February 12, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

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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."

In The Press

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.

In The Press

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: In The Press

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 ...

In The Press

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


In The Press

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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