Category: News and Opinion

These organizations have long maintained that housing is expensive in New York City because New York City's development regulations are extremely difficult and restrictive. It is a mantra repeated over and over. Well some bad news — a developer who builds all over the United States has moved into town, and when asked about development restrictions in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he gave the "wrong" answer.

WSJ:   Is it easier to build in the suburbs versus the city?

Mr. Toll:   It's easier in the city. The approval process is more professional in the city. The experts that you deal with are pretty much doing the assigned job, as opposed to the secret unassigned job to stop the growth, stop sprawl [in the suburbs].

Followers of Lunchbox, EnWhySeaWonk, Left Behinds and the late lamented Gatemouth have been waiting for weeks to find out if Adam’s Green’s Comptroller campaign received any more votes than the five previously recorded in New York City and Westchester. Scandalously, the New York State Board of elections did not report Statewide totals until today.

So, how many votes did Green receive?

We still don’t know.

Instead of reporting a total for each write-in candidate, the State Board reports lump-one sum from all votes labeled “Blank, Void and Scattered”.

So, to add insult to injury, not only is there no total for Green, but his votes have been lumped together with every other write-in candidate, hanging chads and voters who’ve chosen not to cast a vote at all on that particular line.

You may have gotten the impression that I’m not a big fan or our elected officials at the state level, based on my view of the decisions (and more to the point non-decisions) they have made, and the deals they have cut. But unlike many commentators I’m not going to get all worked up about the legislature getting a cost of living pay increase after many years, just as I didn’t get all worked up about the City Council pay increase. We all expect, or at least hope for, annual increases in pay that keep up with the cost of living. It may be fair to suggest that our current state legislators have treated the general public with contempt, and do not deserve the increase. But my view is that one has to meet one’s own obligations before pointing fingers, and showing contempt for the legislature by cutting its inflation-adjusted pay isn’t doing so.

Has King Karl Lost His Magic Touch?

It's an ugly rumor, but it's spreading like wildfire: Karl Rove has lost his touch. In an amazing betrayal within a family where top political aide Rove is royalty, Bushies have been sneering at his pre-election happy talk that the gop would keep the Senate and take a slight hit in the House, both soon to be run by Democrats. And now we learn that President Bush really believed the GOP was safe, too. On the day before the elections, he asked embattled House gop leader Dennis Hastert to run for speaker again so he could guide the White House's agenda in Congress.

Now I know that if a person in found not guilty by a jury, we are supposed to act like he or she is innocent.

But shouldn’t at least ONE New York City newspaper have mentioned that Governor Pataki has nominated a guy who was accused TWICE of engaging in illegal patronage scams?

Will any Democratic State Senator make a stink?

From the Troy Record:

Zwack was elected county executive in 1995 to serve the remainder of John Buono's unfinished term after Pataki appointed Bruono to head the Thruway Authority. He was elected to a full term in 1997.

By 2001 two separate scandals, dozens of indictments and two trials forced him to resign.

So the Independent Budget Office has found that New York City’s property tax system is unfair. This is not a surprise. In a fundamental sense, property taxes are a tax on property wealth, and “fairness” requires that the tax be charged equally to all residential and commercial property owners based on the value of that wealth. This, however, has run into another definition of “fairness,” one based on income, with concern that people with high property wealth relative to income (such as senior citizens and, in rural areas, farmers) could be taxed out of their homes. This post will propose a different way to balance "wealth" fairness and "income" fairness.

Brooklyn's "Flatbush Life" newspaper is about to break the story that the race (special election) for Yvette Clarke's 40th City Council seat, will see one white – Jewish candidate up against a number of black candidates, just as the last congressional race in this said area. One of the newspaper's erstwhile political reporters (Helen Klein) is putting out a piece this week, that reeks of a David Yassky redux. Ms. Klein is a reputable, reliable and credible source. Fasten your seatbelts folks; and stay tuned-in.

Effective immediately, Gatemouth has indefinitely suspended operations. This is a direct result of the efforts of persons who made complaints manifesting a desire to see this organization cease and desist. Because I am not without my obligations to others, they have successfully attained their goals.

These complaints did not come from right wing defenders of Joe Bruno, Marty Golden, Serph Maltese and Charlie Gargano. Nor did they come from regular Democratic politicians like Joe Crowley or Carl Andrews. Also not heard from were legislative leaders like Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, nor were the extended families (political or otherwise) of Alan Hevesi or Andrew Cuomo. These, and many others of their kinds, all had manifold reasons to complain, but none did (at least not in a manner designed to compel the current result). Still, I suspect, at least some of them will not be displeased.

According to the New York Post, Governor Spitzer's first job is to wage war on Silver and Bruno. Although I don't usually agree with the Post, I too had concluded that things aren't going to get any better without the removal of all three men who spent the last 12 years in the room, hence my pre-election preference for Suozzi. But the election is over, and a war is not in the cards. Instead Spitzer is going to travel another road to change things.

To the extent that the public knew what it was doing, it voted for change from the inside, backed by an appeal to the people, in voting for Spitzer. All the insiders realized Spitzer was going to win, and got behind him, and will now be calling in their favors. Theoretically Spitzer will be able to tell them that he is on their side, but they've taken too much and have to give some back to everyone else. Otherwise, a Suozzi might be in their future. Theoretically existing privileged interests will look at his mandate and go along with his changes, extracting a few symbolic victories to save face. And that's how things will improve.

It has been 32 years since an outgoing New York Governor was of a differing party than his successor, but at the same time, of the same party as the Majority in the State Senate, the body which has authority over matters of advice and consent. Since the last three partisans transitions in the Governorship have taken place after periods of 12, 20 and 16 years, the resulting opportunity has created an atmosphere analogous to a going out of business sale, with Republicans picking away at the carcass of state like a pack of ravenous wolves, hungrily leaving nothing but a few bones, which they’ve then boiled down into soup, slurping up every last nourishing drop, and then, sticking their bread in to soak up any remaining excess.