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This belongs to you. Take it back...
Williamsburg 
Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 13:01:34 PM EDT
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Last night I posted about my neighbor, James Powderly, and 5 other Brooklynites who were arrested in Beijing for daring to speak out about the Chinese occupation of Tibet during the Olympics. Today we learn that 6 unnamed Americans were sentenced by the Chinese police to 10 days in "administrative detention."
Six foreigners given 10 days' detention: Beijing police
Beijing police said Thursday it had handed out 10-day detention terms to six foreigners believed by an overseas activist group to be pro-Tibet campaigners involved in Olympic protests this week.
In a brief faxed statement, the city police information department said "Thomas" and five other foreigners had been apprehended on Tuesday for "upsetting public order", without identifying the six people any further.
"Beijing police decided to give the six 10 days of administrative detention," the faxed statement said.
Administrative detention is a punishment that can be meted out by Chinese police without having to go through the courts.
Students For a Free Tibet said it assumed the six were American pro-Tibet activists who police detained in Beijing on Tuesday.
I hope they won't actually be held that long and will soon be back here in Brooklyn. That said, I think it's instructive to take a look at the way justice is dispensed in China. Americans who speak out get 10 days. Elderly Chinese grannies who just wanted the chance to speak out get a year's worth of "re-education through labor."
Tibetans who speak up get "shot like dogs."
On the web: Students for a Free Tibet.
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Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 01:09:02 AM EDT
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One of my neighbors is being held by Chinese authorities in Beijing. James Powderly has been in detention for nearly 55 hours now. His crime? Speaking out for the plight of a Chinese occupied Tibet. He's not alone either. Three other Brooklynites were arrested later in the day.
The Chinese, who are hoping that their efficient oversight of the Beijing Games will wipe away memories of Tiananmen Square, have arrested one of Williamsburg's best-known multi-media artists after discovering that he planned to project a pro-Tibet message on a building in the Chinese capital.
Artist James Powderly has been in a Chinese jail since Aug. 19 - though the official charges are unknown.
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Though Powderly was apprehended alone, he traveled to Beijing to collaborate with five activists from the group Students for a Free Tibet - including Brooklynites Samantha Corbin, Jacob Blumenfeld, and Lauren Valle - who were arrested later that day after unfurling a light-up "Free Tibet" banner in front of the famed "Bird's Nest" stadium, the student organization said.
The whereabouts of Powderly and his American compatriots remain unclear. A spokesman from Beijing's Municipal Publicity Security Bureau refused to comment on Powderly's arrest, according to the Associated Press.
I would hope that my neighbor James and his fellow Brooklynites will be released soon. Hell, the whole circus leaves town in a few days and it would be best if this was resolved before all the attention shifts away from Beijing. I mean, China treats its own people bad enough while the world's attention is focused squarely upon them. Check out this story about two elderly women sentenced to a years "re-education through labor" for merely being persistent in their efforts to secure a permit to protest in the designated "protest zones" the razing of their homes to make way for the Olympic facilities.
I hope they get out of there and fast.
On the web: Students for a Free Tibet.
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Tue Oct 16, 2007 at 18:42:18 PM EDT
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As someone who has worked on a campaign or two, I often find myself feeling sorry for the candidates and all the stupid crap and ridiculous ring kissing they have to do. Hillary Clinton isn't someone that inspires all that much sympathy in me, she certainly doesn't need it, but I can't help but feel a twinge of sad compassion for her as I read about her trip to my neighborhood yesterday.
Hillary was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn yesterday afternoon courting the Brooklyn Dem establishment before they voted to endorse her Presidential candidacy. And the Brooklyn Dem establishment means Vito Lopez, whose quotes in this Observer story read like something straight out of Godfather II.
"She's paying her respect, which I think is a very good characteristic," he said, referring to Mrs. Clinton's visit to Cono & Sons, one of the neighborhood's last vestiges of white-tablecloth and red-sauce dining. "Very respectful. She came even though she knew she would prevail on the vote tonight."
So, here she is at Cono & Sons (which is fabulous, btw) in the old Italian section of Williamsburg, the onetime home of one Joe "Bananas" Bonanno, with a man who could be an extra on the Sopranos, though he's actually the thoroughly corrupt Boss of one of the last big Urban Democratic Machines who happens to be muttering to a reporter about how the candidate is so respectful...
...I mean you can write your own punchline here.
Perhaps the highlight of the article linked above is what might just be the best description of Boss Vito that I have ever read anywhere:
Tall and solid, he gave the impression in his oversized gray suit of a soft-spoken, Selsun Blue-scented slab of cement.
It's hard not to feel sorry for candidates on days like that, even for uber confident front-runners rolling over everything in their path like Senator Clinton.
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Wed Sep 26, 2007 at 08:50:40 AM EDT
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While I'm quite pleased that the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously agreed to extend landmark status to the historic Domino Sugar Factory yesterday, I share the concerns of the folks over at the Gowanus Lounge about the site's future. I've long supported the landmarking of the site. I live just a few blocks from the factory and it certainly feels good to win one for once, but the plans of the developers who own the site certainly have the potential render the victory mostly meaningless. GL has a fine analysis:
Domino Landmarked, but Is It a Victory?
The main buildings of the old Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg were landmarked yesterday in a vote that was, ultimately, a formality. As it's one of the very few preservation victories in North Brooklyn recently, we should be jumping up and down and cheering. The buildings weren't demolished before anyone moved to landmark them, for instance, the way the Old Dutch Mustard Factory was leveled to make room for a pedestrian structure...This rare waterfront victory of history over demolition is almost enough to bring tears to our eyes.
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The reason for tearing down the Adant building--that it would stand in the way of a new, tall building--leads us the other reason we're concerned: the sheer magnitude of the New Domino plans. When all is said and done in about a decade, the surviving Domino structures will be surrounded by 30-40 story buildings, hemmed in by what will be the biggest Brooklyn development project after Atlantic Yards. The developers are planning 2,400 units of housing. Overall, the project will add so many new residents that it will double the population of the neighborhood within a 1/4 mile radius.
We will await the architect's designs before deciding whether the New Domino is acceptable or a design nightmare. Our initial reaction is that a thicket of 30-40 story buildings is too much for that stretch of the waterfront. More to the point, however, is the fact that Williamsburg and Greenpoint will be taking in many thousands of new residents as dense new developments come on line. No steps are being taking to create the infrastructure to handle them, the most glaring omission of which is a total failure to strategically plan to expand the transportation infrastructure.
While we're glad we won't have to say goodbye to Domino the same way we've bid farewell to so many other buildings in recent years, we're still wondering if that will only turn out to be a technicality. In the end, the preservation of the Domino plant is a victory, but it could turn out to be a very bittersweet, if not hollow, one.
Anyone who has ever tried to ride a rush hour L train into Manhattan knows exactly what the writer is getting at and anyone familiar with the neighborhood knows that 40 story buildings on the waterfront will dwarf the surrounding structures, including the Williamsburg Bridge, throwing much the area into permanent afternoon shadow.
It's certainly a victory, but only time will tell if it's one worth celebrating.
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