Double Dippers
These lucky nonprofit park workers are getting a salary from city Parks Department, too (DN) * Big dippers: City union chiefs pull 2 salaries (DN)
Pension Going Broke
City taxpayers foot 90% of municipal pensions (NYP) Taxpayers kick in an average $8.60 for every dollar that city employees contribute to their pensions, a sweet deal costing the Big Apple a bundle. (NYP) * All-too-golden years: Paterson must veto insane boosts in already rich pensions (DN) * 'Overtaxed' Rush sells condo (NYP) * Taxpayers’ share of city pension costs has skyrocketed more than 900 percent in the last decade — from $703.1 million in 2000 to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to the NYC comptroller’s office.
Services Cut
Highbridge Park is a poster child for neglect by city In Harlem's Highbridge Park, condom wrappers and used hypodermic needles litter a path not far from a playground. (DN) * Budget cuts hurt sex abuse victim programs * Don’t look to Albany for property tax relief any time soon.
Pay to Play Albany Goes On and OnSome are wary of Espada's free lunch at church (DN) * Espada: No beef with rev (NYP) * Meeks money mess 624G 'evil' mortgage on scandal pol's home (NYP) * Schneiderman Blames Albany For Keeping Him Off $$ TrailSpys Story That Will Not Die
Booted Russian spies left behind homes, valuables; feds in for big payday at auction (DN) *2 spy kids high & dry
Daily News Crusade Against Terrorism
Terror grows abroad: Jihadis are appearing from and in unexpected places (DN ED) * Close to home: Hezbollah terrorists are plotting right on the U.S. border (DN Ed)
Economic Hard Times . . . Bank Bailout Is Potent Issue for Both Parties in Fall Races (NYT) * Paul Volcker: 'People Are Nervous.. And They Should Be' * Governors Grapple With Financial Woes (WSJ) To All But the NYT Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery (DN) * Jobless Man Prepares Senate Campaign (NYT)
Black voters still support Obama but are ambivalent about midterm elections
Facebook Joseph Mercurio "Republicans are set up to gain a large number of governorships nationwide. At a minimum, the GOP could gain eight, giving the party 32, but larger gains are very possible." The Rothenberg Political Report
The Times urges city and state officials to do something to make sure young tourists can find affordable places to stay (just not illegal hotels)TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking HeadsTV
SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads
Dumbing Down AmericaFacebook Joseph Mercurio At a barbeque a quest found that I was a political consultant and asked what was the most disappointing poll I saw this year, shock came over them when I mentioned a Feburary U. of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll that found nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time. * Bob Benenson I have to go with the Marist Poll released around July 4 that found 26 percent of respondents across the country did not know that Great Britain was the nation from which the United States won independence.
Chinatown clash Border war over plan to expand (NYP)* The Hard Work of Gun Control Cities and states should counter legal challenges to handgun bans with tough but sensible laws that keep gun possession to a minimum. (NYT Ed)
Albany: Budget 101 Days Late
Nothing in the weekend papers about reaching stalemate reaching the 100 day mark
David Paterson Vetoes His Way to Tabloid Glory (Village Voice)
Bleeding the golden goose That New York's tax revenue derives mightily from Wall Street is obvious to everyone -- save perhaps the ge niuses in the state Legislature, who've been scheming to tax Gotham's hedge funds straight into Connecticut. (NYP Ed)
On the wrong track: OTB can't be fixed unless horse racing is repaired too (DN Ed)
Will Paterson Veto bill to stop illegal hotels to win support for a jow with developers?/New York City’s Illegal Non-Hotels Gov. David Paterson should sign a bill that makes it clear that residential buildings are not for tourists to score a $15-a-night stay. (NYT)
Political Spending Disclosure Sought Unions and political parties that attempt to influence city elections should be required to file disclosure reports with the city, a report from the staff of the New York City Charter Revision Commission recommended Friday (WSJ)
Bloomie's broken promises
City Hall has a report card on how well Bloomberg has kept his campaign promises. And he didn't do too well.Bloomy heads to N.H., cranking president rumor mill
No Free Crosstown Buses As Bloomberg Promised During his Campaign . . . But less service and higher fares Cash-Strapped MTA Proposes MetroCard Surcharge (WCBS TV)
Election 2010 Union slaps Lazio: Don't use memory of 9/11 in bid to be gov (DN) * Holy uproar as Pedro eyes church voters (NYP)
Firefighters' Union: FDNY Sees Busiest Week In Decades (NY1)
Major SUNY Donor Links an Even Bigger Gift to Flexibility on Setting Tuition (NYT) * Private-Schools Burden Department of Education (WSJ) * Jobbing school reform: House Dems put union jobs over improving education (DN Ed)
Federal Money for Transit Construction, but Not Operations (Second Avenue Sagas) *MTA Mulls $1 Surcharge on New MetroCard Purchases * Against Charter Mandated Budget Formulas for Some Agencies (Citizen Budget Commission) * Getting the Bureaucracy to Respond Through Tech (Urban Omnibus) * Recommended Charter Reforms
(Pratt Center)
Clinton to Perform Weiner Wedding (NYT) * Bubba to preside over 'I do's' on Weiner's big day (DN) * Gays Can’t Wed in New York, So a Politician Won’t Either (NYT)Bid for St. Vincent's Unit (WSJ)
NY1 Exclusive: Deported Spies' Sons Will "Do Fine" In New York (NY1)
LeBron James' passing on New York points to trend that Big Apple is no longer a sports Mecca (NYP)
Law and Order Second woman attacked in Riverside Park, minutes after first mugging (NYP) *Police Seek Riverside Park Attacker (NYT) * A Quiet Neighborhood Talks About Policing Itself (NYT) * Attack On S.I. Gay Couple Classified As Hate Crime (NY1) * Police Nab Manhattan Robbery Suspect (NY1) * Cops bust ex-con, 37, who attacked granny (DN) * Gunplay kills two in two boroughs over hour and a half (DN) * Man, 26, murdered in hail of bullets in Brooklyn (DN) * Arrest Made in Elderly East Harlem Woman's Mugging (WINS) * Fatal stabbing after pool fight (NYP) *** Sunday *** He stabbed and killed mother's boyfriend over cable TV * Five knifed in bloody cruise fight on Hudson * Cops hunt suspect in Brooklyn teen's slashing * Park-attack victim leaves for Oregon (NYP) *Bid to boot Rasta squatters * Brutal borough: Bronx has most mate abuse (NYP) * Two Men Arrested In Connection With Fatal Hit-And-Run (NY1) * Bias Attack Victim Denounces Wave Of Alleged S.I. Hate Crimes (NY1) * Meatpacking District Stabbing Spree Suspect Charged * Man Stabbed To Death Near Harlem Pool (NY1) * Police Release Video Of Alleged Riverside Park Attacker (NY1) * Deadly night as four killed in city (NYP)
Namath, Frazier and The Babe came here to prove themselves ... ... But LeBron's 'Decision' challenges the city's status as the ultimate stage. LeBron among celeb guests as Carmelo Anthony weds LaLa Vasquez in NYC (NYP)
White House Envisioned Spy Case Swap Even Before Arrests (NYT)
