From 2017: The #174th_Street_Station on the Nos. 2 and 5 lines, #the_Bronx.

URGENT CARE BROOKLYN (CROWN HEIGHTS & WILLIAMSBURG)

Urgent Care Brooklyn (Crown Heights & Williamsburg)

Check out our newest location in Williamsburg on Graham Ave!

With over 60,000 tests conducted, Statcare is the #1 choice for COVID-19 Testing. Statcare is unique in providing full touch-less registration so you never have to wait in the cold or deal with crowded waiting rooms. Click here to book your appointment, now. Rapid covid test.

Statcare also leads in transparency in health care. Check out our costs and fees for services that we provide.

341 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY 11216

Main Phone: (917) 310-3371

Hours:

Mon-Fri:   8 AM – 9 PM Sat-Sun:  9 AM – 5 PM Holidays: 9 AM – 3 PM

Statcare Urgent Care Brooklyn is located near you right above the Franklin Avenue Subway Station in the heart of Brooklyn, NYC on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway. The number 1,2,3,4, and 5 subway trains come to the Franklin Avenue Subway Station under Statcare.

The Statcare Difference

Statcare Urgent Care in Hicksville, Long Island is a place you can trust:

Statcare Urgent Medical Care has been in business for more than 10 years.

Statcare Urgent Care Center has 3500+ 5-star online customer reviews, more than anyone else!

Statcare has transparent pricing – we list our prices. Statcare charges only $125 for those who want to pay for their medical care themselves.

Statcare is an In Network urgentcare with almost all plans – you will not be surprised to receive an “out-of network” bill after your visit with us!

Statcare emergency coronavirus room providers have handled millions of Urgent Care visits – Emergency Care Experience you can count on!

Statcare Urgent Care Hicksville location has easy parking and the Hicksville LIRR is walking distance from Statcare Urgent Care facility- That is immediate care access you can’t beat!

Statcare urgent medical care has a full-service dedicated After Care Department – we never stop taking care of our customers!

Statcare now offers Telemedicine visits. Too sick to come in? Get the same great care from the comfort of your home.

Office Hours

When to go to the Emergency Room?

Insurance & Payment

Billing & Sections

Connect With Us

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Instagram

Linkedin

OUR LOCATIONS

Telehealth Visit

Online Doctor Appointment Virtual doctor on call service

SAVE MY SPOT

Hicksville, New York

232 W. Old Country Road Hicksville, NY 11801 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Astoria, Queens

37-15 23 rd, Avenue Astoria, NY 11105 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Bronx, (174TH ST)

932 East 174th Street Bronx, NY 10460 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 3 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Bronx, (Bartow)

2063A Bartow Avenue Bronx, NY 10475 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 9 pm Sat: 9 am – 5 pm Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Brooklyn

341 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY 11216 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Jackson Heights

80-10 Northern Boulevard Jackson Heights, NY 11372 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Midtown Manhattan

715 9th Avenue Suite 1 New York, NY 10019 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 5 pm

Jamaica

90-18 Sutphin Blvd Jamaica, NY 11435 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 8 pm Sat: 9 am – 5 pm Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

(917) 310-3371

Real-Time Customer Reviews

[internal_pages_output]

SEE ALL REVIEWS

Sign Up For Email OffersSign up to receive coupons, health tips, and more–directly to your inbox.

Your Name (required)

Your Email (required)

QUICK LINKS

Urgent Care Insurances Accepted

Our Services

Patient Resources

Contact Us

Code of Conduct

Privacy Policy

DOC TALKS BLOG

15 Min Rapid COVID Test: 5 Reasons Why Rapid is Rational

New Variant COVID Strain: New Normal to New Nightmare

COVID Vaccine: The Race to Save Lives

7 Signs a Free COVID Test in New York is Legit

Copyright © 2020 STATCARE URGENT & WALK-IN MEDICAL CARE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Billing Address: STATCARE URGENT & WALK-IN MEDICAL CARE 17 E OLD COUNTRY RD, UNIT 305, HICKSVILLE, NY 11801

TWITTER  /  FACEBOOK  /  INSTAGRAM  /  LINKEDIN  /  YOUTUBE

If you are vision-impaired or have some other impairment covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act or a similar law, and you wish to discuss potential accommodations related to using this website, please contact Shared Suri at [email protected] or by phone at (917) 310-3371 Extension 288.

COVID-19 Testing Near Me In Westbury

e

We know that you want safe, fast, and accessible COVID-19 testing. So come to our brand-new testing site in Westbury (in front of The Cheesecake Factory) for all of your Corona-virus-related health and safety needs.

All of our Coronavirus testing sites offer touch-less online registration. We are bringing clean, outdoor testing stations to your neighborhood. Now, you can receive local coronavirus testing without the trip!

COVID Testing Site In Westbury (in front of The Cheesecake Factory)

Statcare is bringing you a new coronavirus testing center in Westbury, New York to serve the following areas:

Mineola, Carle Place, Westbury, New Cassel, Old Westbury, Garden City, Williston Park, Roslyn Heights, East Meadow, Hempstead and Uniondale.

Start Appointment Process

Coronavirus Testing Sites In Westbury, New York

Location: 1500 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY 11590

(Located in front of The Cheesecake Factory directly facing Old Country Road)

Testing Hours:

Mon-Fri: 10AM to 7PM Sat-Sun: 10AM to 7PM

To register, start the appointment process by clicking below.

Make an Appointment Today

COVID Tests Now Available at Our Westbury Testing Site:

Antigen (Rapid) COVID-19 Test

After using a simple nasal swab, you can get your test results back as quickly as 15 minutes. This type of test is permitted for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with an emergency use authorization (EUA). To get more information on how the rapid test works, see Rapid COVID-19 Test Near Me in Westbury.

COVID-19 RT- PCR (Standard) Test

The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test is intended to diagnose whether an infection is caused by SARS-Cov-2 with a nasal swab sample. Visit our information page for more about the COVID-19 PR-PCR Test available for residents of Westbury.

The COVID-19 Antibody Test

With the COVID-19 Antibody Test, we can detect the presence of Immunoglobulin G (IgG), the antibody that shows that you've previously been exposed to COVID. Performing the COVID-19 antibody test requires a blood sample. You can learn more about the COVID-19 Antibody Test available to Westbury residents by visiting our page.

Looking for a COVID Clinic Nearby?

Easily Find a Statcare Urgent Care Near Me In Westbury

All of Statcare’s mobile vehicle, quick-build, and permanent testing sites are safe, clean, and accessible. We’re doing everything we can to offer convenient coronavirus testing in your neighborhood, without long lines. Statcare accepts all insurance plans for COVID-19 testing. Even if you are uninsured, if you present a valid NY State Driver’s License, you can get your test at no cost.

Just drive right up to any of our testing sites and scan the displayed QR Code on your mobile device to get started. You can also quickly schedule an appointment by clicking here.

If you need some help signing up, please contact one of our live agents by using the chat box provided below. You can also complete our contact form, and one of our representatives will follow up with you.

Statcare’s Ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic Efforts

We always follow CDC, WHO, and FDA guidance and counseling with all of our COVID-19 protocols. For a complete list of coronavirus symptoms, visit the CDC website and check it against any signs you might be experiencing.

From the start of this pandemic, Statcare has provided efficient and effective testing choices for symptomatic patients, helping them detect coronavirus without close contact. As of December, we’ve already conducted over 60,000 COVID-19 PCR tests in New York, as dictated by the state’s health department. We are also staying at the frontlines of the process to bring you the coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is available.

Now that we’ve taken COVID-19 testing on the road, that’s expanded the options we are bringing to you. Statcare offers coronavirus testing options right in your backyard, from our new testing site in Westbury. Our mobile and temporary COVID-19 test sites also serve Westhampton, Quogue, Easthampton, Southampton, Hampton Bays, Riverhead, Bridgehampton, and Northampton.

Come and Get Your Coronavirus Test in Westbury Today!

You can get your test at Statcare’s newest open-air COVID-19 facility, now open in Westbury.New York. Reduce the risk of contact and help minimize coronavirus spread. Avoid standing in long lines or crowded waiting rooms by choosing Statcare. With our convenient and accessible coronavirus testing, you can join us in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Statcare always follows the guidelines passed down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and NYS Department of Health. If you are symptomatic, schedule your test to get evaluated faster. At Statcare, we always accept walk-in patients and strive to offer safe, hassle-free testing, providing safety and security for all.

Statcare Coronavirus Tests are Available In Westbury

Start Your Appointment Process Today!

OUR LOCATIONS

Telehealth Visit

Online Doctor Appointment Virtual doctor on call service

SAVE MY SPOT

Hicksville, New York

232 W. Old Country Road Hicksville, NY 11801 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Astoria, Queens

37-15 23 rd, Avenue Astoria, NY 11105 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Bronx, (174TH ST)

932 East 174th Street Bronx, NY 10460 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 3 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Bronx, (Bartow)

2063A Bartow Avenue Bronx, NY 10475 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 9 pm Sat: 9 am – 5 pm Sun: 9 am – 3 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Brooklyn

341 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY 11216 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Jackson Heights

80-10 Northern Boulevard Jackson Heights, NY 11372 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 9 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Midtown Manhattan

715 9th Avenue Suite 1 New York, NY 10019 Mon – Fri: 8 am – 8 pm Sat – Sun: 9 am – 5 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

Jamaica

90-18 Sutphin Blvd Jamaica, NY 11435 Mon – Fri: 9 am – 7 pm Sat: 9 am – 5 pm Sun: 9 am – 2 pm Holidays: 9 am – 3 pm

(917) 920-7321

Real-Time Customer Reviews

[internal_pages_output]

SEE ALL REVIEWS

Sign Up For Email OffersSign up to receive coupons, health tips, and more–directly to your inbox.

Your Name (required)

Your Email (required)

QUICK LINKS

Urgent Care Insurances Accepted

Our Services

Patient Resources

Contact Us

Code of Conduct

Privacy Policy

DOC TALKS BLOG

New Variant COVID Strain: New Normal to New Nightmare

COVID Vaccine: The Race to Save Lives

7 Signs a Free COVID Test in New York is Legit

5 Covid-19 Pop-Up Testing Sites You Need To Know About

Copyright © 2020 STATCARE URGENT & WALK-IN MEDICAL CARE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Billing Address: STATCARE URGENT & WALK-IN MEDICAL CARE 17 E OLD COUNTRY RD, UNIT 305, HICKSVILLE, NY 11801

TWITTER  /  FACEBOOK  /  INSTAGRAM  /  LINKEDIN  /  YOUTUBE

If you are vision-impaired or have some other impairment covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act or a similar law, and you wish to discuss potential accommodations related to using this website, please contact Shared Suri at [email protected] or by phone at (917) 920-7321 Extension 288.

Posted @withregram • @fant1st “𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬” A D Train running with R68 Subway cars heading Southbound to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, Leaves 174th-175th Streets! Heading to the next station which is 170th Street. Photo shot on February 7th, 2021 on a iPhone 11. #mta #mtasubway #concourse #174th #trainspotting #transit #transportation #subway #dtrain #dtrainphotography #r68 #takethetrain #newyorkcityphotography #fant1stsphotos #bronx #capturetransit https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxga_5Pa6w/?utm_medium=tumblr

80-Year-Old Man Struck By Stray Bullet In South Bronx NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Another innocent bystander has been hit by a stray bullet, this time an 80-year-old man in the South Bronx. He was wounded while walking with his family. Police said the elderly man was near an intersection in Crotona Park East on Monday afternoon when gunfire erupted. Investigators said he was hit once and is expected to be OK, but people in the neighborhood said they’re now looking over their shoulders, CBS2’s Natalie Duddridge reported Tuesday. READ MORE: 71-Year-Old Woman’s Hair Pulled, Head Punched At Herald Square Subway Station, Police Say Surveillance video appears to show a suspect pull out a gun and fire into the street on East 174th Street near Vyse Avenue at around 4:30 p.m. Duddridge spoke to one man who said he heard it from his window. “Bam! Bam! Like firework,” the man said. Police are looking for this man in connection to the stray-bullet shooting of an 80-year-old man. (Credit: NYPD) Police said a bullet hit the victim in the buttocks. He was was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital and is listed in stable condition. “I feel horrible because he could be my grandfather. It could be my dad. Nobody wants a loved one to be gone because of some stupidity,” resident Martin Escovoza said. Investigators believe the suspect was aiming at an intended target who is not yet known. READ MORE: Stimulus Check Latest: Is A Fourth Relief Payment Coming? Police released surveillance video showing the suspect talking to what appears to be a group of teens or kids. The incident is concerning for area parents, who said they want to see more officers out. “Maybe they should over-police if situations like this keep happening,” Aquanda Crawford said. “They probably need more police around. “Every time it gets hotter … a lot more drama starts,” Crawford added. Since early Monday there have been six shooting victims citywide. So far this year there have been 558 people shot shot, compared to 315 at this time last year. “When you look at the gun arrests that have been made throughout New York City, we have in the first quarter of this year exceeding anything in the prior 20-plus, quite a bit, years. So now we need those to play themselves out through the court system. We need consequences for those,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on NY1. Shea also said 800 officers graduated from the academy last week and will help deal with this latest round of crime. MORE NEWS: Andrew Giuliani Says He’s Running For Governor Of New York Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential. Source link Orbem News #80YearOld #Bronx #bullet #Crime #Man #NewYork #nycgunviolence #nycshootings #shooting #South #southbronx #stray #straybullet #straybulletshooting #struck #thebronx

Two Bronx B/D Subway Stations To Close Next Month

Two Bronx B/D Subway Stations To Close Next Month

The 167th Street on the B and D line along the Grand Concourse along with 174th-175th Street will close next month for repairs.

This will allow for major upgrades and modernization to the stations which opened in 1933 with new LED lighting, countdown clocks, new turnstiles, and more.

167th Street will fully close August 27th and 174th-174th Street station will close August 13th and will remain…

View On WordPress

From 2018: The #174th_Street_Station on the Nos. 2 and 5 lines, #the_Bronx.

NYC Man Arrested After 73-Year-Old Woman Punched in Face on Subway Platform

NYC Man Arrested After 73-Year-Old Woman Punched in Face on Subway Platform

Officials in New York City arrested a man who was wanted in connection to an assault on a 73-year-old woman on a subway platform last week.

The New York City Police Department said the man allegedly punched the woman in the face at around 7:15 p.m. on June 17 at the 174th-175th Street station in the Bronx.

The woman was waiting on the Manhattan-bound side of the platform when a man, identified as…

View On WordPress

Permits Filed for 656 East 176th Street in East Tremont, The Bronx

Permits have been filed for an 11-story residential building at 656 East 176th Street in East Tremont, Bronx. Located between Belmont Avenue and Crotona Avenue, the corner lot is about ten city blocks west of the 174th Street subway station, serviced by the 2 and 5 trains. Radame Perez of Mastermind is listed as the owner behind the applications. source https://newyorkyimby.com/2019/04/permits-filed-for-656-east-176th-street-in-east-tremont-the-bronx.html from Genesis Companies is a full-service development and construction firm enhancing communities in NY https://genesiscompanies.blogspot.com/2019/04/permits-filed-for-656-east-176th-street.html

Another look at the 174th/175th Street subway station, closed for station rehabilitation from the Downtown platform 🚇 #Bronx #DTrain #174th175thStreet #NYCTransit #NYCSubway #TransitFan (at 174th–175th Streets) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn7r88BnFWq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zerxvv8srid3

TriMet is firming up its designs for outer Division bus stations

The latest rendering of future bikeway-bus interaction on outer Division Street. (Images: TriMet)

Portland’s regional transit agency is hoping to raise $175 million for bigger, faster-moving buses on Southeast Division Street, and some major bikeway upgrades would be in store.

From SE 82nd Avenue to the Gresham city limits near 174th Avenue, the agency is planning to pay for a vertical barrier, mostly a series of concrete curbs, to protect the bike lanes that will have been recently widened and buffered by a separate City of Portland project. And when the Division bike lanes pass bus stops — as they would at 87th, I-205, 101st, 112th, 122nd, 130th, 135th, 143rd, 148th, 156th, 162nd, 168th and 174th — they’ll often be wrapping to the sidewalk side in order to reduce bike-bus conflicts.

This is a transit station design that’s in action from Seattle to Bogotá, but it’s relatively new to Portland: only a few Southwest Portland streetcar stops have used it so far.

Protected bike lanes and bus boarding islands would certainly be big improvements compared to the same stretch of Division today:

Division near 153rd Avenue. Don’t miss the bus stops on either side. Image: Google Street View.

Since we last shared some images from this project in June, TriMet has nearly finished a first draft of what’s known as “30 percent design” for its project. It’s made decisions such as exactly where bus stops would go and how wide lanes and sidewalks up and down the corridor would be. In the next few weeks, it’s vetting those designs with institutions around the region, including the City of Portland’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees.

A few newly revealed details captured in images TriMet shared recently are worth noting. None of these were on the renderings we saw in June.

Dashed crossbikes to show bikes’ path: These are useful for helping alert people in turning cars to the possible presence of bikes, to help people confidently pedal across the street and just to raise the visibility of the bike lanes, reminding every street user that using a bike could be a good option.

Left-turn refuge boxes: One of these is easiest to spot at the top of this post, in the upper left corner of the first image. This is to help people make “Copenhagen lefts” from the bike lane, if they feel better doing so, rather than merging across multiple lanes of traffic.

Sidewalk-level uncolored bike lanes: These are more problematic. Anyone who biked or walked on Southwest Moody Avenue before 2015 knows how many people don’t notice the distinction between walking and biking lanes when they’re the same color.

Unprotected intersections: Both 162nd and 148th avenues have north-south bike lanes at Division. Division seems likely to become a very important east-west biking artery through Southeast Portland, and it’s possible to imagine similar protected lanes on 162nd and 148th at some point. One thing that’s not clear from these designs is why the city and TriMet haven’t chosen protected intersections that would set the bike lane crossings back from the intersection slightly. This would let people in right-turning cars make eye contact with someone on a straight-moving bike rather than prompting both parties to look over their shoulders at one another.

Rendering: Nick Falbo, protectedintersection.com.

And here’s one thing that’s not visible:

Bike-bus priority signals: The buses pictured here are in sitting in “business access transit” lanes, basically curbside lanes that are designed for right turns and bus queue jumps. When a bus finishes loading, it would get a special traffic signal to cross the intersection first — and, TriMet project manager Michael Kiser said in an interview Tuesday, people biking and walking would get the same head start. (It’s not yet decided whether biking and walking would get a head start when a bus is not present.)

Kiser said Tuesday that though “there is buy-in in pursuing this kind of at-grade separation between bikes and peds” (in other words: a path divided into biking and walking sections), the design for how to separate biking and walking “have not been fully vetted” with the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

“We may look at a change in paving materials; maybe asphalt and concrete,” he said. “That will be informed through further discussions with PBOT.”

In general, TriMet pedestrian and bicycle planner Jeffrey Owen said Tuesday, the agency’s goal for Division is to “make it clear and delineate who’s where and when and why.”

Owen and Kiser will visit the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee in the Lovejoy Room of City Hall, 1221 SW 4th Ave., at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17. Meetings are open to the public.

Once the agency’s current plans have been vetted and tweaked in conversation with the city and other local partners, it’ll submit them to the Federal Transit Administration in early December and hope to show up in President Trump’s budget in February, Kiser said.

(Credit for this story goes to Adam Herstein on the BikeLoudPDX listserv, a good way for ordinary Portlanders to stay up on bike advocacy opportunities in the area.)

— Michael Andersen: (503) 333-7824, @andersem on Twitter and [email protected]

Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.

BikePortland needs your support.

The post TriMet is firming up its designs for outer Division bus stations appeared first on BikePortland.org.

via bikechatter http://ift.tt/2y2QNQc

Expert: Scan the mainstream media for news about Ethiopia and discover headline after headline describing the country’s economic successes: double-digit economic growth, foreign investment and aspirations to become a middle-income country by 2030. Ethiopia, we are told, is a functioning democracy, an African tiger economy and an important ally of Western governments. According to such eminent sources as the BBC, CNN, the World Bank and the US State Department, Ethiopia is an African success story; a beacon of stability and growing prosperity in a region of dysfunctional states. Dig a little deeper, speak to Ethiopians inside the country or within the diaspora and a different, darker image surfaces: A violent picture of brutal state suppression, state corruption, widespread human rights violations and increasing levels of hardship as the cost of living escalates. For a country to be regarded as broadly democratic a series of foundational pillars and interconnected principles are required to exist and be in operation: the observation of human rights, political pluralism, a flourishing independent media, an autonomous judiciary and police force, a vibrant civil society and a pervasive atmosphere of tolerance, inclusion and freedom. Where these are found to be absent so too is democracy. The Ethiopian government –- the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) — maintains that it governs in accordance with democratic ideals: a brief overview of their methods, however, makes clear this is far from the truth. The EPRDF rules in a highly suppressive manner and has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion throughout the country, employing a largely uneducated security apparatus to keep the increasingly mobilized populace in order, and a state-run judiciary to lock troublemakers away. Political dissent is all but outlawed, and should protestors take to the streets they are shot at, beaten and/or arbitrarily arrested; opposition leaders are imprisoned, branded terrorists, intimidated and persecuted; all major media outlets as well as the sole telecommunications company are state owned or controlled — outspoken journalists are routinely jailed, trade unions are controlled by the government, and humanitarian aid, including food and fertilizer is distributed on a partisan basis, as are employment opportunities and university places. Refuse to pledge allegiance to the EPRDF and see that job offer withdrawn, the seeds, fertilizer and humanitarian support withheld. In justification of this tyrannical rule, the government states that Ethiopia is an evolving democracy, that change takes time and that economic growth is their primary concern and not the annoying niceties of universal human rights law, much of which is written into the liberally worded, systematically ignored constitution. And whilst the EPRDF commits wide-ranging human rights violations, and acts of state terrorism, the country’s major donors, America, Britain and the European Union, remain virtually silent. Indeed their irresponsible actions go beyond mere silence — they promote the fictitious image of democracy and stability in Ethiopia, and in some cases conspire with the regime against opposition party activists, as many believe the UK has done in the case of Tadesse Kersmo, a British citizen and leading member of the opposition party Ginbot 7 – Movement for Unity and Democracy in Ethiopia. He was recently arrested at Heathrow on vague terrorism charges, as well as Andargachew Tsege another British citizen. Tsege was kidnapped while transiting through Sanaan airport in Yemen, and rendered to Ethiopia as part of a brutal crackdown on political opponents and civil rights activists. He has been imprisoned inside Ethiopia ever since, and the British government, to their utter shame, has said little and done nothing. Development aid from these and other benefactors, including the World Bank, flows through and supports “a virtual one-party state with a deplorable human rights record,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) states in it’s aptly named report, Development without Freedom. The Ethiopian government’s “practices include jailing and silencing critics and media, enacting laws to undermine human rights activity, and hobbling the political opposition.” Who benefits? In 1995 the then Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated that the plan was for Ethiopia to “sustain current double-digit rates of growth for the next 15 years, so that by 2025 we become a middle income country.” And they would achieve this in a manner that would “allow us to have zero net carbon emissions by 2030.” Economic reforms and growth controlled by a highly centralized political system, mirroring, many have suggested, the methodology of China, is the EPRDF’s approach. It is largely Chinese money and organization that has built the new dams, roads and railways. Industrial parks have sprung up offering new jobs at increased wages, and the government plans to build another nine such facilities. But manufacturing is a tiny part of the country’s economy: almost 85% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, which accounts for 41% of GDP, coffee being the main export. Certainly there have been some economic achievements over the past 25 years and the country’s carbon emissions during the period 1999 to 2012, have, according to the World Bank, remained static. This is indeed positive, as is the commitment to hydro, geo-thermal, wind and solar power. Overall unemployment has fallen slightly to 19.8% (from 2009 when it was 20.4%), but 50% of young people remain unemployed, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the famous ‘double-digit growth rates’, has been consistently high, averaging 11.35% in the years since 2010, according to Trading Economic, although this dropped to 8% in 2015/16. The UN relates that there has also been substantial progress in the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, particularly relating to those living in extreme poverty. This figure has fallen from 45% in 1995/6 to 30%. Whilst these figures and the commitment of sustained investment are encouraging, no level of economic growth, green or otherwise, can justify violent, suppressive governance, as is being perpetrated in Ethiopia, and a nation’s GDP is only one measure of a country’s health, and a narrow one at that. It reveals nothing of the political landscape, the human rights conditions under which people are forced to live, the dire levels of poverty or where any new wealth has settled. Many claim ‘crony capitalism’ abounds in Ethiopia, that the principle beneficiaries of economic growth have been government members and close supporters and people from Tigray, the regional home of the majority of the government and senior members of the armed forces. Desperate for change With a population of almost 100 million, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa after Nigeria. And with a population growth rate at a tad under 3% it’s growing apace (in the EU e.g. its 0.23%, the US 0.81%), meaning over the coming five years the country will have 25 million more people to feed. The median age is a mere 17 years of age (44% are under 14), life expectancy is just 67 years of age (158th out of 198 countries) and the country (according to the US State Department) is still regarded as one of the 10 poorest nations in the world, with some of the lowest per capita income figures on the planet – just $590 (World Bank): it’s hard to live on $49 a month anywhere. The combination of low income, low life expectancy and poor education levels – only 39% of adults are literate and 85% of rural youth don’t complete primary school – means that Ethiopia is ranked 174th (of 198 countries) on the United Nations Human Development Index. None of this, plus other stark details of daily life, the inflated cost of living, for example, increased taxes, or the lowest level of Internet access in Africa – just 3.7%, is featured in the country’s routinely championed GDP figures. Headline numbers which mean nothing to the majority of people: most can barely feed themselves and their families, are increasingly angry at the level of state suppression and live in fear of government retribution should they dare to express dissent. As HRW correctly states: “Visitors and diplomats alike are impressed with the double-digit economic growth, the progress on development indicators, and the apparent political stability. But in many ways, this is a smokescreen: many Ethiopians live in fear.” Fear that has kept the people silent and cowering for years, but, encouraged by movements elsewhere, long-held frustration and anger spilled over in 2015 and 2016, when large-scale demonstrations erupted. Unprecedented demonstrations that followed hard on the heel of elections in May 2015, which, despite widespread discontent with the ruling party saw the EPRDF miraculously win 100% of the seats in both the federal and regional parliaments. Thousands marched; firstly in the Oromia region then in parts of Amhara (areas that constitute the two largest ethnic groups in the country), until in October, after scores of people were killed in a stampede at Bishoftu in Oromia, a State of Emergency was announced by the ruling regime. Extreme measures of control were contained in the clampdown that lasted for 10 months. Draconian rules, which undermined the rights of free expression and peaceful assembly, and prohibited any association with groups labeled terrorist organizations, such as independent media stations, ESAT TV and Radio and the Oromia Media Network. Break the rules and face up to five years in jail, where torture is commonplace. HRW made clear that the Directive, which was lifted in August, went “far beyond what is permissible under international human rights law,” and “signaled a continuation of the militarized response” that characterized the government’s reaction to people’s legitimate grievances, peacefully expressed. Tens of thousands of protestors, including opposition party leaders, were arrested and detained without due process. Hundreds of people killed, many more beaten by security forces that act with total impunity. None of this is contained in the World Bank data, the IMF forecasts or the BBC news headlines, nor is the state terrorism taking place in the Ogaden region and elsewhere, where murder and false imprisonment of pastoralists is routine and women tell of multiple rapes at the hands of soldiers and the quasi Para-military group the Liyu Police. Ethiopia desperately needs a renaissance, true development built on a firm foundation of human rights, inclusion and political pluralism. Human development that caters to the needs of all its citizens, not economic growth based on a prescribed outdated, unjust economic model, which inevitably benefits a few, strengthens inequality and fosters corruption. Far from building a democratic society in which freedoms are observed and valued, an atmosphere of fear, suspicion, and inhibition has been cultivated by the EPRDF government, a brutal regime that is determined to maintain power, no matter the cost to the people of Ethiopia, the vast majority of whom are desperate for democratic change. http://clubof.info/

167th St & 174th-175th St Stations on the B Line Approved For Renovations

167th St & 174th-175th St Stations on the B Line Approved For Renovations

Badly needing repairs, eight subway stations have been approved for $240 million renovations including two in The Bronx.

167th Street along with 174th-175th Street on the B line along the Grand Concourse will undergo renovations which in the past have taken roughly six months to complete.

During that time, the stations will be closed and commuters will have to make alternate plans.

Many have…

View On WordPress

By Norman Solomon. This article was first published on Expose Facts.

At dusk I stood on a residential street with trim lawns and watched planes approach a runaway along the other side of a chain-link fence. Just a few dozen yards away, a JetBlue airliner landed. Then a United plane followed. But the next aircraft looked different. It was a bit smaller and had no markings or taillights. A propeller whirled at the back. And instead of the high-pitched screech of a jet, the sound was more like… a drone.

During the next half-hour I saw three touch-and-go swoops by drones, their wheels scarcely reaching the runaway before climbing back above Syracuse’s commercial airport. Nearby, pilots were at the controls in front of Air Force computers, learning how to operate the MQ-9 Reaper drone that is now a key weapon of U.S. warfare from Afghanistan to the Middle East to Africa.

Since last summer the Defense Department has been using the runway and airspace at the Syracuse Hancock International Airport to train drone operators, who work at the adjoining Air National Guard base. Officials say it’s the first time that the federal government has allowed military drones to utilize a commercial airport. It won’t be the last time.

No longer will the pilots who steer drones and fire missiles while staring at computer screens be confined to remote areas like the Nevada desert. With scant public information or debate, sizable American communities are becoming enmeshed in drone warfare on other continents. Along the way, how deeply will we understand — in human terms — what the drone war is doing to people far away? And to us?

***     ***     ***

The takeoffs and landings of military drones at the Syracuse airport get little attention in New York’s fifth-largest city. Already routine, the maneuvers are hardly noticed. In an elevator at a hotel near the airport, I mentioned the Reaper drone exercises to an American Airlines flight attendant who had just landed on the same runway as the drones. “I had no idea,” she said.

The Reaper drones using the Syracuse runway are unarmed, the Air Force says. But when trainees go operational, their computer work includes aiming and launching Hellfire missiles at targets many thousands of miles away.

Despite the official claims that drone strikes rarely hit civilians, some evidence says otherwise. For example, leaked classified documents (obtained by The Intercept) shed light on a series of U.S. airstrikes codenamed Operation Haymaker. From January 2012 to February 2013, those drone attacks in northeast Afghanistan killed more than 200 people, but only about one-sixth of them were the intended targets.

Even without a missile strike, there are traumatic effects of drones hovering overhead. The former New York Times reporter David Rohde has described what he experienced during captivity by the Taliban in tribal areas of Pakistan: “The drones were terrifying. From the ground, it is impossible to determine who or what they are tracking as they circle overhead. The buzz of a distant propeller is a constant reminder of imminent death.”

As civic leaders in Syracuse and elsewhere embrace the expanding domestic involvement in day-to-day drone warfare, clear mention of the human toll far away is almost taboo. Elected officials join with business groups and public-relations officers from the military in extolling the benefits and virtues. Rarely does anyone acknowledge that civilians are maimed and killed as a result of the extolled activities, or that — in the name of a war on terror — people in foreign lands are subjected to the airborne presence of drones that is (to use Rohde’s word) “terrifying.”

Such matters are a far cry from Syracuse, where the local airport’s role in drone warfare is visible yet virtually unseen. My random conversations with dozens of Syracuse residents in many walks of life turned up scant knowledge or concern about the nearby drone operations. What’s front and center is the metropolitan area’s economic distress.

Unlike the well-financed Air National Guard base, the city’s crumbling infrastructure and budgets for relieving urban blight are on short rations. When I talked with people in low-income neighborhoods of Syracuse — one of the poorest cities in the United States — despair was often unmistakable. A major study by the Century Foundation identified Syracuse as the city with the highest concentrations of poverty among African Americans and Hispanics in the United States. Locally, the latest influx of federal largesse is for the drone war, not for them.

***     ***     ***

A group called Upstate Drone Action has been protesting at the Air National Guard base on the outskirts of Syracuse with frequent vigils and persistent civil disobedience. A recent demonstration, on Good Friday, included nine arrests. The participants said in a joint statement: “What if our country were constantly being spied upon by drones, with some of us killed by drones? What if many bystanders, including children, were killed in the process? If that were happening, we would hope that some people in that attacking country would speak up and try to stop the killing. We’re speaking up to try and stop the illegal and immoral drone attacks on countries against which Congress has not declared war.”

The last couple of months have not gone well for authorities trying to discourage civil disobedience — what organizers call “civil resistance” — at the base. In early March, a jury in the Dewitt Town Court took just half an hour to acquit four defendants on all charges from an action two years ago that could have resulted in a year behind bars for disorderly conduct, trespassing and obstruction of government administration.

Later in March, citing a lack of jurisdiction, a local judge dismissed charges against four people who set up a “nativity tableau” in front of the main gate at the Hancock Air Force Base two days before Christmas last year. In a press release, Upstate Drone Action said that the activists had been “protesting the hunter/killer MQ-9 Reaper drones piloted over Afghanistan by the 174th Attack Wing of the New York National Guard” at the base.

***     ***     ***

The U.S. drone war is escalating in numerous countries. A year ago the head of the Air Combat Command, Gen. Herbert Carlisle, told a Senate subcommittee that “an insatiable demand” was causing U.S. drone operations to grow at a “furious pace.” That pace has become even more furious since President Trump took office. In early April a researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations, Micah Zenko, calculated that President Trump had approved an average of one drone attack per day — a fivefold increase from the rate under the Obama administration.

Upstate New York is leading the way for the Pentagon’s plan to expand its drone program from isolated areas into populous communities, which offer ready access to workers. One hundred and sixty miles to the west of Syracuse, just outside the city of Niagara Falls, an Air National Guard base — the largest employer in the county — is in the final stages of building a cutting-edge digital tech center with huge bandwidth. There, pilots and sensor operators will do shifts at computer consoles, guiding MQ-9 drones and firing missiles on kill missions. The center is on track to become fully operational in a matter of months.

At the main gate of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, a sergeant from the public-affairs office was upbeat about the base “operating the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft.” At city hall the mayor of Niagara Falls, a liberal Democrat, sounded no less pleased, while carefully sidestepping my questions about whether he could see any downsides to the upcoming drone role. A local businessman who chairs the Niagara Military Affairs Council — a private organization that has long spearheaded efforts to prevent closure of the base — told me that getting the drone mission was crucial for keeping the base open.

In such ways, functioning locally while enabling globally, the political economy and mass psychology of militarism do the work of the warfare state.

About Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is the author of “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” He is a co-founder of RootsAction.org and the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. This article was first published by ExposeFacts, a program of IPA.

from Home http://ift.tt/2p9FI7F

From 2019: The #174th_Street_Station on the Nos. 2 and 5 lines, #the_Bronx.

From 2017: The #174th_Street_Station on the Nos. 2 and 5 lines, #the_Bronx.