A federal judge has thrown out the class action lawsuit accusing Bloomberg LP of discriminating against women. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that the financial and media service firm owned by Mayor Bloomberg engaged in a "a pattern or practice of demoting and reducing the pay of female employees after they announced their pregnancies and after they took maternity leave," but Judge Loretta Preska wrote today that there wasn't enough evidence, "'J'accuse!' is not enough in court. Evidence is required." more ›

Two years ago, Mayor Bloomberg's company, Bloomberg LP, was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for "a pattern or practice of demoting and reducing the pay of female employees after they announced their pregnancies and after they took maternity leave" because of things like former CEO Lex Fenwick allegedly saying, "I'm not having any pregnant bitches work for me." While the discrimination allegedly occurred after he became mayor, Bloomberg himself was deposed in 2009 because he does own the company. Now details from the deposition have been released, and the mayor is described as "patronizing," "sarcastic," "unsympathetic" and irritable as well as "snippy" and a "real charmer." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg, as you know, has no qualms about voicing his opinions, even if they concern issues outside the boundaries of NYC, like Arizona's lax gun laws, or Wisconsin's labor troubles. But according to an article in today's Times, Bloomberg is haunted by one thought: If a billionaire opines in the woods, but no one really cares what he thinks, will they still name shit after him once he dies? Bloomberg wants his opinions to resonate around the globe, and like any good mogul he's willing to pay for all those hearts and minds. more ›

We all already knew our minuscule mayor has a travel bug—and we would too if we had houses in Bermuda, Boston, London, New York and Vail! Its the fact that he doesn't like to tell us when and where he is going that makes us fret (we worry!). Claiming his privacy, Bloomberg refuses to admit when he leaves town (witness his Christmas trip to Bermuda) but that doesn't mean he doesn't leave clues&mdahs;it isn't like the man flies coach. Today, the Wall Street Journal makes some educated guesses about hizzoner's whereabouts by studying the flight logs for Bloomberg LP's fleet of private planes. more ›

Yesterday, Bloomberg LP announced that it would be adding editorials to the vast Bloomberg media empire. Run by NY Times op-ed page editor David Shipley and former assistant U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary Jamie Rubin (aka husband of Christiane Amanpour), Bloomberg LP Editor in Chief Matthew Winkler said the pair will develop the "Bloomberg View consistent with the values and beliefs of our global company and its internationally-minded founder, Michael R. Bloomberg." more ›

After posting about the mommy-tracking lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, we wondered where things stood with the Bloomberg LP discrimination suit, where a number of employees accused the media information services company of bias against employees who took maternity leave. Now we know: Three more plaintiffs have joined the class-action lawsuit. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's right hand man is leaving his job at City Hall—so he can work for Bloomberg LP. Deputy Mayor for Government Affairs Kevin Sheekey will return to the Mayor's media company, where he worked from 1997 to 2001, to take a post advising Bloomberg on his acclaimed "philanthropic efforts." more ›

Since Mayor Bloomberg was busy preparing for a mayoral debate and a standing agreement with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board separates his private and political dealings, he wasn't involved when Bloomberg LP purchased BusinessWeek yesterday. But he thought it was a solid move on his media company's part, "I think it’s a great magazine." more ›

Bloomberg LP is sniffing around for new acquisitions in business media. And now they have placed a bid to buy Businessweek, according to Jon Fine of Businessweek itself (via Fishbowl NY). It's not certain that the sale will actually be completed, but Fine notes that Bloomberg LP is "viewed as a company with both the resources to outbid most other comers and also one that has an existing infrastructure that many BusinessWeek operations can be folded into." He points out that Bloomberg LP has in excess of $5 billion in revenue annually, and more than "2,350 journalists -- or around 15 percent more than the combined staffs [of] The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg spent several hours today being deposed by the federal government. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the mayor's company, Bloomberg LP, for discrimination against women and accused the mayor of creating a "systemic, top-down culture of discrimination. Though the discrimination allegedly occurred after Bloomberg became mayor in 2001—one example is that former Bloomberg LP CEO Lex Fenwick allegedly said, "I'm not having any pregnant bitches work for me"—but one complaint claimed Bloomberg told a top saleswoman who said she was pregnant, "Kill it." CityRoom reports that one plaintiffs' lawyer said Bloomberg was cooperative, "The mayor is a very smart, sophisticated person and I think his demeanor is the way it normally would be... He happens to be a very good witness." A Bloomberg LP spokesperson said, "We are confident that once all the facts come out they will demonstrate that the claims have no merit." more ›

While Mayor Michael Bloomberg is talking about 23,000 city jobs being on the line due to the budget crisis, the company he found announced that it will make the first layoffs in the company's history. The NY Times reports that 100 jobs will be eliminated "in Bloomberg’s radio and television divisions, which are being reorganized around the world. Most of those laid off are based in New York City, where Bloomberg has its headquarters. The cuts represent about 1 percent of the company’s more than 10,000 employees." However, the Bloomberg LP spokeswoman, who confirmed the company makes $6 billion in annual revenue, says that the cuts due to the recession and that the company is planning on about 1,000 new hires. The Mayor owns about 80-90% of Bloomberg LP. more ›

Yesterday, it was reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg would buy back 20% of his company, Bloomberg L.P., from Merrill Lynch for $4.5 billion. That figure finally gave the media more of an idea of his wealth. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water condition at Surf Ave. and West 8th St. in Brooklyn, a car vs. building at 49th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan, and a fatality with a person under a subway train at Sutter and Snediker Aves. in Brooklyn.
• The editors at The New York Times apologize for asserting that Presidential candidate Ron Paul was allied with white supremacists and the American Nazi Party.
• Racked notes that the much-anticipated Uniqlo sample sale was a total bust because everything had already been sold in a pre-sale to PR types and members of the press.

New York City's Conflict of Interest Board ruled that there was no problem in Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff continuing to work with real estate developers on multi-billion dollar real estate projects while a city employee, even though he'll be shortly negotiating with these same developers as a private citizen and President of Bloomberg LP, the Mayor's media corporation. According to the New York Post, the board cited "extraordinary circumstances" and said that Doctoroff's negotiations on behalf of the city with Vornado Realty Trust regarding the development of the Hudson Yards and Moynihan station were allowable. Doctoroff recently announced that he will be leaving his City Hall job for the position of President of Bloomberg LP. That company will be negotiating with Vornado for additional space at the building that houses Bloomberg LP's headquarters on Lexington Ave., since Vornado owns that building. The Conflicts of Interest Board gave its blessing on the condition that Doctoroff have no direct dealings with Vornado for a year after he leaves his position as Deputy Mayor. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's generosity has been noted from educational institutions (like his alma mater Johns Hopkins) and even city organizations (like the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation). He gave staffers on his re-election campaign payouts as big as $300,000-400,000. And when Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff announced he would leave City Hall to become president of the mayor's business, Bloomberg LP, it suggested that the Mayor rewarded staffers he trusts. Well, the NY Times now looks at how some Bloomberg aides' salaries have grown since taking the government jobs in City Hall. more ›

Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, who was in charge of Economic Development and Rebuilding in the Bloomberg administration, announced he would resign by the end of the year. The Post called the news "stunning," but we'd like to call it "classic," because his new job will be president of a little company called Bloomberg LP. At a City Hall press conference, Mayor Bloomberg said, "As a result of Dan's efforts, we've allowed for the creation of... more ›

Mayor Bloomberg spoke out about the various lawsuits alleging that his company, Bloomberg LP, discriminates against women. He believes that he was personally named in one of lawsuits "because I’m so visible, that obviously I’m a target." He added, "We think there's no substance to it whatsoever and the company will vigorously defend it and that's that. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg was named in a bias lawsuit filed by three former Bloomberg LP employees. This now accompanies a lawsuit, which charges that female employees were discriminated against, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed against the billionaire's media company earlier this week. The lawsuit says, "Upon information and belief, Michael Bloomberg is responsible for the creation of the systemic, top-down culture of discrimination which exists within Bloomberg." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An unstable building in Murray Hill; a "serious trauma" not far from Shea Stadium in Queens; a bank robbery at Avenue A and 4th Street; and at 777 6th Ave there was a barricaded EDP (emotionally disturbed person).
• Remember those chemicals found at the United Nations? It turns out that they were probably just cleaning supplies. Hopefully these aren't the same tests the organization uses for biological weapons.
• If you're shopping for your prostitutes on Craigslist, be careful. The fuzz might be setting you up for a sting as they're busting more and more people (John's and pros) who use the service.
• A tipster tells Streetsblog that Bill Clinton agrees that "cycling is good citizenship," but we're betting that Bubba was getting into his towncar/SUV as he was agreeing.
• There are at least 5 nostalgic ConEd customers who are angry with the utility today. ConEd won permission from the state yesterday to stop delivering direct current (DC) power. Looks like Nikola Tesla wins this one.
• Queens residents who were affected by storms on August 8th are getting their own FEMA flood relief center today. Hopefully the Flushing location will do a better job than some of FEMA's other work.
• What's going to happen with Brooke Astor's Briarcliff Manor retreat. The bucolic property called Holly Hill is 65 acres and has a 9,000 square foot house. Her son Anthony D. Marshall will likely inherit the house, but people are unsure what he'll do with it.
• If Mike Bloomberg became President, could he still be a majority owner of Bloomberg LP? Some experts say no due to the conflicts that Bloomberg News would cause. Mayor Bloomberg currently owns 68% of Bloomberg LP and has denied his interest in the White House several times.

There's nothing like an endorsement from Gray's Papaya to show that NYC generally likes Mike. But it seems that to hinge upon his subway straphanger credentials - will the hot dog eatery reconsider, given that he is chauffeured to a subway station 22 blocks away (when there's one four blocks away), only likes to take the express and that his spokesman thinks people who like riding the subway need a shrink (hello, universal health care with great mental health benefits for NYers)? more ›

+ If Mayor Bloomberg sells Bloomberg LP for $12B, do you think they'll change the name of the company? more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's press secretary, Ed Skyler, was named a deputy mayor, making the 32 year old the youngest deputy mayor in quite a while. Skyler, whom The Politicker calls the "arch-maven of media, will be the Deputy Mayor For Administration, which means he will assist Bloomberg with managing agencies like the NYPD, FDNY, Office of Emergency Management, and Office of Labor Relations and actually oversee agencies such as the Department of Sanitation, Department of Citywide Administrative Services, and the Business Integrity Commission. The NY Times has various pundits discuss Skyler's appointment, but the fun fact is that Skyler is actually a Republican. more ›

The big news rocking the world of Democratic mayoral hopefuls is that Reverend Al Sharpton won't endorse a candidate this year. In other words, the Reverend Al is just like Gothamist and many other voters: Wondering if there are any strong messages in the Democratic candidates. He noted that this will be the first time in 20 years he will not be involved in a Democratic primary, but, of course, Sharpton did leave himself an escape chute, he'd reconsider if a candidate seemed to shape up. Sharpton also noted that former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's remarks about Amadou Diallo didn't help things. Gothamist is shocked that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields or even City Council Speaker Gifford Miller didn't try even harder to rise to the challenge of getting Sharpton's endorsement, because his support could have really helped solidify them in the race. more ›

While the Mayor and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller may seem similar - they are white...they live on the Upper East Side...uh... - they actually aren't, and the NY Times examined their extremely political spitting match. Gothamist liked how Mayor Bloomberg views Miller as unaccomplished and unambitious, because next to him, who can be (this does not bode well for prospective suitors for Emma and Georgina), but there was another quote that got us thinking:

City Councilman Eric Gioia, a close associate of Mr. Miller, says the friction stems in part from the vast age gap between the two. "I think the mayor looks at Gifford and says, 'Why don't you just listen to me?'" he said. "And Gifford looks at the mayor and says, 'Why can't you see things from a different perspective?'"

Bloomberg LP did, in fact, negotiate a tax break valued at $14 million with the Giuliani administration in 2000, but Mr. Bloomberg turned it down after winning the election in 2001 to avoid a conflict of interest.Anyway, Gothamist thinks there's only one way for this to be resolved: A tag team cage match - the Mayor and Jets owner Woody Johnson in one corner, the Dolans (owners of Cablevision) in the other. more ›