Yesterday's groundbreaking ceremony of the World Trade Center transit hub saw a number of politicians and designer Santiago Calatrava to the mark the first construction activity at Ground Zero. Calatrava and his daughter Sofia released doves/white pigeons into the air from Falcon Environmental Services with Governors Pataki (NY) and Codey (NJ), Senator Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg, and Tranportation Secretary Minetta looking on. The $2.2 billion transporation center will bring an estimated 10,000 construction jobs downtown, but construction won't officially begin until after September 11, when families traditionally get to visit the Twin Towers' footprints at Ground Zero. The NY Times has a cross-section graphic of the new hub and how it will hold various transit lines.
As September 11 Anniversary Nears, The First Construction "Begins" at WTC Site
14th Street Spa Central
It's true there was a time when the area around Union Square was pretty honky tonk; crack dealers owned the park, and 99-cent stores, fast food chains and psychics were pretty much the only business on 14th Street. At the time, it was hardly the neighborhood for a high-end spa, and could have been aptly decribed as "gritty."
The British Have Been Coming!
"We have all seen Woody Allen movies and Sex and the City and NYPD Blue. So you think it is an exciting place you have to go to. We don't hear that it is particularly dirty or unsafe. They know it is a big city and it is going to be loud and noisy and that is all O.K."Well, Gothamist has seen Brideshead Revisited, The Office, Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers, Mike Leigh and Richard Curtis films, Blow-Up and Benny Hill, and we love you, too, Britain.
Our Mayor , The "Baby Kisser"
One thing Gothamist knows is that while the Mayor may have learned to kiss babies (Steinhauer didn't delve into whether or not these babies wanted to be kissed), he still looks uncomfortable, which brings the funny in our book, in pictures like this one of the Mayor and Santa at Macy's Santaland. Oh, and here's the Mayor with some babies.
NYers Kinda Like Mayor Mike
Yesterday, the Mayor was talking campaign finance and how new regulations, to allow opponents spend more, are bogus. His opponents are saying "Cry me a river," given that Mayor Bloomberg spent $75 million of his own money for his 2001 run. And Gothamist on the Mayor's approval ratings.
Mayor Bloomberg Wants Peaceful Protesters
New York City Welcomes Peaceful Political Activists. Gothamist suspects political activists would be happy and more apt to be peaceful if they got some space closer to Penn Station or at the Great Lawn.
Republican Styles of Bloomberg and Pataki
On the Cheney tip, Gothamist also whole-heartedly agrees with Jon Stewart's assessment on Larry King Live that Dick Cheney "honestly is the personification of a grumble. Like when he walks around -- Wilford Brimley is not that upset at the world." And Pataki is asking President Bush to use about $2 billion of unused September 11 funds (there's $2 billion in unused funds?) to build a city rail from downtown to JFK.
City Budget Is Set
The Mayor also predicts a surplus of $1.9 billion, which gave him and the City Council room to figure out how to spend it (ultimately, the rebate and social services). City Council Gifford Miller speaker said, "This is a budget that does represent a 'good news budget' for all New Yorkers," which the Times noted were Bloomberg's words when he unveiled the budget plan earlier this year.
Mayor Bloomberg's Big Move
The Times' Jennifer Steinhauer analyzes the situation, which can be summed up in this Bloomberg quote: "Mayoral control means mayoral control, thank you very much. They are my representatives, and they are going to vote for things that I believe in." City comptroller William Thompson was "shocked": "His last-minute removal of panel members is more suited to a `Sopranos' episode than to enacting education policy for our public school children." The Daily News calls the vote "stacked."
FreshDirect Vs. Fairway: The Times Weighs In
The Times' Jennifer Steinhauer looks at the pros and cons of upstart online grocer Freshdirect versus venerable Upper West Side ubermarket Fairway. After outlining the bickering between the two, her experiences boil down to this:
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