Week of August 15, 2005
8/19/05
City to Sell Vacant Lots
New York City will sell 248 vacant lots, the last of some 5,000 it took over from delinquent taxpayers during the 1970s and 1980s, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. Past properties have been sold to the highest bidder, but the hot real estate allows the city to give priority to developers of low-income housing. Preference will also be given to those incorporating environmentally friendly design. Most of the remaining lots are located in Queens, Brooklyn, and upper Manhattan. Housing advocates praised the move, and say the city must now look to brownfield redevelopment or denser zoning to create more low-income housing.
Court Rules That Low Income Immigrants Must Receive Same Benefits as Citizens (NY Times)
Fashion Designer to Sue Bloomberg After Mayor Cancels Graffiti Block Party (Daily News)
Jets Considering Willets Point for New Stadium (NY Post)
Mobster Says He Planned 1989 Bias Attack in Bensonhurst (Newsday)
Advocates Say MTA Must Focus on Emergency Communications (NY 1)
Calendar of NYC Events (Gotham Gazette)
The Best and Worst of New York (The L Magazine)
8/18/05
Health Care Bill
The New York City Council passed a bill that requires employers in the grocery industry to pay their workers' medical costs. The legislation requires stores with more than 35 employees to contribute $2.50 toward health care for each hour an employee works. It also applies to large chain stores - like Wal-Mart - that dedicate large portions of their space to food. Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to veto the bill, which he says violates federal laws limiting local government's role in job benefits. The council has promised to override the mayor's veto and hopes to extend the regulations to other industries in the future.
For more, see article on the City Council meeting.
Heart Disease Deaths High in NYC, But No One Know Why (NY Times)
WTC Families Sue to Move Remains from Fresh Kills (Daily News)
Jets Eye 1964 World's Fair Site (NY Post)
Mayor and Council Blame Each Other for Lack of Action on Noise Code (Newsday)
Memo Guaranteed Developer Ratner Downtown Brooklyn Space (NY Sun)
Campaign 2005: Democratic Mayoral Candidates� Transportation Agendas (Gotham Gazette)
Council Overrides Mayor's Veto on Food Stamps and Tenants Rights (Gotham Gazette)
8/17/05
Mayoral Debate
The Democratic mayoral candidates declined to attack one another too harshly last night in a televised debate, focusing instead on the sitting mayor. All four candidates criticized Mayor Bloomberg for not securing sufficient federal funding for security, for transferring power in certain emergency situations from the Fire Department to the Police Department, and for mishandling the public schools, though no one called for restoring social promotion. Gifford Miller and Anthony Weiner said the city is better off today than four years ago; Fernando Ferrer and Virginia Fields said it is not.
For a transcript of the debate, go here; To read coverage from the city's newspapers, go to Gotham Gazette's Campaign 2005
Deliveryman Relives Fear of 81-Hour Ordeal in Elevator (NY Times)
City Gets Right to Deny Shelter to Some Homeless People (Daily News)
Firefighters Union Opposes Freedom Center at Ground Zero (NY Post)
Overdoses Spark Fear of Killer Batch of Heroin (Newsday)
Bloomberg Gave $140 Million to 843 Non-Profits Last Year, He Says (NY Sun)
Non-Profit Seeks to Establish September 11 as Day of Volunteerism (NY 1)
The Campaign and Long Term Issues Facing the Arts by Jonathan Mandell (Gotham Gazette)
Arts Links in the News (Gotham Gazette)
8/16/05
7th Grade Policy
Over the objection of parents, education advocates and a prominent state legislator, the Panel for Education Priorities approved the Bloomberg administration's plan to hold back seventh graders who fail a standardized reading test. The school system is promising an additional $40 million spent on such programs as Saturday classes to make sure they pass. For details, see the education links in the news.
Televised Debate
The four major Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City will hold the first official debate sponsored by the Campaign Finance Board tonight from 7 to 8:30 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. It will be presented live on NY-1 television and WNYC radio. The Democrats face one another again Sunday live on CBS at 11 a.m.
NY's Ports Booming, But Costs Of Security Eroding Gains (NY Times)
Goldman Sachs Promised $1.65 Billion In Tax-Exempt Liberty Bonds (In Addition To $200 M In Tax Breaks) (Daily News)
After Bloomberg Expresses Disapproval, City Officials Revoke Permit For Graffiti "Block Party" In Chelsea (Daily News)
City Vows To Collect Millions In Unpaid Water Bills (NY Post)
Pre-Paid Parking Meters (Needing No Quarters) Expands (Newsday)
Soaring Gasoline Prices Inflict Pain on Cabbies, Drivers, City Budget (NY Sun)
Land Use Links In The News (Gotham Gazette)
Campaign 2005: Mayoral Candidates' Plans On Land Use Planning (Gotham Gazette)
California and New York City Most Popular Places to Live (ksbi-52TV (Oklahoma))
8/15/05
9/11 Archive
The city of New York released Friday part of its archive of records from Sept. 11, that includes oral histories, dispatchers' tapes and phone logs. The records contain a wealth of new details about the experiences of hundreds of firefighters and their immediate field commanders as they waded into the burning towers. The often-graphic accounts indicate that the response was plagued with radio problems, and that the rank and file had limited information about the situation. The oral histories - an archive of memories that survivors recounted later - were collected by the New York City government. Earlier this year, the state Court of Appeals ordered the release of most of the materials.
For more information, go to City Hall News
Invisible to Most, Immigrant Women Line Up for Day Labor (NY Times)
Alert Level Cut, But City Is Wary (Daily News)
Democratic Mayoral Contenders Run in the Red for Month (NY Post)
Con Ed Sets Record Power Usage (Newsday)
Campaign 2005: Candidates Vie Over Affordable Housing And Homelessness Prevention Plans (Gotham Gazette)
Housing Links In The News (Gotham Gazette)
Mayoral Issue Grid (Gotham Gazette)
Saving A "Non Landmark" (Gotham Gazette)