ABC Nightly News used the same distorted logic as did the New York Times back in May and made the moral equivalence of pornography shops and strip clubs many blocks away from Ground Zero to a proposed Islamic mosque. Presumably, ABC did this to make the point that Ground Zero is not the “hallowed ground” that mosque protestors claim. Therefore, to oppose the proposed mosque based on the grounds that Ground Zero is special is hypocritical. Read below our original commentary on the flaws of that logic.
Op-Ed May 28, 2010
In what could be one of the poorest uses of logic in recent mainstream media history, the New York Times featured a column by Clyde Haberman supporting the construction of a five-story Islamic mosque near “Ground Zero” (The name for the former World Trade Center sites demolished after the Islamic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 that killed thousands). In his column, Mr. Haberman compares the insult of an Islamic site of possible future anti-American teaching to a strip club and off-track betting shop that are already nearby ground zero.
He wrote, “No one is known to have protested the fact that three blocks from ground zero, on Murray Street off West Broadway, there is a strip joint. It prefers to call itself a gentlemen’s club. A man stood on the street corner the other day handing out free passes to willing gentlemen.”
Huh? How does a passive purveyor of porn compare to militant murdering terrorists? Pornography and incubators of mass murder are not morally equivalent.
The organizers of this unfunded mosque idea have tried to soften it up by referring to it as a cultural center. Will the mosque really be this multi-religious “cultural center” that it claims to be? Will women be allowed inside without being covered up with various forms of head shrouds? Will the acts on 9/11 and radical Islam be condemned? Of course not.
Mr. Haberman does not seem to be willing to admit publicly that the terrorists who attacked us on September 11, 2001, were all brainwashed by Islamic radicals in extremist mosques. Perhaps he is pandering to the mayor who supports the mosque. The NY Times would benefit from an acquisition by Bloomberg News.
The authorities will undoubtedly keep close tabs on this “Ground Zero mosque” if it is ever built, but critics are justified in raising concern. In contrast, no adult porn shop or off-track betting site ever produced a jihad of America-hating murderers.
The WSJ is reporting today an update on apartment sales prices and number of units sold. The good news is that the number of units increased 179% yoy to 383 units (137 in April of 2009), and a 20% increase from last month. However, the bad news is that prices are way down. Compared to 2009, the selling price of apartments in Battery Park City and the Financial District had the largest drop of Manhattan: down 17%.
Red areas represent the largest price declines.
Keep in mind that 2009 was the bottom in the economic recession in NYC. Despite the ample bonuses paid out in 2010, it has not seemed to impact selling prices.
The NYPD hosted community outreach events with the focus on reducing crime. The First Precinct held their rally by the North Cove Marina. Mayor Bloomberg made a brief appearance. Police Commissioner Kelly spoke, and the new First Precinct Commanding Officer, Captain Ed Winsky, was introduced. Note the response of Mayor Bloomberg when someone asked him to run for President.
BatteryPark.TV previously reported on the rising rate of violent behavior among New York City taxi drivers. A TLC official had confirmed in April, 2010, that TLC internal databases had an increase in passenger complaints and that budget cutbacks had caused slower responses by the TLC to complaints. The taxi driver community is now aware that misconduct is being prosecuted less swiftly, according to one driver interviewed.
A case example of this problem involved a violent yellow cab driver that assaulted a passenger in Battery Park City back in July of 2009 (see video below). The incident involved a person related to BatteryPark.TV. A complaint letter was sent to the TLC and received no reply. Two more letters were sent with no reply. A telephone call to TLC administrators finally elicited a response and a hearing was scheduled approximately one year after the incident.
Last month, during the TLC hearing, the administrative lawyer dismissed the case based on a technicality without commenting on the merits of the complaint against the driver. An appeal was sent to the Deputy Commissioner of the TLC, Pansy Mullings. Ms. Mullings informed BatteryPark.TV that the TLC refused to open the case on appeal. The taxi driver is now currently still operating a vehicle and has no reprimand on his record despite video evidence of the assault and numerous other infractions made by the driver.
If you have had any similar problems with taxi drivers and have received slow or no response from the TLC, you can contact:
Pansy Mullings
Deputy Commissioner
Taxi and Limousine Commission
2455 BQE West
Woodside, NY 113377
April 23, 2010
If you seem to have noticed more whackjob taxi drivers in NYC behaving outright violently toward you, you are correct. BP.TV spoke with a representative of the TLC who confirmed that the statistics from their complaint database support the notion that violent behavior is on the rise since the TLC instituted the credit card payment option.
Cab drivers have to give a small percentage of fairs paid by credit cards to the credit card company. Offsetting this is the fact that many more business travelers will be inclined to take a yellow cab and use their company card rather than take a town car. Nevertheless, to this day, many cab drivers try to play games with customers at the end of a trip, such as not triggering the meter to stop, asking for cash, or by pretending that their meter is broken and cannot accept credit cars. Many of these drivers then become hostile or physically violent with the passengers.
BP.TV has obtained this video of a cab driver becoming violent to a passenger.
Ed Koch, former Mayor of New York City and former U.S. Congressman, now partner at law firm Bryan Cave LLP, was important in the creation of Battery Park City. BPC sits on manmade land created from the bedrock excavated during the World Trade Center construction. BPC was not converted into inhabitable city land with infrastructure until the late 1970’s.
Recently, given the City’s financial woes, there is talk of ending the Battery Park City Authority, which shares revenues between the State and City, and having the City acquire all of BPC. We interviewed Mr. Koch about the history of BPC and the recent issues.
Mayor Bloomberg was on NBC’s Meet the Press today. He made some insightful comments about the ineffective ARRA stimulus package that not many in the press have made. As unemployment remains high, the debate has been whether the nearly $1 Trillion stimulus package worked. That is really a false debate. The money never actually made it to jobs creation programs. Instead, the states and municipalities gobbled up the money to pay off their budget deficits and maintain their bloated entitlement programs.
New York City Council takes advice from Community Boards on matters such as liquor licenses and construction permits. Community Board 1 oversees lower Manhattan and is divided into subcommittees by region, such as Battery Park, Tribeca, Financial District, etc. Tribeca committee Chairman Peter Braus explains how the system works.
The dangers of the Albany St/West Side Highway crossing have been well documented. Not so well appreciated are the dangers at the other end where Albany meets South End Avenue. Drivers making turns onto Albany are too occupied by looking down South End for other cars that they neglect to yield for pedestrians crossing Albany who have the white walk sign. The problem is particularly bad in the early evening.
BatteryPark.TV spent a mere five minutes filming the problem on a crude cell phone camera. Within that time, numerous cars violated the law and could have run over a pedestrian who was not paying attention.
If the NYPD posted patrol personnel, it could possibly earn more than $100,000 in revenue per year. Rather than ticket parked cars and do nothing to improve safety, perhaps the NYPD should try targeting more dangerous areas where moving violations are concentrated. Just a friendly suggestion: earn revenue and please the community.
With the closure of the John Hughes shelter, the nearest homeless shelter to Battery Park City is now in Tribeca. Joe Little of the New York City Rescue Mission gives a tour of the city’s oldest homeless shelter. With the bad economy and closure of other shelters nearby, demand for meals at the Mission have increased 20%.
To volunteer or donate money, contact (212) 226-6214 or go to http://www.nycrescue.org/
In the second part of our interview with Ed Koch, he discussed the growing homeless problem in Battery Park and how it is similar to New York City in the late 70’s when he was Mayor and the City was near bankruptcy. He also discusses the upcoming NY Governor’s election.
Construction on Route 9A, also known as The West Side Highway, and closure of the pedestrian bridge south of Albany Street have created a very dangerous situation. The ground-level crossing of The West Side Highway at Albany Street can be a death trap.
In February of 2009, Battery Park City resident Marilyn Feng was killed and her boyfriend seriously injured when a drunk driver struck the couple. Ms. Feng was an intern in Manhattan Borough president Scott Stringer’s office. In late September of 2009, another pedestrian was struck by a motorist, but he survived.
Funding for the permanent pedestrian overpass has been cancelled. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer discusses the problem.
This weekend, on a survey of more than five hotel bars, regular bars, and restaurant bars in Bowery, SOHO and Tribeca, all of the establishments shut down no later than 2:00 AM despite having plenty of customers. What is the explanation for this seemingly voluntary forfeiting of lucrative revenue?
The answer lies in a citywide effort to limit hours of operation of liquor-licensed establishments using Community Boards as the tool. This article written in 2008 explains it well.
2 a.m. Closing Time Becoming Norm for Manhattan Bars
When Hog Pit co-owner Felisa Dell sent an email to Eater on April 7th confirming the closure of her Meatpacking District BBQ joint, she insinuated that “the mayor and the State Liquor Authority are now only issuing Liquor Licenses until 2 a.m. It’s very sneaky, but in 5 years the 4 a.m. liquor license will be a thing of the past, without any community input.” Today the NY Sun backs Dell up, reporting that many Manhattan bar owners are finding it “nearly impossible to open new nightlife establishments that are permitted to serve alcohol until 4 a.m.”
While the New York State Liquor Authority can’t arbitrarily impose a specific closing time before 4 a.m., Community Boards have been demanding bar owners agree to curfews before they recommend approval to the SLA. The Sun looked at the most recent records available from Community Board 3, which covers the East Village and the Lower East Side, and found that not a single liquor license recommendation was granted to a bar that would close after 3 a.m. on weekends and 2 a.m. on weekdays.
And in Tribeca, Community Board 1 killed Matthew Piacentini’s plans to open a lounge in a commercial building on Hudson Street by telling him he’d have to close at midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. The early closing times are a big problem for bar owners; a recent survey found that 58% of their revenues are earned between those magical hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. These are also the hours when some of us lose 58% of our dignity, so maybe it’s all for the best?
James VarnHagen of the New York City Rescue Mission discusses their annual Great Thanksgiving banquet they host in their Tribeca homeless shelter. Prominent figures such as Police Chief Kelly turn out to help serve the needy. With the bad economy and city budget cuts, they need your donations.
On the evening of November 9th, at the corner of Battery Place and West Thames, construction crew began to jackhammer up a ditch in the road related to Con Edison gas lines. The work was non-emergent. The crew foreman claimed that they had a permit to jackhammer until 10:00 PM. He refused to give the name of his construction company.
To say the least, the South half of Battery Park City was outraged by the noise. This is in addition to the daily earthquake-inducing noise from the pile driving machines over at the Route 9A “Tire Swing Park” construction.
Wasting no time, the DOT began construction on the new “Tire Swing Park” preventing any further delays from opposition groups. The current estimated budget is approximately $9 Million for the project. Despite opposition from residents, the project is proceeding with “Plan A” which cuts down all of the trees and has the maximal loss of grass field space to make way for the “Pataki Promenade” granite walkway parallel to the West Side Highway Route 9A.
The project is scheduled to be completed by Memorial Day, 2010. Near-term upside to the plan is that it will greatly expand the space allotted to the community gardens and level the grass playing field. The major downside to the plan, and reason for opposition from parents, is the loss of the large pear trees that provide great shade, and the down time from construction, of course.
Matt Fenton has an interesting article in the Broadsheet about how State and City employees are parking their cars in no-parking zones on West Thames. The cars post government affiliations on their dashboard to avoid getting ticketed. Some use handicap passes.
The controversy is whether these car operators are really on government jobs and really handicapped or are just abusing the system while regular Joe’s like us get expensive tickets on the other side of the street.
As an update, we did notice this handicapped car was ticketed.
- City Council, - Mayor's Office, In the News, Op-Ed, Real estate | admin | 
September 3, 2010 1:53 am | 
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