Results tagged “simchafelder”

City Council will begin hearing the case today to allow nativity scenes to be displayed in New York City public schools. While menorahs, Christmas trees, stars and crescents are allowed along hallways and in front offices during the holiday season, the Department of Education views nativity scenes, or crèches, as purely religious. Council member Simcha Felder believes so strongly in the Department's policy that he not only opposes the resolution, but would rather all religious symbols be taken out of the schools. He told the Times, “If it’s offending anybody, let there be nothing." But Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights President William Donohue is pushing the Council to include room for créches, the same way he says he would if Jewish or Islamic symbols were banned, arguing, “I can’t imagine any Jews and Muslims being offended by this. What are we left with? A few angry atheists?”

Council Members Davide Weprin, Simcha Felder and Vincent Gentile ripped up mock parking tickets in front of City Hall yesterday to protest what Gentile calls "a ticketing blitz, with New Yorkers being treated as revenue sources instead of residents, targets instead of partners." The Councilmen have introduced a bill that would require a five-minute "grace period" for certain parking violations, including no parking zones (such as alternate side) and expired Muni-Meters.

In the two years since she has become City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn has used funds from the central budget to provide 14 council members (including herself) with 18 additional staffers. The Post claims that those receiving the extra staff tend to have close ties to Quinn and says that her office would not disclose what the reasoning was behind the bolstered help for certain councilmen. "It's rewarding political loyalty, by and large. It's something I think should be out in the open. It's not the right way to do things," one anonymous council member told the paper (does any griping politician allow themselves to be quoted these days?) A spokesman for Simcha Felder, one Quinn ally on the council who has received two extra staffers justified it by saying, "Simcha's proud to have extra staff members, and he has a large concentration of Holocaust survivors and immigrants. A lot of these people go to this council office for help and wouldn't go to a government office for help."

As of this past Saturday, property owners are now able to place signs letting businesses know their unwanted ads are no longer wanted. A state law, passed in January but only in effect now, allows homeowners and landlords to complain about advertisers leaving unsolicited fliers, menus, circulars, etc., and the Department of Sanitation is now able to issue fines of $250 per infraction.

New York State's presidential primary elections has been moved up a month to February 5th this year. But if want to participate in the Super Tuesday frenzy, you better make sure you're registered to vote!

The MTA has been making an effort to warn commuters to watch their step going up and down the subway stairs, but it’s not just because they care so much about your safety – it’s because they can be held liable for your nasty falls. A former doorman has been awarded $7.67 million in damages resulting from a spill he took on the stairs of a Bronx subway station back in 1998. In this case the cause of the tumble wasn’t haste but rather a nice slimy pile of pigeon droppings.

The board of the MTA voted this morning in favor of increasing the cost of multiple-ride Metrocards. According to NY1, the outcome of the vote was a foregone conclusion following the public agreement between Gov. Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg that riders needed to pay more to ride subways and buses. The pair have effective control of ten of the 14 board members' votes.

Just because the 2009 elections are over 22 months away doesn't mean some interesting moves can't happen. Adolfo Carrion Jr. (pictured, on left), the Bronx Borough President, has decided to run for City Comptroller in 2009, making it a tough field and shedding light on the mayoral contest.

So much for halting the hike! Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer have both given their approval of the MTA's proposed 4-7% fare hikes for subway and bus riders. The base fare will remain $2, but the unlimited Metrocard prices will increase. The Mayor (from China apparently) said, "Based on the information that my staff and I have received and reviewed over the past few weeks, I am now satisfied that the MTA budget is a...

The New York City Transit Authority, the MTA division that oversees the subways and buses, will be now split up the management of the subway lines and instead assign a manager to deal with a line or a number of lines. The NY Times spoke to NYC Transit president Howard Roberts Jr.:The goal, Mr. Roberts said, is to have 24 subway lines operating in many ways as 24 self-contained railroads. (The number may vary,...

After City Council member Simcha Felder announced he would propose legislation to ban feeding pigeons, bird lovers joined forces and, yesterday, held a rally at City Hall. Armed with posters like "Save Our Right to Feed Wildlife," "Have U Known Anybody Killed by a Pigeon?", "Pigeons are Beautiful Birds," and "Felder's Pigeon Bill is Poop!", the pro-pigeon protesters spoke out for their feathered friends. One demonstrator told City Room, "We are voices for the...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx.
• Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will.
• BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet Sean Kingston's 14K Crayolas, and be disappointed by Celine Dion, all in one 4-minute segment. That's jam-packed talent.
• Community spokesperson Al Sharpton and mayoral hopeful Council Speaker Christine Quinn fell over themselves denouncing hateful speech yesterday.
• Pimping your motor vehicle rides is for LA suckers. New Yorkers pimp their bikes with mega stereo systems––really.
• Managing Editor Choire Sicha is flying the coop from Gawker.com.
• A construction worker was rescued after being buried alive in Morningside Heights up to his chest.
• Ray Kelly flips Councilman Simcha Felder the bird, literally. He gave him a plastic pigeon in recognition of his somewhat controversial bid to rid NYC of what the councilman described as "flying rats".

City Councilman Simcha Felder's proposed legislation to fine people $1,000 for feeding pigeons has struck a nerve. Felder and other elected officials claim that pigeons' poop is harmful to New Yorkers and, therefore, various ways to limit pigeons' eating and procreating should be explored. But some pigeon lovers are unhappy with the level of vitriol directed at the city's unofficial bird. Hence the video from Animaniacs, "Goodfeathers" (it's 10 minutes, so settle in to...

Citing the unsightly damage that pigeon poop does to the city, City Council Member Simcha Felder announced a bill proposal to fine people $1000 for feeding pigeons. Some of Felder's key remarks and findings: "Stop feeding pigeons!" "If people like pigeons... feed [them] in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living room." A pigeon creates about 25 pounds of poop annually. "[The pigeons] may go elsewhere. Let them...

Brooklyn Councilman Simcha Felder is frustrated with Albany's politics and politicians for derailing his relatively simple bid to rid New York City of fliers and takeout menus. Back in April, Felder introduced a bill to the City Council that would have imposed fines on restaurants and businesses that dropped unsolicited materials on people's property. He was spurred to action after his mother was fined several times for having litter on her property––takeout menus that someone else had left there.

A bill before the City Council would limit the hours Dept. of Sanitation agents can issue building owners tickets for having trash on their yards or the sidewalk in front of buildings. Brooklyn councilman Simcha Felder introduced a bill limiting the hours that DOS enforcement agents can ticket New Yorkers for having litter in front of their property, claiming that it is unfair to penalize property owners for litter that appears when they are away from home and unable to collect and dispose of it. The New York Sun quotes Felder saying "The purpose is to finally rein in the ticketing blitz that takes place with sanitation enforcement."

If you feel like you're being inundated with menus, fliers and other messages on pieces of paper that wind up in your building lobby or under your front door, you'll be relieved to hear that the people dropping those fliers off will be fined between $250-1000 per violation. A state law went into effect yesterday that prohibits the flier-ing of buildings that specifically say they don't want fliers.

Your overstuffed kitchen drawer of take-out menus is minuscule compared to the menus Daniel Rayas collected over a four month period. Newsday has a fantastic profile of the Texan grandfather who moved to New York City to help care for his newborn granddaughter and found a flexible part-time job that has taken him all over the city. Looking to make some money to pay for room and board, Rayas responded to an ad on Craigslist offering cash for collected menus. It was placed by online eatery guide Allmenus.com, and they put him to work immediately, offering $2 per menu collected.

Last week, City Councilman Simcha Felder proposed legislation to ban menus, fliers and circulars from being distributed to homes and buildings with signs that say they don't want them. Many of our readers loved the idea, but doubted it would be enforceable.

Yesterday, City Council member Simcha Felder held a press conference to announce legislation to ban menus, fliers and circulars from being distributed to homes and buildings. Introduction 427 would "make it illegal to distribute any unsolicited materials to households and buildings that display a sign indicating that they do not wish to receive them." Felder's statement said:

It doesn't matter what borough or what type of building you live in, if you live in New York City, you have been inundated with mounds of unwanted circulars and fliers. It's a waste, it's mess, and it's a threat to our quality of life. To top it off, these unwanted materials often result in Sanitation violations for home and building owners.

- And our favorite, from City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin: "When I went to Stuyvesant and none of us had cellphones. And people came from neighboring schools and tried to beat us up anyway."Of course, that was in the old Stuyvesant days, when kids from Washington Irving High School would harrass Stuy kids walking eastward. Anyway, Deputy Mayor Derek Walcott told the City Council the Mayor would not move away from its policy. Take that from the Bloomberg "311 - it's all about information" Administration!

Chief of Police Joseph Esposito apologized for his remarks during the Borough Park protest-riot Tuesday night. Esposito doesn't mention using Jewish slurs (as some have charged him), but did say that he used the F-bomb to intimidate crowds to stop, as they were angry over rough treatment (real? perceived?) of a 75 year old Hasidic man pulled over and arrested for driving while talking on the cellphone and not responding to the police. Assemblyman Dov Hikind and City Councilman Simcha Felder met with Esposito and responded that he "has been a friend and continues to be a friend to us personally and to our community. In reaching out to us and the community, the chief brings closure to the events which transpired in Borough Park this week."

Though Borough Park is quiet after Tuesday night's fire-and-almost brimstone clash between Hasidim and police over the arrest of an old man who did break the law, tempers are still flaring. Arthur Schick, the 75 year old man whose chatting on a cellphone while driving raised police interest, says the officer who pushed him to the ground said, "This is the way we treat a nigger." Schick also felt that the crowds that protested and set fires behaved badly as well. The police, in turn, defended their actions, though Police Commissioner Kelly did say Chief Esposito admitted to swearing while trying to control the situation, (or, as City Councilman Simcha Felder explained, Esposito said something like "I want heads rolling"..."Get the 'F' Jews out of here. Get the 'F' Jews out of here.") but didn't use racial epithets, instead saying something like, "Get these f---ing people out of here." Oh, and the police say that Schick did yell at the police and instigated others, by saying, "See what they're doing to me!" Well, if you're 75 and being shackled by cops, you probably would cause a fuss.