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Today's Lead:Comptroller to Opt Out of Public Financing System


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State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will not take part in the campaign campaign financing system that was created in the state budget that only applies to his race for this year. DiNapoli has long urged lawmakers to use his office as a test for such a system but he says the current proposal was rushed, poorly designed and that neither Gov. Andrew Cuomo or legislative leaders bothered to call him while they worked out the details for the program. “What they did is take something well-intentioned,” DiNapoli told The New York Times, “and hijacked it for their own short-term purposes, very much at my expense.”

 

New from Gotham Gazette
Push To Reform NYPD Crisis Response May Lead to State-Wide Program
David King reports on the NYPD's lagging behind other cities in preparing officers to respond to calls involving the mentally ill and reforms on the horizon.

ICYMI from Gotham Gazette
Charter Oversight Hearing Postponed
Kristen Meriwether reports that a City Council hearing on charter schools set for Tuesday has been postponed.

De Blasio's Homelessness Reset
John Surico writes that the new administration is looking to reinvent a rent-subsidy program to move homeless into permanent housing.


Other Stories We're Following

Arts Education Lacking in Low-Income Areas of City (NY Times)

De Blasio Administration Does Business With Organization He Condemned (Capital)

Union Revolt May Signal Trouble For Cuomo (Capital)

Push For More Cops in NYCHA Buildings (Daily News)

Low Wages For Women Spur Group to Demand Equality From Cuomo, Legislature (Daily News)

Feds Target Lawmaker Travel Expenses (Daily News)

De Blasio Has Much to Do on Affordable Housing (WSJ)

Bratton Balancing community Outreach, Officer Morale (WSJ)

Final Votes Cast in NYC Participatory Budgeting (DNAinfo)

Motorman in Fatal Metro-North Crash Suffered Sleep Apnea (DNAinfo)

Hospital Execs Receive Sky-High Payouts (Crain's)

Today's Lead: Court Upholds Ban On Worship In Schools


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A Federal appeals court ruled yesterday that a City policy banning religious groups from using space in public schools for worship does not violate the U.S. Constitution. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan is the latest in a nearly 20-year legal saga that started with a small Bronx church that tried to hold weekend services at its local school. The ruling does not prohibit the City from offering space, but allows it to deny use. Unlike his predecessor, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports religious organizations' right to hold services in schools, pointing out that they pay a rental fee like any other non-profit doing so. Out of the 50 largest U.S. school districts, New York was the only one to entirely ban religious worship. The City has also not been allowing public schools to host partisan political activities or for-profit events.

New from Gotham Gazette
De Blasio's Homelessness Reset: Advantage Lessons Learned
John Surico takes a detailed look at past homelessness policy and how Mayor de Blasio will be looking to address the problem of New York City's 53,000-plus homeless.

ICYMI from Gotham Gazette
Creating the Workforce The City's Tech Economy Needs
Kristen Meriwether examines Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen's outline for workforce and economic development in the new tech economy.

Preliminary Budget Questions Remain
An op-ed from CM Helen Rosenthal discussing her approach to the budget and key questions she still has after the council's March preliminary budget hearings.

From Pre-K Tunnel Vision to Vision Zero
Kristen Meriwether reports that after Mayor de Blasio secured pre-K funding in the state budget, he'll soon be turning his Albany attention to his Vision Zero traffic safety plan.

Other Stories We're Following

Brooklyn Housing Court Can’t Find New Home (NY Times)

Median Rent In Brooklyn Hits $2,890 (Daily News)

Speed Camera Dispute Erupts Between Cuomo, de Blasio (Daily News)

Correction Officers Union Criticizes Incoming Commissioner (WSJ)

Bronx Junk Food Ads Outweigh Healthy Ones 11 To 1 (NY Post)

Comptroller Wasn't Told Of Public Financing Pilot (Times Union)

Rikers Warden Demoted After Inmate Dies In Overheated Cell (NY Times)

Finalists Chosen In Storm-Proofing City Design Competition (Crain's)

What The State’s Charter Push Did To Mayoral Control (Capital)

Taxi Nominee Disagrees With de Blasio On Outer Borough Cabs (Capital)

Today's Lead: City Adds Thousands Of New Pre-K Seats


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The city began accepting applications for 4,268 new full-day pre-kindergarten seats this fall at 140 public schools across the five boroughs, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday. That's a 26 percent increase over the current school year. Many of the new seats are in high demand districts. The announcement comes shortly after the state agreed to provide funding for the new seats. De Blasio's goal is to expand to 73,250 pre-K seats by 2015. Officials expect 40 percent of the new pre-K slots to be located in public schools, with the rest run by community-based organizations.

New from Gotham Gazette
Creating the Workforce The City's Tech Economy Needs
Kristen Meriwether examines Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen's outline for workforce and economic development in the new tech economy.

Preliminary Budget Questions Remain
In a Gotham Gazette op-ed, Council Member and budget expert Helen Rosenthal discusses her approach to the budget and key questions she still has after the council's March preliminary budget hearings.

ICYMI from Gotham Gazette
From Pre-K Tunnel Vision to Vision Zero
Kristen Meriwether reports that after Mayor de Blasio secured pre-K funding in the state budget, he'll soon be turning his Albany attention to his Vision Zero traffic safety plan.

Other Stories We're Following

Supreme Court Contribution Ruling Could Impact NY (Capital)

Traffic Fatalities Down 26 Percent (Daily News)

City To Overhaul Workforce Training Programs (Crain's)

Fracking Is Frozen, But The Gas Flows From Elsewhere (Capital)

Cuomo Drops Plan For College Classes For Inmates (NY Times)

Teachers, Nurses, Professors Contracts First: Union Rep (DNAinfo)

Lawmakers Push For Reforms After Queens Library Scandal (Daily News)

Program To Help Cos Get A Kit To Combat Overdoses (NY Times)

Privacy Concerns Nix Student-Data Plan (Associated Press)

Mayor Still Backing City-Based Minimum Wage Hike (NY Observer)

Fixing The Port Authority: Here's What's On The Table (WNYC)



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