Peter Vallone, Jr.

During Michael Bloomberg's weekly radio appearance on 77 WABC, host John Gambling asked him about Peter Vallone, Jr.'s most recent effort to have New York City secede from New York State and form the 51st state. Vallone's reasoning is mainly economic--the city should stop giving money to the state because it isn't getting enough in return.  read more »

The Department of Education faces another lawsuit, this one over racial exclusion in schools. [New York Times]

A report ordered by Ray Kelly shows racial discrepancy among those stopped by police. [City Room]  read more »

A whistleblower protection bill supported for so long by UFT president Randi Weingarten easily passed the City Council's Education Committee early today.

The bill had exactly one opponent on the committee, Peter Vallone, Jr.

His explanation: "Very strong whistleblower protection laws already exist."

The bill comes up for a vote in front of the full Council tomorrow.

-- Azi Paybarah

On the still-hot topic of the NYPD's undercover surveillance leading up to the Republican National Convention in 2004, I' got a couple of starkly different reactions from members of the City Council.

Charles Barron, who was one of three current or former Council members named in the police report, was outraged to have been the target of a spy operation. But Peter Vallone, Jr. told me, essentially, that he had it coming, saying that "any group Charles Barron is associated with" probably should be monitored.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a clip of Councilman Peter Vallone laying into a representative from Con Ed New York City Economic Development Corporation after it finally delivered a long-awaited report -- just minutes before today's hearing about last year's blackout and Con Ed's preparedness for spikes in usage this summer.

"You know, we're used to this double-talk from Con Ed," Vallone said at one point, "but we did not expect that today."

-- Azi Paybarah

Before the public safety hearing ended, Peter Vallone, Jr. stepped into the hallway to vent about Charles Barron and the heated exchange they had during the committee meeting.

"He's part of the problem," Vallone said. "He incites racial tensions for his own political benefit."

It has become, he said, something of a routine.

"Charlie does this at every hearing, so I expected something like this. And I always give him time to put on his little show."

The two-minute clip is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Insert the one-time Black Panther Charles Barron into a public safety hearing led by the pro-cop Peter Vallone, Jr. and well, you get some interesting exchanges.

Below is a short, rough transcript from one exchange during the meeting, which you can also hear over here.

Vallone: This is not your hearing, this is ours.

Barron: I'm not finished...In another two minutes, I'll be finished.

Vallone: You got 30 seconds.

Barron: I got 2 minutes. Those days are over, Peter.

Vallone: What days would those be Council member Barron? What days would those be?

Barron: Those days when you had the control.

-- Azi Paybarah

• The Dickensian lives of Chinatown's restaurant workers, in the downtown transient hotels where they live. (The New York Times)
• The city's population will hit 9 million by 2020, and the city is drafting a plan to make sure there are enough jobs and apartments for them all.(The New York Times)
• One solution: The New York Times pushes readers to move abroad.
• Gentrification notwithstanding, West African restaurants in Harlem are doing well, according to one aficionado. (The Village Voice)
• Literary socialites scatter as the Accompanied Library in the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park is getting pushed out of its quirky, elegant home. (Page Six)
• Lower East Side club Pianos fires its Friday night hip-hop DJ, in search of a "posh crowd." Race quickly comes to the fore. (The Village Voice)
• Cell phone antennas can earn landlords up to $20,000 a month, but Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. calls it an "epidemic." (New York Daily News)
• Just when "hidden" Lower East Side bar and restaurant Freemans slipped low on the hot list, it's building its way up. (Curbed)
• New York magazine does the math on what it takes to start the five most evil kinds of retail business, including a West Village kids' store and a Lower East Side bar. (New York)
• Turning streets into pedestrian-only promenades has fallen out of favor in Manhattan as blight-inducing; but the city is happy to close Pacific Street for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal. Here, Brooklynites take down the idea. (Brooklyn Views)
• There was a 43 percent increase in remodeling projects between 2001 and 2005. But, what are the worthwhile renovation investments? (Forbes)
• The best restaurants to get fat in. (New York)
• Michael Schvo hates killing trees--unless it's to build--and relies on technology for the paperwork. (New York)
• Halvah mousse makes fine Israeli dining in Park Slope's Miriam. (New York)
• The Algonquin hotel gives a "writers' rate" for a night. (Hotel Chatter)
• Moby's Kent Cliffs, New York home is up for sale and in need of a decorator. (Luxist)
• Triple Mint is back, with a close look at Ian Schrager's 40 Bond. (Triple Mint)

- Riva Froymovich  read more »