Peter Vallone Jr.

The Ghost of Anthony Weiner's Rent-Stabilized Past (UPDATED)

"Why No Tenant Should Vote for Anthony Weiner," read the headline in May's issue of Metropolitan Council on Housing. The op-ed, written by tenant advocate Michael McKee of the Tenants PAC, highlights a 1994 flip-flop by the then-councilman on rent stabilization--a term that has slowly evaporated fro ... More >>

New York City Parks Are Hot Spots For Rapists. Bill de Blasio Credits NYPD "Blind Spots"

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio says NYPD "blind spots" are partially to blame for a recent spike in sexual assaults in city parks. To fix the problem, de Blasio says the cops need to start tallying park-crime data.De Blasio's suggestion comes just days after a 31-year-old woman was nea ... More >>

For the First Time in 20 Years, New York's Crime Rate Is on the Rise

While Bloomberg brags about his record, the city's crime rate is on the rise

Stop and Frisk Controversy...Pol Might Be Overshooting The Mark

City Councilman Peter Vallone offered an interesting claim in yesterday's tab. He said a stop and frisk bill being considered by the council could cost the city $1 billion a year. We think he might be over-stating things. Vallone, the chair of the council's public safety committee, did not offer a ... More >>

Grace Meng Raises $300,000 for Congressional Race; Says it Will Be a Historic Campaign

Queens Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who would be New York's first Asian-American member of Congress, has raised $300,000 in ten days. Obviously, she's thrilled. "We are definitely excited. I think this is going to be a historical campaign that people all throughout New York and the country are lookin ... More >>

Peter Vallone, City Council Public Safety Chair, on Making New York's Roads Safer

Yesterday, Runnin' Scared reported that Transportation Alternatives wants the NYPD to give out more speeding tickets, telling City Council that hurried, harried drivers cause unnecessary deaths. By the group's calculations, more New Yorkers were killed in traffic -- 3,647 -- than murdered by guns ... More >>

NYPD's Reporting Problem

Reactions to our 'NYPD Tapes' confirmation came like a swift billy club to the skull

Stop-and-Frisk Critics Unite Under One Police Reform Campaign

​Criticism of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices have come from a wide range of elected officials and advocacy groups across the city. Now, in an effort to bolster the campaign for increased police accountability, dozens of organizations are joining forces under the umbr ... More >>

SlutWalk NYC Preparing to Take Over Union Square

Occupy Wall Street is not the only protest in town. Starting around 11 a.m. today, SlutWalk NYC will be in Union Square Park to challenge sexual violence in New York and abroad. If you're expecting to see every participant strolling the streets dressed in lingerie and stilettos, think again. Organiz ... More >>

Astorians Mourn Departed Bus and Subway Lines, Want to Bring Back the QM22

​Politicians, civic groups, and commuters gathered yesterday by the Astoria-Ditmars subway stop to mark the death-iversary of their dearly departeds: the W train and the QM22 bus line. One year ago, the MTA eliminated the W and V trains and dozens of bus lines, and reduced services throughout ... More >>

Where Was Mike? CBS's Marcia Kramer Digs in Her Heels to Find Out

​There's no surer sign of big political trouble than to have CBS TV's Marcia Kramer on your case, and this week it is Mike Bloomberg's long-awaited turn on the receiving end. Bloomberg promptly proved he's feeling the heat by getting all prickly and calling Kramer -- a prominent City Hall pres ... More >>

Tying Up Your Dog and Leaving Him on the Street May Soon Be Illegal

​The good crusaders at Dogs Tied Up NYC (the local blog that takes pity on dogs whose owners tie them up outside by... taking photos of them and blogging about them!) may have reason to celebrate: amNY says the City Council is considering a law that would make it illegal to tie up dogs for mo ... More >>

Give Them a Shovel: Morning-After Pols Throwing Snow Balls

AP​Disasters always have to be someone else's fault, so we are a city of finger-pointers this morning. We have hapless Brooklyn state senator Carl Kruger, who only tried to shut down state government last year, being quoted on national radio complaining about the unplowed streets of his Mill B ... More >>

Peter Vallone, Fluoride-Hating Councilman, Wants Your Teeth to Rot

​A city councilman from Queens apparently wants your your teeth to rot and fall out. The Daily News says Councilman Peter Vallone is planning to introduce a bill that would end New York's 45-year practice of adding fluoride to its tap water, citing safety concerns and comparing the miner ... More >>

NYPD Tapes 5: The Corroboration

Another police officer secretly tapes his precinct—this time in the Bronx

NYCLU Files Lawsuit Over NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Database

Chad Griffith​The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the NYPD from maintaining a database filled with hundreds of thousands of names of people stopped and frisked by the police, the Voice has learned. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has admitted that the databa ... More >>

City Council Members Shocked by "The NYPD Tapes"

​Two city council members told the Voice this week that orders given by precinct supervisors in Bedford-Stuyvesant's 81st Precinct appeared to encourage officers to violate the civil rights of local residents. Meanwhile, a civil rights organization called on the city to investigate how NYPD q ... More >>

Council Public Safety Chair Weighs In On The Voice's "NYPD Tapes" Exclusive

​We heard today from City Councilman Peter Vallone in reaction to our NYPD Tapes article. Vallone had strong views on the two central themes of the story. Vallone is the chairman of the Council's Public Safety Committee, which has oversight responsibility for the Police Department. First, he ... More >>

Astoria Power Plant Closes

​Queens residents had been complaining about the old, oil-burning Charles Poletti Power Project plant in Astoria for years. The New York Power Authority opened a new, cleaner, natural-gas-powered plant at the site in 2005, but did not immediately cease operations at the old one. The Authority ... More >>

Staten Island's McMahon Latest Dem to Endorse Bloomberg; Calls Him "Our Mr. October"

​Previously Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz, both former council speaker Peter Vallone Sr. and current councilman Peter Vallone Jr., and former Mayor Ed Koch had endorsed Mayor Bloomberg for reelection, and now Staten Island Democratic Representative Michael McMahon has joined them. McMahon is " ... More >>

Holder's CIA Investigation Unleashes Rightblogger Rage Over 9/11, Marc Rich

​Attorney General Eric Holder is going to do a "preliminary review" of the CIA to see if any of the techniques their operatives used on detainees -- which the Inspector General's report reveals included threats to rape the detainees' female relatives in front of them and kill their children, m ... More >>

City Council Honors Michael Jackson, White People Walk Out

Today the city council held a moment of silence for Michael Jackson and councilmembers Inez Dickens and Helen Diane Foster gave the King of Pop a nice tribute, but just as things got underway several members walked out. Staten Island's James Oddo confirmed to Azi Paybarah that he walked out in resp ... More >>

Observer Keeps Beating Up the W Train

The Observer portrays the impending demise of the W train as "Another W New Yorkers Not Sad to See Go," because the line, which runs on weekdays from Whitehall Street in Manhattan to Ditmars Boulevard in Queens, offers crappy service -- the lowest-ranked by the Straphangers' Campaign. This follows t ... More >>

Willets Point Plan Looks Like a Winner

After Term Limits Overthrow, Era of Bad Feelings Commences

Vallone Sr. Joins Son in Endorsing Endless Incumbency

Vallone Comes Out for Bloomberg's Term Limits Plan

When Cops Go Bad Does the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau Even Notice?

NYPD Seeks an Air Monitor Crackdown for New Yorkers

A city councilman and the cops don't want you to have that Geiger counter without their permission

Council Bill Targets 'Queens Stare-Master' and Other Peeping Toms

Bloomberg Puts His Tag on Anti-Graffiti Legislation

Kiko Was Here

A would-be Basquiat goes to prison in a misguided graffiti crackdown

Behind the Blackout

Thanks to deregulation, Queens merely a pawn in the utilities' board game

Pricing the Pols: How Much for a Beep?

Credible Threat

In a cop's final battle with his bosses, clues about a terror scare

Astoria Scrap: Cars v. Grandma

These Stats Are a Crime

While Bloomberg boasts of crime drop, the hospitals' work on assault victims is booming

Threats & Consequences

Exit Strategy

When it comes to subways and terrorism, the best defense might be a good escape

NYPD, Union Joust Over Guns Behind Desks

Protection Racket

Questions about Albany's cut of New York's homeland security money

Corruption? It figures.

NY police department's crime stats and the art of manipulation

Bashcroft!

New Yorkers Protest the Attorney General's Tour to Promote the Patriot Act

More NYPD No-Knocks

New Yorkers Tell Their Tales of Botched Raids

New York Dodgers

Report and Hearing Mean More Status Quo

Close-up on Astoria

Getting the Lead Out

Will the City Council Finally Protect Kids From Toxic Paint?

Still Counting

The Big Term-Limits Primary Offers Some Surprises

The Media’s Mayoral Myths

How the Campaign Coverage Missed Coalitions, Stadiums, Affordable Homes, and Ethical Lapses

When a House Is Not a Home

Did Vallone Jr. Cross District Lines to Vote for His Dad?