EIGHT IS ENOUGH PART VII
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
It is interesting how so often the most simple, miniscule things sometimes are instrumental in being the means by which the most clever disguises are exposed. This was the case for me last week when I went to the movies to get some respite from the never ending barrage of bad news on TV, in our newspapers, and from friends.
Interestingly enough I decided to go see “Astro Boy”© at the Regal on 42nd Street. What appeared to be typical, juvenile fluff loosely based on a highly technolized Pinocchio, was a real lesson in democracy, leadership, and the basic moral fibre and principles which determine the make up of a society.
Wow! Now how did I get all that from an animated feature length movie? My insight turned on the very nefarious, despotic character of “Mayor Stone”, who’s power and tendency toward dictatorship, with the capacity to crush all those who stand in his way, was such a parallel to our current mayor, Mike Bloomberg, it was like a modern day parable in animated form.
The mayor Stone character was running for re-election. His slogan was: “IT’S NOT TIME FOR A CHANGE.” He rolled through his city with seemingly unlimited power. If he couldn’t get you to cooperate, he’d destroy you. His favorite thing to do was throw money or hollow promises at someone who had something he wanted or needed, with an aside to his minions to incarcerate or deal with them once he got what he wanted. He operated through trickery, lies, distortions, deceits, and, of course, bribery.
When he finally got what he wanted he went through the city wreaking havoc, destroying everything in his wake, seemingly oblivious to everything he trampled on while he pursued his objective. His efforts nearly brought down the entire city. While those around him could truly see him as the monster he was, he was totally unaware and unconcerned.
Well, like the Astro Boy © cartoon, the Bloomberg administration has been monstrous in its effects on the communities that he’s touched. Like Hobbes’ Leviathan, his tentacles have reached into every corner to accomplish his will, without any concern for the effects it has on the people who live there, who love New York, who raise families. I defy you to go see that cartoon and not come away with the same graphic parallels between Astro Boy’s© “Mayor Stone” character and Mayor Bloomberg.
Those of us who consider ourselves part of the middle class must question the New York Times statement that New York City is indeed better because of Bloomberg. Really? Take a look at whose writing the article. Most of them do not live in the middle class communities that are being affected by this administration. Of course, if you’re in the $250,000+ a year income bracket, of course things are better.
According to Bill Thompson in the recently held debate, the middle class income for New York really ranges from $50,000 to $170,000 by New York self definition. If you live in Manhattan this may be more the case than not. But if you live in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island it’s more between the range of $37,500 and $80,000
However, the higher income index has often been used to justify the unconscionable increases in rental rates, housing costs, and utility service increases. It is the unrealistically higher rate that has been artificially imposed on the other boroughs that has put affordable housing and other services out of reach, because the assumption is that since we make more we can/must pay more.
It is that median income that has been used as an index for rationalizing the higher costs in practically everything in NYC -- from the $4.00 cup of coffee to the $35.00 bounced check fee. From the higher taxi fares to the increasingly higher transit fares. Most of the people sitting on these boards making these decisions were appointed by Bloomberg, but have absolutely nothing to do with the people they’re making the decisions about -- in much the same way the Mayor has no relation to the middle class that continues to flee New York.
Realistically speaking, even that median income is no longer viable, with so many no longer gainfully employed. With nearly 40,000 jobs no longer available. With Bloomberg’s policy of privatization of so many jobs that righteously belong to New Yorkers going to outside sources.
And the Wall Streeters who have lost their jobs must deal with the fact that they who swore by the Bloomberg Report have to ask how accurate the report is when it did not portend the upcoming downturn and what to do to stem the tide. Interestingly enough, Bloomberg’s cronies have tried to find ways to keep their ill gotten bonuses, and there has been absolute silence from Bloomberg in having them put those monies in a fund for those New Yorkers who have lost or are losing their homes and livelihood because of their callous, impersonal, nefarious practices that have put so many of us in jeopardy.
Where is his righteous indignation against the banks that drag out procedures that might just help save a home or a business in New York in time of crisis. “It’s so easy to hurt others when you can’t feel pain.” Bloomberg makes no connection to the misery the people feel, and the trauma they face as they are foreclosed upon, forced out into the streets. He can’t help them because his cronies are part of the problem not part of the solution.
The new formula of mass mind group think utilized by the media totally ignores or evades these facts. The Chief and Leader (Reluctantly) endorsed Bloomberg. What does that mean? It means that they have no principles. It means that they are afraid to take a real stand for the truth for all those people who depend upon them to provide information on the continuously dwindling jobs that has kept this city running for centuries.
Consider the fact that his whim to put seating areas in the middle of 34th Street and 42nd Street, backing up traffic for blocks, in order to slow down the city, and at the same time blocking the flow of New York, had less to do with greening New York, and more to do with whether or not he could get the city to bend to his will.
The fact that two baseball stadiums were built in low and moderate income communities while nothing has been done for the surrounding community, including the failure to hire locally skilled labor for the construction of the stadiums. A seat could very well equal a day’s salary. By the way, there are some beautiful old buildings slated to go on the chopping block that are nearly a century old -- look fast the New York skyline will soon be classless glass boxes sitting vacant, staring down on you while you sit on the sidewalk, homeless shelter or whatever and wherever is left after New York is filled with Bloomberg’s version of affordable housing.
The D- grade Bill Thompson was relatively generous considering that Bloomberg has flown low under the radar of detection during the Wall Street vs. Mainstreet debacle. He appears to not have been called into account for how it is that Mainstreet is suffering on his watch.
D- is an appropriate grade given the betrayal of the public trust. Given the callous manner in which he went about dismantling the Term Limits law while people protested, as though they (we) not only did not exist, but did not count. The my way or the highway attitude and behavior negates everything else he may have accomplished. New York City is part of a democracy, not a dictatorship. A “D-” is appropriate for the despotic behavior that is evident in the Bloomberg administration.
Bloomberg the Republican, Giuliani the Republican, Bush the Republican have all had devastating effects on New York City. Let’s go three for three and relieve New York from further deprivation and downturn. It’s time to put New Yorkers back on top, and not the mayor on top of New York.
We cannot afford four more years of Bloomberg. EIGHT IS ENOUGH. Vote November 3, 2009 for Bill Thompson the next mayor of New York City.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part VIII 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog/ ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS
For Eclectic Black People
VIP: Views . Interests . Perspectives
10.29.2009
10.26.2009
WE EACH HAVE THE POWER OF ONE VOTE
WE EACH HAVE THE POWER OF ONE VOTE - EIGHT IS ENOUGH PART VI
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
It all begins with the power of One. Each of us has the power to change the world. Each of us can join with the other millions of people who reside here in New York to begin to be the change we want to see.
We each have one vote, and though Bloomberg may have spent millions on this campaign, it all boils down to the fact the each of us has one vote, and we still get to go into the polls, pull the lever one person at a time.
We all know a lie when we hear one. We’ve heard many over the past few weeks, months and years that we’ve been dealing with the incumbent mayor, Mike Bloomberg. If you were to set up a balance scale with all that he has done to help New York on the left side, and the weight of all that he has done to hurt New York on the right side, the scales would tip so far to the right they’d break the supports.
It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The rich got richer, the middle class became poor and disenfranchised, and the poor got poorer. But wait, the scales began to tip even more, because the rich suddenly became poor, the middle class became homeless, and the poor got put on a bus and told to scram.
Bill Thompson has worked diligently in his role as Comptroller to stem the tide of the draconian increases proposed by the mayor to balance the budget on our backs. The utilities and water bills in New York have increased 98%. In fact the water bills were increased twice in the same year. Our transit fares have been increased twice in two years, with threats of cutbacks zoned fares, and all the kinds of increments that will dig even further into our pockets.
We cannot afford 4 more years of Bloomberg! Bill Thompson has done much to help the middle and lower class, often having to reverse allocations made by the mayor that would have damaged us even more.
Who has cost us the most over the last eight years? Bloomberg. He has taken our tax exempt funds and underwritten projects such as the rebuilding of Yankee Stadium, while affordable housing went twisting in the wind. How much would have gone down the drain had he been able to get away with the Jets Stadium on the west side fiasco? Can you live in a stadium? Can you live in the overpriced buildings that have replaced whole communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan that now stand empty gathering dust?
Bill Thompson, as comptroller has diligently worked to provide alternatives to Bloomberg’s insensitivity to the plight of New Yorkers.
How many families have to be uprooted in Brooklyn to build an Atlantic Yards Stadium for the Nets, with the empty promise of jobs (most of which will be menial and meaningless); under the guise of improving a community -- despite the fact that the community is consistently against it.
How many city jobs have to be replaced by privatization to figure out that New Yorkers are being supplanted.
No one is surprised that the Police Union is supporting Bloomberg. They supported Giuliani -- and the dictatorship continues.
It is no surprise that Bloomberg dangles his wealth in front of New Yorkers in an effort to entice them into selling their rights and principles as citizens. It’s nothing new. It’s a practice that has endured for quite some time now. It’s the carrot and the stick; bait and switch, sleight of hand that’s been going on for at least the last eight (8) years. It’s the concept that if he dangles enough money, people with be hypnotized by it, will feel that they are powerless against it and will succumb to it without even trying.
But New Yorkers are made of sterner stuff. The power of ONE has been what has made us the great city we are. No dictator can long run (ruin) New York.
Eight is enough! It is the signal that it is time for a paradigm shift. Time for a change for the better.
Bill Thompson stands for all New Yorkers. Time to take a stand to would be dictators who think they are more important than the rights and wishes of the people.
Make Bill Thompson the next Mayor of New York and let’s get back to the business of being a city for all New Yorkers.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
WE EACH HAVE THE POWER OF ONE VOTE - EIGHT IS ENOUGH PART VI. Stay Tune For Part VII 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
It all begins with the power of One. Each of us has the power to change the world. Each of us can join with the other millions of people who reside here in New York to begin to be the change we want to see.
We each have one vote, and though Bloomberg may have spent millions on this campaign, it all boils down to the fact the each of us has one vote, and we still get to go into the polls, pull the lever one person at a time.
We all know a lie when we hear one. We’ve heard many over the past few weeks, months and years that we’ve been dealing with the incumbent mayor, Mike Bloomberg. If you were to set up a balance scale with all that he has done to help New York on the left side, and the weight of all that he has done to hurt New York on the right side, the scales would tip so far to the right they’d break the supports.
It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. The rich got richer, the middle class became poor and disenfranchised, and the poor got poorer. But wait, the scales began to tip even more, because the rich suddenly became poor, the middle class became homeless, and the poor got put on a bus and told to scram.
Bill Thompson has worked diligently in his role as Comptroller to stem the tide of the draconian increases proposed by the mayor to balance the budget on our backs. The utilities and water bills in New York have increased 98%. In fact the water bills were increased twice in the same year. Our transit fares have been increased twice in two years, with threats of cutbacks zoned fares, and all the kinds of increments that will dig even further into our pockets.
We cannot afford 4 more years of Bloomberg! Bill Thompson has done much to help the middle and lower class, often having to reverse allocations made by the mayor that would have damaged us even more.
Who has cost us the most over the last eight years? Bloomberg. He has taken our tax exempt funds and underwritten projects such as the rebuilding of Yankee Stadium, while affordable housing went twisting in the wind. How much would have gone down the drain had he been able to get away with the Jets Stadium on the west side fiasco? Can you live in a stadium? Can you live in the overpriced buildings that have replaced whole communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan that now stand empty gathering dust?
Bill Thompson, as comptroller has diligently worked to provide alternatives to Bloomberg’s insensitivity to the plight of New Yorkers.
How many families have to be uprooted in Brooklyn to build an Atlantic Yards Stadium for the Nets, with the empty promise of jobs (most of which will be menial and meaningless); under the guise of improving a community -- despite the fact that the community is consistently against it.
How many city jobs have to be replaced by privatization to figure out that New Yorkers are being supplanted.
No one is surprised that the Police Union is supporting Bloomberg. They supported Giuliani -- and the dictatorship continues.
It is no surprise that Bloomberg dangles his wealth in front of New Yorkers in an effort to entice them into selling their rights and principles as citizens. It’s nothing new. It’s a practice that has endured for quite some time now. It’s the carrot and the stick; bait and switch, sleight of hand that’s been going on for at least the last eight (8) years. It’s the concept that if he dangles enough money, people with be hypnotized by it, will feel that they are powerless against it and will succumb to it without even trying.
But New Yorkers are made of sterner stuff. The power of ONE has been what has made us the great city we are. No dictator can long run (ruin) New York.
Eight is enough! It is the signal that it is time for a paradigm shift. Time for a change for the better.
Bill Thompson stands for all New Yorkers. Time to take a stand to would be dictators who think they are more important than the rights and wishes of the people.
Make Bill Thompson the next Mayor of New York and let’s get back to the business of being a city for all New Yorkers.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
WE EACH HAVE THE POWER OF ONE VOTE - EIGHT IS ENOUGH PART VI. Stay Tune For Part VII 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.25.2009
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! PART V
EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
It’s time to dispense with the lies swirling around Bill Thompson’s tenure as president of the Board of Education. It’s apparent that those who made that pathetic TV commercial in reference to Bill Thompson and the New York Education system did not do their homework, or they would never have made such inane statements. That said, it remains an absolute necessity to clarify the current controversy around the Board of Education, which in 1994, was under the thumb of Rudy Giuliani.
The recent changes engendered under the Bloomberg Administration were as much a result of the debacle Giuliani had made of it at the time, as to any alleged mismanagement on Bill Thompson‘s part. Much verbiage has been given to Bill Thompson’s role during that time. So let’s look at it. Given the circumstances, Thompson did an admirable job. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, the same Giuliani who launched a near police attack against former Mayor David Dinkins, launched an offensive against then Chancellor Ramon Cortines, who was hired under the previous administration. Rumor had it that he didn’t like Cortines because he was Latino, and gay.
Whatever the reason, he launched such an offensive against him that Cortines was eventually forced to step down. He was replaced by Rudy Crew who Thompson reached out to after it was apparent that Giuliani was not going to let him do the job he came to do. Though the Board of Education was supposedly a State Run entity, Giuliani demanded that the education budget be reduced severely. Bill Thompson, stood up to Giuliani, and tried to reach a compromise that would provide the upgrades Cortines had started, but under the dictator of the time, found little support in the City or the State, which was under Pataki (you remember him, don‘t you?).
Despite that fact, Thompson took several risks in trying to ensure that parents and children had the assistance they needed. He was much vilified and sabotaged by the Giuliani regime throughout his tenure. In fact Crew only lasted three years, before he was likewise forced out.
Per the New York Times June 1995: Cortines “challenged educational corruption, beginning a Low-Performing Schools Initiative that led to leadership changes in a number of schools. He made the system more open, starting a program of Annual School Reports for parents to increase their involvement. He made himself accessible, visiting hundreds of schools and holding dozens of community forums. And the product of these efforts? Among them are an increase in math and reading test scores in all 32 local school districts for the first time since at least 1989; thousands more students taking and passing Regents math and science courses; more parent involvement at schools; a renewed sense of movement in the school system.
In a published statement from the Board of Education in 1995: “Sadly, this fine, decent man and tireless worker will now leave us. All Mayors seek control of the Board of Education. It is as recurrent a political act as elections. But the truth is that a separate Board of Education is not some odd entity unique to this city. Separate Boards of Education are a longstanding tradition in American governance. If anything, this Board is uniquely dependent, not independent -- the City controls the size of our overall budget and tells us how much money schools and schoolchildren will get. The Board of Education is a State, not a City, entity. And it should remain separate. It needs to be so in order to keep the influence of electoral politics at a minimum and to avoid pitting the needs of schoolchildren against the budget requirements of sweeping streets or maintaining the parks.”
“To far too great an extent, this city's school system has become a scapegoat, required to address the results of the city's other ills -- poverty, homelessness, the absence of the other programs to assist children and families, etc. Yet despite the growing needs of our students, our city schools have received a disproportionate share of the cuts. And the attacks on the school system and the Chancellor? That they have been unfair, relentless and baseless goes without saying. Likewise, it is obvious to all that they are injuries to our schools and schoolchildren. And they set a terrible example for behavior for our students. Beyond that, however, it seems clear that the attacks have been made and sustained to draw attention away from the most serious issue confronting the school system -- the terrible damage that will be done by the budget cuts.
Simply put, Ray Cortines has been pushed from his job by a City Hall that repudiated even his efforts at improving relations. We will all be poorer for his departure from our school system, and the children will have to pay the terrible price for this error.” Statement from Bill Thompson and members of the Board of Education.
This was excerpted from the DAILY KOS, an online newsletter that points up the underpinnings of the issues that beset the embattled school system under Giuliani and continued under Bloomberg: “The record shows that Giuliani was less effective at solving problems in which such efforts require cooperation with other levels of government, labor unions or communities of color. As a result, public schools got worse during the Giuliani years. Police-community relations got much worse. Much less affordable housing was built, and budgeted for, than under Ed Koch. The poor became a much lower priority than under Mayors Dinkins, Lindsay and Wagner.
In Giuliani's second term, the poor became scapegoats and lab rats for experiments in conservative social policy. Giuliani also governed in a fashion that created problems beneath the surface, for which the bill of reckoning is only now coming due. His borrowing left his successor with a $4.5 billion budget deficit only eighteen months after Rudy sat on a $3 billion surplus. And in a political deal, he closed the city's largest landfill, creating a crisis in garbage disposal and a tremendous budget burden for the sanitation department. There was no room for the Board of Education in the Giuliani administration. The record shows that Thompson's role at the Board of Education would be overshadowed by a New York City's mayor that had higher priorities for the school system than education. Thompson pitched battle with Giuliani during the balance of his incumbency, stepping down to run from Comptroller in 2001. He was viewed by many as the bridge for peace between the Board and Giuliani.”
Per Daily Kos: “Thompson pledges to overhaul curriculum to reduce the focus on standardized testing and create a school-by-school plan to cut class size. He also promises to better involve parents by creating a Parent University to educate families on ensuring children's academic success, similar to what Philadelphia has done.”
BILL THOMPSON COMES FROM A FAMILY OF EDUCATORS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS, GREW UP A COMMUNITY WHERE EDUCATION WAS IMPORTANT AND IMPERATIVE, BILL THOMPSON WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE AND TRANSFORM NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS TO HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION CENTERS, NOT FIEFDOMS THAT ARE SET UP LIKE CITADELS THAT KEEP OUT THE FAMILIES THAT NEED THEM MOST.
Get More Information About New Yorkers For Bill Thompson
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part V 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
It’s time to dispense with the lies swirling around Bill Thompson’s tenure as president of the Board of Education. It’s apparent that those who made that pathetic TV commercial in reference to Bill Thompson and the New York Education system did not do their homework, or they would never have made such inane statements. That said, it remains an absolute necessity to clarify the current controversy around the Board of Education, which in 1994, was under the thumb of Rudy Giuliani.
The recent changes engendered under the Bloomberg Administration were as much a result of the debacle Giuliani had made of it at the time, as to any alleged mismanagement on Bill Thompson‘s part. Much verbiage has been given to Bill Thompson’s role during that time. So let’s look at it. Given the circumstances, Thompson did an admirable job. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, the same Giuliani who launched a near police attack against former Mayor David Dinkins, launched an offensive against then Chancellor Ramon Cortines, who was hired under the previous administration. Rumor had it that he didn’t like Cortines because he was Latino, and gay.
Whatever the reason, he launched such an offensive against him that Cortines was eventually forced to step down. He was replaced by Rudy Crew who Thompson reached out to after it was apparent that Giuliani was not going to let him do the job he came to do. Though the Board of Education was supposedly a State Run entity, Giuliani demanded that the education budget be reduced severely. Bill Thompson, stood up to Giuliani, and tried to reach a compromise that would provide the upgrades Cortines had started, but under the dictator of the time, found little support in the City or the State, which was under Pataki (you remember him, don‘t you?).
Despite that fact, Thompson took several risks in trying to ensure that parents and children had the assistance they needed. He was much vilified and sabotaged by the Giuliani regime throughout his tenure. In fact Crew only lasted three years, before he was likewise forced out.
Per the New York Times June 1995: Cortines “challenged educational corruption, beginning a Low-Performing Schools Initiative that led to leadership changes in a number of schools. He made the system more open, starting a program of Annual School Reports for parents to increase their involvement. He made himself accessible, visiting hundreds of schools and holding dozens of community forums. And the product of these efforts? Among them are an increase in math and reading test scores in all 32 local school districts for the first time since at least 1989; thousands more students taking and passing Regents math and science courses; more parent involvement at schools; a renewed sense of movement in the school system.
In a published statement from the Board of Education in 1995: “Sadly, this fine, decent man and tireless worker will now leave us. All Mayors seek control of the Board of Education. It is as recurrent a political act as elections. But the truth is that a separate Board of Education is not some odd entity unique to this city. Separate Boards of Education are a longstanding tradition in American governance. If anything, this Board is uniquely dependent, not independent -- the City controls the size of our overall budget and tells us how much money schools and schoolchildren will get. The Board of Education is a State, not a City, entity. And it should remain separate. It needs to be so in order to keep the influence of electoral politics at a minimum and to avoid pitting the needs of schoolchildren against the budget requirements of sweeping streets or maintaining the parks.”
“To far too great an extent, this city's school system has become a scapegoat, required to address the results of the city's other ills -- poverty, homelessness, the absence of the other programs to assist children and families, etc. Yet despite the growing needs of our students, our city schools have received a disproportionate share of the cuts. And the attacks on the school system and the Chancellor? That they have been unfair, relentless and baseless goes without saying. Likewise, it is obvious to all that they are injuries to our schools and schoolchildren. And they set a terrible example for behavior for our students. Beyond that, however, it seems clear that the attacks have been made and sustained to draw attention away from the most serious issue confronting the school system -- the terrible damage that will be done by the budget cuts.
Simply put, Ray Cortines has been pushed from his job by a City Hall that repudiated even his efforts at improving relations. We will all be poorer for his departure from our school system, and the children will have to pay the terrible price for this error.” Statement from Bill Thompson and members of the Board of Education.
This was excerpted from the DAILY KOS, an online newsletter that points up the underpinnings of the issues that beset the embattled school system under Giuliani and continued under Bloomberg: “The record shows that Giuliani was less effective at solving problems in which such efforts require cooperation with other levels of government, labor unions or communities of color. As a result, public schools got worse during the Giuliani years. Police-community relations got much worse. Much less affordable housing was built, and budgeted for, than under Ed Koch. The poor became a much lower priority than under Mayors Dinkins, Lindsay and Wagner.
In Giuliani's second term, the poor became scapegoats and lab rats for experiments in conservative social policy. Giuliani also governed in a fashion that created problems beneath the surface, for which the bill of reckoning is only now coming due. His borrowing left his successor with a $4.5 billion budget deficit only eighteen months after Rudy sat on a $3 billion surplus. And in a political deal, he closed the city's largest landfill, creating a crisis in garbage disposal and a tremendous budget burden for the sanitation department. There was no room for the Board of Education in the Giuliani administration. The record shows that Thompson's role at the Board of Education would be overshadowed by a New York City's mayor that had higher priorities for the school system than education. Thompson pitched battle with Giuliani during the balance of his incumbency, stepping down to run from Comptroller in 2001. He was viewed by many as the bridge for peace between the Board and Giuliani.”
Per Daily Kos: “Thompson pledges to overhaul curriculum to reduce the focus on standardized testing and create a school-by-school plan to cut class size. He also promises to better involve parents by creating a Parent University to educate families on ensuring children's academic success, similar to what Philadelphia has done.”
BILL THOMPSON COMES FROM A FAMILY OF EDUCATORS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS, GREW UP A COMMUNITY WHERE EDUCATION WAS IMPORTANT AND IMPERATIVE, BILL THOMPSON WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE AND TRANSFORM NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS TO HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION CENTERS, NOT FIEFDOMS THAT ARE SET UP LIKE CITADELS THAT KEEP OUT THE FAMILIES THAT NEED THEM MOST.
Get More Information About New Yorkers For Bill Thompson
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part V 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.24.2009
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! PART IV
EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
New Yorkers need to disabuse themselves of any hope of increased affordable homes, or jobs that are geared to New Yorkers. Witness the fact that, according to Barrett, developer Steve Ross, the administration's favorite developer, “was so cozy with city development czar Doctoroff that he assumed a $4 million loan Doctoroff made to the city's Olympic committee shortly before Doctoroff took office. And it's stunning that the mayor himself boldly endorsed the biggest real estate acquisition of all time—the $5.4 billion purchase of Stuy Town—even though the 20 percent owner of Bloomberg LP at the time, Merrill Lynch, was one of the buyers and he was legally barred from doing anything in his official capacity to aid Merrill.”
Isn’t it interesting that the current residents of Stuyvesant town, who had come within $1 million of jointly purchasing the property for themselves, were squelched from doing so? Under the original HUD rules, they should have been awarded the property because of having come in such close approximation to the asking price. The property now is so over priced that the remaining residents are being forced out, and there are no takers for the overpriced vacancies! Additionally, the property is now facing massive financial difficulties (I wonder why?)
That’s a scene that is replicated all over New York City’s 5 Boroughs, where affordable properties have come into the hands of private developers, and have become over priced properties, forcing the original residents into homelessness. Had it not been for the joint efforts of Congressmembers Edolphus Town, Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazques, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Starrett City, the largest affordable development in New York City with 16,000 families, would have met the same fate. Now, however, high price properties constructed in Manhattan, once reserved for Wall Street purchasers are too high even for them. Also witness the fact that whole blocks of New York, especially in Harlem and other predominantly Black communities were sold wholesale to foreign interests, unbeknown to the residents. And that Harlem sports a Condominium where the studio apartment started at $750,000 -- well out of the reach of the residents in that community.
Who owns New York Now?
So what then of the New York’s middle class working families, and lower income residents? They apparently get no love or support from this Administration. Those who found themselves homeless as a result of the economic downturn, and the sudden mass reduction of jobs, were put on buses to go ‘wherever” as long as they never returned to New York.
DON’T THINK THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD BILL THOMPSON BEEN MAYOR AT THE TIME. It’s unconscionable!
Bloomberg is proud of his self-financed campaigns, often celebrating the fact that he takes no contributions from anyone. But, per Barrett, “the evidence is mounting—with 33 of Bloomberg LP's top 124 customers having business with the city—that we may be getting the quid without the quo. The mayor's friends and prime-time business supporters appear to be reaping the same rewards as those big donors used to get, only minus the donations, and the circle of insiders that openly rallied to him during the term limits debate is, by and large, the same group that is prospering from his discretionary decisions.” (but I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?)
Barrett cited “The New York City Partnership, co-chaired now by Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein and Rupert Murdoch, (owner of the New York Post and Fox Five News) has become Bloomberg's modern version of an oldline political club. Even as the mayor can make the case that his health initiatives and other priorities benefit the poor, his near 100 rezonings, construction deregulations, generous subsidies, and other policies have fed the aura of a government of, for, and by the elites.”
It's at least a bit awkward that Bloomberg LP's business news channel, a linchpin to the growth of the media giant Mike owns almost entirely himself, But that same media giant failed to warn the city of the impending doom. Don’t you find it amazing that the Mayor of the city hit hardest by the Wall Street down turn, could have the temerity and the gall to stand and brag that he started out with $5 billion, and now he has $16 billion? Forget about Bernie Madoff? How is it that he is realizing a profit while so many New Yorkers suffer? One also wonders how many of Bloomberg’s cronies were given a total pass in the fall of Wall Street.
Who and what and when did he know what he/they knew? How is it that there has been no real action on the part of the Mayor to stop the bloodletting that New York City is suffering from? Where are the initiatives to normalize the cost of housing, the cost of utilities, the glut of properties while more and more families are forced onto the street. The will to privatize in order to give more contracts to cronies, while New Yorkers go begging? Where is the mayor for all people.
NEW YORK CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER DAY OF BLOOMBERG, LET ALONE 4 MORE YEARS
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part V 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
New Yorkers need to disabuse themselves of any hope of increased affordable homes, or jobs that are geared to New Yorkers. Witness the fact that, according to Barrett, developer Steve Ross, the administration's favorite developer, “was so cozy with city development czar Doctoroff that he assumed a $4 million loan Doctoroff made to the city's Olympic committee shortly before Doctoroff took office. And it's stunning that the mayor himself boldly endorsed the biggest real estate acquisition of all time—the $5.4 billion purchase of Stuy Town—even though the 20 percent owner of Bloomberg LP at the time, Merrill Lynch, was one of the buyers and he was legally barred from doing anything in his official capacity to aid Merrill.”
Isn’t it interesting that the current residents of Stuyvesant town, who had come within $1 million of jointly purchasing the property for themselves, were squelched from doing so? Under the original HUD rules, they should have been awarded the property because of having come in such close approximation to the asking price. The property now is so over priced that the remaining residents are being forced out, and there are no takers for the overpriced vacancies! Additionally, the property is now facing massive financial difficulties (I wonder why?)
That’s a scene that is replicated all over New York City’s 5 Boroughs, where affordable properties have come into the hands of private developers, and have become over priced properties, forcing the original residents into homelessness. Had it not been for the joint efforts of Congressmembers Edolphus Town, Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazques, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Starrett City, the largest affordable development in New York City with 16,000 families, would have met the same fate. Now, however, high price properties constructed in Manhattan, once reserved for Wall Street purchasers are too high even for them. Also witness the fact that whole blocks of New York, especially in Harlem and other predominantly Black communities were sold wholesale to foreign interests, unbeknown to the residents. And that Harlem sports a Condominium where the studio apartment started at $750,000 -- well out of the reach of the residents in that community.
Who owns New York Now?
So what then of the New York’s middle class working families, and lower income residents? They apparently get no love or support from this Administration. Those who found themselves homeless as a result of the economic downturn, and the sudden mass reduction of jobs, were put on buses to go ‘wherever” as long as they never returned to New York.
DON’T THINK THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD BILL THOMPSON BEEN MAYOR AT THE TIME. It’s unconscionable!
Bloomberg is proud of his self-financed campaigns, often celebrating the fact that he takes no contributions from anyone. But, per Barrett, “the evidence is mounting—with 33 of Bloomberg LP's top 124 customers having business with the city—that we may be getting the quid without the quo. The mayor's friends and prime-time business supporters appear to be reaping the same rewards as those big donors used to get, only minus the donations, and the circle of insiders that openly rallied to him during the term limits debate is, by and large, the same group that is prospering from his discretionary decisions.” (but I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?)
Barrett cited “The New York City Partnership, co-chaired now by Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein and Rupert Murdoch, (owner of the New York Post and Fox Five News) has become Bloomberg's modern version of an oldline political club. Even as the mayor can make the case that his health initiatives and other priorities benefit the poor, his near 100 rezonings, construction deregulations, generous subsidies, and other policies have fed the aura of a government of, for, and by the elites.”
It's at least a bit awkward that Bloomberg LP's business news channel, a linchpin to the growth of the media giant Mike owns almost entirely himself, But that same media giant failed to warn the city of the impending doom. Don’t you find it amazing that the Mayor of the city hit hardest by the Wall Street down turn, could have the temerity and the gall to stand and brag that he started out with $5 billion, and now he has $16 billion? Forget about Bernie Madoff? How is it that he is realizing a profit while so many New Yorkers suffer? One also wonders how many of Bloomberg’s cronies were given a total pass in the fall of Wall Street.
Who and what and when did he know what he/they knew? How is it that there has been no real action on the part of the Mayor to stop the bloodletting that New York City is suffering from? Where are the initiatives to normalize the cost of housing, the cost of utilities, the glut of properties while more and more families are forced onto the street. The will to privatize in order to give more contracts to cronies, while New Yorkers go begging? Where is the mayor for all people.
NEW YORK CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER DAY OF BLOOMBERG, LET ALONE 4 MORE YEARS
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part V 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.23.2009
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! PART III
EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Hopefully, as with the election of Barack Obama for President, New York residents will be savvy enough to see through the sham and scam and vote for the interest of the community: Nothing Bloomberg has done has been in the positive interest of the Black/Hispanic community.
BILL THOMPSON WILL BE MORE INCLUSIVE, COGNIZANT AND ACTIVE IN ENSURING NEW YORKERS ARE MADE WHOLE.
If the New York Democrats in this pivotal race are solidly behind Democrat candidate Bill Thompson, this can be a clear signal that New Yorkers are no longer subjected to schizophrenic support ie, predominantly Democratic in population, under the thumb of Republican elected officials.
THIS IS THE TIME TO STOP THE MADNESS.
And why, in nearly 2010 is the World Trade Center is still a bone of contention? While there has been the recent construction of two baseball stadiums in the Bronx, the World Trade Center continues to twist in the wind of controversial fits and starts. The necessity and success of these stadiums is questionable, as evidenced by the reduction of ticket prices for Citifield to entice crowds to come out to a ball game that most can’t afford to attend.
Paraphrasing Barrett: “The city spent a half-billion on the two stadiums, and used tax-exempt bonds (set aside for projects of great public value, like hospitals,) for a total of $1.9 billion. They further provided subsidy for the two teams (who claim to have personally invested $1.3 billion). “The evidence that top officials of the Bloomberg administration reversed land assessments for the Yankees deal to artificially jack up the value in order to qualify for the tax-exempt financing.!!
Barratt points out “E-mails like one from a top aide to Deputy Mayor Doctoroff explicitly said they were making the assessment "so high" in an attempt "to support the tax-exempt financing."
Theoretically, Bloomberg has invested $4 billion in new housing, but most of that has been high end, not affordable homes; and primarily concentrated in the Manhattan area. According to Barrett: “But the fact remains that the only major projects built or to be built in the Bloomberg era—the monuments to Mike—are Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and the soon-to-be-bonded-by-the-city Nets arena in Brooklyn (an arena that Brooklyn citizens do not want). Kind of sounds a little like the term limits issue all over again, doesn’t it, where the will of the people is totally disregarded by Bloomberg. Does anyone see a pattern here?
The threat of Bloomberg “improving” the transit system should strike fear in the hearts of every New Yorker. We have now witnessed two fare increases under his regime. With that in mind, one should shudder under the concept of his having anything to do with the transit system, from standing only cars, to zoned transit fares, to locked platforms: BE AFRAID - BE VERY VERY AFRAID!!!
Watch out for some last minute “lame duck” manuvering if Bloomberg loses this election. And expect even more riding roughshod over New Yorkers if he wins. Either way New Yorkers have to be vigilant. It has been noted that there are plans on the book to “replicate its scandal-ridden history of bonding the Atlantic Yards projects by supporting the issuance of $678 million in state tax-exempt bonds for the Nets. Estimates are that the arena will also cost the city $350 million.
Per Barrett, the late Senator Patrick Moynihan attached an amendment to the IRS code in 1986 to try to bar cities from using tax-exempt bonds to finance stadiums, but the city "found a way to circumvent these strictures" by technically structuring these two privately built and operated stadiums as publicly owned and leased for 99 years. The IRS originally OK'd this arrangement and then reversed itself, prohibiting such maneuvers in the future. Yet the city plans to do the arena precisely the same way,
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part 4 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Hopefully, as with the election of Barack Obama for President, New York residents will be savvy enough to see through the sham and scam and vote for the interest of the community: Nothing Bloomberg has done has been in the positive interest of the Black/Hispanic community.
BILL THOMPSON WILL BE MORE INCLUSIVE, COGNIZANT AND ACTIVE IN ENSURING NEW YORKERS ARE MADE WHOLE.
If the New York Democrats in this pivotal race are solidly behind Democrat candidate Bill Thompson, this can be a clear signal that New Yorkers are no longer subjected to schizophrenic support ie, predominantly Democratic in population, under the thumb of Republican elected officials.
THIS IS THE TIME TO STOP THE MADNESS.
And why, in nearly 2010 is the World Trade Center is still a bone of contention? While there has been the recent construction of two baseball stadiums in the Bronx, the World Trade Center continues to twist in the wind of controversial fits and starts. The necessity and success of these stadiums is questionable, as evidenced by the reduction of ticket prices for Citifield to entice crowds to come out to a ball game that most can’t afford to attend.
Paraphrasing Barrett: “The city spent a half-billion on the two stadiums, and used tax-exempt bonds (set aside for projects of great public value, like hospitals,) for a total of $1.9 billion. They further provided subsidy for the two teams (who claim to have personally invested $1.3 billion). “The evidence that top officials of the Bloomberg administration reversed land assessments for the Yankees deal to artificially jack up the value in order to qualify for the tax-exempt financing.!!
Barratt points out “E-mails like one from a top aide to Deputy Mayor Doctoroff explicitly said they were making the assessment "so high" in an attempt "to support the tax-exempt financing."
Theoretically, Bloomberg has invested $4 billion in new housing, but most of that has been high end, not affordable homes; and primarily concentrated in the Manhattan area. According to Barrett: “But the fact remains that the only major projects built or to be built in the Bloomberg era—the monuments to Mike—are Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and the soon-to-be-bonded-by-the-city Nets arena in Brooklyn (an arena that Brooklyn citizens do not want). Kind of sounds a little like the term limits issue all over again, doesn’t it, where the will of the people is totally disregarded by Bloomberg. Does anyone see a pattern here?
The threat of Bloomberg “improving” the transit system should strike fear in the hearts of every New Yorker. We have now witnessed two fare increases under his regime. With that in mind, one should shudder under the concept of his having anything to do with the transit system, from standing only cars, to zoned transit fares, to locked platforms: BE AFRAID - BE VERY VERY AFRAID!!!
Watch out for some last minute “lame duck” manuvering if Bloomberg loses this election. And expect even more riding roughshod over New Yorkers if he wins. Either way New Yorkers have to be vigilant. It has been noted that there are plans on the book to “replicate its scandal-ridden history of bonding the Atlantic Yards projects by supporting the issuance of $678 million in state tax-exempt bonds for the Nets. Estimates are that the arena will also cost the city $350 million.
Per Barrett, the late Senator Patrick Moynihan attached an amendment to the IRS code in 1986 to try to bar cities from using tax-exempt bonds to finance stadiums, but the city "found a way to circumvent these strictures" by technically structuring these two privately built and operated stadiums as publicly owned and leased for 99 years. The IRS originally OK'd this arrangement and then reversed itself, prohibiting such maneuvers in the future. Yet the city plans to do the arena precisely the same way,
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part 4 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.22.2009
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!! PART II
EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Fire Commissioner Scopetta, according to Barrett failed to make sure that the mandatory inspections were made to ensure Deutsche Bank’s safety during post 911 demolition. No one knows how much this may have contributed to the fatal fire. Add that to the fact that there was a rise in construction incompetency, increased safety violations during that time, with few, if any, permits to Black contractors. None of which were reviewed upon Ms. Lancaster’s stepping down. Per Barrett, Lancaster was forced out over failings unrelated to Deutsche Bank, with deputy Building Commissioner LiMandri elevated to commissioner, and former Deputy Mayor Doctoroff becoming the president of Bloomberg LP. By the way, watch for an increase in demolitions as Bloomberg cronies rush to get a jump on properties should he not be re-elected next year.
Barrett also pointed up Bloomberg appointees who have served no useful purpose to the City of New York. Among them “Giuliani's cousin, Ray Casey, installed by Bloomberg as a favor to Giuliani“ who apparently took a profitable Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation into such a “financial tailspin that, six and a half years later, Bloomberg finally prevailed on the state to take the nearly bankrupt bookie over.”
Robert Walsh, who was appointed Small Business Services commissioner, mishandled two great minority initiatives. When his agency's mishandling of both was revealed, the mayor said "nobody read" the damning critique. Per Barrett, Bloomberg garnered “half of the black vote and a third of the Hispanic vote in 2005 as a white Republican running against Fernando Ferrer. During the 2005 campaign, he spent millions buying the minority vote, and announced a new City Hall program designed to recruit black and Hispanic apprentices into the construction trades. Bloomberg's Commission of Construction Opportunity targeted minorities during that campaign, but never followed through once he was re-elected.
To further entice the Black and Hispanic vote, he also initated an executive order creating a new Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) program. Subsequently these programs which he highly advertised during 2005 campaign, are no where to be found. SOUND FAMILIAR? BLOOMBERG MAKES BIG PROMISES, WITH LITTLE TO NO RESULTS.
Bloomberg’s minority hiring and contracting are a joke. According to Barrett, after the 2005 election “the implementation of both initiatives was immediately relegated to an obscure city agency called the Department of Small Business Services (SBS)—which had, surprisingly, more blacks at the top under Rudy Giuliani than it does today under Mike Bloomberg.” The four Black commissioners no longer exist, and the department is being run by white employees. (???!!)
Incidentally, where is the mainstream media in the call for accountability? Per Barrett: "If it were anyone else, there would be much more accountability on these promises." He also points out that the media "quiescence" has selectively protected the Bloomberg administration. "I have never seen it so still," he says, contrasting the media's lack of penetrating questions about Bloomberg's second-term record with the intensive coverage of his three immediate predecessors: Giuliani, David Dinkins, and Ed Koch. But if you check the members on Bloomberg LP’s board, you’ll find Rupert Murdock, owner of Fox TV, New York Post and other media outlets. Get the picture?
What is called Bloomberg’s self financing of his campaign, can also be called blatant attempts at vote buying. How many votes can a candidate buy whether with dollars or false promises. And how deep does the commitment go? It is rumored that among the individuals or organizations said to endorse Bloomberg in the Black Community are Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Floyd Flake and Rev. Calvin Butts. Fact or rumor, the assumption is that their constituencies will follow lock step behind them. The assumption that their endorsement will actually trickle down to their followers is (hopefully) erroneous.
One has only to look back at the Nixon “trickle down theory” to remember what it felt like to get trickled on.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part 3 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Fire Commissioner Scopetta, according to Barrett failed to make sure that the mandatory inspections were made to ensure Deutsche Bank’s safety during post 911 demolition. No one knows how much this may have contributed to the fatal fire. Add that to the fact that there was a rise in construction incompetency, increased safety violations during that time, with few, if any, permits to Black contractors. None of which were reviewed upon Ms. Lancaster’s stepping down. Per Barrett, Lancaster was forced out over failings unrelated to Deutsche Bank, with deputy Building Commissioner LiMandri elevated to commissioner, and former Deputy Mayor Doctoroff becoming the president of Bloomberg LP. By the way, watch for an increase in demolitions as Bloomberg cronies rush to get a jump on properties should he not be re-elected next year.
Barrett also pointed up Bloomberg appointees who have served no useful purpose to the City of New York. Among them “Giuliani's cousin, Ray Casey, installed by Bloomberg as a favor to Giuliani“ who apparently took a profitable Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation into such a “financial tailspin that, six and a half years later, Bloomberg finally prevailed on the state to take the nearly bankrupt bookie over.”
Robert Walsh, who was appointed Small Business Services commissioner, mishandled two great minority initiatives. When his agency's mishandling of both was revealed, the mayor said "nobody read" the damning critique. Per Barrett, Bloomberg garnered “half of the black vote and a third of the Hispanic vote in 2005 as a white Republican running against Fernando Ferrer. During the 2005 campaign, he spent millions buying the minority vote, and announced a new City Hall program designed to recruit black and Hispanic apprentices into the construction trades. Bloomberg's Commission of Construction Opportunity targeted minorities during that campaign, but never followed through once he was re-elected.
To further entice the Black and Hispanic vote, he also initated an executive order creating a new Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) program. Subsequently these programs which he highly advertised during 2005 campaign, are no where to be found. SOUND FAMILIAR? BLOOMBERG MAKES BIG PROMISES, WITH LITTLE TO NO RESULTS.
Bloomberg’s minority hiring and contracting are a joke. According to Barrett, after the 2005 election “the implementation of both initiatives was immediately relegated to an obscure city agency called the Department of Small Business Services (SBS)—which had, surprisingly, more blacks at the top under Rudy Giuliani than it does today under Mike Bloomberg.” The four Black commissioners no longer exist, and the department is being run by white employees. (???!!)
Incidentally, where is the mainstream media in the call for accountability? Per Barrett: "If it were anyone else, there would be much more accountability on these promises." He also points out that the media "quiescence" has selectively protected the Bloomberg administration. "I have never seen it so still," he says, contrasting the media's lack of penetrating questions about Bloomberg's second-term record with the intensive coverage of his three immediate predecessors: Giuliani, David Dinkins, and Ed Koch. But if you check the members on Bloomberg LP’s board, you’ll find Rupert Murdock, owner of Fox TV, New York Post and other media outlets. Get the picture?
What is called Bloomberg’s self financing of his campaign, can also be called blatant attempts at vote buying. How many votes can a candidate buy whether with dollars or false promises. And how deep does the commitment go? It is rumored that among the individuals or organizations said to endorse Bloomberg in the Black Community are Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Floyd Flake and Rev. Calvin Butts. Fact or rumor, the assumption is that their constituencies will follow lock step behind them. The assumption that their endorsement will actually trickle down to their followers is (hopefully) erroneous.
One has only to look back at the Nixon “trickle down theory” to remember what it felt like to get trickled on.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For Part 3 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.21.2009
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!!
EIGHT REAL REASONS WHY BILL THOMPSON MUST BE ELECTED MAYOR TO SAVE THE SOUL OF NEW YORK AND WHY WE CANNOT AFFORD BLOOMBERG EVER AGAIN
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Given Bloomberg’s blatant failures over the past 8 years, it is clear that New Yorkers cannot afford one more day, let alone 4 more years of this mayor. The cost of housing has quadrupled, New York is facing the highest percentage of unemployment ever since the great depression. Water and utility bills have increased 98% since Bloomberg’s assuming office in 2002. And one wonders why is it that the founder of Bloomberg LP, which is reputed with being in the forefront of information re Wall Street, Stock Exchange, and investments completely and totally slept the impending and subsequent collapse of Wall Street to the detriment of mainstreet.
Bloomberg, who crossed party lines to run as a Republican against other fellow Democrat contenders to become Mayor of New York in 2001, has obviously found that he can keep New Yorkers confused and off balance if he keeps switching parties. First he’s a Democrat, then he’s Republican, then he’s an “Independent.” (???!!) If he could get away with it he’d be all three. If he can’t even chose which party he represents (Republican), how can he be trusted to truly represent the interests of New York?
BILL THOMPSON HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NEW YORK DEMOCRAT. HAS BEEN LOYAL TO HIS PARTY, BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, LOYAL TO HIS CONSTITUENTS.
In a recent article appearing in the Village Voice entitled Bloomberg III, Wayne Barrett has correctly pointed up some of the inequities New Yorkers have suffered under the Bloomberg Administration. The scrapping of term limits and total disregard for the wishes of the New York Voters is a glaring one. States Barrett: “I believe that the self-serving reversal of term limits was the greatest abuse of power I have covered in more than three decades on this beat.”
Over the past eight years building permits were granted to Bloomberg cronies, changing the New York cityscape - not necessarily always for the better. Though two deadly crane accidents forced buildings commissioner Patricia Lancaster to step down, no one audited previous building permits she signed off on to determine whether they were equitably granted. So hundreds of buildings torn down unnecessarily, replaced by buildings we did not need. The New York skyline is losing buildings of class, being replace by building of glass that have no artistry, personality, and most likely will not last as long as the buildings they replaced.
In fact, whole neighborhoods have been uprooted and destroyed by buildings for the rich, while families are being uprooted -- destroying the quality and personality of the community. These buildings now sit empty forming a new blight of dark canyons where viable communities once stood. Brooklyn has one of the largest gluts of unfinished construction, with at least 66 of them in Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries area.
By the way, exactly how long is a building supposed to be surrounded by scaffolding before the repairs are made? I’ve seen some buildings where the scaffolding has been there as long as six or seven years. With nothing being done to improve the property, leaving dark, unsafe areas to walk through.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For More 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Given Bloomberg’s blatant failures over the past 8 years, it is clear that New Yorkers cannot afford one more day, let alone 4 more years of this mayor. The cost of housing has quadrupled, New York is facing the highest percentage of unemployment ever since the great depression. Water and utility bills have increased 98% since Bloomberg’s assuming office in 2002. And one wonders why is it that the founder of Bloomberg LP, which is reputed with being in the forefront of information re Wall Street, Stock Exchange, and investments completely and totally slept the impending and subsequent collapse of Wall Street to the detriment of mainstreet.
Bloomberg, who crossed party lines to run as a Republican against other fellow Democrat contenders to become Mayor of New York in 2001, has obviously found that he can keep New Yorkers confused and off balance if he keeps switching parties. First he’s a Democrat, then he’s Republican, then he’s an “Independent.” (???!!) If he could get away with it he’d be all three. If he can’t even chose which party he represents (Republican), how can he be trusted to truly represent the interests of New York?
BILL THOMPSON HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NEW YORK DEMOCRAT. HAS BEEN LOYAL TO HIS PARTY, BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, LOYAL TO HIS CONSTITUENTS.
In a recent article appearing in the Village Voice entitled Bloomberg III, Wayne Barrett has correctly pointed up some of the inequities New Yorkers have suffered under the Bloomberg Administration. The scrapping of term limits and total disregard for the wishes of the New York Voters is a glaring one. States Barrett: “I believe that the self-serving reversal of term limits was the greatest abuse of power I have covered in more than three decades on this beat.”
Over the past eight years building permits were granted to Bloomberg cronies, changing the New York cityscape - not necessarily always for the better. Though two deadly crane accidents forced buildings commissioner Patricia Lancaster to step down, no one audited previous building permits she signed off on to determine whether they were equitably granted. So hundreds of buildings torn down unnecessarily, replaced by buildings we did not need. The New York skyline is losing buildings of class, being replace by building of glass that have no artistry, personality, and most likely will not last as long as the buildings they replaced.
In fact, whole neighborhoods have been uprooted and destroyed by buildings for the rich, while families are being uprooted -- destroying the quality and personality of the community. These buildings now sit empty forming a new blight of dark canyons where viable communities once stood. Brooklyn has one of the largest gluts of unfinished construction, with at least 66 of them in Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries area.
By the way, exactly how long is a building supposed to be surrounded by scaffolding before the repairs are made? I’ve seen some buildings where the scaffolding has been there as long as six or seven years. With nothing being done to improve the property, leaving dark, unsafe areas to walk through.
Bill Thompson the right choice for Mayor of New York City.
Stay Tune For More 'Eight Is Enough'
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.14.2009
FAREWELL TO THORNTON "THORNY" J. MEACHAM
LOVE NOTES: FAREWELL TO THORNTON "THORNY" MEACHAM
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
God Bless Thornton J. Meacham
When I received the news that Thornton J. Meacham, the dean of New York Black Lawyers, had made his transition last Sunday, October 4, 2009, I was sad for a minute. That is until I remembered that Thorny (or Meech, as I called him), had lived to be nearly 92 years old, and had accomplished so much in his lifetime.
I was impressed with the fact that he was the first African American to graduate from Fordham Law School, and that he was a formidable barrister in his own right. Those are definitely milestones that he accomplished at a time when there were few of his peers in that realm.
But I was even more impressed that he was a man who loved life, loved people, and people, including yours truly, loved him back. Though he had attained awards and accolades for his accomplishments, it was the fact that he was unpretentious, engaging, and fun loving that endeared him to everyone.
Thorny was comfortable and often present in board rooms and high profile political and social events; but just as comfortable and present in community events, local clubs, parties, and celebrations of things that impacted Black people. In fact, you were just as likely to see him downtown at the Waldorf Astoria for a function, and at Showman's or Perks, later in the evening.
Remember the Copasetics boat ride? Meacham was there. The Support Network New Year Event? Meacham was there. The Omega Psi Phi boat ride? Meacham was there! If there was an after party going on, so was Thorny. The song "Daylight's Going to Catch Me up Again" should have been his theme song. At 4:00AM, Thorny was just getting revved up. He was truly a party animal.
So, no, this is not a sad farewell, this is a message of gratitude. I'm grateful for having known Thornton J. Meacham. For his being a good friend. For his wisdom, knowledge, understanding, energy, and fun loving spirit.
Not only was Thorny a spirit of energy, he loved to dance, and did it beautifully. Woe betide the lady who got on the dance floor with him and could not hold her own. He had steps that attested to the fact that he was a skilled dancer.
The guys who saw what they thought was an old man were soon disabused of that illusion when he outdanced them, leaving them gasping for breath after having danced between six and eight songs straight without stopping (sometimes even with a cane to help him balance!) His dance partner may have been worn out, but he would just grab another partner and keep going.
Speaking of partners, honor and tribute has to be given to Shirley Scott, his life long companion and lady. It's clear that part of what made Meacham the dynamo he was, was her constant presence in his life, at his side, thick and thin, up and down. What a striking pair they were. In this day and age of adversaries, it's wonderful to be in the company of people who are dedicated to each other the way these two were.
My deepest condolences to you Shirley. My blessings to you as well. Saying that he is in a better place is a cliché. And I won't use it here. Because I think the best place he ever was, was when you two were together.
There are, however, so many, many memories that you can look upon with fondness and pride; so many adventures and ventures that you two have shared. You are a sister to be admired for having the energy and grace that matched his (or was it that he had the energy and stamina to match yours?), that has transcended a quarter of a century. WOW!!!
I will miss the little man with the slightly raspy voice, the designer suits, the big smile, the iron clad handshake, and the energy that put ten men to shame.
As we bid him farewell, I have but to hope that each of us is also blessed with the same energy, stamina, love of life, and longevity to go partying through the rest of our days with someone great in our lives, with good friends that are happy to see us and be with us. What a major blessing that would be.
With love,
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
FAREWELL TO THORNTON "THORNY" J. MEACHAM
http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com
10.10.2009
Patriotic Retirement Plan
Patriotic Retirement Plan
by Gloria Dulan-Wilson
One of my Oklahoma Homies sent me this from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday, October 4, 2009. And I thought it quite and interesting possibility. It would certainly solve a lot of my problems. And I'm willing to bet, there are quite a number of us who would have instantaneous relief.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
My homeboy stated in transmitting this to me "I think this guy nailed it!" Check it out and see what you think.
Dear Mr. President:
Please find below my suggestion for fixing Americas Economy:
"Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the
Patriotic Retirement Plan:
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire: Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR: Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage:
Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their constituents pay their taxes...
If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know."
I sounds good to me. Goodness knows that if he sticks a help thy neighbor clause on it, it would also mean that each one in a neighborhood would help retain the quality and standard of living, we would then be moving in the direction of creating quality circles in different neighborhoods.
Sooooo I'm circulating it. Roll it around and see what you think. Try it, you'll like it.
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
by Gloria Dulan-Wilson
One of my Oklahoma Homies sent me this from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday, October 4, 2009. And I thought it quite and interesting possibility. It would certainly solve a lot of my problems. And I'm willing to bet, there are quite a number of us who would have instantaneous relief.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
My homeboy stated in transmitting this to me "I think this guy nailed it!" Check it out and see what you think.
Dear Mr. President:
Please find below my suggestion for fixing Americas Economy:
"Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the
Patriotic Retirement Plan:
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire: Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR: Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage:
Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their constituents pay their taxes...
If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know."
I sounds good to me. Goodness knows that if he sticks a help thy neighbor clause on it, it would also mean that each one in a neighborhood would help retain the quality and standard of living, we would then be moving in the direction of creating quality circles in different neighborhoods.
Sooooo I'm circulating it. Roll it around and see what you think. Try it, you'll like it.
Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
10.09.2009
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE - GET OVER IT!!
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson ECLECTICALLY BLACK
President Barack Obama was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, today, October 9, 2009, and the racism could not have been thicker amongst the right wing media pundits and their Republican right wing “leaders.”
The right wing media rushed to diminish the importance and significance of the Nobel Peace Prize, with some having the temerity, gall and audacity to suggest that the President should turn it down for now until he “earns” the Peace Prize.
Why do I call it racist? Because heretofore you’ve never heard such a hue and cry about a Black man winning the Nobel.
They of course call it being “objective.” But, just for the record, there’s no such thing as objectivity in journalism. Because in the midst of the acrimonious statements, there was actually nothing of merit to show that Obama was not worthy of consideration.
President Obama humbly stated that he felt that the merit was due in large part to the things he planned to do for the US. But the Nobel Peace Prize committee is not easily fooled. They have tracked this man throughout his wonderful campaign, through the economic down turn that turned America and Europe on its ears, the inauguration, and his efforts to bring comprehensive health to the US, and the effort to maintain higher ground amidst a pool of swill.
Obama has set an example that most previous presidents have yet to remotely measure up to. Whether or not he ever resolves Iraq or Afghanistan -- issues that were in the making long before his being elected President -- he fully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because of his clarity, his charity, his ensample as a father, a husband, a man of the community, a leader in his own right, and now the best President this country has ever had -- right or left.
So to the jealous ones: GET OVER IT, CONGRATULATE HIM AND LEARN FROM HIM. We tire of the efforts on the part of the media right, the Republican right, and just plain racists to diminish this President’s accomplishments.
While they try to tear him down with their criticisms, they don’t seem to be able to do the same in reference to his predecessor -- BUSH -- who tanked the economy, brought in despots to do business with, allowed thousands of people to drown while he fiddled around; while he hired cronies to ruin the government at a substantial gain for themselves. Nine months later and the media has yet to put him on blast.
Or is it that this convenient form of amnesia only comes if the President turns out to be Black or a Democrat? It’s an interesting phenomenon that we, as Barack Obama supporters, regardless of whether we’re Black, White, Asian, or whatever, have to make sure that they know that we know the name of their game -- and that it does not work here.
My congratulations to President Obama for deservedly winning the Nobel Peace Prize. My congratulations to the Peace Prize committee for having the intelligence, the insight and the wisdom to select President Obama, and may those who are yapping off at the mouth find at least a scintilla of the qualities and courage President Obama has to be worthy of such an accolade.
Stay blessed and Eclectically Black
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson ECLECTICALLY BLACK
President Barack Obama was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, today, October 9, 2009, and the racism could not have been thicker amongst the right wing media pundits and their Republican right wing “leaders.”
The right wing media rushed to diminish the importance and significance of the Nobel Peace Prize, with some having the temerity, gall and audacity to suggest that the President should turn it down for now until he “earns” the Peace Prize.
Why do I call it racist? Because heretofore you’ve never heard such a hue and cry about a Black man winning the Nobel.
They of course call it being “objective.” But, just for the record, there’s no such thing as objectivity in journalism. Because in the midst of the acrimonious statements, there was actually nothing of merit to show that Obama was not worthy of consideration.
President Obama humbly stated that he felt that the merit was due in large part to the things he planned to do for the US. But the Nobel Peace Prize committee is not easily fooled. They have tracked this man throughout his wonderful campaign, through the economic down turn that turned America and Europe on its ears, the inauguration, and his efforts to bring comprehensive health to the US, and the effort to maintain higher ground amidst a pool of swill.
Obama has set an example that most previous presidents have yet to remotely measure up to. Whether or not he ever resolves Iraq or Afghanistan -- issues that were in the making long before his being elected President -- he fully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because of his clarity, his charity, his ensample as a father, a husband, a man of the community, a leader in his own right, and now the best President this country has ever had -- right or left.
So to the jealous ones: GET OVER IT, CONGRATULATE HIM AND LEARN FROM HIM. We tire of the efforts on the part of the media right, the Republican right, and just plain racists to diminish this President’s accomplishments.
While they try to tear him down with their criticisms, they don’t seem to be able to do the same in reference to his predecessor -- BUSH -- who tanked the economy, brought in despots to do business with, allowed thousands of people to drown while he fiddled around; while he hired cronies to ruin the government at a substantial gain for themselves. Nine months later and the media has yet to put him on blast.
Or is it that this convenient form of amnesia only comes if the President turns out to be Black or a Democrat? It’s an interesting phenomenon that we, as Barack Obama supporters, regardless of whether we’re Black, White, Asian, or whatever, have to make sure that they know that we know the name of their game -- and that it does not work here.
My congratulations to President Obama for deservedly winning the Nobel Peace Prize. My congratulations to the Peace Prize committee for having the intelligence, the insight and the wisdom to select President Obama, and may those who are yapping off at the mouth find at least a scintilla of the qualities and courage President Obama has to be worthy of such an accolade.
Stay blessed and Eclectically Black
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
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