Kingston Mayor James Sottile and the Kingston Police department are stepping up patrols in mid town Kingston in the wake of a recent crime spurt, that included a stabbing and a shots fired on Henry Street. Chief Keller promised to put more cars in mid town and to create a heavy police presence. Mayor Sottile praised the efforts of the KPD and vowed to make sure residents feel safe. My top priority is to make residents of this city feel safe, the police and myself are doing everything we can to achieve that, said Sottile.
29 comments:
Jimmy...too little too late.
all you can do isn't enough Jeremy. Ryan and his group have been telling it like it is for two years now in letters to the editors of both local newspapers and you and this administration laughed in their faces and Erica and her group on Henry Street along with Lenny Waker Rich Cahill and Gordon Webb were all right this time and now it's spreading to the six ward and the ninth Ward this shows that Sottile is out of touch with the Wards and with the people of this great City and needs to step down and let someone who has the best interests of this city step in instead of the best interests for himself like Sottile does. He has has his chance now it is time for new leadership not someone who burys their head in the sand like Sottile. by the way it's been seven shooting since the beginning of the year and six stabbing just to keep up with the current times Jeremy not one.
spurt? crime spurt lets try a crime explosion come on everyday the front page has a new headline of either a shooting or a stabbing or a drug bust lets get real and deal with this problem and stop trying to make it less than it really is!!.Sottile is going to have to change his stragedy if he intends to win this election you can not pretend anymore and what happened to Chief Kellers show on Wednesday nights at 9pm Jeremy another blaber blunder? you,ve had a lot of those lately.The Chief is being made a fool of at Sottile's expense, when are those two going to part ways, the Chiefs lookin mighty tired and worn out.
Whats next? Sottile driving around in a cop car too? Wouldn't be surprising since there is no vehicle policy anyways.
Wait...Since the Office of the "Mayor" is the Chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners maybe Nicky Woerner, Town of Ulster Supervisor and Police Commissioner too, can tell Jimmy Sottile where to buy a red light for Jimmy's city-owned black jeep. This way he can "cop" patrol while he is out checking for TV's at various DPW hideouts!
To all those reading this...it has been said that Nick "rolls" on various crime and motor vehicle accident related calls in the Town of Ulster.
So those negative people, using crime for their own political gain were right? The ones called profilers, loudmouths, whiners, annoying, the ones who wouldn't back down. Matt Ryan, Gordon Webb, Erica Henderson, Amy Murphy, Mary Ann Parker to name a few.
They were told there were a couple of prostitutes, they were told there was no real gang presence, they were told they were liars, cowards, troublemakers.
Now Sottile is doing his best to make us "feel" safe. To heck with feel- make us safe. How come they did all they could when Lightfoot was gunned down and now they can do more?
Talk about political spin and lies- the Mayor is pulling out all stops at the expense of our police. How many hours can they work without it affecting their health? 10% or better of our officers are off the duty roster. We don't have enough police. And how much is this OT costing us and how can the City afford it?
Too little, too late. IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE - not hollow promises. No time left for a change of heart - Mr Sottile. You had your chances and you blew it. Step down. Admit you were dead wrong and get out of the way, so we can save our City and can be safe - not "feel" safe.
No you moron the crazies like Cahill,Ryan, murphy and that nut from Henry St. were not right they're trouble makers. This crime spurt was an unfortunate incident that could never of been prevented. Police were in the neighborhood when it happened for Pete sake. As usual while you wackos are pointing fingers Sottile is looking for solutions.
Yes, the criminals commit the crimes, but....to deny that this Mayor and Police Chief have hung on to statistics showing crime was down, so as to not have to admit the real problem crime has been for a while now, is to be deaf, dumb, and blind, like an ostrich. The real problem they have had selling the idea is that, unlike the sewers, you can't hide Henry St., Cedar St., Liberty St., etc. It is there. It is very easy, as many Sottile supporters have done on this blog, to sit in front of your computer and write that you would have no problem walking at night in midtown, etc. But since many don't even have the balls to sign their name to the post, I doubt they would actually do it, unless drunk, as they seem to be when writing as well.
This Crime spree was preventable. If this City's current Administration took steps years ago to beef up our police and tackle the gang presence head on- we could have prevented much of this.
To say publicly over and over that they did enough, spent much money and had enough police sent a strong message to the gangs and the thugs- EASY PICKINGS in Kingston. We became a "chill" location when the heat was turned up in NYC and elsewhere.
Neglect by the City for years in MidTown, lack of jobs, lack of police presence, lack of pro-active, preventative programs has nurtured a population of youth looking to belong. The gangs take advantage of that.
Probation was afraid to go into the BOX for years. What does that say? I am a working class home owner and I was treated differently than other residents I know from other neighborhoods, when I called the police when I told them where I lived, for years.
Prostitutes and drug dealers owned our streets day and night for YEARS without fear of the police or the residents. A clear sign this Administration wasn't doing enough.
I have the right to be safe on my streets, the same as Fair or Linderman or Roosevelt. Keep pretending there's nothing that could be done and few streets will be safe. History has shown over and over again - if the problems aren't dealt with, if any neighborhood is given over to the criminals the cancer spreads.
Vigilant enforcement of building codes, curfew laws, and laws against drug dealing, prostitution and lesser crimes is the key to stem the violence. Any City that makes it clear they will enforce the law have less crime. Criminals don't want it hard to do business, they prey on the weak and the unaware. Kingston has put out a welcome sign with the press comments of our elected officials and lack of adequate police.
If you live in a "safe" neighborhood- good for you. Those of us who hear gunfire, are robbed and intimidated by thugs have the same rights as you. We are not troublemakers- we are citizens petitioning our government to provide us with the same level of protection others are given.
We are excersing our Constitutional Rights. And being slammed, insulted and mocked for it. Kingston is still America, regardless of DiBella's antics- refusing to allow citizens to speak without cause or the Mayor's spin campaign that the City is safe. We are not safe. We do not have enough police. Safety has not been the Mayor's priority. The primary responsibilty of government is to protect all of its citizens. They failed for years to execute their first responsibilty. They failed those least able to protect themselves - the poor, the elderly, the children living in Midtown. IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE.
Ryan is an uneducated fool that has absolutely no clue as to what is going on. His answer is hire more police, hire more police, but we all know that is not the solution, or at least not the only solution. We must get to the root causes of crime to fix the problem. All Ryan cares about is Down st and Ora Place. Ryan should stick to handing out peanuts and pouring Cranberry juice cocktails and Leave public serve to people that know what they're doing.
8:43 your the fool not only did Ryan lead the pack in trying to adopt a crime task force bill in Kingston that has worked in 15 other cities across the usa half the stuff Police Chief Keller suggested on the front of the Sunday Freeman was what was suggested by Ryan in his task force bill months ago!! Also if you moron had ever gotten your big butt off the sofa and gone to a neighborhood watch meeting you would see all the stufff ryan is doing for this ward, such as a sex offender log book that is updated every month so people in this ward are educated on where the sex offenders live and what they loook like or the hot spots board that shows the places in the ward that are eyesores and need attention, also a table full of helpful pamplets and leaflets for stuff from recycling to what the parks dept is up to to the events happening around the ward in the coming month. just to name a few, listen jerk before you speak out of turn get your facts stright what do you do.. clean the cages at the zoo?
Ryan is doing a lot in this Ward so we will ask again what is SHIRLEY wHITLOCK DOING OR DONE I heard she screamed we need solutions at a Common Council meeting last month but offered no solutions herself she has not come to my door and ask for my vote Ryan did and he will get it because he is trying to get things done unlike that do-nothing never calls back poor excuse for an alderman Brown he should be impeached.
So 8:43 who knows what they are doing in your warped little mind?
Shirley Whitlock? So big mouth whats she doing that is so great for this ward? or maybe Sottile is doing a ot for this ward in your mind he hasn't done a thing in the last four years and that is way he will lose this election the people are tired of this tyrant and want a change.
It's time for a change and actions speak louder then words that is why I am voting for Matthew Ryan for fourth Ward Alderman.
SO the Police Chief is a fool? His new initiative is much of what Matt Ryan and others tried to educate our Coiuncil about when promoting the Crime Task Force Bill. After it was shut down, several alderpersons admitted to not reading the material sent to them on this issue. Perhaps, because it came from Ryan it wasn't worth their time.
When Matt went to the Common Council with pictures of the City's neglect the pictures were of Elmendorf, Prospect and other streets, not just Ora and Downs.
When Matt spent hours setting up and executing a canned food drive for the Queens Galley - it wasn't in his Ward.
When Matt worked with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters on the Garden in a Bucket day it was at Van Buren Park.
He did hours of planning with others to renovate that park, with the Mayor's assurance there was money and his personal backing. Sottile said it would get done faster his way, instead of applying for Community Grant monies. He was mistaken. A political ploy to thwart Ryan's efforts? Who knows?
Anyone who says Ryan is only concerned with Downs and Ora doesn't have a clue.
This is America and you have the right to your freedom of speech, even if there is not one grain of truth in your nonsense.
Ridiculous. This guy is a woman beater. That's all I see with this mayor. Steps up patrols? He should have a first hand experience with the Kingston jails after he committed assault on a woman.
Sottile is a joke.
I miss Clint Brown already
its about time!
Matt Ryan has a nasty temper and no tact whatsoever. If someone disagrees with him, he belittles them and is very insulting. He is not a mature individual, let alone a professional or a leader. Does he have talent? Yes, he does. Perhaps Gordon Webb and Bonnie Hewitt can send him to charm school to learn manners, respect, and common courtesy.
Matt, you are a smug, unhappy little man. You talk as if everybody were stupid. If you are wondering why you have the animosity of so many people, take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror. Start by improving your snide, bad attitude. You're never going to make any friends being a crass philistine.
2:49pm you must be mistaken or know another Matt Ryan either way I have worked with him for over a years on several projects around the city and I can assure you he is not disliked by anybody I am associated with,I have never seen him rude or nasty to a single person I have seen him speak in front of the Common Council and never raise his voice to them and always polite with please and thank you when he is finished speaking, I don,t know who you are or why you make up these terrible things about someone who has made such a difference in this ward but I do not think he is worried about anyone disliking him or he wouldn,t be running for Alderman maybe you need to take a good look in the mirror and see a doctor about some depression medication? maybe you wish you could be more like him jelousy is a terrible thing to conquer, in the meantime I know he will be our next Alderman for the fourth Ward and I look foward to working beside him for the next two years and finally getting something done in this ward.
2:49- The mayor does that, Anne Marie DiBella does that, Reynolds does that - they insult, belittle and demean those they cannot silence. I have never heard Matt insult or belittle anyone. I've worked closely with him for almost 2 years now.
"If you look at the amount of money this community spends on police protection particularly in the Midtown area, we're doing everything we can". This is the quote in the Freeman from Mayor Sottile in Jan 2007. This is his response to the murder of 16 year old Lightfoot on Henry Street in broad daylight, by a thug with a gun.
Now he is telling us he is doing everthing he can to make us FEEL safe. He also told us we don't need more police. He told us crime was down. He told us this is a safe City. Now he wants us to FEEL safe. And is doing everything he can while he's on vacation.
Do you want to be safe? Or do you want to FEEL safe? If he spent enough money that he believed he did everything he could in Jan, what more can he do now? If he spent the last six months disputing the claims of residents that crime was bad in Midtown, instead of facing these concerns with action, what does he think he can do between now and Nov?
He went on record telling us the City was safe. It is so good those multiple shots in six or seven seperate incidents did not hit anyone. And if there are six or seven more incidents of semi-automatic weapon fire, it will be a miracle if a police officer or an innocent resident isn't wounded or killed.
Ask yourselves if you can deal with 4 more years of "I'm doing all I can" when he is faced with indisputable proof of violent crime. Can you deal with all the political spin he's put out, telling us the City is safe? Can you believe him?
Is this a leader? Were these the appropriate responses to the heinous murder of a teenager or the the horrendous multiple incidents of gunfire and stabbings? This from the same man who didn't walk away from a woman in an arguement. Is the leadership Kingston needs? Not in my opinion.
Clint Brown served food at the soup
kitchen
Shots fired behind Broadway Joe's this weekend. Makes it eight shootings now. "Feeling" safe yet?
To 4:35 and 6:24, wake up and smell the coffee! Matt Ryan not being rude or nasty?!? I am not the only who has made this comment. Matt Ryan has done a lot of good for his neighborhood; however, he has been and is very rude when someone disagrees with him. Why are so many people alienated by him? Why do people shun him? Because he has a pleasant personality? He is smug, condescending, and an unhappy individual who talks down to people--that's why.
To 7:58- You are entitled to your opinion. However, there is no evidence many people are aliented by him. Ther is no evidence that people shun him. The Midtown Neighborhood Watch meeting is well attended. He is often contacted by residents to deal with issues our Alderman is being paid to deal with, but doesn't. Residents ASKED Ryan to run.
The only people I know who have a problem with Ryan are elected officials, because he would not follow the political spin that Kingston is safe. That we had no crime problem. Because he expected to recieve the same protection as the rest of the City, as do many of us here in no man's land.
He is not a liar, he is not a coward. He listens to people. He asks for opinions from others. He researches issues and comes up with possible solutions and asks for other people's solutions.
No one can please everyone all the time. Ryan will do his best to formulate solutions, work hard to better Ward Four. He has already proven that he can form coalitions with people from diverse philosophies and backgrounds
I would love to say that Ryan's counterpart in this upcoming primary is nice or vile or anything but as you see nobody makes comments about her because nobody knows her.
She hasn't come to my door, Ryan did she hasn't been to any of the LOCAL ward meetings I attend? WHY does she want to be our alderwomen in the letter she sent to my home she clearly states she's no superwomen she writes and I quote I am not prepared to sweep the streets clean,help remove the drug dealers,help fix the pot-holds, or feed the hungry! My god and she's a revernd??? She's not getting my vote THATS FOR SURE.
Hey Jeremy
Where has Sottile been hiding these last couple of weeks someone said he hightailed it to Florida and is staying in the Herzog manison?, while his constitutes are getting shot and stabbed?-is it true he fired his political manager? and has hired someone new? and he has a new slogen is (to a brighter future) from four years of success? maybe it should be to more booze, broads, and boy have I screwed up. Hey who has given more to his coffers the Herzogs, the Winn Morrisons or the developers?.
The Mayor loves to call himself "the CEO" of Kingston. So the City is in a violent crisis and he goes off on vacation again? Is this how you want your Mayor to act?
He says he wants us to "feel" safe while he runs out of town, where he IS safe. He's not here to hear the concerns of frightened residents, he's not here to support his puppet canditate for the 4th Ward. He's not here to be "too busy focusing on Kingston" to be bothered by his lack of union support. So where is he? What are his plans for our future- more of the same? Pretend there is no problem, tell us there is no problem and then when the problem raises it's ugly head - take off to leave us to fend for ourselves? And this man insisted he "deserved" to be paid more.
Our Mayor runs out of town when the gunfire cuts across numerous streets in the City. He puts meters on Academy Green by "royal" decree and leaves them off 2 blocks of John, losing the City $800/week in meter fees. While the meters on Academy Green can't even pay for their cost, because NO ONE parks there everyday.
Our Police Chief's answer to the VIOLENT CRIME SPREE is to propose "gentrification" in other words URBAN RENEWAL. Don't we pay him to lead LAW ENFORCEMENT?
DiBella sells OUR assests to her friend and loses the City $18,000 worth of revenues. Says Soyer lives in Kingston. I can't find an address. Her street was not mentioned in the Freeman, though every other bidder was.
Are we being served or protected? We can't afford more police, they tell us. But we can afford to throw money away for friendships and "Oversights"? Remember shots were fired at Farrelly and Stephan. Remember these thugs with guns don't care where they get their revenge, don't care who gets hurt. Remember that robberies and burglaries are the way to feed drug habits as is prostitution. Remember that this administration told you the City was safe. They were WRONG. Do you want more taxes for less services? Do you want political friends and allies to get ahead on your tax dollar? Do you want to "feel" safe or do you want to be safe?
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