NYC FOCUS: Important Actions, Groups and Events
For my Brooklyn readers, some 2009 City Council Races are heating up. You can read my take on two such races here.
For those interested in Voting Machine issues, we just got a great victory in NY State. You can read about it here.
For those who missed it, Norman Siegel (candidate for Public Advocate and former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union) has teamed up with the Harlem Community organization, VOTE People, to oppose the worst of the city's rezoning of Harlem to benefit wealthy developers.
Now to repeat an important action alert from last week:
NYC Wants to Limit Your Right to Test for Hazardous Materials
On 9/11, a massive, toxic smoke plume flooded over a large part of the city. This toxic plume contaminated the lungs of tens of thousands of citizens, including some 9000 first responders from all over the country who came to help NYC.
The EPA tested and KNEW the WTC smoke plume was toxic. Bush and Giuliani ordered them to lie...yes LIE (a term I use and tonight David Yassky used) about the toxicity of the smoke. The rescue workers were told by the EPA that they did not need respirators even though the EPA had clear evidence that the smoke was toxic. By contrast, no one was allowed near the Pentagon without respirators 24 hours after the attacks. It took two months before respirators were issued at the WTC site.
This is but one example of how government testing for hazards is not sufficient. Many, many other examples can be cited. Erin Brockovich might have something to say about official stories about the toxicity of our homes, our drinking water, our environment. Go back further and Rachel Carson might have something to say about the official story about the safety of the communities we live in.
Now, average citizens like you and me have a chance to test our own water, air, soil. We can check to see whether our environment, our homes, are safe.
NYC doesn't like that. A proposal to the City Council, Intro 650, wants to require permits for private citizens to use atmospheric, biological, chemical and radiological detectors. My wife, the climatologist's, first reaction was "what...do I have to have a permit to use my atmospheric thermometer?!" My reaction was, do we need a permit to have a Geiger-Muller counter in a lab?
But my second reaction was "what about the 9/11 smoke plume?"
Private citizens should have the full right to test their personal space for whatever toxins they are concerned about. The government, which has at times either been squirrely about, or, as the case with Bush and Giuliani and 9/11, outright LIED aboout risks to our health, is our first defense against toxic exposure, but cannot be trusted to be our ONLY defense. Private citizens should freely be able to test their own environment.
NYC wants to require permits for private citizens to purchase testing devices for detecting atmospheric, biological, chemical or radiological hazards. The government would have to issue a permit (at a fee, I am sure!) for you to have the right to test the air, water or soil that you and your children are exposed to. To get a permit, you would have to go to the very government that has at times misled or outright lied about the safety of our environment. That is just not right.
This issue was first brought to my attention by a reader, but it came up again as my City Councilman, David Yassky, was discussing a legislative agenda at a local Democratic club. Yassky described the process to date of the proposal. The NYPD came to the City Council to propose this measure and did a good job of convincing the City Council taht it was necessary to prevent so-called "false alarms" interfering with police business. The police had gone a long way to convincing the City Council. But Yassky attributes a change to Scott Stringer. Stringer (along with the United Federation of Teachers and faculty members of Hunter College Scool of Heath Sciences) basically pointed out that this proposal was insane. It takes away the right of private citizens to ensure the safety of their own living, schooling and working situations at will. It would give the sole right of determining who can test our environment for hazards to the government, who would either do it themselves or would give permits to private citizens to do it themselves.
We know that there are toxic sites in the city, some connected with 9/11, some connected to sites developers want to build on. We also know that some development in the city has little in the way of environmental impact research behind it. If private citizens can gather their own data and challenge the city (and its developer supporters!), then there might be some developer projects that have problems.
But fundamentally this proposal limits OUR ability to test the safety of our personal, and our family, environment. When David Yasky was asked about it, he called the proposal crazy and credited Scott Stringer with revealing the problems with it. I agree...it is crazy and it seems obvious from the first reading that it is crazy. Private citizens should have an unrestricted right to test the safety of their environment. The kits available for such tests should be subject to regulation in that they should be tested for reliability. But ANYONE should be able to use a reliable kit for testing the safety of their personal space.
Write your city council member and the mayor and tell them that you OPPOSE Intro 650 and support the right of an individual to test their personal environment for hazards.
And now for the Groups and Events section:
A House Party for Josh Skaller, a Progressive Voice for City Council
Host: Wayne Brooks
Location: Wayne's apartment
262 Court Street #2/Butler Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 US
When: Sunday, January 27, 3:00PM
Phone: 347-645-0581
FEBRUARY DEMOCRACY FOR NYC MEETINGS:
February 6, 2008, 7:00PM
Upper West Side, The Parlour, 250 West 86th(btwn Broadway & West End), with host Merle McEldowney,7pm
West Village, Kettle of Fish, 59 Christopher St. (near 7thAve.) with hosts Abhishek Mistry and Judith Ren-Lay,7pm
Astoria, Queens, at Sanford Diner, 30-13 Broadway, with hosts Costa Constantinides and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson.Note: this Linkup will begin at 7:30.
Sunnyside, Queens, at The Grind, 39-24 Queens Blvd. in the back room, with host Dan Jacoby. Note: this Linkup will begin at 7:30.
Bayside, Queens, The First Edition, 41-08 Bell Blvd, right near the LIRR stop, with host Steve Behar of Democrats for New Politics, 7pm
Park Slope, Brooklyn, Ozzies, 249 Fifth Avenue with host Josh Skaller, 7pm
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Wycoff Bennett Homestead, 1669East 22nd Street, 7pm with host Annette Mont
No Linkup This Month - East Village/LES & Upper East Side
DRINKING LIBERALLY MEETINGS IN NY STATE:
Clifton Park, New York
* First Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm onward
* Old Dublin Inn, 130 Meyer Rd (Google maps is wrong, please contact me for directions.)
* Hosted by Chris Selkirk, cliftonpark (at) drinkingliberally.org
Ithaca, New York
* Every Wednesday, 6:30 pm onward
* Felicia's Atomic Lounge, 508 W State St
* Hosted by Joseph Cannon Murtagh, ithaca (at) drinkingliberally.org
New York City, New York:
The Original Drinking Liberally
* Every Thursday, 7:30 pm onward
* Rudy's, 627 9th Ave (between 44th and 45th)
* In the backyard, weather permitting
* Hosted by Justin Krebs, Matthew O'Neill and Katrina Baker, nyc (at) drinkingliberally.org
Drinking Liberally Steps Out
* Third Tuesday of each month, 7:00-9:00 pm
* XES Lounge, 157 W 24th St (@ 7th Avenue)
* In conjunction with the Stonewall Democrats of New York City www.sdnyc.org.
* Hosted by Matthew Carlin and Greg Rae, outnyc (at) drinkingliberally.org
Harlem
* Second Wednesday of each month), 6:30 pm onward
* Soundz Lounge, 3155 Broadway (between 123rd and 124th)
* Hosted by Yolanda (Shoshi) Shoshana, harlem (at) drinkingliberally.org
Park Slope
* Second Wednesday of each month, 7:30-10:00 pm
* Commonwealth, 497 5th Ave (at 12th Street)
* Hosted by Anthony Accurso, Emilie Harkin and Emily Farris, parkslope (at) drinkingliberally.org
Queens
* Fourth Wednesday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, 29-19 24th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11102 (group of young liberals taking up one lane)
* Hosted by Donald Graff, queens (at) drinkingliberally.org
Upper East Side
* Last Tuesday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* Doc Watson's, 1490 2nd Ave (at 77th)
* Hosted by Matthew Bachiochi, ues (at) drinkingliberally.org
West Bronx
* First and third Friday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* An Beal Bocht, 445 W 238th St (between Waldo and Greystone)
* 1 to 238th, turn left, straight on 238th, just past the top of the stairs
* Hosted by Jamin Sewell and Scott Kennedy, westbronx (at) drinkingliberally.org
Rochester, New York
* Every Thursday, 8:00-10:00 pm
* Monty's Korner, 355 East Ave
* Hosted by Tom Tucker and Tracy Logan, rochester (at) drinkingliberally.org
For those interested in Voting Machine issues, we just got a great victory in NY State. You can read about it here.
For those who missed it, Norman Siegel (candidate for Public Advocate and former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union) has teamed up with the Harlem Community organization, VOTE People, to oppose the worst of the city's rezoning of Harlem to benefit wealthy developers.
Now to repeat an important action alert from last week:
NYC Wants to Limit Your Right to Test for Hazardous Materials
On 9/11, a massive, toxic smoke plume flooded over a large part of the city. This toxic plume contaminated the lungs of tens of thousands of citizens, including some 9000 first responders from all over the country who came to help NYC.
The EPA tested and KNEW the WTC smoke plume was toxic. Bush and Giuliani ordered them to lie...yes LIE (a term I use and tonight David Yassky used) about the toxicity of the smoke. The rescue workers were told by the EPA that they did not need respirators even though the EPA had clear evidence that the smoke was toxic. By contrast, no one was allowed near the Pentagon without respirators 24 hours after the attacks. It took two months before respirators were issued at the WTC site.
This is but one example of how government testing for hazards is not sufficient. Many, many other examples can be cited. Erin Brockovich might have something to say about official stories about the toxicity of our homes, our drinking water, our environment. Go back further and Rachel Carson might have something to say about the official story about the safety of the communities we live in.
Now, average citizens like you and me have a chance to test our own water, air, soil. We can check to see whether our environment, our homes, are safe.
NYC doesn't like that. A proposal to the City Council, Intro 650, wants to require permits for private citizens to use atmospheric, biological, chemical and radiological detectors. My wife, the climatologist's, first reaction was "what...do I have to have a permit to use my atmospheric thermometer?!" My reaction was, do we need a permit to have a Geiger-Muller counter in a lab?
But my second reaction was "what about the 9/11 smoke plume?"
Private citizens should have the full right to test their personal space for whatever toxins they are concerned about. The government, which has at times either been squirrely about, or, as the case with Bush and Giuliani and 9/11, outright LIED aboout risks to our health, is our first defense against toxic exposure, but cannot be trusted to be our ONLY defense. Private citizens should freely be able to test their own environment.
NYC wants to require permits for private citizens to purchase testing devices for detecting atmospheric, biological, chemical or radiological hazards. The government would have to issue a permit (at a fee, I am sure!) for you to have the right to test the air, water or soil that you and your children are exposed to. To get a permit, you would have to go to the very government that has at times misled or outright lied about the safety of our environment. That is just not right.
This issue was first brought to my attention by a reader, but it came up again as my City Councilman, David Yassky, was discussing a legislative agenda at a local Democratic club. Yassky described the process to date of the proposal. The NYPD came to the City Council to propose this measure and did a good job of convincing the City Council taht it was necessary to prevent so-called "false alarms" interfering with police business. The police had gone a long way to convincing the City Council. But Yassky attributes a change to Scott Stringer. Stringer (along with the United Federation of Teachers and faculty members of Hunter College Scool of Heath Sciences) basically pointed out that this proposal was insane. It takes away the right of private citizens to ensure the safety of their own living, schooling and working situations at will. It would give the sole right of determining who can test our environment for hazards to the government, who would either do it themselves or would give permits to private citizens to do it themselves.
We know that there are toxic sites in the city, some connected with 9/11, some connected to sites developers want to build on. We also know that some development in the city has little in the way of environmental impact research behind it. If private citizens can gather their own data and challenge the city (and its developer supporters!), then there might be some developer projects that have problems.
But fundamentally this proposal limits OUR ability to test the safety of our personal, and our family, environment. When David Yasky was asked about it, he called the proposal crazy and credited Scott Stringer with revealing the problems with it. I agree...it is crazy and it seems obvious from the first reading that it is crazy. Private citizens should have an unrestricted right to test the safety of their environment. The kits available for such tests should be subject to regulation in that they should be tested for reliability. But ANYONE should be able to use a reliable kit for testing the safety of their personal space.
Write your city council member and the mayor and tell them that you OPPOSE Intro 650 and support the right of an individual to test their personal environment for hazards.
And now for the Groups and Events section:
A House Party for Josh Skaller, a Progressive Voice for City Council
Host: Wayne Brooks
Location: Wayne's apartment
262 Court Street #2/Butler Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 US
When: Sunday, January 27, 3:00PM
Phone: 347-645-0581
Dear Friends,
I'm having a house party at my apartment for my good friend Josh Skaller, who is running for City Council in Brooklyn's 39th District in 2009.
Josh is running for what will be an open seat now held by Bill de Blasio. The district covers much of Park Slope, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens, along with parts of Windsor Terrace and Kensington.
Josh is President of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), one of the most dynamic and influential political reform groups in New York. He also serves as a board member and field director for DFNYC (Democracy for New York City).
He is employed as director of Information Technology and Information Systems at Globalworks, where he also manages the emerging technologies department. A lifelong activist, Josh lives in Park Slope with his wife Kelly and their son, Wolf.
Josh Skaller is the kind of Councilmember we need - smart, progressive, energetic, personable and gutsy. He is especially passionate about preventing the destruction of our neighborhoods by predatory developers and opposing the Brooklyn Democratic machine's control over judicial appointments and court patronage.
And Josh can win this race! If you're like me, and I think you are, you're ready to support a candidate who can actually get elected.
Of course I'm trying to raise some money for his campaign. There is a suggested donation of $100, but every contribution, regardless of amount, will be greatly appreciated. And of course feel free to give more if you can. Checks should be made out to "Friends of Josh Skaller."
This is my first fundraiser in a long time, and the first in my newly-renovated apartment. I hope you can attend. There will be plenty of food and drinks. The party will run from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Please try to RSVP before Friday, January 25.
If you haven't met Josh yet, well...you're going to love him. So please come.
FEBRUARY DEMOCRACY FOR NYC MEETINGS:
February 6, 2008, 7:00PM
Upper West Side, The Parlour, 250 West 86th(btwn Broadway & West End), with host Merle McEldowney,7pm
West Village, Kettle of Fish, 59 Christopher St. (near 7thAve.) with hosts Abhishek Mistry and Judith Ren-Lay,7pm
Astoria, Queens, at Sanford Diner, 30-13 Broadway, with hosts Costa Constantinides and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson.Note: this Linkup will begin at 7:30.
Sunnyside, Queens, at The Grind, 39-24 Queens Blvd. in the back room, with host Dan Jacoby. Note: this Linkup will begin at 7:30.
Bayside, Queens, The First Edition, 41-08 Bell Blvd, right near the LIRR stop, with host Steve Behar of Democrats for New Politics, 7pm
Park Slope, Brooklyn, Ozzies, 249 Fifth Avenue with host Josh Skaller, 7pm
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Wycoff Bennett Homestead, 1669East 22nd Street, 7pm with host Annette Mont
No Linkup This Month - East Village/LES & Upper East Side
DRINKING LIBERALLY MEETINGS IN NY STATE:
Clifton Park, New York
* First Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm onward
* Old Dublin Inn, 130 Meyer Rd (Google maps is wrong, please contact me for directions.)
* Hosted by Chris Selkirk, cliftonpark (at) drinkingliberally.org
Ithaca, New York
* Every Wednesday, 6:30 pm onward
* Felicia's Atomic Lounge, 508 W State St
* Hosted by Joseph Cannon Murtagh, ithaca (at) drinkingliberally.org
New York City, New York:
The Original Drinking Liberally
* Every Thursday, 7:30 pm onward
* Rudy's, 627 9th Ave (between 44th and 45th)
* In the backyard, weather permitting
* Hosted by Justin Krebs, Matthew O'Neill and Katrina Baker, nyc (at) drinkingliberally.org
Drinking Liberally Steps Out
* Third Tuesday of each month, 7:00-9:00 pm
* XES Lounge, 157 W 24th St (@ 7th Avenue)
* In conjunction with the Stonewall Democrats of New York City www.sdnyc.org.
* Hosted by Matthew Carlin and Greg Rae, outnyc (at) drinkingliberally.org
Harlem
* Second Wednesday of each month), 6:30 pm onward
* Soundz Lounge, 3155 Broadway (between 123rd and 124th)
* Hosted by Yolanda (Shoshi) Shoshana, harlem (at) drinkingliberally.org
Park Slope
* Second Wednesday of each month, 7:30-10:00 pm
* Commonwealth, 497 5th Ave (at 12th Street)
* Hosted by Anthony Accurso, Emilie Harkin and Emily Farris, parkslope (at) drinkingliberally.org
Queens
* Fourth Wednesday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, 29-19 24th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11102 (group of young liberals taking up one lane)
* Hosted by Donald Graff, queens (at) drinkingliberally.org
Upper East Side
* Last Tuesday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* Doc Watson's, 1490 2nd Ave (at 77th)
* Hosted by Matthew Bachiochi, ues (at) drinkingliberally.org
West Bronx
* First and third Friday of each month, 7:30 pm onward
* An Beal Bocht, 445 W 238th St (between Waldo and Greystone)
* 1 to 238th, turn left, straight on 238th, just past the top of the stairs
* Hosted by Jamin Sewell and Scott Kennedy, westbronx (at) drinkingliberally.org
Rochester, New York
* Every Thursday, 8:00-10:00 pm
* Monty's Korner, 355 East Ave
* Hosted by Tom Tucker and Tracy Logan, rochester (at) drinkingliberally.org
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