Results tagged “brianlehrer”

In December, Governor Paterson floated the idea of an 18% tax non-diet soft drinks, as part of a plan to close the $3 billion budget gap and perhaps influence New Yorkers to choose healthier beverages. Then the beverage industry opened up a can of whoop-ass, and Paterson backed off, explaining that "often publicity is as important as legislation." Now, perhaps inspired by a 3 cent tax on soda being considered in Washington, Paterson has revived his own soda tax dreams.

Today WNYC Radio celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Brian Lehrer Show. Lehrer will be hosting a special anniversary broadcast taking a look back to when it all began in 1989.

Leave it to a gay marriage bill to make it feel like everyone seems to be playing for the wrong team. The Daily News is reporting that Governor Paterson is getting serious about reaching across the aisle and courting Republicans to help pass his bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York. And who might his ace (or Gary) in the hole be? None other than former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

          

Last night at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a group of journalists and entertainers were honored for their work in 2007 at the ceremony for the 67th Annual Peabody Awards. This year's awards, administered by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and selected by a board, are considered one of the most prestigious awards in electronic media (films intended for wide theatrical release are not allowed), were given to 35 different recipients--many of them NYC-based entities, like the series 30 Rock and Mad Men, the mock-news show The Colbert Report, reality show Project Runway and WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show.

THEATER: Wolf Lane Productions presents Victims of the Zeitgeist (The Tragedy of Martin Luther King, Jr.), written & directed by Ellwoodson Williams. The production "offers an exciting and telling insight into just who Martin Luther King, Jr., was as leader and simply as a sensitive and intelligent human being who loved life and who had a sense of humor, a deep understanding of the human condition - its strengths and weaknesses - and a profound belief in justice."

Approximately 85 undocumented workers are being fired from the high-end grocery delivery company Fresh Direct on the on the eve of the holiday season because their status as U.S. residents is disputed. Dozens of workers filed out of the company's Queens warehouse. Fresh Direct blamed a federal probe for the axing of almost a hundred workers. According to the Daily News, "management insisted it carried out the purge under pressure from federal authorities to crack...

Governor Eliot Spitzer had a busy week. Not only was he working himself up to admit his driver's license plan would not pass, Spitzer suggested instituting the state's 8.375% sales tax on Internet goods - just in time for holiday shopping! But only hours after the NY Sun reported on the plan, Spitzer changed his mind, deciding to wait until the new year to implement taxes on Internet purchases. Currently, online retailers who don't have...

While 30 Rock writers are on the picket line, Alec Baldwin is worried about his neighborhood.. And listening to the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. This morning, during a segment where Brian was discussing the future of NYC's streetscape with Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton, the acclaimed actor and gossip target made his debut as a caller. After joking that he needed a job, here's a transcription...

Now that WABC-AM has announced the return of Don Imus to radio airwaves starting December 3, their morning programming is shifting. In fact, Ron Kuby, who with Curtis Sliwa, co-hosted the station's morning drive program, was asked not to come to work starting today in anticipation of Imus' arrival!

WNYC's Brian Lehrer recently spoke to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly about Giuliani's stance on gun control, as well as his own views on a national gun control policy.

The latest crowdsourcing project from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show asked people to find out prices for a quart of milk, a head of iceberg lettuce, and a 6-pack (bottles) of 12-ounce Budweiser. Listeners of his show found locations around the area, reported back with their results, and it's all put in a handy map.

WNYC's Brian Lehrer dared ask: How many SUVs are on your block? The experiment in “crowdsourcing” had listeners (450 in total, 345 valid submissions) walk outside and count the SUVs, as well as regular cars, on their own block. Now the numbers have rolled in:

Make your stroll interesting: WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show is embarking on a crowdsourcing project and is asking listeners to count the number of SUVs on their streets. Why? "We’re trying to find out just how much gas-guzzling SUV use there is throughout the New York area, with all the talk of environmental sustainability in the city."

Brooke Gladstone is the managing editor and co-host of WNYC’s On the Media which is heard throughout the country on National Public Radio stations and as an internet podcast. She has won several awards, including two Peabody Awards, for her coverage at NPR, which she joined in 1987. She has been a foreign correspondent for NPR covering the reemergence of Russia out of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. She recently returned to Russia to report for On the Media about the current state of the Russian media and the challenges it faces. The result of her visit aired on the June 22nd edition of On the Media.

The Politicker posted this video of Mayor Mike going after both Republican and Democrats during a Crain's Business breakfast. Specifically, when questioned by WNYC's Brian Lehrer, Mayor Bloomberg said, "I don’t think I disagree with what any national party stands for because I don’t think either national party stands for anything." Cue the cheers!

One of the most bizarre City Council elections will be taking place tomorrow. Brooklyn's 40th District gets its second special election to fill the City Council seat vacated by Yvette Clarke, who was elected to Congress. The first special election took place in February, with Mathieu "The Haitian Sensation" Eugene, the Clarke-endorsed candidate, winning handily.

Sleet, by Callalillie.

- The confusing question of elected-to-the-City-Council- but-not-sworn-in Mathieu Eugene's residency persists. Over a week ago, he told Brian Lehrer he hadn't moved into the 40th District, but now his people say he's been living since February 1. The Politicker spoke to a campaign consultant for Eugene who claims he's seen "a lease whose term began February 1 for 40-46 Argyle Road. I've seen a check written to the landlord dated February 1." Oh, like no one has ever backdated a check! Room Eight notes that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, backed by the 1199 union, is looking at the matter - and Eugene happens to be backed by the 1199, too.

Residency, schmediency! The historic City Council victory for Mathieu Eugene continues to be debated. Eugene, the first Haitian-American elected to City Council, won the election for the 40th District in Brooklyn, but didn't actually live in the district. Eugene had postponed the swearing-in on Thursday as he looked for an apartment (though Eugene's lawyer said the swearing-in was postponed because votes weren't certified). And he was apparently succesful, because the Times reports Eugene's now residing in the district he was elected to represent.

As the debate about the former Parks Commissioner rages on, Venerated newsman Gabe Pressman is cheerleading for Robert Moses. In an article posted on the WNBC web site, Pressman says that he knew the master builder.

Being mugged outside his Park Slope home is prompting Douglas Rushkoff and his family to consider moving from the Slope. Now, there's another case of a moment in your neighborhood that makes one want to leave: Bagel in Harlem blogger Rachel Nathalie Klein has decided to leave Harlem:

I'm subletting my place in Harlem. I've left the neighborhood. I need a break.

Continue reading "Getting Rushkoffed Out of a Neighborhood"

Try to Burn This One, by Melon Bee.

Yesterday afternoon, Sean Bell was laid to rest in Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington, Long Island. Bell was killed last weekend in a barrage of police bullets outside a Queens club where he had been celebrating his bachelor party. About 200 mourners were present for the burial; Bell's fiancee and two daughters were present, and his older brother sobbed, "My baby brother!"

Mayor Bloomberg was in Albany to witness Governor Pataki sign a bill that increases penalties for carrying a loaded illegal gun. Previously, the minimum sentence was 1 year - now it's 3 1/2 years. This news comes as prices for illegal guns are apparently "soaring" in the city, given the Mayor's efforts to curb them. It's also interesting to see these two men together - they both may or may not have presidential ambitions.

- Why someone hates the Ten Commandments on YouTube

The MTA and Transport Workers Union are supposedly talking again at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown, after a day of threats and fines, yet no action. To summarize: Justice Theodore Jones threatened to jail union leaders for contempt (and the strike) which threw the Post into a tizzy, the Mayor called the union a bunch of "frauds," and Governor "Not Doing Nothing" Pataki said talks would only begin when the strike ends. MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow reiterated their last offer (though their last offer last Friday wasn't really their last offer) and TWU President Roger Toussaint said the union would talk if the MTA dropped its pension demands (an employee contribution of 6% of the salary). Dare we hope these two crazy kids can work it out? For the sake of 7 million commuters?

- A building facade collapse in the Lower East Side caused the MTA to reroute the F and V trains; Curbed reports that it was the LoSide diner

- Derek Jeter, the product of an interracial marriage, gets hate mail for his interracial dating habits

- Newsday reports the Parks Department is considering various ways to kill the dangerous snakehead fish. Hilariously, one of the suggestion is "salting" it (okay, it's just raising the saline level of the lake, but still).