Free Talk Live

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Smokers have just one message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council members: butt out of our business.

“We’re outside. We should have freedom to smoke,” City Hall Park smoker Harvey Forbes told CBS 2’s Magee Hickey.

By a vote of 36 to 11 on Wednesday the City Council approved a bill to ban smoking in all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas.

Oakland, California bureaucrats fine organic farm/herb grower Novella Carpenter $2500 for selling and raising crops in an empty lot in the city and for not applying for a permit to operate her business on the city's premises.

New York City is the abortion capital of America. More than 40 percent of pregnancies in New York City end in abortion (excluding miscarriages), nearly twice the national rate. The abortion rate among the city’s black residents is a jaw-dropping 60 percent. In 2009, New York City saw more than 87,000 abortions—one roughly every six minutes.

Members of the state’s 150-man elite police force have been trying to get to the bottom of who’s behind parody Twitter accounts lampooning city council members. The mock tweeters include one councilman’s moustache. Another from the handle Laughable Loll cracked, “I shined my head extra special for tonight so the camera would reflect off of it.” Not laughing is the local prosecutor. He says the tweets may run afoul of harassment laws and asked the Rangers to investigate.

Mayor William Lantigua says he will no longer pay legal bills for police officers being sued, including the bills for those officers involved in nine brutality cases pending in U.S. District Court.

Imagine you own a million-dollar piece of property free and clear, but then the federal government and local law enforcement agents announce that they are going to take it from you, not compensate you one dime, and then use the money they get from selling your land to pad their budgets—all this even though you have never so much as been accused of a crime, let alone convicted of one.

Mayor Bing of Detroit wants to shrink the size of the city, and intends on accomplishing that by 'relocating' residents and shutting off city services to other parts of the city. Of course, he wants Federal funds to accomplish this and is anticipating lots of legal challenges to his plan.

Quartzite, AZ City Council has police arrest woman speaking at city council meeting for saying things they don't want heard.

John Bush, a local activist from Austin, Tx. was previously banned from speaking to Austin City Council for a year, previously. Finally, Council realizes they can't be dictators forever - and allow the man to speak. Ownage ensues.