Charles Barron

Kimani Gray's Mother and City Council Member Seek Indictments from Brooklyn DA

The mother of a Brooklyn teen gunned down by two Brooklyn police officers stepped out of a meeting with the district attorney Thursday to deliver harsh words for a department she believes is deeply racist. Read more: Everybody Wants a Piece of Kimani Gray Carol Gray, the mother of Kimani Gray, a 1 ... More >>

Everybody Wants a Piece of Kimani Gray

How a boy's death became street theater in Flatbush

UPDATE: City Council Committee Votes in Favor of Revised Minority Business Law

The amended Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise bill is headed to the Mayor's Office after the city council voted 45 to 2 yesterday in favor of the measure. Among several improvements, the amended Intro-911-A bill lifts the $1 million cap on M/WBE contracts and implements additional accoun ... More >>

Following City Hall's Vote to Approve NYU 2031 Expansion, Greenwich Village Residents Plan their Next Move

It felt like it was over yesterday even before the Greenwich Village residents in the balcony started booing and chanting, "Chin and Quinn did us in," before Council Speaker Christine Quinn called on NYPD to remove the hecklers from the chamber, before one last old, diminutive woman wailed, "Shame o ... More >>

City Council Gives Preliminary Greenlight to New York University Expansion Plan

After a tense five years between Greenwich Village residents and NYU, it seems the battle over the university's 2031 expansion plan might be coming to an end.Today, the City Council gave a preliminary thumbs up to the university's expansion plan, leading up to the decisive Council vote on the issue ... More >>

The 'Black/Gay' Divide Continues, as Pro-Gay Marriage Hakeem Jeffries Beats Anti-Gay Charles Barron 3 to 1

Hakeem Jeffries beat Charles Barron nearly three to one yesterday in the Democratic primary for the open Eighth Congressional District seat being vacated by Ed Towns. We've been watching this race closely for a few reasons. First, we couldn't help it. Living in Fort Greene, we've gotten a good 30 d ... More >>

New Yorkers Vote In Congressional Primaries Today

Between the weirdly unseasonable timing and the minimal press attention, you might not know it, but today is primary day in New York's congressional and senate races. Given the city's one-party monoculture, the primary races are generally where he action is. Here's a quick guide to the races being ... More >>

Former KKK Leader David Duke Endorses NY Councilman Charles Barron for Congress

In a somewhat strange turn of events, the former leader (that's "Grand Wizard" to you) of the Ku Klux Klan has deemed it fitting to endorse New York's City Councilman Charles Barron in his race for a national Congressional seat. In the endorsement video (if you can manage to get through all 8.5 mi ... More >>

City Council Presses Dept. of Education Officials on Controversial Co-Location Policy

After fielding criticisms earlier this week about the city's policy of shutting down failing schools, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the Department of Education took heat yesterday for the city's frequent practice of co-locating multiple schools in the same building. At an Education Committee hearing yes ... More >>

Charles Barron on Ramarley Graham and Trayvon Martin: 'This Madness Must Stop'

As New York and the rest of the nation demand answers about Trayvon Martin's death, Councilmember Charles Barron delivered a message on the steps of City Hall this afternoon that was alternatively angry and somber. Barron, joined by Ramarley Graham's parents and the family of Jateik Reed, asked t ... More >>

Occupy Wall Street Re-Occupies Foreclosed Home in East New York: A Report From the Scene

Nick Pinto​Occupy Wall Street organizers ushered in a new phase of their movement yesterday when about 400 people participated in a collaborative takeover to re-occupy a vacant foreclosed home in East New York for a homeless family of four. The afternoon's event, part of a collaborative Nati ... More >>

CUNY Students and Unions Protest as Board of Trustees Passes Tuition Hike

CUNY students held a rally outside of Baruch College today as the board of trustees met to vote on proposed tuition hikes. The NYPD set up barricades and the school cancelled afternoon classes in anticipation of the protest, which attracted several hundred people including a large union contingent a ... More >>

Today in El Diario: Stop Handcuffing Kids!

​Parents against handcuffing children A group of activists, parents, and politicians gathered Thursday to demand an end to handcuffing students with behavior problems, the Spanish-language daily reports.  City Council member Charles Barron told the media that Department of Education  offi ... More >>

Charles Barron on Black's Ouster: Three Months 'Wasted'

​There are few bigger critics of Cathie Black than Councilman Charles Barron, who went so far as to get arrested protesting the school closings she presided over during her brief tenure as Chancellor. Yet Barron is not taking any pleasure or claiming victory with her ouster. We caught up with ... More >>

Obama a "Mouthpiece" For Racist American Policy, City Councilman Charles Barron Says

​Well, we guess the era of good feelings between President Barack Obama and City Councilman Charles Barron is officially over. Barron, a Brooklyn councilman not known for subtlety, recently accused Obama of being a "mouthpiece for a racist, imperialistic American foreign policy controlled by ... More >>

Andrew Cuomo and Black Voters -- The Key to his Father's Victory, Will They Help the Son?

​Having set the national stage for the Carl Paladino roll-out yesterday, with CNN citing the Times as their reason for interviewing him, the paper did a nosedive today on the Sienna and Marist polls that rebut the Quinnipiac numbers that were featured in a front page story the day before. Th ... More >>

Barron Snares a Vote for Council Speaker

Brooklyn city councilman Charles Barron launched a long-shot campaign for City Council Speaker this afternoon and it was a one-man, one-vote affair: 48 votes for incumbent speaker Christine Quinn; one vote - Barron's own - for Barron. Still, the Nehru-suited Barron pulled no punches. He was running, ... More >>

MTA Passes New Doomsday Budget (Updated)

The MTA board just voted to pass that new budget with service cuts. MTA Chairman Jay Walder "stressed the preliminary nature of this proposal," says Second Avenue Sagas, which live-tweeted the meeting. SAS says board members stressed their "legal obligation to pass a balanced budget for 2010" befor ... More >>

Charles Barron Celebrates Replacement of 9/11-Damaged Building With Shouting Match

​CUNY's Fiterman Hall, damaged by the 9/11 attacks, was finally torn down this week, and a groundbreaking for a new Hall held today. Unfortunately it wasn't the solemn event people were expecting. Our favorite councilmember, Charles Barron, expressed resentment at his seating arrangements and ... More >>

Barron To Run for Speaker?

​By Grace Smith "I would be an excellent speaker," Charles Barron, the Democratic councilman from Brooklyn said today, and if another person of color doesn't run against Christine Quinn in January, he will. "We need someone to be a check on the Mayor, not a deputy mayor," he said over the ... More >>

Barron Enraged at Bill de Blasio's Black Wife in Flyer

​We thought the mailer for Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio featuring his wife Chirlane -- who is black -- and their kids was cute, as the headline "He Gets It" could be interpreted all sorts of ways depending on the constituency. But councilmember Charles Barron -- who is black -- con ... More >>

BREAKING: Obama Fried Chicken Won't Back Down

When we first noticed an Obama Fried Chicken in Harlem last month, we just thought it was cute. Who knew it would become such a tsimmis, with councilmember Charles Barron threatening to lead demonstrations against OFCs in Brooklyn and Harlem because "Fried chicken, watermelon and minstrels are part ... More >>

Case Against Term Limits Overturn Thrown Out of Court

A case requesting reinstatement of term limits, brought by councilmembers Bill De Blasio, Charles Barron, Tish James et alia and which began in Brooklyn on January 5, has been thrown out of court. Plaintiffs argued that the council's overturn of the limits was a violation of the civil rights of vot ... More >>

Palestinian Supporters, Jon Stewart Dis Mayor

A pro-Palestinian demonstration was held at City Hall yesterday, WCBS reports, and part of the entertainment was a chance to throw shoes at a picture of Michael Bloomberg. The larger point was to criticize Bloomberg for his implication that New York supported Israel in its conflict with Gaza. "He d ... More >>

Oddo, Barron Have "Shouting Match" in Council Session

Michael Bloomberg's Velvet Coup

Is Mayor Mugabe an outrageous comparison?

Campaign Finance Board Fines Barron, Palma and Four Others

Robert Mugabe Meets Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Double Secret Probation

Police fork over secret RNC documents that make it plain there's plenty more

The Gropes of Wrath

The NYPD loves touching black men—writer Nicholas Powers on being a stop-and-frisk virgin

Sean Bell Rally: 'Time to Get Hot'

Shooting Rally: Public Enemy No. 1?

Theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!

Peace March Veers Way Left

Black-led protest challenges capitalism, imperialism, and New York's very rich mayor

Children Come Home to Roots

March Has Strong Words for Rap Music and Gangsta Youth

Analyze This!

Italians Iced From Federal Judicial Appointments

A Seven-Year Ricochet

With an Eye Lost, a Police Shooting Victim Waits for Justice

Ashcroft Defied on City Hall Steps

Telling Ray Kelly to Protect the Constitution

Mugabe's Victims: Mostly Black

Charles Barron Calls It 'One of the Most Stable Countries in Africa'

Harlemites March

Anti-War Rally Eyes Troubles at Home

New Year's Grief

'Justified' Shootings Spotlight Police Policy Issues

Land of Fear, Rape, and Hunger

The City Council Welcomes a Dictator

Getting Back on the Bus

Black New Yorkers Roll to Washington for Slave Reparations

No Masses, No Movement

Black Boomers Shout Reparations in the Court—But Go Silent in the 'Hood

Incarcerate or Educate?

Youth Rally to Halt Millions for Juvenile Facility Expansion

Agenda Item: Slave Reparations

Robber Barron

Outside Candidate Hopes to Take 42nd CD From Machine

Bailey Killing: Feds Clear Diallo Cop

But Family Seeks to Reopen Case

Raising Patrick Bailey

The painful journey for justice for an unsung victim of alleged police brutality