Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council may not agree on the appropriateness of cell phones in public schools, but the DoE is now handing out cell phones to a select group of students. The privately funded pilot program will give cell phones to students and reward positive behavior, such as showing up to class, behaving and doing well. In an ironic twist, the Samsung phones will not actually be allowed in class, per Mayor Bloomberg's......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: multiple manhole fires on Marcy Ave. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx, and a stabbing on 7th Ave. in Manhattan. The NYTimes examines the ground beneath our feet and finds out where the city's asphalt comes from and how it's produced. The lives, loves, and world of Second Lifers, where people inhabit a virtual world of their and others' making. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who......

The Maricopa County medical examiner found that the death of a New Yorker in police custody at the Phoenix airport was an accident. Carol Gotbaum, who was flying from NYC to Tucson with a stopover in Phoenix, died of "asphyxia by hanging" on September 28. Gotbaum, stepdaughter-in-law of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been traveling alone to check into alcohol rehabilitation. When she missed her connection to Tucson, she became upset and disruptive, and......

The family of Carol Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on September 28, held a funeral for the mother of three at Congregation Rodeph Sholom yesterday. Her husband Noah, son of labor leader Victor Gotbaum and stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, mourned his wife, saying, "Carol, you were an angel, and everyone knew it. My girl was born with the most beautiful smile on her face. It put......

The Daily News and NY Times both look at the life of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport over a week ago. She is portrayed as a vibrant woman and loving mother to three children who had become depressed in recent years. On Friday, September 28, Gotbaum missed a connection to Tucson (where she would check into alcohol rehabilitation) and become very upset......

The lawyer for the family of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New York resident who died while in police custody at the Phoenix airport last Friday, continued to blast the Maricopa County medical examiner's office as well as question police tactics. Gotbaum, who was traveling to Tucson for alcohol rehabilitation, had become agitated when she missed the flight. Since they were unable to calm her, police arrested her and left her handcuffed to a bench in......

A Phoenix medical examiner's autopsy conducted on the body of New York resident Carol Anne Gotbaum was inconclusive. Gotbaum died in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on Friday, after she became upset when she missed a connection to Tucson, where she was planning on checking into the Cottonwood de Tucson alcohol rehabilitation center. Police suggested that she died while struggling to break free of her handcuffs; her family, which includes stepmother-in-law Public Advocate......

The family of Carol Ann Gotbaum wants answers about the 45-year-old Manhattan resident's death while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport last Friday. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who was Gotbaum's stepmother-in-law, said, "We are not jumping to any conclusions, but the circumstances surrounding Carol's death appear to be unusual enough to raise serious questions and warrant a thorough investigation." The mother of three was scheduled for a connection to Tucson, where she was......

The family of Manhattan resident who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Friday night is awaiting more details about her death. US Airways and airport police say that Carol Anne Gotbaum, who was married to the stepson of NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, had been acting irately and would not calm down, so she was handcuffed and left in an airport holding cell. Police say they checked on her every 15......

Manhattan resident Carol Ann Gotbaum, who is married to the stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, died in a Phoenix airport holding cell while in police custody. Phoenix authorities believe she may have died while trying to get out of her handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, was trying to board a flight to Tucson at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, but arrived too late and was booked on another flight. A US Airways spokesman, Derek......

Mayor Bloomberg may be staunchly denying that he's running for president next year, but given the love New Yorkers seem to have for him, you can't blame him for high hopes. The latest Quinnipiac Poll says Bloomberg's approval rating is at 70%. This is down from his possible all-time approval ratings high of 75% at the start of the year, but it's still very high (back in 2003, his approval rating was around 33%). The......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Sutter Ave. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off the Breezy Point Jetty in Queens, and a missing child on East 178th St. in the Bronx. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is upset that Coney Island native and Knicks star Stephon Marbury donated 3,000 pairs of his new Starbury basketball shoes to male high school basketball teams, while ignoring the female players. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the......

Lawmakers are looking to toughen laws around tinted windows on automobiles. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum pointed out that police officer Russel Timoshenko was fatally shot when he approached a stolen SUV with tinted windows. And current State Senator Eric Adams (a retired police captain and a founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care) summed it up, "The criminal element does not use tinted windows to protect themselves from dangerous UV rays. They use......

Mayor Bloomberg has been an independent all of a couple days, but there is tons of ink being devoted to his chances. The most interesting story is from the NY Sun, which offers various scenarios where Bloomberg could win the 2008 presidential election (not that he wants to run for president). For instance, he'd need the Northeast, West Coast, Florida, and Heartland states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, etc. And if "extreme" candidates run in......

The Department of Education officials are smiling and parents are seething: Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone ruled that the DOE could continue to ban cell phones. The DOE has claimed that cell phones are disruptive and students use them to cheat, while students and parents feel the phones are necessary for safety purposes. The DOE's cell phone ban prompted eight parents to sue the city, and, per the AP, calling the ban......

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that New Yorkers still really like Mayor Bloomberg. While his approval rating slipped 2 points since the beginning of the year (from 75 to 73), Bloomberg can claim that the citizens of New York like him as a mayor more than they like Rudy Giuliani's reign as Hizzoner. Forty-six percent liked Bloomberg more than Giuliani; 34% felt they were the same, while 16% thought Giuliani was better. All the......

Mayor Bloomberg has been leading the city for over five years, but the way he handles dealing with the public during crises - no matter how big or how small - remains curious. As some people think he should have stayed in NYC after Wednesday's brutal Bronx fire - and not gone to Miami, some people ascribe his cool "delegate issues to underlings" and "move onto the next thing" attitude to his business management......

In the imbroglio known as Mid-Year School Bus Re-Routing Hell, Mayor Bloomberg has recently half-heartedly apologized to inconveniencing thousands of children and parents (let's not even touch educators who have to deal with students who are arriving 45 minutes late), claiming the silver lining is savings for the Department of Education. But clearly Bloomberg's tolerance for school bus related talk is wearing thin, given his response to a reporter's question that started "The public advocate......

The chaos caused by mid-year school bus route changes that included things like 5 year old being told to take public buses and kids being picked up after school begins seems to have settled down. The Department of Education apologized for the umpteenth time and even Mayor Bloomberg admitted that the changes didn't go very well (he did emphasize the savings were worth it). Of course, it's questionable how much the DOE will save after......

- The goings-on at Rudy Giuliani's own company were the focus of two articles this past weekend. The Daily News wondered how his client list at Giuliani Partners will stack up to scrutiny, as there are gambling associations and polluters on it. Well, there are benefits to him being a Republican. And the NY Times looked at how Giuliani's campaigning might affect his company - it's questionable how successful the company has been. How did......

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum stepped into the hot debate about cell phones in the schools with e-mails from parents that detail why cell phones are necessary. Here are a few of the stories:One mother wrote, “I have three children in New York City public schools. As a working single mother, I need to be able to communicate with my children at any given time…Just a week ago, my daughter…was attacked by three students in her......

Today, there's an interesting NY Times feature on City Councilman John Liu which focuses on his zealous ability to have press conferences and issue press releases. Which is exactly what our readers noted when he got into the fight with DJ Star/Troi Torain over Torain's remarks on Hot 97 and when he held a press conference for three of the victims in the Queens hate crime incident last week. In fact, Liu's aggressive or pro-active......

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg presented a $52.7 billion budget for 2007 with measured spending, in spite of a $3.4 billion surplus. He said the city had to anticipate slowdowns in real estate and from Wall Street, plus rising gas prices, with budget deficits in 2006, 2009 and 2010 possible; another concern is being able to address the rising cost of city employees benefits, so he's spending a few billion now to "reduce long-term costs." The budget......

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was sworn in for another four years as the Mayor of New York City yesterday, amid the crisp air, Liza with a Z!, and some protesters across Broadway. While his speech was vague in that rousing "feel good about yourself, NYC!" way, he did promise to do go after illegal guns, continue to improve the city's public school system, and start pursuing the "most ambitious" affordable housing program. It also takes advantage......

Unlike the uncertain Democratic mayoral primary, the other races were more decisive. In three big races, the incumbents prevailed, with Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau (top left), Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (top middle), and Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes (top right) winning their respective Democratic primaries. Morgenthau had his first real challenger in years with Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, but managed to hold her off. Gotbaum won very decisively against challengers like the Norman Siegel and......

- Downtown take-out joints rejoice: The Weinstein brothers lease thousands of square feet at 345 Hudson Street for their new company - Pedestrian death on 6th Avenue and 14th Street - Rising rents strike favorite gay pick up joint, Big Cup; Gothamist cries with you, as we've put in our share of faghag time there - Police don't think that Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's "stalker" is that much of a threat - Critical Mass has......

Much to the delight of gay and straight New Yorkers, yesterday's steamy weather meant that there was more reason for marchers in the Gay Pride Parade to go shirtless. If you were downtown, everywhere people would turn there was bound to be a fairly naked, glistening body. New Yorkers enjoyed themselves, and some noted how the parade has become "mainstreamed." The parade was started as to mark the Stonewall uprising in 1969, and some who......

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum issued a report saying that on average, one out of every four Metrocard swipes fails. Besides causing failed swipe groin and/or torso injuries (depending what kind of turnstile you swipe), it seems that more than half of the Metrocard swipes in poor neighborhoods fail. Gotbaum's office created the study using information from the MTA, which makes Gothamist wonder if the stats for failed swiping are actually much higher. We'd like to......

The biggest question after yesterday's incredible commuting nightmare of flooded subway tracks, flooded roads, and millions of people trying to get to work is what the hell went wrong. Gothamist wondered for the first time, "Do subways have drains?" and apparently they do - or at least pumps to get the water out of the subways - but it's just that they were overwhelmed. Now, it's annoying when your toilet is flooded, but taking......