The upcoming mayoral races is a critical one for our city and forums like this are important for citizens to come face to face with the candidates. From Act Now:

Join ACT NOW, along with our friends at Democracy for NYC and Living Liberally for a forum with Democratic candidates for NYC Mayor. Ask questions and hear what the candidates have to say on important issues. Next year will be the first time in 12 years NYC has had a new mayor. We look forward to taking part in this historic election!

When: Tuesday, March 5th, 7pm

Where: 151 West 46th Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues, 8th Floor

Invited Candidates: (* Confirmed)

John Liu*

Bill Thompson

Christine Quinn

Sal Albanese*

Bill de Blasio*

Seating is limited. Please RSVP here.

The ACT NOW Team

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: info@actnowny.org
phone: 212-714-7125
web: http://www.actnowny.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The upcoming mayoral races is a critical one for our city and forums like this are important for citizens to come face to face with the candidates. From Act Now:

Join ACT NOW, along with our friends at Democracy for NYC and Living Liberally for a forum with Democratic candidates for NYC Mayor. Ask questions and hear what the candidates have to say on important issues. Next year will be the first time in 12 years NYC has had a new mayor. We look forward to taking part in this historic election!

When: Tuesday, March 5th, 7pm

Where: 151 West 46th Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues, 8th Floor

Invited Candidates: (* Confirmed)

Bill de Blasio*

John Liu*

Christine Quinn

Bill Thompson

Sal Albanese*

Seating is limited. Please RSVP here.

The ACT NOW Team

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: info@actnowny.org
phone: 212-714-7125
web: http://www.actnowny.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have always been a strong supporter of the police. They take on a difficult and important job and, though I see much room for improvement, some 90% of cops do about as good a job as anyone could.

But recently the level of police brutality in many cities in America, including NYC, has risen to insane levels. The bottom line is, cops, who are unionized and very definitely part of the 99%, are beating the crap out of fellow pro-union members of the 99% who have the nerve to exercise their Constitutional Rights by supporting unions and calling for the 1% to pay their fair share.

Right now I am about as angry at the police as I have ever been and am amazed that they are so willing to do the bidding of the 1% who actually treat them very badly. Don't they remember how Bloomberg treated them the last time they had to negotiate a new contract? I do. I was on the side of the cops then. But the cops seem to have forgotten who screwed them (Bloomberg and the 1%) and who stood by them (the very people who the cops are now beating the shit out of). Sorry, NYPD, but the only word I can find for what you are doing to the Occupy Wall Street movement and their supporters is "stupid." Yes. The cops are being stupid in alienating those who stood by them during the last contract negotiations. I personally will find it hard to stand next to the NYPD next time after the brutality and actually blatantly illegal treatment of the OWS protesters.

And I am not alone in this. The following comes from Democracy for America:

New York, May 5, 2012 On Monday, April 30, 2012, a major lawsuit was filed by four City Councilmembers and members of Occupy Wall Street against officials of the New York City government and police department. This case, Rodriguez et al v Winski, City of New York Et Al, raises very important issues and Democracy for NYC wishes to applaud and announce our strong support for the recommendations requested by the plaintiffs.

In recent times, members of DFNYC have witnessed firsthand how the NYPD systematically violates the First Amendment rights of citizens in the name of security. What happened on the night of November 15, 2011, when Occupy Wall Street protesters were evicted from Zuccotti park, was just one in a long line of incidents in recent years where the NYPD has shown an increasing willingness to use force and intimidation to prevent people from lawfully gathering to express their political views and protest. As the lawsuit states, “Police misconduct has flourished over the last twenty years in New York City and is once again reaching critical mass.”

The board of directors of DFNYC joins with New York City Councilmembers Leticia James, Ydanis Rodriguez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Jumaane Williams and the other plaintiffs in calling for, in particular, the authorization of a court-appointed monitor/auditor to review the past and present activities of the NYPD.

When the civil rights of our citizens are infringed upon by the government, independent oversight becomes imperative to the preservation of liberty and democracy. We urge all elected officials throughout the five boroughs to speak out in favor of more oversight of the New York City Police Department.

I notice my own councilmember, Steve Levin, has not joined in this lawsuit defending the rights of New Yorkers. Nor, I notice, has our so-called "Public Advocate," Bill de Blasio, who has time and time again acted like an advocate for developers rather than for the public, hasn't lifted a finger defending the rights of the public against police abuse.

For more about Democracy for NYC, click here.

This was sent to me by (among others) Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform:

This comes from Democracy for NYC, the local affiliate of Howard Dean's Democracy for America:

Democracy for New York City Endorses Jesus Gonzalez For State Assembly District 54 in Brooklyn

New York, N.Y., July 26, 2011 – Democracy for New York City (DFNYC) is pleased to announce the organization’s official endorsement of Jesus Gonzalez for the 54th Assembly District race in Brooklyn. The election will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011.

“We are excited to have endorsed Jesus Gonzalez in this important special election,” said DFNYC President Josh Silverstein. “Jesus is a committed progressive activist and has worked for years to help improve his community. The members of Democracy for New York City are ready to help him win this race and represent the district up in Albany.”

The 54th State Assembly District encompasses Bushwick, East New York, Cypress Hills, and part of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. The seat was vacated when Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns joined the Cuomo administration three months ago. ...  read more »