Results tagged “roomeight”

The legal travails of Room Eight, a blog dedicated to NY politics (its name refers to "Room 9," which is where the press corps are located in City Hall), are examined in today's NY Times. In a nutshell, Bronx DA Robert Johnson's office subpoenaed the blog's co-founders Ben Smith and Gur Tsabar, demanding the IP address of an anonymous contributor. And what's more, they were not allowed to even disclose the existence of the subpoena of they “could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with law enforcement."

- The confusing question of elected-to-the-City-Council- but-not-sworn-in Mathieu Eugene's residency persists. Over a week ago, he told Brian Lehrer he hadn't moved into the 40th District, but now his people say he's been living since February 1. The Politicker spoke to a campaign consultant for Eugene who claims he's seen "a lease whose term began February 1 for 40-46 Argyle Road. I've seen a check written to the landlord dated February 1." Oh, like no one has ever backdated a check! Room Eight notes that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, backed by the 1199 union, is looking at the matter - and Eugene happens to be backed by the 1199, too.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will be giving a State of the City address today at noon, and one big thing she will propose is a tax break for renters. The tax break would be $300; individual renters would be eligible if they earn $43,000 or less while the salary is $54,000 for married couples. Couples with one child would be eligible if they make less than $65,000; couples with two or more are eligible at $75,000 or less.

Team Giulani is on the defensive offensive after the Daily News revealed what was written in a presidential planning binder left behind by a Giuliani aide. Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel calls it a "dirty trick" that someone has played. From the Daily News:

"This is clearly a dirty trick," said Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. "The voters are sick and tired of this kind of thing."

Continue reading "Finger Pointing About Giuliani's Lost Prez Plans"

A Halloween addendum: Mayor Bloomberg marched in the Jackson Heights Halloween Parade Tuesday night (it's hard to tell who looks more uncomfortable in this picture - the Mayor or the baby.) We like the Mayor's orange sash and we understand he wore a suit to still look mayorly. But an easy costume could have been a "Mike in 2008" pin on the label for "Bloomberg the Presidential Candidate." Or maybe he could have gone as mayor-who-answers-reporters'-questions (The Politicker writes about how he's a difficult subject to question). But there is one thing he won't disguise: How good a job he thinks he's doing.

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"

Siena College released poll numbers for various NY election races yesterday. In the wackiest race of all - the Attorney General race between Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Jeanine Pirro - it looks like the embattled Pirro is gaining slightly on Cuomo. Cuomo now leads by 13 points, 50 to Pirro's 37, but a month ago, Cuomo led by 17 points. But it's not like voters are suddenly switching sides - Cuomo's numbers went down as more people joined the undecided voters. So, it still doesn't seem like the scandal has hurt Pirro very much, but it's still unclear if it's helped her. We're curious about a post-debate poll, after Sunday's wild ride. Cuomo and Pirro are debating for the last time (awww) this morning in Rochester - we hope that Room Eight's LunchBox tackles that debate too, because yesterday's LunchBox on Sunday's debate was perfect.

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!

Congress is all about fraud stemming from September 11 relief efforts this week. A House oversight subcommittee has been discussing a number of programs which people not eligible for relief were able to apply for - and get relief. Sound familiar? Yes, it's just like what happened this past year after Hurricane Katrina. One notable example would be a program that gave people the option to buy new air conditioners, since their old ones would have been affected by the Ground Zero dust. Except many people who got money didn't even live near Ground Zero or even lived in apartments with central air! The AC program was budgeted at $15 million, but went to $100 million because of the many applications. With these hearings, and testimony from the Inspector General of Homeland Security, the House hopes not to repeat problems seen after September 11 and Hurricane Katrina; we hope problems leading up to those events won't be repeated either.

Room Eight, the city politics blog, has a missive by Representive Anthony Weiner about ferries. Yes, ferries. Former mayoral hopeful Weiner things that ferries are the way to go, given recent transit emergencies:

'[T]he Roosevelt Island tram, the crippling transit worker strike, the terrorist attack against London’s underground, the track fire that knocked out major parts of the A and C train service reminds us that we need to begin to do what practically every other water borne major city has done – get on the boats."

Subtext: Anthony Weiner is claustrophbic and prefers poppin' Dramamine! Weiner has five points/ideas about how to make this happen, including "Establish a Ferry Czar" and "Take $15 Million in Federal money to Buy Ferries," which are worth reading, but will the city be able to get its act together to make it? The idea of adding more ferry service to Brooklyn has been around for a long time. But there are great hopes for the new Midtown Ferry Terminal at Pier 79, so who knows - maybe the quick commute from uptown to downtown will be by water.