The New York Observer » Christine Quinn http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:37:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Quinn Tackles Affordable Housing and Maintenance Problems In State of the City Address In between heavy dollops of sentiment, Christine Quinn cemented some specific plans to combat the affordable housing problem and the facilitation of upgrading the City’s landlord maintenance code in her State of the City address last week.

Ms. Quinn outlined how the Housing Preservation and Development Department is extending affordability to 60 years for some of the biggest developments. Affordability agreements currently stand at just the 30-year mark. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/02/quinn-tackles-affordable-housing-and-maintenance-problems-in-state-of-the-city-address/ Green Bureaucracy: In Two Years, City Has Passed 25 Percent of Its Sustainable Building Bills The current mild winter, without the habitual annoyance of your feet tracking  snow all over the apartment, could excuse some hard-nosed New Yorkers for not giving two hoots about global warming.

However today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that 29 recommendations aimed at making the city's buildings more sustainable have been drafted into law. Eight more recommendations are currently being codified. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/02/green-bureaucracy-in-two-years-city-has-passed-25-percent-of-its-sustainable-building-bills/ East River Ferry So Successful, They’re Giving Away Rides Today All the haters can walk the plank.

East River ferry service has struggled for years, arguably because it lacked the critical mass, but that is clearly no longer a problem. The service has its six-month anniversary today, and in celebration, all rides today are free. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/east-river-ferry-so-successful-theyre-giving-away-rides-today/ Quinn’s Test of Leadership The millionaire’s tax—which places a surcharge on people who are not millionaires—isn’t the only poorly named piece of legislation under debate in New York. The City Council recently held hearings on a terrible government mandate called the “living wage” bill. The bill would force private companies working on government-subsidized construction projects to pay employees $10 per hour plus health benefits, or $11.50 without benefits. The minimum wage currently is $7.25.

The “living wage” bill would be, in fact, a job-destruction bill. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/quinns-test-of-leadership/ Knives Out: Politicians Blast Bloomberg’s Zuccotti Eviction; Occupy Enters New Phase In the aftermath of Mayor Bloomberg’s clearing of Zuccotti Park last week, as helmeted police were still pushing stragglers up Broadway and the first morning commuters appeared, a protester named Jake shouted a warning at the cadre of cops shoving protesters away from their erstwhile home.

“There were people smoking crack, people with puppies begging for money, we looked like shit,” Jake yelled to the police. “Now what do we look like? Peaceful protesters getting our asses kicked. This is the best thing that could have happened. There are thousands of people watching us.” Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/knives-out-politicians-blast-bloombergs-zuccotti-eviction-occupy-enters-new-phase/ Who Let The Dogs In! Bed Bug Bloodhounds Join HPD Inspection Team To combat the city's growing bed bug problem, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has gone to the dogs. Say hello to Nemo and Mickey, the latest members of the department's Maintenance Code inspection team. And rather than the vet, the two Beagles were fortunate enough to get their tags—we mean badges—from Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Housing Commissioner Mathew Wambua.

"Awww, look at their little jackets," cooed Ms. Quinn when she first set eyes on the dogs. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/who-let-the-dogs-in-bed-bug-bloodhounds-join-hpd-inspection-team/ City Council Speaker Quinn and Her Leadership Test City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants to be mayor in two years. The man who holds that job now, Michael Bloomberg, has made it clear that he thinks Ms. Quinn would be a suitable successor.

That’s all very nice, but ambition and endorsements alone do not make a credible candidate. Leadership matters, as two successive mayors have demonstrated. Ms. Quinn is about to get a chance to show whether or not she is a leader. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/10/city-council-speaker-quinn-and-her-leadership-test/ Clinton Douses “Good-looking Rascal” Rick Perry at Firemen Party, Liu Dresses the Part Before Bill Clinton walked onto the stage in the Hilton Hotel’s third-floor ballroom, he stood in the wings as the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters praised him for nearly six minutes.

“Simply put,” said  I.A.F.F. general president Harold Schaitberger, Mr. Clinton is “the kind of leader American workers need more of holding office today at every level of government.” Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/08/clinton-douses-good-looking-rascal-rick-perry-at-firemen-party-liu-dresses-the-part/ The Bard, the Park and the Public: The Public Theater’s 2011 Gala On what could only be described as a glorious midsummer night, the Public Theater celebrated its annual summer gala in Central Park. A sit-down dinner preceded a star-infused performance of All’s Well That Ends Well, one of Shakespeare’s lesser known works, directed by Daniel Sullivan. Players from the worlds of Broadway, Hollywood and New York’s Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/06/the-bard-the-park-and-the-public-the-public-theaters-2011-gala/ Speaker Quinn Cuts In On Budget Debate After Mayor Bloomberg released his bad-news budget several weeks ago, we argued in this space that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—another mayoral aspirant—had to do more than complain about cuts to popular programs. If she wanted to be taken seriously, we argued, she had to provide an alternative vision. She did just that the other Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/Speaker-Christine-Quinn-Mayor-Michael-Bloomberg-Budget A Bleak City Budget, But What Did You Expect? It's not as though he didn't warn us.

When Mayor Bloomberg stepped to the podium to deliver his bad-news budget the other day, the only people who seemed surprised to learn about massive teacher layoffs and other painful cutbacks were members of the City Council, who reflexively denounced the Mayor's difficult decisions. That is their Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/opinion/bleak-city-budget-what-did-you-expect Co-op Flop: City Reassesing Serious Tax Hikes If the computer's don't kill us, the taxes will.

The city's Department of Finance began using a new formula along with new computational software last year to calculate taxes for the city's vast swathes of co-operative housing stock last year. It resulted in huge new assessments for hundreds of buildings, according to The Journal, driving up Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/co-op-flop-city-reassesing-serious-tax-hikes Roundup: NY Picks Up Government Money, Quinn Picks Up Votes

Photograph of (left to right) Mary Pratys(?), May Tobin, and Joyce Michaelian holding paper fans printed with "Rockefeller for Governor" at the GOP convention in Rochester, NY. (James Nevins Cite asCourtesy of the Westchester County Archives)

Same-Sex Marriage: Christine Quinn said at least one prior No vote will be Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/politics/roundup-ny-picks-government-money-quinn-picks-votes Morning Read: Bloomberg’s Solar Panels, Spitzer’s Criticism

Federal Budget: George Pataki creates new group to push 2012 candidates on debt issues. [Devlin Barrett]

Economy: Bernanke will face the media next week. [Jon Hilsenrath]

2012: Americans Elect party to hold Internent nominating convention next summer. [Greg Lucas]

2012: Editors refer to "Westcheter's own Donald Trump." [Lohud.com]

2012: Will Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/politics/morning-read-bloombergs-solar-panels-spitzers-criticism Bradley Tusk Explains His Education Meetings In Daniel Massey's story this weekend, he has info about meetings Christine Quinn attended with education advocates, that were organized by Bradley Tusk. 

In an email, Tusk has more to say about the meetings those meetings:

"The specifics of what Danny was referring to was the beginning phases of meetings and outreach from the education reform community Read More

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