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NYC lost out on *STAYING* the capital of the US and of NY State.

NYC itself first expanded off MANHATTAN with addition of West BX in 1870s. Our present form is only from consolidation in 1898. Brooklyn approved only by a tiny margin [count every vote and make every vote count indeed].

"[I tell out of town friends that] just walking out the door will cost at least $30". Kathleen Conkey quoted by David Kirby (NY TIMES, The City Section 12-7-97) - 2006 make that $50!

Stay Home![?]

NYC is NOT one unified city! Among the most archaic artifacts was Brooklyn-Queens Anniversary Day for Brooklyn and Queens [ONLY] public schools, which dates back to 1829 celebration of [Protestant] SUNDAY SCHOOL and grew to include big parades into the 1960s! Well, the new teacher contract 2005 eliminated the day off for TEACHERS [to go to training] and ALL students will get the day off - other school days added make up for the day out. [OH. though in 2002 the MAYORs new head of DEPT OF ED mandated prettified bulletin boards (really!), new 2005 contract forbids Principals from punishing teachers over -"what, no pretty borders!- the appearance of their bulletin boards. One of countless signs of how f__ up the school bureaucracy was, and still.] Only two of the old Village Halls in S.I. stand, a third in New Brighton S.I. was supposed to be torn down in 2004, totally neglected by its developer-owner since 1985. Not a village hall, but the grandest is Brooklyn's old City [now Borough] Hall.

NYC *itself* is 8+ million people in 5 counties of course with their own courts, 59 Community Boards, 32 school districts [1969-2003], 51 City Council districts, 5+ area codes (see above), many irreplaceable city maps and records are still split into 5 various boro offices [digitisation and wifi now coming online], 100+ zip codes [minus WTC 10048 inactive, for now] areas PLUS 45 individual buildings/building complexes with their own zip codes in Manhattan alone. There are the two major airports in QUEENS plus 3rd in nearby NEWARK NJ. What used to be three major Police Departments - NYPD, the Housing Authority Police, and The NYC Transit Police were merged in 1994 by force of Mayor Giuliani, with their own turf + 40 city Marshals "independent contractors"[!] appointed by the Mayor who enforce mandates of the civil court [evictions, judgments, repos] + but there are still NYC Health and Hosp Corp Police and you can also find AMTRAK, MTA Police, US POSTAL and other police here including the Port Authority and Customs. There are even three different (3) Public Library systems [BK, QNS, NYPL-Man/Bx/SI] and the city is split between Federal Court districts. One of the occasional turf disputes with NJ was in the 1980s over Ellis Island when it became clear that $$ were going to flow into it for restoration went all the was to the US Supreme Court, which split it in 1998 and denied the NJ claim over the whole place. POST 9-11, POST Katrina walls of bi-State regional divisions will hit BLOOMBERG who proposed [9-29-05] NYPD to be command agency in any transit-road-airport disaster even over the Port Authority. A real tough one to put over the GOVERNORS of NY and NJ etc.

Neighbouring Long Island to east of Bklyn-Queens is 2 counties, 13 towns, 2 cities, 95 villages, 129 school systems and "hundreds of special districts for fire protection, libraries, sewers and other services" overlapping. The stated desire [NOV 2005] by Mayor Bloomberg to get NY State to OK the commuter tax again in the face in NYC deficits raises out-of-state [NJ, CT etc] commuter to say no taxation without representation, and also raise to ME [and unfortunately hardly anyone else] the inadequacy of current govt structure and need for some democratic regional governing entities. Turf wars among local governments adding to patronage making for a big part of the wiggle room for corruption that I get the impression is so prevalent on Long Island that it makes NYC look good![-see NYTimes Metro, 4-28-04 "Looking Past Town Borders To Bridge the Snowplow Gap"]. There are plenty of ongoing turf disputes between NYC and neighbors. Most NYers know about territorial disputes over Liberty and Ellis Island land between NY and NJ. One everyday-dispute known to a select few unlucky drivers are seizures of tow trucks crossing into NYC. NYC passed fee in 1987 that tow trucks from outside the city cannot enter under any circumstances without a license [$600 each 2 yrs.]- just struck down under in 2006 was upheld by US 2Cct Mar 2008, city is gonna appeal! Car services going across the city line at QUEENS, over various territorial licensing requirements and or different regulations also face fines.

Perennial Issues, Problems and Recurring Scandals to Watch
*Crime and taxes -[hardly needs saying...] but it IS connected to all the following - *Medicaid scandals-NYState Medicaid fraud $15bil year? NYState costs $44.5Bil yr at the highest cost per capita in US and highest amount per recipient served but NYS serves 55 percent LESS people than CA which only spends $33.5Bil. Medicaid is approx 45% of the State budget. DURING Geo Patakis time as Gov, the amount recovered by NYState Dept of Health from fraud and abuse investigation has plummeted. Fraud-abuse- inflated salaries [to the million$] for Nursing home and clinic execs., inflating prices of all types of services, billing for services not provided, putting people into unnecessary treatments...etc etc. *Insurance and medical fraud rings - using lawyers, doctors, phony victims eve cops. *Dead bodies in NYC waters [2007: 31 dead "floaters" bodies found] and body parts in the rivers or near the airports...or in suitcases or boxes, here and there. If NOT celeb or mob connected, it doesn't get a big headline. JFK airport freight-organized crime connection. Major gateway for drugs. Illegal aliens handling baggage or cargo. *Security put in the hands of excons and organised crime..Bouncers are frequently ex cons, private security companies hire ex cons for security guards even slipping thru State licensing procedure.* *City inspectors of construction of all types arrested for taking bribes. Union officials living high on member's dues. *Infrastructure: Hundred-year-old water main breaks downtown in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Forever-taking bridge and road repairs. * Building collapses in hundred-plus year old tenements and during renovations of a variety of types of buildings. NYC city-owned bldgs from schools, the 'projects' to firehouses, courts, police pcts amongst the worst offenders in condition and violation - their ELEVATORs are perennially in poor order. BRONX Family Court disorder from broken elevators made headlines NY Times 12-12-2007. *Outdated / flawed lax Landmarks rules encourage developers to 'murder' fine old structures they do not care to save. Owners obtain permits to alter, demolish or they vandalise their own buildings before they are designated "landmark" because the Commission will NOT protect damaged buildings and leaves owners free to demolish them! The Commission is an underfunded country club of Mayoral appointees.* *Bootlegged CDs, DVDs, tapes etc. smuggled in and made in BX, Bklyn, Queens. 42+% of US 20% of pirated DVD seized worldwide estimated to originate in NYC. 200,000 were seized in first 4 months of 2007! NYC increasing penalties for video-ing in the movies from a violation to a misdemeanor.. Lots of phony designer handbags and watches from 'orient.' $23 billion of counterfeit goods said to be sold here in 2003 almost 1/10 of all in US. NYC losses hundreds of mil$ in taxes. Beyond Manh. - raided Bushwick warehouse JAN 29 2009 held $10mil counterfeit designer stuff plus imitiation handguns. June 8 2005 [with a RIAA rep present] unusual raid retail store -MONDO KIM's on St. Mark's PL - 5 arrests and lots of equipment seized made their own "mixtape" CDs and maybe copied videos. -Counterfeit goods warehouse practically, raided 6-20-05 Bway-26st in name of "Epoch Trading" in this wholesale area. *Scalping Broadway, sports events tix* *Selling of stolen goods on street and in little shops. Postal pilferages stamped out" stamps paid with bounced checks at P.O., sold at discount for 10 years at bodega-type stores operated by Pakistani and Indians.[NYPost 7-17-03] Not so long ago a big bust made at liquor stores selling stolen liquor mini-bottles from airline suppliers. 2005? or 06 NYState ATTY Spitzer General subpoenaed records from whole salers and customers investigating if any of the distributors but especially the newcomer to NY, Southern [largest nationally] are illegally giving discounts or other stuff to major customers. These distributors are in a nasty turf war. *Link of garbage disposal, food supply, trucking, etc. to *Ticket quotas ticket blitzes *Confidential government- school, medical, social service etc. records "found" dumped on the street. *Illegal aliens, OK [3rd world] immigrants, bringing strange AND destructive customs: coca derivatives in beverages etc [beware nice Peruvian lady in cart selling something nice to drink if you are about to take a drug test!], cockfighting, folk medical treatments, destructive alien plant and animal species [and released into the wild] *Things just cost more..not only supply and demand and cost of business but because of NY regulations, org crime, shady suppliers. *Patient abuse and waste in Nursing and Adult homes. *Looting and theft of equipment, drugs from schools, hospitals other public facilities. *Only 1 public toilets under CEMUSA contract installed Jan2008 MadSqPark. NYC-summer 2006 bid winner for toilet newsstand and bus shelters and NYC were being sued by the 4 losers but new bus shelters started being installed Spring 2007. *Turf wars -violent attacks against 'others' in various [Brooklyn especially where tribal-type behavior of Italians and blacks is very strong, IMHO] neighborhoods *Dirty-not passing inspection[s] -supermarkets, restaurants, school cafeterias, nail salons and so on. *Fed gov. won't let NY collect or tow, due to unpaid fines on diplomats' parking etc fines - $21 millions owed 197-2000. *Phoney handicapped parking strikers, permits, 'fixing' tickets and fines, for you name it, sold, used by people who should really know better. ->Home stealing via identity theft- NYC is one a few places no ID necessary to file a deed. Homes have been sold out from under their owners...get title insurance when buying. Check yours periodically. NYC is US identity theft capital. -not to mention enough of similar problems in New Jersey...
WARNING! ALL visitors and residents. WARNING! Severe NYC restrictions on public assembly, protest, dancing[!], public photography, innocent visitors arrests for trespass, etc. YOU, I, may fined or detained!

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Here are some links, between a lot of complaints, about NY (well at least it isn't Detroit, or East St. Louis! or even DC- sorry) maybe 'trashing' NYC, to some areas of interest to me, besides links back to my own pages in boxes at the bottom. Doesn't anyone have any problems, or anything to knock on the web? Now I know why I saved news clippings for so long; for my ongoing homepage effort at this; PCs and the 'net have been a growing activity for years. There is more that gets my attention besides, well, that is, when I can get my hands off the keyboard. So, look at some pictures, of me if you'd care to, then go out and have fun hunting for the real thing! I think I remember what that was.

what you gotta put up with..
This is MY "no-spin" zone. BELOW- Perennial issues TRASH, PARKs, AIR WATER Dept of Education and Bd of Education AMERIKa Services-Vending, Phones .............................................................. INDIANS and STATE rape NY taxpayers -- Small Indian reservation E. of NYC on LONG ISLAND among others in NY State- people flocking there to buy tax-free cigarettes Mastick NY Poospatuck reservation near east end of LI. cig tax went from 8c to $1.50 pack in 2002. IT is illegal- despite "sovereign status' taxes are owed...PATAKi backed down from stronger enforcement since violent protests by the "Indian" upstate OUTSIDE the reservation- estimate $450MIL lost in taxes on in-pers and internet sales that the rest of us have to make up..GOV PATAKi proposes individually negociated "compacts"[!] to settle the issue. ->1/4 of all 2007 NYS cigarette sales went thru the NY Indian reservation, Gov. Paterson complains, but caves into them to pressure the cig companies and distributors to control bootlegging by new law for FEB 2009 to ban unstamped cigs boxes to Indian-owned stores [I guess Indian would get tax rebate or something...] but Buffalo NY judge Rose Sconnie barred enforcement thru a hearing JAN 27 2009. St. Regis Mohawk nation, Hogansburg NY, straddles Canada border perennial source of smuggling of all sorts worse that added cigarette and liquor smuggling in addition to tax free sales to non-Indians who 'flock' to the reservation. [5-7-03] GOV Pataki dealmaker in for casino deal as part of land lawsuit settlement tribe to receive $100 mil over 35 yrs. and two islands in St. Lawrence Seaway. + 95 acres of state owned land at Massena Pt. Casino to open at site of former Kutsher's in Catskills 90 miles from NYC and NYState to receive up to a quarter share of slots in 4th yr. Deal still to be approved by Fed Dept of Interior, land-claims to be approved by Congress, and the package by State legislature. Also, Mohawks to get free state college and subsidized electricity. NY lust for tax buck$ driving deals to open 6 casinos, one smaller but stranger deal already resulted in a new casino in middle of Niagara Falls NY operated in whats become Indian land of Seneca tribe. NY Seneca also first time in NYState sell presc drugs cheaper from a Canadian "virtual" office linked to their "Senecca Trading Post", also Connecticut Mashantucket Pequots also have a tax-exempt presc filling business making millions.- -NYPost Dec 23 2003 Shinnecock Indians proceeding soon to open casino on their land near the Hamptons locals fighting them and US Govt on this one, if blocked from operating a casino they will build a resort anyway. ----------------------------------- FY __ budget under Paterson is to be 4% higher than last one..yet all the union-istas and vested interests -even the Mayor are crying over budget CUTs! Paterson asks only for .05% less spending [is $600mil] which means estimate only $100mil for NYC [out of NYC $60bil budget]!-see even Daily News . NO tax cuts even considered in Albany or City Hall. No real cuts in PORK and waste either. The pols are rolling in s__ like the pigs they are and most people have brown lips so they are not holding their pols accountable! midAUg 2008->Local 1199 commercial says $1bil cuts in health care and have us weeping over ol lady in nursing home or on medicaid whatever... What is the truth of funding? If the TOTAL budget actually is higher, who what is getting more instead? FY2008 budget, $121.7bil nine days late APR 9 2008 AUG 14 2008 "Take Somebody Else's Cheese" PATAKI unveiled NEXT NYState budget proposal JAN 17 2006. $110.7BIL, some tax reductions no programs or spending reforms. SPENDING continues to increase faster than the cost of inflation. $2Bil "extra" money is available due to WALL ST. taxes revenue but $3.2 tax cuts are proposed and of $5.6 ordered by courts to increase school aid shortchanged NYC $2.82BIL are due this year. The State budget was passed in time for first time in 20 years-MAR 31 2005! Due APR 1, in 6-22-2004-NY State budget was late for 20th year in a row, the Legislature passed temp spending bill good until AUG, adjourned under court order deadline to change school funding distribution. Mid AUG $99.8BILLION + $1.8 more added by Bruno and Silver breaks $100bil for first time- far over Y2000 $78billion! 10 percent increase in debt service costs on $40bil. Budget is based on higher growth than is is occurring and continuing revenue from TEMP tax surcharges and hikes that were supposed to end next year.[State of NJ $27.9Bil budget adopted July 2 2005] MAR 2003 NY Times especially highlighted Gov. Pakaki's new fundraising efforts appeared to be aimed at countering bad press. NY State budget grew in last three years from $74Bil to $90 BILLION. No other state approaches this kind of record. NY State's bond rating is at the bottom of the 50, along with Louisiana. *BIDs* IF you have been or will be in the midtown-Grand Central-Bryant Park area, you will surely see the nice lamposts, signs, benches!!! etc. These were funded through the BID's there [spring 2006 latest Midwood-Flatbush BID is 54th Business Improvement District] which are self-funded by the local businesses. The City recognizes and allows the groups to form. The BIDs supplement city services such as sanitation and policing. Daniel Biederman was longtime head of the Grand Central Partnership - the major force behind the Bryant Park restoration etc. and headed two other adjacent BID's. Was he getting political mileage out of his position with the BID's?? The Mayor at the end of July 98 ended the City Contract with this BID for various services in attempt to weaken Mr. Biederman, who still remains pres. of 34 St. Partnership and Bryant Park BID. He was replaced as pres. of Grand Central Partnership by a close assoc.of the Mayor and many of the other district leaders of important BIDs are "close associates of the Mayor"...NY TIMES FEB 23 2001 The putdown was noted in the media and I noticed particularly columns in NY Magazine, and the Village Voice. In JAN 2001 the Mayor proposed a 2% take of each BID budget for an 'administrative fee' which is actually high for some of them with smaller budgets and since their own member assesments, requiring city approval, had not increased for 3 years. ========================================== "When I'm driving through the city and see a pothole or garbage on the street, I'll pick up the phone and report the problem to 3-1-1, just like thousands of citizens do every day..." Now NYC will have 15 SCOUT inspectors mostly on scooters check through all[!?] NYC streets once a month observe and report on all illegal conditions to 311 with Blackberry with ATT TeleNav Track with GPS. -->SO MAYOR further invests million$$ mostly in TECH to BIG players, not people. 311 is more about gathering statistics and Agency directory services than resolving any particular problem. Does the MAYOR *NOT* get faster results than average citizen when HE calls 311?? 2007-early 2008 ========================================== THE POWER, PARKS, TRASH, AIR and WATER ========================================== Hey NY, NO power for YOU! Kiss your ass in the dark! WINDMILLS or NOT->NONE of these exist yet. ->OCT 2008->NJ picked "Garden State Offshore Energy" [with PSE&G] + for 96 turbine windmill project 16-20 miles off Atlantic City. ->Sept 2008 Mayor's PARKS DEPT does everything it can to STOP windmill project proposed for S.I. Fresh Kills hilltop even though Boro President and some locals favor it and the BQ Energy [apparently not a fave of Mayor, Parks Commish or buds they must not be able to get SOMETHING back!] is ready to go. ->YET AUG 19 2008 Mayor Bloomberg said at National Clean Energy Summit, Las VEGAS, we should get 10% of power we need from WINDMILLs [in 20 years?] Oh, on top of bridges and skyscrapers too he said, besides off shore! Who' zooming who? His elite buds and some environmental wackos are blocking major windmill farms offshore and such as -below! ->A year+ for NY to make a decision then mid 2008 NO windmill power for you, unless we are paid off -literally- NYState Public Service Commision say NO to $2bil in windmills upstate by Iberodrol SA unless they make a payoff to NYState of $646mil and agree to numerous restrictions on where they can build.SO you can kiss your ass - in the dark. [-see editorial NYPost 8-8-2008] SAME DAY-news - HONEYWELL will moving 300+ plus umm making some of their stuff from central NY [who knew they were still making ANY f__ thing in NY!] to CHINA. You still love f__ Paterson? MAY 2004-To keep up the supply at best possible cost, LI Power Auth announced plans to pay private companies to build 39 huge windmills - first offshore in the US, very important new cable connection to NJ to get to the grid directly, and a 326 MWatt generator in Bellport and 2 other smaller generators.Windmills update prod. about 50MW of power, mostly upstate. NY State policy to increase by 2013, 1/4 of power from renewable sources. ->Commerce Dept said no to Broadwater appeal APR 13 2009 after GOV Paterson said no in 2008. BROADWATER- Strangest argument against it? letters to Newsday 4-15-2008 James Larocca the Chair of LIP- Long Island Power Authority wrote its good the deal is killed for now because it "would have brought yet another foreign source into the picture, this time from an especially politically unstable and violent area: Nigeria." DUH? and where is it I read from scholarly article recently that true energy independence for US is not feasible, not necessarily desirable, either? What is Larocca gonna burn to fill growing energy demand! THE US Fed Energy Regulatory Commission had approved Broadwater. There is NO more capacity in existing pipelines to NYC. This gas might have let PORT JEFF. and NORTHPORT power plants re-open to help get cheaper electricity to Long Islanders- amongst most expensive in US there now! BLOOMY- NY will have a "million more" people in 2030-Lights out anyone? The Gov, activists, elitists do not care how much THEIR energy costs. I guess the taxpayers, contributors pay for it or else they are hypocritical assholes!! APR 10 2008-NO Broadwater LNG floating terminal in middle of LI Sound. Environmentalists and activists will not let anything built on or near the sound to do with energy. GOV Paterson says he is such a good boy, protecting the environment and such, killed the plan. He also said it would not guarantee low gas price, well killing it will guarantee high prices! CT is particularly opposed to anything built or crossing the sound other than yachts, literally. FEB 2008 Councilman Yassky sponsoring bill to require home oil as 5% biofuel a year bill enactment, going to 20% in 5 years with changes down only if biofuel shortage. Con Ed JULY 18 2007 LexAv-40st steam pipe explosion: finding released early 2008 show problem spots needed replacement of pipe junction, not 10x times repatching in 2 years with epoxy that leaked into relief valves and flooding being water into it heavy rain finally just went boom. NYC going green? Mayor says gotta have some city bldgs burning bio-fuel, pilot solar energy program for city bldgs, underwater turbines for Roosevelt Is power, and tax rebate for private owners announced JUN 12 2007. All Hybrid taxi fleet proposed for 2012 part of program to reduce NYC 'carbon footprint' -Can these local energy intitiatives fill the energy gap? MAY 2007 Superconducting cables test in mid Manhattan announced connected to DHS survival power grid plan. Spring-MAY 2007: Pet deaths and people shock over the last few years at manholes - frayed cables and [short circuits?] CON ED hired up to 1,000 livery cars [cabs on call] to PARK! over these 1,500 hot spots found in NYC thru first four months of 2007 until repairs are completed! Many Buildings Lack Required Water Valve, City Records Show" A. DePalma, NYTimes 5-22-2007 85,000 large apt and commercial buildings lack backflow preventer valves, mandated since 1981. Only 2,085 tests of such valves which is also required of the owners yet only 2,000 violations were issued. -ANOTHER public health, safety issue which the administration finds not glamorous enough or NOT wanting to step on toes of the real estate industry and his developer buds to enforce. MAY 2007 Water test finds 64,000 households in S-E QUEENS are affected by trace amount of PERC, dry cleaning chem. No one told to stop using their water...city musta been checking so much because they found PERC in the water there in some samples since 2003. NYC [and some adjacent area] air getting dirtier! - more particulates from mostly HOME heating oil which is dirtier than truck diesel! How about this stuff being from MORE homes, like duh! Bad growth at any price going on. Wasn't it warmer in the winter? Should have been burning less oil! ->APRIL 22 2007 127 energy measures outlined in Mayor Bloombergs PlaNYC for 203o growth agenda are just short of the radical "green" agenda, to accommodate a million more people, all demanding more energy, more housing, more transit. yet no NEW NYC power plants. He wants to impose conservation and new fees and restrictions on life, really, while throwing in tech upgrades on existing infrastructure to try to keep up but also consist on planting LOTS of trees, more recycling and calling for 'green buildings, congestion pricing [a failure in LONDON because it is losing money, decreasing business and moved congestion to its perimeter! and just makes its supporters feel good.] ->Aug 8 John Faso [Repub for GOV] upstate speech Upstate New York Citizen's Alliance strongly AGAINST "new super-power" 1200 megawatt line connecting upstate to NYC thru Orange Co.. He, and activists there say, NYC must generate its own power don't put line thru OUR space. SI Advance wrote 8-11-2006 and I add a little color, These f___ politicians oppose specific "projects" but urge better "policy" just as "YOU" do you f___ "NIMBY" IDIOTs! ->Aug 8 2006 Crain's Insider "The federal Energy Department is expected to issue a report today calling New York the nation's worst electricity bottleneck. The finding should give the edge in its application to be designated a national Interest Electricity Transmission Corridor. Transmission projects from upstate and New Jersey have met with political opposition, but the designation would help get them past regulatory obstacles." Yeah, sure not around here...the business of NY is lawsuits and sex, drugs and umm se.. oh, politics. Mike Defends the Overdog- NYPost editorial 1-21-2007 Mayor Mike sure seems to enjoy sticking his thumbs in New Yorker's eyes. First he tells them they should be grateful to Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke for last summer's nine-day blackout in queens...Then yesterday he says its no use to sanction the utility because consumers will suffer - paying more for electricity or getting shoddier service..no one's to be held responsible for this disaster." Aug 7-13 Crain's N Y Business A. Michael "Bloomberg lowballs city energy need" June 2006 Mayoral task force took back its 2004 findings on need for an increase in generating capacity by 25% in 2008, saying its all good until 2012-2014, took info at face value from ConEd and "..the report omits or underplays soaring consumer demand, disaster preparedness and the need to replace outdated equipment." ->Aug 3 heat wave peaks, 7 of 36 feeders for Manh E 14-40 st failed but mostly fixed by day's end. Voltage reductions for all of Queens and Bklyn and parts of Manhattan. Little-reported outage around e194st BX for several days. ->AUG 2: there are still 19 Con Ed large generators on the streets in Queens as feeder cable repairs continue and 19 others supplying specific building though spot outages and voltage problems have not ended. Voltage cut 8 percent in Rego Park and Jackson Hts during repairs to other equipment. Bloomie's blackout July 2007 3:50pm. 10 of 22 or 10 of 41-42 feeder cables failed - was one of then 67 years old? Queens-Astoria is home to power generation facilities so it is not NIMBYS keeping substations, infrastructure built there, but this area of QUEENS is glaring exception among few that are an unreliable power grid. -->CON ED early summer 2006 says how good they are with latest $1.2bil infrastructure work. Letter to July 17-23 2006-Crain's NY by J Sirefman, Interim President NYC Economic Dev Corp. says Mayor's Energy Policy Task Force is making progress so we are in much better shape than 2 years ago to because supply is being raised and conservation saves 675 megawatts at peak, responding to earlier item about supposed lack of progress. OK, so where are these new "state-of-the-art power plants that will produce 1.125 megawatts of the nation's cleanest energy? -> one of these got lines fixed quickly, the other won't be done until SEPT 6 2006 June 28 another [north line to NYC] feeder cable thru Westchester failed Jun6 24 Feeder cable thru Westchester County fails, forcing more dependency on local generators MAY 2006 Co op City [Riverbay Corp] signed agreement for 40-megawatt co-generation to be added to its big utilities plant. The orig late 1960s facility was supposed to power the complex but Con Ed made its builders an offer they did not refuse so it just made high pressure steam for heat and A/C and some emergency power. AUG 22 2007 [stock] acquistion of Keyspan approved by NY State Public Service Commisison. Feb 27 2006 National Grid PLC of UK to buy Keyspan and its generating plants including generating plants in Queens and the Long IS [LIPA] grid for $7.3Bil National Grid bought Niagara Mohawk in ___. Whati s likely coming are rate increases over exist debt part of the deal, and stock option gains to CEO and shareholders. The Chair- CEO holds over $82Mil of their stock. JAN 19 2006 Report released at New York Building Congress make more clear there will be an electricity shortages that will be pronounced starting 2010 and getting worse over the next 20 years as there is not much development of new sources or generation of power, the problem lying principally with state regulation. NOT one new power plant has been issued a permit in three years since a "Article X" which expedited that expired in 2003. 7,000 new megawatts are needed in NYC by 2025. Dec 20 2005 the Governors of 7 states signed the agreement to use a market-based system to curtail C)2 emissions and to aid technical development of alternative energy and better emissions controls. MASS and Ri dropped out of the agreement. Aug 2005-NY, NJ, NH, CT, De, Maine, Mass, RI and VT agree to power plant emissions leveling off and cutback of 20% by 2020 by raising money for control technology thru sale of emission allowances. Plan has to be voted in the states legislatures. Con Ed granted rate increase by Pataki APR 2005, and Gov then put in a tax increase on it form of a surcharge called "demand management initiative" these$$ plus existing "systems benefit charge" surcharge are controlled by the Gov [and not our legislature at all] thru the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority! NY, CA, CT,NJ, RI,VT, WI and NYC filed suit in Manhattan against "some of the nation's biggest power companies" not seeking monetary damages, but compliance with the law re carbon dioxide emissions. JUNE 21 2004 9-14-05 test of radio controlled emergency siren system shows large failures in Rockland and confirmation sensors in Westchester- after several other emergency notification system failures. Pressure to close Indian Pt nuclear reactors due to security concerns and that evacuation plan for surrounding areas are inadequate are growing- An Effects of closing study was released June 6 2006. NYState and area county governments have not certified the evacuation plans, but feds don't care, says it all oK. Indian Pt supplies 20% to 40% of NYC and northern suburbs electricity ..no old fuel ever left the site and 900 tons of it is sitting in not secure metal bldg. in 40 foot of water. 35 more tons of shut down Reactor I fuel is in a leaking, but water is 'recovered' pool. Power supply wise at least we desperately need Indian Pt., besides new supplies of power-which may limit business ability to expand here. SEP 9- Though negotiations were said to be under way for months, Conjunction L.L.C. announced would file with the NY Public Service Commission in OCT 20003, also it's seeking agreements with NY State Thruway Authority, MTA, Amtrak for right-of-way to lay two 1,000 megawatt *DC* cables at cost est $750 mil, from Albany County to NYC to bring power from Canada & upstate NY to NYC.AUG 9 2001 NYC used near its reserve of power during a heat wave and came close to crashing the grid. Did blackout 2003 really start in Ohio or what..such a quick rush to say what it wasn't. Shoreham LI to New Haven Ct. 330-megawatt cable proposed in 2001-LI Power Auth. and Cross Sound Cable Co. got go ahead APR 24 2002 The cable was friggin mess, may be steeled for good JUNE 25 2004 as it was turned on AGAIN after a payoff by NY to CT utilities to fix stuff on their end [what about those shell fish??] The cable was chiefly opposed by politically connected Connecticut seafood companies. the Cross-Sound cable WAS laid after 'Connecticut Senate failed to override CT. Gov. veto of their bill Summer 2002 permission obtained to actually turn it on in case of emergency power shortage. It runs thru 700 ft. of one cultivated oyster bed and thru other uncultivated oyster beds. Well, after AUG 2003 blackout it WAS activated by NYState request for an emergency order by Feds..Connecticut ordered it shut it down-MAY 2004 Fed Judge ordered it OFF, it doesn't meet environmental requirements [for being buried properly.] ->all the NYC papers 6-10-2008->NYC Economic Development Corp did not collect $4.5mil over 22 years water, sewer bills from tenants of Brooklyn Army Terminal and undercharged others. ALSO 2003-07 Turner Construction did not pay rent for space there..From figures released JUN 9 of Comptroller's audit. OH but NYC can allowed to collect for past 4 years.. ### Sanford Evans- [BOS 12-12-06] Letter NY Times 12-26-2006 Re: "Water Bills Are So Flawed City Can't Collect Millions" front page 12-12-06 When I was an assistant commissioner at the Department of Environmental Protection during the David N. Dinkins Administration, the billing system was a disaster of inaccuracy and mismanagement, and I see that nothing has changed. - I recall the time questioning why the city simply call in a company like I.B.M. or some other software provider to update and fix the problems we were having. - The answer I got was that the city always had to use the lowest bidder for all services; and that pretty much excluded companies like IBM and others that had the skill and savvy to do what had to be done to fix things." ............................................................. NY State is one of two US States that have NO identity theft law. Attempt to make it a felony is being attempted but may not make it before the end of this legislative session..[NY SUN JUNE 6 2002] Can't hardly lease a car in NY now- 36% drop in business from 2002 to 2003. Auto leasing companies are pulling out of NY fast. Honda [7-31-04], GM, Ford earlier. NYState is 1 of only 2 states in US that allow the companies to be liable for accidents etc and in NY they face billion$ of dollars in suits. Sheldon Silver Dem leader [from NYC] of NY State Assembly is also president of NYState trial lawyers and he is the roadblock to changing the rules, among MANY other problems he seems to be the center of. Why do our reps in Albany, let alone Congress do so little for us and seem always to F---- us over!!!! Because Brooklyn and Queens drivers are involved lawsuits that cost 10 the national average, rental companies since 1992 impose expensive surcharges $77 day no matter where car is rented or driven. Lawsuits are still challenging this in 2006. BRONX drives pay a surcharge somewhat less than the Brooklyn drives, and Queens drivers pay a relatively small surcharge. ............................................................ Gotta have Park PAY to PLAY 'main squeeze' or Mayor's girlfriend, whatever, Diana Taylor is chair of Hudson River Park Trust. BTW, The Mayor's, sister head NY United Nations Committee or Council. MUCH WORSE than PARKs DEPT to NYers - Riis Park, and Fort Tilden amongst other properties on the water here are federal National Parks land administered as part of Gateway National Park and these guys seem to be real mfs__ compared to what is seen out at 'regular ol National Parks! They are also very underfunded and administrators are hostile gatekeepers. HOW can we do something? YO, Senators Hil CLINTON and SCHUMER! YOU fail us again! ->"Rockaway hero beats rap after arrest for illegal dip -Brosh, Daily News 9-4-2008: Anthony DiCervo was in the water to his ankle near home NO ID[!quel horror!] when there was no lifeguard on duty so he was cuffed and taken in June __ 2008, on 'probation' for 6 month before case would be sealed! 15 year old son had an anxiety attack. 100th Precinct. Yes, Parks Dept patrol tells you what to do, if you dare to say anything, they call the police to take you out! ->Also see Denis Hamill DailyNews 8-10-2008 He went there...open, lifeguarded beaches at the 'Gold Coast' sections of Belle Harbor, Neponsit [and no subway or boardwalk or street parking!] but east towards Edgemere to Far Rockaway, large areas are closed, not lifeguarded people are arrested for walking on those sections -among most black-white divided areas of the city, poor Edgemere-Far Rockaway has over 12X the population of the white west section! BEACH APARTHEID 2008 said IDA SANOFF-> deaths where there were no lifeguards....SANOFF was arrested in 2004 sunbathing on city beach where there were no lifeguards. There are ALWAYS some off the new condos on Brighton Beach while hardly ever on Coney Island off the low income area much further west, as is on low income stretches of the Rockaway. NYC PARKS say they station lifeguards where "they are most needed." Sanoff say some beaches are "priveledged." [-Arden, 8-4-2008 Metro] PARK CONDITIONS Sept. 2 2009 DailyNews G. Croft PEP/ Parks Enforcement- QUEENs parkland 6,700 acres 2 officers, Bronx 6,970 acres 8 pers., Brooklyn 4,336 acres 5 on patrol. MAX. before sick and vacation days. There about 200 PEP fown from early Giuliani time of 450. The HIGH LINE 11 full time PEP for 2.8 acres. Madison Sq 2 + [seasonal], Central Park: has its own Police Pct [125! pers] in the park, + Conservancy funded private police. June 2006-They say NYC 1970s were a dark, scary, lawless time but that is NOT the whole picture. Parks-wise there were 4,000 recreation workers compared to 125 [spring 2006] Budget share lowest ever [0.38% of budget]. NYC Parks funding was 1.5 percent of the budget until 1960. July 16 2001- the Parks Dept. share of expense budget declined to 0.5% - there [were] only 177 city workers to care for 2,000 acres of Manhattan parks. -->"Today in addition to outsourcing much of the work to nurseries, there are 150 full-time gardeners as well as 8- privately funded gardeners who work in Central Park and Prospect Park." Gamey, 9-4-2007 Wall St. Journal "Mett New York City's Official Green Thumb" about the Parks Commissioner Benape. 2006: Central Parks Conservancy new contract with city: NO limit on $$ they can make from commercial concessions. --> Parks Commish says poor findings are is "fantasy" Post 6-16-06 Watchdog slams city's $$$ 'neglect'"..Croft pointed out that city officials expect each community to form a conservancy to pay for park services." This was famously done first for Central Park Conservancy 1980 and in 1998 given responsibility for regular maint they have 250 workers and 3,000 volunteers and funds 85% of Central Park operating budget! Now the first parks conservancies are at smaller parks in less affluent areas of the boroughs! Wonderful, but pay to play indeed. R. Calder, NYPost 7-6-2008: "Raiders Of The 'Lost' Parks: Overrun by hos, junkies, pushers. OH not CENTRAL, Prospect or the showcase Conservancy-aided parks, but John Mullaly, Flushing Meadows, Soundview,-oops Riverside [drug use evidence] Highbridge, Pelham Bay Park, Printers Park, Randalls Is, Spring Creek Park and others...found in NYPost investigation of 70 parks in 9 months. A chop shop found in Fresh Creek Nature Preserve - oh but the Commissioner was not aware of any such things in any park anymore..and they do concentrate efforts on the most used, and developed parks, not the fringes and still-undeveloped purchased marsh etc areas. It's still not good enough! Should be a showcase, huge heavily used Flushing Meadow Pk is a disgrace. Best parts- private Tennis Centre and the Queens Museum. Worst? Rotting few parts left from 1939 and 1964 fair NYC Parks abandoned. The famous NY State Pavillion may yet be rescued before it all falls down. The boathouse on Meadow Lake abandoned since 1965/65 fair was just cleaned up a bit by private low budget users since 200_? DailyNews 10-21-2008 says it will be renovated in 2009. mid 2008: almost 150 years later, Original rock walls of Central Park cuts at road transverses are being cut away, in fear of any possible rock shedding, collapsing..landmark being destroyed. No efforts made to stabilise them appearance wise are usually 'ugly.. could we ever see an a artificial re-creation? ->P. Ardenm , JUNE 11 2008 metro "Across Central Park, famed walls in peril..." prervationists furious over long neglect.. this one is PARKS Dept, Dept of Transportation and Dept. of Environmental Protection. ANOTHER case where overlapping Agency jurisdictions receive worst maint, are public spaces that are MOST neglected-beware of NON shoveled areas in winter near subway stations especially in the 'outer' boroughs that are also NYC PARKS and or NYC [sidewalk] DEPT of Transportation- so NO ONE takes any responsibility.-> 2 examples NON shoveled- alongside F line subway wall SMITH ST. 3 to 5 St and Pelham Bay Park 6 station 'Plaza' at bus stops. Dept said things are good, most parks meet cleanliness standards and all - boy are they full of s__! Parks Associates, advocate on "one" showed his pictures to the contrary 6-15-06. *New Yorkers for Parks- study 2005 62% of Brooklyn parks "C" or lower in terms of maintenance-state of the facility. In terms of amenities, Manhattan had 5 of the top 10 and one of bottom 10.* ===== FUNDING-OUTSOURCING-PRIVATISATION-> "Our elected officials shouldn't be allowed to sell off our public parks to the highest bidder simply because they refuse to allocate the funds to maintain them." Geoffrey Croft, President NYC Park Advocates in City to pass buck on Randall's Island..In schools deal, park run by private groups." and with City-Foundation-private LLC deal looks like the private orgs could rent out the park facilities for own profit. --METRO 1-31-2007 like Hudson River Park being built since 1998 40 percent complete only, by NYC-State $$ but gotta be self-funded through fees and development deals... 2009 FY Parks budget is $11 million LESS, with al the added park area and project will mean MORE privitisation and neglect where there are not conservancies! 2008Aug26: Mayor and local pols took great umm pride announcing rehab of HighBridge aqueduct reopening to public 2012 and new paths to it, but "NYC Park Advocates" warns that there are not allocated maintenance and security funding to existing HighBridge Park [-from NYC figures they obtained in early 2007 or so with a FOIA request]. There are homeless, drug uses, etc in parts of that park NOW, during the day, during the time the Mayor was not very far away. Parks Dept disputes the staffing claim, but they fudge the facts because limited number of staff TRAVEL between many parks. 2008: fall Chanel "Mobile Art" 7,500 sq ft temp bldg. they will pay Conservancy about a million$ plus $400,000 more to NYC, -> Park projects thru 2012 are also coming through $1.5bil in debt. 8-1-2007 Mayor announced $40Mil in park renovations [a bit toward longer term public space improvements of PlaNYC 2030. One bit I like most is rehab of High Bridge to reopen top walkway first time since umm early 1970s. new "Open Space Alliance" conservancy will take over admin of McCarren Park Pool -Greenpoint in 2008 - and of new esplanade and park on E River Greenpoint- Williamsburg from developers who build it along with their new luxe towers on the water. ========= Parks worst [officially] in crimes APR 1 - SEPT 30 2006 1-Riverside Park [36], 2-Flushing Meadows [35], 3-Prospect Park [25]and 4-Van Cortlandt Park [10] .. ..City Council report - several had [0] including Ft. Washington Park! ->JAN 2008: Parks Dept ripped off. Massive fraud? Comptrollers audit of 79st boat basin finds much of revenue not from 116 slip renters not under-reported slip and parking fees for many years with poor documentation exact number is hard to figure. ->another rip off of the taxpayers by private interests given park turf -operators of Boathouse large catering-restaurant in Central Park "The restaurant, which operates under a city parks department license, failed to report $2.39 million in gross receipts over a two-year period and owes $381,070 in license fees according to an audit.." --NY Metro 3-29-2007 Over a quarter mil of this was free meals including lavish meals for their buds. The Poll's who run it are "dumbfounded" by the report. They also own Bryant & Cooper and Majors Steakhouses [of Long Is.] ->Northeast Bx Education Park at Co op City new approx 1971..pools closed 'pipe damage' approx 19994/95..no money to fix. ->thru JULY 2008-> 10 drownings at NYC beaches. Daily News 11-29-2006->A committee was formed by the City Council in order to investigate in 2007 NYC lifeguards hiring testing after charges by former lifeguards "who complained of unfair testing, sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and favoritism." Closed tests are held at Parks Dept "murky" 59 st pool only. MARK GREEN issued a similar report in 1994 and no actions came of it. Nov 1 2006 Mayor announced construction of CityParks Junior Golf Center, on 11.8 acres of unused land that is part of the Dyker Beach Golf Course. "The $6 million project is being funded through a combination of public and private funds, with $1.5 million being allocated by the City of New York and the New York City Council. Additional funds have been allocated by the New York State Senate through the efforts of State Senator Martin Golden. The remaining funds are being raised by City Parks Foundation from private sources. Of the total $6 million, approximately half is needed to construct the center, and the rest will establish a permanent operating endowment to support annual programming, operations and course maintenance. PR- 384-06 more on [artificial] TURF 111 artificial fields mostly put in "under" Bloomberg... --->2008 DEC soccer field at Thomas Jefferson Park shut due to lead readings up to 5x EPA safety limit- 16 of 31 samples at this field had elevated lead, Parks Dept used an average number so Commissioner Beneppe could say the stuff is"safe" but they would like $40mil from Feds to rebuild them. City Council hearing on this FEB 9 2009... ->JULY 2008 heat wave- what- kids barefoot [for first time?] on black 'rubber' mats under play equipment have skin burnt off 'instantly' NYPost finds temps on the stuff get to 165 degrees. This is just first ear this stuff got headlines! See R. Monahan, NYPost 7-25-23008 "Insult to child injury: Parents blast Mike for pooh-pooing safety mat peril" ---->MAY 2008 City draft on the stuff is only data reported data from reported problems... --->APR 2008 these are aprox 200 sites of $100mil worth of stuff made by FieldTurf company, which is feeling threatened by the City Council which may vote on a bill to rip them all out! Company is lobbying hard against that, and so is Bloomberg. SOOO who of his buds benefit from the sales to the city?? ->FEB 2008-Though NYC in current forked tongue mode denies hazard denies it changed policy, 'backs off' from installing these and going to other kind of artificial turf... -->DEC 13 2007 first Council "oversight" hearing on safety issues of toxic PAH 'Crumb rubber infill" in the turf. 77 installed since 1997 and 23 more in design or on the way... ->This new fake turf is made with recycled materials->ground-up TIRES that heated up release carcingogens. 67 of 800 NYC park athletic fields are being redone in plastic artificial turf, some done already are arousing vocal opposition-notably Cadman Plaza field in front of the war memorial. NYC 54 outdoor pools...CHI has 51 and less than half of NYC population. NYC ranks last among 24 major cities in pools per 100,000 residents. 41% of city pools are small [35 person or under] shallow mini-pools. 4 Parks Dept pools are abandoned such as w59 Rec Ctr pool closed since 1989.-Metro 7-5-2005 -"Whitehouse Rec Ctr and Pool at LaGuardia Houses and Barush Ctr closed since 1975. 59st pool is gonna be destroyed in a renovation of the bldg in 2009-Metro 7-27-2009. ----------- FEEs will be charged starting JULY 2006 at six of the NYC Recreation Ctrs that got FEDERAL Community Dev Block Grants so stayed free and did not impose them like at the 28 others in 2003. Central Park loop road [transverses are open 24/7] is open from 7-10am and 3-7pm only. Note many Manhattanites want it closed to cars-period. Oh the pollution and hazards. ->Fact: In 2003 FIVE people hit by cars, three-dozen+ hit by bicycles! Many bicyclists aim to clip you if you dare to cross in their path and [letter to editor, NY SUN 4-4-06 Christopher Gray pointed out] park drives are "kill zones" at car-free times because the bicyclists go wherever and which ever direction at any speed they damn well please. NYC shares a land border with NJ[!] only in Staten Island, only on wildlife preserve Shooter's Island- restricted access NYC has 35.5 acres of 43. The rest is part of Bayonne and Elizabeth! Project approved and first phase funded JAN 2006. 2007 Sunset Park construction expected to start, on the bay between 43-51st. Brooklyn Bridge Park moving closer to reality but disputes over puffed-up operating budget and plans for in park condo and hotel bldgs to help pay for it causing grief to the community. CITY HALL PARK- A large part of the SOUTH park in front of CITY HALL remains closed as is all the rest of it north to CHAMBERS ST. until a partial reopening JULY 2007 esp since BLOOMBERG made TWEED Courthouse Bldg the HQ for his DEPT OF EDUCATION was closed to the public -ornate landmark was going to be a museum. Does the MAYOR just like having private yards and parking around City Hall?? NUMEROUS undeveloped acreage the city acquired or bought for parks in the 4 Boros [few are in Manh] become infested dumping grounds. NYTimes 8-12-05 highlighted Ronald McNair Park announced after the CHALLENGER disaster, for E Harlem is still a messy vacant lot, victim of budget cuts. In the BRONX among biggest is proposed PUGSLEY CREEK PK 78acres which is an overgrown dumping ground for cars, boats, washing machines and the only could get some survey info from aerial pics. *JULY 2005 Controversyover planned rebuild of WASH SQ Park continued nearly thru 2009 opening of 1st pahse reconstruction. See my fabu14.html May 2005-> limits on big events incl demonstration for Central Park Great Lawn announced SIX per year incl 4 normally sched Opera and Philharmonic concerts 50,000 people max. each time. NO fishing in NYC parks without a permit. * Revenue from parks concession go to the general fund. NYC spends the least per capita for its PARKS of the five largest US Cities Parks Advocacy Report, quoted in NY TIMES 5/1/94. "..full-time staff is a third of what is was in 1970." and the budget is 40% lower than in 1986. APR 11 2005- Central Park restroom to be renovated BURNS as FDNY finds nearby hydrants waterless. AUG 2003 bike path opened around the perimeter of Manhattan, but much of it is virtual, and annoying and disruptive to some east side neighborhoods without any facilities for such use. Best of it are new paths in Hudson River Park Chelsea-Village Budget agreement JUNE 2003 keeps Bklyn and Queens Zoos open. NOV 2002 Port Authority rejected funding $50 mil request for park in planning since 2000, in 42-50 St on Harbor at Sunset Park Bklyn 2002- nightime curfew instituted on rest stops [lovers lanes?] from 9pm along Belt Parkway as crime problems escalates. 10pm-6am curfew in place at Ft Tryon Park and lots. July 2002 Parade Ground B'klyn, field 7,8 renovated for soccer and baseball Sep 21 2002 Trailview State Park opens Cold Spring Harbor to Bethpage. A bright spot in NYC parks is for golfers. There are 8 low cost, well maintained public links which have been privately managed since 1983. American Golf Corporation is finishing renovation of 6 city courses it manages. 10 of NYC course are now contracted out and renovations all being finished incl clubhouses in 2007. *JUNE 2003- Hudson River park complete in Village-Chelsea section. *Spring -Summer 2000 Raised walkway and nature center opened thru salt marsh in Marine Park in Gerritsen Beach on Jamaica Bay. *Apr. 2001 renovated Pier I in new Riverside Park south at edge of Trump's Riverside Pl. open. Second phase of the park is coming up. "GREENSTREETS" starts spring 2000- Trees, shrubbery, etc. planted for first time in concrete medians of various sizes and locations for first time. Parks Commissioner can't get over himself for having it done. A very nice touch, BUT will these plants survive? Many do, it seems to work.. [Los Angeles is seriously under parked-there are only 30,000 acres of park 470 sq. miles of the city 10% of area, as opposed to almost 26% of NYC] Also, for example, only a relative handful of tree-pruners left. Generally, NY has not pruned it's trees in over 20 years. In March 97, a tree, that neighbourhood person in Laurelton Queens called Parks Dept. to inspect in June 1993, fell on a high-wind day and hit a van killing 4 girls being driven to school. Some of the tree roots were noted to have been slightly cut during recent sidewalk repair. Tree was 70 year old shallow-rooted silver maple which city will not plant on streets anymore. Trees in parks and on roads city-wide are very shaggy. Official policy is only to remove a tree if it is completely leafless dead. -after 'you' report it. Lawns, well, maybe it is not true to call them lawns anymore, except in the show park - Central Park, also in Manhattan Bryant, Madison Sq., Riverside Park and others have private support groups .-> One fifth of the City's 44 Park Enforcement Police are "entirely underwritten by private groups and assigned almost exclusively to three Manhattan areas." New York State has about 25 sq. miles of National Forest s/w of Senecca Lake. It is proposed to drill for the large pool of natural gas there. "Millennium [gas ] pipeline" 425 miles from Canada to Westchester delayed but not killed, may be built starting before 1997. Maybe route was altered some to ease local objections. ..................................................... NYC anti-fraud hotline 212-669-4747 6-17-03 *LAWSUITS 2009 Sept NYC Dept of Finance new $4.3 property appraisal computer system .. taken offline shorlty after it started to be used. Contract awarded in July 2007 due to be online SEPT 2007. 2002 bribe taking by assesors, Commish Martha Stark resigned [20__] hired relative,and otuside conflict of interest. [See NYPost 9-20-2009] Panel Upholds Discovery Fine Against City -N. G. Walder, N Y Law Journal 6-11-2008 "An appellate court yesterday upheld a $2,500 sanction against the City of New York for taking a year and seven months to provide court- order discovery in a personal injury case...[i]n a 10-page partial dissent, Justice James M. Catterson argues that the city's failure to "comply timely with disclosure orders" was a "recurring problem in personal injury actions" and warranted a more severe penalty." ->"'Public Enemy No. 1..City sued for cuffing 4-yr. old nap nixers The parents of two Bronx pre-schoolers are suing the city, charging that their kids were tossed out of class - and handcuffed by a school-safety officer - for refusing to take a nap." incident on NOV 17 2006, 4 year olds handcuffed, taunted and left alone [-Buffa, NYPost 3-10-2008] ->Actual figure 2006: $496.4mil. The high was in 2001 $581.6mil. It is lawsuits against Police that are at 19% increased in 5 years, in 2007 largely because increased 'stop and frisk' ->2006 the Independent Budget Office says lawsuits will cost NYC $600mil -more than doubled since 1995. Medical malpractice claims are largest item. ->DailyNews 3-9-2009: NYC paid "..$321.2 million in legal settlements during the past five years for accidents caused by defective sidewalks." [$54mil in 2008.] and NYC Parks said day earlier they don't habe $34mil to fix sidewalks busted up by tree growth. This is even after NY passed off responsibilities in 2003 to commercial property owners and though NYC is liable for sidewalks at 1-3 family houses NYC first summonse them and tries to fix sidwalk and bill the homeowners. [#1 payout NYC settled a claim for $16mil for a broken traffic pole in Soho.] ->NYC FY JUN: 1999-JUN 2000 were 26,336 claims costing the city $459 million. incl. medical malpractice by NY Health and Hosp. Corp. The medical malpractice payout went up approx $184 mil FY 2004. There were 1,781 charges of Police misconduct. $20 million awarded in mediated settlements to 1,199 9-23-04 fed class action lawsuit dating back to Latino Officers Assoc since 1999 suing for hostile work environment, discrimination and retaliation for making bias complaints. Claim for 9-11 are starting to come in for all kinds of things now. even by firefighters. Owners of hundreds of cars towed from the area who are not being allowed to have them back. NY TIMES-"Suing the City For Sept. 11? Oh, Why Not" 12-12-01 *28% of New Yorkers don't have health insurance as opposed to 19% nationwide -figure in "UNCOVERED" by Sharon Lerner, Village Voice June 2 98 *NYC is 39, pretty low, among the nations 50 largest urban centers healthwise, according to National Health Magazine survey early 2001. #1 Honolulu, #2 Minneapolis #3 S.F., #4 Colorado Springs, #5 San Diego. DETROIT was worst. Medical malpractice insurance rose 150% and, "..hospitals have been billed for malpractice premium increases of 27 percent a year for five years -NYTimes, Metro 1-6-2005. Insurers dropped to 4 from 6. Many of US largest malpractice awards incl $ 50-60mil are in NY. ................................................ *NYC EMS K Lucadamo, Daily News 5-16-2008 "Hard training + low salary = EMT shortage" Fire Commish revealed [5-15-08] NYC will be have 121 less EMT's by JUNE 2008, 7% of 1,900.so MORE than $20mil is allocatd for overtime to make up for it. Their regular SALARY range is $27,295 to $31,979! 1997-Emergency Medical Service (ambulance) became part of scandal-Medicaid was scammed. In the past complaints became public that there were trips double billed, billing for non-existent trips, billing for oxygen and life support without receiving any. Private ambulance firms were accused of $109 million in similar fraud in Blue Cross auditing. Trips that were non-emergencies were billed as emergency to "simplify the reporting of medical responses and get reimbursed" according to Mayor Giuliani, but also "the city was "cooperating with the federal probe..." NY Post 3-22-97 ................................................... VENDING-Street vendors SO only illegal food vendors are outside the Museusm, NYC only give them tickets that they ignore. Doubt they will or can be removed! Great system! 2009->P. Sherpa bidded $53,558 month for all of food cart spots outside MetMuseaum, was behind $310k in rent so Parks Dept evicted hom Aug. 7 2009. He says also was undercut by disabled Vets exempt from paying rent, who squatted into his territory. City seized $170k "performace bonds" too. See Aug 8 2009 DailyNews Ransom/Lisberg. 2008-Jan2009: Parks Dept auctioned off food vending spots at Met. Museum -> $280,500 S side and $362,201 for busier N [5Av-82st]! Not even exclusive licenses! NYPost Jan 7 2009. 2006 NYC-In this land of bondage and predatory capitalism, some pushcart vendors pushed off the shackles and leased their own storage space for carts - better cleaner place at a similar overall cost, but under their own control see "The Pushcart Pride" Sarah Garland, NY Mag cover date Apr 10 2006. Black market in food vendor permits with brokers illegally buying them up from those who stop using them, whatever, and leasing them out, due to system and cap of 3.100 on the number-> priority is supposed to go to veterans but NYC is lax on enforcement, even not taking back from the DEAD. Bloomie's NYC-> fines raised from before 2003 was $250 then raised to $50 for a "first" ticket to $1,000 for every ticket over 5th. license no. permitted 3,000 food carts, 853 general licenses, number fixed SEPT 1 1979. Waiting list of thousands. Number of unlicensed? ->The City Council continues to delay the discussions and vote on lifting the cap. As Errol Louis said in NYDaily News 12-15-2006 they found time to give themselves a fat raise a few weeks back,for their own part-time jobs! 1,000 seasonal licenses temp APRIL-OCT awarded by "lottery" oh yeah who do you have to know or pay off? AUG 2006->Mayor gets grade C-! says "As far I know, if other vendors wanted to show up and participate they could." BUT Same ol booths with same ol stuff and food at at nearly every fair. and no competition on prices, minimal community orgs and vendors to be seen. 367 street fairs 2006- 24% of permits out of staters. 46% of permits held by a cabal of big vendors. 9 of top 20 largest vendors are out of staters. Well I have been OVER street fairs for years and unless your are a really dumb NYer you know its deja vu all over at each fair with a few exceptions. SO its a news story AUG 2006? Oh because academics made a report "Rethinking New York's Street Fairs" by Center for An Urban Future, CUNY Grad Ctr. City gets 20% cut officially, organisers get next most, community groups used for their names get the least.. 1st amendment right? Sidewalk newsracks almost unrestricted- 2004 regulation requires painting every 4 months[!] and graffiti removal, and not block crosswalks, subway entrances etc. THATs it! SO they are rarely removed and it takes minimum of 10 complaints to get a fine or face removal..so if you don't care about the expense, you can place your own paper and street boxes all over! So they say LA and Chi keep things under control and does not violate anyone's constitutional rights-- how? We got any lawyers in NY Huh? SNAPPLE deal OK'd in court June 2005- but they said to Mayor don't do again same way. Dec 2004 fines increased for food vendors..Dec15 "representatives of the Small Business Congress, an organization of 185,000 mom and pop businesses are descending on City Hall today to ask the mayor to set up a task force to review the enforcement practices that [Mr. Kinm said] are leading to record levels of bankruptcies of neighborhood stores." NY SUN 12-15-2004 about 50% increase in fines collected fiscal year 2004 over fy2003. Coniferous tree [not called "Christmas Trees" wording changed in 1984] can be sold during Dec by those sidewalk vendors WITHOUT a permit, one of those curious NYC regulations [1938] just get the OK of owner of the adjacent property and don't block the whole sidewalk. NYC vending and peddlers have been a problem since early 19th cent, crowding, current regulations have evolved since 1938. JUNE 2003 Vending in NYC is also regulated by NYState which in its 2003 debacle of much unfinished business before summer recess did not renew state regs. on allowable vending locations ..most esp. was limited in the desirable midtown streets such as 5th Ave. 1991 law LIMITING locations of sidewalk vending by disabled veterans expired. Sidewalk newsstands used to be run by the blind or disabled. July 18 2006 2006, AM New York - "Dog buyers beware" Vendors charging you based on what you look like you can afford, tourist price and local price. "Only in Central Park are vendors required to post their price lists.." but that does not stop different prices being demanded. Most common street and park vendor prob aside from them being where they aren't supposed to be and cleanliness - ripping you off on your change back- and sometimes saying their sign is wrong or price went up as you ask for your missing change. And your Bloomberg has not changed this: ->Private services the city regulates [like vending carts, taxis, and Im not sure how clean the tennis permit supply is either] and puts a limit tends to breed a black marketish supply with someone other than intended profit by hoarding - 2yr City permit fee is $200. 1/3 to half of ALL are resold for $8,000+ or more. "[And even though] New York has more food carts than anywhere else in America, many of its regulations are far more lax than in other big cities. Most other cities, for example, have strict limits on what vendors can sell; New York allows anything but shellfish."[-that's changed]-- by Donna St. George -NY Times p1. 5-17-98 headline There are only allowed 3,100 full time street food and 1,000 summer street food cart permits. There are a separate permits for the Parks that have to be bid on. Waiting list for streets exists, along with an underground. 9-22-04 NYTimes " Street Corner Cooks Have Names. Too" Mexican and South American street food vendors "seem to dominate the sidewalks of New York" as opposed to from other Spanish speaking countries. Most unlicensed, many illegal aliens [Times uses the word "undocumented"] and some illegally sell food prepared at home. "In Street Vendors' Smorgasboard, Threat of Sickness Lurks"- Giuliani wanted a ban on the vendors in 2 large sections of Manhattan business districts. NO reform, or inspection upgrade proposed, just bowing to pressure from business organizations. Compromise was reached. Mixing drinks without a (hair)net *NYC law (81-13 (b) Health Code - requiring bartenders to wear "caps, hats, or hairnets" even if they don't serve food was finally eliminated June 98. Rule was not being enforced. It became an issue after a new inspector interpreted the rule strictly and wrote the only two summonses ever issued for this. - from NY Post 6-12-98 ........................................ * New York taxes have been over 60% (62% in 1982) higher than national avg. /second to Alaska- without the financial give-backs to residents that Alaska has. The rate will not be highest in the country after Gov. Pataki's tax cuts take effect. New York ranks 24th in the US in the share of personal income consumed by sales taxes. * New York State's - workers comp. cost to business is 57% higher than national average. Governor Pataki is aware, and will shortly make the first of a couple of reduction which will bring the cost down 25%. *Bd of Ed [NYPost 5-13-02] cost of $12 mil+ year for staff claiming on the job injuries, for claims and legal costs. *There are 10 different taxes on NYC cell subscribers. NY has highest cell phone taxes in US. [YOUR darling NY legislators don't give a f___ and encourage municipalities and entities [water districts etc] have tax authority to tack on their own! YOU keep reelecting these a__h_s because they toss a few bucks back to your pet projects. * NY State, or it's lottery people, are screwing the City of about $150 million by returning only 70% of 'our' share of lottery proceeds. Also, the State and Fed. Gov't have always taken more taxes proportionally from NYC than returned, compared to upstate NY (where they generally hate NY City for draining their taxes, which is NOT TRUE). ....................................... Sanitation TRASH and AIR and Water 32 MTA bus depots leaked probably a few million gallons diesel - some new tanks placed, cleanup barely started See Heather-Haddon amNY 10-7-2009 SEPT 2009: Govt official policy is man made CO2 emissions cuase global warming gonna kill us all unless we change ... 2nd US Circuit Court of Appleaks [Manh] Sept 21 reinstated lawsuit 'tossed out' in 2004.. that NYC and 8 states can sue utilities to cut Co2 emissions looking for annual cuts of 3 percent ea year for 10 years. Moving us faster to goal to make cost of electrcity "necessarily skyrocket" as 'Bama said in the campaign. JUL 2009: After around 100 ol gutted subway cars in Atlantic City by FEB 2009 reef were dumped, EPA found about half were already falling apart, so will not take about 500 more! Great Kills [not but near Fresh Kills] landfill for NYC 1966-1980 is full of illegal toxic waste..Sanitation Inspector was convicted of taking bribes to overlook it. Residents with Earthjustice filed suit OCT 14 against NYC for remediation as NYC promised for about 20 years to do the cleanup. [see S.I. Advance 10-15-2008] Private companies ones with big contract[s] with NYC continue to abandon BARGES -are now about 150-in NYC waters, 2 NYC Council-persons and an Assemblyman showed AUG 4 2008 - they want to pass law to require NAMES of companies on the barges...[-von Zielbauer NYTimes 8-5-2008]. Fines and summons are hardly helping now. Pile Foundation Co. may be worst offender denies ANY abandoned, they will get around to removing them and claimed 'kids' cut holes in the barges...! The Chief OCT 17 2008-> "SanWorker Found Guilty of Collection Shakedown" refusing to collect extra heavy/bulk garbage from homeowner without a payment. FEB 2008 'green conscious' DUMBO gets recycling containers and many bike racks thru the area with lead by the local BID and community groups. OCT 10 2007 Let a million trees bloom? Mayor shows off planting 1st of planned million new ones expected over the next ten years. City will pay $40mil a year for 10 yrs to plant 600,000 and expects community groups and others to make up for the rest. GPS locators being phased in 2,230 Sanitation trucks, THE Chief -Leader 9-14-2007 reports also the 60 of 360 salt-spreaders have it. So far Union does not object.. but some day they are suspicious of future supervisor cutbacks and this kind of money should be used for necessary repairs. JULY 2007-Atty Gen A Cuomo sued over upriver communities polluting BX River, settlements negociated with Yonkers, White Plains, Scarsdale and Greenbugh got clean up funds and some of $7mil+ will to be administered by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other such groups will get grants too. NOV 2006 CITY rejects Commercial waste haulers pleas for rate increase. NY is the ONLY city that fixes the rate. Last price was fixed [so when was the first?] in Giuliani's time in 1997 at $12.20/cubic yard-they say having the cap also makes haulers NOT want to recycle. Rate cap dates back to trash hauling MOB controlled days --umm Crain's NY. NEW RFP will be issued in JAN 2007 maybe NYC will consider increase. NOV 20 2006- NYC will form $7mil Office of Recycling Outreach and Education w staff of 6 try to prod? or "educate" NYers in order to increase poor amount of 16% of residential trash is recycled. Starts JAN 2007. NOV 2006-PCB cleanup may finally start after decades of litigation and bureaucracy- GE will have to do what it said it will in dredging 40 miles of the HUDSON N of ALBANY as it took a judge to stop a local town from blocking building a "dewatering" plant to cleanup the muck and put water back into the river even though plant is on canal a mile and a half from the river. Local Law 86 in effect Jan 2007- City capital projects are to be designed with "green" or eco-friendly principles. Announced mid May 2007, water rate increase is 11.5% in 2008. WATER- NYC water bill rate hike 9.4% coming FY 2007 [starts JULY 1 2006] highest increase in 13 years. SO MANY bills are delinquent, water is NOT shut off and there are no "water liens". BUT this year there is surplus of $170Mil $45mil more than they even expected! ->9-2006 VA, PA landfills for NYC trash may be in jeopardy. NYC uses 2 states Its requirements made only 3 big trash haulers [Waste Management, Covanta, IESI] qualified [and asks for 20-year contracts] for all the um stuff but there may be a political backlash especially in VA in 2007 as it becomes the NO 1 dump state after other states tightened their out of state trash rules, like PA and S Carolina. North Carolina declared moratorium for year on new landfills..SO Crain's insider paints scenario to NYC officials that city would be in "crisis" if these were closed to NYC trash. ->for barge moving instead of by truck, 2008 MAY 21 NYState Senate approved marine transfer station in Village at Gansevoort St on the river, going to Assembly next. ->Trash plan is approved by City Council 7-19-2006 is not final by any means as fighting over neigborhood waste transfer facility sites continues. ->Transfer station first proposed winter 2004 for QUEEN 11 fl high - less than 2,000 ft away from LGA airport airport runway..FAA study it JAN 28 2005 concluded no hazard to aviation with proper lighting and notifications but Congressman Ackerman wrote to Gov Spitzer asking him to intervene to stop it! ---QUEENS TRIBUNE JAN 18-24 2007 NYPost- 4-10-2006 "Burning IS Green: N.Y.C. waste policy is trash." Jack D. Lauber- Yeah well which is more irresponsible, TRUCKING ALL the stuff hundreds of miles @ 5 million gallons of gas [or is it diesel?] a year @ $125 ton total cost for disposal, or burning it especially in modern, cleaner energy producing incinerators? EXAMPLE of the new incinerators in action was picked Palm Beach Co FL [oy could nt he have found a more "regular" place] it costs $28 ton. NIMBY NIMBY. Here they all fu__ complain about pollution and asthma BUT NO incinerators in NYC why, its racists who want them. The current incinerators are waaay cleaner than what existed 25 years ago that became the bogeyman that so far activists NYC to make it impossible to allow them anymore. MAY 2006 Columbia U study pollution stunts intelligence of newborns measured as 3 year old kids IQ test from Harlem Washington Hts, S Bronx. APRI 2006 American Lung Association says New Yorkers breathe dangerously toxic air, overall NYC has 9th worst ozone levels and 20th worst particle pollution, BRONX being particularly bad. NYState has dirtiest air in the US and corresponding elevated cancer risk..Fed study released FEB 2006 shows NY a bit worse than CA and that NYC number are particularly worst in The Bronx but all borough are very bad -"The Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Daniel Esty, said part of the problem is that New York is downwind of industrial sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Midwest." -watch out for MECRURY feds have not clamped own on. NYSun 3-23-2006. the EPA says the entire State of NJ fails federal clean-air standards and 9 of 10 New York State residents live in areas that fail standards for ozone [4 other states also failed in every county- Mass, RI, CT and Delaware] NYPost 4-16-04 Feb 11-12 2006 With the heavy snow fall disrupting borough subway [elevated and outdoor] service WORSE than reported, I am reminded that some years ago, the city stopped dumping cleared snow in the river in the 1990s, and uses snow melters as much as possible 20 snow melters filter out salt, then pipe the melt water into the sewers anyway. 20 machines cost $200,000 each and burn 80 gallons an hour of low-sulphur fuel..oh, global warming anyone? FEB 2006 -City Council still needs to pass trash bill umm Mayor's 2004 Solid Waste Management Plan -vote is soon. Rechargable battery mandatory effective July 1 2007 - seller required to take em back...Mayor signed new Council bill 11-30-2005. I've seen recycle bins in various electronics stores, Home Depot. OCT 2005 NO speed limit on Hudson [all NYC waters] -why is NYC again different from everywhere else? Lawsuit against NY Waterways by shore property owners claiming damages from wakes. Safe Wakes Coalition release figures detailing $10Mil damages over last several years. July->Sept 2005 44 "Big Bellys" solar powered heavy-duty trash compactors installed at 8 QUEENS BIDs locations. NYC ended flat fees and only added water meters sometime in the 1980s. 25 percent delinquent "..231,000 strong, owe the city $625 million." NYTimes 7-3-05. An average of $600 per household! So city may start targeting for collection higher income areas first before threatening to shut off the water. Sanitation Dept heavy handed with tickets for keeping you sidewalk clean- NYTC fund raising device on nice blocks of home when there is a little scrap of paper there. Meanwhile, they do not keep up with emptying street wastebaskets and the streets corners of Manhattan etc look like shitpiles from all the normal stuff let alone other things dumped. "...Deadly toxins a peril at 14 sites" - in NYC. The state had designated chem spill sites as safe, being retested "because of their concentration of TCE and Perc, or their proximity to schools and homes." these are 14 in NYC of 421 such sites in NY State. Only 1 is in Manhattan in E Harlem. NYPost 2-13-2005 In NY State, for now, it is still legal for residents of towns with less than 20,000 to burn their own trash [not the recyclables] .._2007 Apr 17 1st containerised load to trash headed by rail from S.I. across repaired Arthur Kill lift bridge SI and reactivated SI rail line to North Carolina. Link is expected to save 100,000 truck crossing of Goethals Br. ->2006 It costs $80 to $85 ton to dispose of NYC garbage and that is one thing they say is reason for such heavy fines for not recycling..which *COSTS* $51 ton! ->NYTimes 5-18-2006 It is becoming clear that cost to close Fresh Kills may be $1.4 BILLION over a 30 year period as it becomes stabilised including about $448MIL over "next five years" to actually complete the closing plus about $600Mil in "post-closing" costs! ->S I Advance 11-3-05 FRESH KILLS closed as landfill but 2 sections are still "used" by Dept of Santitation and not to be capped til 2011 and 2015. Phase I of plan to develop the 100 acre admin area "the confluence" within the 2,200 acre park site into facilities that could be open by 2015 may be approved- JUNE 2005- City Council led by Speaker Gif. Miller trash transfer plan passed instead of Mayors, but Mayor vetos it and Council fails to override. Council persons who supported Mayor say Miller cut funds for their local projects as revenge. *NYPost 9-11-02 Budget shortfall led to talk of [no chance in hell] reopening FRESH KILLS landfill and or building trash incinerators esp an "energy recovery facility"-NYPost 10-12-03, cost of NYC disposal incl trucking 22,000 tons a day trash to out of state landfills escalated to about $1 billion a year. Recycling cuts made the load increase as well. Post 9-30-03 Mayor Bloomberg allocated $3.4mil to develop a master plan for parks and one small WTC memorial at Fresh Kills. NYC closed the world's largest municipal landfill, Fresh Kills, Staten Island, in the world. Opened in 1948 was supposed to close 12/31/01, actually closed March 22 2001, yeah spurred before alternate plans were resolved as political payback by Giuliani for S.I votes that were a big help in getting him elected to his second term [also Queens was only other boro that voted for Giuliani. All trash from NYC [excl. NYC Gov't garbage that is dumped in Queens] is being trucked over to NJ transfer stations for trucking to out of state dumps at additional cost of tens of millions, while the barge transfer stations [note below] a re to be built. LINDEN -[NY Times Metro 5-25-00] a few miles up the Arthur Kill from Perth Amboy, and across from Fresh Kills dump NYC wanted to build a garbage port - waste transfer station to handle the barging of 6,400 tons of NYC garbage a day and transfer to trains for shipping to landfills NYC contracted. Plan was dropped, NYC Bloomberg announced plan to upgrade the NYC transfer stations. +++++++++++ 12-2-98 -transfer station plan announced AND denounced by New Jersey. The nearest homes to LINDEN industrial area are '2 miles away' but the newspaper article make the mile-long daily garbage trains a bigger problem to communities along the way.->JAN. 2 2001: Metuchen NJ filed suit to challenge the County OK for this new transfer station. Metuchen is one of many towns along the route and its lawyer claims hazards because of natural gas pipelines along the right-of-way. 11-15-99 - Elizabeth NJ set up roadblocks to prevent NYC garbage trucks heading through it to waste transfer stations. NYC has a contract with hauling firm there. Lawsuits continued in 2005 to Honeywell and two other companies to clean up 100 sites in Jersey City. One of worst contaminated sites is the slag dump area next to Jersey City former home of Mutual Chemical-[NOW Home Depot on this contaminated but encapsulated site which they say is leeching into the Hackensack River] then Allied Signals then HONEYWELL huge chromium processing plant. Slag remains on the closed site [was last a drive-in and "Valley Fair" store is 111,000 truckloads or one and half million tons of waste which a group sued and won in 2003 but Honeywell appealed full removal and is stalling, saying the cap with partial removal then encapsualtion will stop heaving found at the drive-in site. Some of this stuff is probably under neighboring "Society Hill" townhouse condos [Hovnanian] and elsewhere in Jersey City. Don't drink the water even though it comes from further away. Geo Bushs EPA f___ NYC ' No cause for concern over asbestos' et al In the aftermath of the environmental disaster that also was 9-11 -with trail of airborne crap not only landing on lower MANH but as very clearly shown in a infamous satellite pic released way after the fact - over BROOKLYN. DID the desire to get the stock exchange in particular lead to opening up lower Manh to business as usual so soon set so many of us up for future cancer etc on a big scale- let alone the emergency workers on WTC site! Sept 2004 20-year contract to send NYC recyclable to new priv. plant to be built in Brooklyn announced. July 2003 - recycling pays: plastic bottles added back Spring 2003, depended on passage of NY State budget w/ necessary funds. Glass to be added APRIL 2004 But recycling collection in the city [excl Manhattan] is every other week starting July 28 2003. Garbage collection was also announced in all of Bx and S.I to be cut to once a week, some of Bklyn and Queens to be cut to once a week, but right now [AUG 2003] I don't know if thats still correct! Manhattan to stay with 3 collections a week! NY Sanitation trucks are single compartment only, so separate trips have to be made to collect trash and different types of recyclables It will be into 2008 possibly and hundreds of millions to modify transfer stations to receive material from combined pickups! NYC area worst in US in diesel pollution, [Feb2005] Boston's Clean Air Task Force. 2,000 deaths a year? * NYC- Manhattan [most of], Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens in their western densely pop. apartment sections adjacent to Manhattan are in EPA top ten US cancer danger zones due to air poll are highest levels of particulate air pollution any place east of Mississippi due to diesel trucks and buses spewing amongst tall buildings trapping it down below. [findings Oct. 1999 -after NYC, are Baltimore City & Co., Hudson County NJ, Phil. Salem NJ, Walker Ga. round the list out.] High one-way tolls on westbound Veranzano Br. causes extra truck traffic going out of Manhattan on free westbound Holland Tunnel extra trucks making Canal street there as busy as an Interstate--Wash DC-Congress is stopping NYC from removing 1-way S.I. toll with funding blackmail-oh this is hard to explain in one sentence. "Only an act of Congress can get rid of the one-way toll." [National Highway System Designation Act] 24 block area of Central Harlem has near highest rate of asthma in children, some small efforts being made to clean up apartments and investigate sources of the problem. The lead belt in NYC may be coincident with the areas of high air pollution and childhood asthma. Stronger laws for lead abatement are causing controversy as being a punishment for small landlords. In the boroughs older areas are also all [excl stretches of 1-9 line in Harlem and Inwood, Manhattan] of elevated subway line. "Over the last three years, for example, workers at just one subway line in Brooklyn - the Chauncy Street station of the J line - scraped down nearly 2,300 pounds of lead paint and dispose of it... [the Transit Authority] also collected more than 13,000 pounds of lead waste n 2000 [from other similar paint removal work]...[m]iles of work remain to be done.." work compl on 7, under way on 4 and J, 2 and 5 to start "soon" NYTimes, The Metro Section, NOV 2 2003, Kirk Johnson, "Looking Outside for Lead Danger: Finding It Overhead and Underfoot" Flushing Bay Combines Sewer Overflow Detention Facility completed in 2007 holds 40 mil gallons for later treatment. New Rec cetr atop it was dedicated MAR 2009. Billions? of gallons of raw sewage flowed in NYC water during the blackout. NYC has combined sanitary and storm sewers and there are no backup generators for the sewage plants - 1995 court order mandates const of generators at Greenpoint Bklyn, and NYC will also build them in Flushing and Alley Creek Queens.-NYTimes, Metro 8-28-03 "Sewage Spill Exposes Lingering City Problem|" 1992-Ocean dumping of sludge is prohibited; barges take sludge from [Harlem] N River Plant] to Wards Is treatment plant to dewater it to dry "cake" then trucked to private companies convert to fertilizer! [F.Y.I. NYTimes The City 3-20-05] AUG 2003- huge NYC rat infestation prodded Mayor to increase inspections, clean ups of targeted inner-city areas and increase to $13mil on rat control spending. Trash collection is a major cause as city outlawed apt bldg incinerators years ago and could not build new advanced municipal incinerators due to the environmentalists, NYState banned NYC from bldg an advanced incinerator at BKLYN Navy Yard in 1996 and also gave NYC ultimatum to close Fresh Kills landfill. Garbage is collected from curbside in ordinary plastic bags frequently opened and spread around by homeless collecting can and bottles for the deposits. NOV 29 2006 Cost of water filtration plant almost doubled to $1.75Billion, plus added year to the schedule, some of the contracts have not yet been awarded. 2005 ___ filtration plant under construction. Oh for the days of unfiltered sun-aerated, all natural NYC water that was praised throughout the land! July 22 03-after years of plans, delay, $1.3 bil water filtration plant OK' d by Gov Pataki for a Bronx site in Van Cortlandt Park to filter Croton res. water to satisfy 1998 fed. mandated to meet Clean Water Act standards. Croton reservior is oldest and closest to NYC of the major reservoirs. NYC amassed over $400k in fines to that point. NY also agreed to spend $200million in "mitigation" to improve other parks in return for loss of area of Van Cortland Park. Dec 2002 - Stricter regulations on handling, placement of commercial trash dumpsters to prohibit placement on sidewalk and to be placed outside for collection not more than an hour before collection and not be left out on weekends. Rule being expanded from 10 to all 59 Community Boards on Jan 27 2003..many business are strongly opposed as citing increased expenses. I am soo glad because the downstairs bar-rest where I live had placed two dumpsters right next to either side of the gate to the walk to the door of the bldg. NOT only NY->ALL of Toronto trash goes to a landfill in Sumpter Township south of Detroit MI. Last Toronto trash to go to a Canada landfill was stopped in JAN 2003. [NY Times 1-19-03..well they note MI has sent 53,000 tons of TOXIC waste in 2001 but CANADA sent MI only 4,000 tons. ========= * The NYC Council has approved the use of garbage disposals in NYC since being banned during the early 70's. "ACS Struggling On Child Abuse Despite Reforms, Repeat Cases Rise; Union: Attrition Is Key Factor" The Chief, AUG 3 2007. ->NYState Senate says Board of Regents figures show [500 allegation 2001-2007] they better clear the backlog of complaints of teacher-student sex complaint up 400%, may get more money for enforcement and prevention. 1-28-2008 NYC Family Court caseloads tripled since 1980->200_ ACS Commissioner Mattingly - Child Safety Alert #3 FEB 10 2006 -more resources for field workers being added. ".. Additionally, 2,000 cell phones have been ordered for field staff, which are coming in at a rate of 250 every three days and are expected to be assigned to staff in the very near future. These phones will allow workers to communicate..." oh yes, communicate from the field, was a GREAT NEW idea, oh, like 10-15 years ago. Post Nixzmary Brown and other child killings late 2005, examining ACS in 2005 caseload went up about 18%, investigations went up 11% and number of caseworkers went down about 4% and the number of abuse complaints on those who had been in closed cases went up greatly. [-Daily News 1-20-06] These cases were out of the Bed_Stuy field office which was about the most overburdened and in an areas with a huge number of broken families and umm I CALL THEM *breeders* who are just big kids themselves. =============================================== Bd of Ed- Dept of Education Coming $40.5mil is about 4.9% per school cut announced MAY 219, Mid school year 2007-08'surprise' 1.75% budget cut ..further cuts in RATE of INCREASE are not a decrease in spending, just threats to the deal between the courts, Dept of Ed, teacher's Union over the political 'Fair school funding' agreements kid are hostage to now. NO BID contracts: Monahan Daily News, May 20 2009 Public Advocate request audit findings $342mil no-bid contracts in 3 years, Chancellor responds -SO WHAT This is 11.7% of Dept of Ed contracts, majority [173 of 291] could be sweethearts deals because they were awarded bypassing Education Department Committe on Contacts! Rules are that no public hearings are neeed no matter.[also see further below re no-bid contracts and school bus route change fiasco -find "Daily News 2-1-2007"] NOV 2008 brou ha ha over 'subs'? Letter of the month-"When are the media going to stop referring to senior, displaced, insulted teachers as 'subs"? They work as "ATRs" - absent teachers reserves- because Joel Klein is hellbent on eliminating tenure, driving out senior teachers and staffing the schools with rank amateurs.." - T'Quiah Y. Kipure letter to editor Daily News NOV 29 2008. ==== GRADUATION rates and SAT 2009 Sept 24 Annenberg Institute report for CUNY: 7.5% of HS grad. only take all high school courses necessary for college prep; FALL 2008 19.2% of 'recent' public school grads took high school math necessary. SIX year grad rate rate from CUNY 2yr. programs [from fall 2001] of who did NOT need "remidiation" was 34%. --see Monahan, NY Post 9-23-2009 "City and state scores in SATs spirled down for the fourth straight year, according to new data." Gonen, NYPost 8-26-2009. Peaks scores were in 2005. NYC spin is socios - more black and Hipsanics who would not have taken it before now take the SAT. NYC, NATIONAL class of 2007 SAT score dropped for several years in a row. among lowest ever, near low point between 1972-2006 was in 1980! SO all your f__ plans and Small High Schools, Fed mandates etc are a bunch of crap! From scores as released by the College Board Aug 28 2007. JUNE 2009 On the eve of need for State votes to re-up MAYORAL Dept of Education control, MAYOR with Dept of Ed Chief, JUNE 22 2009 cited figures showing best JUNE *2008* was H.S. graduation rate in 22 years. Even THEY admit all the gain was in elite Regents diploma which is de riguer for the specialised High Schools, and that 15% of diplomas were the basic, local diploma that is being eliminated. They do NOT count most who left to get GEDs, or are discharged, or dropped out. KIM SWEET [Dir. Advocates for Children of New York, Comptroller Wm. Thomspon both warned to beware of the figures.] S. Stern of Manhattan Institute called this "election propaganda", citing "easier tests and creating short "credit recovery" classes for students who previously failed.: -see Lisberg/Monahan, DailyNews 6-24-2009. The papers otherwise headline good new, and further endorsed continued Mayoral Dept of Ed control. Nat Hentoff "The Lost Two Thirds" Village Voice AUG 13-19 2008: "In this city, only 32 percent of black males graduated from High School on schedule in 2006.. whites 57 percent, so ...New York City Public Schools ranked 54th out of 63 of the nation's largest school districts surveyed in a new national report..on such things by "Massachusetts-based Schott Foundation for Public Education." Also in those [most of except for a handfull of new specialised and charter-type!] NYC public schools where blacks did badly, so did the white students... late MAY 2007 city figure show HS graduation rates up-but "City Boasts of Record Graduation Rate, Critics Scoff" NYSun 5-22-2007 -"While the city tally include students who get a GED, and excludes special education students, the State education dept shows a lower figure of 50% vs. NYC figure of record 60%, the state does the opposite." Special Ed graduation rate was BELOW 2% in 2006... "Policy in City High Schools Criticized as Social Promotion" S. Garland DEC 21 2006- Seat-time credit" class passing still used. Failing student then can just show up and complete an individual project to teacher's satisfaction. Accountability of this is questionable. SCHOOOL RATINGS-via state testing results - and Principal/teacher bonuses $ 9-9-2009-> school report cards are based on dumbed-down state tests and only focus on reading and math igonoring science, history etc etc. [UNITL the next year when social sutides and science tests are coming, then it is REVERSED!] "Bogus school report cards threaten real progress" Diane Ravitch, Daily News. Love those daily practice tests! PS-The level 3/ lowest proficiency passing grade was dropped to 50%. 9-8-2009->Daily News $33 mil in bonuses to teachers and Principals were tied to these ratings! 9-3-2009-> "School stats 'too good to be true' Gonen, NYPost new figures released 9-2 show 97 percent of NYC elementary and middle school students earned and A or B [overall?] grade that is counted towards NYC rating the school, to keeping it open, to funding etc.! The Real Deal on NYC Schools->Sol Stern NYPost 7-14-2008 "US English Tragedy" [from City Journal"] NAEP tests NYC kids showed no improvment 2003-2007 in 4th and 8th grade [no wiggle room for the Mayor on this..] the Mayor and Schools Chancellor "deserve credit for talking of ending the racial achievement gap - but they made the mistake of relying on the wrong "experts." In 2003, they entrusted most instructional division to educators who deem it a crime to teach children how to read through scripted phonics lessons. These experts imposed an approach called Balanced Literacy...that children can learn to read "naturally" by immersing themselves in print." ->Sept 18 2008 $19.7 mil for teacher [$3,000 ea] bonuses "merit pay" cushy deal announced by Mayor Bloomberg, schools chancellor Klein, United Fed of Teachers Pres. Weingarten, and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators for teachers at "high needs schools" meeting performance targets, and some principals were eligable. RANDI WEINGARETEN calls individual merit pay "divisive" and fights it in favor of this collective "differentiated" reward. The Mayor said "In every good company, excellence is rewarded."->from The Chief 9-26-2008 issue. [Oh please.] SO FAR 2003 NY dropped the passing score on Regents exams to 55 from 65 and has furtherdevalued the special "Regents Diploma" given to students who complete the more academically rigorous program than is required for regular HS graduation. The Govs School Panel ironically was formed 2002 as NYC finally was vindicated in court as it challenged NYState to get its fair share of school funds which state as with many other $$ it takes and gives back screwed NYC compared to "upstate" now the panel may be a toll that screws us too as it dumbs down standard further. ==== ->"CUNY's failed newbies: 83% of HS grad are forced to take remedial courses" -Kolodner, DailyNews 9-2-2008 ..entering CUNY community colleges. Claremont Prep an ol bank office bldg on BROAD ST is packed and chaotic with the spawn of lower Manhattan divas and dons..see Green, "One School Feels Effects of N.Y. Baby Boom" NYSun 9-15-2008 Seven (7!) year old first graders- NYSun reports increasing "red-shirting" entry into K amongst public AND private schools all over. Kindergarten is tougher than before, so No Child Left Behind is tough, so school admins and parents wants kids to "feel good", be "happier and healthier" about themselves -YES they said that- BUT facts show increased a chance of leaving school at earliest legal age, other drop outs, being in work force less, and contributing to Social Sec for one less year etc. SEE A. Phillips, NYSUN 7-21-2008, "Lengthening Childhood Has Ill Effect: Harvard Study Details Costs Of Delaying School" Some private school noted in NYC will not take less than 6 years olds now. 2008 JUNE 10, 9 in midst of early heat wave, cooling centers opened for 'Seniors', schools early dismissal or closure in CT and NJ, as usual NYC schools stayed open, with much lower attendance. Since Mayor is adamant about the ol days when he went to school no air- conditioning [and that was in MA I think,] it is TIME to get out the weather records and see check what the temp were in JUNE for him back then and there! One CHARTER SCHOOL is sponsored by UFT teachers union mostly under their own regular rules and it performs better that its district average but also far below test English and Math at NYC Charter schools. Daily News 5-29-2009 Editorial 'Lessons of A UFT School" ="No wonder the teachers union tries to slow charter school growth at every turn" 'DOE Sidestepping UFT: Score May Decide Teacher's Tenure" Kolodner, The Chief 2-1-2008...Pilto programs amongst 240 elementary-middle schools measures and links kid test score and links them to their teachers and compare that to others with similar demographics in NYC. This is new to many of the teachers! "New pre-kindergarten selection process keeps kids out of nearby seats" -Wislooski, Daily News[QNS] 6-17-2008.. 15% of kids shut out of local/ANY seats under new selection process.. SECOND pre-K application date [JUN 23] had to be set PARENTS Complain no publicity, had NO knowledge of this! ===== SCHOOL CRIME 1998 Giuliani transfer of public school security to NYPD-now are 5,000 school safety agents under authority of NYPD and 200 armed police. NO reporting Police or School Safety Unit abuses to CCRB! CUNY colleges under-report crime: state [Messing, NYpost 9-22-2009] "including the famed John Jay College of Criminal Jusice - falied to report 73 percent of the felonies that occurred on their campuses.." 5 city college audited by State Comptroller. Perp walk for kids-> hundreds of illegal full arrests of kids under 16 for non-criminal [only disciplinary] problems. OCT 2008 Chancellor KLIEN says NOTHING about the problems, Speaker QUINN still refuses to hold hearing on new [2008-] Student Safety Act which cannot be voted on without a hearing. Peter Vallone Jr. chair of Public Safety Committee is holding up the committee and prob is working against the bill at behest of Police Com and Mayor..who also do not want to be bothered with funding more $$ to Civilian Complaint review board bill would make necesssary. 25 Council co sponsors! SO the lawsuits: See Nat Hentoff Village Voice DEC 31-JAN 6 2009 "Federal Court Defendants Joel Klein & Ray Kelly" re Stephen Cruz case late 2008, Rohan Morgan case upcoming in 2009. Way down 11% over the last 6 years[!]? Mayor and schools Chancellor trumpeted AUG 5 2008. OF course from NYPD figures..quiet grumblings from many such as the oft -dissed Public Advocate and NYCLU [denied access to records] and parents suspicious of under -reporting and angry at abusive/heavy handed enforcement tatics in the schools. __ 2007 10 public schools crimes audit by Comptroller finds 21% under-reporting and lots of hesitancy from Principals to bear bad news to the Education Department. "Shocking crime surge in schools" Y. Gonen, NYPost 8-22-2007 -"The number of assaults, robberies and sex offenses reported in the city's schools skyrocketed during the last school years. ->robbery 2004-05 50 robbery 2005-06 267, Sexual offenses up from 543 to 948, Assaults with injury up from 4,000 to 5,048. - figures from NYC thru State Education Department. Have a nice day! -->SO what is not clear is that so much is NOT clear..most schools do not have armed police patrolling and incidents of dangerous or offensive kids behavior are whitewashed by the ACLU and incidents of police strong arm tactics are whitewashed by the police. Students go thru airport -type security removed belts etc, have had white-out and little pencil sharpeners confiscated under condition that NO middle class parent would allow for their children -> JAN 15 2008->BedStuy -PS 125 10 year old girl HANDCUFFED by NYPD [of 79 pct.] on school bus as she did not respond to his demand to sit fast enough! AUG 2008 $1mil lawsuit against NYC led by Norman Siegal aiming to prevent handcuffing of non-criminal minors! OCT 9 2007 Student entering Eastside Communication HS early was made to leave handcuffed by NYPD School Safety, refused to leave was dragged out front door, Principal objected to humiliation of student, student arrested for "assaulting" an officer, all got into a fight and student was injured badly, Principle then was arrested. "I asked a black official, who asked not to be indentified, why more minority officeholders aren't objecting publicly to the way minority youth are treated by the police. He said no one wants to be responsible for challenging the cops and them being blamed if crime statistics start to go back up...A big gang problem has quietly developed in New York, and there are fears in the neighborhood of a troubled summer. The response to this very serious situation should not be to treat all kids like criminals..." Bob Herbert NYTimes 5-29-2007 "Small Incidents Are Creating a Big Problem With the N.Y.P.D." "The NYCLU report detailed alleged abuses raging from students being arrested for carrying cell phones to cops cursing and manhandling students."Criminalizing the Classroom"-schools have experienced a 33% drop in serious crime, a 40% decline in sexual assaults and a 50% drop in sexual assaults since the NYPD took over security five years ago. -Daily News 6-11-2007 SCHOOL BUSSING: a billion dollars NYC spending! Not bidded out since late 1970s? 2009Sept Enforcing NO school bus service for 7 graders and up...walk, get mom to drive, take public transit, whatver. 2008September: 4,587 bus runs for special ed students cut to 4,363. $28mil "savings" so the others get longer and slower and more crowded...some trips take 2 to 3 hours each way. ->City Council Education Committee will hold hearing on this APR 11 2007. ->MAR 23 2007 "When it comes to the busses I'm not so sure that in this case that we're doing as good a job as we could." Mayor Bloomberg on WABC radio with John Gambling. MAR 22 Schools Chancellor ordering "complete"? overhaul of bus system. MAR 21 "[B]y and large our bus service -seems to, by most standards- do a pretty good job." - Mayor Bloomberg MAR 20 2007 DailyNews "The Bad Guys Behind The Wheel...78 drivers, matrons busted in '06 alone." incl some associated w org crime. Anyone can be a bus driver, any criminal if they are rehabbed according to the court or 5 years since conviction. MAR 19 2007 DailyNews "Sex & Secrecy in Back of The Bus..News uncovers wide history of hundreds of cases of abuse -in school busses. Student-student, driver-student etc. At least as much as the Dept of Education would allow to be released, some cases pending, some missing, no info released in unsubstantiated cases. 2007 Feb 25 - 17 routes restored! 116 school bus routes cut, 2,000 changed..arrivals after classes start, 5 and year olds rides eliminated and they were given Metrocards and the Mayor says it was the right thing to do and sometimes some people are inconvenienced, so sorry."[H]e (schools chancellor) and the Mayor need to reprogram their attitude." DailyNews 2-1-2007 -->Feb 5 Post says young kid could encounter "pervs" sex offenders on their new transit rides to school - and names names of those who along one route in the Bronx. ->Mayor still said things are working out better [fri 2Feb] ..just barely mentioned are emergency busses added at $17,500 days or fact changes were not give a "dry run", final changes were rushed thru week before they were implemented, and head of Office of Pupil transportation was on vacation, the consultants who planned similar changes to equally poor results in St. Louis in 2003.. "[H]e needs to do something before some poor moppet, lost and confused, wanders off and freezes to death...If they can't see the folly of their school bus debacle, how can parents trust them with dismantling and reconstructing the entire 1.1 million- pupil school system." -some kids as young as 6 bumped from bussing just got Metrocards! Bus routes changes and cuts put in effect JAN 29 instead or originally target of Sept 2006. Plan was to save $12mil a year in the Dept $15Billion budget. - - "Klein's Bus Debacle" editorial NYPost 1-13-2007 -->DailyNews 2-1-2007: Consultants Alvarez & Marshall were in no-bid contract $15.8mil and part of their cost savings recommendations were the school bus cuts, orig aimed to save $20mil...These people were paid by NYC for cab rides and airfares for them back and forth to St LOUIS. Two of the consultants worked full time on the bus plans since summer 2006 for $1.2mil at rates of up to $450 hour plus 11% living allowance-no receipts needed. The firm messed up in the same way in ST LOUIS but at fees that were 1/3 of what NYC paid --->2004 Accenture consultants report "Pupil Transportation Strategy" says cut school bus routes carrying less than 30.. the Dep Chancellor of Dept of Ed Ms. Grimm says I dunno about this one at City Council hearing about the bus cust fiasco 2-13-2007. ===== www.stopthemadrassa.com-> this place is coming to your town as footholds for sharia law... School is about 60 kids, about 10 percent arabic students....cirriculum and textbooks are still hidden. Support, backing to MAYOR and DEPT of ED came from true radicals.. --->Almontaser sued the Mayor and other city officials on down, freedom of speech and due process 11-19-2007...she is now a CAIR consultant..in front lien of islamising the US along with deballed self-deluded US press and intelligentsia who have rolled over and stuck their butts in the air cooing 'diversify me.' -->AUG Principal resigned, new Jewish principal is appointed. -->FRI May 4 Dept of Ed is looking elsewhere to open the Khalil Ghibran Academy.. and found it in____ . Finally KB academy only enrolled 50, so added special ed kids then made inadequate provision for them, no arabic cirriculum and is operating in some aspects secretly! -->One coming up next is [to be WITHIN the Park Slope School -PS 282 elementary school bldg] 'Khalil Ghibran' Leadership Academy [middle school] more info indicates it will start with 6 grade and around 2010 when expanded up to 8 grade will move into its own facility. Half the classes will be in Arabic or so..will they indoctrinate and convert too? MADRASSA? Dhabah Almontaser is to be principal, POST reported 8-6-2007 she is on the board of Arab Women Active in Art and Media...their big T-shirt for sale is "Intifada NYC" SHE said the shirts are "an opportunity to girls to express that they are part of New York City society,, and shaking off oppression." because "intifada" means "shaking off." [-NYPost 8-7-2007 "Joel Klein's Choice"] NOTE ALL 12 advisory board members belong to religious institutions...see Daniel Pipes 5-22-2007 "The real Arab School Fear" late May 2007 parents protest school re-siting again, but most their arguments are very carefully put, emphasizing "crowding" and the co location with other age students etc, Pipes noted one upset parent did let out the "b" word, worried about girls in burqas, before a "confused apology" was offered. - - - - SCHOOL CLOSING-SHUFFLINGS> 96 schools including two dozen+ High Schools closed under M Bloomberg [NYTimes 2-4-2009] Bill and Melinda Gates foundation $$ fuel the "small schools movement - but who is the umm MIND behind this half baked idea?? Only one thing about small schools sound OK - internships. Many of these sponsored schoolsthat are in former indust bldgs etc. are shuffled around neighborhoods for renovations/expansion even mioles away causing PROBLEMS-see Gonen, NYPost 7-27-2009 >NYPost 2-4-2009: Dept ED with ESPN gonna open "Business of Sports School" Sept 2009 'in space it will share with HS of Graphic Communications Arts in Midtown." ->announced Feb 3 2009 2,251 student Brandeis High [84st-Columbus Av - no more new students] 2009 to be broken into 3 new smaller schools within- they received C than D school rating! ALSO gone will be Bernard Rustin HS for Humanities. ->coming up by 2010? IS49 [BK], MS 172 [M] Adlai Stevenson HS [BX], New School for Arts and Science [BX], Lafayette HS [BK] which NYPost 12-29-2008 shows got much nearly double per student funding due to "A quick in the city's funding formula.." ->Dec 10 2007 announced end of Canarsie High makes last of 14 school closings this round of school assessments makes 16 old time orig NYC High Schools since 2002 stripped of their identity and bldgs divided into those small new schools. ->Jan2009 announced Cinema [High] School Sept 2009. ->announced last call for Far Rockaway High School will be graduation 2011 and 4 smaller High Schools will be phased into the bldg as "Far Rockaway Educational Campus" ->DEC 4 2007 Announced 'Less than 20.." schools closing/ phase out by school years end. ->New York Grades Set Off Debate on Judging Schools [-E. Gootman/J. Medina NYTims 11-27-2007] "The decision to reward schools for advancing the neediest students produced some counterintuitive results, South Bronx Academy for Applied Media, listed by the state as one of its most violent schools, is rated by the city as an A. It fared well on the report card while just 17 percent of its students met grade level standards on the state reading test, more than 63 percent had improved from last year." ->one of the small High Schools within old Evander, BRONX LAB SCHOOL is held up as an example and the top success of these; an unscreened school with 95 percent graduation rate, ->Small schools are seeded with higher percentage students higher scoring in math and reading than the old reular high schools they replaced. THE OTHERS? well search or 'find' SCHOOL GRADES-RANKINGS/ Grade Inflation: [further below] S. Garland, 1-31-2007 NYSUN-"Twenty new high schools will open next year under Bloomberg administration initiative to increase the number of specialized small schools in the city, putting the number opened in the past three years at more than 200." "The schools chancellor, Joel Klein, said the city's small schools have been shown to improve education offerings for traditionally underserved student. He cited a study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - also a backer for several small schools in the city -that was released the day of the announcement." DEC 2006 A handful of underperforming High Schools was recommended to be closed. Note its already happening. Last freshmen entered EVANDER CHILDS HS in the BX in 2004 They are NOT going to demolish the big ol place EVANDER is gone..so far small specialised mini High Schools have replaced the "lost" Evander students, where only 31% of the senior graduated in 2002. Some of these splits ups venerable neighborhood High Schools, like Lafayette and Franklin K. Lane [fall 2008 as typical, will be 4 in 1 new High Schools] in Brooklyn. NO matter to the DEPT of ED. Newer, smaller more specialised is what they are aiming for-most have to be within existing other school bldgs. ->Everyday math ? what is it really, but reports say Texas is starting to drop it because it ill-equips students for college..and so NYC uses it... NOV 2006 Free is free, activist forces judge to rule school districts must supply graphing calculators to student that are required to have them..could be quite an expense. BUT WHY are they required as early as 3rd grade to learn calculators?? Back in the day, students learned all kinds of math to pre-calculus by hand. Then slide rules if they become college engineering students, until 1971-72 or so. Announced SEPT 2006 privately operated, govt funded charter school will occupy class space at Dept of Education HQ in 'Tweed" bldg, displacing the "City Hall Academy" to space at PS 129, 130st near Amsterdam Av. === OVERCROWDING- MUSICAL CHAIRS> SEPT 2009-> 20% worse 2009 overcrowded than 2008, UFT report. High School overcrowding in Queens: a worst case is Forst Hills HS has 3,960 students in 2,400 student building. Dept of Ed says there will be 'enrollment stabilisation' and new classes added which will help the system. Schools are forced to be packed because enrollment is one part of determine funding. ->OCT 3 2008 Kolodner, Daily News finds some elementary schools at or near 200% of capacity by official Dept of Ed. figures.. ->July 21 2008 "Teachers joined parents.." protest against overcrowding "on one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods" ..[P]rojections show 40 new high-rise buildings in the Murray Hill Section that are expected to add 377 more pupils.." Merkin/ Oritz, Daily News JULY 22 2008. JUN 4 2008 E. Green, NYSun->> School Chancellor sees nothing will alleviate overcrowding in some 'swiftly developing' schools areas is going to explore/ suggest heavy handed re zoning "to be rolled out as an option in meetings with every school district in the city.." ->MAY 2008 "Class Size Matter" L. Haimson calls crowding in NYC schools are "3rd world conditions" from their survey says NYC school capacity formula sucks and leads students literally be put in closets and halls or eat lunch in morning etc...DEPT of Education says oh the survey is asked "leading questions." it is not so bad...NYPost 5-21-2008 500 Principals were surveyed. SEPT 18 2006[?]- After Teacher's Union survey they charge DEPT of Education there are 5x more overcrowded classrooms in elementary and middle schools than 2005..somehow city says this is temporary and that average class size has fallen in the younger grades ..where do all the bodies go? Aug 24 2006 NY Daily News "Public schools splitting apart at seams" "and it may get worse." In some Queens schools for example some class time is in stairwell landings, halls, gyms, cafeteria with 160% over-capacity..note Woodside, East Elmhurst, Jackson Hts. Como se lama too many kids? Bloomberg sure isn't the one having all these kids... ===== 'GIFTED'-> 9-18-2007 U.S. most improved school district? Hmmm $500k for scholarships from the Broad Foundation. Test results, interviews, observation and the judgment of select "non-partisan" jury of 9 made the selection. ->"Gifted Programs Are Less Diverse, Fewer From Poor Areas Despite City Revision" [-Gootman, Gebeloff NYTimes 6-19-2008] The qualifier is minimum score on a standardised test, city wide. Whatever. You all made your beds, NOW lay in them! ->APR 11 2008 [Melago, NYDaily News] "Education officials made it easier for kids to get into gifted classes yesterday, but said they may have to cut the number of new classes by almost 25% throught consolidation." ->NOV 2006 The more your beloved pols try to respond to YOU [well many of you] to give YOU what YOU protest about the more they F it up. Andrew Wolf, NYSun 11-6-2006 "Resentment is Tweed's 'Gift' to the Middle Class" from Chancellor KLEIN's [BLOOMBERG] "..buses will whisk the bright children from Riverdale to this "failing" school, as the seats they leave behind could be filled by children from the same school whose parents decided to take advantage of the ticket to escape educational failure at PS. 54." PS 54, a "failing"school, that is will be the location of the "new gifted and talented "seats! Confusing but it is educational REDLINING as mandated by NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, declaring some schools as FAILURES is entitled to leave, while the new very limited least gifted programs are not run as part of NEIGHBORHOOD schools, both leading to increased bussing, neighborhood destabilisation and more jockeying for plum seats so room for corruption. -->The politically- correct mush-headed are accelerating the decimation of the lower middle class as they are f__ over the schools as they jerk-off equally mush-headed parents - all saying they are fighting racism, discrimination and not enough funding, all with major- media blessing and elimination of the facts. -->Aug 25 2006 NYSun "Why We're Losing Ground" Andrew Wolf-> "Over the past 20 years [there has been a systematic dismantling of the gifted and talented program].."a process that has even accelerated under [Bloomberg -who has instituted much-touted Specialised High School Institute [Wolf calls it an 11th hour cram program for the test] and other questionable minority advancement programs - Region One in the Bronx with the largest minority population in the city, is the only one without even a single gifted and talented seat. This is not for a lack of gifted and talented minority children. It is a matter of ideology. Is it any wonder that barely a handful Region One children attain admission to the Bronx High School of Science, which is situated there? The gifted and talented programs were eliminated due to hyper-sensitivity on matters of race."..re recent challenge to use of LAST Liberal Arts and Science Test as a teacher's -->Wolf saw his on's test and it as easy and basic and a test for high school graduates - woe unto public school parents if the test is eliminated among other steps dumbing down the teachers. ->Entrance exam for the specialised high schools such as Bx Science, Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech, 3 of the Crown Jewels of NYC... as soon as latest figure showed Asian student became largest group, white next and blacks etc numbers declined, activists including City Council-person John Liu [yeah Chinese] said the TEST was flawed,"resulting in bias" the City Council Education chair Robert Jackson said it was "institutional racism." AUG 15 2006 Brooklyn Judge said College of Staten Island violated its own anti- discrimination policy when in 2005 it refused to recognise a new chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity and allow it to function on campus. It is a traditional all-male group and I guess they have or will have a residential chapter house because it discriminates. SO far there are no other single sex groups on campus. ->OK ALBANY let it happen -there is a new centralised bureaucracy since 2002 under Mayor's control TEMPORARILY - his authority EXPIRES in 8 years over the Dept of Education but there are very limited no of charter schools and a number of "empowerment schools" where principals have more independence that will be increased up to 25% of all schools [announced JUN 12 2006]. Central adminstrators will be reduced but other staff will be hired to oversee the "empower zones" SO our overall experience with the Mayor means though this is reducing the number of centralised administrators, the Mayor is putting principals on a shorter chain more directly linked to him. AFTER the Mayoral control law "sunsets" in 2009 then WHAT?? Board of Ed. *1.1 million students and 78,000 staff or so The Chancellor's Regulations were [are?] over 1,000 pages long. NY State 1 of 4 states where at least 65% of funding goes directly to classrooms [Utah, NY, Tenn, Maine] and Wash DC is WORST at 50%. See George Will 4-10-05 "Tormenting Educrats, An Education Solution" ->Note the CSA -Council of Supervisors and Administrators that POST says the schools "Never mind the wackiness of a unionized management corps..[P]rincipals belong to the same union as their "Administrative underlings." and their OWN Supervisors. Post 11-10-2006 E. Gootman, NYTimes 5-22-2006 "More than half the principals in the New York City public school system have left their jobs over the past five years, opening the way for a remarkable influx of often younger newcomers, some in their 20's and 30's with impressive credentials but little teaching experience." -> James Monroe complex [4 various High Schools in one [see about the specialised small schools the Mayor created] and 2,100 students- Wait of 20 to 45 minutes to go thru screening and the two metal detectors to get in. After removing ALL metal objects if still beeps, hand screening, shoes removal and body searches start! April 26 2006 portable walk-through metal detectors to be shuffled around to various schools for weapons screening -> hundreds of cell phones, iPods etc were confiscated in enforcement of the standing ban besides the handful of weapons. NO-in NYC there are NO lockers to place the phones in. There are only gym lockers IF you have gym and that is not every day. Chipped ID cards being phased in the public schools [NYSun 5-4-06] first time I saw this mentioned, they had been first used 5 years ago! They have just been introduced at Brooklyn Tech HS- there was a long line and at least a 20 minute delay to get in as cards were swiped and student pics etc flashed on monitors. Cards may be required for use of cafeteria, school library etc. as principals choose. The system continues to handicap students for be a part of regular middle-class America-JUN 2006 Maybe they should call it "High School for Ignorance and Law Breaking" -NYPost 6-5-2006 Students from Law, Government and Community Service HS new mini school affected by P-C ignorance, self importance nasty people affected by the current media culture. As a feel-good, activist project posted hand-written on their own slavery in NYC trail on lamp posts etc in Lower Manhattan and said they had the "right" to do so and the Downtown Alliance had no "right" to take them down... And speaking rights, Lehman HS in BX the drama teach [and prob principal also liable] were VERY ignorant of copyright and licensing of performances. The drama teach transcribed CHICAGO from the movie! And no matter what, NO ONE gets licensed for a current production of a bway show within the area. After being threatened with a lawsuit to stop rehearsal, Daily News crusade helped clear one unlicensed performance to be held in JUNE ___. ->DEPT of ED has 13,711 employees salary $100,000 or more [as of JUN 20 2008-AM NY 1-7-2009] ->"Many prospective teachers cannot afford to enter such a premium-priced housing market on an average salary of $60,000, particularly when they can earn as much, or more, teaching in a leafy suburb..." NY Observer May 1 2006 'Bloomberg Tempts Teachers' Yo Bloomie, my boss. What the hell about up POORER NYC DC 37 workers who get lowest raise of ALL NYC workers, less than the rate of inflation! ->April 2006 It is not a long-term strategy. Unprecedented massive housing allowance of thousand$ a month and moving money equal to max $14,600 over salary for 3-yr commitment that is $5000 moving expenses plus $400 month housing allowance announced for favoured new group of out of area, certified teachers in math, science and special ed [only. NOTE not English etc] for some "rough" schools. JAN 31 2008 Some are favoured more than others. Klein announced special $25,000 bonus paid new Executive Principals. No announced targets for success, task is to lead struggling schools [defined by test scores or what?] for 3 years. Qualification?- mainly 3 years of experience -and maybe some connections since most else was left open for interpretation === ->NYC Teachers spent average $400 on supplies for the kid in 2004- were only partly reimbursed in 'Teacher's Choice'..allowance was cut from $260 to now $150 FY 2009 [JUL2008-JUN 2009] by the Council..see more about the lovely, frugal Council in the main part of the page. -Melago, "Class in recess-ion" Daily News 8-11-2008. "New York Outpacing Other States In School Spending, U.S. Data Shows" -NY Sun 4-4-06 in a federal report released 4-3 spending increasing at nearly twice national average, was up in NY 6.5 percent in 2004 over 2003. ----- Parallel system: The Private schools: [150,000+ private / parochial school sudents] 70% of Manhttan's private schools are in Upper East side. In census tract around Guggenheim for example, 85% students attend private schools. Overall 20% of NYState kids do not attend public schools. [NYSun 1-30-2008 ranked some of the private schools but biased about -power- thru assets and admissions to Harvard]..most schools no matter high or low on that list did not like it. 2006-Some private schools K-12 tuition in Manhattan break $30k year mark and many others are about $29,000...the job of getting a new kid in is so hard umm, that advisors charge parents thousand$ to help pave the way. "...private school tuition for first-graders has increased 43% over the past decade.." NYTimes 2-28-2006 "Parents Facing Sticker Shock Over Private School Tuitions" Wash DC is no 2. - - and top pre-schools tuition has reached $10,000. The use of placement consultants for nursery school is growing as there are fewer seats for those younger kids. -->S Garland NYSUN 10-31-2006- "Upper West Side Parents Turn to Robin Aranow" at rate of starting at $50 for an email info service to $200 hour for phone calls and $2,000 package rate all for public school admissions. Private schools consultants charge to around $6,000. Oh its not just about paying up -there essays, interviews, schmoozing - all rather decadent. ----- -->May 2 Major distributors see writing on the wall, making sure it is THEIR products, they will sell waters, juice and low-fat mil elementary and middle schools with diet soda added for high schools. Ah yes William J. Clinton Foundation and American Heart Assoc brokered the deal,changes will be implemented within 3 years. -->April 2006 Council'person' DeBlassio introducing resolution to investigate what this is doing, concerned that ban has halted some kids milk consumption. ->end of FEB 2006- No more whole milk in NYC public schools. Low fat or chocolate skim only. Its the obesity, you know. ++++++++++++ those DFE lawsuit dollars: 2006 late FEB so far 21 school construction project were stopped by Mayor-controlled Panel for Education Policy [!we never head of that one before] cut $1.8bil from capital spending, projects picked according to BLOOMBERG as payback where the State legislators did not align with him in the struggle with ALBANY for funding! -see "Mad Mike's School-axe Hurts Kids"-Micheal Goodwin, On Governing, Daily News 3-1-2006- and Joe Bruno says in order to fund all the court orders CFE dollars [$1.8Bil] for regular school aid [not construction $$] -state business taxes would have to go up 2-1/2 times, income tax rise to 9.4 percent, and [State] sales tax go up to 8.4 percent [making NYC sales tax about 13%!]. FEB 13 2006- Mayor, DOE Chancellor, Teachers Union PRES called on the State -Governor to give NYC its legally mandated "CFE" funding or else school construction will halt- NYC advanced $1.3BIL that the state was obligated to fund for capital projects - 21 schools with 15,000 seats plus other new libraries, labs and gyms will stop construction this year PLUS upcoming 68 schools with 38,000 seats planned are in jeopardy. NYState us supposed to fund 50% of the Dept of ED capital budget. Spring- and now is the Commission formed 2004 on how to spend the extra money they almost have. CFE case- JUNE 2003 "Albany" needs to send NYC $2 billion, according to Dept. of Education estimate or so more to comply with final Court of Appeals ruling in 10-year old case that NYState distributes monies back to school districts unfairly and they're going to have to do it by start of school year 2004. "The Real Power in NYC's Schools" [ Ryan Sager, NYPost 1-28-05] is UFT Teachers Union actual power behind suit by "Campaign for Fiscal Equity" the $20 billion court says due NYC is bent around teachers union contracts more than needs of students. Case used data going back to 1997 which actually during a Dinkins Admin then practice of "skimming state aid for schools for use elsewhere in his budget."-NYPost 6-27-03 "Why More Cash Won't Help the Kids.. If money were the answer, this would be a Golden Era in Education" --the teachers contract limits class time, protects incompetent teachers, has strict seniority and tenure provisions and as with most NYC jobs no incentives bonuses or merit rewards for good workers. - - - SO now [mid FEB 2006] the city is cracking down and requring all staff who live out of state but have kid in NYC schools to report themselves or else - no penalty for 30 days. Lee McCaskill "embattled" principal of BROOKLYN TECH HS retired FEB 6 2006 and paid NYC $19,441 in restitution for his daughters cost of attending "highly regarded" PS 29 in Cobble Hill for 4 years instead of some school in NJ where they live and in exchange for the Dept waiving disciplinary charges. Some variance from someone in the DEPT of Education made it possible to attend the Brooklyn school [without paying it seems. Normal charge if application is OKd is $5,000 year]..his wife also is being investigated is an administrator at another Brooklyn HS. see NYTimes, Daily News 2-7-06 === 2009-JAN 29->NYTimes J.Median -"Parent-advocates are cold to blog posters whom they regard as Bloomberg's puppets" LeanNY big cheeeleader and community organisers showing how great things are in the schools now, say they are not funded [directly] by the Mayor. 2008-NOV 14->DailyNews Editorial "keep Mayoral control of schools". Kolodner "Even in the face of across-the-board cuts ordered by City Hall, $352.8 million is being devoted to "accountabilty" measures, the Independent Budget Office report said." - parents fuming mad. It includes 70 staff @ budget of $25.7 million plus $20.3 million overtime pay $40hr for teachers to manage data!->Schools Chancellor said "...some of the smartest dollars we've spent." ->NYSun did NOT tell of it but Times did , New "MAYORAL ACCOUNTABILITY for SCHOOL SUCCESS" MASS, is non profit [so it CAN lobby and campaign] of 3 politically correct on the board, goal to raise $20 mil to beat up Silver and Albany pols into submission to continue Bloomberg's authority and not consider any other means of indepedent control of NYC public schools.-about how this thing was created [Merryl H. Tisch of State Board of Regents and I do NOT if she is of the very rich umm Tisch of ___ "Ms. Tisch said a supporter of the Mayor approached her this summer to discuss the idea of raising money to campaign for continued Mayoral control of the school."Medina, Gootman "On First Day of School Bloomberg Promotes Mayoral Contol" And so it goes. Back room politics gone superscale. Schools opening day SEPT 2 2008->Mayor, Chancellor and other pols tour schools. Albany granting Mayoral control of Dept of Education sunsets JUNE 2009. Some praise but some dumping on the system..the schools chancellor KLEIN with notoriously rosey Brooklyn booster Boro President MARKOWITZ went to all-new 'Excellence Charter School' in Bed-Stuy and MARKOWITZ said to KLEIN "Listen to me, we have some public schools that are starving for these kinds of resources." not orgs and the connected who channel $$ and stuff toward the Charter schools. ->Green, "Schools Open With talk of Mayoral Control," NYSun 9-3-2008 Oh, he Teachers Union played footsie with Mayor, donated money to ALBANY pols and others, gotten very good raises, so had NOT a word of criticism, unlike the past. late May 2007 NEWSWEEK Mag top US 100 High Schools had NO NYC public school while "[J]ust nine are mentioned on the magazine's longer list of 1,268 high schools. Still, Bx Science, Stuyvesant, Hunter College HS made the other list of "public elite" HS. "The system is out of control, I'd rather have the school boards back."- Council person Charles Barron [BK]-S Garland, NY Sun 3-28-2007 "Some Lawmakers Call for Return to Old School Boards" a group of City Council members protested the Mayor's plans 3-28. FEB 2006- The FY 2007 budget proposal was presented. A surplus is expected but then a growing deficit may be..so lots of new fees, cutbacks justified by expected massive increase in NYC cost for pension and heath costs of NYC workers- SCHOOLS - MAYOR proposes opening multitude of new small specialised schools [36 new middle and high schools SEPT 2007 alone-]. They all have themes, some more vocational than academic sounding, some almost politically correct sounding- everything but High School of Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll...and they are firm in their belief that this all will raise graduation rates. ->NYC [2003] HS graduation rate among large school districts was 3rd worst in US. Oh South Carolina whether is last among the STATES in HS graduation rate. ->private tutoring for elite Manhattan HS students for SAT, college prep etc are $100 or less hr are low end but mostly $200 to $400 hour for ivy league graduates. see Weiss, NYSun 9-22-2008. MON FEB 6 2006- 300,000 public school students [yes, incl K] required to attend new 37-1/2 minute tutoring session 4 a week before or after regular classes, whose schedule will be cut 10 minutes a day 4 days a week to accommodate the new tutorial sessions. This time was added to teacher's day under new contract. This is also estimated will add extra $24mil for more necessary school bus service. IS 61 QNs used city tax $$ summer 2008 for retreat $40,000 [$624 pers] teacher seminar at Edith Macy Conference Ctr in Briarcliff Manor 9hrs training from their own schools admins in 3 days. Workshops included "social studies through hip hop". Gonen, NYPost 12-22-2008 NYTimes -Letters 1-3-2005- A letter that puts these Bloombergian "let them eat cake" days into perspective accurately - re 'City's Big Donors Find new Cause: Public Schools" DEC 30 p1. "While I appreciate the efforts of philanthropists to donate money to the public schools, their contributions will affect only a small group of students, most of them only marginally. I would much prefer that they use their considerable financial and "menschy" power to encourage fair tax laws, equitable financing of public schools and national health insurance, among other policies that would greatly improve outcomes for our students and our society. "Public education is not a charity. It is a vital public good and should be financed as such." David Campbell Brooklyn 12-30-05 -->NYSun 1-5-2005 PUBLIC "Upper East and West Side Schools Hit Up Parents for Hefty Donations" -for example at PS 166 w89 st $1,500 for teacher's assistants,. PS 6 on the East side $600 for K and 1st grade assistants. DEC 27 2006 "In Middle Class, Signs of Anxiety on School Effort" [Susan Saulny, NYTimes] "The Bloomberg administration's efforts to invest immense attention and resources in low-income students in low-performing schools are causing growing anxiety among parents from middle class strongholds who worry that the emphasis is coming at their children's expense." Decreased science and arts classes and more remedial work and focus on standardized testing and larger class sizes will further drive higher income to private schools [parochial schools are mostly on decline] and others to leave NYC if existing patterns continue. "The Decline and Uplifting Fall of Morris High" 1897-2005, NYTimes 6-30-05 Got too bad to keep going and put out to pasture in favor of small High Schools initiative plans. ============= next door->OUT OF NYC MAY 2006 the STAMFORD CT school org says there are too many holidays and is trying eliminate Veterans Day for NOV 2006. [APR 7 Santos, NYTimes] Audit Call Yonkers School System Archaic-"An examination of the city's beleaguered school system exposed a sluggish, paper-intensive bureaucracy prone to unnecessary spending, sloppy recordkeeping and inadequate oversight..." in 4th largest school district in NY State. -Working like its the 1950s, they still make wide use of index cards! -->Since Bloomberg was allowed control over new DEPT of Education in 2002, two latest contracts raised teachers salaries 45%. including raises in new contract announced NOV 2006 a year before current one finsihes. Contract ratified 11-3-2005 not by a huge margin. So teachers think too power was given to Principals and too many give-backs they are crying. Contract settlement Fall 2005 15% over 52 months plus 2002 settlement of 19% means teacher salaries have risen over 1/3 under Bloomberg. Teachers are split saying it still is not enough and they are unhappy with minor work rules changes. WHAT, lunchroom duty and hall patrol? There are No residency rules for teachers. SEPT 27 2005 NYPost "School Crook Guilty" re continuing ROSLYN LI scandal For Superintendant Frank Tassone siphoned $2.4 million in pleasure trips and personal stuff from schools budgets. PLEA guilty will serve some time and supposed to make restitution.-sentencing due NOV 29 2005 There were 4 other defendants awaiting trial in connection with total $11mil case. = = = = DC37 workers like myself were sold out with a 3 year 5% increase and another similar low settlement prior. State workers also get larger increases than I've ever had. BUT the NY POST especially likes to beat up onwhat they say are lazy over compensated city workers but hardy any thing like that about teachers, just their bloated union [you got to have seen the paper.] Criminal charges against public school employees incl teachers up 58% in 2005. Ordered psych exams also has risen sharply.. Recent suspensions of two teacher for "double dipping" highlights glaring deficiencies of NY public schools, a prime factor in the exodus of public school educated educated native NYers who DID do well in the schools, and the FACT the corporate NYC is populated by NYCs private school educated and imported out of state educated. [Yeah NYC has "townies" who are thus really looked down upon by corporate culture and media.] ->art in pubic school cut back so much "According to DOE statistics, school attention to arts programs has fallen in the last years, with 30 percent of all school citywide lacking an arts Teacher, up 10 percent. The budget for arts supplies has also fallen by $7 million." "Fame" HS of Music and Art cut out its annual evening theatre production. ->The Chief 'For the record' JAN 9 2009 One teacher is an orchestra leader and professional musician who abused leave to play with her orchestra. That was the only was to make just a little extra money from following her passion. OTHERWISE there is a TOTAL DISCONNECT between the public school population and [especially in these times of continued school dumb-downing and budget cutbacks] and NYCs professional community with, well you could say all the talent and resources in the world. Lower middle class and poor public students are not prepared well and really are f___ by the schools if there are NO family connections to business or the professions. Actually, as Andrew Wolf -NYSun 8-26-05 notes in "Lessons From the Double Dippers" cuts in public school art and music program funding were cut back seriously in 1970s. I know. I was there in High School [grad 1973]. Brooklyn Tech High - read a uncensored view - www.freeBTHS.com Arcdioscese of NY Catholic schools- announced closing of 32 elementary schools NYC and suburbs N. Many students will be consolidated in larger regional schools, enrollment is down. 115,500 students in 293 schools in the system. New York Immigration Coalition- 50% of public school parents require translation and interpretation assistance for info sent to parents. NYC Dept of Education spends $10Mil on this. More on these than on any English prep for them. JAN 23 2006 Bloomberg vetoed the activist City Council's passage Education Equity Act bill to fund and require translation of all docs in 8 additional languages. [-NOTE 2008July Executive Order 120, which ordering provision of docs and services in 6 major languages-only new staff mandated is "Language Access Coordinator"] Immigration coalition groups etc called for an override of the veto, which was probably going to happen than the Mayor agreed [Feb27 2006] to funding translation report cards and other schools docs into 9 languages at cost of $20mil. NYPost 11-7-06-> says an kids will be getting coded cards for their lunches starting Feb 2005 after $7.5 mil program is implemented. Replaces coupon system which was subject to a kiddie black market system. note from official site "Consistent with Children First Reforms..." BEWARE Community and Citywide Education Councils new 2004-WHAT you need another org to oversee the new-old bureaucracy? "In total, 34 councils will be established spring with terms beginning July 1, 2004: 32 Community Education Councils for each of the community school districts 1 Citywide Council on Special Education 1 Citywide Council on High Schools Who Can Serve on the Councils? Consistent with Children First Reforms, parents will control the majority of the seats on all of the councils; at least 9 out of 12 available seats will be held by public school parents. Students and community members will make up remaining seats" -->Daily News 10-15-2007 4 step process pre calling 911 memo OCT 1 2007 by Jamaica High School 11432 to only call after school nurse, assistant principal, principal and parents are notified or dean if principal/asst or not available who should obtain medical care. Two motivations there 1-Keep crimes from being reported to 911 so that school is NOT vulnerable to CLOSING because of 'Most dangerous' schools list 2-Repsonse to 14 year old Marlay Fatima was delayed treated for a stroke in APR 2007 at this High School NYC 911 school policy. 911 emergency number [NOT Sept 11]. ONLY the Principal of the school can OK call to 911.->Case of Shawn Ramirez d. Feb 2003 shows at least one child died because of this, untreated and not willing to break the rules to call 911 for kid with asthma attack. MAR 18 "Shame of City's School Busses//News investigations reveals shocking accounts of crime, beatings and poor oversight in school transport system." Jan 2005 5 High Schools removed BUT 6 added to list of dangerous schools. Mayor gave a speech at Far Rock H.S. [removed from list] offering attaboys and saying how greater everything was. JAN 2004 new initiatives in reaction to school violence. 12 most violent High Schools to receive armed cops. After school suspension centers are a very important addition. listed 1-6-04 NYPost BX Evander Childs, Stevenson, Columbus, JHS 22, IS 222. BKLYN South Shore HS, Canarsie, Jefferson, Sheepshead HS,FK Lane. MAN-Washington Irving. QNS-Far Rockaway HS. School Year 2002-03 "1,495 Dept of Ed employees and other school workers were arrested.." 18% increase over prev year - NYPost 9-2-03 "...most of the arrests were off school property." ===== STOP THE MADNESS! NO teachers ratings by Chancellor /Dept of Ed. says NY legislators and Teachers Union! Even D.C. just starting rating teachers based on class grade/results and class inspections. There is a failing grade set for the teachers, can lead to remediaton and dismissal@! IN NYC the great Bloomy says a school fails, it closes, and so he shuffles the decks with same casts of characters becaue he CANNOT fight ALBANY and teachers union any further! See Daily News editorial "A lesson for New York" 10-3-2009 -ARIS kids records and school rating online will be accessible to parents first week of JUNE 2009 schools.nyc.gov/ARIS DEPT of EDUCATION/Office of Assessment and Accountability: $5mil on couriers- see below "Consultants, etc..], $80mil constract to McGraw Hill for testing and scoring, $80 mil for IBM for ARIS database for tracking students and their test scores. see Juan Gonzalez 10-29-2008 ->"Hell, no, we won't take another test!" JUAN GONZALEZ, DailyNews MAY 21 2008- Reprimanded and threatened over graduation, 160 eighth grade students of IS 318 boycotted 3-hr practice exam 9-14 for social studies- handed in blank exams and submitted petition of grievances to [ "constant, excessive and stressful testing.." ] Principal and Dept of Ed. We've had a whole bunch of these diagnostic tests all years..[T]hey don't even count toward our grades. The school system's just treating us like test dummies for the companies that make the exams." [-a 13 y.o. student] Bloomberg world of hype and fudge? Test score rises accounted for by easier tests and those who have already been there - students held back, then tested? OCT 19 2005 Ferrer said NAEP [gives national, standardized test] scores showing decreasing results mean NY State grade inflation. [-Daily News 10-20-05] [most every child left behind since the MORE things are CHANGED, the WORSE THEY MAKE IT--> "Eva Moskowitz, head of the City Council Education Committee, which is expected to grill education officials on the dismal figures at a hearing today, called the numbers a "civil-rights" crisis." Yeah, sure lady.--> NYDaily News 11-29-2005 -> DECLINE in number of NYC High School graduates with NYState Regents Diplomas as graduation rate increased in same period. Regents diplomas rate had gone up since 2001 and down since 2004. Perhaps the most significant fact in the news story are the rates in 2004 are 9.4 "African-Amer", 9.8 percent "Latino" 36 percent "white" and 37.5 percent "Asian"." I don't know what happens now besides passing required number of Regents exams in various subjects to get the Regents diploma, they had one big comprehensive exam and I must say I got the highest mark that year in my High School, but went to college out of state, so could not receive the scholarship! ->middle school meat market "10 of the city's 32 districts require applications ... and most other welcome them" [-E. Gootman "All's fair in Middle School Scramble, Even Panic, NYTimes 12-262008] Some students are in lottery zones -not linked to their neighborhood school. fall 2008->18 new charter schools to bring total to 78 with 24,000 students. Sept 2008 new "Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice" and Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women"[all girls grades 6-12] opens -and- a HS for special ed students in renovated former BK family Court building. JAN 29 2007 NYDaily News-"At 116 city schools - mostly new, small high schools in struggling neighborhoods - at least half the teachers have fewer than two years on the job. At 14 of the schools, 80% or more of the teachers are brand-new." 2004-5 huge no. [several hundred] small THEMED high schools opened. Many are **within** actual existing high schools [whihc beome VERY crowded] and WEAKEN neighborhood schools and force some students to shop around for another High School. AND Though they have new resources incl grants, aid and mentoring from companies and foundations are they a drain of resources from the failing neighborhood schools. IF NYC can't run the reg schools how can they run 300+ more specialized ones? 11-19-04 according to no. of applications, "86% of city high schools not'desired'says Dept of Ed Chancellor, but Chancellor Klein [or Mayor?] is horrified and "clairifies" his statement saying some schools are just in higher demand. ->SEPT 17 2003 Bill Gate presented to NYC $51.2 mil from his foundation to start 67 of the small theme -based schools FEDS recognize five racial categories that EVERY child MUST be categorised by in the No Child Left Behind rules. there is NO other or multiracial category, and a few states but NOT NY appealed to have one. If you don't like the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, you blamed Pres BUSH, but really it was Congress and SEN KENNEDY in particular who had their way with the final version. Summer 2005- need to prep and sched testing at convenient dates is major reason for many school districts [not NYC yet] to change to change school year to start in July or Aug or become staggered year round. Parents are organizing against this - but DIDNT THEY back FEDERAL intervention [aid] etc in the schools? Arent THEY getting their WISHES? [You stupid Hillary-ites!] NYTimes [8-6-05] says changes coming fastest in the South, and that only MN, MO, NC, TX, VA, WV start school year same day statewide, no earlier than 3rd week of AUG. SCHOOL GRADES-RANKINGS/ Grade Inflation: JUN 23 2008->"Mayor See a Test Scores Triumph, Or is it a case of inflation of results? -E. Green NYSun. NYC not immune from manipulations and schooling focused on test prep found elsewhere. There is NOT a national standard for testing even tho there are nationally recognised tests. Are tests being dumbed down to boost results?? Maybe..Definately top scorers/top percentiles decreasing.->See Andrew Wolf NYSun 6-27-2008 "Middle Management" "..if one bases one's measurement of success merely on pushing the lowest performing students over the low bar of "grade level", don't be surprised if other children get let behind in unexpected ways. So here we have seen almost all of the attention paid to the gifted and talented programs focused on the "fairness" of the admission process to "insure diversity" rather than maximising performance and improving instruction...." -->"Why parents & teachers should reject new school grades" L. Haimson ["Class Size Matters"], Daily News 11-7-2007 "...a fiasco. [I]n part, this is because 85% of each school's grade depends on one year's test scores alone.." and being on the list does not mean more resources or help, just threats -if not to be CLOSED, then to get rid of lower - performing students! No education by test prep!<- 60 NYC Charter Schools not graded- Dept of Ed says not the rules. APR 2006 17 NY suburban schools, but no NYC High Schools make Newsweek top 100 list though scoring is biased against NYC because they used Advance Placement and IB tests scores not common or unknown in the public schools April 2006 new student grades tracking system proposed -$20Mil database and new computers expected if a plan is approved. If students or their principals do poorly it is to be reflected in their evaluations. This is just starting to cause some reaction among the principals union. Book: Top Of The Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers - and How You Can Too, Dr. Soo Kim Abboud and Jen Kim. -hmm GOOD, soon enough the morons will bash Jews less. "Connecticut to Sue U.S. Over Cost of School Testing Law" NYTimes, Metro 4-6-05 being first state to do so over it est $112.2 mil extra costs not reimbursed. How could GWB further transform job of schools from education to test prep in this misguided "No Child Left Behind" b.s.?? New schools Dept too much like old Bd of Ed. so I'd prob sound like Jackie Mason if I try to say what I understand to be going on----what the f-- they doing?? At the same time as Washington and the US Pres goes PC and is mandating states set standards, "BS "No Child Left Behind" laws whatever to try to lift up and set minimums, though everyone crying for more money, actual spending is at record levels but much is for socio economic interests such as meals, bilingual or SPANISH FIRST studies, and ethnic theme months etc.and now further wrapping of all teaching around new standardized testing. In NY right now the schools are overcrowded mostly, disrupted by shuffling students allowed and encouraged by the new regulations, and the GOV and NY State is considering further dumbing down HS grad requirements since students are only doing so so on some of testings, they will lower the curves to accommodate them..Mayor waffled back and forth in response to parents, the state, the bureaucracy over the issue of "social promotion." Fed No Child Left Behind Act2002- Fall 2003, NYC all "8,000" requests for transfers were granted by in many cases made from one failing school to another, and the redistribution created worse overcrowding conditions. Students can transfer out of a lower performing "Title I" school if they don't improve in two years of testing [Title I where 69% of students or more are eligible have free lunch] but non-title I school where test results don't improve can accept more students. Oh I am so glad that I grad from NYC High School in 1973 when the system was already well into its descent into a liberal bureaucrat's playground in hell. -early to MAR 2003 "17,000 parents" fuming, scheming get their kids transferred from poorest rated schools. 33,000 other students in the bottom school request tutoring. Those in top elite group of 300 [increased over orig. 209] have waivers to keep their own programs whether honors courses or school-wide with autonomy from central Dept. of Education control. This is based on results of the newly emphasized standardized testing..however..it does NOT bode well that there is actually a quota or subjective system for "diversity" in place because the numbers required for categorization are "weighted to avoid only rewarding only the top schools, where students are predominately middle class and white or Asian." Duh!" NO HABLO->"Thousands of low-performing students were removed from the English Language Arts test population: 55,000 students with "Limited English Proficiency" were not counted in a 2 tiered testing system. [-F. Smith "Not as Proficient as They Say, NYSun 5-31-2007] The author had to file a FOI [Freedom of Information] request to provide latest number of ELL [English Language Learner's] test exemption, which have been rising. Almost half of the scores increase were because of the exemptions. Details show "fewer than less than 50% of minority students are proficient in English.." and yes 70% to 80% of the exemptions were for Spanish speaking kids. ->MAY 2005 Chancellor Klein new conference hailed ELA score increases. JUNE 2003 Mayor caves on stated ed goals. Chancellor Klein continues broad bilingual education in Mayor's explicit deference to hispanics, and continuance of social promotion for those who have done acceptably well but not passed standardized math and English exams. [Jan 2002 "We will not tolerate social promotion in our schools." MBloomberg] "UFT sues city over 'racist' layoff plan' NY Post May 6 2003 864 mostly "minority" yeah think about what that means in most cities today- school aides, "while hiring 135 high-paid executives it claims are mostly white" oh boy...at more than $135,000 ea. oops ..new bureaucracy same as ol bureaucracy. J Klein calls it a publicity stunt, but 9-12-03 UFT taking filing 8,721 grievances for arbitration against the city, claiming 8,721 school classrooms are overcrowded over the limits specified in union contracts. "Gals now outnumber guys at city colleges" NY POST NOV 4 2002-avg. male 38% female 62%. At Community Colleges the high of women was at HOSTOS - 76.4%, at senior colleges the high of women was at Medger Evers 78.2% more PC->School Chancellor's office issues ban on American Indian mascots and 6 High Schools are forced to change team names and logos. Last year 2001 the NY State Education Commissioner Richard Mills issued a memo 'asking' school districts eliminate "disparaging symbols and mascots" as they "can become a barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community." The State is forcing the issue over student objections, community objections such as in CANARSIE Brooklyn neighborhood which is taken from Indian tribe names and even some 'native Americans' who do not see this as a priority. -> NY POST 7-18-2002. Let's see- oh yeah MANHATTAN was Indian based -CHANGE IT!! ? Good thing Washington isn't. - - - - - HIGH SCHOOL HOOKy-worst ranged from 50% WM Taft, BX to 62% Thom. Jefferson Bk. for 1st 6 weeks of fall 2004 school.-NYPost 11-3-04. Dept of Education figures showed 20%+ students absent from 70 of the High Schools. POLICY was liberalized during 2004 to allow chronic absentees to stay registered, making for more absences but a lower dropout rate. ->Quietly was moved to Harlem in 2006, officially closed at Tweed for fall 2007 is home of new Ross Global Charter Academy. 3-24-03 $9 million City Hall Academy starts at temple of bldg the renovated Tweed Courthouse HQ bldg. of Dept. of Education. 2-week special NY History sessions for 200 ea. elementary and middle school kids phased in. Feds have also a few tricks up their sleeve..in 'NO CHILD LEFT BHIND ACT" provision is that lists of high school students MUST be given to military recruiters..there is an option for parents to request in advance for names to be withheld. NYC, for example sent opt-out forms to parents.. JAN 2003 at least 50 of 1,100 principals received failing grades in first ever review-grading of NYC schools principals. JAN 15 2003 Mayor Bloomberg announced plan to further expand his control over more streamlined and centralized Dept. of Education incl. and separating budget and operations from instruction, "ending the system under which district superintendents oversee both." and also eliminating local districts. JULY 29: Mayor Bloomberg announced US Att'y JOEL KLEIN, started Aug 20 2002 for new head of Dept. of Education/Schools Chancellor. NY State has to OK the app't-> because Klein was not an 'educator' the State Ed Dept. has to grant a waiver..Mayor's plans to move new DEPT. HQ to infamous Tweed Courthouse will cost tens of millions extra over $86 million recent restoration cost at this temple of a bldg. which Giuliani intended to be used for relocated Museum of the City of NY. JUNE 2002- Gov.of NY brokered a deal with Assembly Speaker Silver [who reps. NYC east side] so Mayor has authority over the Bd. of Education Dept of Education ~350.000 dropout-flunkout rate since 1986 disclosed June 2004 in hearings re opening up new small schools using funds provided by the Gates Foundation Ten worst high schools attendance fall 2002 in first 3 weeks range from 47.7% to 64%, 10 best rates are 93.9% to 98.5% Graduation rate class of 2003 was 53% within four years and 31% drop out rate by limit of 21 years old. 2002 rate based on tracking JUNIORs, actual rate counting 9th and 10th graders can be half of the official percentage was..at the worst high schools dropout rates exceeded 90%.. BEST? at Staten Island tech graduation on time 100% and Bx Science and Petrides [S.I.] at 99%. +++++++ SCHOOLS CONSTRUCTION: ->NYC High School construction cost 3x to 4x more than rest of and other elementary school const. costs 3x more that NY State or NJ - report by 'Independent Budget Office' - NY Post Feb. 5 2002. -not to mention renovation cost overruns. "The Dept. of Education can't afford repairs on 34 of 48 schools deemed to be in such bad shape they have to be enclosed in protective scaffolding." School Const. Authority budget cut by $1.1 bil. over last 2 yrs. and laid off 550 of 900 staff. #1 with 21 affected schools is Brooklyn. ->In article JUN 10 2008 in midst of heat wave NYSun notes re school air conditioning exists in all schools built 'in last 20 years' but that is 100 of 1100 schools! -After all these billions spent? 100 schools since Ed Koch! >NOV 9 2006 Mayor says its demographics, not budget cuts that changes schools construction plans. 7 bldgs and 3,000 seats less, but in Manhattan there will MORE instead. increased from 4 to seven new buildings. AUG 2006..despite "deal" of APRIL much construction is in for a rocky road as huge construction cost increases over 2005 to avg $375 sq ft. LESS bidders and probably lower-qualified ones will do the jobs as top contractors are busy with private jobs. [yeah condos and offices] but over all costs leveled off or went down a bit as School Construction Authority says it has reformed their processes. ITS STILL MOSTLY FUNNY MONEY after court order forces them to do something. APRIL 25 2006 Gov Pataki signs bill sending $11.2 construction funding - actually $1.4bil funding from the State PLUS $9.4Bil more in new borrowing split between NYC-NYState.oh yeah that's most of US [See not so much if you can afford to shelter your income with triple tax free muni bonds and such. Ozone Park- NYC acquired abandoned factory at 94av-104st, in 2001 for a new high school but nothing was done; the property is now a dumping ground. Nearby small homeowners are disgusted by the place and esp. by fact they are being harassed and fined by Dept of Sanitation for little bits of litter found on sidewalks in front of their homes- NYTimes, Metro 8-11-03 "On Tidy Block, a Pile of Garbage Grows, and So Does Frustration" "I've been in this job almost 20 years, and I've never before seen the the level of disillusionment that people in the community have in the system." -District Manager of Com Bd 9 Mary Ann Carey. The new High School is to be a new High School for Architecture and Urban Planning to open in 2004, now planned for 2006. DEC 2001- $1.9 billion available to complete original jobs budgeted at 44.3 billion so 21 schools in most crowded areas only to be built in the current 5 year capital plan. Summer 2001-Actual cost of new school construction almost $2.8 BILLION dollars overbudget...they fudged the numbers, obfuscated the issue. MAY 2001- "Ed Board blowing $2.4 to rent crumbling schools" - 2.4 million to landlords to repair space in *rented* school facilities in 6 of 23 bldgs. in category had problems. The paid for repairs were NOT made. - audit by NY State Comptroller - NY POST May 22 2001 "Only a third of the city's high schools have their own playing fields, and many are in bad shape. Finding playing space anywhere is a challenge. Not only are athletic fields in this vertical city scarce, but public schools have to compete with private schools and adult athletic teams that can pay higher user fees."--Metro Section 6-8-200 continued->NYC $ for "public school ball fields, in the news city operating budget: $10 million. For minor-league stadiums...$142 million." for Keyspan and S.I. Yankees stadium. [2006-with attendance about 50 percent of capacity NYC still has not made any money at the SI Yankees stadium and the team owes NYC over half a million$ utilities and stuff] -->ASBETOS in schools from classrooms to boiler rooms- "ASSIGNED TO DESK DUTY: Steamfitter John Kielbassa, who has worked for the Department of Education for 22 years, has been removed from the schools and assigned to work in a warehouse. He believes he is being punished for reporting numerous cases of hazardous asbestos. 'How can they label me a troublemaker if I'm bringing something important to people's awareness?' he asked." Kolodner, The Chief JUNE 29 2007 Whistleblower Charges Retaliation, Say DOE Ignore Asbestos *2001-02 finally last coal burning boilers in public schools were converted to oil, gas whatever. 344 school gas boilers were shut down Apr. 2000 after emergency inspections found faulty welds on some of them." A contractor who installed them to replace COAL furnaces is involved. Oil is being burned in them meanwhile..but an initial inspection NY City School Construction Authority passed them. +++++ SCHOOOLS CONSULTANTS, SERVICES, CUSTODIANS and the Admin "Tweed educrats are on track to spend $5 million this year.." on PRIVATE COURIERS doubled since 2002. Biggest increase is from "[Chancellor] Klein's office of assessment and accountability" [which oversees student testing!] Pick and deliver tests from all schools cost average $10,000 each day of the school year! This office went from OCT 2004 19 staff to APR 2008 74 staff and awarded $50mil consulting contracts from 2005. - Juan Gonzalez, DailyNews 10-29-2008 53% of school construction budget cut [15 new schools] from 4-year capital plan. but [Daily News APR 10 2003] Dept of Ed Chancellor Klein and six deputies still have drivers and cars. "The city is still spending a third lesson sports equipment and supplies than did on the eve of its fiscal crisis in 1974." -yeah and this is all not to mention academic related supplies and resources which are inadequate. A public -private effort to rebuild NYC HS athletic facilities, raising some matching funds to city $$ since 1996 is 'Take the Field" [$23.1 mil. from 96-2000] There are two public high school crew teams in NYC. No boathouses, no docks. July 2003- NYC has most fat schoolkids according to Health Dept survey but Linda Stasi notes in NYPost 7-13 that in checking figures she found that the 43% of overweight kids coincides with 60% of city schools that do not comply fully with NYState phys ed regulations. MAR 20 2001 "School Contract canceled After Mob Ties Are Alleged" $8.9 million frozen food contract - MYC comptroller alleges company [Liberty Food] offshoot of a company that was controlled by the Gambino crime family." The company passed the regular screening and denied there were family relations that linked his company to Gambino controlled company Ferro. SEPT. 2000 "A former city schools superintendent is being investigated for allegedly taking up to $1 million in kickbacks to steer rigged computer bids to a developer's business associates.." NY POST 9-28-00: computers delivered by School Board 29 from 1996 to 1998. SEPT. 2000 "Fuming Brooklyn school board members and parents grilled the embattled District 15 superintendent last night over a projected $1 million deficit and lavish spending like $1,000-a-day consultant fees." - NY POST 9-28-01 AUG. 2000 "City Receives 14 Proposals to Privatize Its Failing Schools"-> NY TIMES Metro Dec. 2000-> details of some of the worst schools in NYC printed in newspapers, with selection to be managed privately as battle to push Bd. of Ed. aside continues. DEC. 2000 NYC to contract out to private co. [Edison Schools Inc.] 5 lowest performing schools but 2001 a vote was held to change some schools over in the BX. and it was defeated. School cleaning cut->latest cuts in 2008 will be for up to 6% of cleaners at some schools, school cleaners down 800 since 2002..5th cutback in 6 years. =================================== Services: Phone-y LAST pay DIAL/rotary phone in NYC/ pulled out of supermarket in Manhattan NOV or DEC 2008 after NYPost brought it to attention of Verizon while gathering info for article as ATT announced getting out of pay phone biz. Between 2003 and end of 2007 number of subway pay phones will be down 20% and more. 1-19-2007 NY Sun >Mayor's schools cell phone ban - scroll down on-my nygov2.html Not in NY. Many Police officers carry theirs, but that is wink winked at because it against the rules -the city issues phone, "Blackberrys" etc mostly to higher-up, commanders etc.BUT so the city won't reimburse police who use their phones for non-emergency official business epsecially when their are NO pay phones, radio frequencies are busy or disrupted or need more privacy. - - Sign of Times, City Police Officers Rely on Cell Phones, Solomont NYTimes 3-29-2006 [Well as all else especially in NYC, Hollywood and D.C., the fat -rats get and demands it all coming to them, the rest of us pay.] NYC cell users pay 11 different taxes, highest in US. NY State leaders do NOT care what is good for YOU. [and you ALWAYS re-elect these c__s__s] - they let any entity with taxing authority add on a little cell tax if they want to. This is all in addition to the federal taxes. JAN 2006: e-911 charge no is $2.30 month in NY State and IT HAS NOT BEEN implemented $200 million collected has been use for s__t including lawn care and dry cleaning for state workers in the past [somewhat reformed usage for e-911 funds is now claimed] but there is STILL no e911 in NY! ->Apr 2006 Straphangers survey finds 70% of 4,400 subway pay phones usable.. MTA contract with Verizon calls for 95%, but that seems utterly hopeless.. ->NY Public Svc Commission #s OP-ED 9-5-04 "In the wake of 9/11, pay phones are a necessity"-Paula Diperna- Pay phones in NY State Y1995 178,627 down to Y2000 162,038 and declining. Market forces allowed to wipe out pay phones and land lines. NYC deal to net $25 million for cell and wireless services antennas on 18,000 street lamp posts from 6 companies -1998 the Dep Commissioner of Bldgs [questionable under the city charter] exempts telecoms companies from holding public hearings based on zoning regulations for siting of cell phone antennas. All Verizon pay phones rolled-back to 25c from 50c in Manhattan due to decrease in usage and short call times..The time IS coming that we will run out of area codes nationwide..and will have to go to 4 digit area codes.. give it 10-20 years. July 2001, the 3 northern NJ area codes are being split. Suffolk County L.I. is splitting off from the 516 area and got new 631 area code Nov. 1999. Westchester CO. NY will retain 914 but Rockland and 4 other counties have a new one active 6-5-00; this should "allow an ample supply of numbers...until the year 2005", a spokesman for the NY Public Service Commission was quoted in NY Times 10-28-99. NOV 16 2003-25 for first net pay phones in US have built in cam, 25c min web access and free access to the NYC govt site and e mail access for 5c min activated in Mid Manhattan -->2003 thru 2006 the number of US people without ANY phone, 4.7 is up to 7.1 percent! and over 40% still have no cell phones. NY TIMES DEC. 24 2000-11 various vendors plan to install 2,262 pay phones Residents of Upper East Side complained at a Community Board meeting about those phone kiosks complete with large advertising panels in their area will be obstructions on the sidewalks, and mostly everyone has a cell phone anyway, sort of....1,062 of these new phones to be on the East Side?? that's what the article said, and that street pay phones were introduced in 1959 [?]. 20% of pay phones were 'stuffed' [5-99] jammed to catch coins for later pick-up by a thief..so many others are just plain vandalised. Attempt to introduce card reader phones in the early-mid 90s was a failure; all those yellow phones are gone. The NY Times notes 3/23/97, that was eight (8) real phone booths left in Manhattan. Maybe not 8 anymore, but 4 are at West End Av 66st, 90st, 100st, 101st. ========================================= Amerika- Daily News 11-29-2006 Census data analysed show approx 1/4 of people in NY don't speak English very well..in their OWN judgment..which is 3x worse than the national average. "Riayan never wanted to become a citizen. But we received it, because everything done for him is an honor"-Mr. Tejada. NYTimes, The City 4-9-2006. Born in Domincan Republic in 1976, Marine Staff Sgt. Riayan Tejada of Washington Heights was killed in Iraq April 11 2003. [I'm sorry but their attitudes towards becoming a real part of the US in spite of his service, tarnishes his service.] Roosevelt Ave QNS the heart of one of the major hispanic areas in NYC is the center of false ID trade in NYC and has gotten much worse since local enforcement efforts slacked off in the 1990s. Clients come from all over for fake Green Cards holograms included, Social Security Cards and drivers licenses. -see NY Sun 12-6-2005. Barely making a dent in the scene, a dozen dealers were arrested 12-4-2005, and they have to get to the gangs and organized crime connections to stop it. HOWEVER, out of state phone ID is also a security-terrorist threat here. All the 9-11 hijackers had various ID from lax states. For example STILL North Carolina issue licenses to undocumented out of staters. There WAS a HEZBOLLAH cigarrette smuggling operation out of NC to fund attacks on in Israel, Mayor Bloomberg opposes new City Council bill to give non-citizens right to vote. Some testifying -FOR- the bill said the 1 to 1.4 million people[!] or about 20 percent of the city population is disenfranchised. Lead sponsor is Bill Perkins, Manhattan. Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) said "White men have too much power. They just don't want to give up on power." [Daily News 11-15-2005] "Nearly half of the city's births are to immigrant mothers" - "Proficiency In English Decreases Over a Decade" NYTimes, Metro 1-19-05 Where is the largest Liberian community in the US? Staten Island. Korean NYC : 400 in 160 many students. NYC area 2000 : 170,500 Feb 23 2004 NY State officials forced by a successful class action lawsuit 2-17-04 to stop DMV "crackdown" on giving drivers [requiring id papers!] licenses to non-citizens [yeah mostly illegal aliens] This is-was being appealed. NY City Council passed, Mayor signed bill July 2005 repealed provision of general vendor law requiring citizenship status info of vendor applicants. Sponsored by Charles Barron, Bklyn who said "And if the can go die in Iraq and pay taxes, they should not be discriminated against."- Newsday and NYSun 7-12-05. Was last of any rules in any city agency requiring status info. ->Language Access Executive Order__ July 22 2008: City agencies to communicate with public in Spanish, Chinese, Russian <Korean, Italian, French Creole. Interpretation and translation services..big advocate pushing and suing their way towards it-New York Immigration Coalition and Legal Services for New York..used 2003 law below and checked agencies having materials on hand in different languages. "Local Law 73 into law in December, 2003 to ensure access of City services to all New Yorkers. Local Law 73 of 2003 or, the “Equal Access to Human Services Act of 2003”, seeks to increase access to critical City services for New Yorkers whose primary language is not English. “Primary language” means the language in which a limited English-proficient individual chooses to communicate with others." JUNE 2003-Bloomberg backed down on move towards total English instruction for 134,000 non-Engl students and endorses 60-40plan -40% classes in English, 60% in "native" language" -"His change in position, people involved in drafting the plan said, reflected careful positioning to avoid angering the Hispanic voters who helped elect him and whose support he will need to win a second term." NYTimes, Metro 6-25-03 "Mayor Steps Back From English Immersion" by David M. Herszenhorn Day laborers - New School University's Community Development Research Center findings reported in the NY Times -[NYTimes Metro 4-11-03] -but it's higher than minimum wage-> "..a study has found that 6,000 to 8,000 day laborers regularly congregate at 57 places in the metropolitan area...[t]hey earn, on average $9.37 an hour in the spring and summer and $7.61 an hour during the slower winter months. ..[t]hey send an average $3,600 back to their families. at Woodside Queens on Roosevelt Av. is one of the larger gathering spots in NYC where as many as 300 immigrants wait for pick up to these jobs. There are spots where non-hispanics also gather. No est. printed of percentage of how many were illegal is probably the majority. "Hartford Bids a Bilingual Goodbye to a White-Collar Past" NYTimes Metro 5-5-03 - as 40+% "Hispanic" "largest concentration among cities outside California, Texas, Colorado and Florida.." 2000 census OH is that all. and another 38% is "African-amer." orig influx began on 40s with Puerto Rican laborers hired to harvest tobacco and has increased to a flood of immigrants from a variety of countries and is now changing the face of all the smaller former blue collar cities and town of CT. THE MELANGE POT -Please also see HOME-In Mourning: scroll section.-NY Times 9-4-200-> 'Foreign Workers At Highest Level In Seven Decades-12 PERCENT OF WORK FORCE" - approx. 15.7 million - 5 million est.to be illegal. Companies seek to increase the numbers, helps keep wages down...800,000 legal immigrants enter ea. year. Illegal? depends on which party you ask. High-tech industry want special 3-year visas for skilled tech workers increased to over 200,000. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'Arab' immigrants in US- top 5 US States: NY Post 6-5-00 figures from 2000 self-identified #'s Census-> 1: CA 192,887 makes 0.6% of state population of 33,871,648 2: NY 121,925 0.6% 3: MICH 116,331 1.2% Dearborn with 30% is most heavily arab city in US. 4: FL 78,254 0.5% 5: NJ 72,468 0.9% - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NY TIMES-THE CITY from "THE EMPTY BOOTH" OCT. 1 2000-> by Julian E. Barnes "Many residents cannot vote because they are not citizens. New York has always has many immigrants, but a generation ago most would have eventually become citizens. Today, many arrive with no intention of staying. The may live in New York for years, but their hearts remain in their native lands. And while many years ago, the political machines would have tried to persuade these immigrants to become voters, election law changes have blunted that force." "...assembly districts that twist through many neighborhoods" dissuade instead of increasing the power of racial minority groups- these jigsaw shaped racially engineered districts are offensive.- very low turnout at worst in Brooklyn 79 election district as low as 7 percent - a poor section pieced together with parts of 6 different neighborhoods with diverse, but mostly non-white ethnic groups.* 28% - percentage of NYC foreign born -1990 Census. Staten Island is the only NYC Borough to still have a "non-Hispanic" white majority 'over two- thirds' population, altho' it is the least populous Looking at it the opposite way. Italian pop. in NYC down to less than 700,000 [8.65%] in 2000 census, was over million in 1980 [14.22%] $$$ flow overseas.."In a time of belt tightening, Hispanic immigrants in particular are sending more cash home."[-NYTimes, Metro, 7-14-03 by Daisy Hernandez] Delgado Travel Agency with 28 NY area locations processes to 10,000 customers a day up from 8,000 last year. An estimate of money from NY alone sent is $3 BILLION a year and from US to Latin America - $22 BILLION with avg. of $250 month from each sender. WESTERN UNION made $1 billion in profit in 2003 on 81 million cash transfer transactions. Actual travel back home for them has decrease by a similar percentage "even among legal immigrants" with fears reentry being denied. 33% of all funds sent go to "Latin America", South Asia next with 20% In perspective: green card holders allowed in yearly from France: 290. ->40% of NYC NAVY, 27% ARMY, 36% Marines recruits were permanent alien residents green card holders last year-much higher than the US avg. "For Many Immigrants, a Health Care System Underground" NY TIMES Metro 8-20-00 by Jennifer Steinhauer. Herbalists, card readers, Santoria, Shamans, acupuncture, Yoga, whatever worked in the old country. Alternative health centers discretely advertise in various languages, that also operate outside the law,"..the department [State Dept. of Health] closes 20 to 25 unlicensed medical centers a year." 40% of legal immigrants are uninsured but NYC has an emergency Medicaid program for all immigrants. ---Jan. 3 200 -more screening of Immigrants for TB is sought-NY Times..53% of new cases in NYC reported people born outside of US - in California the number was 70%. This rate in US avg. has about doubled since 1986. SANTERIA, BOTANICA: ->NYC Health DEPT just says "Label it with a warning", otherwise will not interfere in sale of liquid mercury capsules "AZOGUE", sprinkled for good luck! ->"Arnold Wendroff brings to light ritual use of mercury" [-C. Richardson, Daily News [BK] 5-30-2008] SEE also www.mercurypoisoningproject.org ->"NY POST 8-28-00 'Human sacrifice rare, but it happens'-one of 3 headlines on articles about this. With present large scale legal and illegal immigration, majority non-European, comes a small percentage of wild, non-Judeo-Christian semi-and underground religious practitioners. Santeria is not very hidden, and widespread in parts of Hispanic community. First time I've heard of "palo mayombe' -another Afro-Cuban religion, in 8-28-00 as news reports of a newborn child found floating in a jar of formaldehyde in an apt. filled with artifacts of the practice [collection of human remains, skulls etc., statues of saints] indicated to Police that a practitioner of this black magic art is involved, but they are checking if this was a stillborn infant, or perhaps the jar was the one stolen from a NJ morgue in 1998."There are thousands of us in New York, said a [NYC borough] based palo priest, who asked to be referred to as Ngangalero"". "City researchers discovered in a 1990 survey of households that 33 percent of the city's residents were immigrants and that an additional 20 percent were their children - and together they made up a majority of the city's population." New York Times article 1-9-97 [In 1920 over 40% of the pop. was foreign mostly European born] Though injecting vitality and providing cooks, laborers, lower-priced engineers, etc. the changes are not entirely stabile and the poorer among the legal (not to mention illegal) are notorious for living in packed illegal and unsafe housing conditions. [NYC is short several hundred thousand affordable units. PERIOD. The gov't here since WWII, including Giuliani has done essentially little to enable construction of affordable housing as of right.] Since Mayor Koch's time, Dinkins, Giuliani affirmed support for Koch's Executive Order 124 (1988). City workers were forbidden to report illegal aliens (as they come in for various City services OR even arrested). May 2003, without calling attention to it in the press [how?] Bloomberg softened the politically correct policy to become what Times said was from don't tell" "don't ask, [what does that bs mean??] but he reversed himself and SEPT 17 2003 strengthened the old policy nicknaming it a 'don't ask, don't tell' strong nondisclosure policy in face of pressure from NYC immigrant communities. The Welfare Reform bill passed barred the City from telling workers NOT to restrict employees from doing this, Giuliani intended not to back down. In the NY POST of 9/12/96 it said "Giuliani estimates that as many as 700,000 children of illegal immigrants would be forced from schools." Example of the numbers - No. 1 group coming to NYC 1990 to '94 Dominican Republic 110,140 of 199,014 during same period to all of the US. The U.K. had 5,935 (No. 19 on list) and Israel 4,827 (No. 20 on list) during the same period. <-NY City Planning Dept. ->1/9/97 in NY Daily News. NY Sun 11-9-2005 "City Residents Fear a Puppet for Liberia" Liberians flocked to S.I. after recent war are concerned George Weah, known soccer player, and is one of their own who lived on Staten Island who ran for President is so inexperienced that he could be easily manipulated. Runoff results are due at end of November. "Park Hill..is now being gentrified by Liberians, Nigerians and other African residents."
FIRE and POLICE =============== FDNY- Manhattan firemen in bar attack other patron [from S.I.] wearing commercial "FDNY" t-shirt DEC 6 2008 at McFadden's Pub taunting or argument escalated in 20 person fight, 2 firemen were arrested and 2 others followed over to the precinct and went after cops and then arrested themselves and so were several other patrons and news accounts in the papers are also confusing The guy with the t shirt was charged with assault and "criminal possession of a weapon" had hit fireman on head with beer mug. "Seeking raise, Firefighters Will Reopen Contract" want their retroactive raise of nearly 10 percent, too. Hauser, NYTimes 5-21-2008 Service cuts start JAN 17 2009: 4 fire companies to go off duty at night to save $8.9million. Last cuts of 6 firehouses made by this Mayor was in 2003. GovIsland firehouse is closing, no one LIVES there. and more under SCOPPETTA- former Commish of Agency for Children's Service's [ACS] Crumbling old, and poorly designed new firehouses- Chief Architect Emmanuel Mesagan had a long 18-yr carreer as Chief Architect and quit..letter to THE CHIEF MAR 28 2008-> "It was basically impossible to do my job...[T]he Fire Department always assigned a person to the support services function who knew nothing about the requirements of the firehouses. Requests by me to improve the buildings fell on deaf ears." Unqualified support staff stonewalling work they did understand to make their jobs easier. Another ACS man was early 2008 appointed head of FDNY Technology and Support Services. NO NYC Fire Dept helicopter for you! said Scoppetta [or the Mayor].. and no fire fighting plan for DBank tower MAR 2005 decisions or lack of action in the administration led to firemen's deaths AUG 18 2007. AUG 3 2007-JUST 2 weeks after firemen thru their own FDNY Foundation released their own bare chest 2008 "Calendar of Heroes" to great press fanfare, the FDNY Commissioner says NO more calendars! OH man.. so the cover guy had been nude in a "Guys Gone Wild" video of 2004 - BEFORE he joined FDNY. FEH. $150,000 was raised by the calendar last year. Get this one before it is sold out. Aug 11 2006 The Chief - "Hope to Add Minorities, College Requirement Reduced [in half] by FDNY" announced Aug 7 to increase minorities passing next civil- service exam. Or can be waived for work experience with a high school diploma. We are not "dumbing down for diversity" they said. Yeah sure. Implementation of "AVS" on all Fire vehicles began April 17 2006 is expected to be completed this summer -that is, a GPS tracking system that will also be installed on ambulances. A pilot program started in Sept 2005.--Not clear if and how many city fleet vehicles may be added. APR 2006 - 325 or 2.9% black on the force, from a high in early 1980s of 700! Vulcan Society court order instituted a 1 in 4 quota policy for 2 years, based on discriminatory written test case in the 1970s, similar to what happened in Boston. The NY Times 4-24-06 says the test, hiring practices are still being investigated by the Justice Dept. There are 2 volunteer fire houses in SI [Richmond Engine Co.1 and Oceanic Hook and Ladder Co. 1] and at least two or there more in the rest of NYC: in BX, BK, QNs including Broad Channel [since 1904-] Daily News DEC 2 2008 noted NYC Dept of Transportation holding up paperwork is last NYC Agency major obstacle holding up getting $2mil fed $ Sen. H Clinton swung their way to finally build a new firehouse - emergency ctr. AUG 7 2005 "FDNY's chiefs hosed - Told to quit 'vol' jobs. NYPost --quit volunteer fire dept they are told by President of Fire Chiefs Union union rules forbid it so most have not officially notified the department- ah there is a Mayor-contract angle to this because Union President says Mayor Bloomberg dis him saying of those who flaunt volunteering by parking with Vol Firefighter plates in NYC so it shows they are willing to do the job for free. 2005- 'risque' fire house company names banned, gone Hollis Hogs, Harlem Zoo, Animal House, Nut house, 90 Proof, Clown College and Southern Comfort logos. Still, 2008 Happy Hookers of Red Hook BK remained...until it too was painted over APR 4 2008. Summer 2004 FDNY required to start drug testing. Some continuing incidents also led to Commissioner to campaign against drinking on the job. Record 28 firemen DWI arrested 8-15-04. Dec 31 2003 S.I. "alcohol-fueled" brawl in the firehouse one nearly killed with a chair. NYC started to enforce its "zero tolerance" policy-48 firefighter over last two years are to be fired. [NYTimes 9-6-05 "Firefighters Impaired by 9/11 Are Swept Out by Strict no-drug Policy"]-some were vets of 9/11 and others are new. Those who report themselves for treatment are not automatically fired. 723 firefighters were being treated for substance abuse as of AUG 2005. Firemen through their UFA union [mem. 8,800] voted "no confidence in their Commissioner Dec 7, 2004 AUG 2003 rat infested firehouse in Jamaica, Queens abandoned while it is cleaned up, others are almost as bad. NYC rat complaints are up almost 30%. JUN 3 2003 An agreement with UFA fire union and city reached scaled back staffing cut to 23 firehouses [instead of 50] and union dropped seven lawsuits challenging firehouse closings and staffing reductions - overtime to cover on duty time is the major issue - this year the FDNY OT hugely growing towards estimated $171 million. May 2003 "Keep NYCs Firehouses Open" private fundraising effort to fund reopening of 6 closed firehouses was stopped as Mayor Bloomberg made clear that he would not accept *any* such money to do so. ->MAY 2006 they say the number of Fire Marshals approx half of what was in 2001. NY Post 4-3-03 reports that more fire marshals may be cut "Cost -cutting has eliminated about 60 marshals positions over the past two years." !970s-9 *NYC fireboats* 1990s on-3 2002-Policy changed to that fires under 3 alarms are not routinely investigated. 2003 arson rate seems to have skyrocketed but budget cuts reported left 1,861 fires uninvestigated -up from 253 in 2002. "Cops crush firehouse protest tent" [NY Post 8-29-03] at protest site in Williamsburg 136 Wythe Ave , Engine 212, community activists kept 24 vigil since May, "cops confiscated the tent used by the Engine 212 Community Action Group" and "took a sledgehammer to a concrete block denouncing Mayor Bloomberg in bright yellow spray paint." no summons, no tickets- but protestors are not finished and want their firehouse back! .............................. NYPD *Results from month long survery of ALL 76 pcs called 7 times to check..hardly anyone answered or line were busy! DailyNews 8-3-2009 only 44 were 'acceptable' for a pers or machin answer in 10 rings or less. Assaults on rise in all Manhattan south of 59 st except for 5pct/Chinatown and Chelsea and official Midtown E and W pcts. Numbers are up everywhere even in W Village up 42.9% "Violent crime wave jolts trendy downtown" Schram/ Weiss -NYPost 5-19-2009 AUG 21 New contract NYC-PBA retroactive more than 2 years [in the making since AUG 2006] w no arbitration still to be voted on.. SEPT 25 Lt. stripped of gun and badge, other cop is on leave during the investigation because new JUNE __ 2008 guidleine was violated on firing a taser at someone elevated who could fall and get hurt. [Common sense was outlawed years ago, otherwise.] SEPT 24 2008 Tasered twice, fell down on head and died-> mental man off his meds naked and bouncing up and down holding a fluorescent light and screaming on a narrow metal covering of roll down gate, not a big threat to anyone else, warned by Emerg Service Unit police then just killed not quite on purpose but STILL! Died 2:27pm outside his BedStuy bldg. JUN 11 2008: Police SGTS are going to start carrying the new Taser models. Aim is to phase them in for ALL police officers... 2009 JAN 6, 7 Council committee+ full council passed oversight bill requires NYPD to submit annual categorised report of weapons firings with reasons, racial breakdowns. Village Voice MAY 14-20 2008- "Ain't This A Bitch" NYPD released statistical breakdown of shootings of DOGS by breed etc...but not [race] of people. Providing age, race and gender of shooter and shootees are a waste of time... "We need to spend our resources on getting guns off the street rather than compiling reports about our activity in doing so.." said the NYPD official in charge of such reporting. In VVoice-"..even the relentlessly pro-police Vallone had to admit that"when it comes to the last few years, [the NYPD has] clearly drawn a line in the sand when it comes to giving out information," Taking it back to the middle of Giuliani's 2nd term, "Firearms Discharge Reports" were released until 1998. Council was considering bills to require disclosure.. ->all statistics continue to show mostly white officers, [of course is what there are], shooting mostly at 'minorities who mostly are NOT shooting... -->Mayor po'd at House Judiciary Comm. hearing in NYC MAY 12 on police shootings in NYC, follow up on Sean Bell shooting verdict...Police Comm does not show up, he was invited, but denied being invited. Shooting/firing bill Council hearings MAY 2008- ->Shooting NOV 200_ JAN __ 2008: Dress code crackdown. Officially, beards OUT. Only those little ol trim moustaches allowed and just as strict on tattoos. Make you feel safer? ->random steroid testing starts JULY 1 2008 COPS on Steroids -See Sean Gardner, Village Voice DEC 19 - 25 2007. Besides a few festering cases gone public OCT 2007 after raid of BK pharmacy leading to local gym and users, rising number of "young muscular cops being treated for hypogonadism is the red flag leading to District Attorney of Brooklyn, for example. Web is spreading to others users [even some firemen] and pharmacies... NOV 2007 released RAND Corp report on stop and frisk a whitewash? Officials say data shows it shows minorities are not targeted. The data used is secret...even from the City Council 5x as many stops of blacks as whites [hmm where are numbers of 'spanish, hispanic, whatever..] ->Patrick J. Lynch, president of PBA--> 15 year patrol officers now seen as 'dead wood'..."Another symptom of the disease is the city's increasing reliance on the unarmed, minimally trained $12-an-hour security guards of the business improvement districts (BIDs) to provide the illusion of a police presence. The illusion has been mirrored in the area of auxilliary officers..." ..In the NYPD, senior management take care of themselves and leave the troops, like the biblical Lazarus, fighting for crumbs at the table." "It is dismaying but TRUE that you "need rank to feed a family, according to view openly expressed by the police leadership." The Police Officer Is a Professional ..And It's Time the City and The Department Stopped Trying to Devalue Rank" attitude he says came from "numbers crunchers" at OMB and Labor Relations [- The Chief, 9-21-2007] "I'm trying to figure out what the department's intention is with the Breathalyzer," said Micheal K. Paladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association. [-Fight Looms on Cop Test After Shootings: Union Calls Policy Un constitutional, The Chief, 9-21-2007] [A. Paul, The Chief, AUG 10 2007] "EMS Workers to Gain NYPD Radio Access" "Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano last week signed off on the program, which will initially be confined to Brookyn. after Emergency Medical Services unions sought it as a safety measure." EMS was cut off in 1996 [Giuliani time again] when it became part of FDNY... JUN 5 2007[-L. Colangelo, Daily News] PBA see peril in recruiting shortfal.l "The lack of cops is so dire at time only two or three police cars are out patrolling the sprawling 111th Precinct in Queens.." and this is becoming typcial -Patrick Lynch head of PBA testifying at City Council Public Safety Committee - of new dropping no of 35,900 police officers, 1,000 are assigned to counter-terrorism. >MAY 2007 Nassau Co recruiting van parked outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall, PAY SCALE of Bloomie's CONTRACT SHORTCHANGES CITY SECURITY- yeah and he blames it on the Police themselves who under harsh terms of Mayor's deal, went for arbitration just to finally settle. S Garland, Lack of Police Recruits Could Put Squeeze Leadership NYSun MAY 31 2007- "Under the current contract, a starting sergeant earns only about $1,500 more than a top-paid patrolman, not including overtime. Mr. Kelly has said he anticipates that the department will only be able to fill about a quarter of its open slots for new recruits this summer." -->the number of DETECTIVES post 9-11 is down from 7,000 to 5,000 MAR 27 2007 announced Bulletproof vests to be provided to auxilliary police 2 murders of aux cops on MAR 14 pursuing a killer fleeing in the Village spurred this but so far pepper spray has not been approved for them to carry.. "Americans are not required to abandon their religious beliefs when they report to work." ASST US ATTY GEN WAN KIM..oh yeah, what they can believe whatver the f__ they or you or I WANT, but what you DO is another matter....NYPost 3-16-2007 MAR 15 20078 US suing NY STATE Dept of Corrections to force let muslims correction officer war skullcap on the job. "The lawsuit asks a federal judge to force the state to accommodate religious practices of security personnel under its uniform policy." NYC correction and State MTA already allows it. --->report __ mostly clears NYPD of bias in stop and frisks... Stop and Frisks up 5x since 2002. Figures still not released for last quarter of 2003, plus 2004 and 2005. 2006 figures released Feb 2007. - 508,540 stops resulted in 21,000 arrests. 89% of stops are black and hispanic, class action lawsuit threatened. ->announced APR 5 2007- New police academy to be built at site of tow pound at College Point. NYSun 1-23-2007 New York's Finest training at 1964 Police Academy building "A cost estimate has not been developed for the new Academy project but the Capital Plan in the Mayor's upcoming Executive Budget will allocate $1 billion for the project. The Department of Design and Construction will oversee the project and the City expects to break ground on the new Police Academy campus by the end of 2009." PR- 112-07 "..operating well over capacity and underequipped to meet the need of any 21st century police force, much less the largest police force in the world." Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. 1987 plans for the S Bronx were opposed. A 1992 proposal to build a replacement facility in the Bronx 153-Concourse Village also were dropped by 1995. JAN 1 2007: Overtime cap removed. Arrests go up 10,000 in next 2-1/2 month over same time a year before, CAP placed at 60 hours per month, mid MARCH. -->2006: 4,606 -oh despite those high [for NYC workers] raises! ->Resignations climbed to all time highs 1,769 in 2005 oops see above- DEC 26 2007 NYPD class of 1,359 Mayor and every newspaper cited its "diversity" with people from 58 countries. With 18% women. and only 46 or 47% white and there was NO ONE from Ireland - a sign of more things to come. DEC 2006 Most parole officers have excessive caseloads in Manhattan and Bx- "home to the State's largest population on parole."-Report by the Manh. Borough President's Office ->DEC 1 2006 ALICIA COLON, conservative/traditionalist, wrote: [NYSUN] "One thing Rev. Sharpton is doing right, for whatever reason, is calling for answers...[W]hile I do not believe Commissioner Raymond Kelly should be removed because of what may have been excessive action of the police squad, I do think he needs to admit that not all cops in the NYPD are superheros. Some of them are bozos." ->NOV 25 killing of Sean Bell by 5 undercovers on a stake-out firing at moving car ...One thing that is TRUE that one undercover in the club investigating "Prostitution and drugs" had two drinks. This shooting is terrorism, being justified by an enforce the law at any cost cowboy mentality. The neighborhoods need more uniforms on the streets, and any undercover investigation have to be done in with highest policing standards, use sophisticated technology to surveil and have unformed Police available in case of any problems because killing innocent civilians in confusing situations should NOT happen. F- the Police Commissioner and the Mayor - and that is BECAUSE I support the Police!! ->but there were also large raids there over shootings and drugs in 1992 and 1998. 5-10-2006 OH things are sooo safe and those ol bad neighborhoods are so hip. Well not as much the Mayor would have you believe, [See fudging the statistics further below] but besides stifling fun and protestors, and fund raising for the city, the Police fight actual criminals too. 153 busted by 450 Police in Red Hook Projects drug busts. Dealers made "peace" amongst themselves to divide the place into 19 territories so they all could make money and be less chance of a bust. MAY 2006 NYPD surveillance tower up in Crown Hts. NOV 2006 one is in Harlem and there are supposed to be 3 more coming for use wherever, in NYC. Bullet proof equipped with night vision and thermal imaging cams to digital recorders etc and a super bright floodlight. OH this would have been a dream machine for Hitler. ->Sept 19 2007. State report AUG 2007 on school violence 25 of 27 "most dangerous" were in NYC..and that is AFTER maybe incidents in NYC schools were 'whitewashed'! NYC public schools violence under reported->Dept of Education says Comptroller's study is crap, UFT President says it confirms what UFT have complained about for years, "City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. said nearly 21 percent of school incidents -including 14 percent of those considered "serious" - were not properly reported during the school year. 10 high schools data best info from 2004-2005 data were picked - report also notes vague directives and guidelines for classifying and reporting incidents ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -Crime rates-> ->Dec 2008->crime figure trumpeted as lowest ever..BUT bank robberies up 54%+ ->Mar 2008 noted that 'for comparison' LEAP DAY [Feb29] crimes are not figured into the CompStat crime statistics..that was 248 felonies Feb29 2008, which will be included in the year's total, though. ->5-8-06 NYPost "Crime Stats Rigged"->T. Manzolillo former commanding officer of 105th pct rank was reduced in April "for downgrading crimes..and infiltrating the Department's Compstat program. "Several commanding officers in the city have been accused of fixing their compstat figures in the past." Even back in 1996 Capt. Varga of 41st in Bx resigned. 2007-trends continue. Homicides as of DEC 26 was 484, equivalent to 1963 'first year for which comparable data was collected; hmm. Brooklyn hot spots as [below] still...CHRISTMAS EVE/Day 7 killed in 9 shootings Nov 6 2006 NY SUN "Rise in Juvenile Felony Robberies Could Presage Increase in Other Crime" up 26.6% 2004-05 then up 6.7% since. Estimated gang membership up 20% to 15,000! ->Daily News 8-13-2006 NYPD lost 28% of detectives since JAN 2001 [7,182 down to 5,200] and 1,182 remaining are at 20th year retirement qualification -while the entire NY Police force is 9% smaller since then. ->"Clearance rate" solved homicides waaay down to less than half [48 percent] city wide avg. Newsday 6-19-2006 Newsday articde show retirements of best most experienced cops, anti-terror and dignitary protection is taking a toll on our protection from street crime and signs are its going to get much worse. 2005-murders up significantly in lower Crown Heights and Prospect Hts even as 'Crime rate drops to stunning record low' NY Post Aug 25 2003 even since 2001 drops in every category reported, increase in rapes may also have leveled off and in the last "nine years. [C]itywide crime fell 64.37 percent, including a 69.9 percent drop in the murder rate." -BUT murder rate has spot increases- ominously 103Pct Jamaica Qns [128 2002 vs 28 to dec 21 2003], East New York Bklyn had large murder increases, Rockaway [101pct] murder greatly rose at 2nd highest rate of any pct in NYC in 2007. 2003 June Murder rate "5.4% above" 2002 figures right after the FBI figure showing "4.5% drop in crime index" were proudly cited by NYC leaders. Bank robbery surge in 2003 esp in Manhattan is down in 2004 at least 20 percent with banks "hardened" + more advanced cams etc and better police response. Even crimes in Manhattan in 2003 downgraded to make area seem safer than it was- infamous [due to 70s link to taking money from mob- controlled gay bars and sex clubs-] 10th Precinct in CHELSEA [!] - also Police Service Area 7 in Bronx is being investigated for something similar [-NYTimes Metro, 6-20-03] political pressure -and where else- to lower crimes by about any means, and make sure to give out those ticket$! Deep in the heart of Brooklyn -Most "gun incidents" - 5 Brooklyn precincts account for 1/4 of all NY gun incidents and 60 percent of all B'klyn gun busts - 67 E. Flatbush, 73 Brownsville, 75 E. NY. 77 Crown Hts., 79 Bed-Stuy. [-NYPost 5-8-03] A new Brooklyn gun court for these areas created sessions began APR 20 '03. Chinatown gang activity greatly reduced since the large 80s etc. no homicide reported in the local 5th precinct in 2002. Will downturn in economy due to fear of SARS and tourism downturn spur new crime wave?--OOPS "Chinatown bus ware eyed in 'revenge' slay' May 9 27 y-o shot on the street and died in New York Hospital. *The Police concentrated efforts on hot spots at the end of 1996 to keep the (official) 1996 murder count below 1,000-the fist time since 1968. Peak in 1990 was 2,245 and reached low in 1998 of 633 did inched up a 1999 and 2000 but decreased in 2001. In seven precincts back then there were no murders reported...5 [incl. lower Manhattan and the West Village, Kips Bay/Murray Hill etc. up to E. 59 St and the Upper West Side to 86 St.] are in Manhattan, one in [Bayside] Queens, and two in Staten Island *As soon as can be implemented, DNA samples will be taken (mouth swabs) of ALL under arrest, as part of definitive system to id, um, well, all. The Mayor commented that he would like all newborns to be so id'd. for the record. *Early in 1998, it was publicized that police were photographing vehicles parked near nightclubs and such in case a crime was reported, the pics could be used to check on things so they said. BTW, The Governor of NY State was announced (2/99) as wanting to make money for the State by selling names and pics from the drivers license database but he's ran into opposition so far.. -->CCRB budget->budget cut 10 investigator cut -->JUN 28 2007 Number of civilian complaints against police rose 13% over 2006 6th year of increases. -->FEB 13 2007 Newsday, amNewYork "NYPD eliminated all info on cop misconduct trials" 3 month after cut off of docket that was released customarily to the press on internal "cop trials" no inquiries will be answered either, FEB 9. ->12-12-2006 R. Parascandola, Newsday "More complaints, less punishment" Report says first six months of '06 see high mark of complaints against police, but repercussions weaker." CCRB says more cases are non-force rather than "command disciplines" an more defendants phantom complaints. ->6-16-2006 NYDaily News: 6,796 complaints received in 2005. CFCRB says their budget can't keep up. ->9-26-2005 "Public's NYPD boos" number of complaint rose 7.9% to 4,502 and number of alegatations in complaints up 16% to 13,713. Highest jump was Allegation of abuse of authority up 23.5% *Civilian Complaints against the NYPD increased from 977 in 1987, to more than 2,000 in '94, and the amount paid in judgments and settlements to the complaints rose from $13.5 million in 1992 to more than $24 million in 1994. -- figures in an Amnesty International study cited by Bob Herbert NY TIMES 10/11/96. Oh, hell, crime is supposedly way down. Now the number of complaints has dropped, the Police say due to a new 'C P R' Cooperation, Pride, Respect initiative. IN Sept. 1997, the infamous plunger assault and protests against PD, combined with the upcoming election caused the Mayor to give significantly more funding to the CCRB-Civilian Complaint Review Board. ->CCRB established 1995 "S.C. gun law the real obscenity" Michael Daly, Daily News 5-8-2006 S. Carolina provides one of 10 illegal guns recovered by the NYPD. Just show your license and get a mini -quik check screening and its all OK there...but this Mar 2006 a Rep in S. Carolina introduced sex-toy bill that would make possession a felony with up to 5 years jail and fine to $10,000 or both. I have wanted to say there was no culture war, in the way the conservative talking heads say, but there is, and sometimes its the conservatives who are the fascists, so who could blame completely the other side for extremism and political correctness in the face of that? April 2006 3 [Wireless with data recorders!] police Surveillance cameras noted as switched on at Troutman, Starr, Jefferson St at Knickerbocker Av in Brooklyn. 500 of these are expected. Though these will mostly not be viewed in "real time" there is some real time monitoring that is happening in monitored commercial area such as E Fordham Rd. Other cams were installed in a voluntary program in a few bodegas Operation Safe Store as early as approx 2004. Backup 911 call center is basically funded but Bronx site is disputed by the community because preliminary plans unveiled mid 2008 show a nearly 28 fl tower N/E Bronx in the Hutchinson office centre. There have been several outages already of the Metrotech 911 center with computer and power problems. -->F- NYPD and MTA! Inspector General AUDIT released DEC 13 2007-less than 1/5 items turned in to MTA are returned to owners..MTA staff takes 10 days to weeks to turn in items to Lost Property Unit. valuables, wallets, passports in unlocked drawers other employees had access, valuables and IDs found within bags, wallets are not itemised and record keeping was primitive! LAW says you have some time to 10 days to return such found items and you do not have to turn it in to Police..Misguided program probably does NOT help drive down crime there are other ways. See NYTimes 11-28-2007 "A Dragnet That Ensnares The Good Samaritan, Too" --OCT 2007 Old plants with some money were misdemeanors. so Police planted class E FELONY if stolen real American Express cards in phony names made up for NYPD in bags in such places as MACY*S McDonalds. NYPD [lied?] said oh no they are not placing real credit cards.. Getting credit cards under pseudonyms is a FEDERAL CRIME, Bloomy! --OPERATION LUCKY BAG! Arrests FEB 2007 called attention to 220 arrests for this in 2006 - which were dismissed. DA s office issued guidelines used in the second round of entrapments 2007! Stop the madness! You could do ANYTHING to entrap or tempt the general public in the street and statistically come up with similar percentage of those with arrest records etc.. NYPD is just f__ over the public for another unknown reason, SOME favored college boy etc with a 'bright idea' puts it out I'm SURE! [NYPD] sting, entrapment OR panic inducement? Is this anytime for Police to leave unattended bags in stations? SO, JUST friggin call 911 - -mid-Feb 'Good Guy' Was Left Holding The Bag - NYPost 3-13-2006. Anthony Tirado claims when he picked up a bag [hmmif you see something don't keep it to yourself[?] SO he was arrested when he picked it up by a cluster f___ of undercover police while claiming he was going to take the blue backpack on a bench at 14st-7av to the "token booth" to turn in FEB 14 2006. 1980s subway decoy program was disbanded in 1987 over corruption incl false charges and planted evidence in the pressure to make arrest [quota] numbers! ================= NYC keeps plans for new S. Bronx jail secret- $375mi jail in OAK PT only slipped out with NYC Economic Dev. Corp land acquistion revealed at 2006 City Council hearing on Correction Dept upgrade Rikers and moving inmates back to BK and BX. JAN 17 2008 judge found the city "had not made it case for witholding the records, sought under the state's Freedom of Information Law. Early APRIL 2007-they want to reopen Brooklyn House of Detention and double the capacity. Early Mar 2006 -Though the city line [JAN 2006] was that crime continues to decrease, Murder and rape continue to increase and jump of 9% in inmates bringing jails nearer to capacity - NYTimes 3-3-06 reports long shot that Atlantic Av-BK House of Detention [closed Jan 2003] might have be opened if the capacity is reached. ->actually it probably WILL because jail barge off BRONX has to be closed for renovation by early 2007. Dukes of ...Flatbush? NYPD got 15 Dodge charger "muscle cars" early 2006. ->ROOKIE salary raised to $35,881 and max base pay raised from $59,588 to $65,382. after a few years of cops slinging mud back at the for Mayor saying to cops NA NA NA NA ..you asked for arbitration you got it..I GUESS he had to give in and OK-> another panel MAY 20 2008 awarded raise of 9.7% over 2 years covering period 2004-2006 from last contract expiration.. somehow contracts can be reopened, some other NYC worker unions also have reopener clauses..I never heard of it before. ->The Chief 5-26-2006->"In an effort to enhance the NYPD's struggling recruitment efforts, the Bloomberg administration May 18 offered to raise the starting annual salary for new officers to $37,929 for $28,900, part of which would be financed by cutting vacation days and leave time for those cops." 2005-06 New lower starting salary $25,100 is 1986 level! first in effect for JAN 2005 class rises to $32,700 after 6 months. The dropout rate was 20%, twice as high as usual previously and low recruitment rate since then has meant no expansion of the force. Existing officers got 2-yr. 10.25 percent contract. FEB 2006-the rate of academy drop-outs has just skyrocketed due to the lower starting salary. NOT that I am saying they are equivalent, but. ANY MTA [State workers actually wanted a 24 percent 3-yr and may accept 11 percent contract. "The Chief" civil service newspaper [12-30-05] notes that NY and NJ State Police salary starts about $50k NOTE Teachers got similar deal. DC 37 workers got 6%, 3-year contract. Paid Detail Unit est. 1998 -rate in 2004-5 $30hr for officer to moonlight to protect businesses "Police Leaders Say Officers Shouldn't Moonlight at Bars" -NYTimes 11-11-03 despite some pressure to allow it in a current "City Council initiative' and banned from off duty security work at bars and clubs by State law since the "Prohibition era" banning Police working from "having an interest in the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages" making bar or club work an unlawful conflict of interest. SO what hope is there for the rest of us when the police are unsafe from each other?? NYPD undercover narco doing a buy in Sunset Park Tues OCT 18, got beat and injured badly by 4 cops in "elite Major Case Squad"as armed robbery suspect. Mistaken? as an armed robbery suspect by the other unit undercover in a nearby stakeout for someone who could have fit his description and because the narco had no id [as is the practice, etc] and a gun, and the other undercovers would not identify themselves for a bit, either it took 15 minutes of beatings perhaps before others came to his aid to establish his I-D. He filed a complaint with CCRB because apparently he felt he would not get justice or whatever he would call it from internal investigations. [-NYPost 10-24-05] - - - - - - FEB 2006 announced added billions more public records, enhanced imaging and search capabilities, 175 wirelaptops and scope expanded to handle rape, robbery, kidnapping and violent crimes besides shootings, homicides. from Mayors press release 7-14-05 new "Real Time Crime Center" at Police HQ to being operation July 18- - - "The heart of the Real Time Crime Center is a massive data warehouse in which billions of records are within reach of detectives within minutes, instead of days or weeks. These include: Over 5 million New York State criminal records, parole and probation files Over 20 million New York City criminal complaints, 911/311 calls and summonses spanning five years. Over 31 million national crime records. Over 33 billion public records The Center also employs satellite imaging and sophisticated mapping of the City precinct-by-precinct. Its Link Analysis Capacity can track suspects to all of their known addresses and point detectives to the locations where they are most likely flee." Battle of the Badges continues APR 2005 Mayor Bloomberg made clear that in chem, bio, etc attack NYPD is in charge - FDNY is seething. Police and fire clash and fight seems at least once or twice a year badly enough to make the news Both are qualified in rescues, both depts are dispatched, and must have its own leadership determine to recall any equipment and they are just trying to set protocols to coordinate and communicate between depts, even in 2003. "Two-and-a-half years after Sept. 11 and eight years after Gov. Pataki ordered [the NYPD and FDNY] to create formal proecdures [emergency situation command protocols], the city still has not formulated an emergency plan."[-am NewYork, 5-6-04] Actual physical confrontations between Police and Firemen occur on regular basis at rescues esp where FDNY arrives before the Police. PBA spokesman Al O;Leary said "The problem is not at the level of police officers and firefighters, The problem is at higher management levels." -a failure the should be pinned to the MAYOR -who just happens NOW to be Bloomberg. But on 9-11 coordination failure prob cost many lives. .-.-.-. Never say "Quota" --> see my nytrans.html - - - - - NYPD direct spending for counter-terrorism FY? 2005 -> approx $178Mil The current 36 [was 42 in 2002] City marshals [see NYPost 6-5-2005] are Mayoral -appointed "independent contractors collect outstanding parking fines and other debts for the city and private companies" The total collected in 2004 was nearly $29 million and they also made $230,240 in political contributions. NO new marhalls have been appointed by a Mayor in 16 years, they are all serving past 5 year terms. 2 years after appointed a performance review panel Mayor Bloomberg has not appointed or fired anyone despite large 600 public complaints since 2003. Head of panels says background checks etc is slowing the process. "Prosecutors Say Cuts Force Plea Bargains" -NYTimes, Metro 3-10-04 "..the percentage of cases going to trial had decreased since budget cuts began 3 ago. Of more than 100,000 misdemeanor cases last year, only 300 went to trial. Only about 10 percent of felony arrests in Manhattan reach a courtroom." There are less prosecutors, less legal staff, increased waits for trials and main bone BLOOMBERG has thrown at courts is "revenue sharing" of recovered monies of tax enforcement prosecutions. More than of third of all criminal cases in NYC are dismissed, Brooklyn in 2002 had 49.5% of 85,000 cases dismised alone. "The Bronx leads the citywith the highest rate of defendants who pleaded guilty over the past three years - but more defendants were acquitted by Bronx juries than were convicted." NYPost, Al Guart 6-29-03 Strip search lawsuit-one in 2001 over improper searches of people taken to Brooklyn Central booking for minor offences and misdemeanors. "Police Complaint Finds Some Searches Improper" NYTimes 5-13-04 on "dozens of complaints" since 2002 searched on arrests for petty crimes incl. noise and disorderly conduct. "Sixteen of 85 strip-search complaints made between Jan. 1 2002 and April 1 2004 have been substantiated." DWI arrests in 2004 up 40% over 2003, in the Bronx more than doubled as enforcement is increased. Operation Impact- early 2003 - .."pair troublesome areas with eager new recruits and soon all licensed street vendors will be the requisite number of inches from the curb, the smallest altercations will be met with a small army, and woe to the man who has New Jersey license plates but a New York inspection sticker [not, technically a crime by worth double checking with the supervising lieutenant.]-NYTimes, Metro, 2-27-03 "Instead of ID, They Show Badges"] 1,400 rookies put into the city's toughest neighborhoods. for JAN 2003-First increase in fees paid to priv lawyers rep poor since 1985 in settlement of lawsuit by NY County Lawyers Assoc. filed JUN 2001 over low fees no enough to attract lawyers to provide counsel for the poor $40hr for work and $25 hr for work outside the court increased to $75hr for felony and $60 hr for misdemeanor cases.[-NYTimes, Metro, 11-13-03, Susan Saulny] OFF the streets and into the shops- moreso as a result of street crackdowns? -its been shown that there's been dealing out of bodegas and such, but Nov 12 2003 75 lbs. of pot + "a shotgun, some pills and a small amount of cocaine.." were seized at PARISI's Bakery 290 Elizabeth in Little Italy. Owner was arrested. [-NYPost 11-13-03, A. Haberman] 9-2003 Secret marijuana farm exposed in Chinatown apt 39 Eldridge, "$1mil in value" up to 500 trees. NYPost 9-19-03 Dec 18 2003 NYPD Dep Police Commissioner Fredrick Paris resigned then pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud, to be jailed for $113,000 looted from a charity to pay for thousands of collect calls from inmates routed thru him and he would listen in if they were sex lines. -NYPost 12-19-03 Feb 2003- Prob. Officers authorized to carry handguns phased in as they complete safety course and are analyzed.DEC 2002 Smaller Probation Dept to merge into Corrections dept. by Mayor Bloomberg. MAY 16 2003->57 year old Harlem Grandma Alberta Spruilli died short time after no-knock break in by a force of 6 PO's and 6 Emergency Svc. Cops using a concussion grenade and handcuffing her in mistaken raid based on a druggies bad info as informant. Coronor ruled death was a homicide as a result, not meaning a criminal act. Several high ranking PO were reassigned as a result, highest ranking was a Commander. Yeah, PD will listen to real scum and bust in on someone with deadly force if its in a "bad neighborhood" but will they listen to YOU about some ordinary small thing? APR 2 2003 a similar raid as a result of bad tip from an informant w-stun grenade and NYPD handcuffing residents while they ransacked the apt. of Chapman's resulted in a lawsuit against NYPD and the city. Other no-knock break ins DO NOT make the new because no innocent person died as a result...City Council held hearings June 4 trying to change procedures and add some oversight over these raids. NYTimes 6-9-03 2nd Brooklyn Judge in 2 yrs. to be prosecuted on felony corruption, Justice Garson arraigned eight charges incl "official misconduct and receiving "rewards" for official misconduct." "..some of its most senior surviving commanders, have retired since September 11, and hundreds more have notified their union that they expect to leave in the next year." from 9-11 to 7-19 "213 members of thes enior command" have left the job -60% higher rate than 'last year' NY TIMES 8-7-2002. in the first 9 months of 2002, 1,018 cops resigned [mostly going to suburban Police or private security.]which is at a rate 6-1/2 times 1991 no. of 159 and double or more than that rest of the 199os years. Mostly it is an issue of money for those who go to the suburbs. [NY POST, Dunleavy 12-4-02] But there hasn't been an execution in NYS since 1963... Last death penalty was removed from the books in NY 1984 and new law was enacted in 1995, a quite messy one shepherded thru by Gov Pataki, June 24 2004->by 4-3,State Ct of Appeals ruled death penalty was unconstitutional because of procedural matter because "deadlock instruction" to jurors who have to choose bet life [jail] or death, and that the instruction would tend to "use fear and coercion" to lead to unanimous decision to choose the death penalty [or not], otherwise a "life" sentence" with parole is mandated. Gov + legislature have to rewrite the law or else no death penalty in NY. BUT NO! DEMOCRATS in NY State Assembly "closed the door [4-12-05] on reviving the death penalty in New York State this year.." and may not be for "years to come." [NYTimes 4-13-05] July 9 2002 'First Death Sentence Imposed Under '95 Law is Overturned' NY State Supreme Court ruled 'conviction unfairly threatened the man with capital punishment merely for exercising his right to a trial.' mainly due to plea bargaining provisions in effect at the time [rev. 1998]. Court orders that guy who admitted to killing 3 in a social club in 1997 could only be sentenced to life w-o parole. *mid 2002 NYPD losing many guys to the PORT AUTH PD over 20k salary difference *Dec. 7 2001-- 30 Police officers and a detective resigned to be rehired by Nausau (Long Island) County at a ~5k pay cut for now, but a 20kraise over NYC salary after 5 years. Nausau PD has sent uniformed PD recruiters into NYC. Other PDs also target relatively low-paid NYPD.The force peaked in size at 41,000 cops at the beginning of 2001. *NY Police Museum was opened in 1999 by the previous Commis. Safir who appointed his wife to the Executive Committee. The space was donated and was said to be a sweetheart deal by the city to Wall St. firms seeking to increase Police protection in one of the already safest areas of NY.APRIL 11 2001.->The admin. office for the museum was relocated to other free space at nearby 55 Water St. It was reported that the Museum received free leases on new fully loaded Ford Explorers, and the deals for all the free space and cars could be in violation of city ethics regulations. *Marijuana related arrests increased by reported 5,000 percent since Giuliani took office. 720 in 1992, to approx 60,000 in 2000. It has been publicized in the press that increasingly, delivery services bring pot and other drugs more and more since street sweeps and crackdowns on storefront drug selling in the mid-1980s. But MAYBE not such a big deal to deal? Story of drug bicycle messenger [-Morgan, NYObserver NOV 3 2008 issue ] accidentally wandered into a bigger street dealer bust they found his pack full of pot, but released after 3 days and a $95 ticket for disorderly conduct, which was less of a penalty that from HIS dealer who he had to repay! OH Another time Union Sq Virg Megastore was [falsely] suspected of shoplifting, but almost escaped from being busted except for the smell, got another $95 ticket! -->400,000 pot-possession arrests 1997-2007 * The NYC POLICE COMMISIONER had a larger Press Corps (35 vs. 24) than the White House early last year - maybe it's down since he (Bratton) left. (The paper doesn't report on that.) NY POST 2/15/95 </font>

Sights

TimeOut NY is the best general entertainment/ bar-club/ restaurant/ art listings sold widely. The Village Voice with a huge listings sections, especially music, is free in many shops and street boxes in Manhattan and Brooklyn is sold all over. There is a free art gallery guide with more limited distribution, The digest sized, themed The L listings is also some downtown and Brooklyn street boxes. The NY Press, and local neighborhood rags are free in many street boxes are also sueful for listing and some articles/opinion.

Condos, schmondos. What is the absolutely the most exclusive real estate in Manhattan? - A burial plot or crypt! Even Bloomberg might not be able to get a spot - but Ed KOCH did! Forget it downtown, maybe the Cardinal can be interred in St. Patrick's no active burials in decades. Trinity Cemetery with 50 crypts [3 yr est to be filled]. NYC is running out of burial space altogether at the 75 active cemeteries, for example venerable GREENWOOD had 5 years or so "supply" left as of 2005/06. [-see J R Silverman, AM NewYork 9-15-05] NYC besides potters fields of HART Is., has owned since 1843 a venerable if almost forgotten burial ground of prominent old time Brooklynites in CANARSIE Cemetery, that is has been trying to sell off for "several administrations". Partly 'swampy' grounds, will a developer destroy the cemetery or put in condos