After months of negotiations, JP Morgan Chase will announce plans to build a 42-story tower at Ground Zero. Government officials had been trying to entice the third-largest bank in the world to move downtown, as a sign the area would flourish once all the construction is complete. Chase wanted incentives and subsidies, much like the $650 million Goldman Sachs incentive deal, in order to be convinced to move downtown, but officials were wary. From the NY Times:

Officials in both the Spitzer and Bloomberg administrations have privately renounced the Goldman deal, blaming former Gov. George E. Pataki. They wanted to avoid similar recriminations in coming to an agreement with Chase. more ›

A couple weeks ago, the state Public Service Commission released a report that slammed Con Ed over the Queens blackout that left 174,000 people without power for over a week. The PSC wrote that Con Ed "failed to fulfill its responsibilities under Public Service Law." Now, the State Assembly has issued its own report, which one member slipped to the NY Times, and that report takes the Public Service Commission to task as well as Con Ed!

The report quoted a 1932 speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the governor of New York, who said that the Public Service Commission “was created for the purpose of seeing that the public utilities do two things: first, give people adequate service; second, charge reasonable rates.” more ›

After yesterday's announcement that federal and state agencies will lease 1 million of Freedom Tower's 2.6 million square feet, the candidates for NY Governor have backed the plan as well. The NY Times reports that Democratic nominee Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Republican nominee John Faso both threw their support behind the plan, which now "signals that whoever wins the general election in November is likely to continue Gov. George E. Pataki’s plans for the skyscraper." While it was expected Faso would support the plan, Spitzer's been more vocal in criticizing the project, which is one of the biggest symbols of Pataki's failure as a leader. But now, with the NY Governor's office moving to Freedom Tower, as well as other federal agencies, it seems Spitzer is on board. When the Times asked Mayor Bloomberg's office if the city would move any of its offices to Freedom Tower, his spokesman simply said, "When we have an announcement to make, we’ll make it.” Well, it's not like Mayor Bloomberg's administration would even see the agencies move there, since the tower won't be completed (if it actually gets built) until well after his term is up. more ›

Anyway, it's probable that Cablevision will sue if the MTA accepts the Jets' bid, which could drag out the process much longer than city and Jets officials would like. The was a rally for the stadium yesterday, and, hey, it's the Mayor's seven-point plan as to why the Jets' bid is better for NYC! For example, "," cause the Cablevision bid is built around more "maybes" than theirs. Yay for platitudes! more ›

Gothamist thought the Daily News' breakdown of what's happening with fare increases and service cutbacks was excellent - here it is below: more ›