From the Daily News:The controversial Triumph of Civic Virtue statue may be long gone from Queens Boulevard but some local activists are still fighting to find how and why it was moved.
They filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the city for details of the plans to move it to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
But the Department of Citywide Administrative Services has yet to respond, prompting the group to appeal to state officials.
“There are a lot of issues going on with this statue,” said Jon Torodash, a Kew Gardens resident who led the campaign to keep the statue in Queens. “Residents were annoyed enough that we were losing such a great work of art but then there was this whole secrecy and these strange channels through the Design Commission.”
The city Design Commission signed off on the plan to move the statue during a little-known public hearing in November.
Torodash and others complained they had no prior notice about the hearing.
12 comments:
Dear Queenscrapper,
Thank you. With a little luck and tenacity, I'll bring you more good (or at least interesting) news in the weeks and months to come.
Sincerely,
Jon Torodash - City Council 2013 in district 29.
An independent candidate.
"Vote your conscience."
http://jontorodash2013.com
Where there's smoke, there's fire. The failure of DCAS to comply with FOIL and to produce the requested records in a timely fashion, speaks volumes.
Deliberate concealment of public records is a violation whose penalty is jail time. The people at DCAS who are responsible for handling this FOIL request should consider whether it's worth sticking out their own necks, just to provide cover for their co-workers and others involved in the suspicious relocation of this statue from Queens to Brooklyn.
Classic Queens.
Getting your drawers twisted over drone strikes in Pakistan and the local Thai restaurant's change of chef and completely oblivious to living in the poorest run county in the country.
Its gone buddy. Move on to real world issues.
if one wonders who makes these decisions on the NYC Design Comm.:
Signe Nielsen,Pres. ,Philip E.Aarons, VP, Guy Nordenson ,Sec., Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos, Maria Elena Gonzalez, Byron Kim, Otis Pratt Pearsall, James Stewart Polshek, Paula Scher, Kandace V. Simmons, Ann G.Tenenbaum
Ahhhh glad to finally see a candidate that will focus on real issues affecting Queens...Cuz at this pt in our life, a candidate whose platform is on a statue is the REAL leadership we NEED..Cuz real leadership...im sorry I cant keep going with this bull without laughing my you know what off
Oh but didn't that "staunch preservation champion"
Peter Vallone Junior scream about the abduction of Civic Virtue by Brooklyn, "Stop stealing our stuff"?
Can you believe it, that thinning haired runt wants to be borough president?
I'd rather have Satan.
He doesn't hide his evil behind a curtain!
Oh those phony Valloneys.
to Jon, contact JUDICIAL WATCh .org
"because no one is above the law ".
in the past this group seems to get results when they file Freedom of Information Claims.
it would be interesting to see if they can help you to get the information that you seek ?
Thanks for the tip on Judicial Watch. VLANY is also interested in this case.
For those who did not check out my campaign website, my major positions are:
• More Transparency and Active Notification in Government.
• Put Education Back into the Hands of Teachers and Parents.
• Reign in the Insanity of the City Budget.
• Stop the ruinous overdevelopment, and pay the people when it can’t be avoided
• Reduce Business-Oppressive Regulation.
• Clean up Queens.
• The Police Are Trying to Safeguard Our Neighborhoods: Work with Them.
• Do more to make sure buses run on time.
I'm still getting things ready to formally file for candidacy (it's hard to find the time when you have a job that isn't being a bureaucrat, and run a side business) but I'd certainly be interested in hearing more about the "real issues" anyone thinks I may be missing, and maybe add them to my platform. If you really feel strongly about something, give me a call: 347-762-1112.
Vallone came out for this and the Brinkerhoff cemetery and of course the usual suspects flock around him ignoring is real record: seeking to make the Steinway Mansion a warehouse.
It's gone...FUGHETTABOUTIT...
and save your ammunition for the next fight!
Start by DUMPING ALL incumbent pols!
Now Jon, I have no grudge against you...In fact you seem like a nice guy...But you just can't go around creating a website copy and pasting crap 95% of your standard political websites say and expect me to be impressed cause you taught a semester of latin, pay rent, and work somewhere called Viggles...Just take it easy, relax, and if you want to be a serious candidate, which your obviously not, step up your game
Hey anon, thanks, you seem like you want to help, and you've certainly looked at more of my site than other critics but:
1) I wrote my all own copy. You can't just throw out the claim that I "pasted 95% of it" and think you're being helpful. If you have suggestions, please contact me, as I've already asked. Images are used with permission, as I'm not much of a photographer.
2) The vast majority of professional sites on the 'net, this one included, my company's included, begin with base templates. There are multiple reasons for this, which I won't go into here, but will gladly if you contact me. This may be why it "looks like" other sites to you. I am pretty busy right now, as I've said, and the site is not quite finished. A little every day. I put it up a bit prematurely because I had an interview with a local paper and wanted something live.
3) It's early in the political season for a non-dem, I don't have deep pockets for flashy TV ads, there are a number of strategies I have but have not yet begun to implement, and I will not get automatic press coverage without working for it. It's not overnight. Do you have contacts whom you think could help? Contact me
If you really want to help, would you please explain to me what you think would help make me a "serious candidate," not in public on this forum to get a reaction from the crowd, where you'd thus give away your great advice to my opponent too, but in direct communication Running a successful campaign isn't exactly something you learn in trade school or academia, as evidenced by how many Queenscrap readers delight in the stupidity of their elected officials who managed to do it.
It's a process, pal. If I had nothing better to do in my day to day life than run for office, I'd be the type of pol Queenscrappers would tell you to be wary of, and rightly so.
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