor accountable for undercutting civil defenses and emergency preparedness measures here in New York City ?

Just look at how petty and small-minded the mayor can be towards FDNY : his disdain toward first responders and rescue workers is inconsistent with how he is now, all of a sudden, criticising Congress and questioning the patriotism of Democrats.

CB2 locks the zoning at St. Vincent's site

PRESS ADVISORY - CB2 PASSES RESOLUTION CALLING FOR LAND LOCK ON ST. VINCENT'S SITE

July 27, 2010 - West Village, New York - Over one hundred members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital came out to the Community Board 2 Full Board Meeting at Elizabeth Irwin High School on Thursday July 22nd to demand a resolution that would protect land use at the St. Vincent's Hospital Campus to ensure it is used for a hospital.

After hours of testimony, in a showing of solidarity with the community, the Board passed a resolution calling on elected officials and the Bankruptcy Court to protect the existing land use by opposing any changes to the zoning, use and occupancy or any other law that would eliminate hospital use at the site. The board also called on the Bankruptcy Court to set up a Community Council, with the aid of the New York City Corporation Counsel, to represent the community in the Bankruptcy Court's procedures.

Yetta Kurland, a civil rights attorney and member of the Coalition stated, "This is an incredible victory for our community. Thanks to the courage and leadership of many Community Board members and the continued hard work of so many who have been fighting since the hospital closed on April 30th, we now have a resolution that our elected officials must listen to. We will settle for nothing less than a hospital at the St. Vincent's site."

The strong language that "opposes all changes in land use" was not initially on the agenda for the meeting. But after hearing testimony from members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital and other community members speaking in favor of a land lock, the Board changed course and demanded that the resolution be amended to include such language. Arthur Schwartz, a civil rights attorney and member of Community Board 2, negotiated the language for the amendment to the resolution which was passed by a vote of 29 for and only 6 opposed.

Another Coalition member and St. Vincent's Physician, David Kaufman, MD, stated, "The hundreds of thousands of residents that live and work on the Lower West Side and the physicians who serve them desperately need a full service hospital and emergency room. I congratulate and thank Community Board 2 for their support and recognition of this critical need."

Eileen Dunn, RN, a St. Vincent's nurse and member of the Coalition, thanked the members of Community Board 2 ; she said, "Community Board 2 has shown its true commitment to those they represent, and I thank them for acknowledging, through this resolution, the importance of the health and safety of the people of the Lower West Side."

The Board's resolution puts them on record opposing any changes to the zoning, certificate of occupancy or other part of the land use that would eliminate the hospital use. Community Boards, while advisory, are considered an essential part of the ULURP process required to achieve such changes. Speaker Christine Quinn who also plays a vital role in the ULURP process is also recently on record stating that she "will continue our push for a full service hospital here." A full copy of the resolution is included below.

FULL TEXT OF RESOLUTION:

At its Full Board meeting on July 22, 2010, Community Board 2 (Manhattan) adopted the following resolution:

RESOLUTION STATING CB 2'S SUPPORT FOR THE CONTINUATION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES ON THE FORMER ST. VINCENT'S CAMPUS

WHEREAS, the closure of St. Vincent's Hospital has resulted in the community's loss of an emergency room, in-patient hospital, Level 1 trauma center and the capacity to address a widespread public health emergency such as a natural disaster or act of terrorism, creating a significant gap in the health care services available to the residents of this community board and the entire Lower West Side of Manhattan; and

WHEREAS, as heard by the community board during the June 14 and July 15, 2010 public hearings and at previous community meetings, there is widespread public support for the re-establishment of a full-service, acute care hospital on the former St. Vincent's campus, and the community board reiterates its strong support for such a hospital at such location, as well; and

WHEREAS, all or part of the current St. Vincent's campus is the most logical, cost-effective, and central location for the re-establishment of such a hospital or other health care facility that will adequately address the community's myriad health care needs, and, in fact, may be the only location suitable for such a facility, which compounds the urgency of this resolution.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Community Board No. 2 opposes all changes in land use laws, zoning rules, landmarks laws, or any other laws that would eliminate hospital uses at the site of the former St. Vincent's; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOVED that CB2 shall seek to petition the Bankruptcy Court and create a community committee to explore in a publicly transparent manner, all options for the St. Vincent's campus, and requests assistance from the NYC Corporation Counsel to assert such a petition; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that CB2 urges our elected officials to join the Community Board in this petition.

# # #

Update on St. Vincent's Hospital

NYS Department of Health commissioner Dr. Richard Daines needs to do the right thing.

What does a ‘‘needs assessment’’ mean for us in our efforts to get a hospital at the site of St. Vincent’s ?

First, although the efforts are well intentioned, some have been working to have a ‘‘needs assessment’’ done to prove to the New York State Department of Health that we deserve a hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan. But if you look at the law, it is the NYS Department of Health, which needs to prove to us that we don’t need a hospital – not the community that needs to prove to them that we do need a hospital.

We should not be shifting the responsibility away from the NYS Department of Health, but rather pushing them to do the right thing – and remedy what we see as a serious breach in New York State law and a grave threat to public health and safety in Lower Manhattan.

Not only was the hospital not been closed in a safe manner, but the NYS Department of Health is required to continue the services that the hospital provided or go through a formalized procedure to determine that the services are not needed, which would include public input and public notice.

Why is it important to acknowledge that it was a violation of New York State law to shut St. Vincent’s down without a ‘‘closure plan ?’’

Because, according to the law, the closure plan needed first to be approved by the NYS Department of Health, so that it ensured safety not just in the way it was closed, but in the aftermath, including safeguarding records and ensuring continuing services. The closure plan isn’t a thing of the past, it affects community members now, including access to their medical records, and it entitles our community to continued health and medical services.

What have we done to get a new hospital ?

At the City level, after pressure from residents of the Lower West Side, Community Board 2 has passed a resolution that confirms that they will not allow a change in zoning or use for the hospital facility.

This will stop developers from attempting to convert this space into more luxury residential property. Also, we are delighted to read in a recent letter to the Chelsea Now newspaper that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn “will continue our push for a full service hospital here.” The Community Board and Speaker Quinn are making clear, as powerful parts of the ULURP process, that they will block any attempts to put anything other than a hospital at the site of St. Vincent’s.

What do we still need to do ?

At the State level, we must put pressure on the NYS Department of Health and on its commissioner, Richard F. Daines, M.D, to comply with the law. New York State Senator Tom Duane has gone on record as saying a hospital is achievable, and Assemblymember Richard Gottfried has also pledged his support. Sign our petition to add your voice to this important cause.

Mike Bloomberg's disdain toward FDNY grows

Bloomberg: NYC to Fight Ruling on 9/11 FDNY Memorial

Posted: Tuesday, 27 July 2010 2:59PM

NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city will contest a court order to list a retired fire captain alongside his former colleagues on the Sept. 11 memorial.

Bloomberg said Tuesday the city "will fight this in court." He says the Fire Department of New York made a reasonable choice to list only active-duty firefighters in an FDNY section on the memorial.

Retired Capt. James Corrigan was working in a private fire safety job for the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. That's how officials planned to list him on the memorial when it opens next year.

His family says Corrigan acted as a firefighter that day while helping colleagues and deserves the same recognition on the memorial. A Queens judge agreed with the family on Monday.

Idle Indulgences

Cars can sit, idling or parked, but veteran servicemen cannot put up tables as sidewalk vendors near the Mercer Hotel.

In New York City, everybody is always getting parking tickets for trying to park on the street.

Except for around the Mercer Hotel.

Suzannah B. Troy has reported that she has witnessed police officers walking passed idling or parked cars outside the Mercer. Pictured here, Ms. Troy stands next to the Mercer, with empty parked cars behind her.

There is a sign that says, "No Parking," but the idling or parked cars around the Mercer are empty. The cars are supposed to be loading and unloading, but there is no one loading or unloading, and these cars are never ticketed. If you are looking for parking spaces in SoHo around Mercer and Prince streets, go over to the Mercer, where the cops don't issue you tickets for parking your car. But you have to be right in front of the Mercer, not across the street, where you will get ticketed.

Just don't try to set up a table on the nearby sidewalk to sell your arts and crafts.

Because around the Mercer, limos, private cars, Cadillacs, and Range Rovers, are allowed to park in no parking zones for the convenience of the hotel's A-list guests, but veteran servicemen are not allowed to set up sidewalk tables. Sidewalk vendors are part of what gives SoHo its sizzle and joie de vivre, but, according to Ms. Troy, cops are issuing tickets to sidewalk vendors, but not to the illegally parked cars around the Mercer Hotel.

Now that Ms. Troy has taken this story public, she has already experienced harassment and intimidation from an anonymous person, who Ms. Troy has said she thinks might be an employee of the Mercer.

NYC has been disfigured

Can anybody recognise New York City anymore ?

Suzannah B. Troy gives us a preview of Amanada Burden's speech, scheduled for later this morning.

"One huge reason Mike almost lost to Bill Thompson," Suzannah B. Troy wrote on her blog, "was he and Amanda Burden displaced so many New Yorkers and made over our city like a bad plastic surgeon."

Suzannah's video has already been picked up by Queens Crap.

Manifest Destiny

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, whose hobby is using the City Council to skirt the City Charter, and socialite Amanda Burden, whose own hobby is city planning, are modern day imperialists, only they operate in New York, where they are abusing eminent domain to rob Native New Yorkers of their land and property rights. Just like ethno-centric European settlers, who rounded up and moved Native Americans off of their lands, Mayor Bloomberg and City Planner Burden are the source of massive displacement of Native New Yorkers.

Present day city planning projects and policies are having serious consequences for native New Yorkers : look at the legions of people, who have had to flee from the unaffordable rents of East Village apartments, only to have to resettle in other area codes. Look at how entire swaths of Manhattan no longer have a hospital ; the Lower West Side used to be served by St. Vincent's Hospital, before other megamillionaires, the Rudin family, began to salivate at the idea of converting the former campus of St. Vincent's into still yet more luxury condominious. How many steam pipe explosions, Con Edison manhole fires, the Queens blackout of 2006, construction crane collapses, dangerous sidewalk electrocutions, or subway budget blackholes have happened under Mayor Bloomberg and City Planner Burden ? When will enough be enough ?

To add insult to injury, now comes City Planner Burden, who will be speaking tomorrow at what would be an unconscionable venue of the National Museum of the American Indian. But remember, these people so easily rob us of our property rights, so they naturally have no conscious.

The title of the speaking seminar is : The Changing Face of New York’s Neighborhoods: A Population Update. Meanwhile, I can tell them that the city's population is changing, precisely because the population is fleeing as a direct and deliberate outcome of the mayor's and city planner's cold and heartless city planning policies and real estate development deals.

Seating at this disgraceful public event is naturally limited and subject to screening by the mayor's office, but just in case you can lie your way in to heckle at the city planner, the mayor is asking you to call his Special Projects Office at (212) 788-2569, or send an e-mail to nycintern@cityhall.nyc.gov. The mayor's office is asking you to please include your name, agency and phone number.

With their displacing real estate development deals and construction crane accidents, Mayor Bloomberg and City Planner Burden are resettling Native New Yorkers either into other boroughs, into New Jersey, or into early graves, therefore making more land in Manhattan available for homesteading by wealthier, white Americans.

Stop and Frisk

Bob Herbert of NYTimes : End the NYPD policy of ''stop and frisk''

The New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has published an opinion essay, in which Mr. Herbert asks Gov. David Patterson to sign into law a bill that would end the New York City Police Department's unconstitutional practise of making a list of innocent citizens who have been ''stoped and frisked'' by cops.

". . . Allowing the police to continue accumulating these permanent files on the innocent, an abomination in and of itself, would also encourage the cops to continue their Jim Crow stop-and-frisk policy, which has led to the systematic harassment and humiliation of young black and Latino residents who have done absolutely nothing wrong.

This racist policy needs to stop — and stop now . . . ."

"The Police Department has compounded this outrage by loading information on these innocent New Yorkers into its permanent database of stop-and-frisk encounters. The database is one of the first stops for cops investigating actual crimes. Thus, these innocent individuals become a permanent focus of the police, not because of anything they’ve done wrong but primarily because of their ethnic background . . . ."

Separately, The New York Times published information that indicated that, "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg 'will urge the governor to veto the bill,' a spokesman, Jason Post, said."

Remember, this is the same mayor, who ordered the NYPD to spy on and illegally arrest and detain thousands of protesters to the 2004 Republican National Convention. When it comes to civil liberties and civil rights, our mayor is incapable of knowing what is the right thing to do.

Lady Bunny's Fireworks Message

Courtesy of @Lady Bunny from FaceBook :

"If you aren’t concerned about the current state of affairs in this country, you’re no patriot. And if your love for this nation is confined to waving a stupid flag one day a year and you aren’t ready to pitch in and help get us back on track, by the next 4th of July you’ll be lucky if you can afford a damn hot dog. Luckily, you’ll still be able to enjoy the fireworks even if a foreclosure has made you homeless."

Log Cabin République connes

Bloomberg to Join Log Cabin at N.Y. Pride

Just a friendly reminder, based on facts, that despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg's march with the Log Cabin Republicans in this year's Gay Pride Parade, the legal debate over the constitutionality of same-sex marriages in New York came to an early abortion after Mayor Bloomberg appealed Judge Doris Ling-Cohan's 2005 trial court ruling in which she found that the right to marry the person of one's choosing is both a privacy right and a liberty right.

If Mayor Bloomberg cared about equality, then he would be taking action to create equality, instead of just showing up for photo opportunities with the farce of a group called Log Cabin Republicans. Mr. Mayor, what is your record on equality ?

Cy Vance's campaign responds

Anonymous leaks about Cy Vance's alleged Campaign Finance Irregularities triggers an official response from Mr. Vance's campaign treasurer.

A representative from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's campaign has called Suzannah B. Troy to issue an official communication in response to questions about campaign payments made or debts owed to Mark Guma.

Compromise the Investigator

Cy Vance, Mark Guma, Maura Keaney, and John Haggerty : Campaign finance irregularities that may compromise the Manhattan District Attorney's Office

Suzannah B. Troy has published a shocking independent journalist report, one that is brave, because we are relying on the integrity of anonymous information, to show that certain irregular financial transactions took place within Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's election campaign.

'' In a series of shady campaign finance maneuvers reported on campaign filings throughout the 2009 election cycle, Cy Vance has apparently attempted to conceal the fact that Mark Guma has forgiven large sums of debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, Inc. previously invoiced to Cy Vance’s campaign. ''

If this is true, and you can read the entirety of Ms. Troy's information at the end of this post, then Ms. Troy is right when she draws the conclusion that District Attorney Cy Vance's campaign finance irregularities and/or ties to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's own campaign finance scandal, compromise the District Attorney's integrity. Mr. Vance's campaign must now fully explain its association with John Haggerty, since his own office is now investigating Mr. Haggerty's alleged criminal campaign activities.

Cy Vance Mike Bloomberg = Teflon Mike Bloomberg info sent to me by a source.

This was emailed to me and I am posting. I am a blogger and I don't have the resources that a David Seifman has or the contacts including a press pass. I have not gotten to interview this person but I wanted to share this with my followers and you decide what to make of this. If this is true than it proves that Cy Vance has every reason in his power as I am sure many others do for different reasons to make sure this powerful connected man, Mike Bloomberg who doesn't respect limits of any kind remains Teflon Mike -- that he remains above the law.

If this is all true than I am glad I have gone to "outside sources" beyond the NYPD forwarding the cyber stalker identity thief continued and on going harassment on YouTube of me and others. The Queens DA has the evidence from when the freak stole Tony Avella's identity the day after the election to harass me and others so I am glad the Queens DA doesn't have the issues that Cy Vance has. Here is the info I was sent:

Points of Public Interest pertaining to Cy Vance’s Campaign Finance Irregularities in collusion with Michael Bloomberg’s campaign and Mark Guma Communications.

· Cy Vance has a longstanding debt to Mark Guma Communications for $273,349 to whom he paid more than 1.1 million dollars to for consulting and electioneering activities from September 2009-January 2010.

· On January 15, 2010, Cy Vance mysteriously reported to the State Board of Elections that he had loan/liabilities to Mark Guma Communications in the amount of $273K that dated back to 9/14/2009. (2009 10 Day Post Primary)

· In a series of shady campaign finance maneuvers reported on campaign filings throughout the 2009 election cycle, Cy Vance has apparently attempted to conceal the fact that Mark Guma has forgiven large sums of debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, Inc. previously invoiced to Cy Vance’s campaign.

· In a series of campaign finance reports, Cy Vance’s campaign reduced their liability to Mark Guma Communications, Inc. by reporting campaign expenditures on section F of their filings (with corresponding check numbers) purportedly written to Mark Guma Communications, while simultaneously reporting on Section O of his finance reports that Mark Guma was making a donation to the campaign for the same amount.

· Vance’s campaign simultaneously reduced the liabilities in section N of its filings by the exact same amounts of each “donation” reported on section O.

*See State BOE Filer ID C36419 (2009 11 Day Pre-General, 2009 27 Day Post General, 2010 January Periodic)

· Thus far, $96,172.85 in debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, Inc has been “written off” by the Cy Vance campaign in a subversive manner, and thereby evading campaign finance limits placed on corporate donations.

· (Section 14 of Election Law)The New York State Board of Elections has ruled that a company or corporation that engages in public relations does not typically lend money to its clients. Therefore, “any loan by the company which is not repaid by the date of the election would be deemed a contribution in accordance with the provisions of the law. If the amount not repaid to the corporation on the date of the election exceeds $5000, the corporation would be in violation of section 14 of Election Law which limits corporate contributions to $5000.” (NYS BOE 1977 Opinion #8)

· In addition, if the company extends credit to a campaign for services performed, with the INTENT to eventually write off the debt, this is considered an act to violate and evade the contribution limits set forth in section 14 of Election Law. (NYS BOE 1977 Opinion #8)

· Section 14-126 of State Election Law clearly states that (3) Any person who knowingly and willfully contributes, accepts or aids or participates in the acceptance of a contribution in an amount exceeding an applicable maximum specified in this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

· Section 14-126 of State Election Law clearly states that (4) Any person who shall, acting on behalf of a candidate or political committee, knowingly and willfully …makes expenditures in connection with a nomination for election of any candidate, or solicits any person to make any such expenditures, for the purpose of evading the contribution limitations of this article, shall be guilty of a class E felony.

· Of further consideration, and perhaps more intriguing, is the fact that Mark Guma is married to Maura Keaney, Mike Bloomberg’s Field Operations Director for the 2009 mayoral race. Keaney worked with John Haggerty and was allegedly involved in the Election Day poll operations and planning that has come to light in recent weeks that involved alleged criminal activities.

· Keaney was moved out of her job with the campaign committee in February, around the same time the NY Post began reporting Haggerty’s enormous Election Day pay-off.

· It seems that Cy Vance was receiving his big pay-day from Mark Guma Communications, Inc.

The way Brad Hoylman does things

A different YouTube video, showing what happened after Brad Hoylman yanked the microphone out of Yetta Kurland's hands.

" The Hedz-Up Report continues its coverage of the community's fight to preserve the legacy of St. Vincent's Hospital, w/ full coverage of Community Board 2's, St. Vincent's Omnibus Committee Meeting. This clip features lawyer-activist, Yetta Kurland, trying to negotiate future collaborative planning sessions, only to be stripped of the microphone by CB2 board member, Brad Hoylman. "

The circuit breakers for the power brokers

The highway and the hospital

The way Robert Moses disregarded the needs of the Greenwich Village community by proposing to build a highway through it is, almost 50 years later, very much the same way Mayor Michael Bloomberg is disregarding the needs of the same Greenwich Village community by letting more luxury condominiums go up in the Village, this time on the former space of St. Vincent's Hospital.

More and more, it seems that each power-hungry man sick with development-envy tests his limits over doomed urban renewal ideas for the vibrant and energetic Greenwich Village.

Keeping the site of St. Vincent's zoned for a hospital

Maintaining the zoning of the site of St. Vincent's Hospital is one way to attract another hospital corporation to 'adaptively reuse' the existing infrastructure already available at St. Vincent's former main building.

Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt.10) - Hands Around St. Vincent's (Excerpt) from g. sosa on Vimeo.

"Too Many Free Passes"

Mayor Bloomb3rg's th3rd t3rm l3gitimacy can b3 s33n on John Hagg3rty's invoic3.

Check out Suzannah B. Troy's YouTube video, in which she discusses Mayor Michael Bloomberg's $750,000 campaign finance scandal. She also discusses how the Bloomberg administration put construction and development before infrastructure ; she adds, "There were too many free passes."

For some background about Mayor Bloomberg's campaign finance scandal, please read the independent blogger Gregg Walker's viewpoint report.

Wasted CityTime

CityTime is "a state of the art Orwellian time clock," says Suzannah B. Troy.

The artist and citizen activist Suzannah B. Troy has described Mayor Michael Bloomberg's time management system, called CityTime, as being a "technological nightmare and flim flam rip-off to the taxpayers." Watch her video :

I invite you to read the post authored by Ms. Troy with regard to CityTime.

Where is our mayor ?

Community anger grows over St. Vincent's closing

If this video makes you angry, join us in an e-mail campaign to do something about it. Help bring back a hospital to the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

St. Vincent's E-mail Campaign

Take action now to establish a full service hospital for Lower Manhattan.

Please copy and paste the addresses and the suggested message into an e-mail. Make any modifications, to personalise your own communication.

To :

mayor@nyc.gov; speakerquinn@council.nyc.gov; dohweb@health.state.ny.us; duane@senate.state.ny.us; GottfriedR@assembly.state.ny.us; arroyo@council.nyc.ny.us

Subject :

Coalition for a New Village Hospital

Suggested message :

Ladies and Gentlemen :

We need a hospital on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. The proposal to replace St. Vincent's Hospital with an 'urgent care center' is insufficient ; such a center will not be able to provide Level 1 trauma care, emergency rooms, critical healthcare attention, or hospital beds. Such a center would also be unable to adequately address any real public health or safety issues, were they to come up. Right now, there is no Level 1 Trauma Center below 14th Street in Manhattan, which we all know is a high risk security area. Everyone in our community is worried that people's lives are now in jeopardy, because of the longer time it will take them to be transported to the emergency rooms of alternative hospitals. There is no value we can put on human life. I am writing to you to let you know that our community is organising, and we demand a hospital in lower Manhattan.

Yours sincerely,

( If you think of new addresses to be included, or any changes that should be made, please post a comment on this blog. )