Hack Shots Of New York

Extra Extra Boardwalk Empire

2012-01-31T15:40:00.005-05:00

Boardwalk Empire has called me back this year as an extra because of the wonderful job I did last year sitting for 12 hours as a Spanish American War Veteran.So I went for my fitting as a lower middle class extra at Steiner Studios in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard yesterday.

Stephen Fry meets the Goodfellas in Queens

2012-01-24T21:11:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder when Stephen Fry came to Middle Village Queens New York.

Stephen Fry we miss you in Queens

2012-01-24T20:50:00.004-05:00

Just back from listening to Stephen Fry talking about his new book at the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca in Manhattan. There was big crowd so I couldn't tell him that the boys were asking for him in Queens.

Newt"Mohamed Ali"Gingrich changes religion again

2012-01-21T17:01:00.003-05:00

As Newt Gingrich's un-official adviser from New York, I called Newt and said that we have to step it up now that we finished off Mitt. Now that we have knocked the 2 Mormons out of the race he has to convert to Islam to take on Barack.His new name is now Newt"Mohamed Ali"Gingrich. Float like Saint and sting like a suicide bomber.

Colin Duffy Rally in Dublin 2009 which I attended

2012-01-21T07:51:00.006-05:00

I went to this Colin Duffy rally in Dublin back in 2009. Colin and his family have been guests on Radio Free Eireann for over 20 years.

Colin Duffy Irish Republican Released from Prison Again

2012-01-21T07:25:00.004-05:00

Colin Duffy was acquitted of the killings of two British soldiers at Massereene British army base in Antrim Ireland.
The Irish Republican, from Lurgan, was freed from custody on Friday after a judge said prosecutors had failed to prove he was involved in the attack.

His co-accused, Brian Shivers, from Magherafelt, was found guilty and was jailed for life.

"I consider that there is insufficient evidence to satisfy me beyond reasonable doubt, the judge said on Friday, sitting in his last trial before retiring.

"And I therefore find him not guilty."

Duffy, sporting the long beard he has grown during his time on a no-wash protest while being held on remand in Maghaberry prison, was later hustled into a waiting car in a bid to avoid loyalist protestors gathered outside the court complex.

He made no immediate comment to reporters asking for his reaction to the not guilty verdict.

Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, were killed outside Massereene British Army barracks on 7 March 2009.

The young soldiers, along with their 38 Engineers regiment, were due to be deployed to Afghanistan early the next day.

Newt Gingrich Advised to become a Mormon

2012-01-03T16:09:00.004-05:00

As Newt Gingrich's un-official adviser from New York, I said to him that after tonight he should change his religion once again. Newt was born a milk and water Lutheran. He then became a Southern Baptist. When that didn't work out he thought he hit the jackpot and converted to a Roman Catholic. Well, that's not good enough. I'm advising him tonight to become a Mormon, like Romney and Huntsman. He already has more wives than the two of them put together.
He has already locked up the bigamist, racist, and the "anybody but Romney" vote. So Gingrich, onward to New Hampshire as a Mormon

This is better than getting your GED at Rikers

2012-01-02T15:39:00.002-05:00

Proof that Team McDonagh started New Years Day in Coney Island Brooklyn 2012

Team McDonagh Start New Years Day in the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island Brooklyn

2012-01-02T15:30:00.003-05:00

4th Year at Coney Island with the family on New Years Day.

My Friend Grandpa Al Lewis making a Comeback

2011-11-30T16:00:00.007-05:00

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/the-munsters-nbc-pilot-bryan-fuller-262509

It's Official: NBC Orders 'The Munsters' to Pilot
by Lacey Rose, Lesley Goldberg
The Munsters
"Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller will write and executive produce the reimagining of the 1960s sitcom.
NBC is going back to the well with The Munsters.
NBC Gives Life to 'Frankenstein' Reboot
The network has picked up the pilot, which is billed as an imaginative reinvention of the classic comedy series as a visually spectacular one-hour drama.

'The Munsters': 'Pushing Daisies' Creator Takes Second Stab at Remake With NBC
The project, which is being produced by Universal Television, will be written and executive produced Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies).
Fuller and NBC first made an attempt to revive the 1960s CBS sitcom last year, with the network ultimately passing.
Fuller’s new look is said to be an edgier and slightly darker take exploring origins of Herman and Lily Munster (originally played by Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo) and how they arrived at the famed 1313 Mockingbird Lane address.
The original series, produced by Universal Studios, aired 70 episodes from 1964-66 on CBS. The series has proved strong in syndication, ultimately producing a spinoff, The Munsters Today, which ran from 1988-91 and lasted 72 episodes. A feature film, Munster, Go Home, and a 1981 NBC telefilm, The Munsters’ Revenge with the original cast, also stemmed from the original property.

Burnt Out in Brooklyn

2011-11-29T11:22:00.001-05:00

Don't park at 3rd Ave and 9th St in Brooklyn unless you have fire and strip insurance.

My Boardwalk Empire Closeup

2011-11-23T17:07:00.002-05:00

This was filmed in Rockaway Queens. It's was supposed to be Memorial Day Atlantic City 1920. I am the Spanish American War Veteran.

My Boardwalk Empire Closeup

2011-11-23T16:56:00.003-05:00

The key as an extra to get a closeup is sit next the guy who is going to get wacked in that episode. I manage to get into 3 scenes. I was the Spanish American War Veteran.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in NYC 2011

2011-11-23T16:43:00.007-05:00

Occupy Percy Tavern and Start Feelin Groovy Sat Nov 19th at Percy Tavern

2011-11-12T07:05:00.003-05:00

Start Feelin Groovy Sat Nov 19th with some comedy with Barry Crimmins, Randy Credico and myself at Percy Tavern on the Lower Esat Side at 13th and AVE A

Vets For Peace at the NYC Veterans Parade, WAR IS A RACKET

2011-11-12T06:18:00.008-05:00

Proud to be with my fellow Vets For Peace at the NYC Veterans Parade. Read after the pics Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC War Is A Racket

Frank Sterns

Ken Dalton

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC
1881 – 1940
Double recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
“War Is Just A Racket”

“War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

NYC VETERANS DAY PARADE,Abraham Lincoln Brigade banner

2011-11-12T06:09:00.002-05:00

Holding the Abraham Lincoln Brigade banner at the NYC Veterans Day parade.

I was proud to interview some of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade members.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), almost forty thousand men and women from fifty-two countries, including 2,800 Americans, traveled to Spain to join the International Brigades to help fight fascism. The U.S. volunteers served in various units (medical, combat and transportation) and came to be known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

New York's Hack Daddy in Boardwalk Empire

2011-11-02T11:47:00.010-04:00

I manage to get into 3 scenes in episode 17 of Boardwalk Empire.It happens in the first 5 minutes. This was filmed in Rockaway Queens. It was suppose to be Memorial day Atlantic City 1923. A get together of Civil War. Spanish American war and World War 1 Veterans. I was a Spanish American war Vet.

There are more pictures on my Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1098257062

OCCUPIED WALL STREET

2011-10-05T16:14:00.019-04:00

Just back from Occupied Wall Street and have volunteered some Yellow cabs to bring food and transport for the demonstrators. I was there with Randy Credico and we are planning a comedy night in support for Occupied Wall Street people at Percy Tavern at 13th and Ave A within a week.Finally the youth have gotten off their asses and hit the streets. The Unions are now backing them so it will be hard to removed them from prime real estate.

9-11 Ten years Later

2011-09-10T10:06:00.005-04:00

Brian Mor's art still holds up.

The McDeparted

2011-08-09T21:08:00.006-04:00

This is a picture and vid of my brother Thomas and myself as extras in the 2006 Oscar best picture of the year with Best Director Scorsese. We are walking by a candy store in Greenpoint Brooklyn as Jack Nicholson looks over at us. This was supposed to be a scene in Boston. Scorsese had a Boston Globe newspaper truck going by at the time as the young Matt Damon is walking the street. The hand in the scene does not belong to Nicholson - we watched three hand doubles trying to be chosen for the honor.

TAXI WARS IN NEW YORK CITY ON WBAI RADIO

2011-08-03T13:58:00.005-04:00

On Sat August 27th from 1pm till 2, I will be giving The Sorry State of the Union of yellow cab driving in New York City, on 99.5fm WBAI radio show Radio Free Eireann. I will be covering the ongoing taxi wars between the Bloomberg administration and yellow cab drivers. We will have on members of the Taxi Workers Alliance and one of the owners of the taxi garage that I work for. We will discuss the new bill going through the New York State Legislature. In addition, we will discuss the destruction of the yellow cab driving industry and talk about the minister of bike and bus lanes, Genghis Khan. These are the bike lanes that no one actually uses, and the bus lanes that we can't use but help pay for with a $.50 surcharge on every trip.We will be discussing this reprehensible flyer that was put up in a yellow taxi garage in Long Island city. You can listen to the show on WBAI.org

NEW YORK CITY EATS IT'S YOUNG

2011-08-03T13:49:00.004-04:00

I took these photographs at the corner of 12th St. and Avenue A on the lower East side. It used to be the drug dealers of the lower East side ate it's young, now it's the entire city doing it.

Marriage is in the air in New York

2011-07-24T16:55:00.004-04:00

This was the first day of gay marriage in New York. It is already has being good for business with taxi drivers.I took couples to Worth street in Manhattan and Brooklyn Borough Hall. I wonder what the under and over is for the first divorce from these marriages today.What are the odds are in Vegas.

Chilling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

2011-07-24T15:38:00.004-04:00

After taking three drunk hipsters from the lower East side to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I came upon this gentleman who set up home at a bus stop on Metropolitan Avenue. Now we can look at this three different ways, he is waiting for the Q 54 bus which doesn't run that frequently at five in the morning on Sunday, that it was cooler their than his his apartment in this hundred degree weather , or his wife kicked that dog to the curb.you be the judge.

THE IRISH ECHO ON 1798 POSTER IN BELFAST CITY HALL

2011-06-16T14:56:00.005-04:00

Hearing it from all sides

News & Views | admin | June 16th, 2011

By Ray O'Hanlon

Welcome to politics young man.

Sinn Féin’s recently elected lord mayor of Belfast, Niall Ó Donnghaile, more lad than lord by the look of various photos, has upset unionists by taking portraits of Prince Charles and the late Queen Mother off the walls of his office and replacing them with framed copies of the 1916 Proclamation and a poster commemorating the rebellion of 1798.

Nobody can claim absolute rights to the former, but the latter is the work of New York artist Brian Mor O’Baoigill who is not happy at all at the thought of his work being hoisted in a building where Sinn Féin and unionists are doing business.

“Republican dissidents are demanding Belfast’s new Sinn Féin Lord Mayor takes down a poster from his parlor which they claim insults Ireland’s patriot dead by being displayed in ‘a bastion of British rule,’” the Daily mirror, Irish version, stated in a report.

“Niall Ó Donnghaile removed pictures of Prince Charles and the Queen Mother from his City Hall office and replaced them with the 1916 Proclamation and a poster of the United Irishmen.

“However, the artist who created the poster commemorating Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen’s 1798 rebellion said he is ‘deeply offended’ that his work is on display in the mayor’s parlor,” the Mirror report stated.

And Republican Sinn Féin has threatened that if Ó Donnghaile doesn’t remove the poster, they will picket City Hall. Party spokeswoman Geraldine Taylor said: “Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy McCracken and Robert Emmet would be turning in their graves if they knew where their picture was hanging.”

IF is not so sure what these three greats of the Irish freedom struggle might be thinking on this matter, but Brian Mor O’Baoigill’s thoughts are easier to discern.

He told the Mirror: “I created the poster to honor republican martyrs who fought for Irish freedom. To display it in the home of the British government in Belfast is the greatest insult possible.

“The men of 1798 died to rid Ireland of the British. Hanging their picture in an office controlled and paid for by the UK makes a mockery of their efforts. When Belfast City Hall is located in a united Ireland, I’ll be honored to see my artwork displayed there. Until then, I demand Sinn Féin removes it.”

O’Baoigill, whose work has appeared in the Echo, told the paper that he was “devastated” when he saw a Northern Ireland TV news bulletin showing his art in the mayoral parlor.

This is a tricky one for the new lord mayor, the youngest ever to hold the office. Of course, one way out would be to take down O’Baoigill’s work and replace it with another depiction of 1798.

That’s a simple solution, but we’re dealing here with age old Irish arguments over republican purity, or lack thereof. More lad than lord. But not for long.

http://irishecho.com/?p=65169

THE DAILY MIRROR "POSTER IS AN INSULT TO IRISH"

2011-06-15T12:10:00.006-04:00

The Daily Mirror – 13 June 2011
Dissidents demand Sinn Fein mayor removes City Hall art
Suzanne Breen
Republican dissidents are demanding Belfast’s new Sinn Fein Lord Mayor takes down a poster from his parlour which they claim insults Ireland’s patriot dead by being displayed in “a bastion of British rule”.

Niall Ó Donnghaile removed pictures of Prince Charles and the Queen Mother from his City Hall office and replaced them with the 1916 Proclamation and a poster of the United Irishmen.

However, the artist who created the poster commemorating Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen’s 1798 rebellion said he is “deeply offended” that his work is on display in the mayor’s parlour.

And Republican Sinn Fein has threatened that if Ó Donnghaile doesn’t remove the poster, they will picket City Hall. Party spokeswoman Geraldine Taylor said: “Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy McCracken and Robert Emmet would be turning in their graves if they knew where their picture was hanging.”

New York artist Brian Mor O’Baoigill told the Mirror: “I created the poster to honour republican martyrs who fought for Irish freedom. To display it in the home of the British government in Belfast is the greatest insult possible.

“The men of 1798 died to rid Ireland of the British. Hanging their picture in an office controlled and paid for by the UK makes a mockery of their efforts. When Belfast City Hall is located in a united Ireland, I’ll be honoured to see my artwork displayed there. Until then, I demand Sinn Fein removes it.”

Ó Donnghaile (25), Belfast’s youngest ever Lord Mayor, caused unionist anger when he replaced the royal portraits with republican ones last week to make City Hall “more balanced”.

However, O’Baoigill – whose parents are from Donegal - said he was “devastated” when he saw a Northern Ireland TV news bulletin showing his art in the mayoral parlour.

He is mystified as to how Provisional Sinn Fein came to own the poster as the only place it’s now sold is Republican Sinn Fein’s west Belfast headquarters.

O’Baoigill’s art has long caused controversy and condemnation. He designed an ad which flashed over an electronic billboard in Times Square in 1983 wishing IRA prisoners happy Christmas.

He was a cartoonist for ‘the Irish People’, the newspaper of pro-IRA group Noraid. One of his cartoons celebrated the IRA’s attempt to blow up the British cabinet in 1984.

Entitled ‘Brighton Beach Memories’, it stated, ‘Remember Maggie, we only gotta be lucky once’. The cartoon was unanimously denounced as “sick and revolting” by British MPs.

O’ Baoigill claims Sinn Fein and the IRA have “sold out” republicanism. He has emailed Ó Donnghaile requesting that his artwork be taken down but had so far received no reply. The US-based Irish Freedom Committee has urged Irish-American activists to contact Sinn Fein at Belfast City Hall to support O’Baoigill’s demand.

Some of Brian Mor O'Baoigill other art work.

TAKE IT DOWN FROM THE BELFAST CITY HALL WALL IRISH TRAITORS

2011-06-12T16:54:00.004-04:00

Niall Ó Donnghaile
Lord Mayor of Belfast Belfast City Hall, Donegall Square Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 5GS

lordmayorsoffice@belfastcity.gov.uk

As the artist who created the poster to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the United Irishmen of 1778, I was deeply offended to see it hanging in your parlor in Belfast City Hall. Your stated purpose in hanging it was to help achieve parity for all those of various “cultural identities” that reside in Belfast. But, Lord Mayor, Belfast City Hall is the home of British government, not an art museum, and the United Irishmen of 1778 were not trying to promote a cultural identity, but were committed to liberating Ireland from British Rule. Hanging that poster in an office controlled and paid for by the United Kingdom makes a mockery of their efforts.

The quote by Wolfe Tone, at the bottom of the poster, could not contain a clearer message:

‘To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the independence of my country – these were my objects. To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of protestant, catholic and dissenter – these were my means.’

When the Belfast City Hall is located in a united Ireland, not the United Kingdom, I would be honored to see my artwork displayed. Until then, I request that it be taken down. Moving the picture of the Queen of England from one wall to another does not in any way make Belfast part of a United Ireland. I object to my artwork being used to pretend otherwise.

Sincerely,

Brian Mor O’Baoigill

This is the video.

http://www.u.tv/News/SF-mayor-removes-royal-portraits/fe350e0d-c997-4d00-b387-2d9b9b98b31a

Boardwalk Empire comes to the Irish Rivera, Rockapoca in Queens

2011-05-30T08:19:00.008-04:00

I was an extra in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire playing an Spanish American War Veteran. My days as a leading man are over - I am now the grisly old Veteran. I was too young to play a Civil War veteran and to old to play a DoughBoy soldier from World War 2. A little bit of Benjamen Button here.

I am a Spanish American War Veteran 1921 Atlantic City Boardwalk Empire

FT.Jackson South Carolina 1974

FT. Jackson South Carolina Company B 7th Bn 2nd BDE 1974

Queens New York 2011

The charges read against the Queen in NYC

2011-05-19T09:23:00.003-04:00

Here stands before you Elizabeth Windsor, better known as Queen Elizabeth, ruler of Great Britain. The British Monarchy has had a long and ugly history with Ireland and her Irish-American descendants. As early as 1260, the British Monarchy has laid claim to Irish land. The Penal Laws enacted by England in 1695 and 1729 stripped the Irish of all their rights, dignity and heritage, by prohibiting Gaelic Irish from owning land, voting, serving in public office, practicing their religion, or getting an education.
By 1845, absentee English landlords – given Irish land by the British monarchy – were demanding that the managers of their estates collect money from the farmers who were renting the land. When the potato blight spread through Ireland, English landowners continued to export grain, while watching the Irish people starve. The British Monarchy did nothing – did not control the exporting of grain, did not provide additional seed potatoes, did not provide food or assistance for those who were starving. Instead they created workhouses, destroyed families, allowed coffin ships – which left ports controlled by the monarchy without enough food to feed all the passengers for the entire voyage – to export thousands of sick, starving Irish people to other countries. The ancestors of hundreds of thousands of Irish Americans arrived in this country barely alive – with nothing more than the clothes on their back and the memories of loved ones left behind.
The British monarchy used Irish people as cannon fodder for the British Army in World War 1 – and forced them to fight against their own countrymen who were fighting to free their country from British rule in 1916.
Now, in this time of economic devastation, instead of offering reparation for the theft of land and the death or exile of millions, the British monarchy, in the person of Queen Elizabeth, has decided to “pay a visit” to Ireland. This state visit will cost the Irish people hundreds of thousands of euros – money that they don’t have to spend. While again thousands of Irish are forced to emigrate because they cannot support themselves in Ireland, the British monarchy expects the Irish people to pay for her security as she prances around Ireland, viewing the graves that she created.
Here, in solidarity with the Irish citizens who have protested her visit – and used the opportunity to list her family’s centuries of crimes - we add our list of charges against the crown.
1. Theft of Property – taking Irish land from Irish people.

2. Labor Trafficking – creating a system of bonded servitude, where farmer/tenants paid huge rents and received little or no profit from their labor.

3. Criminally Negligent Homicide and Reckless Endangerment – exporting grain from Ireland while watching hundreds of thousands of people starve. Allowing coffin ships to leave port overcrowded, without adequate food supply, guaranteeing the death of Irish passengers.

4. Attempted genocide – attempting to destroy the Irish people’s language, religion, culture, education and means of sustenance.

The Queen charge in New York with War Crimes against the Irish People

2011-05-19T08:36:00.008-04:00

A SAD DAY FOR IRELAND

2011-05-17T08:48:00.000-04:00

IRISH AMERICANS PROTEST AGAINST THE STATE VISIT OF THE QUEEN

2011-05-16T17:25:00.014-04:00

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH IRISH PROTEST AGAINST THE STATE VISIT OF THE QUEEN

WHEN: May 17, 2011 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Great Hunger Memorial - 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue, Battery Park City

Join WBAI’s Radio Free Eireann and Irish Americans as they meet to show solidarity with the Irish protesters against the Queen’s state visit to Ireland on May 17th at 1:00 p.m. For centuries, Britain has robbed Ireland of its natural resources for the enrichment of the crown. Between 1845 and 1852, the English monarchy allowed over one million Irish citizens to die by starvation. The Great Hunger Memorial is a stark reminder of the millions who had to choose between death by starvation or leaving their country and families forever.
The British Monarchy has never acknowledged their role in the Great Starvation, nor have they offered reparation for taking crops, cattle and money out of Ireland, while a million people starved. They have never apologized for their attempts to eradicate the Irish language, culture and religion. Yet Queen Elizabeth has decided to take a trip to Ireland, and again, expects the Irish people to pay for her security. The Irish economy is destroyed. Emigration has again reached crisis proportion. It is the height of arrogance to assume that Irish people should pay millions of euros to ensure safe passage while she tours the country she and her family have done their best to destroy.
Ireland’s exiled children in America will gather at the Great Hunger Memorial to help put the Queen’s state visit in proper perspective. Brief vignettes of famine stories will be read to provide historical context. Instead of bouquets of flowers, she will be presented with a list of her crimes against Irish humanity. A piper will lead her to be judged by a jury of starving and exiled Irish men and women.
All over Ireland, protests are planned for Queen Elizabeth’s visit on May 17th. Irish Americans who wish to show solidarity should join Radio Free Eireann at the Great Hunger Memorial at 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City at 1:00 p.m.

BADGE HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

2011-05-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Wear a badge when the Queen land's in her first colony Ireland on Tuesday.

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH IRISH PROTEST AGAINST THE STATE VISIT OF THE QUEEN

WHEN: May 17, 2011 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Great Hunger Memorial - 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue, Battery Park City

... Join WBAI’s Radio Free Eireann and Irish Americans as they meet to show solidarity with the Irish protesters against the Queen’s state visit to Ireland on May 17th at 1:00 p.m. For centuries, Britain has robbed Ireland of its natural resources for the enrichment of the crown. Between 1845 and 1852, the English monarchy allowed over one million Irish citizens to die by starvation. The Great Hunger Memorial is a stark reminder of the millions who had to choose between death by starvation or leaving their country and families forever.
The British Monarchy has never acknowledged their role in the Great Starvation, nor have they offered reparation for taking crops, cattle and money out of Ireland, while a million people starved. They have never apologized for their attempts to eradicate the Irish language, culture and religion. Yet Queen Elizabeth has decided to take a trip to Ireland, and again, expects the Irish people to pay for her security. The Irish economy is destroyed. Emigration has again reached crisis proportion. It is the height of arrogance to assume that Irish people should pay millions of euros to ensure safe passage while she tours the country she and her family have done their best to destroy.
Ireland’s exiled children in America will gather at the Great Hunger Memorial to help put the Queen’s state visit in proper perspective. Brief vignettes of famine stories will be read to provide historical context. Instead of bouquets of flowers, she will be presented with a list of her crimes against Irish humanity. A piper will lead her to be judged by a jury of starving and exiled Irish men and women.
All over Ireland, protests are planned for Queen Elizabeth’s visit on May 17th. Irish Americans who wish to show solidarity should join Radio Free Eireann at the Great Hunger Memorial at 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City at 1:00 p.m.

Queen to be Arrested in New York City for crimes against Irish Humanity

2011-05-09T23:25:00.005-04:00

Ireland’s exiled children in America will gather at the Great Hunger Memorial to help put the Queen’s state visit in proper perspective. Brief vignettes of famine stories will be read to provide historical context. Instead of bouquets of flowers, she will be presented with a list of her crimes against Irish humanity. A piper will lead her to be judged by a jury of starving and exiled Irish men and women.
All over Ireland, protests are planned for Queen Elizabeth’s visit on May 17th. Irish Americans who wish to show solidarity should join Radio Free Eireann at the Great Hunger Memorial at 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City at 1:00 p.m.

Radio Free Eireann to "Arrest" the Queen in NYC

2011-05-08T20:50:00.003-04:00

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH IRISH PROTEST AGAINST THE STATE VISIT OF THE QUEEN

WHEN: May 17, 2011 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Great Hunger Memorial - 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue, Battery Park City

Join WBAI’s Radio Free Eireann and Irish Americans as they meet to show solidarity with the Irish protesters against the Queen’s state visit to Ireland on May 17th at 1:00 p.m. For centuries, Britain has robbed Ireland of its natural resources for the enrichment of the crown. Between 1845 and 1852, the English monarchy allowed over one million Irish citizens to die by starvation. The Great Hunger Memorial is a stark reminder of the millions who had to choose between death by starvation or leaving their country and families forever.
The British Monarchy has never acknowledged their role in the Great Starvation, nor have they offered reparation for taking crops, cattle and money out of Ireland, while a million people starved. They have never apologized for their attempts to eradicate the Irish language, culture and religion. Yet Queen Elizabeth has decided to take a trip to Ireland, and again, expects the Irish people to pay for her security. The Irish economy is destroyed. Emigration has again reached crisis proportion. It is the height of arrogance to assume that Irish people should pay millions of euros to ensure safe passage while she tours the country she and her family have done their best to destroy.
All over Ireland, protests are planned for Queen Elizabeth’s visit on May 17th. Irish Americans who wish to show solidarity should join Radio Free Eireann at the Great Hunger Memorial at 290 Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City at 1:00 p.m.

A fellow Hack killed going to work at 4am R.I.P

2011-03-30T14:18:00.003-04:00

I took these pictures after work on Monday, coming down Vernon Blvd by the 108 Pct. I knew that there had been a bad accident that morning but didn't know that a driver from Mid Town Garage had been the person killed.

A well know driver from the Mid Town Garage was killed on Monday going to work. He was a friend of fellow driver Seth. Seth was late that day and missed the train that Tony was on. Fate. Seth will be on Radio Free Eireann this Sat to talk about Tony.

A car coming off the Queensboro Bridge jumped a curb and killed a 68-year-old cabbie on the way to pick up his taxi in Queens early Monday, cops said.
Anthony Buscemi was on the sidewalk in front of the Villa de Beaute hair salon in Long Island City about 4 a.m. when a car veered from the off-ramp and struck him, cops said. He died at the scene.
"It was a horror movie - pools of blood running onto the street," said carpenter Yama Dastagirzada, 41, of Far Rockaway, who was the first person to come upon the wreck.
Cops said the 35-year-old driver, Grant Riddell, lost an arm and was taken to Bellevue Hospital. His 31-year-old passenger, Melissa Cohen, was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell. Both were in stable condition and expected to live.
A police source said Riddell tested negative for drugs and alcohol. He lost control of the car, a red four-door 2007 Volkswagen, police said
The spectacular crash left the two and a half-ton Volkswagen upside down and in pieces on the sidewalk on Queens Plaza South at Crescent Street in Long Island City.
The sidewalk was strewn with engine parts and covered in blood after the driver apparently lost control on the 2007 Volkswagen and plowed headlong into a beauty parlor.
The impact, captured on surveillance video, shows the storefront is blown apart as the car bounces off the steel window gates and flips over.
Tony Buscemi, a veteran New York City cab driver, had just left the 7 train and was walking to work when the out of control vehicle struck him.
The accident happened just two blocks from his yellow cab, where he sat behind the wheel twelve hours a day, six days a week for the last twenty-five years.
His bosses and fellow drivers are absolutely stunned by the randomness of his sudden death.

The Opera Singer meets the Opera Fan

2011-03-27T09:38:00.005-04:00

Lois Kirschenbaum the World's most famous Opera Fan is interviewed by Opera singer Frank Lopardo on Radio Free Eireann.

LOIS KIRSCHENBAUM, who has been called "the world's most famous opera fan
celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of her first Met performance, as well as her seventy-fifth birthday. In 1969, when Kirschenbaum (now retired) was switchboard operator for the International Rescue Committee, she was the subject of an OPERA NEWS profile titled "The Sweetest Girl in New York," a designation given to her by diva Régine Crespin.

Myself showing Lois Kirschenbaum the way to the Metropolitan Opera from Percy Tavern.

Frank Lopardo telling his Life story on Radio Free Eireann

2011-03-27T09:11:00.006-04:00

Frank Lopardo telling his life story about growing up in Middle Village Queens New York. We grew up together as kids.

Frank Lopardo singing with the real Sopranos

One of the leading lyric tenors of our day, Frank Lopardo is seen on a regular basis with prestigious operatic companies and orchestras around the world. He has collaborated with the world’s finest conductors including Claudio Abbado, Bruno Bartoletti, Leonard Bernstein, James Conlon, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Georg Solti, Robert Spano and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Among the many operatic roles Mr. Lopardo has made his own are Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Tito in La Clemenza di Tito. In the first part of his career Lopardo won international acclaim in the Mozart repertoire and the Romantic Bel Canto roles of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. He has graced the stages of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, St Louis Opera Theatre, Canadian Opera Company, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Bavarian State Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival and the Glyndebourne Festival.
In 2007/2008 Frank Lopardo made an exciting role debut: Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with the Pittsburgh Opera. Mr. Lopardo followed this with his celebrated Lenski in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Finally, Mr. Lopardo returned to Cincinnati for performances of Madama Butterfly.

In the autumn of 2006 Frank Lopardo returned to London for La Bohème at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and for Opera Rara’s concert and recording of Donizetti’s rarely performed Imelda di Lambertazzi. He also appeared with Opera Colorado as Gustavo in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. In concert, he joined the Pittsburgh Symphony for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Sir Andrew Davis, and his recent recording of this piece with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst was commercially released by Deutsche Grammophon.
Frank Lopardo has appeared regularly with America’s leading opera houses. At the Met he has Rodolfo, Alfredo, the Duke, Edgardo, Tamino, Tonio in La Fille du Regiment, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Idreno in Semiramide, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte and Fenton in Falstaff. Audiences in Chicago have heard him sing Alfredo, Rodolfo, Tamino, Nemorino and also Elvino in La Sonnambula. In San Francisco he has performed the Duke, Tonio, Rodolfo, Don Ottavio and Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri. In 2001 he made a spectacular Santa Fe Opera debut as Edgardo (“he spins out the vocal line from gentleness to strength in some of the best singing I’ve heard in a long time, a sound that I simply didn’t want to stop” – the New York Times). In Los Angeles Opera he has sung Edgardo and the Duke. His first performances of Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera were with Pittsburgh Opera.

Mr. Lopardo’s career in Europe has been no less impressive. He has performed Edgardo, Rodolfo, the Duke and Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opera, both Alfredo and Lindoro with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. With the Vienna State Opera he has performed Alfredo, Lindoro, the Duke and Libenskof in Il Viaggio a Reims, and he has starred as Alfredo and Don Ottavio at the Salzburg Festival. His debut with the Grand Theatre de Genève was as Ernesto in Don Pasquale. Mr. Lopardo has also been featured in roles of his repertoire at the Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro alla Scala, the Netherlands Opera, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro Comunale Florence and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

On the concert platform, Mr. Lopardo has performed the Verdi Requiem with London Symphony Orchestra, The Cincinnati May Festival and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; the Mozart Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic at la Scala; Berlioz’ Requiem and Carmina Burana with the Boston Symphony Orchestra both in Boston and at the Tanglewood Festival; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Festival; Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Philadelphia Orchestra; Carmina Burana with the Berlin Philharmonic; and Mendelssohn’s Lobsesang Symphony with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He has sung the Dvorak Requiem with the Danish Radio Orchestra.

Frank Lopardo is soloist on the Telarc recording of the Berlioz Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra that won the 2004 Grammy for Best Choral Recording. His extensive discography also includes Mozart’s Requiem and Don Giovanni with Muti for EMI, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and L’italiana in Algeri with Abbado for Deutsche Grammophon, Verdi’s Falstaff with Sir Colin Davis for BMG, Rossini’s Semiramide and Il Signor Bruschino for Deutsche Grammophon and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with Roberto Abbado for BMG. He has also recorded Orff’s Carmina Burana with André Previn for Deutsche Grammophon and can be seen on this label’s video of the Mozart C Minor Mass with Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Lopardo appears on the Deutsche Grammophon video of Falstaff conducted by James Levine. He can also be seen and heard (on both C and video) as Alfredo in La Traviata and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte with Solti on Decca.

Frank Lopardo was born in New York and studied with Dr. Robert White, Jr. who remains his vocal mentortoday.

It Ain't Over at Percy Tavern at 13th and Ave A till Frank Lopardo sings

2011-03-20T18:12:00.004-04:00

Frank Lopardo, who grew up in Middle Village, Queens with my dad and ended up at the Metropolitan Opera. You can listen to him live on Radio Free Eireann on Saturday March 26, when we will broadcast from Percy’s Tavern in the Lower East Side on 13th and Ave A from one till 2. One of the leading lyric tenors of our day, Frank Lopardo is seen on a regular basis with prestigious operatic companies and orchestras around the world. He has worked with world renown conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Seji Ozowa and Sir Georg Solti. Come see how he fares with John and Sandy at Percy’s Tavern in the Lower East side of 13th street and Avenue A from one until two, or listen in live, on Radio Free Eirann WBAI 99.5 FM. And just remember the live shows at Percy’s won’t be over till Frank Lopardo sings.

The Savage City comes to Percy's Tavern on the lower East Side

2011-03-20T18:05:00.002-04:00

Myself interviewing TJ English about his new book The Savage City about New York City from 1963 to 1973. It's about the war between the NYPD and the Black Panthers.

NO QUEEN HERE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

2011-03-17T18:55:00.005-04:00

God Serve The Queen, Because She Won't Be Served Here
By David Hinckley

Got a big stretch of empty wall and a simmering resentment over the Irish potato famine?

Well, just tune in WBAI (99.5 FM) starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, which of course is St. Patrick’s Day, and you may be able to solve both problems.

During WBAI’s annual St. Pat’s day special, which runs until 3 p.m., host John McDonagh of “Radio Free Eireann” will be auctioning off a semi-famous 40-foot banner that until hours ago hung outside a bar called the Players Lounge in Fairview, just north of Dublin.

It declares that Queen Elizabeth is not welcome in this establishment and will not be served should she venture in and fancy a pint.

Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to visit Dublin in May, the first official state visit to what is now the Republic of Ireland since it was granted independence from Britain in 1921.

McDonagh notes that this bar owner, John Stokes, is among the Irish who have not forgiven the British for several centuries of maltreatment and contend the Brits are still occupying the six counties of Northern Ireland.

Hence the banner.

Irish authorities, however, were not amused. “He was told that if he didn’t take the banner down, he could be denied liquor licenses,” says McDonagh. So, since the sign has to come down anyway, Stokes arranged with WBAI to put it up for auction, with proceeds to charity.

Stokes will also be a guest on the WBAI show.

“There are people on both sides of the [British] issue,” says McDonagh. “There are also plenty of other bars in Dublin with signs that say welcome the queen and they haven’t been told anything. I guess it’s just this particular sentiment the authorities don’t like.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/showandtell/2011/03/god-serve-the-queen-because-she-wont-be-served-here

The Druids from Dublin and Fr. Pat Moloney this Sat at Percy Tavern 13th St and Ave A

2011-03-11T06:07:00.003-05:00

Pete Hamill at Percy's Tavern last Sat.This Saturday, and every Sat in March, Radio Free Eireann will broadcast live from Percy’s Tavern on 13 Street and Ave A, from Noon to 2 pm .

On March 12th, The Irish rebel band from Dublin, The Druids will be performing as well as Steve Dod from Scotland. Fr Pat Maloney - the Saint of the lower East side – will be interviewed.

On March 19th , T.J. English, will talk about his new book, The Savage City about the NYPD AND THE Black Panthers. Pader Hickey will be performing.

During the final show from Percy’s Tavern, on March 26, Michaela McCafferty will perform and the March Madness will conclude with world famous opera singer Frank Lopardo.

Come for the music, come for the culture, come for the craic, at Percy’s Tavern on 13th street and Avenue A from Noon to twelve, every Saturday in the rest of March

ALLL ROADS LEAD TO 13TH AND AVE A

2011-03-05T06:46:00.000-05:00

RADIO FREE EIREANN LIVE FROM THE LOWER EAST SIDE

2011-03-03T15:15:00.001-05:00

This Saturday, March 5th, Radio Free Eireann will broadcast live from Percy’s Tavern, 13 Street and Ave A, from Noon to 2 pm.

We will feature journalist and author Pete Hamill and Brendan Fay, the organizer of St. Pat’s for All, the Queens St. Patrick’s Day parade. Music will be provided by Mary Courtney and Bernadette Fee of Morningstar and Brian Fleming of the Claire Afro-Celtic band Djimbe

To get to Percy's Tavern, take the L train to 1st Avenue from Union Square, 6th Avenue or 8th Avenue.

We will broadcast every Sat for the month of March at Percy Tavern on the lower east side.

Radio Free Eireann will broadcast live from Percy’s Tavern, 210 Avenue A at 13 Street, every Saturday in March.

The remaining March shows will begin at 1pm, Radio Free Eireann’s normal starting time. T.J. English, the author of The Westies, will discuss his new book, The Savage City, on March 19. Featured musicians in March will include the Druids, a rebel band direct from Dublin, Michaela Kelly, the niece of hunger striker Patsy O’Hara, Michael Vignoles and Peadar Hickey.

A New York Minute on the Lower East Side with T Berry the Worlds Greatest Story Teller

2011-02-15T15:27:00.004-05:00

Brother T Berry the Worlds Greatest Story Teller on the Lower East Side at 5 am trying to make a few bucks from the drunk Hipsters coming out of the after hour joints with his story telling ability. I got him for a New York Minute.

Out and about for a ride in the Meatpacking District

2011-02-15T15:21:00.003-05:00

How long before these cars get strip.

A Sign Of The Times

2011-02-15T15:16:00.002-05:00

This is a billboard in LIC Queens by the Midtown Tunnel

GOODBYE NORMA JEAN ON 10th AVE

2011-01-18T14:40:00.005-05:00

Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name
chorus
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did
Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude
[repeat chorus]
Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Goodbye Norma Jean
From the young man in the 22nd row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

A NEW YORK TRASH MINUTE

2011-01-18T14:34:00.001-05:00

Dumpsters left in the middle of 6th AVE and push to the side by the NYPD.

A NEW YORK SNOWY MINUTE

2011-01-18T13:56:00.002-05:00

The West Village as the snow comes in.

Do I have a job for you

2011-01-05T06:29:00.002-05:00

The recession is over, there is work on the mean streets on New York

This and the Staten Island ferry are about the only things that are free in New York

2011-01-05T06:24:00.001-05:00

Some of my fellow New Yorkers at Coney Island on New Years Day 2011

2011-01-03T15:00:00.010-05:00

Was this really necessary.

Balloon Lady floats down to the water

Does he hold 120 or 220 volts

Gorilla's in the beach

Just up from Louisiana, the BP clean up crew

Shoot the Freak would have had a lot of targets today

Some of the locals at Ruby's on the first day of the year and the last day for the legendary Coney Island watering hole.

The New York Minute before jumping into the Atlantic on New Years Day at Coney Island Brooklyn

2011-01-03T13:48:00.002-05:00

The New York Minute the McDonagh Family runs into the Atlantic on New Years Day

2011-01-03T13:42:00.003-05:00

The Only Way To Start The Year

2011-01-02T14:06:00.006-05:00

A NEW YORK MINUTE

2010-12-21T19:30:00.003-05:00

I have added a new feature to the blog - along with Hack shots of New York, I will put up a New York Minute video of the city each week.

A New York minute is an instant. Or as Johnny Carson once said, it's the interval between a Manhattan traffic light turning green and the guy behind you honking his horn.

It appears to have originated in Texas around 1967. It is a reference to the frenzied and hectic pace of New Yorkers' lives. A New Yorker does in an instant what a Texan would take a minute to do.
The smallest measurable amount of time in the universe. Approximately equal to the time between a traffic light turning green in New York City and the cab driver behind you honking his horn.

DEMO IN THE FOX HOLE

2010-10-25T08:40:00.005-04:00

This was a demonstration at the Fox hole on 6th AVE on Sat.

This is a video of myself in the Fox hole with Niel Cavoto back in 2004 when I organized "CAB" Cabbies against Bush during the Republican Convention.

NERDSTOCK HITS NYC

2010-10-09T08:27:00.005-04:00

These nerds were lined up at 6:30 am at the Jacob Javits Center to meet there favorite comic book hero. Does any one work in this country?

My Ship Has Come In

2010-10-07T15:59:00.005-04:00

It took me over an hour to get from lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn Pier to drop at the QM2.

Not much fun on the back of a tow truck

2010-10-06T11:46:00.002-04:00

Ever wonder what happens when Limos break down. 14Th Street and 9Th AVE in the Meat Packing District.

Oh How Sweet It Was

2010-10-06T11:33:00.004-04:00

This would of been the type of bus Ralph Kramdenn [Jackie Gleason]
OF "THE HONEYMOONERS" drove. Spotted on 125th Street and Lenox.

9-11 NEW YORK

2010-09-11T17:14:00.007-04:00

Brian Mor from the Bronx drew these paintings on 9-11

RANDY CREDICO AT THE BRITISH CONSULATE IN NYC

2010-07-01T19:00:00.002-04:00

Randy Credico with John McDonagh showing support for Irish Political Prisoners in front of the British Consulate on 3rd AVE in New York City.

RANDY CREDICO AT THE NYC GAY PARADE

2010-07-01T18:47:00.004-04:00

Randy Credico waving to the enthusiastic crowd

Randy Credico and John McDonagh marching with Veterans for Peace at parade

Meeting the voters on 5th AVE

GET OUT AND CHANGE THE SYSTEM

2010-06-20T06:23:00.003-04:00

This documentary is about the political life of Randy Credico.It is also a Fundraiser and petition drive to help Randy Credico get on the Democratic primary, to run against Charles Schumer for the U.S Senate.So if you can't sign a check then come and sign the petition. It will be aired at Connolly' s pub 121w 45th Street between 6th Ave and Broadway on Sat June 26th from 5pm till 7pm.

60 SPINS AROUND THE SUN

2010-06-16T12:41:00.005-04:00

Helmed by "Saturday Night Live" alum Laura Kightlinger and produced by Jack Black, this hourlong exposé chronicles -- warts and all -- the life of comedian turned activist Randy Credico, an up-and-coming funnyman whose candor tanked his career. But the end of his showbiz days didn't stop him: He switched gears and became a mouthpiece for various causes, including the fight against New York's draconian drug laws. Credico's peers and ex-girlfriends weigh in with insights.This documentary is about the political life of Randy Credico.It is also a Fundraiser and petition drive to help Randy Credico get on the Democratic primary, to run against Charles Schumer for the U.S Senate.So if you can't sign a check then come and sign the petition. It will be aired at Connolly' s pub 121w 45th Street between 6th Ave and Broadway on Sat June 26th from 5pm till 7pm.

HERE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RANDY AND SCHUMER

2010-06-16T12:35:00.008-04:00

Schumer by the numbers

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH CREDICO

2010-06-16T10:30:00.009-04:00

Randy hits a home run at Citi field with Mets Fans.

Randy marching at Queens Pride parade.

Randy on the Fred Dicker radio show in Albany New York

Credicao doing intervew with local Tv news show and addressing supporters in Rochechter New York

CREDICO IRISH POLICY

2010-06-02T09:22:00.003-04:00

Randy addressing the volunteers at the Yippie Museum last night talking about his policies.

1. End Policy of Visa Denial to Irish Republicans
Visas to enter the United States are routinely denied to politicians, authors and activists who have voiced differing points of view on the Irish peace process. The decades old visa denial policy should not be used to stop the open exchange of ideas. Debate from all points of view that would educate and inform should be encouraged, whether it be at speaking engagements in colleges and universities, congressional hearings, or local book signings.

2. Conduct Hearings on Shell Oil Company's Corrib Gas Project
The Corrib Gas Project is directed by a consortium of companies led by Royal Dutch Shell, which owns Shell Oil, a company incorporated in the United States. The Corrib Gas Project is drilling oil off the coast of County Mayo, and pumping it in an unrefined state through an inhabited area to a refinery. Instead of processing the gas at sea, as is the industry standard, the use of a land based refinery creates a hazard for the people of the area, as well as the environment.
In preparation for the construction of the refinery, already half a million ton of peat have been excavated. This has disturbed the rich aluminum deposits under the bog, which has in turn polluted the drinking water of Carrowmore Lake. As well as being the primary source of drinking water for over 10,000 people, the lake is of considerable ecological value because of the intact blanket bog surrounding the lake, which provides habitats for plants and animals, including several important bird species.
In addition, waste chemicals, including lethal substances such as lead, nickel, arsenic, mercury and radioactive gas radon, from the proposed refinery would be pumped into Broadhaven Bay. This bay is important to cetaceans and other marine animals as it is a breading and rearing area for whales and dolphins, and contains foraging habitats for numerous marine mammal species, plankton feeding basking sharks and seabirds.
British Petroleum has permanently scarred the coast of the United States by the catastrophic oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico. While a lack of regulation failed to protect the people of Louisiana, there is no reason for the people of Mayo to suffer a similar fate.

JOIN THE CREDICO CRUSADE

2010-06-02T09:15:00.003-04:00

The Credico Crusade will be run out of the Yippie Museum Cafe at 9 Bleeker Street, NYC. Anyone interested in donating or working with the campaign should contact us at www.RandyCredico2010.org.

FROM RAT RACE TO SENATE RACE

2010-06-02T09:03:00.006-04:00

I am now the campaign manager for Randy Credico's 2010 senate run against Chuck Schumer. Why is a New York City yellow cab driver running a senatorial campaign? In addition to mastering the art of negotiating NYC traffic, I have a long history of political activism and media expertise. I have been a producer at WBAI radio for over 20 years, working on the weekly Radio Free Eireann broadcast, as well as dozens of special broadcasts, including shows that featured veterans and cab drivers. I was also been the Editor of The Irish People Newspaper, a weekly national newspaper.

As an army veteran, I have a strong interest in veteran's affairs, and am a member of Veterans Against The War. As people who read this blog already know, I work with the Taxi Worker's Alliance on various labor issues, and was an organizer of the benefit for the cab driver who was shot and blinded by a passenger last year. I also worked closely with Grandpa Al Lewis during his bid for Governor of New York State, and was a public relations adviser to the campaign to elect Peggy O'Hara, who ran for local office in Derry Ireland to honor the memory of her son Patsy O'Hara who died on the 1981 hunger strike. I also served as United Nations observer during the 1990 election in Nicaragua.

OUT FROM BEHIND THE WHEEL

2010-04-22T08:26:00.002-04:00

I was part of taxi fourm held by WNYC the NPR station here in New York. Drivers got to speak to the new Taxi and Limousine Commissioner. If we had any affect we shall see.

CHRONICLING CREDICO FOR SENATE

2010-03-21T11:23:00.004-04:00

Credico's Platform - sure to be a winner with voters of all stripes:

Immediate pull out of Afghanistan
Immediate pull out of Iraq
Immediate pull out of Colombia
End Drug War at home and abroad
Repeal Patriot Act
Legalization of Marijuana
Abolish Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
Repeal 1996 Omnibus Crime Bill
Constitutional amendment abolishing death penalty
Ban on racial profiling
Promotion of jury nullification
National ban on private prisons

Decriminalization of all drugs
Ban on torture and rendition
Law prohibiting federal prosecutors from becoming judges
Clemency for all immigrants
Closing of ICE units
Stiff penalties for prosecutors who suborn perjury
Repeal Gatt and Nafta
US return of Guantanamo to Cuba
Full lifting of Cuba Embargo
Clemency for political prisoners and all prisoners convicted for nonviolent drug offense

FIGHTING THE POWER OF NEW YORK STATE

2010-03-21T11:13:00.007-04:00

Recreating the magic of Radio Free Eireann at the fundraiser - Randy is George Bush, I am his faithful sidekick.

Why is it that the 95-year-old guy is the best looking one . . .

Introducing Prof. Irwin Corey

Professor Irwin Corey raising cane for Credico for Senate

Norman Thomas Marshall recreating 1857 abolitionist John Brown

STEPHEN FRY IN AMERICA WINS BRITISH NATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST TRAVEL DOCUMENTARY

2010-02-09T16:01:00.004-05:00

Picture of Stephen Fry picking up best documentary for Stephen Fry in America, which includes a feature on NYC with me driving Stephen in a yellow cab and giving him a tour of some more colorful, lesser known areas.

The awards were given at this year's British National Television Awards.

The first award was presented by outgoing Doctor Who David Tennant for Best Star Travel Documentary as voted for by the public. Stephen won for his BBC1 programme Stephen Fry in America - which documented is travels throughout all fifty states, including New York.

He was then surprised later in the evening with a Special Recognition Award. Tributes came from the Prince of Wales, Alan Davies, Hugh Laurie, Jo Brand and Daniel Radcliffe. As he approached the podium he quipped "OMFG".

Video of Stephen Fry accepting award for Stephen In America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5HZsteYkFA&feature=player_embedded

Video of Stephen Fry special recognition award
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ5deb3RP3Q&feature=player_embedded

STEPHEN FRY IN AMERICA . . . AND MY CAB

2009-12-08T16:19:00.020-05:00

The American and English covers of the book.

In October of 2007, Stephen Fry began filming a BBC documentary about traveling the United States in a London taxi. If you were from out-of-town, and filming about taxi driving in NYC, who would you turn to? Yes - that's right, Stephen and I spent the day discovering NYC from the perspective of a yellow cab driver. Of course, when there was a request for NYC characters, I was only too happy to provide. After driving through some of the many rich ethnic neighborhoods of NY, we wound our way to more familiar territory - Middle Village Queens, neighborhood of my birth, and not a few "social clubs." The 6 hour documentary, which was the number 1 show on the BBC for a time, and number 2 show in Australia, should be broadcast in the metro area in the near future. The book, documenting the trip across the states, is currently on sale in most bookstores, including Idewilde Bookstore on 19th Street and 5th Avenue, where I caught up with Stephen again last night. The following are pictures from my day with Stephen Fry.

The coverage in Ireland when the BBC aired the documentary The Tyrone Constitution and The Sunday Tribune

Stephen Fry and I start a long day's journey through the streets of New York City

Stephen Fry pulls up in front of the club

Fry and me outside the club

The boys welcome Fry

Some of the boys waiting for Fry

Fry laughing at the stories

Mikey"Big Time" explaining the neighborhood

Davey the bookie giving Fry the odds

Stephen Fry floats through New York City in his black hack

LYNNE STEWART RADICAL LAWYER HEADING TO JAIL

2009-11-18T11:51:00.006-05:00

Lynne and her husband came to the old Rocky Sullivan on Lex Ave a few years ago to hear comedy from Randy Credico and my self

Disbarred radical lawyer Lynne Stewart is going to jail - maybe for a lot longer than she thought.

An appeals court Tuesday upheld her conviction for smuggling messages to her jailed terrorist client and said she deserves more than the 28 months she got because she may have lied at her trial.

"I will go on fighting," Stewart, 70, told about a dozen supporters outside Manhattan federal court Tuesday.

"I'm no criminal." The ruling said Stewart was to surrender to U.S. Marshals immediately, but her lawyers won her another day of freedom - until at least 5 p.m. Wednesday.

They hope to convince the feds to let her surrender after she goes for minor surgery for what she called "plumbing problems" on Dec. 7.

The Brooklyn resident, free on bail since 2006, said she is prepared to be locked up.

"Visit me in jail," she told supporters. "Send money to the commissary!"

Stewart was sentenced to two years and four months in prison in 2005 for helping Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman talk to militants from prison after his 1996 conviction for plotting to blow up New York City icons and assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Prosecutors, who wanted her jailed for 30 years, appealed, calling the light sentence "a slap on the wrist" for someone convicted "of a crime of terrorism."

The appeals court said the trial judge, John Koeltl, should have determined at sentencing if Stewart committed perjury when she testified.

"Any cover-up or attempt to evade responsibility by a failure to tell the truth upon oath or affirmation at her trial would compound the gravity of her crime," the court said.

The majority of the panel sang Koeltl's praises in how he handled the complex case. But Judge John Walker dissented - saying just because Koeltl had a stellar reputation didn't mean he'd called it right this time.

"The court has never recognized two classes of judges - those who are so good that their judgement is beyond reproach, and all the rest," Walker wrote.

Walker called Stewart's 28-month sentence "breathtakingly low" given her plan to transmit instructions from "a terrorist leader to his jihadist followers in the Middle East."

Outside court, Stewart said she was just trying to be a zealous advocate for her client, who is serving life in prison "I'm not sure yet what our next move is," she said, then quoted Adlai Stevenson: "I'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much not to."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/17/2009-11-17_conviction_of_disbarred_lawyer_lynne_stewart_upheld_for_smuggling_messages_to_ja.html#ixzz0XER1LhOT

THE NEW AXIS OF EVIL

2009-11-05T15:15:00.002-05:00

Construction site,Washington street Brooklyn New York

BAD HAIR DAY FOR TWO FELLOW HACKS

2009-11-05T15:06:00.004-05:00

The battle of 10th and 2nd AVE

Taxi Confidential is released - it includes stories about my fellow Hacks and myself

2009-09-19T09:03:00.009-04:00

Just finished a radio show on Cab Driving on WBAI 99.5 fm and we talked about Taxi Confidential. Anyone can listen on www.wbai.org go to archive http://archive.wbai.org/
and look for Radio Free Eireann 9-19-09

Speaking with Amy Braunschwieger at Word bookstore in Greenpoint Brooklyn

Group shot of fellow cab drives and author at Word. Below is the New York Times coverage of this event.

Taxi Drivers Turn Around and Share Their World
By Sarah Maslin Nir

Amy Braunschweiger compiled taxicab drivers’ stories for her new book.
We usually see only the backs of their heads, so it was a refreshing change when five New York City cabdrivers faced the audience from a small stage in a bookshop basement in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Wednesday evening, at a release party for the book “Taxi Confidential: Life, Death and 3 A.M. Revelations in New York City.”

Cabbies, though their work facilitates many a New Yorker’s daily life, are often overlooked, known to their passengers only as a snapshot on a license floating in the upper left corner of the cab’s backseat plexiglass divider.

The event, in a small room under Word, a bookstore on Franklin Street, and the book, by Amy Braunschweiger, offer glimpses into the universe of the taxicab, with stories from both drivers and passengers interspersed with facts and statistics.

Ms. Braunschweiger said she hoped to “present a cab-eye-view,” of New York. Readers, she hopes, will develop “renewed respect for cabdrivers, and fall in love with New York City.”

Ms. Braunschweiger is a freelance writer whose work for the Village Voice on such topics as the High Line, four years before its slick makeover, and travels in the city’s bowels in the Pratt Institute’s subterranean steam tunnels inspired an “obsession with all things industrial and abandoned,” she said — “how a city ticks, but is often overlooked.”

According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the governing body for the city’s cabs, there are 48,000 licensed yellow cabs and perhaps 50,000 other for-hire vehicles, including black cars and livery cars.

Only 1 percent of all drivers are female. Representing that tiny minority Wednesday evening was Aura Bobadilla, 34, who until recently drove a cab for Northside Car Service in Brooklyn. Ms. Bobadilla told her story in Ms. Braunschweiger’s book and on stage to the roughly three dozen attendees.

When Ms Bobadilla, who began driving in 1998, took to the stage, she scanned the crowd and stopped. “I remember her,” she said, pointing to a woman in the audience. “You’re a teacher.” The woman in the audience confirmed that she been Ms. Bobadilla’s passenger more than a year ago, when she was running late for school.

The flexibility of driving, Ms. Bobadilla said, made it an ideal job for a woman with young children; constantly meeting new people also suited her personality. It seems to run in the family. Ms. Bobadilla has since let her mother, Nancy Barias, 60, take the wheel, she said. “She’s addicted, she loves it,” Ms. Bobadilla said. “It’s a problem. She is addicted to the job.”

The drivers who spoke were self-effacing, almost to a fault. “I’m the only Jew in New York without ambition,” Seth Golden, a taxi driver for 25 years, said by way of introduction when he stepped in front of the crowd. Mr. Golden’s story was about picking up his personal hero, Mel Brooks, whom he described as “the King of the Jews,” and from whom during the ride, he said, he gleaned deep nuggets of wisdom. “Now that’s a Jew that we haven’t seen since Jesus,” he said.

Another driver, John McDonagh, told about how he founded a group called Cabbies Against Bush during the Republican National Convention in 2004, passing out fliers offering delegates free rides back to Kennedy International Airport. Though none took him up on his offer, he said, the stunt landed him a segment on Fox News.

David Pollack, a driver and founder of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a group that facilitates the leasing of taxicabs, also had a brush with the news media. He was chosen to switch places with the “Today” show host Matt Lauer when Mr. Lauer tried being a driver for a day. “How many people in America can say they’ve hosted the ‘Today’ show?” he asked.

Mr. Pollack’s favorite memory was driving a mariachi quartet in full regalia to the airport. When he asked why they were oddly without luggage, they revealed that a wealthy tourist to Mexico had heard and enjoyed their music and had flown them to play a party in Manhattan, and sent them home by airplane that same day.

“I’ll never forget,” Mr. Pollack said, “being serenaded the whole drive in four-part harmony with an acoustic guitar.”

Musical instruments became a topic again later that evening, when an audience member, Jessica Seigel, a journalist and amateur violinist, asked why celebrated musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, who famously left his $2.5-million, 266-year-old cello in the back of a taxi (they were reunited) and the Korean violinist Hahn-Bin, who left his $600,000 instrument (also found) in a yellow cab, seemed to be perpetually losing these valuable goods.

Davidson Garrett, a driver who wrote “King Lear of the Taxi: Musings of a New York City Actor/Taxi Driver,” responded. The musicians aren’t just careless, he said: “We are so distracted in New York City just surviving.”

As the evening wound on, the conversation turned toward questions of the ethnicities of today’s taxi drivers, and racism many face from customers. When most of the guest speakers began their driving careers, the demographic makeup of drivers was skewed toward white males.

“Yesterday’s Irish, Jews and Italians,” Mr. Pollack said, referring to the backgrounds of drivers when he began driving more than 20 years ago, “are today’s Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians. And they deserve to be respected.”

The audience applauded.

“Driving a taxi for six months,” he added, “should be a prerequisite for life.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/taxi-drivers-turn-around-and-share-their-world/

A BANNER DAY 9-11-09

2009-09-11T17:48:00.000-04:00

9-11 ON 6TH

2009-09-11T17:31:00.002-04:00

I spotted the Fire Truck that was in the New York Times coming up 6th AVE today.

Fire Truck Becomes a Memorial to the Fallen of Ground Zero
By PETER APPLEBOME

Maybe it was because part of his job at ground zero was to gas up the fire trucks. Maybe it was because his life was being consumed by nine months of practically living at the Pit, sleeping nights on the third pew at St. Paul’s Chapel.
Michael Bellone in the fire truck he made into a memorial to ground zero’s fallen firefighters. “I worry every day that we’re already forgetting,” he said.
But sometime between the morning he hopped on a fire truck to head toward the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the day his volunteer work ended the next June, Michael Bellone had an idea.

Why not a New York City fire truck bearing the names, ranks and fire companies of all 343 firefighters who died that day? Would that not be the perfect memorial to their sacrifice? The work finally ended, but the idea never went away.

For those who lost family members or friends, that day will never fade from memory. For many of us, it’s already fading. But for the thousands who were there as workers or witnesses, there is almost a conscious decision to be made. How much to hold fast to memory? How much to move on?

For better or worse, Michael Bellone — now 54, down to 13 percent lung capacity, on permanent disability and living upstate near Syracuse with his wife, whom he met at ground zero — has not given an inch to moving on. He figures, if some people have to keep the memories alive, why not let it be him?

Mr. Bellone was a burly nightclub bouncer from Brooklyn with training as an emergency medical technician when he went down to the Pit. Except for some Saturday nights back at the club where he worked, he said he spent virtually all of the next nine months at ground zero.

Afterward, Mr. Bellone and Bobby Barrett, a firefighter with whom he became friends at ground zero, began speaking to schoolchildren about 9/11. Mr. Bellone founded a group, T. R. A. C. (Trauma Response Assistance for Children) Team, to counsel and to educate kids about violence, trauma, natural disasters and terrorism.

And then there was the truck. He spent years looking for one that had been used in New York City, was still functioning and was large enough for 343 names. After years of checking eBay and auction sales, three years ago he found such a truck in Buffalo, a 38-foot-long 1981 Seagrave with a 100-foot ladder that had been used in Utica and was part of Ladder 36 in Manhattan from 1980 to 1989.

He spent three years fixing it up, hired a local company that did Nascar lettering to paint the names and ranks, the companies and firehouse logos, then took the pictures of the fallen off the Internet and added them, too.

“This is not about me; it’s about them,” he said. “My slogan is ‘Remember the men,’ and I worry every day that we’re already forgetting. So you can read the names, but you see them on a truck, with the rank and station assignment and station logo — that makes it real.”

His friend Mr. Barrett, whose company lost 15 people, said he reached the point where he had to step back and decide between the world of constant remembrance and the world of the living. He chose the latter.

“At one of the memorials, Jimmy Gray’s, his 9-year-old daughter said, ‘Daddy, if I knew you weren’t coming home again, I’d have let you tickle me a little harder,’ ” he said. “And I think, these men gave their lives so we can enjoy ours. If we don’t, what did they die for?”

But Mr. Barrett said he respected what Mr. Bellone was doing, that he was doing it all from the heart, that everyone had to find their own balance between then and now.

On Wednesday, Mr. Bellone and another friend, Jay Rodriguez, who had been an ironworker at ground zero, left home in the fire truck at 9 a.m., cars honking approval as they drove down the highway. They reached the George Washington Bridge at 5:30 p.m.

And there it was, gleaming red: “Never Forget September 11, 2001” on both sides of the ladder, names, ranks and photos in perfect array, even a citation for firefighter fathers who lost firefighter sons.

Mr. Bellone drove over the bridge toward Ladder 36, in Inwood. After that, he plans to take the truck to ground zero, see friends, attend memorials. On Sunday, he’ll drive it home and will occasionally bring it to patriotic parades and fire-related ceremonies.

“It’s not about me. It’s not about the truck,” he said. “It’s about the 343 men. I just want people to remember.”

THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING ON 9-11-09

2009-09-11T16:39:00.006-04:00

While people were commemorating 9-11 downtown, I was crossing the 59th street bridge today and remembered another skyscraper that was hit by a plane on a foggy day in 1945.

On the foggy morning of Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lt. Colonel William Smith was piloting a U.S. Army B-25 bomber through New York City. He was on his way to Newark Airport to pick up his commanding officer, but for some reason he showed up over LaGuardia Airport and asked for a weather report. Because of the poor visibility, the LaGuardia tower wanted to him to land, but Smith requested and received permission from the military to continue on to Newark. The last transmission from the LaGuardia tower to the plane was a foreboding warning: "From where I'm sitting, I can't see the top of the Empire State Building.

Confronted with dense fog, Smith dropped the bomber low to regain visibility, where he found himself in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by skyscrapers. At first, the bomber was headed directly for the New York Central Building but at the last minute, Smith was able to bank west and miss it. Unfortunately, this put him in line for another skyscraper. Smith managed to miss several skyscrapers until he was headed for the Empire State Building. At the last minute, Smith tried to get the bomber to climb and twist away, but it was too late.

The Crash
At 9:49 a.m., the ten-ton, B-25 bomber smashed into the north side of the Empire State Building. The majority of the plane hit the 79th floor, creating a hole in the building eighteen feet wide and twenty feet high. The plane's high-octane fuel exploded, hurtling flames down the side of the building and inside through hallways and stairwells all the way down to the 75th floor.

World War II had caused many to shift to a six-day work week; thus there were many people at work in the Empire State Building that Saturday. The plane crashed into the offices of the War Relief Services of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Catherine O'Connor described the crash: The plane exploded within the building. There were five or six seconds - I was tottering on my feet trying to keep my balance - and three-quarters of the office was instantaneously consumed in this sheet of flame. One man was standing inside the flame. I could see him. It was a co-worker, Joe Fountain. His whole body was on fire. I kept calling to him, "Come on, Joe; come on, Joe." He walked out of it.Joe Fountain died several days later. Eleven of the office workers were burned to death, some still sitting at their desks, others while trying to run from the flames.

One of the engines and part of the landing gear hurtled across the 79th floor, through wall partitions and two fire walls, and out the south wall's windows to fall onto a twelve-story building across 33rd Street. The other engine flew into an elevator shaft and landed on an elevator car. The car began to plummet, slowed somewhat by emergency safety devices. Miraculously, when help arrived at the remains of the elevator car in the basement, the two women inside the car were still alive.

Some debris from the crash fell to the streets below, sending pedestrians scurrying for cover, but most fell onto the buildings setbacks at the fifth floor. Still, a bulk of the wreckage remained stuck in the side of the building. After the flames were extinguished and the remains of the victims removed, the rest of the wreckage was removed through the building.

The plane crash killed 14 people (11 office workers and the three crewmen) plus injured 26 others. Though the integrity of the Empire State Building was not affected, the cost of the damage done by the crash was $1 million.

DISTRICT 9 ON 6TH AVE

2009-08-29T16:30:00.005-04:00

I don't care what the Taxi and Limousine Commission says, I will not pick up Prawns from District 9. I have a family.

TAKE THAT SARA-CUDA

2009-08-25T08:00:00.003-04:00

A Sara Palin death panel on 33RD AND 5TH.

DEATH ON 13th AND A

2009-08-25T07:30:00.004-04:00

I went by here shortly after the shooting. Another causality for the NRA and the 2nd amendment.

A bouncer at a slick East Village lounge was killed and two revelers wounded during a wild sidewalk shooting that rattled the trendy neighborhood early Sunday, police and witnesses said.

Eric (Taz) Pagan was off duty and hanging out at Forbidden City, a hip Asian-themed bar on Avenue A near E. 13th St., when he took a fatal bullet to the head trying to break up a fight just outside the lounge at 4:30 a.m., police and witnesses said.

Pagan, 42, and other Forbidden City employees ran from the shuttered bar just as a man stepped out of an idling white van brandishing a handgun, horrified witnesses said.

"He then walked around a car and popped one guy," said Eric Searle, a nightlife promoter standing across the street. "He then walked around another car, went straight up to Taz and [shot] him point-blank in the forehead.

"He collapsed and there was blood pouring everywhere," said Searle, 28. "The shooter didn't say anything - not a word. He just capped those guys and walked back to his car and drove off."

Pagan, a single father, died moments later at Bellevue Hospital.

"He took away a good father. He has to pay for what he did," the bouncer's mother Ellena Pagan, 65, said of the killer. "My son was a wonderful man."

She said the mother of Pagan's 14-year-old daughter died of cancer in 1995 and he adopted her son Andrew, 17.

Andrew, punched a metal sign at the hospital when he heard that his father had died.

"I can't believe this," he said, crying hysterically as he walked outside. "I can't believe this. Why?"

Two other men who were shot had been patrons at Forbidden City earlier, police said.

Robert Calbo, 30, was shot in the hand and Salvador Moran, 31, was hit in the neck. Both men were listed in stable condition at Bellevue.

Investigators were exploring whether Calbo and Moran fought with a group of men near a car parked on Avenue A, leading their attackers to flag down their gun-toting friend in the white van, police said.

One witness said Moran had catcalled a girl who had been standing in front of the bar, perhaps provoking the fight.

When the fight escalated, Pagan ran outside and into the gunman's path, witnesses said.

"If he saw something he would have gotten involved," said his friend Luciene Pina, 39. "He kept everybody safe."

No arrests have been made. Investigators were combing Avenue A, which had been teeming with late-night partygoers in the moments before the shooting, looking for surveillance video of the murder, police said.

A window at the lounge was transformed last night into a shrine, filled with pictures of Pagan and messages from friends. Dozens of people gathered outside, hugging and sharing stories of a man they described as caring and mild-mannered.

"He was a peacemaker," said Allen Rivera, 42. "He was the nicest guy you'd ever meet."

SLEEPLESS IN NEW YORK

2009-08-08T16:42:00.003-04:00

They say the lights are bright on Broadway, but not for this poor soul on 104th Street and Broadway

SUMMER TIME IN NEW YORK

2009-08-06T16:32:00.003-04:00

Hurry up and call the Fashion Police to 27 street and 6th ave

FRANK MCOURT SHOW ON WBAI RADIO 99.5FM NEW YORK CITY

2009-07-25T15:38:00.005-04:00

Pete Hamill,Alphie McCourt with myself at the studio of WBAI on Wall st. Listen to the show on WBAI.
Radio Free Eireann 7-25-09

http://archive.wbai.org/

Frank McCourt Remembered on Radio Free Eireann WBAI 99.5 FM

2009-07-22T07:25:00.002-04:00

Radio Free Eireann remembers Frank McCourt on a special tribute show this Saturday, July 25th, from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. on WBAI, 99.5 fm. Hosts John McDonagh and Sandy Boyer will be joined by Alphi and Malachy McCourt, Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin in remembering the life and honoring the legacy of Frank McCourt.

McCourt, Pulitzer-prize winning author, teacher, and master storyteller, passed away last weekend. Along with his brother Malachy, Frank was a producer and host at WBAI during the 1990s.

Selections from the New York Times message board will be shared, and former students and friends of Frank are encouraged to call into the show to share memories of Frank.

FREE BERNIE MADOFF

2009-07-01T10:21:00.006-04:00

These were the flyers handed out at the Bernie Madoff lynching in lower Manhattan.

PART OF THE MEDIA CIRCUS OUTSIDE THE BERNARD MADOFF SENTENCING - RANDY AND I WERE THE RINGMASTERS

2009-07-01T07:14:00.013-04:00

Gorilla Theater at it's finest - Randy Credico and I in front of the Southern District Federal Courthouse for Bernie Madoff's sentencing. To anyone in the world-wide media who would listen we made the point - where are all the other CEOs of failed companies who cost investors and taxpayers billions of dollars? Why is Bernie Madoff the only one who has to pay consequences - and not the CEOs of GM, AIG, failed banks, etc.? BBC, Al Jazeera, El Mundo, ABC, Wall Street Journal market watch and NBC were among those who covered the story.

This was the UPI photo of the day - replacing Michael Jackson.
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Photos_of_the_Day/June-29-2009/2051/

BBC interview

Randy Credico speaking in Spanish to tv crew from Costa Rica.

Madoff's Spiritual advisers arrive at court.

Some the media coverage.
EL Mundo
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/06/30/cronicasdesdeeeuu/1246327698.html

ABC News

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/06/a-call-to-let-madoff-off-hook-goings-ons-outside-courthouse.html

Micheal Jackson Remembered On 125 street

2009-07-01T06:19:00.002-04:00

This painting was in the front window of an art gallery in the West Village.

SAD END ON HOUSTON STREET

2009-06-16T18:53:00.002-04:00

WHO KNEW

2009-06-16T18:51:00.002-04:00

Scorsese Calling

2009-04-25T19:22:00.000-04:00

Michael Pitt in talks for Boardwalk Empire
Posted Jan 1st 2009 10:33AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
I'm crazy for HBO, and one of the shows I'm really looking forward to is Boardwalk Empire, a pilot executive produced by Martin Scorsese (who's also directing), Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, and Terence Winter (who's also penning the pilot).
Based on the Nelson Johnson book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, the project chronicles the 1920s origins of Atlantic City, New Jersey. From what I've read, it sounds like a mix of The Departed, The Sopranos and Goodfellas -- all favorites of mine. And the cast they've got lined up couldn't be better.
Steve Buscemi plays Nucky Johnson, a businessman who runs a liquor distribution ring at the beginning of Prohibition. Michael Pitt (pictured) is in negotiations to play Jimmy Darmody, a bright, young, ruthless WWI veteran who serves as a flunky for Nucky, but yearns for more power.
Terence Winter was involved with The Sopranos; he wrote, directed, and executive produced the series. Levinson and Wahlberg have both served as executive producers on HBO's In Treatment and Entourage. And Scorsese ... well, do I really need to point out his credits? I think not.
With a team like this, could Boardwalk Empire be anything less than magnificent? If it is, I'll be completely shocked.
HBO signs writer to Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire
Posted Jun 4th 2008 7:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cable/Satellite, Reality-Free
It sounds like HBO is looking for another series in The Sopranos tradition. Or maybe it was The Sopranos that was in the Scorsese tradition? Either way, we recently told you about Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese's HBO project Boardwalk Empire (teaming with Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson of Entourage fame), and now we can report that they've hired Terence Winter to pen the script for Boardwalk Empire. That's the name of Nelson Johnson's book about the dark underbelly in the rise and fall of Atlantic City, on which this project will be based. Call me crazy, but this sounds like perfect material for Scorsese's sensibilities, even if he's producing rather than directing.

Boardwalk Empire is still in the development phase, with a pilot yet to be ordered, but today's development is a sign that things are progressing. Winter was intimately involved with The Sopranos, working his way up to executive producer in addition to writing and directing. The Brooklyn born writer told Variety, "HBO's been my home for nine years. From day one I've never been happier working for any network or group of people. They presented me with this book and said they thought a series was there -- go find it."

As with so many projects that are in development, we'll have to wait and see where this one actually goes. However, the prospect Scorsese plus The Sopranos plus criminal activities in an allegedly corrupt place like Atlantic City all adds up to something I'd tune in to see.

Are You Ready For Your Closeup

2009-04-25T19:18:00.003-04:00

WANT TO BE ON TV?
Casting for new HBO series:
BOARDWALK EMPIRE
Grant Wilfley Casting
is seeking working-class Irish men and women.
The series is set in the 1920s. All men must be willing to have their
hair cut short. Women must have at least shoulder-length hair.
Paid compensation.
Open casting call: Wed, May 6, 2009, 2pm-5pm
Church of St. Paul the Apostle
405 West 59 Street, NY, NY 10019.
No experience necessary.
Or email a recent picture and contact info to:
boardwalk@gwcnyc.com
For more casting information:
visit www.gwcnyc.com or call 212 685 3168

I had a dream . . .

2009-01-20T18:23:00.001-05:00