NYC new york city

new 10/15

congrat primary on 1/18 clihawk city

see blue cities

no merri

// CA SF on liberal target?

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AN 10 25

Extortion — plain and simple': Trump admin ripped for $18B NYC funds freeze

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an 8 25

During a White House press conference on Monday, August 11, President Donald Trump promoted his plans to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C. Trump, in addition to employing federalized National Guard troops in the U.S. capital, is putting the D.C. Metropolitan Police under federal control.

Trump's critics fear that he will do the same thing in other U.S. cities with Democratic mayors, from Chicago to Philadelphia and Baltimore. Another possibility is New York City, which presently has a centrist Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, but could have a decidedly left-of-center mayor next year if Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani wins the city's mayoral race in November.

Trump is calling Mamdani a "communist," which is inaccurate: Mamdani, a New York State lawmaker, identifies as a "democratic socialist" along the lines of his allies, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), but is not an full-fledged communist like Cuba's Fidel Castro or the Soviet Union's Nikita Khruschev.

In an article published on August 12, Gothamist reporter Ben Feuerherd examines the possibility of Trump federalizing law enforcement in New York City. And according to legal experts interviewed by Gothamist, putting the New York Police Department (NYPD) under federal control would be more difficulty and complicated than what Trump is doing in Washington, D.C.

IFrame Content

"The legal experts said Trump could deploy the National Guard under specific circumstances, as he did during immigration protests in Los Angeles earlier this year," Feuerherd explains. "During his first term, Trump also deployed federal agents to guard federal property and buildings during protests in cities like Portland, Oregon. But there is no clear legal path for him to take over a police department like New York's, which is not subject to the same federal control as Washington."

Former federal prosecutor John Fishwick told Gothamist that for Trump, "there is not a clear legal pathway to take over the New York City government."

But Lenni Benson, a New York Law School professor, fears that Trump cannot be trusted to play by the rules.

Benson told Gothamist. "Mr. Trump’s administration seems to do first and ask questions later. So, yes, I think we can be alarmed."

Benson noted that New York State has some federal lands that Trump could send federal agents to.

The law professor told Gothamist, "It could be a national park. It could be a waterway that is navigable and covered by the Army Corp of Engineers for safety. It could be our harbors."

*Read the full Gothamist article at this link.

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rww

07/21/2025

Kyle Mantyla

Colby Hall @ Mediaite: Tulsi Gabbard’s Desperate Russia Hail Mary Knocked Down By GOP’s Own Findings

As the news cycle enters its third week of “Epstein Files” frenzy, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence pick, Tulsi Gabbard, is throwing a Hail Mary—an obvious and cynical distraction. But a GOP-led Senate Intelligence report from five years ago is more than enough to swat it down.

David Edwards @ Raw Story: Michael Flynn floats 'military trial for Obama' despite presidential immunity

Disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn suggested former President Barack Obama should face a "military trial" after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused him of a "treasonous conspiracy" to undermine Donald Trump's presidency.

Art Jipson @ The Conversation: How the QAnon movement entered mainstream politics – and why the silence on Epstein files matters.

Over time, what started as a baseless conspiracy on obscure platforms has migrated into the mainstream. It has influenced rhetoric and policy debates, and even reshaped the American political landscape. The foundational belief of many of the QAnon followers is that Trump is a heroic figure fighting the elite pedophile ring.

Matt Gertz @ Media Matters: Trump’s latest attempt to defuse the Epstein revolt: Point supporters at common enemies

President Donald Trump is seeking to reunify allies enraged by his administration’s repudiation of MAGA claims about late convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein by offering up spurious attacks on common and familiar enemies: the media — in this case Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal — and former President Barack Obama.

Janna Brancolini @ The Daily Beast: Trump’s Autopen Attack Dog Vows to Review Biden’s SCOTUS Appointment

Amid the Jeffrey Epstein saga, Rep. James Comer claimed Joe Biden’s alleged autopen use was the “biggest scandal in the history of American politics.”

Thomas Joscelyn and Norman Eisen @ The Bulwark: Unfit to Serve: Jeanine Pirro Made Excuses for Jan. 6th

Senators weighing her nomination for U.S. attorney should revisit her remarks denigrating prosecutors and calling defendants “hostages.”

Russell Payne @ Salon: Meet the young Republicans who want to deport Zohran Mamdani

NYC's Young Republican club cosplays as a deadly political weapon, but may be less ferocious than it appears.

:{:{---}:

trump and trump kids not popular in nyc?

July 31, 2024, edition of Lara Trump's *The Right View: Wanted for Questioning

LARA TRUMP (HOST): My goodness. What a mess we are in right now. How about the crime? How about the crime all over the place? I, you know, I lived in New York City for a long time and thank goodness Eric and I moved our family to Florida because I think all the time, like my gosh, imagine I was raising my kids in New York City right now. It's terrifying to go in New York as an adult, let alone take my kids around in New York City, have them live there, go to school there. No one should feel like that in America. And unfortunately a lot of people do.

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mma 5 23

right-wing media figures uncritically amplified a now-debunked New York Post story to demonize immigrants and attack Democratic lawmakers.

On May 13, the New York Post published a story alleging that a group of 20 homeless military veterans had been “evicted” from two upstate New York hotels to make room for immigrants who had settled in New York City. The Post claimed the supposed migrants were part of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plans to secure temporary housing for immigrants entering the city.

After the New York Post published its story, local outlet the Mid Hudson News spoke with hotel management and service providers the Post claimed were involved in the removals. On May 18, the paper reported that not only had no homeless veterans been removed, but they were never there to begin with — one hotel manager “had never heard of” the veteran's group supposedly involved, while another said it “had not put any veterans in the hotel for ‘a long time.’” The report also discredited a receipt presented by State Assemblyman Brian Maher as supposed evidence that the group representing the homeless veterans had paid for the rooms. The Post later reported that the group’s longtime advocate had lied to the newspaper about the entire situation, and today the Mid Hudson News uncovered that 15 homeless men were paid to pretend they were veterans who had been staying at the hotel.

[twt]

by the time the story fell apart, right-wing media had already latched onto the now-debunked narrative and immediately weaponized the shoddily reported story as part of their ongoingfear campaign over a so-called “invasion” of migrants coming across the southern border.

Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt said it was “astonishing that some of these hotels are getting migrants” and having to cancel other reservations, adding, “There are two couples that booked rooms for their wedding … and 20 vets also were in that hotel, they all had to move out because these migrants moved in.”
Later on Fox & Friends, guest co-host Will Cain claimed that a “flood of illegal immigrants” are taking up hotel rooms and other resources in New York. Cain went on to remind viewers “about homeless veterans booted from a hotel so that rooms could be given to illegal immigrants,” with Earhardt adding that “Eric Adams says they’re gonna stay there for four months, so 20 veterans had to move to another hotel.”
Fox anchor Harris Faulkner claimed the story showed “the disgraceful treatment of our military veterans played out in Orange County, New York,” as the nonexistent group of “at least 20 homeless veterans, some reportedly suffering from PTSD, had to give up their hotel rooms for illegals.” Fox contributor Johnny “Joey” Jones added a jab at the Biden administration, stating, “A president that would leave Americans stranded in Afghanistan probably doesn't see the onus to take care of 20 veterans in a hotel. And I hate to say it, but that's just the absolute truth of it.”
Outnumbered co-hosts Emily Compagno and Kayleigh McEnany expressed outrage over the New York Post story, with Compagno claiming “America's heroes are now paying the price” for the “Southern border crisis.” McEnany lamented, “I can't help but notice the contrast when you have a 24-year-old — a veteran, had been in Afghanistan — kicked out of his hotel room as an Afghan national on the terror watch list is crossing the border in San Diego.”
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum complained, “You’ve got the hotels in New York that are having to take folks in. You had one in Newburgh, New York, where they had to cancel a wedding and kick out some homeless veterans to make room for incoming migrants.”
Conservative moving company owner John Rourke appeared on One America News and ranted, “It just drives me nuts when we have veterans sleeping on the streets of this country and committing suicide in record numbers … and here we are filling up hotel rooms with illegal aliens, giving them cell phones, giving them medical attention, giving them food and water, and then putting them on planes.”
On Twitter, Donald Trump Jr. used the story to attack Democrats, stating, “Honestly, this is just infuriating! Homeless vets are being booted from New York hotels to make room for migrants. Fuck Democrats & their bullshit policies! America last isn’t hyperbole it’s their goal.”
Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier tweeted, “Unacceptable. Nearly two dozen struggling homeless vets have been booted from NY hotels… So illegal immigrants can have space. WHAT?!”
Conservative radio host Bo Snerdley tweeted, “This is about as ruthless, coldblooded, and incredibly heinous as anything Biden and Democrats have ever done. Kicking American veterans out of their lodging to make way for illegal immigrants? What country IS this?”
Newsmax contributor Tony Shaffer later tweeted, “This tells you everything you need to understand about the progressive left cult - they are out to expand political power and a permanent underclass that will vote for them even if it means sacrificing veterans.”
Fox News contributor and former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted, “What could be more backwards than putting illegal immigrants ahead of American veterans? An insult to American sovereignty.”
2024 Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted a link to the New York Post’s story, adding, “Liberal insanity at work.”

BS MAP

https:/**/thehill**.com/opinion/energy-environment/417416-suing-americas-manufacturers-calling-them-a-public-nuisance-wont/

Across the country, the jobs of manufacturing workers are being threatened by trial attorneys and politicians targeting manufacturers with baseless lawsuits based on the legal theory of “public nuisance,” attempting to hold manufacturers responsible for harms that are often far outside of their control. While trial lawyers have pursued such lawsuits for years, there has been a dramatic increase over the past year, as lawyers team up with states, cities and counties to sue manufacturers over climate change. This is why, one year ago, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) launched the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project (MAP) to help bring attention to the coordinated campaign behind these lawsuits and has made it clear that they will do nothing to improve the environment but could do serious damage to our legal system and our manufacturing industry.

California Manufacturers and Technology AssociationPresident Dorothy Rothrock has said the law firms are in it for the money. Indeed, the private attorneys representing the municipalities stand to earn hundreds of millions of dollars if they get a favorable ruling in court.

To date, 14 municipalities and one state have filed such litigation against dozens of energy manufacturers.{mosads}

So far, each lawsuit that has been considered in federal court has been dismissed, with the judges finding several flaws in the municipalities’ arguments. In dismissing the cases brought by San Francisco and Oakland, U.S. District Judge William Alsup rightly told the plaintiffs that the court is not the proper branch of government to address the issue of climate change:

“The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,” Judge Alsup wrote in his opinion. “The Court will stay its hand in favor of solutions by the legislative and executive branches.”

U.S. District Judge John Keenan agreed with Judge Alsup’s logic, dismissing New York City’s climate lawsuit against five of the country’s largest energy companies in July. Another fatal flaw in New York City’s argument, Keenan found, was that the plaintiff was attempting to hold only manufacturers accountable for climate change when it is a problem to which everyone contributes. “Aren’t the plaintiffs using the product?” Judge Keenan asked the city’s outside counsel. “Does the city have clean hands?”

These dismissals are an encouraging sign that the outstanding lawsuits against manufacturers — filed by Rhode Island, Baltimore, Boulder and others — will face a similar fate in the coming months.

It is also encouraging that a growing number of public officials are speaking out against the litigation. For example, in Colorado, the state’s newly elected attorney general Phil Weiser recently criticized the climate lawsuit filed by three municipalities in his state, saying he is “uncomfortable with the litigation because the case for it hasn’t been made.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunterhas also commented on the lawsuits, saying, “In short, the courts are no place to determine national environmental policy. And public nuisance is not a theory the judges should employ in these kind of cases.”

Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill said these suits “commandeer the rightful role of Congress to pass policy for the nation and are improper in terms of trying to legislate extraterritorial economic policy from the states in which they originate.”

We will continue to fight on behalf of manufacturing workers whose jobs are at stake. Manufacturing is too critical to the American economy to allow this threat to go unanswered.

NOTE: This post has been updated from the original to correct Judge Keenan’s first name and to clarify the lawsuits that have been dismissed.

Lindsey de la Torreis the Executive Director of the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project, a project of the National Association of Manufacturers’ Center for Legal Action. She previously served in the office of Presidential Personnel in the George W. Bush White House and in the Office of Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

TAGS ABUSE OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM CLIMATE CHANGE LAWSUITS NUISANCE

ref AP

june 2018 no lnx orig

nEW YORK (AP) —New York City’s attempt to hold five of the world’s biggest oil companies responsible for damage from global warming didn’t seem to impress a judge during oral arguments Wednesday to determine if a lawsuit can proceed.

U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan questioned the city’s standing to bring the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

At one point, Keenan asked a city lawyer if New York City had investments in the companies it was suing. At another, he noted the many cars owned by the police department and the many trucks operated by fire and sanitation personnel.

And at least twice, the judge asked if the city was hiding an emissions case in language meant to seem it was instead targeting the companies’ production and sales operations.

“Aren’t you trying to dress a wolf up in sheep’s clothing?” he asked attorney Matthew Pawa, who represented the city.

“Aren’t the plaintiffs using the product?” Keenan asked. “Does the city have clean hands?”

“Yes, the city uses fossil fuels,” Pawa responded.

Pawa recalled successful litigation to hold tobacco companies responsible for the harms of cigarette smoking and said he was asking Keenan “to apply very old law to new facts.”

The judge did not rule immediately.

The January lawsuit came after similar litigation was filed by the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz in California.

Theodore Boutrous, arguing for the oil companies, called global warming an “important, thorny issue” and added that “lawsuits are not the way to deal with this.”

Boutrous said the lawsuit was trying to hold the companies responsible for the “way civilization and humankind has developed over the ages ... back to the industrial revolution.” He suggested it was an issue better left up to Congress.

If the lawsuit survives, Boutrous said, it would encourage similar litigation.

“It really would involve everybody suing everybody for living our lives the way we do and using the power sources that we have,” he said.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/how-new-york-citys-emergency-ventilator-stockpile-ended-up-on-the-auction-block/

ew 220

NYC Sea Wall Halted After Trump Says it's 'Costly, Foolish'

New York City Spends Billions on Flood Protection

FLOODING

https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/new-york-city-to-guarantee-health-care-for-all-residents-regardless-of-immigration-status-or-income/

New York City encompasses five county-level administrative divisions called boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. All boroughs are part of New York City, and each of the boroughs is coextensive with a respective county, the primary administrative subdivision within New York State. Queens and The Bronx are concurrent with the counties of the same name, while Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island correspond to New York, Kings, and Richmond Counties respectively.

Boroughs have existed since the consolidation of the city in 1898, when the city and each borough assumed their current boundaries. However, the boroughs have not always been coextensive with their respective counties. Before 1914, the borough of The Bronx had been earlier in the southern part of Westchester County which had then been annexed to New York County in two stages in 1874 and 1895—finally, in 1914 the county was created to match the borough. Before 1899, the County of Queens included an eastern part, which was split-off during the consolidation to become Nassau County.

==-

ew 918

London and New York Mayors Call on Other World Cities to Divest from Fossil Fuels

https://www.ecowatch.com/nycs-fight-for-ocean-health-2582092706.html

3/18 update

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04042018/climate-change-fossil-fuel-company-lawsuits-timeline-exxon-children-california-cities-attorney-general

...

Cities Sue Over Sea Level Rise

Faced with the possibility of devastating consequences brought by rising sea levels, six cities and three counties in California, along with New York City, filed civil lawsuits against several oil and gas companies.

The lawsuits make a public nuisance claim and, in some cases, allege negligence. Essentially the lawsuits say the oil and gas companies have known for decades that burning fossil fuels is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Instead of acting to reduce harm, the cities charge, companies attempted to undermine climate science and mislead the public by downplaying the risk posed by fossil fuels.

The lawsuits seek billions of dollars to pay for mitigation measures such as sea walls to protect coastal property. The oil and gas companies responded by seeking to move the cases to federal courts, where nuisance claims are less likely to succeed. That jurisdictional battle rages on, with the cases divided between state and federal courts.

Key Events:

July 17, 2017: San Mateo County, Marin County and Imperial Beach file separate lawsuits in California Superior Court seeking damages from 37 fossil fuel companies over sea level rise.

Sept. 19, 2017: San Francisco and Oakland file lawsuits in California Superior Court seeking damages from five fossil fuel companies over sea level rise.

Dec. 20, 2017: Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County file lawsuits in California Superior Court against 29 fossil fuel companies, seeking compensation for climate change-related damage.

Jan. 8, 2018: Exxon asks a Texas court to grant a discovery order allowing the company to question officials in counties and cities suing.

Jan. 9, 2018: New York Cityfiles suit in federal court against five fossil fuel companies over climate change-related costs.

Jan. 22, 2018: City of Richmond files lawsuit in California Superior Court against 29 fossil fuel companies.

March 16, 2018: Federal judge rules some of the cases should be tried in state court, creating a conflict with another judge who ruled similar cases belong in federal court.

March 21, 2018: Federal judge overseeing the San Francisco and Oakland cases hosts a climate change tutorial for the court.

Reclaiming Gotham,

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/juan-gonzalez/reclaiming-gotham/

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01022018/new-york-pension-fund-doubles-climate-investment-investors-risk-summit

America's third-largest public pension fund is ramping up its climate-savvy investments, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced to global finance leaders on Wednesday.

The fund, a huge and influential investor, plans to double its stake to $4 billion in a portfolio of companies that disclose and seek to lower their emissions of global warming pollution.

"We've particularly been concerned about how we can address the issue of climate risk and benefit our portfolio," DiNapoli said, speaking at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, where money managers called for investors to face up to the risks of climate change and to accelerate action to fight global warming.

As the summit was underway at the United Nations on Wednesday, the UK Government's Met Office published an ominous new five-year forecast that adds urgency to the investors' climate concerns: Annual global temperatures could reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels within the next five years, the Met Office warned. The aim of the Paris climate agreement is to prevent warming from getting much beyond that level.

The $2 billion in additional investment DiNapoli announced will go into a low-emissions index fund that New York's Common Retirement Fund created in 2016. While the low-emissions index fund—which has had an annualized investment return of 16.5 percent—represents just a fraction of the pension fund's more than $200 billion in assets, DiNapoli said he hopes to continue to grow the low-carbon portfolio.

The special climate fund is based on a traditional index fund made up of leading corporations, except that it weights its investments by considering whether the companies disclose their carbon footprints and act to reduce them.

Shareholders Push for Risk Disclosure

DiNapoli is one of several powerful officials from the city and state of New York who have sought to pressure fossil fuel companies and influence their investment and risk management practices. The city has launched litigation seeking to recover climate damages and pledged to divest its pensions funds from fossil fuel producers, and the state's attorney general has been in a long fight with ExxonMobil on its climate record.

Corporations have come under increasing pressure in recent years to better disclose the risks they face in a future of rising temperatures and greater restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. DiNapoli's office helped lead a resolution approved last year by Exxon shareholders that requires the oil giant to report on those risks annually.

Disclosure was a common theme at the summit, which was hosted by the United Nations Foundation, the UN Office for Partnerships and Ceres, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable investment.

"If you are not a climate-aware investor, then you are fundamentally not doing your job," said Brian Deese, global head of sustainable investing for BlackRock, a leading investment firm. As the world works toward achieving the Paris climate agreement goals, he said, companies that are already grappling with this challenge are better positioned for long-term growth. The only way for investors to assess this, he said, is with better disclosure.

In December, BlackRock called on about 120 corporations in energy, transportation and other industries to report on climate risk. Earlier this month, the investment firm's chief executive, Larry Fink, remindedcorporate leaders that social responsibility has become a critical element of any company's financial success.

Enabling Clean Energy Growth

Much of the discussion on Wednesday focused on the key role that finance will play in enabling nations to slash greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris climate pact.

"Governments need to know that their financing element, if they really engage in the Paris Agreement, is going to be delivered," said Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Lisa Jackson, who led the EPA under President Obama and now heads environment, policy and social initiatives for Apple, spoke about the role of private money in expanding renewable energy. Apple, whose servers use lots of electricity, has committed to powering all of its operations from renewables.

Even as many leaders spoke optimistically about this clean energy transition and the financial sector's growing role, Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, called it "a disgrace" that few governments are helping to retrain workers in the fossil fuel industry who stand to lose their jobs.

"So your work is critical. If we don't get that right in fossil fuels as the shift is now on," she said, "then we're going to leave a lot of stranded workers and communities."

PUBLISHED UNDER:

BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

GLOBAL CLIMATE TREATY

CLEAN ENERGY

CLIMATE CHANGE

PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/12/exxon-pushes-back-oil-giant-seeks-to-depose-santa-cruz-city-county-officials/

In December, the city and county of Santa Cruz joined a wave of coastal California communities suing fossil-fuel companies for climate-change related damages. On Monday, ExxonMobil pushed back against what it called “abusive law enforcement tactics and litigation,” threatening to file its own legal action and accusing the local jurisdictions of hypocritically omitting reference to climate change damages from their own bond disclosures.

“The stark and irreconcilable conflict between what these municipal governments alleged in their respective complaints and what they disclosed to investors in their bond offerings indicates that the allegations in the complaints are not honestly held and were not made in good faith,” reads the 60-page motion, which was filed Monday in a Texas court.

Officials named by Exxon include Santa Cruz City Manager Martín Bernal, City Attorney Anthony P. Condotti, Santa Cruz County Chief Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios and County Counsel Dana McRae. Exxon is seeking to depose — interview under oath — each official to investigate a potential lawsuit, taking advantage of a uniquely flexible Texan rule that allows pre-lawsuit depositions in certain cases. Officials from San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo County, Marin and Imperial Beach are also named.

Condotti called the move by Exxon “a sham” and “obviously a pretext for harassment.”

“The notion that the city provided some misleading information in its bond disclosures is preposterous,” Condotti told the Sentinel.

Exxon’s filing details a number of claims made in the respective complaints filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Dec. 20. Among them are the county’s claim of a 98 percent likelihood of a three-foot flood by 2050, and its estimate that $742 million in property is at risk due to climate-change related storms, fires and floods.

“None of these dire and specific warnings of climate change-induced sea level rise or wildfires appear in the disclosures provided to investors in Santa Cruz City and County bond offerings,” Exxon’s attorneys wrote, referencing recent bond disclosures filed by each jurisdiction in 2016 and 2017, which detail relevant financial information and how the bonds will be repaid. “Indeed, their disclosures lack any express reference to climate change, global warming, or changes in Santa Cruz’s hydrologic regime.”

City Manager Martín Bernal said that such information was not included in the bond documents because they include only a near-future snapshot of risks. He said he has not seen climate-change related estimates on any such disclosures. If those projections were of interest to investors, he said, the information is readily available on the city website.

“The idea that somehow we’re conspiring or hiding just doesn’t make sense,” Bernal said.

Daniel Farber, who co-directs the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, said in an email that he hadn’t reviewed the filing in detail but that at first blush it didn’t appear as if Exxon had a strong case.

Condotti said that while he believes Exxon’s claims are without merit, he is not surprised by the development. “We’re filing this lawsuit against 29 major international corporations,” he said. “The fact that they would try to bring counter-actions or take other procedural maneuvers is certainly something that we contemplated.”

The city’s ongoing lawsuit against the companies will be unaffected, he said. No date has been set for a hearing in that case.

On Tuesday, New York City joined the legal fray by filing its own climate-change related lawsuit against Exxon, BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips and Royal Dutch Shell

nb blue team truce?

https://www.ecowatch.com/nyc-divestment-2524285373.html

'Tide Is Turning': Cheers Erupt for NYC's Suit Against Fossil Fuel Giants and for Divestment

By Andrea Germanos

Climate advocates hailed what they say is a "watershed" moment on Wednesday following two announcements by New York City: that the city would seek to divest its pension funds from fossil fuels within five years, and that it filed suit against give five fossil fuel giants for their role in driving the climate crisis.

"This is a first-in-the-nation step to protect our future and our planet—for this generation and the next," said Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.

Stringer announced last month that he would soon bring a proposal to the trustees of the pension funds that included divestment. Following through on that promise, a statement from the city released Wednesday says that he and Mayor Bill de Blasio "will submit a joint resolution to pension fund trustees" to begin the steps needed to purge the funds from the dirty industry, which will first entail an analysis on the financial impacts to be carried out by the City Comptroller's Bureau of Asset Management.

350.org co-founder Bill McKibben said in a tweet responding to the news that it was "One of the biggest days in 30 years of the climate fight."

The city's five pension funds hold $189 billion in assets, and roughly $5 billion of that amount are held in the securities of over 190 fossil fuel companies, the city said.

The new lawsuit names BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shelland seeks billions of dollars in damages for harm already inflicted on the city as a result of the climate crisis as well for preparing for effects yet to come, including "imminent threats to its property, its infrastructure, and the health and safety of its residents."

New York's lawsuit follows similar suits filed by seven cities and counties in California.

The city's statement references the industry's deliberate misinformation campaign to cover up the effects of fossil fuels.

...

https://www.ecowatch.com/new-york-fossil-fuel-divestment-2524494059.html

no lnx

Empire State Building Shines Green After NYC's Decision to Take on Fossil Fuel Industry

New York City's iconic Empire State Building glowed green Wednesday night following two "watershed" announcements-that the city would seek to divest its pension funds from fossil fuel investments, and that it filed suit against five oil giants for contributing to climate change.

"The Empire State Building is shining green tonight because it's time to put our planet first. #DivestNY," Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Wednesday.

350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, a major campaigner in the global divestment movement, remarked in a tweet about the green lighting, "Just this once I think it's worth the carbon!"

The Belgium-based European Green Party also chimed in and advocated for European leaders to follow the Big Apple's footsteps.

"Let's join #DivestNY and #DivestEurope for a Green and sustainable future for us and generations to come," the party said on social media.

The divestment movement has grown in the U.S. and around the world. In November, Norway proposed to sell off all of its shares (about $35 billion) in oil and natural gas holdings.

Mayor de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer said they intend to divest New York City's $5 billion in securities of over 190 fossil fuel companies.

New York's lawsuit, filed in federal court, names BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell as defendants. The city seeks billions of dollars in damages and alleges the fossil fuel industry knew for decades that burning fuels drives global warming.

Environmentalists cheered the city's historic announcement.

"Today was an incredible day," author and investigative journalist Naomi Klein tweeted. "Hearing the mayor of the biggest city in the richest country on earth announce a lawsuit against 5 oil majors for climate damages AND fossil fuel divestment? Wow. We needed this. We will build on it."

...

600 urban gardens?

http://www.ecowatch.com/sheryll-durrant-urban-farmer-2355883877.html

http://www.alternet.org/environment/slow-motion-disaster-new-york-prepares-six-feet-sea-level-rise