As part of his proposed budget for FY 2012-13, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for significant changes to the pension program for state employees. His plan creates a new “tier” of pensions that would cut the state’s growing pension costs by reducing the benefits it provides to future employees. The proposal is known as Tier […]
Daily Q
Yesterday the City Council held its first in its annual series of hearings about the preliminary budget for New York City. These meetings are a chance for council members to question agency heads and allow community members to comment. While the Mayor is ultimately the one who approves the city’s budget, he needs the support […]
Last week, North Brooklyn parents and community leaders filed a lawsuit against Success Charter Network and the city Department of Education, alleging that the organization had conducted insufficient community outreach for a proposed charter school in Williamsburg in violation of state law. Officials from the charter school network said they gathered 1,400 signatures of parents […]
Yesterday, the New York City Council passed the most comprehensive municipal open data bill in the country. Intro 29A will require all city agencies to publish public datasets online in machine-readable formats and provide APIs. The first datasets will be released a year from now and the process will continue through 2018. But this isn’t the first open data […]
Yesterday, after years of setbacks and heated debate, Whole Foods got a green light from the city to build its first grocery store in Brooklyn. By a 5-0 vote, the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals agreed to grant the upscale grocer an exception from zoning laws to build on the banks of the Gowanus […]
Today a new city task force – the Report and Advisory Board Review Commission –will hold its first meeting. No, that’s not a joke. With the blessing of voters, who approved an amendment to the City Charter in 2010, this special commission to take a look at hundreds of other commissions on the books – […]
The right to a speedy and public trial is written into the sixth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but reports of New York City court delays suggest that doesn’t guarantee a criminal defendant will get one. Today the Daily News highlighted a backlog in the Bronx that leaves accused felons waiting in jail for as long as […]
The idea of converting the existing Tappan Zee Bridge into a greenway or walkway — much like the former Poughkeepsie Bridge-turned-Walkway Over the Hudson — has been floated for some time by Greenburgh town supervisor Paul Feiner. During his cabinet meeting yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the potential of preserving the bridge as an elevated walkway for cyclists and […]
What rules govern the NYPD when it operates outside of New York City? In the past few days, the Associated Press has published two reports detailing aggressive surveillance of Muslims by the New York Police Department. One of the most notable aspects of this surveillance is where it took place: on college campuses across the […]
What does a no-snow winter mean for the city budget? This year New York City is on pace for its second-mildest winter ever, according to the National Weather Service. A mere seven inches of snow have fallen on Central Park this season. High temperatures across the region have already savaged business that depend on snow, from ski […]
