New York City | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 37
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New York City Tag

New York Police Department Officials are looking for Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, in connection to the bombings that rocked lower Manhattan this Saturday night. J. Peter Donald, Assistant Commissioner for Communication and Public Information for the NYPD, tweeted the following early Monday morning:

Talk about low-energy . . . Hillary Clinton sleepwalked through her reaction to news of the NYC bombing of last night. View the video and catch the somnambulistic former Secretary of State speaking, without conviction, in a dull monotone. Compare and contrast with Donald Trump's muscular reaction to the same news, in which he said America needed to get "very tough." Neither candidate had all the details, and leaders should not of course overreact in such situations. Even so, in tough times we want a president to project strength and determination. Trump passed that test. Hillary needs to go back to sleep.

An explosion rocked New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 29 people. Officials are not saying at this time whether the incident was terror-related. CNN reports:
Police are hunting for answers on what caused an explosion that injured 29 people in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, shortly before a second suspicious device was found nearby. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters early indications are that the explosion at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan at about 8.30 p.m. Saturday "was an intentional act." But, he said, "there's no specific and credible threat against New York City at this time from any terror organization." Investigators believe the blast was caused by an explosive device in or near a dumpster, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Reports of a Muslim woman in traditional Muslim attire being set on fire were met with justifiable shock and horror . . . and assumptions about the nature of the crime. For example, The Guardian pondered the courage it takes "just going out" in traditional Islamic dress.  They followed this up with dire warnings, including:  "We are facing the most hostile environment since the immediate aftermath of 9/11. All Americans must speak out otherwise there will be worse to come." CAIR-NY weighed in with its own condemnation based on the assumption that this was a hate crime. Watch:

Police have charged Oscar Morel, 35, with the murder of Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his associate Thara Uddin, 64. Fox News reports:
Oscar Morel, 35, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

A gunman killed Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his friend Thara Uddin, 64, near the Furquan Jame Masjid mosque in Queens on Saturday. The man shot the men point blank in the back of the head. *UPDATE 10:06PM* New York City Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters the police believe the man they detained committed the crime. NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton added:
"Detectives were able to develop a strong lead into a suspect very early on based on an unrelated incident that occurred in Brooklyn, approximately 10 minutes after the shooting, three miles away," Bratton said.

Leftist media and BDS supporters have railed against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive order that will not allow state agencies to engage with businesses that participate in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. They have thrown around typical scare words like "blacklist" and "McCarthyism" while praising a "grassroots" movement meant to economically deprive America's lone ally and stable nation in the Middle East. But as Eugene Kontorovich, law professor at Northwestern points out, the blacklist label does not apply because the government uses these lists against Iran and Sudan: https://twitter.com/EVKontorovich/status/739896419595784193 https://twitter.com/EVKontorovich/status/739897109420343296

Nanny staters are never content unless they impose their control freakishness on EVERYONE, apparently. Former New York City Mayor Bloomberg has meddled in several other states and municipalities endeavoring to pass soda bans (or coke bans, as we say in Texas where every carbonated beverage is a Coke of some kind). His latest project is Philadelphia. Bloomberg has donated an undisclosed amount of cash to Philadelphians for a Fair Future, a non-profit org dropping a whopping $825,000 into a sugary-drink tax campaign that launched Thursday.

We reported previously on the deceptive anti-Israel Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign at NYU, in which BDS supporters try to co-opt unrelated divestment movements, such as fossil fuel. This campaign has now morphed into a boycott petition at NYU’s Graduate Student Union (GSOC-UAW Local 2110). Meanwhile the deceptive tactics continue. This episode illustrates, yet again, the strategy of pro-Palestinian activists in taking over student governments and other associations and hijacking them for their own agenda. If all goes according to plan, there will be a referendum on a Boycott and Divestment petition that includes a call for Academic Boycott and a call to shut down NYU-Tel Aviv). The referendum, open to all union members, is tentatively scheduled for April 18-22. NYU GSOC Logo We cover below the following: I. Some background on anti-Israel activity at NYU II. Background on SJP's Divestment campaign at NYU III. Background on BDS at the University of California's union last year IV. Background on NYU's new radicalized union. V. Discussion of the petition itself (including (a) the process; (b) campaigns and (c) the substance of the actual resolution) VI. The opposition campaign and counter-petition (which NYU faculty, students, and alumni can still sign) VII. Conclusion

New York City mayor, Bill De Blasio, has taken a peculiar stance in his defense of the increase of stabbings in NYC; he asserts that these stabbings are the (positive?) result of fewer guns on the streets. Fox5ny reports:
New York mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to put a positive spin on a recent rash of stabbings and slashings across the city.  He credits the NYPD taking guns off of the street. "I'm not a criminologist but I can safely say that guns are being taken off the street in an unprecedented way.  Some people, unfortunately, are turning to a different weapon," de Blasio says. New Yorkers have been on edge because of a series of highly-reported attacks, including several seemingly random attacks on the subways.  The city was averaging more than 10 stabbing attacks a day in the first six weeks of the year.

Earlier this year, I dove in to the world of ISIS propaganda with a piece explaining that ISIS is using digital media to both recruit new members, and make it more difficult for international intelligence officials to track terror threats. ISIS is really good at propaganda. Their use of social media to recruit and promote themselves is unlike anything we’ve seen from an extremist group; their social media accounts reach into computers and homes all across the globe, and their Al-Bayan radio network is reportedly on par with NPR. Since last week's attack on Paris, ISIS operatives have released multiple videos articulating an intent to attack high-profile sites on U.S. soil. For a JV operation, their propaganda is pretty damn polished.

Sometimes the most interesting and moving stories are the ones I stumble upon. Like the Bus No. 37 bombing memorial in Haifa, Israel, that I wrote up last May. A similar thing happened to me last Friday, when I was in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I wanted to see the Park Slope Co-op, the scene of a well-known unsuccessful anti-Israel boycott attempt a few years ago. (The efforts continue.) Next to the Co-Op, is a memorial to NY Fire Department Squad 1 members who died in the 9/11 attack. FDNY Squad 1 Station and Food Coop I knew that hundreds of firemen died that day, but I didn't know about Squad 1, a Special Operations Unit that responds to emergencies throughout NYC.  According to its Facebook page:

Under Democratic Mayor de Blasio's tutelage, a crime wave has settled over Manhattan's iconic green space. Beleaguered by muggers and other hoodlums, Central Parks is no longer the safe haven in the middle of Manhattan that it once was. With no substantive ideas or plans to curb the sudden onset of violence, Central Park's degeneration seems be an indefinite, yet completely preventable misfortune. The New York Post has chronicled the increase of criminal activity in NYC's beloved park where muggings have doubled from this time last year.
Though felony assaults are down in the park this year, misdemeanor assaults are up. There were 15 misdemeanor assaults between Jan. 1 and July 26 of this year, as opposed to 11 for the same period last year. And narcotics arrests in the park have more than doubled this year. There were 23 drug busts between Jan. 1 and July 26 of this year, as opposed to 10 for the same period last year. Still, the number of criminal summonses has taken a nose dive, Perhaps pointing to more lax enforcement if such quality of life offenses as loitering, disorderly conduct, or public drinking and urinating. Between Jan. 1 and July 26, parks cops wrote 2,100 summonses. But during the same months of last year, they wrote 3,026 summonses.

Less than two weeks ago, Uber won a battle against New York City's cab cartels and anti-consumer choice advocates like Mayor DeBlasio. Under the guise of monitoring traffic flow, DeBlasio attempted to pass legislation that would've limited the number of Uber vehicles allowed in the city. Failing to whip the requisite number of votes to pass the measure, DeBlasio and the cab cartels were defeated and Uber reigned victorious. That victory was short-lived. NYC's elected officials and the cities cab cartels are once again trying to stifle the ride-share economy. This time, DeBlasio and crew are targeting Uber's pricing. The New York Post reports:
Administration officials are studying how to curb the price of a fare Uber can charge during peak hours, prevent livery drivers from dropping non-Uber customers for Uber rides, and help taxis develop their own app to make hailing a cab easier, say sources familiar with City Hall.

A vital debate is taking place in New York City right now. According to Seth Barron of City Journal, the City Council is considering the decriminalization of minor crimes:
Who Needs Quality of Life, Anyway? Last week, the New York City Council announced that it was preparing legislation to reduce the penalties for a host of “minor crimes.” Open urination, drinking alcohol in public, riding bikes on the sidewalk, and other public-order infractions like subway fare-beating would no longer be considered criminal violations but rather civil offenses, akin to parking near a crosswalk. Instead of receiving a summons to appear in court, violators could pay a fine through the mail. Proponents offer a simple explanation for why the changes are necessary: the negative effect that interaction with the criminal justice system has on those who receive summonses. Council Member Jumaane Williams has separately bemoaned the arrest of people for “minor infractions” in the subway on the grounds that “an arrest can cause significant stress” for the arrestee, as well as imposing “financial hardship.”
The public urination proposal is turning into something of a pissing contest among politicians:

Want to watch the ball drop? We've got you covered. Want to watch all the pre-midnight Times Square festivities? We've got you covered there too! We're happy to share the official web stream coverage of one of the best New Year's celebrations around. We tried to get a livestream of the Possum Drop, unfortunately, it wasn't available. So, New York City it is:
Official Host Allison Hagendorf and three correspondents will provide live, commercial-free, webcast coverage of the festivities leading up to the Ball Drop at midnight including backstage access, behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with revelers, performers and other celebrities. Additional highlights include the lighting and raising of the New Year’s Eve Ball at 6 p.m. EST, hourly countdowns, activities engaging the revelers, AP’s Year-End News video, live musical performances (TBA) and Special Guest the International Rescue Committee joined by the Mayor of New York City to push the Waterford Crystal button that signals the Ball Drop.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

I remember the dread of exiting the Queens-Midtown tunnel into Manhattan from Long Island before I left for Rhode Island in the early 1990s. Would we make the first traffic light, or get stuck at a red light and be subjected to the squeegee men? The squeegee men would either spray something on your windshield then demand payment to clean it off, or just start cleaning the windshield figuring you'd pay them rather than risk a confrontation. It set the tone for the city, along with graffiti and other petty hooliganism. It was one of the realities of life in NYC until Rudy Giuliani was elected Mayor and cleaned it all up. It was the broken window theory:
Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.
The squeegee men and similar public displays of lawlessness were held in check even after Rudy left office -- until now. The election of uber-liberal Bill DeBlasio ushered in a new era of the bad old days, as The NY Post reports: NY Post Squeegee Men
They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s — and now they’re making a comeback. Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge, The Post has learned.