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.
Birthplace of Hip Hop Nearly Saved
Forget It, Hillary, It's Chinatown
The LA Times invaded the Big Apple to investigate the amazing fund-raising power of Hillary Clinton in Chinatown. The leading 2008 Democratic contender was able to raise $380,000 during one April fund-raiser - and back in 2004, John Kerry was only able to raise $24,000.
Clinton, Spitzer Try to Hsu Fugitive Money Away
Thought Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hilary Clinton appeared at a press conference to discuss health coverage of New York children, they had to answer questions about campaign donations they accepted from fugitive apparel executive Norman Hsu. Clinton received $23,000 from Hsu and announced that she would donate the money to charity after revelations that Hsu has been wanted in California for defrauding California investors since 1991. Hsu has fled to Hong Kong but has been living in New York as a high-profile donor since 2003. Guess when those cases grow cold, they stay cold.
Hot Sake - Food News You Can Use
- Expect to see Chinatown Brasserie cozy up for its Frankie Close-up Wednesday. While we are not in practice setting the line on things like this, seems like a two star job. Just a question on which way it may lean.
Bloggers Ruining the Oscars?
First bloggers were accused of damaging journalism, then politics, and now? The Oscars! What's next, Christmas?
Pulitzer Prizes Announced
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/national/deathonthetracks_index.html?">railroad fatalities and the coverups behind them. We spent some of the evening reading a lot of the winning work, including Newsday's Dele Olojede's excellent and harrowing series on the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which shared the international reporting prize with the LA Times, and the Willamette Week's winning investigative reporting revealing a former Oregon governor's sexual abuse of his 14 year-old baby-sitter. While it's natural that a lot of amazing reporting would come out of urban centers like NY, LA, and Chicago, it's great to see other papers get recognized. You can read the work on the Pulitzer website.

