The Fast And The Socialist

 

NY Post

A far-left NYC councilwoman who ran for office on an anti-car-agenda and pushed a crackdown on dangerous driving is a road menace who’s racked up four speeding tickets in a little more than a year, The Post has learned.

Queens Democratic Socialist Tiffany Cabán was slapped with seven traffic tickets totaling $490 in fines and late fees since November 2022 — including four in the past 13 months for being caught on camera speeding in school zones, a review of city records shows.

The remaining summonses on the pol’s black Chevy Cruze include two for blocking fire hydrants, and another for parking in a “No Standing” zone. 

New Yorkers are tired of the self-righteous, sanctimonious, anti-public safety elected officials who push their ‘do as I say, not as I do’ agendas, demanding we abandon our cars while they drive everywhere, and flout the very laws they impose on us,” said Councilman Robert Holden, a moderate Queens Dem.

“The hypocrisy and double standards of the left is truly astounding,” he added. 

While campaigning for Council in 2021, Cabán advocated converting at least 25% of all city roadways “into space for people” as part of her New York-version of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stalled Green New Deal plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. 

Cabán, who represents Astoria and nearby neighborhoods, called on the city during the campaign to create “1,000-lane miles” of permanent car-free “Open Streets,” 500 miles of dedicated bus-only lanes and 500 miles of new bike lanes.

“We can improve living conditions for [District 22] residents by improving air quality, reducing noise pollution, encouraging social and physical activity, and increasing accessibility through transit and biking upgrades,” said Cabán in campaign literature pushing the pie-in-the-sky plan.  

 It's really delish seeing Tiff get caught like this (check out those rims on her Cruze!). But what's even better is that only a few months ago she was helping the Department of Transportation Alternatives promote an expensive plan to redesign 31st ave in Astoria to ban vehicle traffic on some streets and make the entire stretch a freeway for ebikes.

Transportation Nihilists and Delinquents

NY Post 

 Two of the Big Apple’s top transportation honchos — known for talking tough at traffic scofflaws — need speed themselves, data reviewed by The Post reveals.

Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and his baby mama Christina Melendez, a top director at the Department of Education, have racked up a staggering 66 traffic violations totaling at least $5,600 in fines the past decade using the same vehicle – including 14 since 2019 for speeding in school safety zones, according to city records.  

The chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens), has cruised in a family car that racked up 25 tickets over the past 16 months, including 20 for speeding near schools and another for blowing a red light, records show. 

 It’s unclear how many of the summonses were handed out on Melendez’s Nissan Rogue when Rodriguez was behind the wheel. 

As DOT commissioner for the past two years, he’s enjoyed the perk of having a city vehicle that comes with an assigned driver.

“Ydanis Rodriquez, who gets chauffeured in a giant SUV, and Selvena Brooks-Powers are prime examples of ‘do as I say, not as I do,'” fumed Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens).

They’re “hypocrites who act as if laws don’t apply to them,” he added. 

Other lefty pols with a long history of being speed demons who’ve racked up plenty of traffic violations include Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

Rodriguez regularly drove Melendez’s Nissan to work at City Hall when he was a Manhattan councilman — even obtaining a parking placard for it — but he and his former domestic partner, who share two daughters, have since split, according to sources. 

The vehicle was slapped with six speeding tickets during the final five months leading up to Rodriguez’s January 2022 appointment by Mayor Adams as DOT commissioner.

Since then, the Nissan has received six parking tickets – including two for misusing a parking permit—and was caught speeding in July and November of last year.  

On March 2, 2023, the vehicle was slapped with two tickets totaling $160 for illegally parking in a spot in lower Manhattan on Warren Street reserved for state senators and assembly members.

The traffic agent noted in the tickets that the car was flashing a Department of Education parking permit. Melendez works nearby as the DOE’s $195,000-a-year executive director of Family and Community Engagement.

A Post photographer on Thursday spotted Melendez getting into the vehicle, which was illegally parked 

Rodriguez, who has cheered congestion pricing and speed cameras and has helped promote City Hall’s anti-car agenda, earns $243,171 and now gets a free ride to work in a city vehicle.

He has not driven his ex’s car since being appointed commissioner two years ago “and is confident he has not received any [traffic] violations in this role,” said DOT spokesman Vincent Barone.

The DOE and Melendez declined to comment.

Brooks-Powers has been a longtime proponent of using speed cameras to help curb traffic accidents and has pushed legislation seeking to reward New Yorkers who report hit-and-run drivers fleeing deadly crashes.

However, a 2019 Nissan the pol has said she shares with her husband Demetrius Powers II racked up 25 tickets totaling $1,395 in fines since September 2022 — including the 20-speed cam violations, records show. 

 

 NY Post

Some New York City agencies are using the viral image of Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce screaming at head coach Andy Reid during the Super Bowl to push their policy agendas.

“OUTDOOR DINING TAKES UP LESS THAN .5% OF STREET PARKING IN NEW YORK CITY. PUBLIC SPACE IS FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST CARS,” posted the city Department of Transportation Monday on X, along with a photo of Kelce jawing on the sidelines at a stone-faced Reid.

Some critics slammed DOT for using the photo of Taylor Swift’s boyfriend barking at his coach to drive home anti-car policies advocated by Transportation Alternatives and other advocacy groups.

“Instead of focusing on filling potholes and installing speed bumps in a timely manner, the DOT prefers to tweet nonsense that New Yorkers couldn’t care less about,” fumed Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens). “The Department of Transportation Alternatives needs a major change in leadership.”

DOT spokesman Nick Benson quipped that he’s “notoriously bad at lip reading, but I think it’s a safe assumption that Travis Kelce was vociferously expressing his support for outdoor dining in New York City.”

The guy photographed above is Vin Barone, he's in charge of media at the Department Of Transportation Alternatives which includes their obnoxious twitter account (which is also stupidly known as X).

 

Another agency captured car culture junkie elected official caught with traffic violations

Gothamist

The family car used by the chair of New York City's transportation committee was caught speeding an alarming number of times this year, city data shows.

Whoever owns the car, which is often driven by City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers of southeastern Queens, has racked up enough tickets that city law requires them to take a driver safety course or risk having the wheels impounded. It’s not clear how often Brooks-Powers drives the vehicle herself.

The car has received 34 tickets since the councilmember took office in March 2021 following a special election. Of those tickets, 29 were for speeding in school zones, including one issued the day before Brooks-Powers was announced as chair of the Council’s transportation committee in January.

The car was also ticketed outside Hudson Yards in October for fraudulent use of a parking permit. The $65 fine was later dismissed.

The vehicle is linked to $2,105 paid in fines and penalties since Brooks-Powers took office, according to city data.

A spokesperson for Brooks-Powers said the car — a 2019 gray Nissan — is not registered under her name, but is a shared family vehicle. The politician regularly uses the car, and it has been seen parked outside City Hall by several other outlets.

The car has enough speeding tickets to trigger the city’s Dangerous Vehicle Abatement law, which was signed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2020. The law mandates that owners of cars with more than 15 speed camera violations or five red light cameras within any 12-month window take a safety course. If the car’s owner does not take a safety course within 30 days after receiving a notice, the law states the car will be seized by the city sheriff’s office.

Agency captured open streets pusher council member is a car junkie

 

Nice Honda Shekar, guess you still got a jones for getting around the city faster in a 2 ton metal living room death machine. Punk. 

The Department Of Transportation Alternatives steals public space from people and gives it to Lyft and Citibike for free car storage

 

NY1

What was once a free parking lot under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is now being used for CitiBike support. Some neighbors say they feel cheated, especially after their hard work to keep the area clean.

“When you see it, you’re like, ‘Are you serious?’ So, no one said anything to any of us. There was no notice," said Shaquana Boykin, who lives in a public housing complex next to the BQE. "It just doesn’t make sense to keep removing free space.”

On August 5, residents noticed a sign announcing the end of public parking near the intersection of Park and Clinton Avenues in Clinton Hill. The Department of Transportation owns this lot and says it’s now being used by Lyft to support CitiBike operations with no set end date. That doesn’t sit well with neighbors.

“This space under Park Avenue has been a public space for decades, it’s been people’s parking," said Michael Higgins, who, along with Boykin, are part of the volunteer group Park Avenue BQE Cleanup. Members have been cleaning the parking lot and others under the expressway since the start of the pandemic. They say it’s unfair for the city to close a free lot with little to no warning, especially one that residents have been maintaining for more than two years.

“We are just trying to care for this space," said Higgins. "We’ve unfortunately seen community spaces in this neighborhood become privatized and we’ve tried to avoid that. People care, people are trying to do the best they can given the limited resources we have, but we need help.”

Boykin feels the decision to close this lot is an insult to residents who park there as well as volunteers who keep it safe and clean. She disagrees with the decision to section off an entire parking lot for storage.

"Parking under the BQE is where you feel safe," said Boykin. "You don't have to worry about tickets. No matter where you live, when you enter that community, you know where that free space is to park and you've gotta maintain that!"

In a statement, a DOT spokesperson says, “Accommodating Citi Bike in this lot is an important and necessary measure to support Citi Bike’s operations in keeping bikes well maintained and stations evenly balanced.”

After screwing homeowners out of financial aid from Hurricane Ida damage, Comptroller Lander wants to make a law to make renting basements legal

 

 City Limits

 Brad Lander’s Basement Resident Protection Law would create a “basement board” to oversee the conversions and ensure residents of these apartments—called accessory dwelling units or ADUs—have access to tenants’ rights and basic safety protections. It comes a year after rains from Hurricane Ida killed 11 New Yorkers in basement units.

As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida approaches, tens of thousands of basements and cellars—units often converted into illegal apartments—are still at immediate risk of flooding, and that number will triple in the next 30 years, according to a report by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander shared with City Limits Monday.

The report proposes legalizing and registering rental units via a legislative roadmap modeled after a law New York State enacted in the 1980s to convert commercial and manufacturing units into legal residences.

Lander’s policy plan, the Basement Resident Protection Law, would create a “basement board” to oversee the conversions and ensure residents of these apartments—called accessory dwelling units or ADUs—have access to tenant’s rights, such as eviction protection. It would also help homeowners put in place basic safety features to protect tenants from floods and fires.

“The idea of this legislation is that it would create a kind of interim set of rights, responsibilities and protections that would go really well with a pathway to legalization,” Lander told City Limits.

The plan would need to be implemented on the state level, and so he hopes to see a legislator in Albany take it up. It comes as the city marks one year since heavy rainfall brought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused deadly floods, killing 11 people residing in basement units.

The comptroller’s analysis found that 10 percent, or 43,000, of the city’s basements and cellars are at risk of flooding from rainfall or storm surges. The number of occupied basement and cellar units across the city is still unknown due to their secrecy, but estimates suggest they house at least 100,000 city residents—and that number could be much higher.

Such apartments tend to attract low-income renters, including immigrants, who are priced out of other forms of housing. As of now, tenants living in these units have no protections or rights if they demand safety features to protect them from floods, fires and other risks, and many are not incentivized to ask the city to intervene for fear of losing access to their homes.

“The only tool the city has is a vacate order,” Lander said. “That’s not what residents want, even if they’re in an unsafe unit.”

Lander’s proposal would require owners of occupied basement or cellars to register them, and would give temporary legal status to such units for up to five years—a change from current policy, in which most of the units would be deemed uninhabitable.

Juan and done again and for good

 

 

Queens Post

Juan Ardila, a candidate running to represent western Queens in the state Assembly and a crusader against car culture, drives a compact sports utility vehicle that has racked up nearly 30 traffic violations since 2019.

The black Audi Q3 has been hit with multiple speed camera violations in school zones in the vicinity of Queens Boulevard and 55th Street. The vehicle has been ticketed for blocking crosswalks, parking in front of fire hydrants to obstructing driveways. There is also a bus lane violation, and a violation for blocking a pedestrian ramp.

Multiple people have told the Queens Post that he drives the vehicle and have provided photos and videos of him in it. He is often seen driving through western Queens as he campaigns to represent the 37^th Assembly District, which covers Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ridgewood and Maspeth.

His critics argue that his violations undermine his campaign, since he is a staunch advocate for street safety. His platform calls for conflict-free protected bicycle lanes, pedestrian safety measures and an end to car culture. He was endorsed by StreetsPAC today, which he announced via twitter.

🚨 ENDORSEMENT ALERT! I am thrilled to announce that we’re now backed by @StreetsPAC. Our streets belong to everyone, including #pedestrians & #cyclists. #Transportation is a matter of #justice & #equity. I will fight to make sure all NYers have safe access to our #publicspaces pic.twitter.com/yb3oNOzafi

— Juan Ardila (@JuanArdilaNYC) June 16, 2022

Ardila, when questioned about the violations, told the Queens Post “I don’t have a car.” In a short unannounced phone interview, he refused to say who the vehicle belonged to, nor did he address the violations. He said he had to get off the phone but would call back in 5 minutes.

He didn’t call back, and after the Queens Post reached out again, he sent a text asking for the questions to be e-mailed. The questions were e-mailed but there has been no response.

The DMV did not provide the name of the registered owner of the vehicle. Tim O’Brien, a spokesperson for the state DMV, said the agency typically does not share private registration information citing the Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).

 The Audi has been hit with 41 violations since 2017, although the limited public records available show that the vehicle was sold to an unnamed party in Queens in 2018. Since then, the vehicle appears to have remained in the name of one owner and has generated 29 violations.

Multiple people have said that they have seen Ardila driving the vehicle in recent years. In fact, video was taken of him in the car prior to a candidate forum held at the Ridgewood Presbyterian Church on Thursday June 9.

“I heard that he had a lot of traffic violations, so when I saw him in the car I took photos,” said Stefan Smetko, who was at the forum working on behalf of Brent O’Leary who is also vying for the Assembly seat.

Of course readers of this blog are aware of the evolution of Juan Aridla and his vain attempts to get into elected office. Last year while running for City Council he got involved in silly protests against residents he would have represented if he won and he got into major hot water when he got caught saying homophobic, racist and sexist things on social media platforms yet his base and the NYC's fauxgressive establishment politicians still stood behind him and endorsed him. This year in his mission to get into the State Assembly, Juan embraced the "public streets for people" movement and lobbies like Transportation Alternatives and Streets PAC above to get elected, so it's going to be interesting to see how they will continue to justify backing their chosen one to push and legislate their agenda to usurp streets from driving and make life difficult for residents with a man who is so dependent on car culture he needs multiple vehicles to get around town and is so addicted to car culture that he was willing to risk his political ambitions by driving and parking like an entitled jerk.

Maybe Ardila liked their agenda because he thought the streets would have more room for privileged drivers like him to drive on and also these bike/open street think tank lobbies donors to TransAlt, Streets Pac and Open Plans as well, especially car culture based corporations like Lyft and Uber and all their fellow hypocrite car owners and car dependent people from other corporations like the big banks and elected officials as well. They don't want safe streets "for people", these elitists wants the streets for themselves.

 

So long Juan. Thanks for sparing us one less regulatory captured politician in elected office. Now go get a real job.

 

 

Council speaker from Queens top aides are from Long Island and Jersey

NY Post 

These bigwigs work for the City Council but they’re not based in the Big Apple.

Speaker Adrienne Adams has granted rare waivers exempting three top Council staffers from a rule requiring such workers to live in the city, The Post has learned.

“People know about it. It has caused dissension. People will say, ‘Why can’t I get a waiver to move out of the city?'” one Council veteran said.

The waivers went to new Council Chief of Staff Jeremy John, Chief Financial Officer Tanisha Edwards and top Finance Division deputy Jonathan Rosenberg.

John, who grew up in Brooklyn, now resides in Westbury in Nassau County and is getting paid at least $220,000, city records show. He comes to his council job with deep Democratic Party and labor connections — he’s the former political director of the District Council 37 union representing city workers.

Edwards, who is making $245,000 according to public records, has a listed address in Valley Stream in Nassau County. She’s a native of southeast Queens, the home turf of Speaker Adams, and most recently was employed as general counsel and chief legal officer of the state Insurance Fund.

Eric Adams gets COVID on day 100 as Mayor

CNN 

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, according to a statement from a spokesperson.

"This morning, Mayor Adams woke up with a raspy voice and, out of an abundance of caution, took a PCR test that has now come back positive," press secretary Fabien Levy said in the statement Sunday.

 

"At this time, the mayor has no other symptoms, but he is already isolating and will be canceling all public events for the remainder of the week," the statement said. "He is also going to immediately begin taking the anti-viral medications offered for free to New York City residents and encourages all New Yorkers eligible for these medications to take them as well."

 

"While he is isolating, he will continue to serve New Yorkers by working remotely," Levy added.

Covid cases among Washington power brokers put new focus on White House's protocols for Biden

Adams has appeared at several public events in New York this week. On April 2, he attended the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, DC.

 

At least 67 people who attended the dinner have tested positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, according to a letter from the club to its members. But it is unclear where the mayor contracted the virus.

Several members of President Joe Biden's cabinet and various lawmakers are among those who tested positive after attending the Gridiron Dinner, CNN previously reported, among them Attorney General Merrick Garland and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Biden did not attend.

 

City Hall has been reaching out to some people -- such as heads of other city agencies -- who were in contact with Adams last week, according to a city official. Most already knew Adams had contracted the virus when they spoke, the official said.

Eric Adams officially starts two-tier worker vaccine mandate system exempting/benefiting pro athletes and entertainers

Ex #FDNY firefighters who were laid off due to the mandates confront the New NYC health commissioner and NYC Mayor Eric Adams in Brooklyn NY.#NYC #NYPD #vaccinated pic.twitter.com/rA8VgT1EZK

— Viral News NY (@ViralNewsNYC) March 24, 2022

 

Forbes 

 New York City will exempt performers and athletes from its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for private-sector workers, Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday, allowing unvaccinated professional athletes like Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play at venues across the city.

Adams announced Executive Order 62—which he said was signed and is effective immediately—during a press conference at Citi Field.

The mayor said “we’re making [this change] because this city has to function,” as he noted the need for more employees and tourists to improve the city’s economy.

Adams also said the change will allow New York City’s players to be on “an even playing field,” and will affect venues such as the Barclays Center, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

Adams lifted the city’s vaccine mandate for customers in indoor venues earlier this month, but left vaccine regulations in place for private-sector employees, meaning New York City athletes could not compete unvaccinated.

The previous rule did not apply to unvaccinated players on competing teams who traveled to New York City for away games, leading NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to ask city officials to review the “oddity” last month.

Several labor unions criticized Adams for lifting the mandate for wealthy and famous performers while leaving vaccination rules in place for other employees in the city, including public-sector workers. “There can't be one system for the elite and another for the essential workers of our city,” Harry Nespolli, chair of a group of unions representing about 350,000 city workers called the Municipal Labor Committee, told the Associated Press.

The exemption comes amid pressure from the sports world ahead of the NBA playoffs and the MLB’s opening day next month. Due to his vaccination status, Irving has only been playing during away games since returning to the Nets this season, although he was allowed to attend the Nets’ home game as a spectator. The NBA has a vaccination rate of about 95%, while the MLB has the lowest vaccination rate among the four major U.S. sports leagues, ESPN reports.

Albany Democrats present blatantly gerrymandered redistricting map, Gianaris claims it's justified

 

 NY Politics

A new and long-awaited proposed New York congressional district map was released by the Senate and Assembly on Sunday. As a result of the 2020 census, the map reflects the state’s loss of one congressional district, bringing the state’s delegation down to 26 members.

New York State legislators are expected to pass the map later this week and send it to Governor Kathy Hochul for her approval. New maps for New York State Assembly and Senate district maps are also expected to be released and approved later this week. Following those enactments, county boards of elections will realign election districts with the new Assembly Jdistricts so petitioning for Spring 2022 primaries can get underway in early March.

The task of drawing the initial line drawing fell to the New York State Legislature after the state’s advisory “Independent Redistricting Commission” failed to agree on congressional and state legislative maps in early January. The commission had been created under a 2014-enacted state constitutional amendment that aimed to remove the legislature from the initial line-drawing process.

This map represents the first opportunity for Democratic Party legislative leaders to manage drawing the state’s congressional maps in 90 years.  In those prior years, Republicans or a politically divided legislature drew the maps. The current congressional lines were drawn by a federal court in 2012 after the legislature failed to come to an agreement on a map.

City & State

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who has led his chamber’s redistricting efforts, asserted that his party did not engage in gerrymandering despite proposing a new congressional map that clearly benefits Democrats. In an interview with City & State, Gianaris stood by the controversial proposal that could cut the number of Republicans in the New York delegation in half.

The maps clearly disadvantage Republicans, who will likely lose four seats in the next election cycle if the proposal stands. The GOP was quick to denounce the new lines and promised to take the matter to court. But they weren’t the only ones crying foul. The left-leaning think tank Brennan Center for Justice, which focuses on voting rights, said Democrats took a heavy hand to district drawing. Michael Li, the organization’s redistricting expert, called the New York maps an “aggressive gerrymander,” and even asserted they would be struck down under the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that Democrats are championing in Congress. 

Still, Gianaris defended the maps against claims that they were overly partisan, especially in some of the most unusually shaped districts. “We’re very confident this adheres to the current requirements,” Gianaris said, adding that he fully expects the issue to end up in court. “Other people make those decisions, we’ll make our case why we believe it does.”

Given specific examples of districts that have drawn scrutiny, Gianaris offered a legal claim for each. For District 11, currently held by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, he claimed the new lines “conform to some historical norms for that district” – which apparently just happen to turn the right-leaning swing district into a fairly safe Democratic seat. Expanding District 3, being vacated by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, from Long Island into the Bronx and Westchester unites communities of interest along the Long Island Sound, according to Gianaris. He added that this particular decision came from public input from a coalition representing communities of color that presented a “unity” plan, but the move seemed to baffle many. 

 Democrats have been accused of using redistricting to strengthen their position in the state Legislature despite criticizing gerrymandering in the past. “As we unravel the gerrymanders of the past, it doesn't make it a gerrymander of today,” state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who chaired the legislative task force that oversaw redistricting along with Assembly Member Kenneth Zewbrowski from the Hudson Valley, said on The Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday. “These are districts that are drawn fairly,” Gianaris added. Whether or not Gianaris’ rationale rings true despite the proposed Democrat-friendly lines, Republicans did use methods other than line-drawing to help them maintain their state Senate majority in the past. Packing more people in Democratic districts versus GOP areas was one strategy.

AOC funds the mercenaries

 

NY Post  

 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paid thousands for personal security to a former Blackwater contractor, a review of Federal Election Commission records shows.

AOC’s campaign dropped at least $4,636 at Tullis Worldwide Protection for “security services” between January and June of this year according to the filings.

The Franconia, Virginia-based company is owned by Devin Tullis, whose other clients include the royal families of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to his website.

AOC has been among the most vocal proponents of the defund the police movement since coming to Congress, and has insisted the idea would turn blighted communities into suburban paradises.

“[Suburban] communities have lower crime rates not because they have more police but because they have more resources to support healthy society in a way that reduces crime,” she said in a June 2020 Instagram story.

 When New York City moved to defund a billion dollars from the NYPD, Ocasio-Cortez slammed the measure as insufficient. “Defunding police means defunding police,” the congresswoman said in a statement at the time.

In addition to Blackwater, Tullis also worked as a bail enforcement officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He refused to get into the specifics of his contract with the congresswoman, but said he frequently hired former military and law enforcement for protection jobs with VIPs — noting the gig wasn’t for the faint of heart.

“We’re not hiring social workers,” he laughed.

The short answer is "yes"

Yes, Mr. Defund literally lives ON AN ARMY BASE.

Brad Lander funds the privatized police

 

 

NY Daily News 

Comptroller candidate and City Councilman Brad Lander has been a vocal supporter of defunding the police, but when it comes to a private police force that serves Brooklyn’s Hasidic communities, he’s been a lot more forthcoming with cash.

From 2011 to 2015, Lander, a Democrat who represents Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, doled out $30,000 to the Shmira Civilian Volunteer Patrol of Boro Park for providing security in the neighborhood, Council records show.

Lander is now running for city comptroller, and if elected, would serve as the city’s top fiscal watchdog with oversight of the city’s vast pension funds. During his run, and in the months before, he’s been an outspoken proponent of the defund movement.

But his past support of the Shomrim patrol has raised hackles among fellow political lefties.

“He was funding an organization that hasn’t been trained as well as the police department has been trained. It’s incapable of handling situations like it should,” said Lander’s longtime colleague Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Queens). “If Brad really believes in deescalation and defunding the police, he should find groups that are trained in deescalation.”

Dromm also accused the Shomrim of being “notoriously homophobic” for not hiring gays.

Last June on the Council’s website, Lander expressed his support of defunding the police.

“I am fighting for $1 billion in cuts to the NYPD this year, and I am committed to voting no on a budget that does not make significant cuts to the NYPD,” he wrote.

His comments came during a bruising budget battle that led to Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who’s also running for comptroller, being attacked for not cutting the NYPD’s budget more deeply. At the time, Johnson was planning a run for mayor, but dropped that effort. In March, he announced his comptroller run. Other candidates in that race include state Sens. Brian Benjamin and Kevin Parker, Assemblyman David Weprin, former CNBC journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, businessman Zach Iscol and Terri Lifton, a compliance officer in private investment.

In Council appropriation statements from 2014 and 2015, Lander justified spending on Shomrim, writing that the money was for “operational expenses, including two-way radios, uniforms and other supplies to assist in providing safety and security services for the community.”

 Shmira’s president during that time was Jacob Daskal, who in March was indicted for coercing a minor into sex.

Brad Lander writes scofflaw driving mea culpa on bike agitprop blog

 

 

Streetsblog

Accountability is hard. And it’s the only way we get better.

That’s what I want to help do for our city, as the next New York City Comptroller, our chief accountability officer. So I’d better be open to it for myself.

Over the past decade, I’ve been one of our city’s most outspoken advocates for safer streets, for road redesigns, and for more speed cameras. Our successful fight to expand the speed camera program has doubled the number of cameras and the hours they operate, leading to many more tickets. And the evidence is clear: speed cameras save lives.

I also passed the Reckless Driver Accountability Act to hold the city’s most reckless drivers accountable — those who get 15 speeding violations or five red-light violations in a year. They’ll get the opportunity to attend a driver accountability program, to help them change their driving before they injure or kill a neighbor. If they don’t attend, their car could be impounded. The program starts later this year at last, and we believe it will save many lives.

But I have some personal accounting to do. The New York Post recently looked at my driving (and parking) record, and I am not proud of it. So I’m making some specific commitments to change.

To be clear: I got eight speeding tickets over five years (most of them over the past 18 months, as the camera program has expanded). But that is enough to show a pattern — and it isn’t OK. I need to slow down and drive less.

And I’ve gotten a lot of parking tickets over the past decade, too. Many of those are expired meters, but some are alternate-side violations that prevented street cleaning, or blocking a hydrant. They aren’t OK either.

A New York Post stakeout and exposé is no fun. It stings. And I feel especially embarrassed to face the great group of street safety advocates who are supporting me for comptroller.  

But being held accountable is really important.

So rather than cancel my Post subscription (actually, I don’t have a Post subscription), I’ll thank the New York Post for serving as my own personal driver accountability warning — as an opportunity to take accountability more seriously. To use data to get better.

Because what we ultimately want from holding each other accountable is not shame, or Twitter dunking, or virtue signaling. It’s taking action to do better.

So here’s what I’m committing to:

• First, every month going forward, I’ll make public how many parking or moving violations I get. Knowing that I’ll have to do it will make me slow down and follow parking rules.
• Second, I will sign on as a co-sponsor to Council Member Steve Levin’s bill to allow citizen parking enforcement. I’ve hesitated to do so, anxious that it could lead to conflicts on our streets (but maybe there was some self-protection there, too). (Yeah, just maybe Brad Pander-JQ LLC) With this bill, the next time that Post reporters stake out my car, they could use a citizen reporting app to get me a ticket (and then I’d have to include it in the monthly list, too).
• Third, I’ll make a serious effort to drive less — planning my schedule better so that I can use Citi Bike and public transit more often and leave the car behind (properly parked).
• And finally, since privileges often encourage worse behavior, I will stop using my City Council parking placard altogether. I’ve racked up plenty of parking violations even with it, and the best way to change my patterns would be to get rid of the expanding parking opportunities that it provides.

Poor Gersh, Bikeblog and all the bike zealots and hipster gentries from Brooklyn, it must be so devastating to have your fauxgressive heroes disappoint you. 

Suckers.

 

Comptroller wannabe Brad Lander has a entitled need for speed

 

NY Post

He’s a high-speed hypocrite!

City Councilman Brad Lander — who’s crusaded against reckless drivers and pushed a law that lets the city seize their cars — has been caught speeding in school zones around the Big Apple eight times in the past five years, The Post has learned.

Lander’s lead foot led to tickets against him for going more than 10 mph over the speed limit in every borough except Staten Island since June 2016, city records show.

The liberal Democrat — who’s now a candidate for city comptroller — even racked up two violations in one week last month, one in Manhattan and another just blocks from his home in Brooklyn’s Park Slope.

In each case, Lander pleaded guilty and paid a $50 fine, according to information posted on the NYC Open Data website. But because the tickets were issued after Lander zoomed past automatic speed cameras, he wasn’t assessed any points against his license.

Under state law, speeding more than 10 mph over the limit carries at least four points per violation and drivers can have their licenses suspended if they rack up a total of 11 points in 18 months.

Lander was ticketed seven times between Oct. 25, 2019, and March 25, 2021, which is a period of less than 18 months, and would have resulted in at least 28 points if he’d been stopped by cops and convicted each time.

Meanwhile, The Post on Thursday found Lander’s Toyota Prius parked illegally on 13th Street in Park Slope, near his home, between 9 and 9:30 a.m, when street-sweeping regulations were in effect.

At one point, a Department of Sanitation street cleaning vehicle came by and was blocked from sweeping the curb.

Lander’s dark gray hybrid remained parked until he got in and drove away shortly before noon, even though there’s a two-hour meter limit on the block from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 Update:

Watch this bum squirm when he tries to simultaneously defend and absolve himself from his own reckless driving record. But what's really hysterical is how these fauxgressive council cronies are willing to eat each other to maintain the one-party establishment.