A Real Estate Deal to Close A Hospital
Where is the Investigation?
Why Did SUNY Buy LICH for SUNY $205,350,000 owned by Continuum Health Partners If They Never Had the Resources to support A Hospital? Now the WSJ Reports the Growing Debt of the Hospital is More Than A Real Estate Deal Will Take In
The $500 Million Question at LICH(WSJ)
“The liabilities highlight the challenges SUNY Downstate Medical Center faces as it tries to sell LICH to either a new operator or a developer.
The SUNY Board of Trustees held a hearing in Manhattan on the fate of Long Island College Hospital.(NY1)“The liabilities highlight the challenges SUNY Downstate Medical Center faces as it tries to sell LICH to either a new operator or a developer.
NY1: “It’s not a matter of mismanagement,” said SUNY Board Chairman Carl McCall. “LICH has never had the resources to provide the kind of support that that community wants and probably needs, and we did not have those resources either. And you say that the folks there are angry. They are angry, and I understand that. But we have a lot of people here in SUNY.” McCall said that there isn’t much that they can do right now because of the court case, but they are considering some proposals to turn the hospital into an urgent care facility and also possible condominiums." * #SaveLICH: SUNY Hearing, McCall Says Condos Possible *Growing Hospital Debt State University of New York officials say that Long Island College Hospital’s mounting financial liabilities have climbed to $500 million, far more than the proceeds expected from the sale of the property, the Journal writes:
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CityTime ATM
Not On City Employee Has Been Indicted . . . Who Was Watching the Books for the City?
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de Blasio and Animal Rights
Campaign Consultant NYCLASS was very helpful to Bill de Blasio in the primary, so I'm not surprised he's doing a victory lap with them."
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will be the keynote speaker at a December 4th
fundraiser for NYCLASS, the animal rights group that sunk the campaign
of de Blasio’s Democratic mayoral rival Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio will attend fund-raiser for pro-animal group NYCLASS, which helped beat Quinn
De Blasio headlines fundraiser for anti-Quinn group(CrainsNY)
An animal rights nonprofit that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to undermine City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral bid is holding a tony Manhattan fundraiser Dec. 4, and its main draw will be Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, whose campaign benefited from the heavy anti-Quinn spending. NYCLASS donated $220,000 to an anti-Quinn super PAC "New York City Is Not For Sale," and separately spent $124,000 on anti-Quinn efforts. Top de Blasio supporters were major funders of NYCLASS, but his campaign has said that it was not involved in coordinating with the outside spending efforts, which would violate election rules. A staffer for Joseph Lhota, Mr. de Blasio's defeated general-election opponent, recently filed a complaint with the New York City Campaign Finance Board charging that Mr. de Blasio's campaign had illegally coordinated with the anti-Quinn super PAC efforts, a complaint the de Blasio campaign called "frivolous."
An animal rights nonprofit that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to undermine City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral bid is holding a tony Manhattan fundraiser Dec. 4, and its main draw will be Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, whose campaign benefited from the heavy anti-Quinn spending. NYCLASS donated $220,000 to an anti-Quinn super PAC "New York City Is Not For Sale," and separately spent $124,000 on anti-Quinn efforts. Top de Blasio supporters were major funders of NYCLASS, but his campaign has said that it was not involved in coordinating with the outside spending efforts, which would violate election rules. A staffer for Joseph Lhota, Mr. de Blasio's defeated general-election opponent, recently filed a complaint with the New York City Campaign Finance Board charging that Mr. de Blasio's campaign had illegally coordinated with the anti-Quinn super PAC efforts, a complaint the de Blasio campaign called "frivolous."
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WFP's Special DA Appeal
State's Top Court to Hear Working Families Party Case
de Blasio Loves New York
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Cats GOP Bottomfeeder Civil War
Catsimatidis Wants to Own the NYC GOP
The in-laws of state GOP chairman Ed Cox are trying to knock off the only Republican congressman in New York City – Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm, The Post has learned. Billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis and his family have pumped $19,800 into the campaign of Grimm’s Democratic challenger, Brooklyn Councilman Domenic Recchia, campaign records show.
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Race and Shootings Stats
RACE AND GUN SHOCK: NYPD report reveals 70% of shooters and victims in the Big Apple are black(NYDN) Data
collected during the first six months of the year also reveal that 74%
of the city's shooting victims were black, and an additional 21.5% were
Hispanic. NYPD top cop Raymond Kelly has used similar numbers to justify
stop-and-frisk, while black community activists say the frustrating
statistics reflect the stark reality of economics in poorer
neighborhoods.* Blacks also accounted for the majority — about 70% — of the 222 people
arrested for shooting someone during the first half of 2013, according
to the NYPD’s Crime and Enforcement Activity report.* Report: More City Police Involved In Shooting Incidents In 2012 Than 2011(NY1) * Missing: A promised street-level view of city crime(NY World) A new law required the city to produce a detailed map of crime incidents, but its deadline has come and gone without a
launch
Another Brooklyn Knockout
launch
Another Brooklyn Knockout
Police: Examples Of Troubling ‘Knockout’ Game Popping Up All Over(WCBSTV) Recent Attacks Have Targeted Brooklyn Jews; 78-Year-Old Woman Latest Victim
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City Council Speaker's Race
Daily News and NYP Disagree If the Council Speaker Vote Will Be Secret
Secret ballot will choose speaker at caucus(NYDN) * SECRET BALLOTS FOR SPEAKER — Post’s Erin Durkin:
The Council’s Progressive Caucus will vote as a bloc for the next
speaker, but the caucus can’t decide if it wants to vote through secret
or open ballots. If some of the caucus doesn’t vote for Melissa
Mark-Viverito, “1199 would chop their heads off,” an unnamed source
said.*
Over in the speaker’s race, some members are reportedly pushing for a secret ballot to avoid antagonizing the labor backers of Melissa Mark-Viverito. “They don’t want the unions to know,” a source told the Daily News. “1199 would chop their heads off.” * Speaker Candidates Joust for Progressive Mantle at Brooklyn Forum (NYO) * And, via NYTrue.com, here is video of another speaker contender, Jimmy Vacca, speaking very animatedly at Monday’s Bronx forum:* “The progressive bloc is going to negotiate with a set of priorities in mind, like rules reform, committee chairpersons and yes, preferences for speaker. But the bloc fully expects to work with county leaders in figuring out all of those issues in a productive, cooperative way,” a source familiar with the progressives’ negotiations told Capital New York.
Over in the speaker’s race, some members are reportedly pushing for a secret ballot to avoid antagonizing the labor backers of Melissa Mark-Viverito. “They don’t want the unions to know,” a source told the Daily News. “1199 would chop their heads off.” * Speaker Candidates Joust for Progressive Mantle at Brooklyn Forum (NYO) * And, via NYTrue.com, here is video of another speaker contender, Jimmy Vacca, speaking very animatedly at Monday’s Bronx forum:* “The progressive bloc is going to negotiate with a set of priorities in mind, like rules reform, committee chairpersons and yes, preferences for speaker. But the bloc fully expects to work with county leaders in figuring out all of those issues in a productive, cooperative way,” a source familiar with the progressives’ negotiations told Capital New York.
The Same-Sex Question
SPEAKER SCRAMBLE — Gay-marriage questions for a speaker contender — News’ Celeste Katz: Councilman Jumaane Williams declined to answer reporters’ questions
about his stances on abortion and same-sex marriage, saying only: “I
don’t think any of those matters in the job I’m trying to get. To me,
it’s important what you do and the votes you take.” Melissa Mark
Viverito told reporters she “welcomes the opposition,” adding, “I’m the
progressive candidate.” * Brooklyn's Jumaane Williams Joins The Scramble For NY City Council Speakership(NYDN) * The other contenders — Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: “James Vacca's pitch for Council speaker, essentially, is that he'll be the strongest check on de Blasio.”
Even the NYP Says the Team Progressive is the Most Powerful Force in the City
Council progressive caucus seeks to pick next Speaker(NYP Ed)Meanwhile, Crain’s New York Business reports that the Council’s Progressive Caucus — which is about to grow in size come Jan. 1 — has enlisted a top union official to negotiate on its behalf in the battle to select a new speaker, the city’s second-most-powerful job. The official tapped to represent the caucus during negotiations for speaker is Alison Hirsh, political director of the powerful building-workers union, 32BJ SEIU. Hirsh is also a former chief of staff to serial sexual harasser Vito Lopez. In addition to sitting at the table with the county bosses who will decide the new speaker, she will round up votes for the caucus’s preferred candidate once it settles on one. Just who that candidate will be hasn’t yet been decided. “The official tapped to represent the caucus during negotiations for speaker is Alison Hirsh, political director of the powerful building-workers union, 32BJ SEIU. Hirsh is also a former chief of staff to serial sexual harasser Vito Lopez.” “Under a Mayor de Blasio, this is not so much a conflict of interest as a confluence of interests... a larger and stronger progressive caucus within the council effectively means unions will be calling many of the shots.”
20 Progressives Councilmembers Say They Are United
Party Leaders Extinction
The populist groundswell that swept Bill de Blasio to victory in the mayoral election is reshaping the City Council as well, with a cadre of fiercely liberal council members demanding a voice in choosing that body’s next speaker. Kenneth Sherrill, a professor emeritus of political science at Hunter College, said the rise of the progressive caucus could portend the emergence of a new two-party system in New York City – not Democrats and Republicans, but centrist Democrats and more liberal Democrats. Brad Lander, a Democrat from Brooklyn and the co-chairman of the progressive caucus, said that the 20 caucus members — some of them already serving on the Council, and some who will be serving for the first time — made the commitment to stick together at a caucus retreat at the Bronx Zoo. The caucus’s effort to control a bloc of votes in the race for speaker is a departure from the past, when the speakership was effectively decided by county Democratic Party chairmen. Now the progressive caucus is seeking to ally with one or more of the county delegations to put together enough votes to elect a speaker.* Jumaane Williams Speaker Bid Slams Into Social Issues(NYO)
The Partnership's Kathy Wylde Lost NYC for the 1%
Sticking with the Party Leaders, Parkside Too Long
More on the Speakers Race
Can the MirRam Group Pull the Bronx Into Supporting Melissa Mark-Viverito for Speaker?
NYC Another Test of Progressive Governing
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Progressives and NYPIRG Sending Cuomo A Message
IDC Jeff Klein Does
180 Supports Pre-K Tax
The Godfather Rev. of the New Progressive Government
Sharpton Pushes A
Senate Coalition
'INDEPENDENT' OR OWNED? — Observer's Kamelia Kilawan: Members of the State Legislature's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucus rallied with the Rev. Al Sharpton to unveil their legislative priorities, and push those in their way. Exactly who those opponents are is up in the air, but Sharpton seemed to single out the state Senate's Independent Democratic Conference: “I’m all for building coalitions but coalitions are based on agendas,” he said. “Coalitions that do not have the agenda of those that are working class and those that are needy and those that are not getting their fair share—that is not a coalition, that’s a co-option.” Klein stressed his relationship with de Blasio and his support for his pre-K plan. And de Blasio reciprocated, telling NY1's Zack Fink: “It’s a good relationship. I have known him for a long time and I very much appreciate his support on early childhood education and after school.”
de Blasio At Sharpton's National Action Network
Paying Respect to the Godfather
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de Blasio Transition
Hungry to understand the Mayor-elect's budget challenge? Check out A Tale of Two Pies - WNYC
Columnist Greg David breaks down the numbers of one of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's central campaign promises: universal prekindergarten.(CrainsNY)* NYC's civil servants want new contracts and back pay. What that could mean for the city budget: * New York City Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer pledged to hold incoming mayor Bill de Blasio accountable, but added that he hopes to work closely with him, DNAinfo reports: http://dnain.fo/1dP09fbCity Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer pledged to hold the incoming de Blasio administration to account on budget issues. Alliance With Klein’s IDC Could Help De Blasio Fund Pre-K
FOUND MONEY! — De Blasio's budget deficit shrinks — Capital's Sally Goldenberg: “An often-cited $2 billion budget gap facing Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio may turn out to be far less than that. A review by Capital of recent savings publicly announced by the Bloomberg administration puts the upcoming Fiscal Year 2015 deficit closer to $1.3 billion. The improved outlook lessens the immediate financial pressure on de Blasio, but could undercut him in union negotiations.” http://goo.gl/tuSyPf
Bill Bratton Says Bill de Blasio Hasn’t Contacted Him About NYPD Gig(NYO)
* Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, said the transition is going smoothly, but wouldn’t say if interviewing for top positions had started, the Post reports:
* Bill Bratton Says he is Not Campaigning for Top NYPD Job (WSJ)* Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, said the transition is going smoothly, but wouldn’t say if interviewing for top positions had started, the Post reports:
The Spending on Education During the Last Two Mayors on Education Has Gone Up 90% Does the Daily News Know Where the Money Will Come From for de Blasio to Reduce Class Sizes?
ON THAT 'CRAZY' TRANSITION — Celeste Katz for the Daily News: "[It's] kind of a crazy system. You get elected and then you have six weeks to hire a bunch of people you don’t know who you entrust your career to,” the attorney general told the News’ editorial board. “I think there’s enough science out there that if the new mayor chooses rightly — and you watch the appointments he makes, between his criminal justice coordinator and police superintendent… we’ll get a signal of how professional [he’s] going to be," the AG said. "I [have] very high hopes that he’s going to hire good people.”* The Daily News notes that, although Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has made his positions clear on stop-and-frisk and soda cup lawsuits, his stance is completely unknown on others, “including cases against the planned $6 billion expansion of New York University, the locations of Citi Bike stations and a deal to build private luxury apartment buildings on public housing property.”* The taxi industry wants a friendly commissioner. Will de Blasio oblige?
Bill to Stop Runoff For PA and Comptroller
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NYC Health Care Exchange
The Permanent Government Split Panic
Out of Touch Partnership Party Bosses Try to Use A Hiram Monserrate's Damaged Councilwoman to Split Mark-Viverito Latino Vote To Get A Win for Weprin
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The Partnership Fails
Beaten By the WFP, The Flack for the 1% Kathryn Wylde Fights to Keep Her Job
“I keep telling my members that the Bloomberg era was an aberration,” said Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a leading business group. “Bill captured the disconnect for many New Yorkers between the fact of the city’s prosperity and the reality of their lives in this increasingly unaffordable city.”
The election of de Blasio and the take over by the working families party has more to do with the city's corrupt election system and a elite media that most New Yorkers no longer follow. In the past the 1% made it possible with great schools, hospitals for the poor and good jobs for the 99% of New Yorkers to move themselves and their children up the ladder. Most New Yorkers today face an economic crisis as big as the crime crisis of the 70's and 80's.
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True News' Election Big Loser
The Partnership's Kathy Wylde
OFFICIAL DISPATCH from Lhota's closed-door meeting yesterday, via Kathy Wylde of the Partnership for NYC: "Joe Lhota met with about thirty members of the Partnership for New York City today to detail priorities he would focus on as mayor including support for job creation
, making
the city more affordable, and ensuring that it remains safe. the big
question was whether there is a path to victory for a Republican in an
increasingly Democratic town. Joe argued that most New Yorkers agree
with him on big issues if he can get his name known and his message
across. Those attending included CEOs from finance, real estate, media
and law. The Partnership has met with all mayoral candidates, but does
not make endorsements. Joe was introduced by Loews CEO Jim Tisch." * Kathy Wylde: "I keep telling my members that the Bloomberg era was an aberration”True News Loser of the 2013 Election
The Partnership's Kathy Wylde
OFFICIAL DISPATCH from Lhota's closed-door meeting yesterday, via Kathy Wylde of the Partnership for NYC: "Joe Lhota met with about thirty members of the Partnership for New York City today to detail priorities he would focus on as mayor including support for job creation, making the city more affordable, and ensuring that it remains safe. the big question was whether there is a path to victory for a Republican in an increasingly Democratic town. Joe argued that most New Yorkers agree with him on big issues if he can get his name known and his message across. Those attending included CEOs from finance, real estate, media and law. The Partnership has met with all mayoral candidates, but does not make endorsements. Joe was introduced by Loews CEO Jim Tisch."
Escape New York First Shot in the de Blasio Boarder War
NYC Economy
Boyland's Father A Bribe Bag Man?
Boyland Jr. sent dad to collect bribe money: prosecutors(NYP) Prosecutors will argue that Boyland Jr. used his old man to pick up the check to distance himself from his dirty dealing. “At trial the jury will hear a recording on which the defendant boasts that he uses a ‘bag man’ or a ‘middle guy’ so that he can stay clean,” prosecutors wrote in the filing. “This evidence is powerful proof that Boyland Sr. was a co-conspirator who knew he was collecting a criminal bribe and not a legitimate campaign contribution.” A Brooklyn federal court filing showed that Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. had his own father pick up a bribe from an undercover agent, with William Boyland Sr. picking up a $3,000 check from a man he believed to be a real estate developer.
More on the William Boyland
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Ray Kelly
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Special Elections June Primary
Board of Elections Seeks to Move Federal Primaries to June, Reducing Voters' Trips to the Polls
Cuomo said that the state Legislature may look to reform the controversial Common Core standards, but added that while he is monitoring the issue it is not something he can control, Gannett Albany writes:
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No Morality Journalism
The Shame of New York: The Advance Group Joins Top NY Journalists to Review the 2013 Campaign
Group Think Masterbation Journalist Dumb Down the Public and Tell Each Other What A Great Job They Did
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More Guns On the Streets
Every Candidate Running for Off This Year Promised to Take More Guns Off the Street
Fewer guns seized since stop-frisk ruling(NYP) Since Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk was unconstitutional three months ago, city cops have made nearly 12 percent fewer gun seizures.* Gov. Cuomo's gun-control laws may persuade gun makers to leave N.Y.(NYDN) “Of course, [Scheindlin’s] ruling is responsible for this,’’ a confident police source griped. “There’s a definite cause and effect here.” Less Murders Via City Hall: Through Sunday
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Stevenson US Attorney Not Fair?
Stevenson Tries to Move His Trial Out of Bharara's Reach Because the U.S. Attorney Testified At Moreland That He Would Move to Take His Pension Away
‘Bribe pol’ claims Bharara’s pension comments will prevent ‘fair trial’(NYP) He’s accused of taking more than $20,000 in bribes, but Assemblyman Eric Stevenson claims he can’t get a “fair trial” because US Attorney Preet Bharara told an Albany panel that guys like him shouldn’t get a pension. Despite his indictment, which attracted wide media coverage, Stevenson claims Bharara is trying the case “in the court of public opinion,” referring to bombshell testimony the prosecutor gave in September to Gov. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. Bharara said he’d use existing federal forfeiture laws to slap convicted pols with fines to claw back any money derived from a public pension “so that the punishment fits the crime and … we can taken the profit out of that crime.” “In that vein,” he added, “we have today filed bills of particulars in two pending public corruption cases — United States vs. Malcolm Smith and United States vs. Eric Stevenson, et al. — giving notice of our intent to go after the pensions of elected officials convicted of corruption charges.”
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Moreland Backstep
Negative Research Done By Those in Albany Trying to Stop Moreland
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Cuomo 2014
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Cuomo Stockpiles Cash(WSJ)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, facing no formidable re-election challenger yet, has raised by far the most money of any gubernatorial candidate in the country entering a 2014 race.Cuomo has raised the most money of any gubernatorial candidate entering a 2014 race, with $27.8 million, fueling speculation as to what he would do with the leftover money from the race, when he’s expected to spend $20 million to $30 million * A “huge loophole” could allow Gov. Cuomo to take some of his state-raised money to the national level.* * Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino knocked Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Republican Leader Brian Kolb, saying he would run for governor as a Conservative if both aren’t ousted from office, State of Politics writes: - More on the 2014 Governor's Race
Cuomo Praises Kelly Agrees Some People Full of Crap Gov. Cuomo Praises NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly; Agrees That Some People Aren't Genuine (NYDN) * .
More on Ray Kelly
Dicker and the NYP Keeps Pushing Astorino Against Cuomo
ATEST POLL — Siena Research Institute survey finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo with record low approval rating, but still trouncing potential challengers: The poll of registered voters found Cuomo's job approval at 44 percent, down from 52 percent last month. He is still viewed favorably by over 60 percent of those surveyed. In a hypothetical 2014 matchup, Cuomo would trounce Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino 63-24, coast pass Republican State Chairman Ed Cox 62-25 and blow out Carl Paladino 65-24. Cox, who has never held elective office, was known to 41 percent of voters surveyed, compared to Astorino, who registered with just a quarter of the statewide electorate. Half of voters know Paladino, but more have an unfavorable impression than a favorable one. Read the crosstabs: http://goo.gl/vY4KtG
G.O.P. JOCKEYING — Buffalo News headline, 'GOP looking for a strategy to outflank Paladino's Conservative threat' — Bob McCarthy: Though New York Republican Party leaders are lying low and declined to comment after’s Paladino’s threat, others warn that the party must revive its “Rockefeller Republican” roots and neutralize Paladino if it harbors any hope of beating incumbent Democrat Andrew M. Cuomo next year. “In order to build a coalition, especially when you’re the minority party, you need to remember you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” said John J. Faso, the 2006 Republican nominee for governor. “It can be counterproductive to get into this kind of rhetoric and name-calling.” http://goo.gl/rPdjhq * Whipped up a quick map of legislative vacancies in the city. Really concentrated in Central & Eastern Brooklyn: (NYO)
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Council Speaker's Race
Where Speaker Candidates Stand On Member Items
Speaker's Slush Funds
City Council Speaker Candidates Divided Over Member Item Cash At Forum(NYDN)
Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-Bronx), who opposes the change, argued it would weaken the Council by making it less unified. “I don’t want to do anything that weakens the New York City Council,” he said. “We have to look at making it more democratic and definitely more transparent but we also have to make sure that we remain strong, a united voice that’s prepared to fight.” Councilwomen Inez Dickens of Manhattan and Annabel Palma of the Bronx also oppose the change. I support the rules reforms and I don’t think it necessarily weakens the City Council. In fact I think sometimes the best way to gain power is to give it away,” said Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Queens) – one of thirty members who has backed a package of rules changes that includes the funding shakeup. Councilmembers Dan Garodnick and Melissa Mark-Viverito of Manhattan also took that position.
For the First Time Their is A Real Fight to Influence the Press, Public and Councilmembers in the Speakers Race
Progressives + Unions + WFP Vs Party Leaders + Partnership +
Permanent Government
The NYP and Social Media Is Attacking the Very Real Candidacy of Mark-Viverito
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The Death of the Party Machine?
The City Source Scandal Led to NYC Public Campaign Fiance System Lobbyists Consultants and Their Progressive Friends Gamed the System with the Help of Supreme Court's Citizen United Decision
Beyond the Campaign finance law
Now everyone is spending money to elect council members through PAC and even spending money in the race for speaker. Because this type of competition for Speaker has never happen before their are no rules recording what is being spent with the CFB or the State Board of Elections
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The Fight for the Control of NY
Power Shifting in Council Speakers Race
Partnership and Permanent Government Counting On the Disconnected Corrupt Party Leaders Deliver. Can They?
Late Queens Boss Thomas Manton Lead Deal Maker in Last Three Council Speakers Races . . . Is Crowley Up to the Task?
CrainsNY Offers Details of A Blowup between the Queens Democratic Machine and the Progressive Caucus
A recent negotiating snafu demonstrates the conflict between the city's old and new political forces. About three weeks ago, council members from Queens who are part of the Progressive Caucus scheduled a meeting at the Queens office of law firm Sweeney Gallo Reich & Bolz. The firm's partners run the day-to-day operations of the borough's Democratic Party, and the progressives hoped to persuade them to partner in lining up the 26 votes needed to elect a speaker. Just hours before the meeting, the leaders of the Queens Democratic machine learned that Ms. Hirsh of 32BJ would attend in her capacity as lead negotiator, according to multiple sources. The Democratic leadership, whose executive director declined to comment, demanded that only elected officials be allowed in the room. The Progressive Caucus refused, and the meeting was canceled, sparking tensions between the two most powerful forces in this year's speaker race. A flurry of phone calls seeking to mend the rift has ensued, according to sources.
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Inside Werpin Team Leader Parkside
Parkside
Has Built A Monopoly Through Their Partnership With the Corrupt Queens
Democratic Organization and Its Connection to the Permanent Government
Mclaughlin Helped Create Parkside, Many of the Groups That Brian Was Convicted for Ripping Off Hired Parkside As A Consultant Parkside worked for Mclaughlin and the Petrocelli lighting company who Brian was convicted of fixing the city's biding process. Mclaughlin was also convicted for ripping off his own union that Parkside worked for. Parkside runs almost ever campaign for the Queens Democratic Organization. * Consultants Parkside Come To Crowley’s Defense After Weprin Defeat. Both Parkside and Crowley have gamed the Election system to make $$$ In Queens, Political Center Is in Surrogate's Court - NYTimes.com.
Crowley
hangs onto power mostly through their operative Parkside and mike
Nussbaum Multi Media which is both a political consultant and VP or a
lot of Queens Newspapers. Relationships between consultants are not
required to be recorded. So there is no way to tell how big Parkside
Monopoly of politics, lobbying and local journalism is in Queens. A Takeover Of Journalism by Lobbyist and Politicians.
Most to the state election Parkside runs in Queens are fixed special
elections that does not require heavy lifting to win. In the council
races in 2009 Parkside faced matching funds and multi-candidates field.
In those races Parkside lost 5 of the 6 Queens races they ran.
Organize Crime Politics and Lobbying: Make Money From Government or Connections to Government
Parkside was very deeply involved in the city council slush fund scandal. Stavisky group was paid a total of $1.7 million by more than 40 clients in 2005, nonprofit receiving member items from the city council. In
2005 in a NYT article Dick Dadey executive director of Citizens
Union expressed concern about what he called "a growing problem" of
council members being lobbied by firms that serve as political
consultants to many of them. Team Parkside SpokesPaper CrainsNY Attacks Alison Hirsh the Union Lobbyists Working to Take Over the City Council
A top union official who was labor's lead negotiator in the deal to pass landmark paid-sick-leave legislation this year is now the chief negotiator for the council's Progressive Caucus in the horse-trading that will determine the next speaker. Alison Hirsh, the political director of the influential building workers' union, 32BJ SEIU, is bargaining with the county Democratic bosses who control other blocs of votes in the race. Ms. Hirsh's role is indicative of organized labor's growing power in city government, attributable in part to Bill de Blasio's union-backed election and the withering influence of traditional Democratic clubhouse leaders.
Alison Hirsh From Vito Lopez to the Progressives?
Making A deal on Jobs, None Profit Contracts, Member Items and Future Indictments
.
Progressive Council Candidates Group
Some observers believe the 11-member Progressive Caucus, which formed in 2010 and is expected to grow substantially following the 2013 elections, will be the most powerful force this year in picking the next speaker. The closely affiliated Progressive Caucus is hoping to hold together a bloc of some 15 to 18 council members—and perhaps even more—who will be loyal to the labor leaders rather than to county Democratic machines. The coalition appears to be more interested in pushing a progressive ideological agenda than in winning the usual perks. During outgoing Council Speaker Christine Quinn's eight-year tenure, much of that agenda was bottled up or watered down as she sought to accommodate the business community's concerns, a fate the progressives are looking to avoid with the next speaker.
Costa Constantinides, Council Member Margaret Chin, Council Member Daniel Dromm, Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Ben Kallos, Council Member Brad Lander, Mark Levine, Council Member Stephen Levin, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Donovan Richards, Council Member Debi Rose, Ritchie Torres, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Council Member Jumaane D. Williams More on the Speaker Race (True News)
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The New Tammany Hall
The New Machine are the Campaign Consultant Lobbyists
The 8 royal families of New York City include: the Advance Group, the Parkside Group/Marathon Strategies (join at the hip), Berlin Rosen, Mercury Public Affairs, Brandford Communications, George Arzt, Multi-Media, Hudson TJ and Red Horse.
The
new Tammany Hall is Worse Than the old Tammany Hall The Old delivered services to the communities this new one does not
Advance Group Helping Melissa Mark-Viverito in Speaker’s Race(NYO)
Organized Crime PoliticsThe New Tammany Hall
Operating in Secret Dark Pools A Mob of Campaign Consultants/ Lobbyists Coup d'État of New York Government Goes Unreported
Political Goodfellas Royals
In this monopoly
consultants work with each other at the same time they are oppose them in other
races. Some consultants help other consultant’s
candidates often at the expense of their own clients. Two Consultant Lobbyists
the Advance Group and the Parkside Group were involved in every
competitive council race and even some that did not have races through
Independent Expenditure PACs they control. These IE PACS have muscled their way
in to having seats at the table along the Democratic Party bosses that will
pick the next council speaker. The big 8 along with the special
interests whose millions fund PACs, have sabotage the whole idea of local
representation and local elections. The pols are more loyal to the centralized
campaign consultants and their money backers, the new ruling class, than they
are to the voters in their districts. The
consultants work like Wall Street investors who trade in dark pools
beyond the control of regulators. In NY's dark pool campaign
consultants/lobbyists,
special interests and elected officials make deals with each other
hidden from public view. To understand the reasons for the
takeover you must also be aware that the business opportunities for consultants
don’t end on primary or election day. In an excellent investigation of the
dangers the newly elected Cuomo would face from lobbyist, Wayne Barrett wrote in the Village
Voice in 2010. that campaign consultant lobbyist "Sheinkopf one of the
worse consultant lobbyist, makes kings so he can then make deals with the kings
he’s made."The NYT Has Nothing About the Council Speakers Race or the Background Deals Being Cut to Elect the New Speaker
New Council Turn to the Left No Conservative Counterweight
NYT's Dear in Headlight Reporting
New York City Council set to lean further to the left as 21 new members come aboard(NYDN)With a number of young progressives among them, the new members are likely to work with Mayor Bill de Blasio to expand workers’ rights and impose new burdens on businesses. Bloomberg had for years been a conservative counterweight against the 51-member Council.
The Political Class Takeover
Sal Albanese
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Journalism Lost
The Lost Art of Jimmy Breslin Journalism
To younger colleagues: the story isn't always the person with the title. Why Jimmy Breslin is a legend in his time
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Public Housing
.
.
Surprising Strength of Union Candidate Mark-Viverito
Real Estate and Party Leader Permanent Government Caught Flat Footed
A Team of Progressives, WFP Like in the Mayoral Campaign Fill the Void
The Permanent Government Split Panic
Out of Touch Partnership Party Bosses Try to Use A Hiram Monserrate's Damaged Councilwoman to Split Mark-Viverito Latino Vote To Get A Win for Weprin
.
.
.
True News Last Week
As the NYP, Daily New and NYT Lost Power the Working Families Party Takes Over
.
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Speaker Race
Will the Progressives, Advance Group and the Bronx Democratic Machine Elect the the New Speaker?
Friday wrap-up examines consultants in the speaker race, and more(CrainsNY) An intriguing question in the behind-the-scenes contest to become the
next City Council speaker is to what degree candidates' consultants will
play a role. One leading candidate, Melissa Mark-Viverito,
has several assisting her, while others have gone consultant-free. Ms.
Mark-Viverito, who opened a new campaign committee called "Viverito NY"
on Election Day this month, is getting help from the Advance Group,
Bishop Pitta Del Giorno and the Mirram Group, according to sources. The
first two have deep labor connections, while the latter has ties in the
Hispanic community and in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The Advance
Group also brings some baggage from an election season that saw it help produce mailers for socially conservative super PAC, seemingly do work against some of its own clients, and take payments from an apparently fictitious political consulting firm.
Some of those moves did not endear the firm to progressives that Mr.
Mark-Viverito is trying to court. Meanwhile, Ms. Mark-Viverito was
escorted around Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club recently by
Michael Cohen, a Bishop Pitta consultant, according a source in
attendance. Mr. Cohen has retained an attorney in relation to the
indictment of Democratic political consultant Melvin Lowe but says he's not in the complaint.
..
.
Pay to Vote Speaker Campaign Score Card
Mark Weprin Paid Consultant Lobbyists Hudson TG $12,000 even though he had no race. He paid mission control $45,000 for mailings
Daniel Garodnick Paid Consultant Lobbyists Berlin Rosen $50,000 Even though he had no race, Garodnick also paid Bedford Grove LLC
.
Progressive Council Candidates Group
Costa
Constantinides, Council Member Margaret Chin, Council Member Daniel
Dromm, Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Ben Kallos, Council Member Brad
Lander, Mark Levine, Council Member Stephen Levin, Council Member
Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council
Member Donovan Richards, Council Member Debi Rose, Ritchie Torres,
Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Council Member Jumaane D. Williams More on the Speaker Race (True News)
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Bloomberg Closing Game
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2nd Indictment in Rapfogel Scandal
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Bloomberg Closing Game
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Finishing Touches Elusive for Mayor(WSJ)
As his 12-year run at City Hall winds down, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is working to leave his final imprints on life in the city, from the environment to transportation to policing.* Our LaGuardia(NYDN) Michael Bloomberg's shadow is the equal to that cast by the city's greatest mayor
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2nd Indictment in Rapfogel Scandal
A second person has been indicted in the Met Council scandal, this time a Long Island insurance agent.* Insurer Charged With Theft From a Charity(NYT) Joseph Ross was arrested on Wednesday and charged with helping a
longtime Jewish community leader loot more than $7 million from the
Metropolitan New York Council on Jewish Poverty.The insurance company, Century Coverage in Valley Stream, N.Y., has
provided its services to the organization, known as Met Council, for
more than two decades. It appears that investigators have concluded that the amount of money
stolen between the early 1990s and August 2013 was greater than they had
believed. In the complaint charging Mr. Rapfogel, the total amount of the theft
was listed as in excess of $5 million. But the complaint against Mr.
Ross says the total amount of money stolen was in excess of $7 million.* Disgraced Sheldon Silver pal gave kickback money to politicians: alleged co-conspirator(NYDN)
William Rapfogel, the former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, ordered some of the $7 million in illicit profits from the charity kickback scheme to go to politicians, his alleged co-conspirator said. Joseph Ross, whose insurance brokerage company was allegedly involved in the scheme, says that he regularly delivered to Rapfogel checks for political contributions.
William Rapfogel, the former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, ordered some of the $7 million in illicit profits from the charity kickback scheme to go to politicians, his alleged co-conspirator said. Joseph Ross, whose insurance brokerage company was allegedly involved in the scheme, says that he regularly delivered to Rapfogel checks for political contributions.
Rapfogel Public Matching Fund Corruption Scandal
A
Sheldon Silver pal who’s enmeshed in a massive charity kickback
scheme ordered some of the illicit profits to go to politicians, his
alleged co-conspirator said. A filing Thursday by the state Attorney
General’s Office says Joseph
Ross admitted that former Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty head
William Rapfogel told him “to make contributions to campaigns of various
politicians and to political organizations” using some of the $7
million in kickback money they’d pocketed over the years. The complaint
against Mr. Ross, which was sworn out by Gerard Matheson,
an investigator with the attorney general’s office, said that Mr.
Rapfogel used some of the stolen money to provide political
contributions to candidates for city, state and federal offices in the
names of Century owners and employees. It said that Mr. Rapfogel
instructed Mr. Ross to make contributions to various candidates and
political organizations, and that Mr. Ross regularly delivered checks
for the contributions to Mr. Rapfogel. The complaint said that more than
$120,000 was provided to candidates
for city offices, and tens of thousands of dollars more went to
candidates for state and federal offices. Met Council, a nonprofit
organization that receives tens of millions of
dollars in city, state and federal financing, cannot legally make such
contributions itself.* Insurer charged with theft from NYC Jewish charity(WSJ)
The NYC Pols Were Getting Checks From Employees of A Long Island Insurance Firm and They Did Not Know Anything Was Wrong? Come on
“Pursuant
to this agreement, the defendant regularly delivered checks
for political contributions to Rapfogel, who in turn gave the checks to
the various politicians and their political organizations,” the court
papers say. The filing does not identify the politicians, and there's no
indication the recipients were aware the funds were tainted."A
spokeswoman for the AG’s office declined comment on the specific
complaint, but said, “Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is committed to
rooting out corruption in New York’s not-for-profit sector.”
The NYC Pols Were Getting Checks From Employees of A Long Island Insurance Firm and They Did Not Know Anything Was Wrong? Come on
William Rapfogel's Non Profit Tax Shelters Connects to political payoffs (True News)
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Non Profits Pay to Play
Pay to Develop Councilman Extortion Non Profits Pay to Play
Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera tried to secure $99 million for his defunct charity @ThorntonMcEnery confirms In yet another twist in the quest to redevelop Kingsbridge Armory, the
local City Councilman is reportedly withholding his support months after
a failed attempt to extract a massive donation package for his personal
charity. City Councilman Fernando Cabrera holds enormous decision-making power
over that final approval, but his support for the ice center has
wavered, and the reasoning behind that hesitation might be rooted in a
request he made during an earlier phase of the process. A Nov. 14 report by Norwood News
alleges that Mr. Cabrera met with the developers of the project in
March during the final stages of negotiations over a community benefits
agreement. In that meeting, Norwood News reports and Crain's
has confirmed through numerous sources, Mr. Cabrera requested that
$100,000 a year be donated for the next 99 years to a group called
Community Action Unlimited, a charity that Mr. Cabrera presided over
prior to his election to the City Council. That request was rebuffed by
the developer. Mr. Cabrera's office also claimed that the councilman is
no longer engaged directly with Community Action Unlimited, which Crain's
has learned never registered as a charity with the state attorney
general and had its nonprofit status revoked by the Internal Revenue
Service in 2011 after failing to comply with filing regulations for
three consecutive years. It remains unclear whether the organization
remains in existence, and Mr. Cabrera's office was not able to say.
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911 System Cost Overruns
_____________________________________
911 System Cost Overruns
Fines No Legal Cases Again
Verizon to Pay City for Cost Overruns(NYT)
Verizon has agreed to pay New York City at least $50 million for falling
behind schedule in developing software for the new 911 system that then
failed to meet city standards. * Bloomberg, Liu agree on $50M Verizon settlement over 911 system work(NYDN)
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Team Silver Circles the Wagons
If
the Daily News is Serious With Getting Rid of Silver They Should Send
Their Reports to Ask Assemblymembers Why They Are Supporting Their
Speaker
Pay to Play Save Silver Ass
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he would continue to serve as long as the members of the chamber want him to be Speaker, and rank and file members at Somos said Silver has 100 percent support from the conference, NY1 reports:
* Three NYC Democratic Chairs Shoot Down Talk Of Replacing NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver(NYDN)
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Lawsuit Fingers Silver Harassment Plot
Silver Tries to Kill Hush Fund Lawsuit
Two women who accused
former Assemblyman Vito Lopez of sexual
harassment filed a legal brief Tuesday opposing Sheldon Silver’s motion
to quash their federal suit holding the Assembly speaker responsible…the
plaintiffs argued they wouldn’t have been harassed if Silver hadn’t
condoned Lopez’s prior mistreatment of women. “No reasonable person in
Silver’s position could have believed it was
lawful to assist Lopez in concealing his unlawful harassment,” their
lawyer, Kevin Mintzer, said in Manhattan federal court papers.* The
legal fight over ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez‘s sexual harassment scandal is still ongoing and two of his alleged victims filed a legal brief yesterday to try and kill Speaker Shelly Silver‘s motion to dismiss the entire case.
Weprin Supports Silver, See Nothing Wrong
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver joined his fellow Democrats at Somos, and was said by Queens Assemblyman David Weprin to have “pretty much 100 percent support” from his conference members despite numerous problems in recent months.
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Stop and Frisk Legal Fight Update
The number of stops made by the New York Police Department fell by 80 percent in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, the fifth time in the last six quarters stops have dropped, The Wall Street Journal writes:
WSJ’s Pervaiz Shallwani: “Police officials have attributed the decrease in stops to increased training and a decline in staffing in its impact zones.”
The Bloomberg administration plans to ask the courts to vacate the stop-and-frisk ruling early next week and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association is preparing to take over the legal fight after Bloomberg leaves office
The federal appeals panel that removed Judge Shira Scheindlin from New York City’s stop-and-frisk litigation issued a statement saying that they found “no findings of misconduct, actual bias or actual partiality” by Scheindlin, The New York Times reports: *Scheindlin’s appeal gets shot down (NYP Ed) * Ruling Is Clarified on 'Frisk' Judge(WSJ) * A federal appeals court refused to reconsider its order removing a judge from the stop-and-frisk case.(WNYC)
The Post praises the Bloomberg administrations move to vacate Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling on stop-and-frisk and points out that they first suggested the idea Legal Brief Filed in Support of Judge in Stop-and-Frisk Case(NYT) The filing asked the full federal appeals court in Manhattan to review a decision by a court panel that stripped Judge Shira A. Scheindlin from the case.* In defense of Judge Scheindlin(NYDN) * Judge Fights Back Against Fellow Judges(WSJ) * NYC police unions seek role in stop-frisk dispute(WSJ) * Stop-and-frisk judge fighting back after being removed from controversial NYPD policing case(NYDN) * De Blasio fears spur police unions to try intervening in stop-frisk lawsuit via(NYDN) * Bloomberg Frantically Trying To Undo Stop & Frisk Ruling Before De Blasio Cuts In (Gothamist) * City lawyers ask for stop-and-frisk ruling to be tossed(NYP) * Vacating Shira: City takes Post’s tip(NYP Ed) The Post suggested the Bloomberg folks file a motion to vacate a federal judge’s ruling against stop-and-frisk, city lawyers announced they plan to do just that.* Unions Seek 'Frisk' Suit Role * The New York Times writes that Judge Shira Scheindlin was unfairly removed from the Floyd v. City of New York stop-and-frisk case, blindsiding a judge who has served with dignity for nearly 20 years and delaying reforms the public wants and needs: * City Files Motion To Have Stop-And-Frisk Ruling Repealed * Lawyers Ask Federal Court To Reconsider Removing Judge From Stop-And-Frisk Case (NY1) * The Next Step in Stop-and-Frisk (NYT Ed)The full appellate court should review the ill-advised decision to remove Judge Shira Scheindlin from the case.* US District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin’s comments on the appeals court stop-and-frisk ruling have puzzled even her own lawyer.* A Puzzling Statement from Judge Scheindlin(WSJ) Update Federal Panel Softens Tone on Judge It Removed From Stop-and-Frisk Case(NYT) * The Post’s Seth Lipsky argues that the federal appeals panel’s denial of Judge Shira Scheindlin’s request to be put back on New York City’s stop-and-frisk case makes it clear that they should vacate Scheindlin’s ruling outright:* The Second Circuit Court of Appeals also rejected a request by Judge Shira Scheindlin to address the panel’s stunning Oct. 31 decision to remove her from the cases.* City Hits State's 'Frisk' Analysis(WSJ) Almost half of the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk arrests are dismissed, according to an analysis released Thursday by New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.* Giuliani wants 'friend of court' status in stop-frisk(NYDN)
* New report: 6% of stop-and-frisks lead to an arrest, only half of those arrests lead to a conviction. (WNYC)
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Last Ugly Days of Hynes
Vecchinoe First to the Door
More Brooklyn DA dysfunction: Top Hynes prosecutor Michael Vecchione will split rather than help with transition
Thompson Wants Delay in Rabbi Case(WSJ) Brooklyn DA-elect Thompson seeks a delay in the prosecution of an Orthodox rabbi charged with sex abuse
A mess grows in Brooklyn (NYDN Ed) Joe Hynes’ disgrace exit. With the defeat of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes after six terms in office, there appeared to be little reason to comment further on his misrule of the city’s largest prosecution office. No such luck. His last years were shadowed by a long failure to effectively prosecute sex abuse in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, a powerful voting bloc; by accusations (taken seriously by two federal judges) that top lieutenant Michael Vecchione had railroaded a man named Jabbar Collins for a rabbi’s murder; and by evidence that now-retired Detective Louis Scarcella may have helped the DA’s office win convictions with hyped evidence.
Under Fire, Brooklyn Deputy Prosecutor Will Retire(NYT)
Michael F. Vecchione had been a friend and right-hand man to District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes, who was defeated for re-election. Vecchinone
will retire from the office on Dec. 12, becoming the first in what is
likely to be a wave of high-ranking deputies leaving as the district
attorney, Charles J. Hynes, prepares to step down. Vecchione kicks out two Brooklyn assistant DAs(NYP)In a stunning move that reveals the turmoil inside lame-duck Brooklyn
DA Charles Hynes’ office, controversial rackets chief Michael Vecchione
kicked two veteran assistant district attorneys
out of his bureau Friday for demanding he dismiss an
evidence-challenged extortion case involving the Orthodox Jewish
community, The Post has learned. Prosecutors Joseph Alexis and Nicholas Batsidis told Vecchione their
case against Sam Kellner, a Hasidic Jew accused of paying a young man to
make up sex-abuse claims against a Brooklyn cantor, had to be dismissed
because of a lack of evidence, a law-enforcement source said. * 'REALITY'
BITES! Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes to have his own controversial TV show
used against him in court battle with tainted NYPD detective(NYDN)
More on the Brooklyn DA
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Bronx GOP Boss Savino Going to Rat
Former Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The former Republican Party chairman in the Bronx has pleaded guilty to corruption charges, admitting to accepting a bribe to let a Democratic state senator run for New York City mayor as a Republican. Joseph Savino entered the plea to three public corruption counts Tuesday in federal court in White Plains.* Former Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino Pleads Guilty To Corruption Charges(NYDN)
* Former Bronx GOP Chairman Pleads Guilty In Connection With ...(NY1)* Savino pleads guilty in corruption scandal with Spring Valley ties(LoHud) * Ex-Bronx GOP boss pleads guilty in corruption case(TU) *Ex-Bronx GOP boss pleads guilty in corruption case(WSJ) * Ex-Bronx County Republican Chairman Joseph Savino pleads guilty to bribery ...(Bronx 12)
Savino copped to taking a $15,000 bribe from an undercover agent in exchange for agreeing to help Smith get a Wilson-Pakula waiver to compete in the primary without switching his registration.
The feds say in court papers that Savino could apply to enter the witness protection program as the entrenched ex-politico’s cooperation “is likely to reveal activities of individuals who might use violence, force, and intimidation against” him and his family. He faces up to 30 years in prison and nine years of supervised release when he’s sentenced on Feb 25 – although he’s likely to get a significantly reduced sentence. His lawyer Robert LaRusso said he’d seek probation for Savino.
We Hear Your Now Melvin Lowe
Because
he is a
Democrat, Smith needed three Republican leaders' permission. According
to court papers, Savino accepted $15,000 from an undercover
FBI agent last Feb. 1 at a Manhattan restaurant. As part of the plea,
he must forfeit the money. Savino faces up to 30 years in prison at a
Feb. 25 sentencing.* Political Consultant Melvin Lowe Arrested in Corruption Case ...
Selling the GOP Line
Savino Throws Halloran Under the Bus
Joseph
“Jay” Savino told White Plains federal Judge Kenneth Karas that
Councilman Dan Halloran instigated the entire scheme to get state Sen.
Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) on the GOP ballot for mayor.The fallen Bronx
power broker said the deal was concocted after he
reached out to Halloran in January 2013 for help ensuring that the City
Council didn’t replace one of Savino’s hand-picked commissioners on the
city’s Board of Elections. “He basically told me the only way I would
keep my commissioner is to come to this lunch,” Savino said. Savino said
he met with Halloran and others – including an undercover
agent he referred to as “Raj” — at Spark’s Steak House in Midtown on
February 1. There, Savino said, it was proposed that he’d be hired for
legal services on development projects in Rockland County and the Bronx
in exchange for him helping get Smith on the GOP mayoral ballot. Savino
said he agreed to accept a $30,000 retainer — including $15,000 up
front.
Because he is a Democrat, Smith needed GOP support in at least three boroughs to run as a Republican without changing his party affiliation. Smith had Halloran allegedly set up meetings with Savino and Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone to arrange bribes for their support, while Halloran pocketed thousands for himself, prosecutors said.
When we hear from the U.S. Attorney next Moreland will as Katy Perry says ROAR
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Poll Asked Voters What They Think Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission ShouldRecommend
An unknown pollster has been asking New York voters what recommendations the Moreland Commission on Public Ethics should make, including public financing of campaigns or contribution limits -
@klnynews Legislature will only pass what voters embrace; no prize for goo-goo edit bd ideas that don't pass bc no public backing/interest
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ken lovett
Ryan Karben
“Basically I’m just gonna walk the earth . . . You know, walk the earth, meet people . . . get into adventures. Like Caine from ‘Kung Fu.’" US Attorney Preet Bharara
Bharara's Pulp Fiction Journey to Restore New York's Democracy
Who knew Preet Bharara’s a Quentin Tarantino fan? The Manhattan US attorney stunned attendees at the DealBook conference when during a Q&A when he reeled off a “Pulp Fiction” speech. “When asked about future plans, he said, ‘I’m gonna answer the way Samuel L. Jackson did at the end of ‘Pulp Fiction.’ And then he recited — from memory — [the film’s] ‘walk the earth’ speech, including the ‘Kung Fu’ reference. It was awesome!” said a spy. The lines include Jackson telling John Travolta when asked, “You’re really thinking about quitting?” as a hit man, “Basically I’m just gonna walk the earth . . . You know, walk the earth, meet people . . . get into adventures. Like Caine from ‘Kung Fu.’ ” Others at the conference Tuesday included Barry Diller, Daniel Loeb, Elon Musk and David Karp. Our spy said Bharara got a more muted response when he took the stage, but “won them over.” Perhaps attendees were relieved Bharara, who’s gone after SAC Capital and Galleon Group, didn’t use another Tarantino line, “I’m-a get medieval on your ass.”
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Killing A Great Newspaper
The NYT Has No Story About Bronx Boss Savino Guility Plea But Does Have A Story About Baldwin Stalker Trial
NYT iis not even covering Savino's Guilty plea which could very soon take most of New York's government down
On Baldwin Patrol in Lower Manhattan w/ The local news on TV who copy the NYT on corruption stories they cover also all had Baldwin stories and no coverage of Savino plea.
In Court, Baldwin Tells of Stalker ‘Out of Hitchcock’(NYT)
NY Post: "The stampede for the exits continues at Jill Abramson’s beleaguered New York Times."
* A U.S. attorney is investigating anti-Semitism claims in a New York school district (NYT)
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A Message to Keep the IDC GOP Senate
Breakaway Democrats Trying to Unseat Toby Stavisky(NYO) A source with direct knowledge of the Independent Democratic
Conference’s plans freely admitted the efforts to Politicker this
afternoon. Ms. Stavisky represents Flushing, the sole Asian-majority district in
the State Senate, which factored into the IDC’s thinking. “The district
was created to give Asian-Americans a greater voice in government,” said
the source, arguing that changing demographics had made her vulnerable.* Senator Gianaris Happy to See Mayor Bloomberg’s Money Leave Albany(NYO)
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Keeping Hospital Open
NOBAMACARE — Low Enrollment Could Impact New York Hospitals — Capital’s Dan Goldberg: “[H]undreds of thousands of newly insured were supposed to be a boon for the state's 215 hospitals, and bring in an estimated $500 million in additional revenue… about 400,000 people would have to sign up for coverage by March 31. In the six weeks since the enrollment began, less than 25,000 have enrolled in private plans. Separately, Gov. Cuomo's latest budget predicted an additional 400,000 people will sign up for Medicaid in 2014. So far, about 26,000 have signed up.” http://goo.gl/PLZMvR
HOSPITAL PENALTIES — Capital’s Dan Goldberg: “A coalition of labor unions and neighborhood activists have asked a Supreme Court judge to fine state officials $250,000 each day until services at Long Island College Hospital are restored to the level they were in April. … The contempt motion will be litigated on Monday in front of Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes in Brooklyn.” http://goo.gl/aNg47L
New York state hospitals could face budget gaps because of the lower-than-expected enrollment into the new Affordable Care Act, which was estimated to add $500 million in revenue, Capital New York writes: http://bit.ly/185iWTm Interfaith Medical Center bankruptcy ruling on hold pending mediation.
LICH IN A SQUEEZE — Brooklyn Hospital, taken over by SUNY, has 1,400 employees taking care of a dozen patients, according to its C.F.O. — Capital's Dan Goldberg: “This could lead to a tuition increase,” at SUNY campuses, said Board of Trustees Chairman H. Carl McCall. “I want to make it clear that programs and services could go away and [people] will spend more on tuition to keep hospitals open in Brooklyn.” http://goo.gl/ckPJrD
More On Closing Hospitals
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Judges Do Not Understand Gang Revenge
@SquarePegDem Appeals court judges don't live in areas of NY where gangs get even with NYPD tipsters. -
Cops, cuffed again(NYDN)
Judges further hinder NYPD's fight against illegal guns
Late last week, an appeals panel threw out the conviction of a Bronx man
because he was stopped and frisked based on anonymous tips that might —
repeat, might — have come from an untraceable phone.
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NYC No Vets
For the First Time In NYC History Its Government Will Contain no Military Veterans
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Health Care
The state Health Department announced that nearly 50,000 New Yorkers have enrolled in health insurance plans since Oct. 1, and nearly half signed up for Medicaid.
Enrollment in New York’s health insurance exchange is meeting initial hopes for the program, according to local, state and national health care experts who assessed the latest enrollment data.
New York is a rare bright spot, because six weeks into the rollout of Obamacare, some of the online insurance exchanges run by states are continuing to have serious technological problems, often mirroring the issues plaguing the much larger federal exchange.
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The Tallest
New WTC tower declared tallest US building(NYP)One World Trade Center was officially declared the tallest building in the United States, as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ruled that its spire was part of the building, The Wall Street Journal* By a Spire, Manhattan Regains a Title From Chicago(NYT) * World Trade Center Back on Top(WSJ) * After Nearly a Decade, 4 World Trade Center Opens (WSJ)* Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel wasn’t happy after “a committee of world building heights experts” ruled that the new World Trade Center tower is taller than Chicago’s Willis Tower. ”I would just say to all the experts gathered in one room: If it looks like an antenna, acts like an antenna, then guess what? It is an antenna,” lamented Mr. Emmanuel.* The National September 11th Museum is moving ahead with its plan to charge a fee for its admission despite opposition from victims’ families, though museum president Joe Daniels said victims’ families will be admitted for free, Capital New York reports:
* The Times’ Michael Powell laments the heightened state of security in New York City in wake of 9/11, specifically noting the New York Police Department’s “World Trade Center campus” stockade and the perpetuation of fear: http://nyti.ms/17HmuYh
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The Next Council Speaker Could End BOE Corruption
Does the Daily News Think A Candidate Running for Council Speaker Will Pledge to End Member Items or Lulus for the People He or She is Seeking Votes From?
Waste of Time
The Daily News makes the case for a package of New York City Council legislative reforms that would even out member items allocations, but advocates for taking it a step further and eliminating member items altogether. The Daily News does say that de Blasio who during the campaign said he would end member items does have a backdoor way to end them.
The key is the mayor-controlled Procurement Policy Board, which sets guidelines on city spending. As mayor, de Blasio will fill three of the five seats. Under the City Charter, contracts must be awarded by competitive sealed bidding, though the board may allow exceptions. And that’s exactly it did, carving out a loophole for Council slush in 1991. Once the board closes the loophole, bye-bye slush fund.
Question Daily News Must Asked Council Speaker Candidates
The Daily News Should Ask Each of the Council Speaker Candidates If They Will Use Their Power to Confirm Board of Election Commissioner to Demand Reforms of That Corruption Institution
Quinn and a gang of 4 GOP councilmember used the power to confirm BOE commissioners to throw out commissioner in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx. The result is that GOP party leaders patronage appoints to the BOE are being replaced by people from the councilmembers and their friends. Why is the media not demand that the next council speaker clean out the BOE and restore Democracy to New York City? * Bloomberg rips NYC's scanner voting machines over privacy(NYDN)
NYT Weak Partial Solutions to Corruption Problems At the BOE
Low-Stress Voting(NYT Ed) New York and other states with outdated election schedules should provide a two-week voting period instead of cramming it all into one day. The Times urges New York to pass legislation authorizing early in-person voting, citing a Brennan Center for Justice survey that found that early voting solves a myriad of Election Day problems such as long lines and broken machines:
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Bloomberg's Hush Money Grease Gone
Pay to Play Protection
Mike Bloomberg Won’t Be There To Buy Everyone Off In De Blasio’s New York (Buzz Feed)
One of Mike Bloomberg’s signal accomplishments in New York City was reversing the flow of corruption. In the old days, and in every other city in the world most days, favor-seekers bribe politicians — with cash in envelopes, with legal contributions, or with political support. In Mike Bloomerg’s New York, the mayor bribed you, buying the silence or cooperation of individuals, cultural organizations, and social service groups with hundreds in millions of dollars spent on small personal favors — a legal payment here, a medical procedure there — and charitable contributions.
12 Years the Media Was Silent On Bloomberg's Hush Money
As a liberal Democrat, Bill De Blasio, takes power in January, his biggest challenge will not be keeping crime down or funding an ambitious expansion of early education. It will be dealing with the explosion of Bloomberg’s machine after the grease of money is gone and the gears start sticking. Bloomberg’s wealth, and his generosity, “was protection money. In many ways it inoculated him from potential criticism and stimulated people to do things that they might not have or shouldn’t have done,” says Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at New York’s Baruch College. “Now the pie is smaller and the needs are larger, in the end there’s going to be enhanced conflict. And it’s going to take place in the halls of City Hall. It’s going to be the old days.”* Mayor Bloomberg’s cash and his willingness to spread it around, “was protection money,” says Baruch College Prof. Doug Muzzio. De Blasio doesn’t have that kind of personal wealth to silence critics and reward allies.
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GOP Without Bloomberg Bucks
Christine Quinn is embarrassingly listed as part of the Bloomberg administration.
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More Citi Bikes Coming
,
_____________________________________
Dump Down Local Media
Media Failed At Its Coverage of Campaign 2013 but WNBC TV Does Give Us Bloopers
_____________________________________
The Sharks View to A Kellner Takedown
In
a primary, he's not merely vulnerable to a challenge, he's pretty much
dead meat--that is, if it is "A" challenge. If he has multiple
opponents, he could win, but then he will lose the general to a credible
moderate Republican, if they run one. Our Town looked at what happened to Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who waged a seemingly quixotic City Council campaign after losing his Democratic primary this year to Ben Kallos.* After sexual harassment allegations sunk him in the Democratic
Primary for City Council on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Kellner opted
to go all in on the self-destruction of his political career,
staying on the Working Families Party line in the general election,
despite the WFP’s vehement objection. The end result? Kellner pulled a
measly 10 percent of the vote—over 20 points less than the GOP
candidate, and more than 45 points fewer than the winner, Ben Kallos.
Now Kellner gets to return to frosty Albany to wallow in isolation,
while he awaits an inevitable primary challenge to his Assembly seat in
2014. * Sharks are circling around Assemblyman Micah Kellner.* Micah Kellner's Wife Files Divorce Papers(NYDN)_____________________________________
A Tail of Two Parks
In case you missed another of Miguelito's legacies: It's a 'Tale of Two Parks' in the Bronx
One Side of Bronx Park Has an 18-Hole Golf Course. The Other Lacks an Essential.(NYT) Ferry Point Park
in the Bronx, with 422 acres on the East River, is divided neatly in
half by the span of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge. On the eastern side,
construction was completed in October on the sculpted mounds of the Trump Golf Links,
a new 18-hole, 192-acre golf course atop a former garbage dump. When
the course, which cost $120 million, opens next summer for youth play,
it will bring public golf to a luxurious new level, eventually with
greens fees to match. Building it took four years, a large part of which
was devoted to capping the landfill. On the western side, where thousands of visitors and soccer fans set up
camp on weekends, the dusty fields have steel pipes for goal posts,
water fountains are dry and — worst of all, parkgoers say — there are no
restrooms, despite a decade of requests for one.
Archdiocese Moves to Close Parishes Under Cardinal Dolan(WSJ)
The Archdiocese of New York is planning another round of closing and merging parishes, marking the broadest shake-up of the Roman Catholic institution since Cardinal Timothy Dolan took control of the diocese in 2009.
The Archdiocese of New York is planning another round of closing and merging parishes, marking the broadest shake-up of the Roman Catholic institution since Cardinal Timothy Dolan took control of the diocese in 2009.
The First Night The Lights Went Out
.
.
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A Tail of Two Tall Buildings
Tall is tall, the new WTC gets the prize. A committee of architects in Chicago is deciding whether or not 1 World
Trade Center, built to stand 1,776 feet tall, will, with its 408-foot
beacon and spire, be officially deemed the tallest building in the
country. Oh, perfect: The Second City is passing judgment on the first.
,
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MTA Fare Hikes Slashed
MTA slashing 2015, 2017 fare hikes(NYP)
,Cuomo has vetoed a bill that would require the MTA to account more fully for the impacts of the service cuts it has undertaken since the start of the recession. *
,
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Judges Do Not Understand Gang Revenge
,
,
,
_____________________________________,
_____________________________________
MTA Fare Hikes Slashed
,Cuomo has vetoed a bill that would require the MTA to account more fully for the impacts of the service cuts it has undertaken since the start of the recession. *
,
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Judges Do Not Understand Gang Revenge
Cops, cuffed again(NYDN Ed)
Judges
further hinder NYPD's fight against illegal guns. Late last week, an
appeals panel threw out the conviction of a Bronx man
because he was stopped and frisked based on anonymous tips that might —
repeat, might — have come from an untraceable phone.
,
,
,
A Moreland WFP 1600 Re-election
Will the Working Family Party Go After Cuomo's Governing IDC GOP Senate Coalition?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo should have let the Working Families Party die in 2010 by rejecting their ballot line, but he didn’t, and now the party is as powerful as ever and could haunt Cuomo especially if he runs for President, Bill O’Reilly writes for Newsday: * CUOMO HIT FROM THE LEFT — Times Union's Rick Karlin: Writer and longtime activist Jonathan Kozol said he considers Gov. Andrew Cuomo a friend, but he was “utterly shocked” by the governor’s comments back in August that schools which are exhibiting poor academic
performance should face a “death penalty.” … “Governor Andrew Cuomo has
been kind and friendly to me for many many years as was his father,”
Kozol told a rapt audience which had gathered for an anti-poverty
conference sponsored by the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, a
prominent Albany organization. But he added, “I was utterly shocked,”
by the death penalty comments.Poll Asked Voters What They Think Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission Should Recommend
NEW WATCHDOG? —Moreland Commission co-chair previews recommendations in interview —Capital’s Jessica Alaimo: In an interview with WRVO Syracuse, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick hinted the special panel to investigate public corruption might recommend a new entity to investigate election law complaints. http://goo.gl/TdXduT
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Moreland Uncovers Criminal Activity
Moreland Co-Chair: We’ve Uncovered Criminal Activity(YNN)
In
a public radio interview that will air in full this weekend, one of
the three Moreland Commission co-chairs, Onondaga County DA William
Fitzpatrick, says the anti-corruption commission has uncovered criminal
activity during its investigation of New York’s Byzantine campaign
finance system and will be referring its findings for prosecution.* Moreland Commission Leader Says They Have Found Criminal Behavior(NYDN)
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No Smoking Under 21
NYC raises tobacco sales age to 21(NYP)
NYC law banning teen cigarette buyers made official(NYDN)
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No Smoking Under 21
NYC law banning teen cigarette buyers made official(NYDN)
_____________________________________
How Many Flip the Ballot?
How Many Voters Didn’t Flip Over the Ballot? (NY Mag) as many as 27 percent of voters may have never even turned over the page. According to a preliminary Board of Elections count, 1,026,168 people voted for mayor on Tuesday, but the ballot prop with the most votes — Prop 1, on the limited legalization of casino gambling — only received 756,250 votes.
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Liu to Sue
John Liu To Sue Over Campaign Finance Board's Matching Funds Denial | New York Daily News
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Ethnic Politics
“Once we printed Chinese upside-down and nobody knew it. That was embarrassing!” (Opens City Mag) When New Yorkers go to the polls today, many will find their ballots in
English, Spanish, Chinese (as of 1993), Korean (as of 2001), and, as of
last September’s primaries, Bengali.
The way here has been bumpy and paved with delays and lawsuits. Just
last month, the New York City Board of Elections was criticized for the
hard-to-read, 6-point font that voters will see on ballots today – something the board claims was necessary to accommodate the number of languages.
Liu to Sue
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Ethnic Politics
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Bloomberg Legacy
Bloomberg Pays Bodyguard Cops to Keep Their Mouths Shut
Legacy Mode Trans Fat: Bloomberg Declares Victory After FDA Plans Trans Fat Ban * Part of Bloomberg’s legacy: An FDA trans-fat ban.* Does the Bloomberg Administration Deserve Credit for the Federal Trans Fat Policy Shift?(WSJ) Bodyguards Bloomberg giving NYPD bodyguards jobs to ‘keep their mouths shut’(NYP) * Bloomberg's Next Job(WSJ) * Bloomberg giving NYPD bodyguards jobs to ‘keep their mouths shut’(NYP) The cops currently assigned to the outgoing mayor’s security detail have been told there are six-figure jobs waiting for them protecting him as a private citizen. Georgina Bloomberg, who’s pregnant with Mayor Bloomberg’s first grandchild, says her father “isn’t particularly good with children,” adding: “I’m not sure I’ll be having him babysit.* Zap trans fats (NYDN Ed)
Kudos to the FDA for targeting a true public health threat Federal regulators have wisely followed where Mayor Bloomberg led: Artificial trans fats are now on Washington’s naughty list, on the path to being pulled off store shelves.* ‘We Must Be Doing Something Right’: Bloomberg Cheers Federal Trans Fats Ban(NYO) *An Overdue Ban on Trans Fats(NYT Ed) * If It Happened There: Twilight of an Oligarch(Slate)
A good poor comparison (NYDN Ed)
Putting Bloomberg's record on poverty in perspective_____________________________________
Daily News Wants Albany Term Limits
The Daily News Uses the Defeat of the Proposal to Raise the Retirement Age for Judges to State the Public Wants All the Old Bums Out of Albany
Albany Term Limits
Retire the hacks (NYDN Ed) The Daily News suggests that voters’ rejection of a ballot initiative to raise the age of judges shows they are disgusted with public servants serving too long and suggests the Moreland Commission should call for term limits The landslide defeat of a ballot proposal to raise the retirement age for judges sent a powerful message — one that Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission would do well to heed: New Yorkers have a healthy distaste for public officials who overstay their welcome. Are you listening, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver? Can you hear us, Senate leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein? If Moreland commission co-chairs William Fitzpatrick, Kathleen Rice and Milton Williams are serious about changing state government, they must put term limits on the table for overdue debate.
Daily News No Shame
The Daily News Goes After Quinn for Supporting the Overturning of Term Limits A Policy They Supported "No single factor did more to tank the candidacy of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn than her role in overriding term limits for Mayor Bloomberg, herself and other city officer holders that voters had approved twice."* The Second Most Powerful Democrat in New York State(YNN)
The Daily News Goes After Quinn for Supporting the Overturning of Term Limits A Policy They Supported "No single factor did more to tank the candidacy of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn than her role in overriding term limits for Mayor Bloomberg, herself and other city officer holders that voters had approved twice."* The Second Most Powerful Democrat in New York State(YNN)
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New Staten Island BP
Staten Island BP-elect Oddo Plans to Hit the Ground Running
_____________________________________
The Partnership Fails
Beaten By the WFP, The Flack for the 1% Kathryn Wylde Fights to Keep Her Job
“I keep telling my members that the Bloomberg era was an aberration,” said Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a leading business group. “Bill captured the disconnect for many New Yorkers between the fact of the city’s prosperity and the reality of their lives in this increasingly unaffordable city.”
The election of de Blasio and the take over by the working families party has more to do with the city's corrupt election system and a elite media that most New Yorkers no longer follow. In the past the 1% made it possible with great schools, hospitals for the poor and good jobs for the 99% of New Yorkers to move themselves and their children up the ladder. Most New Yorkers today face an economic crisis as big as the crime crisis of the 70's and 80's.
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The Victors WFP
Clever WFP Activists Filled the Disconnect Leadership Void
In New York City’s Sharp Left Turn, Questions of Just How Far(NYT) de Blasio message, of inequality and a government that might soften
capitalism’s hard edges, and he drove it with skill. Now he must govern
in a parlous time. Every municipal contract has expired. Democrats rule
the executive chambers in Washington and in Albany, but purses are
latched shut.* De Blasio’s win has started the
transition to a borough-centric New York of workers, immigrants and
second chances, Denis Hamill writes for the Daily News: * Liberal Council Could Pose Test for de Blasio(WSJ) * WFP Touts Upstate Victories(YNN)
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Media Failure Campaign 2013
The Media Failed During the Entire 2013 to Get the Candidates to Say How They Would Pay for the Union Contracts and Increase Pension and Health Care Costs
After the Quinn Endorsement Proved the Media Disconnect From New Yorkers. The Fools At the NYT & NYP Are Still Telling the New Mayor What To Do
NYP to the Mayor Elect: What Do You Do Now?
This day belongs to the winner, and so The Post congratulates de Blasio on his big victory. The challenge now goes from electioneering to governing, which we believe poses special challenges to the mayor-elect, given the campaign he ran. Can de Blasio move New York forward without losing the gains made by his two predecessors? The record of “progressive” big-city government — including pre-Giuliani New York — does not incline to optimism here. We will soon see if it’s possible to keep crime low after attacking the cops, reform our public schools while threatening charters and keep this city competitive while increasing its spending and taxes. Certainly the de Blasio agenda won’t face much political opposition. Both the new public advocate, Letitia James, and city comptroller, Scott Stringer, are strong supporters of our next mayor. And the new City Council is even more liberal than the outgoing one.* De Blasio Victory All Over Map(WSJ) *Other challenges facing de Blasio: A $2 billion hole in the next city budget, a dysfunctional state legislature skeptical about his tax plan, a police department frozen by a federal lawsuit and municipal unions clamoring for raises.
Corrupt Surrogate Court
Another Conviction from the Corrupt Surrogate Court
Stealing From the Dead Court
DA Vance announced the trial conviction of Richard Paul, the former bookkeeper for the Kings County Public Administrator’s Office, for stealing more than $2.6 million from the estates of individuals who died without a will by manipulating the agency’s check writing system. Paul was found guilty by a jury in New York State Supreme Court of Grand Larceny in the First Degree and Defrauding the Government. Taryn Miller was convicted by the same jury of Grand Larceny in the First Degree for helping facilitate the scheme, and receiving stolen funds. Both defendants are expected to be sentenced on December 5, 2013. * Corruption and the Surrogate Court (True News) * Surrogate's Court And Why It Should Go (True News)
No Media Coverage of the Surrogate Trial
The Media Does Not Even Cover Tammany Hall Corrupt Court That Steal Money From Families of Their Readers
Only News of the Decision Came From the Manhattan DAs Website
NYT, WSJ Covers the Indictment, But Not the Trial or Conviction
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 * City Bookkeeper Charged With Stealing $2.6 Million From Estates(NYT) An employee in the office of the Brooklyn public administrator and three others pleaded not guilty to what prosecutors said was a scheme that targeted estates without wills. * Scheme Targeted Funds of the Dead(WSJ) * Bookkeeper robbed dead of $2.6M, went on shopping sprees: DA * Surrogate's Court And Why It Should Go (True News)
More on the Corruption in the Surrogate Court (True News)
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Journalism Failure
The Media Reports Indictments Does Not Investigate
Contractor Who Ran Special Education Pre-K Programs Is Charged With Fraud(NYT)
Cheon
Park, who the authorities said diverted hundreds of thousands of
dollars in government money to himself, was charged with mail fraud and
conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Media Ignores U.S. Attorney Plea to Investigate Corruption
Bharara: No Investigative Reporting Equals More Corruption
Bharara to Journalist
Investigate Stop Copying My Press Releases
"Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara
Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY)
The press has a role to play, Mr. Bharara said, noting that he is saddened by recent reports of newspaper closings and staff downsizing. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government."* \Bruno Lawyers Want An April Trial(YNN)
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Gambling Dark Pool $$$
Gambling Follow the Money If You Can
New York Jobs Now Committee took in $1.425,000 but only spent $360,000 according to the State Board of Elections filings. Stu
Loeser: The former press secretary for Mayor Mike Bloomberg helped lead NY Jobs Now, a coalition
of pro-casino interests,
in advocating for the constitutional amendment that passed Tuesday, yet
there is no record of him being paid. The State BOE is know for its
poor campaign filing system and the fact that it has nobody
investigating improper filings or fraud. We do know that gambling
interests contributed to New York Jobs Now: Monticello' Empire Resorts
$125,000, Genting New York $500,000, Saratoga Harness Racing $250,000,
Yonkers Racing Corporation $500,000.* NY casinos poised to explode after 'yes' vote(NYDN)
* A day after voters approved a New York state constitutional amendment
allowing up to seven commercially operated casinos, investors were already placing their bets on where the gambling palaces might be located.* Many developers are expected to wait
until New York City opens up as a potential site for casinos * While
Proposal 1 coasted to approval statewide, buoyed by large victories on
Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, Capital Region voters sent a far less enthusiastic message. * New York’s gaming win is a loss for its neighbors that already have casinos.* conference members despite numerous problems in recent months.
Former Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau accuses Moreland Commission members of actively raising campaign cash from people it’s investigating.*Dark Money Groups Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund...(Huff Post)
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Organized Crime Politics:
The New Tammany Hall
Operating in Secret Dark Pools A Mob of Campaign Consultants/ Lobbyists Coup d'État of New York Government Goes Unreported
Does the TU Think Gambling and Race Track Interests Contributed Big Bucks for More School Aid, Jobs and Lower Taxes? There were a lot of promises made by lawmakers in
regard to the expansion of casino gambling, including more
school aid, jobs, and lower taxes, and the Times Union writes that New Yorkers should insist they be kept:
The Daily News Knows Much More Than They Are Saying About the PACs
The price of politics(NYDN Ed)
Media Ignores U.S. Attorney Plea to Investigate Corruption
Bharara: No Investigative Reporting Equals More Corruption
Bharara to Journalist
Investigate Stop Copying My Press Releases
"Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," Bharara said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government." Bharara
Preet challenges journos to do investigative reporting (CrainsNY)
The press has a role to play, Mr. Bharara said, noting that he is saddened by recent reports of newspaper closings and staff downsizing. "Rather than just covering the cases that my office and other offices are already bringing, figure out ways to break new ground and to cover new stories," he said. "Groundbreaking corruption coverage is not just good copy, it's a path to good government."* \Bruno Lawyers Want An April Trial(YNN)
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Gambling Dark Pool $$$
Gambling Follow the Money If You Can
Former Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau accuses Moreland Commission members of actively raising campaign cash from people it’s investigating.*Dark Money Groups Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund...(Huff Post)
________________________________________
Organized Crime Politics:
The New Tammany Hall
Operating in Secret Dark Pools A Mob of Campaign Consultants/ Lobbyists Coup d'État of New York Government Goes Unreported
Political Goodfellas
Eight campaign
consultants all but one are also lobbyists, have monopolized NYC elections
system that only the Justice Department using the Sherman Antitrust Act can bust.
These consultants run every important campaign in New York. The campaign monopoly is only part of a
conspiracy that is not only about who gets elected. It is also part of a
second conspiracy to make money off of government as lobbyist or insiders.
There is serious evidence of illegal coordination between the Independent Expenditure PACs and
consultants. The data of big 8 working together is massive. In the
20 competitive races for the city council this year’s these big 8 consultants
helped 98 of the 54 competitive candidates in those races. Consultants were able to
help more candidates in the races by being on more than one side in the same
race. They don't only compete with each other as one would think.
Does the TU Think Gambling and Race Track Interests Contributed Big Bucks for More School Aid, Jobs and Lower Taxes? There were a lot of promises made by lawmakers in
The Daily News Knows Much More Than They Are Saying About the PACs
The price of politics(NYDN Ed)
The
2013 election introduced New Yorkers to a flood of independent
political spending that must now force a rethinking of the city’s
campaign-finance system. The ultimate winner of the mayor’s race, Bill
de Blasio benefited not
only from that onslaught against a rival, but also from $485,000 worth
of advertising on his behalf by the hospital workers union and other
left-leaning groups. Republican contender Joe Lhota, meanwhile, got
$500,000 in outside help courtesy of conservative billionaire David
Koch. Also, real estate interests — operating under the name Jobs4NY —
poured
$5 million into 22 City Council races, in some cases vastly outspending
the candidates they backed.
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A One Party Town
New York Republicans: The city's factional GOP establishment sabotaged Mr. Lhota at every turn. There was bitter infighting in the Queens and Brooklyn Republican wings of the party. The chairman of the Bronx Republican organization and vice-chairman of its Queens counterpart were indicted for allegedly trying to sell off their endorsements to Democratic Sen. Malcolm Smith. And Mr. Lhota's Republican primary rival, John Catsimatidis, couldn't stop taking shots at a Mr. Lhota even after their summer-long battle was over. In City Council races, all the viable GOP underdogs were crushed: Dennis Saffran lost to Paul Vallone in Queens, former state Sen. David Storobin fell to Chaim Deutsch in southern Brooklyn, and John Quaglione couldn't oust Councilman Vincent Gentile in Bay Ridge. Meanwhile, District Attorney Charles "Joe" Hynes' 50-point loss on the GOP line to Democrat Kenneth Thompson reinforced the belief that a Republican cannot win a boroughwide race in Brooklyn. The city's GOP chairs will also have to live going forward without Mayor Michael Bloomberg pouring Money into their coffers.* GOP’s victories spell hope for NY governor’s seat: Chair(NYDN)
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Other CityWide Winners
Charles Gasparino
never thought i'd say this: scott stringer is the most conservative major elected official in nyc
DE BLASIO’S COALITION — News’ Juan Gonzalez: “Letitia James, our new public advocate, is even more to the left politically than de Blasio. Controller-elect Scott Stringer instantly becomes the most conservative citywide office holder, and Stringer’s an old-fashioned clubhouse liberal.
"…Of 21 new Council members elected this week, more than half were backed by the Working Families Party…A Mayor de Blasio, in other words, won’t face the kind of legislative gridlock that has dogged President Obama in Congress.” http://goo.gl/XFdetn
NEW CITY COMPTROLLER — Stringer Picks Up John Liu’s Work — Capital’s Dan Goldberg: “Asked whether he would make good on his pledge to audit the NYPD's intelligence division, Stringer said he would work with outgoing comptroller John Liu on any ongoing audits but declined to specify a timeline saying only he needed to see where things were in the pipeline.” http://goo.gl/adbE14
_____________________________________DE BLASIO’S COALITION — News’ Juan Gonzalez: “Letitia James, our new public advocate, is even more to the left politically than de Blasio. Controller-elect Scott Stringer instantly becomes the most conservative citywide office holder, and Stringer’s an old-fashioned clubhouse liberal.
"…Of 21 new Council members elected this week, more than half were backed by the Working Families Party…A Mayor de Blasio, in other words, won’t face the kind of legislative gridlock that has dogged President Obama in Congress.” http://goo.gl/XFdetn
NEW CITY COMPTROLLER — Stringer Picks Up John Liu’s Work — Capital’s Dan Goldberg: “Asked whether he would make good on his pledge to audit the NYPD's intelligence division, Stringer said he would work with outgoing comptroller John Liu on any ongoing audits but declined to specify a timeline saying only he needed to see where things were in the pipeline.” http://goo.gl/adbE14
Scott Stringer Claims an Expected Victory in the Comptroller’s Race(NYO)
Brooklyn Councilwoman Tish James will replace de Blasio in the NYC public advocate’s office. She’s the first black woman to get elected to a citywide post.
LANDSLIDE STRINGER — More votes than de Blasio — DNAinfo’s Colby Hamilton: “According to one of a number of post-election analyses from the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center, voters gave Stringer substantially higher shares of their votes overall, with voters in areas of Staten Island, South Brooklyn, the Upper East Side and Riverdale leading the way. While de Blasio garnered 752,604 total votes on Election Day, Stringer topped that with 782,704 votes overall.” http://goo.gl/wGFLIo
Brooklyn Councilwoman Tish James will replace de Blasio in the NYC public advocate’s office. She’s the first black woman to get elected to a citywide post.
LANDSLIDE STRINGER — More votes than de Blasio — DNAinfo’s Colby Hamilton: “According to one of a number of post-election analyses from the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center, voters gave Stringer substantially higher shares of their votes overall, with voters in areas of Staten Island, South Brooklyn, the Upper East Side and Riverdale leading the way. While de Blasio garnered 752,604 total votes on Election Day, Stringer topped that with 782,704 votes overall.” http://goo.gl/wGFLIo
City Council
Overlooked: The overhaul of the NY City Council. Yes, it was a bad nite for the 1% and Institutional Memory
Another Loss for Catsimatidis
Eric Ulrich
Lew M. Simon
53.1%
9,658
GOP
Crain's New York Business Former Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis has funded ... The target, Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich, had insulted the grocery magnate over the summer. ... his second full term in eastern Queens against Democrat Lew Simon.* NYC 2013: Cutting It Close In Queens(NYDN)
Councilman weathers Catsimatidis attacks to win re-election(NYP)
Voters send 21 new members to City Council(NYDN
Assemblyman Micah Kellner lost again to NYC Councilman-elect Ben Kallos, and now must defend his Albany seat as he fights sexual harassment allegations.
ICYINI: Mazel Tov! Decades-old Affront to the Orthodox Community Corrected by the 48th District Voters http://orthodoxpundit.blogspot.com/2013/11/decades-old-affront-to-orthodox.html …
Eric Ulrich rides out Democratic wave (Queens Chroncle)
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Light Turnout and the BOE Still FU
Reasons for the Slow Count Last Night
Reports that the IPads Given to Assembly BOE Coordinators Where Not Programed Right and the Sticks Counters did not work at Certain Police Pcts
There were no magnifiers at the polling stations it was impossible to read the propositions
The biggest loser(NYDN)
They
had months upon months to get ready, and still the hacks and
relatives of hacks who populate the city’s Board of Elections failed to
run a flawless election.* In Brooklyn’s 52nd Assembly district — the
neighborhoods of Cobble Hill,
Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights — the board equipped
21 polling sites with electronic vote scanning machines that were
improperly programmed. They didn’t work. Then there was the ballot’s
infuriatingly small type, and the magnifying glasses that somehow made
it a blur.* Scanner Problems & Mistranslated Ballots Made Election Day Rough, Again
New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout
_____________________________________New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout
Dying Newspaper Power
Biggest E-Day Loser: NYPost/Dicker. Wrong on casinos, wrong on DeBlasio, wrong on judges.
Murdoch's Power Lost Over 36 Years
De Blasio’s two-borough campaign trail(NYP) Bill de Blasio promised not to be Manhattan-centric if he’s elected mayor Tuesday — but the only other borough he’s shown much love on the campaign trail is his own. A review of de Blasio’s campaign itinerary since the Sept. 10 primary shows the Brooklyn-based Democrat made 27 stops in Manhattan — the most of any borough — followed by 16 in Brooklyn. That left the three remaining outer boroughs getting short shrift: He made seven visits to Queens, four to The Bronx and just two to Staten Island.* New York Post Asks if Mayor de Blasio Will Rap With Violent Gangbangers(NYP)
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MTA Fares Washington Cuts
Get on the money train(NYDN Ed)
Take the subway, commuter rail or bus to work? We thought so. Dislike wasting money? You don’t say!
This one’s for you. Hanging in the balance in Washington is a measure that could soon cost thousands of mass transit commuters across New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut a $500 annual tax hike (and the same for other transit riders nationwide). A lot of grocery money will come out of a lot of pocketbooks and wallets starting in just over a month — unless Congress and the President get off their collective duff. * In the Post, the Manhattan Institute’s Nicole Gelinas crunches the numbers on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2014 budget, noting that the MTA’s fire hikes “magically” appear after Cuomo’s 2014 re-election campaign: http://bit.ly/1bTOvhR
More on the MTA
5Pointz, a Graffiti Mecca in Queens, Is Wiped Clean Overnight(NYT)
Graffiti artwork at Long Island City's 5Pointz was whitewashed in preparation for the building's demolition—soon, it will become a $400 million residential and retail development.
A Billion Dollar Tunnel
________________________________This one’s for you. Hanging in the balance in Washington is a measure that could soon cost thousands of mass transit commuters across New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut a $500 annual tax hike (and the same for other transit riders nationwide). A lot of grocery money will come out of a lot of pocketbooks and wallets starting in just over a month — unless Congress and the President get off their collective duff. * In the Post, the Manhattan Institute’s Nicole Gelinas crunches the numbers on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2014 budget, noting that the MTA’s fire hikes “magically” appear after Cuomo’s 2014 re-election campaign: http://bit.ly/1bTOvhR
More on the MTA
Graffiti artwork at Long Island City's 5Pointz was whitewashed in preparation for the building's demolition—soon, it will become a $400 million residential and retail development.
A Billion Dollar Tunnel
Monumental waste (NYDN Ed)
A lavish PATH passageway is a symbol of excess. Come with us to a world of wonder. Come deep underground into a vast
space, a gleaming white Italian marble temple, 600 feet long and 40 feet
wide with a soaring, vaulted ceiling ringed by 54 arches.In other words, it’s just a pedestrian tunnel that enables a fraction of
the station’s 45,000 daily riders to cross under West St. without going
outside — at a cost of a quarter billion dollars.
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Economy and Pushing Out Middle Class
New York State Exposed: Is the SAFE Act driving businesses out of NY?
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the state Thruway Authority over uncertainty of funding for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, Gannett Albany reports:
New pipeline to NYC "gathers gas from a handful of sources, including the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania" * The proposal by Cuomo’s first tax commission to charge sales tax on clothing and footwear under $110 would punish NYC shoppers, critics say, while the tax break to offset it excludes renters. *
.
EXCLUSIVE — In unpublished report, Cuomo tax commission suggest film credit rollback — Capital's Jimmy Vielkind:
New York's tax rebates for movie and TV studios are so generous that
the state is actually paying them to film here, according to an analysis
prepared for — but not published by — one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax
commissions. The 137-page addendum to the commission's formal report
asserts the Film and Television Tax Credit now accounts for nearly a
quarter of all business tax subsidies the state offers. The analysis was
funded by Blackstone founder Peter G. Peterson and commission co-chair
Peter Solomon, an investment banker and former deputy to New York City
Mayor Ed Koch. The panel's decision to commission a critical review of
their efficacy and recommend the Cuomo administration move in the
opposite direction was not in the original script. *
@cbcny at #future2013 60% of NYC spending is from our own taxes. 25% from state/federal which "used to be a lot more"
_____________________________________
Education
At Forums, State Education Commissioner Faces a Barrage of Complaints(NYT)
* The latest Siena College poll finds that 45 percent of New Yorkers are confident that Common Core standards will make students more college-ready, while 34 percent of voters think the Common Core standards are too demanding:
The Legislature may consider revising the state’s approach to the controversial Common Core standards. Williamsburg charter school closing over contract impasse(NYP)* The state Board of Regents approved plans Monday to trim 20 minutes from the total time scheduled for math assessments that are to be given in April, while some state English Language Arts tests will be trimmed by 10 minutes, Newsday reports: http://bit.ly/1aDdoz1WE ARE WATCHING' — Cuomo sees 'legislative changes' to Common Core — Capital's Jessica Bakeman: The governor said Monday he would consider “legislative changes” to address parents' concerns about the rigorous Common Core standards, on which New York schools started testing some students last April. “There's no doubt that there are significant elements, at least in the transition, that are problematic … It's something we're watching very closely. And it's something that might be the subject of legislative changes next year. But it's not anything that I control, so we are watching." Anti-Truancy Efforts Notch High Marks(WSJ) As it turns out, students really do better in school if they actually go to school. A study to be released Wednesday found that New York City students with major attendance problems were able to turn things around academically if they started showing up to class.* Is New York’s Charter-School Era Waning? * About 15% of NYC middle-school students and 26% of high-school students missed more than 20 days of school last year (WSJ)
'FEVER-PITCH'
RHETORIC — Regents head: Despite being 'shouted down and shouted out,'
forums productive — Capital's Jessica Bakeman: Public forums on
the state's rollout of new, rigorous academic standards and teacher
evaluations are not fun, but they're not useless, either, Board of
Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said this week. “Is it the most pleasant
thing to sit there and be shouted at? No,” Tisch said Monday during a
break of the Regents meeting in Albany. “But the truth is, as the crowds
modulate, and the ability to have a thoughtful give-and-take, so many
people have walked over and said to me, 'I'm happy that was clarified. I
didn't know that.' So, time will tell.” http://goo.gl/QA4ir5
_____________________________________
Sandy Fraud
The federal Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, responsible for identifying fraud in the nearly $58 billion superstorm Sandy aid package, says it is struggling to track grants, loans, and contracts most vulnerable to misuse, Newsday reports:
_____________________________________
Media
With the exception of a few future candidates for the executive editor job and a couple of eccentrics, I'd wager that given the high wages TV pays, the news networks could collect the byline of..
Recent News On the Media
_____________________________________
Wall Street
JPMORGAN
PAYS $13 BILLION — The bank also admitted its guilt in defrauding investors and contributed to the financial meltdown — Capital's Scott
Waldman: The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a $13
billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase, after an investigation into
allegations that the bank misled investors over risky mortgage
securities before the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement was
negotiated through the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working
Group, a joint state and federal working group formed in 2012 and
co-chaired by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Today’s
settlement is a major victory in the fight to hold those who caused the
financial crisis accountable.” – Eric Schneiderman, the state attorney
general, on the $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase, via The New
York Times. * JPMorgan Chase’s landmark $13 billion
civil settlement with the U.S. Justice Department concludes a suit
brought by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, The New York Times reports:_____________________________________
Washington
Wed
Why the Health Law Could Still Succeed - Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Obama's Slow Learning Curve - Peter Berkowitz, RealClearPolitics
Republicans Will Keep Heading Further Right - Paul Rosenberg, Salon
Wishful Thinking Can't Hold Law Together - Megan McArdle, Bloomberg
"You Can Keep Your Doctor": Next Broken Promise? - Alex Altman, Time
Republicans' Scary-Movie Strategy - Dana Milbank, Washington Post
No, Obamacare Isn't the End of Liberalism - Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics
Oprah vs. the Geezer Racists - John Kass, Chicago Tribune
Conservatives, Stop Blaming Libertarians - Kurt Schlichter, Townhall
The JFK in My Mirror - Richard Cohen, Washington Post
Democrats Should End Quest for Camelot - Virginia Postrel, Bloomberg
Obama Snubs Gettysburg Address Anniversary - George Condon, Natl Jrnl
Dana Perino Shares a Secret - Bevan & Stone, RCP Morning Commute
Why Was Maj. Jason Brezler Betrayed? - Michael Daly, The Daily Beast
Al-Qaeda's New Top Foe May Surprise You - Ralph Peters, New York Post
CBS News: 61% Now Oppose Health Law, Obama Approval Falls to 37%
Editorials
It's Time to Admit Obamacare Was a Mistake - Washington TimesGiving Obamacare Some Help - Los Angeles Times
Lincoln at Gettysburg, 150 Years Later - Chicago Tribune
Free Libya From the Liberators - Bloomberg
Gettysburg Address event to mark 150th anniversary
Chill: Obamacare Problems Are Fixable - Paul Begala, CNN
President and Obamacare Sinking Fast - Michael Barone, DC Examiner
Stay the Course on Health Care Law - Froma Harrop, Providence Journal
Woman Cited as Success Story Can't Afford New Plan - Jim Acosta, CNN
From "Four Score" to "Yes We Can!" - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal
Cheney Family Values - Frank Bruni, New York Times
Begich Aims to Localize Tough Senate Race - Scott Conroy, RealClearPolitics
Tea Party Escalates Republican Civil War - DeWayne Wickham, USA Today
The War Against Achievement - Thomas Sowell, Investor's Business Daily
Climate Change Makes Any Disaster Global - Gillen Wood, Bloomberg
The America That Works Delivers Again - Glenn Reynolds, USA Today
Scott Walker Is a Serious 2016 Contender - John Dickerson, Slate
Hillary Clinton and the Sisterhood - Elise Labott, CNN
The Rise of the Phony Philanthropists - Guy Sorman, City Journal
Navy Chief Impatient to Avoid Being Out-Sticked - Dustin Walker, RCD
My First Plane Flight, to Mourn JFK - Walter Shapiro, Yahoo! News
ABC/WaPo: Disapproval of President Obama, Health Care Law Surges
Reid considers going nuclear on filibusters (Politico)
Editorials
A New GOP Excuse for Doing Nothing - New York Times
Suddenly, It's OK to Talk Obamacare Repeal - Investor's Business Daily
Rein In Reckless Public Pensions - USA Today
Lincoln's Spare Words at Gettysburg Still Inspire - Kansas City Star
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid backed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill that would give military prosecutors the power to decide which sexual assault cases to try, rather than commanders.
TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads
Miss today's Sunday shows? We've got you covered withSunday Hubris Has a Way of Ruining Grand Designs - John Kass, Chicago Tribune
Obama's Credibility Is Gone. Can He Get It Back? - John Dickerson, Slate
Obamacare a Game Changer For Dems in 2014 - O’Keefe & Kane, Wash Post
More Fun With Bill and Hill - Frank Bruni, New York Times
Bored With Clinton, Will Dems Look to Warren? - George Will, Wash Post
GOP Establishment Gunning for Justin Amash - Susan Demas, MLive
Lindsey Graham's Primary a Fight for Soul of GOP - Jamie Self, The State
Bitter Clingers Revolt, Oust Gun Grabbing PA Mayor - Salena Zito, Pitt TR
Restraint a Must in Renisha McBride Case - Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press
Will History Repeat Itself in New York City? - Bob McManus, City Journal
How Activist Govt Spawns Corruption - Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
In Light of Recent Events - Alec Baldwin, Huffington Post
The Three Burials of Obamacare - Ross Douthat, New York Times
JFK Spoke to 'Better Angels' of Our Nature - Al Cross, Louisville Courier-Jrnl
Batkid Saves San Francisco - Mike Kepka & Luanne Dietz, SF Chronicle
Head Start and Other Federal Failures - Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
God Called Them to Adopt. And Adopt. And Adopt - Maggie Jones, NYT Mag
Our Age of War & lobbying, lobbying, lobbying very good to DC. Produces most 1%ers in Nation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/capit
Editorials
Federal Government's Arrogance Fails Nevada Again - Las Vegas Sun
More Misconduct From the Secret Service - Washington Post
The War on Women That Wasn't - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Lessons From Dallas' Past - Dallas Morning News
Last 30 Day in Washington Coverage
_____________________________________
Law and Order
Wednesday
Bust in Central Park rape(NYP)
* The Court of Appeals ruled that New York judges must warn immigrant defendants that they face deportation if they plead guilty to a felony, after formerly ruling that deportation was a “collateral consequence” of a guilty plea, The New York Times writes:
* The New York Police Department’s Annual Firearms Discharge Report showed that sixteen people were fatally shot by city police in 2012, the deadliest year for civilians involved in gunfire with officers in more than a decade, The Wall Street Journal reports:
* The Times’ Jim Dwyer examines New York City’s extensive use of “punitive segregation” in its jail system, meaning solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, noting the efforts of the city Corrections Department to curb its use: * Police Shooting Fatalities Jump(WSJ)
EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn dad says daughter, 14, sent knife-wielding thugs to butcher him in his sleep in retaliation for alleged rape(NYDN)
NYU student avoids jail after admitting to swiping Apple gadgets(NYP)
Tuesday
Police Report Shows Increase in Fatal Shootings by New York Officers(NYT)
Report Documents a Rise in Fatal Shootings by the City’s Police Officers(NYT)
Charge Is Dropped in Beating Death in Harlem(NYT)
Thefts of Apple products continue to increase(NYP)
Memorial for slain members of Brooklyn band(NYP)
Man wanted for questioning in Central Park rape(NYP)
Sex assaults suspect on the loose(NYP)
City College students hit with riot charges(NYP)
An off-duty police sergeant was brutalized in Queens Sunday(NBC)
Off-duty cop nearly beaten to death in brawl(NYP)
Entitled celebs get special treatment in court(NYP)
Off-duty NYC officer hospitalized after attack(WSJ)
Woman raped in NYC's Central Park(WSJ)
'STOP, YOU'RE ALREADY KILLING HIM!' Thug savagely beats off-duty cop outside Queens restaurant — then tries to break through car window and attack terrified wife(NYDN)
Police Investigate Alleged Sexual Assault In Central Park(NY1)
* The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus launched its "Walk the Walk" campaign to pass immigration reform, marijuana decriminalization and an increase on the minimum wage, Politicker reports, http://bit.ly/1aC2Foo
Sunday
Cops hunt thug in Gramercy push attack(NYP)
Brother Of Infamous Purple Gang Hitman Found Shot To Death In Bronx(NYP)
NYPD searching for rapist who attacked woman in Central Park(ABC)
Week After Shooting, Life Goes On at Bryant Park(NYT)
On high alert: NYPD conducts drill at BK mall in response to Kenya terror attack(NYDN)
BLESSED BEARD: Fired Hasidic NYPD recruit found to be victim of religious discrimination over lengthy whiskers(NYDN)
Police Investigating Possible Hate Crime In Brooklyn
Friday
Hit man recalls cop slay(NYP)
Stalker Sabourin is the real passion victim(NYP)
Gangbanger convicted in shooting that killed innocent teen(NYP)
Woman, Guilty of Stalking Alec Baldwin, Gets 6-Month Term(NYT)
Survivor of Shooting Rampage Recalls Struggle With Killer(NYT)
Pooya Hosseini, who lived in the Brooklyn home where three Iranian musicians were killed, told of chatting with Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie and wrestling over his gun.
No Charges Against Cabby in Crash Injuring Tourist(NYT)
NO CHARGES — amNewYork’s Ivan Pereira: A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney said there was not enough evidence to charge the cab driver who hit a pedestrian near Rockefeller Plaza in August. http://goo.gl/aLzhev
Thursday
Mom of shot Bryant Park skater to sue, claiming lax security(NYP)
Bikers’ ‘threat’ to driver’s wife: You’re going to get it(NYP)
'You're going to get it too': Biker mob targeted wife of beatdown victim in callous SUV attack(NYDN)
Family of Brooklyn dad sues city for $10M after the father of 8 fatally collapsed during police raid(NYDN)
Cypress Hills armed robbery caught on camera
Last 30 Days of Crime
Conservation Group Keeps Buying Land, Helping State Parks Grow(NYT)
NYC settles its suit with suspect hotels(WSJ)
* The Times Union argues in favor of requiring political parties to report to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics on their spending on lobbying-style campaigns, using the state Democratic committee’s glowing ad campaign about Cuomo as an example: http://bit.ly/I4sQLg
