Parking garage oppressing women's livelihoods

City turns controversial College Point homeless shelter to house women only.

Flushing Post


The highly contentious College Point homeless shelter on 20th Avenue will open this week, but instead of its original plan to house 200 single men the shelter will now be home to 200 single women. 

Local elected officials, who announced the change Monday, viewed it as a positive step, although far from ideal. The shelter, which has been the source of great protest, is slated to open Wednesday.

In December 2018, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) first announced that a new 200-bed shelter for single men would open at 127-03 20th Ave in October. Since that announcement, elected officials and community members have objected to its opening, organizing petitions and rallies to highlight their misgivings.

Critics have argued that the site is too close to schools and residential neighborhoods, yet not close enough to adequate public transportation options. They also argue that the area is already unfairly burdened by a large number of public services. 

Elizabeth Crowley is a rather piss-poor feminist

Folks, this blog has been following politics and those running for office for a long time. We (and the internet) also have a LONG memory. So it really gives us the jollies when we get to call out the tweeders for their hypocrisy.

Let's take this for example:

A July 31 Crowley for NYC press release announcing Gov. Cuomo’s endorsement of the incumbent went even further, saying Holden has a “record of taking strong anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ and conservative stances.” When pressed for examples of those stances, Crowley simply cited his quarterly production of the Juniper Park Civic Association’s magazine, which sometimes features right-wing commentary.

After thorough search of the Juniper Park Civic Association's website, which features the articles from the magazine, we found no "anti-woman" commentary. Unless you consider this editorial about an unqualified female firefighter (which was written by a woman) to be anti-woman. Regardless, Holden didn't write it and we could find nothing he authored for the magazine that addressed women's issues in a negative light.

**********************************

Now let's look at just how "pro-women" Crowley's record is...

Crowley's campaign hurled sexually explicit and abusive language toward her opponent's volunteers on Primary Day, as per Progress Queens:

Other alleged irregularities in this year's election cycle in Queens involved the cousin of the chair of the Queens Democratic County Committee. Progress Queens has received credible information from various sources that representatives of the committee to reelect Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley (D-Maspeth) acted to intimidate the campaign volunteers of Councilmember Crowley's primary challenger, Robert Holden, sometimes by invoking violent language. One Holden campaign volunteer said that she was yelled at and disparaged by representatives of Councilmember Crowley's campaign, including by Councilmember Crowley and her son, Owen O'Hara. In one instance, the source said that Mr. O'Hara told the Holden campaign volunteer to perform a sex act on him and made a corresponding rude sexual gesture by grabbing his loins, according to information received by Progress Queens.

Wow, great parenting job there, Liz! You must be so proud.

Similar accusations of intimidation were also made by a second Holden campaign volunteer, revealing a possible pattern. The second Holden campaign volunteer informed Progress Queens that she was similarly yelled at when she was trying to inform voters about Councilmember Crowley's record and policy positions, and, in response, one male Crowley campaign representative came up to the second Holden campaign volunteer and threatened to silence her by shoving his penis into her mouth. Both Holden campaign volunteers told Progress Queens that they were called "white trash" by Councilmember Crowley herself or by other Crowley campaign representatives. Other forms of possible misconduct by the Crowley campaign including the spreading or mailing of false information about Mr. Holden ; engaging in ageism ; and allegations that Councilmember Crowley used her official capacity as an elected official to gain entry into private apartment buildings to distribute campaign literature, opportunities that were denied to Mr. Holden's campaign. For this report, Councilmember Crowley did not answer an interview request.

In a wide-ranging interview with Progress Queens, Mr. Holden questioned the personal character of Councilmember Crowley over the allegations of misconduct by her and her campaign representatives, saying, in part, that, "It's one thing to give out literature, but it's another thing to be harassing," he said, referring to the treatment his campaign volunteers received from the Crowley campaign. Of the sexually-violent use of language against his campaign volunteers, Mr. Holden said, "It's disgraceful."

So instead of either denying these things happened or apologizing and saying it would never happen again, Crowley decided to say nothing. It's hard to fathom how the Democratic, Working Families and Women's Equality Parties' candidate tolerates threats of sexual violence against women, but then again she also featured her sibling who was convicted of sexual assault in her "family values" mailers to Dem primary voters...

There's also only one candidate in the race for the 30th District that is running on a feminist platform who had a "personal relationship" with a married assembly member in return for money and gifts. She's even featured on Brian McLaughlin's Wikipedia page.

Liz Crowley: A proud role model for Queens women!

But does the fountain work?

From NY1:

Borough President Melinda Katz and other elected officials cut the ribbon on the newly-dedicated Women's Plaza in Queens Tuesday. It now has new masonry, benches and plants.

The monument on Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike used to be home to a statue called the "Triumph of Civic Virtue." It depicted a man standing over two women symbolizing corruption and vice.

“It really represented old-fashioned, old-fashioned thoughts about women,” said Claire Shulman, a former Queens Borough President.

As do you, grandma!

Queens women to be honored with a planted ruin

City ignores public, proceeds with plan previously rejected by Helen Marshall

[This summarizes prior events concerning the Civic Virtue statue and the Queens Boulevard plaza site, then presents new information concerning a bidding process that closed on May 18, 2015 for work at the plaza site.]

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Specifications

I am Robert LoScalzo, the media producer/activist who sued the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (“DCAS”) in 2013 to force it to comply with the Freedom of Information Law and turn over records pertaining to the controversial removal of the colossal 22-ton artwork statue “Triumph of Civic Virtue” from the Queens Boulevard public plaza site where it had stood since 1941, to a private Brooklyn graveyard. DCAS had removed the statue without consulting Queens Community Board 9 and against the will of area residents and officials, who did not want the statue removed.

As you may recall, I am also the one who discovered and exposed that City taxpayers paid $49,464.00 for a fine art conservator to provide “all labor, materials and equipment necessary for the conservation of the Civic Virtue sculpture,” plus another $49,801.00 for a fine art handling company to provide “all labor, equipment and material necessary and required to design and fabricate a custom armature [cage] to support and lift the Civic Virtue statue for its relocation to the Green-Wood Cemetery.” Contrary to what the City led the public to believe at the time, it was unnecessary to relocate the Civic Virtue statue to Green-Wood Cemetery in order to repair and restore it – and taxpayers need not have incurred the additional $49,801.00 expense to do so. Queens lost a valuable art asset, although taxpayers footed the bill to restore it.

After the Civic Virtue statue was removed and the public wondered what would happen to the Queens Boulevard plaza site, I am also the one who unearthed the disappointing plan devised by DCAS to convert the statue’s fountain base into a “planted ruin.” According to plans dated April 2, 2013 (PDF attached), "DCAS wishes to keep the original fountain as a planted ruin, a scenic backdrop to a busy and important intersection in the borough. … [T]he fountain, although left as a 'ruin', will be planted with grades and groundcovers and act as a landscape folly to enhance this prominent corner."

2013 DCAS Planted Ruin Plan

DCAS’s “planted ruin” plan was ridiculed on the popular QueensCrap web site, which declared: “Planned ‘Civic Virtue’ replacement a total embarrassment.”

DCAS’s “planted ruin” plan was also rejected by Helen Marshall, then Queens Borough President. Marshall’s spokesman Dan Andrews said “renderings that were presented to Marshall ‘were not acceptable to the borough president.’ ‘She would like to see it as a place where people can sit and reflect on the contributions of different women whose names she had wanted engraved there,’ Andrews said. The proposed renderings, Andrews said, did not include the women's memorial. Marshall would also like the fountain to be restored at the site, but the renderings did not include it. They called for flower plantings instead.” DNA Info

Concerned about the lack of any public process to plan the use of the Queens Boulevard plaza site and to consider the potential return of the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue, on April 8, 2014 the Civic Virtue Task Force met with Barry Grodenchik, a top aide to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz (and now candidate for City Council District 23), and Nayelli Valencia Turrent, Katz’s Director of Cultural Affairs and Tourism, to discuss those issues. When Grodenchik asked if the Task Force had a “Plan B” in the event the statue would not be returned, the Task Force replied: “Institute a legitimate public process to plan the future use of the plaza site.” Grodenchik said he would discuss that with Katz and then get back to the Task Force. He never did.

On July 3, 2014 the Civic Virtue Task Force wrote to DCAS Commissioner Stacey Cumberbatch about those same issues, asking (among other questions): “What opportunities are there for community input and planning, regarding the future use of the Plaza site and the potential return of Civic Virtue?” DCAS never answered the question, and never instituted any public planning process for the plaza site.

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Drawings

Which brings us to the news: My most recent Freedom of Information Law request to the Office of the Queens Borough President reveals that the NYC Department of Design and Construction (“DDC”) has already solicited bids for a project called “Planted Fountain Restoration” at the Queens Boulevard plaza site, the centerpiece of which is essentially the 2013 “planted ruin” plan devised by DCAS which Helen Marshall rejected. The deadline for contractors to submit bids for this work was May 18, 2015. As far as I am aware, this has not been reported anywhere.

According to the bid solicitation documents: “The project consists of creating a sitting area around the existing historic fountain. The fountain basin will be stabilized and waterproofed and turned into a planter, and the fountain steps will be reconstructed. Benches, lighting and pavement will be added to create an accessible plaza.”

2015 DDC Planted Fountain Plaque

The bid specifications also require a 9” x 18” bronze plaque displaying the inscription: “THIS FOUNTAIN PLAZA IS DEDICATED TO THE WOMEN OF QUEENS.”

A few observations:

• The bronze plaque refers to “this fountain plaza” – however, there won’t be any actual functioning fountain. What is left of the fountain will be buried under the flowers and plants. It is wrong to call this a “fountain plaza” when the fountain is in fact eliminated under this plan.

• The City is proceeding with this plan, despite not addressing reasons it was rejected by Helen Marshall. She had wanted the fountain to be restored, not planted over; and she had wanted the names of women engraved at the site.

• From the very beginning, the City’s plans to remove the Civic Virtue statue and to determine the future use of the plaza site have been secretly made by powers-that-be who have refused to implement any public planning process or to consider what the community and taxpayers actually want. DCAS Commissioner Stacey Cumberbatch, DDC, Melinda Katz, Barry Grodenchik and Nayelli Valencia Turrent apparently are continuing this imperious policy of dictating the use of the plaza site and abandoning the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue in a private Brooklyn graveyard, contrary to what constituents and taxpayers want.

• The public has never asked for any planted ruin or dedication to women at the plaza site. On the other hand, the public has requested the return of the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue from its temporary loan to Green-Wood Cemetery.

• To be very clear: We could have had the newly-restored Civic Virtue statue returned to Queens Boulevard, standing on top of a newly-restored fountain base, with its waterworks turned on every day and fully operational – think mini “Trevi Fountain” on Queens Boulevard, and you get the idea. Instead, we’ll get a “planted ruin” and a bronze plaque, while the Civic Virtue statue – newly restored at taxpayer expense – remains abandoned in a private Brooklyn graveyard. That is lunacy, and an utter failure of Queens leadership.

• Melinda Katz laments the fact that Queens receives the lowest per capita Department of Cultural Affairs support among the boroughs. But by allowing a unique and colossal artwork such as Civic Virtue to be taken from the borough to a graveyard, to be replaced by a mediocre “planted ruin,” Queens only proves the borough’s true status as the laughingstock of this City’s cultural affairs.

The NYC Public Design Commission (PDC) may still have to approve any plan for the plaza site. A cursory review of all PDC agendas at the PDC web site from the year 2012 to the present time did not show any Queens Boulevard plaza site renovation on any PDC meeting agenda.

Questions Raised:

(1) If Helen Marshall rejected the “planted ruin” concept, and DCAS and DDC are now proceeding with essentially that plan, has Melinda Katz approved it? Or are DCAS and DDC doing whatever they want at the plaza site?

(2) Which contractor firm is the winning bidder for the “Planted Fountain” work at the plaza site? What is the total price of the winning bid? Has a contract actually been awarded and executed yet?

(3) Has the Public Design Commission approved the plans for the fountain/plaza? If not, when will it?

(4) Presuming that the PDC must approve any plan for the plaza site but has not yet done so, why would DCAS and DDC solicit bids for a specific plan for the plaza site, without first obtaining PDC’s approval of that plan?

Queens women charged with planning terrorist plot

From DNA Info:

Two Queens women were charged in connection to an al-Qaida-inspired terrorism plot to kill people with homemade explosives — and considered bombing a police funeral after the deaths of two Brooklyn NYPD officers, federal officials said.

The women, Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, who went by the aliases Najma Samaa and Murdiyyah respectively, were arrested Thursday morning as part of an undercover investigation dating back to May 2013, prosecutors said.

The pair are both United States citizens who lived in Queens, and until recently were roommates, according to court papers. Siddiqui had multiple propane gas tanks and instructions on how to use them as explosive devices, prosecutors said.

The duo discussed various targets including the Herald Square subway station and a police funeral after watching the massive gather of law enforcement personnel at the memorial service for NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos, who was murdered with his partner Wenjian Liu, prosecutors said.

Women use kids to scam people

From the Daily News:

That panhandling mom with a child in her lap?

Oh, baby! It’s a scam, according to NBC New York. While panhandling is legal in New York, a month-long investigation followed nine women around the city and concluded that they were working and living together.

Social service workers said the women have repeatedly refused shelter and aid because they only want cash.

"This is a scam — a business," the non-profit The Doe Fund’s George McDonald told NBC New York.

McDonald said his organization has done its research on the women and witnessed them handing off the same children, exploiting them by “working in shifts.”

Homeless women are seen more and more bringing their children along to panhandle.

Research suggests that some of the women are 'working in shifts' and handing off the children to each other to use as props.

Children can’t be used to peddle, according to seldom-enforced state law. But it’s a statute that’s being flaunted as video shows these women collecting fast cash from sympathetic passersby.

But the investigation found the women were using Grand Central Terminal as a meeting point and living in the same East New York building.

Now here's an immigration issue no one talks about

From the Daily News:

New York's metropolitan area is home to more women and girls who have been mutilated in female circumcision ceremonies — or are at risk — than any other U.S. city, experts estimate.

The global practice is a local issue, thanks to illegal surgeries performed here — but immigrant girls are often sent back to their parents’ homelands to undergo mutilation.

The centuries-old practice, based on beliefs about premarital “cleanliness,” has immigrated to the U.S. along with families from parts of West Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The surgery is most widely done on infants and teens. It severely reduces sexual pleasure and can cause major health complications.

For some immigrants, the initial procedure may have been done back home, but the pain is compounded here.

When she was 15, Jaha Dukureh’s father made her go to a Manhattan doctor’s office to get her vagina — almost entirely sewn up during an infant circumcision ceremony in her native Gambia — cut back open so she would be ready for a forced arranged marriage to a 45-year-old man.

She believes the doctor knew it was for an underage wedding — a Gambian marriage counselor arranged the procedure.

“I was awake,” said Dukureh, now 23. “I screamed the whole time when they were doing it.”

“People think that female genital mutilation is an African issue, but it is a U.S. issue,” she said. “You have it everywhere Africans migrate to. I felt like if someone knew what I was talking about, most of the things that happened to me, they wouldn’t have happened.”

I guess we never hear about these things because the local pols are too busy remarking about how Vibrant! and Diverse! immigrants are and are busy trying to cover up the backward practices they brought with them. Joe Crowley's bill mentioned in this piece isn't going to do a thing about the problem, either.

Spotted on a sidewalk in Downtown Flushing

Marshall already celebrating Fat Boy's departure

From DNA Info:

Borough President Helen Marshall is pushing to replace a controversial statue on Queens Boulevard with a public plaza to honor New York City women.

The Triumph of Civic Virtue statue, which depicts Hercules with the sirens of Vice and Corruption, has been standing in Kew Gardens since 1941, after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia moved it from City Hall Park. Known as “Fat Boy” or “Rough Boy,” the monument, fashioned by Frederick MacMonnies in 1919, has been denounced by some as sexist and in recent years fell into disrepair.

And now that the artwork is moving to Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, Marshall says the space should be used to honor the city's women.

The statue should be replaced, she said, by “a public space that will honor outstanding women that have contributed in one way or another to the city of New York.”

The names of women may be inscribed on the base of the statue, which could remain along with a fountain in the proposed memorial, Marshall said. The redesigned space would also feature seating and landscaping.

Marshall's vision of the public plaza is in the early stages, however. Her chief of staff, Alexandra Rosa, said the borough president has discussed the idea with the Parks Department, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Mayor's office.

It was too early to put a price tag on the plaza, Rosa said. Still, the mayor's office was "receptive" to the idea, she said.

I picture a Mount Rushmore-style monument featuring likenesses of Marshall, Stavisky, Shulman and Meng...

Here's info about a rally today at Borough Hall:

Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr. will join Community Board 9 Chair Andrea Crawford, District Manager Mary Ann Carey and residents of Queens at a rally protesting the City Design Commission’s recent ruling to permanently relocate the Triumph of Civic Virtue statue to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn from Queens Borough Hall. The cemetery has stated that the statue may be moved in the next week!

The Design Commission ruled on November 13th to move the statue without input from the public, despite most Queens residents wanting the sculpture to remain in the borough. Community Board 9, which has always supported keeping Civic Virtue in Queens, is also greatly disappointed by the decision and the lack of consultation with residents and community leaders.

WHAT: Triumph of Civic Virtue Rally
WHEN: Saturday, December 8th, 11:30 AM
WHERE: In front of statue, next to Queens Borough Hall (120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens)

Pols pissed off by iced tea ads

From the Queens Chronicle:

Ads promoting Arizona Iced Tea have raised questions in the Queens community over whether they are offensive to women because of their dual meaning.

The signs proclaim “I love big cans,” with a picture of the tall drink. But “cans” is also slang for breasts, or, in its singular form can refer to a person’s behind. The ads can be found in downtown Jamaica and other parts of the borough.

The company claims it never intended to convey a sexual message, but others say it is offensive especially to minority women who are often stereotyped for having above average endowments.

“It is disrespectful to black women, and all women in general,” said City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), adding that Arizona tends to advertise more heavily in minority communities.

Jackie Harrigan, a spokeswoman for Arizona, said the nationwide campaign, which has been running for about one year, is “not skewed toward any one group.”

“The ‘I love big cans’ slogan is based on the popularity of our 23-ounce pre-priced cans, which are the bread and butter of our business,” Harrigan said.

She added that the company was not aware that the slogan could be perceived to have an alternate meaning and that it was not Arizona’s intention in developing the campaign.

Ann Jawin, president of the Center for the Women of New York in Kew Gardens, wasn’t buying that.

“I’m sure they are not innocent,” she said. “I’m sure they knew about the double entendre when they created the ad. It’s the same long, old story of objectifying women to sell products.”

Harrigan said no one has complained to the company about the ads being sexist or offensive.

City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst), chairwoman of the Council’s Committee on Women’s Issues, was also troubled by the way Arizona is selling its tea.

“I find these ads concerning because they continue the trend throughout the media to objectify women for the purposes of selling products,” Ferreras said in an email statement. “I encourage companies to find more creative and respectful ways of selling their products, if they expect to keep women as consumers.”

1) It seems no one has a sense of humor anymore.
2) Dopey ultra-liberal pols are offended by this, but none of them have a peep to say about the whore ads in the Trib.
3) Ann Jawin has her panties in a bunch about silly iced tea ads, but not Grace Meng hiring a guy whose living is made off the previously mentioned whore ads.

Scotty, please beam me up!

Open letter to Ann Jawin

Courtesy of GeorgetheAtheist's blog:

Dear Ms Jawin:

Next Saturday, April 28, 2012, your esteemed organization, the Center for the Women of New York will be honoring Assemblywoman Grace Meng at the Douglaston Manor with one of your "Women in Leadership" Awards. As you are well aware, Assemblywoman Meng has employed as a campaign consultant in her race for the United State House of Representatives, the Multi Media consulting firm headed by the long time Associate Publisher of the Queens Tribune, Michael Nussbaum. Multi Media shares the same premises with the Queens Tribune. As you are further aware, the Queens Tribune is notorious for having published and continuing to publish demeaning-to-women sex-trafficking classified ads in its back pages. How can your organization, a champion of women's rights, in good faith laud Ms Meng by presenting her an award when she is indirectly promoting this degradation of women through her affiliation with Multi Media? Your organization states that you are "Honoring women . . . who are committed to women's rights . . ." It makes absolutely no sense. Assemblywoman Meng's relationship to Multi Media is a commitment to women's rights? Is this a joke? Your public reply would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely, GeorgetheAtheist

Pervert after Astoria women

 

What will Christine do?

From Crains:

For Ms. Quinn, political calculations can be the toughest part. She's a former tenant activist with a progressive past, but her alliance with the mayor raises questions about what her path to victory might be in 2013.

She enjoys support from the business community, which is largely responsible for the $3.2 million in campaign cash she has collected in the past four years. Mr. Bloomberg is certainly a fan—a Democratic consultant said (disdainfully) that the mayor's team thinks of the speaker as staff—but as his popularity sags, his imprimatur could become a hindrance.

Still, the mayor can help Ms. Quinn behind the scenes. A Democratic insider said that former Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk, a consultant for Walmart, is telling some clients to get on board with Ms. Quinn. (Mr. Tusk said only that he's setting up meetings for his education reform clients with Ms. Quinn.)

The speaker has been moving to cast herself as independent of Mr. Bloomberg. But even if she bucks her business supporters by opposing Walmart's attempts to open a city store and backing living wage and paid sick days, insiders said, the most crucial labor unions and the Working Families Party would still support Public Advocate Bill de Blasio or Comptroller John Liu for mayor, should either one run.

Instead, campaign experts said, Ms. Quinn must assemble a patchwork of constituencies: small business, gays and lesbians, women, building trades, tenant activists and African-Americans. Smoothing Walmart's arrival would help her with the building trades and some black voters, who want the jobs the retailer would bring.

In other words, she has to tweed.

Police searching for Flushing rape suspect

From NY1:

Police are asking for the public's help finding a man they say has sexually assaulted three Asian women in Queens.

Investigators say the attacks took place in Flushing between September 22 and February 27, in the evening and early morning hours.

The last incident happened on Bowne Street and 37th Avenue. The others took place along 34th Avenue and Sanford Avenue and 147th Street.

In one case, police say the man stole the victim's cell phone and wallet.

The women range in age from 25 to 37.

The suspect is described as being a Hispanic man in his 20s, about 5' 5" tall, and weighing 130 pounds.

In the last attack he was wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and dark sneakers.

Bloomberg doesn't see past the Upper East Side

From the Daily News:

Mayor Bloomberg crowed Monday that city streets have never been safer - day or night - for women, but some skeptical New York ladies suggested he take a walk in their neighborhoods.

At a tour of a Queens school Monday night, the mayor proudly declared: "People don't remember 10 years ago. They've really already forgotten when you couldn't walk the streets."

The mayor boasted about female safety after Rabbi Yaakov Bender, the dean of Yeshiva Darchei Torah School in Far Rockaway, thanked him and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly for keeping the streets safe.

But at a community meeting the mayor later attended in Far Rockaway, Beverly Champion didn't second the sentiment.

She complained to the mayor about crime in housing developments, saying, "I've lived here all my life, and I've never seen it as worse." Champion said she doesn't feel safe walking around with her purse and laughed when told what the mayor had said earlier about crime.

"He's not telling the truth," she said. "He just takes the reports that they give him, but he doesn't know."

Even women with tony Manhattan zip codes called the mayor out on his comments.

"He's a bit off the mark," said Carson Demmons, 26, of NoHo. "I've lived in neighborhoods where I wouldn't give it a second thought during the day, but it was a whole different story at night. You still need to keep your wits about you."

Bloomberg's boasts did get some support - from women who live in his neighborhood.

"Yes, it has gotten better," said upper East Sider Theresa Ackerly, 43. "This nabe changed a lot. Back in the '80s, there were a lot of gangs. Mayor Bloomberg is doing all right in terms of crime."

NYC women live longer than men

From the Times Ledger:

New York City men die an average of six years earlier than women, many of them because of what health officials call preventable causes including poor diet, smoking, lack of health care and homicide.

A city Department of Health report said life spans are lengthening for both sexes but that men live to an average of 76 years as compared with 82 for women.

“A number of complex factors contribute to a shorter life expectancy and higher premature death rate for men, including health behavior, the social and physical environment and health-care access and quality,” the report said.

In the 35 to 64 age group, 1 million men, or 46 percent, were overweight and 25 percent were obese, the report said.

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death after age 75 among both men and women,” the report said. “Before that age, however, causes differ greatly by sex.”

“Homicide is by far the most common cause of death for men between 18 and 34, accounting for twice as many deaths as accidents,” the report said.

The Health Department said that while death rates for cancer are comparable among men and women 35 to 64, deaths from heart diseases are twice as common among men.

Delay in siting women's group at historic building

From the Queens Chronicle:

In December 2007, after four years of heated negotiations, the Parks Department agreed to allow the CWNY to use the former bachelor officers’ residence, which is in a landmarked historic district at Fort Totten. The brick structure was built in 1905 and is located next to the Bayside Historical Society headquarters.

The interior contains 10 apartment-style units. The entire building is in serious need of repair. The front porch is collapsing and the interior is without electricity, running water or heat.

Jawin’s group has raised $1.7 million, with the first stage of rehabilitation expected to cost $1.5 million. “Once we clean up the building, do the basics, remove the asbestos, put in new windows and a roof, we can occupy the first floor and then do more fundraising to finish the job,” she said.

The city estimates it will cost $5 million for Jawin’s group to pay for the entire project and she fears that the longer the process is dragged out, the more expensive it will become. She’s also concerned about the structural integrity of the building if the procedure continues to be so slow.

“We are frustrated because we can’t have the building cleaned and it doesn’t make sense for the city to allow it to continue to decay,” she said. “It’s unproductive.”

According to the DDC, CWNY has failed to comply with the programing terms of the license agreement, but would not specify what those terms are. Nevertheless, the city is working with the group to allow it to go forward.

The restoration is subject to Parks’ approval, as well as the city Landmarks Preservation Commission and the State Historic Preservation Office.

Funding has been promised by the Borough President’s Office, Queens City Council members and the state, through Bayside Assemblywoman Ann Carrozza’s office. The money, however, cannot be released without the official approvals in place.

Jawin was told at the meeting that the DDC has to finish its report, then it goes to the various agencies for approval.

Despite the delays, Jawin said she believes the atmosphere between her group and the city has improved somewhat. She will next meet with the DDC on Nov. 16.

Plans for the CWNY headquarters call for it to be used as a conference, resource and learning center. There will be an area devoted to women’s history, workshops on welfare, job training and support groups. Other programs will be held on health, nutrition and park-related themes.

Photo from Scouting New York

Women make April Fools out of cops

2 women go for joyride in cop car in Queens
By IKIMULISA LIVINGSTON and JOHN DOYLE, NY Post

Two women today [4/1] heisted a police car right under the noses of red-faced cops in Queens, eyewitnesses said.

The incident occurred around 3:03 p.m. at the corner of 230th Place and Mentone Avenue in Laurelton when two cops stopped the driver of a green minivan that was reported stolen, police said.

After the man jumped out and began running, the officers chased him down and cuffed him. The two women passengers quietly walked out of the van.

Both women, described as black and portly, jumped into the police car, which was parked with the engine running and lights flashing, and sped off.

The joyride lasted about a half-mile. They abandoned the car on 145th Avenue and 223 Street with the driver door wide opened. Nothing was taken.

"She flew past the police and made left turn," one eyewitness said, cracking up. "The cops were not paying attention" They immediately got on the radio and called for backup. You just don’t expect this."

Police are still looking for the women, but the male driver is in custody.

Something not right about Right Rides

From the Daily News:

RightRides provides women, and LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer] individuals free rides home on Friday and Saturday nights from 11:59 p.m. to 3 a.m. in all boroughs, except Staten Island, Reid explained.

Here's a screenshot from the organization's website:

Could you imagine if someone started a free car service that only picked up straight men? There'd be protests by NOW and a parade of rainbow flags past their house. How do these fine folks determine who is gay and who isn't? They don't service Jackson Heights, which has the most "LGBTQ" in Queens (BTW: when did they add the Q onto the end of that?). And what kind of stupidity is it to say "many women and LGBTQ people don't have the extra funds to take a taxi" when they apparently have enough money to spend the night on the town (note this service is only available on Fridays and Saturdays)? Does assault not occur on any other nights of the week?
Back in my barhopping days, I made sure to reserve enough of my spending cash to either get a cab home or split the cost of tolls and parking with the designated driver for the evening. Furthermore, of all the women I know who live throughout this vast city of ours, I don't know any that has gotten her ass kicked coming home from a bar. But then again, people who grow up here tend to develop street smarts and common sense and are not the target demographic of RightRides.

And if you're thinking, well it is silly, but to each his own, this group is a registered 501c3 charity and is therefore eligible for and has applied for government grants. If they want to make sure a vulnerable population is protected, perhaps they could provide armed escorts for livery cab drivers or low-income people who have to work late.