The Department of Transportation Alternatives accused Juniper Civic of political machinating at Community Board 5 meeting

From the Juniper Civic:

This is a new comm board member from Ridgewood lamenting that JPCA had the executive committee change the chair of the transportation committee because "DOT told him that's what happened". We had no idea we had this much power! We didn't even realize the chair was changed, nor do we care.

I actually would like to know who this masked man is and what would compel him to make such an accusation. Which is ironic considering how Transportation Alternatives presence has been at every announcement of street infrastructure and transportation related policy announcements this year. And whoever this person the committee removed is such a concern for the clearly regulatory captured DOT then that's ok by me.

And if this guy is representing Ridgewood that town has got a lot less cooler.

This just in:

It turns out that this masked man relaying accusations by the Department of Transportation about Juniper Civic is Derek Evers,the campaign manager for Juan Ardila for his failed city council campaign last year. As reported on this blog, Evers was picked by Borough President Donovan Richards to represent the district on CB5 and also appeared in Ardila's social media campaign ad larping as a regular citizen. It's a safe bet that honesty is not one of his skill sets.

  

Since Ardila had tremendous backing by non-profit "advocacy" organizations for street safety and equity Transportation Alternatives and Open Plans's StreetsPac during his stunning win for the State Assembly, despite his use of a car and racking up a load of traffic and parking violations during his campaign run; what Derek has clearly done here, to use his term, was reveal their influence on the D.O.T.'s street infrastructure policy decisions. Going after Juniper was obvious considering numerous social media posts showing how they want to place citibike racks on the streets to usurp parking spaces for people's cars instead of ample sidewalks. 

About the person who got sacked by CB5 that the DOT and Evers were trying to defend, Toby Shepard Bloch. That's him on the right sitting next to Lincoln Restler during a town hall for a hotel about to converted into a homeless shelter in Maspeth. Toby apparently was supposed to be their rubber stamp for the Citibike expansion and colonizing of curbside parking and this fits in well with Linky's own attempts to force shelters on communities without their input. And as we all her know about Linky, he's the biggest Transportation Alternatives agency captured official in Brooklyn and all of New York.

 

It's beyond hilarious how the DOT has the audacity to accuse CB5 and actually anyone of political shenanigans after the way their municipality has been agency captured by Transportation Alternatives as that non-profit org has been present at every rally involving street infrastructure and policy announcements by politicians the past year and then they get mad because some appointee who was basically a proxy for them gets canned? Maybe if they didn't try to force Citibike on a town and wouldn't compromise on how public spaces can be used for them, they wouldn't be whining right now. They need to remember who the fuck they work for, the taxpayers, not private corporations with some bike share scheme.

Campaign manager larps as random hard worker family person in his candidate's campaign ad

We're exactly one week away from changing the course of history in District 30. It's an honor to run to represent you in the City Council and I look forward to being your Democratic nominee.

Share this video far & wide and I'll see you at the polls! This one is for you 💪 pic.twitter.com/NHxndSFYRJ

— Juan Ardila (@JuanArdilaNYC) June 15, 2021

 

If you plan on deception to get residents to vote for your groomed client Derek, at least find a different pair of shades to wear. 

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures

So this guy Derek Evers is elected to office as a Democratic district leader, and also was appointed to the local community board by Donovan Richards (which may be a no-no as per the city charter), yet he conveniently neglected to mention he's also Juan Ardila's paid campaign manager...

Prior to reading his ridiculous screed against Ardila's opponent, here's a partial fact check:

- The contentious homeless shelter in the 2017 race was located in a Maspeth hotel. It's gone now.

- Holden was never chair of the community board. If he was, that would be displayed prominently on his campaign material, no?

- The HCQ thing links to an article where Cuomo pleads for it, not Trump.

- There's a screenshot of an undated Facebook post with a blurred out name purported to be from Holden's Deputy Chief of Staff that shows a pro-Trump rally but doesn't show the breach of the Capitol or praise of same. Kinda stalkerish to be snooping on a staff member's Facebook page regardless.

- Chokeholds have been banned by the NYPD patrol guide for decades and the legislation in question was not to make them legal.

- Not sure what Holden's age has to do with anything unless the Ardila campaign is ageist along with everything else (likely).

- By his own measure he's failing on graffiti? Or is it more like police aren't making graffiti arrests because the DAs are declining to prosecute and the judges are dismissing the charges now in New Woke City?

- How can 40% of the district be Latino and also be gerrymandered?

- People of all races hate those loud car speaker/biker/ATV assholes and besides that they are dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, but it's good to know the Ardila campaign is in favor of them. (This position seems to be against the progressive doctrine to oppose motorized vehicles at all times. I guess there are exceptions.)

Now go ahead and have a good laugh:

Dear Democratic leaders of Queens, I’m tired. I’m tired of living in a District run by an angry man who uses his votes and his rhetoric and his relationship with the press to divide and separate our wonderful community.  Robert Holden does not represent District 30 in a manner befitting of any elected role, regardless of what political party he wants to align with. At his core, he’s a divider who preys on people’s fears to create a “path to victory” in local elections.  Of course, this is nothing new. This is what Robert Holden does. He did it in his 2017 race against Elizabeth Crowley, drumming up hatred for a homeless shelter that was inevitably still built after he was elected. Yet, despite his own failures to stop construction or to address the homeless crisis in his district, he continues to lean into it with hate-filled rhetoric, saying things like the men who live there “will never assimilate into the neighborhood, they'll never blend in."  Even as far back as his days as chair of the Community Board there are stories of people being scared to run against him because they knew the Juniper Berry would smear them if they tried. And now that he’s running for re-election he’s going to try to pull the same Trump-like “divide and conquer” strategy. So I implore you, do not look at the Robert Holden who is running for re-election, look at his voting record to see what kind of man he really is. Robert Holden wasn’t running for re-election when he voted against a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination based on an individual’s sexual and reproductive health decisions.  Or when he voted against a bill that would allow individuals to change their sex designation on their birth certificate to conform with their gender identity.  Or when he voted against a bill that would establish diversity working groups in each community school district.  Or when he appeared on FOX News to say NYC should not be a sanctuary city. Or when he voted against creating an Office of Diversity and Inclusion within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.  Or when he voted against an order that would replace the word “alien” with “noncitizen” in the City Charter.  Or when he introduced a bill that would re-allow the police to use a chokehold like the one that killed Eric Garner.  Or when he quit the Immigration Committee because he thinks ICE agents should be allowed in New York state courthouses without warrants.  Or when he parroted Trump’s call to use the anti-Malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID patients.  Or when he remained silent as his Deputy Chief Of Staff praised the Jan 6th insurrection on Facebook, calling it “beautiful” and ending it with “Donald Trump I will fly your flag everyday no matter what”. Then of course there’s the veiled racism in a district that is nearly 40% Hispanic but gerrymandered so heavily that the Latino portions of our district are under-represented. It’s no coincidence that he continues to target loud music in the park, young men of color who congregate with their cars in park parking lots, or boys of color who ride their bikes in groups. He’s been on the graffiti task force for 20 years and yet, by his own measure, he’s either failing or repeatedly brings it up as just another dog whistle. And despite the reputation of having one of the best school districts in the city, we have a dismal SHSAT record of racial disparity and zero dual-language programs for public elementary schools that are 70% Latino.  I am a middle-aged man and Robert Holden is older than my father. I would say he should know better, but this is who he is. This is who he has always been. So I implore you, as fellow Democrats, please do not buy into his words and heed the warnings of his actions. If you don’t have the bravery to stand up to his hate-filled record of divisiveness, then do what our parents told us to do when faced with a bully — ignore him and try not to engage.  This is not the leader our community wants or needs. I hope you remember that when you speak to your friends and neighbors, and most importantly, when you head to the polls. Thank you

Sincerely, Derek J. Evers Democratic District Leader, AD37B derekjeversforad37b@gmail.com