Assembly member Cruz demands suppression of Council member Holden's Facebook rebuttal

NY Daily News

City Councilman Bob Holden has filed an ethics complaint against Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz over an expletive-laden tirade she allegedly phoned into his office after a City Council hearing two weeks ago.

The battle royale between the two Queens pols began during a Council committee hearing focused on health care in which Cruz criticized private hospitals by saying they “allegedly” save lives.

 “These corporations that we call hospitals have chosen to make money out of health care, have chosen to make money out of allegedly saving lives,” Cruz said at the time. “And yes, they’re saving the lives, but I say ‘allegedly’ because when you get a $200,000 bill that you have to pay, or when you have to choose between a world-renowned doctor at one hospital versus a decent doctor at another one, you’re playing with your health care. You’re playing with your life.”

Holden and David Rich, an executive director at the Greater New York Hospital Association, both pushed back on Cruz’s remarks during the hearing, which was held over Zoom, but the difference of opinion then escalated on social media and during a phone call Cruz made to Holden’s office after the hearing.

According to Holden’s chief of staff, Daniel Kurzyna, the assemblywoman called to chew his boss out over a Facebook post he made about the hearing, but since Holden wasn’t available, Kurzyna fielded the call.

“He better take it [the Facebook post] down in five minutes, or it’s a f---ing war,” Cruz said, according to a memo from Kurzyna obtained by the Daily News. “If he wants f---ing war, I’ll give him war.”

Immediately after the call, Kurzyna said he drafted the memo to Holden while the exchange was still fresh in his head.

In it, he wrote that he “attempted to interject” to tell her that “her tone and use of expletives was unnecessary,” but that she told him to “be quiet; it’s my time to speak.”

“She then continued on the tirade, saying that she would put you ‘on blast’ and that she ‘can make it about race… about it being a woman,’” he continued. “The assembly member insinuated she would use her race and gender as a way to blackmail you and pressure you to take down the social media post.”

New York State Troopers current victim of tech preemptive censorship.

Today a call came in for an injured bald Eagle on Interstate 81 in Jefferson County. Trooper Angela Gilchrist responded and was able to help ENCON officers in saving the eagle. pic.twitter.com/oRb6BsdvjW

— NewYorkStatePolice (@nyspolice) August 16, 2021

 

Keeping on the theme of censorship of government servants, the New York State Police recently posted a story of one of their troopers holding a majestic bald eagle they rescued on their twitter account and QC told me that if you try to post it on facebook it gets labeled as spam. 

In fact, if you repost anything on facebook from their twitter account, it will be labeled as spam anyway.

Could Cuomo's former aide Dani Lever, now working for Facebook and who aided Mario's Son's quest to discredit Lindsay Boylan, have something to do with this?

Andy's Angels

 

 NY Post

 New details have emerged about how Melissa DeRosa — a top aide and trusted confidante to Gov. Andrew Cuomo — allegedly helped try to bury the sexual harassment allegations against her boss.

The scathing official report confirming the three-term Democrat Cuomo’s potentially criminal behavior states that DeRosa played a key role in leaking the personnel file of one accuser in an attempt to discredit her — something Attorney General Letitia James’ independent probers found amounted to unlawful retaliation.

The Cuomo consigliere also pressured at least one former staffer to “surreptitiously record” a phone call with a government aide in the hopes of finding out what dirt she potentially had on the governor, the report alleges.

DeRosa, 38, was hired by Cuomo in 2013, after earlier jobs as acting chief of staff for since-disgraced ex-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and as the state director of the advocacy group Organizing for America.

The daughter of leading Albany lobbyist Giorgio DeRosa, she was promoted in 2017 to secretary to the governor, making her the first woman to hold the powerful position, which officially ranks her No. 1 on Cuomo’s staff.

 A source who has frequent contact with both DeRosa and Cuomo previously told The Post that, “Melissa is very fiercely loyal and protective of the governor.”

“She can be very tough to deal with,” the source said, adding, “DeRosa is feared … If you cross her, you’re crossing the governor.”

DeRosa played a major role as secretary to the governor, in Cuomo’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the administration’s alleged cover-up of nursing-home COVID-19 deaths.

As The Post exclusively revealed, DeRosa privately told Democratic lawmakers that his administration stonewalled their requests for complete data on nursing home deaths from the virus.

She also helped him craft his lucrative memoir about the crisis, a project that has since come under scrutiny by the feds.

Fox News 

A top communications manager at Facebook helped Gov. Andrew Cuomo fight sexual misconduct allegations — including by helping leak confidential files about accuser Lindsey Boylan and by participating in regular discussions about Cuomo’s communications strategy, according to the New York attorney general’s bombshell investigation. 

Dani Lever — who had worked in Cuomo’s press operation since 2014 but left in August 2020 to join Facebook as a communications manager — played a key role in Cuomo’s communications strategy even while working for Facebook, according to the investigation released Tuesday. 

In December 2020, former Cuomo staffer Lindsey Boylan became the first of several women to accuse the governor of sexual harassment. Hours later, Cuomo communications director Rich Azzopardi decided to send Boylan’s confidential personnel files to several journalists in what investigators called an attempt to "discredit and disparage" her.

"Ms. Lever coordinated with some of the reporters who received the documents to let them know that the Executive Chamber would be sending them," reads the report. 

The smear attempt came amid Lever’s broader participation in Cuomo’s defense as part of a "team of advisors from within and outside the Chamber [who] had ongoing and regular discussions about how to respond to the allegations publicly" that also included Cuomo’s CNN host brother Chris, according to the attorney general. Lever’s name appears 25 times in the attorney general’s report. 

NY Post 

 CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was among a group of advisors not employed by New York state who were provided confidential and privileged information by the Executive Chamber as his brother Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to respond to a slew of sexual harassment allegations earlier this year, Attorney General Letitia James’ report revealed.

In the report, investigators led by Joon Kim and Anne Clark wrote that it was “revealing” that the governor enlisted a number of confidantes to respond to the allegations — including Chris Cuomo and political operative Lis Smith — who were never employed by the state.

“None of them was officially retained in any capacity by the Executive Chamber or any of the individuals involved,” the report states.

“Nonetheless, they were regularly provided with confidential and often privileged information about state operations and helped make decisions that impacted State business and employees—all without any formal role, duty, or obligation to the State,” it adds.

Juan and done

 

NY Post

The liberal candidate challenging moderate Queens Councilman Robert Holden in the June Democratic primary recently yanked down racist and homophobic slurs he posted online as a teen.

Political hopeful Juan Ardila, 27 — who has the backing of many progressive pols and unions — made derogatory comments about Asians, gays, women and Jews and used the N-word in mainly Facebook posts while in high school from 2009 to 2011.

Ardila referred to Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao as a “bumbass c—k” in a posting a decade ago while saying the pugilist would lose a fight, screengrabs obtained by The Post show.

Ardila and a pal also spewed anti-gay slurs when discussing the merits of singer John Mayer.

“ur the gay one nway u f-g crusader,” wrote Ardilla, who used “homo” in his posts, too.

Ardila was just endorsed by the city’s oldest gay Democratic club, the Stonewall Democrats.

After garnering the club’s support last week, Ardila tweeted, “I look forward to working together for a more just and inclusive city. It’s an honor to have your endorsement.”

In his younger years, the candidate also spewed misogynistic words such as “bitch” and “c–t.”

In addition, while discussing the movie “2012,” he said, “Every Juan s–ts on a Jew!!!”

He also referred to one of his friends as a “dumb polack” and hurled the N-word.

The candidate began scrubbing his accounts or making his posts private about 10 days ago, said a source familiar with the matter.

Ardila told The Post on Sunday that he had no comment “at this moment.”

Ready for the funny part? Because here comes the funny part...

Ardila’s candidacy has the support of the Working Families Party, District Council 37, Local 32 BJ-SEIU, health workers Local 1199-SEIU, the Hotel Trades Council, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Councilmen Brad Lander and Jimmy Van Bramer and state Sen. Michael Gianaris.

 Fauxgressives be fauxgressin'

The worst little hostel in Kew Gardens

Forest Hills Post

A quiet Kew Gardens home was illegally converted into a dormitory-style, transient hotel with as many as four bunk beds to a room over the summer — and the law-breaking homeowner was slapped with more than $100,000 in violations.

The two-family home, located at 121-08 84th Ave., was converted to a six-family home with three units on the first floor and three more in the attic level, according to Department of Buildings (DOB) summons.

The homeowner, Edward J. Erhard IV, was issued with 12 summonses and fined $108,500 for the violations. At a hearing in late January, a judge upheld the charges — which include illegal conversion of occupancy and illegal construction without permits — and ordered Erhard to pay the large sum.

Complaints of the illegal hotel operation date back to July 2018 with neighbors stating as many as 16 to 18 people were staying at the two-family house, according to DOB records.
Rooms within the house, which sits on a residential tree-lined block, were advertised on Facebook, according to the complaints.

When an inspector was finally able to enter the building on July 11, 2019 with the help of law enforcement, he found several long-term and transient renters sharing rooms within the house — with as many as three people to a room, according to hearing testimony.

The inspector met two women who were paying $40 a night for a one-night stay — one was sharing a room with a long-term tenant, while the other was staying on the living room couch.

You've been warned!

From the Daily News:

Airbnb hosts and their neighbors are about to get an education in New York’s new law cracking down on the advertising of illegal short-term rentals.

Share Better, an anti-Airbnb coalition that includes politicians and the hotel industry, is launching a new ad campaign and website Tuesday warning about the new law and the costs of violating it.

Ads will also encourage neighbors who suspect illegal rentals in their building to alert the city.

“AIRBNB HOSTS: KNOW THE LAW,” the headline on one ad reads. “YOU COULD FACE FINES UP TO $7,500 & EVICTION.”

Another ad reads: “If your neighbor is renting an entire apartment for less than 30 days, they are BREAKING THE LAW.”

The ads will run on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other websites.

Restler's stupidity gets press attention, de Blasio & Cuomo apparently okay with it

From the Daily News:

One Facebook friend called the sign inappropriate. “There are good White People, and you are not going to make me feel guilty that I am,” the man wrote.

A second person wrote: "And you represent our mayors office?"

Restler, who makes $107,625 at City Hall, took the post down. He could not be reached for comment.

De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said the mayor was not initially aware of the posted picture and doesn’t believe it’s appropriate.

Phillips said Restler’s sister was apparently protesting white supremacy. “No doubt the message was inartful and not clear enough in its intent and that’s why Lincoln took it off his page,” he said.

Restler was spoken to but not sanctioned. “He understands why people took offense to it and it certainly didn’t represent his views,” Phillips said.

But in his own Facebook post Monday night, former City Councilman James Gennaro, who now works for Gov. Cuomo at the Department of Environmental Conservation, resurrected the item and blasted the fact it came from someone connected to the mayor.

"It seems that to the Mayor's senior advisor, hate is okay as long as the right people (or the right racial “state of mind,” if that's what is meant by “whiteness") is hated," Gennaro wrote.

He also criticized Restler for taking the post down.

After seeing the Daily News story, Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said that "Jim Gennaro's online writings do not reflect the views of the governor's office."

Meanwhile, Maspeth took to Driggs Avenue to protest Restler where he lives:



Lincoln was seen several times peering out at the protest.

Talk about being out of touch

It's Strawberry FARMS, Mr. Vallone. Not Fields, Farms.

An update from Forest Hills

How Queens electeds handled the snow debacle

Well folks, this is what represents you.

Koslowitz thinks there's 20 feet of snow.
Crowley can't form a grammatically correct sentence.
Dromm is too upset about the cancellation of a gay pride event than the fact that his district got hit the hardest.
Van Bramer wants you to know that he didn't miss brunch.
Vallone managed to turn his constituents' grief into a commercial for himself.
The rest of them can't seem to agree on whether the response by the city was fantastic or sucked ass.

Can confirm its still snowing. Check on neighbors. We just dug one of mine out as his door fully snow-blocked #Jonas pic.twitter.com/dTxSZbEcHn

— Sen. Mike Gianaris (@SenGianaris) January 23, 2016

.@MikeSimanowitz, I and other Queens electeds are on conf call with @NYCSanitation expressing outrage right now. https://t.co/wa5iDRtdie

— Rory Lancman (@RoryLancman) January 24, 2016

Too many streets still buried. Can't imagine what we would be dealing with if storm hit in the middle of the week. #blizzard2016

— Michael Simanowitz (@MikeSimanowitz) January 24, 2016

Great job in clearing our streets @NYCSanitation. pic.twitter.com/U4S9z2AdiO

— Donovan Richards (@DRichards13) January 24, 2016

Snow removal operations in #SEQueens r better than we've seen in past storms. There are 900 @NYCSanitation vehicles dedicated to #Queens.

— I. Daneek Miller (@IDaneekMiller) January 24, 2016

The #snow can't stop us from breakfast @auberginecafe! Issues w/the storm? Let me know. I am in touch w/the admin. pic.twitter.com/il3f72bRf2

— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) January 23, 2016

Hope you're staying safe during this blizzard weekend! Thank you for reading the week in review. https://t.co/7XsNvtqod4

— Paul Vallone (@PaulVallone) January 24, 2016

Steinway Mansion getting hemmed in

From the Queens Chronicle:

Paperwork dated March 28, 2014 says another proposed detail is a perimeter wall of 34 feet in height.

There are also DOB applications, most filed on July 30 of last year, to demolish existing structures on 11 sites in the mansion’s vicinity and construct two-story buildings; most have a representative from Caliendo Architects and either Loria or Lucchese listed. In some cases, such as at 18-30 42 St., 18-36 42 St. and 18-27 41 St., the same Steinway Mansion owners are not listed, but someone appearing to be of the Loria or Lucchese family is.

The owners listed for the proposed new buildings record the same address as that listed on the paperwork for the Steinway Mansion, while the business names are not identical.

The Friends of Steinway Mansion, which advocates for placing the building at the heart of a potential cultural district, speculated on its Facebook page that the warehouses could be rented.

Lucille Hartmann, district manager of Community Board 1, said that they have been receiving calls from residents asking, “What’s going on?” but stressed that the board knows nothing. She noted that as the mansion, while beloved, is a private property, owners are under no obligation to share with the public.

Sometimes the photos already have the perfect caption

And here I thought Jerkfest was that fundraiser they have where the pols sing and dance and make bad jokes.

Is she getting paid?

From NY1:

State Senator Adriano Espaillat of Upper Manhattan has been active in helping constituents who intervened to stop the assault.

"I'm appalled. I heard it. I thought it was disastrous," Espaillat said. "It was terrible that someone in government is helping these folks that we saw through a film, through a video beat up on this defenseless father."

According to Ferraras' office, Yvettelis Rodriguez is on what you might call modified duty. She is no longer coming to work, but she remains on staff until the Council can conduct its investigation and determine whether or not she can be let go.

From the Queens Chronicle:

Guilt by association is wrong, even as it relates to a husband and wife, so you can’t hang the threats made by Rodriguez’s alleged spouse on her. But we agree with Ferreras that her aide’s activities are inappropriate, at the very least, for someone whose job is to serve the public — and whose checks are paid for by that public — and we look forward to the results of the investigation.

Julissa in damage control mode

From a city newspaper:

Queens City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras called for an investigation of her district office manager Monday after a blog linked the staffer to a Facebook page to raise money for a motorcyclist charged with attacking Manhattan father Alexian Lien.

The staffer, Ivettelis Rodriguez, is part of a motorcycle group that is trying to spring Robert Sims from jail, a Queens blog reported. “I am deeply disappointed with the behavior my staffer, Ivettelis Rodriguez, has exhibited,” Ferreras, a Democrat, told the Daily News through a spokeswoman, adding that she is “working with the City Council to launch a full investigation.”

Why is an investigation necessary? It's quite obvious that she did this on taxpayer time. But even if it wasn't, there was no mercy shown to a deputy press aide for Scott Stringer who had the audacity to criticize the president on Facebook, so why should Ms. Rodriguez be shown any for supporting biker thugs?

She must have a shitload of dirt on Ferreras!

From another city paper:

“I am deeply disappointed with the behavior of my staffer, Ivettelis Rodriguez,” [Ferreras] said. “Her statements are not in any way indicative of my beliefs nor is it an accurate reflection of the high standards of personal conduct to which I hold my staff.”

But Rodriguez told The Post that someone copied a message onto her Facebook page through the “tag” function and that she doesn’t support Sims in any way.

“I just didn’t take it [the posting] down fast enough,” she said. “I don’t support him, I don’t even know him, I’ve never met him.”

Actually, the screenshot proves that your husband posted it to your misguided biker page, so don't blame "tagging".

I also find it quite hilarious that daily papers that plaster double entendre headlines and photos of half-naked women on their front covers on a semi-regular basis have problems crediting a blog called "Queens Crap" as their source. Or even just providing a link back to the original post in the web versions of their stories. You know things are bad when 2 of the big three are ripping off little old me. What the hell happened to journalism?

Julissa Ferreras' District Office Manager is a rogue biker chick

"Do you know the Council Woman Julissa Ferreras of the 21st district? Her district office manager is trying to raise money to get Robert Sims released from jail - the same Robert Sims that attacked Alexian Lien !!

Her district manager's real name is Ivettelis Rodriguez. These screen shots are from her secret biker page which was taken down ten minutes after I called their office raising hell as to why they were raising money to get this criminal out of jail!








Another bit of info: Craig Wright was also arrested for attacking Lien. Please read the sixth comment !!!



Proof they attacked the Range Rover, that's why Lien freaked out and took off!

Oh, BTW, "Untamed Ryderz Stickey Prez" is the husband of Ivettelis Rodriguez! Her page was Bandolera Ryderz Ldysticky Pro." - anonymous









Wow, so you're in a biker gang in your spare time, and you post pictures of yourself working for the City Council on the gang's Facebook page while you're at work? What brainpower!

Isn't it sad that Julissa can't seem to find relocation for her constituents at Willets Point, but she can find a job for a person like this?

Methinks her dad protests too much

From the NY Post:

Disgraced City Councilman Dan Halloran preyed upon the “naive” staffer with whom he carried on a yearlong affair — and should rot in jail, the woman’s father told The Post yesterday.

“He took advantage of a naive 19-to-20-year-old girl,” Meaghan Mapes’ dad, Walter Mapes, said of the pol, who is charged with trying to bribe state Sen. Malcolm Smith’s way onto the GOP mayoral ticket.

“What [Halloran] did to the public is nothing like what he did to me and my family,” Walter said outside the family’s home in Howard Beach, Queens.

The Post reported yesterday that Halloran, 41, spent about two nights a week shacking up with Meaghan at her Queens home near St. John’s University, where she attended classes while serving as Halloran’s deputy chief of staff.

“I was completely unaware of it,” said Walter, 48. “I knew nothing more than [Meaghan] was the deputy chief of staff and that they worked together; that was all that I knew.”

So dad had no idea what was going on?

His comments on this Facebook thread from September 2011 (since deleted) are very interesting, then.

(The photo has been omitted to protect the innocent canines.)

That's right, Queens pols. I'm watchin' ya!

The gang that couldn't stay straight

From the Daily News:

Both Smith and his co-defendant, Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), had colorful online profiles that portray radically different realities from the scheming, crooked lives prosecutors say they were actually leading.

On the Web, Smith and Halloran were legends in their own minds, fighting for the people of Queens, thousands of whom were reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Meanwhile, in hotel rooms and idling cars, prosecutors say, they were hatching plans to bribe men they thought were developers — but were really working for the FBI — to obtain power or just plain old cash.

The two worlds merged Tuesday when both men joined four others in federal court, facing charges that make crystal clear there’s more to the picture than a tweet or two.

From the Daily News:

While the city’s five crime families ran multimillion-dollar rackets in waste management, the Garment District and construction, the elected officials allegedly peddled their influence for far less.

Halloran collected $38,000, Stevenson received less than $20,000 cash and Bronx GOP Chairman Joseph (Jay) Savino sold out for just $15,000, officials charged.

John Gotti spent more on his wardrobe while running the Gambino family.

From the NY Times:

The link between corrupt politicians and steakhouses would appear to be so obvious that corrupt politicians would avoid them altogether, especially since there are apparently as many hidden microphones as shrimp cocktails at a given table. But still they come. Experts on either side of the napkin offered theories.

“They’re men,” said Ben Benson, the owner of the former steakhouse that bore his name. “Men go to steakhouses. The power lunches, the power dinners — it’s what the steakhouse is all about.” Dim lighting, plush booths; there is an unspoken promise of discretion in a steakhouse. As Mr. Benson put it, they are “clubby.” One of his restaurant’s most memorable decorations was itself a reminder of a famous steakhouse crime: a large picture of the mobster Paul Castellano shot dead in front of the steakhouse Sparks in 1985. “Eat at Ben Benson’s,” the poster read. “It Won’t Kill You.”

From the NY Post:

Halloran converted in the 1980s from Catholicism to the pre-Christian Germanic religion, whose believers drink mead or whiskey from horns and dress like characters in a Renaissance fair.

He learned about their tough disciplinary code when he committed an undisclosed act against a female “thrall” — or probationary servant.

He was stripped to his waist, strapped to a tree and flogged with a belt 11 times.

I propose similar punishment for his recent alleged crimes.

Halloran's Facebook friend is an ass

See that small image all the way to the right on Dan's Facebook page under "friends?"

Wow she likes men AND women. Didn't think Dan was into that. I know someone in his office that might be, though.

Halloran rants at civic leader on Facebook

From the Times Ledger:

As a Whitestone civic group fights to turn an overgrown, empty lot into a community sports complex, one resident’s innocuous post on Facebook has spawned a well-documented and surprisingly candid discussion into opinions on both sides of the fence.

The Malba Gardens Civic Association has been toying with the idea of building baseball, soccer and running facilities on the vacant, 6-acre lot along 150th Street for years, according to the civic’s president, Alfred Centola.

“My idea is to reacquire the land and give it back to the kids of the community,” he said of the lot, between 3rd and 6th avenues, which was previously owned by the Catholic Youth Organization.

The quest was laid out in an October Daily News opinion piece written by Centola, and it all seemed like a good idea to Steve Behar, who posted “Nice Op-Ed. My brother and I went to that CYO camp” at 5:56 p.m. Oct. 5 on Centola’s Facebook page.

Twelve minutes later, City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) replied: “Steve — and who’s going to come up with the tens of millions to acquire, remediate, develop, build, and staff this facility?”

Halloran often tempered his responses with phrases like “guess you didn’t know that” or “you have no clue how discretionary spending works.”

Centola at one point referred to the councilman as “testy” and said “try and relax yourself, you might give yourself a heart attack.”

Well, at least he didn't drop the F-bomb repeatedly this time.

Better communication or too much info?

From the Queens Tribune:

How well do you know your elected officials? Not in the banal sense of their actual name, party affiliation, voting records or any of the other political lucre they peddle during election season. Forget all of that.

If you’re an Astoria native, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) may be a familiar face, now well into his third term in office. But how about his boyish joy in ripping along neighborhood streets, his Harley Davidson hog rumbling beneath his derriere?

Northeast Queens voters may be surprised by Councilman Dan Halloran’s (R-Whitestone) penchant for rebuilding pickup trucks – and his everyman-like troubles with DIY repairs.

Sure, Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) doesn’t exactly spark cries of excitement whenever he addresses a crowd – but the guy is a veritable cutup on Twitter.

Such hobbies and personality quirks were once the domain of private life and perhaps the occasional sentence within a profile in community weeklies such as the one you’re holding. But the explosion of social networking sites has forced us to question the delineation between professional, public and personal life – and politicians aren’t immune.

How could you not mention Weiner? Have you folks read the latest on that?