Bloomberg to continue to funnel NYC taxpayer money to questionable agency connected to Vito Lopez

From one political boss to another,
Mayor Bloomberg to Assemblyman Vito Lopez :
''Who's your money honey ?''

In the midst of several investigations into fraud, mismanagement, and possible corruption at the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said that taxpayer money from New York City will continue to be paid to the questionable organisation, The Brooklyn Paper has reported.

New York City will pay taxpayer money in the amount of $135 million to Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council for home attendant services that the organisation reportedly provides in Brooklyn and Queens, wrote Aaron Short, a reporter for The Brooklyn Paper. The outlandish amount of money comes under two contracts with New York City, and the performance of such contracts have to be called into question if there is illegality involved by Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council. Here are some additional facts from Mr. Short's article :

'' Last month, the city delayed pending contracts to Ridgewood Bushwick in light of a city investigation that found fraudulent billing for nonexistent programs and clueless board members who approved huge raises for the nonprofit’s top executives.

'' The state then announced that it would halt all new and existing contracts to Ridgewood Bushwick amid two federal investigations, as the attorney general’s office conducts a thorough review of its most recently submitted audit.

'' The nonprofit has also drawn scrutiny for its workers’ role in allegedly encouraging voters to [pull] the lever or fill in their ballot bubbles for the charity’s founder, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who is also the Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman. ''

Meanwhile, community reaction has been one of outrage, disbelief, and anger.

Mr. Short reported that Elaine Boardman, who is associated with the Jewish Association for Services of the Aged, said that she was ''outraged'' that, during the financial scandal investiations, New York City would continue to pay money to Ridgewood Bushwick.

Oct. 17 St. Vincent's Hospital rally

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When you are having an emergency, every minute counts.

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

Bloombo Dicto to Bloggers : Drop Dead

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

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

---

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

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

His answer:

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

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

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

[via New York Times]

Bloomberg's 3-Tier Campaign Finance Structure

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

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

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

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

We like @billthompsonnyc, but is he really in the mayoral race to win it ? nyc-mayor-2013.blogspot.com/p/bill-thompso… : Financial reliance on @mikebloomberg

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) February 18, 2013

Haggerty, Sheekey planned to hide campaign payments

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

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

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

"...Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey convinced Bloomberg to hire the state Independence Party to do the monitoring - instead of using his own campaign team," The Daily News reported.

But how could it come to be that Deputy Mayor Sheeky was planning the mayor's reëlection campaign strategy in respect of monitoring activities ? Whatismore, was it Sheekey who proposed the use of private monies to pay for the campaign activities, or was it Mayor Bloomberg, who told Sheekey to use the mayor's personal accounts -- instead of the mayor's campaign committee accounts -- to funnel money through the Independence Party, in order to pay for Haggerty's election day operations ?

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

The journalist Aram Roston has reported that in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaigns in each of 2005 and 2009, the mayor paid money out of his private accounts that were ultimately funneled to the political operative John Haggerty.

Much like President Richard Nixon, whose political campaigns had carried out a long set of activities to attack and disrupt the Democrats way before the Watergate Hotel break-in, here we have Mayor Bloomberg's political campaigns of 2005 and 2009 engaging in funneling secret payments out of the mayor's personal accounts to political parties for use in campaign activitis.

The mayor has a track record of spending money for his political campaigns out of his private accounts, in addition to his official campaign committee accounts. Therefore, the amounts that the mayor has reported and certified as being his campaign finances cannot be neither true, accurate, nor complete.

Add to that the fact that it has been alleged that Mayor Bloomberg has paid millions to charitable organisations in exchange for their political support, and you begin to realise that we really don't know how much money he has spent on campaigning or electioneering to be mayor.

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

After Freak NYC Storm, UCT 911 Dispatch System Criticised

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

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

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

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

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

NYPD Gay entrapment case update

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

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

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

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

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

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

Haggerty Obstruction of Justice ?

Photo Credit : http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2010/09/steve-rattner-pension-rat-rats-on-white.html

Mayor Bloomberg is trying to thwart the corruption investigation of John Haggerty, Jr.
In the criminal corruption investigation of the possible misuse of $750,000 by campaign worker John Haggerty, Jr., the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg refuses to release additional e-mails on the grounds of "personal privacy," so reported The New York Post.

''The skimpy exchanges that were provided with Haggerty indicate he was close as could be to top mayoral aides,'' reported David Seifman, the reporter from The New York Post. Mr. Haggerty is charged with stealing $750,000 from payments that were made from Mayor Bloomberg's personal bank accounts, money that was meant for the Independence Party's Election Day poll-watching operations.

Henry Stern criticises Term Limits Deal

Bloomberg Charter Revision Commission : Henry Stern, Interviewed by Suzannah B. Troy, says that Two Term Limits should Take Effect Immediately. He Calls the Extension of Limits to Three Terms by the Charter Commission to amount to ''Golden Parachutes.''

Henry J. Stern, the parks dept. commissioner under each of Mayors Koch and Giuliani, was interviewed by Suzannah B. Troy about the controversial decision by the Charter Revision Commission to delay the return of limiting politicians to two elected terms.

On the blog for New York Civic, Mr. Stern has published commentary that has been critical of the Charter Revision Commission. He has focused on the logically-flawed argument that freshmen City Councilmembers first elected last year deserve to make full use of the brief existence of thr33-t3rm limits.

"The rationale behind this gift of time is that, since in 2009 the three-term limit was in effect, the candidates ran with the expectation that they would be entitled to seek three terms and the city is in good faith bound to honor their belief. Those members first elected in 2005 would require the gift of a third term to have them serve into 2017. However, the public will presumably by 2010 have voted three times (1993 and 1996 were the first two) for a two-term limit."

Mr. Stern completed his blog post with these cautionary words : ''The City of New York should not provide golden parachutes. Not in dollars, not in years. Let the new elected officials take their places, and may they serve the public, not themselves.''

Term Limits Swindle

What I want to know is the history on Terms Limits in the first place. In respect of Question 1, the Charter Revision Barter Commission seems to want to let current f1rst t3rm politicians to be eligible to run for office for a total of 3 consecutive times. Thus, if Question 1 is fully approved, it won’t fully go into effect into 2021. What I want to know is how were f1rst t3rm politicians treated when voters first approved two-t3rm limits ? Were they allowed to run for sequential terms in infinity ? No, once the law changes, everybody must change along with it. Why do we have to create exempted classes of politicians, to whom the laws don’t apply ? Are some politicians more above the law than others ? Is that the real message that the Charter Revision Barter Commission wants to send to voters ? Like Suzannah B. Troy is asking, is anybody listening ?

Ground Zero Mosque Protests

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

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

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

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

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

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

NBC censors Doug Biviano on YouTube

NBC works behind the scenes to ban a candidate's YouTube video which asks the Media to cover the political challengers during this year's election season.

According to a breaking news flash published by the blogger and artist Suzannah B. Troy this evening, NBC or somebody affiliated or employed by NBC has been contacting YouTube in order to remove a political candidate's controversial political Michael Moore-inspired mini-documentary about media bias. The controversial YouTube video was produced by Doug Biviano, who is challenging Joan Millman in Brooklyn's 52nd Assembly District.

Here is a new version of the banned video :

How can a news network commit censorship against a candidate during an election year ? NBC is being biased in favor of the incumbent as long as it is blocking political coverage of challengers. But it doesn't just stop there. Here we see NBC interfering with the freedom of speech of a political candidate. What if political candidates censored NBC ? How would NBC like that ? It is upon a slippery slope that NBC or its employee has put us all by contacting YouTube to ban this video.

2 sets of campaign books

The New York Observer finds a pattern to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's secret campaign payments.

The journalist Aram Roston has reported that in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaigns in each of 2005 and 2009, the mayor paid money out of his private accounts that were ultimately funneled to the political operative John Haggerty.

If we are to accept that the mayor has a track record of spending money for his political campaigns out of his private accounts, in addition to his official campaign committee accounts, then the amounts that the mayor has reported and certified as being his campaign finances cannot be either true, accurate, or complete.

Add to that the fact that it has been alleged that Mayor Bloomberg has paid millions to charitable organisations in exchange for their political support, and you begin to realise that we really don't know how much money he has spent on campaigning or electioneering to be mayor.

We can only guess that the reason the mayor has used his private accounts to pay intermediaries for campaign-related services like ''ballot security'' was to evade the reporting and disclosure requirements of the campaign accounts. Meanwhile, for his part in the money funneling operation, Mr. Haggerty is facing criminal charges for how he spent the campaign payments.

Throw Out the Bums in Albany

msm ignores this year's political challengers.

A courageous politician, Doug Biviano, is campaigning for election to the New York State Assembly, and he has produced a YouTube video in which he asked the mainstream media to report on candidates challenging New York State incumbents.

In his video, Mr. Biviano celebrated the spirit of the father of modern journalism, John Peter Zenger, to solve the dysfunction and corruption that is evident in New York State government. Mr. Biviano is challenging Joan Millman in Brooklyn's 52nd Assembly District. His main campaign promise seems to be to ''fight corruption,'' but no mainstream media outlet seems interested in his platform.

So far, Suzannah B. Troy, WNYC, and The New York Daily News have begun to report about Mr. Biviano's noble campaign.

Term limits scandal never dies

Onc3, twic3, thric3 : This tim3, how do w3 know it's for r3al ?

Th3 2010 chart3r r3vision bart3r commission 3mpan3ll3d by thr33-timing Mayor Micha3l Bloomb3rg is r3comm3nding that citiz3ns of N3w York City onc3 again vot3 on a r3f3r3ndum that would r3strict th3 numb3r of tim3s a politician can s3rv3 in offic3 to only two t3rms.

Two t3rms was ''the old limit - twice ratified by city voters - before Bloomberg decided to run for a third term in 2008 and pushed the City Council to extend it,'' Th3 New York Daily N3ws r3port3d.

M3anwhil3, in a r3c3nt blog post on Th3 N3w York Tim3s, som3body comm3nt3d, "How many times do we have to vote for term limits before they become permanent law ?"

As if th3 commission3rs working on th3 chart3r-bart3r could r3ad our minds, this tim3 commission3rs ar3 consid3ring asking vot3rs ''to ban future City Councils from extending the terms of politicians already in office,'' th3 Daily N3ws add3d.

Your horse naturally won

But when you don't belong to the people, the people eventually figure it out.

According to a press report in The New York Daily News, a new Marist Poll published today shows that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's popularity has hit a new, five-year low. Of the 696 New York voters who were scientifically surveyed, only 49% of the them said that they thought that Mayor Bloomberg was ''doing a good or excellent job,'' the Daily News reported.

Lee Miringoff was the director of the poll. He is quoted as having said, "More people think the city's headed in the wrong direction than the right direction, so that is not going to do well if you're chief executive."

Bloombo Dicto supresses artistic expression

In the wake of New York City's ticketing frenzy : ticketing the parked cars of us non-celebrities, running artists out of Union Square for only trying to sell art, ticketing subway riders for changing cars, and for decorating or painting the doors of apartment buildings -- for basically trying to live our lives -- many lines have been crossed. Among other things, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is outright violating artists' First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. In this video, Suzannah B. Troy interviewed the artist Miriam West at Union Square to give you an investigative peek into an artist's world under the reign of King Mike.

Dissing gay voters now seen as routine

It is no longer news when a New York politician dismisses gay pride, nor when he is called homophobic by one of New York City's most influential bloggers.

When he was mayor of Indianapolis, Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican, ended the practise of signing an annual proclamation declaring a gay pride day for the city. Now that he is deputy mayor of New York City, Mr. Goldsmith doesn't recall this significant mayoral action.

Above is the video I made, which is the Deputy Mayor’s response to questions about why he ended the practice of issuing gay pride proclamations while he was mayor of Indianapolis, and what his thoughts were on the subject of same-sex marriage.

By the time I started my hand-held camera, I missed the questions, and they were not included in this video. But there were 2 credentialed reporters, Michael Scotto and Erik Engquist, who served as the press panel, who asked the deputy mayor questions on the day of this speech, and this speech was also witnessed by the artist and blogger-activist Suzannah B. Troy.

On July 20, 2010, Deputy Mayor Goldsmith was the featured guest at a networking-breakfast meeting, where the new deputy mayor of New York City gave a speech and answered questions about his vision for New York City.

Following the deputy mayor's remarks, Ms. Troy made the conclusion that the way that the Deputy Mayor kept making non-answers, avoided his record, and would not answer what his thoughts were on gay marriage meant that he was anti-gay, and as well as anti-gay marriage.

Look at his record : while he was mayor of Indianapolis, he didn’t want to recognize or acknowledge a gay pride day. In response to press questions, the Deputy Mayor said he could not ''recollect'' his anti-gay record, and he would not answer questions regarding marriage equality.

In 2009, when a very slim majority of New Yorkers voted for the ''Independent'' Michael Bloomberg to take a th3rd t3rm as mayor, did anybody expect that Mayor Bloomberg would recruit an anti-gay deputy for his administration ?

Even if it was not anticipated, its revelation leaves New Yorkers surprised and confused -- like, surely we wouldn't allow an intolerant, hateful conservative Republican to oversee and impress his worldview over the operations of New York City. Make no mistake, this video shows that Deputy Mayor Goldsmith not only avoids diversity, but he negates it, too. And so we find ourselves in this ill-fat3d, karmically-doom3d th3rd t3rm, watching the happening of intolerance and hate, and it leaves one to wonder when did we all agree to play the game of pretending like it couldn't happen here.

Union Square artists protest Bloomberg

Artists in Union Square are organising protest demonstrations against and awareness raising about Mayor Bloomberg's campaign against local artist.

Please join the artists at Union Square Park every Wednesday and Saturday starting at 10am to hold up protest signs, talk to people about what's going on, man the display only stand, and generally to be a pain in the park department's butt.

Display-only and mobile vending highly encouraged! Any questions, please contact:

unionsquareartists@gmail.com

City Hall Park tree protest arrest

A tree-hugging protester was arrested in City Hall Park this morning.

In an excerpt of a video from this morning's demonstration, an environmental activist named Jessica Sunflower is shown having climbed a tree in City Hall Park. After police and security show up on the scene, she is shown climbing down from the tree on a ladder. Later, she is seen restrained and being escorted by police off the park grounds. Apparently, she was arrested.

According to information posted on the excerpted demonstration video on YouTube, the protesters were part of a group calling themselves Times Up! The protesters were trying to draw ''attention to the new rules being drafted by the City that allows gardens to be legally transferred to development, risking hundreds of gardens being bulldozed.''

In the description of the YouTube video, Times Up! volunteer Benjamin Shepard is quoted as saying, ''We need to preserve what's left of our green space, and find ways to cultivate more. Not impose rules which would destroy what's left of them!''.

Also in the YouTube description, Times Up! Director Bill DiPaola provided the following statement : "This is an opportunity for Bloomberg and the City Council to demonstrate they appreciate green space as a resource for global cooling and community development."

Already, Suzannah B. Troy has published has published the City Hall Park demonstration video on your blog.