New York City

Oh, poor New York. It just isn’t getting any better for you at the movies, is it?

After seeing I am Legend, with the haunted empty Manhattan streets, and the rabid virus-mutated zombies, and the German Shepherd, etc., you might think you’d be prepared to watch Cloverfield.

And you’d think wrong!

The top secret J.J. Abrams produced-project has had people speculating for months about just what was going to be destroying New York this time. Weather has been done already. Germs too. And terrorism … oh wait, that was real ... and for anyone who spent time in New York in the fall of 2001, certain scenes in this movie will feel almost unbearably too close.

Do any of us really need to watch a building collapse downtown, only to send up a rolling, menacing thick cloud of dust? Or, to see dazed and traumatized people wandering about with ash on their face?  read more »

Ripped open by an iceberg!  read more »

Could New York City be losing its place as the world’s foremost art emporium?  read more »

Everyone knows that signing a lease in New York City is a lot easier than buying, but that’s d  read more »

The Observer's and (The Real Estate's) Matthew Schuerman is scheduled to be interviewed this evening on WNYC about the obstacles to green buildings examined in last week's article on microturbines.

A related Observer story on waterless urinals ran last year; the urinals, unlike microturbines, have actually gained a foothold in New York City. (How's that for priorities?)

Tune in to 820 AM or 93.9 FM or via the Web at the bottom of the 5 o'clock hour.

New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy has cranked out another annual State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods. The initial focus of the report appears to be on the growing, gnawing lack of housing affordability for much of the city:

The report... finds that the median home sales price in New York City rose by 68 percent from 2000 to 2005, adjusting for inflation. This is welcome news for existing homeowners, but it also means that homeownership is harder to attain. Fewer than 5 percent of home sales in 2005 were affordable to New Yorkers earning the City's median income ($43,434), down from 11 percent in 2000.

One wonders, however, how much worse this affordability crisis has become--but the above statistic and its conclusion, like others throughout the report, come from numbers that are now at least 15 months old. The report, then, for example, pre-dates the subprime-mortgage imbroglio and the cooling of the national housing market.

Still, it may be worth your perusal.

- Tom Acitelli

Hell's Kitchen Is Too Pretty For Reality TV Hollywood screenwriter Bobby Moresco spoke in Dickensian terms about growing up Irish in Hell's Kitchen, back in the mob-ruled pre-condo era. "For me, it was the greatest life on the face of the earth," he told The Observer. "It turned into the worst life on the face of the earth." Go to story by Chris Shott. Second Avenue Subway Convert Protects First Leg of Biggest Dig Thursday's groundbreaking for the Second Avenue Subway will be a huge victory for the new chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but the hardest part may lie ahead--finding the money to complete a project that has been abandoned twice before. Go to story by Matthew Schuerman. Council: We Want Control Of All School Sites Everyone knows signing a lease in New York City is a lot easier than buying, but that's doubly true if you're opening a new school. Ordinarily, the city Department of Education needs City Council approval to construct a new school, but council members recently discovered that schools have been opening up in leased buildings for years without anyone even mentioning it to them. Go to story by Craig LeMoult. Macklowes Mull East 57th Street Monster Tower Harry and Billy Macklowe are so busy. Two months ago they more than doubled their New York portfolio with a $7 billion buy from Blackstone. And now here comes their next prize. Introducing Craig Nassi! He wants to buy 3 million feet of Manhattan He said he's serious about Manhattan. He said he's bullish about office space in Manhattan. He said he's going to buy a lot of office towers, that's how serious he is. Welcome to New York, Craig Nassi! Go to Commercial Breaks by John Koblin. Smith & Wollensky Takes It in The Chops The rather crude talk and mere pub fare might not exactly reflect the intended high-end image of such a traditionally refined outfit as Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group. But the more relaxed vibe may represent the future of the now-beleaguered Manhattan-based brand. Go to Counter Espionage by Chris Shott. 'Money Honey,' Hubby Buy $6.5 M. East Side Townhouse Despite her salacious scandal earlier this year, CNBC's top anchor, Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo, and husband Jonathan Steinberg are settling into domestic bliss: They've closed on a five-level townhouse on East 62nd Street, paying $6.5 million. Time Warner Chief Cedes Tribeca Summit Dominance for $2.2 M. Manhattan tycoons should have bad toupees and bad tempers and badly decorated Fifth Avenue triplexes. But Dick Parsons, the mild chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc., has sold off one of his comparatively modest apartments atop 166 Duane Street. Go to Manhattan Transfers by Max Abelson. Mutual Assured Construction In the first quarter of 2007, the Manhattan housing market notched a record number of apartment sales for a single quarter. In the same three-month period, the Manhattan office market recorded its lowest vacancy rate since early 2001. Is this simultaneous success a coincidence? Maybe. But probably not. Go to The Lab by Tom Acitelli. Cruise Decor Redefines 21st-Century Love Boats Not only are cruising enthusiasts starting younger and long before retirement, but New York City's cruise industry is booming with the 30-year master plan, according to the Economic Development Corporation. Go to Interiors by Toni Schlesinger. Ian Schrager: Viewing Studio 54 From Age 60 The man who forever placed 'boutique' before 'hotel' talks about his High Line plans, Brooklyn dreams, and why he wouldn't mind selling One Madison's clock tower. Go to The Sit-Down by Max Abelson. Deeds and Deals A Week in New York Real Estate

• 66 Pearl Street sells for $19 M.
[Real Deal]
• Ethan Allen leasing 37,000sf in 1010 Third Ave. [2nd item]
[NY Post]
• Health Department crackdown snares big-name eateries.
[NY Post]
• City Housing Authority faces $225 M. deficit.
[NY Times]
• Manhattan office rents hit record highs.
[NY Times]
• A look inside retail condos in Manhattan.
[NY Times]
• In the housing slump, maybe it's time to rent.
[NY Times]
• Commission names Jackie Robinson Pool a landmark.
[NY Sun]

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This'll keep that Bloomberg for President chatter going, I think.

"New York City will serve as the host city for the second C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, May 14-17, 2007. The international conference, which will include sessions at Manhattan venues, will feature keynote addresses by William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States of America, and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg."

There's more on the event over here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Get used to it: New York's new moniker. It came up on Tuesday during an announcement of the city's carbon-emissions benchmarks for charting the progress of the whole NYC 2030-PlaNYC thing. (The phrase has been around for a while, though.)

Some interesting findings:

• 79 percent of emissions come from buildings;
• New Yorkers produce less than a third of the pollution that U.S. residents do on a per capita basis;
• city government emissions have leveled out over the past five years.

Press release after the jump.  read more »

- Matthew Schuerman
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The newest member of an obscure panel that gives out hundreds of millions of dollars in city tax breaks each year, the Industrial Development Agency, is promising to cast a skeptical eye on the process.

"New York is so vibrant and strong that companies are under significant pressure to be in New York City," Kevin Doyle, executive vice president for Local 32BJ, told The Real Estate. "What's the rationale for spending public money to do things that [companies] are going to be doing anyway?"

It is rare that a labor representative sits on the I.D.A. board of directors. Mr. Doyle, 58, was recommended to the post by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who has a close relationship with 32BJ, an 85,000-member division of the Service Employees International Union, which represents building workers.

Mr. Doyle also said he would question the labor practices of companies applying for tax incentives, mentioning that JP Morgan Chase, which is reportedly pushing for more subsidies to move to Ground Zero, pays its security guards "as little as $8 an hour."

Mr. Doyle, who was appointed in February, is realistic about the impact he will have, given that nine of the 15 members are appointed by the Mayor, and the others, recommended by the borough presidents and city comptroller, must be confirmed by him. (There are currently some vacancies.)

"It's a mayorally driven process," he said.

- Matthew Schuerman

The city's health commissioner is attempting to clarify his position on government support for circumcision as a means of reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS.

In a letter forwarded to me by a reader (and subsequently posted on this website), Tom Frieden wrote:

"We do not yet know what impact circumcision could have on HIV transmission in New York City, and we have not suggested or planned any initiative or campaign. Quite to the contrary, I indicated in an interview with the New York Times (the source of the misrepresentation) that I very much doubted that even 1% of men at high risk in NYC would undergo the procedure."

The rest of the letter is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

• New boutique hotel on Soho's edge?
[NY Post]
• 400,000sf lease at 1271 Sixth closes. [2nd item]
[NY Post]
• City OKs redevelopment for four former firehouses.
[NY Post]
• Gentrification likely claims East Harlem school.
[NY Times]
• Health Department to revamp rodent inspections.
[NY Times]
• Defaults rise among borrowers with decent credit.
[NY Times]
• Philadelphia tries to lure away New York's artists.
[NY Sun]
• Inspector who passed Village KFC/Taco Bell resigns.
[NY Sun]
• Complaints about KFC/Taco Bell before inspection.
[Daily News]

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New York City is the costliest place to do business, according to a survey by Forbes magazine of 200 U.S. metropolitan areas. The dubious honor was based on an analysis of the costs of labor, energy, taxes and office space in the city. - Tom Acitelli

Days after it was discovered that $3.6 million was stolen from a government account under the watch of term-limited Comptroller Bill Thompson, Independence Party activist Frank Morano -- who has an interesting record of recruiting candidates -- has sent out a letter urging Richmond County Clerk Stephen Fiala to run for comptroller on the Republican and Independence Party lines.

Morano's letter almost certainly has more to do with riding a wave a bad press for Thompson than backing an eventual winner. But there it is.  read more »

UPDATE: The letter is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

“If someone had a gun to my head and said, ‘Define yourself,’ I’d have to ju  read more »

The Real Ari Gold   To the Editor:    read more »

Location: Certain neighborhood factions have been clamoring for a New York City representative on th  read more »

The Real Ari Gold   To the Editor:    read more »

Milton Glaser, the grandfather of New York graphic design, has sold his grandfatherly third-floor du  read more »

Whole Foods’ whopping 71,000-square-foot new supermarket opened last week on the Bowery at Hou  read more »

• Police academy moving from Gramercy to Queens.
[NY Times]
• Bistricer calls out big guns on Starrett City deal.
[NY Times]
• City to launch 'Trans Fat Help Center' for restaurants.
[NY Sun]
• High rents drive out Astor Place Barnes & Noble.
[NY Post]
• Quinn proposes mortgage-counseling program.
[NY Post]
• MTA casts wide net for top NYC Transit post.
[Daily News]

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• MTA mulls sliding glass doors for Second Ave. Subway.
[NY Times]
• Atlantic Yards work under way as doubts, suits dog it.
[NY Times]
• Upper East Side residents argue over dog run.
[NY Sun]
• Foye: ESDC may lower developer subsidies.
[NY Sun]
• Loehmann's opens Upper West Side location.
[NY Sun]
• Jean Nouvel's condo rising in Chelsea a 'vision.'
[NY Sun]
• City may create a historic district out of NoHo.
[NY Sun]
• Pension funds feast off Manhattan real estate.
[NY Sun]
• Scorsese sells Upper East Side townhouse.
[NY Post]
• Newer lower Westchester high-rises draw city buyers.
[NY Post]

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• 3 comments

• JP Morgan Chase negotiating tower near Ground Zero.
[NY Times]
• Residents, restaurants view Brooklyn jail differently.
[NY Times]
• Manhattan condo conversions switch to commercial.
[NY Times]
• Nonprofits maneuver with real estate.
[NY Times]
• City building-code changes may up construction costs.
[NY Sun]
• Surfer-wear store coming to Herald Square.
[NY Post]
• Merrill Lynch mulling tower in Hotel Penn's place. [2nd item]
[NY Post]
• Toy Building to offer 800,000 feet of office space.
[NY Post]
• City gives tax breaks to undeserving landlords.
[NY Post]
• British buy in East Harlem ignites protest.
[NY Post]
• Mom-and-pop Donut Pub vs. Dunkin' Donuts in Chelsea.
[Daily News]

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• Yonkers is the new Brooklyn! Brit architect Will Alsop will make his U.S. debut by transforming an 80,000-square-foot power plant there into a $250 million Hudson River "residential complex featuring a museum, restaurant, and park." [Arch. Record News]
• Speaking of Brooklyn: The Department of Transportaiton has ideas to make the nightmarish Grand Army Plaza [above] slightly less nightmarish. In a nutshell: less cars; more bikes. [Streetsblog]
• Celebrity designer (and Beverly Boulevard man) Richard Tyler has put his 9,200-square-foot Washington Street townhouse on the market for $15.9 million. Curbed admits to drooling over the place. [The Real Estalker]
• The Empire State building is getting feverishly scarlet tonight to celebrate the first-ever appearance of the Rutgers' women's basketball team in the NCAA National Championship Game. Observer real-estate reporter John Koblin, Rutgers '05, says: "Upstream red team, red team upstream, rah rah Rutgers rah!" [Scarlet Knights]
• Why have name-brand architects become such superstars? The AIA's Center for Architecture is hosting a "BRANDISM" panel to "take a hard look at the superstar architect's signature--both literally and stylistically." Watch your back, Zaha! The release is after the jump. [PR] - Max Abelson  read more »
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The peerless Liz Benjamin is coming to New York City to join the Daily News.

For those of you who don't know her -- but really, who doesn't? -- Liz is an authoritative and fantastically prolific blogger and reporter. She also has the distinction of having performed two of the toughest roles in the last year's LCA's annual roast of lawmakers, appearing as Jeanine Pirro and Ada Smith.

She has a long good-bye post on the Times Union blog here.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

-- Azi Paybarah

• West 54th Street building sells for $110 M.
[GlobeSt]
• Upper Manhattan portfolio sale could top $1 B.
[Real Deal]
• Manhattan home sales rise sharply in first quarter.
[NY Post]
• Coney Island's Astroland may stay open next summer.
[NY Post]
• Survey: City's middle-class disappearing.
[NY Post]
• Toy Building selling for nearly $500 M.
[NY Post]
• Morningside Heights mansion lowers asking to $20 M.
[NY Times]
• Subprime giant New Century files for bankruptcy.
[NY Times]
• Chelsea residents foil seminary's development plans.
[NY Sun]

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New York City developers are cozzying up to State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, Crain's reports. The developers, long friendly with Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, are hedging their bets on Mr. Smith, who would control the Senate should Democrats reclaim the majority.

In March, a dozen leaders of the Real Estate Board of New York met with Senator Smith to talk about tax-exempt financing for rental buildings and the newly rejiggered 421-a tax abatement program for new developments.

"He was somewhat supportive of the issues," REBNY president Steven Spinola told Crain's.

- Tom Acitelli

Rudy Giuliani's first quarter fund-raising numbers are in at more than $15 million. While that is a good deal less than Hillary's $26 million, Giuliani raised the bulk of his total, about $10 million, in March. Giuliani supporters have been telling me for days that while he got a late start, his March receipts would be encouraging, and that they foreshadow huge contributions in the second quarter.

The Giuliani campaign's statement is after the jump.  read more »

--Jason Horowitz

• Ellis Island ferry building to reopen after half-century.
[NY Post]
• Spitzer plans overhaul of State Liquor Authority.
[NY Post]
• Yankees-themed fitness clubs to open in 2008.
[NY Post]
• City suffers from 'acute' shortage of playing fields.
[NY Times]
• Zoning changes to protect scale in West Harlem.
[NY Times]
• New Yorkers facing greater scrutiny for mortgages.
[NY Times]
• Tishman Speyer plays nice in Stuy Town, Cooper Village.
[NY Times]
• Home choices because of shopping.
[NY Times]
• Corcoran, Elliman not participating in REBNY listings.
[NY Times]
• Borrowers, beware, in today's mortgage market.
[NY Times]
• The skylight broke: Who's responsible?
[NY Times]
• Replacing windows in a New York condo.
[NY Times]
• Borrowers 'not powerless' as ARMs adjust rates.
[NY Times]
• Retail in the shadow of Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.
[NY Times]
• Roving play draws upon city real estate and romance.
[Newsday]
• When--and where--will subprime-mortgage story end.
[WSJ]
• How to get a table at popular restaurants.
[WSJ]

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• 'I work at analyzing rat issues.'
[NY Times]
• Realogy's chief ethics officer leaves over ethics lapse.
[NY Post]
• Oh.My.God. New Bowery Whole Foods opens.
[NY Post]
• Tenant-landlord dispute over Brooklyn Public Library site.
[Daily News]
• More on Hotel Gansevoort billboards brouhaha.
[Villager]

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How to view Eliot Spitzer's first state budget (which is mostly negotiated, but not totally).

It's a bit more complicated than Spitzer, and some pundits have made it appear.

Fred Dicker and the Post see the budget as a broken campaign promise and procedural return to the Pataki era. Newsday sees the budget as expensive, but structurally, moving in the right direction on education spending. The Daily News looked at the principle behind the budget piece, agreeing with Spitzer on the increased money for NYC public schools, and criticizing the health care advocates for their increased funding. The Times, sort of like Newsday, sees Spitzer's concessions as expensive right now, but notes structural changes may pay dividends later.

And the Times Union editorial board looks at the numbers, sounds worried, and witholds rendering much of an opinion until the it's all finalized.

-- Azi Paybarah

• Wal-Mart 'would like to be' in the outer-boroughs.
[Crain's]
• Hamptons rental season strongest since '03?
[NY Sun]
• 'Keen' demand among investors for city rental properties.
[NY Sun]
• Meet the city's new urban-design director.
[NY Sun]
• Large rezoning in Jamaica faces opposition.
[NY Sun]
• Concrete on the rise in New York projects.
[NY Sun]
• City Council members gloat over Wal-Mart concession.
[NY Sun]
• Former Elad CFO blames firing on not being Israeli.
[NY Sun]
• Sander picks former boss to head subways, buses.
[NY Post]
• Sarah Ferguson buying in Cipriani Club Residences.
[NY Post]
• Council OKs tax benefits for Mitchell-Lama projects.
[NY Times]
• Brooklyn, Queens buildings sell for $118 M.
[GlobeSt]

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• Budding blog emperor Lockhart Steele (best name in the biz) has started a site for "shopping, stores and the retail scene of New York City." And it's pretty cool so far--especially the sexy Bowery Whole Foods "shelf porn". [Racked]
• Ohio real estate has completely and magnificently crushed Manhattan real estate (at least in one instance): LeBron James' new 35,440-square-foot palace will have "a recording studio, a two-lane bowling alley, a casino, a 26-by 63-foot theater, a sports bar, an aquarium and a barbershop." Take that, Fifth Avenue. [Beacon Journal, via Luxist]
• Sadly, the LA-based studio Ball-Nogues has won MoMa/PS1 's 2007 Young Architects Competition. [The victorious installation "Liquid Sky" is above.] [Architectural Record News]
• The 100-mile voyage from NYC to the pre-Revolution village Kent, Conn., is apparently one of the Great American Drives. Why? It has to do with permeating "self-reliant Yankee spirit." [Travel + Leisure] - Max Abelson
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The City Council on Wednesday unanimously reappointed four commissioners--and appointed one--to the 11-member Landmarks Preservation Commission. Four of the five, including new commissioner Diana Chapin, hail from positions in the outer-boroughs. (Ms. Chapin is the executive director of the Queens Library Foundation.)

Full release after the jump.  read more »

- Tom Acitelli

• Dashed hopes in foreclosures wave.
[NY Times]
• Take a look at New Museum of Contemporary Art.
[NY Times]
• Wal-Mart chief to city: Forget you.
[NY Times]
• Sitt shifts condos in Coney Island plan.
[NY Post]
• Mt. Sinai selling Fifth Avenue apartment building.
[NY Post]
• Istithmar flips 230 Park Avenue for $1.15 B.
[NY Post]
• Columbia to serve first West Harlem eviction notice.
[NY Sun]
• ESDC never saw Atlantic Yards business plan.
[NY Sun]

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• London group buys East Harlem, East Village properties.
[NY Times]
• New-home sales drop--again--in February, feds say.
[NY Times]
• Anti-Coney Island condos rally set for City Hall.
[NY Post]
• Changes put Empire State Building on tenants' radar.
[NY Post]
• Housing woes roil markets.
[NY Post]
• City tenants to split $1.9 M. settlement.
[Daily News]
• Indy Racing on Governors Island? Maybe.
[NY Sun]

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Today, Time Inc. announced the closure of LIFE magazine, the thin Parade-like weekly newspaper supplement. The company will continue the LIFE brand online, and in books.

Full release afer the jump  read more »

• Lipstick Building selling; could get $600 M.
[Daily News]
• Subprime-mortgage bust forces out borrowers.
[Daily News]
• The end of San Gennaro in Little Italy?
[Daily News]
• 'Tread carefully' in buying foreclosed properties.
[Daily News]
• Why buyers should read offering plans closely.
[NY Times]
• Bleecker Street's old housing showpiece.
[NY Times]
• Living in--and looking at--Howard Beach, Queens.
[NY Times]
• Louise Sunshine buys in Boca Raton.
[NY Times]
• Subprime storm spreads beyond those with bad credit.
[NY Times]
• Are low-assessment riders in condos, co-ops necessary?
[NY Times]
• What're inheritance rights in rent-controlled apartments?
[NY Times]
• New York developer Howard Ronson dies.
[NY Times]
• Philly-based Korman turns condos into extended-stays.
[NY Times]
• Schumer calls for federal-mortgage regulation overhaul.
[NY Times]
• Hell's Kitchen more gay-friendly.
[NY Times]
• New restaurant-rating system for the city?
[NY Post]
• City officials swing at Joseph Sitt over Coney Island.
[NY Post]
• Tribeca saga: Living 17 years rent-free!
[NY Post]
• Albany mulls tax breaks for city renters.
[NY Sun]
• Astroland on Coney Island readies for final season.
[NY Sun]
• City steps up church-preservation efforts, some say.
[NY Sun]
• 'Worst yet to come' in national housing market?
[NY Sun]

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   read more »

Homeless Families Surge    read more »

The Republicans in the State Senate are down to a three-seat majority, and most indications are that  read more »

The Republicans in the State Senate are down to a three-seat majority, and most indications are that  read more »

Homeless Families Surge    read more »

Location: The Feb.  read more »

• Developer buys West Side site, plans condo.
[Real Deal]
• Number of rich, white Manhattanites under 5 surges.
[NY Times]
• City bans contractor from city, state work.
[NY Times]
• Senate grills regulators over subprime mortgages.
[NY Times]
• Computer program furthers subprime debacle.
[NY Times]
• Bon Jovi goes to contract on $26 M. Soho duplex.
[NY Post]
• Some New Yorkers embrace solar panels.
[NY Post]
• City's green developments multiply.
[NY Post]
• Historic Harlem ballroom going partly condo.
[NY Sun]
• Big developers eye pieces of Ground Zero.
[NY Sun]

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Education historian/activist Diane Ravitch is taking the New York Post, claiming the paper doesn't appreciate parents criticism of public schools. Which sort of mirrors parent's complaints about Joel Klein.

In an item she posted at 6 a.m., Ravitch wrote:

Did the editorial writers of the New York Post read the latest Qunnipiac poll? Do they know that 58% of the voters in New York City want an end to mayoral control and a return to an independent Board of Education?

[skip]

Since the New York Post did not bother to report the poll to their readers, perhaps they don't know about it. And that's why their editorial writers think that anyone who questions the latest reorganization of the reorganization is a shill from New Jersey, not a real public school parent.

-- Azi Paybarah