I have always been a strong supporter of the police. They take on a difficult and important job and, though I see much room for improvement, some 90% of cops do about as good a job as anyone could.

But recently the level of police brutality in many cities in America, including NYC, has risen to insane levels. The bottom line is, cops, who are unionized and very definitely part of the 99%, are beating the crap out of fellow pro-union members of the 99% who have the nerve to exercise their Constitutional Rights by supporting unions and calling for the 1% to pay their fair share.

Right now I am about as angry at the police as I have ever been and am amazed that they are so willing to do the bidding of the 1% who actually treat them very badly. Don't they remember how Bloomberg treated them the last time they had to negotiate a new contract? I do. I was on the side of the cops then. But the cops seem to have forgotten who screwed them (Bloomberg and the 1%) and who stood by them (the very people who the cops are now beating the shit out of). Sorry, NYPD, but the only word I can find for what you are doing to the Occupy Wall Street movement and their supporters is "stupid." Yes. The cops are being stupid in alienating those who stood by them during the last contract negotiations. I personally will find it hard to stand next to the NYPD next time after the brutality and actually blatantly illegal treatment of the OWS protesters.

And I am not alone in this. The following comes from Democracy for America:

New York, May 5, 2012 On Monday, April 30, 2012, a major lawsuit was filed by four City Councilmembers and members of Occupy Wall Street against officials of the New York City government and police department. This case, Rodriguez et al v Winski, City of New York Et Al, raises very important issues and Democracy for NYC wishes to applaud and announce our strong support for the recommendations requested by the plaintiffs.

In recent times, members of DFNYC have witnessed firsthand how the NYPD systematically violates the First Amendment rights of citizens in the name of security. What happened on the night of November 15, 2011, when Occupy Wall Street protesters were evicted from Zuccotti park, was just one in a long line of incidents in recent years where the NYPD has shown an increasing willingness to use force and intimidation to prevent people from lawfully gathering to express their political views and protest. As the lawsuit states, “Police misconduct has flourished over the last twenty years in New York City and is once again reaching critical mass.”

The board of directors of DFNYC joins with New York City Councilmembers Leticia James, Ydanis Rodriguez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Jumaane Williams and the other plaintiffs in calling for, in particular, the authorization of a court-appointed monitor/auditor to review the past and present activities of the NYPD.

When the civil rights of our citizens are infringed upon by the government, independent oversight becomes imperative to the preservation of liberty and democracy. We urge all elected officials throughout the five boroughs to speak out in favor of more oversight of the New York City Police Department.

I notice my own councilmember, Steve Levin, has not joined in this lawsuit defending the rights of New Yorkers. Nor, I notice, has our so-called "Public Advocate," Bill de Blasio, who has time and time again acted like an advocate for developers rather than for the public, hasn't lifted a finger defending the rights of the public against police abuse.

For more about Democracy for NYC, click here.

In my most recent “Vines” column, I was a bit hard on council member Jumaane Williams; I would admit that. I even felt it was justified based on the information I was working with. So it wasn't at all surprising when he called me to defend his position. This column essentially delves into the gist of the council member's response.

Readers should note that it is not unusual for incoming council members, to replace community board members appointed by their predecessors. In fact, it is practically a norm -as these things go. I will suggest that if you haven't read my last column, then you should do so now before you move forward in this column. It will give you a better understanding of what I am writing about here.  read more »

I have been watching the unfolding WFP scandal with some interest, but have been waiting to comment. Partly I wasn't at first sure if we were talking minor technicalities that WFP ran afoul of or if we are talking about a deeper pattern of disregard for campaign finance laws. I am now thinking it is a deeper pattern of disregard for the law, or at least an attempt to skirt the laws, that we are talking about. [Couple of UPDATES added]

An article in City Hall News covers this developing scandal in considerable detail. Here is the breakdown they give of the scandal:  read more »