TrueNews: Finger in the Dyke: Bloomberg Moves Money Around to Avoid Economic Melt Down

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Finger in the Dyke: Bloomberg Moves Money Around to Avoid Economic Melt Down

PM Breaking News DeBlasio defends Wall Street, opposes higher taxes * De Blasio: I’d Be A 7-Day-A-Week Mayor * De Blasio on Mayor's Island Lifestyle, Investments * Ivy Asset Management knew Bernie was lying: Cuomo * Ravitch: One-Day Furloughs May Not Be Enough, * Silver: No Budget? Not Our Fault * David Cameron Is New British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown Resigns * Spokesmen for state Dems chair Jay Jacobs and GOP gubernatorial Steve Levy ganged up on Rick Lazio after Lazio went after AG Andrew Cuomo on the mortgage crisis * Polls, polls, Marist polls everywhere: Cuomo's riding high; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's stuck, but still leads her GOP competition * AqueductPocalypse XXVII, or: Wanna run a racino? *State Tries, Tries Again at Aqueduc* Here are the lawsuits being filed by the unions against Gov. Paterson's furlough plan * As state workers are facing furloughs, executive staffers got raises * Mayor Bloomberg might yet pick sides in the state Senate power struggle, says Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfso... http://bit.ly/bPgWqf

Finger in the Dyke
Bloomberg Moves Money Around to Avoid Economic Melt Down
Yesterday the city pumped $600 million to make up for pension shortfalls caused by the economy and the corruption, today the city is forced to move a billion dollars into the municipal hospital system to compensate for reduced aid from Albany, even as the mayor threatens layoffs and cutbacks at other agencies. * City Hospitals to Cut 500 More Jobs(WSJ)

New York Unemployment 10%
New York Legislature Approves 1-Day Furloughs* Paterson Wins on Furloughs (WSJ) * State pols approve furloughing 100,000 employees (DN) * State employees unions will seek a TRO to block the furlough plan passed yesterday * Only six of the 16 other states that have tried furloughs have been able to make them stick * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver called the furlough plan inappropriate and predicted the courts would overturn it – and then he voted “yes” anyway. * Senate Democrats said GOP attempts to give a $17 million loan to the New York Racing Association are unconstitutional * Lawmakers voted for furloughs because, if they didn't, they figured there would more political backlash if the state government shut down.

Will the 70's Corporation Move Out of the City Resume?
Pfizer to Cut Jobs, Risking Repayment of Tax Breaks Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, plans to lay off or relocate up to 1,400 New York City employees, seven years after receiving millions of dollars in tax breaks to create jobs in the city. On Monday the company, which has already scrapped about 2,000 positions, also put its office tower at 685 Third Avenue up for sale. * Pfizer will move or cut city workers (NYP)

Facebook Joseph Mercurio Any elected official who does anything that effects jobs negatively in this environment must be removed from office. On Election Day it must be jobs and wages period. Severe Recession Hangs on in Much of the City

New York Economic Melt Down City Selects 50 Senior Centers to Close * As School Budgets Fall, PTA Auctions Become Crucial (WSJ) * State Has Less Love for ‘I Love New York’ Campaign * 50 Senior Centers Expected To Close (Fox 5) * NYC's Hospital System Calls for More Layoffs (WINS) * Jones Beach July 4th Fireworks Show Cancelled (NBC) * Report: Announcers should be expanded, not cut Attention riders: You may be getting less info when rain wreaks havoc on the subways (AM NY)

Get Used to Scratch Windows

Subway Budget Crisis Increases
50 cent cab-fare boost for MTA falls short The city's 50-cent additional charge on every cab ride in the city -- money that's supposed to be sent to the state to support the MTA -- came in about $1.4 million short in the first quarter, records show. *MTA eliminating 1000 jobs in latest round of cuts‎

Pay to Play Bruno If Joe Bruno falls in the forest...: It's a crime more people didn't see his sentencing * Let's stop touting Bruno's good deeds (TU)

Election 2010 Staten Island DA Dan Donovan is Mayor Bloomberg’s pick for AG – now if only state GOP Chairman Ed Cox can be convinced * Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is seeking millions of dollars worth of earmarks for Kiryas Joel * Charter Commission Nonpartisan elections being examined by NYC panel * Charter panel aims to frame its questions (SI Advance) * Koch Raising For NY Uprising * Guliani Says Cuomo Won't 'Rock the Boat' * Another Day, Another Reform PAC * Bloomberg, Pataki, Giuliani and D'Amato will all have Dan Donovan's back when he announces for AG on Sunday * AG hopeful Richard Brodsky is pushing for a unicameral legislature.

Facebook Joseph Mercurio In a one party town, when several Democrats run in each district, this will elect a few opposition party candidates. Nonpartisan elections being examined by NYC panel (TU)

Vito the Come Back The Staten Island GOP are dying to bring back congressman Vito Fossella -- whose career imploded after his arrest for drunken driving led to revelations that he'd fathered a secret love child -- "looked uncomfortable" when a comic ripped into Edwards for fathering a child outside of his marriage, said one source who attended the borough's annual Lincoln Day Dinner.Edwards jokes at GOP dinner leave Vito well red * Vito Fossella considers a run for his old congressional seat * Fossella Mulling A Bid For His Old Seat? Updated

The New Y0rk U.S. Supreme Court At this rate, it won't be long before the US Supreme Court becomes the sixth borough. If confirmed by the Senate, Elena Kagan -- President Obama's choice to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens -- would be the third native New Yorker now sitting on the high court, along with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. (Plus, Antonin Scalia grew up in Queens.)The Kagan nomination * Manhattan's Verdict on Kagan (WSJ) * 'Absurd Question': What Was the Wall Street Journal Trying to Say with Softball Cover Photo? (Obsever)

The Politics Behind the SC Pick
The NYT plays up the left is upset with Kagan. That angel helps take some of the air out of congressional GOP opposition. It was the conservatives that abandoned Bush's pick Harriet Myers. Low for conservatives to attack Kagan to fire up the voters for the 2010 congressional elections. Nomination of Kagan Leaves Some Longing on the Left (NYT) * Court Pick Can Still Rise on Her High School’s Alumni List (NYT) * Searching for Elena Kagan The lack of a record on certain issues makes it hard to know whether the nominee would be a counterweight to the Supreme Court’s conservative wing (NYT Ed) * U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is young, brilliant and a shoo-in to get confirmed as justice (DN) * SC nominee Kagan's HS pals: She was 'smartest' (DN) * Daly: Kagan grew up one block away from Murder Hotel (DN) * West Side glory: New Yorker Elena Kagan is a strong choice for Supreme Court (DN Ed) * Kagan boosts Obama with gays-rights activists * "'I remember clearly sitting in her living room at a young age of 20 [thinking] how smart she was,' said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer." * The Supreme Court: Where They Went To College (PHOTOS) (Huff Post)

Catching Taxis Who Cheat
Getting info on cheating taxi drivers should soon be as easy as hailing a cab.

Inside City Hall City's hack attack Getting information on cheating taxi drivers should soon be as easy as hailing a cab * Agreement Will Alter Teacher Evaluations * Teacher Grades Tied to Pupil Performance (WSJ) * Knives Out Over City's Sick-Pay Plan (WSJ)

Crash: Lawsuits and Spins
Crashing startThe officer in charge of the Staten Island Ferry's Andrew J. Barberi had just started his second day as a captain when his boat crashed into a pier Saturday -- and it was the first time he'd worked with the assistant captain, investigators said (NYP) * Crew Did All It Could to Slow Ferry Before Crash at Pier, Officials Say (NYT) * Investigators View Footage in Ferry Crash (WSJ) * Lawsuit: How could they use the same ferry as before? * Crewman's quick thinking saves lives during ferry crash (DN) * A ferry rider from Queens will file a $5 million lawsuit against the city * NTSB: No Criminality In S.I. Ferry Crash (NY1)

“If you see something, say something”

A Phrase for Safety After 9/11 Goes Global

Terrorism Faisal fizzled on the cheap (NYP) * O's new terror tack (NYP Ed) * Bloomberg Checks Out London's 'Ring Of Steel' (WCBS TV) * Bloomberg Goes To London To Gain Security Tips (WINS) * NYPD commissioner: NYC bomb suspect 'homegrown'

Law and Order 'Faked' drug tests send DAs scrambling * Teen-slay busts Long rap sheets for Bx. party duo * Mexico pol's NY drug trial * Data Show Drop in Police Frisking (WSJ) * 'Son of Sam' David Berkowitz denied parole for fifth time (DN) * Child Allegedly Sexually Assaulted In Public Library (NBC) * Cigarette 'Kingpin' Gets 10 Years In Prison

The state Health Department has a new map to help New Yorkers locate cancer clusters.

Bruce Ratner's NBA Waterloo History will show that from the fall of 2004 until this week, Bruce Ratner owned the Nets and, unlike nearly all of his other professional endeavors, he wasn't very good at it.

Wall Street
A Trillion for Europe, With Doubts Attached * Debt Aid Package for Europe Took Nudge From Washington * Europe’s Bailout Europe decided it had to act when it arranged a nearly $1 trillion bailout package to attack the Continent’s debt crisis. Still, it isn’t clear if the fund will do what’s needed (NYT Ed) * SEC: Exchanges agree in principle to new rules (WABC) *WATCH: Jon Stewart Slams Wall Street For Stock Market Crash

Media and New Tech Donna Brazile: Let's Get Rid Of The Pundits * The Huffington Post Turns Focus to Profit * Mags Blast iPad's No-Nipples Policy * Comcast CEO: We Won't Interfere With NBC News * Playboy Goes 3-D: Centerfold Will Jump Off The Page

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Other Views

On October 15, 1958, veteran broadcaster Edward R. Murrow delivered his famous "wires and lights in a box" speech (VIDEO) The Last Lion of Tammany HOW JIMMY McMANUS, MANHATTAN’S LAST GREAT TAMMANY DISTRICT LEADER, HELPED TO REVIVE HELL’S KITCHEN AND THE THEATER DISTRICT c By James S. Kaplan f On January 13, 2011, the law firm of Proskauer Rose moved into 11 Times Square, which is located on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. In moving west to the final building of the City’s Times Square redevelopment, the Proskauer firm joined such other major law firms as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Covington & Burling, Roberts & Holland, and the advertising firm of Ogilvy & Mather. That such major professional firms, along with a number of newly constructed luxury apartment buildings on 42nd Street from ninth to eleventh avenue and trendy restaurants and off Broadway theaters would be located west of 8th Avenue in midtown would have been almost inconceivable fifty years ago. Tammany Last Stand Continued

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