Feds ask judge to yank bail for ex-Sen. Pedro  Espada Jr. and toss him in jail 

Prosecutors say he's improperly siphoned off $350,000 from the sale of Soundview Healthcare Network

By John Marzulli / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 12:44 PM

Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News

Former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. He was convicted of stealing more than $400,000 from the Soundview Healthcare Network. Prosecutors want his bail revoked.

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to revoke the bail of convicted ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and toss him in jail for violating the terms of his release.
Espada was convicted last May of stealing more than $400,000 from the Soundview Healthcare Network he founded, prompting Judge Frederic Block to bar him from participating in the affairs of the Bronx clinics.
In a letter to the judge, prosecutors revealed that Espada and members of his family have been draining Soundview's remaining assets. It was sold to the Institute for Family Health for $600,000 in June.
One day after Soundview deposited the proceeds from the sale, the defendant's son Alejandro Espada — who was serving as executive vice president of the clinics — distributed more than $350,000 to himself, his father, his brother and a cleaning company the elder Espada controlled, according to court papers.
Pedro Espada's lawyer, Susan Necheles, also received $50,000, according to the papers.
"These transactions appear to be designed to accomplish several illicit goals," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Burlingame and Todd Kaminsky stated.
"First the transactions show the defendant is seeking to defeat any future forfeiture and restitution orders by preventing the government from attaching assets in a known bank account."
"Logic dictates (Espada) owes money to Soundview, not the other way around."
Espada and his son Pedro Gautier Espa da are facing trial in Manhattan Federal Court on tax charges.
About a week after the Soundview cash was dished out, Espada told officials with the federal pretrial service that he could not afford a lawyer. He did not disclose the $104,000 that had been deposited in the cleaning company's account and converted to cash, prosecutors said.
Espada's lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/feds-judge-yank-bail-ex-sen-pedro-espada-jr-toss-jail-article-1.1162877#ixzz26wYZ8Stq

Political MoJo

Romney "47 Percent" Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties

—By David Corn

 Mon Sep. 17, 2012 5:48 PM PDT

 

Marc Leder, left, hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney at his Boca Raton home on May 17, 2012. Leder: Sun Capital Partners; Romney: Tina Fultz/Zuma

When Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser dismissed all Barack Obama voters as moochers and victims—showing disdain for nearly half of the American electorate—he was speaking at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton on May 17, 2012. (It was Romney's second fundraising event in Boca that day.) This is evident from references made by Romney within the full video recording of the event that has been reviewed by Mother Jones.
When Mother Jones first disclosed secret video of Romney's remarks, we were obliged to not reveal details regarding the time and place of the event. That restriction has been lifted, as the story has garnered attention throughout the media.
At the fundraiser, Romney was asked how he could win in November, and he replied:

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Romney made those remarks before donors who had paid $50,000 a plate to attend the dinner at Leder's swanky house.
Leder has long been a fan of Romney. In January, the New York Times reported:

Years ago, a visit to Mr. Romney's investment firm inspired Mr. Leder to get into private equity in the first place. Mr. Romney was an early investor in some of the deals done by Mr. Leder's investment company, Sun Capital, which today oversees about $8 billion in equity.

The paper noted that Leder is something of a poster boy for private equity—and not in a good way:

Mr. Leder personifies the debates now swirling around this lucrative corner of finance. To his critics, he represents everything that's wrong with this setup. In recent years, a large number of the companies that Sun Capital has acquired have run into serious trouble, eliminated jobs or both. Since 2008, some 25 of its companies—roughly one of every five it owns—have filed for bankruptcy. Among the losers was Friendly's, the restaurant chain known for its Jim Dandy sundaes and Fribble shakes. (Sun Capital was accused by a federal agency of pushing Friendly's into bankruptcy last year to avoid paying pensions to the chain's employees; Sun disputes that contention.) Another company that sank into bankruptcy was Real Mex, owner of the Chevy's restaurant chain. In that case, Mr. Leder lost money for his investors not once, but twice.

But Leder does differ from Romney in one significant fashion: how he likes to have a certain sort of fun. In August 2011, the New York Post reported,

It was as if the Playboy Mansion met the East EBond at a wild party at private-equity titan Marc Leder's Bridgehampton estate, where guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts, scantily dressed Russians danced on platforms and men twirled lit torches to a booming techno beat. The divorced Sun Capital Partners honcho rented a sprawling beachfront mansion on Surf Side Road for $500,000 for the month of July. Leder's weekly Friday and Saturday night parties have become the talk of the Hamptons—and he ended them in style last weekend with his wildest bash yet. Russell Simmons and ex-wife Kimora Lee attended a more subdued party thrown by Leder—who's an event chair for Simmons' Art For Life charity—on July 29 together. But the revelry hit a frenzied point the next day before midnight when a male guest described as a "chubby white meathead" and a "tanned" female guest stripped and hopped into the pool naked.

At Romney's fundraiser at Leder's Boca Raton home, not a single sex act was recorded.

City Councilman Jumaane Williams was shoved by a baton-wielding NYPD cop at Zuccotti Park on Occupy Wall Street’s 1-year anniversary 

 Williams, who ran into trouble with the NYPD at last year's West Indian Day Parade, was shoved three times, but later told a reporter he was 'okay'

By Stephen Rex Brown / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 1:27 AM

@jeffrae/via Twitter

Twitter photo via @jeffrae showing City Councilman Jumaane Williams (l.) being pushed by an NYPD officer during an Occupy Wall Street demonstration at Zuccotti Park in Downtown Manhattan.

Related Stories

• A look back as Occupy Wall Street turns 1 year old  

City Councilman Jumaane Williams got into another dustup with the NYPD — this time a photo showed a cop shoving him in the chest during an Occupy Wall Street rally Monday night.
Williams, who has been an outspoken ally of the Occupy movement since its early days last year, was observing a rally in Zuccotti Park and standing on a bench when he was shoved three times by the cop, who used her baton, according to livestream video of the protests.
“I’m okay. I told them I was a councilmember observing. Guess they didn’t hear me,” the councilman later told a Gothamist reporter.
The councilman had been taking in the protests throughout the day that commemorated Occupy’s one-year anniversary.
“Have seen NYPD show restraint. Have also witnessed some very questionable arrests at OWS,” he tweeted late Monday afternoon, before the incident.
Roughly 30 minutes before the image of the cop shoving him appeared online, Williams noted the atmosphere in Zuccotti.
“Just came back to OWS smaller crowd tensions still high,” he tweeted.
The New York Civil Liberties Union tweeted Monday night that Williams was night-sticked in the leg during the interaction with the cop.
At last year’s West Indian Day Parade, Williams wound up in handcuffs. The Brooklyn Democrat was in a crowd that went into a restricted area near the Brooklyn Museum when a melee broke out. Cops said someone threw a punch, so they took people into custody — Williams and a top aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio included. Williams was detained but never charged; two cops were disciplined.
Williams’ relationship with city police had seemingly improved prior to his Zuccotti encounter. At the West Indian Day Parade earlier this month, Williams had the privilege of two officers accompanying him around the parade route the entire time.
The NYPD did not comment on Monday’s incident. At least 181 people were arrested during the day of protests.
sbrown@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-councilman-jumaane-williams-shoved-a-baton-wielding-nypd-zuccotti-park-occupy-wall-street-1-year-anniversary-article-1.1161860#ixzz26pf3KP00

 The following 5 Videos show the activist celebrating the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan in New York City.
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NYC Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez re-visit Zuccotti Park on the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.
video by Rafael Martinez Alequín #1

Video by Rafael Martínez Alequín #2

 Video by Rafael Martínez Alequín #3


video by Rafael Martínez Alequín #4

Video by Rafael Martínez Alequín #5

Politicians slam Mayor Bloomberg for boosting City Hall salaries while threatening school cuts

Despite a gaping budget hole that could lead to layoffs of teachers or police officers, Mayor Bloomberg found money in the city budget to give out raises to 48 members of his City Hall staff.

Comments (41)

By Benjamin Lesser / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 2:00 AM

Updated: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 2:56 AM

Lombard/News

Despite a gaping budget hole that could lead to layoffs of teachers or police officers, Mayor Bloomberg found money in the city budget to give out raises to 48 members of his City Hall staff.
A Daily News review of payroll data found that 10 of those lucky employees got raises that topped 20% since last summer.
“It is hypocritical,” steamed City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Brooklyn). “It’s just disrespectful to the people who basically make the city run.”
But Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the mayor’s office was paying some employees more because they were performing more work as a result of staffing cuts.
He said the office shrank by 17 workers, going from 484 employees in June 2011 to 467 in June 2012.
“Fewer people on staff means some employees have been promoted or taken on more work, so their salaries increased, but we’ve pushed our overall salary costs down,” he said.
The office’s total salary cost of $36 million was down by about $1.4 million over the same time period, LaVorgna said. He noted headcount has dropped 12% since 2008, when there were 531 staffers.
LaVorgna added that almost all of the 48 staffers who got raises were promoted, even though their civil service titles didn’t change in the payroll data.
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) questioned why the extra money was needed.
“It’s not a job where you have to find somebody with a very technical skill and pay them a lot of money,” she said.
Gregory Floyd, head of Teamsters Local 237, which represents 20,000 city workers, was angry about the raises.
“I thought there was no money for raises for any city employee, and the last I checked the people who worked in the mayor’s office were city employees,” he said. “They’re being paid with taxpayer money.”
Harry Nespoli, who heads the sanitation workers union, said every union is working without a contract and being told to inform its members to work harder without any rises.
“He had enough money to give raises to the people in City Hall, but not the people that work for the citizens of New York City on a day-to-day basis?” he questioned. “That is totally unacceptable.”
LaVorgna shot back that 76,000 union members received salary increases from June 2011 to June 2012. There are 240,000 unionized employees in the city workforce.
tmoore@ nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bloomy-cries-poor-grants-raises-dozens-staffers-article-1.1160563#ixzz26jr9Cvhu

 Winds of political change blow through Bronx, says good government group, as Gjonaj defeats Rivera 

Bronxites tiring of ethically-challenged legislators

By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, September 16, 2012, 6:00 AM

Daniel Beekman

Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera at her campaign headquarters Thursday.

Daniel Beekman

Mark Gjonaj at his victory party after unseating state Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera in a Democratic primary election in the Bronx.

The winds of political change are blowing through the Bronx, says the director of a New York good government group.
The thunderbolt Democratic primary defeat of state Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera by businessman Mark Gjonaj, paired with strong showings by other reform candidates Thursday, are proof that "the tide is turning," according to Alex Camarda, Citizens Union policy director.
"It seems that Bronxites are growing tired of the ethically-challenged legislators that have been representing them," Camarda said. "More and more, Bronxites are turning towards change."
Bronx incumbents very seldom José, and Rivera was backed by the Bronx Democratic County Committee, elected officials such as Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, labor unions and her powerful family, including Assemblyman and ex-party boss José Rivera and City Councilman Joel Rivera.
Pundits said the Albanian-American challenger would struggle to pull enough votes in a district with a Hispanic plurality.
But an aggressive, well-funded Gjonaj campaign and allegations of corruption by Rivera - currently under investigation by law enforcement - sunk the embattled legislator Thursday and possibly signaled the end of the Rivera political dynasty.
Even before the election was called for the challenger at 52% to 41%, the incumbent delivered a somber speech at her Allerton Ave. campaign headquarters in the heart of the 80th District.
Two other challengers, Irene Estrada-Rukaj and Adam Bermudez, pulled 7% of the vote.
"This has been a difficult campaign," she said, tearing up at times. "There have been a lot of accusations - without evidence - leveled at me and my family."
The result was the second defeat for a scandal-scarred Bronx incumbent in two years, Camarda noted. State Sen. Gustavo Rivera unseated the infamous Pedro Espada Jr. in a 2010 primary.
Citizens Union endorsed Gjonaj before the election, citing his firm support for redistricting reform and for lowering campaign contribution limits."
But Bermudez and Estrada-Rukaj, at times during the race, accused the eventual victor of buying the election. Gjonaj raised $200,000 and splashed the cash on hordes of campaign workers, national television ads and an endless stream of voter mail.
The result was a triumph not just for the candidate but for the Albanian community of the Bronx and beyond. Gjonaj will be the first-ever Albanian-American in the city to hold elected office.
"This is history," crowed Ezad Rizai, president of the Albanian American Society Foundation. "The Albanians came out for Mark and we're all very proud."
The key to the upset wasn't an Albanian-American stronghold, however. Tenants at Tracey Towers, the 869-unit Mosholu Parkway complex, voted overwhelmingly for Gjonaj after he helped them sue to block a 65% rent hike.
The complex, home mostly to black and African immigrant voters, went 360-68 for the challenger, according to his campaign.
"We went heavily for Gjonaj because he stepped in when we were down for the count," said Jean Hill, tenant leader.
The 80th District includes Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Allerton, Pelham Gardens and parts of Norwood and Bedford Park.
dbeekman@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/winds-political-change-blow-bronx-good-government-group-gjonaj-defeats-rivera-article-1.1159783#ixzz26e4t9Tm3

Hundreds took to the streets of Pakistan on Saturday as part of global demonstrations against an anti-Muslim film produced in the United States.

Innocence of Muslims is the Muhammad Movie by Sam Becile that caused Muslims to kill United States ambassador, J Christopher Stevens. The anti Islam video claims Islam is a lie and Mohammed was a pedophile. Reviews of the Muhammad Film have ranged from "Disgusting" to "the riot laugh of the summer." All rights to Sam Becile or whoever made this film.

Feds interview Calif. filmmaker linked to anti-Islamic movie

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last Updated: 11:20 AM, September 15, 2012

Posted: 6:04 AM, September 15, 2012

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed by federal probation officers at a Los Angeles sheriff's station but was not arrested or detained, authorities said early Saturday.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was interviewed at the station in his hometown of Cerritos, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Don Walker said.
Federal officials have said they were investigating the activities of Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes. If the probation department determines Nakoula violated terms of his release, a judge could send him back to prison.

REUTERS

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is escorted in a Los Angeles County Sheriff's vehicle from his home by officers in Cerritos, California.

ACTRESS IN CONTROVERSIAL FILM BARES ANGUISH
Walker said Nakoula traveled voluntarily in a squad car with deputies.
"He went to the Cerritos station to talk with probation officers. He's not under any arrest," Walker said.
The deputy said he doesn't have information on the interview or how long it lasted. KNBC-TV reported that Nakoula went to the station early Saturday morning.
The TV station said that media had been staking out the home at the end of a cul de sac in the Southern California city when the man emerged wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses.
There was no answer early Saturday at the federal probation department's California's central district office in Los Angeles.
The probation department is reviewing the case of Nakoula, who was previously convicted on bank fraud charges and was banned from using computers or the Internet as part of his sentence. The review is aimed at learning whether Nakoula violated the terms of his five-year probation.
Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the administrative office of the U.S. courts, confirmed Friday the review is under way.
Federal authorities have identified Nakoula, a self-described Coptic Christian, as the key figure behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Middle East. A federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday that authorities had connected Nakoula to a man using the pseudonym of Sam Bacile who claimed earlier to be writer and director of the film.
Violent protests set off by the film in Libya played a role in mob attacks in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American officials. U.S. Embassy gates in Cairo were breached by protesters and demonstrations against American missions spread to Yemen on Thursday and on Friday to several other countries.

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And the winners in yesterday’s primary are …

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Dinowitz

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, right, congratulates Eddie McShan on his victory.

By Adam Wisnieski

Posted 9/14/12

Turnout for the rare Thursday primary on Sept. 13 was not as low as some had feared, based on accounts from poll workers and preliminary results.

But there were still no big surprises in local races.

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat held onto his seat, freshman state Sen. Gustavo Rivera can finally shed that freshman title, County-backed Eddie McShan got the nod for Second District Civil Court judge and newcomer Gabriela Rosa won a close race in Assembly District 72, which includes Marble Hill.

Though these are only the winners of the Democratic primary and everyone, except Mr. McShan, will face a GOP challenge in November, all the Democratic primary winners are expected to win in the general election.

Senate District 31

Mr. Espaillat defeated Assemblyman Guillermo Linares in the Democratic Primary for Senate District 31, which includes Marble Hill, Inwood and Washington Heights.

After suffering a defeat to Rep. Charles Rangel in the Democratic primary for Congressional District 13 in June, Mr. Espaillat trounced challenger Mr. Linares, 10,623 to 6,562 votes in the state senate race, according to preliminary results. 

Assembly District 72

There will be no Linareses in Albany next year, as Assemblyman Guillermo Linares’

daughter, Mayra Linares, lost a close race to Gabriela Rosa for Assembly District 72, which includes Marble Hill.

Ms. Rosa won 2,946 to Ms. Lineres’ 2,305 votes,

Primary Day was a sweep for the Espaillat camp. Mr. Espaillat, who won his own race, also backed Ms. Rosa against his opponent’s daughter.

Senate District 33

In Senate District 33, which includes approximately half of Kingsbridge and much of Kingsbridge Heights, freshman state Sen. Gustavo Rivera had no trouble holding onto his seat. In a low turnout race Mr. Rivera beat challenger Manny Tavarez  with 4,364 to 1,872 votes.

In the only race on the ballot for all Riverdalians and most Kingsbridge residents, Eddie McShan handily defeated Juana Valentin, 8,828 to 5,869 votes, according to preliminary results.

Second District Civil Court

Mr. McShan was backed by the Bronx County Democratic Committee and the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, including every local elected official. At poll sites across the western half of the Bronx, staffers for Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Councilman Oliver Koppell handed out flyers for Mr. McShan. They also came out in force for Mr. Rivera. 

Though many poll sites in Riverdale and Kingsbridge were quiet yesterday, there was a lot of action in Marble Hill, which had a say in two big races. As of 4:40 p.m., 168 votes had been cast at the Marble Hill Community Center. Poll coordinator Paullette Shomo said that was usual for a Democratic primary and didn’t think the day being switched from a Tuesday to Thursday had any real impact. Almost three times as many Democrats voted in Upper Manhattan and Marble Hill in the Espaillat/Linares race than in the less competitive Rivera/Tavarez race.

In Riverdale at the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141, turnout was light for a primary according to workers, but considering the only race on the ballot was for a civil court judgeship, things could have been worse.

Some voters told poll workers they only showed up so they could try out the new voting system in preparation for the big November election.

Though it is against the state law to bring them back, voters and poll workers were nostalgic about the old lever voting machines.

“Closing is harder now,” said poll worker Angelica Laro, 60, who said tallying votes on the old machines was easier with the old machines.

adriano espaillat, guillermo linares, gustavo rivera, manny tavarez, eddie mcshan, juana valentin, gabriela rosa, mayra linares, primary, election, democratic primary

 NYPD WAR ON WEED

Feel Free to Mirror this video so the truth spreads !!! Peace and Love. In this scene from "The War on Weed," correspondent Christof Putzel hits the streets of New York City with NYC Resistance, an underground videographer who films some of the 600,000 "stop and frisk" searches performed by the NYPD each year. Ninety percent of those who are stopped are black and Latino, and while across the country in Seattle many are allowed to openly smoke marijuana.

http://yourfreepress.blogspot.com/

Queens State Sen. Shirley Huntley and Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, saddled by legal troubles, tumble in Democratic primaries

But Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., who is under a federal indictment alleging corruption for a second time, eked out a victory, at just 37%, because the field contained eight challengers.

By Daniel Beekman , Irving Dejohn AND Erin Durkin / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Thursday, September 13, 2012, 9:49 PM

Updated: Friday, September 14, 2012, 3:14 AM

Anthony DelMundo for New York Daily News

Queens state Sen. Shirley Huntley is charged with helping cronies steal taxpayer cash through bogus nonprofit. 'I'm going to win. That's it,' Huntley said outside her Rochdale Village home. She didn't.

Three state lawmakers with legal troubles entered Democratic primaries Thursday, and only one survived.

Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley, who is under indictment for a scheme to help cronies steal taxpayer money through a bogus nonprofit, was defeated soundly.

DAILY NEWS COVERAGE OF PRIMARY NIGHT
Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, who is being probed for putting her relatives and two lovers on government and nonprofit payrolls, was beaten by double digits in a race that was close during early returns.

But Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., who is under a federal indictment alleging corruption for a second time, eked out a victory, at just 37%, because the field contained eight challengers.

City Councilman James Sanders Jr. bounced Huntley 57% to 40%.

“I’m part of the clean team. A tidal wave is coming to hit Albany,” a jubilant but teary-eyed Sanders said as he thanked supporters late Thursday night.

Rivera was taken down by Mark Gjonaj, Bronx Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, by a margin of 52% to 41%.

“This isn’t about being better than somebody ... this is about making it better and making sure our voice is heard in Albany,” Gjonaj told backers.

Rivera fled her campaign headquarters early, condemning the charges that contributed to her demise.

“This has been a difficult campaign, unlike anything I have ever witnessed in my career — not a campaign based on substance or issues but on pathetic smear attacks,” she said.

Among other results in the oddly timed primaries, which were moved so they wouldn’t fall on the Sept. 11 anniversary:

- Buffalo-area Sen. Mark Grisanti — one of three upstate Republicans who faced fierce challenges after bucking their party and voting in favor of gay marriage last year — prevailed.

- Brooklyn Democratic Sen. Martin Dilan triumphed with ease — 68% to 32%, with 94% of precincts reporting — over challenger Jason Otano, who tried to portray the incumbent as a puppet of scandal-scarred Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Even on election day, Dilan stuck to his position as one of the few elected officials not to say that Lopez should resign over sexual harassment charges. But in the end, the association with Lopez wasn’t enough to cost him in a district where he has long been popular.

- Upper Manhattan Sen. Adriano Espaillat — boosted by name recognition from his Congressional primary loss earlier this year to Rep. Charles Rangel — won at 62% after a spirited charge by a fellow Dominican Democrat, Assemblyman Guillermo Linares.

“I feel really happy,” Espaillat said. “This was like the Thrilla in Manilla and the Rumble in the Jungle.”

- In a Republican state Senate primary in Queens, City Councilman Eric Ulrich bested Juan Reyes, 70% to 30%. Reyes hit at Ulrich with an anti-gay mailer that criticized him for having dinner with a gay colleague and for hiring gay staffers — a political move that certainly wasn’t effective.

During the day, Daily News reporters at a number of polling stations noticed that turnout seemed to be low.

Thursday’s round of primaries also brought the first test of the city Board of Elections’ new system of counting tallies from voting machines electronically, instead of the error-prone, paper-based method that led to a drawn-out mess in Espaillat-Rangel in June.

Board commissioners said they thought the new system would be more accurate, but acknowledged it had not yet improved the speed of election-night results.

The oft-maligned board made one decision that was downright ghoulish — voting to allow the late Roselyn Johnson, 69, to remain on Bronx ballots as a Democratic candidate for judicial delegate, a position that nominates candidates for the bench.

Johnson died last Wednesday, and under state law the board was supposed to allow her to be replaced since she died more than a week before the election; but board officials claimed they did not have time to reprint the ballots and retest scanning machines.

There was also widespread voter confusion in East Flatbush, where elderly Caribbean-American residents complained that poll workers at voting sites close to their homes sent them to far-flung polling places.

Retired 911 operator Lynda Witt, 47, said she had been voting at Public School 269 on Nostrand Avenue for the past decade. On Thursday, poll workers at the school told Witt to go to Borough Park to cast her ballot.

“In Borough Park, they said this is not my district. What am I doing here?” said a frustrated Witt, who spent $22 in roundtrip cab fare travelling to Intermediate School 227 on 16th Avenue.

Witt returned to P.S. 269 about 7:30 p.m. where she was told by City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-East Flatbush) to cast an affidavit ballot.

Williams said he counseled at least four aggravated voters at P.S. 269 and at Tilden High School.

“It’s crazy out here. Many people don't know where to vote. They are ping-ponging between voter sites,” the Councilman said.

"People are frustrated.... A poll worker was close to tears. I can't believe it.”

Because of this year’s redistricting, Williams said, voting sites have been changed but some people appear to have slipped through the cracks during the notification process. He also said the Board of Elections hasn’t given the updated information to workers at every polling station.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Williams said. “This is bad.”

With Simone Weichselbaum, Michael J. Feeney, Reuven Blau and Rachel Silberstein

edurkin@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/turnout-polls-oddly-timed-state-primaries-article-1.1159311#ixzz26S4MfIjb

Embattled pols Naomi Rivera, Shirley Huntley get the boot in Democratic primaries

By DAVID SEIFMAN, CARL CAMPANILE and CANDACE AMOS

Last Updated: 2:55 AM, September 14, 2012

Posted: 1:46 AM, September 14, 2012

Warzer Jaff

Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera

Two allegedly corrupt politicians — Queens state Sen. Shirley Huntley and Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera — got the boot yesterday in Democratic primaries.
Huntley was trounced by Councilman James Sanders, who got 4,979 votes, or 57 percent of the tally, to 3,477 votes, or 40 percent, for Huntley with all of the machine ballots recorded.
Huntley was indicted on Aug. 27 on charges of falsifying documents to conceal the fact that her niece and aide allegedly siphoned $30,000 from a sham charity she created.
A subdued Huntley last night refuse to concede.
“Thank you for your support. We won’t know the results until all the votes are turned in,” she told supporters in Jamaica.
“I’m tired. I’m going home.”
In The Bronx, Rivera, who allegedly hired two of her boy toys — one for a taxpayer-funded position and the other for a job on a charity that collected government funds — was also history.
She appointed ex-squeeze Vincent Pinela executive director of the nonprofit Bronx Council for Economic Development.
Her current beau, Tommy Torres, was hired at her Assembly office while he was a full-time public-school teacher.
Four investigative agencies are probing Rivera’s hiring practices.
In a stunning upset, challenger Mark Gjonaj handily defeated Rivera by 2,407 votes, or 52 percent, to 1,894 votes, or 41 percent, for Rivera.
Sources close to Rivera said she even lost to Gjonaj in precincts once considered her strongholds.
Gjonaj promised honest government at his rousing victory party at Maestro’s on Bronxdale Avenue.
“This is a victory for all of the people of the 80th Assembly District,’’ he said. “They deserve someone just as hardworking as they are.’’
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the former Brooklyn Democratic boss caught up in a sex-harassment scandal, won one proxy battle and was ahead in a second.
Brooklyn state Sen. Martin Dilan, a Lopez ally, routed challenger Jason Otano by more than 40 points — even though Otano used the scandal as a campaign issue.
Another Lopez ally, Chris Olechowski, appeared headed for victory over Lincoln Restler in a Brooklyn district leader’s race.
In still another closely watched race, Manhattan state Sen. Adriano Espaillat crushed challenger Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, 62-38 percent.
Espaillat, who narrowly lost a congressional primary to dethrone Rep. Charles Rangel, is now the odds-on favorite to succeed him.
Additional reporting by Candice M. Giove

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Former Rudy Giuliani aide Juan Reyes sends mailing blasting primary opponent, Councilman Eric Ulrich, for having dinner with gay friends

Mailer also criticizes Ulrich for hiring an openly gay chief of staff. Ulrich: Missive 'disgraceful'

By Lisa L. Colangelo And Glenn Blain / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 11:10 PM

Mariela Lombard for New York Daily News

Queens Republican Juan Reyes blasted his Republican primary opponent, City Councilman Eric Ulrich (pictured), for having dinner with gay friends and employing a gay chief of staff.

Two GOP primaries for the state Senate — including a hotly contested race in Queens — have sunk into the gutter with gay-baiting tactics.
Queens Republican Juan Reyes, a former aide to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, sent a mailing this week blasting his “gay-friendly” primary opponent, City Councilman Eric Ulrich, for having dinner with an “openly gay Democratic councilman and his husband.” The reference was to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a fellow member of the Queens delegation.
The mailer did not stop there, however. “Ulrich hired an openly gay chief of staff for his City Council office as well as at least one other gay staffer,” it stated.
Ulrich, who has the backing of Senate GOP leaders in Thursday’s primary, called the missive “disgraceful.”
The mailer targeting Ulrich comes on the heels of a graphic, anti-gay flyer circulated this week in the Buffalo-area district of Republican state Sen. Mark Grisanti.
The flyer, distributed via email and first reported by Politico, uses photographs from a gay porn company to ask: “How far will a politician go to get in your pant$?” It added that “For his Gay Marriage Vote, Mark Grisanti received over $750,000. Sometimes they’re whore$.”
Grisanti, who is being challenged by conservative Republican Kevin Stocker in Thursday’s primary, was one of four GOP senators to vote in favor of legalizing gay marriage last year, allowing the historic measure to pass. The Human Rights Campaign’s Fred Sainz said both mailings “are beyond offensive.”
“They are so patently ridiculous they have no place in a modern day election,” he said, adding that “these chuckleheads are campaigning for the Fred Flintstone award.”
Reyes’ campaign consultant Gerry O’Brien insisted the mailing did not qualify as gay-bashing. Instead, he said it was intended to show Ulrich as a flip-flopper.

A flyer uses photographs from a gay porn company to slam Buffalo-are state Sen. Mark Grisanti.

“(Ulrich) was elected as a conservative Republican and then he moved immediately to the left,” O’Brien said. “He cozied up to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. He voted for the gay marriage resolution.”
Matthew Ricchiazzi, a one-time Buffalo mayoral candidate who circulated the anti-Grisanti flyer using his email account, defended the political handiwork as “brilliant.” He said the mailing had little to do with gay marriage, which he claimed to support. “It equates the work of politicians with the work of prostitutes, and makes the argument that Grisanti has been selling his vote to the highest bidder,” Ricchiazzi said in an email to the Daily News.
“Indeed, any prostitute can do the work of a New York State senator, and most can do it better,” he added.
Grisanti’s campaign shrugged off the attack. “Mark Grisanti is focused on the issue most important to voters in the 60th Senate District — creating jobs and getting our economy back on track,” said Grisanti campaign spokesman Doug Curella.
gblain@nydailynews.com

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9/11 Truther Convinced Government Destroyed Past 11 Years Of His Life

September 11, 2012 | ISSUE 48•37 | More News

 
Dennis Shaw says the U.S. government has, for more than a decade, perpetrated a “controlled demolition” of his life.

PROVIDENCE, RI—Citing “overwhelming evidence,” 9/11 Truth movement adherent Dennis E. Shaw, 53, told reporters Tuesday that he believes the U.S. government has orchestrated a secret, intricate plot to systematically destroy his entire life over the past 11 years.
Shaw, who since 2001 has lost his job, seen his marriage end, and, according to friends, completely alienated himself from mainstream society, argued that there are “serious reasons to doubt” the commonly accepted explanation that his slide into reclusion and paranoia was his own fault.
“The official story is all too familiar,” said Shaw, a self-identified 9/11 Truther who hands out pamphlets at Kennedy Plaza from 2 to 6 p.m. every day. “On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists crashed three planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Then, over the ensuing months and years, my obsession with the truth behind those events supposedly led to the gradual collapse of my personal and professional life. But this convenient little narrative requires us to believe a series of highly improbable coincidences.”
“Open your eyes, and you’ll see the puppet masters’ fingerprints are all over my pathetic, seemingly self-destructive existence,” he added.
Pointing to a detailed timeline scrawled on poster board affixed to the wall of a studio apartment cluttered with 9/11 paraphernalia, Shaw reviewed the events that, he believes, “happened too perfectly to be anything but the intentional, controlled demolition of [his] life.”
“In January 2004, my wife said she wished I spent more time with her instead of on Internet Truther forums, yet somehow, in April of that very same year she complained that it was ‘becoming unbearable to be around me,’” he said, showing reporters a day-by-day account of the couple’s failed relationship. “It simply doesn’t add up that Melissa would say she wanted to be with me both more often and less often—unless, that is, an outside party like the U.S. government wanted her to say it.”
“Meanwhile—and this is where it really gets interesting—on four separate occasions in 2002 I recorded my mother saying she thought my research was ‘interesting’ and ‘worth thinking about,’” continued the man, who confirmed he has watched the film series Loose Change seven or eight times in the past week. “How was it, then, that by November of the following year she was calling it ‘crazy’ and ‘sad,’ a complete reversal of her original stance?”
Shaw went on to present a chart showing the “suspiciously” rapid disintegration of his friendships since 2001, noting the disparity between the 258 social interactions he shared with his best friend, Stephen Danforth, in the years before 2001 and the mere 17 interactions they’ve had since then, a decline Shaw said “can’t be explained by pure, random chance.”
Recently, the 53-year-old created a website dedicated to “uncovering what really happened to Dennis E. Shaw’s life,” in which he posits the existence of a shadowy government conspiracy whose sole purpose is to engineer his downfall.
“Everyone’s in on it—Bush, Cheney, Bernanke, Israel, and now Obama,” said Shaw, claiming that an entire life and career “couldn’t just collapse like this all on its own.” “Not a single one of them has ever come forward to deny their involvement in the destruction of my life.”
Even ignoring the rest of the evidence, Shaw remarked, the fact that he lost his job as a reporter for The Providence Journal mere weeks after writing articles in which he described 9/11 as an inside job was, in itself, “a smoking gun in Uncle Sam’s hand.”
“On the evening of October 28, 2005, I handed in an article exposing Bush and Cheney’s cover-up of the real 9/11 Commission report. Well, what a surprise that the very next morning I was fired from my job by my editor, a man I have reason to believe has connections to the FBI, the CIA and, yes, Dick Cheney,” said Shaw, whose former employer cited “repeated breaches of journalistic integrity” and “erratic behavior” as the reason for Shaw’s dismissal. “Fast-forward three years and my rent has shot up, my credit score has dropped, and Melissa is no longer taking my calls. You think that was all some kind of magical coincidence? Think again.”
Smoking cigarette after cigarette, Shaw then proceeded to show reporters a homemade videotape he shot of his ex-wife returning to his apartment to pick up her toaster, rewinding the tape over and over again to spot what he believed could be “government surveillance devices” concealed in her clothing.
“The facts speak for themselves—I’m just connecting the dots,” said Shaw, reiterating that only the “sinister machinations” of the U.S. government could make a formerly happy, stable human being “totally fall to pieces.” “We must keep fighting for the truth, if not simply out of respect for justice, then at least out of respect for the innocent victim of this calculated crime.”

Bronx

Underdog candidate hopeful ramps up campaign in  South Bronx against Assembywoman Carmen Arroyo 

Maximino Rivera hits the streets to press his case for election

Comments (1)

By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 6:00 AM

Enid Alvarez/New York Daily News

Maximino Rivera

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Enid Alvarez/New York Daily News

Maximino Rivera campaigns for the state Assembly at 138th St. and Brook Ave.

Enid Alvarez/New York Daily News

Maximino Rivera campaigns for the state Assembly at 138th St. and Brook Ave.

State assembly hopeful Maximino Rivera is a new candidate with old school values - an underdog with organizing chops.
His opponents are longtime Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo and frequent challenger Charles Serrano, a former police officer.
Arroyo is favored to defeat both insurgents and retain her 84th District seat in the Democratic primary election Thursday.
The Mott Haven matriarch is backed by the Bronx Democratic County Committee and her daughter, City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo, and has served in Albany for 18 years.
But as few as 3,000 voters will decide the election and Rivera is running a vigorous campaign.
"We're gaining momentum," he said last week, shaking hands with passersby on E. 138th St. "We're in the buildings. We're out on the street. We're at the subway stations."
Rivera is a retired postal service worker and union shop steward. For years, he worked by night and organized tenants by day as director of Pueblo en Marcha, a community group. Rivera has known Arroyo for decades.
"I campaigned for her years ago but now the people are asking for change," the Vietnam War veteran claimed. "I go to the buildings where she used to be strong, like the Michelangelo Apartments where she used to live, and the people are asking for change."
When Lenore Brown, 35, stopped to greet Rivera, the candidate vowed to open a storefront district office and talked about ending the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policing strategy.
Brown said her son, a college student, has been unfairly frisked.
"My brother is a marathon runner, a harmless guy, and they stopped him, too," said Rivera, an avuncular Puerto Rico native.
The incumbent insists she has nothing to worry about. Arroyo has earned the "grandma vote," a political source said, and she recently sponsored a popular new law that will certify qualified high school graduates as bilingual.
"My campaign is going well," she said last week. "My friends will come out and vote for Carmen Arroyo like they always do."
But Arroyo sued to knock Rivera off the ballot and her colleagues drew his home two blocks out of her district as part of the reapportionment process, he noted.
His campaign literature features newspaper headlines linking Arroyo to nepotism and corruption. Her grandson received prison time in 2010 for looting a nonprofit that she founded and steered taxpayer money to.
He used the cash to buy clothes, bankroll her campaign and renovate her district office but Arroyo was never charged.
"Maybe they want to tell people I'm a thief," Arroyo said last week, bristling. "I'm not a thief."
But Citizens Union, the public watchdog organization, cited ethics concerns when it endorsed Rivera last month.
Brown said she knows little about Arroyo despite living in the district for 20 years. The Mott Haven mother of four left Rivera with a simple message.
"Do one thing for the youth, you got my vote," she said.
Rivera has failed to disclose his campaign finances with the state. Arroyo has filed disclosure reports but her campaign was $25,707 in debt as of Sept. 2.
dbeekman@nydailynews.com

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