Phagwah Parade - 2010-03-07

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Kerouac Was Queens Recluse by Jason Antos - Queens Gazette

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Last week the Queens Gazette ran an article about a lecture given by Pat Fenton about author Jack Kerouac’s life in Queens. The article attracted the attention of Larry Myers, a playwright and associate professor of rhetoric and communication at St. John’s University, who has also been studying the prolific author and his movements, not only in Queens, but also around Greater New York and the country. Myers wrote an Off-Broadway play about Kerouac entitled, “Jack Kerouac, Christian.” which opened in 2009. Given a very strict Catholic upbringing, Kerouac would often paint depictions of Christ with a religious orientation.

The author of On the Road lived at 133-01 Cross Bay Blvd. in Ozone Park and 94-21 134th St. in Richmond Hill for a total of 12 years. It was the longest amount of time that Kerouac and his mother, Gabrielle, with whom he lived for a good portion of his life, ever stayed in one place.

“They were constantly on the move,” Myers said. “Jack and his mom would sometimes just pack up and leave because they could not pay the rent.”

The Queens period of Kerouac’s life has always been shrouded in mystery, simply because he never talked about it. However, the reasons for his silence are less significant than others might think.

“Kerouac kept quiet because nothing major ever happened to him while he was living there,” Myers said. “Gabrielle worked all day in a shoe factory in Brooklyn while he sat home and wrote. He was kind of a recluse.”

Although he lived a mainly uneventful existence in Queens, Kerouac had his moments. He was hospitalized not too far from his home in Ozone Park after having an attack of thrombophlebitis (inflammation of a vein caused by a blood clot) while walking with poet and friend Allen Ginsberg across the Brooklyn Bridge. Kerouac would go on to mentor Ginsberg by giving him lessons in his apartment on Cross Bay Boulevard, which was also the former home of actor John Garfield. It was in this home where Town and the City was written. Ginsberg and Kerouac would take many walks together around the city.

One day they stopped at the Atlantic Avenue overpass of the recently built Van Wyck Expressway. “It looks like a bowling alley of cars,” Kerouac observed.

July 17, 1947 was the day that Kerouac left Ozone Park for his trip across the country. This was one of several journeys that would come to shape his On The Road.

By January 1948, Kerouac rarely left Ozone Park for Manhattan or anywhere else. Whenever he was lonely or felt melancholy, he would write letters to Ginsberg. Most of the information about Kerouac in Queens comes from the correspondence between Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and himself.

On July 26, 1950, Kerouac, now living in Richmond Hill, wrote another draft of his book and entitled it Gone On The Road. This version would be one of many to be scrapped.

From 1952 through 1957, Kerouac continued traveling around the country and even made a trip to Mexico, writing poems. Kerouac lived with the Cassadys through the winter and into the spring of 1952. After leaving Queens in 1955, he went back to a succession of addresses.
Kerouac’s writing would become known as “beat” literature. He has been called the creator of the beat generation, an accolade that he detested. Kerouac meant “beat” to mean “beatific”, or the showing of joy and happiness.

The success of On The Road propelled Kerouac to legendary status. Some people compared him to Walt Whitman. Kerouac was also the inspiration for the television series “Route 66”, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964.

Despite his fame there was little fortune. Not all of his books were successes. He was also an alcoholic. When Kerouac died in 1969 at age 47 he had only $87 in his bank account.

Many celebrities make more money dead than when they were alive and Kerouac is no exception. The famous scroll of teletype paper on which he wrote On The Road was purchased by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay for $2.6 million.

“Kerouac’s family makes millions each year off his name.” Myers said. “He is bigger than James Dean.”

President Obama, Replace Rahm With Me: An Open Letter From Michael Moore

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Friday, March 5th, 2010

Dear President Obama,

I understand you may be looking to replace Rahm Emanuel as your chief of staff.

I would like to humbly offer myself, yours truly, as his replacement.

I will come to D.C. and clean up the mess that's been created around you. I will work for $1 a year. I will help the Dems on Capitol Hill find their spines and I will teach them how to nonviolently beat the Republicans to a pulp.

And I will help you get done what the American people sent you there to do. I don't need much, just a cot in the White House basement will do.

Now, don't get too giddy with excitement over my offer, because you and I are going to be up at 5 in the morning, 7 days a week and I am going to get you pumped up for battle every single day (see photo). Each morning you and I will do 100 jumping jacks and you will repeat after me:

"THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ELECTED ME, NOT THE REPUBLICANS, TO RUN THE COUNTRY! I AM IN CHARGE! I WILL ORDER ALL OBSTRUCTIONISTS OUTTA MY WAY! IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T LIKE WHAT I'M DOING THEY CAN THROW MY ASS OUT IN 2012. IN THE MEANTIME, I CALL THE SHOTS ON THEIR BEHALF! NOW, CONGRESS, DROP AND GIVE ME 50!!"

Then we will put on our jogging sweats and run up to Capitol Hill. We will take names, kick butts, and then take some more names. If we have to give a few noogies or half-nelson's, then so be it. In our pockets we will have a piece of paper to show the pansy Dems just how much they won by in 2008 -- and the poll results that show the majority of Americans oppose the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and want the bankers punished. Like drill sergeants, we will get right up in their faces and ask them, "WHAT PART OF THE PUBLIC MANDATE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, SOLDIER?!! DROP AND GIVE ME 50!"

I know this is the job Rahm Emanuel was supposed to be doing.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have always admired Rahm Emanuel (if you don't count his getting NAFTA pushed through Congress in the '90s which destroyed towns like Flint, Michigan. I know, picky-picky.). He is what we needed for a long time -- a no-apologies, take-no-prisoners fighting machine. Someone who is not afraid to get his hands dirty and pound the right wing into submission. Far from being the foul-mouthed bully he has been portrayed as, Rahm is the one who BEAT UP the bullies to protect us from them.

That's certainly what he did in 2006. After six long, miserable years of the middle-class getting slaughtered and the poor being flushed down the toilet, Rahm Emanuel took on the job of returning Congress to the Democrats. No one believed it could be done.

But he did it. Big time. He put the fear of God into the party of Rush and Newt. They had never been so scared. More importantly, though, he instilled a sense of hope in the Democrats that they could actually score the mother of all hat tricks in 2008 -- and with you, an African American no less, in the pole position!

It worked. The Darkness ended. The vast majority of nation wept with joy on the night of the election (those who weren't weeping went out and bought a record number of guns and ammo). Unlike the last president, you didn't "win" by 537 votes in Florida (although Gore won the popular vote by a half-million), you beat McCain nationally by 9,522,083 votes! The House Democrats got a walloping 79-vote margin. The Senate Dems would caucus with a supermajority of 60 votes unheard of in over 30 years. The wars would now end. America would have universal health care. Wall Street and the banks would, at the very least, be reined in. Hardworking citizens would not be thrown out of their homes. It was supposed to be the dawning of a new age.

But the Republicans were not going to go quietly into the night. You see, instead of having just one Rahm Emanuel, they are ALL Rahm Emanuels. That's why they usually win. Unlike most Democrats, they are relentless and unstoppable. When they believe in something (which is usually themselves and the K Street job they hope to be rewarded with someday), they'll fight for it till the death. They are loyal to a fault to each other (they were never able to denounce Bush, even though they knew he was destroying the party). They dig their heels in deep no matter what. If you exiled them to a lone chunk of melting polar ice cap, they would keep insisting that it was just a normal "January thaw," even as the frigid Arctic waters rose above their God-fearing necks ("See what I mean -- this water is COLD! What 'global *warming*'?! Adam and Eve rode dinos...aagghh!!... gulp gulp gulp").

We thought we were all done with this craziness, but we were mistaken. Like a beast that you just can't cage, the Republicans convinced not only the media, but YOU and your fellow Dems, that 59 votes was a *minority*! Precious time was lost trying to reach a "consensus" and trying to be "bipartisan."

Well, you and the Democrats have been in charge now for over a year and not one banking regulation has been reinstated. We don't have universal health care. The war in Afghanistan has escalated. And tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose their jobs and be thrown out of their homes. For most of us, it's just simply no longer good enough that Bush is gone. Woo hoo. Bush is gone. Yippee. That hasn't created one new friggin' job.

You're such a good guy, Mr. President. You came to Washington with your hand extended to the Republicans and they just chopped it off. You wanted to be respectful and they decided that they were going to say "no" to everything you suggested. Yet, you kept on saying you still believed in bipartisanship.

Well, if you really want bipartisanship, just go ahead and let the Republicans win in November. Then you'll get all the bipartisanship you want.

Let me be clear about one thing: The Democrats on Election Day 2010 are going to get an ass-whoopin' of biblical proportions if things don't change right now. And after the new Republican majority takes over, they, along with a few conservative Democrats in Congress, will get to bipartisanly impeach you for being a socialist and a citizen of Kenya. How nice to see both sides of the aisle working together again!

And the brief window we had to fix this country will be gone.

Gone.

Gone, baby, gone.

I don't know what your team has been up to, but they haven't served you well. And Rahm, poor Rahm, has turned into a fighter -- not of Republicans, but of the left. He called those of us who want universal health care "f***ing retarded." Look, I don't know if Rahm is the problem or if it's Gibbs or Axelrod or any of the other great people we owe a debt of thanks to for getting you elected. All I know is that whatever is fueling your White House it's now running on fumes. Time to shake things up! Time to bring me in to get you pumped up every morning! Go Barack! Yay Obama! Fight, Team, Fight!

I'm packed and ready to come to D.C. tomorrow. If it helps, you won't really be losing Rahm entirely because I'll be bringing his brother with me -- my agent, Ari Emanuel. Man, you should see HIM negotiate a deal! Have you ever wanted to see Mitch McConnell walking around Capitol Hill carrying his own head in his hands after it's just been handed to him by the infamous Ari? Oh, baby, it won't be pretty -- but boy will it be sweet!

What say you, Barack? Me and you against the world! Yes we can! It'll be fun -- and we may just get something done. Whaddaya got to lose? Hope?

Retardedly yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Just to give you an idea of the new style I'll be bringing with me, when a cornhole like Sen. Ben Nelson tries to hold you up next time, this is what I will tell him in order to get his vote: "You've got exactly 30 seconds to rescind your demand or I will personally make sure that Nebraska doesn't get one more federal dollar for the rest of Obama's term. And then I will let everyone in your state know that you wear Sooner panties, backwards. NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 50!"

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Lost in the Ozone Blog...

Today (March 5th) is the 3rd anniversary of the Lost in the Ozone blog...Over the years, the number of hits has increased substantially...Each day over 400 people visit this blog for information...

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I would like to thank each and everyone for their past and continued support...

NYPD Digging In Queens In Search Of Missing Student - Gothamist

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Cold-case investigators are ripping up the basement of a Queens plumbing-supply store in hopes of finding the remains of a Baruch College student who disappeared 12 years ago after her married chemistry professor got her pregnant. Cops received a tip a decade ago that Kristine Kupka might be buried beneath the Jamaica shop, but the man who managed the property—a cousin of professor and "prime suspect" Darshanad Persaud—wouldn't allow them to search. But according to the Post, after the building was leased to a new business, cops got permission and a "cadaver-sniffing dog" indicated the presence of human remains.

The tabloid reports that investigators also noticed one section of the concrete floor didn't match the rest of the flooring in the basement. They dug six feet yesterday and are expected to continue searching today. Police have not found enough evidence to arrest Persaud, who has since moved to Tampa, Florida, where he is a dentist. "No comment, I can't help you out," the 41-year-old said. Kupka was a 28-year-old undergraduate student at the time of her disappearance.

Gowanus Canal Labeled Superfund Site, Over City’s Objections by Mireya Navarro - NYTimes.com

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The Gowanus Canal is contaminated with noxious pollutants, and some of its banks, like at Carroll Street, are dumping grounds. More Photos »

The Environmental Protection Agency designated the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn a Superfund site on Tuesday and announced plans to clean up more than a century’s worth of noxious pollutants there.

Life Along the Gowanus - Slide Show

A minke whale in the Gowanus Bay near the canal in April 2007. Police boats tried to encourage it to move out to sea, but it died after a few days there. Photo: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

The decision ended a contentious debate and was a blow to the Bloomberg administration, which had proposed a cleanup without such a designation. The city had argued that the label could set off legal battles with polluters, prolong the dredging operation and spook developers leery of the stigma of a Superfund listing.

But in a conference call with reporters, Judith A. Enck, the E.P.A. administrator for the region, said the Superfund designation would guarantee the best result for residents and the environment and ensure that the polluters cover all the costs.

“We believe that it would get us the most efficient and comprehensive cleanup,” Ms. Enck said.

From Gowanus Bay to New York Harbor, the agency has found contamination along the entire length of the clouded 1.8-mile canal in a preliminary assessment, including pesticides, metals and the cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs.

The agency estimates that the project will last 10 to 12 years and cost $300 million to $500 million. The city estimated that its approach would take nine years.

The E.P.A., which proposed the Superfund designation last April at the urging of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, made its decision after a public comment period that involved more than 50 meetings with city officials, developers, community groups and others. Nine other Superfund sites across the country were also designated on Tuesday.

“It was the right thing to do,” said Marlene Donnelly, a leader of the neighborhood group Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus. “It’s the beginning of a plan to start the restorative process for the Gowanus area.”

City officials expressed disappointment but struck a conciliatory tone and pledged to cooperate with the cleanup.

“It’s disappointing,” said Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “We had an innovative and comprehensive approach that was a faster route.”

“But we are going to work closely with the E.P.A. because we share the same goal: a clean canal,” he added.

Carved out of tidal wetlands and streams in the 1860s, the Gowanus evolved into a busy waterway for oil refineries, chemical plants, tanneries, manufactured gas plants and other heavy industry along its banks. Industrial waste and raw sewage gushed into the canal for over a century.

Most of that flow has halted since the 1960s as maritime shipping faded. Today the 100-foot-wide canal is used for commercial and recreational purposes by neighborhoods bordering it, including Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook.

Yet even as kayakers glide alongside the banks and fishermen catch striped bass for sport at its mouth at Gowanus Bay — the fish are too contaminated to eat — residents complain about the odors from continuing discharges of sewage and unsightly debris from scrap metal yards and other industrial enterprises.

The E.P.A. has already identified the city, the Navy and seven companies, including Consolidated Edison and National Grid, as potentially responsible for the past discharges. It is seeking additional information from at least 20 other companies so it can map out the financing of the cleanup.

“This is a historical puzzle we’re putting together here,” Ms. Enck said.

Caswell F. Holloway IV, a former mayoral aide who helped design an alternative cleanup plan for the Gowanus and is now the commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, said he had no estimate of New York’s financial liability for what federal officials said included contamination from various facilities, including an asphalt plant and an incinerator in the area. He said the city would work with the E.P.A. to ensure that costs are recovered from all responsible parties.

“The city has an obligation to ensure that the burden is shared fairly,” Mr. Holloway said.

He noted that the administration had already committed $150 million to reducing odors and preventing sewer discharges and had shared the cost of a feasibility study for an environmental restoration project by the Army Corps of Engineers. E.P.A. officials said they saw those projects as complementary and expected them to continue.

Mr. Holloway said it was uncertain how the Superfund designation would affect economic development in the area.

One developer, Toll Brothers, said it would scrap its plan for a $250 million project with about 450 housing units and retailing space on three acres by the canal. “We wouldn’t be able to obtain financing to build, and we’d have difficulties obtaining insurance,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president with the company, citing factors like uncertainty on how long the cleanup would take.

But Gowanus Green, a $300 million project for 774 units of new housing in nine buildings as well as retailing and community facilities, mostly financed by the city, is going forward.

“We’re in full support of the project, and we’ll work with the E.P.A.,” said Aaron Koffman, a spokesman for the Hudson Companies, one of the companies in the project’s consortium.

Eager to preserve such development potential, the city had proposed an approach under which the federal agency would allow the polluters to pay for the cleanup voluntarily.

But Ms. Enck said the city’s plan lacked “financial certainty” because it relied partly on federal allocations that would require Congressional approval. Agency officials also worried that having the Corps of Engineers and the E.P.A. both tackle the cleanup would complicate an already messy challenge.

In advocating for a Superfund listing, Ms. Enck had rejected arguments that it would keep investors and lenders away.

“Banks look at the environmental conditions of the properties,” she said at a meeting with reporters last week. “It is not a secret in Brooklyn that the Gowanus is contaminated. The notion that Superfund is going to create a stigma just doesn’t hold up.”

Agency officials said the cleanup, which will focus chiefly on the sediment in the canal, had effectively begun, with sampling already under way.

The timetable calls for completing the sampling and assessments of human and environmental risks by the end of the year. A full cleanup plan is to be drafted by 2014, with the work then unfolding over at least five years.

Walter Mugdan, the agency’s regional Superfund director, said that most of the canal would probably be dredged.

Additional steps include eliminating all sources of continuing contamination, like overflowing sewage and the migration of contaminants from groundwater under old industrial plants.

Presidential Reunion from SNL Veterans for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency - FunnyOrDie.com

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Barack Obama gets a surprise visit in the night from ex-Presidents Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton, Ford, Reagan and Carter to get a few pointers about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and why it's so important.

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

Credits:
Actor --	Chevy Chase
Director --	Ron Howard
Actor --	Jim Carrey
Actor --	Fred Armisen
Actor --	Darrell Hammond
Actor --	Dan Aykroyd
Actor --	Maya Rudolph
Actor --	Dana Carvey
Uploader --	FOD Team
Director --	Jake
Cinematographer --	Antonio Scarlata

Additional credits:

Starring: Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen & Maya Rudolph
Directed by: Ron Howard
FoD Director: Jake Szymanski
Written by: Al Jean, Adam McKay, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan Greaney & Michael Price
Produced by: Mike Farah
Director of Photography: Antonio ... more >

Starring: Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen & Maya Rudolph
Directed by: Ron Howard
FoD Director: Jake Szymanski
Written by: Al Jean, Adam McKay, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan Greaney & Michael Price
Produced by: Mike Farah
Director of Photography: Antonio Scarlata
Production Design: Alexi Gomez, Rachael Ferrara & Katie Byron
Edited by: Jake Szymanski & Neil Mahoney
Production Coordinators: Christin Trogan, Michelle Fox, & Sean Boyle
1st AD: Shadie Elnashai
2nd AD: Richard Robinson
2nd 2nd Asst. Director: Reza Lackey
Additional 2nd 2nd Asst Director: Chandra Alexander
A-Cam 1st AC: Scott Johnson
B-Cam Op: David Jones
B-Cam 1st AC: Dylan Johnson
C-Cam Op: Ben Berman
C-Cam 1st AC: Tony Oberstar
Set Production Assistants: Mara Beckman, Andrew Grissom & Rachel Hastings
Key Set Production Assistant: Elliot Ryan Dickerhoof
DIT: Chris Hoyle
Media Manager: Neil Mahoney
Dolly Grip: Geoff Knight
Gaffer: Kevin Stewart
Best Boy: Ricky Fosheim
Electrician: David Cronin
Grip: Jordan Downey
Swing: Brad Schulz
Sound Mixer: BoTown Sound
Lead Boom Operator: Brandon Conley
Sound Utility: Danny Carpenter
Script Supervisor: Kristin Owings
Construction: Paul Gorman
Lead Man: Michael Jasorka
Set Dresser: Yuki Miura
Make-Up Dept. Heads: Shauna O'Toole & Kat Bardot
Mr. Carrey's Make-Up FX Artist: Alexei O'Brien
Mr. Farrell & Mr. Carrey's Wigs: Jennifer Aspinall
Mr. Carvey's Make-Up & Hair: Kevin Yagher
Mr. Aykroyd's, Ms. Rudolph's, Mr. Armisen's, & Mr. Hammond's Wigs: Tena Parker
Assistant to Tena Parker: Becca Gardner
Make-Up Assistant: Ellen Vieria
Make-Up Assistant: Kira von Sutra
Costume Designer: Janicza Bravo
Tailor: Laurel Pochucha
Assistant Costumer: Diane Herlofsky
Additional Editing by: Justin Donaldson & Brad Schulz
Behind the Scenes Directors and Editors: Matt Villines & Osmany Rodriguez
Still Photographers: Pete Snell & Jason Mordah
Special Thanks to Elizabeth Warren, Hans Zimmer, James Brooks, Bonnie Abaunza, Mark Kvamme, Dick Glover, Andrew Steele, Jimmy Miller, Ken Aymong, Andrew Zack, Jessica Elbaum, Fred Specktor, Louisa Velis, Linda Hill, Martin Lesak, Lauryn Kahn, Tiffany Bordenave, Owen Burke, Seth Morris, Al Franken, Chad Carter, Samantha Cruz and Avenue Six Studios
Wardrobe thanks to H+M, Hugo Boss and French Connection
Camera cranes, dollies, remote and stabilized camera systems by Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment, Inc. <>

Web Series: Web Series: Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion (1 of 3)

Harold Ford Jr. Decides Not to Run for New York Senate Seat - Crooks and Liars Video Cafe

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Ford Decides Not to Run for Senate Seat:

Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman who has sought to parlay his star power and Wall Street connections into a political career in New York, has decided not to challenge Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the Democratic primary this September, according to friends and advisers. Read on...

From Laffy at The Political Carnival:

As Oliver Willis tweeted:

Shorter harold ford: maybe running as a rich, out of touch banker is not the best thing to do in 2010.

Uuggghhh yep. Good riddance Harold. Chris Hayes talked to Lawrence O'Donnell on Countdown about Ford's decision not to run and Blanche Lincoln's primary challenge in Arkansas. Hayes on Ford not running:

In the case of Harold Ford it was one of the most laughably inept candidate roll outs in recent memory and I think finally at some point he got the message this was not going anywhere.

That's putting it kindly.

New Center Option for Displaced Woodhaven Seniors is in the Works by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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WOODHAVEN seniors, tired of being bused to a center in Richmond Hill, may get a break under a plan being brokered by Borough President Helen Marshall.

Marshall wants to see the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps building on Jamaica Ave. used for some senior services.

In return, the cash-strapped ambulance corps would get some funds to keep its operations running.

"It's really enticing," Marshall said. "It's a great location."

Marshall's aides are setting up a meeting between the city Department for the Aging, Catholic Charities and the ambulance corps.

Catholic Charities runs the seniors' program, which used to operate out of St. Thomas the Apostle Church. When the church reclaimed the space, Catholic Charities offered local seniors bus service to another program in Richmond Hill.

"A lot of them are not going. They are staying home, and that's a shame," said Maria Thomson of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corp. "They really loved having a center closer to home."

Kathy Sexton-Dalbey, an emergency medical technician who is chief operating officer of the corps, said her group would be happy to host seniors in its building.

"Many of them work as poll workers on Election Day," she said. "They always come in here and talk to us. This is a good spot for them."

The volunteer ambulance corps building is at 78-18 Jamaica Ave., in the middle of the bustling shopping strip. The back room holds between 75 and 100 people. The driveway can accommodate Access-A-Ride buses and other vehicles.

But the structure needs some renovations, including work to make it accessible for people with disabilities. Marshall seemed confident that some government grant or other funds could be freed up to pay for the work.

The volunteer ambulance corps has been suffering from a shortage of donations and grants. If its headquarters is used for senior programs, the group will get a regular rent check.

City officials said the talks are still in the preliminary stage. But Marshall's spokesman, Dan Andrews, was hopeful.

"Everyone wants this to happen," he said.

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

Senator Joe Addabbo: Statement on Governor David Paterson Announcement

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., today released the following statement:

“I believe that Governor David Paterson’s decision not to seek re-election is a prudent one for him personally, the State and our government. I have often been a critic of the governor’s deficiency in making essential decisions. The lack of his ability to make an important decision has been evident during the selection of a U.S. Senator in 2009, the budget process, last year’s State Senate stalemate and most recently, the Aqueduct VLT project. What is most important is that we in the State legislature must not let this latest Albany episode blur our focus, which must be on a timely balanced budget and the legislative duties we owe to our people.”

Job Fair on Friday, April 9th @ Aqueduct Racetrack Sponsored by State Senator Joe Addabbo

Click on images to enlarge...Update - April 7th

Participating Companies – April 9, 2010

1. Addiction Research & Treatment Corporation
2. Advantis Healthcare Solutions
3. AFC Industries
4. AFLAC
5. AHRC New York City
6. AlliedBarton Security Services
7. Ambit Energy
8. America Works
9. Arbonne International
10. AST Security
11. Avis Budget Group
12. Avon
13. AXA Financial
14. Bed Bath & Beyond
15. Benjamin Enterprises
16. Boriqua College
17. Borough of Manhattan Community College
18. Cambridge Who’s Who Publishing
19. Cintas
20. Citibank
21. Connexion 1 Real Estate
22. Counsel for Airport Opportunity
23. CUNY – COPE Program
24. CVS
25. Delta Airlines
26. Department of Citywide Administrative Services
27. Department of Labor – Employment & Workforce Solutions
28. Department of Labor – Apprenticeship & Veterans Programs
29. DeVry College of NY
30. Dress for Success
31. Duty Free Americas
32. Enterprise Rent-A-Car
33. ERA – Top Service
34. Federal Bureau of Investigation
35. FedEx
36. Fire Department of New York
37. First Investors Corporation
38. Gate Gourmet
39. General Services Administration
40. Greater Ridgewood Youth Council
41. Green Jobs Training Center
42. H&R Block
43. Helmets to Hardhats
44. Hire Disability Solutions
45. IKEA
46. Independence Residences
47. Internal Revenue Service
48. International Shoppes
49. JetBlue Airlines
50. Kaplan Test Prep
51. LaGuardia Workforce 1 Career Center
52. Lifespire
53. Long Island Rail Road
54. Lowe’s Home Improvement
55. Met Life
56. MTA – New York City Transit
57. New York Army – National Guard
58. New York Families For Autistic Children
59. New York Racing Association
60. New York State Police
61. NY’s Comprehensive Home Care Services
62. Non Traditional Employment for Women
63. North Shore LIJ Health System
64. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
65. NYS Department of Civil Service
66. NYS Office of Court Administration
67. Parker Jewish Institute
68. Pearle Vision
69. Penda Aiken Inc.
70. Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of NY
71. Personal Touch Moving, Inc.
72. Port Authority of NY & NJ
73. Progressive Home Health Services
74. Prudential
75. Queens Center for Progress
76. Queens Chronicle
77. Raymour & Flanigan – Operations
78. Raymour & Flanigan – Sales
79. Reliable Community Care
80. Restaurant Opportunities of New York
81. Securitas Security Services
82. Services for the UnderServed
83. Sleepy’s
84. Suffolk County Police Department
85. Super Soccer Stars
86. Target
87. TD Bank
88. TheraCare Inc.
89. Time Warner Cable
90. Transit Transit News Magazine – WYNE TV
91. UPS
92. US Census Bureau - Recruitment
93. US Customs & Border Protection
94. US Army Corps of Engineers
95. US Department of Agriculture
96. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
97. US Immigration & Customs Enforcement
98. US Navy Recruitment

100. US Post Office

101. Verizon

102. Verizon Wireless

103. Victoria’s Secret

104. Waste Management

105. 4Life Research

Other Services

1. AARP Foundation WorkSearch
2. Fidelis Care
3. Guyanese & American Business Council
4. Human Resources Administration
5. IRS – Tax Advisory Service
6. Jamaica Services Program for Older Adults
7. Neighborhood Health Providers
8. NYC Commission on Human Rights
9. Office of New York State Comptroller
10. Queens Vet Center
11. US Census - Outreach
12. Vets Helping Vets

Senator Gillibrand: ‘I Know New Yorkers’ - Andrea Mitchell Reports - msnbc.com

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Gillibrand Campaign Responds to Ford's Decision Not to Run

“Senator Gillibrand has shown that she takes a back seat to no one when it comes to fighting for New York and no matter who her opponent is this fall, she will wage a vigorous campaign on her strong record and her vision for New York." -- Glen Caplin, Gillibrand spokesman

Ford Decides Not to Run by Michael Barbaro - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

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Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials, Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman, has decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the primary this fall, according to two people told of his plans.

He has told friends that, while he is convinced he could prevail against Ms. Gillibrand, he feared the winner of the primary would have little money and remain highly vulnerable to a well-financed Republican challenger at a time when the Democratic party controls the Senate by a slim majority.

“I’ve examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary — a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened,” Mr. Ford wrote in an opinion article to be published in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times

I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans.”

The possibility of a run by the telegenic Mr. Ford, who has been working as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and a political commentator on NBC and MSNBC since moving to New York in 2006, had riveted New York’s political world, and touched off a furious behind-the-scenes effort to keep him out of the race over the last six weeks.

After Mr. Ford, 39, acknowledged his interest in the race in early January, Democratic leaders feared that a tough primary between him and Ms. Gillibrand would drain the party of crucial fund-raising dollars and potentially endanger what is considered a safe Democratic seat at a time when Republicans are seeking to mount challenges across the country.

White House officials signaled they did not want him to run, and Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York met personally with Mr. Ford to argue against his candidacy.

At first, Mr. Ford seemed to be emboldened by the attempts to fight his entry into the campaign. He branded those who asked him to stay out as “bullying party bosses” and sought to portray himself as a political outsider taking on an out-of-touch establishment.

Despite Mr. Ford’s relative newness to the state — he moved here in 2006 and became an official resident only last year — dozens of influential Democratic party donors urged him to run, saying that they were underwhelmed with Ms. Gillibrand, a former upstate congresswoman who was appointed to the Senate by Gov. David A. Paterson last year after a raucous search to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mr. Ford’s pollster, Douglas Schoen, was convinced that Mr. Ford had a strong chance of defeating Ms. Gillibrand, whose approval rating did not impress him, according to people who have spoken with him.

But the drumbeat of detractors grew louder after Democrats lost a longheld Senate seat in Massachusetts, and the party’s fortunes in New York State became clouded by the scandal engulfing Mr. Paterson, who is accused of intervening in a domestic-violence case involving a staff member.

Senator Gillibrand to Kentucky Senator Bunning - End Your Filibuster Now..!

Half a Million Unemployed New Yorkers Could Lose Benefits If No Extension Passed

Bunning’s Filibuster Will Punish Millions of Americans Who Are Hardest Hit By Economic Woes

With Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning’s one-man filibuster preventing an extension to unemployment and COBRA benefits for Americans hit hardest by this economic downturn, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement urging Senator Bunning to put Americans before politics and end his partisan filibuster.

Without an extension, unemployment, COBRA, and other benefits will end this Sunday, February 28.

“Amidst the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, families that were hit hardest by this horrible economy simply cannot afford Senator Bunning’s partisan move.

“If we’re going to rebuild our economy and get our families back on track, we need to make sure we’re giving them every opportunity to survive and support their families in this difficult time. Senator Bunning’s filibuster only sets us back even farther.

“I urge Senator Bunning to put the needs of our families before all else, and end his partisan filibuster so we can get families the resources they need to put food on the table, continue on the path to recovery, and move our economy in the right direction.”

Senator Bunning’s one-man filibuster is blocking the U.S. Senate from extending the following federal resources to help get New York families that are experiencing the absolute worst of this economy get back on track.

· Extension of Unemployment Programs - Extends Federal Unemployment Programs, including the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, through April 5, 2010. Approximately 600,000 New Yorkers are receiving unemployment benefits, the majority of which would lose their benefits by the end of the year if they are not extended.

· Extension of COBRA Assistance - Extends eligibility for 65 percent subsidy for COBRA premiums through end of March 2010 and includes technical improvements to further help New Yorkers in need.

· Extension of Medicare Physician Update - Extends current Medicare payment rates for physicians through end of March 2010. Without an extension, payments to doctors who care for Medicare patients or patients on the military’s TRICARE health program would see their payments cut by more than 20 percent.

· Extension of Medicare Therapy Caps Exceptions - Extends exceptions process for beneficiary payment limits on outpatient therapy services through end of March 2010. If this provision is allowed to expire, families will face a $1,860 cap per year. For families with children with learning disabilities, speech impairments, or anyone with physical rehabilitation needs, that cap can be reached after only one month of treatment.

· Extension of Poverty Guidelines - Extends current provision maintaining 2009 poverty guidelines through end of March 2010. Failing to extend these guidelines would mean that thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers could lose access to programs, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and child nutrition.

· Extension of Surface Transportation Programs - Extends Surface Transportation Programs and related authority to make expenditures from the highway trust fund through March 28, 2010. Without the extension, more New Yorkers will face loss of employment in the construction trades, where unemployment is already above 20 percent.

· Extension of Small Business Loan Grantee Program - Extends loan guarantees through March 28, 2010 and appropriates an additional $60 million for the program. These programs have been a critical lifeline for thousands of New York small businesses struggling to get credit in a down economy.