Results tagged “speakersilver”

You would think things couldn't get worse for Jim Dolan. After all, the Knicks stink and it seems like Isiah Thomas isn't going anywhere quick (perhaps due to Dolan's own doing). But the City Council started to look into Madison Square Garden's $11 million/year property tax exemption today. David Weprin of Queens sponsored the resolution opposing the exemption saying that "It's very unusual that you have a profitable institution like Madison Square Garden that's been profitable for quite a few years to have an exemption." If the resolution is approved by the City Council, the state legislature (and Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver) would also have to approve the change in status.

The State Assembly voted in favor of allowing same-sex marriages in New York. Newsday said it was the first time a gay marriage bill was "debated publicly in one of the houses of the State Legislature Tuesday." However, the bill is not expected to make it pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said, "We're not doing gay marriage by [tomorrow's adjournment], that's for sure."

It's been 33 years since the last Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking, so it's high time for new generations of straphangers to revel in the hope of a new subway line. We also expect the public -- especially the Upper East Side-residing public -- to become jaded with construction delays, traffic issues, and noise. Here's the press release from the MTA:

Tomorrow morning's historic groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Avenue Subway can be seen by all New Yorkers live on NY1, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place in one of the subway tunnels built under Second Ave. in the 1970s but never used. Due to the limited capacity of the tunnel, the MTA arranged for the live broadcast with NY1 and will open its board room at 347 Madison Avenue for members of the public to join MTA staff for a public viewing and celebration.

Continue reading "Second Avenue Subway Groundbreaking Day!"

We couldn't even get through Governor Spitzer's first month before a "showdown with Assembly Speaker Silver." State Democrats have been saying they feel betrayed - or, in the words of Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright to NY1, "totally, totally disrespected" - because the panel formed by Spitzer to select State Comptroller candidates didn't select any of their choices. State Democrats claim the panel was supposed to pick five candidates, including a Democratic Assemblyman interested in the job, but when the panel recommended three non-lawmaker candidates, all hell has broken loose. Spitzer claims the panel would choose up to five candidates, but now it looks like the Democrats will reject those Spitzer-approved candidates. We bet Alan Hevesi is smiling somewhere over this.

- Governor Pataki's office said, "After almost eight years as Shelly Silver's silent partner in Albany, Rip Van Spitzer today awoke from his slumber to talk about ethics in government. New York's top law enforcement official needs to look no further than across the convention hall and see his pal Speaker Silver for the most obvious source of concern. From Michael Boxley to Ryan Karben, Speaker Silver routinely conducts the affairs of the Assembly majority with the secrecy of the old Kremlin and the ethics of Tammany Hall. New Yorkers deserve better. Even old Rip Van Spitzer knows that."Rip Van Spitzer! Plagues! Awesome! What with Spitzer calling Ground Zero's slow development an "Enron-style debacle" and an "abject failure," this might be an exciting war of the words! And Spitzer's running mate is State Senator David Paterson of Harlem - son of Basil Paterson, former NY Secretary of State and the lawyer for the Transport Workers Union on the arbitration panel.

Today is a big day in the short history but seemingly endless history of the proposed West Side stadium, as the International Olympics Committee gets ready to tell the world what they think of the five potential 2012 Olympics cities and the state panel possibly voting on whether or not the stadium should get funding. With Assembly Speaker Silver in town recently, Mayor Bloomberg has been trying to charm Silver, but Silver has emphasized repeatedly he thinks Lower Manhattan is a more important priority and that the Jets should build in Queens. Okay, Gothamist agrees on point one, but point two is moot, since the Jets have made it very clear they don't want to build in Queens. In fact, the Mayor, in his trademark, whiny tones, said someting along the lines of "[no one/the Jets don't] wants to invest $1.4 billion in Queens." Net net: There's been "little progress" between them, and NYC's Olympic hopes are "waning". But Bloomberg and Silver (Bloomby in the comfy white polo, Silver in a suit) marched together in yesterday's Israeli Day Parade, along with Senator Hillary Clinton, showing that while they can't agree, politicians love a photo op. Gothamist predicts for the IOC will say NYC isn't that great a venue city, and then the state panel will actually end up voting not to allow public funds for the building of the stadium; Silver will call the IOC's analysis what made him finally decide the stadium isn't a good idea.