Saturday, April 12, 2014

The De Blasio Coverups Continue Under the Watchful Eyes of Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter




Zachary Carter

By Azi Paybarah 12:18 p.m. | Apr. 11, 2014
LINK
De Blasio official on transparency ‘in the abstract,’ and in practice

When Mayor Bill de Blasio was asked last week about his administration's unexplained delays in responding to Freedom of Information Law requests filed by reporters, he said that he was not "a lawyer" but that his staff was following the law.
This morning, the city's top lawyer briefly touched on the issue of transparency, saying that it's not so easy to throw the doors open and let everyone see everything.
“The trick is, I think most of us favor transparency in the abstract until your outbox is being gored,” said the city corporation counsel Zachary Charter. “Obviously we would support anything that, consistent with other important values, increases transparency.”
Carter made the comment in response to a question following a speech at New York Law School. Afterward, Carter told reporters that the issue of transparency is “more complicated because you have to make sure the information that is being disclosed—I think that people who are sincerely committed to transparency can still take into account the impact that it could have an impact on other things we value, like privacy, like the fact that certain kinds of inter-government communications should be confidential in order [to allow] candid conversation among people in government.”
De Blasio’s responsiveness to FOIL requests came under scrutiny following his administration's handling of requests for information related to the arrest and release of one of his supporters earlier this year.
The supporter, Bishop Orlando Findlayter, was arrested Feb. 10 in Brooklyn after police officers spotted him making a left turn without signaling. They later found he was driving with expired insurance and an outstanding warrant which, it turns out, was for failing to show up to court to deal with a civil disobedience arrest at a protest about immigration reform in 2013.
The mayor called a top NYPD spokesperson to inquire about Findlayter, who was an early campaign endorser. The NYPD released Findlayter that evening and he attended a clergy breakfast de Blasio hosted the following morning.
The incident raised questions about the level of discretion local police officials have in detaining people with outsanding warrants, and what role City Hall played in expediting the release of the mayor's ally. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the mayor's phone call on behalf of Findlayter, also wrote that City Hall officials sent emails to the department the night of the bishop's arrest.
Hours after Capital published a story describing some de Blasio's FOIL delays, his administration responded to several news outlets' requests for information about Findlayter—without handing over any information.
Records sought by Capital included communications between City Hall officials and the New York Police Department related to the Feb. 10 arrest of Findlayter, as well as the arrest report. Other outlets also sought communications City Hall officials received from the public about Findlayter's arrest.
Asked this morning if City Hall should release communications sent to the NYPD related to Findlayter, Carter politely declined to comment, saying the Freedom of Information Law is complex, and not something he is directly working on.
LINK

 Bishop Orlando Findlayter at the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church. He was arrested because a failure to
pay his car insurance led to a license suspension and he also had two outstanding warrants from an immigration protest.

Mayor De Blasio set a bad precedent by making a call to the NYPD to "talk" about his friend Rev. Findlayter, and then telling him to not talk about it. The new monitor of the NYPD should investigate. This is a matter of public interest. Meanwhile, if a person you know is arrested, call the Mayor's office and ask them to call the police to set your friend/relative/other, free.

Betsy Combier

RELATED COVERAGE



 

Bishop Orlando Findlayter, an early supporter of Bill de Blasio’s campaign
for mayor, after giving a sermon in Brooklyn on Sunday morning. Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
By 

The pastor whose arrest last week has turned into a political headache for Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared publicly on Sunday for the first time since the incident, leading a rousing service in Brooklyn but saying nothing about his arrest — or the controversy that has entangled the mayor.

The pastor, Bishop Orlando Findlayter, made no mention of Mr. de Blasio on Sunday morning at New Hope Christian Fellowship, housed in a large, fluorescent-lit room in a rented civic center on Utica Avenue in East Flatbush. Instead, pausing only to wipe his head with a white cloth, Mr. Findlayter swayed to songs alongside members of the church, shook a colorful tambourine and eventually strode to the microphone to tell his parishioners, “You need to ask God, ‘What is my assignment?’ ”

“My ministry may not be your ministry, and your ministry may not be my ministry, but we all have a ministry,” Mr. Findlayter said, citing verses from the Gospel of Matthew. “We all have been called. We all have been gifted.”

 Mr. Findlayter, an early supporter of Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign and a member of the mayor’s inaugural committee, was arrested last Monday and accused of driving on a suspended license. He faced being held overnight in jail because of two outstanding warrants connected to his role in a rally last year for immigration reform.

 After learning of the arrest, Mr. de Blasio called a deputy police chief, Kim Y. Royster, who told the mayor she would look into the matter.

 When Chief Royster called the precinct commander, Deputy Inspector Kenneth C. Lehr, he told her that he had already decided to release Mr. Findlayter, whom he knew from their work together in the community.

 The mayor has said he was making an “inquiry” and not trying to exert any influence. But his decision to place such a call prompted criticism from some officials and a barrage of pointed questions at a news conference last week.

 While the mayor has fended off suggestions of favoritism, the minister has said nothing publicly about the arrest and the firestorm that followed. On Saturday, he was expected to address the controversy during a planned appearance in Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton. But when Mr. Findlayter did not attend, attention turned to his congregation’s service on Sunday. More than 100 worshipers showed up, along with several reporters, for the service. But Mr. Findlayter maintained his public silence on the arrest and the criticism of the mayor.

 Wearing a black jacket, white clerical collar and a gold chain, Mr. Findlayter appeared smiling and relaxed. But as he embraced admiring parishioners after the service, Mr. Findlayter, who was flanked by security guards wearing earpieces and radios, declined to speak to reporters. “I have nothing to say,” he said. “It’s a Sunday. I came to worship.”

 Before Mr. Findlayter spoke at the end of Sunday’s two-hour-long service, another clergyman, the Rev. Eric Barnes, delivered a strong defense of the pastor, admonishing the reporters in attendance to pay attention.

 “Thank you for standing up for immigration reform,” Mr. Barnes said, addressing Mr. Findlayter from the stage. “Thank you for standing up for Downstate Medical Center. Thank you, Bishop Findlayter, for hobnobbing with the president. Thank you for helping people who can’t pay their rent, for helping them find the resources.”

 Those who came to hear Mr. Findlayter’s sermon were no less effusive.

 “He’s a lovely man, a lovely, lovely person,” said one woman, who declined to give her name. “He speaks for those in the community.”
 
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