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Quick Takes On NYC News

WEEK OF 30 May 2005

6/2

City Test Scores Rise
Results of citywide public school tests - given in grades three, five, six and seven - marked the first time since 1991 that at least half the city's elementary and middle school students performed at or above grade level in both reading and math. The strongest improvements came in the fifth grade where the number of students meeting reading standards rose 19 percent and math standards increased 15 points. Coming two weeks after improved state test results, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the scores demonstrate that his education reforms are working. Critics questioned the scores, arguing that unlike statewide tests, which allow city results to be compared with those of other areas, there are no comparable results for the citywide exams.

For more, see articles in City Hall news.

Recent Stories:
In The Press

NY Times
City Council Plans to Loosen Limits on Contributions by Unions

NY Times
Nassau Leader Plans Run for Governor

Daily News
NY Olympic Officials Fear Loss of Games

NY Post
Fire Response Times Drop After Engines Ordered to Run Red Lights

Newsday
Mayor Bloomberg's Trash Plan Stalled in City Council

New York Observer
Manhattan Housing Market Stays Strong

NY 1
Crucial Court Decision on West Side Stadium Expected Today

Gotham Gazette
Crime: Does Kendra's Law Work?

Today's Report

Beyond the Olympics
The Center for an Urban Future, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on economic issues, has analyzed the Bloomberg administration's economic development program. While the report is critical of key initiatives, like the West Side stadium, it also credits the mayor with initiating a forward-looking strategy to diversify New York's economy.

To read full report, click here (.pdf format)

6/1

East Side Park, West Side Stadium
The city plans to turn a two-mile stretch of waterfront on the Lower East Side into a park with a dramatic esplanade, marina and public plaza, according to plans announced yesterday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The $150 million in funding for the project will come from federal money to help the city rebuild from the September 11, 2001 attacks. New York would also need $65 million in federal transportation funds to move the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and create a public plaza -- a major part of the plan.

The East River park is among $800 million in projects slated for the district represented by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a key participant in the debate over the mayorŐs proposed stadium on the West Side. The announcement of the waterfront park comes with the Public Authorities Control Board set to vote on the stadium Friday. While Governor George Pataki, who supports the stadium, controls part of the board, so do Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, neither of whom have backed the stadium.

For more on the park and the stadium, see City Hall News

In The Press

NY Times
Trump Group Sells West Side Land, Buildings for Record $1.8 Billion

Daily News
Surveillance Cameras Placed in Brooklyn Subway Stations

NY Post
Smoking in State Hits All-Time Low

Newsday
Agencies Hiring Domestic Workers "Routinely" Discriminated, Spitzer Says

New York 1
Derailment of Work Train Snarls Subway Service

Newsweek
Wall Street Sees Its Power and Prestige Slip Away

Gotham Gazette
Council Bill Would Require Schools to Translate, by Chaleampon Ritthichai

Today's Report

Vanishing Hotel Rooms
Despite a boom in tourism in New York, the number of hotel rooms in the city declined in 2004 and is expected to fall again in 2005, according to a report by the Fiscal Policy Institute. Hotel employment has dropped too as more hotel rooms in the city are converted to luxury condominiums.

5/31

Anti-Terrorist Activity
Physician Rafiq Sabir and musician Tarik Shah, both U.S. citizens, are expected to be arraigned in federal court today on charges of conspiring in a Bronx basement to set up a terror training camp to assist Al Queda. Meanwhile, Governor George Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have introduced a series of anti-terrorism bills, according to the New York Post, including measures to outlaw cyberterrorism and impersonation of a pilot, and "make it easier to issue search warrants for out-of-state phone services and wireless phones." And the plan by the New York Police Department to add about 400 new surveillance cameras in high-crime and high-traffic areas is reportedly being promoted as a possible weapon against terrorists as well.

While You Were Away
A new Stillwell Avenue subway station at Coney Island opened this weekend, the post office is resisting the state's calls to stop shipping illegal cigarettes, the Bronx terminal market faces eviction, New York police want 400 more surveillance cameras, the Independence Party endorsed Bloomberg for mayor, etc. For details, see Recent Stories or Campaign 2005


In The Press

NY Times
Scheme To Train Terrorists Is Outlined In Court Papers

Daily News
Transit Authority Eyes Fines For Walking From One Car To Another, Putting Foot On Seat, Etc.

NY Post
Teacher Sabbaticals Plunge 45 Percent

Newsday
Schools Dole Out $20 Million In Annual Pay To Suspended Employees Awaiting Resolution Of Their Cases

New York Sun
12 Construction Projects Planned For 11 Blocks Of Upper West Side

Associated Press
Nine-Year-Old Girl Charged In Fatal Stabbing Of Her 11-Year-Old Best Friend

New Yorker
Clergy And Judges Meet In Brooklyn To Help Each Other Solve Housing And Immigration Problems (Mocking and Cutesy-Poo, But Still Has Some Interesting Information)

Today's Report

Lower Manhattan Economy
This report from the New York State Assembly adds new data on employment and wages to their report of several months ago, and concludes that "though the worst employment losses appear to be behind us, activity in Lower Manhattan is still far below its pre-September 11th level." Manhattan below 14th Street lost 68,700 private sector jobs in the three years after September 11, 2001, a decrease of about 13 percent.

To read full report, click here

5/30

Coney Island
A new Stillwell Avenue subway station at Coney Island opened this weekend, after a process that cost $260 million and left area residents without full service for three years. Subway officials claim that the enormous glass station is the world's largest subway station, and compare it to the great European train stations of the industrial age. Completion of the project is also a rare bright sign for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has recently been plagued by a series of unfortunate events, from fires to financial troubles.

The station opened on the same weekend that the city beaches opened for the summer. A Daily News assessment of city beaches found Coney Island to be one of the cleanest.

Read Gotham Gazette's article about the Stillwell Avenue project.


In The Press

New York Times:
Post Office Resists State's Calls to Stop Shipping Illegal Cigarettes

New York Daily News:
The City's Cleanest And Dirtiest Beaches

New York Post:
Police Plan Surveillance Cameras for High Crime, High Traffic Areas

Newsday:
Past Beach Tragedies Spark Safety Campaigns

Newsday
Bronx Terminal Market Vendors Face Eviction

Associated Press
Marines in New York for Fleet Week Commemorate 9/11

Last week's stories...

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