Recent Stories
Recent Stories / June 27, 2005

Week of June 27, 2005

7/01/05

Today's Lead Stories...

Council Approves Budget
The New York City Council approved the $50.2 billion budget, the largest in the city's history, by a vote of 50 to zero on Thursday, the last day possible before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. The budget distributes millions of dollars to cultural institutions, non-profit agencies and other community groups in council districts during this election year, but some members of the council accused Speaker Gifford Miller of retaliating against them for their recent stand on the garbage plan.

"There is so much pork you can almost hear it oink," Bronx Councilmember Madeline Provenzano said during debate. "One person's pork is another person's meal that saves them from hunger," Bronx Councilmember Oliver Koppell replied. For details on the budget, and other votes taken by the council at the meeting - such as an increase of fines for illegal firework, greater protection for Jamaica Bay, making water ferries accessible to the disabled - see our City Council Stated Meeting Report for June 30, 2005.

6/30/05

Today's Lead Stories...
Freedom Tower Revisited
Officials unveiled a redesign of the Freedom Tower planned for Lower Manhattan yesterday. The new 77-story skyscraper would sit atop a 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal, with no occupied office space at the base of the building. It would also be 40 feet farther away from West Street. The building was redesigned after the police department said the earlier version was vulnerable to car or truck bomb. The new building will not be completed until 2010, two years later than initially planned.

Subway Rules Postponed
Faced with a barrage of unanticipated criticism, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has postponed a vote on new subway regulations that would prohibit moving between subway cars, drinking from an open container, and other passenger behaviors. Transit officials say they are trying to improve safety and cleanliness. But politicians, transit advocates, and riders have protested the rules as unnecessary - and even harsh - for passengers.

6/29/05

Today's Lead Stories...
Budget Deal
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council last night reached an agreement on a $50.2 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday. The budget is half a billion dollars larger than the one Bloomberg proposed last month, largely because it includes money to cover an increase in police salaries ordered by a state panel yesterday, as well as more spending for education, cultural and social service programs sought by the City Council. The budget, which faces a formal vote tomorrow, includes a property tax rebate and an end to the city sales tax on clothing and shoes costing less than $110 (the state tax remains). For more on the budget deal and the police contract, go to City Hall News.

Freedom Tower Redesign
Officials today will unveil the new plan for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower at Ground Zero The latest incarnation, hurriedly designed to address security concerns raised by the police department, is reportedly more evocative of the World Trade Center towers than the previous designs. It will feature a sturdy 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal topped by a tapering 69-floor tower and finally by a trellis-like structure reaching to 1,776 feet. It does not include the previous designs' asymmetrical spire, windmills, and open-air arcade. For more, see the New York Times.

Meanwhile, plans for another building in Lower Manhattan -- the Fulton Street Transit Center -- are being scaled back because of budget concerns, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced. Among other changes, the prominent dome will be smaller than originally planned and the concourse linking the building with the Trade Center site will be narrowed.

6/28/05

Today's Lead Stories...

New Subway Rules
NYC Transit has recommended new rules for the subway, which would ban moving between cars (even when the subway is at the station), wearing roller skates, riding a skateboard, straddling a bicycle, sipping from an open container, resting one's feet on the seats. If passed by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tomorrow, the rules would go into effect in October. Violating them would carry fines up to $100. In response to widespread protest, the proposed ban on photography and video has been dropped.

In the Press...

Police Don't Call It A Ticket Quota, But Have "Expectations" Of Raising $500 Million Annually From Parking Violation Summonses (NY Times)

Cops Get 10 Percent Raise, But Rookie Pay To Be Slashed (Daily News)

In Legally Binding Agreement, Brooklyn Nets Developer Promises Day Care Center, Affordable Apartments, A Third Of Jobs To Go To Minorities, Etc. (Daily News)

City Hall Rally, Featuring Condoleezza Rice, Will Send NYC's Olympic Boosters Off To Singapore (New York Post)

NYC To Adopt Hybrid Taxis? (Newsday)

"Handshake Agreement" On $50 Billion City Budget Expected Between Mayor And City Council Today Or Tomorrow (New York Sun)

Viability Of Windmills Studied For Fresh Kills (Staten Island Advance)

Better Poll Workers Means Better Elections, by Doug Israel (Gotham Gazette)

Voting Links In The News:
Albany Lawmakers Discover Compromise; Voting Machine Delays; Should 16-Year-Olds Vote? Etc. (Gotham Gazette)

Queer Youth Of Color Launch A Cop Watch Program To Stop Harassment (City Limits)

Amelia Sanchez Is Graduating From High School Today, Thanks To NYC's Revamped PINS (Person In Need of Supervision) Program (WNYC)

Collusion In The Effort To Destroy 2 Columbus Circle? by Tom Wolfe (New York Magazine)

"Operation Respect: Don't Laugh At Me", Brainchild Of Peter Yarrow, Will Use Folk Music To Combat Bullying In NYC Schools(The New Yorker)

At Book Party For Founder Of Taxicab Labor Union, Cabbies Complain About NYC Passengers (The New Yorker)

New York Tolerance Center, Branch Of Simon Wiesenthal Center, To Open In Midtown Next Month (NY-1)

6/27/05

Today's Lead Stories...

End-of-Session Laws in Albany
A flurry of new bills marked the end of the legislative session in Albany on Friday. Among those passed on the session's last day included a plan to create an inspector general's office and an outside budget office to oversee the state's scandal-plagued public authorities; a Lower Manhattan aid package intended to attract commercial tenants with tax credits and breaks; and approval of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to remove the city's sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $110. Many, including Governor George Pataki, saw campaign finance reform and redistricting as areas needy of more attention.

Last week's stories...