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On January 13, Robert González Nieves, archbishop of San Juan, revealed Pope Francis’ role in Barack Obama’s pardon of terrorist mastermind Oscar Lopez-Rivera. Speaking from the Cathedral of San Juan, Nieves announced that although the Holy Father made no public statement of his involvement, he had indeed worked behind the curtain on behalf of the unrepentant, bloody-handed Lopez-Rivera. The archbishop was pleased to say: “I know that there have been efforts made through diplomatic channels. The pope is very aware. We are grateful to the Holy Father for his support.” Papal complicity in this politically charged act received little notice...

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said today that she would “consider” proposing a law mandating that the local legislature contain a minimum number of women. Days after rolling out a $20 million plan to recruit more young women into city agencies and civic life, the speaker appeared on the Brian Lehrer show to lament underrepresentation of her gender in government. Ms. Mark-Viverito is one of just 14 female members of the 51-member Council—down from 18 a decade ago—and one of five term-limited in 2017. She was receptive to the notion of a quota, which a number of countries in Europe,...

The city will kick in half a million dollars to open and expand job centers for day laborers, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said Monday. The centers serve as hiring halls for mostly immigrant laborers who have traditionally gathered on street corners waiting for work, instead providing a safe spot where contractors can show up to hire people for construction, roofing, and other jobs. The $500,000 grant will go towards expanding an existing center in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and opening new ones in Queens and Staten Island.

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...

Taxpayers pay their salaries — but that hasn’t stopped two Bronx public defenders from appearing in a vile online rap video that urges black people to kill NYPD cops. The sickening video, for a rap called “Hands Up,” shows black men holding guns to cops’ heads and features the disgusting lyric, “For Mike Brown and Sean Bell, a cop got to get killed.”

The situation between New York City police and the Mayor’s office has clearly reached a critical point. While they have disagreed on several things in the recent past, there always seemed to be some level of cooperation remaining, or at least the willingness to maintain a public patina of such when the cameras were turned on. But after Bill de Blasio’s response in the wake of Eric Garner’s death, it seems that city’s finest have had enough. A police union in the Big Apple has asked their members to sign a waiver stating their wishes that Hizonor refrain from...

New York police union tells Mayor Blasio he is BANNED from funerals of cops killed on duty - after he told officers they had to change in the wake of Garner chokehold death The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association posted a form on its website Allowed members to sign a letter barring the mayor and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito from their service Say it's because of their 'consistent refusal' to show officers respect Goes on to add that their attendance would be considered an 'insult' De Blasio prompted anger last week when he said his black son Dante should be 'wary'...

Not over their dead bodies. Cops are warning Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Melissa ​Mark-​Viverito to stay away from their funerals should they be ​killed in the line of duty. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association distributed a flier to members, blaring: “DON’T LET THEM INSULT YOUR SACRIFICE!” Cops were encouraged to sign and submit the “Don’t Insult My Sacrifice” waiver to ban the cop-bashing pols from their funerals. “I, as a New York City police officer, request that Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito refrain from attending my funeral services in the event that I am...

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's bill to ban horse-drawn carriages reached the City Council on Monday, in a move to phase out the carriages that often give tours around Central Park. The legislation says that as of June 1, 2016, "it shall be unlawful to operate a horse-drawn vehicle in the city of New York or offer rides to the public on a vehicle drawn or pulled by a carriage horse." ... It also boosts the penalty for breaking horse-carriage rules to a maximum of $25,000 instead of the current $500. The proposed ban was introduced one day after...

Unlike his predecessor, left-wing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will not commit to rejecting a bill that would allow non-citizens to vote in city elections. In January, City Council member Council Daniel Dromm will reportedly introduce legislation that would grant non-citizens voting rights in local elections, hoping that the bill will have a better chance of passing now that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who opposed the bill, is no longer in office. “The legislation I’ve seen so far, I think, has a number of challenges and issues that have to be addressed, so I was not...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a measure that creates a municipal identification card that can now be used by illegal immigrants to access government services, rent an apartment and open a bank account. “Today we’re living up to our highest ideals, and today we’re saying that no one should be left out,” said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, calling the signing of the bill into law an “historic” moment, the New York Daily News reported. Ms. Mark-Viverito, along with fellow council members Carlos Menchaca and Daniel Dromm — all Democrats — said the new ID...

NEW YORK, April 17, 2014, (LifeSiteNews.com) – A New York City councilman has effectively told traditional marriage supporters they are “not welcome” in the Big Apple. In response to Chick-fil-A’s proposed plans to expand their business and set up restaurants in several locations, including New York City, Councilman Daniel Dromm told the Huffington Post that the fast-food chain would not be welcome in the most populous city in the country. Councilman Daniel Dromm “We don’t need bigots coming to New York City,” Dromm told HuffPost. “They are not welcome here unless they can embrace all of New York’s diverse community,...

That was a big wide smile on Bill de Blasio’s face the other night, and why not? He sure as hell earned one. He was the only Democrat in a cluttered primary field to recognize—and then to capitalize on—the lesson Barack Obama taught the nation in 2008: That is, it is no longer necessary to do important things to win high office; it is only necessary to talk about doing important things. Obama rode that insight into the White House, and de Blasio—bless his progressive heart—is at the cusp of the New York City mayoralty. … (W)hat de Blasio really...

New York City could soon become the first major city in the country to give non-citizens the right to vote. The proposal, which would allow certain non-citizens to vote in local elections, appears to have a veto-proof majority in the New York City Council—enough to overcome opposition by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. As hearings on the proposal get underway Thursday, supporters are optimistic it will become law by the end of the year and believe it will have an impact beyond the five boroughs. “It’s going to be huge and just imagine the implications that are involved here,” Councilman Daniel Dromm,...

Officials and various candidates for office joined in the flood of outrage tonight following the not guilty verdict in the racially-charged trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. Former Comptroller Bill Thompson, the mayoral race’s only black candidate, released and tweeted a terse, one-line statement slamming the decision, which was read tonight just before 10 p.m. “Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black,” declared Mr. Thompson. “There was no justice done today in Florida.” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn further slammed the acquittal as “a shocking insult to his family and everyone seeking justice...

ACORN, a social justice organization with roots in [New Orleans], battles a string of scandals. The announcement stuck to a wall outside the entrance to ACORN's local office in the 2600 block of Canal Street quietly signals the trouble afoot. In English and Spanish, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now tells walk-up clients that ACORN's housing office has shut itself down for two weeks to immerse itself "in an intensive training program." The sign is a symptom of a tumultuous week in the history of a controversial poor people's social justice movement -- one founded by a New...