Disgraced former State Senator and esteemed pizzaiolo Hiram Monserrate pleaded guilty to corruption charges yesterday after being indicted for misusing taxpayer money during his past stint as a councilmember. Monserrate's last publicized fling with the criminal justice system was in 2010, when he was convicted of misdemeanor assault after slashing then-girlfriend Karla Giraldo in the face. This time around, Monserrate's accused of siphoning over $100,000 in City Council "slush" funds in 2006, which he allegedly used to finance a campaign for higher office. more ›

Last week, David Segal was working as City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez's spokesman until he was abruptly fired after the New York Post printed a story detailing the federal prison term Segal served when he was 19 years old for throwing a burning rag into an Army recruitment center. At 26, Segal is recently married, working on his masters degree at Brooklyn College, and has been described by many as adept as his job. After a media firestorm, Segal was rehired today by Rodriguez's office, only to be fired again six hours later. "I came in at 9 a.m., the chief of staff gave me my ID back, I ghost-wrote a press release, and at 3 p.m. I got the letter saying I was fired. I'm just really disappointed." more ›

Yesterday, after a contentious press conference, the City Council passed the living wage bill, in a 45-5 vote. more ›

Christine Quinn did the political equivalent of "dropping the mic" today as she left a living wage press conference in a huff after someone from the crowd shouted something about "Pharoah Bloomberg." Quinn turned to the heckler and said, "That's not appropriate…In democracy, people have the right to have different views and they do not, we do not, have the right to then call them names." She then said, “Congratulations on the bill, I’m not going to participate in any name-calling," and walked away. more ›

The East River Ferry pilot program has been providing ferry service to waterfront neighborhoods in all five boroughs since June of 2011, and the experiment, set to run for three years, has already far exceeded the numbers projected for ridership: More than 715,000 riders have used it since the pilot began, almost double initial estimates. Now officials are deciding if, and how, to make it permanent and financially sustainable, given dramatic fluctuations in fuel costs. more ›

The Committee on Consumer Affairs convened this morning at City Hall to discuss the steep fines imposed on food vendors for non-health violations. The fines, which run as high as $1,000 for minor infractions such as improperly displaying a permit, are deliberately levied in an effort to put vendors out of business, say advocates of a pair of bills that would reduce the maximum fine amount to $250 and amend the way fines escalate. more ›

Earlier this week, the City Council met with Department of Buildings officials to discuss legislation that would increase the safety standards of NYC elevators. Spurred by the horrifying deaths of Midtown advertising executive Suzanne Hart in December and elevator mechanic Ed Bradley last month, Council Member Erik Martin Dilan's bill is a two part push to ensure safety through a tighter licensing standard and the modernization of technological equipment. It would call for elevator mechanics to have five plus years of work experience, an apprenticeship program, and certification examinations. Because as Councilman Peter Vallone pointed out, "Right now, my Cousin Vinny could be working on an elevator." more ›

Drivers in New York City may soon be getting a break. The City Council is working through a new bill that would let drivers use their leftover parking time when they move to another meter. As City Council Speaker Christine Quinn put it, if "you buy the time, you get to use it." more ›

It is good to be the king, but not necessarily the Burger King. In the past month the chain not only has had to deal with the indignity of being usurped by Wendy's but this week it has suffered the fallout from an ill-conceived Mary J. Blige commercial (since retracted). Oh, and yesterday a number of New York City Council members wrote the chain a letter asking them to please not bring their proposed food trucks to the Big Apple. Heavy the head that wears the crown. more ›

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other Councilmembers are proposing legislation that would require elevator repair technicians to be licensed by the city. The technicians would also be required to submit to a mechanics examination administered by a nationally-or state-approved program. Jeez, what's next, making exterminators get licensed too?! Oh, wait. Looks like the American dream that anybody can grow up to one day be responsible for the safety of thousands of people without any government oversight is dead. more ›

Following State Senator Eric Adams wearing a hoodie on the steps of the state capitol and Congressman Bobby Rush getting escorted from the House floor for doing the same, members of the NY City Council donned hoodies, held bags of Skittles and Iced Tea in the chamber and on the steps of City Hall today to protest the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. “What happened on February 26 is outrageous,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "We are all here today to say that a child’s life matters. What George Zimmerman did was wrong. He needs to be held accountable.” more ›

Remember that "heated" and "combative" City Council meeting with Ray Kelly we told you about? Now there's video, thanks to Azi Paybarah at Capital New York. The video, which might as well be titled "Ray Kelly Being A D*ck," shows that tense moment in yesterday's hearing where Kelly refused to answer Councilmember Robert Jackson's question about NYPD spokesman Paul Browne's credibility. In case you can't make it out, Kelly's initial response is to mutter [SPOILER ALERT] "I won't even bother." more ›

For well over two hours yesterday, the City Council aggressively lobbed questions at NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, on such hot topics as stop-and-frisk, Muslim surveillance, and Occupy Wall Street. Kelly, being Popeye Kelly, fired back, often with open disdain for the elected officials who dared call him on the carpet. Perhaps the most heated moment of what was ostensibly a budget hearing came when Democrat Robert Jackson, who represents Harlem, tried to ask Kelly about his appearance in an inflammatory Islamaphobic documentary The Third Jihad, and press secretary Paul Browne's, uh, misstatements about it. Capital New York's Azi Paybarah reports: more ›

We've known for a while that the MTA would like to hike fares up 7.5% in 2013 and 2015 but if you think that means we might get better service (or, dare to dream, some of our lost services back)...we've got a bridge to sell you. Yesterday the MTA reviewed its fare hike plans with the City Council's Transportation Committee and the outlook does not look good. more ›

Activists braved the rain and wind this afternoon to gather on the steps of City Hall for a press conference championing new legislation intended to curb discriminatory practices in NYPD's stop and frisk program. The legislation, which was proposed by Councilmember Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and introduced today, aims to limit discriminatory profiling during NYPD stop and frisks; it would do this by broadening the legal definition of discrimination to include sex, gender identity, age and housing status. Jasmine Epps, 25, of the LGBT youth organization Streetwise and Safe, spoke with us of her own experiences being stopped and frisked by the NYPD while growing up in public housing in Brooklyn. more ›

This morning, in a news conference on the City Hall steps, Council Member Jessica Lappin announced a new bill to double the fines on drivers of electric bikes, from the current $500 to a crushing $1000 per ticket. She said her office has been deluged with complaints about "the scourge" of these souped up delivery bikes, which can hit speeds of 30 mph. In a recent survey, a whopping 72% of her constituents said they'd "been hit or almost hit" by a delivery bike, and not surprisingly, about the same percentage favored increasing fines on electric bikes. more ›

Shawn Portuguez wouldn't make it to his 3 p.m. trim at a barbershop in the Lower East Side because he was in handcuffs. "They said I crossed the street three times, so that's why they stopped me," Portuguez said as he stood waiting for the two NYPD officers to check his information on Thursday. "I just left my apartment for the first time today." Police took Portuguez away after he was told he had an outstanding warrant, but a DCPI spokesman says no arrest record exists for the encounter. Asked why they chose to stop Portuguez out of the flow of people milling around Rivington Street, an officer said, "We had a murder around here recently, so we're being extra vigilant." more ›

Every time the NYPD stops and frisks someone without making an arrest, the officer who made the stop should have to give out a business card, says Councilmember Jumaane Williams, who plans to introduce a bill next week requiring cops to do just that. The card would have the officer’s name, rank and unit, and when you collect 10 you can presumably trade them in for an NYPD plush teddy bear! more ›

The City Council voted unanimously yesterday to do away with those despised shame stickers that city Sanitation enforcers slap on cars violating alternate-side street cleaning rules. The stickers were first introduced in the '80s and were inspired by a disgruntled property owner who got fed up with a car blocking his driveway and covered it with stickers. According to the Times, the Sanitation Commissioner noticed it, and soon the department's "scarlet letter stickers" were born. Sanitation insists they help keep the streets clear for the cleaning machines, but the City Council outlawed them anyway. more ›

Restaurateurs, the City Council feels your pain. Though the Department of Health's restaurant letter grade program has proved popular among consumers, many restaurateurs are still not loving it. Some are even taking pains to skirt DOH inspections. But don't worry, 2013 election-ready Speaker Christine Quinn and her Council hears the cry of the common cook and is doing something about it! Why, they've even set up an online survey! more ›

Yesterday, Councilman James Oddo shared the Independent Budget Office's breakdown of who exactly is the 1% in NYC, as well as who the 10% is and how much they contribute to the city's tax revenue. He explained to us that he wanted to cut through the rhetoric and get at the truth and found the data illuminating: "I represent a lot of people who are 10%, who make $105,000/year." more ›

Over the years, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has come to be viewed by many New Yorkers as a pliant tool of the Bloomberg administration. But with an end to the Bloomberg era on the horizon, Quinn—a likely mayoral candidate—is eager to show some daylight between her and the billionaire plutocrat. To that end, the City Council will slap the Bloomberg administration with a lawsuit over a controversial policy requiring single homeless adults to prove they have nowhere else to stay before the city gives them shelter. more ›

Flanked by nearly a dozen other council members and his attorneys, City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez addressed a crowd atop the steps of City Hall this afternoon to share the details of his "improper arrest" during Occupy Wall Street's eviction from Zuccotti Park. "I have no problem participating in civil disobedience," said the councilman, "But this didn't have to happen to me and the nine reporters who were arrested. This was not an act of civil disobedience. My wife didn't want me to go and told me not to get arrested—we had a meeting at our daughter's school in the morning. I was not there trying to get arrested. I came to represent my community and to observe. It was my right and my obligation as a city official." more ›

Parking tickets are about to get 33 percent more expensive for a lot of drivers. Starting January 31, 2012, the city will be scrapping a popular program that would let motorists pay a reduced fine if they agreed not to fight their summons in court. The city expects to make roughly $50 million a year by nixing the program. That's more than diplomats owe in unpaid tickets! more ›