Phil DePaolo

Don’t be Fooled by False Marketing at Domino or 77 Commercial Street

October 7, 2013 By Phil DePaolo Leave a Comment

I always enjoy going to the supermarket with my kids. It’s a great place to teach them about deceptive packaging. My latest example was a box of Honey Smacks Cereal.

Screen Shot 2013-10-07 at 1.17.56 PM When you look at the box, it tells you that it’s made with wheat and honey, that it’s a good source of vitamins, low fat, and only 100 calories per serving.

So the box says it’s a good choice for us to eat, right Dad? Well, guess what Kids? This same cereal has been named among the most unhealthy cereal sold today. It contains 55.6% sugar. Maybe that’s why Kellogg’s changed the name to Honey Smacks from its original name Sugar Smacks! You are essentially eating a “healthier” breakfast eating a pack of Twinkies. But Kellogg’s vice president of nutrition Linda Sutherland said that Honey Smacks, the cereal with the highest sugar content, isn’t marketed to children.

Want Money for your Neighborhood? You Gotta Vote!

September 7, 2013 By Phil DePaolo Leave a Comment

vote mayor nyc 2013

On September 10, it’s Primary day; your day to make a difference. In the last election, in 2009, voter turnout in Greenpoint and Williamsburg was abysmal. Most North Brooklyn census tracts had turnouts below 20%. It’s vital to remind yourself how important your vote really is.

So, what do you gain through voting? Elected officials know who votes. If this community is turning out less than other neighborhoods, elected officials will pay less attention to us, make fewer appearances here, and provide fewer services.

Who knew low-income wage earners are subsidizing the developers?

April 15, 2013 By Phil DePaolo Leave a Comment

The New New Domino:Déjà vu All Over Again

As I predicted, CPC Resources, the original developer for the Domino Sugar Refinery, flipped the property to a new developer, Two Trees Management, for a huge $120 million profit. So there’s a new plan afoot for the refinery, one the new developer has made even larger than CPC Resources’ massive plan, and one that is much larger than what is currently on the Williamsburg waterfront.

Olechowski Beats Restler by 19 Votes—Apathy Alive and Well in Williamsburg

October 22, 2012 By Phil DePaolo Leave a Comment

OP/ED PHIL ON FIRE

In what had to be one of the most bizarre races in recent memory, Chris Olechowski defeated Lincoln Restler in their contentious race for the 50th Assembly District Leader post. The day after election day, it seemed Chris Olechowski had won by 136 votes. But as the Board of Elections counted hundreds of absentee and affidavit ballots in the following week, word came out that Olechowski’s lead was down to 50 votes. Then on September 22nd, I received this message from Lincoln Restler: “After every last valid ballot has been counted, we have won by 53 votes! Against all odds, we have pulled this thing off!”

So it seemed that the verdict was in and Lincoln was the winner as he had been two years earlier. You might recall in the 2010 race Restler was behind by 97 votes in his first race for democratic district leader, but then won by a 120 vote margin in a recount. But this year, things would be more bizarre. A few days later, I received this announcement from Restler: “The canvassing of voting machines was completed and emergency, affidavit, and absentee ballots were all fully accounted for. Board of Elections staff and our election lawyers confirmed the result: every valid ballot had been counted and we had overcome a 136 vote margin on election night to be ahead by 53 votes in the final result.

OP/ED New York Dems Need to Right the Ship

September 13, 2012 By Phil DePaolo Leave a Comment

Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez accused of sexual harassment

On August 24 the New York State Assembly Committee on Ethics and Guidance announced that Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the powerful Brooklyn Democratic boss, had been removed as chairman of the Housing Committee in the Assembly, stripped of his seniority and forced to undergo sexual harassment training after an investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed two legislative employees beginning in June of this year. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in a letter sent to Lopez, stated, “The bi-partisan Committee on Ethics and Guidance today delivered to me a report signed by all eight of its members, finding that Assembly Member Vito Lopez violated the Assembly’s sexual harassment policy. I have reviewed the report and will fully implement its recommendations. The members of the committee have fulfilled their obligation to independently and thoroughly review these allegations, and I thank them for their hard work.” Silver’s letter gave details of the two workers who said Lopez harassed them. The committee told Lopez the credible allegations made by the two women included:

That there were multiple incidents of unwelcome physical conduct toward one complainant, wherein you put your hand on her leg, she removed your hand, and you then put your hand between her upper thighs, putting your hand as far up between her legs as you could go;