What’s a Sanbot?
a. a miniature PB&J sandwich robot
b. a 6” heel woman’s shoe style
c. the URL for the Jarrett Meeker Foundation
d. a garbage truck driver in Flatbush
e. all of the above
Letter e. became the right answer when NYC Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith — the famous “Missing Man” of the 2010 Blizzard — designated BK14 (Flatbush-Midwood) as the pilot district for garbage truck-tracking by GPS. Continue reading
Larry’s Favorite Former Jet, Santana Moss
Larry is one of the smartest guys in Flatbush. So when he started defending Brooklyn’s lack of clout at City Hall, I did a double take.
“The Board of Estimate was a bad idea. Staten Island didn’t deserve to have the same power as Brooklyn.”
But isn’t it worse for Brooklyn to have no power, because the mayor — most responsive to Manhattan media — controls almost everything?
Larry shrugged and turned back to the TV. It was easier for him to watch his beloved Jets self-destruct than to grapple with one of the thorniest issues facing New Yorkers in 2011: how to ensure that Mike Bloomberg’s successor — whoever he or she is — will balance the needs of the BBQSI boroughs against those of the Manhattan business community. Continue reading
Because He Can
Michael Bloomberg’s appointment of Cathie Black as NYC schools chancellor shouldn’t surprise anyone. Bloomberg simply used the mayoral control powers the state legislature granted him in 2002 and 2009.
Why did he appoint Black? For the same reason that a male canine tends to indulge in his favorite relaxation exercise: because he can. Continue reading
Sometimes it’s easy to tell a story. Here are the first two items in the October 29th “Rise & Shine” story listing on the education blog GothamSchools.org.
* SUNY wants to try fixing failing charter schools instead of shutting them down. (Post)
* The city says it is considering closing up to 47 schools this year. (GS, Times, Post, WSJ, NY1)
And they say that Albany is dysfunctional?
Posted in Schools
Tagged charter schools, Joel klein, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, NYC public schools, nyc schools
“The vast majority of the members of the commission publicly are opposed to term limits, period.”
(Matthew Goldstein, chair of the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission, speaking at New York Law School on Friday, October 22, 2010)
“But we understood that by accepting to sit on this commission that we wanted to bring back for referendum the idea ‘do you want to go back to what was in place before 2008’ and that’s what we did and that’s what you’re going to be voting on.”
(Matthew Goldstein, ten seconds later)
So much for the pretense that a mayorally-appointed charter revision commission can act independently.
And so much for voters’ ability to decide whether term limits should exist at all. The choice we’ll get on Election Day is “two or three 4-year terms, but if you choose two terms this won’t take full effect until 2021.” Continue reading
What charter revision?
That’s the answer we got when we approached a small random sample of New Yorkers and asked them how they intended to vote on charter revision on Election Day.
Perhaps Friday’s appearance at New York Law School by charter commission chair Matthew Goldstein will stimulate some media coverage of a subject many people — including journalists — are treating as an unimportant sidebar to the major races to be decided on November 2nd. Continue reading
The NYC Charter Revision Commission has published its instructions for voters — the first of which says “turn the ballot over.”
Presumably, the commission isn’t telling us to skip the front, where we can vote for governor and comptroller, among others.
But once we turn the ballot over, we’re into charter country, where things aren’t always what they seem to be. Continue reading
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Once again, the Daily News has criticized the work of the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission without implicating Mike Bloomberg, who appointed it.
A September 10 News editorial echoes a NY Times poll, which showed over 70% of New Yorkers are disappointed by the charter commission’s decision to offer voters a chance to restore two-term limits, but not until 2021, and to use a second ballot question to lump together seven separate charter proposals. Continue reading
Posted in 1989 NYC Charter
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, bloomberg charter, charter revision, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NYC charter, nyc charter revision, NYC Government
Tuesday’s NY Times reports that nearly three-fourths of New Yorkers want to effectively reverse the 2008 Local Law that overturned two-turn limits for the mayor and other NYC elected officials. Unfortunately, voters will not get the chance to do this in November.
The charter revision commission convened by Mayor Bloomberg earlier this year has produced only two ballot questions. On the first — whether to restore two-term limits — a “No” vote will retain the existing three-term limit, and a “Yes” vote will reimpose the two-term limit, but not for today’s incumbents. Only newcomers who first get elected in 2013 or afterward will be subject to the two-term restriction. Continue reading
Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision
Tagged 2010 charter revision, 2010 NY charter, Bill de Blasio, bloomberg charter, charter revision, David Greenfield, John Liu, Mayor Bloomberg, Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Charter, New York City government, NY charter commission, NY charter revision, NY City Council, NYC charter, nyc charter revision, NYC City Council, NYC Government, NYC term limits, term limits
We have to take our hat off to Clyde Haberman, a superbly skilled journalist, for bringing humor to his Times story about the NYC charter revision — and for seeing through the pretense that Mayor Michael Bloomberg had nothing to do with the charter commission’s decisions.
It’s worth saying again that the commission’s first ballot question for November will deny voters any chance to restore two-term limits immediately or eliminate term limits entirely. And the second question will lump together so many independent changes that voters will be forced to chew a lot of inedible chaff to get the few grains of wheat that the commission is sprinkling at our feet. To us, it’s an unacceptable diet. Continue reading
CityPragmatist 