Greenmail, Volume 6, Number 4, December 2001

Nonviolence

Grassroots Democracy

Social Justice

Ecology

Commentary

Miscellaneous

Upcoming Events

West Queens Greens general meeting, usually the third Sunday of every month, 7 PM, at 39-51 1/2 46th St., Sunnyside. 728-7372 (Gary Sandman)

Flushing Greens general meeting, usually the last Saturday of every month, 12:30 PM, at 36-09 Main St., Flushing. 888-7411 (Day Star Chou)

Greenspeakers (public speaking club) meets usually the first Tuesday of every month. 633-4181 (Rachel Friend)

Vigil against the war in Afghanistan, every Saturday from 11 AM to 12 noon, at the corner of Kissena Blvd. and Main St., 359-1094 (Harvey Baylis)

National Greens Gain Federal Recognition

The value of federal recognition is largely symbolic. The national Green Party can now accept contributions of up to $20,000 from a single individual, whereas state parties can receive at most $5,000. The new limits will not make much difference because few Green donors can afford to give such large sums.

The Green Party sought national committee status in 1996 but was turned down by the FEC because it had not, at the time, run enough candidates for federal offices.

School Board Elections in 2002

School board elections are interesting for several reasons: 1) these elections are non-partisan--without party names on the ballot, political machines play less of a role; 2) candidates are elected by preferential voting, a form of proportional representation advocated by the Greens; and 3) because the election is not in November, far fewer people vote than in general elections.

All of these factors make it easier to elect a Green to school board than in any other election in N.Y. City.

Central Queens Greens TV Shows

Greens Contest Mayoral, Borough President and City Council Elections

The Green Party's mayoral hopeful, Julia Willebrand, finished fourth with over 8,000 votes. Because the race between Michael Bloomberg and Mark Green was close, many people who normally vote Green pulled the Democratic or Republican levers for mayor. During the campaign, a debate that included Green, Willebrand and other third party candidates was broadcast on cable television and the radio. Willebrand also appeared in the voter's guide mailed to all registered voters. She was the only woman mayoral candidate.

For the Borough Presidencies, Dorothy Williams-Pereira, Michael Kasenter and Paulo Nunes-Ueno ran in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn. In all of these races, machine Democrats won by a landslide. Nunes-Ueno got 2% of the vote in Brooklyn; Williams-Pereira and Kasenter got 1% in Queens and Manhattan.

Twenty-two candidates ran for City Council in N.Y. City on the Green line, including 10 in Queens. The strongest performers in Queens were Paul Graziano who got 7% in Flushing and Ann Eagan who got 7% in Sunnyside/Woodside. Elsewhere in N.Y. City, Craig Seeman received 11% in northern Brooklyn and Gloria Mattera got 10% in Park Slope. Graziano, Seeman and Mattera all qualified for and received matching funds from N.Y. City.

Hiram Monserrate, who ran on the Democratic and Green ballot lines for council in Jackson Heights, was elected. Monserrate was the only Democratic candidate in Queens who was given permission by the Green Party to run on the Green line. He won the Democratic primary in his district and was unopposed in the general election.

So many Green candidates ran for office this year because, with recognition from N.Y. State as an official political party, it was easy for Greens to get on the ballot. To remain a recognized party, the Greens' gubernatorial candidate must get at least 50,000 votes in 2002.

About Greenmail

Paper copies are available from the Central Queens Greens, 63-36 98th Place #5J, Rego Park N.Y. 11374; the West Queens Greens, 25-26 18th St #1F, Astoria N.Y. 11102; and the Flushing Greens, 36-09 Main St. #CC1, Flushing N.Y. 11354.

Editor: David Levner, 718-897-1448, levner@panix.com

Copyright Central Queens Greens, Flushing Greens and West Queens Greens, 2001. You may reproduce articles from Greenmail as long as proper credit is given.

Greenmail Tightens Security

1. Mail sealed with scotch tape will no longer be accepted.
2. All visitors to Greenmail's offices must deposit their weapons in the living room before entering the kitchen.
3. Greenmail staff must wear surgical masks and gloves when editing and proofreading the newsletter.

Levner regrets the inconvenience that these measures may cause, but claimed that they were "necessary in the troubled times in which we live."

Puzzles

2. Which specialty food chain with stores in Long Island and Westchester has agreed to remove all genetically engineered ingredients from its store brands?

3. In the recent mayoral election, how much did the Republican, Democratic and Green Party candidates spend per vote?

Answers

Greens Send Activists to anti-SOA Demonstration in Georgia

The SOA is a military school run by the U.S. Army to train Latin American soldiers. Many of the schools graduates have become human rights violators, including Roberto D'Aubuisson, a death squad leader from El Salvador, Efrain Rios Montt, a Guatemalan general, and Manual Noriega, the Panamanian dictator and drug trafficker. Under the direction of the school's hundred thousand graduates, Latin Amrican military forces have tortured or killed over half a million people in their home countries. Currently, most of the students are from Colombia.

The Flushing Greens and the Central Queens Greens held a fundraising party in November at the home of Gwen Debrow to raise money to send activists to the annual Fort Benning demonstration. The benefit and a mailing raised over $500.

If Congress does not close the SOA in 2002, Green activists will return to Fort Benning for next year's demonstration. For more information about the SOA, visit the SOA Watch web site, www.soaw.org.

Public Speaking Club Formed

Greenspeakers, a public speaking club modeled after Toastmasters, held its seventh N.Y. City meeting in December. The club's mission is to teach its members to become better public speakers.

The lively meetings are both enjoyable and instructive. Participants introduce each other, give prepared speeches, answer questions thrown at them, and evaluate each other. One person counts everyone's "ums" and another watches for grammatical gaffes. Prizes are given for the best prepared speeches.

By learning to speak effectively in a supportive environment, the members become better activists.

The club was founded by Rachel Friend and Julia Willebrand, and is a project of the NYC Greens Education and Skills-Building Committee. It usually meets the first Tuesday of each month. The next meeting, on January 8, is at the home of club member Randee Cohen in Jackson Heights. Contact Rachel Friend at 718-633-4181 or Greenspeakers@yahoo.com if you have questions or would like to receive announcements of meetings by e-mail.

A Victory for Cleaner Energy

by Cheryl Heidel

The New York Power Authority (NYPA), which installed 11 new natural gas-fired power plants around N.Y. City in 2001, has been dealt a major legal setback. In late November, the New York State Court of Appeals upheld a July ruling that said NYPA and Governor Pataki acted illegally by fast-tracking 11 new "mini" power plants without conducting environmental reviews. The plants must now undergo a thorough environmental and health review or face being shut down.

The court also ruled that NYPA must evaluate the health impact on the community of emissions of particles as small as 2.5 microns. This is a much stronger standard than the one currently enforced by N.Y. State and is a powerful precedent. Lisa Garcia of the N.Y. Public Interest Research Group, the organization that won the lawsuit, said that the 2.5 micron standard will apply to other sources of pollution as well. According to Garcia, "The state now has to look at and control PM 2.5 for every power plant, every factory, every building, every project with traffic impacts."

The rulings have enlivened the fighting spirit of Greens and other environmentalists, who were quick to blow the whistle in January 2001 when they learned that NYPA planned to open the plants in the spring without conducting environmental reviews. NYPA's actions disregarded crucial health and safety rules and the wishes of the people in the community. Although many neighborhood residents complained about the plants at public hearings, NYPA paid little attention and charged ahead with the contruction.

Local groups, such as the West Queens Greens and CHOKE (Citizens Helping Organize a Kleaner Environment), have fought on the front lines against NYPA. They filed lawsuits, held demonstrations, wrote letters to local newspapers, and proposed a referendum. Area activists are outraged that more power plants were built in western Queens where over half of the electricity generated in N.Y. City was already produced.

NYPA spokespeople argued that the plants had to be built because of summer energy demands. But environmental experts, including Ashok Gupta of the Natural Resources Defense Council, stated that California-style blackouts were unlikely to occur in N.Y. City.

Nevertheless, NYPA and several private companies are planning to build or expand four more plants in Astoria and Long Island City by 2003. Green activists would rather shut down old generators and replace fossil fuel-burning power plants with renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass and fuel cells.

Members of local groups including the West Queens Greens, CHOKE and B.Q.E. (Better Queens Environment) are working together to plan a town meeting and educational forums at West Queens schools this spring.

West Queens Greens Peace Vigil

by Gary Sandman

Astoria--The West Queens Greens gathered at Athens Square, 30th St. and 30th Ave., on December 1 at 1 PM for a peace vigil in response to the Afghan War. For an hour, club members held signs and passed out a peace statement. Except for two people taunting and shouting at them, most passersby took the statement and walked away, reading it thoughtfully. A few people said they agreed with the statement.

The Greens' concerns are sparked by the many unanswered questions about this war. Where is the evidence proving who committed the horrendous attacks on September 11? Why is this not being treated as a criminal investigation, like the previous attacks at the World Trade Center, the Kenyan and Tanzanian embassies and the USS Cole? Why are the injustices suffered by Middle Eastern people--the root of these attacks--not being addressed? Why is the U.S. continuing to depend on Mideast oil?

For information about future vigils, please contact Ann Eagan at 482-0170 or anneagan@earthlink.net or Gary Sandman at 728-7372 or gsandman@panix.com.

Another Casualty of Afghan War: American Civil Liberties

1. imprison non-citizens on the basis of secret evidence;
2. conduct wiretaps and surveillance without evidence of wrong-doing;
3. conduct searches and seizures without warrants;
4. eavesdrop on private conversations between defendants and their lawyers in violation of attorney-client privilege; and
5. investigate private citizens without "probable cause."

In addition, President Bush wants to try non-citizens accused of terrorism in secretive military courts. During the Civil War, President Lincoln also held secret trials, but the Supreme Court later ruled that Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional and that military trials must be confined to the location of an actual war, may only be used for a limited time, and may not be used in places where civilian courts are available.

Ironically, the U.S. criticizes other nations for using secret military courts. For example, Peru has been reprimanded for convicting Lori Berenson, an American citizen, in a secret trial. Several European nations have stated that they will not extradite terror suspects to the U.S. if they will face military courts or if they will be eligible for the death penalty.

WTC Site: Creating a Memorial with a Sense of Place

by Paul Graziano

In the aftermath of September 11th, there has been a lot of discussion about the future of the World Trade Center site. Just a few weeks before the attack, Larry Silverstein, one of the largest commercial real estate developers in New York City, had negotiated a 99-year lease for the 15 million square feet of office space at the Twin Towers for $3.2 billion. This staggering sum of money is only part of the insurance settlement which he will receive (nearly $7 billion). Mr. Silverstein said soon after the attack that "...it would be the tragedy of tragedies not to rebuild this part of New York...It would give the terrorists the victory they seek."

Flag-waving aside, the future of this 16-acre site is very important for the future of N.Y. City and the United States. As the center of the financial industry, both in the United States and worldwide, downtown Manhattan--and New York City--have taken an enormous long-term financial loss, estimated at $40 billion, that will harm the ability of city government to deliver basic services. Social programs and arts groups will see their budgets cut to the bone during the next few years, and the estimated $150 million in tax revenues that N.Y. City was counting on from the World Trade Center for building affordable housing will never reappear.

The major question is: how do we balance the need for a memorial to those who perished on September 11th and the possibility of new office development?

There are huge logistical problems to any redevelopment of the site. It is estimated that it will take more than a year to remove the debris and remains of victims that are buried under the rubble. The site is still 1400 degrees Fahrenheit in some places, with three underground fires continuing to burn. There has even been talk that once the debris has been brought to ground level, they will cap the site permanently, thereby making much of the site off-limits to development.

When the Twin Towers were first built, they were described as ugly, brutal, arrogant and unsympathetic to their site. The builder, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, changed the original "Towers in the Plaza" design to focus attention on the towers. The smaller plaza that was actually built was relatively barren. Many "Towers in the Plaza" designs in Manhattan have not worked, and city law was changed in the 1990s to reduce the incentive to build in this way.

A substantial portion of the site must be dedicated to a memorial. The memorial should not be thought of as a plaza, an appendage or bonus to new commercial development. If new development occurs, it should be on the outer edges; new buildings should look to the center of the site as the center of gravity. A token memorial helps no one and belittles the memory of those who perished.

Answers to Puzzles on Page 2

2. Trader Joe's.

3. The winner, Michael Bloomberg, spent $92 per vote. His Democratic opponent, Mark Green, spent $23 per vote. The Green Party candidate, Julia Willebrand, spent 75 cents per vote.

Subscriptions

Make your check payable to the Central Queens Greens and send it to David Levner, 63-36 98th Place, #5J, Rego Park, N.Y. 11374.

Back Issues