Housing
Biased Intimidation – Propoganda, Jackson Township Residents Being Victimized
Dear Readers:
The following was posted to the Jackson Community Watchdog News Facebook site. It was also forwarded to us.
Hat Tip to the tipster and please see as follows:
This is an example of the frequently victimized turning into the abusers with the help of a consortium of people who seem to think that disenfranchising a secular community is an acceptable response to bogus claims of anti-Semitism.
BIASED INTIMIDATION = THE advertisement that defamed an entire town @GurbirGrewalNJ, intimidating texts, emails, and a constant barrage of HATE is directed toward Jackson residents. The legality is questionable, the fact that Governor Murphy or AG Grewal has not denounced this HATE toward Jackson residents speaks volumes. Or can it be that Dr. Roberts deep pockets is more important than the citizens those leaders have sword to represent.
FOR THE RECORD: The propaganda piece you may have seen today is not about Anti-Semitism, its about the lawsuits and an attempt to force Jackson leaders to settle. Well here’s the FIRST two pages of Agudath of Israel’s settlement: every zone in Jackson will be changed to accommodate schools, dormitories, and houses of worship. YES, a School in the 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home next to you. This is what our Jackson Government is protecting – OUR QUALITY IF LIFE!
Irresponsible Zoning and the Path to a Never-ending Stream of Lawsuits… Not Raging Anti-Semites!
The Zoning Boards Ruled Against Jackson Trails, New Jersey, an Irresponsible Project. Denied. More Courts Will Rule. This is Not About Anti-Semitism. This is About Irresponsible Zoning.
Jackson Trails, a project applied for in Jackson Township, New Jersey, was not viewed as an exclusive Orthodox Community, until it was. But in that context, it should not be allowed. Since when can we demand segregated communities in the United States? Since when is fighting segregation labeled as racism? Until it is. The people of Jackson Township want to live together in harmony in a township that is responsibly zoned. They want their wildlife. They want their trees. They want their piece of suburbia. They do not want New York City, Newark, or any other Urban area thrust upon them.
And the diverse group of people in Jackson Township, New Jersey should be able to fight against an unwanted outcome without being deemed to be a group of raging anti-Semites. That label is being used as a sword and in that use, is raising hostility immeasurably.
But, anti-Semitism as a sword is going to Federal Court on the grounds of discrimination. The fight boils down to whether an irresponsible project should be allowed to be built, to the exclusion of the wants of an entire community, on the basis that by not allowing it, we are violating the rights of Orthodox Jews. But what right should they really have? Should any group have the right to build a segregated community – and then use as the argument against inclusiveness – anti-Semitism. That’s an endless and absurd loop that creates a very, very slippery slope.
The Rockland County, NY 5-Town’s Supervisor’s Meeting – [Video], Over-development, not Blanket anti-Semitism
Dear Readers:
Many of you have been reading incessantly about a rise in anti-Semitism, insensitive and/or hateful rhetoric, language, violence, etc. This issue has become a hot-bed topic in Rockland County, New York following the stabbings that occurred at a Rabbi’s home/shul on the 7th night of Chanukah.
Yesterday, January 23, 2020, the Supervisors of the 5 towns that comprise Rockland County, New York held a Supervisor’s meeting intended to be the first step in addressing the problems within Rockland County. The Supervisors addressed the attendees and then the attendees were broken out into about 15 groups, each marshaled by a moderator who then had 3 minutes to provide the findings to the entire audience.
This blogger moderated groups 12, 13, 14 and 15 because they were short moderators.
We were asked to answer 2 questions (simplified here):
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What are the 3 most prevalent problems within the County?
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What are some possible solutions?
Notably, anti-Semitism was not listed as the most eminent threat or significant problem in a majority of the groups. Rather, overdevelopment and unequal enforcement of zoning/land-use laws were deemed to be an overriding problem nearly uniformly throughout each group. That speaks volumes.
The most salient points expressed as problems were:
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Over-development (by far the first and most significant point)
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Unequal treatment within the many communities in all aspects of life: development, housing, education, services, governmental assistance, law enforcement and the enforcement of building and zoning codes
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Political corruption
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Discriminatory housing practices and segregation
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Education and ever increasing taxes
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Social Media and the lack of sensitivity, both from the English-speaking non-religious sites and those geared towards the religious community
A synthesis of the possible solutions is:
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Equal application of zoning and housing codes
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Equal treatment under the law
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Transparency by political and law enforcement officials
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A tempered approach to social media, greater sensitivity and a better use of language. Most groups did not think that government intervention in censorship was appropriate, rather they suggested that we need to better temper ourselves.
LostMessiah’s blogger can be seen from about 15:18 to 19:54 on the video.
The Housing Market – Increasingly Controlled by Private Equity – Creating a Crisis [audio]
It’s not just the market in your city. Or your neighbourhood. Or your budget or financial situation. There’s a shadowy global financial practice at work that is fuelling the housing crisis in cities around the world. And nobody knows how to stop it.
Today we’ll explore the shady-but-legal practice of private equity firms approaching housing as a commodity for investment at scale, in cities around the world, including Canada. What happens when a dwelling that should be a forever home for a family becomes just a trade chip amongst tens of thousands of others, to be bought and sold solely based on profit margin? Nothing good, you would imagine. And you’d be right. But can cities and governments figure out a plan to stop it?
GUESTS: Leilani Farha, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing; and Fredrik Gertten, documentary filmmaker
(You can watch the trailer for their film, Push, and find out where it’s playing, right here)
Audio Player
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:41 — 17.6MB) | Embed
With De Blasio’s Worst Offenders also His Largest Donors, Landlords Are Likely Not Going to Be Held Accountable
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/de-blasio-pitches-plan-to-seize-private-property-of-problem-landlords-opponents-cry-communism.amp
De Blasio pitches plan to seize private property of problem landlords, opponents cry ‘communism’
Liberal New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is rolling out a new plan that would potentially allow the city government to seize buildings of landlords who force tenants out — a plan his opponents say amounts to “straight communism.”
De Blasio, in his State of the City address on Thursday, announced he wants to take action against landlords who try to force tenants out by making the property unliveable — and pulled out an executive order to create a Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. He said that in the event the government intervenes, the buildings would then be controlled by a “community nonprofit.”
“When a landlord tries to push out a tenant by making their home unlivable, a team of inspectors and law enforcement agents will be on the ground to stop it in time,” he said, according to the New York Daily News. “If the fines and the penalties don’t cut it, we will seize their buildings and we will put them in the hands of a community nonprofit that will treat tenants with the respect they deserve.”
According to the mayor’s website, the city is “pursuing new local law to seize upwards of 40 of the most distressed multiple dwelling buildings annually and transition them to responsible, mission driven ownership.”
The city reportedly has gone easy on problem landlords in the past. The New York Times reported last year that officials have taken a “gentle hand with landlords who deprive tenants of basic services, declining to enforce the maximum penalties for even the worst offenders,” detailing how “neglected repairs” end up forcing tenants out.
“Health care is a right, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it,” de Blasio said in a statement. “While the federal government works to gut health care for millions of Americans, New York City is leading the way by guaranteeing that every New Yorker has access to quality, comprehensive access to care, regardless of immigration status or their ability to pay.”
In an interview with New York Magazine in 2017, he also expressed a desire for much more government control in development and rents, and cited a “socialist impulse.”
MOST DEMOCRATS IDENTIFY AS LIBERAL FOR FIRST TIME, UNDERSCORING LEFTWARD TILT OF PARTY
“I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be,” he said. “Look, if I had my druthers, the city government would determine every single plot of land, how development would proceed. And there would be very stringent requirements around income levels and rents.”
On Sunday, he said in an interview that he wouldn’t rule out running for president in 2020, and urged the Democratic Party to take “bolder” positions similar to his own.
“There is still a lot of moderate voices in the party that did not learn the lessons of 2016 and are not listening to what people need in this country,” de Blasio said. “So I want to push this whole party, and I want to inform this debate in this country about the fact that we could go a lot further, we could be a lot bolder than what we’re doing now.”
Republicans, though, were disturbed by the extent of Hizzoner’s plan and charged the idea was more suited to communist dictatorships where land and property seizures are commonplace.
“My first reaction was: Is this communist Cuba?” state Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, who ran against De Blasio in the 2017 mayoral race, told Fox News. “ I can say that as a daughter of Cuban refugees who fled Castro’s Cuba in 1959, this is what happened to her family, she had her home taken, my grandfather had his gas station taken.”
“This is extreme even for Mayor de Blasio, because we know that he has socialist leanings, but this is straight communism and I think it’s very scary to America-loving, democracy-loving people.”
Malliotakis said the proposal was also hypocritical of the mayor, as she says the city runs some of the worst housing via the NYC Housing Authority. She also expressed some doubt as to how his plan to seize property would fare.
“Any attempt to seize property will face a court challenge and the mayor himself comes up with these ideas, throws stuff out there and doesn’t know how he intends to make it happen,” she said. “It’s all rhetoric.”
To read the article in its entirety click here.
LOSTMESSIAH 