This Week's Stories
GG's quick takes on recent NYC news


Week of 14 May 2001:

Two Thumbs Down
In a joint press conference, the city and the state comptroller released separate reports that criticized the mayor's budget for underestimating the gap between income and expense in the future. They mayor's budget predicts shortfalls of up to $2.9 billion in the fiscal years of 2003 to 2005. State Comptroller H. Carl McCall (who is running for governor) and City Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi (who is running for mayor) both predict shortfalls up to five billion dollars in that period.

"Every time the comptroller has predicted a budget gap, we've run a surplus," replied Adam L. Barsky, director of the city's Office of Management and Budget (speaking just of Hevesi).

Class Struggle
Test scores released yesterday showed city fourth graders making modest gains in their fight for literacy, but lagging behind their counterparts elsewhere in the state. About 40 percent of city students met the state standard in the statewide reading test, up about 2 percent from last year. But almost one-fifth scored at the lowest level, indicating that they lack basic proficiency in reading.

Experts divined some trends. Administrators credited tutoring, curriculum changes and better teacher training for some increases in scores. Schools Chancellor Harold Levy noted that low-scoring children who attended summer classes did better on the test than similar students who didn't. Special-education students did particularly poorly, and, while black and Hispanic students in the state still score lower than white and Asian children, they made slightly larger gains this year.

Meanwhile, as the kids try to learn, adults argue. Three of the mayor's usual School Board allies, including President Ninfa Segarra, signed a board statement condemning Mayor Rudy Giuliani1s proposed budget for the schools. And, with little progress being made in negotiations between the city and its teachers, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the union would ask the state to appoint an arbitrator if a contract settlement is not reached by June 5.

Debate Teams
Schools Chancellor Harold Levy testified at City Council budget hearings yesterday, saying that $432 million in education programs would be cut under the current budget proposal. Saturday classes for students needing special attention, classroom libraries, and additional English language classes for bilingual students are among the programs that may be eliminated. Although the Mayor's budget calls for a two percent increase in spending of $11.4 to $11.6 billion dollars this year, Levy said that money would be taken from some programs to pay for others. The Mayor rejected the testimony, saying that the Board of Education was receiving more than enough money and that funds are being spent incorrectly. Meanwhile, city teachers are growing more eager for a new contract. Some are even wearing black arm bands to class that read, No Contract Equals No Respect.

Immigrants Ripped Off
It is a con so common that regulators have given it a name - affinity fraud. Immigrants who arrive with savings accounts but little knowledge of English nor of the ways of American finance are being swindled by financial advisors from their own ethnic background. "People who lack experience with investments aren't able to distinguish between an investment and a gamble," a spokesman from the Securities and Exchange Commission told the Times.

Bush Visit
President George W. Bush, who has visited 26 states since he was sworn into office (Pennsylvania three times), has finally scheduled his first visit to New York City since becoming president, for June 19, according to the Post. It will probably be for an event related to the United Nations.

2012 Olympics
New York City will submit to the United States Olympic Committee on June 1 its formal bid to hold the 2012 Olympics, a 700-page promotional brochure. Proponents argue that New York's selection would usher in "17 days of Olympic glory" and spur permanent improvements to the city. Among these would be a new stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, an extension of the number 7 subway, revitalized waterfronts in Brooklyn and Queens, improved transportation, and spruced-up parks and recreational facilities in all five boroughs. Opponents say the city could be saddled with a huge price-tag, and charge that the bid is, as the Times puts it, "a profit-churning ploy by private real estate developers," unneeded in a city that is already world-class. "I'm not necessarily against the Olympics," Queens Borough President Claire Shulman said, "but New York City needs the Olympics like a hole in the head." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is a big booster of the Olympic bid, and all four mayor Democratic mayoral candidates support the idea of bringing the Olympics to New York, though differ on the details.

Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion, which was completed in 1804, and was a time a city museum, has served as the official residence for every mayor since 1942, when Fiorello LaGuardia moved in with his family. It is now involved in the increasingly nasty divorce between Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Donna Hanover, who asked a judge last week to ban Giuliani's friend Judith Nathan from visiting the residence. Giuliani's divorce lawyer has attacked Hanover three times now, saying she should move out.

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