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Inside City Hall Real Video links appear as [hiband/loband]
MTA Executive Director Elliot “Lee” Sander says that even he does not like his proposed subway fare hike.[hiband/loband].
Tonight’s guests include: Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman; Congressional candidate Bob Straniere; Marcia Pappas of New York State NOW.
Inside The Papers
The New York Times
Donald McNeil writes: “Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that they would spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking.”
Ray Rivera reports: “As bad as the news coming out of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been lately, it got a little worse on Wednesday. The authority, which had already announced plans to raise fares and tolls in July 2009, now says it wants to increase them again in early 2011.”
Jeremy Peters writes: “…Gov. David A. Paterson has given the state’s public-employee unions their long-desired victory. On Wednesday, his office announced that he had signed a law making union dues mandatory in perpetuity for all public employees who are covered by unions even if they opt not to join. The law affects mostly state workers, as well as county employees, public school teachers and other civil servants.”
Charlie Bagli notes: “After weeks of bad news, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey can finally declare a victory at ground zero. The authority has reached a tentative agreement to help rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Liberty Street, clearing the way for the long-stalled work to begin on the foundation walls at the south end of the 16-acre site. If the agreement with the church is approved by the authority’s board on Thursday, officials say it would count as a significant step forward for the $16 billion reconstruction effort, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.”
James Barron writes: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to announce on Thursday that it plans to award $30 million to hospitals and clinics that monitor and treat residents, students and other so-called non-responders who were exposed to dust and smoke at ground zero.”
Ray Rivera notes: “Representative Charles B. Rangel plans to ask the House ethics committee to examine whether he violated any Congressional rules by renting four rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury apartment building in Harlem, his spokesman said on Wednesday.”
Kareem Fahim writes: “The size of new buildings in an area of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, that is known for the large, elaborate gardens in front of its brownstones will be limited by a zoning change passed by the City Council on Wednesday.”
The edit-heads look at how one upstate Rochester Assemblyman is holding up traffic legislation affecting New York City.
New York Post
Yoav Gonen reports: “An essential resource for parents struggling to navigate the city's school system is on the chopping block, The Post has learned. Education officials have proposed cutting more than one-third of the system's 64 district family advocates - many who were hired less than a year ago.”
From Albany, Brendan Scott writes: “The Paterson administration has put to death one of capital punishment's last vestiges - the execution chamber known as the ‘death house.’ The Department of Correctional Services has quietly struck from the books a 40-year-old rule that designated the upstate Green Haven Correctional Facility the state's ‘Capital Punishment Unit.’ “
Sally Goldenberg notes: “A former city official plans to sue the city for damages to his Upper East Side apartment in the May 30 crane collapse that killed two men, The Post has learned. John Odermatt, who served as Office of Emergency Management commissioner under Rudy Giuliani and Mayor Bloomberg until 2003, has filed a $150,000 notice of claim against the city - one of 12 personal-injury and property-damage claims filed so far as a result of the East 91st Street accident.”
Dicker & Haberman write: “Two Senate Republican committee staffers with ties to Rudy Giuliani quit yesterday amid a brewing GOP war over the demotion of a top operative close to the ex-mayor.”
Page Six spotted former Gov. Spitzer at the David Barton gym on the Upper East Side.
The edit-heads call the mayor and the governor the “Budget Blues Brothers” while the Manhattan Institute’s Nicole Gelinas – in a guest op-ed column -- wants the mayor to fix the MTA.
New York Daily News
Pete Donohue writes: “The MTA plans on cutting hundreds of positions from its budget - but not one suit at authority headquarters apparently is expendable.”
Adam Lisberg notes: “The agency that New Yorkers love to hate is getting a makeover. The Environmental Control Board, which processes more than 700,000 tickets a year for sanitation violations, building code problems and other quality-of-life issues, is being put under a new department and ordered to become more customer-friendly.”
The edit-heads call for “a fare deal for riders” while op-ed columnist Errol Louis wants mayoral control of the subways and buses.
Newsday
Columnist Ellis Henican writes about how Andrew Giuliani is in a legal battle after getting kicked off Duke University’s golf team.
David Freedlander writes: “Members of the City Council called on the Taxi and Limousine Commission yesterday to institute a $1 gas surcharge on all fares as long as the price of gasoline stays above $3.50 a gallon.”
Stacey Altherr reports: “To help jump-start redevelopment projects across the state, Gov. David A. Paterson signed a law yesterday that reforms the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program. The legislation caps redevelopment tax credits and increases incentives for the cleanup of affected areas.”
The edit-heads write of the subway fare hike: “The public deserves better than manipulative shadow-dances from our leaders. And it deserves a more efficiently run transit system. After all, we're footing the bill.”
Op-ed columnist James Klurfeld looks at the fight to cap property taxes in Albany.
New York Sun
Jacob Gershman reports: “The exclusion of New York City from Governor Paterson's signature tax relief proposal is drawing complaints from state lawmakers, who say the governor's plan to set strict limits on how much school districts are permitted to tax each year would end up costing the city.”
From Washington, Russell Berman writes: “Presidential politics veered into a congressional hearing on the economy yesterday as a top Republican lawmaker scolded New York's senior senator for inviting two informal advisers to Senator Obama to testify before his committee.”
The edit-heads rip 15 City Council members for supporting a fuel surcharge for taxis.
On The Campaign Trail
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