You would think things couldn't get worse for Jim Dolan. After all, the Knicks stink and it seems like Isiah Thomas isn't going anywhere quick (perhaps due to Dolan's own doing). But the City Council started to look into Madison Square Garden's $11 million/year property tax exemption today. David Weprin of Queens sponsored the resolution opposing the exemption saying that "It's very unusual that you have a profitable institution like Madison Square Garden that's been......

Just because the 2009 elections are over 22 months away doesn't mean some interesting moves can't happen. Adolfo Carrion Jr. (pictured, on left), the Bronx Borough President, has decided to run for City Comptroller in 2009, making it a tough field and shedding light on the mayoral contest. Carrion, born in Lower Manhattan and a former city planner, Community Board district manager, and City Council member (here's his bio), was seen as a likely candidate......

As the Gothamist Newsmap noted, two construction workers fell through a sidewalk at 148 West 36th Street this afternoon. The workers had been jackhammering the sidewalk, when, as WNBC 4 reports, "the ground they were on gave way." The workers were immediately pulled from the 10 foot hole and are at Bellevue. Scary, but not as scary as the incident where a woman simply walking in Midtown fell through the sidewalk grating into an electrical......

As the clock is counting down the time Albany has to approve Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious - and controversial - congestion pricing plan in order to qualify for $500 million in federal funding, Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is getting ready to explain why Albany shouldn't. He is releasing a report that calls congestion pricing "un-enactable". He suggests that the Mayor's plan is very different from what's before the Legislature. From the NY Sun:While Mr. Bloomberg......

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! More shocking was Mayor Bloomberg's thoughts on crowded conditions of the 4/5/6, "I take the Lex line most days and......

The NYPD decided not to appeal a judge's decision that the NYPD should declassify its surveillance documents from the 2004 RNC, so it has set up a special NYPD RNC Documents website with the documents. Of course, you have to scroll down to the very bottom for a zip file of the 600 pages of documents. And what's above the documents is the NYPD's rather thorough explanation/ defense justifying why it did such extensive......

New York City's Off-Track Betting, or OTB, the "largest legal gambling operation in the entire country" could be "on the verge of going broke" according to City Councilman David Weprin in the Daily News. The City run bookie, which has historically been a bad bet(Giuliani often joked about it being the only bookie in town that lost money) is looking forward to another money losing year. Over the past two years the organization has lost......

Try your hand at figuring out how well you could manage New York City's finances by playing Gotham Gazette's Budget Game. Newsday looks at the game: The game is simple. Each player begins with a $3.8 billion deficit in the city's 2004 fiscal year budget. To balance it, players must weigh spending decisions, such as whether to raise and lower taxes or seek aid from the state and federal governments. But there is one......

Mayor Bloomberg announced that he was restoring over $90.2 million to the city's budget. The money will allow for: - Twice weekly garbage pick ups citywide ($11 million); - Keeping libraries open five days a week ($7.6 million); - The Staten Island Ferry will continue to run four boats during rush hour ($2.3 million); - Senior centers will get money to maintain services ($5.7 million); - Teachers will get money for instructional material ($8 million);......

Accusations that Mayor Bloomberg favors Manhattan more than the other boroughs aren't that surprising, but politicos are taking advantage of Bloomby's missteps. Prompted by the Mayor considering rethinking the reduced garbage pick-up proposal - but only in Manhattan - city officials are up in arms. Especially City Comptroller William Thompson, who has been the most vocal about the apparent favoritism, who said, "We must not engage in borough warfare." That makes some others think Thompson......