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Larry Silverstein, Hero Among The Heathen?
April 18th, 2006

Writing in City Journal, Nicole Gelinas calls the newly-built 7 World Trade Center “New York’s sole triumph over 9/11” and – in a startling departure from what has become conventional wisdom – praises developer Larry Silverstein, “who completed the 52-story tower while the pols dithered over 16 scarred acres across the street…By finishing Seven, Silverstein has replaced with hope the dread that infused lower Manhattan after 9/11. Yet pols and the press condemn him—because he’s in the private, not the public, sector.”

By Jonathan Mandell on April 18, 2006, 5:48 am
In category: Gotham City, Land Use | 1 Comment »

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Budget Blues
April 17th, 2006

Instead of enjoying the legislative recess this week, the leaders in both the Assembly and the Senate are singing the budget blues. The State Legislature, which passed its second on-time budget by April 1st, now must respond to the 202 budget vetoes issued by Governor Pataki. To complicate matters, as the NY Times reports, the governor has also claimed “a superveto” that cannot be overridden, which is what occurred in 2003, to everybody’s embarrassment.

The complete list of vetoes range along the political spectrum with cuts to Medicaid, the MTA, Legal Aid, college tuition assistance programs (TAP) and elimination to a property tax rebate championed by fellow Republicans in the Senate. The cuts total a savings of nearlythree billion dollars, but may instigate a political showdown between the executive and legislative branch; which might have to be adjudicated in court.

In 2004, the Court of Appeals ruled with Governor Pataki to prevent the legislature from altering the language of the governor’s proposed budgets. As the New York Sun reported, this decision protects the Governor’s budgetary powers under the State Constitution while limiting legislative authority to amend, reject or approve of each item of spending proposed by the executive budget. Under this premise, the Governor claims that the changes the Legislature made in the current budget was unconstitutional and therefore the $1.4 billion in tax cuts and additional spending should be overturned.

By Amy Ngai on April 17, 2006, 7:00 am
In category: Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Blogging the Brooklyn Bloggers
April 17th, 2006

The New York Times features an article about a dozen Internet blogs that are monitoring developer Bruce Ratner’s effort to build a basketball arena and numorus skyscrapers in downtown Brooklyn.

“If Jane Jacobs had the tools and technology back when she was fighting Robert Moses’ plans to bulldoze Lower Manhattan, I bet ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ would have been a blog,” blogger Aaron Naparstek says in the article.

But as is often the case in the blogosphere, the Times coverage of the story is now being scrutinized by the same blogs it profiles.

Norman Oder at atlanticyards.blogspot.com writes that while the article “floats some issues that have gotten too little public discussion, perhaps inevitably it misses some major points.” Oder than gives a line-by-line critique of the article and offers 10 aspects of the plan that he says the Times has ignored.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on April 17, 2006, 6:46 am
In category: Community Development, Gotham City, Land Use, Tech | No Comments »

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Do City Council Members Deserve a Raise?
April 16th, 2006

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has appointed a commission to study whether the city’s elected officials deserve pay raises. The Daily News gives four reasons why members of the City Council should not get one. 

1. Council members make $90,000 for what’s officially a part-time job.

2. Pay raises can take effect only if the council votes for them, which puts lawmakers in a position to hike their own salaries.

3. For the 34 members have been in office for only four years, and the eight have been in office for just four months, it’s too early for a pay raise.

4. City law says such a commission should consider the question next January, not now.

“Bloomberg’s panel should advise delaying any hikes until the start of the next term, following the next election,” the opinion page writes.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on April 16, 2006, 7:48 pm
In category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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This Week's Furry Heart Throb
April 14th, 2006

It happens every so often: a pair of hawks are threatened with eviction from their Upper East Side nest, or a show dog flees from the airport, or a coyote dies in custody after running wild in Central Park. Reporters jump on the feel-good story, New Yorkers stop to coo, and then cynics come around to denounce the reporters and mock the cooers.

This week’s installment is Molly, a cat who is stuck in a wall beneath an upscale deli.

A blogger from Wisconsin (news travels fast!) pretty much sums up what is to be said about such zoological dramas in a post entitled: “You should be ashamed of yourselves. And I can’t wait til they make a movie out of this.”

Several intrepid reporters chase Molly’s story (New York Times)

By Joshua Brustein on April 14, 2006, 3:21 pm
In category: Environment, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Pataki's Vetoes
April 14th, 2006

Governor Pataki used 202 vetoes to cut about $3 billion from the state budget this week, earning him criticism from those who want more spending on Medicaid, credits for college students, and property tax credits (which supporters have described as tax cuts).

But the Daily News writes that Pataki has done well by “trimming excess spending and stripping out patently unconstitutional actions” while “leaving intact the best of what the Legislature validly added,” namely the $11 billion for school construction in New York City.

The New York Sun thinks that the governor should have cut out the construction money, but is shedding no tears for the property tax credits, saying they “aren’t really tax cuts.”

What’s next?

As the Daily News sees it, Albany’s three men in a room will have to find some way to compromise between the priorities of charter schools (Pataki) property tax rebates (Bruno) and college aid (Silver).

By Joshua Brustein on April 14, 2006, 9:33 am
In category: Albany, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Giuliani Documentary and the Mayor's Legacy
April 13th, 2006

Gothamist has a roundup of various opinions of a new documentary on Rudy Giuliani, entitled Giuliani Time, which focuses on pre-9/11 events like the Abner Louima case, the Amadou Diallo shooting, and the Sensation art show debacle.

The film is just the latest salvo in the long-running debate over the Giuliani legacy (is he the savior or enemy of the city?), and it seems timed to preempt a possible 2008 presidential run by the former mayor.

For more on Giuliani’s record, read a transcript of a 2005 Gotham Gazette’s book club meeting with authors of two books on the former mayor.

Also read three differing articles written before September 11, 2001 by John Tierney, Kenneth Jackson, and Wayne Barrett.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on April 13, 2006, 7:00 am
In category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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Death and Ground Zero
April 13th, 2006

A New Jersey medical examiner has determined that the death in January of retired NYPD Detective James Zadroga was a direct result of the officer’s search-and-recovery service at Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks – making the detective the first responder whose death has been attributed officially to duty on and around the World Trade Center rubble.

In response, the Daily News opinion page writes that “all levels of government must see to it that no one who responded to 9/11 – cops, firefighters, ironworkers, et al. – goes without proper medical attention for lack of insurance.”

The New York Post urges Mayor Bloomberg to seek a second opinion.

“Junk science, fear and raw emotion – fueled by personal greed and rapacious tort lawyers – have long since trumped justice, equity and simple common sense in the practice of personal injury law,” the Post writes.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on April 13, 2006, 6:31 am
In category: Gotham City, Health | No Comments »

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Immigrants Rally
April 12th, 2006

Photo By Susan Sipprelle

By Oates Ritthichai on April 12, 2006, 2:08 pm
In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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Klein's Consultants
April 11th, 2006

“New York Rethinks Its Remaking of the Schools” the Times announced. So, are Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein about to throw out standardized tests, slow the rush to open more small schools and really listen to parents? Not exactly.

Instead, Klein has hired Chris Cerf, former president of Edison Schools and high priced consultants to evaluate the schools and work toward giving principals a freer hand.

The move bears several Klein hallmarks: It is being paid for with private donations — $5 million worth. And it could lead to more private companies doing public work and to even more testing .

Times reporter David Herszenhorn reserves most of the skeptical comments for the end of his largely favorable account. But he does eventually quote education historian (and frequent Klein critic) Diane Ravitch. “Isn’t it insane to play 52-pickup another time when structure is far less important, far less consequential, than the daily dealings between teachers and students?” she asks.

Some bloggers share Ravitch’s skepticism. “This is the kind of top-down, half-blind planning that has been proven not to work time and again,” writes I, Who Can’t. “Listen Joel, I could save you a lot of money. If you want to know how to improve schools just get a metro card. Come up to the Bronx and spend a week in my school…. Then go out to a school in Brooklyn, IS 318, same demographics as my school, but much more successful. … And then encourage all schools to copy that example.” Schools Matter agrees: “This group of private, altruistic investors could have saved $5 million if they just took the time to consult with teachers.”

But Whitney Tilson’s School Reform Blog thinks, “Klein is on the right track here — we can’t fix our schools unless we fix the dysfunctional, unaccountable system.”

By Gail Robinson on April 11, 2006, 3:08 pm
In category: Education, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Measuring Up
April 11th, 2006

Reform was in the air as the candidates for statewide office gathered at the Citizens Budget Commission’s conference last weekend.  The Citizens Budget Commission is a nonpartisan, New York City-based think tank funded by businesses that focuses on fiscal matters.

 
The first up were the Democratic candidates for attorney general.  Richard Brodsky, an Assemblyman from Westchester, Mark Green, former New York City mayoral hopeful, Sean Patrick Maloney, a corporate attorney and former Clinton staffer, Denise O’Donnell, former US Attorney from Buffalo, and Andrew Cuomo, former candidate for Governor, detailed their rationale for running for Attorney General and the reforms issues that they supported.  The leading Republican candidate, Jeanine Pirro was invited, but did not attend.

 
A common theme was that the candidates pledged, if elected, to devote time and resources to prosecuting political crimes.  They detailed their unflattering views of the way Albany operates and claimed an interest in using the office of Attorney General as a sort of “ethics cop” to investigate and punish state officials who violated ethics, lobbying or campaign finance laws.  Their messages were surprising and a sad commentary on the state of politics in New York.

 
It says a lot that the crime fighting focus for these Attorney General hopefuls was on Albany’s politics, not on street or corporate crimes.

 
The candidates for Governor had a broader view.  Unlike the candidates for Attorney General, the gubernatorial candidates focused their attention of the fiscal woes of the state – the issue that most stimulates members of the Citizens Budget Commission.

 
The broad theme among these candidates, Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi for the Democrats, and John Faso and Bill Weld for the Republicans, was that New York’s fiscal house is in disorder and through reforms and limits on spending, they pledged to clean things up.  While it is not surprising that fiscal reforms were the focus of the candidates given the audience – businesspeople – it was interesting that there was a consensus that New York State is suffering from a deadly combination of high taxation, debt and pork.

 
The one person unhappiest with these analyses must be Governor Pataki.  The Governor has been the leader of the state for nearly 12 years and it has been under his watch that the defects pointed out by the candidates – corruption, incompetence and inefficiency – were the focus of the day.

 
It cannot be comfortable for the Governor to receive these negative reviews of his legacy.  Of course time will tell if these views become history, but he can’t feel good about the first drafts being offered by these candidates.

 
But from New Yorkers’ perspective, it should be music to the ears.  For decades, New York State has suffered from lackluster fiscal management and a political culture that stifles real electoral competition.  It has gotten worse under Governor Pataki, but many of the problems precede him.

 
Unfortunately, the Governor did too little to tackle those problems.

 
The early rhetoric of the candidates is encouraging.  If the statewide candidates are to believed, the status quo in Albany will be challenged in a manner that has not been seen in a generation.

 
Yet, candidates for office have been known to suffer from selective amnesia once elected.  Voters must demand that candidates offer specific remedies for the problems plagued the state.  The vaguer the promise before the election, the more likely it will not be fulfilled after the election. 

 
The rhetoric is comforting, but as the election gets closer every voter should demand specifics.  If they get it, maybe Albany will open up.

 
That’s all for now.  I’ll be keeping an eye on the Capitol and will talk to you again next week.

By Blair Horner on April 11, 2006, 2:06 pm
In category: Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Anti-Toussaint Tally
April 11th, 2006

The New York Sun and The New York Post use the same word – admirable — to describe the 10-day jail sentence for transit union president Roger Toussaint for having called the three-day transit strike in December, in violation of the state’s Taylor Law. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Weld sent out a press release to “applaud the judge’s ruling.” The Republicans at Urban Elephants seem particularly gleeful: “I hope they make him walk to jail.”
Toussaint has 30 days to appeal the sentence, prompting one of the few pro-Toussaint comments currently discernible on the Web. Working Families Man blog writes: “I hope he does appeal. I think the Taylor Law is stupid.”

By Jonathan Mandell on April 11, 2006, 8:07 am
In category: Transportation | 7 Comments »

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Debating The Immigrant March
April 11th, 2006

“The immigration debate has brought people out into the streets in a way that has not been seen since the anti-war protests and civil rights marches of the `60s and `70s,” writes
El Diario, which labels yesterday’s immigrant demonstration “a loud and powerful call for fair and just immigration reform.” The Daily News says “the outpouring should give pause to those politicians who have taken the hardest anti-immigrant line. No, illegal immigrants cannot vote…But America’s Hispanic citizenry is a growing and engaged segment of the electorate.” Post columnist John Podhoretz argues just the opposite, saying the massive demonstrations are a mistake politically: “Whatever illegal aliens are – and I think they are, on balance, a positive presence – they are still in violation of the laws of the United States. The more people demonstrate on their behalf, the more the illegality of their actions is highlighted.”

By Jonathan Mandell on April 11, 2006, 7:29 am
In category: Immigrants | 1 Comment »

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Speaker Quinn's Honeymoon
April 10th, 2006

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has enjoyed a fairly smooth first 100 days in the position, including a “honeymoon” relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to an article in the Daily News.

“Even Quinn’s counterproposal to Bloomberg’s budget, which would add $576.5 million to the $52.2 billion spending plan, doesn’t faze the mayor,” writes Frank Lombardi in the News. “He said he fully expects their budget negotiations to end with ’smiles and handshakes and kisses.’”

The New York Post opinion page calls Quinn’s budget “hardly horrendous,” high praise compared to the paper’s view of the former speaker.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on April 10, 2006, 2:42 pm
In category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Public Finance | No Comments »

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Gossipfest
April 10th, 2006

New York – and particularly the Daily News — “could not be enjoying the Page Six scandal more,” writes Shots in the Dark.

The News broke the story alleging that a writer for the gossip column, Jared Paul Stern, had solicited money in return for favorable coverage of a California billionaire. And its glee is no surprise, writes Big Apple: “The New York Post and New York Daily News have had ‘tabloid wars’ in the past thirty years. The New York Post calls its tabloid competition the ‘Daily Snooze,’” while the News brands “Page Six” “Page Fix” and “Page Sick.”

The Times has not exactly ignored the story, with at least 11 stories on or related to the contretemps since Friday, and bloggers are eager to get in on the case as well.

Many believe the world of Britney Spear’s parenting skills, Ron Perelman’s divorce and Kid Rock sex tapes has long been a murky one. “The big news, though it seems like non-news is how gossip columnists tend/seem to be nice to their friends – or people who give them freebies, fly them out for events, give their kids jobs,” writes Gothamist.

“I am shocked, shocked, to hear that there would be anything other than the highest ethical and journalistic standards among the staff of a department that specializes in pestering and running sensationalistic stories about Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, and Angelina Jolie,” says Concurring Opinion.

But Post columnist Steve Dunleavy seeks to rebut such criticism in an interview with the New Yorker. “Thirty or forty years ago, maybe there was stuff like this going on. Somebody would say, ‘Put this story in and I’ll do something nice for you.’ And somebody would end up with a fur coat. But nothing as straightforward as this,” he said. The only thing I can say is that [Stern] went f—ing nuts. He must have had some sort of mental breakdown.”

By Gail Robinson on April 10, 2006, 12:09 pm
In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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Who Is ‘Gifted’?
April 10th, 2006

Weighing in on the never ending controversy over how to select students for elementary school “gifted and talented” programs, the Daily News looks to the center of the dispute: the Upper West Side. As it fashions criteria to determine which four- and five-year-olds are really, really smart, the Department of Education should learn from its mistakes there, the paper says.

Faced with widespread complaints about selection of students, the schools instituted a system for the West Side that combined performance on an IQ test and preschool evaluations. While that seemed “reasonable,… the details turned out to be dastardly,” the News writes, as some parents (and preschools) gamed the system to get their youngster into the prized programs. Now, the departments does not “have to go back to the blackboard entirely, but they do need to learn from the serious flaws in District 3’s selection process before finalizing any new citywide rules,” the News advises.

By Gail Robinson on April 10, 2006, 7:44 am
In category: Education, Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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Times To The Yanks: Pay For The Train
April 9th, 2006

An editorial in the New York Times says the Yankees baseball team should pay for the new proposed Metro-North train station that would be built at the new stadium. “…it’s time for the team to step up to the plate and help build the station, which could cost $40 million. Otherwise, funds will have to be diverted from other, long-delayed and more important mass transportation projects.”

By Jonathan Mandell on April 9, 2006, 10:46 pm
In category: Community Development, Land Use, Transportation | No Comments »

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Tracking Diabetes
April 9th, 2006

If a test indicates a person has diabetes, should that information be reported to the city health department?

Yes, writes Dr. Gerald Bernstein, former president of the American Diabetes Association in the Daily News. The effects of diabetes can be minimized with proper management, he writes, so the city must know who has the disease do they can contact them to help them avoid such devastating effects as heart attacks, strokes, blindness, kidney failure and loss of limbs. “Yes, this does mean violating the confidentiality of a patient’s medical records,” Bernstein writes, “but….issues of privacy need to be balanced with the need to turn the tide on a terrible epidemic.”

Absolutely not, counters Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics, also in the News’ point/counterpoint. He writes that diabetes has become a plague, whose toll in “premature death, blindness, immobility, pain, amputations and absence from work is beyond belief.” But, that does not mean the government should get confidential medical records. Such a move, Caplan writes, sets a precedent “simply too frightening to contemplate. Imagine the letters clogging your mail box as they write you to sleep more, stop drinking, lay off the marijuana or to get a condom on those private parts before heading out into the wilds of the city.”

For more, see Diabetes in NYC, this month’s health topic page article.

By Gail Robinson on April 9, 2006, 8:47 pm
In category: Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Cities Still at Risk
April 7th, 2006

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have done a pretty good job in New York City after September 11, 2001 – but it probably would not do as well today, a panel of experts generally agreed during a discussion on the lessons of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. “We are not as prepared as we need to be at the state, national and local level,” said Jamie Witt, FEMA director during the Clinton administration. And many blamed the Bush administration, with Democrats on the panel tending to hone in on budget cuts and Bush administration policies and failings, while the Republicans preferred to point the finger at the structure of the Department of Homeland Security. Former FEMA director Michael (You’re doing a heckuva job Brownie) Brown joined in condemning his former agency, saying he continued to speak out because he cares so much about emergency management in this country.

But things are better in New York City, said Bob Kerrey, president of the New School (where the discussion was held) and a member of the 9/11 commission. The city, he said, has “learned the lessons” of 9/11: “They are taking as many necessary steps as they possibly can, but we’re not there yet.” In particular Kerrey and some other panelists cited the need for better emergency communications, especially for police, fire and other emergency responders to be able to speak with one another.

And in a rare moment in American politics, a public official called for more terrorism funds for cities other than his own. Baltimore Mayor – and Maryland gubernatorial candidate – Martin O’Malley said terrorists were most likely to strike four specific cities – and Baltimore was not one of them. “I don’t think we’re so devoid of civic responsibility that we’re not willing to pay a little more to protect New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.” he told the audience. Of course, we don’t know what he says when he’s back home.

By Gail Robinson on April 7, 2006, 4:08 pm
In category: Crime & Safety, Gotham City | No Comments »

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Bronx Politics and Little League Baseball
April 7th, 2006

Part of the deal that the Yankees struck with the city to build a new stadium in the Bronx was $800,000 for things like youth sports leagues. As of now, the money is to be handled by the borough’s public officials.

Referring to this as a “slush fund”, Andrew Wolf of the New York Sun says that the money would be better spent if it were given directly to the 14 Little Leagues in the Bronx. Bronx politicians, he notes, shouldn’t be trusted to with children’s sports, a point proven by their involvement in the Rolando Paulino league, which was caught fixing the Little League World Series. (His larger point seems to be that Bronx politicians shouldn’t be trusted, but you can read his whole article to see where he goes with that).

The money would be enough to fully fund all the leagues in the Bronx, writes Wolf, and start several new ones. If these leagues needed help handling the money, the national officials of Little League baseball could help out.

Maybe being the Bronx’s youth baseball czar would be a position suitable for former mayor — and Yankee fan — Rudy Giuliani. After all, Giuliani has already received Little League Baseball’s highest honor.

By Joshua Brustein on April 7, 2006, 4:03 pm
In category: Community Development, Gotham City, Land Use | No Comments »

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