2013 Q3 FReepathon. Target: $85,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $45,203
53%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 53%!! Thank you all very much!!

US: New York (News/Activism)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Anthony Weiner documentary could be in the works

    08/13/2013 4:44:54 AM PDT · by Zakeet · 15 replies
    Washington Times ^ | August 12, 2013 | Cheryl K. Chumley
    Anthony Weiner, the beleaguered sexting scandal-plagued New York City mayoral candidate, may be trying to boost his poll numbers with a new documentary about his campaign. The New York Post reported that MTV filmmaker Josh Kreigman — who also used to work as Mr. Weiner’s congressional district director — has been following the candidate around his campaign trail, filming and recording every step of the way. He rides with the candidate. Meanwhile, Mr. Weiner always carried a black microphone box in his back pocket, The Post said. Campaign officials are coy about the taping, saying only that it’s not for...
  • NYPD's 'stop-and-frisk' practice unconstitutional, judge rules

    08/12/2013 2:37:27 PM PDT · by LurkedLongEnough · 10 replies
    Reuters ^ | August 12, 2013 | Reuters
    (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Monday the New York Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" crime-fighting tactic was unconstitutional, dealing a stinging rebuke to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who vowed to appeal the ruling. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin called it "indirect racial profiling" because it targeted racially defined groups, resulting in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of tens of thousands of blacks and Hispanics while the city's highest officials "turned a blind eye," she said. "No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life," Scheindlin wrote in her...
  • Judge in ‘stop-and-frisk’ case cites Trayvon Martin’s death

    08/12/2013 1:03:23 PM PDT · by Tailgunner Joe · 26 replies
    msnbc.com ^ | August 12, 2013 | Adam Serwer
    <p>The judge who ruled that New York’s “stop-and-frisk” practice violated the Constitutional rights of the city’s citizens seemed to have had Trayvon Martin on her mind.</p> <p>Judge Shira Scheindlin references his death three times in her ruling in which she found the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy amounted to racial profiling. Scheindlin refers to Martin as “a black teenager” in the body of the opinion, but then cites his name in the footnotes as she quotes directly from three sources, including President Obama’s remarks following the verdict. She references Martin as a touchstone for the pain and frustration experienced by black men facing constant suspicion by the authorities.</p>
  • Sean Hannity Show,M-F,3PM-6PM,EDT,WABC AM,August 12,2013

    08/12/2013 10:21:11 AM PDT · by Biggirl · 3 replies
    Sean Hannity Show ^ | August 12, 2013 | Sean Hannity
    Welcome To The Sean Hannity Show Thread! All Posters And Lurkers Are WELCOME! The Show Thread Between EL Rushbo And TGO'S Lounge. Be The First To Post And Win A Sean Hannity Show Thread High Power Blender. Listen To Sean Do Comentary, Talk To Guests And Take Calls From YOU! :)=^..^= Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own Logo
  • Anthony Weiner aims to be top banana at Dominican Day parade in New York

    08/12/2013 8:35:35 AM PDT · by afraidfortherepublic · 32 replies
    New York Daily News ^ | 8-12-13 | Erin Durkin
    Thousands of spectators decked out with Dominican flags and blowing whistles lined Sixth Ave. for the boisterous annual celebration. Almost every candidate for New York citywide offices showed up to court the large Dominican vote.
  • Breaking: Federal judge rules NYC’s “stop and frisk” unconstitutional

    08/12/2013 8:06:13 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 113 replies
    Hotair ^ | 08/12/2013 | Ed Morrissey
    A federal court handed a big defeat to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Police Department today, ruling that the controversial “stop and frisk” program infringed on constitutional rights. Judge Shira Scheindlin appointed a federal monitor to oversee the NYPD and “reform” the practice, although that might prove impossible: A federal judge appointed an independent monitor Monday to oversee changes to the New York Police Department’s contentious policy known as stop, question and frisk, a significant judicial rebuke for what the mayor and police commissioner have defended as a life-saving, crime-fighting tool. …Four men had sued saying they were...
  • Suspicious Substance At JFK Turns Out To Be Beauty Supplies

    08/12/2013 4:21:12 AM PDT · by rightwingintelligentsia · 27 replies
    CBS Local ^ | August 11, 2013
    NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Two workers were hospitalized after opening a package at John F. Kennedy International Airport Sunday, but the substance inside – initially feared to be nerve gas – turned out only to be beauty supplies. As CBS 2’s Steve Langford reported, it was a tense scene at the U.S. Postal Service facility at the eastern edge of the airport Sunday. Port Authority police, the FDNY, and an FBI hazardous response team all rushed to the scene after the workers reported feeling ill. In this post-9/11 world, authorities respond quickly and forcefully out of an abundance of caution,...
  • Does New York City Mayor Bloomberg want to ban e-cigarettes too?

    08/11/2013 8:05:22 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 36 replies
    FOX News ^ | August 9, 2013 | FOX News
    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t just want to limit the use of cigarettes – but electronic cigarettes as well. In a newly leaked draft of three tobacco-related bills soon to be voted on by the NYC City Council, the new definition of “tobacco products” under city law would be changed to include e-cigarettes and related components, parts and accessories. If the ordinances pass, the display of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco would be banned in retail stores. Also, while tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes would still be available in retail stores, all other flavored e-cigarettes could only be sold...
  • Charlie’s crackers

    08/11/2013 6:26:38 PM PDT · by ConservativeStatement · 5 replies
    New York Post (editorial) ^ | August 10, 2013
    Memo to Charlie Rangel: You’re in some pretty uncharted waters if former Gov. David Paterson — son of one of your closest friends and allies — is publicly taking you to task for your racially charged remarks. The hoopla began with a Rangel slam against the Tea Party: “It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police,” the Harlem congressman told Politico. “They didn’t care about how they looked.” In other words, the Tea Partiers are the heirs of Bull Connor and the segregationists.
  • Schumer Calls For More Research Into Tick-Borne Diseases: Late Summer Is Peak Lyme Disease Season

    08/11/2013 3:49:18 PM PDT · by neverdem · 24 replies
    CBS NY ^ | August 11, 2013 | NA
    Late summer is peak Lyme disease season. As a result, Sen. Charles Schumer has urged the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study new and potentially fatal tick-borne illnesses.The New York Democrat has urged the CDC to look into two diseases that have already been found in the state.Schumer noted that New York City and on Long Island lead the state in Lyme disease infections. play Schumer Calls For More Research Into Tick-Borne DiseasesWCBS 880's Monica Miller Reports In addition to Lyme disease, ticks are known to carry Babesiosis, Powassan virus and Borrelia miyamotoi.Schumer said those diseases are...
  • ‘Mad Men’ star John Slattery knocks Christine Quinn for mayor over Soho garage

    08/11/2013 11:05:00 AM PDT · by GrandJediMasterYoda · 7 replies
    NY Post ^ | 8/11/13 | By KATE BRIQUELET
    ‘Mad Men’ star John Slattery knocks Christine Quinn for mayor over Soho garage By KATE BRIQUELET Christine Quinn made him one Mad Man. Silver-maned “Mad Men” star John Slattery is coming out strong against the mayoral front-runner — all because she approved a 10-story sanitation garage in his Soho neighborhood five years ago. Slattery, 50, and other A-listers spent years campaigning against the city’s $400 million mega-garage on Spring Street near the West Side Highway. But when they presented an alternative plan at a City Council hearing, Quinn not only refused to consider it, she futzed around with her cellphone...
  • Report: Nerve Gas Sickens Postal Inspectors at New York's JFK Airport(Update post 122)

    08/11/2013 10:11:47 AM PDT · by kristinn · 122 replies
    WABC-TV via Twitter ^ | Sunday, August 11, 2013
    BREAKING NEWS: Two postal inspectors at JFK Airport sickened by nerve gas after opening package
  • Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 11 August 2013

    08/11/2013 5:17:54 AM PDT · by Alas Babylon! · 112 replies
    Various driveby media television networks ^ | 11 August 2013 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces
    The Talk Shows August 11th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Steve King, R-Iowa; Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Anu Bhagwati, executive director, Service Women's Action Network.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Reps. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and Peter King, R-N.Y.; Michael Hayden, a former head of the CIA and the National Security Agency.THIS WEEK (ABC): Edward Snowden's father, Lon; Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Donald Trump.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN):...
  • ‘Citi Bikes made me late to work’ (Bloomberg's Bike Share Debacle...)

    05/29/2013 8:40:13 AM PDT · by jimbo123 · 16 replies
    NY Post ^ | 5/29/13 | FRANK ROSARIO, REBECCA ROSENBERG and ELIZABETH HAGEN
    Maybe the DOT can write their bosses a late note. Commuters using the city’s bike-share program on its first workday ran into a slew of technical problems — and confusion — that made them tardy for their jobs. There were issues across the system, from Columbus Circle to Brooklyn Heights.
  • The great experiment. Time for Cruz, King or Palin in 2016

    08/10/2013 4:31:09 PM PDT · by Hojczyk · 57 replies
    Hot Air ^ | AUG 10,2013 | AZZ SHAW
    So what say we conduct the experiment that could – and I emphasize could here – finally settle the question once and for all. Let’s just nominate somebody who has welded on all three legs of the stool and leaves not a sliver of daylight for the squishiness question. A nominee who will state without ambiguity that we’re going to bomb the crap out of anyone who is actively working against our interests. One who flatly proclaims that there will be no abortions for anyone and new Supreme Court justices will be inclined to overturn Roe v Wade. They will...
  • Gov. Cuomo got $100,000 from developer, then signed law giving it big tax breaks

    08/09/2013 6:31:45 AM PDT · by Hojczyk · 15 replies
    New York Daily News ^ | AUG 9,2013 | BY KENNETH LOVETT
    Twin $50,000 donations were made to Andrew Cuomo’s campaign by two companies that have the same address as Extell Financial Services, which is part of Extell Development Co. — one of five developers to receive hefty tax relief thanks to a bill signed by the governor two days after the contributions. A top development company donated $100,000 to Gov. Cuomo just days before he signed a bill that quietly showered the firm with lucrative tax breaks. Two corporations tied to Extell Development each contributed $50,000 to Cuomo’s campaign, which recorded the checks on Jan. 28 — the same day the...
  • Democratic Gun Politics In Arkansas Senate Race Are Already Confusing

    08/10/2013 1:15:26 PM PDT · by neverdem · 31 replies
    Buzzfeed ^ | August 8, 2013 | Evan McMorris-Santoro
    Sen. Mark Pryor gets an assist from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to save him from Bloomberg’s money, then cuts the ribbon at an ammunition factory. Gun control advocates are fine with the factory thing, but not Gillibrand’s money. Welcome to Arkansas 2014. WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Pryor broke ground at an expanded Remington ammunition factory in his home state of Arkansas Thursday — a gun-friendly move by a gun-friendly Democrat. That’s not normally something that would make much news: Even ardent Democrats in Arkansas are firmly supportive of gun rights. But with pro-gun control Democrats coming to his aid, Pryor’s 2014...
  • Anthony Weiner's donations shrink in wake of sexting scandal

    08/10/2013 12:02:30 PM PDT · by Zakeet · 43 replies
    New York Daily News ^ | August 10, 2013 | Celeste Katz , Jennifer Fermino and Annie Karni
    Anthony Weiner’s campaign fund-raising has virtually dried up since revelations of a sexting relapse rocked his bid for mayor. Weiner received an average of just $1,897 a day in donations since the new sexting scandal erupted July 23, campaign finance records released Friday show. That’s a trickle of the $16,434 he received each day, on average, in the 50 days after launching his run for mayor on May 22. The records also show that Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, collected no money on his behalf since the new sexting allegations emerged, after she collected nearly $150,000 in the first 50...
  • Bill Ayers: Bringing Down America, Destroying Education ( Common Core )

    08/10/2013 11:46:34 AM PDT · by george76 · 19 replies
    Townhall ^ | May 15, 2013 | Mary Grabar
    Larry Grathwohl, who had just come back to Cincinnati from Vietnam, was infiltrating the domestic terrorist group Weatherman, the only one to have done so. Larry saved potentially hundreds of lives when he alerted the FBI to a bomb placed near a Detroit police station and a restaurant. Bill Ayers, Education Secretary of Weatherman, told him that in the revolution, lives would have to be sacrificed. ... My interest in Bill Ayers began a few years ago when I learned about his career as a “Distinguished Professor of Education.” In reality he was working to destroy everything that was good...
  • Woodland Park parents stand up against national education standards (Common Core: CO)

    08/10/2013 9:11:47 AM PDT · by george76 · 22 replies
    Colorado Springs Gazette ^ | August 8, 2013 | Carol McGraw
    A group of Woodland Park parents and educators want to get rid of the Common Core Academic Standards that are being implemented in Colorado Schools. Teller County Citizens Against Common Core Standards maintains the new academic guidelines aren't as good as the ones in place. It also argues that the system is unconstitutional because it takes local control away from school districts. It may lobby Woodland Park School District RE-2 and the state to drop out. "We want to get the word out. The standards were just a money carrot for the state to get federal money," ... Among other...
  • New York test scores hint at hard road ahead for Common Core

    08/10/2013 9:20:24 AM PDT · by george76 · 19 replies
    Christian Science ^ | August 8, 2013 | Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
    Just 31 percent of the state’s students in grades 3 to 8 were deemed proficient in math and in English language arts (ELA) on the new tests, compared with about 65 percent in math and 55 percent in ELA on last year’s tests. Kentucky, another leading-edge state implementing its own common core tests, experienced similar declines in scores last year. Most of the 45 states that have signed on to the Common Core are waiting until at least 2014-15 to implement common tests that are still in development. For those who support the Common Core, a set of standards for...
  • Misspelled Road Sign Points Way to Popular “Jonse” Beach (Long Island, NY)

    08/10/2013 12:57:05 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 35 replies
    NBC New York ^ | Friday, Aug 9, 2013 | Updated 8:26 PM EDT | NBC/AP
    The misspelling of Jones Beach as “Jonse” on a new sign on Long Island's Robert Moses Parkway is making the rounds on social media. Jeena Belil, of Brookhaven, who saw the misspelled sign on Facebook, told Newsday she was shocked somebody didn't proofread the sign. …
  • Weiner mocks British journalist’s accent in interview, U.K. press declares him a ‘political corpse’

    08/09/2013 5:32:06 PM PDT · by rickmichaels · 32 replies
    National Post ^ | August 8, 2013 | National Post Staff
    As Anthony Weiner’s campaign New York mayoral campaign struggles in the wake of a sexting scandal, the candidate stirred some controversy on the other side of the Atlantic Thursday by mocking a British reporter’s accent in an interview. “It’s hard to take you seriously,” the 48-year-old Democrat told ITV’s Lucy Watson when she asked him about his motivations. In a follow-up, Watson asks if “anything [would] stop you?” “I just have a feeling I’ve, like, stepped into a Monty Python bit,” Weiner told her, laughing to himself. After posting the video, ITV called the exchange “the latest of a series...
  • WBAI, Pacifica Radio in New York City, Lays Off News Department, and Most On-Air Talent

    08/09/2013 4:23:49 PM PDT · by Drango · 62 replies
    Village voice ^ | August 09, 2013 | Tessa Stuart
    Summer Reese, interim executive director of the Pacifica Radio Network, choked up as she announced this afternoon that legendary New York radio station WBAI was laying off its entire news department, and the majority of on-air talent, effective Monday. WBAI, the station where Pacifica's flagship program, Democracy NOW!, was founded, has broadcast on 99.5 since 1960. Andrew Phillips, former general manager of KPFA, Pacifica's Berkeley, California, station, has been appointed interim program director. The station's general manager, Berthold Reimers, and interim development director, Andrea Katz, will also stay on board. "Today I have concluded union negotiations with SAG-AFTRA, regarding proposed...
  • Pay-for-play allegation hits Andrew Cuomo in New York

    08/09/2013 10:40:53 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 13 replies
    Hotair ^ | 08/09/2013 | Ed Morrissey
    Has a corruption commission launched by New York governor Andrew Cuomo backfired on his political ambitions? The New York Daily News reports that Cuomo received two donations totaling $100,000 from a developer who stands to reap millions from a tax break signed by Cuomo — two days before he signed the bill: A top development company donated $100,000 to Gov. Cuomo just days before he signed a bill that quietly showered the firm with lucrative tax breaks.Two corporations tied to Extell Development each contributed $50,000 to Cuomo’s campaign, which recorded the checks on Jan. 28 — the same day the...
  • A Revealing Hour in Harlem With Anthony Weiner

    08/09/2013 10:10:04 AM PDT · by afraidfortherepublic · 38 replies
    Real Clear Politics ^ | 8-9-13 | Scott Conroy
    NEW YORK -- It was just a few minutes into Anthony Weiner's door-to-door canvass of a Harlem public housing complex Thursday night, and the New York City mayoral candidate was already agitated. As he scanned his staff-prepared list of apartment numbers and corresponding residents' names, the candidate shook his head in disapproval. "This is no good, the way you have this organized," he said to one of two young, female aides who were accompanying him. “This is N.G. -- not great.” A few minutes later, Weiner remained fixated on the quality of his staff’s advance work, voicing his displeasure in...
  • Israeli Ambassador So Furious with a New York Times Story He Wrote a Letter to the Editor

    08/08/2013 12:43:04 PM PDT · by Slings and Arrows · 11 replies
    The Blaze via Yahoo! News ^ | 8/8/13 | Sharona Schwartz
    The New York Times is facing more scrutiny from the pro-Israel community over Middle East-related articles it published this week, prompting the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. to write a letter to the editor complaining about the controversial coverage. This as the paper was forced to issue a correction after a conservative website pointed out an inaccurate key, lead fact in an article.As TheBlaze reported on Tuesday, the venerated newspaper was the target of sweeping criticism after publishing a front page article on Monday that appeared to downplay Palestinian stone-throwing against Israelis, which one youth characterized as a "hobby."The U.S....
  • Members of Cuomo's anti-corruption panel failed to pursue 1,500 criminal referrals from Board of...

    08/08/2013 6:44:40 PM PDT · by neverdem · 1 replies
    NY Daily News ^ | August 5, 2013 | Kenneth Lovett
    Members of Cuomo's anti-corruption panel failed to pursue 1,500 criminal referrals from Board of Elections The nine members of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission who are also sitting district attorneys did not pursue about 1,500 criminal referrals from the board since 2006, the bulk of which were related to campaign finance filings.Philip Kamrass/Albany Times Union Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office did not prosecute 1,356 referrals from the board since 2007. ALBANY — Even as they investigate the state Board of Elections, nine members of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission who are also sitting district attorneys did not pursue about 1,500...
  • NYC: John 'Cats', GOP-Liberal, helps fund Democrat Cuomo

    08/08/2013 6:16:47 PM PDT · by neverdem · 4 replies
    Newsday ^ | July 15, 2013 | Dan Janison
    Billionaire businessman and Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis and wife Margo contributed $79,000 to the campaign of Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo since January, according to the latest state campaign filings. While ‘Cats’ has been self-funding his mayoral effort, it is notable that he’s still a contributor to at least one other candidate as well. Rob Ryan, his spokesman, said “John over the years has supported both Republican and Democratic candidates who have done good things for New York. He’s known the Cuomo family for 30 years.” Margo Catsimatidis was recorded as contributing $50,000 on Jan. 10 to Cuomo 2014...
  • Anti-Frackers Win - Chesapeake Gives Up New York Gas Leases

    08/08/2013 5:36:07 PM PDT · by neverdem · 18 replies
    Forbes ^ | 8/06/2013 | Christopher Helman
    If the people of a state don’t want the royalties and economic growth and jobs and truck traffic that come with oil and gas development, you can’t force it on them. That’s the conclusion made by Chesapeake Energy CHK +0.64%. According to this new story by Reuters, Chesapeake has given up trying to fight against New York’s ban on high-volume fracking and is allowing its leases in the state to expire. The company has no intention of drilling wells in the Marcellus shale formation of New York if it’s not allowed to frack them. Chesapeake had tried to extend many...
  • Kahr announces relocation to Pennsylvania from New York, blames SAFE Act

    08/08/2013 1:01:53 PM PDT · by matt04 · 9 replies
    Kahr Firearms Group announced Wednesday that it will relocate its corporate offices from New York to Pennsylvania, and blames New York’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act as reason why. “We’re looking for a more friendly environment for our business,” Frank Harris, Kahr’s vice president for sales and marketing, told the Associated Press. “Maybe we could have stayed here and built a plant, but the way the bill was passed left us feeling there were a lot of uncertainties going forward.” Kahr is the first gun company to announce that it will move out of New York. It’s relocating its...
  • Yikes: Mayor Bloomberg Warns New York City Could Have Same Fate as Detroit

    08/08/2013 12:01:16 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 22 replies
    Townhall ^ | 08/08/2013 | Katie Pavlich
    After Detroit filed bankruptcy two weeks ago, the attention turned to America's other financially distraught cities. Think Motown is the only major U.S. city in a boatload of financial trouble? Think again. Detroit's bankruptcy filing sent shivers down the spine of municipal bondholders, government employees, and big-city urban residents all over the country. That's because many of the 61 largest U.S. cities are plagued with the same kinds of retirement legacy costs that sent Detroit into Chapter 9 bankruptcy this summer. These cities have amassed $118 billion in unfunded healthcare liabilities. These are legal promises to pay healthcare benefits...
  • NY firearms maker blames new law for move to Pa.

    08/07/2013 6:15:50 PM PDT · by Red in Blue PA · 77 replies
    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A firearms manufacturer in New York, partially blaming the state's new gun control law, said Wednesday it's moving its corporate offices — and its plans for expansion — to Pennsylvania. Kahr Firearms Group of Pearl River is the first gunmaker to announce it's leaving because of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, which was put into law after closed-door negotiations in January. It was the first law in the nation prompted by the killing of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn., in December. "We're looking for a more friendly environment for our...
  • Bang! Editor fired after publishing gun-owner map

    08/08/2013 11:04:13 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 37 replies
    WorldNetDaily ^ | 08/08/2013
    The editor of the New York newspaper that created a furor by publishing the names and addresses of gun-permit owners suddenly is out of a job. According to the Rockland Times, a competitor to the Gannett-owned Rockland County Journal News, editor Caryn McBride is among the casualties of a recent purge at the Journal News. The report said 17 journalists were among a total of 26 staff members at the Journal News who were let go. It was the Journal News that in 2012 published the names and addresses of all gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties under the...
  • Spitzer-less forum focuses on issues

    08/08/2013 10:39:09 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 2 replies
    Queens Chronicle ^ | 08/08/2013 | Michael Gannon
    Two of the men seeking to be New York City’s next comptroller touted their different backgrounds and experiences in an Aug. 1 forum in Laurelton, each saying his made him more qualified than the other to be the city’s next top financial officer. Democrat Scott Stringer is the Manhattan borough president and also served 13 years in the state Assembly. Republican John Burnett has spent more than 20 years in the financial services industry, including supervisory and management positions at Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch. Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who joined the Democratic campaign just prior to the deadline for...
  • City students' scores take dramatic plunge on new standardized tests (NYC)

    08/08/2013 7:02:26 AM PDT · by rightwingintelligentsia · 61 replies
    NY Daily News ^ | August 7, 2013 | Corinne Lestch, Ben Chapman, Jennifer Fermino
    Only about one-third of students from grades 3-8 passed the new math and reading proficiency tests, down from nearly a two-thirds in 2012. The new tests are more closely aligned to academic standards adopted by nearly every other state, but critics say children weren't properly prepared to the roll out. New York students struck out on tougher math and reading exams, posting a giant drop in scores on the high-stakes tests that were just as dire as education officials predicted. Only 31% of New York State students in grades 3 to 8 passed the 2013 math and reading tests, down...
  • Swastika, slurs foul Robinson statue [A "hate crime"? For VANDALISM?]

    08/08/2013 5:58:59 AM PDT · by SoFloFreeper · 15 replies
    espn ^ | 8/7/13 | Adam Rubin
    Employees of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, arrived at work Wednesday morning to find swastikas and racial and anti-Semitic epithets painted on a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that is on display outside MCU Park... "This is being treated as a bias crime," detective John Nevandro of the 60th precinct said in a statement. "Hate Crimes will investigate the incident.
  • Ex-Border Patrol Agents Warn: Politicians Helping Cartels in U.S.

    08/07/2013 7:51:30 PM PDT · by george76 · 26 replies
    Breitbart News ^ | 7 Aug 2013 | Matthew Boyle
    In an open letter to the public in late July, several retired Border Patrol agents wrote on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers to warn that Mexican drug cartels are actively operating inside the United States spending millions every year to try to build their networks here. They argued that American politicians are protecting their activities as well. “Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted...
  • NYC Department of Health Building Infested with Bed Bugs

    08/07/2013 7:40:59 PM PDT · by george76 · 29 replies
    Breitbart News ^ | 6 Aug 2013
    the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene headquarters, which cost taxpayers $316 million, is overrun by bed bugs. The building is 21 floors, and five of those are home to a bed bug infestation. That’s no shock, since the city itself has been ranked the worst in the nation when it comes to bed bugs. This is the second time in under a year that bed bugs have been found in the facility, which is only three years old. Critics say that the city is actually underreporting the problem ... Other major New York landmarks have become...
  • Scores on Math and English Tests Plummet After State Adopts New Standards

    08/07/2013 5:46:32 PM PDT · by Oldeconomybuyer · 41 replies
    New York Times ^ | August 7, 2013 | By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ and ROBERT GEBELOFF
    The number of New York students passing state reading and math exams dropped drastically this year, education officials reported on Wednesday, unsettling parents, principals and teachers and posing new challenges to a national effort to toughen academic standards. In New York City, 26 percent of students in third through eighth grade passed the tests in English, and 30 percent passed in math, according to the New York State Education Department. The exams were some of the first in the nation to be aligned with a more rigorous set of standards known as the Common Core, which emphasize deep analysis and...
  • Hillary Clinton Meets With Diet Guru As 2016 Speculation Ramps Up

    08/07/2013 5:39:44 PM PDT · by drewh · 49 replies
    CBS News ^ | August 7, 2013 10:52
    Is Hillary Clinton trying to get in shape for a possible 2016 presidential run? The former secretary of state who left the Obama administration to recharge her batteries after traveling the world for four years has been spotted with diet guru Dr. Mark Hyman, who helped former President Bill Clinton lose weight on a vegan diet. “We’re into the science of creating health using food as medicine”, Hyman told the Boston Herald. “It’s about diet, lifestyle and personalized medicine.” Hyman, who says he’s “good friends” with Hillary Clinton, might have foreshadowed the former first lady’s presidential aspirations for 2016. “Being...
  • Mourn Not the Post, but the Press

    08/07/2013 1:17:06 PM PDT · by upbeat5 · 12 replies
    CNSNEWS.COM ^ | August 7, 2013 | Terence P. Jeffrey
    In the past week, The New York Times Co. announced it was selling the Boston Globe to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry, and Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham announced Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos was buying the paper that Graham's family has run for decades. Both papers went cheap. The Times bought the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion and is now selling it for $70 million. The price tag on the Post was just $250 million. The combined $320 million market value of these two big-city dailies is about as much as the federal government now spends in...
  • Swastika, slurs foul Robinson statue [Jackie Robinson - Brooklyn]

    08/07/2013 2:00:51 PM PDT · by Pan_Yan · 37 replies
    ESPN ^ | August 7, 2013, 3:46 PM ET | Adam Rubin
    NEW YORK -- Employees of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, arrived at work Wednesday morning to find a swastika and racial and anti-Semitic epithets painted on a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that is on display outside MCU Park. ... "This is being treated as a bias crime," detective John Nevandro of the 60th precinct said in a statement. "Hate Crimes will investigate the incident."
  • New 'Health' Plan: Deliberately 'Slow' Elevators Make People Climb Stairs (Bloomberg)

    08/07/2013 1:09:48 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 45 replies
    CNSNews.com ^ | August 7, 2013 | Penny Starr
    (CNSNews.com) – As part of his ongoing campaign to transform New York City into what he calls “Fit City,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg is promoting “active design” for low-income housing developments being built there, including plans to prompt residents to use the stairs and rooftop gardens for growing “healthy” foods. In 2010, the Bloomberg Administration and other public and private sector groups issued the “Active Design Guidelines,” which promotes car-free neighborhoods, encourages “physical movement” inside buildings and “improves access to nutritious food.”The Center for Action Design was launched next as a resource for architects and developers who sign on to the...
  • Chuck Schumer: OK with piecemeal immigration approach

    08/07/2013 12:08:31 PM PDT · by Southern by Grace · 37 replies
    Politico ^ | 8/7/13 11:50 AM EDT | SEUNG MIN KIM
    Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made his clearest indication yet that he would be fine with a piecemeal approach to immigration reform preferred by the Republican-led House. Schumer, the leader of the Gang of Eight whose comprehensive immigration reform legislation passed the Senate in June, said even if the House passes separate bills, those measures could eventually be bundled in a House-Senate conference committee.
  • Chicago Fans Cheer After A-Rod Hit By Pitch; Girardi Miffed

    08/07/2013 6:02:53 AM PDT · by Biggirl · 40 replies
    CBS New York ^ | August 7, 2013 | CBS New York
    NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The boo-birds came out in force again Tuesday for Alex Rodriguez. But then something different — a swelling of cheers from the crowd in Chicago.
  • Leathers contradicts Weiner’s timeline of sexting

    08/06/2013 5:44:46 PM PDT · by Nachum · 21 replies
    Daily Caller ^ | 8/6/13 | Alexis Levinson
    Anthony Weiner’s sext buddy Sydney Leathers says that the former congressman and would-be mayor of New York contacted her “as recently as April 12,” contradicting Weiner’s account of the timeline. Leathers made the allegation in a post she wrote on xoJane, in which she tells her “10 secrets for seducing a politician,” just “in case,” she writes, “anyone wants to be as stupid as I was.” “Anthony says he hasn’t been cheating on Huma for six months,” she writes. “Wrong. He last contacted me as recently as April 12. Straight up lies.” Leathers went public with the existence of her...
  • Ithaca's Bridge to Nowhere: City must spend $15,000 to inspect footbridge that isn't used

    08/06/2013 6:48:41 PM PDT · by Behind Liberal Lines · 24 replies
    It’s never been used in its nearly 12 years in existence, but the pedestrian bridge over Route 13 near Buttermilk Falls is going to cost the City of Ithaca. The city has been reminded that it is obligated to pay for inspecting the bridge even though the sections of trail it was meant to connect have not been built. Because of that, the bridge is not being used and is sealed off by tall chain-link fences. A resolution authorizing the $15,000 expenditure, out of a $92,000 capital fund for bridges, was approved last month by the Common Council City Administration...
  • A-Rod Suspended 211 Games By MLB In Biogenesis Case

    08/05/2013 4:09:00 PM PDT · by Biggirl · 42 replies
    CBS New York ^ | CBS New York
    NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Alex Rodriguez has been banned for 211 regular-season games by Major League Baseball for his part in the sport’s latest performance-enhancing drugs scandal.
  • Bill Clinton comments on Weiner, NYC mayoral race (too ‘personal’?)

    08/06/2013 1:44:16 PM PDT · by Olog-hai · 12 replies
    Cable News Network ^ | August 6th, 2013 11:27 AM ET | (CNN Political Unit/Ashley Killough)
    Former President Bill Clinton said he and his wife, Hillary Clinton, have many “personal friends” in the New York City mayoral race and added that he shouldn't talk about the contest. … “We are a hundred miles from that race and everyone understands that we are not going to be involved, as long as our personal friends and people who we feel obligations are involved,” he told CNN’s Nima Elbagir. Clinton was responding to a question about candidate Anthony Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, and what advice the 42nd president might give them. …