Grumpy Cat Won't Save New York City ; Neither Will Christine Quinn

The #GrumpyCat Wont Save #NYC From #HospitalClosings Neither Will @chriscquinn christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/12/Grumpy… twitter.com/stopchrisquinn…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 21, 2012

MTA Chairman Lhota Will Step Down To Run For Mayor

Eyeing a mayoral bid, the M.T.A. Chief Joseph J. Lhota is expected to resign on Friday to seek the Republican nomination in New York.

"Mr. Lhota, a former deputy mayor under Rudolph W. Giuliani, was widely hailed after the authority restored much of its subway service within a week of suffering unprecedented damage from Hurricane Sandy," reported The New York Times.

Christine Quinn Campaign Crisis Management Mode

Serious Questions About Electability Of Perceived Front-Runner In Mayor’s Race

Does @chriscquinn need #crisismanagement even b4 she declares her campaign to be mayor of #NYC in 2013 ? nytimes.com/2012/12/13/nyr…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 13, 2012

From The New York Times :

After months of maintaining a cool, above-the-fray approach to the 2013 mayoral race, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and presumptive candidate-to-beat next year, is enduring the first bumps of what may be a pockmarked road to the Democratic primary.

This week, Ms. Quinn was criticized for a campaign finance bill that opponents — including her most important ally, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — said would tear a loophole in New York City’s election spending rules.

On television, there was Alec Baldwin, the temperamental actor, telling Piers Morgan’s national audience on CNN that Ms. Quinn had “blood on her hands” for supporting Mr. Bloomberg’s successful bid to circumvent term limits.

Read more : Hints at Steeper Road to Victory for Perceived Front-Runner in Mayor’s Race

Hurricane Sandy Hospital Crisis Grows

From True News From Change NYC :

Closing of NYU and Bellevue Hospitals Because of Sandy Should Have Been A Wakeup Call That NYC Has A Hospital Crisis.

New Yorkers are Getting Sicker and Even Dying (esp. the poor) Because of A Hospital Crisis Made Worse by the Floods . . . Where is the Pols, Media and Activist Outrage?

Nobody Notices Hospital Crisis Or Sandy's Wake Up Call

With Some Hospitals Closed After Hurricane, E.R.’s at Others Overflow (NYT) Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn had 1,100 more emergency patients last month than in November 2011; the increase was mostly attributed to a hospital shut by the storm. * Hospital in Brooklyn Files for Bankruptcy Protection (NYT) Some New York medical centers are adding extra shifts and converting offices and lobbies into space for patients as emergency room visits surge. * Half of Brooklyn hospitals on life support | Crain's New York Business

The Angry New Yorker's Who Demanded Their Rights is Gone

Where are the Mayoral Candidates on the Hospital Crisis?

Why Is There No Movement To Save These Hospitals Like There Was in 1980 Against the Closing of Sydenham Hospital? 3 hospitals closed in Queens, St Vincent's murdered for a Co-op in Manhattan, 5 hospitals in trouble in Brooklyn. The activist and progressives are all over Facebook and twitter demanding pay for fasttfood workers because it is being pushed by unions looking for membership. It is very stranged that these same activists are silent on the health care needs of many of these workers who depend on the hospital system for all their health care needs. Could it be that the help unions provide the reason the activist are supporting their issues?

Bloomberg Crackdown On Occupy Sandy Volunteers As An Election Issue

Watch Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s stealth visit to the Rockaways. Join Occupy Sandy for a call to action on 12/15 http://bit.ly/Tth0sQ #occupysandy #ows

Mayor Bloomberg just can't help it. Mayor Bloomberg does not believe that government should provide a safety net for the average person, much less to hurricane survivors. Is class warfare a factor in Mayor Bloomberg's worldview about who deserves a safety net or a bailout ? Who is going to get the disaster relief he is seeking ? Will it ever/never trickle down to the people, who really need it ?

But voters do have a choice : why do we accept less ? Why is it O.K. for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the highest elected Democratic Party politician in New York City, to have no opinion about Mayor Bloomberg trying to undertake maneuvers to try to shut down Occupy Sandy volunteer efforts ? We don't have to accept less from our publicly elected officials.

Remember, Mayor Bloomberg initially said we didn't need help from FEMA ; consequently, thousands of Hurricane Sandy survivors went without any assistance, since it is Mayor Blooomberg's sick and twisted billionaire worldview that government is not supposed to help people in need. And in that vacuum of cruelty came forth Occupy Sandy volunteers, to not only fill the void, but to also lead by example : humanity means caring for one another.

Is Mayor Bloomberg really getting ready to evacuate the most successful, compassionate, and heroic volunteer hurricane relief response in New York City ?

Is Christine Quinn Using Hurricane Sandy For A Campaign Advantage ?

In other words, @chriscquinn is opening campaign offices in the outer boroughs and staffing them with City employees: soc.li/kuuu6SW

— Defeat Chris Quinn (@donnymossnyc) November 16, 2012

Giuliani Endorses MTA Chairman Lhota For Mayor

On Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that he supports the trending idea of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota, a registered Republican, running for mayor in 2013. Mr. Lhota has been taking credit for all the hard work of MTA employees, who worked long and hard to return the New York City subway system back to service following the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy. Mayor Guiliani said that he thinks the idea of Mr. Lhota's candidacy would be "fantastic." (New York Magazine)

Board of Elections Scandal Grows : 330K Ballots Stored in Garbage Bags

#NYC #BoardofElections has 330K uncounted ballots stored in garbage bagstruenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2012/11/true-n… @tomallon4mayor @billdeblasio @johnliu2013

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) November 19, 2012

Hurricane Sandy Christine Quinn Hospital Evacuations

Mayor Bloomberg's $500 Million Repair Fund Will Not Fix Healthcare Inequality

NEW YORK (12-Nov-2012) -- At Mayor Michael Bloomberg's news conference today, he announced a $500 million emergency repair fund for schools and public hospitals.

But this repair fund will not fix the grossly uneven distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan. Please see the attached map used by St. Vincent's Hospital activists that demonstrates the dangerous distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan.

Watch this YouTube video that questions the impact of the Berger Commission hospital closings on our hospital systems, now that they have been damaged by Hurricane Sandy :

"Let us pray that our political leaders and public health commissioners will use this opportunity to really examine and fix the unequal provision of healthcare that Hurricane Sandy has exposed," said Louis Flores.

Can one partially-functioning hospital on back-up generators be deemed "excess capacity" ?

The nurses' union, NYSNA, reported that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the only functioning hospital below 57th Street in Manhattan was Beth Israel Hospital, which was operating on back-up generators :

In the face of this dangerous situation, North Shore-LIJ CEO Michael Dowling said that he did not want Hurricane Sandy to be used as "justification" to restore a full-service hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan ?

How much more insensitive could Mr. Dowling be ? Even in the aftermath of such a devastating natural disaster, North Shore-LIJ is putting its financial interests before our public health.

Healthcare activists demand to know : Why is this acceptable ?

St. Vincent's Hospital

The taboo question that the media is too afraid to ask is : How could St. Vincent's Hospital have helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, if Christine Quinn had fought to keep it open ? Will we ever know the true loss to public health that we paid, and continue to pay, after Bill Rudin's luxury condo conversion plan was approved by the New York City Council.

Click here to read the mayor's repair fund news release.

Tom Allon NYC Marathon Postponement Statement

Mayoral Candidate Tom Allon Statement on the NYC Marathon

New York City 2013 mayoral candidate has just issued this statement on the controversy of using valuable city resources for the NYC Marathon in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy :

"We're living in a highly-charged and evolving crisis and the Mayor's leadership has been sound thus far. Second guessing the Mayor's decision on the scheduling of the Marathon is an easy way for the Democratic Mayoral candidates for 2013 to get attention and score points with outraged New Yorkers. The anger that is being expressed by the elected leaders of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens reflects the concerns and frustrations being felt for the ongoing hardships of their constituents. For them, the Marathon symbolizes misplaced priorities.

"Personally, I would have delayed the Marathon for at least a week, like the Knicks-Nets game was postponed for four days, so that we can concentrate on helping all those in need and getting our electricity and mass transit back."

Bill de Blasio Marathon Hurricane Sandy Update

Bill de Blasio · 5,281 like this

about an hour ago · 

• We need to postpone the Marathon and keep our focus where it belongs: on public safety and vital relief operations.
  
  The pain and suffering still unfolding in our neighborhoods is too deep for words. I walked more streets with Councilman Oddo in Staten Island today, and listened to people who still remain without power, food and water – so near the race’s starting point. It's convinced me the needs are simply too great to divert any resources from the recovery. Lodgings reserved for marathoners must be re-allocated to utility workers.

Bill De Blasio Pledges To Support Small Businesses

Public Advocate Has Sued The Bloomberg Administration To Expose Budgetary Fees That Over-Bill Small Businesses

Bill de Blasio, the Public Advocate For New York City, is running for mayor in 2013, and one of the central issues of his campaign's platform is making it easier for small companies to do business in New York City. This focus on small businesses is winning him some serious attention.

To achieve that end, Mr. de Blasio has filed a lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration for "data on city revenues from fines, which have nearly doubled in the last decade," according to The New York Times.

“If small-business people in this city did not have those additional burdens, if they could depend on not being socked with those additional charges, it would be easier for them to grow, it would be easier for them to employ more people — it’s as simple as that,” Mr. de Blasio said.

By focusing on the city budget policies that are approved annually by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Mr. de Blasio is trying to find a more "populist" voice. Each year, Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn engage in an annual city budget charade, which distracts voters on illusionary controversies, such as proposed closings to firehouses. These distractions take attention away from the kinds of taxes and fees that are included in the city budget, but which hurt small businesses.

Hopefully, in the wake of the disaster from Hurricane Sandy, Mr. de Blasio will come to the rescue of small businesses.