SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

X
____---________________I________________----------------~~-----------~~--

Christopher Burke, Ciaran Canavan, Jean Canavan, New York County

Anthony Badillo, and Sharron Clemons, Index No.
individually and on behalf of the approximately Part
52,000 signers of a Petition Filed Pursuant t o ( 1
Sections 37 and 24 of the New York State Municipal
Home Rule Law, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
FOR THE
Plaintiffs, INDEPENDENT
RE-VALIDATION OF CITIZENS
-against- PETITION SIGNATURES
GATHERED UNDER SEC, 37 OF THE
MICHAEL McSWEENEY, as City Clerk of the City of
New York and Clerk of the City Council of New York, and
the BOARD of ELECTIONS in the City of New York

.. I. .I
upon reaarng rne annexea Hrriaavit OT Lnrisropner m r K e swurrt LU urt JUIY L O , - ~ ~ W ~ I Z L I I W

with the exhibits thereto, LET Michael McSweeney, City Clerk of the City of New York, and the
Board of Elections in the City of New York, show cause before this Court at Part thereof, to be
held a t the Courthouse located a t 60 Centre Street on August 7, 2009, at 9:30AM, or as soon
thereafter as the parties can be heard, why an Order should not be made appointing a Special
Referee, as an officer of the Court for the purpose of examining and validating or rejecting, and
reporting said findings to the Court, regarding the 52,000 signatures delivered to the Clerk of
the City Council of the City of New York on June 24,2009, in accordance with Sections 37 and
24 of the MHRL, and subsequent t o the receipt of said report from the Special Referee,
scheduling a Hearing, so that Plaintiffs and Counsel may be heard on other outstanding issues
of Law, since Plaintiffs are convinced that a significant legally determinative number of the
Petitions were illegally rejected and are valid in accordance with the relevant Sections 37 and
24 of the MHRL Accordingly, Plaintiffs also request such other and further relief as this Court
may deem just and proper.

Dated: New York, New York

March 29,2009
1

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 c

Ciaran Canavan
75 Margaret Street, Staten Island, NY 10308
(917) 882-9360

Sharron Clemons
218 Broad Street, Apt. 50, Staten Island, NY 10304

BY:
Christopher Burke
50-15 3SfhSt. Apt. 3F
Long Island City, NY 11101

34 Crown Street,
Staten Island, NY, 10312
7183442716

Jean Canavan
75 Margaret Street, Staten Island, NY 10308
(917) 882-9360

Plaintiffs pro se

TO: MICHAEL A. CARD020

Corporation Counsel of the City of New York
100 Church Street
New York, New York 10007
(212) 788 0952
Attorney for Defendant

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 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

***rrf___l_f_____l"fffflr_______________-------------------------------_-
X
Christopher Burke, Cieran Canavan, Jean Canavan, New York County
Anthony Badillo, and Sharron Clemons, individually and Index No.
on behalf of the approximately Part
52,000 signers of a Petition Filed Pursuant to ( 1
Sections 37 and 24 of the New York State Municipal
Home Rule Law, AFFIDAVIT IN
Plaintiffs SUPPORT OF THE
I ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR
THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL
-against- REFEREE TO CONDUCT AN
I NDEPENDENT
MICHAEL McSWEENEY as City Clerk of the City of RE-VALIDATION OF CITIZENS
New York and Clerk of the City Council of New York and PETITION SIGNATURES
the BOARD OF ELECTIONS in the City of New York GATHERED UNDER SEC. 37 OF THE
NEW YORK STATE MUNICIPAL
Defendants HOME QULE LAW

STATE OF NEW YORK 1

COUNTY OF NEW YORK )

CHRISTOPHER BURKE, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

"i,.

1. My brother, Thomas Daniel Burke, lost his life on September 11, 2001.

2. He was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105'h floor of the North Tower,
1World Trade Center, when the American Airlines jetliner struck the building a
few floors below.

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 3. I respectfully make this affidavit in support of the Plaintiffs Order t o Show
Cause for the appointment of a Referee to conduct an impartial re-validation of
the 52,000 signatures gathered by the New York City Coalition for Accountability,
(now” NYC CAN”) as well as for the scheduling of a Hearing to consider the issues
of Law raised by the letter from the Defendant herein, dated July 24, 2009, and
attached hereto as Exhibit A. I respectfully emphasize to this Honorable Court
that each one of the Plaintiffs is a registered and qualified voter in the City of
New York.

4. I make this affidavit on behalf of many other family members who, like me,
lost relatives on that fateful day and note that three of them have joined with me
to be Plaintiffs in making this request. I know they share my sense of urgency due
t o the strict timelines imposed upon such Petition efforts and the fact that the
Defendant served his rejection letter on the last day thereby allowing us only five
days t o bring this matter before this Honorable Court.

5. I further declare that I am making this affidavit in support on behalf of

many First Responders who wholeheartedly support the Petition but many of
whom are municipal employees with concerns for the security of their positions
as public employees. These First Responders volunteered to assist during the
tragedy and many have been permanently injured or fallen victim themselves to
a wide range of disease as a result of the inhalation of toxic substances.

6. I further declare that I am making this affidavit in support on behalf of

many survivors who witnessed firsthand the horrors of that day and note that
one of them has joined with me to be a Plaintiff in making this request. These
survivors will carry with them forever agonizing memories of that day and many
of them continue to suffer psychological and physical traumas as a result of their
experiences.

7. Finally, I make this affidavit in support on behalf of the 52,000 citizens of

the City of New York who signed the Petition (at this writing, the number has
risen to over 72,000) put forward by NYC CAN in quest of giving the citizens of
the city an opportunity to decide by referendum, whether or not a new
2

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 investigation of the horrific events of that day should be conducted by a new
independent Commission.

8. I know that all of the aforementioned families and individuals share my

view that there has been no serious investigation of these assaults, and, in fact,
the co-chairmen of the official investigation have publicly stated that their work
was obstructed from the outset. I know that the family members who submitted
hundreds of unanswered questions to the official Commission have been, and
are, frustrated and angry a t the unwillingness of our government to adequately
and openly address these questions.

9. I have personally been impressed that though the Plaintiffs in these

proceedings are all New York City residents, and registered and qualified New
York City voters, support for this Petition has come from thousands of concerned
citizens in every section of this great nation and indeed from all over the world. I
respectfully remind this Honorable Court that citizens from more than 80 nations
lost their lives in the events of September 11.

10. I know from the report issued by the Defendants that some 24,664
signatures, that we believe were legally obtained, subject to NYC CAN quality
control inspection, and consequently, are legally valid signatures of registered
and qualified New York City voters, were somehow declared invalid. In addition
there appear to be another 1,333 that do not seem to have been considered a t
all.

11. In light of the provisions of Sections 24 and 37 of the Municipal Home Rule
Law, (attached hereto as Exhibit B) and the consequent authority of this Court, I
respectfully hope that the process of re-validation, which is the purpose of the
Order to Show Cause before this Honorable Court, would provide answers to
these and other questions raised by the Defendants’ rejection of the signatures
and the Petition. (A true and exact copy the Petition is attached hereto as Exhibit
C).

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 12. I am personally familiar with the other Plaintiffs in this action. For the
further information of this Honorable Court, they are:

Ciaran and Jean Canavan, brother and sister-in-law, respectively, of Sean

Canavan, who was working as a union carpenter on the 98thfloor of the South
Tower when it was hit;

Sharron Clemons, a survivor, working in the area, who suffered compressed

vertebrae in the middle of her back and injuries to tendons and ligaments in her
neck, as well as a broken leg, fractured ankle and crushed foot. Today, she
suffers from a great deal of pain as well depression, anxiety and post traumatic
stress;

Anthony Badillo, nephew of Thomas Joseph Sgroi, who worked for Marsh and
McLennan on the 92ndfloor of the South Tower;

13. In light of all of the foregoing and in the interests of Justice, I respectfully
request that this Honorable Court grant the relief sought by the Plaintiffs in the
Order t o Show Cause as well as such other further relief that the Court deems just
and proper.

Christopher Burke

M.Jossph Cum
Notrary Pylslic, state of New York
Sworn before me this No. 01CU6196713
Qualified in New York County
2gthday of July, 2009 Commission Ewpires November 17.20,

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