A front-page article in Monday’s New York Times revealed that New York University is planning “the largest expansion in its history,” with a new satellite campus on Governors Island, a new engineering school in Brooklyn–and a huge enlargement of its “footprint” in Greenwich Village: “In its Washington Square Neighborhood, the university will be creating the equivalent in square footage of a little more than the total floor area of the Empire State Building.”

Preservationists and others in the neighborhood are, not surprisingly, dismayed.

Robin Progrebin, “N.Y.U. Plans to Expanded Campuses by 40 Percent,” March 22, 2010.

It’s therefore timely, as well as an honor for me, that Roberta Brandes Gratz will be the next guest speaker in our First Tuesdays series at the McNally Jackson Bookstore, to talk about her excellent new book, The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs.

I hope to see you there.

MCM

Roberta Brandes Gratz, author of The Battle for Gotham:

New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, speaking at McNally Jackson on April 6th!

In conversation with Mark Crispin Miller

Real estate is our city’s greatest shared hobby. More than that, it’s an obsession. We are all acutely aware that we are the ones shaping this city around us, or–as it seems lately–letting it be shaped by developers. We all have a vision for what our neighborhoods, our boroughs, should look like, and what responsible growth might entail. “Gentrification” is on everybody’s tongue in this boom time for construction in New York, and if the completion of some of our city’s least necessary condo developments has been slowed by the recent economic mayhem, we all know it’s only a matter of time before they begin chewing at our skyline again.

As the latest iteration of our First Tuesdays political discussion series, urban critic and journalist Roberta Gratz will be here to talk about these devlopments and the legacies of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, two thinkers whose diametrically opposed approaches to the urban landscape continue to frame our discussion even now. Roberta is the author of The Living City and Cities Back from the Edge. She was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2003. Her journalism has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, the New York Times Magazine, Tikkun and others.

She’ll be speaking with our regular First Tuesdays host, professor, author and activist Mark Crispin Miller.

April 6, 2010
7:00 p.m.
McNally Jackson Bookstore
52 Prince St. (b/t Mulberry & Lafayette)
New York City
212-274-1160

FBI investigating threats against Democrats after health care vote 24 Mar 2010 The FBI and local police are investigating threats directed at House Democrats following passage of the health care bill, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters earlier today. At least two acts of vandalism are being examined. Hoyer said that he did not know the exact number but estimated “more than 10″ Democrats had received some kind of threat or harassment. He added that some posters depict a lawmaker’s face in the crosshairs of a target.

Looks like we’re between a rock and a hard place–”the hard place” being the
proto-fascist state that is America today, where cops can use the taser anytime they
like, and we’re all under permanent surveillance; while “the rock” would be those
feral ultra-rightist types now contemplating, planning and/or urging violence against Obama/immigrants/blacks/gays/Jews and whoever else they see as threatening them.

It’s a lousy place to be; and there’s no getting out of it unless we face the fact that that
is where we are. So here are two pieces that concern the latter of those two dangers.
One is Glynn Wilson’s report from Alabama, where a certain far-right “libertarian,”
as he describes himself, has actually been taking credit for bricks lately hurled through
the window of a local Democratic Party headquarters. (That’s not terrorism?) The other
is a very smart take, by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, on the recent venomous display by the
Tea-Baggers massing on Capitol Hill in opposition to Obama’s health care bill.

As she notes learnedly, what we’re faced with here is not mere racism or homophobia,
but a vestigial strain of violent seditiousness, which certainly won’t go away if all we
do is close our eyes to it.

MCM

There Could Be An Armed Racist Brick Thrower Near You
by Glynn Wilson

Not Far From Here…

A Pinson, Alabama militia activist is not walking away from taking credit for
brick-throwing incidents at Democratic Party offices across the country this
weekend when protesters took to the streets against national health care reform
passed by the House and signed into law by the president on Tuesday.

Read more.

***

Is this the Birth of a Nation?
by Melissa Harris-Lacewell

In response to the imminent passage of health care reform
protesters spat on Representative Emmanuel Cleaver. They
hurled homophobic obscenities at Representative Barney
Frank. They shouted racial slurs at Representative John
Lewis.

Read more.

Revealed: Rahm Emanuel Nixed DoJ Review of Political Prosecutions of Don Siegelman and Paul Minor
by Brendan DeMelle

Paul Minor, the former Mississippi attorney turned political prisoner, is set to file a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to address the central issue in his case – whether a U.S. citizen can be convicted and imprisoned for donating to a political campaign without the court requiring any evidence of an explicit quid pro quo agreement between the candidate running for elected office and the campaign contributor.

Read more.

Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say
By Tom Watkins, CNN

(CNN) — Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two
vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from
a pig virus. “There is no evidence at this time that this material poses a safety risk,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters in a conference call.

Rotarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the FDA in 2008. The contaminant material is DNA from
porcine circovirus 1, a virus from pigs that is not known to cause disease in humans or animals, Hamburg said.

Read more.

From Ellen Schindler:

Mark,

I just wrote a note on Brad’s Blog, and note to my small circle of “readers” and a note to Move On to try to get something going with Move On to raise funds to keep ACORN alive.

Here’s the suggestion box address for MoveOn … http://pol.moveon.org/feedback/fb/form.html?tp=suggest

Maybe we can get something going.

Ellen

So, having helped to kill off ACORN, the NYTimes has now published a “correction” that is both unapologetic and inaccurate.

MCM

NYTIMES RUNS INACCURATE ‘CORRECTION’ FOR REPEATED ACORN ‘PIMP’ HOAX MISREPORTING
With damage already done, ‘paper of record’ even gets ‘correction’ wrong;
Offers no apology, no explanation for shameful failure…

The once-great New York Times has now become the new shame of this nation. Tonight they have run a “correction” concerning their repeated misreporting of the ACORN “Pimp” Hoax for tomorrow’s papers. And, as you’ll see below, it’s pathetic — simply pathetic — and still inaccurate.

It has been…

Read more.

From Ellen Schindler:

Mark,

Are you aware of this legislation before the Republican dominated Florida Senate?

Vote is scheduled for it today, then it goes to the Republican dominated House. It would render the teachers’ unions powerless. There hasn’t been much about it in the MSM.

Here, below, are several pieces on it: a breaking news story from conservative Tallahassee, a news story from Jacksonville, an editorial from usually conservative North West Florida, and a letter to the President from teachers published on a web site, congress.org all opposing this bill. Also a brief statement from the CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce giving his support to the bill.

The major problem in Florida state legislation is the Republican controlled House (77-42) and Senate ( 26-14) . This bill is basically a union buster.

Ellen

Rallies Planned To Fight Teacher Merit Pay Bill

Senate bill would eliminate teacher tenure

Senate bill would tie teachers’ pay to students’ performance (DOCUMENT)

Letters To Leaders
All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Education/Schools: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=4890702051&content_dir=politicsol

CEO of Florida Chamber of Commerce supports SB 6

From Joe Surkiewicz:

Mark,

Remarkably [indeed!--MCM], this letter ran in the Sun last week (wish I had written it):

Your report about the closure of Baltimore’s ACORN office claims the group’s problems stemmed from videos showing two staff members giving tax-evading tips (“ACORN in Md. is shuttered,” March 16). You are of course referring to the crudely doctored videos which have never been seen in unedited form and are grossly inconsistent with transcripts that have have been obtained with some difficulty.

Katharine W. Rylaarsdam