Saturday, April 30, 2011

Are you mad at Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn over St. Vincent's closing ? Join the club.

Nurse Eileen Dunn worked for 25 years at St. Vincent's Hospital -- right up until the time that the hospital was closed after shady meetings between the hospital's management, politicians, potential buyers, and officials with the Department of Health.

In this video, which was recorded on 30 April 2011, at the one year anniversary of the hospital's closing, Nurse Dunn asked if the crowd was angry at Mayor Michael Bloomberg or New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for not doing a thing to help save a full service hospital for the Lower West Side in Manhattan.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Caroline Murphy dedicates to St. Vincent's Hospital her latest Music Video

Caroline Murphy's St. Vincent's Music Video : New Single : ''Waiting This Out'' is a ballad about the community's fight for a new hospital to replace St. Vincent's in New York City.

Join us for a rally at 2 PM on Saturday, April 30, 2011, to restore a hospital to the Lower West Side of Manhattan. The greedy Rudin family luxury condo conversion is not a done deal, yet. Join us in the struggle to protect the social safety net that is under attack by extremist billionaires.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Shirley Huntley : LGBT Civil Rights Protest in Support of Marriage Equality

Senator Shirley Huntley Marched in Selma and Didn't Learn a Thing : Epic YouTube Video of Daring Protest in Jamaica, Queens, in Support of Marriage Equality

At noon on Wednesday, LGBTQ activists demonstrated in front and visited the office of Queens Senator Shirley Huntely in Jamaica Queens calling upon her to be a champion for full civil rights, including marriage equality for LGBTQ Americans.

Protesters unfurled a 20' banner that stated, "Sen. Shirley Huntley Marched in Selma and Didn't Learn a Thing," while blaring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, giving her a much needed wake-up call.

In 2009, Senator Huntely voted "No" on the marriage equality bill, which would grant same-sex couples the same 1,324 legal protections that opposite-sex couples already have. When asked the reason for her vote, she explained that she was speaking on behalf of her constituency in district 10.

This protest was organised by members of Connecting Rainbows.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Help Restore a Hospital to the Lower West Side of Manhattan ; Join us for a Rally on April 30

Join us on April 30 at 2 pm - Coalition Rally to Replace St. Vincent's Hospital

April 30 will mark one year after the illegal closing of St. Vincent's Hospital. Join us for a mass rally at 2 p.m. on April 30 to demand that our elected officials and real estate moguls do the right thing -- and restore a full-service hospital to the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Join us on April 30 for a Rally for a Hospital to Replace St. Vincent's

One year after the illegal closing of St. Vincent's Hospital and one month after the real estate moguls announced their plan, please join the Coalition for a New Village Hospital for a mass rally at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.

Let the real estate interests and our elected officials know that we will not accept anything short of a full-service, acute care hospital with level one emergency facilities.

Register to attend the St. Vincent's rally on April 30 on Facebook.

Please share with friends and show your support!

Friday, April 15, 2011

William Rudin Rents Ed Koch Just Like Night Clubs Can Rent Snooki

Quid Pro Quo : After City Council Speaker Christine Quinn renames the Queensboro Bridge after former Mayor Ed Koch, the former mayor all of a sudden turns up as the temp-to-hire chairman of an astroturf-front group being paid for by the Rudin family, not unlike evil Wisconsin front groups that are union-busters.

In a brilliant YouTube video, the artist and political commentator Suzannah B. Troy compares former mayor Ed Koch to Snooki, seeing as how each celebrity can be hired to show up at night club parties -- or at luxury condo conversions of St. Vincent's Hospital -- if the price is right.

If you haven't yet checked it out, look at how the Rudin family has already managed to rent Christine Quinn.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Quinn Living Wage Bill Update

Working families in New York City are struggling to deal with the recession.

Activists, who are fighting for a Living Wage Bill, organised a demonstration to put pressure on City Councilman James Vacca, of the Bronx, to get him to support the measure, reported Billy Wharton. Activists are trying to get a hearing in the New York City Council in respect of the proposed law, but it ''has been a major stumbling block....''

It should come as no surprise as to who is standing in the way of a law that would help working families in New York City.

''At first, Council Speaker Christine Quinn claimed that she would oppose a hearing. She has since relented, but continues to foot-drag on the exact scheduling.''

The noble intention of the Living Wage Bill is to set a living wage standard for working families.

''The Living Wage Bill calls for a wage of $10 an hour with benefits and $12 an hour without for all workers employed by companies that receive subsidies from New York City. The primary target of the legislation is large fast food companies and retailers whose wages consistently fall below the living wage criteria, despite the public subsidies.''

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Westside Healthcare Coalition Website Information

How Not to Run a Stealth Political Campaign : make public the name of the man pulling the strings and flipping the levers behind the curtain : westsidehealthcarecoalition.com is registered to a PR firm called Mehigan, Bellone & Associates, Inc.

Westside Healthcare Coalition WHOIS Domain Registration Information From Network Solutions

Monday, April 11, 2011

Westside Healthcare Coalition is Fake - Don't Be Fooled !!

''West Side Healthcare Coalition is a Lie''

In a sneaky marketing ploy, the backers of the first aid clinic that is being proposed to replace St. Vincent's Hospital has been mailing deceptive brochures to residents of the Lower West Side of Manhattan. The brochures indicate that they are being mailed by a group calling itself the Westside Healthcare Coalition.

A WhoIs search on Network Solutions today showed that the website for the front group is registered to Mehigan, Bellone & Associates, Inc.

According to a press release distributed by angry residents, ''The practice of setting up seemingly grassroots groups to lobby for corporate or political interests is known as astroturfing. The stealth-style marketing technique is banned by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).''

The real group that has been ïŹghting to restore a hospital to our community is the “CoĂ€lition for a New Village Hospital.”

West Side Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

Don't be fooled by the suspicious mailings by the front group calling itself the Westside Healthcare Coalition. They are just as fake as the claims being made by North Shore-LIJ, namely, that the first aid clinic that the Rudin family is proposing to install in the O'Toole Building will be able to treat real medical emergencies. And even in the face of all this deceptive literature that is being sent through the U.S. Postal Service, still no word from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Interviewed About the Need For a New Hospital in the West Village

Sarah Jessica Parker endorses a Full-Service Hospital to replace St. Vincent's.

In an interview with The Villager newspaper, Sarah Jessica Parker expressed her support for a full-service hospital to replace St. Vincent's.

''Asked what she thought of the latest post-St. Vincent’s proposal, for an emergency-care facility at the site of the former hospital’s O’Toole building, the Sex and the City star looked skeptical. 'I’m concerned, let’s put it that way,' she said. 'The community needs a hospital — and I think there’s been some clever obfuscation.' As a parent of three young children, she noted, she’s especially concerned about local healthcare. 'I would like to see a proper, functioning [hospital] — not a walk-in,' she stressed. She said she had spoken to Council Speaker Christine Quinn about the issue.''

The interview given by Ms. Parker took place before information came to light about a deceptive political campaign brochure, which was mailed to residents of the Lower West Side by a front group calling itself the ''Westside Healthcare Coalition.'' A WhoIs search on Network Solutions today showed that the website for the front group is registered to Mehigan, Bellone & Associates, Inc. Whereas Ms. Parker was not directly speaking to the example of the campaign brochure as political subterfuge, you can see how she has already been concerned with the pattern of clever obfuscation.

North Shore-LIJ have a vested interest in installing a first aid clinic in the O'Toole Building in the West Village, so that the Rudin Family can build luxury condominiums on the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital. Meanwhile, watch this video about what having a full-service hospital in the Lower West Side means to one parent, whose child was treated by the live-saving emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital :

First Aid Clinic PR Campaign ?

The community of the Lower West Side of Manhattan are outraged over a deceptive political campaign brochure that was mailed to residents in connection with a proposed first aid clinic that may replace St. Vincent's Hospital.

Community anger has reached a new high, such that one member has launched a new blog, Every Minute Matters, to counter the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent by North Shore-LIJ and the Rudin family, to make sure that their greedy hundred million dollar condo conversion deal goes through.

The slick mass mailer is an act of political subterfuge, community residents say, because it is being mailed by a front group calling itself the ''Westside Healthcare Coalition.'' (A WhoIs search on Network Solutions today showed that the website for the front group is registered to Mehigan, Bellone & Associates, Inc.) The intention of this fake political brochure can only be to intentionally confuse the public between the front group and the real group called the CoÀlition For A New Village Hospital. The real group has been fighting for over one year to, at first, save St. Vincent's Hospital from closing. Then, once the hospital closed under shady conditions, the real CoÀlition has been fighting in court to save the hospital buildings and zoning, so that a new hospital can open on the location of the former St. Vincent's site.

Here is an anonymous line item review of what some community members describe as deceptive advertising that is printed on the controversial political brochure, which was mailed through the U.S. Postal Service :

West Side Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

The community isn't surprised that the axis of evil (aka North Shore-LIJ-Rudin Family) would resort to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a sick and twisted public relations stunt ; the Rudin family stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars from the luxury condo conversion of St. Vincent's Hospital. Even in the face of these deceptive political advertisements that are being mailed to city residents, the community continues to be likewise outraged by the veil of silence around City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who have taken no concrete actions to save St. Vincent's.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Connecting Rainbows Easter Parade Map For LGBT Civil Rights Walk


Join us for an LGBT civil rights walk
that is being organised by Connecting Rainbows. The walk will take place on April 24 during the 2011 Easter Parade in New York City. We need your help to create a mass movement to legally recognise LGBT civil rights.

Suggested Connecting Rainbows Route During NYC Easter Parade 2011

Create profiles, form and join groups, and plan LGBT civil rights actions at our social media site at : Connecting Rainbows.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Easter Parade Connecting Rainbows Demonstration

You are invited to register to participate in the LGBT civil rights demonstration that is being planned by Connecting Rainbows to take place on April 24 during the 2011 Easter Parade in New York City. We need your help to create a mass movement to legally recognise LGBT civil rights.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Christine Quinn's Hissy Fit


Christine Quinn Has A Hissy Fit With Reporter, Then Apologises

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had a sudden outburst of anger on Wednesday by bursting into a verbal attack at Erin Einhorn, a reporter for The Daily News, who did not refer to Ms. Quinn by the courtesy title, ''Speaker.'' Instead, Ms. Einhorn had referred to Speaker Quinn as, ''Ma’am.''

“You can call me Speaker,” Ms. Quinn said in a testy tone, reported The New York Times. “It’s my press conference. I actually decide what words are necessary.”

Updated with video link !NY1 has exclusive video of Speaker Quinn's hissy fit.

After her little temper tantrum, Speaker Quinn knew she had crossed the line, and Speaker Quinn said she was sorry. “I was nasty to you,” Ms. Quinn said to Ms. Einborn. “I apologize.”

A few weeks ago, Ms. Einhorn had reported that Speaker Quinn had had trouble paying her rent on time.

Meanwhile, Ms. Einhorn could just as easily have said, ''Deputy Mayor'' instead of, ''Ma’am.'' For all the times that Christine Quinn has gone along with all of Mayor Bloomberg's horrible plans for New York : all of the school closings and Cathie Black's controversial schools chancellor waiver ; the unequivocal insistence that more and more luxury condos and university dorms get built out of hospitals, churches, and landmark buildings ; denying us paid sick leave ; the shady way that the City Council changed term limits ; the way that Quinn will most likely deny us a living wage -- she goes along with Mayor Bloomberg rather than stand up to him.

It's almost like Christine Quinn is Mayor Bloomberg's puppet.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Queer Rising Activists Block Traffic in Demonstration In Support Of Marriage Equality


5 Activists Arrested Today For Blocking Traffic In Front Of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office In Political Demonstration To Support Marriage Equality

NEW YORK - In a bid to raise political pressure on the passage of a marriage equality law in the state of New York, members of the LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising held a series of coördinated protests in New York City, culminating in the arrest of 5 of the group's members.

A Trio of Actions for Marriage Equality from David Wallace on Vimeo.

In one phase of the protests, balloons were released inside Grand Central Station and floated up to the iconic ceiling. The balloons were attached to a large sign, which called on New Yorkers to put pressure on their government to demand marriage equality, according to a press release issued by Queer Rising.

Queer Rising,Handcuffs,Marriage Equality,New York,Gov. Andrew Cuomo

In another phase of the protests, several activists blocked traffic near the intersection of East 41st Street and Third Avenue during rush hour ; the location was just outside Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. Once they blocked traffic, the activists unfurled a huge 75-foot banner that read, ''Marriage Equality NOW ! Call Cuomo : "518-474-8390 !!!'' Five members then handcuffed and chained themselves in the middle of the street. The activists, who were arrested, were identified to be : Natasha Dillon (26, lesbian activist); Kevin Donohue (51, gay Jewish activist); Melissa Kleckner (31, straight ally); Ali Lozano (20, lesbian student activist); and Robert Moore (30, gay Mormon activist).

Queer Rising,Handcuffs,Marriage Equality,New York,Gov. Andrew Cuomo

In still yet another phase of today's protests, approximately 10 drag queens from a separate group calling itself Drag Queen Weddings for Equality organised a ''drag wedding'' at Grand Central to publicise the need for marriage equality in New York State. The drag queens then invited commuters to march in solidarity to Gov. Cuomo's office.

''Unwilling to wait any longer for equal rights and protection from the state of New York, Queer Rising is calling on all the New Yorkers to call the governor’s office and voice their support for marriage equality,'' the press release stated.

The Queer New York blog has published the text of the Queer Rising press release.

Queer Rising,Handcuffs,Marriage Equality,New York,Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Sunday, April 3, 2011

In North Shore-LIJ and Christine Quinn Plan for St. Vincent's, a Fear of Union-Busting


OP-ED : Update on Community Effort to Create a Hospital to Replace St. Vincent's in the Lower West Side of Manhattan

When a deal was announced for the transfer of bankruptcy assets from the 501(c)(3) charity that was St. Vincent's Hospital to the private real estate developer tycoon William Rudin at values that may not fairly represent the full market value, the bankruptcy assets transfer was hailed as a health care miracle, because it would replace the Level 1 Trauma Center that was St. Vincent's with a first aid clinic.

But just a mere examination, at first blush, of the beneficial transfer of assets to insider creditors, the jobs that it would create, and the services it would provide, show that this deal is fraught with potential legal challenges.

The transfer of St. Vincent's principal assets -- its real estate -- to the Rudin family, who has always had an ''inside track'' on condo-conversion plans -- may be fraudulent, if the transfer does not happen at full market value prices. There is also community concern that the North Shore-LIJ landlord taking over the first aid clinic is going to hire only non-union employees for the 400 jobs that are expected to be created at the first aid clinic, and that the new clinic will forbid any efforts at collective-bargaining ; presently, only approximately 36 per cent of North Shore-LIJ employees receive union benefits. The services to be provided by the first aid clinic will not be able to treat ''women in labor, patients with severe trauma such as gunshot wounds or open fractures, or those requiring immediate surgery or cardiac interventions.'' In the face of the lack of life-saving services to be provided by the first aid clinic, and even the dishonest comparison of ambulance response times between 2008 and 2009 (even though St. Vincent's closed in 2010), predictably Deputy Mayor Christine Quinn can still be ''encouraged'' by the flimsy outpatient center.

Meanwhile, here is a video of a press conference outside Friday's appellate court hearing in connection with a freedom of information lawsuit.

Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt. 23) - Freedom of Information from g. sosa on Vimeo.

As Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Christine Quinn try to destroy the social safety net by trying to close firehouses, shut down senior citizen centers, cut childcare, layoff teachers, pretend like votes don't go missing, build luxury condos on the hallowed ground of St. Vincent's Hospital, make money from government information, and end Progressive Era reforms, we are left to wonder. When will the focus of irresponsible real estate development at the expense of the middle class spark a voter backlash, that will lead to mass protests at the city's legislature, or a revolution of the likes that have been happening elsewhere ? What will be the spark that will trigger mass protests in New York ?

(Christine Quinn is Speaker of the New York City Council, but she has made her bed alongside Mayor Bloomberg on many controversial issues that often times she acts more and more like his Deputy Mayor than an independent voice for Democratic Party ideals.)