October 14th. The big chill was early, even for Albany. A press conference was being held in the park across from the New York Court of Appeals. The highest court in the state was set to hear Goldstein et al v. New York State Urban Development Corporation. The press conference speakers and their supporters were primarily Brooklynites up from The City. Veterans of the Atlantic Yards wars. Folks who’ve attended numerous court proceedings, marched in myriad demonstrations, and organized countless fund-raisers in a six year effort to keep their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods from being crushed by Atlantic Yards, the dream baby of mega developer Forest City Ratner. Eminent domain abuse is the heart of the matter.
Author Archives: Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff
Abbie Hoffman’s Contrarian Shoes
Posted: September 23, 2009 9:20 pm
Festival planning sessions “led” by Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and other luminaries at the Yippie House were chaotic and open to the dozens of crashers drifting in and out. Nothing like the war room strategy sessions imagined by fantasists on the right. Weird to see, four decades later, fantasists on the left spinning similar conspiracy theories about the masses of Tea Party protesters. Many of whom carry flags sporting rattlesnakes and the slogan “Don’t Tread On Me.”
Life, Inc: Tripping the Corporatism Fantastic with Douglas Rushkoff
Posted: September 1, 2009 11:30 am
Updated: September 2, 2009 5:38 pm
When reading the account of the Expo I had to put Life, Inc. down and check the cover. Had Random House sent me an advance copy of the wrong book? Was this Bonfire of the Vanities Redux? Or had Mark Twain or Jim Thompson risen from the dead to re-skewer American grift? Nope. There was the short sweet title Life, Inc. Followed by . . .
Nightmare on Election Street
Posted: October 31, 2008 1:21 pm
Updated: October 31, 2008 4:43 pm
Hit the road Halloween. For those who loathe politicians (count me in) there’s no more horrific time than the final days of a presidential race. Our flesh creeps as the last candidates standing (sort of) do the Transylvania Twist faster and faster, spinning their true (sort of) beliefs on a dime and contorting themselves into whatever position seems ripe for the moment.
Obama McCain: A Man For This Season
Posted: October 17, 2008 4:28 pm
Evil omens re the economy hath melded Obama and McCain into one man, living in the cramped quarters of one craven political soul. Something/someone has to give. President-wannabe Obama McCain steps forth to issue a decree. Let the bailouts begin! Up the oligarchy! State capitalism we are here!
The Big Bailout Circus
Posted: September 28, 2008 8:22 pm
The Big Bailout Circus has the nation in stitches. Taxpayers are being sewn into a skin-tight forever suit by an amazingly bipartisan group of government clowns. But despite the agreement about the need for a slap dash redo of the U.S. financial system — and by extension our political system — the designing bozos disagree about details. And none can resist an occasional hit of the rubber chicken . . .
Explicit Fannie & Freddie: Taxpayers Tote Load, China Heaves Sigh of Relief
Posted: September 12, 2008 9:07 pm
Neither straight-up businesses nor flat-out government agencies, Fannie and Freddie have enjoyed the best of both worlds. With their privatized profits pumped by the implicit guarantee of socialized losses — in case of disaster break glass and soak taxpayer. That implicit guarantee has now become an explicit government takeover by the U.S. Treasury.
Obama Parts the Sea, Cuomo Heeds the Community, Cynics March on DC
Posted: August 12, 2008 1:23 pm
Cynicism is a sin in the Age Of Hope. But cynics won’t go gently into the goody good night. . . .
Bloody Toto Guilty of Mortgage Fraud
Posted: July 27, 2008 3:24 pm
A Brooklyn jury has found Emmanuel “Toto” Constant guilty of mortgage fraud and grand larceny. Constant is the former founder and leader of FRAPH, the Haitian paramilitary group that in the early 90’s systematically tortured and murdered thousands of supporters of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Hillary’s White Wedding/Mortgage Fraud Rescue Wrap/Why Are We in Iraq
Posted: June 8, 2008 11:02 am
Back in April (it seems like an eon of Clinton ago!) FBI Director Robert Mueller gave a speech to the American Bar Association titled “Corporate Fraud and Public Corruption: Are We Becoming More Crooked?” The question was left open. Mueller wrapped up with a Teddy Roosevelt quote: “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual, and of nations alike.”
Fort Trumbull Circa 2008: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
Posted: May 7, 2008 12:42 am
Updated: May 14, 2008 5:27 pm
After the last few resistors departed in 2006, Corcoran Jennison, the preferred developer for the Fort Trumbull project, got cracking on a tony utopia. A thousand condos bloomed. Crowds of affluent young professionals now sip lattes and tap laptops in cafes overlooking the Long Island Sound. Revenues are rolling in. Property taxes have been slashed and children are learning to read and write as well as kids did a half century ago.
The real squeal:
Hillary’s Housing Fix in a New York Nutshell
Posted: March 30, 2008 11:57 am
“What are you working on today, Madam President?” asked Doctor Murchison.
“My plan to fix the housing crisis,” said Hillary, without looking up.
Ben Bernanke Walks into a Bar, Andrew Cuomo Appraises the Nation
Posted: March 9, 2008 9:34 pm
Jeez. The Clinton Obama show is killing comedy. Great jokes are getting lost in the sauce. Did you hear the one about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke? Ben walks into a bar. A pair of antlers on his head. “Been cuckolded, mister?” asks a chippy, trying for a pickup. The bartender (a squirrelly guy with no chin) answers for Ben. “Nah — he’s just worried about stagflation.”
Not.
Obama and Ron Paul Take New York State, Tastee-Freeze Opens in Hell!
Posted: February 10, 2008 7:39 pm
Albany. The capital of New York. The heart of state government. Can’t you feel the rhythm of the beat? Lub dub lub dub. Pols who make it there, don’t need to go anywhere — they can stay in Albany forever and ever and ever. The governor’s mansion is akin to the hotel in “The Shining.” After taking over, the new guy always goes barmy. He doesn’t even have to live in it. Just throw an occasional reception.
Stimulus Package Store, GSE Jumbo Out Back
Posted: January 30, 2008 12:59 am
Hot damn. The government is going to stimulate the economy. Not with a lap dance or lubricated love glove, but with taxpayer dollars. Come summer, Mister and Miz America will get a rebate from Uncle Sam. What a man! Some people will get more than a thou of their own money back. Consumers will rush out and pump the economy. Wal-Mart here we come. Simultaneously, just like in romance novels.
Hillary Clinton, The Shadow Party and Me
Posted: October 31, 2007 7:03 pm
Halloween 2009. A big night at Castle Clinton. Aka the White House. Even though Bill Clinton is the first black ex-president, his face glows phosphorescent. Bill is thrilled. President Hillary has raised him from the international dead zone to serve as co-host of her first Halloween bash. “The Shadow Party” has Washington abuzz. Anybody who is anybody is coming to the costume ball.
The Appalachian Summer of Eliot Spitzer
Posted: August 23, 2007 3:42 pm
You won’t believe how much fun the New York State political scene has been this Summer! Like Uncle Ira says, ain’t nothing more persistent than chicken thieves who’ve gotten used to easy pickins.
Jersey Ham ala Sharpe James, Redevelopment Scams on the Side
Posted: July 30, 2007 2:05 am
Listen up kiddies, summer doesn’t mean down time when it comes to corruption in Jersey.
Pulp Fiction Iraq
Posted: June 29, 2007 6:04 pm
With a groan of pleasure akin to torment, George surged into the Fertile Crescent again and again.
Oh Alphonso! FHA Modern is So Subprime!
Posted: April 16, 2007 10:58 am
HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson is asking Congress to pass a proposal for a “modernization” of FHA mortgage loan programs.
Waste and fraud are HUD’s long suit. Like other HUD heads Alphonso Jackson wears it well. But according to Alphonso, the FHA needs letting out in order to cover the subprime mortgage slump.
Hillary and Rudy Sitting In a Tree
Posted: March 25, 2007 9:00 pm
With each presidential election the candidates seem more proscribed and the selection process more truncated. Inner party poopers, talking heads and big money try to seal the deal before the ink is dry on the last guy. This time the dumb beats loudest for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Hillary and Rudy are more alike than they’re different.
Hot Rats in Connecticut/Reform in China
Posted: March 10, 2007 1:36 am
On March 3rd, the City of New London, Connecticut, and the quasi-public New London Development Corporation finally did what they’ve been hot to do since 1998: Bulldoze the family home of Michael Cristofaro.
Springfield Laughs Its Asselins Off
Posted: January 23, 2007 3:52 am
In the bulging roster of corrupt pols who serve the people on the Eastern Seaboard, few provide as many black laughs as the Asselin clan of Springfield, Massachusetts. Even the klown kings of Jersey can’t hold a candle.
Homeschool For The Holidays
Posted: December 31, 2006 9:40 pm
Yes Virginia, many people do socially beneficial things without taxpayer support! Take homeschoolers. “Please” say those who think homeschools turn children into illiterate religious nuts. As opposed to illiterate godless nuts. No such thing as a godless nut? Think again.
Rocky Mountain Mortgage Fraud Fever
Posted: December 11, 2006 11:03 pm
Hundreds of illegal immigrants recruited to act as “straw buyers,” the lowest players in the mortgage fraud game, were supplied with stolen identities, including drivers licenses, social security cards, and income tax returns. Some were given green cards of legal immigrants. What couldn’t be stolen was forged.
Election 2006: The Shadow of Bush/The Bride of Clinton
Posted: November 4, 2006 8:12 am
As Halloween recedes, Turkey Day looms. Yessir, the elections are upon us. But not all the monsters have decamped. Shove over inflatable Pilgrims and plastic Santas. The ghoulish denizens of Party City have decided to hang in our yard FOREVER.
Kelo v. Pataki. Not.
Posted: October 28, 2006 5:15 am
New York, New York. It’s a wonderful town. Unless your piece of it gets targeted for eminent domain.
