Free Republic

Comrade Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, is starting to do all of the destructives things anyone with any brains could foresee. De Blasio is owned by two factions of the Left: the teacher’s union and the Working Families Party (WFP). The teachers union is closing in on an unheard of eight year contract. The teachers know they have to nail down their benefits now because things will be different when sanity returns to New York and de Blasio is shown the door. They looked at the stunts Wisconsin public service unions pulled and opted for guaranteed...

WASHINGTON — Republican strategists have settled on a new strategy in their fight to a keep Staten Island’s lone congressional seat in GOP hands: tie Democratic challenger Domenic Recchia to Mayor de Blasio at every turn.

If you're a New York multimillionaire, you now have another incentive to stay alive. A change this month in New York's estate tax, which was billed as tax relief for the wealthy, contains a hidden wrinkle that could leave some multimillionaires with a much bigger surprise tax upon their death. Certain estates could even wind up with a tax rate of 164 percent on portions of their estates, according to one tax expert. The changes were intended to ease the tax bill for wealthy New Yorkers and prevent them from fleeing to lower-tax states. A report from the Tax Foundation...

The state Health Department is failing to inspect many of New York’s abortion clinics — with some facilities escaping scrutiny for more than a decade, bombshell documents obtained by The Post reveal. Health inspectors regulate 25 diagnostic and treatment clinics and surgery centers that provide abortion services — though pro-choice advocates say there are 225 abortion service providers in New York state. Eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times — meaning once every four or six years. A total of just...

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,...