Friday, December 31, 2010

The NYC Blizzard, Unions & Garbage, Dec. 30, 2010 (video)

 For previous videos in this series, go here>>

Part 6:  December 30, 2010. The Bus is Gone. 

We got traffic and even a couple of snow-plows passed-by within 5 minutes of each other....

But, we STILL got garbage and with lack of good-honest snow removal, we got plugged storm-drains and pools of slush.

It's New York. We're tough but our Tax Dollars were supposed to cover Safe and Sanitary conditions, which have not prevailed.

We paid the Sanitation Department to slow-down? To snooze.Do drive-by's with the plows raised? Mayor Bloomberg, the customer is not satisfied. 


 


In this video above, on the 30th of December, I noted the growing mounds of garbage & the creativity of pedestrians and deliveries dealing with the snow and slush ( that should have been cleared days ago.)

Then I  took a last pass through Times Square before it becomes a sea of raucous humanity. Locals know better than to go near this insanity,

One more video remains for Dec 31st...the last day of 2010.

Looking ahead to 2011 , Mayor Bloomberg has got some 'splainin' to do.

January 10. City Council Investigation. The whole city should be there and demand criminal charges be filed. 


Heads should roll...

...

The Blizzard,Bloomberg & the Union Slow Down (Day 3 & 4) Video

This is Part 5 in a series on the blizzard and the missing snow-plows...

The evening of the 28th December, 2010, the city was getting messier. Sure we're used to trudging through snow, this is New York, but this was different.Where sidewalks are cleared, the businesses have done the job. Looking at Grand Army Plaza...completely covered  I am taking a 'wild-guess; that it's city-owned and neglected that the rest of the city. Except Times Square. You can see where the Mayor's priorities are by what he has cleaned up and what is not.

The bus was finally moved on the 29th around 5 PM. Think I'm going to miss it...just a little. A  snow plow passed through (wish I'd been there) but next morning TWO snow-plows pass by within 15 minutes of each other. Now we got over-kill...

Headed out on the 29th, next day, to take-in the sights. The garbage.

There are  plugged drains from the frozen snow (that wasn't plowed) Garbage that was pre-blizzard (and even a few bikes) frozen in the snow and growing mounds of uncollected garbage. Seems the Mayor has issued a 'request' that people not put any more garbage out. So, where are they supposed to put it?  Starting to  look as disgusting as a Garbage Strike.

Late in the evening, there were FIVE City Sanitation cars hanging around 46th and 8th Avenue, while a familiar pile of snow was hauled off. One digger, four trucks and FIVE sanitation inspectors? For ONE pile of snow?





On the 29th, Mid-town Manhattan remains the same.  Started seeing a few garbage trucks (which had been AWOL) but there's A LOT of garbage.  Apparently they do double-duty as snow-plows (which have ALSO been AWOL)


The mess  the sanitation goons have orchestrated.We now know Sanitation Union Thugs called for a work slow-down (of course they deny it.) And Bloomberg claims they were all on-the-job. Hard to support that fantasy over the protests of the people who are snowed in. Sadly people died. Who will pay for this hooliganism remains to be seen. Expect cover-ups.


The city is getting ready to lock-down midtown for the New Years Eve insanity. Streets and sidewalks  shut down for security and crowd control. When we should be digging people out and picking up garbage. Nope. The Mayor says we have to wait til the tourists go home. And wait til January 10, when the City Council will hold a hearing to "investigate" the missing snow plows. bet  Bloomberg and the Unions will come out  unscathed.

Predictable and Disgusting.

Is this any way to run a city, Mayor Bloomberg?

Links to Parts 1,2,3, and 4 can be  found here:

....

Thursday, December 30, 2010

After the Blizzard comes the Slush (Part 4)

 December 28, 2010. Day 3.

Silly me, I actually expected the bus to be gone by now. I mean ...come on...Mid-town? An airport bus? Guess the driver could be just a bit embarrassed. One expensive cup a java...in the midst of a blizzard...made such a mess!


But, NY-ers trudge on.  Even though  the intersections and sidewalks remain blocked with snow, businesses and deliveries...the MAIL... try but they can't always get through the mess. I noticed  one petite mail-carrier need to ask for assistance just to get her cart across the street. 





Tourists are showing up to take pictures of "the Bus" and snow plows just pass by. But, there are smaller trucks with plows.Surely one of them to clear the street? Get the cars moving and maybe then...

"The Bus" could be towed.

 Garbage continues to pile up. Stuck in the melting snow/ice/slush. Bus-stops are useless...if you get a bus...since there's a large ridge of snow between the sidewalk and the bus, getting ON the bus is problematic..

Snow. Heaps of Snow. Buried Cars. Piles of garbage. Soupy slush. The Elderly and others with canes...trying to walk through the slippy mountains of snow.... Nice job, Bloomie.

You should-a quit when you were ahead.

 Parts 1, 2  and 3 videos are posted here ,  here and here





>>>

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

NYC Blizzard & Dreams of Snow-Plows (Day 2)Video Part 3

 Parts 1 and 2 videos are posted here and here

December 27, 2010: Part 3

When I returned to Duffy Square in the afternoon, the Times Square Street Cleaners were still working  to clear away the snow to get the square ready for New Year's Eve. Guess money talks,. The $$ the city makes off New Year's Eve. Maybe Bloomberg might buy some more snow plows. Or not...

Watching from McD's I had a good vantage-point but after awhile, I moved on . Wanted to check out the side streets.  On 46th street I discovered some activity that at first, wasn't clear. Fire truck...but no fire? Yep. It was all about the winds.

Walking through  the canyons of Manhattan can be risky during a storm....you never know what might come crashing down from on high and we'd been struggling against the blizzard winds all day. Stronger than usual. The wind at my back was lifting me off the ground a few times.  And apparently these same winds had managed to dislodge some solar panels from the roof of the Scientology Building. Can't say i was surprised.



So, I hung around. Watched for a bit. The cold finally made me move on (again). Day 2 was still one day away from the real slush-mess. Too cold still...this kind of snow offered up some playful  fun for the kids, but cars? Not fun. They remained buried by the original snow OR...the snow plows that managed to  pass-by. Garbage was piling up. The sanitation trucks...if there's a slow-down, are they the same drivers? And that BUS....that blocked our street. It was still buried so we remained un-plowed. What gives?

Got some back ground on how the bus got stuck. And why at such an odd angle. The driver went for coffee at the Dunkin Donuts. When he returned to his bus it had no traction. The snow was higher than when he went in. Wheels spinning, he was NOT going anywhere.

Heard the Department of Sanitation is trying to find the driver...or any driver to move the bus...Really?  It's December 29th as I write this. That bus is STILL stuck . Blocking the street and I'm not buying...

Union slowdown for the snow-plows. Busses and EMT's without chains for a blizzard. Incompetence. Selfishness. Politics?  A storm we all knew was coming. Heads should roll.

The January 10th inquiry won't come fast enough. Is this anyway to  run a city?  Mayor Bloomberg, Shame on you...

The Blizzard and NYC City- Day 2 (December 27, 2010)

 (Please scroll down for the video)

Monday morning, December 26, 2010. Looked out my window and saw there had been NO snow-plow. Most unusual. The street was completely covered. Beautiful. But this was an impassible snow fall that still covered the street. Very odd.






As I headed out my front door, I captured some fun. A man and his dog. Playing in the snow. "Why not?", he said and then I saw "Why Not". There was a BUS (an AIRPORT bus) blocking our street.

























At a very odd angle.




This is a very busy side street for taxis and busses. Thought a bus would be moved post-haste but as of today December 28 (evening of Day 3) it's still there. Plan on posting more video and pics on this road-block. It's become a bit of a tourist sensation...

Meanwhile back to Day 2. By now Bloomberg and his errant snow-plows are leading the news. And walking around mid-town Manhattan it's apparent what shoveling that has been done (sidewalks and streets) is by the businesses and apartments (and even that is hit and miss)

Most amazing are the crosswalks for the pedestrians. These remain BLOCKED by piles of snow. Pedestrians are forced to walk in the street with the cars, trucks. Once again, very odd. And certainly not safe.

























As I passed through Times Square (Duffy Square actually) the very intense cleaning of this area is because of New Years Eve. Not because of say...the people....The crews there shoveled ALL day. I left and came back and they were still shoveling Duffy Square. I asked and they said...it was for New Years Eve .






















Would that Bloomberg had focused on the city as he did on Duffy Square, maybe we wouldn't be feeling so neglected.

Back to Central Park and the Apple Store. Fifth Avenue seemed to be moving (though jammed with traffic) it was moving. And I even saw a snow-plow!
























But, as I left the store, I was greeted by another bus that was  STUCK in the snow. There was quite a commotion from the MTA officials trying to figure out out to get the bus dug-out and towed.























And Central Park. The Park was beautiful in the new-fallen snow (as always) and even found a flock of pigeons huddled and glistening in the sunlight over-head. Some more fun.

























It's all here...in the video of Day 2



The subway back to midtown was another eye-opener. And not fun.Wish I'd had my camera on when the announcement came over the intercom. The LIST of trains that weren't running was unbelievably long. One train after another, so I fully expected to be told I was waiting at a FREEZING platform for naught. At least I could have walked unlike so many who were stranded all over the city.

There's more to report on Day 2 from mid-town....and then Day 3....
It's been quite an adventure...


a

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

SNOW and the City---NYC---- Dec. 2010 (video)

Seemed like the Blizzard of 2010 was going to pass us by. Thought maybe it was a false-alarm. But, once it started and after hours of a steady snow-fall we were now looking at a LOT of snow. (we even had some thunder-snow )

 11:30 PM I hit the the streets which were now filled snow. It was fun. Beautiful. The sidewalks, the streets were mostly untouched . Since the snow was still coming down hard, maybe it pays to wait the shovel and plow but, try to explain that to the cars stuck in that snow. (of course...snow tires might have helped)






 Found 3 cars stuck at 45th st and 9th Avenue. 9th ave was quiet but basically clear enough for cars to move but, not the side streets and that's where these 3 cars got hung-up...trying to go west on 45th. Their knight in shining armor.... was a mighty sidewalk snow-blower....working like Little Toot to get those cars moving. That too was fun...to watch....





Then came the city snow plows. And they had no mercy for the cars stuck or parked at the curb. I love the waltz of the snow plows (they seem to work in groups of 4) but the snow plows were NOT coming to the rescue of the cars stuck in the snow. In fact, they were making things worse as the snow was piled at the side of the avenue....




9th avenue was cleared but the cars were on their own and by morning the streets were even more amazing. They were filled with snow and cars seriously buried. This was a deep snow.



But, where were the snow plows? That's Part 2...tomorrow....

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Dhimmi Bloomberg's aides provided political support for Ground Zero Mosque....

The NY Daily News has exposed more of the dirty deeds and cover-ups that surround the Ground Zero Mosque.

"Mayor Bloomberg's top deputies went to great lengths to help the developers of a planned mosque near Ground Zero - even drafting a letter to the community board for them.A flurry of emails released by City Hall yesterday revealed the coaching Hizzoner's brass gave to the imam pushing to build the mosque, Feisal Abdul Rauf."

One of these deputies is Fatima Shama who  was first mentioned by this blogger when she represented Mayor Bloomberg at  at a screening for "Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Think" in November of 2009.



Her bio reads: Fatima Shama as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Commissioner Shama currently serves as Senior Education Policy Advisor in the Mayor’s Office, where she previously served as the Health Literacy and Language Access Coordinator.



No  film was taken of the speakers that evening, there is, however,  a written report  here.

We also noted later that one of the organizations that had promoted the screening that evening was Intersections,which  just happened to have employed the drunken cameraman, Michael Enright, who made a pathetic attempt at slashing a muslim taxi driver in August of 2010. Of course, once the media was aware of his association with  Intersections, the stuperous cameraman and his very unclear motives .....other than being blind drunk,  conveniently disappeared from the media; no longer a useful anti-American tool.

We next saw Fatima Shama at the Annual Muslim Day Parade 2010, representing Mayor Bloomberg.


DSCN3363 copyright

As the Mayor's representative she spoke at the parade :



Seems Bloomberg doesn't bother to show up at these events, just Fatima Shama,  so we are not surprised that there has been coaching via emails  or favoritism of any sort when it came to  the Community Board and the Land Commissions SUPPORT of the Ground Zero Mosque.

More from the NY Daily News:

"Another email shows that Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Fatima Shama expedited a temporary public assembly permit for the group to conduct prayers in January at the site, known as 51 Park. City Hall says it is the job of the community and immigrant affairs commissioners to assist community groups, including drafting letters for them. Officials noted Bloomberg has always been in favor of building the mosque near Ground Zero."

And , of course, we mustn't forget that since 2009 the NYC Police Department  has had its very own  Muslim Chaplain, Khalid Latif

 http://www.templeofunderstanding.org/images/pictures/events/KhalidLatifNYPD.jpg



As Khalid pointed out....a steady plan to 'educate'....(sort of like creeping sharia).....And back in 2002, you can even catch a familiar name here (that's right.... Adil Almontaser) as plans to form the NYC Muslim Police Officers Association (AMLEOA) were announced in 2002 and who have stated more recently in 2010:

AMLEOA and its Members Fully Support the establishment 
of a Muslim Community Center near Ground Zero.
Muslims were not only victims of the terrorist attacks
but were also first responders!!!!!
Let's Never forget that!!!!!!!!
.
So what's next, Bloomy? Transparency? Conflict of interest? 
 Be a man, not a tool.



Own up to your abuse of office that has characterized this whole dishonest affair and read more from Atlas Shrugs here.

.