Recent Stories
Quick Takes On NYC News
WEEK OF 18 April
2005
04/22
Morning After Pills
New York will become the first city in the nation to make "morning after" contraceptive
pills readily available to all women who want them. Mayor Michael Bloomberg
announced yesterday a $3 million initiative that will include offering advance
prescriptions for the drug to women at city hospitals, outreach to low-income
women and a program to guide mothers in the South Bronx through pregnancy and
the first two years of their children's lives. The mayor said that of the estimated
215,000 pregnancies in the city last year, 130,000 were unintended - and 90,000
of those were terminated. (Newsday)
West Side Stadium
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday it is unlikely a key state panel will give final approval to a West Side stadium before Olympics officials decide who gets the 2012 Games on July 6. The proposed $1.9 billion stadium needs the approval of the Public Authorities Control Board, a state panel controlled by Gov. Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been lobbying for a vote for the stadium, said if the city doesn't have the stadium it has "no chance at the Olympics."
New York Times:
New
Terrorism Response Plan Angers Fire Dept.
New York Daily News:
City
Jobless Rate at Four-Year Low
New York Post:
New York
Gets $804 Million In Tobacco Settlement Money
Newsday:
Anti-Nuclear/War
Groups Plan Central Park Rally
Today's Reports
Subway Cars Are Dirtier for First Time in Five Years
After years of steady improvement, the proportion of New York City subway cars
that are dingy, sticky, smelly or heavily soiled rose last year, according to
a study released yesterday by Straphangers Campaign.The survey was conducted
on 2,200 subway cars on 22 subway lines between September 19, 2004 and December
27, 2004. Campaign surveyors rated 61 percent of subway cars as clean
compared to 66 percentof cars rated clean in a survey in 2003-2004, representing
a significant drop in service system-wide. This reverses four surveys, with
the number of clean cars going from 32% in a 1999-2000 survey; 47 percent in
the 2000-2001 survey; 59 percent in the 2002-2003 survey; and 66 percent in
the 2003-2004 survey.
Go here
to read the full report.
04/21
Stock Exchange Merger
The New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock market, agreed to
merge with the electronic-based trading system Archipelago Holdings Inc.,
turning it into a publicly traded, for-profit company. If approved, the
$400-million deal will speed up the floor-based stock-trading and transform
the 213-year-old institution. The move is designed to help the New York
Stock Exchange compete with the NASDAQ and other global competitors. While
executives said they will keep the exchange floor, where 3,000 traders work,
some raised concerns about how the merger will affect jobs in lower
Manhattan's financial district.
Video Voter Guide
Candidates running for local office will soon get free air time on Channel
74, the city's cable television channel. Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
announced the details of a "Video Voter Guide," which will give candidates a
chance to reach 1.7 million households. Candidates for City Council will
have up to two minutes to make a statement; candidates for Borough President
will be provided up to three minutes; and candidates for citywide offices
will have up to four minutes.
Council Member Censured
By a vote of 43 to 2, the New York City Council voted to censure and fine
Councilmember Allan Jennings for sexually harassing female employees. For
more, see Gotham Gazette's city government section.
New York Times:
Language Barriers a Hazard in City Emergency Rooms
New York Daily News:
Head of Police Watchdog Panel to Step Down
New York Post:
High-Tech Garbage Cans for Queens
Newsday:
Governor Pushes for Higher Energy Efficiency Standards
NY 1:
Pataki Vetoes Aid for Flood Victims in Queens
Gotham Gazette:
The Anti-Robert Moses and the First Community-Based Plan
Gotham Gazette:
City Council Passes Bills to Reduce Pollution from Buses, Trucks, and City
Vehicles
04/20
Affordable Housing Plan
The city will use $130 million in money from the
Battery Park City Authority to create a trust fund to
provide more affordable housing in the city, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and city Comptroller Bill Thompson
announced yesterday. The money would build or
preserve 4,500 affordable homes for approximately
11,000 largely low-income New Yorkers. The
announcement, applauded by advocates for affordable
housing, marked the latest development in a
long-standing dispute over money from the authority.
Although its surplus was supposed to be used to create
affordable housing, it has gone to the city's general
operating funds and, more recently, was earmarked by
Bloomberg to help expand the Jacob Javits Center.
Olympics Ethics Review
The International Olympic Committee's ethics
commission has begun examining whether the Olympic
bids by New York and London violated committee rules
by offering financial incentives to athletes and
sports federations. Last weekend, New York officials
said that, if the city was awarded the 2012 games, it
would provide free marketing services, including
office space, computers and staff, to sports
federations over the next seven years. Olympic
officials say they are concerned that this offer may
have gone beyond what New York included in its bid
book in November -- a violation of Olympics rules.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed confidence the city
had done nothing wrong, saying he was "not worried in
the least."
Recent Stories:
New York Times:
City to Set Strict Environmental Standards for Its Vehicles
New York Daily News:
State Probes Possible Outbreak of Legionnaire's Bacteria at Hospital
New York Post:
Lawsuits Could Delay Approval of Stadium, Bruno Says
Newsday:
New Yorkers React Strongly to Naming of New Pope
Queens Tribune:
Despite Ban, Toy Guns Remain Available
Today's Reports
Subsidies for Businesses
Good Jobs New York reports that a state program,
originally intended to encourage businesses in
depressed areas to hire needy individuals, is being
used by major Manhattan businesses to hire highly paid
employees. The program was allowed to go out of
existence last year but will continue to provide
benefits to some firms for another four years. Among
those getting subsidies: Ernst & Young, Morgan
Stanley, Lehman Brothers and various firms owned by
former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
A briefing report on the Zone Equivalent Area Wage
Tax Credit
List of recipients (.pdf format)
04/19
West Side Suits
A lawsuit was filed by four transit advocacy and labor groups yesterday
to stop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from awarding its
West Side railyards to the Jets football team. The suit called for a
reopening of the bidding process, saying that it was "so confusing and
truncated as to prevent every other developer in the world from bidding
on the most valuable development site in Manhattan." Public Advocate
Betsy Gotbaum plans to file a similar lawsuit today. Two other lawsuits
are challenging the stadium on environmental grounds.
For details, visit The Record.
Stock Transfer Tax
Fernando Ferrer called yesterday for a temporary reinstatement of a tax
on stock trades to help raise more money for education. For details,
see Campaign 2005.
Another Award
Gotham Gazette yesterday was given the 2005 Earth Day New York Award
for "Excellence in Environmental Reporting," singling out the work of
Environment Topic Page writer Sam Williams. For his latest article, go
here.
Recent Stories:
Stock Transfer Tax ... West Side Suits ... Cruise Ships Come to Brooklyn ...
New York Times:
Head Of Police Anti-Corruption Commission Testifies About NYPD's Lack Of Cooperation
New York Daily News:
State Bill Would Post Prescription Drug Prices
New York Post:
Queens College and Brooklyn College In Top Ten List On "Value"
Newsday:
Fourth Annual Tribeca Film Festival Opens Tonight
04/18
Cruise Ships Come to Brooklyn
Major cruise ships will begin docking in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan next April, as part of an agreement between the city and Carnival Corporation. To spur the cruise industry, the city has devoted $150 million to renovate boat terminals. Red Hook, the area on which the city will focus first, will play host to a facility that can handle the world's largest boats and up to 4,000 passengers. The shift is an important step in an overhaul of the industry that is expected to bring 250,000 new voyagers to New York each year, as well as create thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenues. Significant numbers of retail, restaurant, hotel, and other businesses catering to travelers are expected to be created in industrial Red Hook.
To read more about the plan, and about other issues facing Red Hook, see Community Gazettes page for the neighborhood
New York Times:
Bloomberg's Progress on Schools is Mixed
New York Daily News:
Design for New Yankee Stadium Calls for Mix of Traditional, Modern
New York Post:
City Agrees to Pay Republican Convention Protestors for Arrests
Newsday:
New Campaign Finance Rules Will Benefit Democrats
New York Sun:
Bloomberg Sells Olympic Panel on City's Marketing Muscle
New Yorker:
Marty Markowitz: The Man, the Plan, the Arena
New York Magazine:
Silverstein Has Trouble Finding Tenants for Seven World Trade Center
Time Magazine:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg Named One of Country's Five Best Mayors
Gotham Gazette Suggests:
Immigrant Stories
Today's Reports
MEDICAID WATCH 2005
In this nine-part report, business group the Public Policy Institute of New York State looks at various questions surrounding the current state of Medicaid in the state: Where does taxpayer money for Medicaid go? What do other states do differently? Will Albany move to reform the system?
For the full report go here.
Last week's stories...
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