Carriage Horse Accident (VIDEO) #NYC

• Related : To follow the work of activists, who are calling for a ban of horse-drawn carriages in New York City, please ''like'' the Horse Drawn Carriage page on Facebook.

A motorist, possibly the driver of a limousine, crashed into a carriage horse this afternoon near Columbus Circle in New York City, "knocking over the carriage and sending the horse fleeing through the streets," reported The Gothamist. The New York Times reported that at the time of the accident, the horse carriage had been carrying two people. "The carriage was broken into pieces following the crash," reported the local CBS news affiliate. Most, if not all, operators of horse-drawn carriages do not provide or mandate the use of seat belts, helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, or other protective gear in the open-air carriages with must navigate through busy, and speedy, traffic through Midtown Manhattan.

Carriage Horse Being Restrained After Crash from Gothamist on Vimeo.

"One witness, Sayed Elgandi, who works in a juice stand, said the red and white carriage overturned at the intersection of Broadway and West 60th Street with a man and a woman who appeared to be in their 30s inside. Mr. Elgandi said that he and other bystanders rushed over and helped right the carriage and pull out the man and woman. He said they were both taken to the hospital but did not appear to be seriously injured," reported The New York Times.

"The runaway horse went down in the roadway of Ninth Avenue after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, but later stood up and was loaded into a police truck," reported the City Room blog of The New York Times.

Animal rights activists, who have been putting pressure on the New York City Council to pass legislation to support the safety and wellbeing of horses by banning horse-drawn carriages, point to Speaker Christine Quinn for blocking any meaningful animal rights protection legislation.

Louis Flores Update NYPD Jack Jaskaran Elisa Cokkinos

Transcript of Public Meeting of CCRB. Testimony given by Suzannah B. Troy, beginning on Page 18.

20130410 Pubmeeting CCRB Suzannah B Troy Transcripts Louis Flores by Connaissable

Ms. Troy mentions that I have yet to receive any word from CCRB, and yet the Board Members didn't act like anything was wrong. I guess they think it is O.K. for CCRB not to have to answer any complaints that get filed ? The transcript is filled with strange errors. For example, Ms. Troy mentioned on Page 23 that I was shoved. Instead, the transcriber wrote that I was shot ! Even if I had been shot, the Board Members didn't even care. How sad is that, that they don't take brutality seriously, be it being shoved by a police officer or being shot by a police officer. Now, I see how the families of all of the police shooting victims feel : the police don't care.

I invite everybody to read Ms. Troy's testimony in full. It is very revealing.

• Link to The Wall Street Journal article, which reported about the incident where NYPD officer Lamonica used physical force on me : http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/06/29/protestors-say-quinn-used-nypd-to-thwart-them/
• Link to The Wall Street Journal article, about the record of peaceful protests against New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577394194223832810.html
• Link to blog posting by Suzannah B. Troy : http://suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com/2012/08/nypd-jack-jaskaran-elisa-cokkinos-heads.html

My latest video, discussing New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's use of officers" from the NYPD Intelligence Division to provide domestic surveillance outside her fundraising events :

Video of NYPD making it difficult for a senior citizen, who has special needs due to healthcare issues (a bad back).

Video that was reported about by The Wall Street Journal, which shows NYPD Officer Lamonica pushing the LGBT activist and blogger, Louis Flores, who was only peacefully trying to take pictures for this blog.

An officer threatened to put the blogger and artist Suzannah B. Troy in handcuffs solely because she is a character and has what we all have in New York City, an attitude. Since when is speaking your mind a crime ?

Louis Flores was pushed and threatened with arrest by an NYPD officer ; citizens question Speaker Christine Quinn's use of NYPD to intimidate protesters

A few weeks ago, NYPD gave us wrong information about where peaceful activists could stand on a broad, wide sidewalk during a peaceful protest :

Continuation of NYPD plain clothes officer, who never identifies himself with his name or his badge number ; this police officer's only intent is to carry out a deliberate campaign to undermine the First Amendment rights of activists :

We've seen how NYPD use brutality, pepper spray, and injuries to subdue and squash political activism. Last week, NYPD even arrested people in wheelchairs at a demonstration in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act :

Michael Petrelis GLAAD Tax Filing

LGBT activist and blogger Michael Petrelis, who last week exposed how much money the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is paying its new executive, has now posted information about the tax returns filed by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Roots of Betrayal Update #6

#myopinioncounts is a new hashtag and @informedvoting is a new Twitter account launched to support community organising in New York City leading up to the 2013 mayoral election.

To support community organisers across the five boroughs of New York City, the blogger and activist Louis Flores has launched a new Twitter account, @informed voting. He has also launched a related hashtag, #myopinioncounts, to support reforms to improve the democratic participation of citizens in our own governance.

This Twitter account will follow the activists and citizens in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. This Twitter account will highlight areas, were we can find common ground and link up together, to bring about reforms in our government. For example, how did "stop and frisk" become the only acceptable answer to crime prevention, when the solution all along is passing stricter gun control laws ? The same thing goes for hospital closings : why are so many major hospitals closing, when Congress just expanded healthcare to tens of millions of Americans ? Cutting costs to healthcare are unacceptable, and yet where do politicians find the legitimacy to close down hospitals across all five boroughs ?

"If we are going to change the system, we need to organise. This means taking action together. With this new Twitter account and the related hashtag, I will support the work that others do," said Louis Flores.

Time is also running out to reach our goal for the Kickstarter project to support the publication of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn, a work-in-progress survey of the political ethics of the New York City Council Speaker. Funding ends on August 16, and for this book to inform voters, the community must come together to support this project. Please make a pledge and help spread the word. Thank you for everything that you do.

Fran Lebowitz OWS Christine Quinn

Read Also : Fran Lebowitz And Frank Rich At The Town Hall : A Review Of The State Of The Union Conversation

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Fran Lebowitz spoke about the intersection of Occupy Wall Street and Michael Bloomberg, and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

"... The thing I have enjoyed the most, I have to say, about Occupy Wall Street, because I am a vengeful and superficial person, is to see Bloomberg not have any idea which way to go with this thing. ... We know how he really feels, because, I mean, this mayor is not even in the 1%. He's in the 1% of the 1%. We have a mayor, who is so rich, that he will not live in a place actually called Gracie Mansion. It's not nice enough for him, you know ? He has not in any way attracted the ire of these [activists], which is shocking to me. I mean, when I walk around and sometimes these kids talk to me, I say, 'Go to Bloomberg's house.' You know, the day that they went to rich people's houses, I said, 'Go to Bloomberg's house,' and those kids said to me,'No, no, no. He's O.K., he said we could stay.' I said, 'What are you talking about ? This isn't his city. Anybody can stay. This is not his estate.' ...

"... And we've seen the new, doe-eyed Christine Quinn -- all of a sudden, champion of the people, you know, not in fact his henchman or henchwoman that she's been for the last 40 years of his mayoralty, who helped him overturn two elections in order to have this third term." ...

Two days after the Zucotti Park eviction, Ms. Lebowitz said, Mike Bloomberg "is a central villian in all this." In respect of Speaker Quinn and all the conflict between the OWS activists and powerholders, Ms. Lebowitz said, "She is an architect of this."

Thompson, Liu Poster Fines Scheme ?

Is Mayor Bloomberg deliberately trying to drain the campaign funds of the competitors that are challenging Christine Quinn for the 2013 mayoral Democratic primary ?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be engaged in a public relations campaign to turn public opinion against, and to drain the campaign funds (aka clear the primaries) of, the leading primary challengers that are competing with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to be the Democratic Party's candidate in next year's mayoral election. * "Mayor Bloomberg Friday blasted mayoral candidate John Liu as a hypocrite for grumbling about companies that owe the city money — while failing to pay his own city debts." (NY Daily News) * Now that he has finally collected $444,000 in public matching funds from his 2009 campaign, Bill Thompson should return the money to the city to help cover the fines he owes for illegal posters, Mayor Bloomberg suggested yesterday. (NYPost)

Chad Griffin HRC Salary Scandal

Chad Griffin, the new head of HRC, is paid $379,000 in salary. This salary is too rich for a head of a non-profit organisation that proclaims a commitment to fight for LGBT equality. How can the Human Rights Campaign advocate for equality when its own payroll leads to economic inequality amongst its employees ? This is one of the most glaring problems with "mainstream" LGBT groups in Washington, D.C., and with the "leaders" that our movement puts forth. It's what I'm noticing in my research about Christine Quinn, although there is no direct relationship. The LGBT civil rights movement develops leaders, who begin as community organisers, but then, as the climb up the ladder of corporate, organisational, or political hierarchy, at some point, along the way, our LGBT leaders conveniently forget that we are fighting for equality -- not the inequality that comes with outsized compensation packages. In order to "play by the rules," our progressive leaders are adopting the very same ethical failures of the powerholders we target. In order to restore the LGBT civil rights movement's commitment to true equality, we need to organise at a true grassroots level and say that we do not consent to such high concentrations of income or decision-making power in our leaders. We need to let the community reach a consensus on what our consent should be on what we consider a fair salary for Mr. Giffin, but it cannot be a mere, passive acceptance of this situation here.

Paid Sick Leave Healthcare Role

A new study suggests that offering paid sick leave might reduce the rate of nonfatal injury among workers and improve the bottom line at the same time. (NYTimes) * Labour leaders, who support the paid sick leave bill in City Council, are planning to recruit LGBT leaders, to put pressure on City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to allow a vote on the healthcare bill. (NYPost)

NYPD Harass Senior Citizen With Special Needs

One day after NYPD arrested activists in wheelchairs outside Gracie Mansion, watch as an NYPD Lieutenant haggles with a senior citizen with special needs, and wants her to move, even though she is a peaceful activist taking part in a demonstration outside New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's luxury condominium building in Chelsea.

Watch photographs of the protest against Christine Quinn on Facebook. (Login may be required.)

Roots of Betrayal Update #5

On Saturday, 4 Aug 2012, Louis Flores gave this update on his forthcoming book, "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn." Funding ends on Aug. 16, so please make a pledge on Kickstarter today.

Gloria Steinem Christine Quinn Paid Sick Leave

Below is an email from feminist activist and author Gloria Steinem. Gloria, the Working Families Party, and Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

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Join Gloria Steinem's call for paid sick days. No one should lose a paycheck or a job just for getting sick. Sign the petition

Dear NYC MoveOn member,

I don't have to tell you that working women are under attack. The economy is putting a tighter and tighter squeeze on our ability to make ends meet. And too many politicians seem deaf, or even hostile, to the needs of working women. 

Today tens of thousands of activists here in New York City are doing something about it. We're uniting to call on New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to allow a vote on the paid sick days law—because no one should ever have to lose a paycheck or a job just because they or their child gets sick. 

I'm asking you to join us: 

Sign our petition calling on Speaker Christine Quinn to allow a vote on the paid sick days bill.

Why? Because of people like Celina. She was a cook at a restaurant in Queens when a heart problem put her in the hospital for a few days. When she got out, not only did she lose pay for the days she missed, she found there wasn't even a job there for her when she recovered. I'll say it again: she lost her job just for getting sick. 

If you have paid sick days it's easy enough to take them for granted. If you or your child gets sick, you stay home to recover or go to the doctor. You are not punished financially for taking care of your health or your children. It's time to ensure all working women—and men—have the same economic security. 

Paid sick days are important for the workers, but also for the rest of us. Most people without paid sick days work in industries where we can least afford to have sick workers. But if a waitress or day care provider can't afford to take a day off, her only alternative is to go to work sick or send her child to school sick. And that puts everyone else at risk.

Not surprisingly, New Yorkers overwhelmingly favor the proposal. The bill is co-sponsored by more than two-thirds of the City Council. But passage has been held up by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has refused to allow a vote on the bill.

Today, we're rallying because we need an outpouring of support to break the logjam. And we need your help.

Will you join us in signing our petition for paid sick days in New York City?

We'll deliver the signatures directly to Speaker Quinn. 

Thank you. 

–Gloria Steinem, Ai-jen Poo, and the Working Families Party

Plucking Chick-fil-A

Christine Quinn Tries To Have It Both Ways : Is She A Community Organiser-Rebel Activist, Or Is She A Government Official ?

"Personal passion clearly got the better of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn when she urged New York University to evict a Chick-fil-A outlet from a campus property because the company founder has vocally opposed same-sex marriage." * Christine Quinn overstepped authority in letter to NYU about Chick-fil-A ; Shouldn’t have invoked her office in going after same-sex-marriage foe (NYDailyNews)

The NYPost issues a radical editorial, laced with homophobia, but circles back on freedom of speech : "Marinated in self-righteousness and virtually never called out in public on such issues, she likely doesn’t truly understand what she did wrong in the first place." * Chris Quinn's Misfire on Chick-Fil-A (NYPost)

"As a gay woman who recently got married, Ms. Quinn’s anger about Mr. Cathy’s comments is understandable. And she stressed on Monday that the letter was 'solely my own opinion.' But, as a powerful city leader and a leading candidate for mayor, she and others in city governments should take care not to be seen muscling aside businesses whose owners don’t agree with their views. That won’t work, especially in a city as big, diverse and opinionated as New York." * The Chick-fil-A Business (NYTimes)

Speaker Quinn has betrayed the LGBT community so many times that when she may genuinely want to try to do the next right thing by her LGBT constituents, she can't distinguish between trying to end de jure discrimination as a public official, on the one hand, and violating freedom of speech and verging on the misuse of her public authority, on the other. Like the Gothamist reported, "If there's anything cynical to see here, it's probably Quinn trying to distance herself a little bit from NYU to curry favor with outraged Greenwich Village residents."

2012-07-28 Christine Quinn Letter to John Sexton Chick-Fil-A

Kickstarter Project Ends August 16

Louis Flores is going to be in Greenwich Village across the street from the old St. Vincent's Hospital, on 7th Avenue South at Greenwich Avenue today, from 4 - 6 p.m., handing out flyers and answering questions about this important book. At right, a photograph of the banner that the author is taking with him as he does outreach to the community. Make a pledge today to support Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn on Kickstarter.

Christine Quinn Enables Larry Seabrook's Corruption

Former City Councilman Larry Seabrook was found guilty of nine out of 12 charges, including mail and wire fraud, after being accused of sending taxpayer dollars to Bronx nonprofits he controlled (NY1).

Larry Seabrook was forced to vacate his City Council seat last week after he was convicted last Thursday for his role in "misdirecting" $1.5 million in city funds to his bankroll, his family, and his mistress, reported The New York Daily News.

Mr. Seabrook was found guilty of nine felony counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, The Daily News added.

“Councilman Larry Seabrook abused the power of his office … to fund his own corrupt friends and family,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Today’s conviction ensures that the councilman will pay for betraying the public trust.”

The politician was accused of steering $1.5 million in council cash to non-profits that he controlled — and where his girlfriend, two sisters and a brother were employed.

Last year, The New York Post looked to New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for accountability and leadership on the misuse of slush funds, but Speaker Quinn continued doling out her "discretionary budget items," including making an allocation of $350,000 to Mr. Seabrook.

"Seabrook’s the miscreant, for sure. But Quinn’s his enabler. Should such obvious moral myopia be rewarded with the mayoralty? Is Christine Quinn fit for the job?" ¶ Christine Quinn enables Larry Seabrook's corruption (NYPost)

FDNY Refuse to Release EMS Transport Times

FDNY Office of Intergovernmental Affairs issues an incomplete disclosure of EMS "response and transit times" for the "lower west side of Manhattan since St. Vincent's Hospital closed."

Associate Commissioner Caroline Kretz sent me a letter, which I received today, indicating that from "May 2010 to March 2011, EMS response times for the area bounded by 34th Street to the north, West Street to the west, Fifth Avenue and West Broadway to the east, and Canal Street to the south, is 6:45 minutes for Segment 1-3 (most serious) incidents."

What is disturbing is that the FDNY does not track "transport times," this is the time that it takes for EMS to transport a person having a serious medical condition to the nearest hospital. Why doesn't FDNY track transport times ? Could it be because 10 hospitals have now closed since 2006, resulting in longer trips for 911 emergency medical patients to get to the next nearest hospital ?

Also note : We don't know the calculation methodology used by FDNY for their response times. In the recent past, we have information from some firefighters within the FDNY that the UCT 911 dispatch system does not accurate calculate response times.

FDNY Response :

2012 07 30 FDNY EMS Response Times Answer SVH Lower West Side

My original request submitted to the City of New York :

2012-06-24 Request for EMS Response and Transit Times - St Vincents Hospital NYC

Here is an earlier YouTube video I did, about why the FDNY and EMS were delaying the release of response and transport times :

Here was a response for EMS statistics, which FDNY sent to former State Sen. Tom Duane :

2011-09-07 FDNY Ambulance Transport Times FOIL Response