Results tagged “richarddrew”

Yesterday, Governor Spitzer, Mayor Bloomberg, MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander and other officials kicked off the extension of the 7 line by unveiling a new sign in Times Square pointing the way to Hudson Yards. Ah, nothing like putting in signs for things that won't be ready for years - the 7 will reach 34th and 11th Avenue in 2013. The 7 line extension will cost $2 billion for the 1.5 miles...

Probably realizing that talking smack about a dead former NYPD detective who spent hours at the World Trade Center site working rescue and recovery isn't smart Mayoring, Mayor Bloomberg amended his comments about the late James Zadroga.

Rudy Giuliani better check his sports allegiances. While campaigning in Boston, a reporter asked the former mayor which team he would be cheering for in the World Series - the Colorado Rockies or the Boston Red Sox. To our surprise (and Bostonist's), he went with the Red Sox, "I'm rooting for the Red Sox. I'm an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets. Maybe that would be the one time I wouldn't because I'm loyal to New York." Last time we checked, the Yankees and Red Sox were bitter rivals. We're betting that you won't catch a Mets fan rooting for the Braves or Phillies in the World Series or a Giants fan rooting for the Cowboys or Eagles.

EVENT: The New York Book Club at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents…"Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered New York City". The panelists include "Hal Buell, longtime AP photo editor who put images of the Vietnam War in newspapers across America; Richard Drew, AP photographer who has covered New York events including 9/11; Edie Lederer, longtime UN correspondent and first woman to be the foreign chief of bureau; and Valerie Komor, corporate archives director of the AP."

A number of politicians offered their support (though not 100%) of Mayor Bloomberg's Voldemort, aka congestion pricing, today. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters appeared with Governor Eliot Spitzer and Bloomberg at a press conference today, with Peters saying, "This plan will keep the city that never sleeps from becoming the city that never moves." She also put some pressure on the state Legislature to approve the just submitted S. 6068, the NY State Senate's congestion pricing legislation, by saying that in order for the city to continue to qualify for federal transportation grants, it needs to pass congestion pricing.

• Name a new commissioner for the Department of Transportation (it's Janette Sadik-Khan - check out Streetsblog's suggestions for her)
• Cancel an appearance at a big GOP fund-raiser, which the Post's Fred Dicker thinks fuels further "speculation that he'll run for president"
• Continue to be mad at a Kansas TV station for not airing one of his anti-illegal gun ads

Mayor Bloomberg and former Vice President Al Gore were on hand for the kick-off of this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Gore and Bloomberg traded compliments: Gore said that the mayor's congesting pricing initiative was "gutsy" and when asked if presidential candidates were talking about environmental issues, Gore said, "Well, I think Mike is." And the AP reported, "The mayor, standing to Gore's right, turned red and laughed."

This morning, NBC News President Steve Capus appeared on the Today show to discuss the immediate ending of radio shock jock Don Imus's MSNBC simulcast. Per TVNewser, Capus said:

There's no question that his program has had provocative conversation and interesting conversation, deep conversation with thought leaders and political leaders through the years. But it's also had the other element. At some point you have to say 'enough is enough.' This went so far over the line that it was time.

Capus also mentioned the most vocal critics he heard from were from NBC itself and said "why have an integrity policy unless you're going to enforce it?" The NBC News chief has denied that the reason for the firing was because advertisers were fleeing, which we sort of buy - given that the show made $50 million in revenue, you could probably find some less prestigious advertisers to fill the ad time. FishbowlDC has been liveblogging Imus's radio show this morning, and Imus talks about hyprocrisy, MSNBC being unethical, and a lack of support from Harold Ford Jr.

Radio shock jock Don Imus was suspended for two weeks by CBS, which owns WFAN and Westwood One (the radio outlets his show is broadcast and syndicated on) and MSNBC, which broadcasts a televised simulcast of the radio show, over remarks he made towards the Rutgers women's basketball team. MSNBC announced that Imus would be suspended first, then CBS announced a similar suspension.

For politicians, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was busy as they made the rounds at a number of city events. Governor Spitzer, Lieutenant Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Representative Charles Rangel all appeared at the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network's House Justice and also the Brooklyn Academy of Music's celebration.

What a cool surprise for the Department of Sanitation: A DOS cap that is officially licensed by the city is a big hit with consumers. The DOS Patch Cap, which sells for $14.99, has a frayed and weathered brim - hello, hipster market!

HarperCollins president and CEO Jane Friedman fired editor Judith Regan late-yesterday. The dismissal, which was announced while most employees were at the company Christmas party, comes after last month's O.J. Simpson book and Fox TV interview fiasco. Regan was the driving force behind the project, in which Simpson described how he might have hypothetically killed his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. After the project came under intense criticism, Rupert Murdoch, HarperCollins is owned by his News Corporation, was forced to cancel it and apologize. 400,000 books had to be destroyed.

is just so disgusting and exploitive, we can't believe it was ever allowed. But we're naive and such is life, and the story has been getting crazier, with the book's publisher Judith Regan issued a statement saying she published the book because she was a victim of abuse.

I made the decision to publish this book, and to sit face to face with the killer, because I wanted him, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives....

Continue reading "Everyone Hates the O.J. Book, O.J. and Judith Regan"

This year, the Today Show's tradition of testing its hosts' fortitude by giving them nutty Halloween costumes did not disappoint. Matt Lauer and Al Roker were Jack Sparrow and Captain Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, that is Al as Captain Davy Jones - he is squidalicious! In years past, Matt and Al have dressed as famous pairs, like Siegfried and Roy, Batman and Robin, and J.Lo and Puffy. We're surprised that NBC was cool with Matt and Al dressing as a famous Disney movie, but the Good Morning America folks didn't dress up at all. All they had were their faces carved into pumpkins and a scary interview with Courtney Love.

Governor Pataki came back to New York (he cut a trip in Hungary short!) and announced that a former U.S. Attorney would investigate whether State Comptroller Alan Hevesi should be removed from office. Hello, caution! Pataki called having David Kelley (who previously prosecuted Martha Stewart in the Imclone case and is a registered Democrat) review the matter an "extra step" before possibly asking the Senate to remove Hevesi. From the NY Post:

"We want to make sure we go the extra mile of having a high degree of confidence that someone not involved in the political process has taken an independent look and determined that a strong legal case exists that the next step, the removal of Comptroller Hevesi, should be sought," Pataki said.

Continue reading "Pataki Comes Back to Deal with Hevesi"

Yesterday, someone wrote on Gothamist Contribute, "One of the winners at the cat show today freaked out and took off. By show's end, it still had not been found. Poor thing. Maybe expecting cats to stay put like dogs is just a bad idea."

Today is Primary Day in the city and state, with candidates for the Democratic and Republican tickets to be selected for Governor, Attorney General, Senate, Congress, and more. If you're registered to the Democratic or Republican party, you can vote!

Broadway's big night celebrated two hit shows, both with word "Boys" in the title. "Jersey Boys," the musical about singing group, The Four Seasons, won Best Musical and two actors won Best Actor (John Lloyd Young) and Best Featured Actor (Christian Hoff), and "The History Boys," a play about British education, won Best Play, Best Direction and Best Actor (Richard Griffiths). The speeches were all very heartfelt, touching and classy - Frances de la Tour, who won as Best Featured Actress in The History Boys, graciously thanked the crew and said she felt at home in "New York, New York." LaChanze won Best Actress in a Musical for The Color Purple, and thanked Oprah Winfrey at the very end. And Cynthia Nixon won Best Actress in a Play for The Rabbit Hole, and called herself a theater geek. The team behind The Drowsy Chaperone, the throwback to the 1920s musical, won a bunch of big awards, including Best Book and Best Score, with its Canadian creators thanking America.