Results tagged “thedailypolitics”

Mayor Bloomberg presented the preliminary 2008-2009 fiscal year budget which inclued cuts to almost every city agency, saying, "Everyone is going to have to tighten their belts." One big reason is the slowing economy and its effects on the city; for instance, the city had previously thought Wall Street profits would be $16.8 billion last year but they are more likely to be $2.8 billion.

The most famous undeclared presidential candidate, our very own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has weighed in about the Iowa caucus results. Okay, so Mayor Bloomberg claims he's not running for president, but when you swipe at the actual candidates, have a staff that's investigating the possibility of running a campaign, and have a billion dollars to spare...

Via The Daily Politics, the City of New York has created its own Google-type map with all sorts of information overlaid to show you the nearest services.

- Even though Mayor Bloomberg says he'll sign the City Council's 25% pay raise (an extra $22,500 to bring the total salary to $112,500), he criticizes the fact that many City Council members are able to have other jobs, since the City Charter says City Council positions are "part-time." He also blasted the "lulus" - aka stipends of thousands of dollars - the City Council members get for chairing committees and the like. Easy for Mayor Moneybags to say!

Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be able to participate in the democratic process. The Daily Politics found out that some Manhattan voters got old 2005 affidavit ballots - one for last year's Mayoral race. There's nothing like voting day in NYC! But at least potential voters aren't being threatened with arrest.

If you're a registered Democrat or Republican, get your primary shoes out. Here's a list of candidates (PDF), but the shortlist of primaries is:

Apparently the way to celebrate a NY Times endorsement in Mark Green's household is to get your email on. And by email, we mean "E-mail people that have endorsed Andrew Cuomo instead of Mark Green". The Daily Politics has an email that Green's daughter Jenya sent to one of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's aides, with Jenya criticizing Stringer for being "so totally controlled....and therefore unfit to hold office" and excerpting part of the Times endorsement of her dad. Of course, now Mark Green's camp is saying that he'll be apologizing to Stringer later, and that Jenya was just being "overprotective." And then the Daily Politics found out that staffers in Representative Jerry Nadler's and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's offices got emails like that too! Even though Jenya is an adult, we bet she is so grounded.

Ah, we were wondering when we'd hear more of Troi Torain, aka DJ Star, the former morning show DJ who threatened to molest and urinate on the 4 year old daughter of a radio rival. Last week, it was announced that child endangerment charges against him would be dropped if Torain performed community service, and it seemed like Torain had settled with his rival DJ Envy's family. But now Torain is filing a $55 million lawsuit against City Councilman John Liu for defamation. Or $5 million - the number includes "5" and "million." Torain says that Liu's actions were prompted by "self-promotion and aggrandizement" (from a politician? No!) led to Torain getting fired from his $4 million a year job at Power 105 and getting arrested.

Yesterday (we think), NY Times published a Q &A with its photo editor Michele McNally. It's very interesting and informative, with notes on what kinds of cameras are used, why color photos on actual newspapers can suck, the paper's policy on publishing pictures of wounded or dead American soldiers. But there was an odd part answering a university student's question, "after 9/11, what obstacles do your photographers encounter and how do they get the shot that they are allowed by the Constitution?" McNally wrote:

"If you are stopped by the police, I suggest that you cease shooting, explain yourself and never be confrontational. Shoot only from public spaces. You are prohibited from shooting bridges and tunnels, less so the subway."

The Daily Politics pointed out that shooting bridges isn't "a rule. Or an amendment, come to think of it." And it seems that the Q&A was updated with a question-clarification from Todd Maisel, Vice President, NY Press Photographers Association, reminding McNally of a couple things:

It is perfectly legal to photograph bridges and tunnels from public areas. Imagine if you couldn't take photos of the Brooklyn Bridge? Port Authority and TBTA have signs up indicating no photography, but where is the law? Test it one day.

Continue reading "All the Photos That Are Maybe Fit to Print"

The Daily Politics uploaded video of Assemblywoman Diane Gordon "appearing to solicit a bribe." After compiling evidence that Gordon was asking for bribes from a developer interested in land in the 40th District, the Brooklyn DA's office offered her a deal that would let her off if she quit. But then Gordon announced she was running for reelection.

- Strange murder at 14th Street and 10th Avenue - man was shot in his car, and a passenger drove all the way to Brooklyn for a hospital, even though there's St. Vincent's right on 7th Avenue and 12th Street, not to mention other Manhattan hospitals, on the way