Mayor Bill de Blasio said that he meant it when he said he would take aim at the “Tale of Two Cities” dividing the city’s rich and poor* QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We won’t wait.” – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during his inauguration speech, on his pledge to end economic and social inequalities and push for progressive policies, via The New York Times
Bill de Blasio, with family watching, taking the oath of office, administered by Bill Clinton. * "Thank you Mayor Bloomberg. Please let's acknowledge the incredible commitment of our mayor"-@BilldeBlasio * This is @NYGovCuomo when @billdeblasio acknowledged @HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/AeqvtRkUEv * BdB: "Chirlane, you are my soulmate -- and my best friend." .@deBlasioNYC graciously thanks pledges to keep up progress, especially making NYC greener, healthier. * "Big dreams are not a luxury reserved for the privileged few, but the
animating force behind every community, in every borough": deBlasio
"When I said I would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I meant it,"@deBlasioNYC says forcefully
De Blasio: "Like it is for so many of you, my family is my rock...but
what makes today so special...is our larger New York family." *De Blasio: Mayor's first responsibility is safe, clean streets. But "our
mission runs deeper" name checking LaGuardia, Al Smith on econ.work * De Blasio isn't using a teleprompter, by the way. Notes on paper. * De Blasio places his crusade against inequality in a "progressive reform" canon that includes Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt. * "We commit to a new progressive direction in New York"-@BilldeBlasio * "We are called to put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city that we love"-@BilldeBlasio* "Big dreams are not a luxury reserved for the privileged few, but the
animating force behind every community, in every borough": deBlasio *
Full transcript of Bill de Blasio inauguration speech
With that Starbucks soy latte reference, de Blasio basically just made
the "for the price of a cup of coffee a day" argument on pre-K. * De blasio: expand Paid Sick Leave, require big developers to build more
affordable housing, reform a broken stop-and-frisk policy, pre-k * Only a slight polite clap from @NYGovCuomo at the mention of raising taxes to pay for #upk. * .@billdeblasio promises to "fight to stem the tide of hospital closures" * "We will reform a broken stop-and-frisk policy," BdB says. BDB on primary roles of city govt: “To ensure that those who live here
and those who visit in every borough can get where they need to go.”* Bdb says 300,000 more. NYers will have paid sick leave by this time next year* RT @maggiepolitico: No Rudy at this inauguration. Also no mention of Ed Koch, whose rival @deBlasioNYC worked for, dying last year * De Blasio:
"Our march toward a fairer, more just, more progressive
place, our march to keep the promise of New York alive…it begins today."* "We will succeed as one city," Echoes of "Not red America, not blue America, but the United States of America." #InaugNYC * @JohnAvlon @Azi "A Tale of Two Cities" was the theme of Gov Cuomo's 1984 Dem Keynote speech. * @errollouis:
"If you were playing a drinking game every time they talked about
inequality or progressive, you'd be fairly soused right now."* Complete Text of Bill de Blasio’s Inauguration Speech (NYT)* "Our march toward a fairer, more just, more progressive place... to keep
the promise of NY alive for the next generation [begins] today." * .@BilldeBlasio: our common cause is to leave no New Yorker behind.* de Blasio says he knows not everyone agrees, those on "far right" still
believe in trickle down econ. Where's camera shot of Cuomo's face? * @annasale he's kept a pretty straight face all day. Bloomberg on the other hand hasn't looked pleased oncestuart stevens
@stuartpstevens
. *
@ClydeHaberman @JohnAvlon Bloomberg should have played by rules, served 2 terms, groomed a successor. BdB seems inevitable over-reaction.
"When I said I would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I meant it,"
Full transcript of Bill de Blasio inauguration speech
Mayor de Blasio vows to take New York City in "a new progressive direction" in his inauguration speech
Bill de Blasio promises to make New York "one city" in inaugural address
De Blasio sworn in as New York mayor, succeeding Bloomberg
Mayor de Blasio, first Democrat in 20 years, takes oath of office at City Hall. (WNYC)
Bill de Blasio vows action on inequality to tackle New York's 'Tale of Two Cities':(Guardian)
Bloomberg's Cold ExitMayor de Blasio, first Democrat in 20 years, takes oath of office at City Hall. (WNYC)
Bill de Blasio vows action on inequality to tackle New York's 'Tale of Two Cities':(Guardian)
How Mayor de Blasio's Inauguration Turned Into A Rally For Liberal Democrats(Yeshiva World News)
Feting a new mayor, and skewering the last one:(WNYC)
De Blasio Inauguration Both Populist and Tightly-Controlled(NYO)
Historic Bible goes missing after de Blasio swearing in(NYP) Found
Bill de Blasio Starts His Progressive Revolution (Daily Beast)
Conviction and criticism at an inauguration(Capital)
Feting a new mayor, and skewering the last one:(WNYC)
De Blasio Inauguration Both Populist and Tightly-Controlled(NYO)
Historic Bible goes missing after de Blasio swearing in(NYP) Found
Bill de Blasio Starts His Progressive Revolution (Daily Beast)
Conviction and criticism at an inauguration(Capital)
Bill goes big (NYDN Ed) The mayor's ambitious inaugural address gives short shrift to the difficulties ahead
On Inauguration Day, a New City Government Doubles Down on Progressive Vision | (C&S)
Taking Office, de Blasio Vows to Fix Inequity(NYT)
Plenty of Reminders of Populism’s Limits(NYT)
With Clintons in His Corner, de Blasio Bolsters Ties to His Party’s ‘Gold Standard’(NYT)
Interactive Feature: Analyzing de Blasio’s Inaugural Address(NYT)
At Inauguration, Seeing Another Sign of Change in What the First Family Wore(NYT)
An Inaugural Pageantry, With Verse, Song and Surprise Meetings(NYT)
De Blasio vows ‘fairer, more progressive’ city in inaugural address(NYP)
On Inauguration Day, a New City Government Doubles Down on Progressive Vision | (C&S)
Taking Office, de Blasio Vows to Fix Inequity(NYT)
Plenty of Reminders of Populism’s Limits(NYT)
Interactive Feature: Analyzing de Blasio’s Inaugural Address(NYT)
At Inauguration, Seeing Another Sign of Change in What the First Family Wore(NYT)
An Inaugural Pageantry, With Verse, Song and Surprise Meetings(NYT)
De Blasio vows ‘fairer, more progressive’ city in inaugural address(NYP)
Bill Clinton First to Thank Bloomberg for His Service
Bill Clinton thanked @MikeBloomberg eliciting applause at @deBlasioNYC inaugural * Clyde Haberman
Finally, from Bill Clinton, an acknowledgment of Bloomberg (who looks awfully glum).* Bill Clinton says Mayor Bloomberg leaves New York City "stronger and healthier than when he found it.".@billclinton the first to thank @MikeBloomberg. A class act, as usual. #InaugNYC * Clinton: "We are going to share the future. We need to share it in a positive way." * At de Blasio’s inauguration ceremony,
Rev. Fred Lucas Jr. referred to New York City as a "plantation" and
included several references to slavery in his address, Politicker reports * A Cold Exit for Mayor Bloomberg(NYO) * Video: "New York City," a poem by Ramya Ramana, the New York City youth poet laureate: (NYT)
Clinton: I endorse de Blasio's core commitment...We are
interdependent...[inequaliy] a moral outrage and a constraint on
economic growth.* Clinton Thanks Bloomberg (NYT)* Clyde Haberman
@ClydeHaberman Unlike Stringer & James, de Blasio has the grace to acknowledge Bloomberg did good in specific areas.* Belafonte "denounced Mike Bloomberg's New York as "Dickensian" as the outgoing mayor sat by, stonefaced" * De Blasio Inauguration Starts With 'Plantation' Rhetoric * Clinton 'strongly endorses' de Blasio, praises Bloomberg(Capital)
Comptroller Scott Stringer
New comptroller Scott Stringer says progressivism and fiscal responsibility not mutually exclusive. When Stringer sez we shd "double down" on homelessness, remember that @MikeBloomberg homeless budget almost doubled. Doubling again = $2bn. *
@danarubinstein "I will audit every city agency to root out waste and abuse," promises New York City's new comptroller * New NYC comptroller Scott Stringer sticks with the day's theme of tacking inequality * We can double-down on solving homelessness, on growing jobs and still protect our double A bond rating * Stringer: "We can shelter every family in safe, affordable homes, not
squalid shelters where 22K of our children will go to sleep" tonite. * Stringer: pursuing a progressive agenda and being fiscally responsible are not mutually exclusive.* Scott Stringer says he wants to transform comptroller office into a think tank #Inaugnyc * "I will audit every city agency to root out waste and abuse," promises New York City's new comptroller * Make no mistake: all we wish to accomplish will not be easy. But there’s
a reason E.B. White once called NY 'a visible symbol of aspiration'* Colin Campbell
@BKcolin How many references to slavery were in that reverend's speech at the inauguration today? Lost count
Public Advocate Letitia James
Dasani, from @NYTimes series, will hold the Bible as Letitia James takes the oath of office. David Dinkins also invited 200 homeless to his inauguration RT @chrissmithnymag: Dasani and family on stage* Dasani, from the @nytimes's
Invisible Child series, is holding the Bible as Letitia James is sworn
in as public advocate.* Dasani, a homeless girl featured in NYT series,
holds bible for Letitia James. * Amazing what a break all of the
rhetoric this afternoon is from the last 12 years. Luxury condos=bad *
The Public Advocate is truly touting her progressive credentials in
acceptance speech.. *As @TishJames talks abt prioritizing people as opposed to tax cuts and subsidies for stadiums, @SenSchumer looks over at @MikeBloomberg * .@MikeBloomberg sits, arms crossed, as @TishJames
lambastes stop-and-frisk, Muslim surveillance and luxury condos * Mike
Bloomberg in front row, stone faced, as Tish James rips his policies,
like high stakes testing and stop and frisk #InaugNYC *
James Declares Dasani Coates Is Her ‘New BFF’
.@TishJames
speech whole-sale repudiation of Bloomberg era, who sits stone faced
behind her.* James talks about the growing gap between the haves and
have nots. * "The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots
undermines our city
and tears at the fabric of our democracy." - Letitia James * .@TishJames: the "exclusion and marginalization that has left a mark on so many New Yorkers… unrepresented, unspoken for" * @TishJames cracks as she speaks about her parents - used to back breaking work rather than dinner parties* @joelmsiegel What @MikeBloomberg
's thinking: "Wonder if we can catch a quicker flight to New Zealand"
@InaugNYC * Missing from NYC Inauguration Day. Thank you Mayor
Bloomberg!!!* James disses @deBlasioNYC chum Ratner in swipe at Barclays stadium deal. * Harry Siegel
@harrysiegel Tone thruout #inaugNYC very much about those excluded from gains of last 12 & 20 years. Almost no outreach to "whole city," non-BdB voters.* @NYDNPolitics Did you see @MikeBloomberg squirming in his seat with a sour-puss face when @TishJames was abusing his politics? * Jonathan Lemire.@TishJames, fresh off denouncing @MikeBloomberg in speech, hosts party at 7 WTC - office of Silverstein Properties, frequent Bloomberg ally * Tish James Declares Dasani Coates Is Her ‘New BFF’
James Declares Dasani Coates Is Her ‘New BFF’
Inauguration Day Round Up
Public Advocate Letitia James, the first woman of color elected
citywide, will be sworn in too, by Rev. Anthony Tufant of Brooklyn’s
Emmanuel Baptist Church. City Comptroller Scott Stringer will be sworn
in by New York State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Bransten-Simpson. * #NYC’s new class of Council members are online, officially: * @colvinj Volunteers here at @BilldeBlasio barred from speaking to the press. Try to say hello and staffers swoop in. #transparency * Dasani, the homeless child chronicled in a recent NYT series, will hold bible for swearing-in of public advocate @TishJames, spox says * All in from day one(NY Mag) * Michael Benjamin
@SquarePegDem
#InaugNYC
reporters, please play spot the lobbyists -- our real permanent
government operators. They elect the government, they want.* Hearing the
desk La Guardia used has been moved downstairs by de Blasio
to the first floor room Giuliani used as an office in City Hall. * Clyde Haberman
@ClydeHaberman You wouldn't know from the speeches thus far that Bloomberg did ANYTHING good in his 12 years.* .@danielleiat's piece on the transfer of NYPD leadership from Kelly to Bratton is very, very good: * .@BilldeBlasio 1st public schedule as mayor: 12 PM swearing-in ceremony tomorrow of Bill Bratton at 1 Police Plaza * Mayor Bill de Blasio spent three hours shaking about 1,300 hands. Then,
had a private party at Gracie Mansion to thank staff and friends.
Elvis has left the building .
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Muppets Take Manhattan Again?
Mark-Viverito's Closeness to de Blasio Causing a Political Headache(NY1) NY1: Any representative from the mayor-elect there?" Mark-Viverito: There was a whole bunch of people present in the room. I think that there was labor leaders, allies, there may have been a representative, yes. Mark-Viverito did not disclose, in fact, it was the mayor-elect himself. The de Blasio and Mark-Viverito campaigns have included the same voices, from the Working Families Party to the city's health care workers union. Up until recently, Mark-Viverito's current spokesman had worked for the de Blasio campaign. When asked about her independence, Mark-Viverito's spokesman sent over a statement saying in part she would be an aggressive defender of the City Council.
Bill de Blasio
109th Mayor of NYC
De Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, held the Bible as he was sworn in, and their teenage children, Dante and Chiar. Before swearing in de Blasio,
Who is Who With Mayor Bill
In the hours before Bill de Blasio’s inauguration as the mayor of New York City, the seats on the dais at City Hall already bore name tags. The closest one to the podium? Reserved for an “H. Clinton.” Next? “B. Clinton.” Also in the front row: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and outgoing Mayor Michael Bl“Gaspard helped bring the new mayor together with Obama, starting long before de Blasio’s candidacy took off by taking the then-public advocate and his family backstage to meet the president at an event in Philadelphia. … David Axelrod … is a mentor, friend and former partner of de Blasio’s top political consultant, John DelCecato, whose own ties to Obama run deep. A campaign adviser who cut some of the president’s re-election ads, Del Cecato also coached the new mayor on engagement with the White House.”* De Blasio inauguration to have A-listers, everyday New Yorkers(NYDN)* Liberals are now watching New York City to see if Mayor Bill de Blasio can deliver on his populist ideals. “The mayor has a remarkable opportunity to make real many progressive policies and prove their merit,” Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor of California, told The New York Times.\ “There’s got to be a connection between vision and speeches, and execution and policy … Our beloved president — that brother gives beautiful speeches, but he is milquetoast oftentimes when it comes to execution,” added Dr. Cornel West. “We don’t want de Blasio going down that Obama lane, or we’ll be in trouble.” * The Nation reacts: “There are conventions in politics as dependable as the tides. For instance, once elected, a politician’s rhetoric shifts from the inspirational to the incremental, and after months of saying nasty things about their opponent, they make nice … In the weeks since he was elected mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio has abided by neither custom.” * Farewell to All That - and Hello to Politics in City Hall(NY1) Boomberg.For de Blasio, these four figures are not just prominent politicians whose positions alone grant them seating privileges Wednesday. They are among several people he will have some sort of relationship with in the coming years, whether personal, professional, or simply in the public imagination.* Two repeated themes of the de Blasio movement heretofore: diversity and progressive. Let the parsing begin.
Bill & Hillary & Bill & Andrew
Bill, Hillary Clinton arrived. The former prez will swear in de Blasio, who used to work for his admin, at HUD, under Gov. Cuomo
Test #1
Possibly 5-8 inches of snow Thursday
New Mayor Or Not, It's Mother Nature That's Still In Charge, Gov. Cuomo Warns | New York Daily News
There is a near wholesale change in NYC leadership. New: mayor, public advocate, comptroller, 4 borough presidents, 21 council members,1 DA.
Llast mayor sworn in outside of Manhattan was Abe Beame, Queens, 1974
First Murder Under Mayor de Blasio
Police Investigate First Two Murders of Year
Bloodshed arrived with 2014 in spate of violence that left two people dead, six stabbed, eight shot and one pistol-whipped, the NYPD said Wednesday.
FIRST MESSAGE: New NYPD Commissioner Bratton's First Statement -“Happy New Year to ... -
NYC ended 2013 with 334 homicides, the lowest number since such statistics were recorded, officials said
Bloomberg Bids Farewell
Now former Mayor Michael Bloomberg has left office for the final time following a day that included jokes, applause and this advice for de Blasio: “Do what you think is right,” the Daily News writes: * A look at Mayor Michael Bloomberg's first day as a former mayor of New York City.(NYT) * Bloomberg Has Outwardly Frosty Reaction at Inauguration Ceremony(NY1)
NO MAYORAL COUNTDOWN
“Confetti and music but no mayor for NYC ball drop,” by AP’s Colleen Long: “[F]or the first time in a decade, a New York City mayor won't be attending the countdown at the crossroads of the world. Outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who attended every other celebration during his tenure, … said he's sitting out Tuesday's festivities to spend time with family and friends. And Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will be busy being sworn into office at a private ceremony at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at his Brooklyn home. The full inauguration ceremony begins at noon at City Hall.* For the first time in a decade, a New York City mayor won't be in Times Square to ring in the new year(WNYC) * Bloomberg leaves City Hall, leaving indelible mark * .
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Thank you, New Yorkers, for the honor and privilege of serving you these past 12 years.
Bloomberg Era Ends
More on the Nanny Mayor
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Mike Bloomberg
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The Speech
Judge Seabury swears in mayor laguardia After His Commission Pushed Out Jimmy Walker
"Now We Have A Real Mayor" Judge Seabury 1934
Inaugurations, Through the Decades
From Henry Stern's Newsletter:yA twelve year period of relative tranquility is ending and a newly elected administration is starting in. Ideologically, from what they say, the Bill de Blasio administration wants to make a sharp turn to the left, viewing Bloomberg as a creature of the old regime. Certainly the substantial vote by which he was elected gives the new mayor a popular mandate. It is not clear, however, exactly what that mandate is for. Is it for reducing expenditures or embarking on new programs like all day kindergarten? Is it for stricter law enforcement or against some police practices? The principal unsolved problem is education. Are our children being trained to hold the increasingly complex jobs which are now required of the workforce? Despite the billions of additional dollars that have been thrown at the problem, the results have not been inspiring. Inaugurations, Through the Decades(NYT)* --Jan. 2, 1934: “LAGUARDIA MOVES TO CLEAN UP CITY; STARTS HUNT FOR GRAFT IN BUREAUS; TAMMANY ORGANIZES THE ALDERMEN”
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Mayoral Inaugurations Are Time Capsules
Bloomberg 2001-2013
Terrorists Attack Recovery
In his 2002 inaugural address Mayor Bloomberg talked about rebuilding the city
after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center,
cutting the size of city government, and called on businesses to retain
their commitment to the city New York City Mayor Inauguration - C-SPAN Video Library--Jan. 2, 2002, “BLOOMBERG OFFERS EXAMPLE WITH VOW TO CUT STAFF
20% -- GOAL: ‘DO MORE WITH LESS’ -- At Inauguration, Mayor Asks New
Yorkers to Recognize Limits of Government,” by Jennifer Steinhauer
2nd Term: Ambitions Housing Program, Illegal Guns and Improve the Schools
Mayor Bloomberg's 2nd Inauguration Speech 2006 Seizing on his electoral mandate in a second inaugural address that projected unabashed optimism, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg promised yesterday to pursue the most ambitious housing program in New York City's history, to begin a national campaign against illegal guns, and to "lock in and extend" his program to improve the schools
3rd Term: Term Limits
Bloomberg secured a controversial third term after successfully persuading legislators to overturn the city’s two-term limit for elected officials. That, combined with growing unease at the widening gap between rich and poor provided the springboard for his successor, Bill de Blasio, to campaign on a slogan that it was time to end what he termed the “tale of two cities.”
Giuliani 1994-2001
Safe Streets
New York Mayoral Inauguration - C-SPAN Video Library
In his 1994 inauguration speech, Mayor Giuliani talked about the
changes he plans that will once again make New York City the capital of
the world. He emphasized the bipartisan government that now
characterizes the New York system and hoped that solutions to many of
the city’s problems will be found through them. * RUDY GIULIANI'S FIRST INAUGURATION - KID'S ANTICS! - YouTube * Second Inaugural Address, January 1998, available via Real
Player, and also as text. --Jan. 2, 1994: “Giuliani May Model Fiscal Plan on Innovations Tried Elsewhere,” by Alison Mitchell
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Dinkins 1990-1993
New York the Gorgeous Mosaic
Michael Bloomberg - Third Mayoral Inaugural Address Bloomberg delivered
his third inaugural address to the City of New York, emphasizing the important
role innovative government can play in improving people's lives and the need for
New Yorkers to come together to get through the challenging times ahead.
Recognizing the central role that immigrants and small businesses have always
played in creating a dynamic and prosperous city, the Mayor today signaled that
both areas would become major focuses during the upcoming term. * Dinkins Vows to Fight Crime, Help Children : Politics: He pledges to be the
mayor of all the people of New York. His inaugural speech tempers his
vision of the future with the fiscal reality of a huge deficit.--Jan. 2, 1990, “Dinkins Sworn In; Stresses Aid to Youth: He Pledges to be ‘Mayor of All the People,’” by Todd S. Purdum
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Koch 1978-1989
Making New York Work Again
TEXT OF ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MAYOR KOCH AT HIS THIRD INAUGURATION For 10 years, we've been haunted by the phantom of fiscal failure, for
10 years we've been shadowed by fears that the calamity we overcame will
somehow come back and attack us again. On the first day of 1986, it is
time to put aside uncertainty and give ourselves the credit we deserve.
New Yorkers are not going to let their city slide backward. We won't
abandon our sense of fiscal responsibility any more than we'll abandon
our sense of social responsibility. We worked long and hard to balance
our budget without balancing it on the backs of the poor. This has been
the secret of our success. It's a secret the Federal Government would be
well advised to learn. Some people may wonder if it's wise to pat ourselves on the back when so
much remains yet to be done. What about the housing crisis? Since 1978,
the city has helped to build or rehabilitate 170,000 units, reversing
decades of loss. But isn't the homeless rate increasing? And should we
really be proud of our public school system? Test scores have gone up in
reading and math but the dropout problem is still severe, and a number
of schools are not performing as they should.* KOCH PLEDGES AID FOR THE HOMELESS,
Beame 1974-1977
Fiscal Crisis
Fiscal Crisis
--Jan. 2, 1974, “Beame Inaugurated, Vows Integrity and Efficiency: Mayor Looks to Reborn ‘Faith in Our City,’” by Murray Schumach (Sidebar: “From Beach 131st Street [Queens] to City Hall,” by Maurice Carroll)
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Lindsay 1966-1973
Reinventing New York City
John Lindsay first inaugural address, 1966 (excerpts) / John ... - VimeoA confrontation with a powerful municipal union was brewing even before
Lindsay became mayor on January 1, 1966. The Transport Workers Union,
which represented subway workers and bus drivers, was threatening to go
on strike for higher wages. Lindsay, who had no experience with labor
negotiations and lacked his predecessor’s close relationships with the
city’s union leaders, had vowed to hold down city costs. He denounced
Wagner’s private, albeit effective, negotiations with unions as a form
of unsavory backroom dealing, and, although he himself met with the
leadership secretly several times, he publicly refused to cut a deal
with the union. TWU president Mike Quill retaliated by vocally taunting
the mayor-elect. Well before inauguration day, Lindsay and Quill were
adversaries, rather than partners, in negotiation.* News: Mayor Lindsay Inauguration - WNYC * America's Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York ...*
Wagner 1954-1965
3rd Term End of Tammany Hall
3rd Term End of Tammany Hall
Former SI BP Molinaro Joins Lobbying Firm With Ties to Mark-Viverito
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Mayoral Transition Over
In a dramatic acceleration of his transition to City Hall, de Blasio made five appointments to his administration, including Robert Linn, a veteran negotiator to be his point man in forging new contracts with all of the municipal unions. Snow May Deal a First Test to de Blasio One Day After He Takes Office (NYT)
De Blasio inauguration to have A-listers, everyday New Yorkers * De Blasio Draws All Liberal Eyes to New York City(NYT) *De Blasio Picks Two Koch Veterans to Help Negotiate City Union ...(NYT) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s easiest day is likely to be his first, but he could gain some political lift if he is willing to defend his slow appointments, quash unreasonable expectations of fat labor contracts and resist more campaigning against Michael Bloomberg, Newsday’s Dan Janison writes: * The Daily News writes that New York City schools Chancellor Carmen Farina will easily rally New Yorkers to her side – as long as students do well, something she and de Blasio will in part be judged by moving forward:* But dropping the hammer on high-earners isn't necessarily the answer to the city's problems, warned outgoing Mayor Bloomberg, according to Capital NY: "In the absence of an easy political solution, wealthy people, in Bloomberg’s words, become the 'logical target.' 'We drove the money lenders out of the temple in Jesus’ day,' he said. 'This is a tried and true ways to get votes.'"* Bill de Blasio's Team (WSJ) Ahead of his inauguration as the 109th mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, 2014, mayor-elect Bill de Blasio announced his choices for some of the key positions in his administration.* Mayoral View On Contracts Has Changed(WSJ) * De Blasio Appoints Five More Officials to City Posts (WSJ)* From this morning, NYC union leaders are mixed on
Inauguration Update
"We appreciate Mayor-elect de Blasio's swift response": @AP Sr Managing Editor @MichaelOreskes on access to swear-in.
5 Appointments
NYFD
De Blasio eyes female candidates to run Fire Department(NYDN)
“I’m sticking around" -Sal Casano, who runs the FDNY, said(NYO)
Using Bullpen
De Blasio to use Bloomberg's Bullpen when he takes office(NYDN) Sources confirmed Monday that city employees have not been instructed to dismantle the open-air Bullpen or to draw up plans to replace it. It is possible if not likely that de Blasio will decide at a later date to return to a more traditional office layout inside City Hall.
NYCHA
New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea has resigned, ending his four-year tenure and leaving the city’s departing Economic Development Corp. Director Kyle Kimball temporarily in charge, the Daily News reports:
Slow Transition And the Bloomberg Effect
De Blasio is on pace for one of the slowest New York City government transitions in a generation, with fewer than a dozen top officials chosen, compared to nearly 30 when Mayor Michael Bloomberg stepped into office, the Times writes: * Some of Bloomberg’s ideas for his time in office may not have come to total fruition, but others have come close or might become reality long after he has left City Hall, The Wall Street Journal writes: * Bloomberg once noted that a labor union contract would extend past the end of his second term, but with his third term ending, he is leaving behind expired contracts with every union, the Journal writes:
Bloomberg
Yesterday was a day for Bloomberg administration exit interviews on Road to City Hall. Outgoing officials dropping by the show’s set were: the city’s corporation counsel, Michael Cardozo, commissioner of the Department of Investigation, Rose Gill Hearn, and commissioner of the Human Resources Administration and Department of Social Services, Robert Doar.
Horse-Drawn Carriages
Whoa: Very strong words from the NYT's edit page editor about de Blasio's push to banish horse-drawn carriages
Police
Protest To Accompany Bratton’s Official Return As NYPD Commissioner
Carmen Farina Schools Chancellor
The mayor-elect filled two crucial positions with seasoned public servants to run the nation’s largest city. Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is following a pattern of choosing seasoned public servants to fill top roles in city government, a trend that has importance* The toughest job: Running NYC’s schools (NYP Ed) * De Blasio Recognizes Obstacles Standing in Way of Schools Plan(NYT) Facing high expectations for reforming the education system, New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio may meet obstacles to his plans, including powers constrained by state and federal laws regarding testing * The Wall Street Journal writes that new New York City schools Chancellor Carmen Farina is a competent steward of the education status quo, with her record as a Bloomberg-era deputy chancellor not pointing to her being a reform leader:* Schools Chief Sees Parents As 'Partners'(WSJ) * New Schools Chancellor Feared Mediocrity, Pushed High Standards for All(WSJ) Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on Monday introduced the public to Carmen Fariña, his pick for schools chancellor, but the pair were mum on specific plans for the nation's largest school system.* Fariña's test(NYDN ED) Bill de Blasio has filled the critical post of schools chancellor — second in importance only to police commissioner — by convincing a veteran educator to come out of retirement and lead the nation’s largest public education system.* Incoming Schools Chancellor inspired by upbringing(NYDN) * U.S. education officials lobbied against Starr for New York City schools post (Wash Post)
Bill de Blasio makes schools chancellor pick(NYP) Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will appoint former top schools official Carmen Farina as the city’s next chancellor on Monday, a source told the Post on Sunday. De Blasio will make the announcement at William Alexander Middle School 51 in Park Slope, which both of his children attended, the source said.* Carmen Farina to be named DOE chancellor(Capital) * Sources: Carmen Farina to be Named New Schools Chancellor(NY1) *Veteran of City School System Is Said to Be Next Chancellor(NYT) De Blasio will name Farina head of the nation's largest public school system at M.S. 51, the Park Slope middle school his children attended. Friends and colleagues of Farina and de Blasio say they share a single educational philosophy, with a focus on progressive education, a skepticism of standardized testing and charter schools, and a focus on racially and economically integrated public schools. Farina … is 71 and retired from the D.O.E in 2006 … Farina is well-known for her focus on professional development, which both advocates for and critics of the Common Core agree is needed to improve outcomes on the Common Core-aligned curricula and exams. …
As a
teacher and administrator, Farina was known for her focus on creating
literary-focused curricula, teaching students about Civil War history by
having them read historical novels from the time period, or visiting
the Brooklyn Museum to look at Civil War-era art.” * “As a principal and superintendent, Ms. Fariña gained a
reputation as a stern manager. She worked briefly as a top official in
the Education Department early in the Bloomberg administration,
overseeing teaching and learning, but departed amid philosophical
differences. … In a 1999 interview, she recalled being the only Spanish-speaking student in kindergarten at St. Charles Borromeo, a
parochial school in Brooklyn.”* De Blasio to Tap Fariña as Schools Chancellor * Josh Greenman
@joshgreenman Carmen Farina led P.S. 6 and District 15 (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_6 and http://insideschools.org/districts/brooklyn/district-15 …).
Not known for her work with low-income kids.* De Blasio is expected to
name Carmen Farina, 40-year veteran of the city schools, as schools
chancellor today.(WNYC) Carmen Farina will appoint Ursulina Ramirez,
BdB's Deputy Pub Advocate, as chief of staff.* Carmen Fariña has been
named Schools Chancellor. She is a staunch
supporter of de-emphasizing high stakes tests and values parents'
input.* De Blasio names veteran educator Carmen Farina as the next chancellor of New York City's school system(NYDN) * Former teacher Carmen Farina named school chancellor(NYP) * De Blasio Evasive on Key Questions at Year’s End (NYO) * Tests Start Soon for De Blasio’s Schools Chancellor (NY Mag)* Fariña Named Schools Chancellor, Looks Forward to Advancing "Progressive Agenda"(NY1) * 9 Things You Should Know About The New Head Of NYC's School System(Huff Post) * School Chancellor Pick Not A Clear Departure From Bloomberg Years(Huff Post) * Gonzalez: De Blasio's schools chancellor will revolutionize city's schools(NYDN) * Report: City Taps Top Psychiatrist to Help Prevent School Violence(NY1) * In selecting Farina as chancellor, de Blasio says he will "unpack" a lot of Bloomberg's ed reforms(WNYC)
.Zachary Carter New Corp Council
De Blasio continued to dodge questions about his new administration appointments, including who will be running the city’s emergency services come Jan. 1, Politicker writes: * De Blasio vowed to act quickly to abolish horse-drawn carriages in NYC.* For de Blasio, So Many Jobs to Fill, So Little Time: Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has appointed fewer than a dozen...Mr. de Blasio on track for slowest creation of a New York City government in a generation * New York magazine looked at the future of affordability in the city, arguing Mr. de Blasio’s universal pre-K vow–“usually been considered a dreamy political nonstarter”–and promised expansion of affordable housing “suggests that the new mayor understands something about the nature of reform in New York, that it is … essentially physical, a matter of space.” * De Blasio on horse-drawn carriages: "They're not humane, they're not appropriate to the year 2014. It's over."
Swearing In
Former President Clinton To Swear In de Blasio As Mayor(CBS)Bill Clinton Will Swear In Bill de Blasio(NY Mag)* .
Bill de Blasio to embark on battle against inequality as New York mayor (Telegraph) * BUBBA WILL DO THE HONORS: President Clinton to swear in Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio at New Year's Day inauguration(NYDN)
..
Mayoral Transition Timeline
More on Ray Kelly
More on Bratton
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Newspapers Blinked
De Blasio Bullies The NYT "Our Movement"
After Editorial de Blasio Meets With Mark-Viverito Council Supporters
NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio met Monday with supporters of Melissa Mark-Viverito to rally the troops in her bid for City Council speaker.BdB told Melissa Mark-Viverito backers, "'You all have made your choice, and I think you’ve made an excellent choice,’ ” one person said.
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Newspapers Courage of Their Convictions DOE 2014
Newspapers Disconnected From the Public Unable to Fight for Separation of Powers at City Hall
Elected Officials, Lobbyists Consultant's Spin the New News
Shocking the BOE is Corrupt
The dead can vote in NYC(NYP) Investigators posing as dead voters were allowed to cast ballots for this year’s primary and general elections, thanks to antiquated Board of Election registration records and lax oversight by poll workers, authorities said. Undercover DOI agents were able to access voting booths in 61 instances — including 39 dead people, 14 jail birds and eight non-residents. Only twice were the agents blocked. In some cases, young investigators were able to vote under the name of a dead person three times their age. At a Manhattan poll site, a 33-year-male investigator was able to vote under the name of a deceased man who would have been 94 on Election Day. On top of that, DOI makes 40 recommendations for changes to fix the embattled agency, cataloging problems with everything from nepotism and less-than-voluntary political activity to pollworker training and ballot design... More to follow... Rose Gill Hearn is leaving the city Department of Investigation to head the Campaign Finance Board, but before she goes, the commissioner and her team released a highly critical report of the NYC Board of Elections. * DOI To Board Of Elections: Get Dead People Off Voter Rolls * NYC Board of Elections Riddled With Problems, Dept. of Investigation Finds(DNAINFO) * DOI To Board Of Elections: Get Dead People Off Voter Rolls(CBS) * Bloomberg makes last-minute campaign finance appointment(NYP)
More on the Corrupt BOE More
Cuomo: The Last Straw
Kellner Slammed Violated Sexual Harassment Policy
Assemblyman Micah Kellner can no longer hold leadership positions, including his chairmanship of the Committee on Libraries and Education Technology, or have interns as part of a round of sanctions following a sexual harassment investigation
Here's Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's letter admonishing Micah Kellner, a fellow Democrat Shoe drops for Assemblyman
Albany Hush Fund Cover Up, Press Containment Timeline
NYT Says Mayor's Council Speakers Deal Done Deal
"Well See How Independent Council Is"
The No
Fight NYT Unseemly
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NYT Editorial Did Not Call For Reforms to the Council Lulus System, Member Items Or Call For Any Reforms
Bill de Blasio’s council coup(NYP ED) There’s a joke going around among the city’s
political reporters: Despite concerns that Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio
has moved too slowly to form his administration, the fact is, he’s
already named his two most important officials: Bill Bratton for police
commissioner and . . . Melissa Mark-Viverito for City Council speaker. The joke, of course, may be on us: The speaker is supposed
to be picked by the council, not the mayor-elect. But in an unusual
move, the incoming head of the executive branch blasted himself onto the
legislature’s turf, twisted arms there (quite effectively, too) and now
seems to have his own hand-picked speaker ready to grab the gavel.
How’s that for irony? The man who overtook
current Speaker Chris Quinn in the Democratic mayoral primary largely by
suggesting she was Mayor Bloomberg’s toady will soon be a mayor himself
— with his own self-chosen go-fer serving as speaker. Council members were livid. Even those who
had given her their support originally felt blind-sided and
double-crossed. They use terms like “hijacked” to describe the putsch
and complain of having been “betrayed.” (They speak off-the-record, of
course, so as not to cross either the mayor-elect or the likely new
speaker, Mark-Viverito.) Says one observer darkly, “[De Blasio] wants
to break any alternative power structure that would prevent him from
turning the City Council into a mayoral agency, far more so than in the
relationship between Bloomberg and Quinn.”* Mark-Viverito Stopping Co-Locations Charter Schools Mark-Viverito leads charter-halt suit(NYP)A group of public-school parents and
politicians, including Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate-elect Letitia
James, has filed a lawsuit that seeks to block the placement or
“co-location” of 42 charter schools in public school facilities
Cuomo Vs de Blasio in Speakers Race To Weaken the Mayor
Cuomo pushing to block de Blasio speaker pick Mark-Viverito(Dicker, NYP) Gov. Cuomo, in his first major battle with Bill de Blasio, is engaged
in a last-ditch effort to block leftist Councilwoman Melissa
Mark-Viverito from becoming council speaker, Democratic insiders have
told The Post. Cuomo has been working behind the scenes with city Democratic
leaders, including Assemblyman Carl Heastie, the Bronx party chair, and
US Rep. Joseph Crowley, the Queens chair, to line up support for
Councilman Dan Garodnick, the other candidate in the race, the insiders
said. “It’s certainly not in Cuomo’s political interest to have another
left-wing activist along with de Blasio running the city. The sense is
that Cuomo wants to see de Blasio defeated on this one, so that he’ll
start off as mayor weaker and not stronger, relative to the governor.”* Gov Race 2014 Rob Astorino Seeks To Tar Gov. Cuomo With NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver(NYDN) Westchester County Executive Rob
Astorino says Gov. Andrew Cuomo should be leading the charge to push
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver from his leadership position amid sexual
harassment allegations against Dennis Gabryszak* Cuomo’s Office Rips ‘Ridiculous’ Allegation of Speaker’s Race Meddling(NYO) * Mark-Viverito is notably not a Cuomo Democrat.
The Getting Even Deal
The City Council speaker’s race is ongoing as well. Last night the news broke that outgoing Speaker Christine Quinn has quietly backed rivals to front-runner Melissa Mark-Viverito, despite
her professed neutrality in the race. “I had a conversation with her
where she was absolutely discouraging Melissa,” one council member told
Capital New York.
Lancman Mayor Quinn? No Done Deal
With the New York City Council speaker’s race still undecided, Dan Garodnick is campaigning to win votes from Council members who have pledged their support for Melissa Mark-Viverito
All-Out Bid To Change Speaker Vote(WSJ)Council Member Dan Garodnick of the East Side Has Launched a Campaign to Flip Supporters of Melissa Mark-Viverito to His Side * According to several of Mr. Garodnick's supporters, he has 20 solid
votes, including himself. A few have voiced a willingness to switch, and
the coalition is working on courting a few more to get to 26, one
person said. "We only need to pick up a few votes," one supporter said."Calling the speaker race for Melissa today is like calling the mayoral
race for Chris Quinn in May," said Council Member-elect Rory Lancman of
Queens, who is supporting Mr. Garodnick. (Ms. Quinn was the clear
front-runner for months in the mayor's race, but she came in third place
in the September primary. Mr. Lancman said. "Dan is the best opportunity for us to have an independent City Council."
NYT, NYP and WSJ Start Coving the Speakers Race No TV
No Coverage . . .
How Local TV Dumbs Down New Yorkers
The real race to pick the second most powerful elected position in NYC council speaker received almost no coverage until today. Only True News has reported and gave analysis on this most important race. A couple of the blogs gave out press releases spins of both sides in the council race consultants. The fake race for council speaker the council speaker, last months speaker forums got extensive coverage over 2 million stories filed on google. New Yorkers that receive all their news from local TV will only know the winner of the council speakers race, not the problems pointed out in the NYT and NYP today.
Daily News Where is the Speaker Race Coverage?
Fight NYT Unseemly
Mr. de Blasio Picks His Speaker(NYT Ed) Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is expected to be the next
City Council speaker, insists that she will be independent and
fearless. We’ll see. Ms. Mark-Viverito’s victory was sealed by intense behind-the-scenes
lobbying by Mr. de Blasio, after which she declared herself “humbled” by
the honor. The mayoral meddling in Council business was unsurprising
but unseemly, especially from someone who used to accuse Speaker
Christine Quinn of being too close to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But that was then. Now we’re about to get a speaker with an enormous
debt to the mayor, leading a legislative body that is supposed to be an
independent counterweight to the executive.* At Today's Press Conference Bill de Blasio is asked if he regrets getting involved in speaker's
race. He said he expressed his thoughts, and members will decide.* De Blasio Meets with Mark-Viverito Supporters in Council Race(WSJ)
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NYT Editorial Did Not Call For Reforms to the Council Lulus System, Member Items Or Call For Any Reforms
Ms. Mark-Viverito’s
defenders don’t see a separation-of-powers problem. They also note that
the old way of selecting speakers involved powerful party leaders in the
boroughs anointing a choice, for the purpose of doling out committee
chairmanships and pork. Ms. Mark-Viverito, who was an early and enthusiastic de Blasio
supporter, insists that she will be independent and fearless. She points
to the ambitious list of reforms that her Progressive Caucus has proposed,
including changing Council rules on member-item spending and
overhauling the City Charter to improve transparency in budgeting. Those
are excellent ideas, and she should pursue them. But the best
benchmark for independence will be how she reacts when some ally — this
mayor, let’s say — offers terrible ideas and misguided policies. We’ll
see. Meanwhile, there are 50 others in the Council who need to remember
that electing a speaker is their decision, not any party boss’s or
mayor’s. It is their institution whose role and reputation they are
bound to protect.
“[De Blasio] wants
to break any alternative power structure that would prevent him from
turning the City Council into a mayoral agency"
Cuomo Vs de Blasio in Speakers Race To Weaken the Mayor
The Getting Even Deal
Lancman Mayor Quinn? No Done Deal
With the New York City Council speaker’s race still undecided, Dan Garodnick is campaigning to win votes from Council members who have pledged their support for Melissa Mark-Viverito
NYT, NYP and WSJ Start Coving the Speakers Race No TV
How Local TV Dumbs Down New Yorkers
The real race to pick the second most powerful elected position in NYC council speaker received almost no coverage until today. Only True News has reported and gave analysis on this most important race. A couple of the blogs gave out press releases spins of both sides in the council race consultants. The fake race for council speaker the council speaker, last months speaker forums got extensive coverage over 2 million stories filed on google. New Yorkers that receive all their news from local TV will only know the winner of the council speakers race, not the problems pointed out in the NYT and NYP today.
Daily News Where is the Speaker Race Coverage?
The NYT, NYP and WSJ all had stories today on council speakers race, but not the Daily News. How can a DN editorial tell us on December 21 to keep the Bum Mark-Viverito out because of her conflict of interest lobbyist the advance group and not report on the separation of powers issue as the other papers reported today? Keep the bums out (NYDN, December . 21, 2013) Cronyism taints Mark-Viverito's bid for Council speaker. "Many of the 30 who signed on share her progressive agenda. Joined in
ideology, they overlook the conflict of interest that aided her
candidacy. To rally support, she accepted free consulting from the Advance Group, a
major lobbying firm that will press Mark-Viverito to support
legislation and budgetary requests sought by its clients."
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Why Has the Daily News Stopped Following Up on the Advance Group Mark-Viverito Conflict of Interests?
No to Mark-Viverito (NYDN, Nov. 27, 2013) The would-be speaker crosses a line in accepting free "help" from a lobbyist. The city’s conflict of interest rules bar public officials from
accepting freebies from lobbyists, and they prohibit lobbyists from
dispensing same to public officials. This is exactly what happened on
both ends of a scratch-my-back relationship between Mark-Viverito and
influence seller Scott Levenson. The Conflicts of Interest Board must investigate, and the Council must
disqualify Mark-Viverito from consideration for so blatantly violating
the rules. Elevating her to speaker would send the message that the
Council is up for sale.* Trail of Fractured Political Friendships on Way to Advancement in City Council (NYT)
Where Are the Goo Goos Groups Demanding End to Lulus and Member Items?
Daily News Called for End of Lulus and Member Items in the Past. Why Not Demand That the New Speaker and Members Support Those Reforms?
Say bye-bye to lulus (NYDN Oct 22, 2013) Most City Council candidates have committed to end a corrupting practice * Stop the thieves: City Council must end pork-barrel member items ...(NYDN July, 17, 2009) * End the Slush Fund - NYTimes.com
Nick Confessore
True News
Where Are the Goo Goos Groups Demanding End to Lulus and Member Items?
Daily News Called for End of Lulus and Member Items in the Past. Why Not Demand That the New Speaker and Members Support Those Reforms?
Say bye-bye to lulus (NYDN Oct 22, 2013) Most City Council candidates have committed to end a corrupting practice * Stop the thieves: City Council must end pork-barrel member items ...(NYDN July, 17, 2009) * End the Slush Fund - NYTimes.com
NYP Picks Up On Queens Tribune (Boss Crowley House Organ) On Speaker Promises
City For Sale IIWhat does the secret fight for council speaker say about the next 4 years. First it clearly says that this will be a council in which power and money will be it governing tool. The only talk of reforms was during the fake public dog and pony shows public forums which we have seen has nothing do with how the next speaker will be picked. The media covered the forums but is offering no analysis of the real dealing in the speakers race. We can expect over the next 4 years that we have a media that will not cover the sausage deal making but will cover the spin. Not is the time for the media and the so called good government groups to put pressure on the individual councilmember to push for reform. Instead of pushing for change we get that familiar New York silence from people who do know better.
The NYP Picks Up the Anti Mark-Viverito Sides War Plans Spin
Soviet Queens "Pravda" Tribune
Newspaper gives vote of approval to paying political candidates (NY World) In local races, Queens Tribune endorses most clients of its affiliated campaign consulting firm
In
queens the local newspaper, the political machine and government all
work together. The paper do not preform the role of checks and balances
that Founding Father envisioned to protect the people from the
government and ensure a working democracy. Instead Queens local
newspapers have gamed journalism to operate as a co-machine in Queens.
They work in campaigns and are lobbyist to the same elected officials
they help elect or reelect. The papers operate as the house organ for
the Democratic party to controling who becomes gets elected or becomes a
judge in Queens county. The judges in turn send the legal ads worth
tens of thousands dollars to the local papers.
No Reforms to Stop the Corruption Just Promises of Gold and Power
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?
Boss Crowley Begins His Attack on Mark-Viverito Deal in His Organization's Newspaper Queens Tribune
New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio allegedly promised
several Queens city councilmembers leadership positions as long as they
supported Melissa Mark-Viverito for speaker. The story was planted by Boss
Crowley who is supporting CM Dan Garodnick Against Front Runner Mark-Viverito
Committee Chairs Found Under the Tree(Queens Tribune) It seems as though a certain new Mayor has been playing Santa Claus in order to get his preferred City Council Speaker. According to sources close to the situation, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has promised a number of committee leadership posts to City Council members in order to guarantee that Melissa Mark-Viverito is named Speaker come Jan. 8. Sources say the Progressive Caucus was originally split, 12-9, between Mark-Viverito and Dan Garodnick, with Garodnick getting the support of County Leadership. Among the promises made to the Queens delegation, Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) would be named Majority Leader. Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Woodside) would head up the Finance Committee and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) would get the Education Committee. Daneek Miller and Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) were also reportedly promised committee. Republican Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) was also reportedly promised a committee chairmanship in exchange for his support of Mark-Viverito. QConf was also told that David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) was offered the Land Use Committee as a means of swaying Brooklyn.* Mark-Viverito says she has votes for Speaker (Queens Chronicle)
Among the promises made to the Queens delegation, Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) would be named Majority Leader. Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Woodside) would head up the Finance Committee and Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) would get the Education Committee.
Daneek Miller and Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) were also reportedly promised committee slots, although specifics were unknown as of press time.
- See more at: http://queenstribune.com/committee-chairs-found-under-the-tree/#sthash.55Ddq5ib.mhYidWWW.dpuf
Daneek Miller and Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) were also reportedly promised committee slots, although specifics were unknown as of press time.
- See more at: http://queenstribune.com/committee-chairs-found-under-the-tree/#sthash.55Ddq5ib.mhYidWWW.dpuf
Queens Tribune is the House Organ for Queens Boss Crowley
Boss Crowley is Trying to Get Ulrich's Vote For His Speaker Candidate By Making Him Into the Elephant Man
Crowley's Secret GOP Operatives
What appears to be a form letter being sent to media outlets by veterans criticizes Ulrich’s backing of Mark-Viverito. But sources have told True News that the letters are being orchestrated by Boss Crowley and his mini me Parkside's Evan Stavisky in a last ditch attempt to name and control the next council speaker.Queens Boss Crowley has targeted Queens councilman Eric Ulrich as one of the 4 councilmembers who are supporting CM Melissa Mark- Viverito that he needs to change to name the next speaker. Democratic Boss Crowley is using secret GOP operatives he controls to shame Ulrich for supporting because of Mark-Viverito did not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in past Council sessions.
Vet Commander Attack Ulrich On Mark-Viverito Lack of Respect for the Pledge of Allegiance
“The fact that he will support such an individual who has displayed contempt for our national symbol and refused to pledge allegiance to our flag until she decided to run for speaker is nothing less than disgusting,” Marvin Jeffcoat, former commander of the Queens Veterans of Foreign Wars, said in a letter. Jeffcoat lives in long island city far away from Ulrich district.
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Ulrich Set Himself Up By His 180 On Mark-Viverito
CM Supporting Disaster
Eric Ulrich Says Melissa Mark-Viverito Won’t Be a ‘Disaster’ After All(NYO)Back in November, Mr. Ulrich had slammed Ms. Mark-Viverito after it was revealed that the Democrat did not recite the Pledge of Allegiance at council meetings.“Having someone like her running the legislative branch of the city government would be a disaster. I know that a lot of my colleagues feel the same way,” Mr. Ulrich, a Republican, railed at the time, warning that Ms. Mark-Viverito would not be “an effective counterweight to the mayor.” But today he was singing a very different tune. Last Thursday Ulrich said the pledge issue was worked out between him and Mark-Viverito “behind closed doors” and that he had apologized to her for the “disaster” comment. “It was a very strong word for me to make,” he said. “I was being reactive. And sometimes I think we have a tendency to react to what we hear or read about without necessarily getting it from the horse’s mouth.” Published reports said Ulrich may be in line to chair the Council’s Waterfront Committee, which would cover issues dealing with Rockaway Beach and the Jamaica Bay waterfront in his district, including possibly issues like the new FEMA flood maps and other aspects in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy and redevelopment. Republicans, who have been the minority party on the Council for decades, typically do not chair committees. Committee chairs also receive $10,000 stipends, called lulus, for chairing committees.* Eric Ulrich endorsement of Mark-Viverito triggers some backlash (Queens Chronicle)
Team Mark-Viverito Responds With Public Threat to Get Rid of Queens Boss Crowley Patronage in the Council
Bronx Almost United Against Mark-Viverito
Ms. Mark-Viverito has notched the backing of only one of the Bronx delegation’s eight members–incoming Councilman Ritchie Torres, a Progressive Caucus stalwart. And that number is unlikely to change in the near future, thanks to deep-seated resentment in the borough stemming from a bitter fallout between Ms. Mark-Viverito and Bronx Democratic Chair Carl Heastie, sources said. The rift, they added, is so wide it could persist even after Ms. Mark-Viverito is officially crowned.* Some Council Staff Fear the Ax if Mark-Viverito Wins Speakership(NYO) * Lobbyists Turn Out for Mark-Viverito’s Swearing-In Ceremony(NYO) * in Yiddish it's 'machers'. See translation: * Also at Mark-Viverito's event, a Garodnick supporter(Capital)
From
Only in NYC Can Corrupt Pols Be Threaten With An Investigation to Win their Vote For A Speaker Candidate
Julio Pabon demands Bronx DA be forthcoming with criminal complaint filed by Councilwoman Arroyo(NYDN) Probe into 3 campaign workers councilwoman accused of forging hundreds of signatures during her reelection bid. Councilwoman Arroyo Admits Petition Signatures Were Fake But Refuses To Accept Responsibility; Scandal Deepens * Resentment of Melissa Mark-Viverito Remains Among Bronx Democrats(NYO)
Tribune's Nussbaum Halloran What Bribery?
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Closing Hospitals
More on Closing Hospitals
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Liar Liar Kerik Tacopina
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The Godfather Sharpton Speaks
In an interview with NY1 on Friday, Congressman Charlie Rangel talked about his decision to run for a 23rd term: “If it works, it works,” said Mr. Rangel, who went on to claim that there are no other qualified contenders on the bench. “The problem has been that everybody that I so-called expected that would be there, guess what? They got old,” he quipped. “There’s nobody in the district–nobody you can think of–that has friends and supporters in all parts.”
More on Rangel
Call girl: Assistant DA forced me to keep hooking to nail madam(NYP) After hooking for the city’s two most famous madams, turncoat call girl
Rebecca Woodard says she suddenly found herself with a new pimp — the
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. “They wanted me to keep breaking the law so they could get more
information,” writes Woodard, 37, who also detailed her rough
sex-for-hire with disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. While servicing Spitzer, Woodard was working for madam Kristin Davis.
The DA’s office approached Woodard to go undercover after Davis was
busted in 2008 and Woodard had already begun working for Gristina, who
had sexy glamour shots taken of her and other girls to entice
high-rolling johns. * NY Post goes negative on its alleged Spitzer hooker(NYP) Tax trouble * Spitzer gal pal in Twitter war with NY political pro(NYP)Eliot Spitzer’s feisty girlfriend Lis Smith and GOP strategist Roger Stone got into a knockdown Twitter fight Thursday night. * Spitzer & Lis overshadow de Blasio announcement(NYP)/ * Why Lis Smith loses the ladies(NYP) * On its front page today–similar to yesterday, as can be seen above–the Post is also running the claims made by Rebecca Woodard, a
former prostitute, against the Manhattan district attorney’s
office. “It was like sex slavery,” she said of the office allegedly
encouraging her to continue working while wearing a wire.* On its front page today–similar, strangely enough, to the Post wood yesterday–the Daily News is running Ms. Woodard’s choking allegations against ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. However: “Spitzer spokeswoman Lisa Linden
denied Sunday that Spitzer had any involvement with Woodard, calling
their alleged encounter ‘a complete fabrication that is unequivocally
untrue.’”
Roger Stone
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Flack You
Call girl: Assistant DA forced me to keep hooking to nail madam(NYP) After hooking for the city’s two most famous madams, turncoat call girl
Rebecca Woodard says she suddenly found herself with a new pimp — the
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. “They wanted me to keep breaking the law so they could get more
information,” writes Woodard, 37, who also detailed her rough
sex-for-hire with disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. While servicing Spitzer, Woodard was working for madam Kristin Davis.
The DA’s office approached Woodard to go undercover after Davis was
busted in 2008 and Woodard had already begun working for Gristina, who
had sexy glamour shots taken of her and other girls to entice
high-rolling johns. * NY Post goes negative on its alleged Spitzer hooker(NYP) Tax trouble * Spitzer gal pal in Twitter war with NY political pro(NYP)Eliot Spitzer’s feisty girlfriend Lis Smith and GOP strategist Roger Stone got into a knockdown Twitter fight Thursday night. * Spitzer & Lis overshadow de Blasio announcement(NYP)/ * Why Lis Smith loses the ladies(NYP) * On its front page today–similar to yesterday, as can be seen above–the Post is also running the claims made by Rebecca Woodard, a
former prostitute, against the Manhattan district attorney’s
office. “It was like sex slavery,” she said of the office allegedly
encouraging her to continue working while wearing a wire.* On its front page today–similar, strangely enough, to the Post wood yesterday–the Daily News is running Ms. Woodard’s choking allegations against ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. However: “Spitzer spokeswoman Lisa Linden
denied Sunday that Spitzer had any involvement with Woodard, calling
their alleged encounter ‘a complete fabrication that is unequivocally
untrue.’”
So is @Lis_Smith a swallower or a Spitzer?
#Rim-shot
@Lis_Smith least I don't do it in black socks like your pal Client # 9- money launderer ,Mann Act violator and blackmailer
@RogerJStoneJr So cute that the nursing home lets you use wireless at this hour! Who is paying wireless bill?
Secret Black Arts Exposed Is Broken
Smith Operates in A Secret Black Arts World
De Blasio eyes replacement for Spitzer gal pal Lis Smith(NYP)* Spitzer Back in Business(WSJ)Less than four months after losing his bid at a political comeback, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is making another attention-grabbing move in a different arena: skyscrapers
Former Spitzer hooker details her clients in ‘Call Girl Confidential’(NYP) * 'BEYOND SCARY': High-priced hooker recounts to Daily News in exclusive interview how Eliot Spitzer choked her(NYDN)
Secret Black Arts Exposed Is Broken
De Blasio eyes replacement for Spitzer gal pal Lis Smith(NYP)* Spitzer Back in Business(WSJ)Less than four months after losing his bid at a political comeback, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is making another attention-grabbing move in a different arena: skyscrapers
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NY Populations, Power and Economic Loss
NY Ignores the Causes for the Losses of the Population and What It Means to the State's Economy
New York Soon to Trail Florida in Population(NYT) When the Census Bureau releases its latest population estimates on Monday, demographers expect that Florida and New York will be narrowly separated — perhaps by as little as a few thousand people. In 1944 Florida had 482,592 votes for president and 8 Electoral votes.. In 2008 Florida had 1,204,479 more votes for president than NY. In 1944 had 47 Electorial College and Florida had 8. Today both states have 29
Electorial College votes. NYC unemployment rate 8.9%. Florida Unemployment Rate 6.7% * NYT spins 'immigrants move to warm states like CA, TX, FL' but the fact is last Census TX gained 4 House seats; FL 2; CA 0 * Upstate's on-going collapse featured on Drudgereport: * How to keep Gotham growing(NYP) * New York’s hold on its status as the country’s third most populous state is down to fewer than 100,000 people, according to figures released by the Census Bureau. But it’s still ahead of Florida – for now.* Keep those fleeing residents coming to Florida, New York
NYC Went Through the Entire 2013 Campaign Without One Candidate Explaining How They Would Create Jobs
True News Adds Facts What the Reports Leave Out
NY Electoral College Fall 47 to 29
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@ClydeHaberman: NY once had 45 electoral votes, today 29. Now FL is about to overtake it in population: http://nyti.ms/1jNwhXi ” -
@JerryGoldfeder@ClydeHaberman Funny not in NYT article about Fl overtaking NY in population, but that fact about electoral votes was in the morning's True News
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Clyde Haberman
Jerry Goldfeder
More on How NYC is Pushing the Middle Class Out
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Homeless
More on the Homeless
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Nite Time Take Down of Community Garden
Residents Outraged By Bulldozing Of Brooklyn Community Garden(WCBS)
The city owns the land but the group Coney Island Holdings is leasing it and plans to build a new amphitheater on the site.* Brooklyn Residents Vow to Take City to Court After Garden is Removed (NBC)
The city owns the land but the group Coney Island Holdings is leasing it and plans to build a new amphitheater on the site.* Brooklyn Residents Vow to Take City to Court After Garden is Removed (NBC)
Moreland, AG, US Attorneys Will Add To This Corrupt List in 2014
• Carlos Danger: Anthony D. Weiner’s second round of online adventures cost him a chance at mayoral redemption.
• Vito Lopez: The assemblyman resigned in response to sexual harassment allegations. He then failed in a run for City Council.
• Charles J. Hynes: Brooklyn’s longtime prosecutor was brought down by, among other things, accusations of wrongdoing in his office.
• Eliot Spitzer: The former governor made an unexpected comeback, which was followed by an unexpected defeat.
• Pedro Espada Jr.: The former state lawmaker was denied a few days of freedom before prison. The judge declared, “I can’t trust him.”
• Shirley L. Huntley: The state senator claimed she had a broken ankle to convince colleagues to come to her house so she could tape them in a corruption probe.
• Malcolm A. Smith: The state senator was charged with trying to bribe his way onto the ballot for mayor.
• John C. Liu: The comptroller was besmirched while running for mayor when two former associates were convicted of illegally funneling money into his campaign.
• Christine C. Quinn: Ms. Quinn, the City Council speaker, suffered a humiliating defeat in the mayoral race despite starting as the heavy favorite. Her candidacy touched off a fierce backlash, including the Anyone But Quinn ads. And the media and prosecutors let her get away with the slush fund scandal and the extension of term limits in 2009.* * In a Facebook message to supporters Anthony Weiner said he hopes “to keep the band together” in 2014 while not specifically suggesting he’d run for political office, Capital New York reports:
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No Albany Reforms in 2013
It
seems as though a certain new Mayor has been playing Santa Claus in
order to get his preferred City Council Speaker. - See more at:
http://queenstribune.com/committee-chairs-found-under-the-tree/#sthash.55Ddq5ib.mhYidWWW.dpuf
.Welcome to Buff Place
<![endif]--> Not A Great Year for the NYT and Their Disconnected Friends in the Media and All New Yorkers Who Have to Live with There Bad Judgements and Actions
Get the Delorean
Today's NYT wrote that there were no major ethical lapses
connected with Speaker Quinn, of because they would say that as being one
of the major leaders along with Quinn, NYP and Daily News in
extending Term Limits against the will of the voters. The Times also conveniently forgets about Quinn
slush fund and their role along with the prosecutors in covering up to save and
protect the permanent government candidate for mayor. What the every
growing smaller and disconnect elite who control New York City's media do not understand
is the public is not following them. The fact that this candidate for
mayor Speaker Quinn did not even make the run off after all 3 papers endorsed
her, should have been a hint. Actually the real hint came in 2009 when
David Yassky went down to John Liu in 2009 after all 3 papers endorsed
him. The 3 papers lost again when Tish James beat out their candidate for
Public Advocate Daniel Squadron. Losing elections is not the worst thing
the 3 newspapers have done. The 3 newspapers have protected corrupt party
leaders like Queens Boss Joe Crowley and lobbyists like Parkside and George
Arzt who protect the real estate barons, because of the media mistaken beliefs
that they can control how New Yorkers vote. A small group of WFP operatives who
have .003% of the city's registered voters have out played the permanent government’s
team in New York City's dysfunctional campaign swamp. By protecting the small
group that controls the city's dysfunctional election process the NYT, NYP and
Daily News (only real journalism left) have created like Biff Tanner did in Back
to the Future II, a bad Alternative future for all New Yorkers to live in.
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More Diversity in NYPD, Blacks Lag
Committee Chairs Found Under the Tree
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John Miller Joins Bratton's NYPD Again
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News Control is Widespread
Daily News' Juan Hits the Video and de Blasio Hard
The NYT Reports on Media Control But Limits It Mostly to the Spitzer and Chiara Christmas News Dumps
The timing of disclosures on Christmas Eve by two New York political
families followed a pattern by newsmakers hoping to minimize unwanted
publicity. “The day that has most good will toward men and women is Christmas,”
said Mortimer Matz, 89, a ceaselessly working publicist, who said he
helped start the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.* The timing of Chiara de Blasio’s
video about her substance abuse and depression feels more like a
political maneuver by her father, Bill de Blasio, than it does an
admission all her own * Lupica: Chiara de Blasio's substance abuse admission was orchestrated by de Blasio camp like a celebrity in crisis(NYDN)\ Somehow, on Christmas Eve, the incoming mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio,
managed to turn his teenage daughter’s struggles with alcohol and drugs
into one last campaign ad, even though this was the darker, flip side
of the television commercial he ran in the summer about his teen son.* Pay-To-Report News Brainwashing : The Effect Of Endless Political TV Ads * Mike Lupica says
the Chiara de Blasio substance abuse video was like a “final campaign
ad,” and “ends up looking like old-time politicking, from a politician
who acts as if everything he does is brand-new.”
The NYP Has Their Own Unique Way of Getting Around the Christmas News Dump 
Pay to Report Local TV News Control
Spending on advertising has fueled the increase in TV lobbying costs. Well-funded special interests funnel millions to lobbyists for public campaigns to sway lawmakers on hot-button issues (TU) Local News which is mainly weather, traffic, cooking and dog segments is making millions in lobbyists spending. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down.
Pols and Interests Groups Use Local News By Pushing Their Paid Ads To Win Support Their Issues
News Brainwashing
The only real news on dumb down local TV are in the paid ads which are not news but bias views of the pol or interests group who paid for the ads to gain public support. Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)*CSNY’s budget blitz: $3.9 million (updated)(TU) *Save NY airing tax cap ad(TU) *Budget opponents up their ads and mailers(TU) *Bloomberg Blames Negative Ads For Poor Showing In Education ...(Politico) *Save NY now airs on school money(TU) *NYC's Bloomberg Pays for TV Ads Backing Cuomo's Pension * Bloomberg Defends His Administration With TV Ad - NY1.com * Local TV News For $ale: How Special Interests Control News Content and Public Opinion
What Has Happen to the Watchdog of Government or Politics?
Because newspapers have always serve as tip sheets for local television
reporters and for reporters on the national level, the newspaper cutbacks because of lose of readerhip to the Internet have had
“ripple effects throughout the whole media system.: With fewer reporters available to tackle in-depth topics, news releases
from politicians and policy makers end up having more influence in some
cases, he said, contributing to a kind of power shift toward
institutions and away from citizens. *Local News Dumb Down Journalism (True News) *
Where are the Muckrakers Reporters Exposing Corruption?
Muckrakers
were journalists who exposed waste, corruption, and scandal in the
highly influential new medium of national magazines, such as McClure's Magazine and TIME magazine. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) was a novel that gave a horrid portrayal of how meat was packed, and David Graham Phillips
unleashed a blistering indictment of the U.S. Senate in 1906. Roosevelt
gave these journalists their nickname when he complained they were not
being helpful by raking up all the muck. The term derives from the word muckrake used by President Theodore Roosevelt in a speech in 1906
Rethinking TV news, Part I: What’s broken, what’s possible(Buzzmachine)
Rethinking TV news, Part I: What’s broken, what’s possible(Buzzmachine)
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Did Sydney Save the City From Weiner?
June 25
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GOP Bottom Feeders
GOP Lost in Space
Tiny G.O.P. Minority Searches for Voice in New York City Council(NYT) Mr. Ulrich, after some prodding by Mr. de Blasio, has now endorsed Ms. Mark-Viverito’s candidacy for speaker.Yet in a sign of the difference between what it means to be a Republican
in Washington versus in that bluest of major cities, New York, Mr.
Ulrich struck a friendly tone in speaking of the mayor-elect. He
described Mr. de Blasio as “a friend,” and said he did not anticipate
major clashes with him. “One thing I have to say about Bill de Blasio is that he never makes it
personal, and I think that is one of his great strengths,” Mr. Ulrich
said. “We may disagree, but we will not be disagreeable.”* Giving GOPers a say(NYP)With Republicans holding just 5
percent of the City Council, it might be time for proportional
representation in New York to give the city’s Republican voters Council
representation
De Blasio Does Not Want Republicans, Either Do New Yorkers
The Groucho Marx Party (I would not belong to any party that would have me as a member) has almost twice as many members than the GOP
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No Party Trumps GOP
The GOP is not the second largest party in NYC. Bloomberg is one of the 748,693 New Yorkers who are not registered in any party. Only 454,943 are Republicans. Only 10.6% of the city is registered in the GOP. 68.% are Democrat. The WFP which is wildly credited with de Blasio and James victory only has .003% (14,389) of the city's registered voters. Conservatives .004%, Green Party .001% and independence party .024%
De Blasio's Diversity
Bill de Blasio On Appointing Republicans: "Let's Not Get Crazy About This Diversity Idea"(NYO)
“Let’s not get crazy about this diversity idea,” de Blasio quipped
Sunday when asked if he’d consider Republicans for administration posts,
before breaking out in a lengthy burst of laughter “I am wonderfully agnostic when it comes to where people served. I care
about what they did,” he said. “I haven’t set a goal around Republican
representation is the honest truth. But we will look at any candidate
and if they fit our values and our approach and have the right ability,
you know what, it’s a free country, we’d consider Republicans too.”
No Connecting the Dots or Follow Up By the Daily News of the Conflict of Interests Board Speakers' Race Duck and CoverDe Blasio Does Not Want Republicans, Either Do New Yorkers
The Groucho Marx Party (I would not belong to any party that would have me as a member) has almost twice as many members than the GOP
+copy.gif)
The GOP is not the second largest party in NYC. Bloomberg is one of the 748,693 New Yorkers who are not registered in any party. Only 454,943 are Republicans. Only 10.6% of the city is registered in the GOP. 68.% are Democrat. The WFP which is wildly credited with de Blasio and James victory only has .003% (14,389) of the city's registered voters. Conservatives .004%, Green Party .001% and independence party .024%
De Blasio's Diversity
Bill de Blasio On Appointing Republicans: "Let's Not Get Crazy About This Diversity Idea"(NYO)
Queens Brooklyn GOP Civil War
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Conflicts of Interests Board CYA Time
The Conflicts Board Ignores the Free Work Advance Group and Others Have Done for Mark-Viverito and Fines A Losing City Council Candidate and the Sister of UFT Union Boss
Daily News EXCLUSIVE: City Council Speaker candidate Melissa Mark-Viverito may have violated city ethics rules(NYDN Ed) Mark-Viverito, an East Harlem councilwoman, accepted unpaid assistance from the Advance Group, a prominent lobbying firm working to further her candidacy (Nov. 27th, 2013)
Losing Council Candidate Fined by Conflict Board
UFT Boss's Sister's
Slap On the Wrist
Ethics no-no for teacher-union chief’s sister(NYP)
The sister of teachers-union President Michael Mulgrew was wrist-slapped Monday for operating a booming tutoring company that was awarded $40 million in work from the city while she was employed as a public-school teacher. The overlapping gigs got Kathleen Mulgrew-Daretany a warning letter from the city Conflicts of Interest Board, after it determined that her work for Brienza’s Academic Advantage violated city conflict-of-interest rules.
Daily News Terrible Ethics Seddio Deal to Make Mark-Viverito Speakers
Correction to DN Ed: Advance Group Operative Involved in the Seddio Deal
Seddio is a ward heeler out of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in
Canarsie. He climbed from aide to backbencher assemblyman and then was
shoehorned into a Brooklyn judgeship.
After this page revealed that Seddio had improperly given tens of thousands of dollars from his campaign to his Brooklyn buds, Seddio quit the judgeship 17 months into a 14-year term to avoid judicial ethics charges. Seddio’s record shows that he wants things. He will make requests of Mark-Viverito, who would be in a weak position to refuse him. And, having helped de Blasio avoid embarrassing defeat, he will no doubt make requests of the new mayor. Vito Lopez expects to anoint a successor as Brooklyn party boss who has his own questionable history(NYDN Ed) Frank Seddio resigned a judgeship while under investigation by the state's judicial watchdog agency * B'klyn Judge Probed. Allegedly Gave Campaign Bucks To Pols (NYDN) *Brooklyn Dem Boss Seddio Wields Much Power at City Hall(Jewish Voice)
More on the Advance Group Under Investigation
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Background On Boss Seddio
Brooklyn Boss Seddio Resigned A Surrogate Judgeship While Under Investigation
NYP Writes About Daily News Investigation of Seddio Vito's protégé
Daily News Ignores Their Own Editorials on Boss Seddio's Campaign Slush Fund
Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Frank Seddio, a protégé of former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, has become powerful at New York City Hall after tossing his support behind Melissa Mark-Viverito for City Council speaker Vito Lopez protégé now one of the most powerful people at City Hall(NYP) In 2006, he was given a plum patronage gig as a Surrogate’s Court judge. The state Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated why he gave more than $31,000 in campaign funds to political pals at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, the group that awarded him the post.
Corrupt Lobbyist Arzt Flacks for Seddio
More on Arzt and Other Corrupt Lobbyists
More On Brooklyn Boss Seddio
More on George Arzt
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NY's Women's Wrongs
Mission Not Accomplished
NY's Women's Groups & Women Pols More Interested in Political Power Than Cleaning Up Sexual Abuse in Albany
Eleanor’s Legacy joins Gloria Steinem, NOW-NYS’s Zenaida Mendez and NOW-NYC’s Sonia Ossorio and others in support of Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito for Speaker of the New York City Council, City Hall Park, Manhattan* The late-term abortion bill will destroy AMC's political career. Is NY's Women’s Equality Act Dead?
Why the silence from women's groups, especially those that rallied against @Spitzer2013 & Vito Lopez Council run
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Pussy Riot More Courage
Freed Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova speaks to BuzzFeed: "There is no new Putin." (Buzz Feed)* Members of Pussy Riot Mock Vladimir Putin on Their Way Out of Prison(NY Mag) * Gloria Steinem Joins Women’s Groups to Push Melissa Mark-Viverito
Another Assemblyman Accused of Sexual Harassment
Where are the Women's Groups?
‘Perv’ pol should quit: Cuomo(NYP)
Details Of Allegations Against Gabryszak(YNN) * Gabryszak Case Formally Sent To Ethics Committee(YNN) * GOP Blames Cuomo For Assembly Harassment(YNN) * Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, now facing sexual harassment allegations, spoke out against workplace bullying and harassment in 2012. * A decade of Albany sex scandals.* Assemblywoman Sandra Galef ripped the “inappropriate behavior” in the Legislature. “As lawmakers, we make the laws with the expectation that we, of all people, will follow these laws. We must be held to a higher standard.”* One more pig (NYDN Ed) Yet another sexual harassment scandal at the state Capitol * Silver: No knowledge of latest sex-harassment claims(Capital) * Silver: We don’t test for ‘bad apples’(Capital)
Speaker says member should resign if charges are true * QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The allegations are serious, there is no question about it. If the allegations are true then I think there should be no other choice but a resignation.” – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on the sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, via State of Politics.* Another female aide to Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak is coming forward to complain about his allegedly lurid advances* * Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak’s community relations director plans to file a notice of claim that accuses him of sexual harassment, the fourth woman to make such a complaint, the Times Union reports: * Fourth Gabryszak Accuser Comes Forward(YNN) * Sex suits mount against Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak(NYDN)
A fourth staffer, Caitrin Kennedy, 24, has filed legal papers accusing the Democrat of creating a 'hostile and offensive work environment.'* 'If hookers unionize, I won't be able to afford them!' 4th woman accuses Buffalo-area Assemblyman of lurid and sexually-charged come-ons* Gabryszak has received sensitivity training multiple times under a biannual course required by Silver that trains all Assembly members on what constitutes sexual harassment, the Times Union’s Jim Odato writes: * Shocking! Not the Speaker? "...some women didn't think they could rely on Silver to back them up." (TU) * State Assembly To Keep Interns Away From Accused Sexual Harasser Dennis Gabryszak
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A simple request: for all Assemblymembers: if you've been harassing staff-leave. If allegations against MA Gabryszak are true-resign.
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@DeborahJGlick@Azi A simple request: if you've been covering up harassment-leave. If you've been rationalizing the cover-up-resign
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Deborah J. Glick
Charmian Neary
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Moreland, JCOPE Updates
The Moreland Commission has referred its findings about a Brooklyn charity with ties to New York politicians to U.S. Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution
More on the Moreland Commission
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NYT's One57 Real Estate Disconnect
With Every Pol Getting Cash From One57 to Get $35 Million Tax Break, NYT Asks How Decisions Were Made to Build the Building
NYT Skips the Pols Payoff and Tax Breaks and Asks How Decisions on the Building Were Made?
Seeing a Need for Oversight of New York’s Lordly Towers(NYT)
As new skyscrapers remake 57th Street into a Billionaires’ Row, it’s time to question how decisions get made about New York’s skyline.
One57 Pays Off Pols
The real reason why the rent is too high (NYDN) Big developers flood politicians with cash* The companies that will benefit, their lobbyists and PACs have donated $1.5 million to Albany campaign accounts over the past five years. The bill’s sponsors — Sen. Marty Golden and Assemblyman Keith Wright — professed ignorance. * Probe these giveaways (NYDN) A luxury tower's tax breaks look more outrageous and suspicious by the day * How the billionaire who bought $90 million NYC penthouse will get $210,000 tax break meant for low income housing (Daily Mail) * Sheldon Silver aided Gov. Cuomo in sneaking through tax breaks for luxury developer(NYDN) * Gov. Cuomo received $76,000 from real estate investors weeks before giving their property a tax break on bill (NYDN) * Gov. Cuomo's long-time city developer donor got more generous when it stood to get $35 million in tax breaks(NYDN) * A towering insult - NY Daily News* How the Rich Get a Big Real Estate Tax Break - NYTimes.com *A towering insult - NY Daily News * Assemblyman Keith Wright Sent Letter Acknowledging Developer Tax Breaks In Bill(NYDN)
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What Kind of Progressive Era?
Are Today's Progressives Reforming Government?
Progressives Make A Deal With the Corrupt Brooklyn Boss to Elect Speaker
"They went from progressive deals to back-room deals with a machine boss in record time"(Capital)
Forget Reform What About Separation of Powers. Judicial Elections Reforms, Patronage
Brooklyn Boss Seddio Queens Boss Crowley Foster Corruption
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Hospital Closing
* In a surprise move, the state Health Department gave Brooklyn’s Interfaith Medical Center more time and money to stay open, on the same day the court was expected to receive a final closure plan, Crain’s writes
New York Health: Cuomo buys Interfaith some time, state extends enrollment deadline one day(Capital)
Update De Blasio: Interfaith closure 'ain't over til it's over'(Capital) Advocates fight to keep Interfaith Medical Center open(WPIX)*Daily News has it backwards LICH * "no other viable way 2 prevent the imminent closure @ this point than 2 pursue assistance from the state or the city" (Capital) * Cuomo buys time for Interfaith(Capital) * More details emerge of last-minute Christmas gift to Interfaith hospital in
More About Closing Hospitals
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IDC Readies for A Fight
Klein Spins to ProtectIDC GOP Senate Coalition
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Corrupt Pols Pensions
Filings
Seek Orders Forfeiting Pension Benefits of Convicted Former New York
City Council. Members Larry Seabrook and Miguel Martinez. Discovery
Requests Seek to Locate Benefits Paid to Convicted Former New York City
Council. Member Hiram Monserrate and Former Yonkers City Council Member
Sandy Annabi * U.S. Attorney Targets Convicted Pols' Pension Payments (NYO)* Bharara challenges Council-convict pensions; is Albany next?(Capital) * Bharara Targets Convicted Pols’ Pensions(YNN) * The Insider: U.S. Attorney targets convicted pols' pensions(CrainsNY) * Feds target corrupt politicians’ pensions(NYP)
* Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is seeking forfeiture judgments that would divert the pension benefits of three former New York City councilmembers and another from Yonkers following political corruption convictionsU.S. Attorney Targets Ex-Lawmaker Pensions(WSJ)* Bharara: “With today’s actions, we aim to prevent corrupt elected officials from continuing to benefit from pensions paid for by the very people they betrayed in office,.”* Preet Bharara is kind of a badass.(Wash Post)
* Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is seeking forfeiture judgments that would divert the pension benefits of three former New York City councilmembers and another from Yonkers following political corruption convictionsU.S. Attorney Targets Ex-Lawmaker Pensions(WSJ)* Bharara: “With today’s actions, we aim to prevent corrupt elected officials from continuing to benefit from pensions paid for by the very people they betrayed in office,.”* Preet Bharara is kind of a badass.(Wash Post)
Make ’em pay (NYDN Ed) Preet Bharara rightly wants to garnish pensions of convicted politicians* U.S. Attorney in India Dispute(WSJ)
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Times They Are A Changing
Eleanor Randolph passes the torch(Capital)
Randolph is relinquishing her staff position in order to concentrate on her forthcoming Bloomberg biography.
Last Week's True News
NYT's Eleanor Randolph
Nothing is Our Fault
Eleanor
Randolph is disappointed that the Moreland Commission didn't do more
to report on the pay-to-play corruption in New York politics
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Hynes Ugly End Continues
Despite New Evidence, Review of Conviction in 1989 Brooklyn Killing Stalls(NYT)
Jonathan Fleming says he was wrongly convicted of murder, but his and
other cases remain in limbo as Charles J. Hynes hands over the office to
the incoming Brooklyn district attorney.
Kenneth P. Thompson, in a letter to the departing District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, protested “a potential gross overpayment” for unused vacation to Michael F. Vecchione, who recently retired.
Brooklyn prosecutor claims $230G in unused vacation days(NYP) Hynes allies want off of police review panel(NYP) Members of a special “independent” panel of retired judges, law professors, and lawyers appointed by Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes to probe 40 controversial convictions based on investigations by a tainted Kellner Case Reveals Split In DA’s Office (Jewish Week) New documents suggest Rackets Division did end-run around Sex Crimes unit in Chasidic whistleblower prosecution.
More on the Brooklyn DA
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Cross-Party Endorsements
NYP Goes After Independence Party's Cross-Party Endorsements But Their Real Goal is To Weaken the Working Families Party
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WFP Takes Over the City
Progressivism’s great failure: The rise and fall of the Working Families Party(Salon) Despite its noble aims, WFP has never coalesced as a legitimate advocate for the interests of the labor movement
Working Families Party giddy at City Hall takeover(NYP)
Letitia James pushes support for Working Families Party(NYP) James sent out a personal email urging backers on the WFP’s mailing list to vote for her on Row D — the Working Families Party line — in the Nov. 5 general election instead of the Democratic line.
More On the Working Families Party
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Independence Party is A Cult
How DA Vance Gave A Pass to A Corrupt Pol and Party to Protect Bloomberg + Gave Us Dracula Addabbo
In 2011, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. named Connolly and his party as a “noncriminal defendant’’ in the case against former GOP consultant John Haggerty, who stole Bloomberg campaign cash during the 2009 mayoral race. Vance accused Connolly — who wasn’t charged in the case — of trying to hide evidence and cover up the misuse of Bloomberg’s money. The DA said Connolly and Haggerty also fabricated and backdated paperwork to make it look like the Independence Party had given Haggerty a contract for the poll-watching effort. At one point, Connelly tried to conceal from the Board of Elections a transfer of the mayor’s funds to Haggerty, prosecutors said. CORRUPTION THRIVES IN ALBANY: WHY DON’T PROSECUTIONS? The majority of political corruption cases have originated from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with few pursued by Albany’s own prosecutors, writes Steven M. Cohen(City and State)
Independence Party Is Really A Cult
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June Primaries and 10 Vacancies
Daily News Misses That A Dozen Empty District Can Be Filled in November
Primary things first (NYDN Ed) A single June election is what New York needs. In 2012, a federal judge ruled that, under U.S. law, congressional primaries must be in June to allow time for overseas military voters to use absentee ballots. The order set up the absurd situation of running primaries for Washington offices in that month and then staging all other primaries in the regular month of September. Voters were asked to go to the polls twice, and taxpayers laid out a wasted $50 million to hold primaries on two dates rather than on one. On Thursday, the same judge ordered that since the Legislature still hasn’t set an appropriate date, he would, picking June 23. Which means two primaries again unless Albany gets off its duff.
Cuomo No Special Elections
Special elections allow party leaders to pick party's nominee which assures winning the seat in one party New York. Cuomo in a under look bold reform stance has refused to schedule special elections. That means that a least 10 state district in NYC will remain vacant until January of 2015. The state vacancies can be filled two months early and still keep Cuomo's special elections ban if all the primary are held in June of 2014. The June primary would allow both two elections to be held in November, one to fill the normal term and one to fill the vacant offices immediately. (Lawmakers would have to change the special election law to accomplish this)
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Council's Pay to Play Land-Use.
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The Council Promises Transparency But Engages In Extortion In the Real World
Woe be it to anyone who wants to get anything done in New York. The City Council will demand a pound of flesh in secret, with no rules or regulations, under conditions that can verge on criminal.
That’s what happened before the Council last week approved a plan to convert the derelict Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice-skating center. After competitive bidding, public hearings and numerous levels of review, Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera put the arm on the developer to funnel $100,000 a year for 99 years into a nonprofit organization he founded. Cabrera’s reported threat was not to be taken lightly, because Council practice gives near-veto power over projects to the local member. In this case, he backed down after developer Kevin Parker went public and colleagues shied away from the bald impropriety of the demand.
_____________________________________Kingsbridge Ice Plan Passes Council
Kingsbridge Armory Plan Skates Forward: At a City Council meeting today, members approved a proposal to... * The City Council is set to approve the $320 million Kingsbridge National Ice Center project in the Bronx after Councilman Fernando Cabrera gave his final approval for the plan, Crain's reports: *Bronx scores $400M soccer stadium(NYP) * Kingsbridge Armory Ice Center Plan Passes City Council (NYDN)* City Council Approves an Ice Center for the Bronx(NYT)
How Bronx Pols Increase Unemployment
Kingsbridge skating complex plan on thin ice(NYP Ed)Does Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. regret torpedoing the Kingsbridge Armory project four years ago? For the inferior replacement plan he champions is now endangered by similar politicking. Thus we have today’s Bronx, home to politicians skilled at killing off private development and, not uncoincidentally, to the highest unemployment in the state.
Ice Cabrera (NYDN Ed)
Like trolls at the bridge, members of the City Council have taken to demanding tribute from anyone who requires approval to do anything, no matter how beneficial to New York. Never has one of the trolls behaved more egregiously than Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who is putting the arm on one of the best projects fighting to get off the ground in the borough in a long time.
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NYT Homeless Story
It Great the NYT has Discovered Homeless Families But Their Hands in Terms of the Causes Are Not Clean
Battling Homelessness in New York City(NYT Ed) The city’s affordable housing crisis, a product of recession and years of bad choices by city, state and federal officials.
Questions the NYT Won't Answer:
The NYT laid out the blame but did not explain what it meant by recession. The NYT said nothing about NYC's uneven recovery from the recession fueled by the permanent government pushing tax breaks for luxury housing and zoning changes to gentrify poor and minority neighborhoods. When in the past has the NYT written about how the rising costs of housing in NYC is not only destroying the poor but also pushing out the middle class? * Bloomberg & the homeless: What the Times left out(NYP) Bloomberg’s New York has tried everything to help Dasani, easily $1 million worth of spending — including nearly half a million in housing, plus hundreds of thousands more on education, a child-neglect investigation, drug rehab and policing. Times reporter Andrea Elliott tells us how Dasani lives in a “squalid” homeless shelter with her seven siblings, mother and stepfather for three years after they get evicted from an apartment. But she never states the obvious: The reason the mother and stepfather can’t house their family isn’t poverty, it’s drug addiction.* Bloomberg Defends City’s Homeless Policies, Calling Dasani Story ‘Extremely Atypical’
NYT Has the Power and Know How to Control The Narrative in New York City
Did the NYT leave out those important causes of homelessness because people in luxury housing or gentrifying neighborhoods are more likely to read their paper or come from demographic that attract their advertisers to place more ads? The NYT also did not connect the city's long term structural high unemployment rate and how that caused the increase in homelessness. Even if the new mayor finds a solution to the troubled Dasani family, it will do no good if high unemployment makes an additional 20,000 dysfunctional homeless families in the next four years. The NYT blamed Bloomberg for cutting off public housings for homeless families, Bloomberg blames the cuts in the federal section 8 program. Both the NYT and Bloomberg blame the state for cutting rent subsidies and job training in 2011 to the city's Advantage program that helped 75% of the families in it move out of the shelters.
The NYT editorial wrote that, "Mr. de Blasio’s newly appointed deputy mayor for health and human services, Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, said the de Blasio administration would restore rental subsidies in some form. That’s a good start, but more is needed, including from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who can aid that effort by ponying up money for the subsidy program as well as for services that save poor people from eviction." The solutions offered by the NYT has two major flaws, one it a band aid to cover over the city's economic structural homeless problem.
The Homeless Problem in NYC Will Not Be Solved Until Its Dysfunctional Economy is Fixed
Two, the NYT does not talk about what government services should be cut to fund these homeless programs. Should the city and state cut aid to education, funds to keep hospitals open (unless Schumer come through the Medicaid bailout is dead in Washington) or money to Metro-North like the lawmakers did in 2010, money that could have gone to train safety technology. The Elephant in the room that is causing the city's homeless crisis and killing the city's middle class besides the housing problem is New York's business climate, raked last in most studies. Cuomo's no tax for 10 year program may help but not stop existing business from leaving or downsizing. After a campaign that did not examine the city's structural fiscal problems and the cherry picking solutions to the homeless problem the new mayor is about to relive the city's 1976 fiscal meltdown. While de Blasio is not facing bankruptcy, he is looking at the suffering poor, the middle class dripping out and the city's business downsizing. Rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic will not fix the city's dysfunctional economy or reduce homelessness.* A Discussion on 'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis(NYT)
.NYT Has the Power and Know How to Control The Narrative in New York City
The Homeless Problem in NYC Will Not Be Solved Until Its Dysfunctional Economy is Fixed
Debate on How the Narrative is Best Driven
@powellnyt@SquarePegDem@IsaacDovere Not clear me that mobilizing voters in era of 1 party dominated gerrymandered districts can work
- Jerry is on to something. But I think Michael believes mass mobilization can drive a narrative.
@PrimeNewYork@powellnyt@IsaacDovere @SquarePegDem@PrimeNewYork@powellnyt@IsaacDovere Did we not learn from Bloomberg that today's media gives the mayor any narrative he wants
Edward-Isaac Dovere 
Jerry Skurnik 
Michael Benjamin 
Brother Fight Could Take A Toll On the Speakers Race
Toll Proposal Puts Weprin Brothers in Rare Spot: At Odds (NYT) Councilman Mark Weprin and Assemblyman David I. Weprin are on opposite sides of a proposal to impose tolls on drivers on the East River bridges.
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AG Race Possible
Republican Interest In Challenging NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Next Year Is Growing (NYDN)* Michael Garcia considering run against Schneiderman: source(NYDN)Michael Garcia, the former U.S. attorney who took down Gov. Eliot Spitzer, has contacted
deep-pocketed Republicans to discuss a possible challenge to state
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman next year. (His defense of the Senate
GOP vs. the Moreland Commission could pose a problem, however).
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Snow Job by Local News Again
If your looking for
Crime and fire stories today from local TV news forgetaboutit. During snowstorms the local TV news expands coverage and give us reporters in the field telling us it is snowing. “The waste of taxpayer dollars, political corruption, coverage of schools” all get no coverage in local TV news unless you count campaign or special interest commercials. Cuomo and his supporters spent over $10 million last year to gain public support to push through his agenda. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. It is not a secret that TV and radio stations rely on the local newspaper for most of their hard news. So those "rip and read" broadcasters have offered their views much less hard news as newspaper staffs shrivel amid the draconian layoffs caused by the internet and the recession? Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill) * Local News Dumb Down Journalism (True News)
The Post asked a few longtime on-air personalities — some national, some local — for their take. Their memories are shocking . . . and shockingly hilarious. Fisticuffs! Backstabbers! And Sue Simmons flashing her ta-tas? Stay classy, news world.
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Media: Local News Real Anchorman2
Crime and fire stories today from local TV news forgetaboutit. During snowstorms the local TV news expands coverage and give us reporters in the field telling us it is snowing. “The waste of taxpayer dollars, political corruption, coverage of schools” all get no coverage in local TV news unless you count campaign or special interest commercials. Cuomo and his supporters spent over $10 million last year to gain public support to push through his agenda. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. It is not a secret that TV and radio stations rely on the local newspaper for most of their hard news. So those "rip and read" broadcasters have offered their views much less hard news as newspaper staffs shrivel amid the draconian layoffs caused by the internet and the recession? Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill) * Local News Dumb Down Journalism (True News)
The Post asked a few longtime on-air personalities — some national, some local — for their take. Their memories are shocking . . . and shockingly hilarious. Fisticuffs! Backstabbers! And Sue Simmons flashing her ta-tas? Stay classy, news world.
Connie Chung “Every part of [Ron Burgundy] depicts the quintessential anchorman. Every single one [I worked with], with the exception of one, [was] just like Ron Burgundy. They were egotistical, they loved to hear the sound of their own voices. They hogged air time when it came time to ad lib.
Len Berman I will tell you, though, about one unnamed anchorperson I worked with. I walked into his office one day, and there was a list of New Year’s resolutions on his wall. Stay 175 pounds forever, jog a couple miles a day. The last thing on his list was, ‘Stay on top of current events.’ I thought that was part of the job description.
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.NYC Comptroller Apointments
Lawmakers Want Their Member Items
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Scott Stringer Appoints Top Officials for Comptroller's Office
New York City Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer said he will announce eight appointments to his administration Tuesday.
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Member Items
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What all these complaints boil down to is that state lawmakers want more credit for pork barrel grants
With New Member Items Gone, Lawmakers Want More Input On REDC Grants(YNN) How else would the poor incumbents keep up their 98% reelection rate* AP: NY comptroller says legislative pork grant abused
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GOP Bottom Feeders
Golden sought to pressure GOP into using his catering hall (brooklyndaily.com) Leading
borough Republicans allege that the widening split in Brooklyn’s GOP
started with a spat over the scheduling of a Christmas celebration in
2010* Billionaire ex-GOP mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, went on Road to City Hall last night, where he commented on contributions he gave against Republican candidates like Councilman Eric Ulrich and Congressman Michael Grimm; he simply quipped, “Somebody has to follow Mike Bloomberg.”
More on GOP Bottom Feeders
More on GOP Bottom Feeders
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Corrupt Sheinkopf's Pot PAC
More About Corrupt Hank Sheinkopf
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Impertinent Question of the Day
Did MTA Cuts Cause the Metro Crash?
Did MTA Cuts Cause the Metro Crash?
Do you think when Albany took $124 million from the MTA in 2010 some of the safety programs That Would Have Saved Lives on the Metro North were cut?
Albany Didn't “Cut” the MTA Budget. They Stole From It. | Streetsblog ...
A federal safety agency says the technology known as positive train control would probably have prevented the Dec. 1 train derailment that killed four people in NY
Metro-North Railroad Time Sheets Were Falsified, Inquiry Says(NYT) The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority’s inspector general says a review of Metro-North foremen and
repair crews shows that some falsified time sheets, ran errands during
work and misused company vehicles.
No Finger-Pointing on Metro-North Crash at M.T.A. Meeting(NYT) MTA board members held their first public meeting since the deadly Bronx derailment, discussing safety features that had been missing from the railroad but refraining from any direct criticism of its leadership. * MTA Director of Security Douglas Zeigler is expected to step down in the near future, according to sources, though the sources say his departure doesn’t stem from the MTA Police response to the Metro-North derailment, the Post reports:
No Finger-Pointing on Metro-North Crash at M.T.A. Meeting(NYT) MTA board members held their first public meeting since the deadly Bronx derailment, discussing safety features that had been missing from the railroad but refraining from any direct criticism of its leadership. * MTA Director of Security Douglas Zeigler is expected to step down in the near future, according to sources, though the sources say his departure doesn’t stem from the MTA Police response to the Metro-North derailment, the Post reports:
U.S. Orders Sweeping Safety Review of Metro-North(NYT)The extraordinarily rare inquiry was ordered not only because of a fatal train derailment in the Bronx on Dec. 1, but also a series of other accidents this year. Two weeks after a Metro-North train derailed in the Bronx, the Federal Railroad Administration will begin a rare review of the operations and “safety culture” of the Metro-North Railroad on Monday that will last for 60 days. http://nyti.ms/18G5HVV *Feds launch massive probe into Metro-North derailment * Metro-North is using more plainclothes spotters who slip aboard unnoticed to check that train operators are complying with all rules.* Metro-North Seen Lagging in Protection Against Crash(NYT) * Safer Speeds on Commuter Rail (NYT) Safety measures have been proposed, and state and federal officials should help finance those improvements. Rail experts say that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could have made significant enough safety changes to thwart the Metro-North train derailment in the Bronx, with some simple enough to have been completed within days. * The Times urges Cuomo to help finance safety improvements for the MTA to install video and audio monitoring systems on all passenger trains, in the wake of the train derailment in the Bronx:*Metro-North Repair Job Was a Little Too Speedy for Some Board Members * A President Obama-appointed mediation
board is rejecting claims by the MTA that it can’t afford to give Long
Island Railroad workers raises, while the MTA wants concessions to fund
the raises, Newsday writes:
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Al Vann Not Going Away
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Al Vann Not Going Away
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Silver Gate
Can All the Kings Men and All the Kings Horses Protect Speaker Silver Back Together Again
Top Rapfogel Partner Guilty Plea An insurance executive pleaded guilty to grand larceny and money laundering in connection with the scandal involving the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and its former CEO, William Rapfogel. Newsday reports: * Joseph Ross, the owner of a Long Island insurance company, pleaded guilty to grand larceny, money laundering, and tax fraud for his role in stealing more than $7 million from the Metropolitan New York Council on Jewish Poverty
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3rd Judge Withdraws From Overseeing Silver Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
Yet another Manhattan judge has ducked out of presiding over the sexual harrassment lawsuit against the New York State Assembly – the third jurist this week to take a pass.
Second NYC Judge Recuses Herself From Hearing Case Against Sheldon Silver, Vito Lopez(NYDN)Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kern filed notice Thursday that she's firewalling herself from the case assigned to her on Tuesday after another judge, Joan Madden, said she had to bow out because of her longstanding friendship with Silver's counsel, James Yates. ern's terse notice gave no rationale for her recusal. Second#NYC Judge Recuses Herself From Hearing Case Against #nyassembly's Sheldon Silver, Vito Lopez | NY Daily News
Second NYC Judge Recuses Herself From Hearing Case Against Sheldon Silver, Vito Lopez(NYDN)Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kern filed notice Thursday that she's firewalling herself from the case assigned to her on Tuesday after another judge, Joan Madden, said she had to bow out because of her longstanding friendship with Silver's counsel, James Yates. ern's terse notice gave no rationale for her recusal. Second
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Cuomo 2014
The Cuomo administration mandated that an information technology conference next week will open a “VIP reception” to all attendees, after criticism about the state’s reliance on private contributions to pay for conference sponsorships, the Times Union reports:
Tax Cuts Proposed, NYT's Fed Cuts Hurts Safety Net and Pre-K Tax Proposal
Cuomo's Budget Triangularization
New York tax commission proposes two-year freeze on property tax increases, and a new property tax credit tied to income. Corporate income taxes would be reduced to 6.5% — lowest since 1968. Former state Comptroller Carl McCall says @NYGovCuomo has brought the economic stability that allows for discussion of tax cuts.* Pataki-McCall Commission: A Carrot And Stick For Consolidation(YNN) * Cuomo's tax commission, which balances between NYC businesses and desire to gain upstate love * Kathy Wylde: "NYC residents do not directly benefit from the commission’s proposed use of $1B of this surplus for property tax reductions." * State Panel Makes Recommendations On Lowering Taxes * Labor Not A Fan Of Tax Commission Report(YNN) * Cuomo: ‘We Just Have Too Much Government’(YNN)*Cuomo’s pack of tax-cut gimmicks(NYP
Pre-K Funding: Will de Blasio and the Unions go After IDC Members to Return Dems to Senate Power?
(To read Cohen's original piece: http://bit.ly/IrQD7R)
NYS Sen. Diane Savino Was Against Bill de Blasio's Pre-Kindergarten Plan Before She Was For It *Cuomo commission on NY taxes to issue report * * In the Daily News, Michael Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, warns that any investment de Blasio makes in preschools will fade if he does not also focus on the city’s mediocre elementary schools:
Pressure On Cuomo From Business Community To Reduce Taxes
Cuomo the comedian(NYP) New York’s income and property taxes are among the nation’s highest. Watchdog groups such as the Tax Foundation routinely rank the state at the bottom in terms of places to do business. Wall Street has apparently taken the lesson. As The Post recently reported, the city’s share of US securities-industry jobs has been dropping: In the ’90s, New York boasted 30 percent of these jobs, but this year our slice dipped below 20 percent, a new low. While the nation has recouped 54 percent of securities jobs lost since the financial crisis, Wall Street got back just 23 percent. Today it employs just 167,000 workers here, versus 191,000 in 2008. The New York Post‘s editorial board–quoting
Cuomo Tries to Frames the Tax Debate
Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying “New York is the least expensive state to locate your business” in certain tax-free zones–declared: “If that president thing doesn’t work out for Andrew Cuomo, no worries: He can always do stand-up.” “That’s a real knee-slapper” the paper added. * In the Post, the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon writes that the biggest shortcoming of the report issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Tax Reform Commission was its failure to take a stronger position on the state’s personal income tax * Cuomo tax relief panel does little downstate(NYDN) * Cuomo Gets a Tax-Cut Plan (WSJ)* an increase in the estate tax exemption .* Cuomo Backs Plan to Ease Array of Tax Burdens and Faces a Fight * NYC homeowners were largely left out of the commission’s relief recommendations, though renters may get a break. The panel paid zero attention to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s plan to tax the rich to pay for pre-K.
State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said that more than 1,100 companies have inquired about participating in the START-UP NY program, though Zimpher didn’t elaborate on the nature of the inquiries, the Times Union reports:* NY politicians play favorites with ‘help’(NYP Ed) For some parts of New York, Christmas arrived early. It came in the form
of Gov. Cuomo doling out a $715.9 million package of grants from his
Regional Economic Development Council initiative.
Cuomo's Taxmen
The taxmen(NYP Ed)New Yorkers pay the highest state and local taxes in America, and New York businesses suffer from the worst business tax climate. But there is one thing we have no shortage of: tax-reform commissions. The latest to weigh in is the one chaired by former Gov. George Pataki and SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall. Almost everyone, including Gov. Cuomo, understands New York’s taxes are way too high — sending some of our most productive citizens and businesses to other states and discouraging others from coming here. The Pataki-McCall commission report includes some good reforms of its own, including lowering the estate tax. But it ignores the most onerous tax of all, personal-income taxes. And on property taxes, it would merely add a temporary relief gimmick and a tax credit to an already overburdened system.* Business groups and some lawmakers hailed the commission’s proposals, while left-leaning critics called them unaffordable, ill-targeted toward the wealthy and corporations, and likely to leave less money for public schools * Battle Lines Drawn On Tax Debate * QUOTE OF THE DAY: “All this sort of stuff has been going on forever. Essentially, this is the same old infrastructure and pork barrel surrounded by an Academy Awards-style production.” – The Empire Center for Public Policy’s E.J. McMahon on the governor’s latest round of Regional Economic Development Council awards, via City & State.* Fredric U. Dicker @fud31: The just-announced NYS economic development grants read like a left-over legislative member item list from 2007.*The Regional Economic Development Grants, In Book Form(YNN)* City receives the least of Cuomo’s grant money(NYP)*
The Times Union writes that the “devil is in the details” when it comes to the tax cuts proposed by Cuomo’s Tax Relief Commission, warning that cutting taxes could eat into other public needs such as education aid and infrastructure funding: * Ravitch, not a fan of Cuomo’s tax plan(NY1)* Despite NYC Coming In Last In Eco Development Contest, Gov. Cuomo Expresses Big Apple Love (NYDN) Washington Medicaid Cuts Not Even in NYC Papers Cuomo spars with Obama administration over Medicaid exemption (Wash Post) "In recent months, several hospitals have said they will need to close without a new infusion of funds. Ballooning pension costs are also hurting the system’s bottom line.HHC's "debt has doubled in the past 3 years & it projects losses of more than $3B over FYs 2014 to 2016." Cuomo admin relying on uncertain $10 billion federal Medicaid waiver to help fund this year's proposed tax cuts? * The Cuomo and Obama administrations are at odds over New York’s multibillion dollar Medicaid waiver request.* EJ McMahon deems Cuomo’s regional economic development grants “the sort of thing that Albany has been doling out piecemeal for decades now.”* Team#Cuomo: Tax #Cut Commission Didn't Diss New York City | New York Daily News http://nydn.us/1bIrhsM #NYC #NYGov
The Times Union writes that the “devil is in the details” when it comes to the tax cuts proposed by Cuomo’s Tax Relief Commission, warning that cutting taxes could eat into other public needs such as education aid and infrastructure funding: * Ravitch, not a fan of Cuomo’s tax plan(NY1)* Despite NYC Coming In Last In Eco Development Contest, Gov. Cuomo Expresses Big Apple Love (NYDN) Washington Medicaid Cuts Not Even in NYC Papers Cuomo spars with Obama administration over Medicaid exemption (Wash Post) "In recent months, several hospitals have said they will need to close without a new infusion of funds. Ballooning pension costs are also hurting the system’s bottom line.HHC's "debt has doubled in the past 3 years & it projects losses of more than $3B over FYs 2014 to 2016." Cuomo admin relying on uncertain $10 billion federal Medicaid waiver to help fund this year's proposed tax cuts? * The Cuomo and Obama administrations are at odds over New York’s multibillion dollar Medicaid waiver request.* EJ McMahon deems Cuomo’s regional economic development grants “the sort of thing that Albany has been doling out piecemeal for decades now.”* Team
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Council Gives Amnesty to Corrupt Lobbyists and None Profits
Council Gives Amnesty to Corrupt Lobbyists and None Profits
Council Lobbyists
Corruption EnablersThe New York City Council voted today to pass lobbying reform legislation expanding the definition of lobbying, establishing a mandatory training program, as well as an amnesty program for small nonprofits to disclose restricted past lobbying activity without penalty, City & State reports: The Bill establishes an amnesty program that will give small nonprofit organizations the opportunity to come out from the shadows and disclose past restricted lobbying activity without penalty. How the Lobbyists Milk None Profits
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The NYPD Crime Tapes
New York City Subpoenas Secret Tapes by Police Officer (NYT) Officer Adrian Schoolcraft made hundreds of tapes of police superiors in Brooklyn, who, he said, were manipulating crime reports.* The NYPD Tapes: Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct (Village Voice) More Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5, and blog updates.) Mr. Graham wrote about the officer’s ordeal in “The NYPD Tapes,” published by Palgrave Macmillan in August. The book grew out of Mr. Rayman’s article in The Village Voice in May 2010.
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Ticker Fixing Back From the Dead
NYPD sergeant first to be fired and stripped of his pension after being charged in massive ticket-fixing scandal (NYDN) * Sergeant is first cop fired over ticket-fix scandal: lawyer(NYP)
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True News Wags the NYT's On the Safety Net
Throughout the Mayoral Campaign True News Wrote the Following: Limiting Their Coverage To Sex the Media Is Allowing Candidates to Get Away With Not Offing Solutions to Rising Health Care, Pension Costs and Other Federal Cuts, Promising Programs and Services That There is No $ For
The Tinker Bell Mayoral Campaign(True News 11/28/2013) Campaign 2013 Media Failure
Today's NYT Looks At the Realities of the Federal Cuts on the Safety Net The Times’ Michael Powell examines the effect of cuts to the federal social safety net and how it has affected ordinary New Yorkers and presents another challenge for de Blasio to grapple with
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This Editorial About Fiscal Realities Is What the NYT Should Have Written During the Campaign
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The Real NYC Economy
Delayed Budget Realities
The Times outlines Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s budgetary challenges as he enters office in January, including dealing with the expired municipal union contracts, the prospect of further cuts to federal spending, and his universal preschool proposal.
Mr. de Blasio’s Fiscal Challenge (NYT Ed) Pain is on the way for the next mayor, despite Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal for a balanced budget. The budget challenges the new mayor faces are real and immense, for the short and long term, both for the new initiatives he has promised and the lurking obligations he will have to confront. There is a reason Mr. Bloomberg’s notional budget was greeted cautiously, if not skeptically, by the de Blasio camp, and dismissively by the city’s municipal unions. The unions have been working on expired contracts for years and are demanding about $8 billion in retroactive pay, which the Bloomberg budget does not account for. His plan assumes, rather, that the unions will accept the five-year deal Mr. Bloomberg has offered them before — no raises for three years, then two years of 1.25 percent raises. There has been intense hostility between the Bloomberg administration and unions representing 300,000 city workers, and it will be Mr. de Blasio’s mighty challenge — as the populist, pro-union candidate — to negotiate, and somehow pay for, a way out of the impasse.
Media Ignored Federal Budget Cuts Rising Pension Costs While Candidates Promised the Moon
NYT Cuts In Federal FundingThey say there are other fiscal concerns, like the prospect of deep federal spending cuts forcing the city to spend hundreds of millions more to support the ailing Health and Hospitals Corporation and New York City Housing Authority. There is also uncertainty about federal aid for the recovery from Hurricane Sandy.
If Taxes Are Not Raised What Services Will Be Cut on the State Level to Pay for Pre-K?
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NYT Run By Dummies Corruption Enablers
NYT Discovers the Poor are Being Push Out by Gentrification But What About the Middle Class?
Dasani, one of New York’s 22,000 homeless children, lives on the margins of a gentrified city.
The post-script for Dasani and her family, featured in the @nytimes Invisible Child series
In a WSJ OpEd, Bloomberg administration deputy mayors Howard Wolfson and Linda Gibbs call the NYT’s Dasani opus “a misleading commentary on the tenure” of the mayor, and a “serious distortion of reality.” * Coalition for the Homeless president and chief executive officer Mary Brosnahan argued that Bloomberg should not be proud, and that homelessness has increased dramatically during his 12 years in office.* Government isn’t always to blame(NYP Ed)The Post writes that in the case of Dasani, the homeless girl profiled by The New York Times, her parents, not government, are the greatest obstacle in her life and there are limits to what government can do
In a WSJ OpEd, Bloomberg administration deputy mayors Howard Wolfson and Linda Gibbs call the NYT’s Dasani opus “a misleading commentary on the tenure” of the mayor, and a “serious distortion of reality.” * Coalition for the Homeless president and chief executive officer Mary Brosnahan argued that Bloomberg should not be proud, and that homelessness has increased dramatically during his 12 years in office.* Government isn’t always to blame(NYP Ed)The Post writes that in the case of Dasani, the homeless girl profiled by The New York Times, her parents, not government, are the greatest obstacle in her life and there are limits to what government can do
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The NYT couldn't find room in their 5 part homelessness series for an Administration response. So we responded here: http://on.wsj.com/JyzlpN
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howard wolfson
Squalor is A Way of Life At A Welfare Hotel (NYT January 28, 1971)
New York in general in a bad way by the end of the 1960s. And the nearly century-old Broadway Central Hotel followed the city on its downward trajectory. Sometime around 1970, the hotel was sold to new property managers who elected to transform the once-elegant inn into a “welfare hotel,” taking in the city’s most desperate and depressed residents whose $5 nightly rent would be paid by the government (a secure source of income for the owners). The refined parlor rooms once rented by New York’s elite society members were now filled with more than 300 impoverished and destitute families, often times packed seven or more to a room. Children by the dozens ran virtually untended through the stairwells and hallways, wreaking havoc wherever they went.
In the 1970 80's the NYT Wrote About Welfare Hotels in the 1990's They Began to Write About Efforts to Clare Out the Poor
Past Uncovered: The Hotel Granada | Easy Being Greene
A group of homeless youths are suing New York City, charging the city turns away hundreds of applicants from shelters each night despite its legal obligation to provide beds for homeless 16- to 20-year-olds, the Post reports:
A group of homeless youths are suing New York City, charging the city turns away hundreds of applicants from shelters each night despite its legal obligation to provide beds for homeless 16- to 20-year-olds, the Post reports:
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Brooklyn Now the Center of Black Power
Brooklyn the new center of black political power in New York City(NYDN) Letitia James, who was elected as the city’s new public advocate; Ken Thompson as Brooklyn’s first black district attorney; and Eric Adams, the borough’s first black president, all hail from central Brooklyn.
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Jail House Politics
Kruger in Jail Gets A Campaign Contribution
Former state Sen. Carl Kruger received a $500 contribution from the software giant Intuit, despite being in federal prison since June 2012 on bribery charges, one of dozens of former and deceased lawmakers who have active campaign accounts, the Daily News reports:
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BOE Crooks
Feds launch massive probe into Metro-North derailment(NYDN) Bronx Democrat Naomi Barrera is stepping down from the city Board of Elections, making her the second commissioner to announce plans to leave in as many weeks. The Board's Staten Island Republican commissioner, J.P. Sipp, submitted his long-expected resignation earlier this month.* Cuomo administration wary of Board of Elections staff changes
Back pay payback (NYDN Ed) Board of Elections wants to hand out big rewards for a job poorly done Behind closed doors, the Board of Elections voted to give handsome back-pay packages to two top staff members who helped perpetrate electoral screw-ups for which the agency has become infamous. On Oct. 26, 2010, the board fired Executive Director George Gonzalez from his $172,753-a-year post after the conniver and bumbler was caught trying to rig ballot spots for a pal. Then, the board failed find a replacement for Gonzalez for two years and 11 months while Deputy Executive Director Dawn Sandow ($155,487 a year) and the board’s No. 3 staffer, Pam Perkins ($152,899), stayed on the job. In August, the board finally got around to appointing a new executive director by the name of Mike Ryan. Now, it has voted to give Sandow and Perkins rewards for their work when the board had no executive director, on the theory that each had “worked out of title” — meaning, they had been asked to do more than their positions had called for. Sandow stands to pull down $48,000 and Perkins is up for $7,000. These sums would be for service in a time period when the board: botched the 2010 roll-out of the new computerized ballot counters, excessively featherbedded the extremely low-turnout 2011 elections, mangled the 2012 congressional primary and spent most of 2013 finding untallied votes from the 2012 presidential election.*Since '02, number of NYC students taking & passing AP tests doubled, per @MikeBloomberg. Also true 4 LA http://lat.ms/1bQqY5k , Houston, etc
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At the Center of AEG Investigation
Does Flakes Paychecks Have Anything to Do With the Investigation?
Queens pastor declares no church income in tax filings(NYP) The head of the Greater Allen Cathedral, one of the nation’s largest churches, reported earning nothing from the Queens house of worship on a recent tax filing. His wife, Elaine, co-pastor of the church and vice president of the nonprofit, also showed no church income on the 2012 and 2011 filings. But in 2010, the church paid Flake $252,719 in salary and benefits and his wife’s compensation came to $250,455, according to Empowerment Ministries’ tax filings for that year. Other tax filings show Flake still gets a hefty paycheck from Greater Allen. Through related nonprofits, The Post found that Flake raked in at least $376,000 in 2012 including $221,958 from the church and $150,000 from the Allen AME Housing Corp. As a former congressman, Flake is also entitled to collect his pension of at least $24,000 a year.
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Gentrification
Some locals are for it, and others are against it. But residents of Gowanus, Brooklyn, generally agree on one thing: The Whole Foods market will irrevocably change the neighbo
South Bronx Advocates Tackle Gentrification Fears in Conference(DNAINFO)
NYC’s immigration population soars(NYP)
NYC’s immigration population soars(NYP)
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Gambling Dark Pool $$$
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Gambling Follow the Money If You Can
The next Detroit? Atlantic City and Las Vegas facing catastrophic collapse
The state released a request for proposal to hire a company to provide “gaming advisory services” to review bids for the four upstate casinos with January 9th as the deadline for selecting a firm, Gannett Albany writes: A growing number of casino developers are scrutinizing locations and drafting proposals for upstate casinos, with state officials saying that bids would be due by mid-2014 and licenses awarded in the second half of the year, The New York Times writes: 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* Cooper Union and City College are both considering policies that could restrict how, when and where students can express dissent, while raising the penalties for those who disobey. ** Developers are lining up casino site bids in the Capital Region, with Rochester commercial builder David Flaum interested in the former Tobin First Prize packing plant, in addition to his potential bids in the Catskills and Monroe County, the Times Union writes: http://bit.ly/Jhlox4
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Education
At the state Board of Regents monthly
meeting, Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said she will appoint a
subcommittee of five Regents to review the Common Core implementation
process, after fallout from contentious statewide public forums, Newsday reports:(Capital)Outgoing schools chancellor Dennis Walcott gives thoughts on next administration's goals* Mayor Bloomberg Puts Finishing Touches On NYC Cornell "Genius School" Lease(NYDN) * Bloomberg hands over city land for Cornell ‘Genius School’(NYDN) Cornell Tech has 12 acres on
Roosevelt Island to build a campus underneath the Queensboro Bridge that
would double the city’s number of full-time graduate engineering
students * Walcott Marks Last Day As Schools Chancellor: School bells rang dismissal Friday for the final time with Mayor... * Bumpy Start for Teacher Evaluation Program in New York Schools(NYT) * While New York City's teacher
evaluation program has been embraced in theory, implementation has
fundamentally reordered the rhythm of the school day and week, The New York Times writes:* The state’s teacher evaluation system is off to a bumpy start,
with principals complaining about the additional time it adds to their
already jam-packed days, parents upset over testing and teachers saying
the process seems like a game of “gotcha.” * SAT tutor to the rich spins $500-an-hour fees into film(NYP) * 'Sizzling' Brooklyn Gets NYU Engineers(WSJ)* A Gift to East Harlem Children(WSJ) Billionaire philanthropists Jim and Marilyn Simons will try
to blur the line separating the sleek shops of the Upper East Side from
housing projects in East Harlem by making a $15 million challenge gift
to the East Harlem Tutorial Program.* New bus companies will take over the routes of Atlantic Express, which went bankrupt, ensuring 40,000 #NYC... * NY’s proficiency tests should demand more from students, not less(NYP Ed) * State education commissioner John King argued in a letter to New York educators that concerns raised by teachers and parents at a series of public hearings were based on “misinformation.”* * State Education Commissioner John
King is defending the Common Core testing standards and says some
concerns from the forums held across the state were based on
misinformation, Gannett Albany reports: * New Campus Buildings Take Shape(WSJ) Institutions of Higher Learning in New York
City Are Beginning Construction Programs to Add Millions of Square Feet
in New Classrooms
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."* Developers are lining up casino site bids in the Capital Region, with Rochester commercial builder David Flaum interested in the former Tobin First Prize packing plant, in addition to his potential bids in the Catskills and Monroe County, the Times Union writes:
The Big 8 Lobbyists
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The Always Corrupt Surrogate Court
More on Surrogate Court Corruption
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$ Hikes Pushing Middle Class Out
Sal Albanese
It's a disgrace that people were killed & injured in Metro North derailment bc of failure to invest in infrastructure. An avoidabl
Higher Tolls Adds to Recent Increases in MTA, Con Ed, Taxes, Rents That the Middle Class Already Pay
NYC Toll$ Up Again
Low Wages
Life on $7.25 an Hour(NYT) Older Workers Are Increasingly Entering Fast-Food Industry. 55,000 fast-food workers in New York — more than the entire population of Harrisburg, Pa.
Independent Budget Office Suggests Boosting Taxes on Beer, Liquor and Plastic Surgery(NYO) * Three cheers for the No. 7 extension(NYP) * The Times Union writes that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should use existing technology to
improve safety, while Congress should step up funding for railroad
inspectors:* A union pushes 1300 workers into the middle class: Living Wage Ruling Gives Queens Casino Workers a Fighting Chance (NYT)
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Health and Health Care Exchanges
* The New York City Board of Health unanimously adopted new rules requiring the Health Department to inspect tanning salons and warn customers of the dangers of skin cancer from the overexposure to UV radiation, the Post reports:
* More than 69,000 New Yorkers have signed up for private insurance plans through the state’s new health exchanges, far outpacing the number of new enrollees in the state’s Medicaid program, Capital New York writes: * The New York City Board of Health will vote on a Bloomberg administration measure that requires annual flu vaccinations for children in city-licensed preschools and day-care centers, The Wall Street Journal writes: http://on.wsj.com/IP6wox Board of Health votes to require mandatory flu shots for kids(NYDN)* With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals(NYT) * Mayor Bloomberg: Mandatory flu shots for pre-schoolers will save lives(NYDN)* A total of 134,662 people have enrolled in New York’s health exchange
since its October launch, a 34 percent increase over the past week, according to the state Department of Health.* NY’s Health Exchange: Statistics Galore(YNN) * New York State’s new online insurance exchange — one of the bright spots in the disastrous national rollout of Obamacare — suffered outages Friday because of heavy demand due to today’s sign-up deadline for coverage that starts Jan. 1.*
Though the state exchange is on pace to meet its enrollment goal and is out-performing the federal site, people who have tried to enroll say they’ve found the site out of service, regularly run into issues entering information into the site, spent hours on the phone to get help from someone and waited weeks to receive confirmation of coverage.
_________________________________Though the state exchange is on pace to meet its enrollment goal and is out-performing the federal site, people who have tried to enroll say they’ve found the site out of service, regularly run into issues entering information into the site, spent hours on the phone to get help from someone and waited weeks to receive confirmation of coverage.
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High Tech
--City Hall release, “Bloomberg Announces Country's Largest Continuous Free Public WiFi Network”: “The Harlem WiFi network will extend 95 city blocks, from 110th to 138th Streets between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Madison Avenue making it the largest continuous free outdoor public wireless network in the nation. The network … will increase digital access for approximately 80,000 Harlem residents, including 13,000 public housing residents … The free public network will serve the community for an initial five-year term and is funded through a generous donation from the Fuhrman Family Foundation.”
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Special Elections and June Primaries
NYS Senate Dems To Push For June Primaries But Senate GOP and Independent Dems Oppose It
Gov. Cuomo Doesn't Have 'Any Plans as of Now' to Call Special Elections(NYO)
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: * The state Board of Elections agreed to propose the final Tuesday in June as the date for federal, state, and local primary elections to U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe, who oversees the state’s compliance with absentee ballot laws, the Times Union writes:
Federal Judge Approves June Primary Date(YNN) As expected, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe on Thursday designated the fourth Tuesday in June as the date to hold Congressional primaries in New York.* * State Senate Democrats introduced a
bill moving state primaries from September to June to coincide with
federal primaries for Congress, saying it would save the state at least
$50 million and increase turnout, the Times Union writes:
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Environment
Researchers Study New York City Park Useage (WSJ)
New York City's recycling rate is 27%, low compared to San Francisco (77%), Los Angeles (62%), and Seattle (51%).
Editorial: More enforcement would make NYC streets safer(AMNY)
Dire ad warnings as city DWI deaths double(NYP)* NYC to track traffic deaths on Web site (NYP) A new Web site will list everyone who dies in a traffic accident in New York City. It will be divided into four categories: vehicle drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians….
New York City's recycling rate is 27%, low compared to San Francisco (77%), Los Angeles (62%), and Seattle (51%).
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Safe Traffic
With traffic deaths down, a renewed push to wipe them out(AMNY)
Editorial: More enforcement would make NYC streets safer(AMNY)
Dire ad warnings as city DWI deaths double(NYP)* NYC to track traffic deaths on Web site (NYP) A new Web site will list everyone who dies in a traffic accident in New York City. It will be divided into four categories: vehicle drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians….
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Fracking
Environmental activists delivered 50,000 comments to the state Department of Environmental Conservation opposing the agency’s proposed draft regulations for liquefied * A report revealed by Wikileaks found New York’s anti-fracking movement started with a series of ProPublica articles published in the TU in 2008.* State Department of Health
Commissioner Nirav Shah said that his agency’s health study on
high-volume hydraulic fracturing would be transparent “at the end, not
during,” to maintain objectivity, Gannett Albany writes: * NY facing fracking lawsuit threat(NYP)* Still Undecided on Fracking, Cuomo Won’t Press for Health Study’s Release(NYT) * Cuomo's coal-to-gas switch facilitated by fracking (elsewhere)(Capital) * Environmentalists are not happy with Cuomo’s announcement that the Dunkirk coal-fired power plant will be repurposed and converted to natural gas.* Cuomo might not make a decision on fracking until after the November 2014 elections * NYC Comptroller-elect files in support of fracking bans(Capital) * A spokesman for Frack Action called a lawsuit
filed by Norse Energy against the Cuomo administration seeking to
compel a decision on the natural gas drilling technique “ridiculous.”* A bid to open Albany up to tar sands oil(Capital) * Scott Stringer’s amicus brief against fracking(NYP)
State to Pay Firm $55M Through No-Bid Contract for Sandy help
Time Is Up for High-Security Wine Cellar Hit by Hurricane, Judge Rules(NYT)
Sandy Forced Poor to Leave Illegal Units(WSJ)
* Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Con Edison have announced a deal that holds steady electric, gas and steam service prices after the company originally planned rate hikes, citing Superstorm Sandy damage, the Post writes:
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Sandy
Time Is Up for High-Security Wine Cellar Hit by Hurricane, Judge Rules(NYT)
Sandy Forced Poor to Leave Illegal Units(WSJ)
* Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Con Edison have announced a deal that holds steady electric, gas and steam service prices after the company originally planned rate hikes, citing Superstorm Sandy damage, the Post writes:
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Economy
The Times holds up New York as a model for other states regarding online sales tax collection after reforming its laws in 2008, after a Supreme Court decision cleared the way for states to collect $13 billion in uncollected online sales taxes: http://nyti.ms/1dl1TMW New York City Gets $57.4 Million From Gov. Cuomo's REDC Initiative, Lowest In State *@JohnCLiu: #NYC has added 380,000 private payroll jobs since Jan 2010, but recovery hasn't benefited everyone.* Brooklyn’s $5 billion Atlantic Yards apartment project is a step closer to being 70% owned by a Chinese developer * NY increasing minimum wage to $8 an hour in 2014(NYP) * New York's Minimum Wage Rising To $8 An Hour(Huff Post)
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Con Edison Drops Bid to Raise Rates(WSJ)Con Edison dropped its bid to raise rates on New Yorkers Tuesday,
announcing a settlement with city and state leaders that would freeze
electric and steam bills.
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Affordable Housing
Mtg 2day to block land sale to "foreign company w/no stake in producing Affordable Housing 4 Brooklyn" #AtlanticYards * Transparency to come after fracking study says Shah(Capital)
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NYCHA
In Public Housing, Units Languish in Limbo (NYT) In New York City, hundreds of public housing units have sat unoccupied year after year awaiting major renovations or a decision about their fate.
NYCHA hedges bet on finishing fixes(NYDN)
Facing Suit, New York City Agrees to Remove Mold in Public Housing More Quickly(NYT) * A judge will monitor the New York City Housing Authority’s compliance as part of the terms of a settlement requiring it to clean up mold and related problems at its apartments, the Daily News reports:* A LITTLE LATE: NYCHA executive vows to fix 150 Brooklyn apartments by the time Santa arrives as bitter cold sets to grip city * New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says he has no regrets about his time leading the board, even amid various criticisms from tenants and officials of his tenure:* Want to rent a ‘hotel’ room in the projects?(NYP) * NYCHA ‘didn’t investigate director who abused kids’: suit(NYP) * 55 of#NYC's 328 murders in NYCHA,
Facing Suit, New York City Agrees to Remove Mold in Public Housing More Quickly(NYT) * A judge will monitor the New York City Housing Authority’s compliance as part of the terms of a settlement requiring it to clean up mold and related problems at its apartments, the Daily News reports:* A LITTLE LATE: NYCHA executive vows to fix 150 Brooklyn apartments by the time Santa arrives as bitter cold sets to grip city * New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says he has no regrets about his time leading the board, even amid various criticisms from tenants and officials of his tenure:* Want to rent a ‘hotel’ room in the projects?(NYP) * NYCHA ‘didn’t investigate director who abused kids’: suit(NYP) * 55 of
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Citi Bike has a plan to move thousands of bikes from stations in heavy snow
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Citi Bike
Citi Bike operators have drawn up plans to handle the winter snow.
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MTA
Delayed Train? Skeptical Boss? M.T.A. Will Give Passengers a Late Note(NYT) Since June 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has given more than 250,000 Subway Delay Verification notes to passengers to excuse their tardiness.
* Mayor Michael Bloomberg will announce a five-year extension of the East River ferry service, though fares for weekend service will increase from $4 to $6 and winter weekend service will decrease as well, Crain’s Insider reports * Utah senator slashers commuter tax break for NYers(NYP) Straphangers will now only be able to shield $130 of their income every
month from taxes to subsidize their train and bus fares — a steep plunge
from the $245 they can currently keep tax-free. After the Senate failed Thursday to pass a larger package of tax
benefits that include tax relief for commuters, Schumer tried to extend
it alone through a move that can have a bill quickly passed if all
Senators agree to it. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch quickly objected and kicked it down to next
year so that the financial committee could address all of the tax
benefits together. * Mass transit users who pay more than
$130 per month will lose part of their commuter tax deduction Jan. 1
because federal lawmakers haven’t renewed the current deduction. That
could affect some 700,000 New York commuters, the Journal News writes: * What’s Missing From The No. 7 Line Extension(NYO) * The Daily News writes that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should ask for another review of
its dispute with Long Island Railroad workers looking for a raise,
which, if granted, would drive up costs across the MTA’s system:* Where’s the money train? (NYDN) Congress fails to act and transit commuters get smacked * Mass-Transit Commuters Face a Hit(WSJ)
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Taxi
Ride on!(NYP Ed) *Wheelchair-accessible cabs will be a reality * Half Of City's Taxi Fleet To Be Wheelchair Accessible Under Settlement(N* Thanks to Legal Tangles, You’ll See ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ Tweets Before You See the Actual Cabs (NYO) * \Tourist who lost leg in cab crash to sue city for $27.5M(NYP) * The taxi industry "owned Chris [Quinn]. Presumably they will try to own the next speaker," says @DavidYassky\ * Taxi Of Tomorrow’s Fate Uncertain Even Though Some Have Already Hit Streets * Taxi honcho hit with huge penalty for ripping off drivers(NYP) * Gene Friedman and four of his cab
companies face a $1.2 million penalty from the state for illegally
overcharging drivers to lease medallions and cars and for imposing fines
that violate Taxi and Limousine Commission rules * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission Commissioner David Yassky write in the Daily News that government
enforcement is needed to protect cab drivers from unscrupulous cab
owners:* City yanks license from lewd cabby(NYP) * NYers shouldn’t complain about Uber’s price surge(NYP) * Cabbies worried about de Blasio reversing TLC gains
More on NYC Taxis
More on NYC Taxis
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Media
In a tight decision, the Court of Appeals also ruled four-to-three in favor of Fox News reporter Jana Winter, extending the state’s shield law to Colorado.
'60 Minutes' Gets TRASHED
Reliable Sources Panel Knocks 60 Minutes: ‘Who Deputized CBS’ to Tell NSA’s Side of the Story? (VIDEO)
MSNBC shows us just how much panel-talk and politics can be crowbarred into the work day: (Wash Post)
NY Times Ready to Cover Chris Christie Exactly How They Covered Mitt Romney—Badly
Going Unseen, but Asking the Tough Questions for Almost a Quarter-Century at WNYC(NYT) Come autumn, Brian Lehrer will celebrate his 25th anniversary on WNYC,
the public radio station on which he hosts his eponymous morning talk
show.
Ben Smith on how social media will save journalism. (Heads up: He wrote the article for Playboy).
R.I.P. Stan Brooks, senior correspondent at 1010 WINS and the hardest working man in radio. "He was 86 years and 11 months old. He worked until he was 86 years and 10 months old." (CBS)* Stan Brooks, a Familiar Voice on 1010 WINS, Dies at 86(NYT) * City Hall Pro: Remembering Stan Brooks(Capital)
Reliable Sources Panel Knocks 60 Minutes: ‘Who Deputized CBS’ to Tell NSA’s Side of the Story? (VIDEO)
MSNBC shows us just how much panel-talk and politics can be crowbarred into the work day: (Wash Post)
NY Times Ready to Cover Chris Christie Exactly How They Covered Mitt Romney—Badly
Ben Smith on how social media will save journalism. (Heads up: He wrote the article for Playboy).
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I left political television because I found the culture toxic and the intentions of most politicians and policy makers dishonest
Dylan Ratigan
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Anyone know who's staffing City Hall in the new mayoralty? Asking for a friend.
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@maggiepolitico Those sort of questions are fundamentally unhelpful and you should know better
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maggie haberman
Michael Powell
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Wall Street
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said there are more settlements to come with financial institutions stemming from the financial crisis of 2008, The Daily News writes: http://nydn.us/17NsE9l * The Times praises the $13 billion settlement with JP Morgan Chase, despite the deal not holding individuals accountable, and credits state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for obtaining the settlement:* Stern Words for Wall Street’s Watchdogs, From a Judge(NYT)
Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward(NYT)
Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward(NYT)
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Washington
2013, the Year of the Zombies - Dave Barry, Washington Post Magazine
D.C.'s Most Irrational Arguments in 2013 - Timothy Carney, DC Examiner
White House Looks to Spread Good News - Brown & Allen, Politico
Ow! An Ode to Obamacare - Debra Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle
Republicans to Blame for Disgust With Congress - Juan Williams, The Hill
It's an Election Year! Predictions for 2014 - Chris Cillizza, Washington Post
The "Racism" Wrecking Ball - John Fund, National Review
A&E Lets Phil Robertson Off the Hook - Michael Musto, The Daily Beast
Obamacare Lies and the Press "Fact-Checkers" - Avik Roy, Forbes
2013: Not as Bad as You Think - E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
NYT Whitewashes Benghazi - Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard
Report Casts Doubt on al Qaeda Involvement - Mark Morgenstein, CNN
Yes, Al Qaeda Is Linked to Benghazi - Eli Lake, The Daily Beast
Glamour and the Art of Persuasion - Virginia Postrel, Reason
The Dream of a Middle-Class New York - Benjamin Wallace-Wells, NY Mag
NYC: The Old Regime and the New - Aaron Renn, City Journal
Not Everything We Love Lasts - Carl Cannon, Orange County Register
Sunday Panels: FOX News Sunday | Meet the Press | Face the Nation
A Large New Tax on Small Business - Wall Street Journal
The Weather: Be Prepared - The Guardian
Global Warming Advocates Should Take Out Earplugs - DC Examiner
Cutting Jobless Aid Will Be Costly - Philadelphia Inquirer
Chris Wallace to Rep. Rogers: Was NY Times' Benghazi Report Meant to 'Clear the Deck' for Hillary? http://bit.ly/1cffQct (VIDEO)
One Nation, Starkly Divided Into Red & Blue - Dan Balz, Washington PostThe West Has Lost Control, Disaster Awaits - Bruce Anderson, Telegraph
Iran and 'the Obama Curse' - Sherman Frederick, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Which Will Be the Big Economies in 15 Years? - Will Hutton, The Guardian
Jobless Benefits May Be Key Issue in Midterms - Alexis Simendinger, RCP
Al Qaeda Played No Role in Benghazi Attack - David Kirkpatrick, NY Times
Intel Chair: Benghazi was an 'Al Qaeda-led Event' - C. Herridge, FOX News
Cruz Reflects on Tumultuous 1st Year - Todd Gillman, Dallas Morning News
Kane Is PA Democrats' New 'It Girl' - Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
2 Judges, 2 Different Rulings on NSA - Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic
Inside TAO: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit - Der Spiegel
It's Union Feeding Time in New York City - Bob McManus, City Journal
When It Comes to Pensions, California Is No Detroit - John Clark, LA Times
Navy SEALs Humiliated by Political Correctness - Kyle Smith, NY Post
Israel's Christian Awakening - Adi Schwartz, Wall Street Journal
Thank You, Batkid, For Saving 2013 - John Diaz, San Francisco Chronicle
To a Happier, Humbler 2014 - Michael Goodwin, New York Post
Videos: McLaughlin Group | Duck Dynasty Uproar | 2016 Nominations
Build the 777 X - and the Future - Seattle Times
Send a Message to the Mullahs - Chicago Tribune
New Military Sex Assault Policies Don't Go Far Enough - Washington Post
Obamacare Exceptions for Me, But Not for Thee - Las Vegas Review-Journa
Why 2014 will be all about regulation, not legislation (NBC)Louis Scarcella’s Ex-Partner Is Coming Under Scrutiny in Brooklyn Cases(NYT) A nonprofit group that helps convicts asserting innocence has flagged several murder cases handled by Stephen W. Chmil when he was a detective in Brooklyn in the 1980s and ’90s.
Roll Call Politics: The Best Congressional Campaign Ads of 2013 (Video): Political ad makers were a busy bunch...
Unemployment benefits being cut off to 1.3 million: More than 1 million Americans will see their extended fede...
2013's Lesson for Conservatives - George Will, Washington Post
Republicans' Unemployment Shame - Jamelle Bouie, The Daily Beast
As Predicted, Obamacare Plunges Into Chaos - Michael Cannon, Forbes
Don't Succumb to Defeatism on Obamacare - Robert Reich, Huffington Post
Obamacare Will Be a Big Problem for Dems in 2014 - Nina Easton, Fortune
Paul Ryan's Empty Anti-Poverty Agenda - Joan Walsh, Salon
Obama's Tedious Act Grown Old and Stale - Peter Wehner, Commentary
Republican Budget Hypocrisy - George Zornick, Washington Post
The Losers in the "Duck Dynasty" Flap - Charles Hoskinson, DC Examiner
Why Obamacare Is Here to Stay - Ezra Klein & Evan Soltas, Washington Post
Will Insurers Ever Say Enough's Enough? - Greg Scandlen, The Federalist
Vermont's Bold, Risky Health Care Gamble - Sean McElwee, The Atlantic
Coercing Conformity - Andrew McCarthy, National Review
Life Under Russia's "Gay Propaganda" Ban - Mark Gevisser, NY Times
A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues - Camille Paglia, Wall St. Journal
Colleges' Athletics Arms Race Is for Losers - Richard Vedder, Bloomberg
Earthrise: The Photo That Changed the World - Jeffrey Kluger, Time
Jobless Get Scrooged Today(Time)
Judge Misfires on NSA Snooping - Denver Post
Women Are Turning on Obamacare - New York Post
Do-Nothing Congress II - Los Angeles Times
Cultural Shift Seen in Abortion, Death Penalty Data - The Oklahoman
WednesdayCUOMO GUN PROVISION STRUCK DOWN—Capital’s Jimmy Vielkind: A federal judge in Buffalo has affirmed New York's ability to regulate firearms through a tough gun control measure passed earlier this year, but struck down one of its signature provisions - a seven-round limit on ammunition as “arbitrary.”The SAFE Act ruling gave a victory to gun control advocates frustrated by the lack of movement at the federal level, but opponents plan to appeal all but the portion that struck down the seven-round magazine ban.
A plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state’s strict gun laws says opponents would appeal a federal judge’s ruling that all parts of the laws are constitutional, save for a piece barring gun owners from loading more than seven rounds into a magazine (NYT) * The Daily News writes that a federal judge’s ruling that the state’s strict gun laws are constitutional rightly puts the complaints about the law from some groups where the criticism belongs: history’s dustbin: New Year’s Eve stab melee at Port Authority(NYP) * Gun-Law Confusion(WSJ) * Cuomo pardons three men, clearing their records(WSJ)
For the first time in his three years in office, Cuomo issued pardons to three New Yorkers who had long ago completed their sentences.
Police Seek Suspect In Brooklyn Armed Robbery(CBS)
Tuesday
State probing insurer for booting 2,000 doctors(NYP)
Six shot in Brownsville(NYP)
Five Wounded After Gunfire Erupts Inside Brooklyn Lobby (NY1)
City Ends Year With Record Low Crime Rate(NY1)
U.S. Judge Upholds Most New York Gun Limits(NYT)
Parks Dept. employee arrested in alleged underage sex assault(NYP)
Brooklyn man shot for 2nd time this year(NYP)
Crime is down in
2 Stabbed at Port Authority Bus Terminal(NYT)
Police Investigate After Man Claims He Accidentally Shot 2-Year-Old Son(CBS)
Monday
DA son of TV’s Judge Judy probed in forgery case: report(NYP)
Wrongly-jailed mobster to take stand, hope for ‘sympathy’ in new extort rap(NYP)
* The SAFE Act has led to a dramatic rise in the number of felony gun possession arrests in New York City, with 1,041 people being charged in the city since the law was enacted last January, the Daily News reports:
Suspect sought in Bronx armed robbery(WSJ)
Central Park mugger rejects flip phone(NYP)
Over the past 12 years, the Bloomberg administration made 6,773 municipal corruption arrests. That’s nearly double the rate of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who averaged 1,299 arrests per term, and far more than David Dinkins, whose one term yielded 431 corruption arrests.
Sunday
When the Mentally Ill Own Guns(NYT)
The mob murder at Rao’s that was sparked by a song(NYP)
Kips Bay Home Invaders Remain At Large
Police are looking for two men who robbed a Brooklyn man and his out-of-town friend at gunpoint in Central Park (NBC)
Police Seek Several In Connection With Robbery, Assault Of Man In Brooklyn (NY1)
Police Investigate Alleged Gunpoint Robbery In Central Park (NY1)
Knocked down, punched, kicked and robbed – police looking for Brooklyn gang(WPIX)
Woman nearly raped, then robbed in plain sight(NYP)
Brooklyn residents join together to stop mall violence after teens run wild at Kings Plaza (WABC)
Saturday
Tourists robbed at gunpoint in Central Park(NYP)
Cops blast pistol-packing gunman in shootout(NYP)
Acting as His Own Counsel(WSJ)
Accused triple murderer Salvatore Perrone is defending himself, although legal observers say his case illustrates the hazards of going to court without a lawyer.
FDNY burned by fake air conditioner repairs(NYP)
At Kings Plaza Mall for
City's Inmate Population Declines(WSJ)
Thief cuffed for robbing cancer patients, cops say(NYP)
Cop and his traffic-agent wife jailed after Christmas Eve fight(NYP)
Cops fatally shoot ‘armed thief’ in ATM heist(NYP)
Kings Plaza Mall Cracks Down On Minors Following Disturbance(NY1)
If NYC had Newark's homicide rate, there would have been roughly 3,100 murders this year, almost 30% higher than the 1990 peak.
Officer Kills Armed Suspect in the Bronx(NYT)
Manhattan federal court changes rules on judge-shopping(NYP)
SORRY BRO! NY man accidentally shoots his brother in drunken stupor then tries to dump gun on neighbor(NYDN)
The worst gang in the South Bronx: ‘Los Politiqueros’ revisited(Amsterdam News)
Hundreds of teens trash mall in wild flash mob(NYP)
Last 30 Days of Crime
9/11 victims OK to sue Saudi government(NYP)
NYPD Conducts Bus Inspections After Blast In Israel (CBS)
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Terrorism
NYPD Conducts Bus Inspections After Blast In Israel (CBS)
70 years ago today on WNYC: "I tell you it was the greatest thrill I've had since I've been Mayor." http://wny.cc/1bEQY1U
