“The systemic lack of police accountability under de Blasio only ensures chokeholds and brutality continue.”
Lumumba Bandele, spokesman for Communities United for Police Reform* * * *
Small Biz a Big Issue in District 2 Council Race
Gotham Gazette and WNYC ‘Taking on greedy landlords and helping local businesses are among the promises candidates are making in District 2, which includes the Lower East Side of Manhattan. ‘Small business struggle is really a key issue across the city,’ said Ben Max, executive editor of Gotham Gazette. Legislation aimed at helping business owners negotiate fair commercial lease terms has been languishing in the City Council. Max said District 2 candidates are vowing to push the Small Business Jobs Survival Act and work to reform Manhattan’s commercial rent tax.” * * * *
Smoke ‘Em if You Bought ‘Em: De Blasio Boosts Price of a Pack of Cigs
Politico ‘The price increase is expected to reduce the smoking rate by 6 percent, or 54,000 fewer smokers by the end of the decade, the mayor said Monday during a ceremony at Kings County Hospital, part of the city’s public hospital system. The new law also increases the minimum price of smokeless tobacco and shisha packages to $8 and $17, respectively. The increase in the minimum price, which takes effect June 1, was one of seven bills on tobacco that the mayor signed in an effort to reduce the adult smoking rate to 12 percent by 2020. The rate is currently 14.3 percent, which means about 160,000 fewer people would be smoking if the mayor reaches his goal.” * * * *
Sources Say PD Commish Let a Chokeholding Cop Off the Hook
Daily News ‘The city’s top cop recently overturned a guilty verdict against an officer in a department misconduct trial. Then the NYPD and the Civilian Complaint Review Board — citing a state law protecting police disciplinary records — wouldn’t say what the cop was accused of. But sources told the Daily News the cop was charged with using a banned chokehold. The city has withheld the name of the cop, even though the trial was open to the public.” * * * *
A Hiram Monserrate Comeback Win is Entirely Possible
New York Post ‘He slashed his girlfriend’s face with a glass shard — and is believed to have driven her past the hospital down the block to another one 14 miles away so he wouldn’t be recognized. He was accused of misusing city taxpayer funds to fuel his political ambitions — and spent two years in prison for it. But that hasn’t stopped Hiram Monserrate — a former state senator from Queens who was drummed out of the post over his violent, law-breaking past — from making a new bid for public office. And he may actually win.” * * * *
Exit Interview for Denny Farrell
New York Times “He championed causes and candidates, and was known for helping minorities and women get elected to the bench in Manhattan. Wielding political power, he said in an interview in 1994, could be a ‘tool for good.’ ‘I believe you can get things done if you control the mechanics,’ he said then. Along the way, Mr. Farrell built something elusive among many in his chosen calling: a reputation for trustworthiness and for decency in his treatment of rivals.”