Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

  • The Week That Was in New York Politics, June 15-19

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    photo: Stanley Kubrick via Museum of the City of New York


    Gotham Gazette's Week in Review, Friday June 19

    PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the groundbreaking for the Cornel Technion campus on Roosevelt Island, praising former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced a $100 million donation to the school; ...

  • Would Expired Rent Regs, Mayoral School Control Spell Doomsday for New York City?

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    De Blasio & Cuomo (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)


    "Mayor of the City of New York, frustrated with Albany? Now there's a shocker," Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded on Thursday to reporters who inquired about Mayor Bill de Blasio's concerns over Albany's reluctance to deliver more than simple extenders of policies like mayoral control of schools and rent regulations that impact

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  • Flanked by Business Leaders, De Blasio Continues Mayoral Control Push

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    Mayor de Blasio in a classroom (photo: @BilldeBlasio)


    After meeting privately with a bipartisan group of business leaders at City Hall on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio told members of the media that there is widespread agreement mayoral control of city schools must be extended by Albany lawmakers. And, he said, these business leaders, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and others believe it must be extended for at least three years.

  • Education Upheaval in Albany is Backdrop to DOE Budget Hearing

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    Chancellor Carmen Farina testifying Thursday (photo: @MarkLevineNYC)


    With an eye on Albany, it was time Thursday morning for New York City schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to again testify in front of the City Council about her agency's proposed fiscal year 2016 budget and key education issues facing the city. The heightened level of concern with events in the capital comes amid shakeups in state leadership, important legislation on the negotiating table with deadlines looming, and recently passed controversial state teacher evaluation laws.

  • Dean Skelos Thwarted Reform and Maintained Power, Despite the Odds

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    Dean Skelos in 2012 (photo: The Governor's Office via flickr)


    In June 2008, after serving 23 years as the State Senator from Nassau County, Dean Skelos inherited the troubled Republican conference from retiring Majority Leader Joe Bruno. It wasn't exactly the most enviable position.

    Facing an aging conference and with Democrats enjoying a huge enrollment advantage across the state, 2009 saw

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  • Assessing Resilience Planning: Is the City Preparing Smartly for the Rising Risks of Climate Change?

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    Rooftop greenery is part of the plan (photo: PlaNYC via flickr)


    At one of many such meetings now taking place throughout the city's waterfront, residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn, gathered recently at a local community center to hear about the dramatic expansion of federal flood zones in their area and what the new designation would cost them.

    As in other coastal neighborhoods, Red Hook struggles with a variety of flooding-related issues. Area homes, businesses and public housing developments suffered heavy

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  • Comptroller Site Offers Initial Window Into Cloudy World of City Subcontracting

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    Comptroller Stringer at a recent press conference (photo: @scottmstringer)


    In February, Comptroller Scott Stringer declared that his office's online City-spending tracking tool, Checkbook NYC, would start providing information about subcontracts handed out by prime vendors working with the City. The push to publicly display what is billions of dollars of often

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  • Theme of James' Mayoral Control Forums: More Local Say

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    PA James at Friday's event (photo: Sara Valenzuela)


    With a Wednesday evening event in Manhattan, Public Advocate Letitia James concluded her five-borough "Our School, Our Voices" series of community forums on the future of mayoral control of the city's schools.

    Speaking before a gathering of around 60 people at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, James raised the issue of increasing local control over school governance through more community engagement and parental involvement. "Mayoral control has functioned as

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  • Assembly Budget Champions De Blasio Agenda

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    Mayor de Blasio (photo: @BilldeBlasio)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio got a boost from Assembly Democrats on Tuesday in the form of their one-house budget proposal that includes a number of the mayor's major priorities. Facing a state budget negotiation with his agenda at the mercy of his rival-pal Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Senate Republicans who he unsuccessfully tried to unseat last year, de Blasio needed some help.

    Bargaining help arrived thanks in part to de Blasio's new Albany ally, recently minted Assembly Speaker Carl

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  • At Initial Hearing, Council Members Question Budget Transparency

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    CM Ferreras questions administration officials (photo: @JulissaFerreras)


    NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio calls his budget fiscally responsible, progressive, and honest. But is it transparent? According to members of the City Council, it needs some improvement in that regard.

    On Wednesday, the Council held its first in a series of hearings on the mayor's fiscal year 2016 preliminary budget. Gone were the

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  • The Mayor's Vacant Lots

    vacant lot - Walton Ave - Bronx

    A vacant lot in the Bronx


    City Seeks to Sharpen Picture of Vacant Lots and Add Incentives to Boost Affordable Housing

    A neat stretch of row houses comes to an abrupt halt at 2247 Walton Ave., in the Bronx, where a boarded-up house warning of rat poison sits beside a fenced-in lot covered in dead grass and garbage. The site has remained empty for several years and has served as an effective backdrop for media events held by Picture the Homeless, an advocacy group headquartered

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