Freedom of the Press
Thomas Jefferson Vs de Blasio: I Do Not Get Paid to Answer Media Questions
Bill de Blasio Says He Gets Paid to Be Mayor, Not AnswerMedia Questions (NYO)
A Constitutional Crisis At City Hall
Mayor de Blasio, Amid Criticism, Tries to Keep Press Under Control (NYT) City Hall reporters object to restrictions on what questions can be asked. * Bill de Blasio acknowledges engaging in new media strategy (NYDN) Bill de Blasio acknowledges engaging in new media strategy (NYDN) But de Blasio, whose approval ratings are at record lows, insisted he would make more of an effort to talk directly to the public, without the help of the Fourth Estate. That will involve meeting with community and church leaders, town hall meetings with the public, and appearances on radio shows where he takes calls from listeners, he said. The new strategy has been in place for several weeks — and has led to some testy confrontations with reporters who are used to more access. On Wednesday, his press secretary Karen Hinton had a beef with CBS political reporter Marcia Kramer — caught on cameras and broadcast on the station’s newscast — over de Blasio’s refusal to take questions at a public event. Ironically, he announced his new limited press availability in a freewheeling news conference Friday afternoon in the City Hall Blue Room, where he took over two dozen questions over close to an hour and a half. “We’re going to change the paradigm ... because we think there are better ways to communicate, and better ways to be connected to the people,” he said. * De Blasio, Down in Polls, Alters Media Strategy (WSJ) * De Blasio Indicates He'll Be More Open to the Public, Not So Much to the Media (NY1)
A Constitutional Crisis At City Hall
THE MAYOR WHO WANTS TO TELL REPORTERS WHAT QUESTIONS HE’LL PERMIT THEM TO ASK By Gabe Pressman
Mayor DeBlasio has tangled with a reporter, Marcia Kramer, over whether she had a right to ask him a question. The Mayor who promised to run a “transparent” administration has done the opposite. He insists on setting the agenda for his press conferences. He gives us the topic and then assesses each question. If it’s something he doesn’t want to discuss, he admonishes the reporter to stay “on topic.” I’ve been covering press conferences at City Hall for 60 years---and never has a Mayor had the temerity to enforce an agenda on journalists. This Mayor who proclaims he is a “progressive” is anything but. The word “retrogressive” might be a better fit. He needs a lesson in the history of freedom of the press in NY John Peter Zenger went to jail for criticizing the English governor of New York . That happened 300 years ago and, if it were not for Zenger, the principle of freedom of the press might never have been embedded in our constitution. Zenger, a half-literate German-born printer, was a true progressive.
Joel Siegel @joelmsiegel Uh, previousmayors (pre Bloomy) didn't take questions "two or three times aweek." They took them daily #factcheck
A Manhattan Councilman Yes Congestion Pricing . . . A Mayor Who Has to Run in 2017 NO
The Progressive de Blaiso Eds Art
Shortly after NYC Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez called on his colleagues to pass a resolution supportive of congestion pricing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while he’s open to the idea, Albany – which must sign off on the idea – is not. * Council transportation chair aims to make cars more expendable (PoliticoNY) * De Blasio: Albany has ‘no appetite’ for congestion pricing (PoliticoNY)* De Blasio said a proposal to put tolls on the East River crossings into Manhattan would be dead on arrival with state lawmakers in Albany, so shttp://goo.gl/4TWuuolutions to transit problems should focus on other alternatives
de Blasio Ran to His Mini Me Rodriquez to Protect Him in His First Town Hall Meeting
Rodrique Still Fighting to Ban Horse Carriages
Ydanis Rodriguez, the chair of New York City CouncilTransportation Committee, will propose a bailout to rescue medallion owners, who have witnessed the value of their investment plummet as Uber and other ride apps disrupt the traditional taxi business.* First Look: Inside Super Secret Taxi Bailout Meeting
Rodriquez Attacks de Blasio Foe Uber
Twitter Spat Breaks Out Between Councilman YdanisRodriguez and Uber (NYO) Councilman Rodriguez, who is also Chair of the Transportation Committee for the City Council, was also holding a press conference extolling the recently proposed “Uber cap” legislation at City Hall earlier today. When he claimed in a tweet that Uber drivers are not covered by insurance if they get into an accident, ride sharing app’s New York City general manager Josh Mohrer hit back on Twitter, referring to two of Mr. Rodriguez’s most scathing Tweets as “a lie.”
de Blasio Nominates Rodrique to MTA Board
Mayor de Blasio nominated City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, the council transportation committee chair to be his representative on the MTA Board.
Faking A Town Hall Meeting With the Mayor Being Protected By His Mini Me CM Ydanis Rodriguez
De Blasio accused of stacking town-hall meeting with ‘handpicked’ allies (NYP) Critics of Mayor de Blasio accused him of stacking a town-hall-style meeting in Washington Heights
According to Strasburg, the choice invited softball questions because the city’s Rent Guidelines Board approved a zero percent increase on rent for rent-regulated apartments on one-year leases. There are about 53,000 rent-regulated units in Washington Heights
Similarly, the Post writes that de Blasio’s town hall was pure propaganda because attendees were invited by allies while the mayor operated under the pretense that he was open to taking questions from average New Yorkers: * De Blasio holds first townhall meeting of mayoralty in Manhattan, talks rent and affordable housing (NYDN) About 250 people attended the nearly two-hour meeting in Washington Heights New York housing market closed its third quarter this year with a 9.1 percent increase in sales compared to the 2014 third quarter.
On May 22nd True News Introduced the Mayoral Bubble While de Blasio Used the Cops to Keep Protesters Away From A Boardwalk News Conference
When one woman asked about the city's failure to repair some abandoned buildings, Rodriguez— who appeared to know many of the questioners and addressed them by first name —told de Blasio "She's talking about a mess that you inherited." Joseph Strasburg, president of the landlord group Rent Stabilization Association, accused the mayor of using the town hall as a "re-election rally." Former mayors used town halls more frequently. Rudy Giuliani had a town hall once a month, Ed Koch did about over a dozen a year, and Bloomberg occasionally held the meetings, which are characterized by members of the public asking the mayor whatever they feel is important.* De Blasio's first town hall meeting drew mostly friendlyfeedback in Washington Heights: (DNAINFO)
Channeling Orwell: Mayor de Blasio's "Free SpeechZone": (WCBS)
Shocking de Blasio Cancles Iowa Presidental Forum as Cuomo Hits From the Left on $15
NYC politics right now: de Blasio sulks out of Iowa forum, Cuomo rallying for higher minimum wage
De Blasio group cancels planned Iowa iowa forum - Sorry the Reporters Had to Waste Their Time * De Blasio’s day today: Forum falls apart, Cuomo strikes from the left * Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to unilaterally raise the minimum wage for all state workers to $15 an hour using executive authority, making New York the first state to set such a high wage for about 10,000 state workers, the Times reports: * Bill de Blasio Admits Planned Iowa Presidential Forum Wasa Failure (NYO)
Yes I Failed In Iowa But I Am Not Done With National Politics
State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said a conversation still needed to be had about the broader impact of the $15 minimum wage proposal and continued to raise concerns about the same wage floor for fast-food workers, State of Politics reports: -- The forum had become a political albatross for de Blasio, who had taken pains to distance himself from the planned event amid accusations that he was focusing too much on national politics at the expense of New York City 's own problems. The cancellation of the forum allows him to shed that baggage and move on. He recently followed a similar playbook on an interrelated front: his non-endorsement of Hillary Clinton ... Much as the forum seemed designed to elevate de Blasio's national profile, his reluctance to endorse Clinton until he learned more about her progressive credentials seemed both forced, and designed to enhance his national stature. Instead, he became something of a laughingstock. * "I don't want to insult my friend like this, but there is a sense it was a 'legend in his own mind' kind of phenomenon," said Doug Muzzio, a political scientist at Baruch College
Yes I Failed In Iowa But I Am Not Done With National Politics
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted his Iowa presidential forum collapsed because no one wanted to go, but said his forays into national politics are far from over.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio confessed his much-mocked planned presidential candidates forum in Iowa was a failure—a day after his left-leaning non-profit claimed it was called off because it had been such a success.
Mayor Going to A Town Hall Meeting in Iowa But Not Brooklyn
De Blasio to host presidential forum on inequality in Iowa (NYP) Mayor de Blasio will host a bipartisan presidential forum on income inequality in a place that will put him on a national stage — the first caucus state of Iowa , multiple sources told The Post. * De Blasio blasted for skipping cop-related town hall meetings (NYP) Civil-rights attorney Norman Siegel called out Mayor de Blasio on Tuesday for failing to attend a series of town-hall meetings devoted to improving police-community relations. “We’re extremely disappointed,” Siegel said at a press conference alongside Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. “Not participating in town-hall meetings that [de Blasio] and his staff were invited to. What does that say?”* Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is yet to make an endorsement in the race for the White House,will host a bipartisan presidential candidate forum in Iowa on income inequality. * Civil-rights attorney Norman Siegel is blasting de Blasio for not attending a series of town-hall meetings on police-community relations. * State Republicans Knock de Blasio’s Iowa Forum (YNN) *De Blasio Returning to the National Political Stage (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, is flying to Washington — his eighth trip there as mayor — to address what is billed as “the largest-ever gathering of progressive lawmakers.”* Bill de Blasio’s silly Iowa event is a recipe for more New York blues (NYP) “It upsets me that he hasn’t done a town- hall meeting,” Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told The Post. “I don’t know that going to Iowa is going to help secure funding for affordable housing.” The mayor’s still deep in his bubble: Out-of-towners “get” his “accomplishments” better than New Yorkers, as he’s said. Yeah: Out-of-towners don’t see his results. If you want to make “inequality” a thing, do something about it — starting with, say, how the public-school system denies the poor the education they need to rise. Or with violent crime plaguing minority neighborhoods.* De Blasio’s plan to hold a presidential forum in Iowa next month isn’t sitting well with other city officials, who say he hasn’t held a single town-hall meeting on his own turf since being elected 21 months ago, the Postwrites: * * After a summer of local headaches, from squabbles over taxicabs to toplessness in Times Square , de Blasio is returning to the national political stage, a realm that he relishes,the Times writes: * De Blasio, a Democrat, is flying to Washington tomorrow — his eighth trip there as mayor — to address what is billed as “the largest-ever gathering of progressive lawmakers.” His top political advisers are also finalizing a forum for presidential candidates, to take place this fall in Iowa , where the mayor is hoping to inject his signature issue of income inequality into the 2016 race. * New York Republicans wasted no time in attacking de Blasio over his plans to hold a presidential forum in Iowa sometime in November. “It would appear Mayor de Blasio is bored with his job already,” state GOP chair Ed Cox said in an emailed statement. * State GOP chair slams de Blasio’s plans for Iowa presidential forum (PoliticoNY)
Will de Blasio End the Bubble to Get Re-elected?
Gonzalez: De Blasioprepares appeal for 2nd term in office by 'talking to real New Yorkers' (NYDN) In the coming months, de Blasio is planning a series of public events, town hall meetings and media interviews to tell his story, he said. On Wednesday night, he held a virtual town hall by telephone with thousands of public school parents, answering more than 20 questions. “I’m going to be doing a lot of that, talking to real New Yorkers and answering their concerns,” he said.\
de Blasio Who Attacks the Press Reacts to the Press Promising to Put A Roof of the Head of City Workers
The Gentrification Housing Shark Created By NY Pols is Creating Homeless and Killing Affordable Housing
Tuesday Update: Roof for City Workers
Homeless City Workers
De Blasio vows to put a roof over homeless city workers’ heads (NYP)
Homeless City Workers
Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless (NYP) Angelo Torres punches in to work at 5 a.m. each weekday and spends the next eight hours cleaning up debris on Staten Island’s Midland Beach
If Rip Van Wilhelm @BilldeBlasio gets up early,he can show the Pope the new homeless god's children he created
First Team de Blasio Games the Election System, Now They are Looking Forward to See the City's Newspapers Die
First Team de Blasio Games the Election System, Now They are Looking Forward to See the City's Newspapers Die
The Media Does Not Hold de Blasio Responsible for CSA Failures Like They Did Bloomberg
De Blasio and the city’s Administration for Children’s Services stand silent on the three deaths of infants in the last three months at the hands of their mothers and should swiftly account for, and end, the deadly “epidemic,” the Daily News writes:
de Blasio Was Not Silent About Child Abuse Before He Became Mayor “That says we are missing an opportunity to intervene asearly as possible,” the public advocate, Bill de Blasio, said in an interview. (2012, NYT) * PUBLIC ADVOCATE BILL DE BLASIO CRITICIZES THE CITY FORCRITICIZING HIS REPORT ON CHILD DEATHS (2012, Village Voice) * There was a City Council hearing on the ACS in September 2007, announced by then-Councilman Bill de Blasio, the chairman of the General Welfare Committee, which has jurisdiction over the ACS. De Blasio cited the death of 21-month-old Hailey Gonzalez after she was allegedly beaten by her mother's boyfriend and the death of a 2-month-old after the child was allegedly shaken by his mother in a homeless shelter. The Councilman said that ACS has made some progress but noted that children were still being lost. * Following Reports of Abuse at PS 87, De Blasio Calls onChancellor to Explain Lack of Discipline for Prior Incident * De Blasio: Six Years After Nixzmary, Children Still Lostin Preventable Deaths (Brooklyn Eagle) * De Blasio's Past as ACS Watchdog in Spotlight After MylsDobson's Death (DNAINFO)
The Quick Fix Designed to Reduce Neagitive Press Does Not Solve the Problem
The Buck Does Not Stop Anywhere Near de Blasio . . . Blame the Media . . Blame Cuomo . . . Blame A Sponge
Bill de Blasio’s lame blame game (NYP Ed) Blame Mike Bloomberg. Blame Gov. Cuomo. Blame the media — just don’t blame Bill de Blasio. That’s City Hall’s response to flak over Gotham ’s woes. This week, for example, an MSNBC host blasted de Blasio’s “misguided liberalism” for ballooning vagrancy, so a mayoral aide tried to shift the blame to Bloomberg. “Who was mayor during time when NYC homeless numbered 25,000 in 2002 and jumped to 53,000 by 2013. Not @BilldeBlasio,” tweeted press secretary Karen Hinton. Example No. 2: When HOT 97 DJ Ebro Darden this week complained of embarrassing reporting about the mayor, de Blasio agreed — dismissing the news as “hype.” And when Cuomo (rightly) decried the city’s slow response to the Legionnaires’ outbreak, Hinton again tried to shine the spotlight elsewhere: “What about the state’s performance?” she asked. Oops, that remark infuriated Cuomo, so Team de Blasio passed the buck one more time — blaming Hinton. The mayor’s spokeswoman, word went out, wasn’t actually speaking for the mayor. Still, none of this compares to de Blasio’s most out-of-touch finger-pointing of all: In May, he claimed his critics in New York didn’t know what was going on in their own city as well as progressive out-of-towners. The mayor’s “Who, me?” strategy isn’t working. He’s at his lowest levels in the polls, and there’s increasing talk, even within his own party, about challengers looking to topple him in 2017. * Mayor de Blasio sayscity won't go back to 'bad old days' under his watch (NYDN)
Bagdad Bill Says Pay No Attention to the Press
Bill de Blasio Claims People ‘Not Buying the Hype’ of His Bad Press (NYO) Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a radio interview today that he agreed that wealthy interests are driving negative news coverage of his administration, but argued New Yorkers would not allow that to impact their vote come 2017. Speaking to host Ebro Darden on Hot 97 Radio this morning, Mr. de Blasio said he concurred with Mr. Darden’s assessment that “there are people with a lot of money that don’t want to see you get re-elected because you’re for the common man.” The mayor touted his universal prekindergarten program, afterschool programs for junior high school students, affordable housing construction, reduced stops and frisks by police and the lower overall crime rate—despite a summer spike in gang violence. “I think you’re right, that there is always misinformation,” Mr. de Blasio said, adding that he was not worried about headlines trumpeting everything from increased shootings to rampant homelessness to nearly-naked women in Times Square affecting his re-election chances. “I think the people are smart. I don’t think they’re buying the hype. I think if they see things changing in their own lives, that’s how you are polled.”* In a radio interview on Hot 97, de Blasio said he agreed with the idea that wealthy interests are driving negative news coverage of his administration, but argued New Yorkers were “not buying the hype,” the Observerwrites: It’s not Elmo’s world (NYDN Ed)
How Can Mayor Flack Hinton Talk About Hack Jobs for Income Equality When the City is Pushing Out the Middle Class and Poor?
Mayoral spokeswoman Karen Hinton defended her boss. “When this administration hires without posting, we are hiring qualified candidates who are committed to ending income inequality and ensuring a government that looks like and serves all New Yorkers,” she said.
de Blasio Hires Campaign Workers in City Jobs to Set Up His Re-Election
De Blasio hires cronies to advance his progressive agenda (NYP) In addition to creating a $150,000 post for Stephanie Yazgi — the longtime girlfriend of his top strategist, Emma Wolfe — de Blasio has created positions to amp up his progressive agenda and national profile and spread propaganda touting his “transcendent” accomplishments. The city’s television station — led by de Blasio buddy Janet Choi — devotes much of its taxpayer-funded $5.7 million budget to broadcasting his ribbon-cuttings, announcements and features about his friends, including his wedding singer. His $105,000 digital director, Jessica Singleton, shapes his social-media image while his $69,000 media analyst, Mahen Gunaratna, measures the influence of his messages. Update Stephanie Yazgi, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new “immigration organizer,” was being paid by private funds before being brought on staff – countering his claim that taxpayers had to pay her $150,000 salary because an outside grant fell through, the Post writes:
“The CAU has now turned into a four-year organizing arm of the de Blasio campaign,” said a former liaison with the unit.
But the bulk of his buddies land jobs at City Hall in the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.The CAU traditionally had staffers represent the mayor at community-board and civic-group meetings across the city, reporting back to the administration on neighborhood concerns. “The CAU unit now employs Pinny Ringel, a $65,000-a-year liaison to the Jewish community and a former Public Advocate’s Office staffer under de Blasio. Sarah Sayeed is a liaison who specializes in the Muslim community. And Jonathan Soto is senior community liaison to the Clergy Advisory Council, another de Blasio creation. Kicy Motley, a de Blasio campaign worker who tweeted “F- -k. The. Police.” in 2012, found a home in the CAU office as $55,000-a-year Brooklyn borough director. And Rebecca Lynch, a Teamsters union lobbyist who backed de Blasio’s campaign, landed a gig as an $85,000-a-year special assistant in the CAU before taking a leave of absence to launch a bid for City Council in Queens .
De Blasio’s first Twitter chat predictably goes off the rails (NYP) Mayor de Blasio got an earful from disgruntled New Yorkers on Monday when he took to Twitter for a rare unscripted chat with constituents. “You can’t seriously think that a few unruly topless performers in Times Square is a pressing issue, right??” wrote Brian Boucher, one of several users who blasted de Blasio’s handling of nuisance complaints at Times Square . “Is @CommissBratton typing the responses, or is he telling you what to say over your shoulder and you’re typing?” a user named Alec wrote, referring to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.* De Blasio hosted his first – unannounced – Twitter chat, which featured some negative questioners.* Times Square is a pressing issue, right?” Or: “How does a cavalcade of SUVs from the UES to the Park Slope Y fit into the city’s climate change and resiliency plans?” So much for the mayor who ran as a populist promising to reach out to “forgotten” New Yorkers. It was only three months ago — 521 days into his term — that de Blasio finally agreed to take public calls on a radio show, something Mayors David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg did weekly. And still no town halls, though every mayor since Ed Koch has held them regularly. Even City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James hold such forums with constituents.* New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli didn’t think she was a “good match” with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, despite being committed to helping the city’s most vulnerable, the Daily News reports: * The Daily News’ Alyssa Katz writes that while puttingblame on his predecessors for problems rests on elements of truth, de Blasio glosses over deeply rooted obstacles to reform that have nothing to do with whether a city administration cares about fixing problems:
Delusional de Blasio Thinks Media Handled Bloomberg With "Kid Gloves"
Mayor as media critic: Blaz told us it's "well-established” that Bloomy was covered with a “kid-glove sensibility” delusional
Bump After Bump, Bill de Blasio Is Still Hitting Political Potholes (NYT) Many allies are wondering how Mr. de Blasio, a seasoned political operative, allowed problems to add up in his second year in office. De Blasio’s second year in office has been a rough one, marred by a serious of blunders and public image problems, including his ongoing, very public, feud with Gov. Andrew Cuomo * Mayor de Blasio makes his worst excuse yet for his awful year (NYP) De Blasio complains he’s not getting the soft media treatment he claims his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, received. The current mayor must have missed our scathing editorials and front-page stories about Nanny Mike — as well as the famous Post depiction of Bloomberg (after one of his early weekend jaunts to his Bermuda home) on a milk carton as missing. Mayor Mike certainly read that coverage: He regularly teed off at the press, including The Post, for stories he disliked. But he never blamed the media for his political problems — though his own standing in the polls at this point in his mayoralty was even lower than de Blasio’s 44 percent. And Bloomberg sure never claimed publicly that “a lot of people outside New York City understand what happened in the first year of [his mayoralty in] New York City better than people in New York City .” That fatuous bit of smug self-congratulation came before de Blasio’s public feud with Gov. Cuomo, his across-the-board defeats in Albany and his recent bungling in the face of the Legionnaire’s disease outbreak — not to mention rising public concern over quality-of-life issues. Stop basking in the cheers of progressive out-of-towners, Mr. Mayor, and start worrying about the day-to-day concerns of average New Yorkers — concerns you can read about in this newspaper. Nearly all your political problems are self-inflicted. Grow up, and quit whining like a crybaby.* The Post writes that de Blasio’s assertion that former NewYork City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received softer treatment from the media is wrong and a cover for the mistakes he’s made this year:* Mayor de Blasio had a miserable summer. Here's how he canbounce back: (NY Mag) New York Magazine’s Chris smith analyzes de Blasio’s “miserable summer” – his battles with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Uber, the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak – and how he might work to move forward this fall:
De Blasio cancels press baseball game over a little bit of rain(NYP)
How de Blasio Plays the Media
The de Blasio Dance: Bad Story About His Administration - ATTACK THE PRESS
Media "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism"
Spiro Agnew and de Blasio
De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * The Agnew de Blame the Press "Fear-Mongering" Edition * De Blasio 12/3/14: I had 2 “train” son "how 2 takespecial care w police." Today: “media...likes 2 look backwards” (Capital)
“With all due respect to your publication, which is well known for fear-mongering, let’s look at the facts. We have had a reduction in crime, we’ve had a reduction in street homelessness, and we are going to deal with problems related to mental health much more aggressively,” he said.* The Post writes that de Blasio is in denial about thehomeless crisis because he accused the tabloid of “fear mongering” in its coverage and is relying on a street census taken in 27 degree temperatures:
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
The NYP Loves to Blow True News' Bubble
NYP Copies True News Bubble Mayor: the Homeless Edition
Cops keep de Blasio in a bum-free bubble (NYP) No wonder he doesn’t think there’s a problem. The police have been laboring to keep Mayor de Blasio in a bum-free bubble — clearing nuisance-causing vagrants from his view at Gracie Mansion
On May 22nd True News Introduced the Mayoral Bubble While de Blasio Used the Cops to Keep Protesters Away From A Boardwalk News Conference
Mayor Puts New Yorkers Who Want to Ask Questions Into Pens and Reads His Script in Front of the Political Class* -- AP’s “[O]n Friday in the Rockaways, unlike on Staten Island the day before, [de Blasio] largely heard cheers. That was in part due to the event's careful stagecraft, featuring tight security that kept would-be demonstrators nearly out of the mayor's line of sight. … the site of his press conference was tightly controlled by Department of Parks security and City Hall staffers, who took the unusual step of cordoning off potential disruptors to an area about 50 yards down the boardwalk.” * Channeling Orwell: Mayor de Blasio's "Free SpeechZone": (WCBS) * Bubble Mayor Homeless Plan Keep Them Out of His Sight and the Parks
Imagine If You Will, A Watertower That Breaks the Mayor's Control of the Press
“If that’s what you guys want to talk about, I find it really interesting that a hotel owner’s feelings are more important to you than what we’re doing to stop a disease—but feel free,” Mr. de Blasio testily added. A reporter asking a follow-up question about the Opera House Hotel was cut off. “Forgive me guys, you really have to pay attention to what’s important and stop following these smaller stories,” he said. “We erred on the side of transparency and disclosure, and that’s the bottom line and that’s much more important than a few [minutes] of this individual. * Mayor Bill de Blasio urged reporters to not focus their attention on concerns being raised by a Bronx hotel owner and report on the bigger picture of the Legionnaires outbreak.
Legionnaires Pops Mayor's Press Bubble
Barks into Twilight Zone
The mayor also chastised multiple reporters for asking about a
NYP is Wrong de Blasio is Not in Denial He is Just Controlling the Message and the Press
Bill de Blasio in denial on homeless horrors (NYP Ed) John Tucker was still plaguing Manhattan ’s West Side on Monday, two days after The Post used its front page to display the vagrant’s blight-inviting behavior. Yet Mayor de Blasio insists he’s got everything under control.
de Blasio "Don't Believe What You Read In the NYP and Daily News About Crime Rising"
Friday Do Not Believe Everything You Read in the NewYork Post': Mayor Smacks Down Tabloids (NYO) Once again, Mayor Bill de Blasio dinged the city’s two tabloids today, telling radio listeners that the New York Post and Daily News are greatly exaggerating the threat that crime and shootings pose to the five boroughs. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, appeared on WNYC this morning, taking call-in questions from New Yorkers for the first time since he became mayor more than a year ago. He took special aim at “New York ’s Hometown Newspaper.” Update Last Night Crime One killed, 6 wounded in shootings across 3 boroughs (NYP) * Man fatally shot standing in his Brooklyn driveway (NYP) * Two killed, five wounded by gunfire in three boroughs (NYDN) * Elderly woman latest victim amid citywide surge in rapes (NYP)
The Mayor Attacks the Press and the Reporters At the Press Conference
de Blasio Blames McCarthyism Press For Noerdlinger Leaving . . . Mr. Mayor Press Got the Senator and Press Reporting Facts About Noerlinger
Before the Mayor Spoke Bratton Warned the Press How Volatile Their Industry Has Gotten With All the Media Layoff - A Threat from Commission Slick?
The Mayor Attacks the Press and the Reporters At the Press Conference
“What are you guys going to do? Are you going to keep dividing us?” de Blasio asked reporters when asked about the anti-NYPD rhetoric and call for violence that were heard at these protests, during a press conference at 1 Police Plaza
We Now Know From Emails That the Press Was Right About Noerdlinger Connections to Sharpton
De Blasio blames media and exposes his heart lies with protesters (NYP) Late in the day, the mayor’s mask of conciliation came off. Actually, he ripped it off with a snarl and gave vent to his smoldering anger at what he regards as the real culprit. No, it’s not the protesters who beat and spit on cops and accuse them of being the KKK. It definitely isn’t the mobs chanting for dead cops. Nor is it those who shut down highways, bridges and invade stores to disrupt the holiday season. The real problem, as de Blasio sees it, is the media. I kid you not — he actually shot the messenger. He accused the reporters assembled in front of him of stoking outrage by focusing on “the few” protesters doing “immoral” things. * Noerdlinger: A liar working for liars to help tell lies (NYP Ed) Now we know Rachel Noerdlinger wasn’t just a liar, she was a liar working for other liars to help tell lies. Officially hired as First Lady Chirlane McCray’s chief of staff until she was forced out by scandal, Noerdlinger was in fact working as liaison to her old boss, Al Sharpton, for the entire de Blasio administration. E-mails released just before the holiday weekend (in a classic effort to bury bad news) show that Noerdlinger regularly passed along official talking points to Sharpton — while also counseling the mayor on how to keep Sharpton happy.After Sharpton’s incendiary rhetoric humiliated both Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton at last July’s infamous press conference, she got City Hall to pull back from exposing Sharpton as — what else — a liar.
de Blasio Blames McCarthyism Press For Noerdlinger Leaving . . . Mr. Mayor Press Got the Senator and Press Reporting Facts About Noerlinger
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| The Media's Attack on Noerdlinger Facts McCarthy Invented Attacks |
(NYDN) "I think the notion that somehow, in modern society, not just your own actions, but your girlfriend or boyfriend, your own teenage child, somehow all of this is fair game in the public discourse, I think something's gone wrong here that we really need to look at," de Blasio said at an unrelated news conference in Brooklyn . "Where are we going?" he asked reporters. "Would you all like to have that discussion about yourselves? You're in the public eye." "A lot of really nasty stuff was done here. It is clearly for a purpose. It's quite obvious: Why would so much attention be given to one person and her personal life?" he asked. "It's clearly a pretty systematic effort to undermine certain work that's being done," de Blasio said, although he did not provide concrete examples when given the chance to do so in a follow-up question. De Blasio said Noerdlinger, who said she's leaving to spend more time with son Khari, 17, is "welcome back to the administration" when and if she feels she's taken care of her family issues.* De Blasio Decries 1950s-Style ‘Smear’ Campaign Against Noerdlinger (NYO) Mayor Bill de Blasio today railed against what he called a “nasty” and “repulsive” smear campaign — which he seemed to compare to the McCarthyism of the 1950s — that led in part to the stepping down of his wife’s chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger. NOERDLINGER COVERAGE ‘REPULSIVE’ -- De Blasio lashes outat the media -- Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: In speaking to reporters, the mayor criticized the press corps for its coverage of Noerdlinger. "We've seen this throughout the history of this country," he said. "If someone wants to smear people and use that for political purposes, there's a pretty easy playbook for doing it. It's repulsive, but it's become quite common. You guys do what you want, but for the rest of us as citizens, as people trying to make this city better or this country better, we have to get on with the work and not be putting so much time and energy into one person's personal life when we have things like affordable housing, job creation, education to talk about.”
The City Hall Press Backs Down When the Mayor Attacks - de Blasio to Press: "Are you going to keep dividing us?"
“They are wrong,” he said, his voice rising. “But are you going to keep dividing us? What you manage to do is pull up the few who do not represent the majority.” He called it “unfair,” and insisted most protesters were peaceful but “you guys enable” the troublemakers. He went on in the vein for several minutes, becoming more forceful and shutting down a persistent reporter by addressing him as “my friend,” a phrase he paired with a death stare. His heart remains with the protesters, and in spirit, he is still with them, denouncing the very police force that works for him. His passion for the anti-cop agenda is so deep that he wasn’t capable of following his own advice to take a break from divisiveness for even a single day. The mayor’s intemperate performance was unforgettable, and unforgivable. Any hope that he would own up to the fact that he contributed to the atmosphere that led to Saturday’s bloody explosion was dashed.* Video Shows NYC Protesters Chanting for "DeadCops"(Video) * Video of Mayor De BlasioSLAMS Media For Portraying Majority Of Protesters As Violent * Bill de Blasio Rips Media: ‘Are You Going toKeep Dividing Us?’(NYO)
de Blasio Blasts the Media Says They are Responsible for the Racial Divide Poll
de Blasio Dimisses Poll on Racial Divide and Attacks Press for Reporting Its Results
De Blasio Dimisses Poll on Racial Divide(WSJ) de Blasio on Wednesday dismissed a new poll showing a racial divide in the city over his performance at New York City Hall Quinnipiac University Staten Island – still,” citing his “insultingly condescending tone” with a Staten Island Advance reporter at a recent press conference.
Sharpton Attacks the Press Over Noerdlinger Coverage
Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire(AP)
Lots of media-bashing from @TheRevAl over coverage of @rachelnoerd. To the press: "have you no pride in your profession?" *
Blasting the Press, de Blasio, Sharpton Over Noerdlinger and Racial Divide; Clueless Press
The Racial Divide, A Tale of Two City's Black and White
“de Blasio's DOE Scrubbing” Grades to Keep the School Open
How Local TV News Make Millions Rehabilitating Candidates and Cleaning Up Policies Harmful to the Public
Blasting the Press, de Blasio
Bubble Mayor No Town Hall de Blasio Spins and the NYC Press Defining Journalism Down
To de Blasio School Control is More About 2017 Re-election Politics Than Education
School’s out forsome (NYDN Ed) He Who Grants School Holidays, who recently handeth down two days off for Muslim holy days, hath proclaimed that students and teachers will also now get Lunar New Year off. So Mayor de Blasio, flanked by community leaders, announced this week. The mayor didn’t make the case the way he should have — by arguing that too many students and teachers are absent to enable schools to function on that day.
As de Blasio Poll Numbers Fall He Floats His Press Bubble to the Outer Boroughs
Approval ratings behind de Blasio’s outer borough roadshow (NYP) Mayor de Blasio ventured to the Rockaways on Friday, continuing his outer-borough charm offensive in the wake of sinking poll numbers and criticism of his progressive wanderlust. A day after a staged photo-op showing Hizzoner filling potholes on Staten Island, he ventured to Queens for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at part of the rebuilt boardwalk destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The city got $480 million from the feds to rebuild the boardwalk, and de Blasio announced any leftover money “will stay in the Rockaways.” Political strategists say it’s no accident de Blasio is taking his show across the city. “The poll numbers show he’s sinking, so he has to take action,” veteran operative told The Post. “He’ll be appearing at fires, crime scenes, anything to show he’s the mayor of the city. The people have said we don’t want him to be the mayor of America , they want him to be the mayor of NYC.” A Quinnipiac University New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the unofficial opening of summer on Friday with a celebration of the completion of the first restored section of the Rockaway Boardwalk that was wrecked by superstorm Sandy in 2012. Mayor Puts New Yorkers Who Want to Ask Questions Into Pens and Reads His Script in Front of the Political Class* -- AP’s “[O]n Friday in the Rockaways, unlike on Staten Island the day before, [de Blasio] largely heard cheers. That was in part due to the event's careful stagecraft, featuring tight security that kept would-be demonstrators nearly out of the mayor's line of sight. … the site of his press conference was tightly controlled by Department of Parks security and City Hall staffers, who took the unusual step of cordoning off potential disruptors to an area about 50 yards down the boardwalk.” * Channeling Orwell: Mayor de Blasio's "Free SpeechZone": (WCBS)
Koch, Giulani and Bloomberg Constantly Took Questions From the Public While de Blasio is Always Scripted, Staged and Spinned
Escape from NewYorkers is not a smart idea for Bill de Blasio (NYDN Ed) Chastened by criticism that he had spent more time visiting faraway states than he had on Staten Island, Mayor de Blasio ventured on Thursday to the pretty, forgotten borough where had earlier dropped a groundhog. There, the mayor was confronted after a press conference by 49-year-old Chris Altieri, who was not shy about expressing his displeasure with a speed camera as well as with property taxes. This was doubly news because, unlike past mayors, de Blasio has studiously avoided publicly interacting with his constituents. Ed Koch famously joined the walking crowds on the Brooklyn Bridge Staten Island over speed cameras was a start for a mayor who has avoided interaction with citizens"
NYCLU and Press Club Demand de Blasio Respect 1st Amendment
de Blasio Press Reports About My Bad Relations With Assembly Wrong
Mayor Only Allows the Press to Question Him Not the Public at Town Hall Meetings
Meetings with the Public in Iowa Not NYC Boy Does He Hate Us
de Blasio Taking Advance of Albany Melt Down Even Went On Conservative Gambling Talk Show
Mayor @BilldeBlasio rips Albany's'do-nothing culture' CrainsNY)
“I’m someone who believes we need fundamental change in Albany ,” de Blasio said. “We need public financing of elections. We need a different kind of leadership in the Senate. We shouldn’t be surprised that time and time again issues aren’t dealt with in this current status quo in Albany – it just doesn’t work.” * While pushing his agenda in Albany , de Blasio has increasingly leaned on unlikely allies: New York City ’s business elite. In recent weeks, he has held strategy meetings with top executives at City Hall and asked corporate figures to make calls to state leaders on his behalf. * Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie are both casting blame on the Republican-led State Albany (NYO)
Standing quietly in a dark,stalled #2 subway this morning, I wanted to scream:HEY ALBANY: WHERE'S THE FUNDING FOR THE @MTA CAPITAL PROGRAM?
More on the Albany Budget
Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics, 421-a
Real Estate Developers, Tax Breakes and Politics, 421-a
Increased Homelessness
War: de Blasio vs Cuomo
Unlike Bloomberg Administration Media Gives de Blasio A Pass On ACS Failures
Pols Increasing Bypassing the Media
Unlike Bloomberg Administration Media Gives de Blasio A Pass On ACS Failures
Bloomberg Media Flashback 2011
Pols Increasing Bypassing the Media
Elected Officials Increasing Use Social Media to Bypass a Very Weakened Media
Elected officials are using social media technologies like blogs, Facebook and Twitter to communicate directly to voters. More than ever before, they can bypass the professional press and deliver an uncensored, unfiltered — and unchecked — message spinned by their flacks and lobbyists. The information put out by elected officials not only intends to put the pols in a positive light, it is increasing designed to mislead the public on what is really going on in they city. Yesterday Mayor de Blasio said “We have reduced crime, the numbers are overwhelming clear” His own chief of police has reported that the number of shooting and murders are up.
We are entering a perfect storm of the weakening of the Freedom of the Press protections created by the founding fathers. “The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people.” Hugo Black, Supreme Court Judge. The invention of the Internet has disrupted a system that has offered the public a reliable independent way to find out what their government was up to for the past 250 years. The media has also given up its very important investigative reporting role.
One Year Ago U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara challenged journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY) "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara. The press has a role to play. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said The media has not responded to the U.S. Attorney request. Today mostly what you read in newspapers feels like press releases. The former DA of Brooklyn called reporters stenographers. The entire 2013 campaign was full of press release promising more services for NYCHA tenants. The press never asked the candidates with the federal cuts in public housing where the funds were going to come from to repair the building. As recent events have indicated there is no money to fix public housing. Media Today Press Release Journalism After a spike in shootings in New York, de Blasio predicts his policieswill ‘turn the tide’: (NY Mag)
de Blasio on the Social Media
More than 5,000 New Yorkers are calling on Albany
Diversity is strength. @FDNY, the world's greatest fire department, will grow even stronger when it more closely resembles our city. *
Comp-Stat At DOE All About Controlling Info = Press
Principals Still Held Accountable for Failed Schools
de Blasio Shakes Up Press Office
De Blasio wants CompStat-like grilling for school principals (NYP) Mayor de Blasio is borrowing a page from the NYPD’s accountability playbook by launching CompStat-like meetings where top education officials will grill school leaders over their results. Hizzoner announced the “War Room” initiative Thursday at Richmond Hill HS in Queens , one of 94 struggling schools splitting $150 million in extra resources and support to shape up within three years — or else face overhauls that could include closure. “We’re going to hold every one of the principals to the same kind of standards that our precinct commanders are held to via CompStat,” de Blasio said.* Mayor de Blasio Defends Efforts to Help Struggling Schools (NYT) At a school in Queens, Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke about “SWAT teams” for schools with poor leadership, newly aggressive language that comes as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo pushes state involvement.* Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his efforts to fix troubled city schools, including sending “SWAT teams” to schools with poor leadership, as “the educational equivalent of house-to-house combat,” the Times reports * Heastie slams Cuomo's education reforms (NYDN) * NYPD data tactics will be used to fix NYC schools: de Blasio (NYDN) * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his administration’s efforts to fix New York City’s troubled schools, describing those efforts as a cross between a war and a policing operation — “the educational equivalent of house-to-house combat.” * De Blasio ratcheted up his criticism of Cuomo’s school takeover plan, saying: “I think the notion of a group of bureaucrats 150 miles away trying to determine the fate of our children sounds like a formula for disaster.” *On school reform, "Cuomo, de Blasio, Fariña, Moskowitzand the union leaders suffer from tunnel vision."(NYDN) Albany * Mayor Bill de Blasio’s alternative proposal to help turn around struggling public schools is receiving a boost from state lawmakers in both parties, who are leery of Cuomo’s plan to install a receivership model, State of Politics reports: * The Association for a Better New York and the Partnership for New York City are backingNYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s call for a permanent extension of the expiring mayoral control law.* The choice to make de Blasio less visible was a deliberateone” (AP)
de Blasio Shakes Up Press Office
Bill De Blasio Shakes Up City Hall Press Office(NYO)
Bill De Blasio Shakes Up City Hall Press Office(NYO)
Are the Leaders Of NYC Nuts, Liars Or Incompetent Leaders?
New York City’s delusional leaders — hear, see and say no evil (NYP) Our leadership in City Hall this past month has proven itself to be delusional at best. Mayor de Blasio hears no evil; his No. 1 adviser, Chirlane McCray, sees no evil and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks no evil. What a trio. De Blasio has an earworm that he just can’t get out of his head. He walks around practically singing that we’re the safest big city, and things have never been better. As The Post headline blared “Violent Crime Soars, De Blasio Splits Town,” his response was that out-of-towners give him more respect. They understand his achievements; ungrateful New Yorkers don’t. As felony crimes escalated in the subways, he said it was simply because more people are riding subways now than ever before. With sex crimes soaring this past month, his spokesmen have said it’s the result of expanded outreach and improved reporting procedures. But he’s not alone.
His top adviser, his wife Chirlane McCray, sees no evil. In a recent NY1 interview, she recalled that 1977 was a vintage year in NYC. New York City was, in her words, “Strong, inclusive and dynamic. A city that had affordable housing.” This was, of course, the year when Howard Cosell famously described how The Bronx was burning in the distance as Reggie Jackson rounded the bases after his third home run against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series. A blackout occurred in the summer followed by two days of looting and burning. We locals referred to our city as the Rotten Apple. “Strong, inclusive and dynamic” it was not. And then finally we have Bratton, who can speak no evil. He denied, against strong evidence, that reducing stop-and-frisk contributed to the subsequent rise in crime. When it comes to explaining why fewer black males are taking the test to join the NYPD, the commish first blamed black males who were victimized by stop-and-frisk. * Andrew Cuomo, mere mortal: How to explain his declininginfluence in Albany (NYDN)
de Blasio Inner Circle Includes the Press
WHAT CITY HALL ISREADING -- “Team de Blasio: Mayor’s inner circle has outside advisers,” by AP’s Jonathan Lemire: “Bill de Blasio’s inner circle isn't contained by the walls of City Hall. The New York City mayor's unofficial cabinet includes about a half-dozen outside political strategists, many of whom he has known for decades and frequently turns to for advice when formulating his agenda or managing a crisis, sometimes double- and triple-checking opinions. ... Patrick Gaspard, now the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, has been a close ally since he and de Blasio worked for ex-Mayor David Dinkins; Jonathan Rosen is head of the BerlinRosen public relations firm that represents many liberal causes; Nick Baldick, a veteran Democratic consultant, met de Blasio when they worked on the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign; and Peter Ragone has worked with de Blasio on a number of campaigns over the last 20 years and only recently returned to the private sector after a stint as senior adviser at City Hall. * ”Here's video of most of that confrontation between a StatenIslander and de Blasio (SI Advance)
Crime and Confusion in a Safer New York City (NYT Ed) Mr. de Blasio has a ready response, which he repeated on Friday. It’s that serious crime overall is still down — way down — from historic highs. That the shooting problem is largely confined to a few precincts in Brooklyn and the Bronx , where gangs and drugs hold sway. (Police Commissioner William Bratton said it’s “career criminals, killing and shooting other career criminals.”) And that he and Mr. Bratton have got this, through programs, with names like Summer All Out and Operation Impact, that will focus attention and officers on crime-plagued neighborhoods. Mr. Bratton’s remark about career criminals is meant to reassure everyone else. And the comforting statistics Mr. de Blasio cites have the virtue of being accurate. But they don’t mean much if you live in a problem precinct. Here’s what is also unsettling: the continued disagreement between the mayor and Mr. Bratton over police staffing. Mr. Bratton has sided with the City Council, which has consistently urged the hiring of 1,000 new officers. The mayor has just as consistently said that the money is needed elsewhere, and that Mr. Bratton has all the officers he needs. * Bratton: Don’t Blame Stop-And-Frisk Reduction ForMurder Spike (WCBS)
Mr. de Blasio argues that the steep reduction in stop-and-frisk and marijuana arrests has led to a manpower dividend: Cops who aren’t hassling young black and Latino men have a lot more time for smarter, better crime-fighting. But if the mayor is right, why isn’t his own police commissioner buying it? But if the mayor is right, why isn’t his own police commissioner buying it? Maybe some political game is being played here, some budget-related dance or some message being sent to the police unions. The result for those of us in the cheap seats is confusion. Do we need more cops, or not? Does the mayor trust his police commissioner as his No. 1 public-safety expert, or not? If he does trust him, why doesn’t he give him more officers? If he doesn’t trust him, that is a much bigger problem. Adding 1,000 officers to a force of 34,500 probably won’t lead to drastic results. But the split on so basic a subject suggests a level of discord in the administration that is not reassuring.
It also emboldens the critics who say Mr. de Blasio is ineptly leading the city back to the ugly 1990s. The mayor’s more fervid critics need to get a grip. But the mayor should, too. It is of barely passing interest whether he appears to be dominating Mr. Bratton, or the other way around. What matters is a unified strategy to ensure that all law-abiding citizens are treated with respect, while keeping the city safe, consolidating and perpetuating its success in lowering crime, and quieting the gunfire where it persists. * Bill de Blasio takes (some of) The Post’s advice (NYP Ed)
We’re glad to see Mayor de Blasio taking (some of) our advice — even if he feels compelled to throw the odd slap our way. Back on May 20, we noted that the last two mayors did regular radio call-in shows, and we urged him to follow suit: “Talk and listen to your constituents on a regular, publicly announced basis. You might actually learn what’s really on their minds.” Looks like de Blasio listened — because there he was Friday on WNYC, taking calls. OK, it was only four calls (one from Manhattan , three from Queens ) in a half hour on “The Brian Lehrer Show.” But it’s a start. Next week, Mr. Mayor, why not do an hour? WNYC is an NPR station — support public radio! * De Blasio, on Radio, Starts Conversation With His Constituents (NYT) New York ’s mayor was quizzed on the police, library funding and fights in Albany while on a call-in show on WNYC radio.The Times writes de Blasio’s critics need to get a grip when it comes to hand-wringing over crime statistics, but concedes the mayor’s and his police commissioner’s public disagreement over police staffing is concerning: * Spin City Word Games: Whose Eyes are Lying About Increased Crime? * "Crime is exploding in New York " -- Michael Goodwin: (NYP) For all that glory, Bratton, at age 67, now faces the most difficult challenge of his career. Crime is exploding in New York , but he could handle that. His problem is his boss. The police commissioner is working for a mayor who is determined to carry out a dangerous social experiment on Gotham . The boss wants peace while handcuffing the cops.
From the NYT:"Adding to the insults for the mayor, Governor Cuomo has rerouted almost $100 million in funds that were supposed to go directly to the city to help repair the roofs of its famously decrepit public housing. Instead, Mr. Cuomo is allowing state legislators to apply to use that money on smaller, less urgent projects, like landscaping or playgrounds. It’s called “ribbon cutting” money in Albany , because it allows legislators to take a little of the political glory. The governor’s explanation for taking control of the funds was that “the state has a better track record at construction.” * Cuomo, de Blasio Exchange Increasingly Bitter Charges Over Controversial Housing Program (NY1) * Cuomo said complicated issues cannot get done with “this Senate and Assembly” in a matter of days, in response to de Blasio’s 421-a proposal and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s ethics plan, the Times Union reports:
Even the Council Blames Cuomo for Their Own NYCHA Oversight Failure Pols fight Cuomo's move to take money from NYCHA 'worst roof' fixes (NYDN)
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter
NYT Calls NYC Safe
70's McCray On Spin Control
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While saying that McCray harbors “no illusions about how tough things were in the city in 1977,” he contended that “she made a really powerful point.” “Those were not ideal times, but at least you could find a place you could afford to live,” the mayor said, sending the mind racing toward an affordable housing program based on economic and social collapse. He wasn’t simply acting the dutiful husband. Instead, he lapsed into trying to bend reality to match his beliefs, much as he has dismissed the frightening phenomenon of cops who have stopped making stops and frisks for fear of getting hammered by superiors. Eden this is not. Nor is it the hell that seems to dwell in mayoral imagination. At worst, it’s a city that’s victim to its own successes.
PBA President Re-Elected
By Bill Bratton -Bratton: Crime surge not a return to NYC’s ‘bad old days’ (NYP) It’s time for a sense of proportion about the increase in shootings and murders in New York City in the first five months of 2015. While it’s true that both categories have risen over last year’s low numbers, the increase is not a harbinger of collapsing law enforcement or crime raging out of control, as some local columnists would have it. Nor is it evidence that the steep decrease over the past four years in reasonable-suspicion stops — or “stop-and-frisks,” as they’re colloquially known — has caused the increase in shootings. The NYPD has plans to counter the current rise in shootings, including reinforcing patrols this summer with police officers who usually do administrative work, and targeted investigations of known gangs and shooters.
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Foreign Ownership of NYC Real Estate and the Lobbyists Who Work for Them
NYP Thanks de Blasio for Taking Their Advice by Going On Radio -Answering 4 Questions
de Blasio Press Reports About My Bad Relations With Assembly Wrong
despite reports suggesting that members of the conference were not happy with him. “I feel great about my relationship with the Assembly,” de Blasio said. “It has been a very strong relationship of mutual respect, obviously with Speaker [Carl] Heastie, and I think with the overwhelmingly majority of the Assembly members. I’m sure there’s going to be some disagreements. That’s normal.” * De Blasio insisted he is on good terms with Democrats in the state Assembly, despite a published report in the Daily News suggesting that at least some members were not happy with him. Unclear plans: “So where exactly are you envisioning the sale of public housing land in the city?” Torres pressed. “I imagine that you’ve given some thought to the subject.” Kelly said the NYCHA was still working out the particulars. When Torres asked which NYCHA land would be used for market-rate private housing development, versus affordable, Kelly said the authority would prioritize “those sites that have the highest market value,” but again declined to elaborate
First the Media is Manipulated by Berlin Rosen to Blame Homelessness on Cuomo Now the NYCHA Mess
Memo to the NYT: It is Not About a Few Roof Fixes Its About the Bankruptcy of the NYCHA
Even the Council Blames Cuomo for Their Own NYCHA Oversight Failure Pols fight Cuomo's move to take money from NYCHA 'worst roof' fixes (NYDN)
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."
Berlin Rosen Black Box Blame Cuomo Homeless Operation as Ratner Creates More Homeless by Gentrification
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter
When NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, head of the Coalition for the Homeless he did no know that Berlin Rosen worked for them. Unregulated Berlin Rosen Will Lead to Foreign Control of New York's Government - A Silent Coup d'etat * The Atlantic Yards CBA promised a path to union apprenticeships. Instead, BUILD's coveted program provoked a bitter lawsuit.(AYR)
Ratner, de Blasio and Berlin Rosen Created Gentrification in Prospect Heights and Not They Blame Cuomo for the Homeless
On NY1, reporters sift through BerlinRosen suspicion; a look back at how firm massaged Ratner's bailout of ACORN(AYR)
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de Blasio Some Free Speech is More Equal Than Other Free Speech
Bill de Blasio’s free-speech hypocrisy (NYP Ed) Time was when Bill de Blasio loved protesters on the street — as long as they were carrying signs against someone else, particularly then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Indeed, back in 2011, during Occupy Wall Street’s squat-in at Zuccotti Park, the then-public advocate called on Bloomberg to “stop the schizophrenia and just make clear that we’re gonna respect their First Amendment rights.” That was then. Mayor de Blasio, it seems, doesn’t want any critical pickets marring his carefully planned photo-ops. Last Friday, sign-holding residents showed up at a mayoral unveiling of the post-Sandy Rockaway boardwalk — and were promptly banished to a “free-speech zone” hundreds of feet away, reports DNAInfo. The Post writes that de Blasio has been a proponent of protestors as long as they are not targeting him, noting his administration has used “a free-speech zone” to keep activists from disrupting his events. * Federal investigators are looking into the city's powerfulcorrection officers' union and its financial dealings: (NY1)
Welcome to de Blasio's Animal Farm
Bubble Mayor
Both the NYC Press and Pols Operate In Their Own Bubble Disconnected From the Voters
As a city, with the work we’re doing as a Council, we’re really trying to lead the way on conversations that you’re starting to see nationally,’ Ms. Mark-Viverito said in an interview. “The burst of attention-grabbing activity from a typically subdued figure has prompted new interest in Ms. Mark-Viverito’s future. There is no natural next step for her in 2017, when she must leave the Council because of term limits. She has pledged not to run for Congress next year, and every citywide office is occupied by a Democrat who is expected to run for re-election in 2017. Ms. Mark-Viverito has expressed interest to at least one ally in running for mayor someday; she has also made lighthearted remarks in private about possibly seeking the governorship of her native Puerto Rico.”
No Town Hall de Blasio Spins and the NYC Press Defining Journalism Down
de Blasio New Flack Calls Missing Train Safety That Would Have Saved 8 Lives A Dud
New Bill de Blasio Spox Thinks Automatic Brakeson Trains Are a ‘Dud’ (NYO) De Blasio’s incoming press secretary, Karen Hinton, deleted a tweet calling braking technology that experts believe could have saved lives in the Amtrak derailment a “dud,” Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new press secretary slammed the brakes on her Twitter account last night—and a deleted tweet shows how much she really thinks about a braking technology that many experts believe could have saved lives on an Amtrak train that derailed last week.Mr. de Blasio announced today that Karen Hinton, a longtime friend who has known Mr. de Blasio since he worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would become his new press secretary, replacing Phil Walzak. Mr. Walzak had been promoted to a senior adviser role. Mr. de Blasio said he did not know that Ms. Hinton had chosen to delete her Twitter account.
De Blasio’s new press secretary quickly deletes Twitter acccount (NYP) So much for transparency. Mayor de Blasio hired a new press secretary on Thursday and one of her first acts was to delete her personal Twitter account. Public-relations veteran Karen Hinton, 56, who worked with de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in the 1990s, is also on record saying she doesn’t believe in putting execs on the record in crises. “In an on-the-record interview, you don’t want [reporters] to grab some misstatement you’ll regret,” she told PR News in 2012. Hinton, who will earn $177,000, said she deleted her account because her new role is to speak for the mayor and not for herself. Hinton, who held a fund-raiser for de Blasio and contributed nearly $3,500 to his 2013 campaign, also said her p.r. strategies would shift now that she’s working for a public entity.
Welcome to de Blasio's Animal Farm
Where Voters Are Kept In Pens Instead of Asking Questions of Their Mayor At Town Hall Meetings
Protesters With Signs Banished to 'Free Speech Zone' atDe Blasio Event (DNAINFO) Sign-holding residents were banished by the mayor's office to a "free speech zone" hundreds of feet away from the unveiling of the Rockaway boardwalk — which a de Blasio spokeswoman said was designed to avoid disruptions. Mayor Bill de Blasio, Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver and local elected officials gathered at the boardwalk at Beach 95th Street at 2:30 p.m. Friday to celebrate the first completed stretch of the $480 million boardwalk, which was rebuilt after being destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. But DNAinfo New York witnessed a staffer from the mayor's community affairs office telling a group of residents they would have to go to a so-called "free speech zone" hundreds of feet from the event if they wanted to express any concerns. The zone was located down a wide set of steps from the boardwalk and behind a cordon of rope. Later other residents told DNAinfo they were informed by multiple officials they would also have to go to the "free speech zone" to hold signs. They told me I could not be on the boardwalk with my sign," said Rick Horan, 61, a Rockaway Park
Bubble Mayor
Both the NYC Press and Pols Operate In Their Own Bubble Disconnected From the Voters
de Blasio New Flack Calls Missing Train Safety That Would Have Saved 8 Lives A Dud
De Blasio hired a new press secretary – Karen Hinton, a former aide to Cuomo who is married to another ex-Cuomo aide, Howard Glaser – and one of her first acts was to delete her personal Twitter account.
NYT Calls NYC Safe
De Blasio finally takes questions from everyday New Yorkers (NYP) He took four questions during a 36-minute appearance, just weeks after getting slammed for shunning New Yorkers while answering questions from common folk on a trip to San Francisco. The mayor has also been criticized for abandoning the decades-old practice of holding town halls, although he insists he gets plenty of feedback on the streets of the Big Apple. The bulk of the radio interview focused on an uptick in murders and shootings in 2015, which Hizzoner said he takes “very seriously” and for which he is deploying additional officers to troubled precincts starting Monday.* Bill de Blasio, in Radio Appearance, Defends Approach on Crime (WSJ) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday he was doing everything in his power to bring down the city's rising homicide rate even as he defended his approach to policing.
A Town Hall Meeting With One Voters . . . 8.299,999 to Go
Now we know why Mayor de Blasio doesn’t visit Staten Island too often. After taking heat for traveling the country while making only two public appearances in the borough this year, Hizzoner headed there Thursday — and got an earful from a local resident angry about speed cameras and property taxes. Chris Altieri, 49, confronted the mayor as de Blasio wrapped up a press conference on road repairs in New Dorp. Altieri insisted a nearby speed camera on the corner of Hylan Blvd. and Tysens Lane is illegally placed since it is not as close to a school as state law requires. City officials say it passes legal muster — and speeding has dropped 30% since it was installed. “It’s illegal and you know it’s illegal,” said Altieri, who went on to argue with the mayor over whether the speed camera program is motivated by safety or cash. “You want the revenue,” Altieri said. De Blasio says the cameras to bust speeders are part of hisVision Zero push to end traffic deaths. * Staten Island Man Quarrels With de Blasio, Says SpeedCameras Are For Revenue (WCBS) * De Blasio Confronted by Resident During Trip to Staten Island (NY1)
70's McCray On Spin Control
Why A 75 Year Old Resident Ask Chirlane McCray To Stop the Guns She Had No Answer
Chirlane McCray Silent After Questions About NYC’s Soaring Shooting & Homicide Rate(WCBS) Residents Suggest The NYPD Bring Back The Stop-And-Frisk Policy In Modified Form * Hi Chirlane, here’s why quality-of-life arrests matter (NYP) * de Blasio said that funneling cash to the reform of New York City ’s jails, education system and homeless shelters is more important than adding a thousand new police officers, the Observer reports: * Chirlane McCray wasn't 'personally afraid' of homeless man (NYDN)
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Daily News Blasts McCray For Calling the 70's Good Old Days
Saturday Update DUMB & DUMBER: Chirlane McCray recalls ‘strong’ times in 1977 when city crime was high, while husband Bill de Blasio insists reduced stop-and-frisk makes NYC safer (NYDN) It was the year of the blackout and bloodthirsty Son of Sam, the South Bronx was burning and subway cars were slathered in graffiti. Or as Mayor de Blasio and his wife Chirlane recall 1977, the good old days. New York City ’s population dipped by 10%, as residents fled for safer climes. Chirlane McCray, while urging tougher rent hike regulations, wistfully recalled on NY1 her arrival in the reeling city during the Abe Beame administration.
Good old Son of Sam: First Lady Chirlane McCray's bizarrenostalgia for 1977 New York City (NYDN Ed) The mantra in every discussion about quality of life in New York holds that the bad old days must never return. Now, the city comes to discover that, in fact,these are the bad old days. Mayoral first lady Chirlane McCray took a nostalgic trip back to 1977, the year she arrived in New York out of college, recalling that “the city was strong, the city was inclusive and dynamic, and we want the city to stay that way.”
Ah, yes, the halcyon era when crime was rampant, arson raged across whole neighborhoods, abandoned buildings lined miles of streets, a blackout unleashed mass rioting, the subways were covered with graffiti, tensions ran high between blacks and whites, the job base collapsed and 10% of the city moved out. Some commentators pondered the death of urban America . But, hey, you could find cheap apartments on the Upper West Side , Park Slope or anywhere else you dared to live. That’s what counted to McCray in measuring the New York of today against the New York of yore — and rendering judgment on the modern thriving metropolis through wildly jaundiced eyes.Mayor de Blasio seconded the extraordinary (one of his favorite words) motion.
And her husband, after defending his spouse, reiterated FrThe mantra in every discussion about quality of life in New York holds that the bad old days must never return. Now, the city comes to discover that, in fact,these are the bad old days. Mayoral first lady Chirlane McCray took a nostalgic trip back to 1977, the year she arrived in New York out of college, recalling that “the city was strong, the city was inclusive and dynamic, and we want the city to stay that way.”iday that the reduction of stop-and-frisk had zero correlation with this year’s increase in murders and shootings. “As we have reduced stops, we have reduced crime,” the mayor said during a live radio appearance Friday. “I think the numbers are overwhelmingly clear.“To me, this has actually been a great ratification of the fact that we can protect individual liberties while making ourselves safer.” The Daily News reported exclusively that the city is on pace to make 42% fewer stops this year as homicides are up almost 20%.
Before 421-a Tax Breaks for Developers You Could Find Afford Housing In NYC
De Blasio, asked if his wife’s pining for 1977 was a gaffe, said she was referring to the amount of affordable housing available at the time. “I think she has no illusions about how tough things were in this city in 1977,” the mayor said. “But she made a really powerful point: Until recently, good times and bad, you could find (an affordable) place to live. “I think what my wife was saying was those were not ideal times, but at least you could find a place you could afford to live.” City Hall press secretary Karen Hinton said any other interpretation of the First Lady’s remarks was “misleading and inappropriate.
Why is Crime Up . . . More Cops
Sharpton CCRB vsNYPD, Noerdlinger, McCray, de Blasio
Back the the 70's Fear of Going to Central Park as the Establishment Gets the Rising Crime Message
It one thing for Gangs Shooting Each Other In East NY But When It Hits Central Park the Media and Big Boys Notice
Saturday Update
Monday Update Robbed teen is 19th Central Park victim this week (NYP) * Cops hunt thug who robbed teen in Central Park as officials cite spree of similar crimes (NYDN) *** Recent crime spree has residents avoiding Central Park (NYP) Cops recorded 18 serious incidents through Sunday, compared with 11 incidents during the same time period last year. And those figures don’t include the most recent mugging, when an elderly man walking home was robbed of his watch early Wednesday by a thief who grabbed him and demanded his valuables.
Patrick Lynch re-elected as PBA president (NYDN) * Police union president re-elected in a landslide (NYP) Police officers had been casting their ballots during the past two weeks, and the tallying of the results was finished Friday, handing Lynch his win by a margin of roughly 70 percent.*Police union president re-elected in a landslide(NYP) * Patrick Lynch, Police Union Chief Who Fought Mayor, Wins a 5th Term (NYT) Mr. Lynch overcame two opponents, his first challengers in a decade, by taking 70 percent of the vote to lead the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.* Pat Lynch re-elected to 5th term as police union president (Capital) * PBA Members Re-elect Lynch to Fifth Term (NY1) * Patrick Lynch, Police Union Chief Who Fought de Blasio, Wins a 5th Term (NYT) * Patrick Lynch Re-Elected PBA Union President In Landslide (DNAINFO) Outspoken leaders of city's largest police union received 70 percent of his 23,000 member tally.
de Blasio's War On NYP and Daily News
Bratton Backs Mayor Crime Increase Is Not the Bad Old Day . . . Nattering Nabobs of Negativism?
City Hall Ties to Control the Crime Narrative By Attacking the Press
NYPD Commissioner William Bratton writes in the Post that a rise in shootings and murders in New York City is neither “a harbinger” of struggling law enforcement tactics nor the result of fewer stop-and-frisks
We may be able to moderate the increase or even reverse it over the summer. But even if we don’t succeed, the current rise is not the earth-shaking event that has been pictured. By far, the largest and most dense city in the United States remains an extraordinarily safe environment, with the lowest property-crime rates among the nation’s 25 largest cities and a murder rate lower than the nation’s as a whole. …Michael Goodwin’s not buying it, saying Bratton is waving a “white flag” at criminals and making a defense of the mayor that “reeks of politics.* Bratton, responding to a call from some police union leaders to conduct more stop-and-frisks amid an uptick in violent incidents, told reporters today the controversial tactic doesn’t really impact crime at all. “Let’s get over this issue of stop-question-and-frisk, how impactful it is, or isn’t,” Bratton said in a press conference at NYPD headquarters Monday morning. * The City Poll: Crime Tops Concerns for Bronx Residents (NY1) * "Broken Windows" policing does work. Says who?Residents of poor black neighborhoods. (Manhattan Institute) * New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton tells the Guardian that hiring more non-white officers is difficult because so many would-be recruits have criminal records:
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de Blasio "Don't Believe What You Read In the NYP and Daily News About Crime Rising"
Friday Do Not Believe Everything You Read in the NewYork Post': Mayor Smacks Down Tabloids (NYO) Once again, Mayor Bill de Blasio dinged the city’s two tabloids today, telling radio listeners that the New York Post and Daily News are greatly exaggerating the threat that crime and shootings pose to the five boroughs. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, appeared on WNYC this morning, taking call-in questions from New Yorkers for the first time since he became mayor more than a year ago. He took special aim at “New York ’s Hometown Newspaper.”
A Tale of Two Press Attacks: On the Right Agnew vs On the Left de Blasio
“The Daily News, with all due respect to them, was really misleading to the people of this city,” Mr. de Blasio told host Brian Lehrer. “The headline you talked about on the subway crime, it doesn’t surprise me that there would be sensationlist headlines.” Mr. de Blasio was reacting to a Daily News cover from yesterday that announced subway crime had soared, pointing to a 27 percent increase in felony assaults in the city’s subways. The mayor aggressively pushed back on those numbers, telling Mr. Lehrer that a straphanger has “about a one in a million chance of being a victim of crime.” * Bill de Blasio: Rikers Reform and HomelessnessMore Important Than 1K Cops (NYO) * the mayor’s office is using @Genius to “factcheck” the @nypost: * De Blasio downplaysquestions regarding uptick in subway crime, claims Daily News report onassaults was ‘very misleading’ (NYDN) * De Blasio downplays questions about uptick in subway crime (NYDN) * Jeffries takes on role as de Blasio watchdog (Capital)
A Tale of Two Press Attacks: On the Right Agnew vs On the Left de Blasio
The Mayor's Door Wide Open to Lobbyists
De Blasio’s door is open to lobbyists (NYP) Mayor de Blasio has met personally with a dozen lobbyists so far this year — most of them campaign supporters and just two shy of the 14 he huddled with in all of 2014, records show. Leading the pack was last year’s highest-earning city lobbyist, James Capalino, who met with Hizzoner three times in the last three months. Capalino hosted two fund-raisers for de Blasio’s successful mayoral run in 2013. Clients who accompanied him to the meetings included Chinese real-estate and movie-theater mogul Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, and Janno Lieber, a top Silverstein Properties exec who bundled $11,100 for de Blasio two years ago. Capalino most recently met with the mayor on May 28 on behalf of helicopter-tour operators in lower Manhattan — an opportunity that critics of the noisy flights say they haven’t gotten. “It’s very discouraging but not surprising,” said Delia Von Neuschatz, a resident of Battery Park City who founded an advocacy group to halt the tours. Other lobbyists/campaign supporters who met Hizzoner privately included Michael Woloz, who bundled nearly $237,000 for his campaign on behalf of the yellow-cab industry but who met with him on a doctors-union labor issue on Feb. 2. * The mayor has met personally with a dozen lobbyists so far this year — most of them campaign supporters and just two shy of the 14 he huddled with in all of 2014, records show.
The Lobbyist's Shadow GovernmentNY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Foreign Ownership of NYC Real Estate and the Lobbyists Who Work for Them
de Blasio Still No Town Hall Meetings Yes to the NYC Press
Bill de Blasio Has No Plan to Do Town Halls WithNew Yorkers (NYO) Mayor Bill de Blasio said today he isn’t planning on holding any town halls with New Yorkers because he talks to plenty of people when he leaves Gracie Mansion South Bronx restaurant yesterday. “I go around all over the place and the subways, and walking down the street and talk[ing] to every day New Yorkers but there’s also lots of formal settings where I get to hear from people and we’ll be doing any number of things going forward,” he added. Use your listening skills, Mr. Mayor (NYP Ed) Asked Monday if he means to ever hold town halls around the city, as Mayors Ed Koch, Michael Bloomberg and (especially) Rudy Giuliani did, de Blasio said he doesn’t have “any specific” such plans.* The Post writes that it’s time for de Blasio to consider the idea that people in the city understand what’s going on here better than outsiders and to listen to constituents on a regular, publicly announced basis:
Transcendent Mayor Solves Problems With Press Releases and A Dysfunctional Media
Transcendent Mayor Solves Problems With Press Releases and A Dysfunctional Media
De Blasio thinks he’s above petty concerns like NYC (NYP) Bill de Blasio is one transcendent guy. “We believed it would be transcendent to just have respectful dialogue, to have management respect labor, labor respect management,” he said last December of the magical act known as “negotiating union contracts.”
“I think it’s going to have a transcendent impact on a whole swath of Brooklyn,” he said in March about the future of Brooklyn Bridge Park
De Blasio Administration Wants High-Sodium Warnings on Menus (NYT) The proposal, which is scheduled to be presented on Wednesday, was denounced by restaurant representatives as overregulation.Under a plan to be presented by the de Blasio administration today, many chain restaurants would have to post a warning label on the menu beside any dish that has more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium. It is the first foray by the mayor into the kind of high-profile public health policies championed by his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg.* Opponents of de Blasio’s proposal to require chainrestaurants to post a warning label on salt-heavy foods said the plan is based on shaky science and will hurt already struggling businesses, the Journal writes: * The New York City Board of Health voted to move forward with a plan to require salt-shaker icons next to menu items with more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium at chain restaurants, the Daily News reports: *City’s chain restaurants fail to provide sodium info on menus (NYP)
The New York City Board of Health voted to consider waiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for an Orthodox circumcision ritual that can lead herpes in children, the Times reports: * At the de Blasio administration’s urging, the NYC Board of Health voted to considerwaiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for metzitzah b’peh, an Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. A public hearing will be held in July, and the board is expected to make a final decision in September.
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
Nanny Mayor's Back With Salt Warning On the Day the Mayor Stacks the Board of the Health Department
To Pass Controversial Ultra-Orthodox Circumcision Ritual
To Pass Controversial Ultra-Orthodox Circumcision Ritual
de Blasio Stacks the Health Department to Win the 2017 Campaign
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
CrainsNY Engquist Where the Flacking the Truth
Spin city (CrainsNY) "I took part in a panel discussion recently on discerning spin from truth when politicians speak. I estimated that 90% of what they say is spin. But it
's not just elected officials. Everybody spins. Interest groups, flacks, even holier-than-thou good-government groups assail me daily with hundreds of messages spinning ostensibly true information to suit their purposes. I don't resent the spin; these people are advancing their causes. But it's enough to make my head, well, you know."
's not just elected officials. Everybody spins. Interest groups, flacks, even holier-than-thou good-government groups assail me daily with hundreds of messages spinning ostensibly true information to suit their purposes. I don't resent the spin; these people are advancing their causes. But it's enough to make my head, well, you know."
Bronx Murders Up 28%
Police Could be below 33,000 cops by the fall
In October 2000 40,800 officers * After the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, the police force shrank. The head count hovered around 28,000 in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to the Budget Office
Not One Quote Asking the Mayor to Do Something Eight dead by gun violence during bloody Memorial Day weekend(NYDN)
Was A Black Mayor Dinkins Treated Differently By the Press On Crime Than White Pols?
During the Dinkins administration a front-page headline in the New York Post had screamed: “Dave do something!”— a direct call to then mayor David Dinkins to get crime down fast. What Dinkins' did with the help of Albany was dramatically increase the size of the NYPD. As the number of NYPD increased during during the next 20 years crime when down to record levels. With budget cuts this year the number of NYPD will be down to the level before the Dinkins and Giuliani increases. We have a press and political system that allows mayor and future mayors to chose the issues that are covered in the media. We know the mayor wants to go on Meet the Press to talk national issues, mayoral candidate Quinn wants gay marriage, Weiner will do anything to get himself a headline, Liu wants to drop audit bombs on the mayor contracts to win him points with unions while hiding in the comptroller office, Stringer wants to rebuild the infrastructure and deBlaiso will think of of angles to get in the paper. But nobody want to talk about the growing crime problem and the press will not hold today's incumbents feet to the filed like that did former Mayor Dinkins
Fighting femmes (NYP)
Victim’s two-year-old “keeps saying ‘Mommy, mommy’ and pointing to his face where she got shot,” said relative
Slain in front of her son (NYP) * Bronx Woman Fatally Shot, Still Clutching Her 2-Year-Old (NYT) * Bronx Mother Killed in Shooting(WSJ)
Couple slain 'over drugs'(NYP)
Upper East sex fiend attacks woman, 85 (NYP) * Police Say 85-Year-Old Was Sexually Assaulted (NYT) * VIDEO: Perv caught on tape in sex attack on 85-year-old woman (NYDN) *NYPD Continues Search After Alleged Sex Assault Against Elderly Woman(WCBS) * Woman, 85, sexually assaulted on UES (WABC) * Elderly Woman Sexually Assaulted on UES(NBC) * Police Investigate Pair Of Deadly Bronx Shootings(NY1) * Two Killed, One Injured In Sheepshead Bay Shooting(NY1)
5
5
Tape of Guy Who Rape 85 Year Old Woman
Nearly half of NYPD's crime reports feature criminals caught on tape
Do Something Mayor and Future Mayor
During the Dinkins administration a front-page headline in the New York Post had screamed: “Dave do something!”— a direct call to then mayor David Dinkins to get crime down fast. What Dinkins' did with the help of Albany was dramatically increase the size of the NYPD. As the number of NYPD increased during during the next 20 years crime when down to record levels. With budget cuts this year the number of NYPD will be down to the level before the Dinkins and Giuliani increases. We have a press and political system that allows mayor and future mayors to chose the issues that are covered in the media. We know the mayor wants to develop the waterfront, mayoral candidate Quinn wants gay marriage, Weiner wants to yellow at anyone who will get him a headline, Liu wants to drop audit bombs on the mayor to win him points with unions while hiding in the comptroller office, Stringer wants to rebuild the infrastructure and deBlaiso will think of of angles to get in the paper. Comptroller con (NYP Ed)
The citizens of NY need to know what the mayor & future mayor are going do when the criminals come for us again?
By June 30, 2012, the Police Department will have shrunk to 34,060 uniformed personnel, a record low since the 34,825 that were on the force on that same date 20 years ago when crime rates in the city were near epic highs. A new round of citywide budget cuts that will require the NYPD to come up with an extra $101.4 million in savings from its $4.5 billion budget. Looming budget cuts could put the number of city cops at their lowest level since 1992, and mean drastic FDNY company closures, as well. 10,282 firefighters in 2012 — lowest projected total in 30 years (11,374 in 1980). Cuts would force the closure of 20 fire companies citywide. Cop count sinking to 34,000 (NYP)
NYPD: loses about 2,000 police officers through attrition every yr. We will have 34,882 officers
When Crime Increased in the 90's It Was Blame Mayor Dinkins. . . Defining Accountability Down
Today the Media All But Ignores the Increase in Shootings and Never Blames the Mayor
Crime-fighting strategy analyzes data of shooters and those shot (NYP) The NYPD is taking aim at 300 pistol-loving thugs responsible for most of New York ’s gun violence, using shooting data to tie them to murders and weapon crimes. In a...* Abandoning the poor (NYP Ed) Many of those pushing this are in the anti-cop camp, and simply looking for political cover. But Commissioner Bill Bratton plainly wants the reinforcements so he can keep crime down. We’re not unsympathetic to Mayor de Blasio for being reluctant here. The move commits the city to spending millions of dollars in future years — dollars that can’t go to feed the hungry, house the homeless or just fix the roads. Yet the NYPD plainly needs some kind of help — because not a week passes without cops being hamstrung in some new way. Terrorism NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton will continue a controversial and costly counterterrorism program that posts detectives in 11 cities around the globe to collect data, the Post reports: * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has agreed to continue a controversial — and costly — program that places detectives in cities around the globe to collect counterterrorism data, sources said.* Philadelphiacops shoot and kill people at six times the rate of the NYPD (Mother Jones)
Next Weekend de Blasio Will Make Fun of Pot Smoking in Front of the Media at the Inner Circle and They Will All Laugh Together
The latest lunacy landed this month, and will harm the city’s poor and minorities the most. The brass have had to gut the quarter-century-old “Clean Halls” program designed to increase security in public-housing buildings. It encouraged cops to clear out or detain loiterers who qualified as trespassers. But de Blasio settled another case where stop-and-frisk Judge Shira Scheindlin opted for injustice. Now cops must have a demonstrable “reasonable suspicion” that loiterers are in a building illegally before approaching them. This, when the most significant uptick in violent crime over the last year has come in public-housing projects. Just last weekend, a man was fatally shot outside the Gowanus Houses in Brooklyn . Flashback During the Dinkins administration a front-page headline in the New York Post had screamed: “Dave do something!”— a direct call to then mayor David Dinkins to get crime down fast. What Dinkins' did with the help of Albany was dramatically increase the size of the NYPD. As the number of NYPD increased during during the next 20 years crime when down to record levels. With budget cuts this year the number of NYPD will be down to the level before the Dinkins and Giuliani increases. We have a press and political system that allows mayor and future mayors to chose the issues that are covered in the media.
Next Weekend de Blasio Will Make Fun of Pot Smoking in Front of the Media at the Inner Circle and They Will All Laugh Together
DEB's City Hall weighed down with press people. I would use that $ to hire more people to fix potholes
Look What the Media Controlled by Old Guard Lobbyists Have Done to NY
U.S. Attorney Over A Year Ago Beg the Press to Help Him Clean Up NY . . . They Turn Their Back to Him, Even Attack Him, Now He is Doing It Himself
One Year Ago Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY) "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara. The press has a role to play. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said
His crusade to “clean up government” is particularly essential because Albany has so much power over local municipalities, including New York City Albany Albany
Daily News Crap
Albany Cherry Picks Feel Good Laws
Albany Protects Dogs Ignores New Yorkers Right to A Decent Home
Dog-Related Bills Flood Albany as Major Legislation Stalls (NYT) With the legislative session down to its final days, New York legislators have dozens ofdog-related bills awaiting passage. Dozens of dog-related bills awaiting passage, including those addressing canine discrimination, adoption and curfews
Even NYT Says Housing Emergency Ignored By Albany Lawmakers
U.S. Attorney Thinks NY Journalist Have Failed to Stop Corrupion
Press Will Continue to Ignoring Bharara Pleas to Investigate Corruption as Judge Silences Prosecutor
Bharara to Journalist Investigate Stop Copying My Press Releases do Investigative Reporting
One Year Ago in True News
Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY) "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara. The press has a role to play. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said
Albany Cherry Picks Feel Good Laws
Albany Protects Dogs Ignores New Yorkers Right to A Decent Home
Even NYT Says Housing Emergency Ignored By Albany Lawmakers
New York’s Housing Emergency (NYT Ed) The city housing issue is a politically complicated matter for state legislators, but not impossible. New York State New York City . Two of the city’s major housing development laws expire on Monday. One law protects rent regulations for as many as two million people in lower-cost apartments. The other, called 421-a, gives a lucrative tax credit to developers, usually in return for building more affordable apartment units. The two laws have often been enacted together, making the housing issue a politically complicated matter for legislators in Albany . Complicated, however, should not mean impossible. But Mr. Cuomo said this Wednesday, referring to the developer tax credit, “you can’t come up with a resolution in these next few days, and I am not going to attempt to.” Mr. Cuomo said Thursday that he is considering a short-term extension of the 421-a law. A better option would be to let that law expire, but there will no doubt be negotiations about keeping it in some form. As for extending the existing rent protection law without needed changes, that would result in the continued loss of thousands of rent-regulated apartments every year. . . . Mr. Cuomo has recognized that expiration of the rental law would create “mass mayhem.” Recently he promised to call the Legislature back “every day if necessary until tenants are protected with new regulations.” Governor Cuomo should follow through on that threat — not only to resolve the rent regulations but also to deal with 421-a.*
.@Chirlane: "Too many city newsrooms do not reflect the population of NYC or the experiences of the majority of New Yorkers" .@Chirlane: "Too many city newsrooms do not reflect the population of NYC or the experiences of the majority of New Yorkers" Reading through it was an astonishing and surreal experience. It’s like the reporters created a fictional character that happened to look like me and have the same name as me. They put words into my mouth that I never said. They gave me opinions that have never crossed my mind. They made it sound like NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is my sworn enemy, when in fact he has my full support. There is a small but stubborn group of people who adamantly oppose the efforts of Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton to create a more fair and equal policing system. Myopically loyal to a status quo that serves their personal interests at the expense of everyone else, they are doing whatever they can to stop reform – and that includes spreading lies to irresponsible reporters.
de Blasio and Bratton Blame the Media
Amid reports of friction, de Blasio and Brattonassail the media(Capital) De Blasio said “some of the falsehoods that have been reported … could not have been more wrong.” He said the “unnamed sources” quoted in some stories “make up entire conversations in their head.” Bratton asked reporters why they are "trying to damage” the NYPD. Reports of a rift, he said, are being “advanced by some of the pundits in this city [who] intentionally intended to harm” the de Blasio administration. De Blasio said that was false and that McCray—who was in Gracie Mansion
Mayor, Police Commissioner Denounce Reports on Banks'Resignation as 'Outrageous'(NY1) * De Blasio, Bratton Address Reported Fallout After PoliceChief’s Resignation(WCBS) * Bill de Blasio says the New York Post is telling"flat-out lies." A war between a mayor and a tabloid continues(NYO) * Mayor de Blasion and NYPD Commish Bratton stage a show ofunity in the wake of a top chief's sudden resignation(WNBC) * Bratton: Top NYPD cop’s resignation was a ‘setback’ (NYP)
Rupert Murdoch Verified account@rupertmurdoch
Sunday NY Post shows police chief Bratton in impossible spot with mayor deBlasio bashing depressed cops full time.Danger ahead for NY.
McCray Plays the Race Card Against the NYP
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