Free Republic

No wonder he doesn’t think there’s a problem. The police have been laboring to keep Mayor de Blasio in a bum-free bubble — clearing nuisance-causing vagrants from his view at Gracie Mansion and as he travels in the city. On Wednesday, two hours before de Blasio was due to walk through Washington Square Park, cops arrived en masse to clear out the quality-of-life-ruining bums who drink from paper bags, sprawl on benches and pee in public. “They had to clear all the homeless out before he got there,” for a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner at the NYU Islamic Center, said one...

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (left) is moving forward with a controversial plan to decriminalize such offenses as urinating in public — part of an effort to rollback on criminal offenses used by police to stop and detain suspects under the “broken windows” approach of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. Critics have charged that the murder rate and other crimes are already up under Mayor Bill de Blasio due to the tensions with police and new policies against stop and frisk maneuvers. Mark-Viverito appears to believe that criminalizing urination is only a pretext for police stops or a minor offense for the...

Bums across the city hailed Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday for relaxing enforcement against homeless panhandlers, saying it hasn’t been this good for them in years. “I want to thank de Blasio for taking it easy on us. It’s easier for me to get by. Because of him, nobody bothers me,” said Phil Zasel, 63, who was hanging out near Bellevue Hospital with several sacks of belongings. “It’s better out here now. It’s the best time to be homeless. The weather is nice. I feel like I’m in California. So I’d rather be out here until it gets cold.”

The New York Post has HAD IT. Take a gander at its cover today:

Cops are hunting the creep who raped and assaulted a 21-year-old woman in the Port Authority Bus Terminal parking garage, police said on Saturday. The brute raped and then beat the woman, lacerating her face and body in the parking garage on Eighth Ave. and W. 42nd St on Friday at 1 a.m., according to the police. The suspect was spotted on security cameras sauntering into the garage's sixth floor elevator and then examining his knuckles before he ambles out, the footage shows.

Here’s an up-close look at a quality-of-life offense the City Council wants to decriminalize. This urinating vagrant turned a busy stretch of Broadway into his own private bathroom yesterday – an offense that would result in a mere summons if Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her pals get their way. Wrapped in rags and a Mets blanket the hobo wandered into traffic at around 10:30 a.m. and relieved himself as cabs, cars and buses whizzed by between West 83rd and 84th streets on the Upper West Side.

There’s a new homeless shelter in Alphabet City — Tompkins Square Park. The East Village green space has become an encampment for the surging number of city vagrants, with many sleeping through the day amid dog walkers and moms with strollers. “I really don’t enjoy the beauty of the park anymore because I’m too scared to walk through it,” said NYU student Christine Gal, 19, who lives nearby. “I would say it has doubled in the last six months.” Gal added that she has been verbally harassed by “aggressive” bums and now avoids the park at night. A parks worker...

If you’ve been out and about in Manhattan over the past six weeks and you have eyes and ears, you know something’s happening — something worrisome. The urban streetscape is ­degrading. Take a walk down Broadway on the Upper West Side from the 100s to the 70s, as I did Sunday, and you’ll see it everywhere. It seems every barren storefront with a rental sign in the window has ­become impromptu outdoor housing for a homeless person. There are many such storefronts — ironic signs of prosperity, not recession. Rents have risen so high that small businesses often can’t afford...

Officials say they’re eliminating cash bail for thousands of New Yorkers accused of misdemeanor and non-violent felonies in an effort to divert them from the Rikers Island jail complex. An $18 million plan to be unveiled Wednesday will allow judges to instead require that people accused of certain crimes be monitored while they wait for their trial. …

By Richard Pollock Israel News AgencyNew York — July 3, 2015 … Civil liberty advocates are jumping all over New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s order to “review” all of Donald Trump’s city contracts because of his recent comments on Mexican immigrants. “This is not the American Way,” observed Alan Dershowitz, Harvard’s most distinguished civil liberties law professor, about the chilling effect de Blasio’s action could have on freedom of speech. “De Blasio seems to put himself directly, squarely in conflict with the First Amendment,” he told TheDCNF in an interview. At his presidential campaign kickoff, Trump said immigrants...

City now looking at Trump’s golf deal in the Bronx as fallout continues from inflammatory comments against Mexicans. Hours after Macy’s abruptly ended its business relationship with Donald Trump, PIX11 News has learned that Trump’s golf course deal with the City of New York involving the much revered Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point is being examined in the fallout of Trump’s controversial remarks regarding Mexicans. Mayor Bill de Blasio telling PIX11 News the following in a statement, “We are reviewing Trump contracts with the City. Donald Trump’s remarks were disgusting and offensive, and this hateful language has no place...

Mayor de Blasio lit Gov. Cuomo up Tuesday with a double-barreled blast of political payback. In stunningly frank language, the mayor accused the governor of deliberately thwarting his Albany agenda out of political pique and revenge — and hurting New Yorkers in the process. Hours before leaving on a vacation out West, de Blasio called reporters into his office and spoke calmly in a calculated decision to take off the gloves and reveal the “frenemies” were really enemies.

I’m guessing this is the new face of equality. Or at least a redefinition of sanity. In any case, welcome to the Big Apple, employers! (From the NY Daily News) In front of emotional supporters, Mayor de Blasio signed legislation Monday that will prohibit employers from inquiring about a candidate’s criminal record prior to a job offer.“Today I see hope for people like me,” said Marilyn Scales, 52, of the Bronx, who said she never has had a full-time job because of her record for dealing heroin. As crazy as this may sound, there’s actually a bit more to...

Hate crimes have spiked in New York City in 2015, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) statistics released Sunday—particularly against Jews. Hate crimes overall rose 9%, with 127 reported crimes during the first week of June in 2015 compared to 116 at the same time in 2014, the New York Post reports. Of those, anti-Semitic attacks rose 27% during that period, with 56 over 44 last year. …

The New York Post has learned that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is going to “ramp” up the city’s war against smoking…at home.If you live in New York, here is where you city tax dollars are going: The administration is planning to select and pay four health-advocacy groups $9,000 apiece to pressure landlords and developers to prohibit smoking in their apartment complexes so neighboring tenants don’t inhale secondhand smoke. And the result of this campaign is: …smokers would be barred from lighting up in one of their last sanctuaries: their own living quarters. Smoking is already banned in public...

Mayor de Blasio is ramping up the city’s war against smoking — at home, The Post has learned. The administration is planning to select and pay four health-advocacy groups $9,000 apiece to pressure landlords and developers to prohibit smoking in their apartment complexes so neighboring tenants don’t inhale secondhand smoke. That means smokers would be barred from lighting up in one of their last sanctuaries: their own living quarters. Smoking is already banned in public places, including bars and restaurants, workplaces, sports venues and parks.

How do you fix a failing high school? Change the grades. Under pressure to boost student achievement, the state-designated “out of time” Automotive HS in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, has resorted to rigging Regents exam scores. The failing scores of five students who took the Regents in January were switched to passing scores of 65 or higher on their transcripts, the city Department of Education has confirmed. One junior saw his scores upped to pass two exams required for graduation — Living Environment (biology) and algebra — even though he had failed both classes. The student insisted he deserved a break on...

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett brought down the house at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel on Wednesday night. But Democratic insiders were also buzzing over who wasn’t in the high-powered house — Bill de Blasio. SNIP Clinton gave an “informal speech.” But witnesses said the biggest moment of the night was a symbolic kiss-off by Clinton to de Blasio when Public Advocate Letitia James — who’s first in line of succession to the mayor — was given the “most coveted speaking spot of the evening,” introducing the singers. SNIP

The New York City Police Department unveiled a new policing strategy Thursday meant to keep crime low while also improving the at-times strained relationship between officers and the communities they serve. The program, dubbed “One City: Safe and Fair Everywhere,” is being launched after an 18-month department review by Police Commissioner William Bratton. He declared the plan will give New Yorkers “a more intimate” relationship with police officers by fixing cops in particular neighborhoods, allowing them to get to know local residents. Some officers will now patrol the same beat day after day, building a rapport with residents who would...

Four people were shot at a Harlem deli Wednesday afternoon, police said. The gunman opened fire inside the 20 Stars deli on East 132nd Street near Madison Avenue around 3:30 p.m., cops said. A 25-year-old man was shot in the head and a 17-year-old man was shot in the torso. The chaos then spilled outside, with the shooter letting off several more shots