Saturday, November 18, 2017
Both sides heard at Queens hearing on monuments
From PIX11:
The future of New York City’s controversial monuments was the topic of conversation Friday at Queens Borough Hall where for the first time, New Yorkers had a chance to give their two cents.
As many as 800 pieces of art across the five boroughs including a statue of Christopher Columbus in Midtown, are at the center of the debate.
Nearly two dozen residents testified before Mayor de Blasio’s advisory commission on city art, monuments and markers.
From residents who warned that erasing history would be dangerous, to others who called Columbus a “terrorist” — the opinions ran the gamut.
Outside all the talk of history, the turnout for the public testimony was noticeably low with members of the media outnumbering residents.
The midday hearing drew ire from some but the Mayor’s office insists holding a hearing like this in the middle of the day on a weekday, is standard procedure.
22 comments:
Well, here goes all of our public statues. Take pictures of them while you can. By this time next year comrade Diblasio will be happily standing in front of them with a wrecking ball saying how great it is to remove these "racist" statues.
He will then erect a non binary generless LGBTQ illegal immigrant statue in its place and say how great it is.
What a waste of time and money. The mandate mayor obviously doesn't give a shit either. Even the guy who advocates taking down statues is disgusted.
"From residents who warned that erasing history would be dangerous, to others who called Columbus a “terrorist” — the opinions ran the gamut."
The "history" most of us were taught in school was essentially an erasure of the truth about such figures as Columbus.
What would have been the harm in telling the truth all along?
It is far worse when one discovers that they were fed a line of bullshit and lies as "history".
Christopher Columbus was/is nothing to our nation.
His near-deification was simply pandering to a certain ethnic group's pride. They could have picked a better example.
Rob In Manhattan
And they talk about Trump being Fascist - he can't hold a candle to the Democratic Party.
These people need to be taken down a peg.
We get it Rob, you hate White people
The public can also provide input via a Monuments Survey on the city website.
How many of the people in the monuments commission actually live in the 5 Boroughs? Is anyone asking?
Columbus a "terrorist"?
Nah. just the other way around. Columbus LIBERATED the so-called "indigenous" peoples from the likes of indigenous "civilized" characters such as THESE.
Tear down his statue? No-o-o-o-o. ERECT 100 MORE STATUES to the Great Navigator - who opened up economic progress and development to the backward continent.
Hail Columbus! Everything to our nation . . . with metaphysical meaning to mankind.
Personally, I'd rather be a living slave to progressive Western Man Columbus than a dead sacrificial victim to Aztec Quetzalcoatl. Now, wouldn't you?
"Personally, I'd rather be a living slave to progressive Western Man Columbus than a dead sacrificial victim to Aztec Quetzalcoatl. Now, wouldn't you?"
Ask these guys
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_colonial_United_States
and to be fair
http://www.theroot.com/did-black-people-own-slaves-1790895436
In my opinion, I don't think the statues should be removed at all. No plaques either, the city pisses enough money as it is. Let the people admire or hate them as they are where they are. If they will be removed, make sure the citizenry is involved instead of being decided by an elite(ist)group. Which is the damn problem because the public is not involved and from the look of this footage, the mandate mayor is making sure they won't
Actually, that is the bright side of these bullshit committee hearings, because no one cares and all the fairweather protesters didn't show up either. I don't think any statues or plaques will be removed at all and will wind up another de Faustio policy failure that started with great fanfare.
Bad enough civic virtue got removed. Now there was the first instance of a bogus advisory commission.
Not a single mention of the five-year evicted, Kew Gardens Plaza statue 'Triumph of Civic Virtue,' and the crime that led to the statue's eviction on Saturday, December 15, 2012, in the first place!
If memory serves, it was former Borough President Helen Marshall who secretly arranged for the statue's removal, and who even commissioned the services of a Flushing company to build a special cage (or armature), in order to carry the 22-ton statue onto a flatbed truck that transported this beloved monument to Green-Wood Cemetery, where it remains on temporary loan. Before that, it was former Congressman Anthony Weiner who suggested in a press conference, on Friday, February 25, 2011, that the statue be sold on Craig's List, and then in a delicious twist of irony, it was Weiner himself who resigned in disgrace only 10 weeks later, whilst Civic Virtue proudly stood on his fountain perch keeping vigil over Queens Boulevard and the criminal/political element within Borough Hall.
Then, on May 5, 2016, here is what documentary filmmaker Robert LoScalzo had to say about how Melinda Katz handled the protested issue of Civic Virtue (as the fate of the statue carried no due process, public referendum and Richmond Hill Historical Society approval):
❝As far as what is happening with the Triumph of Civic Virtue statue is concerned, one could never invent a story like this, because it just would not be believable.
City first denied any secret plan to move the colossal statue off of Queens Boulevard. City then implemented its secret plan, and moved statue to a Brooklyn cemetery on the pretext that cemetery would bear certain costs of restoring the statue. Instead, public funds paid to restore the statue—on the premises of the cemetery, where the statue remains now. Meanwhile, City is implementing separate plan to renovate the statue's fountain base at Queens Boulevard, at a cost that is 10 times greater than the cost of restoring the statue, and WITHOUT ever returning the statue to its base once everything is restored!
Would you restore the frame of the Mona Lisa, then put just the frame on display while sending the actual painting somewhere else, and expect the public to believe that's terrific? That's what is happening. The only beneficiary here is Brooklyn's private Green-Wood cemetery, which received a valuable colossal public art statue—still public property—for the cemetery to display as it pleases.
That's why this issue is not over, yet. And, it's a perfect example of why Queens is the laughingstock of art, among all of the City's boroughs.❞
❝Those who can make you believe absurdities will make you commit atrocities.❞ —Voltaire
❝It's dangerous to be right when government is wrong.❞ —Voltaire
And, here is what the always prescient George Orwell said, so very long ago:
❝Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.❞
George Orwell—'1984'
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❝We could put Democrats in exhibits, behind glass, watching white political bosses chomp cigars and pass out goodies for votes, as minorities were relegated, as they are today, to failing schools and lost educational opportunity and neighborhoods that have become killing fields for the young and old.
And in great museums, the Democrats could be studied, safely, without endangering the sensibilities of the children.❞
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When I read this I have to laugh at our slave masters, the Democrats who treat us as the darkies whose hard work they tax to pay their graft and corruption – and the arrogant contempt they have for you and me. Time to break our chains, Niggas.
Further, in 1971, the Lewis Powell memorandum will tie all knots and connect all dots... another version of this kind of hostile takeover of government happened in 1913 with the robber barons, big industry and the military-industrial complex.
With Woodrow Wilson leading the way creating the fed and the central banking system... this is what created the biggest economic downturn in our country's history... boom and bust is back, only benefiting the top end... these are extracting and extortion tools used by monetary locusts...
❝Politicians are the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.❞ —Frank Zappa
Ya mean, it weren't about muh freedom? Yeah—freedom from living!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-statues-democrats-kass-0…
The problem is it was held midday, when most people were working...they should have this in the evening, when people are off and they should have several meetings - daytime, nighttime, weekends - and it should be announced on several media channels. They - the mayor's office, the Borough hall crowd, the "advisory" board - don't want heavy attendance. They have already made up their minds about the monuments. They think they have a mandate because they won this election because of poor turnout and really no contested races. We need more races like Council District 30...the machines in all the borough can be challenged...and so can city hall
"...another version of this kind of hostile takeover of government happened in 1913 with the robber barons..."
"Robber barons"? Whom did they "rob"? And why use a Marxist cliché? I prefer "Captains of Industry" - just like our beloved Columbus, a benefactor of humanity.
Entrepreneurship is eminently enthralling!!! (Wouldn't you really agree?)
Taking down a statue is NOT going to change history. Also if these idiots would learn proper history then they would see that columbus DID NOT even come to America. He should not have been in our American history books even really. Also, if you want to talk about racism....African people also enslaved other african people. And white people enslaved other white people. Irish people were enslaved by the English for a long time. And england SLAUGHTERED half of irelands population. So slavery was everywhere. Unfortunately, it was just a thing that everyone did.
The statues are gone under this mayor, the public's input was just for show.
I bet statues of democrat terrorists like Woodrow Wilson, John Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson will still stand.
Everything in the book 1984 is coming true !!
The 1, 2, 3 generation public born here is aging and cant fight hard enough and there children are worthless shit only interested in useless arts, singing & dancing (most of them) who WANT socialism because they will never have a home or pot to piss in and have nothing to lose.
We are all witness to the end of America and capitalism.
I guess this city has NO MAJOR ISSUES anymore than time and money can be wasted on this kind of bullshit.
AND PLEASE, Columbus, a terrorist, how about you ignorant people actually READ and come to your own conclusion as opposed to playing "follow the stupid, misinformed and bullshit leader".
Finally, I leave this LAST proverb (below), especially for the empowered femi-nazi idiots of neo-fascist, neo-feudal, neo-Bolshevist and neo-liberal Queens like former, 'dishonest-and-disloyal' BP's Helen Marshall and Claire Schulman, as well as all other bought politicians like Geraldine Ferraro, Toby Stavitsky, Grace Meng——and, especially Czarina Melinda (Alley) Katz, most of whom stood by and watched as a beloved (and prescient!) monument like 'Triumph of Civic Virtue' was lopped off of its prominent pedestal/fountain base on Saturday, December 15, 2012, and carted away on a flatbed truck to Green-Wood Cemetery (without public consent, much less due process and public referendum), EXACTLY like We, the People's democracy, which is likewise DOA BECAUSE of these empowered, corporate obedient whores of epic, humanitarian (and ecological) fail!
Whereas, I would be embarrassed, ashamed and disgraced to stand before a vacant, space, these walking corpse SCOURGES are only too eager to display their arrogance, and outright contempt for Queens County——the already ravaged-and-tonsured borough whom they willfully (and eagerly) helped to become the new, official gateway to 'The Fourth World,' and cultural wasteland of all art deprived (and art evicted!), public spaces like Kew Gardens Plaza that is against what We, the People demanded and SO ORDERED——and, the public be damned (again and STILL):
❝Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to SAY something.❞ ——Plato
Ignoring the party-machine-failed duopoly is to condone it.
If you are unmoved by rigged elections, then you will be unmoved by a fascist president!
❝If voting was any good, they wouldn't let us do it.❞ —Mark Twain
Presidents (and borough presidents), are not elected—they're SELECTED!
Slavery didn't end in 1865—IT EVOLVED!
❝I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.❞ —Harriet Tubman
❝If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.❞ ―Malcolm X
❝I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.❞ —Alexis de Tocqueville
Iritano. It's always too much.
Burro hall is what that crooked stable should be cslled!
Anybody mention avowed racist Marcus Garvey? I think there are two or three things in his name.
To the second Anonymous from bottom who said: "Iritano. It's always too much."
Apparently, it's never enough: Just look at the cabal of political filth within City Hall, Queens Borough Hall, Albany (and beyond), that suckers like you continue to bend over for—always without the lube—and then you invite more of the same!
Maybe it's you, Anonymous, who is always 'too little' (or not at all)!
How come I didn't see any announcements about this meeting? I would have loved to speak my mind. I'm on the BP's mailing list, but there was nothing.
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