By Ben Weitzenkorn 5/30/12 5:00pm

Etan Patz

Etan Patz as taken by his father, Stanley Patz in 1979. This photograph was taken from Wikipedia where it is listed under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Etan Patz’s Father Pulls Etan’s Photos

More than 30 years after his son Etan became one of the first missing children to appear on a milk carton, Stanley Patz has withdrawn distribution rights for his photographs from the Associated Press.

In a statement, the AP said it had removed four photos of Etan from their database and instructed its member newspapers do the same. The request came shortly after the April excavation of a Soho basement failed to uncover Etan’s remains and before Pedro Hernandez’s confession thrust the grieving family back into the media spotlight.

When 6-year-old Etan disappeared on the streets of Soho in 1979, the Patzs believed circulating the collection of personal photos (Mr. Patz is a professional photographer) would aid in their son’s speedy return. Instead, they helped make it one of the most sensational and heartbreaking media stories of the decade. Read More

By Staff 1/30/07 3:25pm

Phantom Members of the Independence Party

WARNING: If you find accounts of the perpetual feuding within the Independence Party to be boring and incomprehensible, do not read any further.

The state Independence Party organization has taken the unusual step of forming a three-member panel (sound familiar?) to investigate the party’s county organizations and see if their rosters contain phantom party members. Read More

By Staff 12/27/06 5:25pm

Elsewhere: The Pataki Tour

George Pataki will tour the capitol because, astonishingly, he hasn’t seen enough of the place yet.

When Pataki leaves, some transportation upgrades won’t be finished.

Ben challenges an aspect of today’s Times story on Basil and David Paterson.

A lot of tourists have come to New York.

The lawyer monitoring Read More

By Staff 12/11/06 12:40pm

The Staten Island Race Next Year

One of only two special elections slated to take place next year will be for the Staten Island City Council seat being vacated by Republican Andrew Lanza, who is going to the state Senate.

As it stands, the field is expected to include Assemblyman Vincent Ignizio, who ran on the Republican, Independence and Conservative Party Read More

By Staff 12/11/06 12:13pm

Staten Island's Special Election

The race to fill the Staten Island City Council seat being vacated by Andrew Lanza, who is going to the state Senate, is shrinking before it really grows.

Independence Party activist Frank Morano announced he will not be a candidate in next year’s special election for that seat, saying the ongoing court battle over control Read More

By Staff 10/03/06 9:52am

Independence Party and Term Limits

The state’s Independence Party has had enough distractions and internal fighting this year to make them look more like a circus and less like the New York’s largest minor party.

They might be hard to take seriously at all — if it weren’t for term limits. It’s an issue where their procedure-orientated agenda Read More

By Staff 10/06/05 4:45pm

Showtime with Fulani

Among the Bloomberg supporters headed for the Apollo tonight is none other than…Lenora Fulani. Ms. Fulani will hold an informational picket with members of the “Bloomberg on C” coalition (read: Independent Party types).

For any of you hoping Mike could still make a surprise appearance at this debate…she’s the last nail in the coffin. Read More

By Staff 7/08/05 9:40am

Hanging by the Telephone

Did the dog eat the Attorney General’s homework? And his email? And his telephone, too?

In this week’s Observer, I wrote an article about Lenora Fulani’s hold on local pols who are courting Independence Party endorsements. Ms. Fulani, a controversial lieutenant of the IP, has been accused of child abuse. Eliot Spitzer promised Read More

By Staff 6/03/05 9:16am

Glutton for Punishment

Mike must take secret pride in those editorial scoldings he gets every time he doles out the praise for the Independence Party, whose storied history you must be familiar with by now.

Independence Party spokeswoman Sarah Lyons tells us that the Mayor, along with one Jeanine Pirro, will be special guests at an Read More