By MARTY GOODMAN UPDATED: July 18 — On the 5th anniversary of the police murder of Eric Garner, July 17, the "Justice Department" announced, as the five-year statute of limitations expired, that they would not prosecute Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who had placed a chokehold on Garner, causing his death. The decision to end a civil … Continue reading Eric Garner case finally heard — in a cops’ court
By ROZWELL SIMMONS — NEW YORK — In the years since Stonewall, corporations have jumped on the opportunity to use Pride as a means of profit; it has been perverted into a cash grab for companies. This corporatization has played a large role in the depoliticization of Pride. Naturally, it is in the best interests … Continue reading Queer liberation march restores politics to Pride
By ANN MONTAGUE Almost two years ago, LGBTQ activists in New York City decided that the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion was the time to start organizing to take Pride back from the corporations and return it to being the civil rights and liberation march it was in the past. For many in New … Continue reading Stonewall 50: Reclaiming Pride
By MARTY GOODMAN — NEW YORK — Jose Lasalle of the Bronx’s Copwatch Patrol Unit (CPU) was awarded a $925,000 settlement with the NYPD on two lawsuits he filed. Cops were caught with their pants down because Lasalle had audio and video to prove his case against the Bronx’s PSA 7 police station. Lasalle had … Continue reading Bronx NYPD settles with Copwatch
By MARTY GOODMAN On Feb. 14, Amazon, owned by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos ($166 billion), announced that it was pulling out of a deal made with top New York Democrats for a second Amazon headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, near Manhattan, due to opposition from local politicians. But the resistance was much … Continue reading Protests bust up New York’s Amazon deal
By MARTY GOODMAN On Nov. 13, after long secret negotiations, two New York “progressive” Democrats, Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, jointly announced that Amazon will place one of two new corporate “headquarters” in New York City and the other in Arlington, Va. Virtually kissing the feet of Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, whose … Continue reading New York Democrats shower Amazon with $billions
By MARTY GOODMAN “We will kill you. That’s the Proud Boys in a nutshell.” — Gavin McInnes, Proud Boy founder “The German resurrection is a male event.” — Engelbert Huber, Nazi author, 1933 Shortly after an Oct. 12 presentation by fascist “Proud Boy” founder Gavin McInnes at the Manhattan Republican Club, three anti-fascist protesters were assaulted by … Continue reading ‘Proud Boys’ assault NYC protesters
By ANN MONTAGUE Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. In the early morning hours, gay men and lesbians fought back against the police raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. After that event, which began in the early morning of June 28,1969, Gay Liberation had joined the lexicon of Women’s … Continue reading Stormé DeLarverie: The lesbian spark in the Stonewall Uprising
By STEVE XAVIER The results of the primary election result in New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, stunned the Democratic Party machine. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former Bernie Sanders campaign worker and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), defeated 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley. Crowley, who out-spent Oscasio-Cortez … Continue reading DSA member wins Democratic primary in New York
By a WORKING CARPENTER On Oct. 5, a recently fired carpenter, Samuel Perry, 42, arrived at a Midtown Manhattan job site to pick up his last paycheck. He shot his foreman, 37-year-old Christopher Sayers, twice, killing him. He then turned the gun on himself. Both men were members of Carpenters’ Local 212, a concrete construction … Continue reading Tragic construction site murder was avoidable
By MARTY GOODMAN — NEW YORK — B&H Photo, the nation’s largest non-chain photo store, announced during contract negotiations plans to shut down two warehouses in Brooklyn and move facilities 75 miles away to Florence, N.J., by the end of the year. For 330 immigrant B&H warehouse workers who belong to the United Steel Workers … Continue reading NYC immigrants strike against union busting
By MARK UGOLINI As part of a major multi-country assault designed to outlaw advocacy of boycotts of Israel, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on June 5 signed “Executive Order No. 157,” instructing state agencies to divest from companies and institutions that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In the tradition of McCarthyism, the … Continue reading N.Y. assault on Palestine solidarity
By CHRISTINE MARIE “Astro Noise,” Whitney Museum of American Art, Feb. 5 – May 2, 2016. In the “Seeds of Time,” Frederic Jameson famously wrote of our cultural moment, “It seems to be easier to imagine the thorough-going deterioration of the earth and of nature than the breakdown of late capitalism; perhaps that is due … Continue reading Laura Poitras: Astro Noise
By MARTY GOODMAN NEW YORK—Braving union-busting layoffs and retribution, workers at Brod Kitchen (formerly Hot and Crusty), located on 63rd St. in the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan, are fighting to save their union and their jobs. On Jan. 14, the Hot and Crusty Workers Association, a mostly Hispanic immigrant workforce of 19, entered into … Continue reading Victory to NYC restaurant workers!
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER PHILADELPHIA—Federal judges in a Jan. 13 appeals court hearing have indicated that they are favorable to the premises of a suit against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for its surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey. The suit, Hassan v. City of New York, had been dismissed by a federal district … Continue reading Judges question NYPD spying on Muslims
By MARTY GOODMAN In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to deny freedom to Dred Scott, a slave living in Missouri. The decision stated that Black people have “no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” Today, as yesterday, the racist system of capitalism operates much the same in real life—if no longer … Continue reading Anger spreads as killer cops go free
By MARTY GOODMAN — NEW YORK, Dec. 4 — The horror of Ferguson was repeated on Dec. 3 when a 23-person grand jury in Staten Island, N.Y., failed to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man. The cause of death was ruled a homicide by chokehold by the … Continue reading Outrage at racist grand jury decisions
By CARL SACK An estimated 400,000 people took to the streets of Manhattan on Sept. 21 for the largest single climate change protest to date. The People’s Climate March, which took place two days before a one-day United Nations Climate Summit, was about twice as large as organizers had expected. There were so many present … Continue reading 400,000 March Against Climate Change
By MARTY GOODMAN New York’s self-proclaimed “progressive” mayor, Bill de Blasio, promised “respect” for the city’s 300,000 unionized public workers and has pledged to fight the city’s vast income inequality. What unions actually got was the same old hustle from the Democratic Party, as part of the city’s 1%. De Blasio, who took office in … Continue reading NYC mayor hustles cuts for city workers
By DANIEL ADAM The People’s Climate March, scheduled for Sept. 21 in New York City, is poised to live up to its promise of mobilizing the largest number of people that the U.S. has ever seen against the mass production of greenhouse gases. With more than 1000 endorsing organizations, buses scheduled to leave from more … Continue reading Join the People’s Climate March
By CLAY WADENA “Every time you see me you want to mess with me. I’m tired of it. It stops today! I’m minding my business, please just leave me alone.” — Eric Garner, Rest In Power, killed by NYPD July 17, 2014. Eric Garner’s last words ring with righteous anger, disgust, desperation, and fatigue. Garner … Continue reading ‘It stops today!’ — Eric Garner, NYPD victim
By MARTY GOODMAN On June 19, a quickly called protest was organized against a glitzy award gala in Manhattan that featured a “Leadership in Education” award for the corrupt and repressive Haitian president, Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly. On the same program, a “Lifetime Achievement Award” went to Martelly’s political patron, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, … Continue reading NY award gala mocks Haitian misery
Fast-food and other low-wage workers walked off their jobs in some 150 U.S. cities on May 15 to demand a minimum wage of $15 an our and the right to join a union without retaliation. The action was taken in coordination with strikes and protests by low-wage workers in 150 U.S. cities, and in 30 … Continue reading Fast-food strikers: ‘$15 and a union!’
By LISA LUINENBURG Dozens of protesters were injured in Istanbul, Turkey, this year on May 1 as they tried to reach Taksim Square. A week earlier, the Turkish Prime Minister had announced a ban on demonstrations in Taksim Square on the internationally recognized workers’ holiday. Police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannons against … Continue reading Workers, immigrants march on May Day
By MARTY GOODMAN This May Day, a day of celebration of the workers’ struggle, many unions were rallying at New York’s City Hall, but the news from inside was not good for workers. The unions backed “progressive” Mayor Bill de Blasio (Democrat), and Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), announced a … Continue reading NY mayor & teachers union cut rotten deal
