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


Week of 2 July 2001:

The Case of the Missing Marsh
The marshy islands of Jamaica Bay could disappear in less than 20 years. Thousands of acres of the marsh, which provide nesting and feeding areas for birds and other wildlife, have been vanishing, and, the Times reports, scientists have no idea why. Suspected culprits include rising sea water levels, wastewater dumped into the bay, underwater dredges dug between 1900 and 1950, and various pollutants. Scientists told the Times that action must be taken to save the 3,400 acres of island vital to the Jamaica Bay ecosystem, and prized by wildlife and the people who watch it. But it's difficult to remedy a problem when no one knows what is causing it.

Lobbying Boom
The city's thriving economy and jump in major construction projects made 2000 a banner year for lobbyists, according to figures to be released today by the city clerk's office. As reported in the Times, lobbyists collected $14.5 million in 2000, an increase of nearly 15 percent from 1999. Since Mayor Giuliani came to office in 1994, the amount spent trying to lobby City Hall, adjusted for inflation, has jumped by almost 50 percent.

While much of the money was spent trying to influence members of City Council and the Giuliani administration on legislation, the Times says, last year's "increase in lobbying appears to be tied largely to money for professionals who helped shepherd major construction projects through the city's sometimes byzantine land-use review process." So, for example, the largest lobbying bill was paid by the Museum of Modern Art, which spent $323,094 in its successful efforts to win approval of plans for reconstruction and expansion of its facilities on West 53rd Street.

Fourth of July
Today marks the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It took five days for word of the historic document to reach New York City, where George Washington had it read to his troops downtown, says the Daily News.

Stadium $$$
The Yankees and the Mets have begun negotiating with the Pataki administration for some $300 million for improvements to subway stations and highway ramps as part of their efforts to build new stadiums in the Bronx and Queens, according to the Times.

Back To School
One-third of New York City public school students will attend summer school this year, the Board of Education announced yesterday. The 327,000 students is the largest summer program in city history and will cost approximately $175 million. In addition to the students who are required to attend, 140,000 students have volunteered in order to improve their skills. "Summer school works," said Schools Chancellor Harold Levy. However, last summer the program had its problems. Nearly half of the students required to attend did not show up for the first day of class. And although two out of three summer school students were passed to the next grade, only 40 percent actually passed the reading and math tests.

Numbers Matter
The census results, the bureau admits, are estimates. There is a natural margin of error in such a massive undertaking, the questions have become more complicated, and Americans have become less attentive in filling out the forms. But the numbers do matter. Census figures determine political representation, federal aid, and the power of ethnic groups. The possibility of a miscount is great in New York City, the Times reports, with its many immigrants, ethnic communities, illegal housing, and numbers of people who share living space to avoid high housing costs. Last week, the news came that the census had underestimated the number of Latinos of Dominican and Colombian background because of confusing wording on the form. Also, it now appears headlines that claimed that the number of gay and lesbian households in the city have tripled in the last ten years were not quite accurate, as officials said the procedures used to edit the data have changed since 1990. And in March, when the bureau announced that the city population had grown to more than eight million, many in the city knew that those hundred thousand missing households had been there all along.

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