Last night's mayoral debate was full of attacks from both sides and headlines described it as "blistering", "acrid", and "heated." Democrat Bill de Blasio called the tirade on his stance on crime by Republican Joe Lhota "fear mongering" and "race-baiting". They went on to harangue each other about living on different planets. Lhota had quips about Mad Hatters and Tea Parties. De Blasio also avoided offering a substantive answer as to whether he thought Gov. Cuomo would support his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-K. When asked about their biggest regrets, Lhota said it was referring to Port Authority police as “mall cops” and de Blasio said his was putting too much faith in mayoral control of schools. There was some agreement between them: both support Mayor Bloomberg's Battery City-like proposal for housing in the East River, they want to roll-back his green taxi plan, and they're ambivalent about pedestrian plazas in Times Square.
It Ain't Easy Being Green: The Green Party is taking advantage of their ballot status by running candidates across the city. They face the kinds of challenges they have always faced — a lack of campaign infrastructure, being ignored by the media, not being invited to debates. But much has also changed about the public’s attitudes toward them. By David Howard King. READ MORE.
City Says It Is Mostly Prepared For Next Major Storm: Nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy, a top deputy to Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that New York City is better prepared for the next major hurricane — albeit with a lot of caveats. By Chester Soria. READ MORE.
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New York Sets Work Rules For Young Models (NY Times)
Member Of Corruption Commission Calls Legislators Corrupt (Daily News)
Changes Sought In Police Dealings With Ill (Wall Street Journal)
Federal Money For Poor Went To Luxuries (Daily News)
State's Largest Foundations Ramp Up Giving In 2012 (Crain's)
