City Council, pass the community board reforms! We strongly support these reforms. Community boards are weak at best. At worst, they are dominated by self-interested or deeply biased individuals who directly, systematically oppose the residential majority of the community. It's time to re-draft the blueprints that permit such corruption to destroy our neighborhoods!

It's that time again: Lower East Side nightlife operators are applying for liquor license expansions. We've been sick of the atmosphere for years and nothing has changed. We urge Lower East Siders to register their positions in this survey from the LES Dwellers.

We sympathize for the business owners affected by the Harlem explosion, and we feel it's reasonable for the city to avail low/zero-interest emergency loans to help them out temporarily. But in the end, this is an issue for insurance and, possibly, for ConEd or the negligent landlords to rectify, not the city government.

In other neighborhoods, yesterday's 65° weather was an exciting taste of spring. For us >Lower-East-Siders, it was an omen of the out-of-control nightlife violence that summer brings. Two fights broke out outside of the Hotel on Rivington on the Lower East Side Monday night. One was an old-fashioned broken bottle duel, the other a violent attack of a female by a male. The Hotel's own security guards didn't even intervene--guards from across the street did! And it goes without saying in this neighborhood, the cops didn't show up until everything died down. Yet further examples of how >Lower-East-Siders are being run roughshod by bar operators in collusion with a corrupt Community Board 3 and NYPD Precinct 7, threatening the fragile economic progress made in the previous decade.

Something that has always been said about us New Yorkers is that we take care of each other in times of need. It's therefore disappointing to see that as of January 2nd, New York Cares has received only 20% of the 104,000 coats requested. It's too cold out there , let's pull together and spread some warmth.

We're relieved the NY SAFE Act was upheld. It brings sensible rules to gun ownership in the wake of recent mass shootings, while respecting the individual's right to self-defense.

If people of religion have a right to voice their opinion, then so should people of no religion. While incendiary and provocative, the message voiced by the American Atheists is not "hateful", as NY state senator Andrew Lanza said.

No sympathy for the NYC motorcycle mob. The video (referenced below) shows them to be an aggressive, reckless and threatening mob of immature "stunt" motorcycle Neanderthals that intimidated and ultimately beat a man in front of his wife and 2 year old. Barring some new evidence, it's clear they instigated the confrontation, and deserve to be punished. The man was defending his family from a life-threatening situation (they slashed his tires when he stopped after he collided with a rider, who's license had previously been revoked and who appeared intent on being hit), and therefore was within his rights to act as he did. Many motorcyclists are law-abiding courteous users of public roads. But some are obnoxious idiots, especially when in a pack, who routinely flout traffic laws and/or intentionally disturb the peace of residential neighborhoods. Those guys don't deserve the privilege of a driver's license.