The New York Observer » Editorials

Reading Between the Lines: ‘New York Post’ Supports Message of Occupy Wall Street

You might read this morning's editorial in the New York Post, "Time to throw the bums out," as a knock on the Occupy Wall Street protests. After all, so far the paper has been pretty negative about the whole Zuccotti Park scene, calling it a drug-laden, hippie den that is a breeding ground for sexual malarkey and criminal activity. But it turns out the Post is quite sympathetic to the cause...if you read between the lines.
Read More

Really No Hope For Atlantic Yards Opponents

There was something devilishly brilliant to how Daniel Goldstein, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, and a handful of lawsuits nearly brought down the massive $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project. For years, the arena cum condos were held off by one suit after another, first at the federal level, then in the state courts. The legal challenges Read More

Joe Bruno and Justice

Liberals and conservatives don't agree on much these days, but the Supreme Court's recent decision to weaken a broad anti-corruption statute was unambiguously unanimous. In ruling that parts of the so-called "honest services" law was far too vague, the Court essentially built on the courtroom cliché that a good prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich. Read More

Aqueduct, Again

The more we learn about the failed attempt to rig the bidding process for the Aqueduct racetrack casino, the more we realize just how crooked Albany has become.

Readers no doubt will recall that the long-stalled plan to build a slot-machine casino at the Queens racetrack collapsed several months ago when the state awarded, Read More

Bullet Point

It seems like a no-brainer: Why not use modern technology to virtually stamp bullet casings, which often are the sole pieces of evidence left behind at a shooting scene? If those casings can be traced to the gun's owner, wouldn't it be easier to catch and jail assailants and murderers?

Dozens of police departments Read More

A Justice Story

The world has changed since New York was the nation’s political epicenter, producing presidential nominees in every national election from 1928 to 1948. The state long ago ceded raw political power to the Sunbelt in general and California in particular, content to serve as the political system’s all-important source of campaign cash.

Pundits and political observers Read More

Progress in Brooklyn

The saga of Atlantic Yards in downtown Brooklyn may be about to reach a satisfying denouement. One of the most vocal opponents of developer Bruce Ratner’s plans for the site, Daniel Goldstein, has agreed to accept a $3 million payment for his apartment, despite having promised that he would stand his ground.

There are no more Read More

Foot Traffic

Mayor Bloomberg clearly has a thing for open-air plazas, pedestrian malls and al fresco dining. That’s fine—but the question is whether City Hall’s latest plans to reroute vehicular traffic in Manhattan will only worsen gridlock years from now. Snarled traffic makes for snarling motorists and delivery drivers—and that’s bad for business.

Last week, City Hall unveiled Read More

Vatican’s Vile Rhetoric

The Roman Catholic Church faces a credibility crisis of historic proportions. Tens of millions of Catholics in the United States, Ireland and even Pope Benedict XVI’s home country of Germany are completely frustrated with the church’s response to the appalling behavior of priests who abused children and the bishops who covered up the crimes.

Criticism has Read More

N.Y.U.’s Growth Spurt

If New York is to retain its leadership in the 21st-century economy, it needs a steady supply of smart, creative young people with the energy to re-create, reignite and re-imagine the city of yesterday and today.

That’s why New York University’s bold plan to expand its presence in the Village and elsewhere is a welcome sign. Read More

Strength in Numbers

The city has been bleeding blue for nearly a decade now. With new and frightening threats to our safety and psyche, it’s time to stanch the wound.Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently told the City Council that the number of police officers under his command may soon shrink to its lowest figure in nearly two decades—to Read More

Probe This Smelly Deal

Law-enforcement authorities—that means you, Attorney General Cuomo—should be asking pointed questions about the odoriferous goings-on at Aqueduct Racetrack. Like the calling card of Aqueduct’s principal entertainers—thoroughbred racehorses—this deal stinks to high heaven.

Governor Paterson’s decision to give a politically connected company the rights to transform the Queens racetrack into a quasi-casino represents all that is wrong Read More

A Dicey Decision

After years of inexplicable delay, the state has settled on a private company to run a new casino planned for Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Governor Paterson chose an outfit called Aqueduct Entertainment Group even though one of the other four bidders, Penn National, offered more money—$300 million—as an initial payment to the state, and another Read More

A Strategic Retreat

Give the Obama White House good marks for recognizing a mistake—holding terrorism trials in downtown New York—and correcting it before any damage was gone. But give city officials and advocates even higher grades for calling attention to the ill-advised plan, showing precisely how it would have impacted downtown businesses and skillfully persuading the White House Read More

Race to the Bottom

It’s hardly a secret that the United Federation of Teachers is the most powerful force for the status quo in public education today. From charter schools to teacher accountability, the UFT stands in the way of some of the most creative reforms in public education today.

Now, however, the union bosses are no longer content with Read More