Quinn uses NYPD to Block Protesters (Again) (No Surprise)

During a peaceful and legal protest against the mayoral campaign of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, NYPD officers used physical force to attempt to move protesters off of a wide public sidewalk and onto the other side of the street. When we refused and maintained our right to free assembly, they used the bodies to block us from distributing leaflets.

Are the NYPD blocking anti-Quinn protesters again, because she has agreed to retain Ray Kelly as Police Commissioner ?

Speaker Quinn has become emboldened ever since she overturned term limits, got away with using millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars in an illegal slush fund, weakened the campaign finance laws, and used major real estate projects to extract campaign donations from developers in a system that many describe as a "pay-to-play" culture. Now, she is using the NYPD as her own private army. The impression that Mayor Mike Bloomberg has influenced her is an understatement.

Because of her record of corruption, activists are basically waiting for Speaker Quinn to be caught in more scandals, before the mayoral election this year.

The protest last night took place at a "housing debate" in Brooklyn.

Growing NYCHA Scandal

The Board of NYCHA sits on perhaps $1 billion dollars, while tenants live in moldy, rodent-infested flop houses. Let them eat cake !

Thanks to an investigative series by a Daily News team that exposed nearly $1 billion in funds going unused while tenants lived plagued by mold, rats and more, NYCHA is slated to undergo serious reforms. (DailyNews DailyPolitics)

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Too bad there are no housing activists, amongst the mayoral candidates, other than Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

“We commend City Council Committee Chairperson Rosie Mendez for convening today’s hearing on the lack of security cameras at NYCHA housing developments, which is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the agency’s failures. Today’s hearing should be the first of many to get an understanding of why NYCHA’s buildings are deteriorating and its housing developments are overrun by rodents, all while NYCHA sits on a pile of unspent money. We have serious questions about NYCHA’s operations [which] demand comprehensive answers,” said Controller John Liu.

Under pressure to overhaul the New York City Housing Authority, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has decided to remove two highly paid appointees from the agency’s board and replace them with volunteers, including one who lives in public housing, city officials said on Thursday. (NYTimes)

Borough President Stringer has claimed victory over Thursday's announcement that two board members of the New York City Housing Authority would step down after a scandal broke over the flop houses that NYCHA operated (Politicker).