Most New York City subway and bus riders say their commutes are getting worse, according to a survey released yesterday by the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. Three out of five of straphangers surveyed said the quality of their commutes had worsened since 2009, the year before the MTA approved a package of harsh service cuts […]
Daily Q
How do state employees get hired? An overlooked section of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget bills includes proposals to ease hiring and promotion rules for state employees, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports this morning. The rules, designed in the 19th century to prevent political patronage, require most applicants to compete for openings and promotions through an examination […]
What is Attorney General Schneiderman’s record on the foreclosure crisis? Today, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, along with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, announced the formation of a working group of federal and state officials that will investigate institutions involved in the pooling and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities. President Obama first aired […]
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and his spokesman Paul Browne are getting slammed for admitting that Kelly had indeed been interviewed for a controversial documentary on radical Islam, The Third Jihad, shown to almost 1,500 police officers over a several-month period and and running on what an internal report described as “a continuous loop.” This, after […]
What has New York State done to advance fracking technology? In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for a renewed role for government in advancing economic growth and new technologies. His example of a success story? Hydraulic fracturing – the process of extracting natural gas from rock formations through the injection of […]
What other American cities have a school holiday on Lunar New Year? Yesterday marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year, and in the United States some cities and towns with large Asian communities had a school holiday. Despite its large and diverse Asian communities, New York City does not have a school holiday on […]
Will the Supreme Court’s Texas ruling affect New York redistricting? This week, the legislative task force in charge of redistricting is expected to release its proposed electoral maps for New York State. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has long promised to veto plans drawn by the legislature rather than an independent commission, especially any proposal that he […]
How does the city calculate property tax bills? Yesterday, the city’s Department of Finance made its annual announcement of assessed property values for all taxable real estate in New York City. These property taxes are a critical source of revenue. But the process is admittedly “complex,” said Finance Commissioner David M. Frankel. So much so, that even […]
Is the NYPD’s new gun detection scanner safe? The NYPD announced this week that it’s working on a new scanner that could detect firearms underneath suspects’ clothing from 80 feet away using terahertz — the part of the electromagnetic spectrum in between microwaves and infrared light. As WNYC reported, technology could potentially reduce the number […]
Where will the city lock up juvenile offenders? As part of his $132.5 million budget plan for 2012-’13, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced juvenile justice legislation which would cut the number of children incarcerated in state-run facilities. A large share of the roughly 650 young people in state facilities come from New York City. Cuomo and […]
