Free Republic

The tables have turned. Police are investigating the vandalism of the inflammatory sign at ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem over the weekend as a hate crime. The unlikely situation stands to paint the church’s controversial pastor, James David Manning, who frequently adorned his marquee with blatantly vicious messages, in a sympathetic light. …

Recently former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her voice to those who have long been urging the Republican Party to reach out to black voters. Not only is that long overdue, what is also long overdue is putting some time — and, above all, some serious thought — into how to go about doing it. Too many Republicans seem to think that the way to "reach out" is to offer blacks and other minorities what the Democrats are offering them. Some have even suggested that the channels to use are organizations like the NAACP and black "leaders" like Jesse...

Former congressman and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner — who has been looking for a new gig ever since he twice torpedoed his political career by sexting random women on the internet — has finally found a job. Beginning this week, Weiner will write a monthly political column (creatively titled, "Weiner!") for Business Insider.

The topic du jour on the left these days is inequality. But why does the left care about inequality? Do they really want to lift those at the bottom of the income ladder? Or are they just looking for one more reason to increase the power of government? If you care about those at the bottom then you are wasting your time and everyone else’s time unless you focus on one and only one phenomenon: the inequality of educational opportunity. Poor kids are almost always enrolled in bad schools. Rich kids are almost always in good schools. So what does...

Mayor de Blasio’s attention-drawing turns as an average Joe shoveling snow in front of his Park Slope home in January were premeditated, records show. Hizzoner’s schedule, obtained by The Post under a Freedom of Information Act request, shows the snow clearing was blocked out beforehand — and even planned from the outset to include his popular son’s cameo. “7:00 – 7:20 am: Snow Shoveling Front of Residence with Dante de Blasio,” reads the mayor’s schedule on January 3. A separate entry on January 22, following another blanketing of the city, shows a shorter shoveling shift was planned: “7:00-7:15 AM SNOW...

After assuming office in January, Mayor Bill de Blasio wasted no time mounting his assault on New York City’s charter schools. His recent decision to pull the plug on three previously approved charter schools has drawn praise from teachers unions. However, some supporters have accused him of not going far enough. This view displays an ignorance of school choice and a misguided understanding of the purpose of public education. Nothing exemplifies this ignorance better than the response made by Brooklyn City Councilman Vincent Gentile. Referring to one of the 14 charter schools that were permitted to move forward by de...

<p>Consider what passes for a scandal in New York City these days: The rich, conservative Koch family funding a wing of a city hospital. Wall Street types financing charter schools for poor kids in the South Bronx and Harlem. Non-union Walmart trying to open a store in a low-income neighborhood, which would deliver both cheaper goods and jobs to the locals.</p>

<p>Fox news reporting a large explosion in Harlem, possible building collapse etc.</p>

Live video feed. Prayers for those affected.

One of Gov. Cuomo’s top Republican supporters ignited an uproar Tuesday by comparing populist appeals targeting income inequality to arguments made by Nazis in pre-war Germany. Kenneth Langone, the billionaire co-founder of The Home Depot and a chairman of Republicans for Cuomo, made the remark when asked by Politico how the rich view the political arguments made by Mayor de Blasio and other liberals.

Abandoning a legal battle hard-fought by his predecessor, Mayor de Blasio on Tuesday agreed to have the city shell out more than $100 million to a group of 1,500 minority firefighter applicants who sued over FDNY entrance exams that were found to be biased. De Blasio made no secret of his desire to settle the controversial case upon taking office in January and the Vulcan Society and its lawyers took full advantage, scoring $98 million out of a $128 million cap on the city’s financial exposure. The generous settlement amount doesn’t include at least $3.7 million more the city will...

New York City reached an historic settlement with the Vulcan Society of black firefighters, agreeing to pay $98 million in back pay and benefits to minority FDNY applicants without acknowledging intentional discrimination at the fire department.

Saturday, March 08, 2014 The Black Hitler of Harlem Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog The Black Hitler was a Chicago community organizer who moved to New York. Somewhere along the way he picked up a gold lined cape, a purple turban and a stepladder on which he used to stand while giving speeches outside the stores of Harlem's dwindling Jewish community.  The cape and the turban were combined with Nazi style military shirt and jackboots, for the quixotic uniform of a man who is remembered today as a pioneering labor leader-- but was known back then...

Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. was convicted of extortion and soliciting bribes by a federal jury Thursday and immediately tossed in jail. The corrupt Brooklyn Democrat closed his eyes and held his head with both hands as the jury foreman pronounced him guilty of all 21 counts in the indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Capers then told the judge that Boyland, 43, broke the law even while on trial. FBI agents surveilled him driving in Brooklyn and Manhattan recently despite the suspensions of his license, registration and auto insurance. …

Mayor de Blasio is not interested in children’s getting a better education. If he were, he would endorse the charter schools and allow Cuomo to fund them. But he couldn't care less about quality education – otherwise, why turn against the charter schools that are educating minorities better than any of the other schools? De Blasio’s whole desire is to tax the rich. He has some twisted need to punish them. He has the communist hatred of wealth. He is a man who emotionally identified with the communists when he traveled to Cuba, Russia, and Nicaragua. He is a big...

New York's gubernatorial race got its first declared GOP candidate on Wednesday in the form of Rob Astorino, the Westchester county executive who announced via Web video that he would challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo in this year's election. "I'm tired of listening to the fairy tale that everything is just great when it's just the opposite. I'm tired of watching New York's decline," Mr. Astorino said in the six-and-a-half minute video. Mr. Astorino, 46 years old, emerged as a likely contender after winning re-election in November in heavily Democratic Westchester with 56% of the vote. The former radio host, however,...

The election of Bill de Blasio as New York’s mayor was a dream comes true for America’s progressives. Not only has one of their own grabbed the top job in the country’s biggest city, but his Working Families Party has total (48/3) control of the City Council to support him. There is now no progressive program de Blasio cannot put into place. He is limited only by his own imagination. Sure those “meanies” in Albany can throw a few road blocks in front of him and briefly stall his plans, but in the end he’ll get his way. The far...

A forthcoming study is challenging claims, repeated over and over in the media, that federal restrictions effectively froze gun research over the last two decades. The Crime Prevention Research Center study examined how a 1996 decision by Congress to strip funding for firearms research actually impacted the world of academia. To hear national media outlets tell it, the decision led to a drought in research from 1996 to 2013 -- when such funding was once again allowed. Stories from The Washington Post, NBC News, Reuters and other outlets all have claimed that Washington, with the backing of the National Rifle...

BOSTON (AP) -- Boston Mayor Martin Walsh is threatening to boycott the St. Patrick's Day parade unless organizers allow a group of gay military veterans to march, joining New York's mayor in protesting parade policies on gay groups. Walsh, the son of Irish immigrants, said Thursday he's been trying to broker a deal with the city's parade organizers to allow a gay veterans group sponsored by MassEquality to march in this year's parade. He said allowing gay groups to participate is long overdue. "It's 2014 - it's far beyond the time where we should be even having this discussion because...

LOCKPORT – Lockport police violated Paul A. Wojdan’s constitutional rights by counting the bullets in his gun and charging him with violating New York’s SAFE Act, Lockport City Judge William J. Watson ruled Wednesday. Watson dismissed a misdemeanor charge against Wojdan, filed because the magazine of his 9 mm Ruger handgun contained 10 bullets, more than the limit of seven bullets per magazine under the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act. On Dec. 31, 2½ months after Wojdan’s Oct. 12 arrest, Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny ruled that the seven-bullet rule was unconstitutional, the only portion of the...