CityTime scandal causes shakeup at SAIC
"The kind of behavior we have seen in CityTime is criminal and is an affront to everything SAIC stands for as a company," company CEO Walt Havenstein said in a letter distributed just moments ago. "SAIC has a long and proud history, with an outstanding reputation for integrity and strong ethical business practices. That’s why the actions of those involved are so appalling to me and to all of us at the company."
NYP questions the appointment of McCall as chairman of the SUNY Board, based on his closeness to the teachers union, opposition to mayoral control and hostility to charter schoolsCarl McCall’s conflicts NYP say McCall is way too close -- to teachers unions, which explains his opposition to mayoral control of the NYC schools. That probably also explains his hostility to charter schools -- which is a very big deal, given that SUNY is one of the main issuers of charters in the state. Then there’s the fact that McCall used his past state position -- which made him sole trustee of the state’s huge pensions fund -- as a jobs factory for his friends and relatives. Meanwhile, the president of SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology is one Joyce Brown -- McCall’s wife. Though the conflict of interest seems blatant, SUNY officials insist that none exists, since McCall will recuse himself from any decisions involving FIT, as he’s done since joining the board four years ago. * Carl McCall must galvanize the moribund SUNY leadership(NYDN Ed) * The DN chides Zimpher for buying into the “Albany orthodoxy” that all SUNY campuses should be treated equally
McCall History of Pay to Play
Carl McCall's Secret Self (Village Voice) * An Embarrassment of Riches (Village Voice) * The Pragmatic Politician (Village Voice) * New York - McCall's Company Is Subpoenaed in Pension Inquiry ...
Many Long Time NY Congressmembers Face Redistricting With No $$$
Despite the looming uncertainty of redistricting, a number of NY House members have taken a decidedly lackadaisical approach to fundraising.
Short on Political Cash(WSJ) Some New York Congressional Representatives Posted Meager Campaign Receipts * Amid redistricting fears, Reps. Yvette Clark, Gark Ackerman and Jose Serrano each raised less than $50,000 during the last fundraising cycle, while Clark, Serrano, Ed Towns and Greg Meeks reported having less than $50,000 total cash-on-hand
Bronx DA Ticket Fixing Cover Up
A Drug Deal in the Bronx is about to Be Let Go because of the cop who arrested him is accused of fixing tickets. Yet the NYPD Ticket Fixing Scandal Indictments are still secret. WTF is Going ON
NYPD ticket-fixing scandal could force case against drug dealer to be dropped(NYPD)
Eek! 17% more city eateries fail inspection in 2011(NYDN) * According to the Health Department, 17 percent more New York City restaurants failed their health inspections this year, and restaurant owners say the bad scores are unfairly affecting their profits
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Feds Piling On Boyland Before His Trial Starts
Add the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office to our list of illustrious readers. After The Capitol reported indicted Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. claimed Albany per diem expenses on days he was elsewhere (http://bit.ly/npxaCn), federal prosecutors obtained the Assembly paperwork backing up our story and asked a judge to add them to the case corruption case against him. "The evidence of the per diem payments goes directly to prove Boyland Jr.'s intent to engage in a bribery conspiracy through a no-show consulting job," they wrote. They cited the same example we first disclosed, in which Boyland asked taxpayers to pay Albany expenses for the day he was arraigned in a Manhattan court. The assemblyman's trial on charges of honest services theft and mail fraud begins Nov. 1. * Federal prosecutors have ended their five-year investigation into Senator Robert Menendez’s relationship with a nonprofit agency in Union City, N.J.
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NYP's Gelinas Continues the Papers Attacks on the Comptroller, Says Liu Does A Sargent Schultz on City's Increasing Pension Costs
Liu’s pension whitewash ‘Watchdog’ kisses up to unions(NYP) This year, New York City taxpayers will fork over $8.4 billion for city workers’ pensions, up from $1.3 billion a decade ago. City pension costs are a crisis -- one that the city’s fiscal watchdog, John Liu, should tackle. Instead, Comptroller Liu just released a report whose title might as well be “Nothing to See Here, Folks -- Just Leave Your Wallet and Move Along
Haggerty Breaks Out of Jail
After being convicted Friday of stealing close to $1 million from Bloomberg, John Haggerty posted $250,000 bail Saturday and left jail.
Weiner is Still Spending
Anthony Weiner Is Still Spending Campaign Cash (NYO) *Weiner spent $130K of campaign cash within 3 months after he resigned : report(NYP) * He spent $130,000 in the three months since his June 24 resignation. That total was more than what all but three of the 11 sitting members of New York City’s House delegation spent during that time
Stay the Course Liu
Liu’s magical thinking on pensions(NY Torch) As public pension costs continue to rise, straining municipal budgets to the breaking point, New York City Comptroller John Liu has emerged as a stalwart defender of the status quo.
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PA Cops Taken for A Ride
Suit socks PA police for promotion ‘fixes’ (NYP) Eleven Port Authority cops filed a federal lawsuit claiming the agency's process for hiring and promoting police officers is rigged, after the Post reported two chauffeurs to high-level officials were promoted in September * Suit socks PA police for promotion ‘fixes’(NYP) * A new lawsuit alleges that the Port Authority set up a sham hiring process in order to insure that brass loyalists were hired and promoted.
Passenger attacks on bus drivers soaring, new MTA statistics show (NYDN) * MTA Bus Driver Attacks On the Rise(NBC)
Software glitches have forced the MTA to delay charging a new $1 surcharge for MetroCards until January – at least.
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Court: Secret Pension OK
The public has every right to know the names of pensioners it pays (NYDN) The News blasts a decision by a Manhattan Supreme Court judge to uphold a decision by the trustees of the city and state pension funds to keep a list of its retirees and pension amounts under wraps
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NY Primary is Not Dated
A court hearing on moving up NY’s 2012 primary date has been delayed yet again, and is now scheduled for Nov. 17.
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Universities vying for an applied sciences campus in NYC are engaged in a public relations war as they try to out-green one another
A New Green College in NYC Environmental Features in Science Campus Plans(NYT) Universities’ competing proposals to build a science graduate school on Roosevelt Island include features like geothermal wells, energy-neutral buildings and a filtration marsh. * JetBlue, Goldman Sachs laud Bloomy's $100M bid for 'genius school'(NYDN)
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Despite rules against them, tents have begun popping up among the OWS protesters in Zuccotti Park
Against Rules, Tents Arise at Protest(WSJ) * Even in Jerusalem, Thoughts Stray to Zuccotti Park(NYT) * Religion claims its place in Occupy Wall Street(WSJ) * Pete Seeger enters 9th decade as an activist(WSJ) * Protesters Hone the Art of a Movement(WSJ) * Occupy Wall Street vs. the Tea Party: Guess that protest! (NYDN) * Occupy Wall Street Protesters Rally For Health Care Reform(NY1) *
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The Bonus Army veterans stage a mass vigil on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in 1932
The Class War Has Begun (Frank Rich, NY Mag)
Amid unsubstantiated rumors that he is funding Occupy Wall Street, billionaire George Soros had a private meeting with NYPD chief Ray Kelly at 1 Police Plaza last week, Len Levitt reports: * Zuccotti’s cooks can’t take ‘A’ joke (NYP) * 500 'Parents For Occupy Wall Street' Spend The Night In Zucotti(Huff Post) * Why It’s So Hard to Tell Where Mayor Bloomberg Stands on Occupy Wall Street (The New Republic) * Even in Jerusalem, Mayor's Thoughts Stray to Zuccotti Park (NYT) UPDATE District Attorney Won't Drop Charges Against Protesters(NYT) * Bloomberg appears to have experienced a change of heart on whether Occupy Wall Street is good for tourism.
Cuomo is ‘Preoccupied’ Wall Street (Dicker, NYP) : "Rare political defeat" for Gov Cuomo in failing to get Albany Mayor Jennings to shut down Occupy Albany.* Quiet protest in 2nd night ccupy Albany rally continues peacefully near City Hall, Capitol(TU) Cuomo requested that Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings enforce a city ordinance and kick Occupy Albany protesters out of the city's Academy Park by 11 p.m., but Jennings demurred and is letting them stay * The Occupy Albany participants plan a march Thursday with the pro-millionaire’s tax advocates, and are referring to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as “Governor 1%.”
State spends $500,000 annually to survey the effectiveness of its anti-smoking efforts, which some Senate GOPs find to be a waste of money
Up in smoke! N.Y. pols fired-up that Health Dept. spends $500G a year for smoking surveys, research(NYDN) * GOP senators are furious the state is paying $20 a pop to get smokers to talk about their efforts to kick the habit as part of its ongoing tobacco cessation effort.* Smokers Paid $20 Each to Take State Surveys(NBC)
NYC’s two GOP congressmen, Michael Grimm and Bob Turner, are joining a demonstration today calling for an abstinence-only alternative to the new, mandated sex-ed curriculum.
The GOP is Cheaper
New York Senate Republicans have reduced their staff by some 400 positions, closed five regional offices and consolidated six departments into three, the Times-Union reports: