ALBANY—It seems that Malcolm Smith and the Senate Democrats have come up with a plan that's easy to hate. Transportation advocates, business groups and the governor are all taking shots at the Senate majority leader's just-announced plan to address the M.T.A.'s budget shortfall. Near as I can tell, Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives struck first, Read More
ALBANY—It seems that Malcolm Smith and the Senate Democrats have come up with a plan that's easy to hate.
Transportation advocates, business groups and the governor are all taking shots at the Senate majority leader's just-announced plan to address the M.T.A.'s budget shortfall.
Near as I can tell, Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives struck Read More
ALBANY—The M.T.A. board just wrapped up a special board meeting in midtown Manhattan to emphasize that the March 25 deadline they set for a bailout from Albany to avoid implementing the "doomsday" budget is absolutely real. Transit advocates—including the Empire State Transportation Alliance, which has also been lobbying in Albany—testified about the need to act Read More
ALBANY—The M.T.A. board just
Transit advocates—including the Empire State Transportation Alliance, which has also been lobbying in Albany—testified about the need to act as quickly as possible as people holding signs urged action in the State Senate.
Yesterday, Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith accused the M.T.A. of "holding the public hostage" by Read More
ALBANY—At the same time Dick Ravitch and members of the M.T.A. are set to meet with state senators, the chairman of the Finance Committee blasted the proposal to toll East River bridges as a "non-starter" and "an attack on our outer boroughs."
"A large percentage of outer-borough residents live in areas that are inaccessible to Read More
“I think I speak for all the board members when I say, ‘Wow,’” said Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger after hearing the full slate of proposed Read More
"Think ol' Dale [Hemmerdinger, M.T.A. chairman and also Damon's father] can Read More
The son of MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger is handing out $50 bills on Friday afternoon to patrons at his Atlas Park shopping center in Glendale.
Ironically, Manhattanites looking to cash in should be aware of bus delays.
Within Read More
Roger Stone doesn’t think much of the suggestion (based on my reading of a Weekly Standard story) that he had any role in drumming up a controversy over the fact that Eliot Spitzer’s father and MTA nominee Dale Hemmerdinger were members of the racially un-diverse Harmonie Club. Hemmerdinger's membership became a contentious political Read More
A new Weekly Standard profile of Roger Stone has a suggestive nugget implying that he is still playing a quietly active role in a broad-based anti-Spitzer coalition:
From the story: Stone walks everywhere, abhorring cabs because they have lousy air conditioning and "sweating through a suit--that is the worst thing in the world." His Read MoreHeres a letter from Democratic Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell urging state Senators not to confirm Eliot Spitzer’s nominee to lead the MTA, Dale Hemmerdinger, because of Hemmerdigner’s association with a private club supposedly lacking in diversity. From the October 22 letter: “In fact, the Harmonie Club had no minority members at Read More
Attached is the actual letter from Roger Stone apologizing to Dale Hemmerdinger, Chairman of the MTA, Democratic fund-raiser, and owner of the building where Stone lives, for saying Hemmerdinger, in essence, framed Stone for the prank phone call to Eliot Spitzer's father.
After the call was traced to a telephone number registered to Stone's Read More
A month into his third term, Governor George Pataki unveiled a budget that has won him acclaim in national Republican circles for its strict adherence to a pro-growth, no-new-taxes philosophy. At the same time, he has deferred many tough budgetary choices, plugging the state's $10 billion budget gap with temporary measures that will leave the Read More
In search of a cure for the city's looming deficit, senior advisers to Mayor Michael Bloomberg have privately floated an astonishing range of tax increases and budget cuts-including a property-tax hike of at least 20 percent, a cut of at least 15 percent to the city's cultural institutions, and even the outright closing of some Read More
