On Friday, January 7, 2000 Mayor Giuliani held a brief conversation on his weekly WABC radio call-in show with Queens resident, disabled father of two and advocate for the handicapped, John Hynes. Mr. Hynes is sometimes wheelchair bound, suffers from Parkinson's disease and recently had his food stamps cut off without explanation. The Mayor mocked Mr. Hynes' considerable breathing difficulties, claimed that he needed serious psychological help and then stated that it was not terrorists but people like Mr. Hynes that were the real threat necessitating the unprecedented security precautions in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
After cutting off Mr. Hynes' audio the Mayor taunted him to give his phone number so that the City could get him "psychiatric help". This conversation, broadcast live on radio and later shown on cable TV's Crosswalks perfectly illustrates the Mayor's infantile approach to dealing with the handicapped, the mentally ill and anyone who disagrees with him.
[...]
Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) ARTISTpres at aol.com (718) 743-3722 http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html