Alec Baldwin, TV face of bank, called hypocrite for visiting protesters(NYDN)
Day 34 Rain Thins Crowd
Will the Cold Drive Them Out?
For Protesters, Daylong Downpour Thins the Crowd (WSJ)* Voices from Zuccotti Park: Larry Left, the people's barber(NYDN) * Wet Weather Reduces "Occupy Wall Street" Population(NY1) * Rain scatters Occupy Wall Street protesters(NYP) * Occupy Protests Have Lit a Fire for Change - Seumas Milne, The Guardian * Permanent Adolescents' Occupying Wall St. - Roger Kimball, New Criterion * "Occupy Wall Street" Protesters Turn Their Outrage To Walmart(NY1) * Zuccotti Park owner Brookfield Properties is a bigtime political contributor, and has given money to Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. * NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio appears to be the first 2013 NYC mayoral contender to make a publicized visit to Zuccotti Park.
Obama in the Occupy Wall Street Camp - Doyle McManus, LA Times * Obama still flush with cash from financial sector despite frosty relations (Wash Post)
NY Millionaires: Will I Stay or Will I Go?
NYC boasts most superrich 'fat cats' in nation, report finds(NYDN) * Newsday says New York should let its income tax surcharge on high earners expire as scheduled at the end of the year, saying it will bolster the message that the state is back on track:
Unemployment Runs Out For Many
The number of jobless New Yorkers who will see their unemployment benefits run dry is expected to jump more than 30 percent in September. Number of NYers no longer eligible for unemployment benefits increased more than 30 percent last month(NYP)
No Verdict In John Haggerty Trial(NY!)
The jury remains out in the John Haggerty trial; a verdict could come today.* Judge clarifies Bloomberg is victim in $1.1M campaign cash heist trial(NYP) * In Trial of Political Consultant, Jury Asks, Who Is the Victim?(NYT) * Why Bloomberg Needed Haggerty (CHN) * Jury in NY political case asks: Who's the victim?(WSJ)
gracerauh Grace Rauh Thursday Tweet - No verdict today in Cuomo Uses PA Appointment to Push for the Building of Moynihan Station
Plans to revive the moribund Moynihan Station project
CUOMO SHUFFLE GIVES PORT AUTHORITY A MIDTOWN PUSH: By naming one of his deputies to run the Port Authority yesterday and putting the agency in charge of building an expanded Moynihan Station in Midtown, Gov. Andrew Cuomo put another footprint in the center of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's New York City(CHN) *The Post questions whether Pat Foye is up to the job of running the Port Authority, and says predecessor Chris Ward will be missed
The Daily News also gives Foye a less-than-enthusiastic welcome, saying Gov. Andrew Cuomo now is responsible for the Port Authority's success or failure* With his man Pat Foye running the Port Authority, Gov. Andrew Cuomo owns its success or failure(NYDN Ed) * Cuomo has selected two men with ties to opposing political parties to run the state’s top transportation-related agencies: Pat Foye (Port Authority, announced yesterday) and Joe Lhota (MTA, still unannounced) * Cuomo Deputy to Lead Port Authority(NYT) * Cuomo Fills Key Two Posts(WSJ) * Foye to Take Top Job at Port Authority(WSJ) * Cuomo Appoints New Port Authority Head(NY1) * Lhota on track to head MTA(NYP) * Prez-jet $lap at PA big(NYP) * Foye for the Port Authority(NYP Ed) * Foye is now reunited with the long-moribund Moynihan Station project, which he failed to get off the ground during the Spitzer administration. * Cuomo’s consolidation of projects and agencies under the PA’s control is intended to send the message that he doesn’t want “a lot of little fiefdoms,” according to a high-ranking aide to the governor. * Are East River tolls still a possibility? *
New MTA Chair
Cuomo names Lhota as new MTA chair(NYP) * Cuomo Picks MSG Executive To Head Up MTA(NY1)
NY Labor Puts Together It Own Super PAC to Buy Pols
Unions Shift Into Advocacy Mode(WSJ) Labor unions are pouring money into “unauthorized committees” that allow them to spend unrestricted amounts of money to influence state elections.
Justin Wax Jacobs looks like he's giving politics another crack. The 22-year-old recently registered a campaign committee to run in 2012 against Queens Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz, after getting tossed from the ballot on the most minor of technicalities in the recent special election for the seat. The young politico gathered 1,600 signatures in six days to run as an independent, but was by the Board of Elections because he failed to write the correct district number on the top of every page - becoming a poster boy for a broken system. Meanwhile, northeast Queens state committeeman Matt Silverstein, the former president of both the New York and Queens Young Democrats, took a step towards joining the fray to take on Republican Councilman Dan Halloran in 2013. Silverstein registered a campaign committee this week and may face off against several 2009 contenders for the seat, including Paul Vallone and Jerry Iannece. Silverstein said in an email he was simply keeping his "options open."
Special Election: Machine, Russians and the Orthodox Voters (True News)
At a panel discussion yesterday at the Murphy Institute featuring prominent labor experts, several panelists pinned the blame for Assemblyman David Weprin's recent loss to Rep. Bob Turner on the cloistered nature of the Brooklyn and Queens Democratic parties. Investigative reporter Tom Robbins said that although the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Brooklyn has been a last bastion of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the party failed to bring the borough's sizable Russian population into the fold - a population that then helped propel Turner to victory.
That sentiment was seconded by Ed Ott, the former executive director of the Central Labor Council, who argued that a similar sea change could be coming in southeast Queens, where a rising immigrant community could soon challenge the largely African-American political establishment. But Ott says he doesn't expect the establishment to do any outreach. "Incumbent elected officials don't want new voters," Ott said, "and the institutional players don't want to deal with new politicians."
De Blasio Pushes on Information Requests(NYT) The NYC Advocate announced on Wednesday that he was launching an investigation into the city’s responsiveness to requests made under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio will ask every New York City agency to track their responses to Freedom of Information Law requests, which he says are frequently delayed or denied
City's Unemployment Rate Stays at 8.7%(NYT)
Bloomberg: Suit to add handicapped-accessible cabs is unfair to 'average' people(NYDN) * Bloomberg: Handicapped-accessible cabs uncomfortable for 'average' riders(NYDN) * Charge! City to road-test electric taxicabs(NYP)
State Revenues Down
Tax revenues for New York fell about $391.9 million short of the state’s projections for the first half of the fiscal year, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office, but most counties saw modest sales tax collection gains in September. * If this trend continues, the state may have to adjust its revenue projections downward, DiNapoli warned.
NY's Tech U Competition Down to the Wire
Cornell Univ. & high-power Technion-Israel Institute aim high in mayor's genius-magnet competition(NYDN Ed)
City Threatens to Shut Down Orthodox Bus Separating Men, Women
Clash of Rights on a Brooklyn Bus(NYT) The B110 bus, which runs between Williamsburg and Borough Park, is different from other New York City buses. Most notably, women are asked to ride in the back.‘Back of bus’ = lack of bus City warns ‘biased’ carrier * A privately operated Brooklyn bus used mainly by the Hasidic population forces women to sit in the back, in violation of Dept. of Transporation policy. * City Probes Segregation Complaints On Brooklyn Bus Line (NY1)
New Tactics and Billions to Manage City Sewage(NYT) NYC has a tentative approval from the state on a plan to introduce technologies that are expected to greatly reduce sewer overflow into area waterways. The state Dept. of Environmental Conservation is slated to approve a massive $2.4 billion infrastructure project designed to improve the city’s storm water run-off problems by investing in alternative means like green roofs and porous pavements for parking lots.
Google NY Expands
Google Hits Space Bars Google has shown it's making a big economic bet on Manhattan by gobbling up more space within the building at 111 Eighth Ave., but some existing tenants have proven reluctant to leave.(WSJ)
David Grandeau vs. Fred Dicker. Worth a read.
Officials Call For Investigation Into Stop-And-Frisk Policy(NY1)
Accused racist cop prompts federal NYPD probe(NYDN)
Police Taser Use Questioned(WSJ)
Sex Charges Dropped After Victim Recants Identification(NYT) * Sex-Abuse Charges Dropped(WSJ) * Queens Man Cleared Of Sexual Assault Charges; Police Continue Search For Suspects(NY1)
After Arrests in Park Known for Sex, Cases Are Sealed, but Names Are Released(NYT)
S.I. Robbery Suspect In Custody Following Brief Shootout, Chase(NY1)
Not Guilty of Murder; Facing $1 Million Bail(NYT)
‘Beaten’ daddy finally snapped(NYP)Law and Order
Ex-Flight Attendant Gets Probation(WSJ) * Arrest made in NYC cabbie ear biting incident(WSJ) * Skull Found on Staten Island Belongs to Murder Victim (WSJ) * Suspected purse snatcher collared by Good Samaritan: I didn't do it(NYDN)* Westchester lawyer killed wife, kids before shooting himself(NYDN) * Inmate Who Killed Trooper Is Said to Have Escape Tools(NYT) * Bronx gets $1M to help protect battered women & aid violence victims(NYDN) * Man finds skeleton in his basement, cops investigate case as murder(NYDN) * Community Raises Funds For S.I. Toddler Injured In Shooting(NY1) * Flashy ‘perv’ busted(NYP) * Cops Foil Armed Robbery of Staten Island Diner (NBC) * Three Wanted In Armed Manhattan Home Invasion(NY1)
Arrest Made in Cabbie Ear Biting Incident(NBC) *‘Arrest’ justice for beaten cabby(NYP)
Madoff son’s wife bares how suicide hubby paid for $ins of the father (NYP) * Madoff Daughter-In-Law: I Will Tell My Young Children Their Grandfather Was Evil(WCBS)
Are GOP presidential opponents Rick Perry and Herman Cain also 'brothers'?(NYDN Ed) * Bad Blood Between Perry and Romney Is Longstanding(NYT) * White House takes aim at GOP contender Mitt Romney again(NYDN) * Mitt Romney May Win By Default - Mark Barabak, Los Angeles Times * Can Herman Cain Pull It Off? - Robert Costa, National Review Online * Herman Cain's Race Problem - Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post * Picture Keeps Getting Darker for Obama's Health Law - Chicago Tribune
Village Voice Lays Off the Best of New York The Village Voice has laid off Ward Harkavy, a senior editor, and Harry Siegel, a brand-new (but independently legendary) city hall columnist, Gawker reports . The Voice is on the late end of a wave of layoffs affecting all New Times papers that has now claimed more than twenty editorial positions. For reasons we assume(NYO)
NYC’s massive pension funds voted over Bloomberg’s objections to oppose have voted to oppose the board of directors at a shareholders meeting of the troubled News Corp. tomorrow.
Stephen Colbert Agrees With Herman Cain: Suck It Up Unemployed; It’s Your Own Damn Fault
Jon Stewart To Rick Perry: I Don’t Think You Should Do The ‘Brother Thing’
