New York City

Long Island: fear of turbans

C'mon already. 9-11 was almost five years ago. When are people gonna knock it off already? From Newsday, May 13:

LI Sikh angered by terror suspicion
Indian immigrant Jaspal Arora, a religious Sikh, wears a turban everywhere he goes, including to morning workouts at the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center in Plainview.

NYC: firefighters sue over WTC illness

From Newsday, April 26:

Nine New York City firefighters sued the city and its fire pension fund yesterday saying they were denied disability pensions even after the department told them their breathing disorders sustained at Ground Zero had left them unfit to serve.

NYC: construction begins on "Freedom Tower"

New Yorkers are supposed to be celebrating this break in the long impasse which has stalled reconstruction at Ground Zero. And indeed Larry Silverstein's megalomania and greed have been an appalling spectacle. But, as we have repeatedly emphasized, rebuilding a skyscraper at the WTC site is a very bad idea, just as building the original Twin Towers was a very bad idea. The WTC helped transform New York from a working-class city of neighborhoods and industry to a sterile administrative clearinghouse for global finance and a culturally-cleansed playground for the rich. The new (and Orwellianly-named) "Freedom Tower" will only accelerate this process. And, obviously, as a hubristic symbol of American power, the old WTC invited terrorist attacks; so (we hate to say it) will the Freedom Tower--as is explicitly acknowledged by the unprecedented heavy hand given to the NYPD and security concerns generally in its very design. WW4 Report officially dissents from the celebrations. From Reuters, April 27:

Fear of music, pt. II

Somebody please wake us when this madness is over. From the New York Times, April 15:

Jazz Lover Fiddling With Bass Causes Bomb Scare on East Side
The easy listening habits of Grantley Richards met with a large police response early yesterday, shutting several Manhattan blocks and causing a brief panic.

NYC: anthrax paranoia dims Hindu Festival of Colors

Once again this year, joyous rituals traditionally held at the celebration of Phagwah, the Hindu Festival of Colors, in the Queens neighborhood of Richmond Hill were proscribed by official paranoia over anthrax attack. From Newsday, March 2:

Anthrax fears have forced organizers of the Phagwah Parade in Queens to curtail the use of powder and water during the festive Hindu celebration in Richmond Hill.

NYC: de-escalation in Critical Mass struggle?

From the Village Voice Power Plays blog, Feb. 25:

Critical Mass: NYPD Carries Smaller Stick This Week

by Sarah Ferguson

The NYPD switched up its game at Friday's Critical Mass ride. Instead of making mass arrests for protest charges like disorderly conduct and parading without a permit, cops cited cyclists with traffic violations, then let them go on their way.

NYC: legal victory in Critical Mass struggle

From the Village Voice's Power Plays blog, Feb. 15:

Judge: City Can't Stop Critical Mass Ride

by Sarah Ferguson

A judge today threw another monkey wrench in New York City's effort to stop the Critical Mass bike rides.

In a 24-page ruling issued late Wednesday morning, New York Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Stallman rejected the city's motion for a preliminary injunction to bar people from going on the monthly rides and gathering in Union Square without permits.

(Dubious) terror case opens in NYC

A jazz musician and a bookstore owner? OK, could be. But this smells to us like another sleazy FBI fishing expedition in which the only "al-Qaeda" connection was the undercover federal agent. These guys may have wanted to collaborate with al-Qaeda. But is wanting to a crime? Well, Britain just convicted an Islamic cleric for thought crimes. From the Lower Hudson Valley's Journal News, Feb. 9:

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