It was a face palm moment, and I was not shy about sharing some humor about the situation on Twitter, as I am sure most were. But jokes like this can be juvenile and demeaning. It is time to stop the jokes and look at this for what it is.
I have no love lost for Mulgrew and the leadership of the UFT. I hope to God Mulgrew gets voted out next year and I am fed up with the acquiescing to Bloomberg done by those at 52 Broadway to the detriment of the rank and file. But, there is no proof whatsoever that Mulgrew engaged in this behavior and with that being said, it is over as far as I am concerned until, and if, we learn more. But something bothers me even more.
In The Godfather when Michael visits Fredo in Vegas, Fredo is enamored with Moe Green and defends him. Michale looks at Fredo and says, "Don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." That's how I feel. We can fight and bicker over the leadership and direction of the UFT all we want, but it must come from within and not from without. Any outside forces that direct their wrath at the UFT must be met with complete unity and swift and timely retorts (And reprisals). Any dirty laundry must be dealt with from within, not from without. I mean, that is why E4E, Little Evan Stone, Princess Sydney Morris, and it's official Blog Monkey™ Ruben Brosbe have so much wrath directed towards them.
So for a nebbish like Andrew Ostrowsky to not only determine that the allegation of Mulgrew performing a sexual act in the wood shop and this is the reason that Randy Andy is now in a heap of trouble because he "claims in the suit he’s being “targeted” for termination because an assistant principal gave him his first “unsatisfactory” rating last December. Supervisors also ordered him to undergo a DOE medical/psychological exam," due to Mulgrew being blackmailed and as a result got a crappy contract in 2005 is just downright botarded. As Norm over at Ednotes points out this supposed tryst predates Mulgrew's ascendency to the throne of the UFT.
But I am sure Randy Andy went to many a lawyer hoping that he could find someone, anyone to take this case. But he couldn't. Not until he lifted up a rock and found Joy Hochstadt, who in my opinion, will take anything and then eventually fuck it up. As my father once said, "anybody can sue anybody, anytime." As we see with this case, it is true.
I met Joy once. When I was in the Rubber Room I met with her in her office, I mean, her car on 181st St. I found her (in my opinion of course) to be a disheveled person, a scheister, and a con artist. But even more, desperate to take on any case she could. After about 10 minutes of listening to her blabber on I left her "office" and put her on the list of people to give a wide berth to.
I won't say who, but she represented a very famous teacher in the annals of the teacher discipline cases and fucked up his case royally. If Randy Andy did some due diligence he would have known this.
But the worst part is when Joy said herself that she had "no concrete proof of the alleged sexual tryst." So you have no concrete proof so what the hell is she suing for, and what judge will allow this even after the custodian named as the witness said he never saw anything? Whatever judge gets this will dismiss this case as soon as he gets off the floor from laughing so hard.
In my opinion, Joy leaked this to the Daily News. She knew damage and embarrassment can be done through only the Post. I also look at Ostrowksy as a rat, as a turncoat, and someone not to be trusted for a second.
We as teachers and UFT members in this time of constant change and attack from the outside must not let our petty little shit to get out, especially in the New York Post. The only method to remove Mulgrew and his ilk are to educate the teachers on how we can affect change from within and take ownership of the power many of us yet to realize we have.
Good analysis. But I'd say that your last paragraph is the most important. And one way we can gain power to make the changes we know we need, is to join together and help build MORE/ The Movement of Rank and File Educators, a new caucus within the UFT. For more info, go to http://morecaucusnyc.org/
ReplyDeleteGreat post!!-You are right on the money-THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteOnce I got beyond the comparison of union solidarity with Mafia loyalty, I asked myself why the author refers to Andrew Ostrowsky as Randy Andy. Is there something he/she knows that others do not? And, can one be “randy” and a “nebbish.” When the author referred to, Joy Hochstadt, as “a disheveled person, a scheister, and a con artist,” I finally figured it out.
ReplyDeleteThe author subscribes to the NY Post style of journalism. I will take that into consideration as I ponder her comments. I wonder why she does not question how the DOE did extract such concessions from the UFT under the leadership of Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew. I wonder why she/he didn’t do her ‘homework’ more carefully. The link to the actual complaint filed in Nassau County is included below. It makes very interesting reading and believe me Mr. Mulgrew’s ‘flagrante delicto’ is the least of it.http://www.parentadvocates.org/nicemedia/documents/Hochstadt_Mulgrew_EDNY.pdf
I chose Randy Andy because it rhymes. OK.
ReplyDeleteBut Joy is a disheveled person, a scheister, and a con artist. So what?
You appear to substitute character assassination for facts and information regarding these people and this case...generally ad hominem reason is considered a logical fallacy. If your intention was to obscure by way of ad hominem reasoning, you have certainly succeeded. That's what.
ReplyDeleteHey my friends-fact is, this is a great post. I bet "anonymous" is really "Randy Andy". As for Joy Hochstadt, she is a con artist and she is disheveled!
ReplyDelete