Bloomberg LP

Thursday night's panel on "Lessons of Robert Moses" at the Museum of the City of New York opened with the patina that the man did, at least, get things done--and that we have figured out how to do so without breaking as many eggs as Mr. Moses did.

But this Bloombergian consensus was shattered by Majora Carter, the one African-American on the panel, the one woman, and the one representative of "the community perspective" (she is executive director of Sustainable South Bronx). Ms. Carter, when innocently asked by the architecture critic for Bloomberg L.P. for her opinion on all the grand-scale planning going on in the city now, took a deep breath, paused for effect, and began:

"This is the first day of Black History Month. I am struck by the irony of the efforts to rehabilitate the image of a man who has done such terrible things to black people...."

Ms. Carter went on for 10 minutes, detailing how the destruction of the Bronx, where she grew up, was still felt today--and was still continuing today, arguing:

"The Bloomberg administration should be commended for its commitment to environmental justice.... However, those are exceptions to the rule..."

She concluded by criticizing the Bloomberg adminstration's plan to put a jail in the South Bronx.

It must have been hard to be Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, who was sitting just four seats away.

- Matthew Schuerman

So here, for the record, are the complete, unabridged lyrics to the song that "Mike Bloomsteen and the Bullpen Band" of deputy mayors performed for mayoral staffers at their Gracie Mansion party last night.

Born to Run

I was born a long, long time ago-and became an Eagle Scout. And then John Hopkins accepted him which they're still happy about. Harvard Grad-then Wall Street pro Got fired, opened a company, made big dough (oh!) Two-term Mayor, so serene Then I read...New York Magazine... I say "Next stop-Washington!" 'Cause folks like us...Baby we were Born to Run!

We'll win, you'll see-and beat the G.O.P. and Democrats Unite the country-make more jobs And banish all trans fat! Fix the schools-make profits grow Get the White House painted saffron by Christo (oh!) I know I said this job I'd keep But Sheekey said "Don't be cheap Only cost you half a bil-ion 'Cause folks like us...Baby, we were Born to Run!

Now let's all follow our leader there And find a treasure trove We all will get big cabinet jobs And I can be Karl Rove I'll become Supreme Court Judge I'll get the Olympics for D.C. In 14 years with him, I'll go from Bloomberg L.P....to Bloomberg V.P.!

The City Hall team is so great - that Bullpen is the best With Leg. Affairs and Research, Correspondence, M.I.S. Operations, Fiscal, too Security, the drivers, C.A.U. (Whoo!) I still wonder what I should do Called my mother - to get her view I said, "Please advise your son" And mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!" Mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!" Mother said - "Baby, you were Born to Run!"

Update: A self-identified conservative Christian from New Jersey called into the mayor's weekly radio program just now to urge Bloomberg to run for president. The mayor said he was flattered, but added, "The bottom line is I'm going to be mayor for the next three years."

-- Azi Paybarah

* Sorry about the late post. More technical issues.

In a WNBC/Marist Poll, 47 percent of people said they would definitely not vote for Hillary.

That same WNBC/Marist poll, and another from Fox, show Hillary leading Barack Obama.

The Chicago-Sun carries a column saying it's time for Obama to run.

Mitt Romney has a stronger hold on the Republican base than John McCain, says Bloomberg News.

Colleagues said that Alan Hevesi plans to stay in office.

The Times editors say that "Mr. Hevesi should resign instead of expecting to be sworn in for a new term."

Hevesi has $118,928 in his campaign account.

Eliot Spitzer hasn't decided whether to invite Hevesi to his inauguration.

WSJ editors weigh in on Spitzer's prosecutorial reputation in the wake of his lawsuit against H&R Block, which was dismissed last week. [subscription]

Joe Bruno and nine state Senate colleagues have spent about one-third of the money that house has appropriated for earmarks in the last two years.

A ballistics report on the Sean Bell shooting was delivered to the Queens District Attorney.

Mike Bloomberg is suing 12 more gun dealers.

New York may not get $2 billion in federal funding for transportation projects as payback for Chuck Schumer's campaign work.

And the City's Campaign Finance Board may increase its support of long-shot candidates in city races.

-- Azi Paybarah

• What do "spiraling construction costs, dizzy real-estate prices and an art market that's gone bonkers" have to do with one another? They're forcing Manhattan's museums to make stupid moves. But some city establishments are faring worse than others -- i.e., "The Whitney has a credibility problem." [Bloomberg News]
• Before Coney Island turns into Reno, New Yorkers should remember that it has a wonderful little history. Hot dogs introdcued (costing a dime) in 1871! Roller coasters in 1884! An elephant-shaped hotel in 1885! Dreamland in 1904! Dreamland "destroyed by fire" in 1911! [Brooklyn Papers]
• Sagaponack may be New York's new home for starchitecture. And "Furniture House #5" may be "the best house in the world." [Apartment Therapy]
• Meth meth meth meth! In a "posh Murray Hill" high-rise penthouse, a Citibank vice president has been cooking up some speedy amphetamines. That's a bad idea, if only because it can make very expensive real estate go boom. [NY1]
- Max Abelson
• 0 comments

Pictured here are attorneys Charlie King and Chase Caro, who said today they are representing five eye-witnesses to the Sean Bell shooting and are withholding their names from the police because the witnesses fear police intimidation.

The two lawyers, who are working pro bono, said their clients are cooperating with the Queens DA, who is also investigating the incident.

Notice the incredulous looking reporter in the blue shirt: Henry Goldman of Bloomberg News.

King and Caro criticized the "aggressive" way in which they said police were looking for a supposed fourth witness to the shooting who can supposedly corroborate the police version of what happened that night.

King said the son of the bishop who was supposed to officiate at Bell's wedding was arrested yesterday at his home around 6 a.m. on a year-old traffic violation. At the station, police only questioned the man about the shooting, not the traffic violation, said King.

Intimidation, or thorough investigation?

Goldman led the questioning to get at that distinction. Here's part of the exchange:

CK: Here is the concern. Everybody that is a friend of the victims in this horrible shooting are being pressured to come before the police to tell them what they know about anything in a way that frightens them.

HG: What is that way?

CK: If a police officer, like I said before, threatens an individual in police custody who is neither charged with a crime or a witness to the event, that in my view is the kind of climate that is being created that puts in fear those witnesses, like mine, who see the kind of pressure that is being put on people.

HG: What's the substance [of that pressure]?

CK: We can talk about it after.

[skip]

CC: The threat is clearly the appearance of the police at the home. If you read the constitution, there is a very specific phrase: rights of persons to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and affects shall not be violated by unreasonable search and seizure.

HG: What did the people search?

CC: It is a search to come to people's home and make them feel insecure.

-- Azi Paybarah

This morning, the world discovered that wonderful Zaha Hadid will be showing--and selling--her first collection of haute furniture late this fall at Chelsea's Phillips de Pury.

Why furniture? Why now? "Well, I mean, it started 20 years ago," the vacationing Ms. Hadid told The Real Estate by phone. "It was part and parcel of the whole idea of interior space--how pieces fit in with the fluid space."

In the early 80s, Ms. Hadid's first solo project was a house on Eaton Place (it won her an Architectural Design Gold Medal). "'How would you furnish these spaces?'" she asked herself then. The answer: "they weren't just, like, purely always functional pieces, but large objects that divide space and add to space."

Why has it taken so long to present her first furniture collection? "It's been very hectic."

The Phillips press release touted Ms. Hadid's "direct dialogue" with its space. But: "I didn't think about them putting in the gallery per se," she pointed out. "You have to work with a domestic space, or a lobby, or a work environment." If December's $296,000 sale of Aqua Table is any indication, the cost of landing a Hadid piece for your personal enviornment will be wildly steep.

Or maybe not. "I've always been interested in doing limited edition pieces, but also mass produced pieces. She pointed to her Alessi tea set, (which, predictably, Bloomberg News recently complained wasn't actually usable.)

But maybe functionality doesn't matter when furniture costs a quarter-million dollars. "It so happens that the Aqua Table has a different version as a production piece--more affordable. Most of our work can exist," she added, referring to mass production (or her version of it). "Though it's quite different."  read more »

Bloomberg News is reporting that Giuliani has declared that he will run as a Republican, not an Independent, if he runs for president in 2008.

Because he is pro-choice, pro-gun control, and pro-gay rights, some poll-watchers have speculated that he will never survive the GOP primary process. But the mayor said he would not forsake his party.

So much for that fun theory.

Also, at the same event -- the World Business Forum in Chicago -- Colin Powell criticized Bush for failing to commit enough troops to Iraq (but said nothing, apparently, about WMDs). And Bill Clinton offered up praise for Al Gore.

-- Lizzy Ratner

“It’s better than having an Applebee’s in the lobby,” said Brian Williams, t  read more »

“It’s better than having an Applebee’s in the lobby,” said Brian Williams, the NBC anchor wh  read more »

Already tired of Le Cirque coverage, you say? Well, there is a lot more than just the red carpet sightings here! Tom McGeveran and Michael Calderone head up to One Beacon Court's 55th floor penthouse, marvel at the technocratic wonderland of Bloomberg LP headquarters, and head downstairs to a couple Le Cirque opening parties.

Matthew Schuerman discovers why New York's big developers have been giving their dough to an upstate Republican Congressman: it's all part of a strategy to make sure the one-seat-ride to J.F.K. Airport gets federal funding. And the Jivamukti yoga center has just opened around Union Square. Sting, Uma, and Russell are all hanging out there. They're eating odd things like "reality sandwiches" and "salvation salads."

Mike's first deputy mayor, Marc Shaw, has resigned. Shaw and former chief-of-staff, Peter Madonia, as Ben previously noted, were the technocrats of City Hall, helping to transition Bloomberg LP into public office.

The mayor's statement:

"For the last four years, New Yorkers have reaped the benefits of the dedication and talent of Marc Shaw. As First Deputy Mayor, Marc was the shrewd and steady hand that helped guide New York through its worst fiscal crisis in a generation. And as we tackled the rebuilding of our City after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Marc's vast experience was critical to stabilizing New York City's government.

"Many of the administration's successes bear his fingerprints, foremost among them, achieving control of New York's Schools. His wise counsel and strategic advice have been invaluable in all aspects of government as we safely endured blackouts and transit strikes. As Marc moves on to new challenges, I wish him and his family the best. He has served our City and State for over 25 years with honor and distinction, and all New Yorkers will miss this great public servant."

—Nicole Brydson

NPR and Bloomberg News are reporting that a man who works with animal skins has contracted anthrax. No terrorism, apparently, but cops have quarantined his workspace in Dumbo and his residence in Greenwich Village.

No telling how this affects Dumbo's property values--but we're thinking not much.

-Matthew Grace

Bouldin over at Daily Gotham thinks Bloomberg will wind up endorsing Eliot Spitzer.

There's a logic to that: If it's Spitzer and a GOPer in the general election, it might be hard for him to back the guy promising to fight the court ruling sending money to the city.

But City Hall types say there's another problem: Mike shares the Street's dislike of Eliot's prosecutorial tactics, which have hit a lot of big Bloomberg LP customers. And that's some kind of bottom line. It may also explain why Tom Suozzi got a seat of honor at the State of the City address.

The Voice has an odd, incomplete piece this week on six former employees of Bloomberg LP whose silence, mostly about discrimination and harassment claims, seems to have been bought in legal settlements.

Several of these were much discussed in Mike's first campaign, and will surprise nobody. The court settlements, like Mike's personal gifts to friends and employees, always private, are certainly part of a general muffling of criticism that his money accomplishes. On the other hand, having billions of dollars and a reputation for quiet payouts does make one more likely to get sued.

The Voice adds one story about Bloomberg LP that is impossible to evaluate because the Voice won't print what it knows.

That's the tale of Burton Waddy. "A top black executive at the company until June 2005, he left deeply disturbed about comments he regarded as racial that were allegedly made by Bloomberg."  read more »

The Voice piece goes on to suggest that its former reporter won't hand over the tape and that, while Waddy has repeated the contents to others, the Voice won't print them because its sources refused to discuss them on the record "for fear of hurting Waddy."

Now this is either a very big story -- Mike making racist remarks? -- or absolutely nothing. So it seems odd to float it like this, at the bottom of a story, and in the form of innuendo.

What timing! Bloomberg Radio 1130 is turning Ed Koch's commentary into a call-in show, and moving the Bloomberg endorser into a popular Friday evening drive-time slot, the Jewish Week reports (fourth item): "But don't read too much into it, says Stu Loeser, his campaign spokesman. 'The Mayor has never used his media outlets for campaign purposes.'"  read more »

In his latest effort to revive New York's sagging economy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is traveling to L  read more »

Anyone who's ridden in one of the city's shiny new subway cars has probably noticed the recorded voi  read more »

An architect who worked for Michael Bloomberg in the 1990's has launched a multimillion-dollar lawsu  read more »

On Sept.  read more »

If Mayor Michael Bloomberg's cuts to the city's cultural institutions go through as planned, high-pr  read more »

One of the usual laments about public education in this city is its hidebound bureaucracy, imperviou  read more »

Hoping to diminish concern about its impartiality during Michael Bloomberg's tenure as Mayor, Bloomb  read more »

In a development that could shed light on the closely guarded inner workings of Michael Bloomberg's  read more »

On Tuesday, Nov.  read more »