Results tagged “washingtond”

After Hillary Clinton's started airing a commercial in Wisconsin questioning why Barack Obama declined to appear in another debate, Obama came back with his own ad. The voiceover says:

After eighteen debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates? It's the same old politics, the phony charges, and false attacks. On health care, even Bill Clinton's own labor secretary [Robert Reich] even says Obama covers "more people" than Hillary and does more to cut costs, saving $2500 for the typical family. Obama's housing plan it stems foreclosures and cracks down on crooked lenders. That's change we can believe in.

Eight separate unions representing Amtrak workers are threatening to go on strike as early as January 30th if they are not presented with new contracts, which they've worked without for years. A strike would hurt more than people taking the Acela between Washington D.C. and Boston. If Amtrak workers strike, it would close Penn Station and hundreds off thousands of daily commuters on the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit, and Amtrak would be seriously inconvenienced.

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the...

This summer, when Jeremy Blake walked into the Rockaway Beach surf, he left many with a lot of questions...and he left his life's work behind. His films, C-prints, drawings and paintings are now hanging in homage at his memorial exhibit at Kinz, Tillou, & Feigen. Opening last week and running through January 5th, the show will even include the incomplete piece he was still working on at the time of his death:His sixth solo exhibition...

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...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a two alarm fire at 80 Washington St in Lower Manhattan; an aircraft emergency at JFK this morning; two pedestrians struck on E. 53rd St.; and a "possible A.I. job" (whatever that is) in Woodhaven.
• The NYCLU objected yesterday to the number of cases the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated. The board, which investigates police misconduct, only substantiated 5% of the cases, but that's actually higher than that of Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
• A 64-year-old Gambino capo was given a 15 year sentence for orchestrating the murders of a couple that robbed his social club. No news on whether Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia, who has 6 grandchildren, lectured the judge on how they did things in his day.
• Mom and pop may have it a little easier if the City Council gets its way. They are examining the idea of giving tax breaks to small businesses hoping to "preserve neighborhood character," something that Mayor Bloomberg may not sign if it gets to him.
• Judith Zuk, the former president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, passed away over the weekend due to breast cancer. She served as president from 1990 until her retirement in 2005.
• Red Hook vendors and area eaters have lucked out. The Dept. of Parks and Recreation are letting the food vendors remain through October 21st when they traditionally end their season. New rules are expected to be laid out in the Fall that may prevent the vendors from returning next year.
• The hottest ticket in town? Not Oprah, not the US Open, but J.K. Rowling. She's coming to New York to read at Carnegie Hall for 1,600 lucky kids from NYC's public schools. She'll also be signing books and answering questions about the series to the lucky students. No tickets are available to the public.
• And coming to your computer - MTV is building "music world" a virtual Brooklyn and Lower East Side that replicates "hip" clubs. Bonus: no need to dress up while sitting at home late at night in front of the computer.

New York, we're disappointed. This fine city isn't number one - or even number two - in its addiction to e-mail. Actually, that's probably a good thing. A study by AOL found that New York is only the third most e-mail addicted city in the country, ranking below Washington D.C. and Atlanta. With the increased of e-mail capable phones like the BlackBerry, the iPhone, or even with people using their laptops at dinner, it's not surprising that the study found that 15% of Americans describe themselves as "addicted to email."

Mayor Bloomberg headed to Washington D.C. to ask for more federal aid related to September 11 illnesses. The NY Times noted that Bloomberg was "surrounded at the hearing mostly by Democratic lawmakers from New York who have sought more aid for 9/11-related health problems" and "The two Republican senators present asked gentle questions."

Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and a physician, said he did not doubt that there were “a lot of pulmonary problems associated with large particulate intake” at ground zero, but he asked the mayor, “Is there a point at which this stops in terms of a federal obligation?”

Continue reading "Mayor Wants Help From Congress for 9/11 Health Funds"

On March 13, 1967 Channel 5 launched the first prime time newscast in the tri-state area, just a few months after sister station WTTG in Washington D.C. became the first station in the United States with one. Since then, a lot has changed but there are still a few constants like the seemingly eternal question, “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”

In Congressional testimony in Washington D.C. yesterday, deputy NYPD commish Richard Falkenrath told lawmakers that he wakes up every morning braced for another terrorist attack. The method of attack? Simultaneous detonation of satchel bombs. Falkenrath, who was testifying in front of the Homeland Security Committee on a mass transit bill, also told House members that there have been 22 bomb threats and 31 leads related to subway attack plots this year. The proposed bill would set aside $4 billion for subway and rail security, including $100 million for tunnels in Penn Station.

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced plans to expand the city's response for World Trade Center-related health illnesses, after a panel found many things, such as many people didn't even know there's a WTC health program at Bellevue. Now the city plans to ask Washington D.C. for $150 million a year for programs; establishing new to keep everyone aware of what's going on; and, perhaps most importantly, reopening the Victim Compensation Fund and ending various legal disputes victims have been enduring.

- Orioles 6, Mets 3: For the Mets, their 8-game winning streak had to end sometime, and that sometime was last night against the Orioles in a rematch of the 1969 World Series. Alay Soler struggled at the start of the game, but it he pitched well enough to give the Mets a chance for their 9th straight victory. Aaron Heilman blew the save and the Mets chances at victory in the 7th inning when he allowed 4 runs.

Wow! Butterstick, the panda at the Washington D.C. zoo, is getting huge! When Jen gets back from Hawaii on Tuesday, she's absolutely going to flip out over these pictures. And if you are having a lazy Saturday, we recommend you sit back, throw on this slideshow of the full Butterstick Flickr stream-- 2800+ panda photos!

Oh, Anthony Weiner, what's up with you pulling a Schumer and having a Sunday press conference? And a press conference for you to bitch about the MTA's lax trash can security, no less?

">in one hour. That's one popular panda!

Rick Burnley, Poet/Activist

Mayor Bloomberg goes to Berlin to forward the city's Olympic bid, and what happens? His "friend," former Senator and current New School President Bob Kerry tells the NY Times that he might just run for mayor. Kerrey is annoyed with the Mayor's lack of success in getting Washington D.C. to fork over substantial Homeland Security funds to secure NYC and the Mayor's reluctance to really tangle with the Republican-controlled Congress. Bloomberg had asked Kerrey to head the Democrats for Bloomberg group, and Kerrey reportedly accepted. And Kerrey did credit the Mayor's handling of the school system and trying to calm race relations.

Here's the NY Times' Inauguration special, and the AP answered some Inaugural questions. And it seems the folks at animals on the underground, the site dedicated to finding new ways to appreciate the London Tube map, have found a bald eagle in the midst.

New York City Transit, the part of the MTA that oversees five-borough transport like subways and buses, revealed at a conference in Washington D.C. that the MTA made less than they thought they would after the 2003 fare hike. The NY Times writes that it was "because riders altered their buying habits more quickly and in bigger numbers than expected," meaning more people would buy wisely, like opt for unlimited monthly Metrocards. The NYCT guy who headed the structure analysis, Robert L. Hickey, said, "It's said that New Yorkers love a bargain and, true to form, our customers took the greatest bargain available." Well, of course: We'd be stupid if we didn't. Gothamist hopes to get our paws on a copy of this structure analysis (it's the perfect thing to read on a Saturday night!) and wonders if the MTA will make their revenues targets after the upcoming fare hike that will increase the unlimited Metrocards.

If news of that proposal wasn't bad enough, the pork from Washington D.C. is headed to plenty of places, with little money to New York. The Daily News has a plentiful list of where the money went, including to some projects in New York City. To this, Congressman Jerrold Nadler says, "There's kosher pork, and then there's unkosher pork."

Nancy Schafer, Tribeca Film Festival

162 games after they began, the Mets have finally finished the season with a record of 71-91, good for 4th in the National League East. For what it's worth, the Mets improved from last year when they finished last in the NL East and with 5 less wins. The season ended with a win against the Montreal Expos, a team that moving to Washington D.C. and the retirement of Todd Zeile and possibly the end of John Franco's career.

The NY Times reports that there were small protests yesterday, including one the Central Park, where people stood on top of garbage bags - to protect the lawn. Now, that's humor.

Plan your trip to D.C., either by car or by train. And if you go to D.C., you must see the real pandas at the National Zoo.

Anthony of CityCynic points the way to the best marriage of Legos and television: The four-foot tall Lego Homer, by Sean Kenney, the brilliant mind behind the Lego'd New York, Brick Apple. Kenney details Lego Homer's construction for a Washington D.C. area client. Kenney is also offering a replica of this 3-D Homer for $4500 and, folks, Homer doubles as a beer holder.

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