New York (NY)

Cuomo Administration Edited And Delayed Key Fracking Study

October 8, 2014 Scott Waldman, www.capitalnewyork.com Educate! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Fracking, New York (NY)

ALBANY—A federal water study commissioned by the Cuomo administration as it weighed a key decision on fracking was edited and delayed by state officials before it was published, a Capital review has found. The study, originally commissioned by the state in 2011, when the administration was reportedly considering approving fracking on a limited basis, was going to result in a number of politically inconvenient conclusions for Governor Andrew Cuomo, according to an early draft of the report by the U.S. Geological Survey obtained by Capital through a Freedom of Information Act request. A comparison of the original draft of the study on naturally occurring methane in water wells across the gas-rich Southern Tier with the final version of the report, which came out after extensive communications between the federal agency and Cuomo administration officials, reveals that some of the authors' original descriptions of environmental and health risks associated with fracking were played down or removed.

Community Advocates Challenge $150 Million Coal Plant Bailout

October 1, 2014 Earth Justice, www.earthjustice.org Organize! Energy, Environment, Law, New York (NY)

Today, the Sierra Club and Ratepayer and Community Intervenors, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court in Albany challenging a Public Service Commission (PSC) ruling that would slap $150 million in subsidies on New Yorkers’ electricity bills to repower the uneconomical Dunkirk coal plant. The expensive bailout would result in a plant three times larger than necessary to maintain reliable operation of the region’s power grid. The plant would be allowed to burn both coal and gas, increasing unhealthy air pollution in the region and contributing to dangerous climate disruption.

Crown Heights Tenant Union Shows The Way

September 2, 2014 Alex Ellefson, www.facebook.com Organize! New York (NY), Organizing, Unions

Crown Heights, the neighborhood east of the Brooklyn Museum and the tranquil fields of Prospect Park, has the fastest rising rents of any community in Brooklyn. Trendy restaurants and boutiques, with names like the “Owl and Thistle General Store,” have accompanied the more affluent newcomers who are driving up rents. But for the neighborhood’s longtime residents, who are mostly African-American or Caribbean, the changes have attracted real estate and private equity companies that see an opportunity to make an enormous profit by driving tenants out of rent-stabilized apartments. Some of those longtime residents are turning to the Crown Heights Tenant Union (CHTU), which started last fall as a group of about a dozen residents and community organizers and has since established a presence in dozens of buildings throughout the neighborhood, including 10 buildings where strong tenant associations have taken root. When CHTU held a meeting in mid-July, almost 100 people, including representatives for a local state assemblyman and the city comptroller, crowded into a sterile, linoleum-floored room at a local nursing center. Those who couldn’t find a seat in one of the chairs arranged in a circle around the room leaned against the walls near the doorway. As people introduced themselves, they called out their addresses: 740 Franklin Avenue, 410 Eastern Parkway, 15 Crown Street, 1115 President Street and so on around the room.

Report: Media Exaggerates Image Of Blacks As Criminals

August 29, 2014 Daniel Angster, Salvatore Colleluori, & Todd Gregory , www.mediamatters.org Educate! Crime, Data, New York (NY)

Coverage Of Cases Involving Black Suspects Outpaced Historical Arrest Rates From NYPD Statistics. In stories where race could be identified, the percentage of African-American suspects in murders, thefts, and assaults covered by WCBS, WNBC, WABC, and WNYW was well above the percentage of African-American suspects who have been arrested for those crimes in New York City. According to averages of arrest statistics from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for the past four years, African-American suspects were arrested in 54 percent of murders, 55 percent of thefts, and 49 percent of assaults. Meanwhile, over the past three months, the suspects in the four stations' coverage of murders were 68 percent African-American, the suspects in their coverage of thefts were 80 percent African-American, and the suspects in their coverage of assaults were 72 percent African-American. WABC Covered Crime The Most, While WNYW Covered It The Least. In the past three months, WABC reported on crime much more than the other three stations, with 154 suspects mentioned in its reports. The race of 98 of those suspects could be identified, 75 of whom were African-American. In contrast, WNYW mentioned only 38 suspects in its reports on crime. The race of 23 of those suspects could be identified, 19 of whom were African-American. WNBC aired the second-most coverage of crime, mentioning 105 suspects in its reports. The race of 82 of those suspects could be identified, 60 of whom were African-American. WCBS mentioned 80 suspects in its reports on crime. The race of 52 of those suspects could be identified, and 35 of them were African-American.

Environmentalists Plan Epic Climate March In NYC For Sep. 21st

July 31, 2014 John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Organize! Climate Change, March, New York (NY), UN

The People’s Climate March will surge through Manhattan on September 21 with an expected quarter million individuals in attendance. Times Square will be the site of the historic gathering as many will travel from across the country to support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s ambitious goals to reduce global warming pollution. The People’s Climate March will take place during a UN meeting on climate change attended by delegates from 168 countries.“The UN Secretary General has asked world leaders to finally make some real progress on climate change,” said Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary General. The UN conference, scheduled for September 23, will hail experts on the risks for not acting now. “Time is not on our side,” said Moon. Organizers at 350.org have joined with over 490 groups, including unions, ecumenical groups, and grassroots organizations. The plan is an “all-inclusive family oriented event” for everyone, says Paul Getsos, National Coordinator with 350.org. “We want to engage a wide range of constituencies and communities,” he said. Getting national coverage is the key to building on foundations already laid down by environmental groups. “We want to be in Times Square because there are huge media markets that look there,” said Getsos.

Police Who Fatally Shot 16-Year-Old Won’t Face Charges

July 31, 2014 John Marzulli, www.nydailynews.com Educate! Law, New York (NY), Police, police brutality

The NYPD cops who shot and killed a 16-year-old Brooklyn boy who was allegedly armed — sparking mini street riots — will not face a criminal prosecution, the Daily News has learned. Lawyers for the family of Kimani Gray, who died in an East Flatbush street on March 2013, notified a federal judge Tuesday that prosecutors informed them “that they are not pursuing criminal charges against the (officers) and will not be presenting case to the grand jury,” a court document shows. The decision came after a recently-completed investigation ordered by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, sources said. A DA spokeswoman confirmed the office will not present the case to a grand jury. Police have said Gray pointed a loaded .38-caliber handgun at the officers and claimed he was ordered to drop it. But his family and lawyers noted that out of seven bullets that struck the teen, three entered from his back, suggesting he was running away. Dozens were arrested in subsequent protests, including Kimani’s sister, and at least two officers were lightly injured in the fracas.

Over A Hundred Protest Outside Israeli Consulate

July 31, 2014 Eamon Murphy, www.mondoweiss.net Resist! Gaza, Israel, New York (NY), Palestine, Protest

Norman Finkelstein reached his goal yesterday afternoon, a quorum of at least 100 people to protest the latest Gaza massacre outside the Israeli consulate in midtown Manhattan. On Monday Finkelstein put a call for civil disobedience on his website, announcing his intention to get arrested while demonstrating at Israel’s mission to the UN. “However, I don’t believe in individual acts of martyrdom,” he wrote. “It’s got to be a collective action. If one hundred people either sign up to get arrested or to be there in solidarity, I’ll be there too.” Although Finkelstein had not quite collected that many names as of Tuesday morning, he said he would go ahead head anyway: “Politics is not just about quantity, it’s also about quality. We don’t know each other but we are united by a common conviction: The terror bombing and blockade of Gaza must end now!” In the event, more than one hundred people appeared to be on hand, as well as dozens of police.

Grassroots Power Is Shaping New York’s Marijuana Debate

July 26, 2014 Hannah K. Gold, www.wagingnonviolence.org Organize! Grassroots, Marijuana, New York (NY), Police, War On Drugs

Earlier this month, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced that his office would no longer, in many cases, prosecute low-level marijuana possession. Despite being limited to Brooklyn and allowing exceptions for people smoking in public areas or in front of children, the policy represents a historic break in the city’s marijuana decriminalization debate. “That does not happen because someone wakes up and realizes it’s a problem,” said Kassandra Frederique, New York Policy Coordinator at the Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization that partners with local grassroots groups to reform drug policy. “There is no doubt that public pressure from grassroots organizations and people who have been impacted have influenced the talking points of elected officials on marijuana arrest policy in New York.” The day after Thompson’s announcement, a crowd of about a hundred people, including a dozen elected officials and representatives from local advocacy groups, gathered outside City Hall in Manhattan to introduce the Fairness and Equity Act — a bill that, if passed, would reduce racial disparities in statewide marijuana arrests by demoting low-level marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to a violation that comes with a fine. It would, effectively, extend Thompson’s policy to the rest of the state and put additional protections in place for people most impacted by current policies of marijuana arrests and prosecution.

Fifty Years Of Get-Tough Policies

July 19, 2014 Alex Elkins, www.urbanhistorians.wordpress.com Educate! History, New York (NY), Police, Racism

On July 16, 1964, shortly after 9:20 a.m., James Powell died on a sidewalk on East 76th Street, far from his native Bronx. He was 15 years old. Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan of the New York Police Department (NYPD) had shot the African American teenager three times, claiming that Powell had lunged at him with a knife. Powell’s peers insisted he had been unarmed. Either way, to the white owner of the apartment building where Powell died, who had sprayed African American teens with a garden hose and threatened them with racial taunts, and Gilligan, the white 17-year police veteran, Powell and his friends did not belong in the lily-white, wealthy Upper East Side. Indeed, they had acted on that presumption. Word of Powell’s death soon drew 300 African American youth and 75 police officers into the area. The youth pelted the police with soda bottles. Some shouted, “This is worse than Mississippi,” and “Come on, shoot another nigger.” And so began, 50 years ago today, the Harlem Riot of 1964—the first of seven sizable African American uprisings that summer. After six days, 465 arrests, more than one hundred injured, over $500,000 in property damage, and one death, the Harlem Riot finally came to an end. What did it mean? For African Americans? The police? Also: where did it come from? The 50-year anniversary presents an opportunity to reexamine the significance of the uprising in Harlem and other cities that summer and the more than 300 riots that rocked cities of every size across the country over the next three summers, comprising by far one of the most turbulent periods of urban rioting in United States history.

Contrasting Views On Malaysian Plane Shot Down Over Ukraine

July 18, 2014 Russia Today, www.rt.com Educate! Media, New York (NY), Russia, Ukraine

The Donetsk region remains the scene of heavy fighting between government troops and the forces of the opposition, which refused to recognize the regime change in Kiev and demand federalization. A Malaysian Airlines aircraft en route from Amsterdam to Malaysia crashed in Eastern Ukraine – not far from the Russian border – on Thursday. There were reportedly 283 people and 15 crew members on board the Boeing-777 plane, who reportedly all died in the crash. There were unconfirmed reports the Malaysian plane was travelling at an altitude of over 10,000 meters when it was allegedly hit by a missile. There’s no way that the self-defense forces in Donetsk Region are in possession of such complex weaponry, he stressed. Only S-300 and Buk surface-to-air missile systems are capable of hitting targets at such altitude, the source said. Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the former USSR and Russia to engage targets at an engagement altitude of 11,000-25,000 meters depending on the model.

1,000+ March To Halt Fracked Gas Exports

July 14, 2014 Sandra Steingraber, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Fracking, March, New York (NY), Protest

I’m Sandra Steingraber, and I bring you greetings from my big-hearted friend, Bill McKibben, who sends you his love. And I also bring greetings from the unfractured state of New York. That’s where I live. I was born and raised in the Midwest, but it was New York that taught me how to fight. And we New Yorkers Against Fracking pledge our support, assistance and solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Maryland who are fighting the LNG terminal in Cove Point. Our destinies are intertwined. Our success depends on yours. Maybe you’ve heard of a little farming community in upstate New York called Dryden. Dryden is located across the lake from my own village. And a few years ago, Dryden became one of the first towns in New York to use zoning laws to ban fracking within its municipal borders.

NYC Trash Train Plan Derailed In Chester, PA

July 12, 2014 Energy Justice Network, www.energyjustice.net Resist! Election, New York (NY), Pennsylvania, pollution

We've been re-organizing the Chester Environmental Justice group to "derail" plans to send 500,000 tons/year of trash from the richest part of New York City by train to be burned in the low-income, 75% black City of Chester, near Philadelphia, PA. The plan would fulfill a contract Covanta has with New York City to burn this waste for the next 20-30 years. That contract would send an equal amount to Covanta's Niagara Falls, NY incinerator, where people are fighting the trash-by-trail plan as well (see http://stopburningthefalls.com/myths/). Chester hosts the nation's largest trash incinerator, burning up to 3,510 tons/day, and residents have had enough. We just won a vote of the Chester City Planning Commission Wednesday, when we got them to vote "NO" on Covanta's proposal for a rail box building to store the rail cars of trash. It'll go to City Council next, and we'll be cranking up the pressure to get them to follow the Planning Commission's advice. With about 100 people turned out, standing-room-only, we packed the place and made a strong impact. We also had 100 people email the local officials leading up to the meeting.

‘Watershed Moment’ For Fracking Foes?

July 8, 2014 Timothy Cama, www.thehill.com Organize! Fracking, Law, New York (NY)

Opponents of fracking are feeling emboldened by a ruling in New York’s highest court that found towns can outlaw the controversial drilling practice. Environmentalists are cheering the decision against hydraulic fracturing as a major step toward more local control over the natural gas production. Industry groups, on the other hand, fear the ruling could results in a patchwork of local rules that slow development of the booming energy source. “I think it’s a really watershed moment for the movement,” said Deborah Goldberg, an attorney with Earthjustice who argued the New York case for one of the towns involved. “People all over the country have been watching what’s been going on in New York, and what this says to them is that if you work with your neighbors and you educate yourself and you organize and you work with local government, you can stand up to industry and win.”

Update: On The Road To Ground The Drones March

July 7, 2014 Ralph Heibutzki, www.vcnv.org Resist! Drones, March, New York (NY), Protest

For Grand Island, N.Y. resident Alice Gerard, there are many compelling reasons to oppose America’s use of drone aircraft - starting with the personal side. “In my opinion, there are two kinds of people in this world - there are my friends, and friends that I haven’t met yet. I can’t see killing my friends, especially the ones that I haven’t met yet,” Gerard said. Gerard was among 44 people who came from Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Kalamazoo, Minneapolis, Tennessee, Seattle and the United Kingdom who lent their collective voices to “On the Road to Ground the Drones,” a 160-mile protest march aimed at raising public awareness about the issue. The route began at Boeing’s corporate headquarters in Chicago, Ill. - a company that makes drones - and continues through Watervliet, Paw Paw and Kalamazoo today, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Marchers will then proceed through Galesburg-Augusta on Friday, and wrap up their efforts in Battle Creek. Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a Chicago-based peace group, sponsored and coordinated the activity - which paused for a break Monday night at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, 1753 Union, Benton Harbor.

Major Victory For Opponents Of Fracking In New York

July 1, 2014 Kate Taylor and Thomas Kaplan, www.nytimes.com Resist! Fracking, Law, New York (NY)

In a decision with far-reaching implications for the future of natural gas drilling in New York State, its highest court ruled on Monday that towns can use zoning ordinances to ban hydraulic fracturing, the controversial extraction method known as fracking. Since the issue arose about six years ago, there has been a statewide moratorium on fracking, and the State Health Department is currently studying its potential health effects. But in recent years some towns, worried that the state would eventually allow the practice, have taken matters into their own hands by banning fracking within their borders. Among them, two towns — Dryden, in Tompkins County, and Middlefield, in Otsego County — amended their zoning laws in 2011 to prohibit fracking, on the basis that it would threaten the health, environment and character of the communities. Subsequently, an energy company that had acquired oil and gas leases in Dryden before the 2011 zoning amendment, and a dairy farm in Middlefield that had leased land to a gas drilling company, filed legal complaints, arguing that state oil and gas law pre-empted the town ordinances. On Monday, in a 5-to-2 decision, the State Court of Appeals affirmed a lower-court ruling rejecting that argument, and found that the towns did indeed have the authority to ban fracking through land use regulations.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources