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Mark works with us for our Earth and Peace Day Concerts in Times Square and is a believer and a man who gets things done.

#marklevine #donovanrichards

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“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” – Sun Tzu

Security Council votes on draft resolution on Ukraine, 25 February 2022. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

NEW YORK, Feb 28 2022 (IPS) – Russian President and former intelligence officer Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been at the helm of power since 1999, promoting jingoistic nationalism to keep his hold on power and creating a democratic deficit on the home front.

In a long list of extrajudicial crimes under the aegis of Mr. Putin, it is alleged that critics and potential rivals generally meet an untimely demise – ranging from helicopter crashes (e.g., LTG Alexander Lebed), murdered in elevators (e.g., in the high profile case of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya), falling out of windows (e.g., former third secretary of Russia’s delegation to the United Nations in Vienna found at the bottom of the Russian Embassy in Berlin) to Polonium poisoning (e.g., Alexander Litvinenko) or getting incarcerated on trumped up charges like Russian opposition leader Alexie Navalny.

A throwback to Soviet totalitarian times Mr. Putin is a vocal proponent of ongoing hybrid militarized ‘foreign policy’ aggressions that aim to reclaim Russia’s sphere of influence in former Soviet Republics, as well as further afield, primarily in the continent of Africa.

Kremlin-controlled Spetsnaz mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who it is alleged hold Russian diplomatic passports, conduct military spearhead operations on behalf of the Kremlin and maintain bureaus in all 55 member states of the African Union – for more details see: https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/russia/vagner.htm.

The antecedents of this hybrid militarized ‘foreign policy’ stratagem follow a trajectory that begins in Chechnya with the Second Battle of Grozny from 25 December 1999 to 6 February 2000 during the premiership of Mr. Putin – where the world’s democratic powers were silent witnesses to the devastation of a city of almost 400,000, which led to a pratically halving of the population through an exodus of internally displaced persons.

In 2003, the United Nations called Grozny “the most destroyed city on earth”. It could be speculated that at the time democratic Western powers were largely silent given that the Chechens were perceived as Islamist terrorists.

After ‘success’ in Chechnya, in November 2007 Mr. Putin next withdrew Russia’s participation in the 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, which limited the deployment of heavy military equipment across Europe. It enabled Mr. Putin and the Kremlin to thereafter experiment with a hybrid militarized ‘foreign policy’ adventure in the 5-day, 2008 August War in Georgia.

Russian troops invaded and established control over the occupied Tskhinvali region (now called South Ossetia) and Abkhazia constituting over 20% of Georgian territory – for more details see: https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-hybrid-aggression-against-georgia-use-local-and-external-tools. Once again, the world’s democratic powers were little more than passive bystanders.

While the world’s leading democratic powers stayed silent, a timeline of notable hybrid militarized ‘foreign policy’ aggressions orchestrated by Mr. Putin and the Kremlin, demonstrating their global reach in Europe and Africa, includes:

• Invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine (February-March 2014) – successful.
• Invasion and occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine (March-November 2014) – successful.
(NB: Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries made their first overseas combat appearance in the Donbas region in 2014).
• Military intervention in Syria to support President Assad and winning the civil war for the regime (in September 2015-2019) – successful.
• Military intervention in the Libyan civil war in support of renegade eastern Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar by Kremlin-controlled Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group (April 2019-October 2020) – failure.
(NB: followed by smaller, inconclusive Wagner Group interventions in Mozambique, Sudan, and the Central African Republic). For details see: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58009514
• Invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022) – ongoing – with Mr. Putin and the Kremlin looking at long-term occupation and subjugation of the Ukrainian people in a carefully orchestrated military campaign that was planned for at least 8-10 years.
(NB: in the case of Ukraine, Mr. Putin and the Kremlin orchestrated a non-stop war of attrition in the Donbas and Crimea since February 2014, and the Wagner Group has been redeployed in Ukraine in February 2022 after withdrawing mercenaries from Africa).
Since November 2007 the slippery slope towards a global democratic deficit – attempting to prove that might is right – was taking shape and gathering momentum, harbingers of the return of authoritarianism, imperialism, and possibly totalitarianism.

A democratic deficit occurs when seemingly democratic governments fail to fulfill the principles of democratic governance for the benefit of their citizenry. When that happens in many countries worldwide it becomes a global democratic deficit with the rise to power of authoritarian and antidemocratic political leaders as in the case of Russia, North Korea, China, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan under the Taliban, and most recently in West Africa – Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea.

All countries are susceptible, including countries like Brazil, and the United States of America, as was the case during the Trump presidency from 2016-2020.

The biggest fear of authoritarians of the ilk of Mr. Putin is that the common people will be able to exercise their democratic rights through free and fair elections, and popular protests to repudiate the egregious corruption and misgovernance of political leaders, as was the case in Ukraine when pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych abandoned his country and fled in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

A similar fate was reversed in Belarus with the illegitimate reinstatement of Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, and its tacit occupation in plain sight by the Russian military in January-February 2022.

To the thus-far silent democratic powers it must strongly be pointed out that parallels can be drawn to Mr. Putin’s extrajudicial hybrid military ‘foreign policy’ actions to what Pastor Martin Niemöller said about crimes against humanity during the Nazi reign of terror under Adolf Hitler:

First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
— Martin Niemöller

Having noted the above in all its gory detail, it must be pointed out to Mr. Putin and the Kremlin that their perceived ‘successful’ hybrid militarized ‘foreign policy’ blunderings will only further weaken Russia’s economic and political standing in the 21 Century – especially once draconian long-term sanctions start to bite with alacrity, and deeply.

It all depends on the sleeping giant of democratic world powers waking up, uniting in common purpose, and responding to an existential threat to peace, security, and democracy. Sun Tzu was right all along Mr. Putin – “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”.

Dr Purnaka L. de Silva is Adjunct Professor UN Studies (M.A. Program) at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, and Director, Institute of Strategic Studies and Democracy (ISSD) Malta.

Twitter @IPSNewsUNBureau

Instagram @ipsnewsunbureau

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This conference was the birth of The Beijing Platform for Action, the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights. Our founders were in Beijing 25 years ago, and every day since we’ve continued to call for the recognition of the fundamental human rights of women.

25 years later and gender equality is far from being realized. Every five years since 2000, Equality Now has highlighted explicitly sex discriminatory laws that need to be reformed in our Words & Deeds report.

Today we’re releasing our 5th Words & Deeds report and we need your help.

YOUR WORDS & DEEDS TO DO LIST:

Learn

Read the report

Learn more about the Beijing Platform for Action

Share

? Tweet your commitment to Words & Deeds

? Share Words & Deeds on Facebook

? Explore our social toolkit for other ways to share

Take Action

? In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the law says the husband is head of the household.

Call on the President to amend the family code to ensure equality in marriage.

? Section 103 of Tunisia’s Personal Status Code limits daughters’ inheritance rights and provides that any sons inherit twice as much as daughters.

Call on the President of Tunisia to ensure equality in inheritance law.

? In Russia, the labor law automatically bars women from being employed in 456 types of work.

Call on the President of Russia to ensure equality in the workplace.

? In Paraguay, the law prescribes a lower penalty, a fine, for sexual offences against adolescent girls between the ages of 14 – 16 than for rape of a child or a woman.

Call on the President of Paraguay to protect adolescent girls from sexual violence.

?Explore all the laws you can take action on

Your continued support allows us to make sure governments uphold their commitments they made to women 25 years ago. Thank you.

In solidarity,

Antonia Kirkland

Global Lead, Legal Equality & Access to Justice

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NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2016 The U.S. Postal Service commemorated the joyous Hindu festival of Diwali by dedicating the Diwali Forever stamp today. The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony took place at the Consulate General of India in New York City.

The public is asked to share the news using the hashtag #DiwaliStamp.

“The Postal Service is honored to issue this Forever stamp that celebrates the Festival of Diwali,” said U.S. Postal Service Vice President of Mail Entry and Payment Technology Pritha Mehra. “We hope these stamps will light up millions of cards and letters as they make their journey through the mailstream.”

Joining Mehra in the dedication ceremony were: Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das, Consul General of India; Diwali Stamp Project Chair Ranju Batra; India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Member of the United Nations Security Council (Ret.) Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri; Sand Hill Group Managing Director M. R. Rangaswami; and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Ravi Batra, Esq., Chair, National Advisory Council South Asian Affairs served as emcee.

“I am very honored to be part of history as the United States Postal Service releases the Dewali Forever stamp at the consulate today,” said Ganguly Das.

“Since the start of the American Revolution, destiny has beckoned the United States and India to be the closest allies,” said Ravi Batra. “The Diwali Forever stamp represents nothing short of respectful inclusive indivisibility: E Pluribus Unum — within America and between two sovereigns.”

“While this journey may have taken years, the Postal Service has issued a Diwali stamp that will continue to resonate forever,” said Ranju Batra. “Now for the first time there is a stamp that celebrates Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists as Americans forever. Our heartfelt thanks to all of those who have supported this stamp. The Diwali stamp will be a matter of pride for generations to come.”

The stamp design is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp beautifully lit, sitting on a sparkling gold background. Diya lamps are usually made from clay with cotton wicks dipped in a clarified butter known as “ghee” or in vegetable oils.

Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, CT, photographed the diya. Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, VA, designed the stamp and William J. Gicker of Washington, DC, served as the project’s art director.

Also known as Deepavali, Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Spanning five days each autumn, Diwali is considered by some to be the start of the new year.

On the Hindu calendar, Diwali falls on the eve of, or on, the new moon that occurs between mid-October and mid-November. In 2016, the main day of the festival will be celebrated Oct. 29 for South Indians and Oct 30 for North Indians.

Diwali is a shortened version of the Sanskrit word Deepavali, which roughly translates as “a necklace of lights.” During Diwali, the flickering oil-wick diyas sprinkle the homes of observers around the world.

Before the festival, many Hindus traditionally go shopping, clean their homes, open their doors and windows, create intricate rangoli — a vibrant floor pattern traditionally made from materials such as rice powder, colored sand and flower petals — and light diyas with hopes that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, will visit. In some regions of India, people play games, just as Hindu lore says that the god Shiva did. On the festive main day of the holiday, families pray for Lakshmi, dress up in their best clothes, enjoy lavish feasts and sweets, exchange gifts and light fireworks. Diwali also marks the new year for people in Gujarat and a few other states of India. Diwali also is celebrated as a major holiday by followers of the Jain and Sikh faiths.

The Diwali stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. This Forever stamp is always equal to the value of the current First Class Mail 1-ounce price.

The Postal Service receives approximately 40,000 suggestions for stamp ideas annually from the public. Stamp subjects are reviewed by the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee. Of that, approximately 25 topic suggestions for commemorative stamps are selected by the committee for the Postmater General’s approval.

Visit this link for information on upcoming stamp events.

Ordering First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at local Post Offices, at The Postal Store website at usps.com⁄shop or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Diwali Stamp
Stamp Fulfillment Services
Cancellation Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Pillar 210
Kansas City, MO 64144-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by Dec. 5, 2016.

Ordering First-Day Covers
The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly “USA Philatelic” catalog, online at usps.com⁄shop or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:

U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Visit this link for information on upcoming stamp events.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom. Reporters interested in speaking with regional Postal Service public relations professionals should visit this link. Follow us on twitter.com/USPS and like us at facebook.com/USPS. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.
New York City: George Flood
908.477.0404

National: Mark Saunders
202.268.6524

usps.com/news

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Mario (June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. He served as the 52nd Governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994, Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1979 to 1982 and Secretary of State of New York from 1975 to 1978.

Cuomo was known for his liberal views and public speeches, particularly his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention where he criticized Ronald Reagan’s policies. The speech brought him to national attention, and he was widely considered a front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President in both 1988 and 1992, but he declined to seek the nomination in both instances. His legacy as a reluctant standard-bearer for the Democrats in presidential elections led to him being dubbed “Hamlet on the Hudson”.

Cuomo was defeated for a fourth term as Governor by George Pataki in the Republican Revolution of 1994, and he subsequently retired from politics. He was the father of five, including Andrew Cuomo, the current Governor of New York, and journalist Chris Cuomo, currently at CNN.

He died of natural causes due to heart failure in Manhattan, New York City, on New Year’s Day, 2015.

for more info, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Cuomo

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Scott M. Stringer

In 1983, he became a legislative assistant to Assemblyman, and future Congressman, Jerrold Nadler. During these years, he supported Democratic candidate Governor Mario Cuomo. In 1992, Stringer ran for Nadler’s Assembly seat representing the Upper West Side when Nadler replaced deceased Congressman Ted Weiss.

In 2001, Stringer ran a flaccid campaign for New York City Public Advocate. In 2005, he entered the race to succeed C. Virginia Fields as Manhattan Borough President. His candidacy was endorsed by the New York Times. On September 13, 2005, he won the Democratic primary against 9 other candidates and was later elected in the November general election. He took office as Borough President on January 1, 2006.

Stringer was the Democratic nominee for New York City Comptroller in the 2013 election. He defeated former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic primary.

Early life and education

Stringer’s mother, Arlene Stringer-Cuevas, is a cousin of Bella Abzug and served on the New York City Council.^[4]

Stringer grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, attended Manhattan public schools and graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

State Assembly

Scott Stringer served for thirteen years and six terms in the State Assembly, from 1992 until 2005. During his Assembly career, Stringer served as Chairman of the Cities Committee, Chairman of the Real Property Taxation Committee and Chairman of the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee. He led the fight to end empty seat voting and reform the State Assembly’s rules of operation. He was a leader on issues of domestic violence, authoring anti-stalking legislation, affordable housing and good government reform.

Borough President

Community boards

As Borough President, Scott Stringer made reform of Manhattan’s community boards his first priority, implementing a merit-based application system and removing patronage and corruption from the appointment process. Borough President Stringer’s community board reform effort has brought 400 new members to Manhattan’s boards, with the number of African American and Asian American members growing by 40 percent, and the number of Latinos increasing by more than 25%. In 2009, the Borough President announced that his widely embraced Community Planning Fellowship program will be expanding city-wide with the help of the Mayor’s Office and the City University of New York.

Policy reports

As Borough President, Stringer has issued over forty policy reports designed to raise awareness about local issues and improve New York City. These reports have led the charge in addressing many of Manhattan’s most important challenges and issues, including: increasing community input and response to development and planning projects across the borough; introducing comprehensive reform and empowerment measures to Manhattan’s Community Boards; leading the fight to maintain and create new affordable housing units and schools across the borough; empowering parents to better participate in the public school system; investigating and recommending policy action on the city’s many transportation issues; and helping working families and small businesses access resources to become and remain self-sufficient.

Food policy

Stringer has been a leader on progressive food policy in the city. For two years in a row, he hosted a conference on the subject. In December 2009, he joined with New York University and the not-for-profit Just Food to hold a day long conference attended by 1,000 New Yorkers that addressed the impact of food on the health of New York City’s people and their environment. He has released several policy reports on food policy, including Food in the Public Interest, FoodStat, and Red Tape, Green Vegetables.

In August 2010, the Stringer’s “Go Green East Harlem” initiative celebrated the opening of the Go Green East Harlem Asthma Center of Excellence, an asthma walk-in center in a East Harlem, where the rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations is the highest in the City and five times the national average.

Second Ave Subway line

Stringer is a proponent of the Second Avenue Subway Line and other mass transit initiatives. However, in 2009, Stringer was “dismayed that with every new delay the project loses momentum, gains opponents, and causes more hardship for the residents and businesses that have to live with the construction on a daily basis,” and has worked to try and make the MTA and city government more receptive to New Yorkers. In December 2010, he and his wife lived in the construction zone.  After living there, Stringer held community meetings, called for Con Edison to reduce utility charges to merchants on Second Avenue who had lost their businesses, and worked to create an independent agency designed to supervise and monitor Second Avenue construction.

Bike lanes

Throughout his tenure as Borough President, Stringer has supported new transportation initiatives such as bike lanes.  After numerous constituent complaints, in 2010 the Borough President undertook a survey, Respect the Lane – Clear the Path, a policy report analyzing bike lane safety in Manhattan. During the course of the three day survey, a total of 1,700 infractions were witnessed. The survey found that while bike lanes have a tremendous positive impact on New York City, the lanes were being misused by all parties; pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists. Working with community leaders, elected officials, local businesses, and local residents, Stringer worked to raise awareness about bike lane safety, and recommended an “increase in protected bicycle lanes, which are separated from traffic by a physical barrier and stepped-up patrol by traffic enforcement agents to ticket scofflaws, along with better signage,” among others ideas.

Hydraulic fracturing

Stringer has been the leading the fight in New York City against hydraulic fracturing in New York State.^[20] Stringer hosted many Manhattan Community Boards to discuss the potential problems associated with “fracking”, such as contamination to the water supply. Stringer also released a policy report in 2009, Uncalculated Risk: How Plans to Drill for Gas in Upstate New York could threaten New York City’s Water System, a report highlighting the impacts of “fracking”.

Other initiatives

To celebrate Women’s History Month in March 2008, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Office created a map of important Women’s Rights Historic Sites in Manhattan. The map includes 120 Manhattan locations where women who have helped shape New York City and the nation have lived, worked or where they have been honored.

On October 24, 2009, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, along with NYC Parks & Recreation Manhattan Borough Commissioner Bill Castro and Stephen Scanniello, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, broke ground on the nation’s first official Heritage Rose District in West Harlem and Southern Washington Heights.

Re-election

On November 6, 2008, Stringer announced his decision to seek re-election as Manhattan Borough President.^[24] His Republican opponent, David Casavis, a history professor and foreign affairs writer/commentator, got 16% of the vote on a platform to abolish the office.  In an October 5, 2009 article in City Limits, Stringer dismissed calls by Casavis and Mayor Bloomberg to eliminate his office: “There are people who are going to call for the elimination of the public advocate office, borough president, the City Council. There are people who believe that we should have a king system here,” says Stringer. “Borough presidents are part of a new era and a different kind of government. It has real responsibilities and it gives you a large footprint on the issues you get involved with. It’s up to the individual to take advantage of that, that you might have an impact.”

United States Senate consideration

In spring 2009, Stringer considered a primary challenge to incumbent United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.  However, he announced in May 2009 that he would not run for the Senate. In his statement he said: “In light of President Obama’s clear desire to avoid a Democratic primary in New York State, I have decided to focus on my re-election race for Manhattan Borough President and to suspend my exploratory committee and fund-raising efforts for the 2010 Senate race. I firmly believe that innovative thinking on issues like education and the urban environment must be joined with bedrock Democratic values on gun control and immigration if New York’s interests are to be effectively represented in Washington.”

2013 New York Comptroller election

Stringer was considered one of several contenders for the 2013 New York City Mayoral primary before he announced in mid-November 2012 that he would instead run for city comptroller in the 2013 election.  Stringer was challenged by former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer in the Democratic party primary. Stringer, originally thought to have the lead unopposed, trailed Spitzer in the polls until late August, when he took a two-point lead.  Stringer defeated Spitzer in the September 10 primary, 52%–48%.

Controversy

On August 28, 2001, Village Voice political writer Wayne Barrett wrote a lengthy piece entitled, “Mother Dearest & the Courthouse Cabal,” in which he discussed Stringer’s involvement in courtroom politics, specifically questioning how Stringer’s parents had benefited financially from his political ties, and whether some of his campaign contributors had done unethical things. Barrett also raised questions about whether Acting Supreme Court judge Louis York had attempted to gain Stringer’s support in his bid for a full term on the court by appointing Stringer’s mother nine times as a court evaluator and conservator.

New York political blogger James “Gatemouth” Ellroy, in an endorsement of Stringer’s re-election, criticized Stringer for “using the office to issue statements designed to please his constituents, mostly concerning matters not within his purview”.

The New York Daily News and the New York Post have published articles calling for the borough presidencies to be eliminated. A New York Post article dated July 20, 2008 alleged that Stringer may be billing the taxpayers for some of his campaign travel by chauffeured limousine, an allegation Stringer denied. A March 15, 2009 Daily News article criticized the borough presidents for spending millions of dollars on “pet projects”, including Stringer’s “$2 million to renovate the old High Line trestle and create an immensely popular park – and another $150,000 for a database of senior citizens”.

In July 2009, Stringer’s deputy press secretary resigned under pressure after posting disparaging comments about President Obama on her Facebook page. The incident let theNew York Post to ask: “Why does Stringer need a deputy press secretary” in addition to “a press secretary and a communications director; what the hell do they do for a living?”

Personal

Stringer married Elyse Buxbaum on September 3, 2010. The couple chose to receive a marriage license in Connecticut as a statement of solidarity with LGBT couples who had not yet been given the right to marry in New York State.

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Scott M. Stringer

In 1983, he became a legislative assistant to Assemblyman, and future Congressman, Jerrold Nadler. During these years, he supported Democratic candidate Governor Mario Cuomo. In 1992, Stringer ran for Nadler’s Assembly seat representing the Upper West Side when Nadler replaced deceased Congressman Ted Weiss.

In 2001, Stringer ran unsuccessfully for New York City Public Advocate. In 2005, he entered the race to succeed C. Virginia Fields as Manhattan Borough President. His candidacy was endorsed by the New York Times. On September 13, 2005, he won the Democratic primary against 9 other candidates and was later elected in the November general election. He took office as Borough President on January 1, 2006.

Stringer was the Democratic nominee for New York City Comptroller in the 2013 election. He defeated former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer in the Democratic primary.^[3]

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 State Assembly
• 3 Borough President
  • 3.1 Community boards
  • 3.2 Policy reports
  • 3.3 Food policy
  • 3.4 Second Ave Subway line
  • 3.5 Bike lanes
  • 3.6 Hydraulic fracturing
  • 3.7 Other initiatives
• 4 Re-election
• 5 United States Senate consideration
• 6 2013 New York Comptroller election
• 7 Controversy
• 8 Personal
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Early life and education

Stringer’s mother, Arlene Stringer-Cuevas, is a cousin of Bella Abzug and served on the New York City Council.^[4]

Stringer grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, attended Manhattan public schools and graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

State Assembly

Scott Stringer served for thirteen years and six terms in the State Assembly, from 1992 until 2005. During his Assembly career, Stringer served as Chairman of the Cities Committee, Chairman of the Real Property Taxation Committee and Chairman of the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee. He led the fight to end empty seat voting and reform the State Assembly’s rules of operation. He was a leader on issues of domestic violence, authoring anti-stalking legislation, affordable housing and good government reform.

Borough President

Community boards

As Borough President, Scott Stringer made reform of Manhattan’s community boards his first priority, implementing a merit-based application system and removing patronage and corruption from the appointment process. Borough President Stringer’s community board reform effort has brought 400 new members to Manhattan’s boards, with the number of African American and Asian American members growing by 40 percent, and the number of Latinos increasing by more than 25%. In 2009, the Borough President announced that his widely embraced Community Planning Fellowship program will be expanding city-wide with the help of the Mayor’s Office and the City University of New York.

Policy reports

As Borough President, Stringer has issued over forty policy reports designed to raise awareness about local issues and improve New York City. These reports have led the charge in addressing many of Manhattan’s most important challenges and issues, including: increasing community input and response to development and planning projects across the borough; introducing comprehensive reform and empowerment measures to Manhattan’s Community Boards; leading the fight to maintain^[5] and create^[6] new affordable housing units^[7] and schools ^[8] across the borough; empowering^[9]parents^[10] to better participate in the public school system; investigating and recommending policy action on the city’s many transportation issues;^[11] and helping working families^[12] and small businesses^[13] access resources to become and remain self-sufficient.

Food policy

Stringer has been a leader on progressive food policy in the city. For two years in a row, he hosted a conference on the subject. In December 2009, he joined with New York University and the not-for-profit Just Food to hold a day long conference attended by 1,000 New Yorkers that addressed the impact of food on the health of New York City’s people and their environment. He has released several policy reports on food policy, including Food in the Public Interest,^[14] FoodStat,^[15] and Red Tape, Green Vegetables.^[16]

In August 2010, the Stringer’s “Go Green East Harlem” initiative celebrated the opening of the Go Green East Harlem Asthma Center of Excellence, an asthma walk-in center in a East Harlem, where the rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations is the highest in the City and five times the national average.

Second Ave Subway line

Stringer is a proponent of the Second Avenue Subway Line and other mass transit initiatives. However, in 2009, Stringer was “dismayed that with every new delay the project loses momentum, gains opponents, and causes more hardship for the residents and businesses that have to live with the construction on a daily basis,” and has worked to try and make the MTA and city government more receptive to New Yorkers. In December 2010, he and his wife lived in the construction zone.^[17] After living there, Stringer held community meetings, called for Con Edison to reduce utility charges to merchants on Second Avenue who had lost their businesses, and worked to create an independent agency designed to supervise and monitor Second Avenue construction.

Bike lanes

Throughout his tenure as Borough President, Stringer has supported new transportation initiatives such as bike lanes.^[18] After numerous constituent complaints, in 2010 the Borough President undertook a survey, Respect the Lane – Clear the Path, a policy report analyzing bike lane safety in Manhattan. During the course of the three day survey, a total of 1,700 infractions were witnessed.^[19]The survey found that while bike lanes have a tremendous positive impact on New York City, the lanes were being misused by all parties; pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists. Working with community leaders, elected officials, local businesses, and local residents, Stringer worked to raise awareness about bike lane safety, and recommended an “increase in protected bicycle lanes, which are separated from traffic by a physical barrier and stepped-up patrol by traffic enforcement agents to ticket scofflaws, along with better signage,” among others ideas.^[11][18]

Hydraulic fracturing

Stringer has been the leading the fight in New York City against hydraulic fracturing in New York State.^[20] Stringer hosted many Manhattan Community Boards to discuss the potential problems associated with “fracking”, such as contamination to the water supply.^[20] Stringer also released a policy report in 2009, Uncalculated Risk: How Plans to Drill for Gas in Upstate New York could threaten New York City’s Water System, a report highlighting the impacts of “fracking”.^[21]

Other initiatives

To celebrate Women’s History Month in March 2008, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Office created a map of important Women’s Rights Historic Sites in Manhattan. The map includes 120 Manhattan locations where women who have helped shape New York City and the nation have lived, worked or where they have been honored.^[22]

On October 24, 2009, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, along with NYC Parks & Recreation Manhattan Borough Commissioner Bill Castro and Stephen Scanniello, president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, broke ground on the nation’s first official Heritage Rose District in West Harlem and Southern Washington Heights.^[23]

Re-election

On November 6, 2008, Stringer announced his decision to seek re-election as Manhattan Borough President.^[24] His Republican opponent, David Casavis, a history professor and foreign affairs writer/commentator, got 16% of the vote^[25] on a platform to abolish the office.^[26] In an October 5, 2009 article in City Limits, Stringer dismissed calls by Casavis and Mayor Bloomberg to eliminate his office: “There are people who are going to call for the elimination of the public advocate office, borough president, the City Council. There are people who believe that we should have a king system here,” says Stringer. “Borough presidents are part of a new era and a different kind of government. It has real responsibilities and it gives you a large footprint on the issues you get involved with. It’s up to the individual to take advantage of that, that you might have an impact.”^[27]

United States Senate consideration

In spring 2009, Stringer considered a primary challenge to incumbent United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.^[28] However, he announced in May 2009 that he would not run for the Senate. In his statement he said: “In light of President Obama’s clear desire to avoid a Democratic primary in New York State, I have decided to focus on my re-election race for Manhattan Borough President and to suspend my exploratory committee and fund-raising efforts for the 2010 Senate race. I firmly believe that innovative thinking on issues like education and the urban environment must be joined with bedrock Democratic values on gun control and immigration if New York’s interests are to be effectively represented in Washington.”^[29]

2013 New York Comptroller election

Further information: New York City Comptroller Election, 2013

Stringer was considered one of several contenders for the 2013 New York City Mayoral primary before he announced in mid-November 2012 that he would instead run for city comptroller in the 2013 election.^[30] Stringer was challenged by former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer in the Democratic party primary.^[31] Stringer, originally thought to have the lead unopposed, trailed Spitzer in the polls until late August, when he took a two-point lead.^[32][33][34] Stringer defeated Spitzer in the September 10 primary, 52%–48%.^[35]

Controversy

On August 28, 2001, Village Voice political writer Wayne Barrett wrote a lengthy piece entitled, “Mother Dearest & the Courthouse Cabal,” in which he discussed Stringer’s involvement in courtroom politics, specifically questioning how Stringer’s parents had benefited financially from his political ties, and whether some of his campaign contributors had done unethical things. Barrett also raised questions about whether Acting Supreme Court judge Louis York had attempted to gain Stringer’s support in his bid for a full term on the court by appointing Stringer’s mother nine times as a court evaluator and conservator.^[36]

New York political blogger James “Gatemouth” Ellroy, in an endorsement of Stringer’s re-election, criticized Stringer for “using the office to issue statements designed to please his constituents, mostly concerning matters not within his purview”.^[37]

The New York Daily News and the New York Post have published articles calling for the borough presidencies to be eliminated. A New York Post article dated July 20, 2008 alleged that Stringer may be billing the taxpayers for some of his campaign travel by chauffeured limousine, an allegation Stringer denied.^[38] A March 15, 2009 Daily News article criticized the borough presidents for spending millions of dollars on “pet projects”, including Stringer’s “$2 million to renovate the old High Line trestle and create an immensely popular park – and another $150,000 for a database of senior citizens”.^[39]

In July 2009, Stringer’s deputy press secretary resigned under pressure after posting disparaging comments about President Obama on her Facebook page. The incident let the New York Post to ask: “Why does Stringer need a deputy press secretary” in addition to “a press secretary and a communications director; what the hell do they do for a living?”^[40]

Personal

Stringer married Elyse Buxbaum on September 3, 2010. The couple chose to receive a marriage license in Connecticut as a statement of solidarity with LGBT couples who had not yet been given the right to marry in New York State.^[41]

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Ken Biberaj is a Democratic candidate running to bring renewed energy to the New York City Council in 2013. Good News speaks to him at Sarabeth’s on the Upper West Side of New York. www.ken2013.com

Ken is a hardworking New York native who loves his community and cares deeply about our city. Ken is running for City Council for three reasons: to support the Upper West Side’s quality of life, invest in the community’s future, and stand for the values of the neighborhood.

He lives with his wife, Valerie, in the West 70s and they are expecting their first child in May. Believing in New York’s institutions, Ken joined a family business that worked to reopen the Russian Tea Room in 2006. Today, Ken serves as the Vice President of the Russian Tea Room. Ken also sits on the Culinary Council of the Food Bank for New York and as a mentor for New York Needs You, an organization that provides guidance for first generation college students.

Ken was born in New York City, his family having immigrated to the Bronx in 1968 from Albania. His father learned English while working multiple jobs to support his family. Eventually, he earned a PhD from Columbia University, going on to work at Voice of America.

Inspired by his father’s commitment to public service, Ken pursued an undergraduate degree from American University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard. Upon graduating, he worked for Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Ken then returned to NYC, joined the family business, and went to New York Law School at night, earning his JD in 2008.

With years of hard work and community service under his belt, Ken believes it is time for new energy in city government.

This election is about the future of our neighborhood. We need to keep our neighborhood moving forward. Ken Biberaj embodies the bold, energetic, vibrant leadership that is the signature of the Upper West Side.

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