new york city

Remember the Stonewall, because this week the city of New York is accused of using false arrests to try to close a gay bar on Christopher Street that mostly serves men of color. The New York Times suggests that shooting gay men is an effective way to stop gay men for crusing for sex in parks. The separation of church and state took a big beating in the army as reported this week. We've seen the "spouse survey" for Don't Ask Don't Tell and we'll talk about that. The mayor of Mexico City is suing the Archbishop of Guadalajara for defamation because the Archbishop said that the country's Supreme Court was bribed to make it pro-gay ruling. There is an interesting new study on killing the HIV virus in the body of mice. And we're celebrating the demise of Dr. Laura's radio show which will conclude at the end of this year.

Even though today is the most important primary election day of the year, a slough labor protestors has invaded K Street to protest lobbying efforts against the banks as detracting attention from the actual state of the American people. Despite continuing foreclosures and layoffs, federal and local initiatives do not seem to be catering to these circumstances. On the contrary, they are not divesting from essential economies such as transit, and other blue collar strongholds. Labor correspondent and executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council, Ed Ott, joins us in the studio to discuss why Americans are so angry, how the outcomes of the primaries could affect these issues, and ask where the power really lies. Don't forget, we are in pledge season! Help GRITtv meet its goal of $100,000 by giving now or spreading the word! GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. Watch any show, at any time: http://grittv.org Distributed by Tubemogul.

For a little balance on the deal reached between New York City's residential building owners and their hard working janitors and doormen, it's not as if the doormen and women are the only hard workers in the building. GRITtv dug up the records on an apartment tower, 15 Central Park West in Manhattan. The condo tower is home to Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and Sandy Weill of Citigroup, two hard-working bankers. Weill bought one of the penthouses for $45 million. Others for whom doormen open the doors are the hard-working performers Sting, Denzel Washington and Bob Costas, who also paid millions for their digs. Baseball great A-Rod rents his apartment there, for $30,000 a month. Under the new contract, union doormen -- and women -- will be bringing in around $30 -40,000 a year. Hard workers all. In a hard-working city. Hard at work trying to figure out just how things turned out this way, and how long the imbalance can endure. The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com. Distributed by Tubemogul.

We've all seen the headlines about record bonuses on Wall Street just a year after record bailouts with taxpayer dollars. And we all know that the rest of the country is hardly feeling the recovery. But even right here in New York City, recovery hasn't yet trickled down, and inequality is just getting worse. To discuss real economic recovery for New York's working class (and the people in urban centers around the country) we invite Mark Winston Griffith, executive director at the Drum Major Institute and 2009 candidate for New York City Council, Matt Ryan, campaign director with Jobs With Justice New York, and Jonathan Hicks, former reporter with the New York Times and senior fellow at the DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy.