...An eclectic mix of local Politics, Education, Community Affairs, Environment, History, Birding,Jamaica Bay, Ridgewood Reservoir, Forest Park, and other assorted items of interest...
Concentrating on the Borough of Queens in New York City...and the neighborhoods of Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park...and Community Boards 5, 6, 9 and 10...
15 million unemployed. 12 million underemployed. Unions under attack.
Record corporate profits. Banker crimes unpunished. Tea Party on the march.
It's time for change. It's time to fight back. It's time for the Job Party. Join us!
Our kickoff event was a fun and spirited NYC Cheesehead Rally in NYC on Feb. 18th to support Wisconsin workers who are under attack from Gov. Scott Walker and the Tea Party.
Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate, is calling for public hearings on Cathie Black- Mayor Michael Bloomberg's choice to head the city's public school system.
A growing chorus of opponents say Black's lack of experience in the education field is reason enough to make her unqualified to become the next schools chancellor.
Public Advocate de Blasio told Good Day New York on Thursday that he'd like Black to answer questions from teachers, parents and others about her qualifications in a public forum.
Public Advocate de Blasio and Deborah Kenny, founder of Harlem Village Academies where Black serves on the advisory council, spoke about the Black appointment."
Chancellor Joel Klein leaving the NYC Dept of Education to join News Corp (Fox News) - Replacement Cathie Black is another Corporate hack...Let's hope our elected officials don't grant her a waiver to replace him - We need an educator running the largest public school system in the country...
Joel I. Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, is resigning and leaving city government and will be replaced by Cathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced at City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. Klein, in turn, will become an executive vice president of the News Corporation.
The mayor called Ms. Black “a superstar manager who has succeeded spectacularly in the private sector” and added, “There’s no one who knows more about the skills our children will need to succeed in the 21st century economy.” A former publisher of New York magazine, she went on to become publisher of USA Today and now heads Hearst, which publishes Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping and other titles.
The mayor lauded Mr. Klein, whom he appointed in 2002 after gaining control of the city’s schools, for turning “New York City’s long-dysfunctional public school system into one that the Obama administration has hailed as a national model.”
“He leaves a legacy of achievement that makes him one of the most important and transformational educational leaders of our time,” Mr. Bloomberg said.“Joel has implemented innovative changes that have made an enormous difference in the lives of millions of children.”
Mr. Klein, 64, said his job at News Corporation would be to develop “strategy to put them in the education marketplace.” (See related post on Mr. Klein’s move on the Times’s Media Decoder blog.)
Mr. Klein will stay on until around the end of the year to ease the transition, Mr. Bloomberg said. A former federal prosecutor in charge of the United States Attorney’s office’s antitrust division, he was the longest serving chancellor in the school system’s history, Mr. Bloomberg said.
Ms. Black, 66, said she was “very excited about this incredible opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our young people” and take over the nation’s largest public school system, with about 1.1 million children, 80,000 teachers and more than 1,400 schools.
“Joel brought incredible commitment and energy to this position,” Ms. Black said. “His shoes are very big ones to fill.”
For his part, Mr. Klein said, “There are things we could have done better and smarter,” but added, “I look back with enormous pride on the work that we did do.”
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand weighed in on several hot button issues affecting New York State including the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, the 9/11 health bill hearing and the financial overhaul bill.
Gillibrand who supports bipartisan legislation that would create a searchable database of all federal earmark requests submitted by lawmakers told Good Day NY on Monday that she wants more transparency in government.
"We want to make sure campaign finance has transparency. A senator can hold up a bill anonymously, that should end...and we need to end automatic pay raises for U.S. senators," said Gillibrand.
Only a few hours before her appearance on Good Day NY, word came that the longest serving U.S. senator in history had died.
"It's very sad. Sen. Robert Byrd was one of the best tacticians. He was the longest serving senator. He was in the senate before I was born."
Later in the day, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan begins confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. Insiders say she'll likely be confirmed to the court. Sen. Gillibrand supports Kagan as a Supreme Court justice.
"Kagan is an independent woman. At the end of the day, I do believe she'll have bipartisan support. I believe she is far more moderate than it's lead to believe," said Gillibrand.
Rosanna Scotto also questioned the senator about the 9/11 health bill hearings expected to begin this week on Capitol Hill and why they had taken nine years to get started.
"This is very exciting. This will be the first hearing in the senate on this bill. This is money for the first responders for the surviving families and all the people who suffered from the grave toxins released when the towers collapsed. Congress has appropriated money every year- over $400 million every year- the problem is if you have to go back to the appropriators there every year it might not be there."
Fox 5 News has exclusively obtained security camera footage of a man suspected of beating and raping a 23-year-old woman in an alley off Main Street in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday.
The victim came from China two months ago to work at a nail salon in New York. She wanted to save up money and study law, according to a report.
Her attacker apparently picked her at random.
Sources said the attacker dropped his weapon, a pipe, in some bushes after the assault.
A local lawmaker said that other security camera video shows that several people ignored the woman's cries for help and didn't help her.
Police have arrested a suspect, Carlos Salazar Cruz, and have charged him with attempted murder.
A new audit claims that New York City Transit and the MTA Bus Company spent millions of dollars on jet fuel to power buses instead of cheaper, lower grade fuel that would power the vehicles.
The New York State Comptroller's office says the agencies spent an extra $39 million on fuel due to wasteful practices and improper oversight.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the MTA Bus Company’s records showed unexplained discrepancies in fuel delivery, quality and usage.
DiNapoli said, “Buses don’t need jet fuel, and taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.”
The MTA Bus Company was created in 2004 to absorb seven private companies operating under franchises from the New York City Department of Transportation.
Diesel fuel powers 78 percent of the bus fleet. The fleet can use either the widely-available diesel fuel known as ULSD#2 or ultra low sulfur diesel #1 (jet/kerosene).
In 2003, the MTA signed a five-year contract with Sprague Energy Corporation to supply jet/kerosene despite ULSD#2 being a cheaper and equally environmentally friendly alternative by 2006.
Even after that contract ended, the MTA extended their deal with Sprague. The audit claims the contract extension cost the MTA an extra $27.5 million.
The one-year contract extension required both NYC Transit and MTA Bus to absorb a 55 cent per gallon price increase and a minimum purchase of 50 million gallons of fuel.
The MTA could have paid nearly 29 cents less per gallon under an existing statewide contract.
Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D- Queens and Brooklyn), a member of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, issued a warning about Goldline, Inc., a precious metals dealer that uses aggressive sales tactics, conservative spokespeople and rhetoric to sell over-priced gold coins to unsuspecting consumers.
Goldline, a precious metals dealer in business since 1960, has recently gained prominence through the use of high-profile conservative spokespeople like Glenn Beck, who use their shows to prey on the public’s fears of inflation and socialist takeovers while actively promoting the purchase of gold coins as insurance against this purported government overreach.
Historically, whenever mistrust in global finance and government rises, gold prices follow suit as consumers look to put their savings in something more tangible. And with the number of Americans who are suspicious of government motives near an all-time high, Goldline is using these public fears to sell their over-prices coins. Simply put, Goldline is little more than a gold peddler posing as an investment advisor, an unfortunate byproduct of the Tea Party movement.
Goldline peddles both precious metals and misinformation. Worse still, it’s a bad deal. The gold dealer uses high-pressure sales tactics and overly optimistic assessments of future gold prices to sell coins that can be bought elsewhere for far less – and its sales practices likely violate both SEC & FTC regulations.
Key Findings of Weiner Investigation:
·Goldline Grossly Overcharges For Their Coins An investigation by Weiner’s office found that the average Goldline markup was 90% above the melt value of the coin. The largest markup on any coin was 208% above the melt value. Furthermore, the average Goldline markup is 47% higher than better-priced competitors, with some of the company’s markups going as high as 102% compared to competitors on one of the coins they offered.
·Goldline Falsely Claims To Offer “Good” Investments
By selling gold at twice the melt value, the price of gold would need to double for consumers to break even on their “investment.”
·Goldline Salespeople Misrepresent Their Ability To Give “Investment Advice”
Sales people imply that they are “Investment Advisors” or “Financial Advisers” by offering investment advice, which insinuates that they have some sort of fiduciary responsibility to get you the most return on your investment.
However, since they are not licensed “Investment Advisors” (the industry term), they have no such responsibility. In 2006, the Missouri Secretary of States' Office, Securities Division filed formal consent order against Goldline for exactly this reason and recovered over $200k for an elderly consumer that was ripped off.
·Goldline Plays Off Public Fears of Government Takeover and Has Formed An Unholy Alliance with Conservative Pundits to Drive a False Narrative
On numerous occasions, Glenn Beck has dedicated entire segments of his program to explaining why the U.S. money supply is destined for hyperinflation with Barack Obama as president. He will often promote the purchase of gold as the only safe investment alternative for consumers who want to safeguard their livelihoods. When the show cuts to commercial break, viewers are treated to an advertisement from Goldline.
“Goldline rips off consumers, uses misleading and possibly illegal sales tactics, and deliberately manipulates public fears of an impending government takeover – this is a tri-fecta of terrible business practices,” Weiner said. “It’s unacceptable that this company is preying on public fears to sell its products.”
Rep. Weiner who sits on the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, wrote letters to the SEC and FTC requesting that they investigate Goldline and is proposing legislation that would force Goldline to fully disclose their dishonest business practices. Under Rep. Weiner’s plan, Goldline would be required to show consumers its full business model including their astronomical markups, and deceitful promises of profitability.
Forty years after his assassination, Robert F. Kennedy is being honored in New York for his life of service — even as a prophecy he made in the months before his death comes true.
The Triborough Bridge, which connects the New York boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, was renamed during a ceremony Wednesday after the New York senator, who was gunned down in a Los Angeles hotel pantry on the night he won the 1968 California Democratic primary. The bridge was completed in 1936, when Kennedy was 10 years old.
Dignitaries, politicians and family members gathered by the newly christened RFK Bridge to celebrate his life and his contribution to the civil rights movement.
"I was just another college kid who got to watch Robert Kennedy work in the Senate and feel his passion and emotion," said former President Bill Clinton, who attended the ceremony.
RFK, who served as U.S. attorney general in the administration of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, would have turned 83 Thursday. But the timing was significant for another reason, said his daughter, Kerry Kennedy.
"In 1968, he said in 40 years we could have an African-American president. And sure enough, exactly 40 years later, we do, and that is why this bridge really bridges 1968 to 2008," she said.
The ceremony touched an emotional nerve with many present, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Gov. David Paterson and RFK's widow, Ethel Kennedy.
"I am over the moon," she said. "I am walking on air."
Bobby Kennedy was born in Massachusetts — where his younger brother, Ted Kennedy, is still a senator — but he was raised in New York. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1964 and was running for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed in 1968.
Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, remains imprisoned in California.
As the sexist tone in the media reaches a fever pitch, the Women's Media Center created this video to illustrate the problem and send a message to the media: Sexism might sell, but we're not buying it!
NEW YORK — The family of a 4-year-old has filed a lawsuit against the child's teacher for taping the girl's mouth shut at school.
The lawsuit in Queens Supreme Court says Angela Amedeo had her mouth sealed shut with Scotch tape for 10 minutes because the child spoke during "quiet time."
The incident occurred Aug. 22 at Flushing Fields Play School, the lawsuit claims, and since the incident the child has cried and has nightmares. Angela's family filed the lawsuit against the teacher, the city and the Department of Education.
The family said it was told at the time that the incident was being investigated, but never got a response.
The city Law Department said the office had not received he legal papers in the case, but would review the matter.
Cops arrested a man who was throwing firebombs at cars in Queens, the NYPD says. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The mayhem began around 6 p.m. Tuesday, cops say. Standing on a rooftop, the man hurled Molotov cocktails at cars along 125th and 126th Streets near Hillside Avenue. That is in the Richmond Hill section of Queens.
At least one car caught fire. It appeared to be a livery cab.
Some families in the area were asked to leave as a precaution, according to reports.
A neighbor told reporters that he had seen the man smoking a cigarette on the rooftop before he began throwing the flaming cocktails to the street below.
NEW YORK A new survey of 1,502 adults released Sunday by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that despite the mass appeal of the Internet and cable news since a previous poll in 1989, Americans' knowledge of national affairs has slipped a little. For example, only 69% know that Dick Cheney is vice president, while 74% could identify Dan Quayle in that post in 1989.
Other details are equally eye-opening. Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct. Watchers of the Lehrer News Hour on PBS followed just behind.
Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox News. Only 1 in 3 could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers. (Read more...)
