Free Republic

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took off the gloves in his battle with education reformers, rescinding an agreement for the city to share space with several public charter schools. The move undercuts educators, parents and some 700 students at four schools, including Harlem Success 4, one of the public charter school movement’s top success stories, and two set to open in the fall. While agreements at those schools were rescinded, expansion of a fourth school was also blocked. The schools were to operate rent-free in city-owned facilities under deals backed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ardent supporter...

Mayor de Blasio’s SUV was caught on camera speeding through Queens and blowing through two stop signs Thursday — just two days after he announced a sweeping street-safety plan. The mayor — who was riding shotgun on the way back to City Hall from a pothole-filling photo op — was twice clocked going 15 mph over the speed limit by a WCBS/Channel 2 news crew. The two-car caravan also ran past two stop signs without even tapping the brakes and changed highway lanes without signaling, the CBS video shows. De Blasio’s wild ride came after his pledge to personally abide...

Now he’s jaywalking! Mayor de Blasio and his security detail crossed a Brooklyn street against the light Friday on his way to his morning workout – just a day after his SUV blew through two stop signs and was speeding in Queens. Exclusive video taken by The Post caught the mayor — dressed in a “Brooklyn” sweatshirt, slacks and sneakers — chatting on his cellphone as he sauntered across 11th Street on 6th Avenue in Park Slope, ignoring the orange hand on the traffic signal that clearly warns pedestrians not to cross. In January, NYPD precincts launched an aggressive jaywalking...

Just days after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an aggressive plan to prevent traffic deaths, CBS 2 cameras caught the driver of a car carrying the mayor violating a number of traffic laws. As CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday, the mayor’s two-car caravan was seen speeding, blowing through stop signs, and violating other traffic laws. Kramer reported that if the driver of the lead car, which carried the mayor in its passenger seat, would have racked up enough points to get his license suspended if he’d been ticketed. When the mayor announced his 62-point safe streets initiative, which includes...

Appearing together in Church, Mayor de Blasio dialed down the temperature Sunday in his ongoing clash with Gov. Cuomo over how to fund universal prekindergarten. Speaking at a church service for attendees of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus in Albany, the mayor did not mention at all his plans to fund it with a tax on the wealthy while stressing the need for universal Pre-K. “We know the direction,” de Blasio said. “We all have to work together at it. And I know we will because the public is realizing, the public is realizing that if...

New York's dishonest governor, Andrew Cuomo, has made it eminently clear that there is no place for pro-life voters, or gun owners, in his sorry excuse for a state. This, along with the resounding failure of even moderate Democrats to distance themselves from this individual, shows there is no place for gun owners, Catholics, Orthodox Jews, or Evangelical Christians in the Democratic Party. New York State's problems have a clearly identifiable source. Votes from the Big Rotten Apple put individuals like Andrew Cuomo, his father Mario, and Emperor's VIP Club Client 9 into office. Michael Bloomberg was a Kim Jong...

Ten inches of snow. School buses colliding with cars. Half empty schools. “It’s absolutely a beautiful day out there,” beamed New York Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. The clueless chancellor added insult to inclement weather with that head-scratching remark at a news conference Thursday. She and Mayor de Blasio were defending the decision to keep schools open as a snowstorm bombarded the five boroughs. They tried to fend off criticism that came from everyone from elected officials to students to weatherman Al Roker. “Unlike some cities, we don’t shut down in the face of adversity,” said de Blasio, noting that New...

Faced with a blizzard of criticism from angry parents forced to trudge with their kids to school through a nor’easter that dumped up to three inches of snow an hour on the Big Apple, a seemingly out-of-touch Chancellor Carmen Fariña defended the call to keep classes open Thursday — blindly declaring it “a beautiful day out there” as wet flakes and freezing rain continued to pelt New Yorkers. Fariña and her head-in-a-snowdrift boss, Mayor de Blasio, scrambled to explain why school buses were rolling and kids sliding through the blinding storm, with Hizzoner trying to pin the blame on the...

**SNIP** When a reporter brought up a ticket-fixing scandal within the NYPD that erupted during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s tenure, de Blasio’s got snappy. “I don't even understand the parallel. Ticket fixing is illegal, period. Making an inquiry is perfectly appropriate, ticket fixing is illegal,” he shot back at the reporter. **SNIP** Asked if he would do the same again if a similar situation arose, de Blasio didn’t say no. “I would make my decisions on a case by case basis,” he said.

The voter turnout on Election Day was a measly 24 percent, the lowest in more than half a century. With paper ballots still to be counted, the Board of Elections reported 1,026,169 ballots cast in a city with 4.3 million registered voters...

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has been criticized for putting children at risk by failing to declare a snow day as blizzards hit the city on Wednesday. Teacher's unions and elected officials called the mayor's decision a 'mistake' as schools were kept open despite New York's governor declaring a state of emergency. NBC weather anchor Al Roker even took time out from his Olympic coverage to blast the mayor's snow policy, saying: 'It’s going to take some kid or kids getting hurt before this goofball policy gets changed.'

City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Wednesday criticized Mayor de Blasio for personally intervening when a politically connected preacher pal was busted by cops — saying “the mayor shouldn’t be involved in any way when someone gets arrested.” “It’s my sense that good intentions — trying to obviously be concerned about a bishop — is certainly something that I’m sure he felt,” Stringer said after a City Hall budget briefing. “But I think the rule is mayors should not get involved in any way about somebody’s arrest. It can only be problematic.” “Once a mayor makes a call like that, it...

The further left a radical politician wants to go, the more likely he is to wrap his agenda in a mainstream Republican brand. In his interview with Bill O’Reilly, Obama compared himself to Nixon (not for the reason most Republicans would expect) and in his State of the City address, Bill de Blasio compared himself to Fiorello H. La Guardia; a former Republican mayor of New York City. The constant mentions of La Guardia, a universally popular figure, were a poor mask for a radical address filled with ugly divisive rhetoric, class warfare and schemes that will bankrupt the city....

One day after Mayor de Blasio suggested New York City be allowed to set its own minimum wage, Gov. Cuomo shot down the idea as economically damaging to the entire state. Cuomo told a radio interviewer that having municipalities set their own, competing wage rates would create a “chaotic situation” and negatively “cannibalize” New York. The mayor needs Albany’s approval to increase the minimum wage, now set at $8 an hour.

Mayor de Blasio made a call to a top NYPD spokeswoman about the arrest of a pal who was key to helping him in the black vote last year – and the guy was spared a night in jail. Bishop Orlando Findlayter, pastor of New Hope Christian church in Queens, was pulled over at 11:21 p.m. Monday in East Flatbush, Brooklyn for making a left turn without signaling, according to the Wall Street Journal. When cops ran his license, they found two warrants issued on Jan. 16 for failing to appear in court for prior protest arrests. He was arrested...

Following through on a campaign pledge, Mayor de Blasio said Monday that he’ll push to create municipal ID cards so illegal immigrants don’t have to “live their lives in the shadows.” While the cards would be available to all New Yorkers, they would be aimed at undocumented immigrants who don’t have access to bank accounts, library cards and even memberships at Costco because they can’t produce official photo ID. The cards could be used to secure apartment leases and MTA senior passes. But they couldn’t be used for government benefits not otherwise available. “To all of my fellow New Yorkers who...

<p>Newly-minted Mayor of New York City Bill De Blasio is calling for school closures on two Muslim holidays and the Lunar New Year.</p>

Who could have predicted that electing a Dinkins aide whose only calling card was viral videos made by his obnoxious son and junkie daughter running on a 70s platform of class warfare, racial tensions and empowering criminals would backfire?

Bill de Blasio has added two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, but isn’t on board with adding the Hindu festival of Diwali. As usual, this isn’t about diversity, it’s about Muslim Privilege. A spokesman for the Indian community appealed to the mayor to recognize the Hindu holiday.“We are disappointed. We’ve been trying for a long time … It’s very important for the community,” said Dr. Shashi Shah of the Association of Indians in America.But he said he’d move forward with closing schools for Lunar New Year and for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, Muslim holy days.“It is complicated in...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is going against the grain yet again. The newly elected mayor says that he will not take part in this year’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade because organizers won’t allow participants to carry gay pride signs, CBS New York reports.