Results tagged “senatorschumer”

Senator Schumer sent out a press release today regarding the future of the Jelly Pool Parties, which has been looking pretty dark as of late. Over the summer Schumer attended two of the parties, which he totally happened upon by accident whilst riding his bike down Kent Avenue on a scorching hot day in pants, a long-sleeve button-up, and not a drop of sweat on him! Now he will attempt to bring that sort of magic to the parties.

Now that Williamsburg has become a popular destination for tour groups and fashion students, the hipsters who took over the neighborhood years ago are losing their precious Pool Parties. Circle of life. We're told that with the deadline quickly approaching to find a new spot, there's no agreement in place and "the end could be near." As such, Senator Chuck Schumer is requesting that the community show some support—this summer the very same Senator Schumer pledged to the audience at one show that the free concerts would be back on the waterfront in 2010.

On November 1st, a new law banning texting or using electronic devices like iPods and laptops while driving goes into effect in New York State. But Senator Chuck Schumer announced yesterday at one of his patented Sunday press conferences that he's pushing for a nationwide ban on texting. Schumer cited data showing that text-messaging while driving has resulted in almost 100 teen deaths over the last five years in the city and on Long Island.

Both Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will formally endorse City Comptroller William Thompson for mayor today in Union Square. However, City Room wonders, "But will Chuck or Kirsten actually say anything bad about Mike?"

Senator Charles Schumer is speaking out against a bill that would allow people from states where concealed gun are legal to carry their concealed weapons in states where concealed guns are illegal. He said, "Right now you walk down the streets in New York or Nassau County or Westchester County, you can have the solace of knowing that if someone has a gun on them, they've gone through a rigorous background check. After this law, you can have no such comfort." The bill was proposed by Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota); the Washington Post has an editorial explaining, "It would make concealed-carry permits akin to driver's licenses. If you meet the requirements for concealed carry in your home state, your permit would be honored in another... Conservatives usually argue against the federal government telling states what they can and can't do. If approved, the Thune amendment would trample all over the rights of states and cities to enforce reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. There are already enough guns on America's streets. A vote for Mr. Thune's bill would make them that much more dangerous."

Senator Charles Schumer wants Long Island Rail Road commuters to be more productive—and slams the MTA for not providing wireless technology to allow commuters to get online. Schumer, at a press conference at the Ronkonkama LIRR station, pointed out that other mass transit systems, such as ones in Texas, California and Utah, have wireless technology, and said, "Unfortunately, the Long Island Rail Road has been slow to adapt. The technology is ready and waiting and would easily be up and running by the end of the year." The senior Senator added that it would cost $1,000 per train car and that the MTA could take advantage of federal stimulus money if it acted quickly (ha!). Well, it certainly would keep riders quiet...maybe. In other wireless-MTA news, plans to put cellphone technology in the NYC subway system are still languishing.

Well, well, well, look how the times have changed. Senator Charles Schumer, who famously championed Wall Street business to the point of protecting the industry, as the NY Times put it last winter, "from government oversight and tougher rules" (saving Wall Street ), now thinks the financial services industry, um, needs regulating. This morning at a Crain's Business event, Schumer explained that, per Crain's, "more aggressive regulation is needed in order to ensure New York maintains its standing as the world’s capital of finance... because jittery investors around the world are looking for places where they can trust that tough regulators will protect their interests." He also said that a regulatory reform bill will be sent to President Obama by April.

If you missed This Week with George Stephanpoulos, you missed Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) bickering with Senator Chuck Schumer about the federal stimulus package and negotiations. Schumer had just mentioned Republican amendments added to the package, and Graham said, "If I may say, if this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed. I know bipartisanship when I see it. I've participated in it. I've gone back home and gotten primary opponents because I wanted to be bipartisan. There's nothing about this process that's been bipartisan. This is not 'change we can believe in.' You rammed it through the House. You started out with the idea of, 'we won, we write the bill.'" Luckily, you can see Graham's Potter Stewart-esque explanation here.

Senator Charles Schumer, who has been championing what NYC and NY State will get from the federal stimulus package even before there was an agreement for its passage, is naturally thrilled Republicans have come around to add their support. There will be $5 billion in Medicaid funding, as well as mass transit infrastructure money. Newsday reports that the senior Senator from NY admitted, "[The plan] doesn't mean there won't be any pain, but it means instead of using a meat ax, they can use a scalpel." Given the jobs the money will help spur (or maintain), he said, "For the first time, New Yorkers can feel proud and walk tall, because the federal government is coming to our aid."

Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Charles Rangel announced that $3.4 billion was headed NYC's way in President Barack Obama's $825 billion federal stimulus package. Of course, the package needs to be first, but that's just a detail standing in the way of a Sunday press conference, right?

With Governor Paterson's appointment of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to take Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, the critics are sounding off on her stance on gun control. Most notably, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a fellow Democrat, has been saying she will challenge Gillibrand in 2010 or find someone who can.

Trying to inject some levity into the guessing game of will replace Hillary Clinton, Governor David Paterson joked yesterday that Senator Charles Schumer could take on the work of the junior Senator: "He doesn't need another office, he doesn't need any additional staffing, he does the work of two, let Charles do it." Then Paterson introduced Schumer as New Year's "first and second Senator." Schumer demurred, "David, I thought you were my friend... We have enough to do, we do need another senator, please... but I do appreciate the vote of confidence." The pair were actually on hand to discuss a possible "bailout" plan for local school districts, funded by the federal government. According to the Times Union, "If approved as part of President-elect Barack Obama's $750 billion package, New York could get an extra $6.4 billion in local school aid over the next two years."

       

Thousands of people who support Israel's actions gathered near the Israeli Consulate yesterday afternoon. Governor David Paterson, one of many elected officials on hand, wore a red hat, which NY1 explains "symboliz[e] the red alerts many in Israel experience day after day, under rocket fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza." He said, "We recognize the right of the state of Israel to protect itself. We recognize the right of the men and women of that great state to protect its own children." Paterson added, "For the last three and a half years, Israel's been bombarded daily by a number of rockets coming from Gaza. The founding charter of Hamas calls for the obliteration of the state of Israel."

Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Jerrold Nadler have been working with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team and say that NY State "is expected to get $4 billion" from an economic stimulus package. What's more, "most of it slated for mass-transit capital projects in the metro area."

Even though she's 14 years away from being able to vote, little Lou Cubberly gets to head to D.C. to see President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. The Daily News reports that the 4-year-old's father Craig entered his daughter's name (plus his own and his wife's) into the lottery for tickets: "I saw the rules, you had to be a New York resident and had to have an e-mail address, but there was no age restriction." Craig Cubberly, who gets to accompany his daughter to the festivities, told the Post, "It will be a great father-daughter moment watching history." The Post also spoke to another ecstatic inauguration ticket lottery winner Patty James, a longtime Republican-turned-Obama supporter. Her husband confirmed she was thrilled, "When she screamed out she won the lottery, I thought it was Mega Millions. I was a little disappointed."

There's been talk of big apartment complexes, bought by private equity firms, being at risk for mortgage defaults, after the buildings' new owners had unrealistic expectations for rent increases. Now, the NY Times reports that Senator Charles Schumer wants to make sure certain buildings stay affordable given that 60,000 lower income residents may be affected. He also wants the SEC to investigate the loans, "The entire predatory equity enterprise is a house of cards built on a foundation of fantasy and greed. The whole thing collapses when there is any depreciation, or even a leveling, in the property’s value, which is the reality we now face. You would think these deals would’ve stopped a year ago, but they are still going forward."

The other day, Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton were thrilled with securing $18.55 million in funds to build an Army Reserve Center complex on Staten Island. However, today the Staten Island Advance reports it's improbable the complex will be built on Staten Island: "The Army Corps of Engineers has told the Advance that the three-building training complex for 300 Reservists likely will be built in Caven Point, N.J., in Hudson County, because there wasn't enough federal land available to accommodate the project here." The S.I. site thought to be appropriate turned out to be...a flood plain. Schumer's office "insisted" to the Advance that the center would be built on S.I., since the funding is for S.I. Stay tuned!

Still angry that a student accused of attacking a fellow student at Binghamton University is avoiding U.S. authorities by staying in Serbia, Senator Charles Schumer said the U.S. should withhold $50 million in aid to the county. However if Serbia turns over Miladin Kovacevic (pictured), it is welcome to the money.

After striking a deal to sell the federally-subsidized Starrett City complex--while keeping it affordable--there are now eight new bids for the 140-acre development of 46 towers. Previously, the owners tried to sell the development for $1.3 billion, only for the feds to block it. The NY Times says the bids are in the $700-900 million range, and many bidding groups have non-profit entities ("so the group can issue tax-exempt bonds"). Senator Chuck Schumer, who wants to make sure the complex remains a middle-class haven, was happy with the bids so far, "The good news is that we have a framework in place that will protect the next generation of Starrett City residents and keep this New York City landmark affordable in this sale.”

As the Serbian government tries to demonstrate it is serious about cooperating with the U.S. government in finding a Serbian citizen accused of beating another man into a coma in Binghamton, outgoing Serbian officials fired the head of the consulate.

Yesterday, the federal government formally asked the Serbia to extradite Miladin Kovacevic, who is charged with beating a fellow Binghamton University student into a coma. The U.S. ambassador met with Serbian officials in Belgrade, and now the Serbian government is "moving with laser beam speed," a Daily News source says.

After outrage and questions about how the Serbian Consulate apparently helped a suspect in an upstate NY beating flee the country, Senator Charles Schumer now thinks the Serbian government will cooperate, telling reporters, "The new [Serbian] government has a different outlook in terms of the United States and the West. The old government was hostile. The new government wants to be very friendly and be part of the West." In other words, having the vice consul pay the $100,000 cash bail for Miladin Kovacevic and providing an emergency passport to the suspect isn't very friendly. Kovacevic is accused of brutally beating Brooklyn resident Bryan Steinhauer at a bar in Binghamton; Steinhauer has been in a coma for over a month.

Over the past week, American officials have questioned why a Serbian student at Binghamton University was allowed to flee the country while he was charged with beating another student into a coma. Today, the Serbian Consul General Slobodan Nenedovic tells the Post, "I will think about resigning, absolutely."

Senator Charles Schumer, longtime critic of area airports, seized upon a study that shows delayed flights mean $4.9 billion is lost in the local economy.

With the deal to develop the West Side rail yards on the ropes, Senator Chuck Schumer said that Mayor Bloomberg's plan for the West Side is the "goofiest thing I've ever seen." According to the Sun, Schumer was specifically referring to "the Bloomberg administration’s decision to include a mid-block boulevard," claiming that it was sapping funds from the much-needed 7 line extension.

If it's St. Patrick's Day, it's time for politicians to break out green accessories! At Governor Paterson's swearing-in, Senator Hillary Clinton wore a green shamrock scarf while Mayor Michael Bloomberg wore a green striped tie. It's unclear what kind of socks the Mayor was wearing, but he usually coordinates for March 17 by wearing green socks.

Some good news in the ongoing saga to save 1520 Sedgwick, better known as the Birthplace of Hip Hop. Today Senator Schumer, who has been lobbying on behalf of the tenants to preserve the building's affordability, announced that "the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development rejected the proposed sale to developer Mark Karasick because current rents could not be sustained if the sale had gone through." The move doesn't insure that the building’s owner won't still opt out of the Mitchell-Lama program, however.

All over the city, events were held to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy. One of the biggest events was the Reverend Al Sharpton's annual forum at his National Action Network in Harlem, which attracted Governor Spitzer, Senator Schumer, former Mayor Dinkins and Mayor Bloomberg.

When Governor Spitzer announced he was dropping his controversial plan to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants yesterday, he was praised by his fellow Democrats. The NY Times notes that the decision won Spitzer "the kind of wide acclaim from elected officials that he could not win for the proposal itself." And that's gotta sting a little. Spitzer had first introduced a broad plan to allow illegal immigrants to get licenses, which caused outcry from...

On the Gothamist Newsmap: A large fight/stabbing at Church and Remsen in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 5th Ave. in Manhattan, and a home invasion robbery on Cruger Ave. in the Bronx. An early morning fire damaged four businesses in Inwood; the FDNY is investigating, but the fire may have started in a business that's been closed for months. Senator Schumer releases a statement about his support for Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey (the senior...