Today my wife wore her new "Superfund the Gowanus" T-shirt today (why did they use a whale on the shirt?...a whale in the Gowanus would be in serious trouble even if it wasn't a toxic waste site). This reminded me that I needed to update my coverage of the drive to clean up the Gowanus Canal through the EPA's designation of it as a Superfund site.

[UPDATE: I should add that State Senator Daniel Squadron has also added his name, alongside Senator Velmanette Montgomery, in urging Superfund Status for the Gowanus.]

What strikes me in this battle is that some pretty serious experts are declaring in favor of Superfund status. I previously mentioned that the EPA, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, The Army Corps of Engineers, Columbia University’s Urban Design Lab, Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club all support Superfund designation for the Gowanus. I have been criticizing the Republicans for nearly a decade now for ignoring the expert advice of scientists. Now I find the same situation in Brooklyn: people want to ignore the expert advice of what seems like a pretty amazing coalition of organizations. If it was just FROGG and Sierra Club, well, I might be less certain. But when you add Riverkeeper (an excellent organization), the Army Corps of Engineers, Columbia University’s Urban Design Lab and the EPA, I become pretty certain that Superfund is the way to go.

I will review my previous information below. But first I want to highlight another expert opinion: that of Tom Angotti, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Community Planning & Development at Hunter College. Another voice I would hesitate to ignore! Here is part of his statement from an excellent piece for Pardon Me For Asking on May 22, 2009:  read more »

Bruce Ratner's gigantic Atlantic Yards project has already been costing YOU, the taxpayer, millions of dollars. You have even been asked to pay for the cost of the land! But the story keeps getting worse and worse. It seems Ratner's arena will be an ongoing money sink for New York City, and further more, some of the federal bailout money to help the MTA and keep out transit working in NYC will actually go to Bruce Ratner. This man is one of the greediest in the city! And with people from Pataki to Bloomberg to Marty Markowitz to Vito Lopez (corrupt Party Boss and the newest ally of Working Families Party) all helping him out, taxpayers are getting repeatedly screwed over.

This comes from Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn:

At State Senate Hearing on Ratner's Atlantic Yards Proposal:

NYC IBO: Nets Arena Would Be Money-Loser for NY City

MTA: Will Bail Out Ratner from Financial Commitments  read more »

Sunday, May 31, 2009, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Athens Park in Astoria, 30th Ave. & 30th St. (take the N/W train to 30th Avenue)

We need to let our state Senators, including those in Queens who have not yet come on board, know that there is tremendous support for marriage equality.

Recently, there has been positive movement in Queens; help keep things going in the right direction! Spread the word, and come to Astoria.

This event is sponsored by Western Queens for Marriage Equality and Marriage Equality New York.

At a press conference, Mayor Bloomberg announced, regarding the city's economy, that "I’m reasonably optimistic that we’ve turned the corner.” When Azi tried to ask him if his rationale for extending term limits was -- but Bloomberg cut him off, saying it wasn't a serious question. Moments later, Bloomberg called Azi "a disgrace."

Someone's a disgrace, all right; decide for yourself.

As a Puerto Rican black woman with a graduate education and a new media platform in the form of a blog, it is my duty to rally my people into a frenzy of il-advised yet necessary reverse racist shenanigans. It is the Puerto Rican Woman Of Color's (aka, PRWOC) burden to bring meaning and a sense of purpose to the lives of oppressed white men like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh.

So please, let's make sure that we get on with the program of alienating, belittling and oppressing that most fragile of ethnic and gender groups in the United States, the disgraced former lawmaker and republican ex-speaker of the House. Let's make sure that we play our manifest destiny of bringing oppressive woe to the likes of Newt Gingrich. Or to poor drug abusing, child prostitution enabling underpriviledged chaps like Rush Limbaugh.

And if you do a funny pic like the one above, you get to win a culturekitchen FOCK t-shirt.

So here's what you need to do:  read more »

Recently I wrote an article about how IND and politician David Yassky have been completely betraying their so-called "reform" roots, right down to donations to Brooklyn Party Boss Vito Lopez. Interestingly this has been a criticism of IND that the Working Families Party has often made, somewhat hypocritically, I have always thought.

Well, WFP and IND seem in a competition for both hypocrisy and for who can help Vito Lopez more.

Now, last time I wrote about this someone asked why I think Lopez is so corrupt. You see, in my neck of the woods the name "Vito Lopez" is such a by-word for corruption I find it unneccessary to explain. People around here (Park Slope) will vote against a candidate supported by Vito Lopez every chance they can get.  read more »

Sobering news this AM for Democrats: Anthony Weiner, the scrappy Congressman from the Ninth District, is withdrawing from the mayoral race. Weiner lays out his reasoning in a Times Op-Ed.

[A] lot of people I have talked to have asked a different question: “How can you win?”

But for me, these have been side issues. What has animated me most during these past months is how much Washington has changed, and the potential for greater movement still. With a progressive sweep in all branches of the federal government, major economic reform, a new energy bill and an overhaul of health care ahead, this is a moment when ideas matter. I’ve had to evaluate what I could accomplish in Washington if I was in a heated campaign in New York City at the same time.  read more »

The National Jewsih Democratic Council issued this statement regarding the Sotomayor nomination:

Obama Makes the Right Choice with Selection of Sotomayor to the Supreme Court

NJDC welcomes President Barack Obama’s selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. With the selection of Sotomayor, Obama has shown sound judgment and profound respect for our nation’s highest court by selecting an individual who has strong credentials, is highly regarded, and is committed to our constitutional values, rights, and liberties.

We are also proud of Obama’s commitment to have the Supreme Court reflect America’s rich and diverse population, by selecting the first Hispanic justice. More importantly, the President’s nominee has the intellectual capacity and real world experience to be a world class justice.

We applaud this selection and expect the nomination of Sotomayor to receive Senate confirmation in a timely manner.  read more »

Here's what they're saying.

Schumer:

[...]“In addition to having more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years, Sotomayor will bring an important perspective to the Court as both a woman and a Latina. Her life story, which has taken her from a public housing project in the Bronx to the finest schools in the county and a distinguished legal career, is beyond compelling. It will give the Court some needed understanding of how ordinary Americans live. Her outstanding legal mind, and her compelling life experience, is just the combination this Court needs in its next justice.

“Given her track record of excellence and moderation, and her life story, it’s going to be very hard for any senator, Republican or Democrat, to vote against her.”

Gillibrand:

“I spoke with President Obama this morning and told him that he had made a historic and fantastic decision,” said Senator Gillibrand. “In Judge Sotomayor, we have a superbly qualified jurist, who understands, respects, and connects with the people whose lives will be affected by the Court. Judge Sotomayor will bring invaluable experience and much needed diversity to our nation’s highest court. I look forward to a respectful and swift confirmation process in which Congress and the American people can learn more about Judge Sotomayor’s phenomenal qualifications.”

Paterson and Smith over the fold.  read more »

Politicker has the reaction of Ruben Diaz of the Bronx to the Sotomayor nomination:

"For Hispanics and for all Puerto Ricans, it's an achievement that is long overdue," Diaz said. "The Democratic Party has taken us for granted for so long, and we feel we have been there for the Democratic Party always."

He said Sotomayor, currently a judge on Second Circuit Court of Appeals, was "very qualified" but said that "for Christians, it will be bad."

The Huffington Post, meanwhile, quotes pro-equality organizations that will surely drive Diaz barking mad.

"Nobody wanted to talk to the queer person at that time," said Ettelbrick, who represented Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "She was the only one [on the advisory committee] who made a point to come over and introduce herself. She was totally interested [in gay civil rights issues] and supportive."

"From everything I know, Judge Sotomayor is an outstanding choice - fair and aware, open and judicious," said Evan Wolfson, head of the national Freedom to Marry organization. "I believe she has the demonstrated commitment to principles of equal protection and inclusion that defines a good nominee to the Supreme Court.

Imagine that, Senator Diaz.

Can't. Stop. Smiling.

Go Sonia Sotomayor, GO!

This is a statement from IND President Kenn Lowy regarding the recent endorsement of John Heyer by the club and the issues it has raised:

Last week the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND) endorsed John Heyer for the 39th City Council District and this act has set many things in motion. I have known John for many years and I respect his right to have his views. However, in two crucial areas our views are diametrically opposed.

My mother, the author Bonnie Bluh, spent her entire adult life fighting for women's rights. From an early age I saw first hand how important and vital this struggle was. Her first published book followed the beginning of the women’s rights movement in Europe during the 1970s. That book "Woman to Woman" charts the remarkable struggles women had to go through to obtain basic rights in some of the most advanced countries in the world. One of those rights, a woman's right to choose, is not negotiable for me. John does not believe in a woman’s right to choose.  read more »

President Obama will announce his pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter today at 10:15 Eastern. Souter, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, will retire at the end of this term.

His seat will be filled, the Senate willing, by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has served on the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1998. Like Souter, interestingly, she was appointed to her current seat by the first President Bush.

From her Times bio:

On the district court bench, Judge Sotomayor earned a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, someone who does not let powerful interests bully, rush or cow her into a decision. "She does not have much patience for people trying to snow her," said one lawyer in 1995, who had cases pending before the judge and asked not to be identified. "You can't do it."

While still in her 30s, Judge Sotomayor became the youngest judge in the Southern District of New York. She was the first American of Puerto Rican descent to be appointed to the Federal bench in New York City.

All in all, a solid choice, but expect shrieking from the usual suspects. Apparently, Sotomayor has handed down decisions and made arguments that betray a belief in affirmative action.

Update: The President with Judge Sotomayor at the White House, via the incredibly cool White House Flickr page.
 read more »

Rock Hackshaw, blogger and candidate for City Council, emails over some grand news.

Hi ALL:

RH.

Congratulations and best wishes from all of us here.

Here's an update on Norman Siegel's run for Public Advocate. I last saw Norm at Rock Hackshaw's recent fundraiser/party, where Rock re-iterated his strong endorsement of Norman Siegel for Public Advocate. I had heard of some other endorsements at that time but waited until the IND fiasco played out before writing about it.

Of course Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (covering, of course, Central Brooklyn) and Democracy for NYC (a citywide offshoot of of the Howard Dean campaign) had already endorsed Norman Siegel, continuing a long partnership between Norm and the most progressive and reform minded Democrats in the city.  read more »

So, I found some interesting fund raising numbers recently, but held back until I knew about IND's endorsement in the 39th district. Now I have taken a leave of absence from IND's executive board, I am able to write about it.

The Idependent Neighborhood Democrats claim that "independence" from the Brooklyn Democratic machine, led by one Vito Lopez. Now when elections come around in Park Slope and Prospect Heights and places like that, I find Vito Lopez's name is dirt. The name of IND has carried weight in a positive way, but the name of Vito Lopez carries weight in a negative way. Sometimes when I am discussing a race with a voter, they interrupt me and ask who Vito Lopez is supporting. When I tell them, they say, "that's all I need to know...I'll support the other person." This was invariably a winning tactic during the 2007 Surrogate Judge race where I could get people voting for Diane Johnson largely by pointing out that her opponent was supported by Vito Lopez.  read more »

This is lamentable. IND - the so-called Independent Neighborhood Democrats, profiled in the seminal Daily Gotham piece IND: No You Can't - has crossed the Rubicon from silly over to downright harmful.

Via Azi:

The usually ultra-liberal Brooklyn political club, Independent Neighborhood Democrats, endorsed a 27-year-old candidate who doesn't support same-sex marriage and who opposes abortion rights.

The club voted last night to endorse John Heyer over one of its own members, Bob Zuckerman, who is gay and fairly progressive. They’re both running for the seat being vacated by Bill de Blasio, who is running for public advocate.

As former IND President Bob Zuckerman put it:

"[T]he actions of some have continued to tarnish the progressive reputation of this club and it saddens me to think, as last night’s vote demonstrated, it’s no longer independent or reform.”

Per Mr. Heyer's web site - sorry, I'm not going to provide a link, just to underline utter, sheer contempt - his concerns are neighborhood and family. My family, apparently, since that whole marriage thing is a no-no for we homos. Mr. Hoyer would also like to be able to take an interest in your uterus: choice is a no-no. And though it's gilding the lily to note this, that though Mr. Hoyer currently works for borough president Markowitz, and previously for Assemblywoman Joan Millman, neither of them has seen fit to endorse him. Of course, it could also be that he's just been too busy agitating against your civil rights and mine to update his site. Needless to say, Mr. Heyer is married and expecting a child. What he has, you can't have, homos.

So how did this happen?

Simple answer: what is known as club-packing. Get a bunch of your supporters, fellow ass-nuts, to sign up to a club, hang out for a bit, cast an endorsement vote, and vanish into the ass-nut ether. Happens all the time, though some of these clubs have taken measures to prevent it. And most clubs would at least think about it before endorsing some no-name over their former club president - Bob Zuckerman - who has worked his little butt off for them for years, and who is solid on any issue you might choose to name.

So now what? Is this the moment when Brooklyn's clubs finally face up to the cold truth, that they need to change or risk becoming irrelevant?

Update: It appears that Millman did indeed endorse Heyer over her club's former President, Zuckerman; so report Mole and Gate.  read more »

Last night was the Rumble at IND. Most of the excitement came during the closed door, members-only discussion and I will not (unlike some so-called "journalists") violate the integrity of such a private discussion. But for those who stayed to hear the results, there was a great deal of yelling after wards as well.

Statements from two candidates in the 39th race can be found at the end.

Some very deep betrayals played out at IND last night and some very deep resentment has been built and it will hurt the club and it will hurt Assembly member Joan Millman. And there are some who will slam Jo Anne Simon with this, fairly or not, and she had better be prepared. Can they survive it? Quite probably. But, IND's impact on this year's election will be about equal (maybe a little more) than when they endorsed Suozzi for Governor, and there are some of their constituents who are now deeply, bitterly angry.

My wife epxressly invites all who are dissatisfied with IND's actions to come to CBID's brand new storefront at 548 10th St. right off 7th Ave. in Park Slope, Phone: 718-788-3409. CBID's general meetings will still be at the Isaac Abraham free space at the basement of Park Slope Methodist Church, 6th Ave & 8th St in Park Slope. Next general meeting is Jun.25, 2009 7.30 PM.

Click on "READ MORE" for the details.  read more »

Jason Rosenbaum summarizes Chuck Schumer's compromise healthcare proposal as follows:

# The public plan must be self-sustaining. It should pay claims with money raised from premiums and co-payments. It should not receive tax revenue or appropriations from the government.

# To prevent the government from serving as both "player and umpire," the officials who manage a public plan should be different from those who regulate the insurance market.

Given Schumer's ties to the insurance industry and, more importantly, the key role he plays in raising money for the DSCC, this plan shouldn't surprise anyone. The philosophical authorship is clear: Beltway lobbyists. The insurance companies, who have recently promised to, at some point, cut their rate of growth - revenue, cost and profit - to a mere 1.5% per annum. Clearly, sacrifices are being brought. Originally, the insusres had offered to cut costs by the same percentage.

In terms of financing, no, the public plan does not need to be self-sustaining. Very few government line items pay for themselves. That's why we pay taxes. The President campaigned last year on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to make this work. A self-sustaining plan creates zero public benefit. It does create yet another insurance company, because presumably, we need more of those.

In the same vein, the idea that the public plan should pay more than Medicare to providers is absurd. The reason that program delivers such value is that its purchasing power allows it to operate more cheaply. That's also why Medicare is so popular, presumably.

Should the government compel doctors to work within its new plan? It won't have to, especially if doctors get to bill more than they do for Medicare patients.

And lastly, the play and umpire problem. Sure: build Chinese walls such as presently exist between various government departments. It's unclear why this is one of the four key components of the plan, but it's not as bad and damaging an idea as the rest of this.

It's time to realize that the American insurance-based model of healthcare has failed, and act accordingly.  read more »

Two major cultural events on the horizon deserve your attention.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the final stop on the world-wide tour of Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective. The exhibit was put together by the Met, London's Tate Britain and Madrid's Prado. It runs until August 16th.

Study after Velazquez, 1950

Over at the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Mazel is hanging up the boxing gloves after a celebrated seven year tenure as music director of the institution. To mark his retirement, he's conducting four performances of Mahler's Eighth, nightly from June 24th to the 27th.

Andrew Giuliani, arrogant entitled fuck, just like his father Rudy.

- Kos

Balloon Juice:

The son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to make a federal case against Duke University for kicking him off the golf team. But a federal magistrate says Andrew Giuliani’s case belongs in the drink.[...]

Duke contends that Giuliani squandered his opportunity to be on the team after flipping a putter, breaking a driver, gunning his car engine in a golf course parking lot and throwing an apple in the face of a teammate. The misconduct got Giuliani bumped off the team last year.

Worked out about as well as Rudy's last Presidential campaign.

Today's NY Post has an article saying that Mayor Bloomberg plans to name Anthony Como as a commissioner to the Housing Authority (NYCHA). Described in the Post as a "patronage plum," the position pays $172K.

Anthony Como was Serph Maltese's right-hand man back when Maltese ran the Queens GOP, and served as the Queens Republican commissioner on the City Board of Elections. He was elected to the City Council last June in a special election after Dennis Gallagher resigned in disgrace. He was then defeated in November by Elizabeth Crowley. His appointment to the NYC Housing Authority is part of the price Michael Bloomberg is paying in exchange for Queens GOP support.

This deal is in exchange for Como not running this fall (he has ended his campaign), deferring to Tom Ognibene, who held the seat until he was term-limited out at the end of 2001. There are reports that Bloomberg has promised to back Ognibene -- another part of the deal with the Queens GOP.

Here's the fun part:  read more »

In the latest skirmishes over the 39th City Council race, things have taken a somewhat bizarre and, to me, unexpected turn.

Recently, one candidate, probably the most conservative in the race, John Heyer, has come under attack from Gatemouth on Room 8, district leader Alan Fleishman, and others for his anti-choice and anti-marriage equality (though, often ignored, pro-civil union) stands. This should have come as no surprise to Heyer and his campaign since the district is overwhelmingly pro-choice and pro-marriage equality and in any circumstance when a candidate holds views distinctly different from that of the majority of voters in the district, that candidate HAS to be ready to address why, despite this difference of ideology, that candidate will still represent the voters in that district.  read more »

I've been meaning to do this for a while. Let me confess: I am sick and tired of people sending me shit they want posted here; and of course, and this is inevitable, now, this very instant. Like the other night when my friend Tracey Denton sends out a request to have her event with Christine Quinn, gag, for the next day. Here's a really dumb idea: don't treat bloggers like your own personal press staff. Don't assume that we just sit around waiting for your pearls of wisdom or import.

Here's another idea: how about you sign up for an account and post your own stuff? What, I need to lend my name, implying endorsement, to Quinn? Do you know what I deduce from these things? That the people making these requests just don't have much respect for us here at all. We're not trained monkeys; maybe worthwhile to point that out occasionally.

Or, say, my friend Rock, who has been sending me his stuff in Word format for years. What you see on this site under Rock's handle? T'was all me. And it's simply not the case that I don't like being helpful. But after years of this, I now need to reinstall my entire Office Suite, because the last document he sent me was infected with something. Coincidentally, our friends at Room Eight provide the same service to Mr. Hackshaw.

In addition, since, again, I try to be helpful, I've laid out to Rock several times, in detail, how this site works. I'm the first to grant that this site has an asinine architecture. But five-year-olds can do this. This is basic literacy in 2009, one would think. It's like having someone read you the newspaper because you can't read, or, in Rock's case, simply can't be bothered to figure shit out.

So here we go. I know that Rock isn't the only one who has had problems with this bizarre site, true enough. So this isn't just for him.

If you don't have an account, create one. That seems to work fine for most people, even if this site produces the craziest errors I've ever seen. Ignore them; TDG just does that to annoy the fuck out of everyone.

Once you have the account, log in. Provide your password to do so.

Look at the top right-hand corner of the page. Ignore everything except the "Post a blog entry" link. Click on that.

Great. Now you're in the screen I'm looking at right now. Ignore everything - especially the forest of categories; more on that in a bit - except this: the title field, and the larger field called Body. That's your blog post. Give it a title, and write or cut'n'paste your diary in the container marked body. That's it.You should also go to the top "categories" field and give some tags to describe your content. This allows Google, for example, to help find your content. Just don't go nuts with the eight data fields. You only need one. Some accounts have a little HTML toolbar that lets you do some nifty things like bold stuff; nice, but not essential.

When you're done, hit preview. If everything's okay, great: hit submit.

And that's it. The site will occasionally have the hiccups, but this is how it works. Like I said, five-year-olds can do this. Candidates for City Council shouldn't be any less resourceful.  read more »

(originally posted on Room 8; posted here at Rock's request by mole333)

The As, Bs, Cs and Ds of this year’s mayoral race: talking about (Anthony) Weiner, (Anthony) Avella, (Anthony) Soprano, (Billy) Thompson, Michael (Bloomberg), (Barack) Obama, Hilary (Clinton), good old Charlie (Charles “Chucky Bee” Barron), and (Derek) Coleman.

Okay; it’s confession time: this column is dedicated to Norman Siegel -the ardent civil rights attorney and political activist. You see, I want Norman to scratch his head and figure out how I am going to write a column with a headline like this one (before he reads it). As they say in Espanol (Spanish): “vamos a ver (let’s see)”. Okay; so this is an inside joke meant for an esoteric group: go figure.  read more »