this happened in america

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/trayvon-martin-rep-bobby-rush-house-floor-hoodie_n_1385258.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/trayvon-martin-rep-bobby-rush-house-floor-hoodie_n_1385258.html

A Constant Back and Forth Between Santorum and Homosexuals

Rick Santorum, a Republican presidential candidate joined the CNN show, Piers Morgan Tonight in August 2011 and discussed Santorum's opposing view on homosexuality. Santorum shared his political views and because of Morgan's persistent request on his religious views, he shared his personal beliefs as well. Morgan believed Santorum's beliefs to be "bordering bigotry."

Santorum, a traditional Catholic has been overt in his belief against homosexuality. He opposes same-sex marriage and parenting. He had voted for the 2006 Constitutional Amendment to define marriage between one man and one woman. He also advocated for the reinstatement of the U.S. military policy, “Dont Ask, Don’t Tell,” which ended in 2011. Not only did the homosexual community criticize Santorum’s particular point of view, they also defended their progressive biblical beliefs.

Santorum clearly stated in an interview with AP that he is not against homosexuals but the act. 

The issue of homosexuality being or not being a sin has also been brought up to Santorum several times, one of which in the same Piers Morgan interview.

“The Catholic church teaches that homosexuality is a sin. I’m a Catholic and I subscribe to the church’s teaching,” said Santorum to Morgan.

However, not all traditional churches, such as the Catholic church hold this belief.

Reverend Boon Lin Ngeo, better known as O. Young is the first homosexual to come out of the closet in his home country of Malaysia. Currently, he is a reverend of Metropolitan Community Church of New York (MCCNY) - a church open to the LGBT community. He explains how many traditional Christians have changed their view on homosexuality.

“Even today, there are still many traditional Christian churches see homosexuality as a sin, but of course many have changed their position, some of them no longer see homosexuality as a problem, but homosexual behaviors are,” said O.Young in an email.

www.businessinsider.com

Although Santorum grew up as a Roman Catholic, an example of a more progressive church is a church of Francis Xavier, located nearby Union Square.

“There are many inclusive, welcoming, gay-friendly congregations in mainline Protestant denominations - and even among Roman Catholics, like nearby [Church of Saint] Francis Xavier,” said Mark Larrimore, a Lang Associate Professor of Religious Studies.

Santorum also believes that same-sex marriage should be prohibited. According to an CNS News interview with the editor-in-chief Terry Jefferey in January 2011, Santorum believes it to be “common sense” that marriage is between a man and a woman and that it is a violation of the natural law.

However, the homosexual community believes that there is no such thing as a traditional marriage. 

According to a NYTimes column called “The Marriage Ideal” written by Ross Douthat, he wrote that a marriage between a man and woman might not always be considered as the norm.

“Given the prevalence of modern and ancient examples of family arrangements based on polygamy, communal child-rearing, the use of concubines and mistresses and the commonality of prostitution, heterosexual monogamy can be considered "unnatural” in evolutionary terms,” wrote Douthat.

In the same Piers Morgan interview, Santorum shared some of his personal beliefs on truth, particularly on homosexuality. He states that since the truth is what the church, Bible, and reasons teaches, this point of view is “legitimate.”

“I don’t think the truth changes. I don't think right and wrong change based on the different eras of time. There are some truths that are in fact eternal and are truth based on nature and nature’s law,” stated Santorum to Morgan.

Conservation and progressive Christians particularly defend their perspective views when referring to certain Bible passages, such as Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, and so on. However, they have different interpretations, whether it is literal or in context with modern society.

The New International Version of Leviticus 18:22 states, "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."

“We [MCCNY] believe that the Bible which was written more than 2,000 years ago, does not say anything about homosexuality. The reason is that homosexuality as a sexual orientation is a contemporary concept. The word ‘homosexuality’ was coined in the late 19th century. Thus, the writers of the Bible simply didn't have the concept of homosexuality,” said O.Young.

However, the traditional Christian literally interprets such biblical texts. 

Invisible Children, Visible Setbacks

Kony 2012 poster

Released on March 5^th, Kony 2012, a short film made by Invisible Children, has drawn criticism around the world. “We are a global movement,” Invisible Children’s website says. “We are storytellers, activists, and everyday people who use the power of media to inspire young people to help end the longest running armed conflict in Africa.”

With over 100 million hits since its release date just weeks ago, the video has raised questions about the group’s funding and actions. Charity Navigator, a website that provides evaluations of America’s charities, has given Invisible Children a low ranking on accountability and transparency.  

Originally founded in 2005, the Invisible Children organization was founded by three young filmmakers, Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole. After traveling to Africa to document the conflict in Darfur, the young men were exposed to the conflict in Northern Uganda regarding the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA, led by Joseph Kony) and decided to change course. Their first documentary, entitled Rough Cut, was released in 2006. Various events and videos have since followed, but Kony 2012 has made the largest impact by far.

“I have had reservations about the group Invisible Children as they seemed to have been riding on a past problem for a long time,” said a professor of social work at Elizabethtown College who wished to remain anonymous. “They were talking about night commuters years after the children were no longer doing that,” she said, “Now they are trumpeting the problem of Kony years after he has caused serious problems.”

Peter Holslin, a 2008 graduate of The New School, spent two months traveling throughout Africa in the summer of 2008. He spent most of his time in Gulu, a district in Northern Uganda. Holslin said he and his travel partner would get rides from aid groups, and even spent three weeks in an IDP camp.

“By the time we got there, the LRA was basically gone,” Holslin said. Although he was not there to work for any specific aid organization, Holslin said that there were a wide variety of projects to get involved in. Invisible Children was not the only group there.

Holslin even described Uganda as an amateur’s playground for aid work. “It’s not just about Joseph Kony,” Holslin said, “There are a whole number of things you can do to get involved.” Holslin also discovered that it is different approaching these issues from an American perspective as opposed to being on the ground. It is easy, he said, watching the video and turning Kony into the bad guy. The organization seems to portray Americans as the saviors.

“Another criticism I have heard is the lack of focus of helping those in Africa to solve their own problems, instead they need the White folks to come in and save them,” said Elizabethtown College professor of social work.

Holslin said that he feels the Kony 2012 video was a wasted opportunity. It portrays war and complicated issues in the simplest terms possible and is manipulative and sneaky, providing little historical background and nuance.  Ultimately, Holslin said the Ugandan people he interacted with were appreciative, but were always struggling.

Jason Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children

As for now, Invisible Children has begun addressing critiques. A section on the organization’s website is dedicated for responding to the most common questions put forth by critics. With Jason Russell’s most recent public breakdown and subsequent hospitalization, however, more questions have been raised.

Despite this outcry, the “invisible children” of Uganda continue to face obstacles. “The problems certainly do still exist,” said Elizabethtown College professor, “Even if the children are not night commuting, there are problems stemming from the years of war that need addressing.”

Bloomberg Hits the Homeless Again

Richard Anderson waited patiently outside for a surplus of H&H Bagels on West 46th Street on Saturday afternoon.  He needed to get the bagels to a homeless shelter before dinnertime but to his surprise, the bagels and his volunteer efforts were turned away under a new edict by the Bloomberg Administration that bans food donations to homeless shelters.  "I can't even give them a bread item?  Sorry, that's absurd," said Anderson.

According to health officials, it's impossible to gauge the items' salt, fiber and other nutritional stats, said a CBS report.  "For the things that we run because of all sorts of safety reasons, we just have a policy, it is my understanding, of not taking donations," said Bloomberg to Huffingtnon Post last week.  For Anderson, who has been collecting food for the homeless for 10 years, the new law seems absurd.  "I brought over a Minestrone soup recently and they couldn't even take that," said Anderson.  "They want to monitor salt intake?  These people have no food!  Who cares about their salt intake!"

As well, Bloomberg is already under fire from the New York City Council, who intend to file a lawsuit, because of his proposal of a new law that would require any homeless adult to first prove that they have no other options before receiving shelter.  According to the Coalition for the Homeless website, more than 45,000 people experience homelessness and over 40,000 of those use municipal buildings for shelter, making the task of questioning shelter recipients daunting.  “More that 110,000 different homeless New Yorkers stay in a shelter system a year,” said Cindy Gawkin, a volunteer at Women in Need (WIN).   “Bloomberg wants me to ask each of them if they are worthy of housing?  He can come do it, not me.”  

As it turns out, the need for homeless shelters is growing, according to Coalition for the Homeless, whose website states that the number of homeless families has nearly doubled over the past decade.  

“You know, during the summer it’s not so bad.  It’s just the winters, the winter is harsh here,” said John Comstock, a homeless man who frequents the Travelers Hotel, a homeless shelter on West 40^th Street.  “I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for that shelter.”  Likewise, Jolene Hites, a homeless woman for the past seven years, credits homeless shelters to her survival.  “After I got clean it was still hard to find a job.  That means that I don’t even have money for public housing,” she said.

Although there is no minimum income for public housing, a resident in public housing does need to have some sort of income and rent is based off of 30% of a families adjusted gross income, according to the New York City Housing Authority website.  Applying for public housing may not be as easy as one thinks, especially if the individual applying does not have a job, or is not living with someone who has a job.  “There are a series of interviews and applications that take forever to process,” said Gawkin.  “That’s why there are homeless shelters such as WIN.  We are doing what the city government can’t and not allowing food donations is hurting us greatly because donations are our largest source of food income.  This law is preventing me from doing part of my job.”        

Generation Emigration

Time is running out for 22-year-old Lauren Farrell.  In May, her student visa will expire, renews it orobtains a green card, she will have to leave America after living here for four years.

“I love New York” Farrell says, who moved to the city in 2008 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, “but I honestly don’t know about staying.  I just don’t know if it’s possible.”

Farrell is one of thousands of Irish who recently left the exhausted economy of home to seek better opportunity abroad.  According to the Irish Times, 76,400 people emigrated from Ireland in the first half of 2011, 40,200 of which were Irish citizens.

Kate Devlin, a 22-year-old Trinity College graduate from Dublin has watched as one by one, her friends have packed their bags and moved away.  This summer, she will follow in their footsteps and move to New York. Kate hopes to secure a graduate visa, which is issued to college graduates from a selection of countries, allowing them to work in the United States for at least one year.

“Dublin is just a barren place now” Devlin says.  “All of my friends are such go-getters that they’ve left to see the world and pursue ambitions and get jobs.  There’s definitely still a young Dublin around but my friends aren’t really here anymore so I knew I’d end up leaving too.”

The United States is one of five popular destinations for Irish emigrants, along with Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.  The Irish Times reports that in 2011, The United States issued 17,555 non-immigrant visas to Irish citizens.   California, New York and Massachusetts are the three most popular points of destination.

The tradition of Irish immigration to American dates back to the 1800s.  The famine ships during the Great Irish Famine carried over one million Irish to American shores. 

Today, however, Ireland is not one of the top 20 leading countries of immigration to America.  According to a report conducted by the US government’s Office of Immigration Statistics, there were 12.6 million legal permanent residents in America in 2010.  The biggest contributing country was Mexico (3.3million), followed by The Philippines, China, India and the Dominican Republic.

Ireland’s comparatively low number of immigrants allows Irish citizens to enter a visa lottery for a diversity visa.  Each year, the United States issues 55,000 diversity visas to a random selection of people drawn from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.   Securing one of these visas means securing a green card, which unlike many of the other forms of American Visas (there are 33 in total) permits you to work in whatever field you want.  It also eliminates the tedious and sometimes expensive process of trying to obtain a green card through the American immigration system.

Conor McGrady, a professor at The New School and originally from Northern Ireland, secured his green card in 2006, but admits the process was difficult.

“I got my card through marriage, which was straightforward enough, but the process was terrible,” McGrady says.

It took 5 years for McGrady’s green card to be processed and approved.  His application was lost and eventually turned up in Missouri and post 9/11 heightened security slowed the process.  McGrady hired a lawyer to help his chances and speed the process along.

“My sense is that if you don't apply though a lawyer your application is not taken seriously,” he says.  “I've never encountered government bureaucracy like that which I encountered through the Immigration and Naturalization Services.  There were multiple finger printing sessions, endless hours of waiting in government offices from the Bronx to Brooklyn and medical exams.”

The last part of the process involved an interview in Long Island where McGrady and his wife had to prove that their marriage was legitimate.   In 2006 he received his green card, allowing him to work where he pleases without having to have sponsorship from an employer and approval from the government.

Green cards last ten years, so McGrady will have to apply to renew his in 2016.

“I’m dreading having to renew it,” he says.

For many of the Irish in America, securing a green card is not a realistic opportunity.  Lauren Farrell’s best chance to stay in New York is through an artist’s visa, which would allow her to work as an actress.  This however, has its limitations.

“I don’t know if I’ll apply,” she says.  “Actors Equity, which is the union that represents stage actors, doesn’t recognize visas of any kind.  They only employ citizens or green card holders.  So if I stay, on any kind of visa, I can’t ever get hired for a Broadway.”

BDS in Park Slope?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/nyregion/park-slope-food-co-op-to-decide-on-boycott-vote.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=park%20slope%20coop&st=cse

http://gothamist.com/2012/03/28/video_daily_show_delves_into_park_s.php

Start of Article

Dear everybody, I just woke up... So I'll be like half an hour late.
Sorry, Malcolm

          
Most likely, there isn’t another place in New York City where you can see two roller-bladers in neon body suits tag team wrestle a priest and his alter boy. This stage is named The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and you might miss it if you’re not trying to find one of their cult-famous improv or sketch comedy acts. The 150-seat venue is a soundproofed, cellphone-receptionless bunker underneath a grocery store on 26^th street in Chelsea. Tickets are never more than $8 and feature shows with titles like, “ASSSSCAT,” “Cool Show 4 Teen Girlz!” and “NEWSADOOZIES: A Man-Eating Musical.”

MCCNY: Home for the LGBT Community

            The Metropolitan Community Church of New York, located in Midtown West is a home and safe haven for the LGBT community. As a member of the denomination (founded in 1968), Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Church (UFMCC), MCCNY believes that God created certain people as LGBT and that it is a gift from God, not a sin. It is considered a progressive, gay-friendly church. Part of MCCNY’s mission statement says, “we believe all people can experience God’s liberating love, learn to live in right relationship with all creation, and gain the courage to change the world.”

Small Businesses Might Sell By The Seashore at New Pier 17 Mall

By Harrison Golden

This week, representatives from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announced their support for the Howard Hughes Corporation’s newest South Street Seaport Pier 17 mall renovation plans.

The design, created by SHoP Architects, features an emerald green roof and will include a glass façade encasing the building’s current steel frame. The deck surrounding the center will contain a mixture of wood, cobblestone, and "solar bricks," which will absorb sunlight during the day and glow at night.

“This project will provide business innovation to the seaport and help Lower Manhattan keep up with the influx of people coming in,” said Brad Sonnenberg, general counsel and secretary for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

By 2015, Lower Manhattan will be home to roughly 85,000 residents and 441,000 office workers. The average household in Lower Manhattan makes $242,000 in yearly income, compared to $75,198 in the average New York City home.

Sonnenberg believes that the growth in demand will make the renovated mall a prime market for small, newly emerging businesses. Stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew, and Bath & Body Works are current tenants of Pier 17, and he does not believe they should be welcomed into the new shopping center. Since many of these retailers can be found in multiple locations throughout the city, he says, the seaport should let smaller, more localized businesses into the 250,000-square-foot location.

“Letting these same tenants back into this new mall would be a huge regression from this beautifully designed piece of architecture,” he added. “The seaport used to be such a haven for the everyman, the hand-working, dusk-till-dawn small business owner.”

The Rouse Corporation opened Pier 17 in 1985. During its first few years of operation, the mall was widely considered a financial success. But as the 1990s neared, foot traffic slowed down, and many small businesses either relocated or went out of business.

In 2010, General Growth, who acquired the property from Rouse in 2004, filed for bankruptcy and subsequently spun off control of the building, among other real estate assets, into the Howard Hughes Corporation.

But while many of Pier 17’s floors are filled with the larger, better-known retailers, some members of Community Board 1 remain faithful that the new corporation’s redesign will feature the city’s smaller businesses as tenants.

"Of course on the outside, it is a fantastic makeover from what is there now," said Vera Sung, a board member. “But we want this new mall to reflect that very modern and fresh look in more ways than meets the eye.”

The Homeless

I’m doing this article on homelessness in New York.  I’m framing the article around a recent city decision that states that homeless shelters cannot take donated food. According to health officials, it's impossible to gauge the items' salt, fiber, and other nutritional stats.  A Huffington Post article from last week said, “Bloomberg huffed, ‘For the things that we run because of all sorts of safety reasons, we just have a policy it is my understanding of not taking donations.’"  I also have an interview today with a volunteer from WIN, Women in Need, inc.  WIN has been around since 1983 and specializes and helping homeless women and children (who apparently make up most of the percentage of homeless people).  I also have some stats about homelessness in New York City from Coalition for the Homeless that show the rise in homeless shelters since 1993, as well as, who the people living in them are.  

Invisible Children: Kony 2012

Kony 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/



http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/kony-2012-is-a-distraction-from-issues-ordinary-ugandans-care-about/?scp=8&sq=kony%202012&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/business/media/kony-2012-video-illustrates-the-power-of-simplicity.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=kony%202012&st=cse

Retraction!

http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/03/this-american-lifes-retraction-of-the-mike-daisey-story-set-an-online-listening-record/

Milky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYp-YBif72Y

Video Assignment

http://youtu.be/h9iA89yUZFs

Video Story Link

http://youtu.be/BYdHcRpK1pY

Erieland

Plaguing Gentrification Upsets Native North Carolinians

My Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_X7Y4jBHFk&feature=youtu.be

My Video's Inspiration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLzQAe72AOQ&feature=related

Video Inspiration

A video that inspires...I love this because it's simply fun.  We need more fun videos in this world. http://vimeo.com/12236680

A Win Against the NYPD

The first court appearances of Occupy Wall Street consisted of protestors and journalists with NYPD officers and attorneys of the National Lawyer’s Guild. On November 3^rd, 2011, around 60 defendants who were part of the first mass arrest stood in the Manhattan Criminal Court hoping to be dismissed. One of which was John Farley.

Farley, a 24-year-old reporter from a recently established online local news magazine of WNET Channel 13, MetroFocus was the first defendant. He was charged with disorderly conduct and his charge was the only one dropped, thanks to a letter from the president of WNET. 

Even during recent Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the NYPD prevented journalists from simply doing their jobs. The NYPD used excessive force and arrested journalists, including credentialed journalists. Some were not allowed to even observe what was happening. This became one of NYPD’s scandals.

At the time, as a young reporter, Farley’s incident became the news.

“As far as I know, I was the first professional journalist arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street, though many others have been since,” said Farley, currently a multimedia web editor for MetroFocus.

Farley - along with his colleague and photographer, Sam Lewis - covered the Occupy Wall Street story since September 17^th, the Day of Action. He wrote an article about citizen journalism called Observations of a Jailed Journalist on September 27th based on the demonstration in Union Square on September 24^th.

Farley and Lewis observed protestors marching and chanting with the masses. All of the sudden, a NYPD officer pulled out his pepper spray and sprayed two young female protestors.

A woman helping a fellow protestor who has been pepper sprayed. Sam Lewis

“The pepper spraying incident was totally unexpected and deeply troubling,” said Farley.

As an instinctive reporter, he ran over to the women to interview them but then he was kettled with dozens of people.

“I was pushed up against a wall,” Farley says. “I wouldn’t say it was violent, but it was definitely forceful,” Farley told FishbowlNY.

Farley showed the officer his “WNET – New York Public Media” press badge and audio recorder but they still handcuffed him with plastic bands.

Although many journalists were arrested, Farley mentioned that he was the only journalist to be handcuffed.

While sitting on the sidewalk with other arrested citizens, he yelled, “I’m press! I’m with WNET MetroFocus! Please do not arrest me.”

John Farley arrested and kneeling on the sidewalk.                           Sam Lewis

Foley was held in police custody for nine hours. Most people who were with him were protestors but he did meet a couple of bystanders who were arrested after taking quick snapshots of the demonstration.

“After I was put into a holding cell, I spoke and conducted interviews with several of my cellmates, took a nap, ate a peanut butter sandwich and was eventually released.”

Farley has continued to cover stories on Occupy Wall Street but that experience was once in a lifetime.

“I haven't personally experienced anything similar before or since.”

Disturbed and Disappointed: Universities react to NYPD surveillance of Islamic student groups

When a twenty-two-year-old history major at Columbia University first read about the NYPDs surveillance program of Muslim communities, he felt uncomfortable.  This senior, who asked to remain anonymous, grew up in London with a Muslim father.  Last week the Associated press revealed that the NYPD had been spying on Muslim student groups at Columbia University since 2006.

“I understand that it's is designed with the intent of protecting America" the history student said, "but when does it become too intrusive?  When does it encroach on people's rights?

Columbia University Campus in Harlem
(collegeonline,com)

The program involves members of the police force tracking activity on Muslim websites and forums as well as undercover cops visiting Muslim neighborhoods and community groups.

In an online statement released February 21, the Columbia Muslim Students Association expressed its disappointment with the NYPD. 

“The Columbia Muslim Students Association is deeply saddened and disappointed by the news of the NYPD’s surveillance and monitoring of Muslim college students” the statement said.  “We are disturbed by the fact that Muslim students are targeted and profiled based on their ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs alone, without any evidence or suspicion of wrongdoing.  We are concerned that news reports about NYPD’s presence on our campus have a chilling effect on the intellectual freedom necessary for a vibrant academic community.”

University president Lee Bollinger showed his support for the CMSA in an email sent to the students, faculty and administration of Columbia on February 24^th.  The letter was also published on the schools website.

“Such an intrusion into the normal, daily activities of our students raises deeply troubling questions that should concern us all” the letter read. 

According to Bollinger, there is nothing to suggest that the surveillance at Columbia went beyond the monitoring of websites.  He states that the University had no prior knowledge of this surveillance until the story appeared in the media.

“While we appreciate the daunting responsibility of keeping New York safe, law enforcement officials should not be conducting such surveillance of a particular group of students or citizens without any cause to suspect criminal conduct" the letter said.

NYU was also amongst the list of colleges monitored by the NYPD.   Student groups in the University have been quick to denounce the surveillance.  Last week the University held a roundtable and a teach-in to discuss the recent revelations and students gathered at the Kimmel Center to protest.

NYU students protest NYPD surveillance of Muslim Student Groups
(pavementpieces.com)

“This is wrong, this is unconstitutional,” said Sundus Arain, a sophomore at NYU’s College for Arts and Science, in an interview for the NYU newspaper.

John Sexton, the university president, wrote a letter to NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, raising his concerns surrounding the surveillance of NYU students.  

“We find this troublesome and problematic” Sexton wrote.  “Our commitment to the free and peaceful exchange of ideas at the heart of our effectiveness as institutions of research and teaching and learning… Parents and students now wonder whether continued participation in the University’s Islamic community of worship is a risk.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has stood by the NYPDs surveillance program.

“I’m very proud of my defense of freedom,” Bloomberg said, responding to criticism.

“No one objects to making to keeping New York safe,” the Columbia history student said.    “But Bloomberg has to understand that this defense of freedom is stripping thousands of Muslims their freedom.  If people are worried about how their words might be interpreted, then how can they practice freedom of speech?"

More Traffic Court Guilty Verdicts Get Green Light

By Harrison Golden

NYNJ.com

Just as Sanford Young was parking his car along First Avenue, he looked at the clock perched on his dashboard. He insists it was just after 7:00 p.m.

But moments after Young stepped into a nearby building, NYPD officers approached the Upper East Side lawyer’s vehicle, slapped a ticket on his windshield, charging him with parking in a spot where it was not allowed between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“I synchronize my clock with my cell phone, which, like a lot of people, is set by my service provider,” Young argued. “I wonder what kind of clock that officer goes by.”

The NYPD has recently begun penalizing officers whose ticket-signing practices fail to hold up in court. But many officers admit that, because of their frequent association with traffic judges, they are given sympathy – even if that means stretching the truth in their testimonies.

“For some officers, describing the scene as it really was is not enough,” said one retired 25-year NYPD veteran. “They might try making the picture a bit more colorful. And if that doesn’t hold up in court, the folks filing the cop’s paycheck will write in smaller numbers than usual.”

According to statistics from the New York City Department of Motor Vehicles, acquired through a Freedom of Information request, all six judges at Manhattan South Traffic Violations Bureau on Rector Street, the city’s busiest such court, issued more guilty verdicts last year than in 2010.

Judge Mark Harris logged issued guilty verdicts than any other judge, with 65 percent, up 9 percent over 2010. Judge Claudio Collins’s guilty rate rose higher between the two years than any other, from 45 to 62 percent.

NY Post

“Judges see these cops every day, and they get to know them,” said one who defense lawyer who asked to remain anonymous. “A judge will do whatever he or she can to keep those cops in good moods, especially if an officer’s credibility is questioned.”

An officer admitted to the New York Post that he lied in a recent case in which a driver contested a ticket for failing to signal a lane change.

The motorist told the judge that his signal light wasn’t working. The officer falsely claimed to have checked the light on his own at the scene. The judge ruled in the officer’s favor.

“There’s no f--king way I’m losing my vacation over a vehicle summons,” the officer told Post reporter Brad Hamilton.

In Young’s case, the officer testified that the attorney's car was parked illegally. The judge agreed and found Young guilty.

Young did not file an appeal, but he notes the city court’s declaration – "No appeal shall be permitted unless the fines and penalties assessed by the Hearing Examiner are paid.” He believes that this law undermines the judgment of city drivers.

“That cop who wrote me that ticket was rewarded for what he did because officers and judges bond over their involvement with the law,” Young added. “But now, citizens are guilty until proven innocent. That’s no idea to build a friendship on.”