The day Staten Island took over Forest Hills

I got a good chuckle on the train yesterday when I opened up this paper and found a bit of a problem on Page 14.

Attention AM-NY intern: It's called "send to back".

You can read the actual story here.

Rush job at the Times Ledger?

It appears that someone was sloppy at the Times Ledger. If I ran the Avery campaign, I'd request a correction.

Here's the original article.

Queens Tribune forgets what "free speech" means

From a Queens Tribune editorial:

"These families deserve better than to have a mob of people yelling at them to leave or to find a job. They likely already feel like second-class citizens. There was no reason for protesters to take their frustrations with the Dept. of Homeless Services out on the individuals seeking shelter at the empty hotel. The actions of those protesters were abhorrent, and those families who are now housed at the Pan American deserve no less than an apology, not just from that mob, but from the local officials who allowed it to happen."

The "poor families" who screamed out that protesters should "go make chicken wings" and "go back to China" deserve an apology? (You'll notice no mention of the counter-protesters' behavior in either the editorial or the Trib's story.)

And since when do local officials "allow" people to express their right to free speech? Holy crap, I can't believe a media outlet - its very existence dependent on the first amendment - actually wrote this sh*t!

How not to publish a headline

Oh my.

A week that lasts forever

I found another newspaper box with an ancient copy of the Ledge in it. If these boxes have been abandoned, shouldn't they be hauled away by DSNY?

Paul Graziano announces City Council candidacy

From the Times Ledger:

When discussing his decision to enter a crowded Democratic primary race and challenge City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone), Flushing’s Paul Graziano did not hesitate to emphasize his focus on fighting over-development in northeast Queens.

For nearly two decades, the urban planning consultant has kept a close watch on the borough’s historic buildings and landmarks and has become a known name in the civic association community because of it. In an interview with TimesLedger Newspapers, the borough activist said he hoped to address quality-of- life issues in northeast Queens by taking a look at zoning laws and considering designating historic districts.

“I believe in property rights, but we need to save the things that are important to us,” Graziano said. “There has to be a balance. It is outrageous that we have had to fight tooth and nail for our districts.”

After attending college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Graziano returned home to Flushing to realize new concerns over his hometown’s future landscape. With his interest piqued, he then went on to educate himself on zoning law as well as the civic community, earned a masters of science in urban affairs and planning from Hunter College and helped form the North Flushing Civic Association.

Graziano spent the better part of the last 20 years working in various civics throughout northeast Queens and even teamed up with state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) as a land use and planning consultant in his earlier days as a councilman to help draft a zoning study of the 19th Council District, where he is now running. The redrawn district now includes Little Neck, Bayside, Douglaston, North Flushing, Whitestone, Auburndale and College Point.

That study eventually went on to ensure that any new development in northeast Queens would remain respectful, or in-context, to the surrounding community, Graziano said.

“It was a huge change. Now, areas have stabilized dramatically,” Graziano said. “This still allows for development, but creates a more predictable outcome. It is about saving neighborhoods that deserve to be saved.”

And from Bayside-Douglaston Patch:

In September, he will face off in the Democratic primary for the City Council’s 19th District against Paul Vallone, who is the brother of Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., Empire State Development’s Austin Shafran, Democratic state committeeman Matthew Silverstein and former state Assemblyman John Duane.

“I’m involved in the Democratic Party but all of the other people I’m running against are either in elected office or part of the machine,” Graziano said. “I’m not connected with any of that.”

Graziano, who has a master’s degree in urban affairs, left the Green Party in 2009 to assist then-Councilman Tony Avella in his bid for mayor. But he said the communities that he hopes to represent are not driven by political party loyalty.

“It’s a very apolitical district that focuses on quality of life issues,” said Graziano, who listed education and neighborhood preservation as two of his top campaign issues. “As someone who went to the public schools here and, as someone who is about to get married, there are great concerns about the way the schools have been moving. Districts 25 and 26 have typically been the gold standard, but 25 was recently listed as a district in need. It’s very distressing.”

This photo from the Queens Examiner shows that Graziano attended Tony Avella's press conference on 149th Street last Friday:



Curiously, the Queens Gazette used a cropped shot:

Then you look at their main page and see this:


There actually are 8 Vallone mentions on the online cover of the Gazette this week. Granted, they are Peter Vallone, Jr. mentions, not Paul Vallone.  Pete's head must have exploded when he saw another Italian-American vying for "his brother's seat."

And then the cherry on top of the hysteria over this particular candidate entering the race comes from Queens Politics, courtesy of blogger Adam Lombardi:

Rumor has it Tony Avella propped up a lobbyist for the City Council primary to divide the voting blocs in district 19.

Paul Graziano, who works at an architectural firm in New Jersey as an urban planner (and also worked for Avella) could be part of a massive scheme of voter manipulation with Tony Avella at the helm.

Was Graziano influenced by Avella to run? It’s the million dollar question. The relationship is there and is very concerning.

Questions arise like did Tony Avella hand out proclamation in return for bankrolling his campaign as Graziano did time and time again? Is it favor for a favor? Are the voters going to buy into this power play? After all, seems like Graziano often rewards his former boss in campaign donations for such recognition.

Graziano is an activist, a good activist at that, and we don’t want to see him promoted beyond his level of ability. But to see him being used as a pawn in Avella’s devious political manipulation of the electoral system speaks volumes about his character. 

It’s not rocket science folks.

There is no rumor that this happened, because Paul Graziano is not a lobbyist. The only former lobbyist in the district 19 race is in fact, Paul Vallone. I highly doubt that people other than Lombardi and the Vallones are so delusional that they believe Tony Avella pushed Graziano into the race. Graziano ran for City Council in 2001, has long been mentioned as a possible candidate this year and has been urged by many residents of the newly drawn 19th council district to throw his hat into the ring.

Lombardi seems to be seriously suggesting that Graziano donated money to Avella and is running for Council as a favor to him in return for proclamations which have no monetary value. This kid should lay off the funny cigarettes.  He actually sits on the board of the Bayside Historical Society, yet insinuated on his blog that there was some kind of backroom deal involving awards given out at their meeting.  All to show allegiance to the Vallones.  Now that's kinda sick, dontcha think?

The ultimate stupidity: "Graziano is an activist, a good activist at that, and we don’t want to see him promoted beyond his level of ability."

Lombardi fancies himself some sort of reformer, but instead is doing a wonderful job of being Paul Vallone's Mini-Me, and is blogging about things that are WAY beyond his own level of ability or comprehension.

In simpler language: When this troll doesn't like what he sees, he simply makes shit up.

Many with whom I have spoken feel that Graziano is more than qualified to be a council member. And judging by what's in the council now, I totally agree with them!

[That's right folks, I have Photoshop again.  Let the fun begin.  Lots more where this came from...]

Queens Trib headscratcher

Front Cover

Back Cover

Hello Crapper: Did you see the full page ad on the back cover of the current issue of the Tribune? - "The Development of Nanjing and Jianye District" Commie Chinese $ at work? I ask again, just what is going on at the Tribune?

http://www.queenstribune.com/epaper/E-Paper_021413.html


Regards GtheA

How not to publish a newspaper: No comment!

Someone understands the role of the press!

Dear Mr. Larry Mendte,

Would you please do a seminar for publishers of Queens weekly papers? They need to understand what their purpose is. You seem to get it. They don't. As evidenced by this....

All is forgiven?

Interesting. I figured the criticism couldn't last long. So how exactly has Bloomberg "made up for" the shitty response in December? Has he brought the dead back to life?

Ah, a post-cleanup photo op at an Astoria diner with Council Member Peter Vallone, Bloomberg's sharpest critic during the aftermath of the December 26th storm. I can't believe after all that ranting and raving that the Public Safety Chair would suddenly embrace the mayor for being able to handle an 8-inch snowfall.

Oh wait... yes I can.

It would be nice if NY1 at least knew what borough they were promoting the mayor from.

How not to publish a newspaper - labeling edition

The Times Ledger provides space for a label on the front page of their papers, but their labels don't exactly fit in it. The Times Newsweekly says they aren't going to put a space for a label because it would be "discriminatory" to their newsstand customers. Meanwhile, their paid subscribers can't read their front page stories...

You gotta love journalism in this town.

Tell us how you really feel, Ben

From the Times Ledger:

The editorial page of a newspaper is where its publisher and editors express their opinions on a wide variety of subjects, as is their right. Letters to the editor are where a responsible company, like TimesLedger Newspapers, give readers an opportunity to express their views on articles, including editorials.

A case in point is the Flushing Times editorial “CB 7 Deserves A ‘Well Done’” that appeared in the July 1-7, 2010, edition. CB 7 and Chairman Eugene Kelty, glowingly described, are not the ones I know.

The ones I know thought it was fine to destroy more than 100 trees in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and build a grand prix race track in an urban park — an absurdity that was finally brought down by public outrage and the criminal exposure of a discredited and now-deceased Queens borough president, the prime backer for the track.

The ones I know thought it was fine to double the space in Flushing Meadows for the United States Tennis Association, notwithstanding when they were first given intrusion in our park they promised never to ask for more parkland, but once given more land moved their head offices out of Manhattan to Harrison, N.Y. — a cuckolding of taxpayers if their ever was one.

The ones I know over the years have shown no or little interest in protecting the integrity of the park as an important and non-renewable urban space.

The ones I know think it fine to destroy more than 200 small businesses and the lives of thousands of workers and their families in Willets Point for the benefit of fat cat real estate moguls.

I note in passing there are members of CB 7 who may have disagreed with Kelty, but of course majority rules. While I believe there is more to urban living than fat cat real estate developments, with much evidence in downtown Flushing, others may disagree.

In the end, it will be for the public to decide the merits.

Benjamin M. Haber
Flushing

Well, Ben, I'm sure the board will be much more ethical now that Paul Vallone is on it...

Why would Brooklyn hate us so much?

Apparently, reporters in Brooklyn have nothing better to do than wring their hands over the name of the paint color the Brooklyn Bridge is going to be painted with.

But what's really strange is that a headline writer abhors Queens so much that it caused him to pen the word "hate" not once, but twice.

Don't have a cow, man. And speaking of farms, we have yours so you better be nice to us.

Whitestone annexed by the Bronx

Surprise! You folks in Whitestone woke up this morning as part of a new borough. You also have migrated to the other side of Long Island Sound.

It must be true as it was printed in the paper of record.

When you've seen one Vallone in action, you've seen them all

This article has since been fixed, but the day after the election, it was looking a little different:

Reader asks for ethics probe of Ackerman

Crapster-

After feeling very angry at the September 17th Queens Tribune article and subsequent insults aimed at Republican City Council candidate Dan Halloran, I decided that I could not sit idly by and allow this insult to journalism and democracy continue without making a statement. After reading your posts and the accompanying comments, I decided that I would take this issue to a much higher level and ask for an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics of the role that Congressman Gary Ackerman played in this breach of trust and morality.

Please keep in mind that I am not stating that Congressman Ackerman is guilty of breaking any laws. That is the reason for this inquiry. Let those who can do a proper investigation locate and examine records that will or will not confirm these allegations. The attacks that were printed in the Queens Tribune were bad enough but then when I started to connect the dots, I saw a pattern of behavior that is most disturbing and needed to be addressed. These suspicions started when I found out that Kevin Kim was Cong. Ackerman’s aide prior to his run for political office.

I looked over the dozens of pages of Democrat candidate Kevin Kim’s campaign contributions and I saw names and addresses that make me feel that Congressman Ackerman may be soliciting these contributions using his position as a U. S. Congressman. I am specifically concerned about those monies coming from Asia and parts of the United States such as California, Hawaii, Texas, etc. As one of the Queens Crap commenters suggested, where will Kim’s allegiance belong, to his constituents or to those who made donations to his campaign?

I am also concerned about the potential links between the Queens Tribune, Cong. Ackerman, and sexually oriented businesses both here in Queens and in Asia. All one has to do is Google the Tribune’s executive vice president, Michael Nussbaum, and see that he was involved in a NYC parking violations scandal 20 years ago and more recently has been promoting sexually oriented clubs in Asia. The Queens Tribune is the only local newspaper in Queens that runs advertising for the sex trade and most of these ads come from Asian businesses. I was amused by the hypocrisy of publisher Michael Schenkler and staff in the October 9th edition of the Tribune that reported the devastating affects of prostitution for young girls and an accompanying editorial while the back of the paper runs ads that might be putting young ladies into harm’s way!

Another reason that I felt the need to ask for an investigation into Congressman Ackerman’s role in the 19th city council district election is that the media has been a big let down. As a graduate of the Syracuse University Newhouse School of Journalism, I am appalled at the lack of objectivism and integrity in the articles that are laughingly called news. Where did all of the gung ho investigative journalists go? While at school, I walked a beat that took me into downtown Syracuse and really looked for stories to cover. I met a lot of elected officials and law enforcement personnel and asked a lot of questions. Those efforts led me to write many articles that were published in the campus newspaper and reported on air at the campus radio station.

Today, most of the stories that I read are puff pieces and rewrites of press releases. How sad because a free society needs a free and independent press to provide information that will lead to informed decisions, especially at election time. Therefore, I felt the need to come forward and find out why the Queens Tribune and its founder Gary Ackerman need to distort issues and focus on the religious beliefs of a candidate. I believe that the voters in the 19th council district can see through this overt attempt to compromise the democratic process. However, it is also important to bring this matter to the appropriate venue to see if there was any impropriety. I am looking forward to a response from David Skaggs, Chairman of the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Crapster, I would like to personally thank you publicly for providing a forum where your readers can find information not available elsewhere. I would also like to encourage others to do something and not just bitch and complain. It is time for action and those who choose to remain silent will see that this silence will come back to haunt them in the future. Think about it. Thank you for reading this long-winded statement and I hope that many of you are inspired to pick up where I left off. By the way, I would not discourage anyone from following up on the inquiry that I made to the House Ethics Office.

With hope for a better future,

Alan Gross

The lamest endorsement yet

From the Times Ledger:

Those of us who have lived in New York for a long time remember the all-too-recent days when crime was rampant, infrastructure was crumbling, services were diminishing and, indeed, the city itself seemed ungovernable.

Yes, we also remember when Giuliani cleaned it up.

But today, the trend in all these — and so many other — spheres of public life is exactly the opposite, thanks to the steady, independent, visionary leadership of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Wow, he's taking credit for that, too, eh?

...when faced with the obstacle of New York City’s two-term limit, he spent a considerable sum of money to overturn the inconvenient law.

For many voters, that disqualifies Bloomberg from further service.

Yes, I would say that was a gigantic dealbreaker.

But for us, it is but a blemish on an otherwise stellar record.

Ah, well you're owned by Rupert Murdoch, so we'll take this with a grain of salt.

Before 311, calls to City Hall were simply transferred to phones that just kept ringing, and complaints — if they were taken down at all — went on some pile on someone else’s desk. The 311 system ended that buck-passing forever.

Yes, now the NYPD can just say they responded and found nothing and the complaint is dismissed. That's blowing us off much more efficiently.

It’s almost unbelievable: Crime is down 30 percent since he took office.

Yes, it is unbelievable. That's because his numbers are phony, as has been illustrated time and again by stories of police dissuading crime victims from filing reports.

To his ill-informed critics, the mayor is a tool of developers who want to pillage our communities. But on the ground in the neighborhoods we cover, the mayor has moved ahead with zoning changes to preserve neighborhoods or revitalize commercial areas, such as Carroll Gardens and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Jamaica in Queens or along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. In such cases, we’ve seen the benefits of the mayor’s big-picture approach.

No, he is not a tool of developers, he IS a developer and therefore sympathizes with them. Those zoning changes came way too late for most neighborhoods and have done little to stop the variances rubberstamped by BSA. The DOB has not enforced the zoning codes leading many to wonder what the hell the point of zoning is anyway.

And Jamaica sure is revitalized, isn't it? Corona, too...

His proposal calls for new construction and zoning changes mostly in areas that can support new housing — along key subway routes and with parks and other services thought about from the start.

Last I checked he was upzoning areas with overcrowded schools and failing electrical grids that are plagued by flooding. Parks thought about from the start? Where is he building those?

And the mayor’s most important quality is not even on this list: his independence. Though every politician hypes his “independence” from the special interests, Bloomberg is one of the few who actually has it.

That's right, he made sure everyone became dependent on him instead.

And best of all, he’s not a politician.

Wow, then how come I get multiple phone calls and 8-10 pieces of mail from his campaign per week?

Indeed, critics complain that the mayor’s personal fortune is bank-rolling his re-election and silencing democracy, but it is that wealth that frees Bloomberg from the affliction of so many other popularity-craving, poll-watching politicians. He can truly answer to the people of New York because he doesn’t need to answer to anyone else.

When has he ever answered to the people of New York? He seems to think that everyone answers to him, including the reporters who cover him and the civic leaders he sends his unqualified-for-public-office caterer after.

Where other cities, under other leadership, might have collapsed after a 9–11-type attack — and the economic downturn that followed it — New York is strong because of Mike Bloomberg.

What an insult. New York is strong because New Yorkers are strong.

Someone's finally telling the truth about Bloomberg

From Bloomberg Watch:

Jarrett Murphy, investigations editor at City Limits, says it all in this Huffington Post piece:

From the beginning, Mayor Bloomberg has depicted last year’s decision to loosen term limits as the City Council’s idea. When in the late summer of 2008 he first publicly floated a trial balloon about seeking a third term, he did it by saying he’d have to “seriously think about” running if the Council decided to upend the two-term constraint. When he formally threw his weight behind the revision last October, he said he’d run again “should the City Council vote to amend term limits.” And earlier this year—just before he angrily called a reporter a “disgrace” for daring to ask about the rationale behind the extension—the mayor said: “The rationale for extending term limits is that the City Council passed it.”

The facts that the Council had considered changing term limits for years only to be shot down by the mayor, that the city’s elite rallied around the extension last year only because it bore the mayor’s imprimatur, that the newspaper editorial pages backed the move after their owners dined with Hizzoner, that the mayor’s people called in nonprofits they’d supported to testify in favor of the law, that the mayor’s law department weighed in in favor of the Council having the right to reverse two referenda—those were mere details, according to this telling.

The Council was driving; Mike just grabbed hold of the bumper.

Newspapers have issues with crediting a blogger

From Gothamist:

It's not exactly news to anyone that print media can sometimes get a story from a blog and "forget" to credit the original source. Maybe they just haven't learned how to hyperlink yet! Most recently the NY Post picked up a story without crediting blogger Miss Heather. Nieman Journalism Lab reports that when she "uncovered a major zoning violation in her Brooklyn neighborhood last month, it was only natural that the New York Post would pick up the story. But credit the blogger? That would be a violation of policy."

Well apparently the Post busted their own reporter: Suzi Halpin, a spokeswoman for the Post, insists, "The New York Post credits blogs, bloggers, and other media all the time, as our readers know."

And here's where Miss Heather busts him.

How not to publish a newspaper, part 23

Looks like the Times Ledger hired a new layout guy.