Petition to NYCHA - CON-ED - Bloomberg - Restore Power Now; Cuomo Offers Jobs to Rebuild New York

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson It should come as no surprise that the Bloomberg administration has taken great care of his Manhattan upper east side cronies, while those in the NYCHA houses continue to go begging. Interesting isn't it how you can see and hear about the continued plight of those in Long Island, while those in our own five boroughs are going largely ignored. https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# While there are threats against LIPA by Governor Cuomo - and indeed, the LIPA President has stepped down - what of the negligence of our brothers and sisters on the part of dear old Con Edison? Where are the threats of contract cancellation by Governor Cuomo against them? And, while we're at it: How does the Transit Authority get to fix its mouth to say they won't extend Metro Cards for those who had paid for theirs, but were without service for a week, and at the same time, have the temerity and the gall to ask for a fare increase???? By the way, who's running the rails these days? Another import from anywhere but here, who never took a train, but is getting a great big salary to continually provide poor service at our expense? My friends and associates, Brother Zach Husser, and my Sister/Soror/Friend, Bea DuPont, recently forwarded this petition to me; and I'm passing it on to you. It's really time we took this to a whole 'nuther level! https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# We now have re-elected our President; Job 1 = COMPLETE. And we did it despite a whole hurricane that threatened to wipe us out, and very nearly did. We even got Bloomie to cancel the New York Marathon, so that the monies and enerigies could be repurposed for those who needed it the most. But we are now going into the third week since the devastation, and it appears that we now have to put the ersatz mayor on notice that New York likewise belongs to the people - all the people - not just the East Side, or the Park Ave/Haves -- but all of us, and we demand our due service restored - immediately, if not sooner! Of course, if in the time this is published, so much the better. However, the fact remains, the least of those (financially speaking, not spiritually) are being neglected. Time to sound off and sign the petition. https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# If this election showed us anything, it showed us how powerful we really are. It showed us that we really do know how to stick together, unify, and get things done. It showed us that we are a power and a force to be reckoned with; that united there is nothing we can't do, and that includes getting the power restored to NYCHA Houses; getting paid for the jobs that are now proliferating to rebuild New York - for indeed they should start right here with us, not some outside entities looking to get paid off our plight. ** (see job info from Sen. Eric Adams, below) We not only can rebuild and repair our homes, we can make them even better than before, because this time we can have an actual say in what gets done, and who does it. Don't let this petition just become a gripe session, where we bash the authorities and point fingers of blame. Yes we were hammered, and the damage is done, and there are those who have responsibilities in the turn around - and right in the middle of that is WE, THE PEOPLE - Black or otherwise. So, complete the petition, pass it on, and also apply for those positions. Let's not get left out of our own self salvation! https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK Gloria Dulan-Wilson The letter from Zach and Bea follows: From: Zach Husser, Sr. Date: Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 4:27 AM Subject: Re: Restore Power to all NYCHA residents -- sign and call We need to go to all of the New York City Housing Developments in Far Rockaway, Coney Island, and Staten Island and help out. We are the ones who will do what is needed. Bring some food, clothing, water, etc. along with YOU. Black People are NEEDED to help Our Sisters and Brothers! This is what WE need to do right now! In the Interest of Doing The Work, Brother Zachary C. Husser, Community Organizer Subject: Restore Power to all NYCHA residents -- sign and call https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# CALL MAYOR BLOOMBERG: THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO OUR NYCHA NEIGHBORS IS UNACCEPTABLE!! Twelve days and counting after Sandy hit on October 29, children, parents, families, the elderly and disabled remain without lights, heat, hot water or power in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). This is true for houses in Gowanus, Red Hook, the Rockaways, Coney Island and elsewhere. John Rhea, the chairman of NYCHA, told The Huffington Post that he and the organization have been doing the best they could. Unfortunately, he said, these buildings happened to be located in the areas hardest hit by the hurricane. Yet, power in those hard hit areas has been restored – just not in NYCHA housing. Mayor Bloomberg has not addressed or remedied the failure of his city’s response. Nor has the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which funds NYCHA in part, sent federal contractors or generators to help coordinate this unacceptable human emergency. Instead, thousands of individual volunteers, and community-organizing and health organizations like Occupy Sandy, Children’s Health Fund, Masbia Soup Kitchen, Red Hook Initiative, Make the Road NY, CAAAV, Doctor’s Without Borders (launching it’s first effort ever within the United States), and numerous religious institutions have tried to fill in where Mayor Bloomberg and NYCHA have failed NYC residents in desperate need. CALL MAYOR BLOOMBERG TODAY: 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675). Tell him the response has been unacceptable. CALL HUD’s NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS TODAY: (202) 708-1112. Tell Secretary Shaun Donovan that their response has been unacceptable. See/Read: Lucas Kavner, For Public Housing Residents After Sandy, ‘A Slow-Motion Katrina’, The Huffington Post, Nov. 9, 2012 Alan Feuer, Where Fema Fell Short, Occupy Sandy Was There, N.Y. Times, Nov. 9, 2012 Greg Smith, A Living Hell in NYCHA Houses: Agency Ignores Blackout Victims Trapped Since Hurricane Sandy, N.Y. Daily News, Nov. 7, 2012 Greg Smith, Housing Authority Scrambling to Restore Power to 11 Developments in Queens and Brooklyn by This Weekend, but Mayor Bloomberg says, “I’m not sure we can make it,” N.Y. Daily News, Nov. 9, 2012 https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# Beatrice DuPont www.ardysslife.com/magicminute Protect Your Health & Thrive Additionally, State Senator, soon to be Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams sent out this alert: From the Desk of NYS Senator Eric Adams: Governor Cuomo Announces Over $27 Million Federal Grant to Hire Workers to Clean Up Communities Impacted by Hurricane Sandy Grant Targets New Yorkers Who Lost Employment Due to Hurricane Sandy or are Unemployed and Not Receiving Unemployment Benefits Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State has received $27,792,296 in federal Disaster National Emergency Grant (NEG) funds. The grant will be used to hire workers who lost their jobs as a direct result of Hurricane Sandy in Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Westchester counties to help clean up impacted communities. "This federal grant will provide funds to hire much-needed extra workers to help clean up and recover communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy and put unemployed New Yorkers back to work," Governor Cuomo said. "I thank Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis for her quick response to deliver assistance to our state." To be eligible, workers must be unemployed as a result of Hurricane Sandy or unemployed and not receiving unemployment benefits or other types of income support. Workers interested in this program should call 1-888-4-NYSDOL (1-888-469-7365). The New York State Department of Labor will work with local officials to recruit and hire workers. Information will also be available at local Disaster Recovery Centers and One-Stop Career Centers. A list of One-Stop Career Centers can be found on the State Department of Labor's website. Counties eligible for cleanup assistance under this grant are those covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance. They include Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Westchester counties. https://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-bloomberg-nycha-and-hud-restore-power-to-all-nycha-residents# Those of you who can, please donate food, clothing, and yes, shelter, to the brothers and sisters who have been displaced and devastated by this freak of nature. And everyone should be praying daily for the complete and total recovery of neighborhoods, throughout New York, New Jersey and other areas hit. Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Take The Voting Machines to the Victims of Hurricane Sandy

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson Hurricane Sandy roared through here on a mission, and with a ferocity never before witnessed on the East Coast, leaving devastation and destruction in his path. New York and New Jersey sustained major damages - physically, mentally and spiritually and the aftermath is still being assessed. President Obama and Governor Chris Christie surveyed the utter destruction of the Jersey Shore. Mayor Bloomberg kept New Yorkers abreast of rescue efforts, transportation delays, and plans for reconstruction over the next days weeks and months. First responders, FEMA, and other organizations tried to make sure those hardest hit had food clothing and shelter. And everybody prayed. And as we continue to clean up after Sandy, grieve over those who have lost their lives, their homes, their loved ones. My condolences to all who were victims of this horrible force of nature. But the 800 pound gorilla in the room is how will the voting be handled come Tuesday, November 6th, 2012? With so many power outtages, so many people displaced, so many people in a state of shock and despair, how will we as a nation, get through this election? This question was posed to me by my best friend, Annie Gee in Philly, who is highly concerned about making sure the victims aren't further victimized by not being able to vote on election day. With the Rep-ugh-blicans already trying to disenfranchise so many of us, will this deter others from voting and give them an ersatz victory? Power outtages have rendered some of the original sites useless. Many of the buildings no longer exist - especially in the hardest hit areas of New Jersey, Staten Island, Far Rockaway , and affected states along the coastline, where Sandy tossed them around, pulling them off their foundations as though they were mere doll houses. John Conklin, New York Board of Elections spokesman, said changes in polling sites are possible.“We don’t know what the changes will be,” Conklin said. “The local boards in the storm areas are assessing their poll sites right now, so they’re looking at whether the poll site has power, whether it could have power by Election Day, whether it’s accessible to the general public — can voters get to it? Can the board get to it and get machines there? And is the building structurally sound?” In listening to the news reports, there seems to be no plan in place to make sure that these sites are replaced. The New York State Board of Elections also announced Thursday that it would extend application and submission deadlines for absentee ballots, and local boards in storm-impacted areas have spent much of the week surveying polling places and considering alternatives for Election Day. They've extended the deadline for voters to apply in person for abseentee ballots to Monday, November 5, and had voted to accept mailed or faxed applications for absentee ballots through Nov. 2, easing the original Oct. 30 deadline. (what?) Rockland County residents, however were unable to get to the post office for the last three days according to Louis Babcock, Republican elections commissioner for Rockland County.The board also extended the deadline to submit the ballots in person by six days, from Nov. 13 to Nov. 19. Ballots returned by mail still must be postmarked Nov. 5 but have until Nov. 19 to reach the local board. For those who can’t vote in person, they may designate another person to submit absentee ballots on their behalf to local boards before polls close Nov. 6. Polls will be open Election Day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. But whether the various boards of elections in the most highly affected states have made preparations and allowances for people already suffering from devastating losses is still unclear. And the real question is, considering the trauma they've experienced, will people even be interested in voting? They need some additional hand holding and encouragement during this period of despair. They've got enough to contend with without having to go running around trying to jump through these latest hoops in order to vote. I think the boards of elections in each state and municipality hit by Sandy can do a lot better. So here are some suggestions that may be helpful in making sure no one's vote goes uncounted: 1) Provide mobile trucks with the voting machines on them at the emergency shelters where people still can't get back to their homes. They can be positioned at the different rescue centers and shelters on election day to provide them with an opportunity to vote. 2) Deliver the absentee ballots for early voting prior to the election day to the various emergency shelter sites, rather than requiring them to travel to postal facilities. And have postal trucks positioned at the sites so they can be mailed out directly from them. 3)Volunteers can organize vans and other modes of mass transportation to and from polling places for victims of Hurricane Sandy. 4) Where there are power outtages, generators can be installed t run the electronic voting machines; and/or paper ballots can be substituted for electronic voting; 5) Volunteers and community based organizations can coordinate with local municipalities and to make sure the election process goes smoothly. Provide those people who have lost their homes with coffee, tea, and other comfort items while they're voting. 6) FEMA and the Red Cross can provide options for voting places and opportunities for victims. 7) Additionally, since there are many who do not have radio or TV contact with the outside world, door knocking, flyers, and other modes of communication and outreach should be developed and put into effect immediately so that they are informed of their options. 8) Since the New York Marathon has been cancelled the equipment and hospitality set up they would have been used for them can be deployed to the various shelters - not just for election day - but for food and comfort stations while people are transitioning back to their homes, or into new homes. 9) This not exhaustive. There's room for more creative ideas. We definitely can't leave things to chance, or to the just bureaucrats. These plans should be put into action immediately, if not sooner. Regardless of your race, ethnicity, gender, or political pursuasion, it's much too important to leave something as important as your vote to the bureaucrats. I'm posting this on my blog: www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com. Regardless of whether you are in any of the effected states or communities, or not, please pass this on, take action and make it happen. We are really all in this together, and can't allow geography or neighborhood divide us. Churches, community action groups, elected officials, need to be about it. Remember "Teamwork makes the dream work!" It will be far worse to have endured this horrible experience and then wake up on November 7th and find out that the aid and assistance you had been promised, and so desperately need, are now in the hands of heartless individuals who care more for the dollar bottom line than your welfare and recovery. Paraphrasing a time honored institution, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF): A VOTE IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE. My prayers and condolences to those who were victimized by this vicious hurricane. Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK Gloria Dulan-Wilson