Category: News and Opinion

It seems I can get posts here after all. Anyway, my series examining the extent to which New York City has recovered from the 1970s continues over at Saying the Unsaid in New York. I'll repost here once the new Room Eight, with attachment capabilities, is operating.

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People involved in public affairs tend to see every major event as proof that their previously held theories are correct.

For instance, after the indictment of Malcolm Smith, Mayor Bloomberg said that partisan elections were a reason for the alleged crimes.

An important change in City elections kicks in this year and very few people seem to know about it.

Because of changes in the City Charter, that override the State Election law in local elections, the signature requirements to get on the ballot have been lowered drastically.

The sick leave bill is win/win for everyone.

Labor and the WFP get to claim a victory, while the business establishment gets a bill they can live with, unlikely under its terms to cause much harm to the city's economy or many individual businesses. Quinn gets credit from all sides and some people actually get some sick days.

I have also been posting elsewhere while the old Room Eight has been in a coma. I expect to continue doing so during this temporary resurrection, as the new Room Eight is expected to have its spreadsheet attachment function restored. More recently, I've been posting a series on the extent to which New York City has recovered from the 1970s. The latest installment was posted this morning. You can read it and download the spreadsheet to see the charts here.

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Now that Room 8 seems to be functioning, I'm joining Gatemouth in coming back.

Some of you may remember that in 2007, I postulated a theory of the two electorates – a small group of well informed voters and a massive group that could care less about politics. And I suggested that cable TV & the web were largely responsible for this

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/jerry_skurnik/the_theory_of_the_two_electorates.html

This week's Economist has a story that, whicle focusing on cable news, makes many of the same points.

Here it is –

As you may have noticed, Room 8 is back.