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.
Last week's stories...
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