Horsedrawn-carriage Protest ; Martina Navratilova Makes News (25 July 2012)

Tourists are sold on the fairy tale that taking a ride on a horse carriage is a romantic thing to do. But, as you will see from this shocking video, taking a ride through busy Midtown Manhattan traffic can be dangerous. This is a warning : some of the photos that you will see may be disturbing.

The carriage drivers created a scandal in the last few weeks, after some drivers were reported to have used hate speech (homophobic and racist comments) against animal rights activists ; the homophobia and racism drew the attention and criticism of tennis superstar and LGBT icon Martina Navratilova.

Make a pledge today to support Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn on Kickstarter.

Fran Lebowitz Slams Bloomberg, City Council

Read Also : Fran Lebowitz And Frank Rich At The Town Hall : A Review Of The State Of The Union Conversation

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Fran Lebowitz opines at the New York Faculty Against the Sexton Plan 'While We Were Sleeping: NYU and the Destruction of New York' book launch at McNally Jackson NYC on Jul 15 2012.

Ms. Lebowitz also slams City Council over the zone-busting development that is destroying to special social fabric of New York City.

Make a pledge today to support Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn on Kickstarter.

Christine Quinn NYU Expansion YouTube Video

NYU wants to "grow" in Greenwich Village with 2 million square feet of new construction costing billions of dollars. But how will NYU pay for it? They won't release the business plan... NYU's project will crush the Village—and its students will be crushed by debt. City Council: Stop the Bloomberg-Quinn giveaway to NYU! Watch the viral video now and join the fight at StandUp4NYC.com

Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics Of Christine Quinn

''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' a book by Louis Flores

Hi, my name is Louis Flores, and I am a blogger and an activist.

I am writing a book that will take a ''behind the scenes'' look at New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's politics and ethics. I aim to show you how a politician, who claims to be transparent and ethical, has demonstrated herself to be just the opposite.

But I need your help to publish this book. Please make a pledge to support my book project.

Next year, Speaker Quinn is expected to publish her memoirs as a slick public relations stunt during the race for mayor of New York City in 2013. Her critics allege that the press does not hold Speaker Quinn accountable for her record of undermining democracy. In 2008 and 2009, Speaker Quinn worked hand-in-hand with Mayor Michael Bloomberg to purposely deny voters a referendum when they overturned term limits. Just the way that term limits were overturned -- a series of back room meetings (and some say, deals), all away from public participation and scrutiny -- still draws much heated discussion in New York. For years now, Speaker Quinn has been using discretionary funds to thwart the full participation of other City Councilmembers in the city's legislative agenda. Speaker Quinn has even gone along with Mayor Bloomberg's budget cuts to the office of the Public Advocate, at each turn choosing to go along with what is not right in order to get along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Speaker Quinn is undermining any oversight and accountability in public office. I am writing my book, so that the the other side of the story can be told.

This KickStarter project will help me to raise money in order to self-publish this book -- in order to to tell the whole story. This is how the money will be used :

• I need to pay $2,300 so that my manuscript can be transformed into a book by a self-publishing company.
• I am also raising the modest amount of $3,100 to pay for marketing materials and to promote my book on the Internet.
• KickStarter will keep $300 for hosting my fundraising campaign.
• Amazon will keep $300 for processing all of the secure payments made to support this KickStarter project.

With your help, my book can be used to educate voters about Speaker Quinn's political record. Can you make a pledge today to support my book project ?

Please help me to spread the word about my book by posting a link to this KickStarter project on your Facebook page. Thank you for everything you do.

Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn - By Louis Flores -- One Sheet

Anthony Weiner : Comeback Kid ?

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner is still considering a race for 2013.

Lots of talk last weekend that Anthony Weiner, who has a campaign war chest of approximately $4.5 million and another $1.5 million in potential public matching funds, is still considering a run for either mayor or Public Advocate in 2013. From The New York Times :

If nothing else, the buzz showed that Mr. Weiner was still capable of generating chatter in a mayoral field that seems to be solidifying despite its lack of star power.

With his war chest, Mr. Weiner would have an edge over several of the likely Democratic candidates. William C. Thompson Jr., for instance, a former comptroller and a declared mayoral candidate, has raised only $1.5 million for the race so far, according to a statement by his campaign on Sunday.

Still, Mr. Weiner faces substantial obstacles, including that several of his former aides have now signed onto other mayoral campaigns. His former pollster, Joel Benenson, is now working for the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, while two former political consultants, Jim Margolis and Anson Kaye, are working for the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer.

Already, Mr. Weiner seems to be finding encouragement from folks, who believe that if people can look beyond the fact that Christine Quinn was sued for back rent four times, then we can look beyond Mr. Weiner's Twitter controversy.

Bill De Blasio Wikipedia Rewriting

City pols rewriting records : Wiki-sneaks ‘fix’ their pages

From The New York Post :

Wikipedia entries for some of the candidates running for mayor next year are being re-written — by aides to those candidates.

The biography of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio used to report that he was born Warren Wilhelm.

On May 8, however, a de Blasio staffer removed that name and replaced it with word that he is of “German-American and Italian-American heritage.”

“Of course, we update the page,” said de Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell unapologetically. “That’s become standard practice for public officials.”

The public advocate has said that he began phasing out the use of his given name while in high school because he was raised by his mother’s family. It’s not a secret, but most voters aren’t aware of the story and presume a guy named de Blasio has to be Italian.

The changes were made by what could be deemed to be a "sock puppet account."

But as much as there were public relations aspects to the changes made to Mr. De Blasio's Wikipedia page, his pages does not bear the "neutral point of view" badge of shame (screen shot at right) that hangs over New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's page.

HHC Healthcare Cuts

City Budget Cuts Will Privatize Dialysis Services at NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC)

The closing of nine hospitals in New York City since Christine Quinn became Speaker of the City Council wasn't enough.

Now comes the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), which is undertaking a four-year plan of healthcare cuts, which were approved in the last New York City budget.

Among the shocking cutbacks in the city budget are plans to slash funding to HHC, which is translating into dangerous healthcare cuts to the city's underinsured and uninsured citizens.

Among the dangers of privatized dialysis services is higher mortality rates, or, in plain English, patients are more apt to die if they receive dialysis treatment from privatized healthcare companies than if they continue to receive dialysis treatment from HHC.

"Patient survival rates are worse than expected at two Atlantic Dialysis clinics in the Bronx and Brooklyn, according to Medicare.gov, and some patients have left River Renal for dialysis services at HHC-run facilities even if they have to travel further," according to DC 37.

Alec Baldwin Still Interested In Running For NYC Mayor In 2013

NBC's "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin's interest in running for mayor of New York City in 2013 is still "very real," Reuters reported, according to statements made by Alec's younger brother, actor Billy Baldwin.

Quinn Uses NYPD To Thwart Dissent

Links to The Wall Street Journal blog post about New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's alleged use of NYPD to thwart ''bad publicity.''

Here are some links to the Internet conversation, which The Journal article has triggered, about Speaker Quinn's use of NYPD to suppress free speech :

• ''Mayoral Hopeful Quinn Uses Cops To Protect Her From Bad Publicity'' on Thee Rant Forum on Yuku.com ;
• ''Protesters Say Quinn Used NYPD to Thwart Them (WSJ)'' on Morning Headlines : Must-Reads from the WNYC News Hub ; and
• ''Christine Quinn Illegally Uses the NYPD to Block LGBT Protestors from Photographing'' on Mayor Bloomberg King of New York blog.

So far, Louis Flores, the activists who was pushed around by NYPD Officer Lamonica, has received no communication from either the Civilian Complaint Review Board or Speaker Quinn's office.

Scott Stringer Campaign Headquarters Break-In : Theft Of Two Laptops : Police Are Investigating Political Motives

Was Scott Stringer A Target Of A Worth St. Watergate Break-In ?

The Village Voice crime blotter reported :

'' Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s mayoral campaign office at 40 Worth St. was burglarized over the June 23-24 weekend and two laptop computers were stolen. Campaign workers are trying to determine whether the computers, which were not used personally by Stringer, had any politically sensitive documents. ''

ABC News reports that, ''Investigators are working to determine whether the theft was politically motivated and what information was on the computers.''