It was decided that this single page Extra was needed now! People, you have to be careful!
There are things going bump in the night at 250 Broadway that have nothing to do with the Ghosts and GoblinGoblins due to visit during next month's Halloween. No, these frightening rejects are not the result of some Witches and Warlocks incantations. These monsters were created by edict from Finkel/Franco, and they hide behind a misleading unit mission. They are supposedly dealing with catching cheating tenants who reside in our developments. (Hmm? Maybe they chose to be located at 11 Park Place so they could catch Franco picking up his girlfriend. As she's living illegally in a project, catching her would fit perfectly into their publicized mission!)
Anyway, in our last issue we told you that these Sneakret Police (Special Investigations Unit) were taping and listening to the various bugs they had placed on certain NYCHA phones. Well, that ain't all that these folks under the leadership of Joe DeFina have been up to.
If you've reached your desk in the morning and something--maybe something you can't put your finger on--appears odd, your desk may well have been searched by NYCHA's commissioned Sneakrets! They have been searching desks and monitoring email when they're not too busy listening to your conversations on your office phone.
emails?
They can't monitor mine,
as I delete them faithfully!
If that's the thought that went through your mind, this Extra Issue was published with you in mind!
When you write an email, the only sane strategy is to assume that anyone, for years to come, can read that note. Your LAN is backed up on tape, and though you delete emails, they can be resurrected by anyone with minimal computer knowledge and a copy of that backup tape. Similar, though not as proficient, reconstruction of faxed items can be done if deemed necessary. So don't fax the rag!
What should I do?
The simple and best answer is "Your job." We love all the attention you, the people who actually keep NYCHA running (as versus those appointed to "Run" NYCHA), have given to our newsletter. But we'd like you to be employed more than we'd like your praise. As long as Finkel and Franco are willing to use unauthorized police state tactics to prevent you from reading of their inept manner of transforming a once proud agency into a piggy-bank to be raided at will, you must defend yourselves. And the best way is this:
- 1) Don't leave the Spotlight at work, in your desk. The Sneakrets will search your desk and report you.
- 2) Don't email others about the Spotlight, even if you want to rant about it. Mentioning the rag at all causes severe breakouts of paranoia amongst the Finkel/Franco crowd.
- 3) If you are passing info to us, use the PO Box or give it, by hand and outside of NYCHA property, to your usual contact.
- 4) Still make copies and pass them around! But do the copying, faxing and passing of materials OFF NYCHA property, and not on NYCHA's time.
- 5) Report on office searches etc. to a reporter.
We are now collecting information on both NYCHA execs and some denizens of City Hall who use the fax machines, and other City/Authority machinery and/or personnel for duties not germane to their office. (The hurricane has caused all sorts of illegal uses of City and Authority time/equipment. The lead person on this story, thus far, was mentioned in our last issue. Surprise!)
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