New York City is expanding its Summer Streets program.

Entertainment icon Russell Simmons and Luis Guzman, a star of “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” were helping Mayor Michael Bloomberg promote the program on Monday. More than 1,500 free events will be offered this year.

Last year, nearly seven miles of Manhattan streets became traffic-free on Saturdays in August — creating a weekend playground for bikers, walkers and loungers.

Summer Streets was inspired by programs in cities around the world. It aims to create a livable, ecologically gentle urban environment.

Source: AP

New legislation to be introduced will make all cabs equal – meaning pedicab owners will soon have to get a license, carry insurance, and pass inspections.

Owners will also have to display their rates, along with information about their parent company.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports the bill, as does the Pedicab Owners’ Association.

The legislation is expected to be introduced in two weeks.

Source: NY1

The Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would make it easier to cut or consolidate layers of local government in New York, a measure that supporters hailed as a significant step toward relieving tax burdens across the state.

The bill, drafted by the New York State attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, simplifies what is now a byzantine set of laws specifying how voters or government officials can choose to dissolve or merge towns, villages and the hundreds of special districts that provide water, sewage treatment and other services throughout the state.

Source: NY Times Read the complete article here

New Yorkers who pay about $50 to drive down a cartoon road on their computers can save hundreds of dollars off their car insurance.

Under a program launched this month, New York joins 26 other states that offer on-line driving courses to cut insurance costs and erase points from drivers’ licenses.

The virtual driving courses can be a big help in a state with some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country. The cost of an insurance premium for New Yorkers varies based on a number of factors, including where the driver lives.

Drivers who have points on their license can drop up to four points when they successfully complete the course. In New York, a drivers’ license is suspended at 11 points.

Source: AP

Get ready to pay more if you refuse to pick up after your dog in a city park.

Starting next month, the city Parks Department is more than doubling the fine from $100 to $250.

Dog owners face the same fine from the Department of Sanitation if they do not scoop up their dogs’ feces from the streets.

The parks department has been cracking down on violators with agents issuing nearly 200 summonses since March.

Source: NY1

The New York City Water Board today voted to approve a water rate increase of 12.9 percent at its annual board meeting.

This is the third consecutive year of double-digit increases.

The original proposal called for a 14-percent hike, but the city Department of Environmental Protection says cuts to its operating budget, decreased utility costs, and lower interest rates allowed the board to reduce its planned increase.

The DEP says it needs to hike rates to cover fixed costs, because water use is down six percent this year.

The new rate will take effect July 1st.

Source: NY1

Gov. David A. Paterson has signed legislation allowing Nassau and Suffolk counties to install cameras to catch red-light violators at dangerous intersections in each county, officials said Tuesday.

The bills would raise about $3 million to $4 million this year in Nassau County. Suffolk officials said they don’t anticipate any revenue this year but expect to bring in $3 million to $4 million next year.

“I’m gratified Governor Paterson has signed this into law. This is long overdue,” said Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), a sponsor.

“This long and hard-fought battle will save lives and protect the safety of the people of Nassau County,” he said.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi thanked Lavine and other legislators for their support and asked them to continue to push for a cigarette tax and a surcharge on traffic tickets to help the county balance its budget.

“I am pleased that the governor has signed the bill. . . . It will make our roads safer, particularly at junctions where we have experienced a high volume of accidents,” Suozzi said in a news release. “The measure will also allow us to generate revenue for the county without raising property taxes.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said in a statement, “The passage of such legislation is long overdue and should enhance the safety of our most troublesome intersections.”

The red-light legislation would allow the counties to install cameras at 50 dangerous intersections of county roads, but officials said the final locations will depend on what consultants find as they survey each site.

The law calls for $50 penalties for violators.

Source: Newsday

A town supervisor has been convicted of felony drunken driving more than seven months after he drove into a ditch in western New York.

Lloyd Kinnear, supervisor of the town of Canandaigua (kan-un-DAY’-gwuh) for three years, will lose his job and could draw a maximum penalty of 16 months to four years in prison at sentencing on June 12.

After a half-day of testimony in a non-jury trial, a judge found the 45-year-old Kinnear guilty of two counts of felony driving while intoxicated. He was previously convicted of DWI in 2005.

A police test showed Kinnear had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit for driving, when his car veered off a road in East Bloomfield late at night on Sept. 5

Source: AP

Faced with a sharp drop in its endowment and a $15 million deficit, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced on Monday that more than 100 of its 1,200 employees had accepted buyouts and that dozens more would be laid off.

The society, which operates the Bronx, Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens Zoos and the New York Aquarium, also announced what it called a vast overhaul intended to make it “meaner, leaner and greener.”

Read More at the NY Times

Three Manhattan post offices could be shuttered this year, making life miserable for snail-mail dependents.

The possible closures come as the US Postal Service attempts to cope with a double whammy of the recession and people’s increased use of the Internet.

The lease on the Columbus Circle office at 27 W. 60th St. expires May 30, and no decision has been made whether to renew, relocate or close it down.

“We are currently exploring all of our options,” said USPS spokesman George Flood. “Certainly, the economy does play a part of it.”

The lease on the post office at 103 Prince St. will expire July 31 and the lease of an office at 555 W. 180th Street will expire June 30.

“Those customers will have to go elsewhere, and it will be that much more of an inconvenience to everyone else,” said Clarice Torrence, president of the New York Metro Area Postal Union.

She said internal Postal Service documents show all three will close.

The Postal Service lost $2.8 billion last year.

Source: NY Post