Mayor Bloomberg was probably thinking he could discuss his praiseworthy Hurricane Irene preparations during his weekly radio show today. Instead, he cancelled his appearance over the controversy of how former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith resigned his position: While the Mayor's office said that Goldsmith was pursuing "private-sector opportunities in infrastructure finance," Goldsmith actually resigned because he had been arrested for domestic violence in Washington D.C. more ›

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith abruptly resigned yesterday (after a mere 14 months), but it doesn't seem like there will be too many tears shed for him in the city's halls of government. Unnamed officials went and talked to all three major papers with their knives sharpened to give reasons why Goldsmith left so abruptly. "Encouraged I think is the word somebody used to me," one joked to the Post. "From the snowstorm to Cathie Black to CityTime to now this," he continued. "This is something every Council member has been saying for years...that this is an administration totally adrift." And the catty comments don't stop there. more ›

Well, that was fast! After little more than a year the former mayor of Indianapolis and blizzard whipping boy Stephen Goldsmith is stepping down as Deputy Mayor of Operations "to pursue private-sector opportunities in infrastructure finance." He's being replaced by DEP head Cass Holloway, who (funny that) used to be the chief of staff to the previous Deputy Mayor, Ed Skyler. more ›

As part of the residual blizzard-related-news trickle, the Daily News asks whether or not New Yorkers should be raising their pitchforks in anger at Mayor Bloomberg, because he may not have even been here. He might have been in Bermuda! And not left a Deputy Mayor in charge! Anarchy! (Snownarchy?) Except City Hall spokesman Jason Post told us, "There was no confusion; the Mayor was in charge." Resume your angry mobbing, please. more ›

A former Goldman Sachs vice chairman and Treasury official under President George W. Bush will be named the city's new deputy mayor of economic development. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce Robert Steel as the replacement for outgoing deputy mayor Robert Lieber, who is joining a private firm. Crain's reports, "Mr. Steel worked for nearly three decades at Goldman, retiring in 2004 as vice chairman. After a stint at the U.S. Department of Treasury under Henry Paulson, he was brought on in 2008 to save Wachovia, but there was a run on the bank and he ended up leading its sale to Wells Fargo." Apparently his appointment has been delayed because he needed to clear up possible conflicts of interest. more ›

Robert Lieber, the deputy mayor for economic development, announced he's stepping down, "I told the mayor this is toughest decision I ever had to make. I love the job. I’m most proud of having taken a lot of these projects that had been put in the oven but not baked and gotten them done, whether it’s Coney Island, Willets Point or the World Trade Center.” The NY Times reports that Lieber, who previously worked for Lehman Brothers, will be going to a "merchant real estate bank that recently acquired a company that, he said, would be at the center of sorting out troubled real estate loans." Lieber also worked on the city's takeover of Governors Island and failed attempt to turn Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall. more ›

With outgoing deputy mayor Ed Skyler heading to Citibank, Mayor Bloomberg is replacing the 36-year-old with former Indianopolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith. Goldsmith, 63, is currently a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School and has previous stints as a domestic policy adviser for former President George W. Bush's 2000 campaign and an adviser to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign. Goldsmith will oversee agencies like the NYPD and FDNY. 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 ›

Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler is being called a hero for breaking up a mugging in midtown last night. The Daily News reports that Skyler "tackled a perp who stole a woman's cell phone on a midtown street." He "wrestled with the teenaged thief on 48th St. and knocked the phone out of his hands." more ›

At this point, the next chapter in the saga of whether Mayor Bloomberg and City Council will make a play to extend term limits is waiting to be written by whichever of the two parties will officially pull the trigger and begin the process. Yesterday on his weekly radio show, Bloomberg hinted again that he would sign a proposal to extend the current limits for both him and the Council themselves, but refused to commit saying, "I never speculate on what I'll do until I see a piece of legislation." Council members, meanwhile seem to be reticent to draft a bill until they officially know Bloomberg's official stance. "I don't think we're going to send him a bill until we know where he stands," Councilman Lew Fidler said. more ›

Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, who has spent many months (if not years) hinting about his boss's presidential ambitions, is still stirring the pot of rumors. Last night on NY1's Inside City Hall, Sheekey, "promoted the idea of an Obama-Bloomberg presidential ticket." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's un-campaign for President is losing momentum even before it could officially get started. Bloomberg's position on a run has always been that he is not running at any particular point at that time, even as his Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey aggressively pursues advance work for the campaign that is not happening. Political consultant Doug Schoen confirmed that Sheekey has a formal plan in place already that merely needs the Mayor's go-ahead to begin. 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.

The proposed expansion of the Jacob J. Javitz convention center is essentially dead in the water as government officials admitted that the amount of money it would cost to undertake the project would not be worth the marginal return on investment that additional tax revenues would provide. Empire State Development Corporation chairman Pat Foye testified that about half of the expansion plan's $1.6 billion budget would be consumed just making repairs to the existing Javits structure. more ›

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 ›

The NY Times is reporting that the Nets won't be playing in Brooklyn for the 2009-2010 season because the arena won't be finished until 2010. The Times attributes the delay to legal challenges. The most publicized lawsuit is the federal case brought by 13 property owners and tenants. The suit alleges that the taking of their property via eminent domain was unconstitutional. In June, a US District Court judge dismissed the case, finding that... 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 ›

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,... more ›

Yesterday, Governor Spitzer, Mayor Bloomberg, MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander and other officials kicked off the extension of the 7 line by unveiling a new sign in Times Square pointing the way to Hudson Yards. Ah, nothing like putting in signs for things that won't be ready for years - the 7 will reach 34th and 11th Avenue in 2013. The 7 line extension will cost $2 billion for the 1.5 miles... more ›

A storefront at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street (across from Grand Central) may be a window into the future of the West Side Rail Yards. The MTA unveiled an exhibition of the five proposals to redevelop the rail yards on the Far West Side of Manhattan, and the public will get a chance to see the models every day (except Thanksgiving) through December 3. And what's more, the MTA wants the... more ›

Is Mayor Bloomberg a big Grey's Anatomy fan? Because he was a witness to Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo's wedding at City Hall last week.* Pompeo, the squinty-eyed- sorta- Renee Zellweger- doppelganger, married her fiance Chris Ivery in a simple ceremony. According to the AP, the only witnesses were Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris, and a city clerk's office official performed the ceremony last Friday. We hope that the ceremony was uneventful and happy,... more ›

Another over-the-top Coney Island development proposal is in the works. Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a plan today to build the nation's biggest urban amusement park there, including 4,500 residential units (20 percent are set-asides for low- and middle-income housing) and some retail establishments. The proposal basically spells doom for Thor Equities' $1.5 million Vegas-style entertainment complex that can only get built if the city provides zoning for it. Don't worry, the Cyclone isn't going anywhere.... more ›

Even though speculation is running high/wistful on a Michael Bloomberg presidential candidacy (maybe because all the other confirmed candidates are boring - or reporters are bored of covering the other candidates), the Post resurrects a rumor from earlier this year: Bloomberg wanting to run for governor against Spitzer in 2010. Back in May, the Post claimed the Mayor had discussed running for governor on two occasions, but the Mayor said the reports were completely made... more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has made a big deal out of municipal belt tightening--stressing that the flush budgetary times funded by Wall St. bonuses and record real estate transaction fees can not last forever. Earlier this year, the mayor sent out a memo to the heads of city agencies that emphasized that flush times should not be taken for granted:

As you are aware, the City's economy depends in no small measure on the profitability and success of Wall Street and the financial services industry. Recent events in the financial markets are, therefore, a subject of deep concern. Capital market losses mean fewer tax revenues for our budget and fiscal plan. A slower real estate market means fewer transaction tax revenues – again, hurting our bottom line.

Were safety concerns about the Deutsche Bank's demolition ignored by aides to Governors Pataki and Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg? That's what the NY Post is reporting, as the investigation into the August fire that claimed two firefighters lives continues. more ›

After the Daily News broke news that the city was unhappy with developer Thor Equities' $1.5 billion plan to revitalize Coney Island (an anonymous city official calling the plan "dead in the water"), the Post gets its own tidbit. Apparently Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff is offering to swap some land with Thor to keep Thor in the general Coney Island mix, but not right on Stillwell Avenue.

Under Doctoroff's compromise, Sitt would give the city the 10 acres of boardwalk land he owns along both sides of Stillwell Avenue so that the city could sell or lease it to amusement operators. more ›

When some Con Ed workers at Ground Zero found some human remains in a manhole last October, the city promised it would expand the search for remains (especially since it was revealed that the initial search for remains was more of a rush job). Now the city says that it will search under two more spots: West Street, in front of the World Financial Center, and Cedar Street, between Washington and West Streets. more ›

The New York Times notes an interesting and under-stressed part of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan that would charge drivers $8 for entering a certain zone in midtown and lower Manhattan: the plan is also going to charge drivers $8 to leave midtown and downtown Manhattan. The Times seems to think that charging drivers to exit a proposed congestion zone is counterintuitive, prompting Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff to admit that congestion pricing has less to do with reducing congestion, than just getting people not to drive in Manhattan at all. more ›

Let's paraphrase what we wrote yesterday: How is it again, with Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan riding their bikes, that NYC remains a bike-unfriendly city? Yesterday, two bicyclists died in separate incidents in Brooklyn and the Bronx. At 9AM, 18-year-old Luis Ramos was biking to his job at George's Spanish and American Restaurant when a woman opened her car door in his path on Flushing Avenue near Beaver Street. The Post describes that "Ramos slammed into the door, flew over his handlebars and fell into traffic, where a school bus ran over him." Ramos' brother Lucas had been biking about two blocks behind him and saw the police at the scene. He said, "I ran over to him to hug him. But the cops told me not to touch him." Ramos was pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital and the police did not issue any summons. more ›