UFCW Backs Marty Connor
June 26, 2008
State Senator Marty Connor announced he got the endorsement of UFCW Local 1500, a union that backed his opponent in 2006.
The union picked Connor without conducting an interview with either the senator or his opponent, Dan Squadron.
According to an email from a Connor spokesman, union president Bruce Both explained: “You will notice that this endorsement [...]
More Delays for Cameras in Subways
June 26, 2008
Aging fiber-optic cable in Brooklyn and Queens has become the latest obstacle to a planned high-tech system of surveillance cameras meant to safeguard the subway and commuter railroads, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
The system, which is expected to cost at least $450 million, is a crucial component of a larger program to thwart terrorist [...]
MTA board pressured to drop freebies - still insists it did nothing wrong
June 26, 2008
The MTA voted Wednesday to surrender free lifetime travel passes granted to board members - while insisting to the end there was nothing wrong with the freebies.
The unanimous vote rescinding the boardroom-to-the-grave perks ended years of free travel that even extended to some spouses of board members.
“There’s no statement that we’re making to suggest what [...]
Diplomats owe $18M in parking tickets
June 26, 2008
More than a decade after Mayor Rudy Giuliani declared war on diplomatic scofflaws over unpaid parking tickets, the city is still owed more than $18 million, leaving many New Yorkers enraged.
“They should pay,” said Carmen Mercer, 35, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, standing outside a midtown DMV office. “Everybody else has to pay. It comes with the responsibility [...]
High Line Park To Transform West Side’s Railway By Year’s End
June 26, 2008
A 1.5-mile elevated railway on Manhattan’s West Side that was in danger of being demolished is now being transformed into a 22-block-long park.
Phase one of the project, stretching from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street, is under construction and expected to be open to the public by the end of the year.
“I’m constantly having to [...]
Sources: Bruno probe may move
June 26, 2008
The Justice Department is mulling whether to have prosecutors and FBI agents from Manhattan take an active role in the ongoing probe of Sen. Joseph Bruno’s business dealings, several sources told Newsday.
Bruno, who stepped down Tuesday as Republican leader in the State Senate, has been under investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany. [...]
City Pension Funds Lose Billions
June 26, 2008
New York City officials are bracing for increased pressure on the budget as the city’s pension funds are reeling from the credit crisis and posting billions of dollars in losses.
In the nine months leading up to March 31, the city’s five pension funds lost a total of nearly $5 billion, or 4.4%, according to data [...]
Husband and Wife Fined for Defrauding the city
June 26, 2008
An employee of the city’s Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator and her husband were ordered yesterday to repay $2.5 million they stole from the agency, and were sentenced to house arrest and probation.
Raimma Tagiev, 33, used the names of fake recipients to create false payment claims.
Her husband, Yan Binder, 39, retrieved the fraudulent checks [...]
Former Staten Island assemblyman rules out House run
June 26, 2008
Former Staten Island GOP Assemblyman Matthew Mirones has announced that he will not be a candidate for Congress.
“I’ve decided on a personal level not to get back into the political arena at this time,” said Mirones, who represented the East Shore and part of Brooklyn in the Legislature from 2002 until 2006.
He retired from the [...]
Weighing New Candidates for Fossella’s House Seat
June 26, 2008
Following the death of their candidate for Congress, Republican leaders on Staten Island and in Brooklyn are turning their attention in earnest — once again — to finding potential candidates to run for the seat. And they say they will probably reach a decision by the weekend.
Party leaders on Staten Island said they were looking [...]
