Is Bill Thompson Color-Blind on Stop-and-Frisk ?

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson’s restrained approach to ending stop-and-frisk policing has paid dividends with the endorsement from a coalition of city law-enforcement unions, the NYTimes writes. (via City & State First Read)

From the NYTimes :

Jumaane D. Williams, a city councilman from Brooklyn who has sponsored legislation against stop-and-frisk tactics, bluntly suggested that Mr. Thompson was taking the allegiance of black voters for granted.

“I think he believes that the color of his skin is what’s needed to get to communities of color, rather than standing on the correct substance of issues,” he said.

Bill de Blasio Is Uncommitted To Saving NYC Libraries

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio talks down the wave of library closings under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He says it is not his priority.

The Public Advocate, who is running for mayor this year, does not directly address the fact that civic activist Michael D. D. White points out that the Public Advocate has accepted campaign money from the Ratner real estate developer.

How disappointing to see the Public Advocate have no position on library closings in Brooklyn, or the disastrous plans (known as the Central Library Plan) for the Main Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Isn't he supposed to be advocating for the people as Public Advocate ? If he abdicates that role as Public Advocate, what would he be like as mayor ?

For more information, please visit http://www.savenypl.org or visit the blog : Citizens Defending Libraries or sign the petition.

Who Induced The Homophobic Rev. Erick Salgado To Run For Mayor ? Hmmmmmm....

"In 1977, things got ugly when a large field of evenly matched Democrats went at it in a fierce primary. Remember 'Vote for Cuomo, not the homo?' Ed Koch ended up winning that contest with 19.8 percent of the vote, followed by Mario Cuomo at 18.7, Abe Beame at 18, Bella Abzug at 17, Percy Sutton at 14.4, and Herman Badillo at 11," wrote David Seifman in the NYPost. (Who’s screwed by Weiner’s entry * The New York Post) Is the Rev. Erick Salgado's role in this year's mayor's race meant to invoke a last-minute tirade of "homophobia" to benefit Christine Quinn's campaign ? What explains how or why the Rev. Salgado is even in this race ? (Anti-Gay Pastor And NOM Supporter Erick Salgado May Run For NYC Mayor * Joe My God)

Who enticed the Rev. Salgado to run for mayor ?

Christine Quinn, LGBTQ Hate Crimes, and Political Expediency

From The Village Voice :

"... the prospect of Quinn's active participation in the march provoked a sort of counter-protest by a small contingent of activists who are unimpressed with Quinn's record. As the main rally moved south on Greenwich Avenue, marchers passed a tiny contingent of activists holding up a sign on the island intersection at Seventh Avenue. 'We need a hospital, we don't need condos,' it read. The side-vigil raised the question of why Carson was taken to Beth Israel, on First Avenue, and whether he could have been saved if he was treated nearby. The handful of activists standing in the shadow of the building that used to be St. Vincent's Hospital, now being converted into 350 luxury condo units, criticized Quinn for signing off on the zoning change that made this development possible, even though the City Council speaker's brand had been stamped all over the larger march itself."

Did New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn cancel her planned political exploitation of Monday night's Mark Carson vigil, after The Village Voice and Michael Petrelis exposed these concerns ?

Speaker Quinn has a history of exploiting tragedy for political gain.

Earlier this year, after former mayor Ed Koch passed away, Speaker Quinn's campaign staff were trying to figure out how to exploit Mayor Koch's endorsement of Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign, even after he had died -- and he was no longer around to approve of the campaign's messaging.

And in 1998, while she was in her first political campaign to be elected to the City Council, Ms. Quinn was using a spike in bias crimes against the LGBTQ community as an excuse to call for canceling that year's annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

SIDEBAR : Please watch this video, which I just discovered this morning, which explains why it might be more accurate to describe the discrimination against the LGBTQ community as "heterosexual-supremacy" instead of using the term "homophobia."

1199 Dumps Quinn, Endorses de Blasio

"1199 SEIU, the powerful health care workers' union, has decided to endorse Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in the Democratic primary for mayor, sources say. ... The endorsement will be a boost for De Blasio's campaign, which has been counting on his strong ties to labor to distinguish him from the other Democrats trailing Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the polls." (Capital New York)

Healthcare activists have noted that ten full service hospitals have closed in New York City during the time in which Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the City Council. Prior to being Speaker, Christine Quinn served four years as chair of the City Council Health Committee, where she obviously learned nothing about the collapsing free-market model that funds healthcare. It's no surprise that the healthcare union would choose another candidate to endorse.

Village Independent Democrats Endorse John Liu Over Christine Quinn

We waited a few days for confirmation about last Thursday night's endorsement meeting.

But The New York Post was the first newspaper to finally report that the Village Independent Democrats did not endorse New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign. Instead, the Village Independent Democrats voted to endorse New York City Comptroller John Liu's mayoral campaign.

"The Village Independent Democrats, located in the heart of Quinn’s district, instead opted to back City Comptroller John Liu — the most liberal in the race," reported Sally Goldenberg in The Post.

Two other Manhattan Democratic Party clubs also did not endorse Speaker Quinn in this year's mayor's race.

The Broadway Democrats and CoDA (Coalition for a Democratic Alternative), both progressive clubs in Manhattan, also threw their support behind Liu, whose campaign has been marred by the guilty verdict of two aides in a federal campaign-finance fraud case.

A source close to the Village Independent Democrats said Quinn was “livid” over losing that group.

“I think they were shocked,” the source said of the speaker’s election team. “Quinn’s ground game in Manhattan is off.” Campaign aides for Quinn and Liu did not comment.

Read more : Quinn is ‘left’ out.

Christine Quinn Flushing Meadows Corona Park Meme

Another Christine Quinn Corruption Connection : First Dan Halloran, Then Ruben Wills

One of the publicly-elected officials, who State Sen. Shirley Huntley was asked to wiretap and photograph by the FBI, was Queens Councilmember Ruben Wills, according to Politicker.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn endorsed Council Member Ruben Wills for re-election in 2011, one day after he appeared in court to face a misdemeanor stealing charge. Councilmember Wills won a special election in southeast Queens in 2010 to succeed Thomas White, who died in August in 2010, and Councilmember Wills was re-elected in 2011 continue to serve the remainder of White’s four-year term. Wills appeared in court in March 2011 on charges in connection with a 1996 incident. He’s accused of damaging a wall and removing a fan and track lighting at a downtown business. (The Wall Street Journal)

After his March 2011 court appearance, Speaker Quinn defended Councilmember Wills. "I'm extraordinarily proud of my City Council and proud of the members that I get to serve with every day on behalf of the people of the City of New York," she told The Daily News.

Speaker Quinn awarded Councilmember Wills $584,000 in discretionary funding in 2012. (The New York Daily News)

New York City Councilmember Daniel J. Halloran suggested to an undercover FBI agent that Mr. Halloran could increase the size of the discretionary funds he was using as a bribe by calling in favours from other councilmembers. * In The Criminal Complaint, Dan Halloran Demonstrates How Slush Funds Are Used For Fraud

Will LGBT Defections Derail Christine Quinn's Mayoral Campaign ?

Is Christine Quinn Just An Old-Fashioned, Cigar-Chomping Political Boss ?

The stop-and-frisk narrative from The Village Voice : "LGBT Purists to Christine Quinn: We'd Love a Gay Mayor. Just Not You."

... Gay men of color are just as affected by stop-and-frisk as anyone else, notes Fordham University political science professor Christina Greer. "Even though the face of the LGBT community in New York City is white men, that's not the makeup," she says. "If you're black and gay, stop-and-frisk may be a primary issue." Unlike her three Democratic rivals, Bill de Blasio, John Liu, and Bill Thompson, Quinn has refused to make a blanket condemnation of stop-and-frisk.

Then there's condom-carry, an issue particularly troubling to those fighting the ongoing AIDS epidemic. As the Voice has reported, the city vigorously supports and promotes condoms through the Department of Health, but allows police to arrest alleged prostitutes found to be carrying them. Transgender women complain that the NYPD targets them simply because of the way they're dressed. Quinn reportedly sent staffers to a key meeting on the issue instead of attending herself.

... On stop-and-frisk, Quinn doesn't have the luxury of simply disregarding city policy, Duane insists. "She has to work under the policies the mayor has set," he says, "or she'd have to resign." Quinn has instead advocated for changes in police training and for the appointment of an inspector general to monitor the NYPD. Such a diplomatic solution doesn't satisfy critics like Flores. "If Christine Quinn was the head of AVP today, she would be fighting [stop-and-frisk]," he says. Quinn did make one major concession last week when she agreed to allow a council vote on allowing victims of racial profiling to sue the NYPD—the first time she hasn't blocked a bill that she opposes.

On condom-carry, Quinn certainly doesn't equivocate. "Condoms being found on somebody and used against them should be changed," she says. "If I have the power to make direct changes, I will. We need to encourage safe sex. Whether for money or not, we cannot talk out of both sides of our mouths. ...

This article may be perhaps the first time when Speaker Quinn publicly addresses the issue that the NYPD are arresting LGBT New Yorkers for carrying condoms. But her talk is cheap, as activists have learned -- the hard way.

Let's see what Speaker Quinn actually does about the way the NYPD profiles, stops-and-frisks, targets, and falsely arrests LGBT New Yorkers ?

Let's let her actual record -- of what she delivers -- to be the final judgment of her political record.