Note from Suzannah: We had a meeting with Quinn the day before she and City Council -- the elected officials who betrayed us voted for Rudin luxury condos, not a Trauma Level 1 Hospital with a Rape Crisis Center and AIDS Care.
Norman Siegel asked how are you going to vote tomorrow. Quinn lied and said I don't know. Quinning to me means lying.
She and Bloomberg lie and the media protects and endorse lies and criminal actions like pushing thru an illegal third term, corrupt Cooper Union, NYU expansion short list and Rudin condos instead of a real hospital.
At present, the only candidate declining our invitation to come and share their views on the sale, shrinkage and underfunding of libraries at the forum is Christine Quinn. Ms. Quinn has, however, submitted her response to CDL's questionnaire about libraries (link below) and we can see what the other candidates make of it at the forum. Decide for yourself, but Ms. Quinn's sidestepping of the questions seems to show her favoring the underfunding status quo: sales and shrinkage of libraries including the Central Library Plan which received obvious support from her.
http://citizensdefendinglibraries.blogspot.com/2013/07/response-of-mayoral-candidate-christine.html
Let's see where the other candidates come out as they state their positions. CDL will pass word on about positions taken and will likely be making some recommendations about some of the candidates based on their positions. Here are the details, we look forward to seeing you there!
MAYORAL FORUM ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Friday, August 30th, 8:30-10:30 AM,
Seating starts at 8:00 AM
Find out what the candidates think
The Kane Street Synagogue
236 Kane Street
Between Court St and Clinton
10 min walk from Court Street Borough Hall, first stop in Brooklyn
2 Blocks from F and G, Bergen Stop
Contact Carolyn McIntyre 917-757-6542Michael White 917-885-1478Backpack362@aol.com
Tuesday, August 27, 4:00-5:00 PM,
Canvass Mid Manhattan Library,
40St and 5th Ave Contact Carolyn McIntyre 917-757-6542
Sunday September 1, 4:30-6:00 PM
CDL meeting 101 Clark Street
Community Room Brooklyn Heights
first stop in Brooklyn, 2,3 to Clark St
Also, we are working on a Public Advocate and Comptroller Forum on Public Libraries, for Wednesday, September 4th in the morning, Location TBA.
On another related front,City Council Member, Letitia James (now running for public advocate and who mentioned libaries in the NBC Public Advocate Debate today) wrote an excellent article about the state of our NYC public libraries that appeared in the Huffington Post on Thursday. She continues to prove that she is one of the strongest advocates for protecting our libraries. Here is the link (you can post a comment):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/letitia-james/shrinking-the-library-sys_b_3430298.html
REMINDER: August 26th is the last date to donate to a NYC campaign and receive the (6 to 1) matching funds in the primary races. For certain elections the results of the primary will almost certainly determine the elections.
Here is a link to Tish campaign
http://bit.ly/0814Rowen
SECOND REMINDER: As the elections are soon to be be upon us, please remember our invitation to all our petition signers to join in our initiative, launched last week, to double our petition signatures.
We are very encouraged to report recent visits touring the Brooklyn Heights and Pacific Branch libraries by Assembly members Micah Kellner and Joan Millman, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, and candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, Senator Eric Adams. The BPL was reportedly not cooperative, not wanting them to tour the libraries when they were open. Below are email addresses and a sample letter you might want to send to them.
Kellnerm@assembly.state.ny.us , millmanj@assembly.state.ny.us, montgome@nysenate.gov,eadams@senate.state.us.gov
August 24, 2013
Dear Assembly members Micah Kellner and Joan Millman, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, candidate for Brooklyn Borough President Senator Eric Adams,
Thank you for listening to us. We really appreciate the time you took to visit the Brooklyn Heights and Pacific Libraries over the last two weeks!
We look forward to hearing what steps you will take next to help us protect these valuable and popular libraries. As you probably saw, they are crowded, especially the Brooklyn Heights library since the BPL cut the hours because they refuse to fix the air conditioner. Library staff reported to Citizens Defending Libraries that the BPL leadership first said the Brooklyn Heights Library would need $350,000 to be fixed. The staff who attended the meeting said that number went up to $750,000 after Councilman Steven Levin offered to help pay to fix it. (The $750,000 number is also a number used with other branches with broken AC). As you know, that number went up to $3.5 million and is now with various ways of exaggerating the costs, been raised to the vicinity of $5 million! (This doesn't reflect the test of any real process or actual specifications or bids.) Please arrange for scrutiny of these exaggerations with a true independent examination of the cost of fixing this and any libraries with broken air conditioners.
We continue to be amazed that the NYPL and BPL leadership would use a problem of basic maintenance as a reason to sell a library. We see this as a deep betrayal of public trust. Again, we very much appreciate your courage in standing up for the protection of public assets.
This message was sent to Suzannah Troy by Carolyn McIntyre through MoveOn's public petition website. MoveOn Civic Action does not endorse the contents of this message.
Want to make a donation?MoveOn is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
