Results tagged “formermayoredkoch”

That City Councilman Peter Vallone! Back in 2003, he proposd a bill to study NYC's secession from NY State. But nothing happened. And nothing happened in 2004 (he didn't reintroduce it in 2005, maybe he had graffiti to fight), but no matter, the Queens councilman reintroduced the bill last week. And at the core, the idea of secession makes emotional sense, as the city shoulders a lot of the NY State tax burden (look at these charts) and Governor Pataki never does anything for NYC. But it would never happen, so is proposing a bill to study secession really a good use of money? Gothamist would love to see that study, but, hey, we've got the evidence we need.

From the musical stylings of the composer who brought us Dracula and Jekyll & Hyde, New York City now has a theme song. The city's tourism arm, NYC & Company, commissioned Frank Wildhorn to write a song about how wonderful New York City is, and now we have "New York: For the Time of Your Life." The NY Post says the song is a "splashy, big-band-style number belted out in a brassy, Sinatra-esque voice," and the song is supposed to be sung at a presentation to European tour operators and to promote various parts of New York City that are lesser promoted, like Shea Stadium and the Bronx Zoo.

The Republican National Convention opened yesterday with two of its more liberal politicians, Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain, taking the stage. Senator McCain, whose dalliances with the other side have confused the more right-leaning conservatives, won the affection of delegates by "mauling" Michael Moore, who was at the convention under the auspices of writing for USA Today. On the Today Show Tim Russert called Moore the GOP's favorite pinata; Moore, for his part, seemed to revel in the attention. Related: Analysis of Day 1 from NY Times and Washington Post says it's all about terror and September 11. And then there's the Republican Party platform (PDF) that's driven by the social conservatives in the party.

Former Mayor Ed Koch, volunteer coordinator for the convention, says the GOP can do whatever they want, "We'd never tell them no. Whatever's best for them, as they see it. We're here to serve them. I think lots of people would use the subways anyway, because it's the quickest way to get around." And for the record, it seems the Democrats had shuttles when their convention was here and will likely have shuttles in Boston.