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


Week of 15 October 2001:

Calming Efforts
Both federal and local officials took steps to calm public fears about the deliberate spread of anthrax bacteria, as a third confirmed case of anthrax infection was reported in New York City -- an assistant to Dan Rather at CBS -- adding to the two other cases, at ABC and NBC. New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has appointed a bioterrorism czar, Phil Pulaski, a deputy chief who also has a degree in chemical engineering and is the former head of the department's laboratory. Meanwhile, federal officials, led by Tom Ridge, the new head of the newly-created Office of Homeland Security, held a Giuliani-like press conference yesterday. The officials emphasized that a total of only six actual cases of infection have been detected nationwide so far, though many thousands of people have been tested for exposure to the bacteria, and many thousands of environmental samples taken. Investigators continue to have no concrete evidence or intelligence as to who has been sending the anthrax-laced letters, but various clues, according to the Times, have led some to suspect a link to the terrorists who attacked on September 11th. The federal government has offered a one million dollar reward for information that leads to a conviction.

Campaign 2001
With little more than two weeks to go before the general election, Democratic mayoral candidates Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green met privately yesterday to hash out their differences. At the same time, the Republican-dominated New York State Senate announced that its Elections Committee would hold hearings next Wednesday into the charges of vote fraud, miscounting and racism in the Democratic runoff.

The Democrats' choice for mayoral candidate is still officially in doubt (though most people expect that when the official vote is finally tallied this weekend Green will be announced the nominee). But the many other local races are largely in effect already decided. This was going to be the most historic campaign in New York City in a century, with term limits kicking out most incumbents and campaign finance reform encouraging a whole new batch of citizen-candidates. Indeed, an amazing 420 New Yorkers, many enticed by the promise of a "level playing field," became candidates for public office this year, by far the largest number ever. But has the promise of a transformation in local government been fulfilled? Mark Berkey-Gerard looks at the most interesting, disappointing and surprising results in "How The Promise Of Campaign 2001 Played Out" on Gotham Gazette's Searchlight on Campaign 2001

Fear and Funding
As six congressional office buildings in Washington were closed after 31 Capitol Hill employees tested positive for anthrax, worry about the disease continues to affect New York. The focus of concern here yesterday was the Third Avenue office of Governor George Pataki where small traces of the bacteria were found.

Pataki began taking the antibiotic ciprofloxacin and evacuated the offices. None of the workers there has tested positive for anthrax. It was not known how the bacteria might have gotten into the building, although Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik says state police could have accidentally carried anthrax spores back to the office after escorting the governor to ABC and NBC news offices, where the bacteria has been found or is suspected to be present.

This incident, following anthrax incidents at NBC and ABC, prompted city officials to test mailrooms in several city agencies, while anthrax scares and hoaxes continue around the city.

Meanwhile, the Times reports that the Bush administration has said that it will not ask Congress for any additional aid for New York this year. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the White House budget director, said the issue could be re-examined next year but noted that New York was getting large portions of the $20 billion approved in emergency aid for New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania after the September 11 attacks. This represents a major blow to the effort by Pataki to get $54 billion in federal aid for the state. Some members of Congress have criticized the Pataki plan for containing items not directly related to the terrorist attacks, such as transportation projects for upstate New York. In response, members of the New York congressional delegation are trying to shape a smaller aid request, limited to projects directly related to the terrorist attacks.

Difficult and Confusing Times
Work, transportation, and school were temporarily interrupted yesterday, as nervous New Yorkers called in 122 reports of suspicious packages, letters, and powder, none of which turned out to be dangerous. Several subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road shut down for investigations. Murry Bergtraum High School on the lower East Side closed for an hour after a white powder, which turned out to be candy, was found on a keyboard in a computer lab. And 400 state workers were evacuated from an office building in the Bronx because of a suspicious letter. Mayor Giuliani called for calm and announced alongside postal officials that postcards explaining how to handle suspicious mail will be sent to all U.S. households.

And a week after Mayor Giuliani announced that he would reduce the city budget by $1 billion and ask some city agencies to cut back 15 percent, Newsday reports that the mayor plans to give merit raises to the city's 3,800 mid-level managers, commissioners and deputy mayors. According to an estimate by the city comptroller's office, the raises will cost the city as much as $33 million for the next two years. "I think we are all in deep trouble," Comptroller Alan Hevesi said. "Yes, the managers are deserving of a raise, but sacrifice is going to have to be imposed across the board."

More Anthrax
The nation's anthrax scare widened as a new infection was reported in the infant son of an ABC News producer based in New York City, the second confirmed case in the city. An anthrax-laced letter was also opened on Capitol Hill in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The baby, who had visited the ABC studios in New York on September 28, is responding to treatment. There were dozens of calls to authorities in New York yesterday about suspicious packages and powders in schools, offices and train stations. Newly formed hazardous response squads, each made up of two city police officers and a firefighter, all equipped with gloves and respirators, were dispatched across the city. As of now, the only two confirmed cases were those that occurred at ABC and NBC.

Anthrax
Starting this past Friday, a series of reports, mostly delivered by Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have brought the anthrax scare to New York City. Friday, the mayor announced that an assistant to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw tested positive for infection from anthrax, a disease with flu-like symptoms which is caused by bacteria, is not contagious, and comes in three forms (affecting the lungs, skin or gastrointestinal tract). Saturday, it was discovered that the source of the anthrax that sickened that NBC employee at Rockefeller Center was a sand-like substance found in an envelope mailed to the television network from Trenton, New Jersey on September 18. It was also evident that a second person who handled that envelope has symptoms that indicate possible exposure to anthrax. Sunday, anthrax spores were found on the police officer and two lab technicians involved in detecting the case of anthrax at NBC, though they were not necessarily infected. All five New Yorkers are being treated with antibiotics and all are expected to recover.

Authorities say they have no evidence that would connect this exposure to anthrax, or similar cases in Florida and Reno, Nevada, to the terrorism of September 11. But fearful New Yorkers have been rushing to pharmacies to hoard anti-anthrax drugs such as Ciproflaxocinthe, or Cipro. The Bush administration said it was moving to buy antibiotics that could be made available quickly to treat up to 12 million people, six times the number that could be treated by drugs now kept in reserve. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said the White House would ask Congress for an additional $1.5 billion for the purchase of the antibiotics and for other programs to combat bioterrorism.

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