Sunday Update
Woman Who Raised Kidnapped Girl Taken Into Custody (WNBC)
City tax man taking aim at some of the rich and famous (DN) *Rent control tenants face big bump if hike is approved (DN) * Brooklyn coping with some of city's poorest health stats (DN) *City should keep its idea of providing more taxi service outside Manhattan as simple as possible (DN ED) * State legislators overreached on curbing unlicensed Manhattan hotel, neighborhood paying the price (DN) *9/11 museum bigs cash in (NYP) * Six-figure giveaway $inking NY (DN) 8 What a contrast between Andrew Cuomo and the last attorney general to graduate into the governor’s office — Eliot Spitzer.A tale of two govs (NYP Ed) *Christie 1, Schumer 0 (NYP Ed) * Politics may, or may not, play a role in Staten Island district attorney's race (SI Advance) * Port Authority's billion-dollar projects could lead to conflict or cooperation for Govs. Christie, Cuomo * Writing State Of The Union Speech: A Juggling Act (NPR) * As Edgy NYC Disappears, Does Its Character Go Too? (Huff Post) * Democratic Politics in the Rockaways, 1950s « Tales from the Sausage Factory
DA puts freeze on Bloomy elex-$$ probe
The Campaign Finance Board is holding off its review into whether Mayor Bloomberg's re-election campaign violated disclosure rules on the orders of the Manhattan DA's Office, sources told The Post.
The sources said the DA is worried that any CFB findings might interfere with the criminal case against John Haggerty Jr., the Republican operative charged with swiping most of the $1.2 million that the mayor channeled through the state Independence Party last year for an Election Day ballot-security operation.A veteran election lawyer said that it was a violation of both state election law and CFB regulations, since the chief beneficiary of the donation was the mayor's campaign and not the Independence Party, which was supposed to keep only $100,000.
Experts' money for nothing
Fees paid by the city's pension funds to outside investment managers and consultants have quadrupled to $426 million since 2002 despite lackluster earnings, records show. "It's crazy. They're talking about laying people off and cutting teachers, while money is bleeding out of the budget for something that's not producing services," said John Murphy, former executive director of the city's biggest pension system, NYCERS. The lucrative contracts awarded to private equity and real-estate investment firms have skyrocketed from $101 million in 2002 to $426 million last fiscal year, or 322 percent. Meanwhile, overall assets of the city's five pension funds, including stocks, rose modestly from $80.6 billion to $89.9 billion, 11.5 percent.
State budget watchdogs gave ok to employee travel requests that cost taxpayers more than $100 mil
Traditional ethnic enclaves sprawled amoeba-like into adjacent communities. Once monolithic tracts of white and black and native-born residents have become bespeckled with newcomers.
TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads
Shame On the NYT
Have you left no sense of decency?
The NYT called the City Council hearing on the snow storm -Snow Overkill: “The Council’s tactics resemble television’s approach to covering bad weather.” (The New York Times). In the name of decency how could the times want to block Laura Freedman whose mother Died of a Heart Attack because the ambulance could not get through the snow block streets in queens from the chance to tell the city's lawmakers how her mother died. Video of Freedman testimony at the Queens City Council Hearing. We know the times acts a body guard and cheerleader for the mayor and could care less about the outer boroughs, but in the name of decency NYT should write an apology to Ms. Freedman and so should the mayor. Queens Woman's Mom Lay Dead for Hours (Fox 5) * Queens Residents Share Disapproval For City's Blizzard Response More No Respect Nobody from the mayor's office or the Sanitation Department attended the hearing
First You have to get Past the Taxi Owner and Their Lobbyists
Taxi Commissioner Accelerates Plans Less than a year into his job as New York's taxi and limousine commissioner, David Yassky is facing two big tests that have the potential to dramatically change the industry.(WSJ)* Mayor Bloomberg, Back-Seat Driver Letting people hail livery cabs will hurt the taxi industry more than it will help people find a ride in the outer boroughs.(NYT)
