Back to the Future
Court and Economy Save Middle Class Housing in the City
The culture of this city's housing market is now about about what is good for business. A half of century ago, new York's leaders thought first about what was good housing policy to make apartments available to the middle class to keep them living in the city. Yesterdays court overcharge decision brings us Back to the Future
The NYT showed their hand when reports first came in about New York's high court decision on Stuyvesant Town & Peter Copper Village rent overcharges Court Deals Blow to Owners of Apartment Complex (NYT). For the current leadership of the NYT it is all about what is good for the owners. If Tishman Speyer have to evict tenants to find new ones at higher rents to make up for the inflated cost that they bought the complex at, that is just business. This effect of the lawsuit was about saving New York's middle class, it was not about rent overcharges which is what the judges ruled on. In a city that the poor and middle class have push out this court decision is the first sign of hope in thirty years. In the end the middle class might not be saved but at least this is a pause on their long march out. Now it is not only the economy that is going to bankrupt Tishman Speyer deal it is also there own greed Commercial Real Estate Watch: Stuyvesant Town Set To Implode
City Leaders Built Stuy Town for Middle Class Tenants, Not Business
MetLife built the project with public subsidies to serve a middle-class of returning veterans, civil servants, nurses, clerks, and families whose children frolicked on the green oases of the project's well-kept lawns. We rightly decry the wanton dislocation of the poor whenever they stood in his way. In 1945, The New York Times called the move of the poor from the site "the greatest and most significant mass movement of families in New York's history" But we should also acknowledge that city leaders at that time believed strongly in retaining a vibrant middle class in the heart of the city. MetLife agreed to limit its profit to 6% for 25 years in exchange for the assessment of the property remaining at its 1943 level. As the 11,232 apartments were built, the waiting list to get in grew so long it seemed that New Yorkers had never so eagerly anticipated something in the city's history. While many critics were horrified by the complex — for reasons stretching from aesthetics to MetLife's racially exclusionary whites-only policies — the public clamored to get in. To be admitted, prospective tenants had not only to get lucky but also had to survive investigations meant to ensure that they met minimal standards of housekeeping competence and such. But it's not hard to see what the appeal of the new developments was. In figures cited by Robert A.M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman in their book "New York 1960" (Monacelli), in the previous housing on the site, 75% of apartments lacked central heating, 66% lacked bathrooms, and 20% lacked private toilets ***Joint Venture Led by Tishman Speyer Agrees to Acquire Stuyvesant Town & Peter... *** The Peter Cooper – Stuyvesant Town Blunder Soon To Be A Bankruptcy ..*** Joy and Questions Among Residents of Complex (NYT) ***Tsk, tsk, Tishman (NYP) *** Why Jerry's $5.4B gamble failed ***Stuyvesant Town Ruling Worries Tenants and Landlords Alike *** Court upholds rent control at NY apartment complex
Pension Scandal Update The news media and the city comptrollers are ignoring True News warning but not the California's pension funds What Will the Pensions Scandal Cost $$$ New York *** After a Decade-Plus Together, Calpers Reviews Apollo Ties *** CalPERS reviewing tie with Apollo Management after steep losses *** Calpers Reviewing 10-year Apollo Relationship *** New York Delays $959 Million Payment to Pension Fund (Update1)
Non Profits in Politics Cuomo's pay-to-play rap for nonprofits Andy threat vs. illegal $$ for pols *** *** Nonprofits Ordered to Take Back Political Donations Bloomberg Gets Away With It Criticism of Bloomberg Over Nonprofits' Support Several of New York City's top political figures on Sunday denounced Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration in unusually harsh terms for asking nonprofit groups to support legislation that would allow Mr. Bloomberg to seek a third term in office. Rely on Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire, for tens of thousands of dollars a year in private donations and millions in city contracts, making it difficult to turn down the request, these leaders said Council Also Stop the thieves: City Council must end pork-barrel member items (DN Ed)
Shocking endorsement by the NYP Bloomberg for Mayor
What do we get if he is wrong? Fired? Tax Increase? Mayor: NYC budget gap may be smaller than feared
The Master Manipulator or Our Time Bloomberg is a lot more open as a media owner or is that an inner game like his contol over New York;s media and politics, it seems he even plays with Wall Street? Citigroup Taxpayer Ownership Doesn’t Prevent Lobbying (Bloomberg.com) *** Clyde Haberman compares campaign "quotation-massaging" to the work of Broadway press agents
Why does NY1 pimp there web site on twitter announcing stories of other news organizations? NY1headlines NY Post Endorses Bloomberg For Mayor. Lots of news organizations think all they have to do for news is copy what is in the morning papers
A Real Leader Hugh Carey, citizen laureate
On the Road to City Hall Mayoral foes clash on budget gap plan *** Breaking away Poll Bloomberg 16 up *** Bloomberg: I was being 'polite' when I complimented foe *** Poll: Mayor beating Thompson by 16 points *** Campaign's Ms.-stake The campaign of an Upper East Side GOP City Council candidate posted a Craigslist ad seeking "young women" to hand out fliers and demanding they send their photos *** Bloomberg and the Budget: A Story in Three Parts (Gotham Gazette) Bloomberg Foe’s Campaign Shows Lax Management (NYT) *** Mayor’s Environmental Record: Grand Plans and Small Steps Forward *** Thompson Intensifies Attack on Bloomberg Over Term Limits *** Today's Tip Sheet: To See Bloomberg's Spending Figures, Look Up *** Bill gets one right: Mayoral candidate Thompson knows city can't afford 4% raises (NYT Ed) *** Bill gets one wrong: Mayoral candidate Thompson undervalues NYPD stop-and-frisks (NYT Ed) *** 30K poll workers may not get paid, says Elections *** In Boro Park, Bloomberg Grapples With Apathy (City Hall) *** Thompson invoked the civil rights movement in a speech on term limits *** Smith: Orthodox Vote to Only Cost Bloomberg $8 Million? *** Bloomberg made an unannounced visit to Hamodia, which has been very pro-Thompson of late *** Bloomberg Breaks His Own Spending Record
New York's Economic Fall Did the biggest thing in NY real estate just happen in Boston?! *** Obama hints at further compensation cuts for bailed-out Wall St. *** Gov's $1 bil fuzzy math Paterson yesterday claimed President Obama's crackdown on Wall Street pay could cost the state $1 billion *** City's pay-TV plan Fees for filming in municipal buildings *** Village Residents Fight To Preserve Streetscape *** Teacher Training Termed Mediocre *** "Single-party rule has been a disaster for New York. New York needs competition. New York needs Republicans," political consultant David Parker writes *** EDITORIAL: Executive pay cuts don't exactly cut it (Newsday) *** Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman discussed the state's overburdened Family Court system on New York Now*** Espaillat Says Lack of Hispanics Is a 'Weakness' of the Monserrate Inquisition Panel
Pay to Play Pol's bribe take $2M: feds The hospital executive who Anthony Seminerio shuck down said on an FBI tape after a sitdown wtih fat Tony, told his secretary, "You guys do things differently in New York than we do in Tennessee. In Tennessee it's . . . considered a bribe." *** Cuomo's pay-to-play rap for nonprofits Andy threat vs. illegal $$ for pols *** Three lobbying groups that admitted to giving illegal gifts to state lawmakers will name names *** Judge Postpones Trial for Kerik
1961 The Moon "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."— President John Kennedy
2009 Gound Zero New York 8 years after 9/11 we have a ditch Ground Zero's escalating cost: Another $20M needed for Plan B
Will Subway Riders Start Calling It the Tube? *** Gov. Paterson insists gay marriage legislation will come to a vote in the state Senate this year, and will pass. (AP) *** Paterson dropped the state's controversial swine flu vaccine mandate
White House The Quiet Revolution The Obama administration is using its competitive Race to the Top fund to push states to embrace real education reform (Brooks NYT) *** Behind the War Between White House and Fox *** Economic Adviser Predicts 10% Jobless Rate *** Afghan War Is New Topic of Dispute With Cheney *** Obama Wrestling With Jobs Outlook (WSJ) *** White House Tactics Go Too Far - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post *** Behind the White House's Press Fight - Jim Rutenberg, New York Times *** Obama Misreads the Political Terrain - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal *** Obama vs. The President He Said He'd Be - Tom Bevan, RealClearPolitics *** Stop the Getaway Car - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post *** Foreign Policy Critics Prejudge Obama - Josh Greenman, NY Daily News *** For Obama, The Fall Below 50% Looms - David Paul Kuhn, RealClearPolitics *** Mr. Geithner: Stop Passing The Buck On The Dollar - Michael Pento, Forbes *** Networks Stand Behind Fox *** Obama Plans Speech to Jewish Group *** White House's Fox Fight Isn't Nixonian - Joe Conason, Salon *** *** The Chicago Way - Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal *** White House Attacks Worry Moderate Dems - Jonathan Allen, Politico *** Czar Trouble - Dana Milbank, Washington Post
Congress Congress passes hate crime protections for gays *** Palin Endorses Conservative in Divisive New York Race *** Senators Question the Role of 'Czars' *** Vote Backs a Financial Oversight Body *** Senate Approves Broadened Hate-Crime Measure *** Freddie Mac’s Secrecy Pacts Face Court Test *** Congress Approves Bill Helping Overseas Voters *** Reid Backs State Option on Health Plan (WSJ) *** Consumer-Agency Bill Moves in House *** Senate Leader Takes Risk Pushing Public Insurance Plan *** Crafting Health Reform - Lester Feder, The Nation *** Harry Reid's Dilemma - The Economist *** Once Again, Raising the Debt Ceiling - David Broder, Washington Post *** Hate Crimes Bill Now Covers Gays *** Support for public option grows in House, Senate (Wash Post) *** Amid Problems, U.S. Scrambles to Parcel Out H1N1 Vaccine - Wash. Post *** FBI Looks at Bribery Allegations Against Rep. Young - Anchorage Daily News
Who Broke the Economy
In The Warning, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk unearths the hidden history of the nation's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multitrillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008
Wall Street and the Economy Fed to examine Wall Street pay; Treasury orders 7 firms to halve exec salaries *** Trump told to reveal casino info *** Booksellers seek price-war probe *** Pay Cuts, but Little Headway in What Matters Most *** Credit Card Chicanery Credit card companies have intensified their exploitation of consumers, and Congress should respond by moving up the date when its credit card law becomes effective *** Pay Czar Doubts Cuts Will Make Bankers Leave *** Bank Failure 100 Nears *** Fed Hits Banks With Pay Limits(WSJ) *** Amazon Posts Strong Gains *** U.S. Is Cruising Toward a New Crisis - Allan Meltzer, Wall Street Journal *** Break Up Wall Street? - Martin Wolf, Financial Times *** Weakened U.S. Currency is Confusing and Worrying - Houston Chronicle *** Who's Looking at the Fed's Books? - William Barnett, New York Times *** Our Drunken Spendthrift Uncle Sam - Editorial, Investor's Business Daily *** What a U.S. Decline Means for Investors - Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal *** Bernanke presses reform (Wash Post) *** The Rise of the Mob Economy - David Harsanyi, Denver Post
International A Lone Cleric Is Loudly Defying Iran’s Leaders *** The Chinese Disconnect Something should be done about China’s weak-currency policy, which poses a growing threat to the rest of the world economy (Krugman NYT) *** China, India Border Stokes Rivalry *** Afghan Ballot Delivery Begins *** Left, Right & Wrong in Honduras - Abraham Lowenthal, Los Angeles Times *** Options in Afghanistan Bad vs. Worse for U.S. - Chicago Sun-Times ***Karzai Defends Election, Runoff *** Sarkozy's Son Renounces Job After Nepotism Charges... *** When the Wall Fell *** Pakistan Using U.S. Drones
National Florida's Red-Meat Primary - Joe Klein, Time
Media and New Tech Soupy Sales Dies ***Soupy Sales, Slapstick Comedian, Dies at 83 Windows 7 represents big triumph for Microsoft *** Times is getting better Q3 loss less than expected despite drop in paid ads ***Web charge at Newsday*** Times Co. Shows Loss but Beats Forecast (NYT) ***Chicago News Venture to Sell Content to New York Times***A Cable Premiere Elbows In on Network Turf *** Newsday to begin charging for online articles *** New York Times Co. narrows loss, ad slump lingers ***NBC Reverses Strategy *** Paul Krugman, and the Middle-Class Champion Myth - John Tamny, RCM ***
