VivirLatino

This summer, I first wrote about Angeline Hassell and her struggle to be reunited with her daughter. Now, with Mayor Bloomberg elected to a controversial third term, a mother struggling within the family court system of NYC asks what he has done not just for her lately, but for the too many women and children caught within a web that promised to help them.

December 3rd, 2009

The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor, The City of New York
Office of the Mayor
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

I remember reading in a newspaper that you stated, “The reason you ran for Mayor is because there’s no other job where you can have such a direct and meaningful impact on the day to day lives of so many people.”

Back in 2005 I had written to your office regarding my situation which involves domestic violence and immediately you had someone from your Domestic Violence Taskforce Unit call me back. I bring this up to say this – you were the ONLY politician that responded at that time when I reached out regarding my case. To this day I still have the original letter that I sent to your office. You were extremely helpful because you wanted to make sure that my daughter and I were safe. Your administration has consistently been in the forefront to bring awareness to domestic violence and you have implemented many resources such as the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence and The Family Justice Center just to name a few.

Now here it is 2009 and it’s very unfortunate that after all of your taskforces efforts to ensure that my daughter and I
were safe that those efforts may have been in vain. I say this because we have been thrust right back into the very same situation that made me seek your assistance back in 2005 by the Queens Integrated Domestic Violence Court itself. I know neither you nor Chief Administrative Judge Lippman would ever condone what has happened in this case especially given your continued pledge in the fight against domestic violence and especially with Chief Judge Lippman’s wonderful efforts from January 1996 to May 2007 in how he led the implementation of nationally significant reforms and contributed to the creation of the domestic violence courts which were put in place to solve problems. I am positive that what is going on in my case is not what you or Judge Lippman had in mind. As Mayor of New York City you have always said, “That you will hold everyone accountable for their actions and that you will not uphold them when they are doing wrong.” Which is why I felt compelled to write you this open letter.
Read more…