Thick accented tourists asked this young NYPD officer to pose with them for a photograph. They were excited to stand with him and said he was "good". It made me sad because yes, police officers will make mistakes, some are bad including retired ones so been on guard, they are human, but most I would like to think are good and brave to very brave. Their jobs are dangerous which includes understanding when they say goodbye to family when they leave for work like police officers did the morning of 9-11 they may die in the line of duty as was the case Sept. 11, 2001, in record number. If you are walking down the street or enjoying sitting in the park it is mostly likely because of hard work officers have done so it is easy to take for granted all the good they do because we don't see it, we just enjoy the results. NYPD officers also witness what I call the underbelly of society that many of us don't ever see or want to deal with. Yes, they need to constantly be evolving and improving. Their role here is complex because there are over 8 million people from all over the world living on top of each other in one of the most dynamic city's in the world and there are under 37,000 NYPD in number so they have more responsibilities post 9-11 and are smaller in number. They do deserve to be the best paid and lowering the salary for recruitment was really destructive as was closing firehouses.
If the city could collect from all those using their elaborate tax shelters we would have enough money for raises and pensions and it would also mean putting a cap on not for profits like NYU buying up the majority of the city. We need real estate magnates that will pay "real" taxes and the mega rich to declare the city their home especially when they own the biggest private houses here in NYC and not some other state or the Virgin Islands. (In terms of the East Village, the Economakis family that want 47 East 3 St. tenants evicted, the mega wealthy family should be taxed the highest possible taxes to discourage the mega rich from evicting long term community members with affordable housing but either way, if the mega rich are going to live in the largest houses in NYC they need to be forced to declare NYC as their primary residence and pay the city the largest taxes possible so we have money for raising salaries and pensions.
The sad news is the middle and lower income always get hit the hardest it seems in every way possible and they don't have teams of tax attorneys and accountants to protect them or fight back, many do not even know their rights in contrast to the wheelers and dealers who exploit the city. I don't consider Al Sharpton a mega millionaire but according to The New York Post you can add him to the list of people that owes money to the city and Uncle Sam.
The scaffolding photo is the striking FDNY memorial and you would have to click on it to get a better feeling for how many people were there and flowers left at the top right hand corner. This is the side of the firehouse by the site. To date the mayor refuses to give our City's rescue workers that died in the line of duty their rank which was on their uniforms. Anyone following my writings knows my feeling that there should have been a sign honoring the largest loss of FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and EMS in our city and Nation's history from the very beginning and this photo and the NYPD officer with tourists gives you a hint how much people around the world would agree they would want to a place to stand and honor the memory of what so many of us saw either in person or on tv or the computer, our rescue workers running down town many to their deaths.
After Sept. 11, when I went down every sign of nature seemed to have vanished and there was silence. I remember pre-911 running down town and being surprised to hear crickets so I just want to show you more gardening by the highway and even a large butterfly that seemed to flirt with me. Sometimes I used to run up the stairs and around the memorial to the first WTC attack.
The scaffolding photo is the striking FDNY memorial and you would have to click on it to get a better feeling for how many people were there and flowers left at the top right hand corner. This is the side of the firehouse by the site. To date the mayor refuses to give our City's rescue workers that died in the line of duty their rank which was on their uniforms. Anyone following my writings knows my feeling that there should have been a sign honoring the largest loss of FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and EMS in our city and Nation's history from the very beginning and this photo and the NYPD officer with tourists gives you a hint how much people around the world would agree they would want to a place to stand and honor the memory of what so many of us saw either in person or on tv or the computer, our rescue workers running down town many to their deaths.
After Sept. 11, when I went down every sign of nature seemed to have vanished and there was silence. I remember pre-911 running down town and being surprised to hear crickets so I just want to show you more gardening by the highway and even a large butterfly that seemed to flirt with me. Sometimes I used to run up the stairs and around the memorial to the first WTC attack.
I only had my iphone to I couldn't move in for details. I also felt too physically exhausted to step back and position myself where I needed to to show you the "dance of the cranes" over the massive open wound that I visited after Sept. 11 when there were military and police barracades and smoke coming up from the ground still.
I have a lot more photos and thoughts but I also have feelings about this on suzannahbtroyblogspot.com including photos of the FDNY memorial and a wish NYU finally do right by the women and children that died at the Triangle Shirt Factory fire tragedy by hiring the same artist to make a memorial along the wall of the building by Washington Square Park where they all jumped to their deaths.
I have a lot more photos and thoughts but I also have feelings about this on suzannahbtroyblogspot.com including photos of the FDNY memorial and a wish NYU finally do right by the women and children that died at the Triangle Shirt Factory fire tragedy by hiring the same artist to make a memorial along the wall of the building by Washington Square Park where they all jumped to their deaths.
ps If you click on the photo of the WTC site with all the cranes and start counting them and than add all the cranes that are on sites all over the city -- it is hard to believe there are enough trained operators and people to check on all these sites for safety and that is above ground, everyone knows my concerns below ground and above re: infrastructure that can be so deadly if not taken care of that we could have more infrastructure breaks that look like terror attacks like the one by Grand Central.
pps I think being an NYPD officer and dealing with the public of this city is a very hard job and for those who get it right during and after when they retire...that truly are true blue I am convinced they get a special place in Heaven.
