Bloomberg Highlights Strategy of Savings for City Does anyone else feel enfuriated

New York City

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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg focused on the incremental rather than the innovative in his annual State of the City address on Wednesday, pledging to avoid any new spending, to consolidate government operations and to take modest steps in helping small businesses and minority youths.

It was a decidedly more low-key, less ambitious presentation than those Mr. Bloomberg has made in the past.

He promised to expand job training services and to organize financing fairs for immigrant small-business owners. He said five banks and five credit unions had volunteered to set up a program featuring bank accounts with no minimum balances or hidden fees. And in the city’s latest effort to help stanch the foreclosure crisis, he vowed to establish a $10 million fund that would help up to 1,000 families refinance their mortgages.

Mr. Bloomberg, who won re-election to a third term by a narrower-than-expected margin in November, said that a new interagency task force would “consolidate,” “centralize” and “reduce” government operations. Among the goals, he said, would be cutting the number of city vehicles, and shrinking the city’s office space by 10 percent — or 1.2 million square feet — over four years. The trim in office space would save $36 million in rent, and $4 million in energy, each year.

He delivered his address — his ninth since taking office in 2002 — at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens. And in a nod to “New York, New York,” which was played over a loudspeaker before and after his 45-minute speech, Mr. Bloomberg borrowed liberally from the lyrics: “As someone once said, ‘We’re going to make a brand new start of it. We’re going to do more than ever — more than any city has ever done — to find innovative ways to improve people’s everyday lives.”

In some ways, the speech was a bit of a departure for the mayor. He largely steered clear of anything controversial, unlike earlier addresses, which dealt with subjects like education, property taxes, ground zero, homelessness and term limits.

There was no slick video narrated by Ric Burns or a marching band, as was the case last time. He made no part of his speech in Spanish, as had been his habit when he was running for a third term last year.

Instead, Mr. Bloomberg offered a menu of grind-it-out ideas designed to help New Yorkers, against a backdrop of a $4 billion budget deficit and a national recession. “It was a different kind of speech,” said Bill de Blasio, the city’s new public advocate. “It was definitely incrementalist. A lot of the big-picture issues were kept to a minimum.”

Perhaps the most notable proposal was Mr. Bloomberg’s plan to combine the Department of Juvenile Justice with the Administration for Children’s Services.

“Make no mistake: there will be no coddling,” Mr. Bloomberg said, referring to youngsters in the juvenile justice system. “This is an anti-crime strategy based on real data, and we’ll measure results carefully.”

Two small agencies — the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, and NYC TV — will also be merged. And at the Human Resources Administrations, two back offices will be combined, Mr. Bloomberg announced, resulting in an expected annual savings of $3.9 million.

And, in the kind of language that was typical of his tenure building his financial services firm, Bloomberg L.P., the mayor — who is the wealthiest person in the city — said that technology could improve government efficiency and customer service. He plans to start a pilot program to install GPS devices on city school buses. He also said the city would hand out bracelets that would enable families to locate the elderly or children.

Mr. Bloomberg, who toyed with the notion of a presidential run in 2008, and was later reported to be on Senator John McCain’s short list of vice presidential contenders, did not completely confine himself to local issues.

Citing President Obama’s announcement that undocumented Haitians who were in the United States before the Jan. 12 earthquake would get temporary protective status and be allowed to remain legally for 18 months, Mr. Bloomberg said that the city would lead an effort to help Haitian New Yorkers get legal and administrative support to apply for such status.

“That will allow them to find legal employment here, and allow more money to find its way back home to their loved ones,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Afterward, city officials offered mixed assessments. Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, praised Mr. Bloomberg’s commitment to small businesses, and his attempts to deal with foreclosure problems.

John C. Liu, the new city comptroller, commended Mr. Bloomberg for focusing on small businesses and immigrants, but said that the foreclosure plan sounded like “rhetoric we’ve heard before.” Mr. Bloomberg should have been more critical of Wall Street, Mr. Liu added.

Meanwhile, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, and Rubén Díaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, expressed surprise and disappointment that Mr. Bloomberg did not say anything about establishing a commission to overhaul the City Charter — a commission that is expected to change the term-limits law.

Of course, Mr. Bloomberg being Mr. Bloomberg, a few verbal miscues were on display, as well. Beyond botching a couple of names, Mr. Bloomberg may have committed a bit of a Freudian slip when he summed up his speech as the “State of Our Union,” and not the State of the City.

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JetBlue CEO talks of moving headquarters to Orlando

New York City

Dave Barger met Tuesday with Gov. Charlie Crist, who said the state may be able to offer financial incentives to help persuade JetBlue to make the move.

It would bring about 800 jobs to Orlando, where the company already has a training facility.

Barger said JetBlue had been looking at several cities but narrowed the choice to Orlando or staying in New York. He said the company expects to make a decision by the end of March.

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Tuesday's headline is now NYC to address PCB-contaminated caulk in schools

New York City

The Environmental Protection Agency and New York City are developing a program to address potentially hazardous PCBs in school construction materials.

PCBs are chemicals that were widely used in caulk and other building materials until they were banned in the late 1970s. They can harm the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems and can cause cancer if they build up in the body over long periods of time.

Under an agreement announced Tuesday, New York will conduct a pilot program in five schools to determine how best to minimize exposure to PCB-contaminated caulk. The goal is to develop an abatement protocol that can serve as a model for school systems across the country.

New York City's public school system is the nation's largest with 1.1 million pupils and 1,600 schools.

Doug Kerr took an incredible image - Interstate 495 - New York

When I need something entertaining to do I look at "New York" snapshots on Flickr.



Interstate 495 - New York can be summed up by saying:Interstate 495 - New York

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I am impatient to hear some opinions about this photo, or about New York in general?

New York City is making waves - City Agrees to Conduct a Study on the Risks of PCBs in Schools

New York City

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New York City school officials have agreed to assess the environmental risks posed by PCBs in school buildings and to come up with a plan for cleanups and for reducing potential exposure, federal officials said Tuesday.

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency said that the city, under a binding accord, would conduct a pilot study to address potential violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act related to the presence of caulk containing PCBs above the allowable level of 50 parts per million.

They said the city had found unsafe concentrations of PCBs in testing during construction and renovation projects. They added that the city had estimated that hundreds of school buildings could have the same problem.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are a class of highly toxic chemical compounds that were widely used in construction materials and electrical products in many buildings, including schools, from the 1950s until they were phased out in 1978, the E.P.A. said. They were commonly used around windows and door frames and in masonry building materials; with long-term exposure, they can cause cancer and affect the immune and reproductive systems when they are released from the caulk into the air or through direct contact, the agency said.

As part of the agreement between the E.P.A. and the city, officials with the School Construction Authority will test, assess and reduce exposure to PCBs in five schools. The pact is intended to lead to a citywide approach.

The five have yet to be chosen. Ross J. Holden, vice president and general counsel of the School Construction Authority, said one that was built between 1950 and 1977 would be selected in each of the five boroughs.

Judith Enck, the E.P.A. regional administrator in New York, said in a statement, “We believe that the program outlined in this agreement, along with general E.P.A. guidance on managing the issue, will serve as a model for school systems across the country.”

Miranda K. S. Massie, a senior staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which sued the city’s Department of Education over the issue, called the agreement “a healthy start.”

She said her group was withdrawing its lawsuit because of the accord and because of an assurance by city officials that the school attended by the plaintiff’s daughter, P.S. 178 in the Bronx, would be chosen for the study.

Sit down before you read about New York in this article - Fed defends actions in AIG case, invites inquiry

New York

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday launched a vigorous defense of their dealings with American International Group, calling for a congressional audit and denying any inappropriate action with respect to payments the bailed-out insurer made to banks.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke invited a full congressional audit of the U.S. central bank's dealings with AIG and the New York Federal Reserve Bank turned over 250,000 pages of documents to a House committee that has scheduled a hearing on the matter next week.

The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating whether the New York Fed improperly limited public disclosures about payments to banks to unwind $62.1 billion in AIG credit default swaps.

The head of the committee has called the payments a "backdoor bailout" for banks.

Lawmakers are angry at the Treasury Department and the Fed over the AIG bailout, which cost about $180 billion, and over bonuses paid to AIG executives. That has helped fuel some opposition to Bernanke's bid for a second term as Fed chief, though he is still expected to win approval in a full Senate vote that could come this week.

GEITHNER ON HOT SEAT

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was New York Fed chief at the time AIG was rescued in 2008, is to testify before the committee next Wednesday. He has denied that he had a hand in any advice to AIG about limiting disclosure.

In a lengthy memo posted on its website, the New York Fed pushed back against a number of claims made after a lawmaker released a batch of emails showing the New York Fed counseled AIG not to explicitly state it was paying banks 100 cents on the dollar on credit default swaps it had written.

The New York Fed said it was "incorrect" to say that as a result of its actions, AIG did not tell the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was paying banks including Goldman Sachs Inc at par to settle the swaps contracts after the insurer received a taxpayer bailout.

AIG, in filings with the SEC, said the securities were being bought by letting banks retain collateral and by making cash payments that -- taken together -- roughly equaled the full value of the swaps, the Fed said.

DIDN'T LEAN ON AIG

The New York Fed also disputed charges that it leaned on AIG not to make required disclosures to regulators about the transactions.

"Some have ... suggested that the (New York Fed) pressured AIG not to make required disclosures about material elements of the Maiden lane III transactions," the Fed said, referring to the special entity it set up to fund the rescue of AIG swaps contracts.

"This is also incorrect," the New York Fed asserted.

The central bank further denied that it was as a result of pressure from it that AIG sought to keep the names of the counterparties under wraps.

When pressed to disclose the names by the SEC, AIG sought confidentiality, fearing those firms and others might sever businesses ties over a breach of trust, the New York Fed said. AIG disclosed the names months later under pressure from lawmakers.

(Reporting by David Lawder, Mark Felsenthal and Rachelle Younglai, writing by Glenn Somerville; Editing by David Gregorio)

New York Fed Defends Move in A.I.G. Bailout

New York

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York defended itself on Tuesday against complaints that it had told the American International Group to cover up critical bailout details in public filings, saying it had suggested deleting a sentence about paying the insurer’s trading partners 100 cents on the dollar only because “it was not in fact precisely accurate.”

The New York Fed said in a statement that it wanted to have “the greatest possible precision in A.I.G.’s related securities filings” and that “the counterparties ultimately received slightly less than 100 percent of par value” to unwind tens of billions of dollars in derivatives. It did not say how much was “slightly less.”

The New York Fed did acknowledge that “the proposed sentence was close enough to work in many contexts” and that “the FRBNY and many others have noted that the counterparties received essentially par value.” It also acknowledged that “the point is rather technical.”

The statement came as the New York Fed said it was releasing more than 250,000 pages of documents to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the bailout of A.I.G. and the disclosures made by the insurer. The committee’s Democratic chairman, Representative Edolphus Towns of New York, issued a subpoena last week demanding records from the New York Fed related to the bailout.

The New York Fed’s detailed statement was first examined by Bloomberg News.

Earlier Tuesday, Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve’s chairman, asked the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to conduct a “full review” of the A.I.G. bailout.

The House Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing on the A.I.G. bailout and the insurer’s public disclosures on Jan . 27, and it said Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner would appear to testify. Mr. Geithner was president of the New York Fed at the time of the A.I.G. bailout in late 2008.

The committee also said it was seeking testimony from former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Stephen Friedman, a Goldman Sachs director who was chairman of the New York Fed during the A.I.G. bailout.

The New York Fed’s effort to limit A.I.G.’s disclosure of the payments to its trading partners came to light earlier this month in e-mails obtained by Representative Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee.

Tens of billions of dollars were paid to banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale in what Mr. Towns and other have derided as a “backdoor bailout.”

Go to Statement from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York »

Go to Article from Bloomberg News »

Does anyone know James Morrison touring dates in 2010 and if he is coming to New York?

anyone know if he is coming to New York i really want to see him in Concert and don't know if he comes to New York.If he is where is he Playing?

Mondays headline story Daley and Bloomberg heap praise on each other

New York City

Posted by Hal Dardick at 8:07 p.m.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had nothing but praise this afternoon at a South Side school for his Chicago counterpart, Richard Daley, as Bloomberg announced a grant to help the Daley administration promote volunteerism.

“Chicago is a role model,” Bloomberg said, singling out Daley’s efforts to reform education. “I’ve always thought if you called central casting and said send me a great mayor, Richie Daley would be the person that they would send.”

Daley, in turn, praised "my good friend Mike Bloomberg" and called his East Coast colleague someone who “brings mayors together.” He praised Bloomberg for championing tougher gun-control laws.

Is there a reciprocity agreement between California and New York for teaching credentials?

I'm studying to become a teacher in New York. After obtaining my teaching credentials here, will I have problems becoming a teacher in California. What must I understand while taking my coursework in New York, eventhough I want to teach in California.

Monday's worrying story School Plan for U.S. Aid Gets No Vote in Albany

New York

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An eleventh-hour push by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. David A. Paterson to improve New York State’s chances to receive up to $700 million in federal education financing faltered on Monday after the State Legislature balked at the plan.

The governor had called the Legislature into session Monday night to consider a proposal that would increase the number of charter schools allowed in the state, which would help the state in the federal competition known as Race to the Top.

But a bill put forth by the governor differs in key respects from one proposed by the legislative leadership. Both would allow more charters, but the legislative proposal would also place significant new restrictions on them, drawing protests from the mayor and charter school advocates.

Both the State Senate and the State Assembly refused to put a bill to a vote Monday. They were due back in session Tuesday morning.

For weeks, Mr. Bloomberg and his schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, had refused to endorse the state’s application for Race to the Top money, in part to pressure state lawmakers to raise a statewide cap on the number of charter schools. The competition will award $4 billion in federal stimulus money to states that present the most innovative plans for educational reform, including their willingness to start charter schools.

With the Tuesday afternoon deadline for Race to the Top applications just hours away, the city decided to shift tactics. The mayor said the city would sign the state’s Race to the Top application, and made it clear who he believed would bear the blame if the state loses.

“In signing on to the state’s application while others weaken it, we are drawing a clear line between those who support reform and the governor’s efforts to win $700 million, and those who merely pay lip service to these goals in order to avoid blame later,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement.

“Sadly,” he said, “the application may well be undermined by legislative shell games.”

But the mayor’s last-minute maneuver hit a brick wall in Albany, where lawmakers remained divided over a plan to secure the federal money.

One bill favored by the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly would raise the number of charter schools allowed in the state to 400 from 200, but add new restrictions on how they are created and run. Most onerous to charter advocates and the mayor, the bill would take the power to approve charters away from the New York City schools chancellor and the board of trustees of the State University of New York, which together granted 28 of 29 charters last year, and consolidate authority in the State Board of Regents, which the Legislature appoints.

The bill addresses a number of complaints by the teachers’ union, some parents and legislators about what they view as the unchecked growth of charter schools in New York City. It would require additional community involvement in the granting of charters and greater accountability from them.

Charters would be subject to audits from the state comptroller, for-profit companies would be prohibited from running the schools and charter schools could be placed inside traditional public schools only if the parents of the students already attending those schools approve. The city regularly overrules such objections in placing charters. Charter schools would also have to show that they are admitting and retaining special-needs students.

Much of the bill’s language mirrors a proposal presented earlier this month by the city’s teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, and it is supported by the union. “It’s a good bill, it moves in the right direction, it’s fair,” said Michael Mulgrew, the union president.

The governor drafted a bill that would raise the number of charter schools permitted in the state to 460, slightly more than a tenth of the number of schools in the state, the percentage the governor believes is necessary to win Race to the Top points. His bill leaves out most of the additional restrictions that the mayor and charter school advocates oppose.

City education officials said they would ask Mr. Paterson to consider vetoing the legislative leaders’ bill if it passed in its current form, as they believed it would hurt, not help, the application.

But the governor said Monday night that he believed vetoing the bill would harm the state’s chances to receive any financing at all, and that a grant application he considered faulty was better than no application at all.

Mr. Paterson did, however, chastise legislators for failing to act on his bill. “I am at this point imploring the Legislature that we must act,” he said. “We have to get the application to Washington by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon.”

There was considerable confusion on Monday night about which plan — if any — would ultimately pass the Legislature. Neither the governor’s plan nor the plan favored by legislative leaders had a clear path to being approved in either chamber. “Right now we’ve got a big pile of nothing,” said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat from Manhattan.

Nate Robinson scores 27 off bench as New York Knicks beat Detroit Pistons: as I saw this I could not help but to feel outraged

New York

BY Frank Isola

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, January 18th 2010, 4:01 PM

KNICKS 99, PISTONS 91

Nate Robinson may be a favorite among the fans but to Mike D'Antoni, Robinson is someone the head coach tolerates. Barely.

There's a reason why D'Antoni sat Robinson for 14 games. And there are reasons like Monday when Robinson can be a valuable asset.

With Chris Duhon continuing to play his way out of the lineup, Robinson rescued the Knicks from what would have been the worst loss of the season. Playing against a depleted Detroit Pistons roster, Robinson became deto-Nate as he scored 27 points off the bench in the Knicks 99-91 victory.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and improved the Knicks record to 17-24. Coming into their annual Martin Luther King matinee at the Garden, the Knicks had lost four of their last five including Saturday in Detroit.

Robinson scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and made 11 of 18 shots overall. Duhon went 0-for-3 in 19 minutes and shooting 3-for-24 in his last four.

Robinson's 27 points are his highest output since he scored 41 on Jan. 1 in Atlanta. That game was Robinson's first after being bench for 14 straight and had it not been for Duhon struggling who knows when Robinson would have played again.

But he is back in the rotation permanently and back to being himself again, which isn't necessarily a good thing. 'Lil Him began his day with the announcement that he will defend his crown at the Slam Dunk contest in Dallas. Robinson celebrated the news with a second quarter dunk.

Wilson Chandler added 17 points, Al Harrington 17, Danilo Gallinari 16 and David Lee finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds. His counterpart, Ben Wallace, had a strong game with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 22 points and Charlie Villanueva scored 16. Detroit was 0-for-12 on three's while the Knicks made 10 of 22.

Poor John Kuester, the rookie head coach and Larry Brown disciple, who is charge of a team that can't stay healthy. Monday, the Pistons were playing without Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Price and Richard Hamilton. Gordon was in uniform but was sidelined due to a groin injury. Prince is out with a sore left knee and Hamilton was a late scratch because of an upset stomach.

That's how much the NBA has change over the past 10 years. Charles Oakley wouldn't miss a practice, much less a game, after broke bones in his face. Nowadays, players beg out of the lineup because of a tummy ache.

The Pistons starting lineup included Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and Chris Wilcox which doesn't exactly conjured up memories of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer.

The players Kuester used played hard for him. Detroit played the Knicks even for one quarter before Robinson erupted for 13 points in the second quarter, including a dunk set up by Duhon's lob pass. Harrington scored seven in the quarter and rookie Jordan Hill added four as the Knicks built a 57-43 lead.

D'Antoni probably should have opened the second half with that trio but instead gave his regular starters another chance and that group faltered badly. With Wallace having his way with Lee, Detroit outscored the Knicks 27-11 in the third quarter.

In the opening three minutes of the fourth, Robinson and Harrington each scored five points to help the Knicks regain the lead.

CURRY UNDER THE KNIFE: The Knicks announced Monday that Eddy Curry was scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Monday afternoon. Curry, who has played in just seven games, is expected to out six weeks and there is a chance he may not play again this year. ... Larry Hughes didn't play for the eighth time in the last nine games.