The emperor has no clothes, a wolf in sheep's clothing, and the Devil wears Marshalls. ¶
Welcome to my citizen journalist blog. ¶
"All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words." -- Harvey Milk ¶
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." -- Arthur Schopenhauer
Showing posts with label Suzannah B. Troy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suzannah B. Troy. Show all posts
St. Vincent's Hospital activist bird-dogs billionaire Bill Rudin over controversial luxury condo conversion plan.
Artist and political commentator Suzannah B. Troy confronts Bill Rudin on West 12th Street. Community anger towards Mr. Rudin has inspired many protests, including a sustained protest and vigil outside the sales office of the new luxury condos. Mr. Rudin has ruthlessly ignored the community’s need for a full-service hospital. Mr. Rudin paid pennies on the dollar to buy St. Vincent’s real estate, and Mr. Rudin now stands to sell luxury condos and townhouses that, once constructed, are expected to have a combined fair-market value of over $1 billion.
Union representatives from Local 375 and DC 37, community activists, New York City taxpayers, and others gathered at 1250 Broadway in a demonstration against the technology company known as SAIC.
For years, newspaper and television reporters, bloggers, and whistle blowers have been reporting details of a massive taxpayer fraud perpetrated by New York City officials, by employees of SAIC and of another company known as Technodyne, and possibly by lobbyists in connection with the scandalous CityTime project.
The CityTime project began with an original budget of approximately $60 million, but has since ballooned to over $700 million.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has begun an investigation, but nobody yet knows how high this scandal, and other technology consultancy contract scandals, may go up the Bloomberg administration.
This morning, NYPD arrested four activists, who protested the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital. Politicians, on whose watch the hospital closed, remain at-large.
Watch a YouTube video of the protesters, as they were taken into police custody. While they were being put into the back of the police van, the activists shouted : "Land-lock St. Vincents ; Trauma 1 now !"
A group called Hands Off St. Vincent's held a sit-in Tuesday morning at the shuttered medical center. At approximately 10:30 a.m., four activists were arrested. It is not known how many other activists took part at the demonstration.
Among the protesters, who were arrested, were LGBT civil rights activists Iana Di Bona and Alan Bounville. Following is the statement from a press release, which was distributed to the media, by one of the group's members :
New York, NY – On February 8, at 10:30 am, four former patients and impassioned community members entered the building at the location of the closed down Saint Vincent's Hospital. These activists then sat on the ground, unfurling a banner that read, "Guilty : Neglect !" and began to chant - refusing to move. Saint Vincent's personnel closed off that section of the building - currently operating as a Credit Union - and refused entry to members of the credit union as well as persons employed within the building. Two hours after their arrival, the four activists were arrested and taken away by the police.
For 284 days, 1.3 million New Yorkers have been without a hospital in the West Village. Since St. Vincent’s illegal closure on April 30, 2010, the community has been laden with false promises, patronized with a bogus needs assessment and forced, with tragic consequences, to seek emergency or medical care at already overcrowded uptown or East-side hospitals.
“Everyday that passes is critical,” said Iana Di Bona, one of the arrested activists, “Our elected officials have the ability to turn things around, yet they do nothing. It is so important to speak out and to continue to pressure and hold them accountable to service the needs of our community.”
Commitment for a New Village Hospital by the people of the West Village and all of New York City has not wavered. Any politician not actively working to get a new hospital is a target. That is a promise the St. Vincent’s Hospital Community Activists intend to keep.
Before the sit-in took place, it appears that the activists held a "peoples trial" of politicians, on whose watch St. Vincent's closed. According to the description of the YouTube video, an unidentified Hands Off member made the following statement : "We hold the elected officials responsible for betraying their very own constituency."
On her blog, the artist and political commentator Suzannah B. Troy broke the news of the activists getting arrested at St. Vincent's. Ms. Troy made the observation that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn recently pushed through a new smoking ban in public parks as a sign of their concern for public health, but Ms. Troy questions their commitment if politicians have made no commitment to save city hospitals from closing.
" When Mayor Bloomberg wants something, he has plenty of tools to help him get it - friends in high places, a bully pulpit, six-figure donations to political parties and money for influential city nonprofits. ¶ One of his most prestigious and mysterious perks, however, has two wings and three engines, " Adam Lisberg reported in Sunday's New York Daily News.
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been identified as being among the politicians, who received undisclosed luxury trips on Mayor Bloomberg's private jet, a Dassault Falcon 900s. At least one of Quinn's trips on the Mayor's jet was not disclosed in official government records, according to Mr. Lisberg.
Meanwhile, in an advisory to city employees, the Conflicts of Interest Board offered guidance in respect of accepting gifts from one's supervisor : accepting "regular and extravagant" gifts may create an appearance that a supervisor is "attempting to buy" certain kinds of behaviours from the supervisor's subordinates, Mr. Lisberg added. And now that Mr. Lisberg has reported about these extravagant gifts, how can City Council Speak Quinn or the other government officials, who have received these regular, luxury gifts, explain that they can remain independent, impartial, and free from undue influence or corrupt interference from the Mayor's Office, after they have accepted free rides on his private jet ?
Perks, privileges, and a sense of entitlement.
In her latest video blog, Suzannah B. Troy has lost her patience with Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speak Quinn. Ms. Troy has said, "Sub-zero trickle down when it comes to the people...huge trickle down for pals."
WEEKS BEFORE NYC MAYORAL ELECTION, YOUTUBE.COM SUPPRESSES FREE SPEECH
YouTube.com has censored the artist-activist-citizen journalist Suzannah B. Troy by suspending her entire account (300 videos).
Suzannah B. Troy, a New York City-based artist, citizen journalist, and blogger, has had her YouTube.com account inexplicably suspended by the popular video website.
Ms. Troy has spent months creating, editing, and posting hundreds of original citizen journalist videos focusing on the controversial election this year of local candidates running for third terms in office. In particular, Ms. Troy's videos have been highly critical of the New York City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The nature of the videos on her YouTube.com account have ranged from breaking news-quality videos of voter demonstrations, to video blogs of her commentary on the elections, to artistic interpretation of news events. There is no reason for her account to be suspended by YouTube other than for the political and artistic nature of their content.
Please write to Youtube at: press@youtube.com and ask them for their official policy of suspending accounts of artists and citizen journalists.
We are only weeks away from an important election, which shall decide if City Council Members and Mayor Bloomberg will thwart the will of voters' two referrenda on term limits. And missing from the free exchange of ideas during the critical debates that will be taking place in the time leading up to the election will be Ms. Troy's body of work.
Without you stepping in to blog, publish, or report about this questionable suspension of Ms. Troy's YouTube account (as well as the potential of loss of hundreds of videos), other citizen journalists may face the same sad fate : cyber suppression.
Please consider the importance of voter participation in free and open democratic elections.
UPDATE: After pressure, YouTube.com restores Blogger's account
The primary is Sept. 15, tell all your friends that live in the West Village, Chelsea, Midtown West, Clinton/Hell's Kitchen to vote Christine Quinn out of office.
Protesters gathered outside the private setting for a fundraiser to benefit the ill-fated third-term candidacy of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. The protest event, held tonight at 6:30 p.m. at 61 Jane Street, was intended to shed light on Speaker Quinn's numerous failures to the constituents of her city council district.
Listen as Ms. Troy discusses the slush fund scandal, pension fund scandal, over-development, the third term power over-reach, and the collapse of our infrastructure.
Christine Quinn, NYU use private security to possibly trample on the media's and on voters' First Amendment rights.
Whenever it is alleged that police officers of the NYPD participate in corruption or other forms of serious misconduct, the police department has an Internal Affairs Bureau that investigates these allegations against members of the police force. But who has oversight or power to investigate private security firms operating in New York City ? On the global level, there has been plenty of controversy involving private security firms in respect of allegations of abuse of "detainees." According to Amnesty International, "Over three years ago, the Justice Department (DOJ) required that all cases of detainee abuse by private military and security contractors be handled by one US Attorney's Office." Meanwhile, at the local level, such as in New York City, there is new evidence that the use of private security firms by local politicians and public institutions is leading to possible violations of voters' First Amendment rights.
At the first City Council debate on Thursday night, August 13, 2009, for the District 3 seat among the candidates Yetta Kurland and Maria Passannante-Derr, and the incumbent Christine Quinn, the private security force of New York University prevented at least two political candidates, two journalists with media credentials certified by NYPD, one freelance reporter, a few dozen undecided voters, and demonstrators from attending the political debate. The setting for the debate was 19 West 4th Street, a facility operated by NYU. According to its website, NYU is the "largest private university in the United States," and "also one of the largest employers in New York City, with over 16,000 employees."
Norman Siegel, a respected attorney and candidate for New York City Public Advocate, was denied entry to the debate, as were two reporters: one from each of City Hall and NY1. In a race that may determine who may may be the next City Council Speaker (or may not be, should Speaker Quinn lose the election), organizers of the debate issued only 5 press passes. General attendance by spectators was limited to ticket holders, and there emerged a controversy over the distribution of tickets. Criticisms were made by demonstrators, including the author of this post and by Suzannah B. Troy, that the distribution of tickets favored one candidate, who whose supporters could get in line several hours before the beginning of the debate. (A basis for criticism is the press release issued by Mary Anna Mancuso, press secretary for Ms. Passannante-Derr, which stated that Speaker Quinn became aware of the ticket procedures ealier than did her opponents.) Rumors also circulated among voters opposing Speaker Quinn that the incumbent allowed her staff to leave work early that day, so that she could fill the crown in her favor. Enforcing the restrictive access rules was the private security force of NYU. After the debate, Ms. Troy said, "It appears as if Christine Quinn was given inside information about the structuring and set up of the debate, allowing her to fill the audience with as many supporters as possible, and then NYU, a mega real estate developer and backer of the Bloomberg administration, endeavored to exclude as many people as possible, including the press."
Outside the debate, Mr. Siegel, demonstrators, and undecided voters tried to reason with representatives and security officers for NYU. Because of the importance of the political race for this singular New York City Council seat, when it became apparent that NYU security was going to steadfastly deny the 3 reporters access to the debate, passions became enflamed. Mr. Siegel, the reporters, and protesters immediately charged that the Freedom of the Press was being trampled on by the organizers of the debate, including NYU. Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, and everyone left outside were dumbstruck. Why was a reputable institution such as NYU willingly being complicit in the willful rejection of media with certified press credentials from a debate that will determine who may be our next democratically-elected City Council Speaker ?
A concern of the protesters and of Mr. Siegel was that police and security can sometimes deny voters and the media their First Amendment rights. Here was an instance where citizens and voters were exercising their First Amendment rights to peacefully protest; yet the very actions by the private security force of NYU was arguably denying us our rights. That night, in the conversations that took place between Mr. Siegel, demonstrators, and undecided voters outside the debate, it was revealed that Speaker Quinn has, in the past, used private security to bully protesters into moving off of public property.
In an ominous warning, Mr. Siegel warned us that once politicians learn that there is little or no consequence of denying citizens their Freedom of Assembly, we face the prospect of losing those rights – because the government, politicians, other public institutions, and now private security firms have learned that they can infringe on our rights and get away with it.
Update! After its initial posting, this entry was corrected and supplemented with additional information, including a link to the text of Ms. Passannante-Derr's press release.
Quotes by Suzannah B. Troy regarding City Councilwoman Christine Quinn's addiction to over-development.
New York City has named a block on Hudson Street, "Jane Jacobs Way," after an important author and activist, who changed the course of urban planning.
City Councilwoman Christine C. Quinn was there for the renaming ceremony. Quinn has been the subject of investigations regarding her close ties to developers. Activist Suzannah B. Troy was outraged to see Quinn trade on the goodwill of Jane Jacobs.
"It was laughable and yet horrifying the way Jane Jacobs' name was bandied about, and the sheer denial of politicos pretending that Bloomberg-Quinn did not sell out (and destroy) New York to greedy developers from right under the people of New York's feet -- including how many eminent domain abuse battles going on right now here in NYC ?"
"Yes, I get emotional because on every street there are closings, and, at this street naming, it was the usual "orgy of admiration club" -- complete lies and denials. You heard the introduction Quinn is given -- an air brushed rosy introduction, which is extra horrifying because any one using their eyes can see the Village has buildings every where that busted thru zoning and evictions of small businesses everywhere -- because she was part of the corrupt politico that sold NYC and the people out."
While City Council uses its plethora of slush funds to funnel taxpayer dollars to shoddy construction companies, the Mayor is playing election year politics with the city budget.
Following 8 years of the Bush administration and 16 years of Republican rule in New York City, many people are just plain fed up with the Republican mishandling of the public's business. Bush has left this country deep in a financial hole, and all of his wars are compounding the debt situation. In each of Bloomberg's 8 years in office, the Rent Guidelines Board has raised our rent. And any time that the MTA has wanted to raise our fares, it's been allowed to do so. For how many years has Mayor Bloomberg operated the city without anybody (aka an effective City Council) standing up to him ? Whenever he has needed to cut from the city budget, Mayor Bloomberg has chosen to close firehouses -- instead of cutting corruption. Mayor Bloomberg has managed the city's fiscal affairs by borrowing money. The gaps in our city budgets are always measured in the BILLIONS. No matter how low we have spiraled into a financial bind, Mayor Bloomberg has always found the money to advocate for more sports stadiums. We were lucky that Presidents are not allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms, but somehow, Mayor Bloomberg has managed to "bend" the laws and run for a third term -- to keep doing more of the same. We are tired of the continued political and social inequalities that never seem to end. Term limits are the law because it is the will of the citizens, and people are wondering why are our mandates going ignored. Why do people no longer have power and freedom in politics ? We work hard, pay taxes, let the Mayor borrow money in our name, but yet our votes don't count ? We are becoming disenchanted and disenfranchised. But we know how to reverse course, and we've seen it done. Last year, the nation as a whole voted for change by electing a Democrat for President. The success of the rest of American in overthrowing Republican rule is encouraging. We have Barack Obama in Washington. Now, we need a Barack Obama for New York City. No third term for Republicans !
Struggling to Hold Back the Bloomberg Tide
Read the article by Azi Paybarah, NYObserver, Oct. 14, 2008
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