NYPD Inspector General Act and The Mayoral Candidates

Who will watch the watchers?

I've been following the recent news stories about Mayoral candidates debating whether the NYPD should have an IG.  And absolutely, it should.  My favored candidate Bill deBlasio has been outspoken in support of an NYPD Inspector General "with teeth".  From Councilmember Brad Lander's website, here's a few reasons why we need an IG for NYPD:

Why do we need an Inspector General for the NYPD? 

• Inspectors General are a valuable and standard feature of government agencies.  All federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies (including the CIA, FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice) and most NYC agencies (including the NYC Departments of Education, Parks, HPD, FDNY) have an IG. 
• Inspectors General perform investigations to help ensure agencies are following the law; to identify waste, fraud, and abuse; to find deficiencies in agencies' programs that limit the ability to achieve their mission; to recommend corrective action; and to ensure appropriate transparency and oversight.
• Decades-long concerns about corruption, as well as more recent concerns about potential civil liberties violations in the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policies and the NYPD Intelligence Unit, reveal the need for an NYPD IG.
• While the Civilian Complaint Review Board and Internal Affairs Bureau investigate individual cases, no mechanism exists to provide for independent, secure investigations to ensure that NYPD policies and procedures are operating effectively and consistently with the law.
• The Los Angeles Police Department has an IG, and all five of the next-largest municipal police departments have some form of independent oversight with subpoena power.

Chris Quinn claims to support a bill, but has not yet allowed a vote on the act. There is some concern over how robust a bill she supports, given her close ties to Bloomberg and her proposed NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, who both oppose it. 

Other candidates are embarrassing themselves on the issue. John Liu, opposed (though to his credit, also opposes stop and frisk). Bill Thompson made the almost unbelievably stupid suggestion that the proposed IG report to the Police Commissioner.

That's ridiculous alright.  It's also a damning indictment of Thompson's thought processes.  

Not surprisingly, the GOP candidates are opposed.

Given that there is a veto-proof majority in favor of the Inspector General Act, what is Chris Quinn waiting for? 

Red Hook a Destination for Eating, Exploring

Via Brownstoner, the NYT food critic has taken a look at Red Hook, and
likes what he sees.

Now that the weather is looking better, I'm really looking forward to
our favorite leisure activity: walks around Brooklyn. Red Hook is a
favorite jaunt of ours, including Valentino Park, Fairway, Hope and Anchor, the food vendors, Steve's Key Lime Pies, etc.

Of course the walk to Brooklyn Bridge Park has become a staple as well, and just gets better every year.

Side note: coming home late Sunday afternoon, passed PokPok. The line
was insane. That guy should consider branching out with more NY
locations.  The Brooklyn Greenway is going to make that stretch of Columbia street more and more a destination for walkers and bikers.  I'm looking forward to the forthcoming connections through Atlantic Basin down to Valentino Park.

Game of Thrones Actor's Ear Bitten Off During Brutal Attack

Life imitates art!

The incident occurred after the six-foot, five-inch actor asked fellow
guests at a Travelodge to keep the noise down. The two rambunctious
guests disagreed with Mantle and, rather than quieting down, decided
instead to bite the actor's ear off.

I feel for the actor, but it's just the sort of thing that would
happen to a GoT character … especially the Greatjon.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Stealth Political PAC Is Reportedly Raising $50 Million | Betabeat

Given that Mark Zuckerberg is our generation's poster boy for avarice, I would be shocked senseless if he wasn't a Republican. 

Mark Zuckerberg–fresh off his fundraiser for Republican governor Chris Christie!–is working on launching the group, along with his close friend Joe Green, a former Harvard University roommate. Mr. Green was previously involved with NationBuilder.com and Causes.com and is now an entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz. (As we noted last fall, founder Marc Andreessen himself contributed exclusively to a number of Republican campaigns, after previously supporting Clinton-Gore.)

But the tech and Republican connections don't stop there.

 

GoogaMooga Expands To 3 Days With Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, Flaming Lips And Foie Gras Doughnuts: Gothamist

Great googly-moogly.

10 Years On

The intolerable media situation persists. 

Tom Tomorrow

Laughing beats crying. 

The Strange Tale of a Court Street Stabbing

And a reminder of the sad state of our mental heath care system.

Court Street resident Ron Lindo told The Brooklyn Paper that Jackson
Alexandre jabbed him in the shoulder inside their apartment at about 8
pm after Lindo told Alexandre that he should seek psychiatric help.

"I noticed that he was stressed for the past couple of days. He was
very withdrawn and paranoid," said a stitched-up Lindo, who lived with
Alexandre at the second-floor residence near Hamilton Avenue for the
past year. "I wanted him to go to the hospital. I figured he needed
some kind of treatment."