Mayor's Political Enemies go for the knockout
Council Sets Stage for Snow(ball) Fight (Gotham Gazette) The storm will come down again on the Bloomberg administration this morning as the City Council kicks off the first of seven hearings on its response to the Xmass Day blizzard.
Deputy Mayor Goldsmith Main Target
Goldsmith Twitted "Good Snow Job by Sanitation" on the evening of December 26th
City Council Hearing Stephen Goldsmith, Deputy Mayor: Not Declaring Snow Emergency Might Have Been Mistake * Bloomberg Officials Admit To Communication Breakdown * Goldsmith's Other Bad Snow Day (NYT) * Deputy mayor: NYC should have declared a snow emergency (CNN) * Bloomberg aide: Should have been snow emergencyNewsday * Bloomberg's Team Admits Mistakes in Blizzard Response (WSJ) *As Another Snowstorm Heads for NYC, City Council Flogs City Hall on Blizzard Response (Village Voice) * City Room: Live Blogging City Council's Snow Hearing (NYT) * Council blasts city at hearing over poor response to blizzard (YourNage.com) * City Council Holds Hearing on Blizzard Response (WNYC)
The NYT Editorial said it is not about the snow but about the mayor's leadership
The surprising anti Bloomberg editorial said the mayor was working to build on the national scene promoting big solutions to big issues, while becoming aloof and not taking care of the city as people who elected him to the third term expected. The NYT said "It did not help that the mayor’s first advice to New Yorkers was essentially to quit whining, get out and go to a Broadway show."
Mayor Bloomberg Shovels Out (NYT Ed)
"It was fairly evident that the fuss over snow removal wasn’t only, or even mostly, about snow. It was about the mayor.1)37 percent approval rating 2) His choice of a non-educator, Cathleen Black, as schools chancellor felt idiosyncratic to many people. 3) CityTime corrupt contract.
More on the Council Hearings Council to Grill Mayor’s Team Over Response to the Blizzard (NYT) * Council probing city's performance for botched snow job (DN) * Council's snow-probe grilling spree begins (NYP) * Officials To Talk Snow Response With City Council (WCBS) * Snow Job! Hearing Set on City's Botched Blizzard Response (WNBC) * The Council has prepared 12 pages worth of questions for members of the Bloomberg administration to answer.* John Mollenkopf, Bob Hardt, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jennifer Cunningham debate what it takes to be a great mayor of the ungovernable city.* As 911 Modernizes, Bad Weather Trumps Technology (Gotham Gazette) * The Sanitation Supervisors Union will not be testifying. * Bloomberg’s SNL Moment | The Empire * Understatement Of The Day Award: "Mayor Michael Bloomberg has steadfastly defended his administration’s decision not to declare an official emergency during last month’s blizzard, but a top mayoral deputy admitted Monday that an emergency declaration might have 'yielded a more successful response.'" (WSJ) * Josh (Benson) and Azi (paybarah) discuss the ongoing impact of the Christmas weekend blizzard on Bloomberg.
Albany Aunt Farm Goes On State Assembly May Tie Property-Tax Cap to City’s Rent Rules (NYT) * In Albany, A Special Role for Special Interests(WSJ) * NYC wants speed cameras; state approval needed(WSJ) * Latino gaining power in state Senate; new caucus may be hobbled (DemsDN)
How do you cut mental Health after Gabrielle Giffords shooting? Medicaid and Mental Health: How Can Fraud Be Contained? * Gov. Andrew Cuomo is planning to hold sit-down “summits” with legislative leaders – from both the majority and minority conferences – at the executive mansion in the coming days.* The Buffalo News wants every member of the Legislature to be required to drive the Thruway from Schenectady to Niagara Falls to get an idea of just how bad the upstate economy is.* Cuomo’s commitment to transparency only went so far when it came to his Medicaid redesign task force.* The property tax cap debate is well underway, with the focus on the Assembly. * “In a day and age when we’re talking about giving people the ability to live in their homes and not be priced out of their homes, we should not forget people who have rent protections,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.* Cuomo is already getting hits for not making the meetings of his Medicaid task force public. * State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli used his inauguration speech Sunday to call for oversight of state pensions and promised close scrutiny of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's first budget proposal. * Cuomo sets up reform summit (NYP) * Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos: Don't Link Tax Cap And Rent Regs, Democrats *Cuomo Solicits Medicaid Input * Gov. Cuomo: Assembly Dems Won't Pair Tax Cap, Rent Regs On My Watch *Three Men in a More Upscale Room (NYT) * "The latest schism among state Senate Democrats promises Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) a bit more breathing room in his second turn as a Capitol power broker," according to Newsday's Dan Janison.* The Committee to Save NY has reached its $10 million fundraising goal, but is holding its fire at the moment.* The Senate Democrats and IDC held dueling reform press conferences.
Jared Loughner Was Obsessed With Congresswoman Giffords Loughner stalked Giffords for three years (NYP) * ‘I Planned Ahead’ Was Written on an Envelope, F.B.I. Says(NYT) * Shooting Suspect Fixated on Giffords (WSJ) * Gabrielle Giffords shooting: Frightening, twisted shrine in Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner's yard (DN) * Palin in 'cross hairs'? Giffords' husband blames rhetoric (DN) * Arizona shooting massacre targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was an act of insanity (DN Ed) * Baseball mourns with Green family (DN) * McCarthy will seek to ban the type of high-capacity semi-automatic-weapon magazines used by Loughner in Saturday’s rampage.* The politics of anger is being hotly debated.* Rep. Tom Reed said the government won’t change the way it does business just because of “some lunatic who goes on a rampage.” * DHS Memo Suggests Jared Loughner’s Motiviation Might Have Been Anti-Semitism * In Rush To Get It First, NPR, CNN Get It Wrong On Giffords Story (Mediaiate)
Hammered
Judge Sentences Tom DeLay to 3 Years in Prison
Big classes, budget cuts should be Black's top worries: survey(DN) * Harlem Day Charter School Tries to Save Itself(WSJ) * Parents Attend Meeting On S.I. School With High Levels Of PCBs (NY1) * PCB scare hits Staten Island school P.S. 36 (DN)
Union Loses Suit Over Teacher-Ranking Data (NYT)
Toxic Deutsche Bank tower finally coming down (WABC)
NYC Council members aren’t happy Walmart execs plan to boycott a public hearing on the retail giant’s plans to open its first-ever store in the five boroughs.
SNL Takes On New York's Real Estate Woes (VIDEO)
Review of Carpenters’ Union Shows Corruption Persists (NYT)
Carpenters: The Mob's Union Two decades later, the feds are still trying to clean up carpenters' dirt * More than a year after its parent union placed the New York City District Council of Carpenters under supervision because its leader was charged with racketeering, the council remains influenced by the mob and is still a source of cash and illicit benefits for a select few, according to a recent assessment.
Crooked nonprofit director calls paying back stolen money a 'hardship
Law and Order For Poor, Bail System Can Be an Obstacle to Freedom(NYT) * Wounded in a Robbery, a Livery Driver Faces the Loss of His Car (NYT) * Gang Violence Blamed for Two Separate Killings(WSJ) * Jury selection to begin in NY beheading case(WSJ) * Male model reveals grisly details in murder of gay journalist in Times Square hotel (DN) * InterContinental 'killer' confesses to castrating dead journalist (NYP) * Teen Stabbed To Death At Washington Heights Party(NY1) * Murder Charges In Hotel Death (Fox 5) * Teens killed in separate NYC incidents (WABC) * Teen Stabbed To Death At Washington Heights Party(NY1) * Driver gets up to 15 years for NYC sidewalk crash
Andrew H. Green The Man Who Built Modern NYC
A Closer Look at the Mostly Unsung Father of Greater New York
Green was president of the city’s Board of Education, chairman of the Central Park Commission, city comptroller and, as head of a commission to consolidate what would become the five boroughs, the father of Greater New York, are contained in hundreds of his letters that were recently acquired by the New York Public Library.
Spitzer and Women?
Media and New TechEliot Spitzer's co-host set to get boot from CNN show (NYP) * NewsBeast adds key staff, sets April launch (NYP) *ABC News Chief Ben Sherwood Says He’s “Open” To Partnering With Bloomberg
