March 19, 2010 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Putting the State Police in Check
March 18th, 2010

Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries are pushing legislation that would keep an eye on the relationship between the State Police Superintendent and the executive branch.  The legislation would have the governor appoint a superintendent to a single term of 10 years.The candidate would be confirmed by the legislature. The governor will no longer have the ability to simply fire the superintendent. Instead the superintendent would have to be removed by a majority vote by both houses of the legislature.

The superintendent would also be required to check in with the legislature once a year.The bill would require a record be kept of interactions between State Police leadership and other government agencies.  According to a release from Krueger’s office the record would include,”information detailing any special requests from the Executive and the Legislature for  services of the State Police beyond traditional services provided by the State Police.”  The bill follows some recommendations made by criminal justice experts following the scandal involving Gov. David Paterson, his top aide and the State Police. Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on March 18, 2010, 12:58 pm
In category: Albany, Crime & Safety, Eye on Albany | 1 Comment »

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With Cops Down, Kelly Promises to Keep Crime Low
March 11th, 2010

Come January 2011, the city’s police ranks will be as low as they were in the 1990s, said Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., the chair of the council’s public safety committee, this morning.

For Vallone, that is intolerable.

“1990 was before safe streets, safe city,” said Vallone. “It was a time when the City Council realized we cannot police this city with this many police officers.”

Including academy class sizes and attrition, the police department headcount is expected to be at 34,875 in July, lowering to 34,475 in January 2011, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly testified at a preliminary budget hearing today. No unit, he added, will be held harmless.

“Virtually every unit, every entity, is going to be affected,” Kelly said. “No unit is spared, certainly in a mega sense.”

At the beginning of the fiscal crisis, the police department was one of the City Council’s top priorities. Members fought tooth and nail to keep academy class after academy class.

This year, after several years of budget cuts, it may not be the same. With day care centers on the chopping block and fire companies set for slashing, police officers may not be the council’s number one priority in fiscal year 2011. Much of the noise coming from City Hall’s steps refers to social service cuts and the Fire Department, not necessarily New York’s finest.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on March 11, 2010, 3:31 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Public Finance, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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Trooper Scandal Claims One More
March 9th, 2010

The scandal surrounding the State Troopers has claimed yet another. Acting State Police Superintendent Pedro Perez has announced that he is retiring. Perez’s retirement comes one week after his former boss Harry Corbitt retired. Corbitt’s boss, Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise O’Donnell, resigned over the scandal a week earlier.

“My decisions over time, combined with the indication that you are seeking a new superintendent and the labor unions’ perception of my ability to lead the agency, have led me to conclude that continuing in my position as Acting Superintendent may be an obstacle to progress of the New York State Police, an agency I love,” Perez wrote to Paterson.

The New York State Troopers Benevolent Association and the New York State Police Investigators Association released a joint statement calling on Paterson, “to appoint a strong, progressive leader to restore confidence in the management of the New York State Police, and to do so in a swift manner.”

“These past few weeks have been difficult for the morale of the men and women of the New York State Police who answer calls for assistance and investigate crime,” said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer. “We look forward to beginning a new chapter, and we urge the Governor to make this appointment a priority.”

“It is time to move forward and return the focus of the New York State Police to our core mission of serving and protecting the public,” said NYSPIA President Joseph Barrett.

By David King on March 9, 2010, 4:29 pm
In category: Albany, Crime & Safety, Eye on Albany | 1 Comment »

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Quinn Says Resigning is up to Paterson
March 3rd, 2010

Council Speaker Christine Quinn declined to call for Gov. David Paterson to resign this afternoon at her pre-stated press conference, saying the decision is his alone.

The speaker did say the council would be willing to help the state government in whatever way they could.

“The situation in Albany is a very distressing situation one that no one would want New York State or any other state government to be in. It is, to put it mildly, a very, very challenging situation,” Quinn said.

“It’s one that puts all of us in government, regardless of what level, in a position where we need to do everything we can to come together and make sure the people’s business continues to get done, notwithstanding what are some very, very large distractions.”

Quinn continued: “What is the next right thing to do? I am going to leave that to the governor to decide for himself.”

By Courtney Gross on March 3, 2010, 2:17 pm
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Rose Gets Civil Rights
March 3rd, 2010

Rose HEADSHOT

More on the fallout from the indictment of Councilmember Larry Seabrook: Councilmember Debi Rose was selected this morning to take over his chairmanship of the Civil Rights Committee.

Seabrook stepped down as chair of the committee in February after he was charged with extortion and fraud. The committee chairmanship comes with a $10,000 stipend.

Rose is Staten Island’s first black councilmember. She was also the center of a lawsuit about the Working Families Party’s private consulting arm, which was recently settled.

By Courtney Gross on March 3, 2010, 2:02 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Law, nextNY | No Comments »

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Protecting Pedestrians
February 24th, 2010

The hit and run accident that critically injured mayoral aide Errin Phelan early Sunday morning and hurt her friend Alma Guerrero points up how dangerous it can be to simply cross a street in New York. And while on the face of it, the conduct of the driver seems completely egregious, if past cases are any indication, there is no guarantee anyone will be convicted of a major offense for the crime.

As Gotham Gazette reported late last year, people who kill with their vehicles usually get off with a slap on the wrist — unless it can be proved they were drunk at the time of the accident. Since the driver who struck Phelan has not yet been apprehended, there is no way to determine whether she was drunk, stoned or high when she mowed down the two young women on Flatbush Avenue. (Police questioned the owner of the car, Cindy Jasmin, who says her sister Frances was driving. Investigators reportedly are skeptical.)
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on February 24, 2010, 9:09 am
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CCRB Agreement Victory for de Blasio?
February 19th, 2010

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio made reforming the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board a pillar of his campaign last year.

His first recommendation as a candidate was to give the board, which (just like it sounds) investigates complaints of police misconduct, independent power to prosecute the cases it substantiates. Currently, whenever the board substantiates police misconduct, it hands over the case to the Police Department, which prosecutes it at its own discretion.

Reports today reveal the department and the board have agreed to a pilot program that will allow the CCRB to prosecute some of its cases. So far, it is unclear how many of these cases the board’s attorneys will be allowed to prosecute.

The move, however, did not completely satisfy the newly minted public advocate.

In response to the agreement, de Blasio released the following statement this morning:

“We respect and appreciate this step as an acknowledgment of the need for change at the CCRB. But another pilot program is not enough. It is already abundantly clear that the city needs a more independent, responsive, and effective CCRB. When I was elected to office, I pledged to substantially reform the CCRB and help establish its power to conduct thorough, timely investigations and prosecute all appropriate cases. In the months ahead I will continue fighting to achieve that goal.”

Citizens Union, the sister organization to Gotham Gazette’s publisher, also recommended the CCRB independently prosecute cases in a report released in 2008.

By Courtney Gross on February 19, 2010, 11:56 am
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, nextNY | No Comments »

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Quinn on Seabrook
February 11th, 2010

Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she expects indicted councilmember Larry Seabrook to step down from his position as the chair of the Civil Rights Committee today. Seabrook, however, failed to show up at the council’s meeting this afternoon.

Seabrook’s demotion follows a 13-count indictment released Tuesday that charges the councilmember with money laundering, fraud and extortion.

Seabrook allegedly directed millions of dollars in the council’s discretionary funds to nonprofits he controlled and where family members and a girlfriend were installed as staff. Seabrook is also charged with inflating expenses and rent payments.

Most of the charges are directly related to the council’s slush fund scandal in 2008. Following the scandal, Quinn enacted several reforms at City Hall to make sure the council’s discretionary funding was not misused again.

Quinn said today all misuse of funding, which also resulted in the resignation of councilmember Miguel Martinez last year, occurred before the council put its reforms in place. Those reforms included making sure nonprofits slated for funding were registered with the attorney general’s office and internally vetting every group.

Quinn said today any system can always be reformed more, and she would be open to having that conversation. But, she added, she would not support doing away with discretionary funds entirely — as the Daily News suggests.

“If you look at the list of organizations that are funded, they are good organizations,” said Quinn. “They are little leagues and senior center.”
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on February 11, 2010, 4:50 pm
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Broadway Walkway Here to Stay
February 11th, 2010

For all you Times Square revelers, the Bloomberg administration is going to give you a little more room to stretch your legs — permanently.
broadway
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced this morning the pedestrian plazas at Times and Herald Squares were here to stay. When the plazas were first announced in February last year, the administration said they would be made permanent if they improved traffic flow on 6th and 7th avenues and if it made the areas safer for pedestrians.

The results, according to the administration, will allow tourists and New Yorkers alike to sit back and relax in the plazas colorful furnishings for years to come.

According to the Department of Transportation, travel speeds for trips north in West Midtown improved by 17 percent from fall 2008 to 2009, compared with 8 percent in East Midtown. For trips south in West Midtown, travel speeds fell 2 percent. East Midtown had an increase of 3 percent, according to the transportation department.

Before this morning’s announcement, some speculated that the results would not be good enough to keep the plazas. A report in the New York Times said officials found the results “disappointing.”

Disappointing or not, Times and Herald Squares have officially been taken over by pedestrians.

Pictured above is Times Square now and below is a video from the transportation department about the project.

By Courtney Gross on February 11, 2010, 11:56 am
In category: City Hall, Community Development, Crime & Safety, Environment, Gotham City, Governing, Health, Land Use, Parks, Transportation, nextNY | No Comments »

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Another One Bites the Dust
February 9th, 2010

Councilmember Larry Seabrook, who served in the state Assembly and just started his third term at the City Council, is being charged with money laundering, extortion and fraud, according to an indictment released today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District.

seabrook

Some of the charges directly stem from the City Council’s slush fund scandal — which brought down former Councilmember Miguel Martinez last year.

But they also go beyond that.

According to the indictment, Seabrook also solicited payments from a Bronx subcontractor competing for a boiler contract for the new Yankee Stadium and subsequently used the payments for personal expenses.

Between May and October of 2007, that subcontractor was paid more than $283,000 for work done on Yankee Stadium. Between July 2006 and April 2009, checks were made out by the contractor to Seabrook’s local political organization — North East Bronx Community Democratic Club. The checks were made out to the club at Seabrook’s discretion, according to the indictment. On occasion, the councilmember directed those payments to his personal checking account or to the Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce, which he is closely aligned with, the indictment states.

Those “corrupt payments” totaled $50,000, according to the indictment.

Seabrook funneled the money for his personal use by claiming he had purchased expenses for the club, according to the indictment. He allegedly received reimbursements that he then used for personal expenses, including airfare to Florida, parking tickets, and flowers for his sister.

Seabrook then allegedly forged receipts to try to show his expenses were club-related. On one occasion, he submitted a receipt for a sandwich and beverage purchased near City Hall that originally cost $7. The receipt was doctored, the indictment alleges, to cost about $177.

Beyond that, the indictment alleges Seabrook directed more than $2.5 million in the City Council’s discretionary funding to nonprofits he in fact controlled. Seabrook negotiated office space for the groups (which was reported in the Times last year) and often made decisions for the groups, the indictment states.

Through these nonprofits, Seabrook paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to his girlfriend, sisters, nephews and brother in consulting fees. At the same time, these groups fell far short of meeting goals laid out in the council’s discretionary funding initiatives. Some of the groups included the North East Bronx Redevelopment Corp., the Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce, the New York African American Legal and Civil Hall of Fame, and others.

Of the money designated to these groups through the City Council, about $530,000 of it went to Seabrook’s girlfriend and family members, the indictment states. Through this process, Seabrook also allegedly inflated expense and rent payments.

The U.S. Attorney’s has scheduled a press conference for 12:30 p.m. downtown.

Seabrook’s attorney Murray Richman was in court and not available for comment.

The 65 page indictment, which is part of a years-long federal and city investigation, is below.

Seabrook, Larry Indictment

By Courtney Gross on February 9, 2010, 12:01 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Community Development, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Law, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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Quinn Deputy Gets Fined
February 1st, 2010

The City’s Conflicts of Interest Board fined Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s former deputy chief of staff for soliciting campaign donations while also working on the city’s campaign finance reform legislation in 2007.

The staffer, Maura Keaney, also worked on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s re-election campaign last fall.

The City Charter prohibits any public employee with “substantial policy discretion” from soliciting donations for any elected official. In April 2007, Keaney made between six and a dozen phone calls to unions members requesting they be on a host committee for a Quinn fundraiser, which would have entitled them to make a contribution to Quinn’s then-campaign for mayor.

Keaney was fined $2,500 by the board.

The disposition is below.

Press Release Disposition (Council)

By Courtney Gross on February 1, 2010, 2:08 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Work and Labor, nextNY | No Comments »

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Bloomberg: No Love for Labor?
January 28th, 2010

Labor, don’t expect a amicable third term with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In his preliminary budget released this afternoon, the mayor has taken a hard line approach to labor, in what some see as a shift from his previous policies toward the city’s unions.

Call it hardball.

Bloomberg asked the United Federation of Teachers to take only 2 percent salary increases next year instead of 4 percent. According to the administration, the city would save $160 million in this year’s budget and $357 million in fiscal year 2011, which starts in July.

If the teacher’s union doesn’t bite, Bloomberg said the city could have 2,500 fewer educators come September.

“They have to decide what they want to protect. Have all of their members have a little bit of pain or 2,500 members lose their jobs?” the mayor said. “The bottom line is we don’t have any money.”

In addition, Bloomberg also warned other labor unions that they too would have to chip in more. Pointing to the more than 30 percent salary increases since 2002, Bloomberg said the city had not budgeted additional wage hikes in fiscal year 2011. He said any wage increase would have to be covered by productivity increases, savings in health insurance and by savings in pension costs. In line with that, the mayor again called for a fifth pension tier for new employees to help reduce pension costs, which have risen 357 percent since 1996.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on January 28, 2010, 6:56 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Law, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | No Comments »

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The City's Nastiest Neighborhoods
January 27th, 2010

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Photo (cc) 2009 Adrian Miles ©

Is your neighborhood spic and span or rife with refuse?

The Bloomberg administration puts most of the city in the former category and hopes to keep it that way despite a budget crunch. Last month, the Mayor’s Office of Operations reported 97.3 percent of city sidewalks and 96.1 percent of city streets were largely litter free.

But is the city right? The Huffington Post and Gotham Gazette want to know how clean you think your neighborhood is. Has the Bloomberg administration wiped noxious grime and garbage from city streets? Or does trash pile up on your street corner? Is your block cleaner or dirtier than other neighborhoods?

Visit The Huffington Post here to upload photos of your most frightening tales of city trash. Or you can comment below.

And check back later next week to see whether your block is a refuge for neat freaks or still grapples with garbage.

By Courtney Gross on January 27, 2010, 11:55 am
In category: City Hall, Community Development, Crime & Safety, Environment, Gotham City, Health, Parks, Waterfront, nextNY | No Comments »

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De Blasio Takes on Bloomberg on Homelessness
January 19th, 2010

homeless

Take a look at the numbers, and the mayor’s homeless policies just aren’t working.

That was the message Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and homeless advocates sent this morning at a press conference urging the administration to rethink its homeless policies five years after it committed to reduce homelessness by two-thirds. Since the mayor took office, according to Mary Brosnahan of the Coalition for the Homeless, the number of homeless New Yorkers has increased by 45 percent.

“Their original goal was gutsy and noble and I think it took a lot of commitment and focus to even put that goal out,” said de Blasio. “But they did not follow up on it with the same kind of fervor and focus as they have in some other areas. So now acknowledge that the previous strategies have not worked, and borrow from old strategies that did work and create new ones and work with the people that are some of the experts right here next to me,” the newly minted public advocate said from his 15th floor office in the municipal building.

Act one, said de Blasio, should be giving homeless families priority for Section 8 vouchers, which was the practice under the three previous administrations before Bloomberg. The practice was suspended in 2005. The administration should also stop referring homeless individuals to three-quarter houses — small residential buildings that operate as illegal boarding houses, according to the public advocate’s office.

In the council, de Blasio introduced a bill that would have banned the city from referring homeless individuals to facilities that failed to meet occupancy standards.

In a letter to Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs dated January 18, de Blasio implored the administration to hold homeless services harmless in the upcoming budget negotiations by keeping open shelters slated for closure or by securing replacement facilities before their doors are locked. De Blasio also urged the administration to focus more on prevention.

This latest dispute is one of many more likely to come with de Blasio as public advocate.

By Courtney Gross on January 19, 2010, 2:03 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Community Development, Crime & Safety, Economy, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Housing, Public Finance, Social Services, nextNY | No Comments »

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Schimel Plays Defense on Microstamping
January 12th, 2010

The National Rifle Association held a “Second Amendment Advocacy Day” at the capitol today. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, addressed a large crowd of supporters. Members met with legislator’s from both houses to lobby on gun rights.

Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, a long-time gun-control advocate, went on the defense trying to make sure the NRA didn’t sway any of her colleagues away from supporting her microstamping legislation. Schimel handed out a fact sheet to legislators to refute the NRA’s take.

Microstamping is a technology that would mark fired bullets with information that would link them back to the gun that discharged them.

Schimel and other legislators like Sen. Eric Schneiderman say the technology should be required for all semi-automatic pistols sold in the state because it would help solve gun crimes. They insist the legislation is not about gun control.

Gun rights advocates say the technology is flawed and expensive and the legislation is a back door to banning semi-automatic weapons.

The legislation passed the Assembly last year but did not make it to a vote in the Senate. Advocates of the legislation hope to see it come to a vote in the Senate this year. They say they think they have the support of both Democrats and Republicans and say want it to come to a vote regardless of whether the support is concrete. Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 12, 2010, 5:43 pm
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Moving toward Sean Bell Way
December 21st, 2009

Try as they might, City Council members cannot seem to resist getting embroiled in controversies over street naming.

The latest, has arisen over a proposal to rename a part of the Queens street where Sean Bell died for the unarmed man killed in a barrage of police bullets as he left his bachelor party in 2006. (The police were acquitted of criminal charges arising from the shooting.) Councilmember Peter Vallone has asked Speaker Christine Quinn to take SeanBell Way out of the omnibus street naming bill council is set to consider this afternoon.

The dispute echoes the 2007 controversy over a proposal to name a street after black activist Sonny Carson. That effort, which sharply split the council, failed. And it echoes earlier controversies that, in the eyes of some, trivialized and distracted the council for years. In 2001, Councilmember James Oddo called for the council to get “out of the name changing game” and suggested community boards handle renamings.

But council cannot seem to help itself. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on December 21, 2009, 2:30 pm
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Council Snubbed by Police on Reporting Bill
December 11th, 2009

This was filed from Gotham Gazette’s Dana Farrington from City Hall.

Several members of the City Council want to force the city’s corporation counsel to report on civil lawsuits against the NYPD — an attempt to hold the police accountable for not only the number of them, but also to prevent further misconduct and unchecked settlements.

For now, though, the department doesn’t appear to be taking their threat seriously.

At a hearing held on the bill (Intro 1025), which is sponsored by the council’s public safety committee chairman, Peter Vallone, this morning, two voices were notably absent: the Law Department and the police. William Heinzen, deputy counselor to the mayor who testified on behalf of the administration, said he shared the council’s goal in trying to curb the number of lawsuits, but the city does not collect that type of data.

Councilmember Helen Sears said the police department failed to respond to the committee’s request for an appearance. Sears suggested that a way to sidestep the lack of cooperation would be to present the issue as a budgetary matter to “get at their pockets” and make them pay attention.

Both the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society support the bill. NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn suggested this morning that the committee look into broadening the type of information gathered, including profiles of both the person who files the initial complaint and the officer to divulge larger trends. Dunn hopes that the report will circulate to a larger audience, including the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the comptroller’s office. The civil rights group filed a lawsuit itself against the police in November for failing to release information about police shootings since 1997.

Steven B. Wasserman from the Legal Aid Society. He recommended the committee look towards information already filed regarding civil cases, such as the initial “notice of claim” filed with the city within 90 days by the plaintiff for state cases. Wasserman also pointed to the detailed profiles of claims filed against municipalities, which include claims against the police. This information is available more quickly.

According to a report issued by the comptroller’s office in March, 1,531 settlements were made in 2008, compared to only 287 in 2004. The recent numbers are almost double the number of settlements during 2007. Of claims filed in 2008, 55 percent were related to personal injury.

Leo Glickman, a partner of Stoll, Glickman & Bellina, LLP, recommended that the council add a provision to the bill that would organize claims information by individual precincts in order to address repeat offenders and take preventative, localized action against “problem precincts.”

The legislation was laid over by the committee and given the time remaining in this legislative session, which ends this month, it is unlikely this bill will be approved.

By Courtney Gross on December 11, 2009, 2:13 pm
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More Road Deaths
November 30th, 2009

In the wake of the passage of Leandra’s law, which makes it a felony to drive intoxicated with children in the vehicle, two car accidents in New York City offer more evidence that sober drivers can be deadly too. In both cases, the alleged drivers had suspended licenses.

On the evening before Thanksgiving, Allmir Lekperic apparently struck and killed Peter and Lillian Sabados as they carried canned goods to their Staten Island church. According to press accounts, Lekperic had his driver’s license suspended 29 times since 2006 — most recently in September — and had a number of other traffic violations as well.

And on Friday, Sonya Powell was walking with her fiancé in the Bronx when she was hit by a car, allegedly driven by Sheldon Reid. Reid had pleaded guilty to driving without a license in 2001.

The deaths could focus attention on a bill proposed by Assemblymember Robert Sweeney that would make vehicular assault and vehicular manslaughter felonies when committed by a driver with a suspended or revoked license.

Lekperic, now out on $50,000 bail, faces two felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and a misdemeanor count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle in the third degree. According to the Staten Island Advance, he could confront addition charges following an investigation of the crime. The current felonies carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Reid also has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident as well as aggravated unlicensed operation.

As Gotham Gazette reported last week, very few people involved in fatal accidents are convicted of felonies. For more, see Death by Car.

By Gail Robinson on November 30, 2009, 2:03 pm
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Conventional Wisdom
November 5th, 2009

After predicting for months that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was invincible and would win by a double-digit margin, the pundits now offer their explanation for why the mayor did so much worse on Tuesday than they had anticipated. A consensus seems to have emerged: People were furious about term limits, the angry voters went to the polls in disproportionate numbers, and the mayor’s supporter were complacent.

“There are only two plausible possibilities for the depressed Bloomberg turnout: over-confidence or protest,” Joyce Purnick wrote on Huffington Post. “And it was probably both. With most polls predicting he would win by double digits, some of the mayor’s supporters must have assumed he did not need their votes. Others clearly were turned off by his over-the-top spending, especially in a bad economy, and the mayor’s self-interested push to change the term limits law.”

Undoubtedly that played a substantial role, as did a campaign that many saw as mean-spirited (very much politics as usual). But as an issue-oriented publication (and one that has examined the Bloomberg Record in a number of key areas), can we offer another explanation for at least part of the non-Bloomberg vote? Some New Yorkers may not like what the mayor has done on the issues. The commentators generally have either not addressed that or, if they have, say people like what Mayor Mike has done. The Times in its post mortem, the Observer’s Azi Paybarah pointed out, did not even mention taxes or the economy.

City council and parts of the press offer a kind of hallelujah choir for the mayor. But that does not mean all New Yorkers are singing.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on November 5, 2009, 2:57 pm
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The Last Showdown
October 27th, 2009

The second — and final debate — between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller Bill Thompson featured a number of sharp exchanges between the two men, few flashes of affability or humor — and no lightening round. As Thompson struck a tougher stance and offered a more staccato delivery than he had in their last meeting, Bloomberg stepped up his attacks and often seemed miffed.

The substance offered little new. Thompson repeatedly slammed the mayor for driving the middle class out of the city. Bloomberg continued to attack Thompson on his record as president of the now defunct Board of Education.

Closing the Budget Gap

After ignoring the city’s finances the last time around, both candidates tonight pledged not to raise taxes and, with the city facing a $5 billion budget gap, neither offered specifics as to what they would cut.
Details on this and other issues after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on October 27, 2009, 9:35 pm
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