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WEEK OF 07 February 2005

02/11

Civil Rights Lawyer Convicted
A federal jury in Manhattan yesterday convicted civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart of aiding a jailed terrorist by passing messages to his followers overseas. An outspoken lawyer known for representing a long list of unpopular defendants, Stewart was convicted on all five counts of providing material aid to terrorism and of lying to the government when she pledged to obey federal rules that barred her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, from communicating with his followers. Stewart, who is now facing up to 20 years in prison when sentenced, said she would appeal. (NY Times)

The Gates
Expecting thousands of tourists to pour into Central Park tomorrow to see "The Gates," the largest public art display in city history, the New York City Police Department is bolstering security in the park - and many of the cops will speak at least two languages. The city expects the high-profile exhibit, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, to draw as many as 200,000 additional visitors this month.

For more information about The Gates, go to Our Project for the Park by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

In The Press

New York Times:
Cuomo and Green Face Competition in Run for Attorney General

New York Daily News:
More Students Pass Regents Exams But Many Failing

New York Post:
Council Committee Opposes a BJ's Store in the Bronx

Newsday:
State to Revamp Middle Schools

Today's Reports

The Long-Term Costs and Benefits of the New York Sports and Convention Center

The study - released by the Independent Budget Office, a publicly funded nonpartisan watchdog group - concluded the stadium would generate $92.5 million in net revenue for the city, $98.1 million for the state and $19.4 million for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over the 31 years it takes to finance the project. The IBO's revenue estimates are considerably lower than estimates of more than $1 billion in profits projected by both the city and the Jets.

For full report, click here

02/10

Terror Attack Warnings
In the months before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, federal aviation officials received dozens of intelligence reports that warned of possible airline hijackings, according to a previously undisclosed portion of the 9/11 commission report. An article in the New York Times quoting the report states that aviation officials were "lulled into a false sense of security" and "did not stimulate significant increase in security procedures."

Catholic Schools
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will close 22 Catholic elementary schools serving 4,000 students in Queens and Brooklyn at the end of the school year. Catholic schools face declines in enrollment, have fewer nuns and priests available to teach, and have struggled as demographics of the neighborhoods have changed.

For more on challenges facing Catholic schools, see Gotham Gazette's article.

In The Press

New York Times:
Opponents of Wal-Mart Prepare for Battle

New York Daily News:
Deal Close on Official NYC Merchandise

New York Post:
State Senate Leader Bruno In No Rush to Approve Stadium

Newsday:
More Scrutiny for Former Police Commissioner Kerik

New York Sun:
Plan to Link Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Station Draws Opponents in Washington

Gotham Gazette:
Special City Council Election in South Bronx

Today's Reports

New York State Debt

New York State debt has grown from $14.4 billion in 1990 to $46.9 billion in 2004 and an estimated $49 billion in 2005, according to a 115-page report from State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Hevesi also outlines a plan of constitutional and statutory changes that would reform and control New York's debt practices.

For full report, click here

02/09

Deadline for Cablevision
Cablevision, the owner of Madison Square Garden, has until Friday to provide the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with details on its offer to buy the Hudson Rail Yards on Manhattan's West Side for $600 million, the MTA said yesterday. The bid is six times what the Jets have offered the MTA to build a stadium on the site. Cablevision opposes the stadium, and some city officials have charged that the Cablevision offer is simply the companys latest tactic to block it. MTA chief Peter Kalikow called the Cablevision offer vague.

West Side Stadium
As promised, the city yesterday filed its notice of intent to appeal a state Supreme Court judge's ruling last week that the city could no longer deny same-sex couples the right to marry. To speed a decision, the city has asked that the case go directly to the state's highest court. Edward Skyler, an aide to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said city lawyers advised the mayor to appeal despite Bloomberg's own "philosophical belief that gay marriages should be allowed." In previous court papers filed in the case, the city has aggressively opposed gay marriage, stating, "There is no fundamental right to marry someone of the same sex" and outlining possible problems that could be created if the city allowed same sex couples to wed. (New York Times)

More on the gay marriage ruling.

In The Press

New York Times:
Principal's Arrest Prompts Criticism of Police in Schools

New York Daily News:
Cop Goes on Trial for 2003 Killing in Chelsea Warehouse

New York Post:
New Program Seeks to Prevent Homelessness

Newsday:
Bush Budget Could Cause Deep Cuts in City Housing Programs

Newsday:
New Staten Island Ferry Terminal Opens

Gotham Gazette:
State Debt Plus Federal Debt Equals City Budget Troubles, by Glenn Pasanen

New Yorker:
Oversized Street Signs

New York Review of Books:
Why The Ground Zero Design Is So Bad

Today's Reports

Asylum Seekers in New York

Thousands of people from other countries who come to the U.S. to seek asylum are treated as though they were criminals, according to a new report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was created by Congress in 1998. The report found that conditions facing asylum seekers in the New York area are particularly harsh, with an unusually high number of asylum seekers held in detention here while they await decisions on their cases.

For full report, click here

02/08

Bush Budget
President George W. Bush's proposed $2.57 trillion budget would be disastrous for New York City, according to critics such as Senator Charles Schumer, who called it "the worst budget for New York that I've seen in my 26 years in the Congress." One public official estimated that the budget would cut $1.2 billion in federal aid to the city, from Medicaid, from the Community Development Block Grant program, and from programs to provide housing for the disabled, to assist students in paying for college, and to help poor people keep their homes heated, among others. Bush supporters pointed to two billion dollars in the proposed federal budget for a rail link connecting Lower Manhattan with JFK Airport, but critics say Congress would have to reverse its previous rejection of this project for the funding to become available. For more, see articles in Newsday, and in The New York Sun, and Gotham Gazette Finance topic page writer Glenn Pasanen's analysis of diminished prospects for federal and state aid to the city, "State Debt + Federal Debt = City Budget Troubles"

West Side Stadium
The proposed stadium for the Jets football team on Manhattan's West Side will generate far less revenue than the Jets have predicted, but enough over 30 years so that the stadium will pay for itself, according to testimony by the Independent Budget Office at a hearing yesterday in City Hall. At the hearing, officials from the Jets and from the city also labeled as phony the offer by Cablevision (owner of Madison Square Garden and opponent of the stadium) to outbid the Jets and pay about $600 million for the land. But in an interview with the Times, Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which owns the land, said he had to treat the offer seriously, since the MTA needed as much money as possible to keep the transit system running. For details, go to The Record.


In The Press

New York Times:
Asylum Seekers Treated Like Criminals, Especially In New York

New York Times:
New Yorkers Are Spending Less On Charity And "Discretionary Treats" As Cost Of Necessities Rises

New York Daily News:
Subway Fires Increasing

New York Post:
Comptroller: Education Department's Cost-Cutting Is "Shell Game" That Saves Less Than It Claims

Newsday:
Mayor Defends Appeal In Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Gotham Gazette:
State Debt Plus Federal Debt Equals City Budget Troubles, by Glenn Pasanen

New Yorker:
Oversized Street Signs

New York Review of Books:
Why The Ground Zero Design Is So Bad

Today's Reports

Fiscal Risks In The Mayor's Budget

City Project analyzes the mayor's preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2006, emphasizing the fiscal risks the mayor mentioned, but de-emphasized, as well as a couple he left out: " 1) increased city education costs arising from the final resolution of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit; 2) the need to bail out the Metropolitan Transit Authority's long-term capital plan; and 3) new labor contracts with city teachers and the major uniformed services unions that rise above the settlement level reached with District Council 37 last year. .4) court settlements from the Staten Island Ferry crash and from Republican convention-related wrongful arrest and detention lawsuits, which only the notoriously slow pace of civil litigation justifies not including now as potential budget busters."

For full report, click here

02/07

Gay Marriage
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that a state law denying gay couples the right to marry violates the state Constitution. In her decision, the judge wrote that the state's Domestic Relations Law, which dates back to 1909 and limits marriage to unions between opposite-sex couples, deprives gay couples of equal protection under the law. She likened it to a law that once barred interracial marriages. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that although he supports the right of gay couples to marry, he will appeal the decision "so that people will have a right once and for all to know where they stand." The ruling means the State Court of Appeals will likely decide the issue. Gay marriage has also become a central issue in the mayoral campaign. Each of the six Democrats running against Bloomberg criticized the mayor's decision to appeal the ruling.

For more on the ruling and mayor's response, read Gotham Gazette's article


In The Press

New York Times:
City Weighs Plans to Deliver Medicine After Terrorist Attack

New York Times:
Cablevision Outbids Jets on Stadium Site

New York Daily News:
Madison Square Garden Sues City Council Over West Side Rezoning

New York Post:
District Attorney Launches Vote Fraud Probe in Queens

Newsday:
Bloomberg's Budget Record In Review

Gotham Gazette:
Legalizing Gay Marriage in New York by Andy Humm

Gotham Gazette:
My Journey with the Rockefeller Drug Laws by Anthony Papa

Gotham Gazette Campiagn 2005:
City Council Special Election in South Bronx on Feb. 15

Today's Reports

Governor's Budget and Tuition

Governor George Pataki's proposed budget includes changes to the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which would withhold one-half of students' financial aid awards until a student graduates. According to a report by the New York Public Interest Research Group, a student at the State or City University of New York, whose family income is at least $20,000 per year, would pay much an additional $2,425 per year under the governor's budget.

For full report, click here

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