Friday, July 6, 2012

The Media Let the BOE Get Away With It Again

Arrogant BOE Pigs Defend Their Corrupt Pork Jobs, Media Wimps Out NYC Board of Elections Commissioner @PolancoLaw told @InsideCityHall he is fed up with the criticism of #NY13 counting. Juan Gonzalez discovers that a top Board of Elections official met before the election with key Rangel operatives, including Assemblyman Keith Wright.These are extremely troubling facts that Daily News has uncovered. A secret meeting between board of elections staff and Rangel operatives three days before the election to discuss staffing at the polls and general "election matters". * Board of Elections: Adriano Espaillat Should Apologize for ‘Appalling’ Attacks (NYO) * Espaillat Campaign Cries Foul Over Daily News Report (NYO) *Democratic Party Boss Slams Report Board of Elections is Working to Help Charlie Rangel Stay In Office (NYO)* The NYC Board of Elections has been without an executive director for more than a year and a half.* Rangel race gets messier(Politico)

Traditionally, district leaders are the ones who get to name the poll workers that the board will hire for their districts on Election Day. Yet a half-dozen district leaders who supported Espaillat told me this week that the Board of Elections rejected virtually all the people they recommended as poll workers. * Anything Goes at NYC's Bizarro World Elections Board - Village Voice * As of 7 p.m., #NYC Board of Elections reports Charlie Rangel 994 votes ahead of Adriano Espaillat in #NY13. More to follow..* Rangel Lead Continues To Expand In Primary Recount(NY1) * Challenger’s Prospects Dim as Rangel’s Lead Widens in Count of Primary Ballots(NYT) Mr. Rangel’s current lead, of just over 2 percent, is sizable enough that a recount would not be required, according to the Board of Elections. Mr. Espaillat faces another challenge: He must decide by Thursday whether to declare himself a candidate for re-election to the State Senate. Some experts have suggested that to do so, he would have to drop his questioning of the Congressional election results, because the state bars individuals from seeking election to more than one post at the same time.

Rangel Win All is Forgotten

Rangel’s Slim Lead Widens as Ballot Count Continues (NYT) Rangel’s narrow lead over his challenger state Sen. Adriano Espaillat increased slightly to 945 votes as the New York City Board of Elections began counting absentee and affidavit ballots * Rangel Primary Lead Grows During First Day Of Paper Ballot Count(NY1) * NY1 Online: Board Of Elections Commissioner Fires Back * Rangel-Espaillat vote-count odyssey continues* Rangel's lead increases, Espaillat fares well in court(NYDN) * Who are the losers in all of this? Everyone, a Dem source tells The DN: “the Board of Elections, for being exposed yet again as being stuck in the 1970s; No. 2, Rangel, for having to go down to the wire in a race he should have easily won; and No. 3, Espaillat, because even with the court challenge, he’s going to lose by some ‘class-president’-[election] number of votes.” * 13th Congressional District primary still not decided (YNN) * Recount In Rangel-Espaillat Primary To Continue Friday (NY1)

Where is the Brennan Center and the Goo Goos on Board of Election Reform? We Know Why the Pols are Hiding

Campaign 2012 Dan Halloran Vows to Repeal ‘Obamacare’ [Video]

Countrywide Pay to Play Towns and Congress

Brooklyn Rep. Edolphus Towns treated to VIP mortgage rates: House report (NYP)Towns received two sweetheart loans from defunct mortgage giant Countrywide totaling almost $400,000, according to a congressional report * Countrywide collusion (NYP Ed) A new report laying out how the nation’s then-largest issuer of subprime mortgages bought improper influence with hundreds of Capitol Hill VIPs landed yesterday — demonstrating in depressing detail how the skids to America’s 2008 housing-market collapse were greased.

Divisions in Satmar Sect Complicate Politics of Brooklyn Hasidim

Divisions in Satmar Sect Complicate Politics of Brooklyn Hasidim(NYT) The notion that Hasidic Jews vote identically is simplistic; politics is a battlefield for two brothers in a dynastic struggle in the Satmar sect.Orthodox Pundit doesn’t think much of the story. * City hosps settle on Sabbath complaints(NYDN) * NYC’s public hospital system reached a settlement with AG Eric Schneiderman over discrimination complaints from nurses who say they were barred from taking time off to observe the Sabbath.

Asian Power
Asians Start Flexing Political Muscle(WSJ)

You Don't Think They Going Into Session to Raise Their Pay

Albany to Address Co-op and Condo Tax Break (NYT) Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers anticipate a special session to reinstate an abatement for hundreds of thousands of New York City apartments. Cuomo and state lawmakers expect to return to Albany later this year to prevent a scheduled tax increase for hundreds of thousands of city co-op and condo owners

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Stringer Says There Better Way to Serve the Pork, Take That Quinn

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer argues that his way of doling out discretionary funding, setting up independent panels to evaluate cash pleas, is better than City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s(NYDN)* Scott Stringer is touting a new way his office has devised to divvy up pork, but it is hard not to view the program as a rebuke to his 2013 mayoral rival Christine Quinn.

King of Queens Pork Councilman Comrie tops Queens discretionary funds(NYDN) Elizabeth Crowley saw her discretionary funding cut in half after she ran for Congress without the county party’s permission.

Groups' Praise of Cuomo Was Written by Cuomo Aides(NYT)

The Soda Empire Strike Back At Bloomberg

At Movies and Beaches, Soda Industry Makes Its Case(NYT) The soft drink industry is moving its campaign against Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban to beaches and movie theaters to appeal to sympathetic New Yorkers who imbibe the sugary drinks. Mayor Bloomberg should ban beer, wine, and liquor, because alcohol is worse for an individual’s health than soda, Reason magazine editor Jared Sullum suggests in an Op-Ed for the News * Tish James and Melissa Mark-Viverito said Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban will hurt job growth and might be unconstitutional. *The soda industry is taking to movie theaters and area beaches to fight back against Mayor Bloomberg’s big soda ban.

Judge Reverses Mayor on Wages(WSJ) A state judge blocked Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to strip City Comptroller John Liu of the authority to set wages for about 10,000 city workers * Judge annuls pay scale change for 10,000 city workers(WABC) * A state judge rejected an executive order Bloomberg that removed control over salaries for 10,000 unionized city employees – including carpenters, electricians and other trades – away from NYC Comptroller John Liu’s office.

After Accidents and Lawsuits, More Money for Tree Care

NYC adds more money for tree care(WSJ) The City Council has added $2-million for street pruning to the mayor’s budget, after a series of expensive lawsuits stemming from deaths or injuries caused by falling tree limbs in city parks

More than 60,000 test takers get call in FDNY bias case (NYDN)

Abe George, Challenger To Joe Hynes, Wants To Bring a Little Manhattan to Brooklyn DA’s Office(NYO)

Summer Program Provides Some City Youth With Highly Desired Jobs(NY1) Bloomberg credits a summer job in high school with setting him on a career path that led him to found his billion-dollar company and eventually become mayor * Bloomberg credits a high school summer job at a small electronics shop with putting him on the career path to become a multibillionaire.

Cooling an Overheated City(NYT Ed) The success of McCarren Park Pool shows that people crave swimming outdoors in the summer. The city needs to add more outdoor public pools.The Times declares McCarren Park Pool largely a success one week into its opening and urges the city to open more outdoor pools to keep the population cool * Exclusive: McCarren pool probs blamed on 'meatheads'(NYDN)* For a Second New Pool in Brooklyn, Less Fanfare and No Drama(NYT)

Education
‘Transfer’ schools offer at-risk students a second chan (NYDN) * On Special Education, Spurned Teacher Is Vindicated (NYT)

A former White House counselor for energy and climate change urges federal oversight of and regulations for fracking rather than a state-by-state patchwork.

The TU reports 457 bills passed in 2012 have yet to be delivered to the executive chamber.

Union Workers Continue Rallies As Con Ed Contract Talks Resume(NY1) * Nearly half the 8,500 ConEd workers locked out of their jobs protested contract negotiations that have dragged on precipitously for almost a week, the Wall Street Journal records: * Heat’s on as Con Ed talks fizzle (NYDN) * Con Edison, union meets Thursday amid lockout(WABC)

The Making of A President 2012

Obama in jobs jab at Romney(NYP)* Shots by Murdoch at Romney Play Out to Conservative Core(NYT) * Mr. Romney Changes His Mind, Again(NYT Ed) A meaningless spat obscures health care issues that Mitt Romney does not want to address in order to keep the Republican Party’s conservative base happy. * Off and Out With Mitt Romney(Krugman, NYT) All the talk of offshoring and outsourcing has Mitt Romney on the defense. But what was good for Bain Capital definitely would not be good for America.* President Obama Advised Patrons to Turn Off Fox News in Ohio Pub(NYO) * The Washington Post fact-checker takes on Obamacare, and decides that the bill “will provide more tax relief than tax burden for middle-income Americans.” * Morgan Freeman says that Obama isn’t America’s first black president–he is America’s first mixed race president. * Top Obama Adviser Compares Mitt Romney To Richard Nixon(Huff Post) * Mitt Romney called the dismal June jobs numbers “a kick in the gut.” * The bad jobs news will give Romney a needed boost after a tough couple of weeks. *Obama Promotes a Long View on Jobs(NYT) * Jobs Report: Obama Needs Some Help (New Yorker) * The Private Sector Is *NOT* Doing Fine - Noam Scheiber, The New Republic * 4 Years of Disappointing Jobs Reports - Jim Geraghty, National Review * How Obama's Allies Are Defining Romney - Jonathan Chait, New York Mag * Obama's Imperial Presidency - Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal
Obama Has Til Labor Day to Kick Jobs Doldrums - Robert Reich, Huff Post * Election '12: Electoral College Map | No Toss Up States | Create Your Own

June Jobs Report Disappoints: Just 80k Jobs Created, Unemployment Stable At 8.2%Unemployment rate for blacks jumps to 14.4%... * Republicans pin blame for flat jobs report on Obama - (CNN) * Job Growth Remains Tepid; No Dent in Rate of Unemployed(NYt)

4
20% of the Crimes Come From Public Housing Were Only 5% of the City Lives

Mayor Defends Stop-And-Frisk Even As State Courts Object To Its Use(NY1) * Heroes must be allowed to do jobs(NYDN) * The News argues that the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy must continue because it saves the lives of patrolling officers: * At a Bellevue Hospital press conference following the shooting of an NYPD officer, Mayor Bloomberg blasted “all of Washington” and “judges on the bench” for putting police officers’ lives at risk by failing to get illegal guns off the street.

Kelly: Cop Saved By God and Kevlar

Vest saves hero cop's life as manhunt for shooter continues(NYP) * Inside NYPD’s perilous sweeps of high-rise project buildings (NYP) * Bullet Aimed at an Officer’s Heart Is Stopped by His Protective Vest(NYT) * Police Seek Gunman After Officer Shooting(WSJ) * Police Search For Gunman Who Shot Officer On Lower East Side(NY1) * The News encourages state legislators to strengthen Kendra’s Law, which could keep violent and mentally deranged individuals off the street:

MTA officer stabbed in face at LIRR station leaves the hospital (NYP) * Stabbed MTA Officer Leaves Hospital, Eager To Return To The Job(NY1) * I’m lucky to be alive,' says hero cop(NYDN)
Shot cop released from hospital(NYDN)

House-crasher sentenced after enjoying Diddy's food, cigars and toothbrush(NYP)

Teacher found stabbed to death inside SI home a week after surviving shootout (NYP) * Brooklyn Teacher Is Fatally Stabbed(NYT) * NYC School Teacher Simonette Mapes-Crupi Found Brutally(WCBS) * Teacher found stabbed to death in Staten Island home(WABC)

Exclusive: Man accused of raping a teen has been working at a Brooklyn yeshiva (NYDN) Moshe Pinter chaperoned troubled teens on weekend trips

ADA voices 'concerns' about bail conditions for Yankee GM Cashman’s alleged stalker(NYP)* Harlem College Graduate Shot During Brief Visit Home(NY1)* Woman, 29, fatally stabbed on Staten Island; police eye (NYDM) * Yankee GM stalker released(NYDN) * Four Men Wanted For Riverdale Home Robbery (NY1)
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Graduate dies in night of chaos (NYDN)

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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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