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New York City Tag

On Friday, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law NY State Senate bill S6340, making it illegal in the state of New York to advertise "for the use of dwelling units in a class A multiple dwelling."  This law is aimed at Airbnb, a San Francisco-based homestay network that coordinates the rental of private properties by the homeowners. Not unlike Uber, a transportation network, Airbnb eliminates the often union-driven marketplace for a given service; with Uber it's taxis and with Airbnb, it's hotels.  And as with Uber, unions are not happy with the explosion of Airbnb and lobbied in New York state for the passage of this law that establishes a minimum of at least 30 days for peer-to-peer rental of private property and provides for fines up to $7,500 for those in violation. The Hill reports:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned short-term rentals on Airbnb after he signed a bill on Friday making it illegal to list unoccupied apartments on the service for stays under 30 stays.

Someone placed a naked statue of Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with hoofed feet and a Wall Street banker trying to suck her breast, in Manhattan. It caused fights between those who supported the artist and offended women. https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/788403600028528640

Wednesday, the FBI released a "seeking information" notice featuring two men they believe may have information about Saturday's New York City bombing. The individuals are wanted for questioning. According to the FBI, the two men pictured riffled through luggage, removed a pressure cooker explosive device which they left sitting on the street. They then took the luggage and left.

On Saturday night, a pressure bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, leaving 29 people injured. Despite that pesky fact, MSNBC's Chris Hayes is thankful it was a BOMB, not a gun. https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/777895206846955520 I wonder if he would say that to those injured by the bomb. Anyway, the people of Twitter had a field day.

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.