Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Award Winning Overhyped Generation of New Leaders

In the Old Days Candidates Came From Organizing the Community, Today It All About How They Spin the Press
Hype-A woman talks good game (NYP) A young City Council candidate who readily boasts about her experience as founder and CEO of a local nonprofit admits her 3-year-old organization has never done anything. “It has yet to get off the ground. It has no staff and no budget,” downtown Democratic District Leader Jenifer Rajkumar told The Post in response to questions about W-Spin Inc., which she has prominently touted in her fledgling political career. Rajkumar — named by City & State political news as one New York’s “next generation of political leaders” in its annual “40 Under 40” list — is challenging lower-Manhattan Councilwoman Margaret Chin for her seat in November.

Jenifer Rajkumar Everyone a CEO in their Imagination?
 “I now am the Founder and President/CEO of the start-up non-profit W-Spin Inc., which aims to catapult women into leadership positions in governments worldwide, increasing the number of women in decision-making bodies across the globe,” Rajkumar says on her official district Web site. “She brought some people together to try and launch it and talked about her goals, but it never got off the ground,” said a source close to Rajkumar.


_____________________________________________________________________________
Ferris Marshall's Days Off

Marshall Less is Good For Us
NYP is delighted the lady from Queens doesn’t have the energy to inflict the kind of harm on the city the other borough presidents do

Helen Marshall, NYC’s best politician—Editorial
A bargain for the price(NYP Ed) Queens Borough President Helen Marshall barely shows up for her $160,000-a-year job. Last week, she shocked reporters when she made clear she was unaware fellow Queens Democrat John Liu is running for mayor. Then again, Marshall is 83 years old — born before the stock-market crash of 1929 — and it’s apparent to everyone in Queens she’s no longer up to the demands of her office. Sure, she plays hooky. As this newspaper reported last summer, Marshall “spends more time in the Hamptons than the halls of government” and took 40 vacation days last year. That’s two entire months off!


_____________________________________________________________________________
The Empty Promise Candidates

How Will the City Pay for Rising Health Care and Pension Costs?
Back pay and cost-of-living adjustments for NYC workers could cost $7.8B, or 11% of the city budget

The expired city labor contracts are a fiscal disaster facing the next mayor, but "none" of the mayoral candidates are talking about solutions.
Contracts With City Employees?
HELL TO PAY: Next mayor looking at $7.8 billion crisis(NYDN)
New Yorkers could be hit with higher taxes, a cut in services or both. Fiscal experts are unanimous that New York is marching toward a cliff, with the sole question being how sharp the plunge will be. The most dire projection foresees a sudden hit of $7.8 billion in new costs a single year, equivalent to 11% of the budget.  New Yorkers approach a reckoning because most of the city’s nearly 300,000 unionized employees have been working without a contract for as long as four years. Unable to strike deals with Bloomberg, the union chiefs will push the next mayor to settle up, including payment of retroactive raises.Bloomberg says this could cost the city as much as $7.8 billion; the Citizens Budget Commission pegs the figure at $7.2 billion. Coming up with either sum could tear the fabric of the city’s life.

The top Democratic contenders — City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Controller John Liu and former Controller Bill Thompson — have clashed over mandating paid sick leave and establishing a Police Department inspector general, but none of their websites mentions the fiscal peril overshadowing the mayoralty. Thompson calls for hiring 3,000 more cops at an annual cost of a quarter-billion dollars while holding the line on taxes; Quinn proposes putting an iPad in the hands of every public school student; de Blasio promises full-day preschool programs, funded by higher taxes on the wealthy, and Liu has called for a general tax hike on the rich.

_____________________________________________________________________________
Mayoral Campaign


Weiner Catching Up Quinn Falling in the Polls
. 24, 19 in latest Marist poll of NYC mayor's race.
Weiner Sees His Numbers Grow Bigger

only 2013 mayoral candidate against rent freeze
Blasi OK with rise in rent(NYP Ed) In a surprising break with his major rivals, de Blasio said that while the preliminary hikes proposed this year are too high, a rent freeze could hurt small-property owners. “Bill is concerned that small landlords will have a harder time making ends meet,” said de Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell.

Tisch says there’s nothing wrong with her chairing Thompson’s bid for mayor while serving as NYs top education boss

Tischk-tischk(NYP Ed)
Corruption by New York pols has been in the headlines, but in Albany what’s legal can also turn stomachs — as when the state’s education czar opts to co-chair a campaign for mayor without giving up her official duties. Sound unseemly? Not to Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, who insists there’s nothing wrong with her decision to co-chair Bill Thompson’s bid for mayor while serving as New York’s top education boss.
Consider who’s on the list for a Thompson fund-raiser she’s hosting in June: Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and former boss of the city’s teachers union. Also, Hazel Dukes, who runs the teachers-union-funded New York chapter of the NAACP * Quinn gets bad grades (NYP) A union-backed education-advocacy group yesterday rapped...* On Common Core, the NYT says states should be given the “flexibility to refrain from penalizing schools or teachers based on the test data for at least a year, until an evaluation system for the Common Core is validated.”


In dueling NY tv ads, Lhota and Catsimatidis seem to be competing for who had the most authentically working class NYC childhood.
Republican Jabs at Rival as New York City Mayoral Campaigns Rev Up(WSJ) Republican New York City mayoral candidate Joe Lhota asserted that his billionaire GOP rival John Catsimatidis can’t win the election with his bank account, after Catsimatidis criticized Lhota’s “financial wherewithal” * Mayoral hopeful Joe Lhota detailed his positions on Jewish issues and his work in the Giuliani administration on the community’s behalf: “I maintained those relationships through the community. During the Giuliani administration, the Jewish community was understood, and I think there was a reciprocal affection in the administration for the Jewish community.” * Joe Lhota Releases His Own TV Ad(YNN) * Weiner not the only Jewish mayoral candidate. Lhota "is considered a Jew according to Jewish law" via
Lhota defines himself as a Christian, but is technically a Jew because his mother was Jewish. But he says he won’t use that fact to court Jewish voters because “that would be patronizing.” * The Ad Campaign: Catsimatidis Emphasizes Business Background (NYT) * The Ad Campaign: Lhota’s First Ad Highlights Biography(NYT)



 Editorial board almost put him above even the GOP candidates the other day too!
New York has love fest with Anthony Weiner(NYDN)
Despite being mocked by his political peers about his run for New York City mayor, the campaign trail has been kind to Anthony Weiner, as he received an outpouring of support at campaign stops in Queens yesterday. *  In the Post, Nicole Gelinas, a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal, writes that Anthony Weiner is one of the few mayoral candidates making sense on pension reform and the rising cost of healthcare for public employees
* Weiner stands tall (NYP) On public-employee reforms * Weiner’s former Congressional colleagues were critical of his comeback attempt, but the scandal-scarred pol received a warm reception in Queens.* Anthony Weiner Sure Had a Good Memorial Day(NY Mag) * BuzzFeed compiled more fun anecdotes from former Congressman Anthony Weiner‘s parade day yesterday: “‘Wave! Do something!’ says one of the six photographers pacing backward ahead of the candidate, tired of the same shot. ‘Wave? Do something?’ Weiner says. ‘Why don’t you just do an oil painting and take all the fun out of it?’”* There might be more fun to be had today as Mr. Weiner takes a Citi Bike to a 3:30 pm education debate, followed by an Uptown forum at 7 p.m and a Jewish Press forum tomorrow night. Recent Weiner critic Howard Wolfson offered Mr. Weiner his helmet for the ride. * Anthony Weiner, as promised, starts an issue debate among Democrats * Interesting Weiner photo choice here * My first column is out. Here's today's ItCH: "Is Anthony Weiner Politically D.O.A.?" * Anthony Weiner can actually win the NYC mayor race(Salon)
With weak rivals, lots of cash, and the impact of tabloids overrated, an upset is unlikely but possible. Here’s how* Weiner Inching Up (NY Mag) * Governor Cuomo Explains His Hilarious Anthony Weiner Joke(NYO) * Cuomo Keeps His Weiner Answer Short This Time(ynn) * Weiner reacts to surprising poll numbers(CNN)

Quinn
Christine Quinn looks to make history in her bid to be NYC's (SI Advance)
Christine Quinn, NYC Mayoral Candidate, Would Be First, In Two Ways(Huff Post)
Anthony Weiner to debate Dem NYC mayoral candidates today -- Christine Quinn has now backed out. MORE: 

Transport Workers Endorse in City Council Races(NYO)

Education Debate
4m
"We are sorry Ms. Quinn chose to pull out for a debate... We rescheduled this event to accomodate her schedule..."

14m
Cluster idiocy of press on full display at Weiner a thon educational debate
de Blasio says we need a dedicated tax for education... won't be done by finding savings in DOE. * 4m
Sal at : Instead of suspending so many kids, we need guidance counselors & smaller class sizes.

The Media Circus Around Weiner
That helps all kids says choosing between suspensions and alternatives is a "false choice" as he defends position, after question from student. Thompson says put money back into classrooms and cut down on consultants and waste.Weiner jokes that if elected mayor, he may have to sometimes fight with Gov. Cuomo - and "after all, he started it." Weiner: I would test annually. I don't have a problem with that. But test shouldn't have so much impact on whether teachers hired/fired. * Albanese punches first! Welcomes Weiner, with sarcasm, to fight against Albany after years of being in government.*  Sensible : It's poverty, not race, that needs to be overcome. Opposition to SHSAT & charter schools undermines his message. Weiner supports giving charters space in public school bldgs, but sez community shd be able to choose btwn that & new library.or science lab * Weiner Debates Primary Candidates As New Poll Shows Him Gaining On Quinn's Lead Among Dems(NY1) * says retroactive raises "cant be taken off the table."* Anthony Weiner’s Wise-Cracking Continues at First Mayoral Debate (Barkan)

2m
Liu talks up his no school closure policy. Isn't that as knee jerk as Bloomberg's we-close-schools-by-the-dozens policy? Tony Weiner popping up like jack-in-box with every question ...

4m
Weiner's new slogan: They All Sit. I Stand.

Former Staten Island BP Guy Molinari called a NYC Council candidate a “cicada” for refusing to debate his rival.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Is Anyone Embarrassed?


Where is the NYT Call for An Investigation of the BOE?
1) The NYT Says the BOE is incompetent elections board, which has been riddled with patronage for years.

2) The NYT says the scanner that the BOE bought for $60 million do not work

Keep the Clunkers Away From the Polls(NYT Ed)
The Board of Elections needs to come up with some other solution to handle the tight primary schedule and not bring back the old lever-based machines. The Times advocates for the continued use of electronic voting machines and blames the “incompetent” state Board of Elections and the Legislature for not moving the primary to June to have enough time to count votes. Albany’s only option is to give the board an extra week to do the counting. As for the old machines, they might get good money as scrap.


_____________________________________________________________________________
Cuomo At War With Canada

Cuomo has taken a combative stance with the binational agency that manages the Peace Bridge, which connects Buffalo and Canada, putting development projects at risk and leading to a governance stalemate

Never trusted them. RT The Cuomo administration girds for battle against an unexpected enemy: Canada.The Peace Bridge (What Else?) Sets Off a Cuomo-Canada War(NYT) Cuomo’s handling of differences over the international bridge is giving the wider world a glimpse of how he often wields power. * Potential 2016 rivals Hillary Clinton and Cuomo marched together at a Memorial Day Parade in the Town of New Castle yesterday. Aides to the governor declined to say how the duo ended up in lockstep.

Tax Cut Debate and TV Ads to Save New York
The Daily News’ Bill Hammond argues that Cuomo’s proposal to eliminate taxes for businesses that open on state college campus is not the “Erie Canal” of economic initiatives:
NY Dems Go All In For Tax-Free NY: The state Democratic Party is out with a new TV ad touting Gov. Andrew Cuom... *NY Dems Go All In For Tax-Free NY(YNN) * The Ad Campaign To Save New York(YNN) * In Pushing Tax Free Plan, Cuomo Rebuffs Criticism(YNN)
* EJ McMahon thinks fracking would be “game changing” for the upstate economy, but Tax-Free NY will not.
  1. 6m
    The governor's fever in spatial perspective.
JCOPE Reforms
Citizens Union issued four recommendations to change the voting structure and improve the transparency of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE)’s deliberations.

Albany Wants to Get Out of Town
The final push to the June 20th end of this legislative session is underway, with lawmakers itching to get out of the scandal-scarred Capitol ASAP.

_____________________________________________________________________________
Vito Silver and MMA


Advocates and state officials are hoping to use the recent spate of scandals that have touched Albany to enact several new laws and reforms, with Cuomo saying that the scandals can result in positive change, Gannett Albany reports * The Vito Lopez scandal could inadvertently affect the outcome of legislation to legalize Mixed Martial Arts fighting in New York, owing to opposition from female legislators and women’s groups, the Daily News writes: *The drive to legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York is likely to become a new casualty of the Vito Lopez sexual harassment scandal, as women’s groups push Speaker Sheldon Silver not to let a legalization bill come to the floor. * Headline of the Day: “Who Said It: Vito Lopez Versus The Office’s Michael Scott.”* Silver apologizes, proposes reforms for dealing with sexual harassment and abuse in the Assembly

5m
The Shame of the NY Democratic Party- Hillary, Schneiderman,Cuomo silent in the face of sexual harassment


The Senator Has No Clothes or Shame
Sen. Malcolm Smith didn’t let his indictment on corruption charges prevent him from marching in a Queens Memorial Day parade. 

_____________________________________________________________________________
CBS Hynes Inkind Contribution


Never a Crime-Free Moment(NYT)
A six-part series exploring the Brooklyn district attorney’s office has been challenged in court as a September primary for the job of district attorney approaches. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refuses to testify against one of his top prosecutors






_____________________________________________________________________________
Will Corrupt Seddio Picks Next BP

Brooklyn Boss Seddio Who Loves His BJs has told the district leads that if something happens to Adams (we wonder what). Seddio will control Adams committee on vacancies and pick either Fider or Dominic Recchia to run on the democratic line to replace Adams. If Adams leaves after the petitions are submitted to the BOE and before the general election Seddio's Committee on Vacancy will pick his replacement. Fidler and his Mini Me Jo Ann Simon smelling blood in the water tried to add additional people to executive board a couple of weeks ago but was blocked. When Seddio was picked both Fidler and Simon was against adding anyone to the executive board.


Sampson and Kruger Were Not the Only One Shaking Down in Planning Board 18, the Feds Say Turano and Boss Seddio How Their Own BJ Deal Going






Turano Changed Her Vote On Which Big Box Store She Wanted in Canarsie Plaza



From her perch at the community board, prosecutors suggest, Dorothy might have played her own small part in the Kruger corruption. The federal complaint states that another developer had put proposed a supermarket and home improvement store at the Canarsie Plaza site in 2004, but Turano shot it down, claiming, “Decisions are not made in this community unless they are presented to elected officials.”


 Some Box Stores Are More Acceptable to the Community.  Why Dorothy?


 After rejecting plans for a retail development at a vacant site in 2004, Dorothy and the board approved a similar proposal in March 2007. Within a few weeks, a developer Aaron Malinsky involved in the proposal began sending checks totaling $472,500 to Michael’s (Dorothy son) bank accounts. The Feds say a check was even delivered to Kruger house where Dorothy and her sons lived with the state senator.  In 2004 Seddio represented small businesses at Canarsie Plaza who opposed building a Home Depot on that site.   In 2007 he worked for and pushed for BJs according to Fertig.  The district manager Turano is featured prominently in the criminal complaint, where FBI investigators accuse her of advocating for developer Aaron Malinsky’s Canarsie Plaza, a project that Kruger was getting paid to promote.





The Brooklyn Boss Wants A BJ
In 2007 when a BJ was chosen for that site with a different developer (the developer who the indictment said sent checks to Turaino house) Frank Seddio small business group changed their mind and accepted BJ’s at Canarsie Plaza.  The Feds say Kruger partner Michael Dorothy son was delivered the bribe money shortly after the vote.  Fidler’s decision not to call for Turano’s ouster could provide an opportunity for further attacks by his GOP opponents, but Storobin has not returned a request for comment on Turano’s situation * Dorothy Turano, Kruger ally and partner, ducks and weaves at CB18 meeting Once the meeting ended, a beefy board member flanked Turano as local powerbroker Frank Seddio, who was Community Board 18’s district manager before becoming an Assemblyman, surrogate court judge and democratic district leader, led her to his car.  * “I don’t know what will happen with Carl Kruger but anytime I have dealt with him he has been an honest broker,” Seddio said, adding that he would not turn his back on Kruger now. “I stand on the belief that you stand by your friends. If that is something that would hurt me so be it. I am not going to shrink away from people that I have a relationship with just because some one made an allegation.” * Fidler Staying Out Of Fight Over Kruger Companion [UPDATED ... * Brooklyn Gothic: State Senator Carl Kruger And His Surrogate 

_____________________________________________________________________________
No Battle of Brooklyn
Not Televised or Covered by the Main Stream Media

Results of the Reform Sellouts to Boss Seddio, No Elections
The Unlikely Borough President (City and State)
“First, President Obama got a mandate from the American people,” Liu told the cheering crowd. “Now Senator Eric Adams is going to get a mandate from the people of Brooklyn!” Yet his probable path to Brooklyn’s highest office is surprisingly winding, including stints as a registered Republican, antiestablishment gadfly and upstart challenger to a popular congressman. In May he was named as one of the elected officials who was wiretapped by then state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was sentenced to a year in a prison for embezzling nearly $90,000 from a sham nonprofit. In 1994 he launched a challenge against then Central Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens, a well-established political figure in the borough. Though Adams was knocked off the ballot in that race, he would make headlines for criticizing Owens and former Rep. Herman Badillo. According to a 1994 story in New York magazine, Adams, then 33, did not appear to be someone who two decades later would have practically the entire political establishment at his back.
“Adams seems always on the brink of inciting controversy,” journalist Craig Horowitz wrote in New York. According to multiple published reports, Adams took aim at Badillo, a former comptroller and mayoral candidate, for having a Jewish wife. “It’s insulting to the Hispanic community that he can go to the Hispanic community for support, but he can’t go to the Hispanic community when he’s picking a wife,” Adams said at the time.  Adams now insists that the comment was a “theory” on the state of Hispanic voters at the time and not a personal opinion or criticism of Badillo and his wife. Adams also supported the anticrime tactics of the Nation of Islam and their controversial leader, Louis Farrakhan, according to several published reports. Adams’ praise of Farrakhan upset members of the Jewish community who viewed Farrakhan as an anti-Semite. In 1993 Adams blasted then Mayor David Dinkins for keeping his distance from Farrakhan.

Simon: “I’ve heard he was a registered Republican"
Brooklyn district leader Jo Anne Simon, a member of the party’s “reform” wing, did not see Adams’ party switch as an indictment of his character. “I’ve heard he was a registered Republican, but the mayor was a Democrat, and I don’t see him doing too many Democratic things,” she said. “I’m not sure what that says. It’s not a particular concern that someone has seen the light.”




There Goes the Women's Vote
A year later Adams aggressively defended fellow state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Monserrate would be convicted of misdemeanor assault and sentenced to three years of probation. In 2009 the Senate voted overwhelmingly to expel Monserrate. Adams voted against immediate expulsion, though he supported a second resolution that would have ousted the senator had he lost the appeals process and his conviction been upheld.

The Wire Tape Group
An October 2011 trip Adams took to South Korea with Brooklyn State Sen. John Sampson has drawn additional scrutiny since Sampson was indicted on embezzlement charges in May. Adams, through his consultant Evan Thies, refused to provide any further details to the Times Union about the four-day trip, other than to state that it was financed with campaign and private funds. Adams also traveled with Stacey Rowland, a lobbyist for the top Albany lobbying firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker. Filings show that Adams paid more than $3,000 for the trip out of his campaign funds. The lobbyist, according to a source, was the girlfriend of Sampson, then the Senate majority leader and the organizer of the trip.

In Ocean 11 The Rat Pack Tried to Steal From A Casino, In Albany They Tried to Steal the Entire Casino
Albany’s latest stench(NYP Ed) Reports of political rot in Albany keep a-comin’ — with revelations this week by The Post of probes of top Democrats in a sleazy deal that, by his own admission, even ensnared ex-Gov. David Paterson.For starters, the feds are investigating whether state Sens. John Sampson and Malcolm Smith and others were involved in a scheme to steer a multibillion-dollar contract to a politically juiced firm, AEG, to run a racino at Aqueduct Race Track.  Since returning to the Democratic fold, Adams has faced criticism for the role he played in the flawed bidding process to bring casino gaming to the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. The state Lottery Division in 2010 disqualified a winning bid from the Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

A scathing Inspector General’s report later that year would call the bidding process a “political free-for-all” in which lobbyists and campaign donations slanted the competition toward AEG. Adams, along with several other state senators, mingled with AEG lobbyists at a “victory celebration” held at the Albany home of Carl Andrews, one of the lobbyists and a former state senator, according to the report. During the bidding process Adams also received several thousand dollars in campaign donations from groups and individuals associated with AEG. How AEG was ultimately chosen, according to the report, was a “murky” business: Fisch wrote that he was given “contradictory accounts of the climax of the process by the ‘three men in a room’ and Senator Adams.” On this count Adams disagrees, arguing that Fisch “made what I’m sure was an innocent oversight in its report, which unfortunately led to misperception.”

Despite the senator’s unconventional history and rumors of wrongdoing, the son of the congressman whom he attempted to unseat two decades ago says he thinks Adams is now qualified to be Brooklyn’s next borough president. “I believe he wants to do really good work, and I think he’s committed to that,” said Chris Owens, a Democratic district leader in Brooklyn. “I am shocked he has no opposition, but I’m also very pleased. There’s long been talk of having a black borough president, so for him to essentially walk into the position is amazing.” * Senator mum on junket questions (TU)


_____________________________________________________________________________
The End of School Newspapers
At School Papers, the Ink Is Drying Up(NYT)
Fewer resources, lack of interest and the Internet have led to fewer high school newspapers in the city’s public schools.










Get 'Ugly' Newspaper Boxes Off UWS Streets, Board Members Say (DNAINFO)


_____________________________________________________________________________
Stop and Frisk
Council risks crime boost, Mike warns(NYP)
Bloomberg fired a new salvo in his war against a City Council measure to rein in stop-and-frisk, charging the anti-racial-profiling legislation would actually end the successful policing strategy and aid dangerous criminals.* In a letter sent to the NYC Council yesterday, Bloomberg attorney Michael Best implored council members to vote against a bill that would expand the definition of “biased-based profiling.”

Kerik, who some, bizarrely, once called 'America's Cop,' left prison today. Guess this makes him America's Ex-con
Kerik is free today(NYP)

  Kerik Leaving Prison, Returning to NJ: Sources(NBC)

Disgraced NYPD commish Bernie Kerik freed from After serving 3 years in corruption case, ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik out of prison prison(NYP)_____________________________________________________________________________
Protecting Liberty

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer are pressing the parks department to consider new security procedures that they believe put the Statue of Liberty at greater risk for a terrorist attack

Citing Danger, Schumer Calls for Scrapping New Screening Plan for Statue of Liberty(NYT)
Ellis and Liberty Islands are set to have new security checkpoints, but Senator Charles E. Schumer says that checking tourists after they have arrived leaves the statue vulnerable. * Statue of Liberty Security Insufficient, Officials Say(WSJ) * Schumer, Kelly Want To Keep Old Security Policies At Statue Of Liberty(NY1) * Officials Say New Statue Of Liberty Security Plan Is Ri(WABC)

_____________________________________________________________________________
Bike Share

6000 Bikes Rented On the First Day
Uneasy riders: City’s bike share off to rocky start(NYP) New Yorkers who ponied up $95 for a year of the Citi Bike share program got to ride the blue two-wheelers for the first time yesterday — and exposed a slew of early glitches with the racks, bicycles and even the smartphone app that tracks them.... * Out for a First Spin: City’s Bike Share Program Begins(NYT)
* Bike Share Gets Rolling Across New York City(WSJ) * Citi Bike Share Program Launches For Riders With Annual Memberships(NY1)
* After Day 1, a Look at the Bike Share Program(NYT)


_____________________________________________________________________________
Sandy

Obama and Christie Reunite to View Recovery on Jersey Shore(NYT)

Seven months after Sandy, the Red Cross still hasn’t spent more than a third of the $303 million it raised to assist victims of the storm, a strategy the organization says will help address needs that weren’t immediately apparent in the disaster’s wake.
Coney Island is coming back to life after Sandy(WABC) Bloomberg will announce a plan to reassess homes hard hit by Hurricane Sandy in order to reduce their property taxes. [Sally Goldenberg]
Millions In Red Cross Sandy Relief Funds Still Not Spent (ny1)
MTA Tests Out Rockaway A Train Stretch 
NYC will see $90 million less in property taxes as a result of reassessments of Sandy-damaged property.  * As Hurricane Season Nears, Con Ed Shows Off Equipment’s New Protections(NYT)


_____________________________________________________________________________
Sell or Sellout of Parks?

The Times’ Michael Powell questions whether such a heavy private sector influence in New York City’s parks serves the broader public good, with the city contributing a smaller portion to park budgets: "a feudal landscape of the privileged and underprivileged"-terrific piece on private money & public parks
Outrage at GoogaMooga mush pit  (NYP) The Great GoogaMooga has left a great big mess, say Prospect Park lovers outraged that the food and music festival badly damaged a popular meadow in Brooklyn’s biggest oasis. Workers setting up the event, which ran May 17-18, tore up the...

_____________________________________________________________________________
Union Big

Just another doze at the office for union’s ‘scarf-&-snore’ prez(NYP)
Union fat cat Mark Rosenthal spends more time sleeping at his desk than organizing labor, a series of damning photos reveals. The 400-pound president of Local 983 of District Council 37 — the city’s largest blue-collar municipal-workers union — often downs a huge meal, then drops into dreamland in the early afternoon, members of the union’s executive board told The Post.





_____________________________________________________________________________
Washington


Former NY honcho sues IRS, FBI(NYP)
A prominent former state Tea Party organizer insists that he’s being targeted by the IRS for his political activities — and is now firing back with a $20 million lawsuit.


If she runs in 2016, who would Hillary hire? Probably not the same old hands.
White House held secret meetings to provide hedge funds with "special" information (Wash Post)
Obama's Next Big Campaign: Selling Health Care Law - Ari Shapiro, NPR
Obama's Contempt for the Rule of Law - Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg
No Crime, No Scandal. Just Carter-esque Incompetence - Bob Shrum, DB
Why Did IRS Chief Visit WH So Often? - John Steele Gordon, Commentary
Declaring the 9/11 Era Over - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Someone Please Tell Terrorists the War Is Over - P.J. O'Rourke, Wkly Std
Pelosi: Immigration Bill Could Pass by August - Lynn Sweet, Chicago ST
Will Immigration Spoil Rubio's Hopes for 2016? - Byron York, Examiner
This Is How the NRA Ends - Alec MacGillis, The New Republic
Bloomberg Risks Senate Majority for Gun Control - Michael Scherer, Time
The Bullying Pulpit - Thomas Sowell, National Review

Obama and Christie Reunite to View Recovery on Jersey Shore(NYT)

Recovery? Not for the Common People - Jesse Jackson, Chicago Sun-Times
Dear Grads, Don't "Do What You Love" - Carl McCoy, Wall Street Journal
The Richness of Learning - Richard Cohen, Washington Post
Feminists vs. Facebook - Cathy Young, RealClearPolitics
The Problem of Muslim Leadership - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wall Street Journal
Chinese Cyberspies Breach Big U.S. Weapons - Ellen Nakashima, Wash Post
David Axelrod ‘Unsympathetic’ To Bob Schieffer’s Obama Criticism: He ‘Can’t Book The Guests He Wants’ (VIDEO)
President Obama and Chris Christie Touring the Jersey Shore: A Day in Photos(NY Mag)
Gun Makers Saw No Role in Curbing Improper Sales(NYT)
Hillary Clinton might be a presenter at the 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards.
Clinton is reportedly about to join Twitter.
Three heavyweight Democratic fundraisers have signed on to help raise money for the Clinton-for-president cause.

Editorials

Border Injustice - New York Times
Now Obama Wants to Protect the Press? - Chicago Tribune
Iran's Power Play - Washington Post
Saving Our Warriors From Themselves - Los Angeles Times

Rep. Pete King won’t attend the state GOP dinner Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is headlining tomorrow because “I don’t think we should be acknowledging people who are voting against us in our hour of need.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
Law and Order

NYT piece shows gun makers are Alfred E. Newmans on gun violence, w/attitude boiling down to: What, me worry?(NYT)

Free the NYPD(NYDN)


As she closed her stop-and-frisk inquisition after nine weeks of testimony, Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin mused about ordering cops to wear cameras to record encounters with the public. 
Crime pays $50M  (NYP)An admitted Medicare swindler was living like the Great Gatsby, spending millions on ultra-luxury cars, pricey wristwatches and a $100,000 diamond engagement ring — all courtesy of taxpayers. Maksim “Max” Shelikhov, 29, pleaded guilty to health...
Gay couple heckled and beaten in Hells Kitchen(WPIX)
Off-duty cop busted in Bronx for assault(NYDN)
Two shot - one fatally - in spray of bullets outside Brooklyn (NYDN)
Midtown Hate Crime Suspect Claims He Hit Gay Man In Self-Defense (NY1)

Shooter claims innocence as judge gives him 55 years to life for killing mother of 12 (NYP)


Hooker praises alleged father-son sex ring - details vacations, XXX 'family' on stand(NYP)

 Woman's Body Found Bagged in Trunk of Car in Queens(NBC)
Murdered Woman's Body Found In Car Trunk In Queens


Cops quickly collar teen robbers after Park Slope bashing(NYP)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Terrorism

SUV bomb scare shuts B’klyn Bridge  (NYP) An SUV abandoned mid-span on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday prompted a terrorism scare that snarled holiday traffic for nearly two hours.  The entire bridge was shut down to vehicles and pedestrians after a 911 caller spotted the dark-colored Dodge..* Brooklyn Bridge closed due to unattended SUV(NYDN)
* ‘All Clear’ Sounded, Brooklyn Bridge Back Open To Vehicle Traffic(WCBS)
Brits bash Islam after 10th arrest in beheading(NYP