Bertha Lewis

Chuck Schumer's DC communications director, Eric Schultz, is going to work for John Edwards.

Bertha Lewis wants Mayor Bloomberg to demonstrate that he's really listening to parents about school reform by attending an event at St. Vartan's Cathedral tonight.

Andrew Cuomo said that public authorities cannot pay health insurance benefits for their board members. Malcolm Smith took credit for Joe Bruno's clever political move today.

Tomorrow, state agencies have to tell Governor Spitzer which of their meetings fall under the state's open meeting laws.

Streetsblog has info about the City Council's effort to curb pedicabs.

Harry Siegel tries explaining the impact of yesterday's market plunge.

Dan Janison is there for a poignant moment with Michael Balboni.

Curbed looks for NYC's ugliest building.

Dan Gerstein likes a new group blog about 2008 politics.

And pictured above is City Councilman Domenic Recchia with a colorful scarf.

-- Azi Paybarah

The same day ACORN's Bertha Lewis comes out with a defense of Atlantic Yards, the Mayor announces a final plan for the $130 million Housing Trust Fund supported by the Battery Park City Authority. Lewis reiterates that Atlantic Yards will serve moderate- and middle-income folks --60 percent of its affordable rental units will go to families earning more than half of the area median household income--the civil servants and teachers and police officers whom she thinks face the most unaddressed housing shortages.

But the Mayor today indicated that the city had different priorities: the majority of that trust fund--$70 million--is going to "hard to reach populations," including the very poor (those earning less than 30 percent of the median, who will not be served at all by Atlantic Yards), and households with moderate income (earning 60 to 80 percent of the median, who will receive just about 10 percent of the 2,250 affordable units at Atlantic Yards).

-Matthew Schuerman

Early on the evening of June 13, basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson was standing b  read more »

Atlantic Yards ur-opponent Daniel Goldstein got quoted in Ben Smith's Daily News column today, but it might be the type of publicity he would rather not have. The African-Americans who support arena-and-housing complex, Smith quotes Goldstein as writing in an e-mail, were tools of "wealthy white masters." There has been a racial undertone throughout this debate, but this comment, we think, opens another front. Black leaders in favor of the project, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and ACORN's Bertha Lewis, sent out a press release this afternoon calling on Goldstein's group, Develop--Don't Destroy Brooklyn, to apologize, and for their chief political supporter, Council Member Letitia James, to denounce the comment as well.

Smith put the quote in context on his blog.  read more »

We are waiting to hear from Goldstein. Meanwhile, the full release is after the jump.

-Matthew Schuerman

Forest City Ratner has scaled down its Atlantic Yards project by about 475,000 square feet, or 5.2 percent. The developer says in a press release that the height of the arena-and-housing complex has been "reduced by a combined 231 feet, or roughly 23 floors." Never fear--Miss Brooklyn will still top out at 620 feet. Who would lose out at the chance of building the tallest building in the borough?

This all in connection with the final scoping document, out today.

Press release, and Bertha Lewis' statement, after the jump.

-Matthew Schuerman CORRECTION: An earlier post gave the wrong name for the tallest tower in the complex and a wrong percentage reduction for total square feet.  read more »

Endorsing Freddy Ferrer today, ACORN chief Bertha Lewis was asked about the warm kiss she gave Mayor Bloomberg not long ago. "Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss," she said, striking a wifely pose beside Freddy after a chaste kiss on his cheek. "But some people you marry."  read more »