Tag: Syracuse

Syracuse citizens not happy with Mayor's invite to Syrians

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We told you, here, the other day about Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner inviting more*** Syrian ‘refugees’ to Syracuse, but it appears her constituents are not thrilled.
Here is a portion of a letter to the editor (Mayor, how will we fund refugee resettlement?) that appeared at Syracuse.com in response to their earlier article.  I suspect that all over the country citizens are asking the same questions!
The most interesting thing is the huge number of comments the letter received, most also critical of the mayor.

Mayor Miner
Reader PistolPete wanted to know how many refugees the mayor was taking into her home. This is not the mayor’s home, but this is pretty funny. Apparently while campaigning for the job, the candidate took photos of ‘code violations’ (like this one) and posted them. Why not take photos of code violations that will surely be found in the slums where the refugees are living and post those on facebook. The refugee resettlement contractors (and the politicians that support them) must be called-out for causing the further decline of already impoverished minority neighborhoods. Photo: http://syracusesearch.pbworks.com/w/page/6360859/Syracuse%20Search%20%231%20-%20%235

Let’s take care of our own first! seems to be the common theme.
To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Mayor Stephanie Miner’s letter to President Barack Obama in her call for an increase of Syrian refugees. I currently work with refugees and have worked in a number of human service agencies. I commend her commitment to help those in need.

Last year Americans committed to resettle 70,000 refugees, and we fell short of meeting that number. This next year we have taken on an additional 10,000 refugees from Syria alone. With the ongoing dire circumstances in Syria and those around the rest of the world, we should absolutely do our part to help.

However, with all the letters and articles I have been reading lately, I have not seen a proposal of how we plan to financially support the resettlement of more refugees. How can we support those in need outside the United States if we cannot take care of our own? How does one decide whose life is worth providing resources to?

More….

Candice Fry

Now, check this out. Someone in the Syracuse area is doing his/her homework!

Do the same where you live!  Go on the offense and make them answer to you.  (Gino, get in touch with us to join with like-minded people in the growing grassroots network around the country!).  
From commenter GinoChalupa (emphasis added is mine):

Stephanie Miner and her friends at the Catholic Charities and Interfaith Works are talking out of both sides of their mouths. A few weeks ago they expressed collective shock and outrage that Syracuse has one of the nation’s highest poverty rates and that the number of census tracts with concentrated poverty tripled in a matter of a few years. It just so happened to be that the census tracts on the north side where these organizations have settled the vast majority of its refugees all had the highest poverty rates in the city with nearly 80% of the population below the poverty line. These north side census tracts had much lower levels of concentrated poverty in the 2000 census before the Catholic Charities and Interfaith Works began tripling the number of refugees settled in Syracuse. Beth Broadway, Executive Director of Interfaith Works told local reporters that the high rates of concentrated poverty among blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in Syracuse was unacceptable and a sign this community has much work to do. Stephanie Miner and a host of other groups which claim to share the same goal of alleviating poverty claimed the community would address this issue.

What Ms. Broadway of Interfaith Works, the Catholic Charities, and Stephanie Miner fail to acknowledge is that the high rate of poverty is driven in part by the influx of 10,000 refugees to the City of Syracuse since 2000. The vast majority of refugees settled by these organizations are from countries in Africa and Asia. It should come as no surprise that the percentage of black residents living in poverty and the percentage of black residents living in high poverty census tracts increased as thousands of the refugees settled from Africa are “black.” The 52% poverty rate among Asians in the City of Syracuse in the latest census should also come as no surprise as a plurality of the refugees settled are from Asian countries. The percentage of Asians living in poverty in suburban Syracuse is in the single digits (with the exception of the Town of Salina which has seen an increase in Vietnamese families relocating there due to the rapid deterioration of the north side).

According to monthly data posted on the website for the NY Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the number of welfare caseloads in Onondaga County has nearly doubled since 2007. In June 2015, the most recent month data is available, a total of 7,468 families in Onondaga County received temporary assistance. This is the equivalent of 16,054 people. In one month alone, the number of families receiving assistance increased by more than 200 from 7,237 families in May 2015 to 7,468 families in June 2015. The number of Medicaid caseloads has more than doubled in 10 years (this number had doubled before the Affordable Care Act was implemented, so the increase cannot be attributed to the increasing number of needy residents enrolling in Medicaid). Onondaga County had struggled with a growing welfare caseload in the 1990s and was able to whittle down the number of families enrolled in temporary assistance by the year 2000. It wasn’t until the mid 2000s, that welfare caseloads began to increase again. This increase was more than 3 years prior to the Great Recession of 2008. When comparing Onondaga County to other upstate counties with large urban populations (Albany, Erie and Monroe), Onondaga County is the only major upstate county that has not experienced a decline in the number of families receiving temporary assistance, Albany, Erie and Monroe Counties have seen declines during the past two years and the number of families receiving assistance is now back down to levels seen prior to recession. In Onondaga County, however, the number of families on welfare is at its highest level since records were posted online in 2001. Compared with the other major urban counties, Onondaga County has seen a much larger settlement of refugees. The latest census estimates also show that the percentage of residents lacking any formal education and the % that don’t speak English has increased significantly. Local governments and service providers that are already stretched thin are going to have to provide additional services that the community can ill-afford.

Interfaith Works [a subcontractor of the far Left Church World Service—ed] recently paid $1,024,520 for an office building on the 1000 block of James Street. The previous owner was a financial services company which left for the suburbs. It would appear that these organizations are heavily dependent on the $1,000+ administrative fee they are paid by the federal government for each refugee they settle. The City of Syracuse and Onondaga County cannot afford to allow these two organizations to balance their books and generate revenue at the expense of an already stretched social safety net. If Interfaith Works and the Catholic Charities were genuinely concerned about reducing poverty, they would not continue to exacerbate the situation by settling 1,200 to 1,400 refugees each year.

LOL!  Another reader PistolPete wanted to know how many refugees “Steffi” (the mayor) was taking into her two homes!
We have written a lot about Syracuse over the years, click here, for previous posts (Diversity is so beautiful! Catholic Church becomes a mosque, African Americans beat up Burmese refugees, convenience store fraud by Palestinians, refugees booted from sub-standard housing in which they were placed, etc.).
*** Syracuse has already started resettling Syrian refugees according to US State Department data, here.

Syracuse: Catholic Church becomes mosque update

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Reader Caroline sent us this detailed update on the latest from “welcoming” Syracuse written by Jenna Bowen at American Thinker.

We first told you about how a beautiful Catholic Church is being converted to a mosque as the Muslim refugee population there continues to grow, here.

This is going to happen to your “welcoming” city too as the Muslim population increases through immigration—it is inexorable demographic change!

Dr. Yusuf Soule in front of the new mosque. http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/syracuse-muslims-buy-catholic-church-neighbors-shocked-mosque-will-remove-crosses/

Here is the latest news (Syracuse embraces mosque and wants more ‘refugees’):

Since my original article discussing how an abandoned Catholic church was being converted to a mosque in Syracuse, NY, that city has embraced the Mosque of Jesus, Son of Mary with open arms.  In April, a local publication, the Syracuse New Times, published an interview with Dr. Yusuf Soule, the executive director of the Northside Learning Center, who bought the church and rented it to a still unidentified group of Muslims.  In no news report has the group who transformed the church into a mosque been identified as anything other than a “new Islamic society.”

Read through the update and then at the end see that the Mayor is now asking Obama to send the ‘unaccompanied alien children’  (the Catholic church calls refugees!) to “welcoming” Syracuse.

Fourteen years after the attack on the synagogue, Temple Beth El is closed, the Mosque of Jesus, Son of Mary has replaced Holy Trinity Church on the city’s North side, and everyone is stumped why there is an alarming increase in violence on Syracuse’s Northside; an area overloaded with Dr. Yusuf Soule’s “refugees.”

In fact, the city is in such good shape that Syracuse’s mayor, Stephanie Miner, is telling President Obama to send illegal immigrants from the border up to her city. “The entire Syracuse community wants to help,” she wrote him.  Indeed, they probably couldn’t find a more appropriate environment to relocate to.

Read more here.

Related:  Reader Cathy sent us a good article from late July also at American Thinker entitled “They’re not refugees.” It makes me very happy to see that the whole refugee program is being scrutinized by other media outlets as a result of the effort to label the ‘unaccompanied alien children’ as refugees. But, is it too late?

For additional reading, I see we have a bunch of posts on crimes and other problems with refugees and immigrants in Syracuse going back several years, click here.

 

Syracuse: Welcoming with “robust” welfare!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is just one of those warm and fuzzy articles we find ourselves needing to ‘balance.’   It is all about how Syracuse, NY has become a primary resettlement site.  In fact, it is officially a “preferred resettlement site” according to the feds.

Puff pieces like this usually run when there is trouble afoot.  News outlets work with the resettlement agency to get ‘news’ like this out—it is meant to make any complaining citizens feel like they are in the minority and force them to shut up.  In other words, if you aren’t “welcoming” you are mean-spirited and surely a racist boob!

Helen Malina, refugee contractor: We are a welcoming city!

The article is here at Time Warner Cable News (CNY’s refugee community thrives as global refugee numbers climb):

But when a refugee is finally cleared, the highest number end up in the United States, and Syracuse has emerged as a prime city for resettlement.

Experts say that’s because of New York State’s robust public assistance programs and a combination of Syracuse’s relatively low cost of living and inviting community.

“We really are a welcoming city and I think most of the communities that have been resettled here have been well integrated into the Syracuse community family,” said Malina. [Helen Malina head of the local contractor—ed]

Out of the approximately 70,000 refugees that come to the United States every year, Central New York receives about 1,200 of them. About half of those are helped by the InterFaith Works Center for New Americans. The center helps refugees find homes and jobs, learn English and adjust to American society. However, the transition can be a difficult one….

Read it all if you feel like it.

Here is one story about the generosity of the taxpayers of New York and this Interfaith gang.  A new Iraqi refugee came with hypertension.  He had emergency heart surgery and spent the next six weeks comatose and in intensive care while others cared for his wife and kids.  Imagine what that must have cost the generous citizens of Syracuse and New York state!

InterFaith Works of Central New York is a subcontractor of Church World Service (one of nine contractors which then subcontract to hundreds of other smaller contractors making it very difficult to follow the taxpayer money trail).

We mentioned Church World Service just yesterday as one of their head honchos is running the lobbying arm of the resettlement industry—Refugee Council USA.

RRW owes a lot to Church World Service because it was they and their subcontractor—Virginia Council of Churches—that first introduced us to the program when they tried and failed to get a foot-hold and establish a  resettlement office in our rural Maryland County.  There would never have been an RRW without their ham-handed Hagerstown adventure.

Check out our archive on Syracuse which recently made the news because a Catholic Church was turned into mosque and it became a major controversy there.  Looking back I see refugees demonstrated against “racism” in Syracuse a few years ago.  No mention of any of that in this warm and fuzzy piece.

Syracuse: Refugee group buys Catholic Church, will be converted to a mosque

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….because Muslim refugee population is growing.

Holy Trinity’s last mass was held in February 2010. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/holy_trinity_church_in_syracus.html

It is a cold and rainy Sunday morning and I’m not easily discouraged, but I have to say this story is depressing.  Most people don’t understand that Islam marks its victories by turning Christian churches into mosques.  Surely there are other buildings available in Syracuse.

***Update*** American Thinker has published a post on this travesty today as well.  Thanks to Judy for bringing it to my attention.

***Update April 4*** Landmark Preservation Board wimps out—crosses to be removed, here.  Hat tip: Caroline

From CNYCentral:

For close to six decades, Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church on Syracuse’s north side was Anna Giannantomio’s church. She fought the Catholic Diocese decision to close it in 2010. While she believes everyone should be free to practice the religion they choose – she doesn’t understand why a new Islamic society wants to remove the crosses and move into the historic catholic church.

“This place was put into historical preservation and rightfully so,” said Giannantomio.

Crosses to be removed:

Holy Trinity was recently purchased by the North Side Learning Center, a volunteer group that assists refugees and immigrants. North Side Learning Center will lease the church to an Islamic society which would rename it Mosque Of Jesus The Son Of Mary. The North Side Learning Center has also filed a request with the Landmark Preservation Board to remove the crosses on the steeples and grounds.  [Those who care in Syracuse should file a protest with the Preservation Board—ed]

Professor Margaret Thompson from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School says nearly 75% of refugees settling in Syracuse are Muslim and that religious freedom has been bringing immigrants to America for hundreds of years.

“Holy Trinity was founded to welcome German immigrants to Syracuse when it was originally built and now its welcoming a new cohort of immigrants,” said Thompson.

Anna Giannantomio wants everyone to have a place to worship. She immigrated from Italy as a teenager and understands the discrimination many Muslims face in America but Giannantomio wishes the church that welcomed her to the U.S. would stay a Catholic church.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody but the building should remain as it is,” said Giannantomio.

The North Side Learning Center is now making repairs to the buildings. They hope the mosque will be ready to open in June.

Syracuse refugee program is changing and we recommend if you live there you need to start researching and reporting to your local community. The Northside Learning Center is probably operating on taxpayer dollars so you have a right to demand more information about their activities.

Syracuse is a preferred resettlement site chosen by the US State Department, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS) and the contractors.

New York is one of the top states with a large African and Middle Eastern Muslim population, here.  Demographic change is what it’s all about.  Once they get the population numbers almost nothing else matters.

Ironically the largest resettlement contractor, bringing the most Muslims to your towns and cities, is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Syracuse: Palestinian convenience store owner/sons admit guilt in lottery ticket theft case

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

One is sentenced to prison.  Dad gets no jail time.

Judge: ‘Andy’ Ashkar exhibited “rapacious greed.”

This is an update (thanks to a reader) of the Syracuse convenience store case where Palestinian Dad and two sons conspired to steal a lottery ticket worth five million dollars from a man who was drug-impaired at the time.

You might want to revisit our 2012 post for background.  This is part of an on-going hobby of mine to report on crimes at immigrant-run Mom & Pop grocery stores.   I wouldn’t be surprised if this trio was also into the food stamp fraud racket.

Here is the news last week at the Huffington Post:

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A central New York maintenance worker duped out of a winning $5 million scratch-off ticket will get his money next month, seven years after being scammed out of the jackpot, state lottery officials said Thursday.

The Gaming Commission has verified that the ticket belongs to Robert Miles of Syracuse, officials at the agency said. He’s expected to receive his jackpot within the next couple of weeks.

Read it all.

Punishment for Nayef Ashkar: can’t sell lottery tickets for the rest of his life—wow! that is tough!

Now here is a report about the one brother, Andy Ashkar who was sentenced to prison time in July.

Ten months ago, Andy Ashkar, was receiving congratulatory calls after news spread that he and his brother claimed a $5 million lottery prize. This week, Ashkar is behind bars after a judge sentenced him to 8 to 25 years for having the ticket that was stolen from his parents’ convenience store.

During his sentencing on Tuesday in Syracuse, N.Y., Onondaga County Court Judge Joseph Fahey told Ashkar, 35, “You exhibited some of the most rapacious greed I’ve seen in a long, long time.”

Here is a story about Daddy Ashkar who was convicted of a felony, but received no jail time.

Just for your information, we don’t take too many Palestinian “refugees” so it’s not clear how this family of crooks got here but possibly through one of the State Department’s “investor visa” programs.  Reminder! This is a wide-open field for investigation by a blogger wannabe!

For more on problems in Syracuse, go here, for all of our posts on the joys of diversity in that “welcoming” refugee resettlement city.   Among other things, you will learn more about immigrant “entrepreneurs” scamming the US taxpayer through food stamp fraud.