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WEEK OF MARCH
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9-15 2017
Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull, 1806, via Wikimedia Commons
HAMILTON, UP CLOSE HISTORY Rare original documents on display at the Antiquarian Book Fair BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
In a development sure to delight history buffs and fans of the musical “Hamilton” alike, a collection of original letters and documents offering a rare glimpse into the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton will be displayed for the first time at this week’s New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. The collection, assembled by historic document dealers Seth Kaller and John Reznikoff, consists of over 1,000 items relating to Hamilton and the founding of the United States, including original letters handwritten by Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. The
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City Council Members Dan Garodnick and Vanessa Gibson (center) introduced legislation requiring increased police transparency. Photo: Michael Garofalo
NEW BILL AIMS TO KEEP TABS ON NYPD SURVEILLANCE LAW ENFORCEMENT Proposed legislation would require police to disclose use of controversial technologies BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
A new bill introduced in the City Council last week would allow for increased transparency on a topic that has long been opaque to elected officials and members
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of the public: the surveillance activity of the New York City Police Department. The Public Oversight in Surveillance Technology Act, introduced by Council Members Dan Garodnick and Vanessa Gibson, would require the NYPD to publicly disclose surveillance tools it uses or plans to use, outline their capabilities, and issue policies and procedures governing their use. “It forces the NYPD to actually think about privacy before they jump into a new surveil-
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lance scheme,” Garodnick said. In the years since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD secretly adopted various controversial surveillance tactics that later came to light through press reports and court cases brought by civil liberties groups, rather than via disclosure to City Council members tasked with overseeing the department’s operations. For years, the NYPD spied on the city’s Muslim community, eavesdropping on conversations and infiltrating mosques with
informers in a long-running program that, according to NYPD officials in court testimony first reported by the Associated Press, never resulted in a terrorism
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, March 10 – 5:39 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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