From The New York Shitty Inbox: Endorsed!

That’s right folks: our Assemblyman Joe Lentol has come forward to endorse Lincoln Restler! Those of you who have the opportunity to do so (and given this is last minute, I suspect there will not be many) should swing by Jerzy Popieluszko Square today thank Mr. Lentol for doing the right thing— and of course show Mr. Restler your support!

Rally For Lincoln Restler
Today, September 6, 2012 at 12:30
Jerzy Popieluszko Square 
Brooklyn, New York 11222 

From The New York Shitty Inbox: And Now A Word From Our City Councilman

This evening I was forwarded a most interesting piece of campaign literature which is being distributed at our local housing projects from an anonymous tipster. Without further ado, here it is:

Note that a cell phone number has been provided. So, I suppose, one can ask questions.* I wonder why nothing like this was circulated in Greenpoint? Anyone?

*Or simply pass it along— with a fully changed cell phones with unlimited minutes— to 50th Assembly District youths and tell them it belongs to Santa Claus. Not that I recommend this, mind you.

New York Shitty Day Ender: And Now A Few More Words From Chris Olechowski

(And his “friends”*)

Courtesy of a mailer sent to Chez Shitty!

How many folks do you recognize in the following group photo, 50th Assembly District Democrats?

Speaking as someone who calls Mrs. Klementovicz a neighbor (and a friend— the above footage of her being awesome hails from a meeting a few months ago. A meeting, I’ll note at which Mr. Olechowski was not present.) I really have to wonder if she is aware of the claims Mr. Olechowski has been making in terms of his role in the fight against the TGE plant. I doubt it.** In any case, I found the following endorsement fascinating:

I am proud to support Chris because he has always shown the extraodinary ability to bring our community together. — NYC City Councilmember Stephen Levin.

Behold Mr. Olechowski’s “community building” rhetoric for yourself.

(No Comment)

**As of today, August 22, she is. Here is a rundown of what happened:

…just came back from shopping on Manhattan Ave and Irene was strolling by, (For those that don’t know Irene was an activist from at least the 1970’s, she’s 83 now and was one of the leaders that eventually got the Greenpoint Incinerator shut down.) I told her the story that “some one”, leaving Chris’ name out, who was running for political office was taking credit for the TGE battle. She raised her eyebrows only as Irene can and at the end I told her it was Chris and her brows went up another notch. …she told me this story about supporting Chris. Chris approached her for support on environmental issues and Irene asked, “but what did you do?” Chris answered, “I supported you.” I’ll leave it at that…

So there have you.

*For example, this other mailer we received today.

TONIGHT: A Drink To Linc

Here’s the 411 per this event’s Facebook page:

Lincoln is facing an exceptionally tough reelection race as State Committeeman / District Leader for Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene. Vito Lopez and the Brooklyn Democratic Machine are doing everything they can to defeat Lincoln on September 13, 2012.

He needs your help to raise the resources to get our message out and ensure that every independent minded person comes out to vote. We can win this race, but we can’t do it without your help.

Join us in the beautiful backroom at Bellwether in Williamsburg.

Tuesday, August 21st, 7:00-8:30pm
594 Union Avenue at Richardson Street
L to Bedford Avenue
Suggested Contribution Levels:
$25 – Fan
$50 – Supporter
$100 – Ally
$250 – Partner
$500 – Diehard

Contribute online at http://www.lincolnrestler.org/donate or send check payable to Lincoln Restler for State Committee to 168 Engert Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11222

Special thanks to owners of Bellwether (and Calyer, Anella, Jimmy’s Diner) Blair Papagni and Josh Cohen!

Closing on a (somewhat) related note, the idea has been floated— to a rather enthusiastic response, I’ll add— that a debate be conducted between Mr. Restler and his opponent, Christopher Olechowski. Mr. Restler has gladly acceded to this request. An answer from the latter’s camp has yet to received.
Nonetheless, if/when a date and location are set, I will share it here. If this strikes any of you, gentle readers, as being a good idea why not drop Mr. Olechowski’s an email? You can do so by clicking here. Otherwise, it has been brought to my attention that an online petition has also been created in the hope of making this debate happen. This you can sign by clicking here.

New York Shitty Day Starter: Au Contraire!

As some of you might recall, I posted the above letter a couple days ago. In it Mr. Olechowski asserts that he had a leadership role in the fighting the TGE power plant here some time ago. Simply put, gentle readers, this does not “jibe” with my understanding of how things went down. Wishing to get the skinny on exactly what Mr. Oelchowski’s role was in the fight against the power plant, I decided to post his tome on a few listserves. The responses were almost immediate. The following comes from a very nice, very dedicated activist for our community: Kate Yourke. She has been kind enough to grant me permission to post it here. It pretty much speaks for itself. Enjoy!

Reading this campaign letter from Community Board #1 Chair Chris Olechowski, I am shocked to discover he claims to have “led a coalition to fight against a proposed power plant on the waterfront on the Bushwick Inlet.”

The only power plant proposed for the Bushwick Inlet was the 1100 MW Trans Gas Energy plant, which was opposed by a phenomenal, comprehensive coalition, known as the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Waterfront Task Force.

The work of organizing this coalition to oppose the TGE plant required the committed focus of a great many community members for over 2 years. From its inception, I served on both the Steering Committee and the Outreach Committee of the GWWTF. I do not recall even meeting Chris Olechowski during this effort.

I also served taking notes and writing minutes for nearly all the GWWTF meetings. Reviewing my notes, the only references I see for Chris Olechowski are as described below.

An email establishing who would receive what level of information, dated 1/1/2002

categories are described as follows:

  • “first-rung email list, based on ongoing involvement and responsiveness to decision-making”
  • “people who have shown consistent involvement in the issues” and
  • “General Task Force email list… (which) receive a monthly update”

Chris Olechowski’s name appears on the third category.

In Steering Committee minutes from 1/27/03 (the following year) the formal structure and committees were reviewed and finalized Chris Olechowski’s name does not appear.

The only places I could find reference to the participation of Chris Olechowski were in a list of targets for outreach, and as a potential volunteer.

The volunteer effort this struggle required was overwhelming. Those who made the commitment to see this fight to the end made tremendous sacrifices to prevent another environmental degradation of this community. I am OUTRAGED to find Chris Olechowski claiming to have “led” this effort.

I would like to salute those members of the GWWTF who did contribute their time, energy and intelligence to the successful defeat of the TGE power plant.

So there have you. I have requested copies of the above documentation from Ms. Yourke. These I should hopefully receive later today. When I do I will post them here. See gentle readers, politics can be fun! In closing (and in the interest of giving credit where it is due) Mr. Olechowski has (albeit fairly) recently spoken up on an issue with serious environmental ramification hereabouts: this being the proposed siting of an incinerator in our community. Skip to 5:52 and see for yourself. It took a little “help”, but Mr. Olechowski did manage to muster the word “incinerator”.

In addition to having a faulty memory it would appear this fellow is also afflicted with the opposite of charisma. But I suppose these qualities are considered to be “leadership caliber material” in some circles. In any case, if you thought watching this video was hard just imagine filming it. If anyone reading this tome is wondering to whom the unseen woman’s voice belongs who said “incinerator” before the Chairman of the Community Board did, it was yours truly. Yup.

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