Bill Thompson to Ray Kelly: End "political soap opera," in or out for #2013? Commish or candidate, "can't do both."
The Politics of the NYT The Old Gray Lady who is supporting Quinn for mayor uses one mayoral candidate to bash another mayoral candidate they do not want. The NYT which said Thompson Campaign has been call sluggish said Kelly would be distracted from his job as police commission by running for mayor. Will Kelly Run for Mayor? One Candidate Tires of Talk(NYT) The Democratic mayoral candidate William C. Thompson Jr. said that it was time for Raymond W. Kelly, the popular police commissioner, to “make a decision.” * Stop-frisk ‘terrorizing,’ Prof. West testifies (NYDN)
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Meet the Most Ruthless Operative in Queens County…and he’s working for Rory Lancman (Queens Poltiics) What reporters have not asked Sheinkopf was why he took the Fifth Amendment and declined to talk about a why AEG the lowest bidder in the first round won the contract to bring slot machines to Adeqaduct. The AEG contract was canceled when details about how it came about and was the subject of a state IG report and now a federal investigation. The IG report
Only the Jury Can Shut Espada Up
Judge Convinces Jurors To Renew Deliberations In Espada Fraud Trial(NY1) * Pedro Espada Jr. allowed press conferences outside courthouse(NYDN) * Prosecutors tried – and failed – to get the judge to muzzle Espada by forcing him to stop talking to the press. * A judge scolded the jurors in the Pedro Espada trial to keep an open mind and keep deliberating Update RT
Monserrate Fed Deal 20 Months. . . To Join Kruger?
BREAKING: Sources say that Hiram Monserrate is close to reaching a deal with the Feds on the Libre case. It will happen soon. * Hiram Monserrate's grass-roots campaign revealed: Staffers(NYDN)
* BREAKING: Hiram Monserrate will do at least 20 months in plea deal with the Feds. * Ex-state Sen. Hiram Monserrate scheduled to plead guilty in "slush fund" case(NYP) * Monserrate pleading guilty to fraud(TU) * Monserrate’s Plea Agreement(YNN) * Monserrate Pleads Guilty in Federal Court(NBC)
* BREAKING: Hiram Monserrate will do at least 20 months in plea deal with the Feds. * Ex-state Sen. Hiram Monserrate scheduled to plead guilty in "slush fund" case(NYP) * Monserrate pleading guilty to fraud(TU) * Monserrate’s Plea Agreement(YNN) * Monserrate Pleads Guilty in Federal Court(NBC)
Queens Group Spent City's Cash, but Has No Receipts Showing
Several members of Monserrate's legislative staff have also worked for LIBRE, including City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, who was once his Council chief of staff. Ferreras was LIBRE's chairwoman for a time, when it handled a program to register 1,000 voters. A source familiar with the probe said LIBRE workers turned over registration cards at the last minute to keep his competitors in the dark.
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Feds Go After Bruno Again Second Time No Charm
New Bribery Charges Filed Against Ex-Senate Leader(NYT) * New Charges Against Bruno(WSJ) * Attorney General Accused Retired Race Horse Charity Of Neglect(NY1) * Here we Joe again, say feds (NYDN) * One of Bruno’s attorneys, E. Stewart Jones, had plenty to say, calling the case a “miscarriage of justice.” Joe Bruno is 83 years of age,” said his attorney, E. Stewart Jones. “He is a father, he is a grandfather, he is a great-grandfather, he is a private citizen, he is no longer in public life. They have spent seven years investigating, harassing and intimidating Joe and his supporters, and this is what we have to show for it at this point in time: more of the same.” (NYT)
Brooklyn Surrogate Court Bookkeeper Indicted for Stealing from Dead People
Ex-City Bookkeeper Indicted for Stealing from Dead People: DA (NBC) Richard Paul, 34, the former Kings County Public Administrator's office bookkeeper, was charged with grand larceny and defrauding the government * Surrogate's Court And Why It Should Go
Bloomberg Dances the Budget to Make His Pick for Mayor Look Good
The mayor still proposing to shutter 20 fire companies and slash subsidies to libraries, child-care and youth programs. Bloomberg declared during his budget announcement yesterday that municipal workers who’ve toiled without a contract for as much as three years won’t receive retroactive pay raises, even after he leaves office, Bloomberg’s $68.7 billion 2013 executive budget threatens to slash more than 42,000 slots from child-care and after-school programs for kids. NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn called those cuts “unacceptable.” Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, said that “New York will pay the price for shortsighted budget decisions long after the mayor leaves office.” And Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, criticized the proposal as “out of touch” with working families. “We should stop this phony budget dance,” he said, “and stop treating workers as pawns in this annual charade.”
NYC's 911 System Troubled by Delays, Errors, Report Says (NBC) Bloomberg NYT CityTime Lies + Hiram Jail!(Troy Artist) * Mayor's Office Releases Edited, Yet Still Damning, 911 Response Report (Gothamist) * Bloomberg Releases Edited Version of Not-at-All-Comforting 911 Report(NY Mag) * Report: New York City’s 911 System Beset By Delays, Errors(WCBS)
Budget Problems the Next Mayor Will Have to Deal With
The city has been spending more than it takes in — 3.6 percent a year more — for half a decade. What’s kept it in the black, sort of, is the “remainder of the surplus” $8 billion — “from the last economic boom.” Now that surplus is gone. Wall Street; profits have shrunk from $27.6 billion in 2010 to $7.7 billion last year. “It doesn’t look to us like they’re going to bail us out,” Bloomberg said. To fill the budget gap this year the mayor is relying on one-shots. He’ll take $466 million that New York is getting from the corporate fraudsters who hatched the CityTime. Plus, he’s taking $1 billion from a “trust fund” that’s supposed to pay future retiree health benefits. The half a billion dollars from the settlement over the CityTime payroll scandal would enable New York to fill more than 2,500 teaching positions that were to be eliminated in the budget for the coming fiscal year, while avoiding tax increases or layoffs of police officers or firefighters. After Mike, the deluge(NYP) Next mayor’s budget woes * "Wall Street is downsizing. There's no doubt about that," says @MikeBloomberg
Fixed Yearly Increases 7%
Pensions, Medicaid and debt service, for example — which alone are on pace to jump nearly $2 billion, or more than 7 percent. Paid for by modest trims throughout his agencies, including at the Police and Fire departments, and for hospitals and social services. public-worker health care and pensions, which will cost $16.6 billion next year, debt, at $6.1 billion, and education, at $13.6 billion. That’s $7.5 billion more than New York spent on everything 11 years ago.
City Hall is counting on $1 billion from the sale of new taxi medallions and $300 million in state school aid that might not materialize. A backslide in the economy could shrink revenues. Since February, Bloomberg reported, tax revenues have increased more slowly than had been projected, while costs for social programs, ones for the homeless, have climbed more quickly.
Steal This IPod
iPhone crime? iHave bigger worries: mayor(NYP)
"Marty doesn’t understand the automobile business," Bloomberg says of Brooklyn BP supporting building factory in BK for Taxi of Tomorrow
Melike Ayan with Marty Markowitz about Karsan - YouTube
Washington Beat: City's Federal Elected Officials Fight For Local Mass Transit Funds(NY1)
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Cuomo Wants to Be the New Moses (Robert)
Cuomo Invokes Al Smith As He Seeks Improved Communication Between State Agencies(NY1) * EBay predicts it could expand its NYC presence by another 200 workers.
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Hired Fired Rehired and Fired Again
It was a revolving door-kind-of-day for Council staffer David Segal. Hours after being re-hired by Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Segal was handed a letter from his boss informing him that he had been fired again. Segal was canned by Rodriguez last week after the New York Post revealed that the 26-year-old was arrested seven years ago for attempting to burn down an army recruitment center in the Bronx. Sources say Rodriguez was “spooked” by a tweet from NY1 political commentator Gerson Borrero deriding the councilman for re-hiring Segal. “Councilman Rodriguez rehired me to his office,” Segal said. “I reported to work at 9 a.m. at 250 Broadway. I worked during the morning doing writing for the office. And a little over five hours after I got there, Councilman Rodriguez fired me yet again.” Segal said he would make a public statement about the situation next Monday.
“It’s about to get interesting,” he said. Earlier, City & State reported that Council Speaker Christine Quinn had advised Rodriguez to re-hire Segal. Council lawyer Liz Fine told the Post last week that it would be a violation to fire anyone based on past incarceration. Reached for comment, Rodriguez told us that it was within his right to fire any of his staffers as he saw fit. “Today I gave a letter to Mr. David Segal, where I thanked him for the hard work and dedication during the months that he served in my office and our community,” Rodriguez said. “At the same time I let him know that his service was no longer needed in my office. And I acted within the rights that I have as a Council member to hire or to let anyone of my staff leave.” Asked if he was concerned about a possible lawsuit, Rodriguez declined further comment. (City and State)
The two firms tasked with redeveloping the Domino site are feuding, potentially putting the project at risk.
End of an Era
Rivera tears ACL in outfield before Yankees game, career in jeopardy(NYP)
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Clean Up the State's Horse Business
State Attorney General Sues Foundation for Retired Racehorses(NYT) * Attorney General Accused Retired Race Horse Charity Of Neglect(NY1) * AG Eric Schneiderman’s complaint against the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s directors asserts that as a result of the foundation’s failings, horses were starved and neglected and nearly 100 died in 2010 alone.* Cuomo must clean house at New York Racing Association Aqueduct, Belmont & Saratoga need honest, competent management (NYDN Ed) *Horse Group Calls AG’s Lawsuit “A Pack Of Lies”(LoHud) * NYRA Board Fires Hayward and Kehoe(YNN)
Homeless count increases in Bronx; watchdogs claim figures (NYDN) * Landlord offers apartment to homeless, does not receive(WABC)
Con Ed battles rash of 30 manhole cover thefts in last two months(NYP) * Manhole Lid Theft Is On the Rise(NYT) * Con Ed warns thieves are stealing manhole covers(WABC)
Queens waterfront gets new bike path(NYDN)
New York Times confirms non-newsroom layoffs (Romesesko)
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The Making of A President 2012
Wolf Blitzer Forces Gingrich To Sit Through Obama Ad Featuring His Attacks On Romney * Barney Frank: ‘If You’re A Mainstream Republican, You Want The Current Crowd Of Extremists To Lose’ * Farewell to Hope and Change - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post * Why Dems Must Find a Moral Argument - Michael Kazin, The New Republic *"Julia" Becomes Vehicle for Obama's Messaging - Michael Shear, NY Times * Mitt's Practical Vision vs. Obama's Liberal Agenda - Peter Ferrara, Forbes * Romney Team's Path to 270 Electoral Votes - David Lightman, McClatchy * Obama Targets GOP, Romney Zeroes In on a President - Erin McPike, RCP * Budget Cuts Are Behind Our Stalled Recovery - Robert Reich, Salon * Is Obama's Vetting Finally Beginning? - Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph * Yes, the Press Has Vetted Obama - Jonathan Bernstein, Washington Post * With Serious Talk, Newt Elevated GOP Race - Byron York, DC Examiner * Pro-Obama Mormons Unswayed by Romney's Faith - Scott Conroy, RCP * Election 2012 Polls: Virginia | Ohio | Florida | Pennsylvania | Arizona* Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are set to campaign together on Saturday. * The Obama campaign is microtargeting states and voters. * George Bush is playing no role in this campaign. * Bloomberg prescription to break Washington gridlock: more junkets and earmarks(Capital) *New Jobs Slow; Unemployment Drops as Work Force Shrinks(NYT) * Romney Calls Report ‘Very Disappointing’(NYO) * Condi Rice has some VP advice for Mitt Romney: “Not me.” * Elizabeth Warren has never visited Boston’s oldest Native American center. *What Does Mitt Romney Have to Offer? - Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Does Obama’s ‘Julia’ Campaign Have Republicans Right Where He Wants Them? *Obama Gets Major Boost From George Clooney Fundraiser(Huff Post) * Rich on Obama, the GOP, and Bin Laden(NY Magazine)* Obama's Vision for Julia: Statism - Rich Lowry, New York Post * Weak Economy Isn't Bad Enough to Beat Obama - Jonathan Chait, NY Mag * The Life of Julia: Is Anyone Buying This Shtick? - Yuval Levin, NRO * GOP Rivals Awkwardly Snuggle Up to Romney - Gloria Borger, CNN * Obama Abolishes the Press Conference - Keith Koffler, White House Dossier
Jon Stewart & Co. Reach Conclusion About Chinese Dissident Case: It’s All Bill Clinton’s Fault
The 1% Pay Fines Never Go to Jail
Second Bovis exec pleads guilty(NYDN)
Law and Order
French investigators probing ex-pol's alleged attack on hooker at DC sex party(NYP)
Gullible Brooklyn woman bilked for 44G in lottery hoax(NYP) * Judge orders Rx for mentally ill suspect(NYDN) * Guilty of dressing like dead mom to cash Soc Sec check (NYDN) * 1991 ‘slay’ fugitive nabbed(NYP) * FBI, NYPD return Queens murder suspect after 20 years(WABC) * 2 Wanted in Gunpoint Robbery on Queens Street(NBC) * DiNapoli: Inmates Received $36K In Improper Benefits(YNN)
Terrorism
Mayor Cites Strong Private Sector In Executive Budget Address(NYT) * Osama’s secret letters: Twisted rip at NY bomber(NYP) * Recovered Bin Laden Letters Show a Divided Al Qaeda(NYT)