Friday, March 18, 2011

The Super Rich State Workers

1,000 state workers earn more than Gov. Cuomo (DN)

The Politics of Cutting School Funding

Andrew's Albany ailment His latest symptom: a surely fever-induced view that New York's unions can help forge a sound plan to lay off city teachers.(NYP Ed) * School Cuts Loom Large Over Five-Way Albany Budget Meeting (NY1)* Majority of New York City voters think teacher layoffs should be based on performance: poll (NYP) * Team Mike flunks Cuomo's LIFO 'fix' (NYP) * Andy rips school $care tactics (NYP) * Teacher Layoffs: Editors warn Cuomo not to back down; "seems to have caught Albany pol disease." [NY Post] * Newsday believes the med-mal cap proposed by the MRT is too low.* Save NY now airs on school money (TU)

The Art of the Negotiation Process

Cuomo Seeks Rent Laws Extension Cuomo wants to connect an extension of the state's rent rules with the budget due at the end of the month, as well as a property tax cap favored by Senate Republicans. (WSJ)* Medicaid Redesign: Editors are concerned with Cuomo's plan to cap medical malpractice. [Times Union]

Cuomo Union Push Back Against Bloomberg

Doubts on Mayor’s Forecast of 4,600 Teacher Layoffs (NYT) * Email petition wasn't the first Education Dept. fracas (DN) * Senior Centers: A week before one in Queens opened, city officials announced they'd close it. [Joe Anuta] * Legislative leaders, who have proposed restoring some education aid in their respective budgets, stood by while Cuomo chastised the districts and later did not leap to their defense.* School superintendents rip Cuomo (TU) * Obeying Cuomo: Legislators can't fight Cuomo too much, thanks to Paterson's precedent. * Tracking Cuomo: "Governor avoids downstate" is the sub-head of an article titled, "Where's Cuomo?" [Amsterdam News, page 4. no link]

The Daily News Always Protecting the Mayor

"Sporadic boos and catcalls greeted the mayor"

The Daily News always comes down on the side of the mayor. Does the 39% approval rating of the mayor, a very low number, indicate the news is losing its power to persuade? Daily News Irish warmly greet Mayor Bloomberg at parade (DN) * Bloomberg Tries to Make Amends for a Joke, but a Cloud Trails Him (NYT) * Irish Joke Lingers as Mayor Marches in Parade (WSJ) * Mike gets chorus of booze (NYP) * Bloomberg Gaffes: Clyde Haberman wonders why Bloomberg's graffes don't appear on Twitter. [NY Times]

Bloomberg's Deputy Mayor Says Civil Service Is Obsolete

NYC Workers Abandon All Rights

Progressive Government Is Obsolet. The rule-based civil service was a step forward from Tammany Hall. But today's regulations stifle government workers at a time when getting value for tax dollars is more important than ever.

NY The Technology Capital of the World?

Universities Will Compete to Build a Campus on City Land (NYT) * Science Campus Plan Draws 18 Universities(WSJ) * Universities all over the world have responded to NY's bright idea to create a science, tech center (DN Ed)

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SHOCKING: Cheap Buses Employ Bad Drivers to Cut Corners?

Govt Lack of Background Checks Gambled on Passengers Lives

Gave 'false statements' when applying for driver's license (NYP) * More State Inspections Remove 10 Bus Drivers From The Road (NY1) * Death-bus license is yanked (NYP) * New York Suspends Licenses of Bus Driver in Bronx Crash (NYT) * Fatal Crashes Put Scrutiny On Booming Low-Fare Buses (WCBS TV)

Q Poll: NYC Voters Like Bike Lanes And Walmart, Dislike LIFO, Koch Bridge

NYT All the News That Fits What They Want You To Know

NYT What Forest City Lobbyist Bribery?

The NYT left out of their story today that the lobbyists hired by Forest City Ratner was indicted for bribing Senator Kruger, who was sending govt funds to the Atlantic Years after a request by Forest City VP Bruce Bender (A former member of Kruger's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club). The NYT also failed to inform its members that that same VP Bender was accused in the NYP yesterday by Yonkers Council Majority Leader John Murtagh Jr that he Kruger crony leaned on him for his vote for another Forest City project, Ridge Hill. Last year another Yonkers City Councilmembers Annabi was charged by federal authorities with accepting more than $166,000 in bribes to vote in favor of Ridge Hill and another Yonkers development. When Murtagh arrived for the vote on the project, Jereis, who was with Bender, warned Murtagh that Councilwoman Sandy Annabi “is going to vote ‘yes,’ so this is going to pass, and it would help me politically if I vote in favor of it also,” Murtagh recalled. Does the fact that Forest City's built the NYT building have anything to do with their edited coverage of Atlantic Yards and bribery? With Federal Case and Modular Building Plan, New Attention for Atlantic Yards Project

While Forest City Gets Govt Funds Brooklyn Homeowners Get Foreclosed On

No Payoff No Home For You

As Kruger works to get money for Forest City his constituents lose their homes Citywide Foreclosure Rates Highest In Brooklyn, Study Finds (NY1)

Two KCH workers charged in psych ward death Two Kings County Hospital workers are being prosecuted for letting a patient die in the psych ward - and covering up her death. (DN)

Subway Worker Vows to Fight(WSJ)

Mocker and the Worst Subway Escalator(WPIX)

After a Lot of Snow Fell, Just a Few Tickets for Not Cleaning It Up (NYT)

NY'S Protection Racket Of the Rich and Connected Continues

Deutsche Bank fire victim's father rips DA, will skip manslaughter trial of demolition supervisors The father of a firefighter killed in the Deutsche Bank blaze is set to boycott the manslaughter trial of three demolition supervisors - because no city officials or construction bigwigs were charged. (DN)

Bloombertg's Contract Patronage Giveaway

Daily News' Gonzalez Continues to Hit the Mayor on His Sweetheart Contract Giveaways

Disclose the details: Cloaked city technology contracts result in $185K for a help desk operator (DN)

New York City's private computer army keeps mushrooming under Mayor Bloomberg - and no one has any idea of its exact size. What we do know is the city's overall contract spending has doubled to more than $10 billion in the last five years - and a huge part of the increase is for technology contracts.

Government Contracted Waste

The 63 consultants from a little-known Florida-based company, Future Technology Associates, being paid an average of $250,000 a year to develop a new financial accounting system for the Department of Education. All of this money went to a firm that had no office and operated out of a mail drop. The 230 consultants from defense giant SAIC who were paid an average of $400,000 a year - some of them for a decade - to design and install the infamous CityTime payroll and timekeeping system. The nearly 200 Hewlett-Packard consultants who spent years overseeing the $2 billion upgrade to the city's 911 system, known as ECTP. Before Hewlett-Packard was bounced from the job for repeated delays and cost overruns, most of its consultants were being paid between $300,000 and $400,000. The $500 million paid to Northrop Grumman to erect NYC WIN, a wireless network for first responders that has been dogged by problems. On top of that initial expense, the city pays Northrop $37 million annually just to maintain NYC WIN.

Eliot Spitzer’s TV Days (Sunday Times Magazine)

Spitzer: "I don’t talk to journalists about what I fantasize about."

Law and Order Man Is Person of Interest in Wife’s Death (NYT) * Former cop eyed in wife's death assaulted and terrorized me, says ex-lover (DN) *Stonewall act in Bx. wife slay (NYP) * Foster Baby Beaten, Foster Mother Questioned (WPIX) * Bronx Woman's Death Ruled A Homicide (DN) * Ex-Officer Mum in Death of Wife(WSJ) * Disgruntled butler allegedly held socialite, boyfriend captive and injected them with fluid (DN) * Guilty plea in murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le (DN) * Two charged in Kings County Hospital psych ward death (DN) * Suspect accused of shoving cop to his death says it was accident (DN) * City gears up to fight unicyclist's suit (DN) * De Niro takes stand (NYT)

Subway Brawl Over Spaghetti Warning: Video Contains Offensive Language * Spaghetti sparks subway fight (video) (NYP)

Vanilla, Cherry or Oxycodone(WSJ) * 31 Are Accused of Conspiracy to Traffic in Oxycodone (NYT) *'Pill-pop'sicle man

Times' gaping hole New paywall not solid (NYP)

When The Times says few readers will ever hit the pay wall isn't it saying that too few are engaged with The Times? jeffjarvis (Twitter) * NY Times Announces Paywall (Which Google Will Help You Dig Underneath) (Mediaite)
*The New York Times' Paywall Gamble (Kurtz, The Daily Beast)

No Bailout for the Unemployed

The Forgotten Millions But for a few notable political figures, most of Washington seems to have abandoned unemployed Americans.(Krugman, NYT) * Executive Bonuses Bounce Back(WSJ) * Ex-Goldman Director Sues SEC After Civil Charges(WCBS TV) *Report: NYC wages suffered “steepest drop on record” (The Torch)

A trustee claims the Mets got interest-free loan from Madoff(NBC)

Trustee Alleges Madoff Gave Mets An Interest-Free Loan (NY1)

MLB Approves Three Bidders For Mets As Change Looms (Gothamist)

The trustee recovering money for Madoff’s victims charged that two Mets owners knew about Ponzi scheme all along:(WSJ)

Following U.N. Vote, France Vows Libya Action ‘Soon’ (NYT) * Libyan airspace closed as US, UK, France prepare for military action (NYP)

A Clinton insider says the secretary of state is “tired” of dealing with a president who can’t make up his mind about Libya.

Libya declares cease-fire after U.N. paves way for airstrikes, naval attacks against Gaddafi (Wash Post

New York seen as overdue for significant earthquake (AM New York)

Nuclear: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission "is to nuclear power today what the SEC was to Wall Street three years ago" says Richard Brodsky. [CBS] * Nuclear: Bloomberg notes Indian Point provides lots of power.

Frantic Effort at Plant as Japan Raises Warning Level (NYT) * Japan Faces Mistrust Amid Nuclear Efforts (WSJ)

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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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