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Recent Stories / February 30, 2006

Week of January 30, 2006

February 3, 2006

Police Officers Sue City Over Protests
A group of police officers is suing the city for violating their First Amendment Rights at labor protests in 2004. Protestors were under "constant threat of arrest," according to the suit, and videotapes were prepared specifically documenting each individual protestor, then kept on file even though no crimes were committed. Anti-war and other protestors have made similar complaints, saying these tactics essentially criminalize dissent. The suit is one of three challenging new power the city gained to do surveillance of political activity in 2003 for antiterrorism efforts. The city argues that there is nothing unconstitutional about filming people in public places.

February 2, 2006

Council Approves Bronx Market, New Rules
The New York City Council yesterday approved zoning measures that will let the Bronx Terminal Market development project push ahead. It was a big thumbs up for the Related Companies' $400 million Gateway Center mall, slated to be built on the site. Months of negotiations between developers, the city and community groups resulted in a "community benefits agreement" and the explicit banning of Walmart. The City Council also passed five resolutions aimed at reforming its own operating rules, including changes to how bills are drafted and provisions for more public notice of committee meetings, among others.

See City Hall News and Land Use links in the news

See also Five First Steps at the City Council and Searchlight

February 1, 2006

Tonight -- 'The Works'
Gotham Gazette�s Reading NYC Book Club will hold its meeting with Kate Ascher, author of �The Works: Anatomy of a City� tonight from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, 425 6th Avenue at 10th Street. All are welcome, but please RSVP by sending an e-mail to books@gothamgazette.com.

Bloomberg's Budget
With the city expected to end the fiscal year with a $3.3 billion surplus, Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday proposed a budget for 2007 with no major new programs or tax cuts. Instead the $55.5 billion budget calls for setting aside money to address long-term costs that Bloomberg says threaten the city's future economic stability. Such expenses include pensions and benefits for city workers, Medicaid and debt service. And so Bloomberg wants to use $2 billion over the next two years to create a trust fund to pay retirees' health care costs, $500 million to pay down long-term debt, and $1 billion for capital projects that would normally be paid for by borrowing. He did call for spending $17 million more for the Administration for Children's Services, $70 million more for charter and special education schools, and money for a diabetes registry. While some City Council members criticized Bloomberg for not spending more on schools, Diana Fortuna, president of the business-backed Citizens Budget Commission, said Bloomberg "hit a home run." The mayor and City Council must agree on a budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, by the end of June.

For more, see City Hall News.


January 31, 2006

Lapses, And Another Death
Seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown might not have died had social workers and police officers avoided a series of lapses, according to both a report by the Administration for Children�s Services and testimony before the City Council yesterday by the agency�s commissioner, John Mattingly. "We were in a position to protect Nixzmary,� Mattingly testified, �and were not able to get the job done.�
The admission came on the same day when police reported the death of another child suspected to be the victim of abuse. Four-year-old Quachon Browne of the Bronx is reportedly at least the fifth child to die since November �whose family,� as the Times puts it delicately, �was known to the child welfare authorities.� For details, see the children topic page links in the news.


For more, see Law Links in the News.

January 30, 2006

Court Halts System of Picking Judges
A Brooklyn federal judge ruled late Friday that the current system of nominating State Supreme Court judges was simply a device to "freeze the political status quo" and ordered it halted immediately. In his 77-page ruling , Judge John Gleeson said that future selection will be done by primary election until state lawmakers pass legislation setting up a new system. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought in 2004 by a citizens group, a candidate who could not get Democratic Party backing to get on the ballot in Brooklyn and eight voters.

For more, see Law Links in the News.

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