|
|
|
Recent Stories
Quick Takes On NYC News
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Last week's stories...
Gotham
Gazette Home Page
|