Dah, I Don't Know, was the most delivered comment in today's hearing regarding the Franklin Avenue Rezoning and Brooklyn Botanical Towers. I have been aware of the Plausible Deniability defense, but it was so apparent today.

Alicia Boyd, Brooklyn's most popular heroine, has been fighting hard to prevent these towers and has surrounded herself with a cadre of talented neighbors that have been monitoring Cornell Realty Management's construction site.

This past Tuesday, a neighbor that lives across the street from the site heard trucks delivering pipes around 5:30 in the morning. At that point, he began to video the site. It was this video that brought attention to a piledriver that suddenly showed up. When the judge asked who ordered that piece of equipment, neither the Project Manager nor the Construction Owner could answer the question.

After the judge had ruled in January to stop work on the site until he had decided the case, Cornell Realty Management apparently, has been preparing to drill holes for pile driving. Alicia Boyd said that a worker had told her, that drilling would begin on Thursday. The judge asked the Project Manager, Construction Owner, and the Lawyers if they had been to the site recently. All of them said no, they had not, but the judge himself noted that he was at the site last night. And to him, the site had been worked.

The judge questioned the attorneys as to when the permit been updated.
And even the attorney for the Housing Department lacked that information. So now the judge has ordered that the information be supplied.

I think because of the multiple Plausible Deniability statements, the judge decided to pass judgment at a later date but did stay the work permit for the site.

New Yorkers came out last night and today by the hundreds to protest President Trump's assassination attack of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani. Trump insisted that he did not intend to start a war, but to stop one. Instead, he has dug himself a deeper hole to climb out of with this attack.

Time and time again, our government has lied to us about Intelligence Reports. They lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq; they lied about chemical weapon attacks in Syria; they lied about operations in Afganistan, and now you have to ask, are they lying about Iranian plans to attack American diplomats. Why did the United States assassinate General Qassem Suleimani? Recent stories have indicated that it was Suleimani that planned the recent attack on the American embassy in Baghdad. He was also blamed for the attack that killed an American contractor (mercenary). A story that ran in The Daily News today suggests that Suleimani had sleeper cells planning attacks in New York City if the U.S. attacked Iran. The NYPD has been reporting Iranian employees of the Iranian Mission doing suspicious surveillances. of landmarks and subway stations.

The answer more than likely, is that they again are lying to some degree. If we accept the propaganda that is force-fed to us from Main Stream Media, it gives the Pentagon the justification needed to bring more wars, more wars for oil, more wars for the rich.

We have no reason, other than oil, to be in the middle-east. If we were running a green economy, the only other reason to be there would be the Petro Dollar. The PetroDollar gives the United States the ability to apply sanctions on countries that do not agree with our bullying tactics. Sanctions, like the ones we have put on Iran to try and force an overthrow of leadership. And the sanctions put on Venezuela to overthrow Nicolás Maduro's administration.

The United States has murdered millions of innocent people in the middle-east. And it is mainly for oil. The world is hating us for what we are, allowing our government to do.

Take to the streets and demand that we stop it now.

New York City is an incredible but harsh place to live. In communities and neighborhoods across the city, people struggle daily against developers and city officials in the fight for equality and affordable homes. Behind each struggle, there is usually an advocate. One person or a group that immerse themselves in the issues required for the fight.

Whether it was to save Saint Vincents from destruction or to save Public Housing / NYCHA from privatization, Louis Flores has been at the forefront of New York City issues facing inequality and gentrification. It is because of his determination and selflessness that we at occupyradio.net encourage you to help Louis in his battles, so he can continue to help those that are so readerly in need of his support.

Los trabajadores le exigen al Gobernador Cuomo que firme la ley SUDOR (SWEAT) Se calcula que las empresas les roban a los trabajadores unos 1,000 millones de dólares por año. Pero cuando los trabajadores se rebelan contra el robo de salarios entonces los empleadores vacían sus cuentas bancarias, se declaran en bancarrota y cierran sus empresas, al tiempo que transfieren sus capitales para abrir nuevos negocios con nuevos nombres. De nada sirve que los tribunales o el Departamento del Trabajo fallen a favor de los trabajadores si estos no pueden cobrar un solo centavo del dinero que les deben. Por eso es tan importante el proyecto de ley SUDOR (SWEAT) A486/S2844 que acaba con el problema del robo de salarios. Ésta fue aprobada por la legislatura estatal controlada por los Demócratas. pero hasta ahora el gobernador Andrew Cuomo no ha firmado la ley que expira a fin de año. Los trabajadores de construcción, restaurantes, salones de manicure, lavanderías, cuidado de salud y lavadores de carros han puesto su esperanza en la firma de esta ley que mejoraría sus ingresos, asegurando que les paguen lo que les corresponde, aunque sea su salario mínimo completo.

Llamen a la oficina del gobernador (518) 474-8390, y exíjanle que firme la ley SUDOR (SWEAT)

Workers Rally to Demand Governor Cuomo Sign the SWEAT Bill

An estimated $1 billion is stolen from workers in NYS every year. But when workers stand up against wage theft, employers close up shop (only to reopen under a new name), transfer their assets and empty their bank accounts. By the time workers win in court or the Department of Labor, there is no money to collect. The SWEAT bill, A486/S2844 will stop this problem. It passed the Democratic-controlled state legislature earlier this year but Governor Cuomo has yet to sign the bill into law. Workers from restaurant, nail salon, laundry, construction, domestic, home care and car service industries, among others, say time is running out. We must demand Governor Cuomo sign this critical bill to give workers the tools to fight wage theft and hold their employers accountable to at least the minimum wage.

Author Jen Epstein, speaks with Carmen Hulbert, about her book, 'Don't Get Too Excited'.
The book is fabulous, and so funny. Jen speaks about her issues with OCD. So if you want to know Jen's feelings about Exotic Diseases, Electric Fences, and more, you have to read the book. But until than, listen to Jen talk about writing it.
This is where you can buy the book: https://bit.ly/2NnTYYW

"And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed." -John Steinbeck

Increasingly throughout this city is a growing army of middle and lower-income communities, building unity to fight the oppressors of capitalism. Last night I attended a meeting in Sunset Park, where residents are opposing Councilman Carlos Menchaca's decision to accept a rezoning plan, with conditions. Jamestown Properties, the owner of Industry City, has filed a rezoning plan. And under that plan, IC is requesting an additional holding of land, increasing its share of property to1.3 million square feet of new commercial and industrial space. Although, Menchaca has rebuked earlier plans indicating he would not approve the two hotels IC wanted to build. Nor would he accept the expanded high retail stores on the property. Instead, he is negotiating to get goodies from the developer, thinking it will serve the community. 

The councilman wants a technical high school built on the property; he also wants IC to kick in money to allow residents to organize. These and other items would be part of a Community Benefits Agreement. The residents of Sunset Park are aware that these agreements can not be enforced and reject the plan. The community knows that IC is a profit-making business, and their only goal is to make money for its stockholders. In the past, Jamestown Properties has gotten rezoning approvals from other deals and then shortly after sold the properties at much higher rates. The Google purchase last year in Soho is one example.

Sunset Park is primarily an immigrant community made up of Hispanic and Asian residents, and these are the people most affected by a rezoning. So last night, the people began their plan to stop this rezoning. Groups from all over the city joined to help Sunset Park to build its case against the rezoning. One participant from the audience, a former community board member that has a reputation for disrupting meetings, stood up in resistance to outside groups telling their stories of rezoning in their community. He claimed it to be propaganda. Those hosting the event suggested that that the person could leave if he did not approve of the agenda, and he did with some theatrics. 

Communities need to seek the help of other groups and grow this fight that is changing the makeup of New York City. Pastor Sam Cruz, the pastor of the Lutheran church on 4th avenue, where the meeting was held, spoke passionately about the morality of the rezoning plan. How is it that the Chairman of the City Council's Immigration Committee is caught in this struggle when 72% of the community are immigrants? We must all stand up to these capitalists that are destroying our city. 

This plan must be shot down, and the only solution is for Councilman Menchaca to vote no for this rezoning. No rezoning, no compromise!  

Listen to a trailer of our new show, Survival in a Capitalist City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEMP2fBC8wE&feature=youtu.be

New York City needs to have Public Housing public and not privatized as the Mayor wants. It is important that all NYCHA residents join forces under https://fightfornycha.org/ and take control of the future of Public Housing in NYC.

Again tonight, there was another meeting regarding the rezoning of Sunset Park's Waterfront. The first part of the meeting was filled with loads of praise for Industry City: Kumbayahs, and statements that made you think of Rodney King: "can we all JUST get along?".

And then, as time went on, the working class and immigrant community stepped forward to say what the rezoning will do for them. It's called DISPLACEMENT!

Yes, there was talk about what Industry City looked like before Jamestown came in. The hookers and drug dealers are gone, but that's what usually happens when Capitalists invest their money in depressed neighborhoods. We can talk about that another time.

72% of Sunset Park is made up of immigrants, mostly Chinese and Hispanic. Many of them are working two and three jobs to live in Sunset Park, and this rezoning will not make their lives any better. You hear a discussion about jobs; jobs that most of the immigrants will not get. The people that are in a secure place in their lives make it seem so easy, while the people struggling know better.

It is not that the people want to stop growth; they want to be able to afford to live in Sunset Park to enjoy the growth.

Councilman Menchaca is the Chairman of the Immigration Committee, and his offering to residents the legal services that the city provides to prevent eviction is not what they expect from him. Also, the Councilman's desire to bring in the Mayor to help with Housing will only exacerbate the situation more. We need low-income Housing in Sunset Park, not high-end developers. The Councilman has a difficult decision to make; many of the immigrant people look up to him, so there is only one decision he can make. Say No!

Let's listen to Jei Fong from Protect Sunset Park talk about the things that the people want.

Fight for NYCHA joins with others in a discussion about the Three-card Monte game our political leaders play on the public.

Communities are sick of the rezonings, and tensions are growing. With every rezoning so far, affordable housing has been promised, but instead, apartments are high-jacked with deceptive AMI ratings. Take Red Hook for example, where we are head-quartered; the AMI in Red Hook is $107,000. Why is it so high you ask? Because Red Hook is combined with Cobble Hill and Park Slope where the residents are more upscaled. So if affordable housing were offered here, most of the residents in the neighborhood would not be able to pay their rents.

Now we come to NYCHA. For years, our Federal Government, as well as the other levels of government, have let NYCHA rot. Mayor de Blasio wants to utilize the RAD system, which is a program Obama put in place to save Public Housing, or at least that is what he claimed. When you watch this video, you will see what it is really doing to Public Housing. Collectively, this group believes that Council members have too much power. The communities belong to the people, not Council Members nor developers.

And when you are done watching our video, please check out this story from City Limits: http://bit.ly/2mTp5lC Please subscribe to our channel. Thank you!