Something for all of us to think about?

From the Guardian:

“No one in the public eye should expect to avoid scrutiny and criticism. As the UK’s first black female MP, Diane Abbott never had the opportunity to be so naive. She has not only weathered political storms and prejudice but endured years of outright abuse without complaint. Now, as she has revealed in the Guardian, things are getting worse – and it is preventing people from entering the field or speaking out”….:

“Once, the pushback was against the actual arguments for equality and social justice. Now the pushback is the politics of personal destruction,” she wrote.”

That reflects in part a political discourse that is becoming coarser and more vicious. But those who do not fit the traditional mould of a public figure – white, male and straight – are more often subjected to vitriol, and such vitriol will more often focus on their identity, not their opinions. …

It should be extraordinary that high-profile women receive a torrent of hate messages directed at their gender and ethnicity, and rape and death threats. Instead, it is becoming routine. Female MPs say they feel physically unsafe; Jo Cox was targeted online before her murder by a far-right terrorist, and her death is used to threaten them. …Social media has amplified longstanding prejudice, increasing the pressure on its targets through volume and normalising personalised abuse and hatred….

1. ….leaders need to make it clear that there is no place for misogyny and racism in public life.
2. Technology firms must get as serious about tackling abuse as they are about, for example, copyright infringement.
3. Other institutions too must consider how they handle the problem.
4. Finally, the rest of us should challenge prejudice, resist the normalisation of cruelty and bigotry, and consider how we can build a civil, inclusive and constructive public sphere… “
5. And maybe agree to post using our actual names [unless there is a real threat of exposure to harm]

“Freedom of speech is precious. But it is not an inalienable right to bully, threaten and belittle others into silence without consequence.”

Thanks to the Lo-Down for the article on Robert Newman’s passing and this Channel 12 Long Island News piece:

“Spending more than 40 years with Ladder 18, many colleagues referred to Newman as a legend….

Newman’s friends say he turned down multiple opportunities for promotions during his years with Ladder 18, saying he just wanted to stay with his firehouse and help the folks of the Lower East Side.”

The Lower East Side thanks Firefighter Newman for his service, steadfastness, generosity, loyalty and bravery on behalf of our communities.

“Newman is the fourth firefighter to die this year of 9/11-related illness and the 126th since the terror attack in 2001.

Newman was also a Vietnam veteran.”

The Manhattan Borough President honored the firefighters of The Pitt in May 2015.

From: State of Politics

“In a 929-word statement issued Tuesday afternoon…

“Cuomo added he was sympathetic to the support from environmental groups who want to cut down on plastic bag waste, but also the argument the fee amounts to a regressive tax…” [no one on assistance would have to pay] [no mention of windfall to oil and plastics industries]

In place of the city-based surcharge, Cuomo is forming a “task force” to take review how to reduce waste.

…Local governments and stakeholders will also be included. 

Local stakeholders & governments DID weigh in on the issue. That’s the bill WE passed.

….By the end of this year, this Task Force will conclude with a report and proposed legislation.

….I look forward to New York State leading the way on this issue.”

Too late! NY State is already lagging behind. Rwanda already has one.

Gong hei fat choy! This year marks the 10th Annual Lantern Installation, created by MS 131 students and Hester Street Collaborative’s  Ground Up Design Education Program. The lanterns will be on display in Sara D. Roosevelt Park from now until mid-March. 

From BoweryBoogie:

“Saturday afternoon, Chinatown rang in the year of the Rooster with quite a bang. Literally.

For the eighteenth year running, the Better Chinatown Society hosted the Firecracker Ceremony… attracting hundreds to the Hester Playground inside Sara D. Roosevelt Park.  The event featured traditional song and dance, Tai Chi, dragons, and lions.”

Retrain Workers for Long-Term Work Lives and to Build Energy Infrastructure that is Sustainable and Long-Term Cost Effective for NY State

Times Union Editorial Board:

“…By its own account, 2016 was a “monumental year” for Exelon, for good reason. It’s not every year that a company gets a $7.6 billion boost courtesy of New Yorkers.

Exelon is slated to reap that windfall over the next 12 years through a fee on just about anyone who gets an electric bill in New York, all to support its nuclear power plants in the state. That’s an energy tax by any other name, but as a fee levied by a state commission, it has drawn far less attention than, say, an income tax increase of that scale would receive.

Lawmakers, however, will have a chance to take a closer look at this huge corporate subsidy for a company with an annual net income of more than $2 billion. They’ll also have a chance to look more closely at how this new tax came about in yet another example of New York’s shadow government at work.

The money will be raised in the form of Zero Emissions Credits, which, simply put, translate into a fee on electric utility bills in the state. It will go to Exelon as part of a deal to keep open its two Nine Mile Nuclear Station plants and its James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba, and its R.E. Ginna Plant near Rochester, for a dozen more years.”

Slant City and State: by Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter @nicolegelinas.

“For nearly a decade, since the Bloomberg era, the city has been trying to cut down on plastic bag use. New Yorkers use 9 billion plastic bags a year – making up two percent of all waste – most only for a few minutes. Unlike paper, metal, glass and higher-quality plastic, these bags aren’t recyclable. The city spends $12.5 million a year – and requires 7,000 truck trips – to cart 91,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills. Loose bags clog up sewer drains and end up in waterways, where fish and birds eat the plastic particles.

Last year, the New York City Council passed a bill, sponsored by lower Manhattan’s Margaret Chin and Park Slope’s Brad Lander, and signed into law by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The law, set to take effect Feb. 15, is straightforward: Supermarkets and most other stores – except liquor stores – must charge customers at least five cents for each carryout plastic or paper bag. The stores would keep the money, so it’s not a tax. People who use food stamps and WIC benefits are exempt.”

From The Lo-Down:

“Lower East Side activists have not given up on their campaign to win Rivington House back for the Lower East Side community.

A local group, Neighbors to Save Rivington House, announced today that its will be hosting two visioning events to discuss the future of the former nursing home for AIDS patients. They are undeterred by repeated statements from Mayor de Blasio that the the sale of the building to luxury condo developers can likely not be reversed. His administration’s decision to lift deed restrictions on the longtime community facility touched off one of the biggest scandals of the mayor’s administration.”

We are working to get this public resource, The Stanton SDR Park Building, returned to the public for better uses for this neighborhood.

One recent proposal has been to share the space as a community center (to be determined, but possible uses have been explored: resiliency center, youth center, etc.) with a homeless information resource center run by a local experienced organization with a neighborhood track record and expertise.

The homeless are here. We think anchoring the park and the homeless with a place to go that is staffed and maintained could make our park safer, more attractive and mostly – more humane.

Thanks Bedford+Bowery for the follow up look at the Stanton Building. Here’s the full article.

“Advocates who want to turn a red-brick building on the northern side of the park into a community center have staged awareness campaigns and brainstorming sessions, as well as meetings in tandem with officials and local nonprofits….

…the Coalition is waiting for the parks department to approve a Request for Special Permission for a nonprofit to come in and run the park. They would then take over and start private fundraising…

Webster vouches for the socially-minded community, saying “They’re a good and generous folk. And they also know that there’s a crisis of homelessness. And you know, we would do our share. It’s a big ask for a neighborhood, I get that, but this neighborhood has always risen to the occasion and I believe we will [again].”

Neighbors2Save Rivington House March 12th Forum. Details to follow soon.

Other news from Neighbors to Save Rivington House

The Real Deal: City says Slate exposed tenants to lead-contaminated dust

The landlord, which purchased the Rivington House in a controversial deal last year, exposed tenants in two of its Upper East Side apartment buildings to hazardous amounts of dust containing lead, the city’s Department of Health told DNAinfo. Slate  kicked up the dust while renovating 1288 and 1290 First Avenue, which Slate purchased last April. The city’s DOH halted all work on properties until the dust is cleaned up. The developer maintained that once lead was discovered on the property, they addressed the issue immediately….

In the past year, Slate’s been the subject of intense scrutiny due to its purchase of the Rivington House for $116 million (along with partners Adam America and China Vanke). In July, the city’s Department of Investigation released a report that made it seem that Slate conspired to keep the deal quiet until the owner, the Allure Group, successfully lifted a deed restriction on the property. In December, the city acknowledged that it didn’t have a legal case against Allure, despite the mayor’s insistence that he would sue the developer for flipping the Lower East Side property.

Under pressure from the city, Slate also sold its stake in the controversial Bedford-Union Armory redevelopment project in Crown Heights to lead developer BFC Partners. [DNAinfo]

The Lo-Down: Squadron Quizzes Mayor About City’s Unwillingness to Sue Former Rivington House Owner 

“Squadron said, “Frankly it leads to questions when (officials) at the highest levels of the administration (are) accusing (the developers) of misleading (the city). “To just be told, ‘we agree but we can’t,’ is not sufficient for a community that is still smarting from the loss of a healthcare facility.”

The mayor agreed to set up a meeting between the city’s top lawyers and Squadron. He also pointed to new city laws, sponsored by local City Council member Margaret Chin, meant to prevent future Rivington House-like fiascos. And he said, “We committed to a nursing facility as part of our Health & Hospitals system that will help low-income seniors in your community as one way to give back some of what was lost. That is a good faith effort.”

Daily News: Questions from the Dans: De Blasio needs to answer Squadron and Garodnick on his entanglements

“On Monday, state Sen. Daniel Squadron demanded an explanation for why the city has declined to sue the developer de Blasio claims deceived his officials into lifting deed restrictions protecting the Lower East Side nursing home known as Rivington House, allowing its conversion into luxury condominiums .”

“Following a frenzy of lobbying by two donors to de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York, lobbyist Jim Capalino and union 1199SEIU, a city agency scrambled to satisfy the demands of nursing home buyer the Allure Group.

Those demands included the deed restrictions’ removal at the bargain price of just $16 million, far lower than area property values would dictate, all on the pretense that a nursing home would remain. Allure then turned around and sold the building to a luxury condo developer for $116 million.

Quite the rip-off. Like this editorial page, Squadron remains puzzled over de Blasio’s claim that his lawyers are powerless to file a credible case under the state False Claims Act, which punishes malefactors who bilk New York taxpayers.”