10/21/2000 Queensbridge Enquirer

[NYC]

*Queensbridge Enquirer*

HEADLINES
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Pit Bull Championship Fight Winners May Fight Rats
Who Put Spanish Fly in the NYCHA Water Cooler?
Bitches of Queensbridge, Complaints? (888) 895-DOGS
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October 21, 2000. For a NEW and EASIER system to Post YOUR comments,
questions and event notices go to http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/hudnycha
where everyone will be able to see what you post. If you are a NYCHA
employee you can even create an anonymous Yahoo ID to post. Or Email
privately to NYCH...@yahoo.com. Make copies of the paper for your
children to sell. They keep ALL the money that they collect. Isn't that
better then candy sales? Back issue reference copies are available at
the Queensbridge library and on the internet.

Cathy Nolan sent us a post card with someone in a NYC TRANSIT Police
uniform, possibly from a period movie. Back of the card says Nolan
"passed a safer traffic law that allows ... speed bumps". Those who
have wanted speed bumps installed in Janet Cole Plaza should contact
Nolan for further information. The Mayor of Baltimore visited
Queensbridge Houses due to his interest in NYS Assembly Primary Day
doings. Tenants were locked out of Riis Center voting until Police
broke in. During the October 21, 2000 TA meet the TA was locked out of
the kitchen and the fire doors were bolted shut. There was a fire in
Tilden Houses project on July 30. Firefighters, were unable to get
water from the standpipe because it was painted shut! NYC HA claimed
that standpipe had been checked on July 14! We previously wrote about
Vandalia Houses fire and Vandalia's safety problems. We still have
photo of Riis Center fire doors padlocked chained shut with a full
auditorium. Riis Center will be getting three million dollars for
renovations. The Senior Center continues to serve good meals with such
entrees as Quiche, stuffed fish Florentine, peach cobbler etc. Meals
may be increased to six a week. A recent treat was the big
International Day Celebration with flags of different countries on
display. Pam Thrower gave a short talk on her Native American heritage.
Someone sent Email saying "If you want to find out what is going on at
Riis Center, ask "Butch". Who is "Butch"?

THE BITCHES OF QUEENSBRIDGE HOUSES UPDATE: Noisy, smelly, urine in the
elevators, biting and scratching? It's getting worse. Lawyer Karen
Copeland, who specializes in pet and housing cases, cheers the end of
the NYCHA ban on dogs. She said "Hopefully, we will be linking up
shelter animals with people in city housing, and we can eliminate our
unwanted pet population problem." How many dogs has she has adopted?
Atho NYCHA could still outlaw "dangerous" dogs, banning pit bulls or
Rottweilers as a dangerous class of dog could be seen by some as
discriminatory against those dogs. Maybe next NYCHA will offer loans
for the home based business of the breeding and training attack dogs. A
tenant posted complaint at http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/hudnycha says
that owners are not picking up after their dogs. NYCHA does have a
toll-free dog-complaint hot line, (888) 895-DOGS or 1-888-895-3647. At
the September Queensbridge Tenant Association meeting there were
complaints about rats on 12 Street. An Email suggested that the winners
of the pit bull championship fights be considered by NYCHA's Mr. Lucido
to combat the rat problems. On October 12, 2000, a pit bull chased and
held up a NYCHA worker for her lunch, The threatened worker surrendered
her lunch. At the August Marriot Hearing all the speakers were against
the lifting of the dog ban. It was said that some residents have as
many as 3 pit bulls. The only banning complained about was NYCHA's
banning of some elected pubic officials from speaking at resident
association meetings. NYCHA once told OUR TA that NYCHA had to be
warned if elected reps were invited here. What is NYCHA afraid of? That
someone will get NYCHA in trouble? At the Marriot one testy-fier said
"DEP money should be used to eliminate drugs and it's not doing it".
November will host the installation ceremony for the new Queensbridge
Tenant Association Board term. Officiating will be Honorable Joseph
Crowley of the US Congress. Remember, Queensbridge Houses is Federally
Funded. The unsightly trash dumpsters on our lawns have been discussed
with Rep Crowley who is being snubbed by NYCHA. We are surprised that
the only fires being set in the dumpsters are on the North side. Indoor
parking is coming to Queensbridge Houses. Smells more and more like
co-op to us.

Have you heard about the Secret Social workers at Queensbridge Houses?
The location of their office is a secret, their names are secret, their
hours are secret and what they do is a secret. You never see them or
hear of them. Do they really watch soap operas all day and play cards?
The least they could do while getting Government money is to develop
new skills. We heard that one NYCHA employee spends a lot of time
developing new computer games skills. It is a mark of dedication to
squeeze in this upgrading of skills while carrying out a normal
workload. We hear that in one project there is such a great dedication
to save water that some female NYCHA employees have been showering
together. A side benefit is a greater multi-cultural familiarization.

TAILS FROM THE HOOD: From Email: Feeling Frisky? It looks like someone
may have put Spanish Fly in the water cooler at one of NYCHA's 300
developments! We hear that a married male employee was having an affair
with a female co-worker (girlfriend #1). Then male employee decided to
"move on up" and started having affair with girlfriend #2 who also
works at same project. Wife #1 (he really only has one of those) was
told a tale about tail and learned about girlfriend #1. Wife confronts
girlfriend #1 who says "I'm not involved with him, it's girlfriend #2".
There is now talk about law suits and divorce. This could cost a lot of
money. Already, Romeo's juggling act had caused his cell phone bill to
skyrocket. Meanwhile, Peter Noel in a Village Voice article says that
married Islam Minister Benjamin Muhammad asked a married woman for oral
sex saying "This is the will of Allah that the two of us be together."
If you think THAT"S wild, back in 1995 the district attorney of
Rockland County, NY, resigned after a former mistress revealed secrets
about their three-year affair. According to the woman, Ken Gribetz made
a "contract" to be her sex slave. He stored his cross-dressing wardrobe
(including a gold lame miniskirt) in her home. He referred to himself
on her answering machine tape as a "bad girl". Speaking about phones,
Wired News reported that "Verizon is out $250,000 as part of a
settlement agreement after the telecom giant allegedly sent 10,000
postcards to lawmakers on behalf of users who never consented to the
mailings." Verizon apparently even used the IDs of dead people. Who
needs Viagra, when Verizon can raise the dead? Verizon is also making a
"voluntary contribution" to the U.S. Treasury for $250,000, in
accordance with an agreement reached with the FCC after "LOSING"
20,000+ records after Verizon switched long distance customers on to
their plans.
TAIL AND ALCOHOL MIX A NO-NO: The FDA announced a recall of Hsiang
Yiang brand Deer's Tail Extract for Tea, in 1/3-fluid ounce glass vials
due to undeclared alcohol. FDA also recalled Breakstone's Cottage
Cheese, REASON contaminated with E. coli. The FDA Approved a New Glue
for Use in Brain Surgery, see
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS01039.html if you feel
unglued.

HUD BIGS NABBED FOR PORNO DOWNLOADS. Some horny toads in the Department
of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General's office were
suspended for the improper use of government computers to download
porno and, in some cases for Emailing some to others. Bet those wires
were hot! Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif, expressed concern that workers
charged with guarding against abuse were themselves involved in abusing
government computers during the workday. Maybe they were not getting
enough at home because their connection was too slow. While the IG's
staff was "busy", 59 BILLION DOLLARS was missing from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development's computerized books. Susan
Gaffney, the HUD IG said "It's more serious than you know" (the missing
money that is, not the distraction). We hear that at HUD, blaming
computer glitches is what is done when they want to hide fraud. Read
about it at http://www.insightmag.com/archive/200011065.shtml Don't
have a working intercom? NYCHA "lost" million of dollars of security
contracts from their computers that should have been matched with
inspector reports. Now you know why your intercom was never inspected.
Following the Federal Investigation of HUD we hope to get one of NYCHA.
Things are looking good.

This past summer Lower East Side community activist Franz Lehman was
hit by a car and died of his injuries. He was 85 years old. Franz and
his wife Rosel Lehman lived in Stuyvesant Town, a publicly funded
housing complex run by Metropolitan Life. In their earlier years, they
had risked eviction as MetLife originally officially refused to lease
to Blacks and the Lehmans joined a group of tenants that began fighting
the policy with petitions and picketing Met Life's offices. From Email
more recently: "MetLife concealed substantial commercial payments
flowing its way from secret deals with cable and telecommunications
companies. Naturally, MetLife denies any inappropriate behavior, just
as it did before being assessed hundreds of millions in fines for
corrupt insurance-business practices last year" and "in 1997, we
(MetLife) entered into an agreement with RCN to install a cable
television and telephone infrastructure." RCN sure got quite about the
service we petitioned for at Queensbridge Houses! The TA had said
emphatically that they did NOT want bribery involved in the RCN-NYCHA
negotiations. Who knows, maybe that means we can NOT have competitive
cable TV at Queensbridge Houses because someone at NYCHA wants too much
money! RCN doesn't want to talk to us anymore regarding cable at
Queensbridge Houses. Did NYCHA tell them to keep their mouth shut about
dealings and to avoid a certain "controversial" person at Queensbridge
Houses? We have been told that in one Federal case involving NYCHA,
that a gag order has prevented one of the plaintiffs from talking to a
controversial person. RCN will be wiring Citylights (down Vernon Blvd)
for cable and internet. On the internet we read that in 1987 Donald
Manes' campaign manager was convicted of soliciting a $250,000 bribe
from Cablevision, which was seeking the deal to wire Queens, on his
boss's behalf. Someone Emailed us
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doi/html/pr121499.html to remind us of
NYCHA bribery. Email all your NYCHA dirt to nych...@yahoo.com.

GENERAL ELECTRIC SHOCKING NEWS and more big company dirt: You have
heard about illegal aliens smuggled into the USA and paid less then
minimum wage. Here is a novel twist. General Electric smuggled American
workers OUT of the country to pay them less then they would be paid in
the USA. A commercial may soon be shown where a White actor was
"Blackfaced" for a Ford Motors commercial rather then hire an
African-American. Call 1-800-392-3673 to tell Ford whether or not you
like that idea. During the summer, hundreds of people working for
Coca-Cola out of state were herded into a sweltering shack and exposed
to 100+ degree heat with no air-conditioning for more than 13 hours.
Child labor laws were disregarded, the only water available to drink
was out of garbage cans. The FDA regulates food and beverage
CONTAINERS. If metal cans, there may have been leachable lead at the
seams. If plastic, only "Food Grade Plastic" is allowed. That Nike is
unconscionable is demonstrated by the fact that Asians in Nike
factories, we learn on Usenet, make as little as $45 per month. Those
who are only half Asian may fare better, as Nike can afford to pay
Tiger Woods 100 million dollars. "Standing Up to the Swoosh" at
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0040/hsiao.shtml exposes how Nike
influences schools. The following PROCTOR & GAMBLE products are being
boycotted: Crest, Ivory and Tide. How come Associated has so few DIET
sodas. So many tenants REALLY need them! What to read more NYCHA stuff?
Buy "Street News" sold by the homeless. One newsstand that has Street
News is at the South East Corner of 8 Avenue and 42 Street across from
the Port Authority Bus Terminal. For even more dirt about NYCHA
scandals and from NYCHA whistleblowers go to
http://www.NYCHA-Spotlight.com/ Trace Magazine wrote tons of stuff
about Queensbridge Houses a while back.

114TH PRECINCT RODEO? Last year a Mexican rodeo bull was shot and
killed by 114th cops. This August the 114 dealt with escaped livestock
from Steinway meat market. Maybe the 114th could operate rodeos as a
tourist event for the area. The HA Police Bureau is being spread kinda
thin. Extra funds from HUD that should be going to Housing policing is
disappearing into the general police funding. That's why crime has not
gone down as much in NYCHA as it has in general. Giuliani appears to
have downgraded Housing police to level of part-time service. At the
Mayor's Film Office, we hear that falsified permits are filed. with
staff unconcerned. $850,000 will be spent on Queensbridge Park toilets.
Maybe they will be so nice and so many people will come to visit them
that there will be standing room only.

If slavery were still going on in the USA, would you be for it or
against it? Would you have helped bring slavery to an end if you could
have? Right now in The Sudan and Mauritania human beings are bought and
sold like cattle, forced to work at a master's whim, raped, branded,
beaten, even maimed to prevent escape. Go to
http://www.anti-slavery.org/ to learn more.



PHOTO OF OVERFLOWING DUMPSTER GOES HERE
*photo caption*
Why is NYCHA snubbing
Congressman Crowley
about the dumpsters?

* END *

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