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Caroline Kennedy, whose Senate aspirations have only allowed for controlled moments with the press and submitting written answers to media outlets' questions so far, has finally submitting to actual interviews. First, an interview with the Associated Press was published, just after she spoke to reporter Larry Neumeister at Tribeca diner Gee Whiz (she ordered a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich).
Kennedy, 51, mentioned that her father's legacy influenced her, "Many people remember that spirit that President Kennedy summoned forth. Many people look to me as somebody who embodies that sense of possibility. I'm not saying that I am anything like him, I'm just saying there's a spirit that I think I've grown up with that is something that means a tremendous amount to me."
She also acknowledged the past few weeks have been rocky but explained why she wasn't so media-friendly because, "I was trying to respect the process. It is not a campaign. It was misinterpreted. If I were to be selected, I understand public servants have to be accessible." Like financial disclosure accessible? Kennedy added, "I am an unconventional choice," then referred, perhaps to her friend Barack Obama, the President-elect, "We're starting to see there are many ways into public life and public service." She would "work twice as hard as anybody else" to prove herself.
Later, her interview with NY1's Dominic Carter aired (you can see it here), and she reiterated many of the same points, "I haven?t followed a traditional path, but I think I bring a lifetime of experience to this. In my family public service is really the greatest honor anyone can have it?s a legacy I cherish and that I?ve tried to live up to my whole life.?
When asked about running on the Kennedy name, "If my last name weren?t Kennedy, maybe I would have run for office a long time ago.? Kennedy mentioned her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., saying, "he would be laughing his head off" over her Senate hopes, but he would be 100% behind her. As for her mother, "I think she would be really proud that I?m doing this.? She also struck a wistful tone:
Everybody has tough moments. I've lost family members that I love and that I miss everyday and so has many, many other people has dealt with an ill parent the loss of a family member and stuff and that's a part of life I think I share those experiences with everybody else and if there's ways I can help other people who are suffering some of the same things I have gone through I would love to do that.She also brought up Jennifer Lopez, to whom she was unfavorably compared with by Rep. Gary Ackerman, ?I admire the journey J. Lo has traveled" but "I don?t think there is really much we have in common.? And of her spotty voting record, "I was dismayed by my voting record.?
And on Hillary Clinton, Kennedy said, "We are losing a tremendous advocate for New York, even though our country is gaining a great Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton ascends to the state department. I think we need somebody who is going to be able to be heard and deliver for this state and I would love to be that person."
By all accounts, for any shoppers interested in buying during these tough times, do retailers have a deal for them! Apparently consumers spent 20% less on women's clothing, electronics and jewelry this month and last month versus the same period last year, so retailers slashed prices (holiday sales can make up 30-50% of their bottom lines). Retail industry analysts said the many deals will be found in "bundled" deals?like "Buy a laptop, get a free printer, ink cartridges ? and paper." However, there was a bright spot for one retailer: Amazon.com said it had its best holiday season ever. The Wall Street Journal reports that on Amazon's biggest day, December 15, "it received more than 6.3 million orders, at a record pace of 72.9 items per second." The online retailer's big sellers between Nov. 15 and Dec. 19 include the Wii, Eyeclops night-vision goggles, a 52" Samsung plasma TV, Apple's 8GB iPod Touch, and the Acer 8.9" netbook.
A car at the end of a commuter rail almost tried to make the leap for New Jersey when a Staten Island Railway train derailed at the end of its line as it approached Arthur Kill in Tottenville. No one was injured and New York City Transit is still investigating the cause of what led to the train going through the "bumper block" after its 40-minute trip from the ferry terminal at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday morning. That investigation requires that the crew of the train must all undergo mandatory drug and alcohol testing. Onlookers were surprised at just how close the train came to the narrow strip of water that separates the island from New Jersey. ?Holy smokes, you have to be going pretty fast to go this far,? one commuter remarked to the Times. This was the first deraliment since last year for the Staten Island, which began running in 1860?over 40 years before the subway's arrival.
Just what is going on at South Street Seaport? First it's getting redeveloped (with much resistance from the locals), and then it's being sold by the development company. Curbed explains: "Yes, troubled South Street Seaport leaseholder General Growth Properties put the Lower Manhattan megamall/tourist trap up for sale last week, seemingly putting an end to the company's desire to redevelop the historic port into a massive retail/hotel/residential thingamajig. But don't scrape together your down payment just yet! General Growth has no real plans to sell the darn thing." The Downtown Express got word from an insider, who says "the firm has been looking for investors for the Seaport for several months, and the company intends to retain the property. But since General Growth would consider selling the property if the right offer came in, the company had to say that the sale is an option, even if it?s not likely." Sounds like they're really attached to the project.
Photo taken in Dumbo by Jeffrey Docherty on Flickr
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- From the Gothamist Newsmap: an aircraft emergency at JFK, an attempted bank robbery at a WaMu on Coney Island Ave in Brooklyn and a perp search at PS 42 in the Bronx.
- Scores are dead after Israeli forces attacked the Gaza Strip.
- A local doctor who volunteered for his second tour of duty in Iraq and had once done the same to treat 9/11 victims died in a Christmas day attack.
- A 15-year-old boy in the Bronx has been arrested and is facing murder charges in the killing of the young man who was recently found stabbed over 40 times.
- Over 130 workers at the Stella D'Oro cookie factory in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx spent Christmas day on the picket line.
- If Andy Pettite walks on the Yankees' offer to be their fifth starter, will they back to youngster Phil Hughes for the role? And will their circuits overload from not shelling out another multimillion dollar contract?
- One man was so inspired by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button that he shot a fellow moviegoer for talking too loud during it.
- And a lifting of the smoking ban to promote "urban mortality" as well as a "doomsday scenario" of Starbucks locations in town dropping to under 12,000 are among some of the local predictions for 2009 in today's Times.
- Timberwolves 120, Knicks 107: Have a struggling offense? Why not just play the Knicks? Minnesota waltzed into the Garden and shot 51 percent from the floor and 52 percent from downtown. That's just not good defense. Nate Robinson and Al Harrington led the way with 26 apiece.
- Bobcats 95, Nets 87: No matter how much a Nets fan likes Keyon Dooling, he doesn't want an impressive performance off the bench to be among the bright spots in a loss to the Bobacts. Dooling had 11 points as the Nets generally struggled on offense against a lowly Charlotte squad. Devin Harris and Vince Carter combined to miss 24 shots. Enough said. The teams play again -- in Charlotte -- on Saturday.
- Islanders 4, Maple Leafs 1: Rare is it that the Islanders get one piece of good news in a game, much less three. Bill Guerin scored two goals -- he now has 400 -- Rick DiPietro played for the first time since October, and the Islanders actually won a game(!). That snapped a 10-game losing streak.
- Penguins 1, Devils 0: The Devils need to do a better job of taking advantage of opportunities. They outshot the Pens, 37-19, but still got shut out by Marc-Andre Fleury.
If you thought your Christmas was depressing, the Burg (with some help from the All-For-Nots) are here to share your pain. Non-trust fund hipster bread lines, depression, hand-made garbage gifts, suicide threats...Happy Holidays from the Burg!
Depression and recession looks are going to be so in this season (deprecession chic?). Or maybe The City will put an end to that.
A federal judge ruled that Bernard Madoff, who admitted to running a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme with investor money, must disclose all his assets to regulators. Bloomberg News reports that he "must provide a detailed list of all investments, loans, lines of credit, business interests, brokerage accounts and other holdings" to the SEC by New Year's Eve, as investors hover to recoup some of their money.
The ME's office completed the autopsy for Access International Advisers hedge fund founder Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, who apparently committed suicide because he invested $1.4 billion with Madoff?he felt he let down investors (which includes the world's wealthiest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt).
De la Villehuchet's brother revealed yesterday that de la Villehuchet also invested his own money with Madoff. His brother was "totally ruined," according to Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet, who added, "At first he thought he'd be able to get the money back. He was very determined. Gradually he realized he wouldn't be able to... He trusted Madoff completely." Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said he would join class action lawsuits against Madoff and the SEC.
NYU is filing a lawsuit, claiming it lost $24 million by investing through J. Ezra Merkin's Ariel hedge fund, as is Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), who says his investment manager invested his money to Madoff while collecting "enormous fees."
One people trying to make some money off Madoff's scheming are people with Madoff Investment Securities swag. There's a fleece, tote bag ("Top bid is 50 billion"), tote bag & binoculars & notepad & chair, and an emergency disaster kit (pictured at top).
With the population of the city steadily growing, how are New Yorkers somehow throwing out less trash? No one seems to be able to figure out why, yet the amount of garbage and recyclables picked up by sanitation workers has been going down over each of the last four years. Reasons speculated behind the drop include a move away from glass bottles, an increase in the usage of garbage disposals in homes and even less periodicals being left on curbs due to the decline in print journalism (read all about it here on the Post's website). But experts say that none of those factors are significant enough to warrant the 7% drop in trash since 2005. Even the head of the Department of Sanitation can't wrap his head around it. Commissioner John Doherty said, "How can New York City be growing and our tonnage is going down? The fact of the matter is that's what's happening. It's amazing."
Two men were shot in the head and found dead just after midnight on Christmas in front of the apartment of one of the victims in the Jamaica section of Queens. Police are still investigating and have not revealed any motive behind the shootings of 42-year-old Andre Stokes and 34-year-old Jamel Griffin, both of whom the Daily News notes "had troubled pasts with numerous arrests." Griffin left behind a young son and was expecting another. Murders and shootings have risen in Jamaica this year. Griffin's grandmother, who previously lost a 15-year-old son to a shooting said, "There is nothing worse than losing your child to a gun."
It?s hard to guess how the Giants will play their game on Sunday against Minnesota, but last year?s season finale offers some clues. In that game the Giants had nothing to play for, having clinched a playoff spot the previous week, yet went toe-to-toe with the undefeated Patriots. Though they lost 38-35, most people see that game as the spark the impetus for their Super Bowl win.
New York faces a similar situation this week. They have wrapped up the #1 seed and know they will be off until the weekend of January 10th. But, if they lose this game they will also enter the playoffs having lost three of their last four games and there will be questions about how ready they are.
So, the guess here is that they play this game like any other, except they may not use Brandon Jacobs that much. Jacobs has been hurt a lot this season and the Giants will want to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Unless the game gets out of hand early, New York will keep the regulars in and they will be rewarded with a victory to finish the regular season at 13-3.
Photo of Brandon Jacobs by AP/Nick Wass
The much-maligned Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is in the news again with charges from the Post that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has turned it into "his own multimillion-dollar piggy bank." The LMDC is the Ground Zero rebuilding agency whose closing has been called upon at various points by former Governors Pataki and Spitzer and most recently by Mayor Bloomberg this summer. While funding for the agency has gone down overall, the amount of grants that have gone out to groups supported by Silver has allegedly tripled in the last two years. One anonymous critic tells the paper, "The allocations look more like [Silver's] 'member items' these days." Spokesmen for both Silver and the LMDC defend the grants as all going to groups vital in the rebuilding process and wh have all been approved by a board of directors put in place by Bloomberg and Spitzer.
Boi Sandwich: This is latest outpost in a growing Vietnamese food empire, which now includes Bôi to Go and Bôi restaurant . And boy oh bôi is Midtown Lunch excited! "It may take awhile, but I think I may have to eat through the entire menu...Unlike its sister restaurant Bôi to Go, which has some seating, the new sandwich place is take out only (and cash only for the time being). I know a lot of you refuse to pay $7.50 for a banh mi, but it?s all we?ve got (and now one ave closer to Midtown proper!) In addition to the banh mi, which appear to be the same as Boi to Go, they are also offering noodle bowls, rice bowls, Asian burritos (hello!), and salads ($7 to $8)." 708 Third Avenue, (212) 681-6541
La Barra: This cozy cevicheria on the Lower East Side is the new venture from chef Allan Feldman (Veritas). The emphasis, according to NY Mag, is on seafood, with half a dozen varieties of flash-cured fish, ranging from red snapper to octopus. Feldman's also doing entrees like Spicy Shrimp Over Stones for Peeling and Beef Empanadas with Chimichurri. There's a raw bar, and a selection of Latin American beer and wine completes the scene. Peruse the lunch and dinner menus on the restaurant's website. 250 Broome Street, (212) 260-3900
Roots Cafe: Someone spent a little money designing this new cafe on 5th Avenue in Park Slope; its old-timey mismatched decor doesn't come cheap. Opening today, the cafe's website promises, "You?ve never tasted finer coffee! Never!" Besides transcendental java, they're serving breakfast sandwiches like "green eggs and ham" (with avocado), veggie soups, and peculiar paninis that include a pb&j. But Roots Cafe isn't just about what you put in your mouth; it's also taking care of your ears with live music on the weekends. Their MySpace page has a calendar of upcoming performances, which skew toward the acoustic end of the spectrum. 639A 5th Avenue, Park Slope
Photo courtesy Midtown Lunch.
The NY Times writes the obituary for NYC's building boom. The Building Trades Employers? Association's data shows that $5 billion in projects, including "luxury high-rise buildings, office renovations for major banks and new hospital wings," has been canceled or delayed due to the credit crunch. Developers are having a hard time looking for loans?though some projects are still eagerly anticipated, like ones along the High Line from Jean Nouvel and Annabelle Selldorf?and others who do have loans are having trouble paying them back. One developer "who has built roughly 4,500 condos and moderate-income housing units in all five boroughs..is shifting his attention to projects like housing for the elderly on Staten Island, which the government seems willing to finance." Urban Land Institute researcher Stephen Blank tells the Times "the landscape of New York will be virtually unchanged for two years"?"There?s no way to finance a project."
Score one for all those Jets fans who thought the 8-3 record and first place in the AFC East were both too good to be true. The Jets now sit at 9-6 and need a win against Miami at home and some help to make the playoffs just weeks after looking like a true contender in the AFC.
Chad Pennington, discarded for the inconsistent quarterback that is Brett Favre, has a chance to end the Jets' season on Sunday. He's also had a better season than No. 4, and maybe he didn't deserve to be excoriated as he was so often last season. Pennington has outperformed Favre this season and done it without the weapons on New York's offense. With another solid game Sunday, Pennington can ink one of the crueler ironic endings in Jets history.
Even a win by the Jets will likely not be enough. They need the Patriots to lose to the Bills in Buffalo and the Ravens to lose to the Jaguars in Baltimore. Neither seems likely. If the Patriots win and the Jets win, the Patriots win the division. If the Patriots win and the Dolphins win, New England needs a Baltimore loss to make the playoffs. The only consolation for Jets fans Sunday could end up being that Bill Belichick's Patriots can miss the playoffs with 11 wins. But that's a small, small prize.
Photo of Brett Favre by AP/Dean Duprey