Results tagged “peterking”

Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) was considering challenging Senator Kirsten Gillibrand next year, but now says he's not running. Why not? He can't compete with Gilly's money... or her blandness, saying that the new junior Senator "generates neither strong support nor opposition," thus making it "virtually impossible" to raise money against her in state that has many more registered Democrats than Republicans.

While most networks are carrying live coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial, New Yorkers have a chance to watch it with other fans. According to WCBS 2, viewing locations include the Adam Clayton Powell state office building on West 125th Street (Manhattan), Chelsea Cinemas on West 23rd Street (Manhattan), and the Park Slope Pavilion 9 (Brooklyn). The memorial at the Staples Center, which features Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Kobe Bryant, Brooke Shields, Berry Gordy, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Usher and many more, starts at 1 p.m. EST, but coverage begins hours before then. Additionally, the LAPD just announced that Jackson's casket will be headed to the Staples Center (with SWAT team escort)—it's unclear whether the route will be announced.

Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island), who is eyeing a 2010 Senate run, posted a YouTube video in which he rails against the coverage of late music legend Michael Jackson. He says, "Let's knock out the psychobabble. He was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? I just think we're too politically correct."

Local politicians gathered in Washington today to introduce the James Zagroda 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, legislation that would provide $12 million for the medical expenses of Ground Zero workers. Zagroda was an NYPD detective and 9/11 first responder who died of lung disease in 2006 at 34. Mayor Bloomberg joined both pairs of senators from NY and NJ and Zagroda's father Joseph in announcing the bill that will attempt to circumvent a missed a 2003 deadline missed by workers looking to receive assistance in illnesses stemming from being exposed to toxic dust and debris at the site of the 9/11 attacks.

The last time Chuck Schumer ran for reelection for his Senate seat in 2004, he was victorious by the widest margin in state history at 71% to 24%. Right now it appears that he could top that in his bid for reelection next year. With the mayor going for a third term, Giuliani and Lazio considering a shot at the state house and Peter King already eying the Senate seat now held by Kirsten Gillibrand, Republicans are essentially looking for a jobber to throw up against Chuck. When asked who might run, Conservative Party chief Mike Long said, "If you're trying to ask a 'gotcha' question, I guess you got me." One poli-sci professor described it, "You've got (Muhammad) Ali in one corner and a couple of guys from the high school gym in the other." But with the recent attention drawn to his lax standards for Wall Street before the economic crisis, GOP operative Roger Stone thinks Schumer should be considered more vulnerable saying, "He should be the poster child for the financial meltdown." The last time a Republican won a Senate race in New York was 1992.

Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) has introduced a bill that would require camera phones to "make a sound" when taking a picture (which may actually make some reluctant to snap a shot of an underground perv). Wired is reporting that "The move is part of the 'Camera Phone Predator Alert Act' and the idea is to ensure privacy and safety of the public, especially children," something that Japan has already required of their snap-happy citizens. They note that the bill likely won't pass in its current form, and if it does clicktones will be the new ringtones. But will they be loud enough to alert sleepy subway riders? Some call it out for being another anti-camera scheme, and ask, "why not require every man to wear a bell around his neck...in case he might sneak up on a child?"

Long Island Congressman Peter King tried to take care of a campaign donor in the manhole cover business by sending $3 million in federal funds their way for covers that Con Edison refused to even use. Various people connected to the Long Island company Manhole Barrier have donated almost $17,000 to King, who requested the federal funding in earmarks for locking manhole covers they said would thwart terrorists. But Con Ed said no to the covers that would only cover 2% of their manholes, saying they would be an obstacle to firefighters as well. One Con Ed official told the News, "We said 'no,' it's impractical. What are you going to do? Have 250,000 keys for these things?" Con Ed says that security cameras plus the 300-pound weight of their covers should be more than enough to protect from any terrorist infiltration. King is gearing up for a Senate bid, in all likelihood against newly appointed Senate replacement Kirsten Gillibrand.

The Times reports that Caroline Kennedy, a hopeful replacement for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, "is declining to provide a variety of basic data, including companies she has a stake in and whether she has ever been charged with a crime." The paper points out that if she were applying for a job in the Obama administration, she'd have to "fill out a 63-item confidential questionnaire." Or if she were running for actual election, she would "have to file a 10-part, publicly available report disclosing her financial assets, credit card debts, mortgages, book deals and the sources of any payments greater than $5,000 in the last three years."

Sure, Caroline Kennedy may have answered (well, in a written format) some questions about her positions, but that hasn't stopped the naysayers from naying.

A member of the House Committee on Homeland Security will be releasing a report that alleges cigarettes sold on Indian reservations ultimately help fund Hamas and Hezbollah.

Last week, Brett Favre was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This week, Eli Manning graces the cover of the magazine. If you believe the S.I. cover curse/jinx, then the Giants may be in trouble. In the magazine, Peter King gives the Giants-Packers game the cover story treatment, while Dr. Z decides to pick the Giants to make up for picking against the Jets in Super Bowl III.

President Bush submitted a budget proposal to Congress this week that involved dramatic cuts to the city's anti-terrorism funding. "The plan would eliminate programs for port security, transit security and local emergency management operations in the next budget year." Well, why would a low-priority target like NYC need all that money anyway? Oh wait, we remember! It was hard not to see this coming, though.

If a change in clothes doesn't help the Jets, what will? Despite looking snazzy in their New York Titans throwbacks, the Jets looked anything but sharp on the field in a 16-9 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. Some creative playcalling, including a reverse, got the Jets deep inside Eagles territory as the fourth quarter wound down, but Chad Pennington couldn't get the ball to Laveranues Coles on fourth-and-one fade.

There was a suspicious package in Times Square this afternoon. The NYPD shut down Times Square briefly as they investigated the object at 42nd and 7th Avenue. And the package turned out to be a red backpack forgotten by its Brooklyn owner. D'oh!

The new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says the NYPD thinks it's the NPD - the National Police Department. The Daily News reports that Democratic Mississippi representative Bennie Thompson is critical of the NYPD's tactics that stretch into other jurisdictions. He told the News, "While I understand that chasing down leads in other locales might help keep the city safe, I emphasized that the NYPD is not the FBI, that it does not have national jurisdiction."

In Congressional testimony in Washington D.C. yesterday, deputy NYPD commish Richard Falkenrath told lawmakers that he wakes up every morning braced for another terrorist attack. The method of attack? Simultaneous detonation of satchel bombs. Falkenrath, who was testifying in front of the Homeland Security Committee on a mass transit bill, also told House members that there have been 22 bomb threats and 31 leads related to subway attack plots this year. The proposed bill would set aside $4 billion for subway and rail security, including $100 million for tunnels in Penn Station.

"Probably a lot of Republicans would want Hillary, but I think they'd be making a mistake," he said, pointing out that Democrats licked their chops over Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The fun of the Internet! The website Legistorm lists the salaries of Congressional staffers, and the Post did some legwork to find the payrolls of NY-area representatives and senators. The Post, though, points out a few big payrolls:

One of the fattest payrolls in Washington belongs to Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), who controls the top Democratic spot on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Rangel pays four of his top committee aides more than $150,000, gives his chief-of-staff about $153,000, and pays three other aides more than $100,000 - including his longtime secretary...

Continue reading "What Capitol Hill Staffers Get Paid"

Representative and head of the Homeland Security committee Peter King of New York wants better airport security. How much better? Well, better enough to protect against shoulder-fired missiles. In fact, let's look at the transcript of what he said on Fox News (yeah, we know, Fox News...) since he mentioned a NYC neighborhood while talking to Chris Wallace:

Well, I'm not saying we should be targeting people, Chris, but I think we should put political correctness somewhat to the side and say that a screener or even an airline should have the right to factor in a person's national origin.

Continue reading "Airline Travel: More Than Meets the Eye"

As New York state and city politicians attack the Department of Homeland Security over cutting the funds NYC gets for anti-terrorism efforts, the DHS has been fighting back by saying that New York City's proposal wasn't well-prepared. The NY Times writes, "Federal officials said yesterday that the city had not only done a poor job of articulating its needs in its application, but had also mishandled the application itself, failing to file it electronically as required, instead faxing its request to Washington." Ha! NY state and city officials say that, in fact, they did electronically submit the application - but you know that there's probably sniping about so-and-so's aide or intern screwing things up. But In fact, NYC, though in the "top 25% of urban areas at risk," was rated in the bottom 25% for the "quality of its application"! Our politicians, though, are saying that the DHS directed money to cities where reelections were coming up in the fall. The Daily News has a feature on Tracy Henske, the DHS official who "signed off on the cuts" - she's from Missouri and Missouri cities got increases in funding!

The Department of Homeland Security cut the yearly antiterrorism budget for the "Urban Area Security Initiative" and New York and DC got the shaft, with their funds cut by 40%. New York City, which had received $207.6 million last year, will now get $124.5 million (DC went from $77.5 million to $46.5 million), while cities like Omaha, Louisville, Atlanta, and Jacksonville are getting more; ost notably, Jersey City/Newark got a 44% increase in funds, for a total of $34 million (probably for port security). Naturally, NY State politicians freaked out, with Representative Peter King calling this "a knife in the back to New York" and fuming, "They have cut $80 million in funding to NYC. Meanwhile, they gave a $21 million limousine contract to the company that was driving pimps and prostitutes around." Now, Gothamist understands that the overall budget was cut and the cities that had been getting lots of money before would take a hit. And, naturally, it's important to make sure cities like Chicago and LA gets the aid they need. But Omaha?

The port brouhaha is now in President Bush's court, as Dubai Ports World has requested that the U.S. government investigate the deal - the very same kind of investigation that the Bush administration said the deal did not need. Hmm, we wonder if Karl Rove asked the company to request it, to get them out of this pickle, or if DPW realized they'd have to do this or else there'd be protests at the ports when they are handed over to them. Senator Schumer said he was glad about the investigation but he'll still be proposing a law that requires the President to stop the American part of the deal (DPW is in the process of buying P&O Ports, a British company who manages six American ports). However, the AP points out that potential Arab influence is limited at the ports, given the labor will still be union and that DPW won't be the sole owner of all the ports - at Port Newark, the co-leaseholder is a Danish company (Danish and Arab company side by side?).