Charles Schumer

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.  read more »

Great N.Y. Noodletown is a long-established restaurant on Bayard and the Bowery that seats about forty and has brown glazed ducks in the windows.

Sunday, which began bright and cold after a long and rainy Saturday, seemed perfectly suited to a bowl of Seaweed Noodle Soup, so I put on my shoes and began walking east. I had forgotten it was Chinese New Year: the sidewalks of central Chinatown were packed from storefront to street as people gathered to celebrate the Year of the Earth Rat.  read more »

I just got off a somewhat contentious conference call with Hillary Clinton surrogates for New York reporters , who proved somewhat resistant to the pro-Hillary Clinton message coming from Chuck Schumer.

Referring to her primary win in New York yesterday, Schumer told reporters, “This was all Hillary. There was no big party machine in operation. There was no, you know, kind of things like that. It was Hillary.”

I asked him to explain that, given that virtually the entire party establishment was in her corner.  read more »

If you’re following where everybody stands on Eliot Spitzer’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a New York State driver’s license, update your score cards.

Adolfo Carrion supports it. Speaking on NY1 News last night, Carrion said, “I support this initiative until there is a national, rational response to this, which I think we need to deal with.” Earlier, Carrion had gone with a statement that was less specific.

On the show, Carrion described Spitzer plan as a “limited response” and a “practical solution,” which Democrats are grappling with. Carrion said Spitzer “is going to take a hit, and he’s taking a hit. And there are Democrats in this town, in this very city and across the state, who feel now that they’re painted into a corner.”

Among the Democrats who, as far as I'm aware, still haven't taken a position on the issue: Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Representatives John Hall, Mike Arcuri and Tim Bishop.

If anyone knows anything about where they stand, please let me know.

A number of conservatives have tried to make the argument that there's an obvious parallel between Alberto Gonzales, who was criticized for his lack of candor when testifying before congress, and Eliot Spitzer, whose top aides came under fire for their lack of cooperation when questioned by the state Attorney General.

Yesterday, Chuck Schumer tried turning around that analogy, saying people have begun to ease up on Gonzales now that he resigned his job as the U.S. Attorney General, and that people should do likewise when it comes to Spitzer.

At a community meeting in Manhattan last night, I asked Sheldon Silver if comparing Spitzer and Gonzales was fair. Here's what he said.

"I don't think it's a fair comparison. Number one, in the Spitzer case, the Spitzer-Bruno case, both matters were referred to the attorney general for determinations of legality. After an examination by the attorney general, who is the highest ranking legal officer in the state, he determined there were no laws broken.

"Second, the Ethics Commission, lead by Dean Feerick, who has an outstanding reputation for honesty and fairness, has undertaken to examine the issue. Third, the Albany County District Attorney has undertaken to examine the issue for points of legality, and whether any criminal laws [were broken]. That was only the Spitzer aspect of it.

"For me, I accept the determination of the attorney general. There were no illegalities. I accept that. And, you know, that should be the final word. In that respect, I believe we should move on, governing the state of New York and forget the political aspect of it.

"I mean, these hearings that the Senate thinks they want to do in addition to eveything that's been done by the ethics comission and the Albany County district attorney, I think, is superfluous. And I think its an attempt to politicize the situation, rather than deal with the issues that affect people..."

Chuck Schumer defended Eliot Spitzer and said everyone should move forward and "point to the future."

Someone at New York 1 News sent over a clip of the yet-to-be-aired interview with Schumer. In it, Schumer said:

I find him to be hands on, I find him to be smart. People make mistakes. No question about it. What his administration did, as he said, was a mistake. But he’s moving forward. And I hope everyone will move forward with him. Just as I said with the US Attorneys, now that Gonzales is gone, I hope we can wrap that up quickly and point to the future. I think the same thing would apply to the state.

One major difference there, of course, is that Gonzales resigned and the Spitzer aides involved in the scandal haven't.

In the same interview, Schumer was asked about the troubles surrounding Hank Morris, a political consultant who helped elect Schumer to the Senate. "Well, Hank has been an outstanding political consultant," he said. "He’s a man of great, great intelligence and perception and I find him to be a person of integrity." He added, "But as for this investigation, I don’t know the details."

The interview with Schumer will air tonight at 10.

In a move akin to firing Bobby Knight and replacing him with Woody Hayes, CBS Radio has at last settled on Don Imus's successor: Craig Carton.  read more »

Charlie Rangel's 77th birthday event at Tavern on the Green last night raised more than $1 million, making it one of the largest individual congressional fund-raisers in recent memory. Attendees included Michael Bloomberg, who left right before Hillary Clinton took the stage ( and long before Chuck Schumer arrived), Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson and dozens of other local elected officials.

Bloomberg told attendees that those who think Rangel is the best thing the best thing since slice bread are correct, but barely, since Rangel was born soon after sliced bread was invented. Bloomberg also said that he was the first to endorse Rangel for President.

Clinton said, somewhat more earnestly, “I told Charlie I wouldn’t be anywhere else except right here, with just a few of his closest friends and family to celebrate the birthday of someone who I not only admire, not only respect , but truly, truly love. He is a good human being.”

MASSIVE CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post led with an account from an attendee of a cordial meeting between Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo wasn't there.

My one source for that part of the item was one of the event's organizers who has worked with numerous politicians in New York and had been helpful on previous items. I didn't double-check with the information with Cuomo's office before publishing the item, which, obviously, I should have. Apologies to Cuomo, Spitzer and you readers.

If it’s true that Orrin Hatch is “campaigning” to succeed Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, then he surely helped his cause on Sunday.  read more »

I was one a few reporters who hiked out to Red Hook on Saturday to watch the ubiquitous Chuck Schumer... eat lunch.

It was part of a press conference at which he and others urged the city not to kick out 13 local food vendors from a park that's become a destination for foodies from all over the city. Watching Schumer scarf down a taco and corn on the cob (with cheese and hot sauce!) surrounded by a watchful pack of journalists was also a useful reminder that for all the constant attention garnered by the junior senator here, Schumer's no slouch.

After two and a half years in the hardest job in New York politics, Risa Heller is leaving government to work for Pollock, Silvan and company at the Global Strategy Group.

Which should give her a decent opportunity to put the skills she learned from her ubiquitous boss to good use.

At a press conference this morning, Chuck Schumer said he’d copy Mike Bloomberg’s environmental standards for buildings as the basis for a new standard he wants imposed nationwide.

When asked about Bloomberg’s other major initiative, congestion pricing, Schumer was less outspoken.

“It is something that I am studying and looking at,” he said.

Yesterday, one of the quirkiest traditions returned to a major Memorial Day Parade that starts a few blocks inside Nassau County before winding its way through the Little Neck-Douglaston section of Queens.

“I refused to march on the Nassau side,” Weiner told me. He stood on the border, next to the 'Welcome to Nassau' sign and waited for the parade to get into New York City territory before joining in. A person who has been marching in that parade for a couple of years told me that the most notable politician to do that in the past was Rudy Giuliani.

Also attending the parade were regular marchers Mike Bloomberg Frank Padavan, Chuck Schumer, Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson, Adolfo Carrion, Eric Gioia, Melinda Katz, David and Mark Weprin, and Peter Vallone, Sr.

Chuck Schumer wants to see a presidential debate at Hofstra. The Nassau-based school applied to host one of the presidentail debates recently which, if successful, might bring Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani back to debate in front of their home crowd.

In letters to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, and the Commission on Presidential Debates, Schumer said:

Hofstra University is one of only two candidates in the Northeast. In fact, New York has not hosted a debate since 1960 when John F. Kennedy and then Vice-President Richard M. Nixon met in a Manhattan television studio.

The letters are after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Senator Charles Schumer finds it “hard to believe” that embattled U.S.  read more »

Aides to Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff concluded that the current design for the Javits Convention Center expansion would cost between $1.93 billion and $2.2 billion, up from $1.68 billion, according to a March 9 memo obtained by The Real Estate. What's more, the amount of exhibition and meeting space that the expansion would add seems to have shrunk a bit from the plan approved last summer, from 520,000 square feet to 345,000 square feet.

The memo, which preceded the recent pow-wow including Mr. Doctoroff, Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor Eliot Spitzer, argues that it is preferable to move ahead with the current design, which expands Javits a block and a half to 40th Street and adds a floor, rather than extending it a block to the south as others have suggested. (The current design would be less expensive, the memo argues. A more radical plan, involving the western rail yards, was not considered.) The memo also suggests looking at a "phased closing of Javits" as well as "closing Javits altogether during construction" to see if it would save money.

Javits junkies will remember the good ol' days, before security concerns, construction inflation and detailed cost estimates, when conventioneers thought they could build the even larger expansion outlined in the 2004 environmental-impact statement with about a billion bucks.

Errol Cockfield, spokesman for the Empire State Development Corporation, which is overseeing the joint city-state project, wouldn't comment on the estimates, saying that the state was reviewing the current design and would make a decision about how to proceed in early May.

- Matthew Schuerman

As Chuck Schumer predicted , today is proving to be a big one for the investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, as the former chief-of-staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The former top aide, Kyle Sampson told the committee that Gonzales offered inaccurate testimony to Congress when he claimed not to have had a role in the discussion about firing the attorneys. He also said Gonzales was wrong when he said that inaccurate testimony offered by other senior Justice Department officials was a result of them not being sufficiently briefed about the terminations.

''I shared information with anyone who wanted it,'' Sampson said. When Schumer pushed Sampson as to whether that rendered Gonzales' statement false, Sampson said, ''I don't think it's accurate if the statement implies that I intended to mislead the Congress.''

In an interview on with the Observer on Tuesday, Schumer dismissed Sampson as a "longtime Republican Apparatchik."  read more »

At a panel discussion about women in politics in lower Manhattan last night organized by the state organization of Young Democrats, UFT President Randi Weingarten said that "if women act like men acted publicly, many times they're viewed as shrill, harsh, tough --"

"The b-word word," a few people yelled out.

"A bitch," continued Weingarten.

Chuck Schumer's deputy state director, Teri Coaxum told the mostly female audience that the key for women in politics is to maintain a certain level of decorum.

"People will, you know, ask inappropriate questions. And my thing is stand for something or fall for anything. Keep your integrity in tact, never compromise your values, and, I'm going to be a little bit blunt: you can't sleep with everybody you meet. I'm sorry.

[skip]

The main point is, we're already seen as sex symbols. End of story. We all talked about it. We're already seen as sex symbols. You have to keep your integrity in tact. This is business."

Fellow panelist Gigi Georges, a longtime Hillary Clinton adviser, agreed with Coaxum -- to an extent.

"Women have a lot of power in who we are. Frankly, in some ways, women have a lot more power then men in who we are because we're able to be tough when we need to be, and at the same time, be charming and gracious and yes, a little flirtatious when it works for us."

State Democratic Party Chair June O'Neill, who introduced the panel, also had some advice for women in politics: Learn to shake hands. "It's a code," she said.

-- Azi Paybarah

Yesterday, I spent some time with Chuck Schumer down in his Washington office, and he predicted that while Alberto Gonzales will probably be forced to resign, the residue of the U.S. attorneys scandal will have some impact on the 2008 elections.

He's in for a busy week, as key witnesses testify before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Schumer predicted that Gonzales' former chief of staff will be a slippery witness and dismissed as "ridiculous" the terms the White House offered for a Rove and Miers testifying.

Sources in Schumer's office told me that subpoenas for the high level White House aides have already been authorized, though whether they will actually be issued is another story.

I also caught up with Bill Richardson during his busy trip to New York this week, and got an unexpectedly frank assessment of where he and his campaign are in relation to the Big Three.

--Jason Horowitz

Andrew Koneschusky is going to boot camp!

Or to be more precise, he's just left his job as communications director for Anthony Weiner to go work in Chuck Schumer's press office in D.C.

Which is to say that Koneschusky will now be busy every Sunday.

-- Azi Paybarah

Saturday

9 a.m. The New York Young Republican Club will hold an all-day political training seminar on topics including grassroots campaigning, mail and Internet techniques, public speaking and the Leadership Institute at Kings College at the Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street.

Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a fundraiser in Los Angeles.

Barack Obama campaigns in Las Vegas.

Sunday

1:30 p.m. Helen Selsdon, a Brooklyn single mom whose daughter attends PS 29, will host a peace march from Carroll Park in Brooklyn to Grand Army Plaza to mark the fourth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq.

5:30 p.m. Senator Chuck Schumer and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will discuss issues from Schumer's book, Positively American: Winning Back the American Middle-Class One Family at a Time, at the Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway at 12th Street.

Monday

Bruce Teitelbaum, the controversial former aide to Rudy Giuliani, has been scurrying behind the scen  read more »

New Yorkers didn't like the way Mike Bloomberg handled the school bus fiasco and snowstorm parking controversy, but they don't really hold any of it against him, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

Also -- and I'm warning you ahead of time that this is kind of a silly exercise -- the poll has numbers on a fantasy field of 2009 mayoral candidates. Bloomberg wins.  read more »

Today's Q poll has some predictable numbers on Bloomberg's mishandling of the school bus fiasco and snow storm parking rules.

But they also have early, early numbers on the 2009 race (advanced apologies to Jerry Skurnik and others who think it's too early to poll this):

The next mayoral election will be held in about 3 years. Who would you like to see elected Mayor in the year 2009? Michael Bloomberg 18 Hillary Clinton 4 Fernando Ferrer - Rudy Giuliani 4 Mark Green 1 Ray Kelly 1 Marty Markowitz 1 Christine Quinn 3 Chuck Schumer - Al Sharpton 1 William(Bill) Thompson 1 Anthony Weiner 2 OTHER 6 DK/NA 59

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer's claims about the reasons for high Medicaid costs are called into doubt. A poll conducted by a group opposing Spitzer's health care plan say the governor's popularity has dropped 21 percent.

Bills to restore Spitzer's proposed reductions in Medicaid spending were introduced in the state legislature.

On health care, Republicans are attacking Spitzer from the left.

Senator Charles Schumer wants US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to quit.

Rev. Al Sharpton is not on board with Barack Obama.

Spitzer, Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg will meet today to discuss the Javits Center expansion.

Millions a year are spent on education officials who Schools Chancellor Joel Klein can't fire, but wants to.

The number of restaurants closed by health inspectors since rats were seen running around a Village restaurant has tripled.

There is a bill in the Assembly to boost salaries for legislators and judges automatically every four years.

And Tom Suozzi is trying to recruit the Nassau Conservative Party Chairman to run for office.

-- Azi Paybarah

The Spitzer administration wants to scrap the current $1.8 billion plan to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the far West Side. Crain's reports that Governor Spitzer will meet on Monday with Senator Chuck Schumer, a critic of the current expansion plan (he says it's not big enough), and with Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who came up with the plan working with the Pataki administration.

Stay tuned. Changes for Javits are likely afoot, and may sweep over more of the West Side than originally anticipated:

"I think there are major changes in the offing," says Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Westchester. "The approved plan simply does not create a world-class convention center.''

- Tom Acitelli

Attendees at a raucous event organized by Irish advocates of immigration reform in Washington DC yesterday were treated to the unusual sight of Senator Charles Schumer leading a chant closely identified with the Irish Republican Army.

"Tiocfaidh Ar La!" Mr. Schumer bellowed several times from the stage at the Washington Court Hotel, his right hand 'conducting' the crowd to join in. The Gaelic slogan (pronounced "Chucky Are Law") translates as "Our Day Will Come". Often seen adorning gable walls in nationalist areas of Belfast during the darkest days of Northern Ireland's Troubles, it became so associated with the IRA that it entered popular slang - a "Chuck" or "Chucky" was a person known to support the guerilla group's armed struggle.

Senator Hillary Clinton, like Mr. Schumer, was greeted with thunderous applause when she arrived to speak at the event, organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Perhaps wisely, she abjured the more controversial chants. She did, however, gently mock the organizers for presenting her with a 'Legalize the Irish' T-Shirt that, as she held it up before her, revealed itself to be several sizes too big. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," Mrs. Clinton said to laughter and applause. "But it doesn't matter because I'm going to be proud to pass it to my husband."

Rep. Joe Crowley was the other member of the New York congressional delegation to address the meeting. Other speakers declaring their support for comprehensive immigration reform included Senator Edward Kennedy, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and former Congressman Bruce Morrison (D-CT).

IRA chants aside, the senior New York senator -- a proud winner of the Briscoe Award for Jewish supporters of the American Irish community -- wandered a number of times onto unfamiliar trans-Atlantic cultural terrain. At one point, he mentioned an unnamed "great song" associated with the Glasgow Celtic soccer team. (Which Mr. Schumer pronounced, jarringly, "Glas-gau Kell-tic.")

After a half-second of perplexed silence, the crowd erupted into a Mexican-style 'ole, ole, ole' chorus which was eventually quieted by a slightly uncomfortable Mr. Schumer. He explained that he had intended his words to be taken as a reference to the anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone."

-- Niall Stanage

Chuck Schumer's DC communications director, Eric Schultz, is going to work for John Edwards.

Bertha Lewis wants Mayor Bloomberg to demonstrate that he's really listening to parents about school reform by attending an event at St. Vartan's Cathedral tonight.

Andrew Cuomo said that public authorities cannot pay health insurance benefits for their board members. Malcolm Smith took credit for Joe Bruno's clever political move today.

Tomorrow, state agencies have to tell Governor Spitzer which of their meetings fall under the state's open meeting laws.

Streetsblog has info about the City Council's effort to curb pedicabs.

Harry Siegel tries explaining the impact of yesterday's market plunge.

Dan Janison is there for a poignant moment with Michael Balboni.

Curbed looks for NYC's ugliest building.

Dan Gerstein likes a new group blog about 2008 politics.

And pictured above is City Councilman Domenic Recchia with a colorful scarf.

-- Azi Paybarah

It's awards season for Eliot Spitzer's main adman.

The MTA has to pay how much in debt service?

Chuck Schumer made some new friends at New York Magazine's party last night.

Judith Kaye delivered her state of the judiciary speech today [pdf].

Hillary Clinton's official blogger has footage from the campaign trail.

Joe Trippi thinks Hillary got what she needed out of that fight with Barack Obama.

The Village Voice hired an editor from the New York Sun.

Roy Moskowitz, who managed the Democratic campaign against Rep. Vito Fossella, laments that he's not part of the "cabal" picking the replacement for the late Assemblyman John Lavelle.

There's a fascinating discussion here between Yoda, Larry Littlefield and Steve Malanga about whether Rudy Giuliani or Mike Bloomberg is to blame for New York's high tax burden.

Bloomberg's Assistant Director/Special Counsel for Environmental Procurement is leaving to take a job with the New York Chapter of the U.S. Green Buildings Council [job title corrected].

And pictured above is Senator Frank Padavan at a recent press conference in Albany.

-- Azi Paybarah

New York's Senators really do work well together.

Hillary Clinton introduced Chuck Schumer yesterday afternoon at a lecture about his book at the 92nd Street Y. In her brief remarks, she made a point to mention that both he and her worked hard for New York in response to 9/11, which may or may not have had something to do with a complicated story in this week's Village Voice that suggested otherwise.

Chuck later returned the favor. As Clinton nodded along in a seat behind the podium, he said "the closer you get to Hillary Clinton the better and better and better she looks," and, "this is not a political event and I'm not making a campaign speech, but I'm proud to be supporting her for President because she will be able to win."

Clinton, who delivered most of her speech in her capacity as a Senator, alluded to her own Presidential campaign with a subtle joke that went off like a hand grenade.

Referring to Schumer, she said that they had been working hard "going back to the first Clinton administration."

Scattered applause, murmurs and finally, a big, approving hand.

"Thank you!" said Clinton, holding her arms out like a comedian who's just caught a long-overdue break.

Besides that, Clinton's short speech included some standards about her colleague's knack for courting public attention. "What can I say about him that he hasn't already said?" and "On the seventh day the Lord rested and Chuck had a press conference."

As she went over possible alternatives to the title of his book, Schumer cackled behind her, removing and replacing his glasses. The biggest laugh came for her last suggestion: "The Republican Political Machine: A Shanda."

Clinton left early, and outside the building she stopped to sign some autographs, including one on a baseball, before jumping into a waiting van.

--Jason Horowitz

8:30 a.m. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association host a public forum on recycling at Local 831 headquarters at 25 Cliff Street near Fulton Street.

9:30 a.m. Long Island Rail Road/Long Island Bus Committee meet at the MTA Headquarters at 347 Madison Avenue.

11 a.m. Congress members Anthony Weiner, Nydia Velazquez, Greg Meeks, Jerry Nadler and Yvette Clarke join union members to pledge their support for the Employee Free Choice Act legislation at 45 West 14th street [added].

11:15 a.m. Council Speaker Christine Quinn makes announcement with local officials on plans to deliver NYC delicacies to wounded New York veterans at City Hall.

Noon. Rainforest Action Network and other environmental groups protest Merrill Lynch's investment in TXU, a Dallas-based coal-burning utility company at the Citicorp Building at East 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue.

Noon. Opening of the exhibit, "Arturo Toscanini: Homage to the Maestro" at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at 111 Amsterdam Ave.

2 p.m. Citymeals-on-Wheels hosts a belated Valentine's Day party for homebound elderly at the Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults in Brooklyn.

6 p.m. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein hosts a roundtable discussion on Children First reforms at Hostos Community College in the Bronx.

7:30 p.m. Council Speaker Christine Quinn attends book signing event with Senator Schumer at 809 Washington Street.

8 p.m. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman moderates a discussion on Rules for a Global Neighborhood in a Multicultural World, taped at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (Airs on C-Span.)

Governor Eliot Spitzer meets with Senator Chuck Schumer and community members in Parish, New York.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani participates in a town hall meeting with first responders in South Carolina.

Sen. Hillary Clinton addresses the Nevada State Education Association in Las Vegas.

Sen. Barack Obama holds a town hall campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa.

-- Gillian Reagan

Anyone who has read Chuck Schumer's book, "Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time" -- or who has seen him talk about it recently on every talk show you've ever heard of -- knows by now that the Baileys are the make-believe middle-class Massapequa family who represent the type of voter that the Democrats need to win back.

Earlier this month, Newsday went out and found a family that resembled the fictional Baileys down to an impressively small level of detail.

Well, it' s going to get very Pirandello at 2:15 this afternoon when, according to his spokesperson, Schumer is planning to stop by their place in Massapequa to discuss the ideas in his book.

Now that's commitment.

--Jason Horowitz

Last week, no less than one Cabinet secretary, two Congressmen and two Senators vociferously and publicly chastized the $1.3 billion buy of Starrett City in eastern Brooklyn. Clipper Equity won the bidding in early February, prompting many to ask: How could the landlords ever turn a profit by keeping the apartment complex affordable?

Sen. Chuck Schumer was among those answering the question quickly last week, calling on the Department of Housing and Urban Development to nix the deal should Clipper not promise to keep the apartments cheap.

On Thursday, the Senator upped the ante:

Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer demanded Starrett Associates go back to square one on the Starrett City sale. The Senator, who is chair of the Senate Housing sub-committee said today that the bid process was fatally flawed, having excluded the federal government, which has subsidized Starrett City for years so that it could maintain its affordability. Schumer noted that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has the right to approve the deal, and has expressed deep skepticism due to the potential of massive loss of affordable housing stock.

- Tom Acitelli

Sen. Chuck Schumer has joined a suddenly growing chorus of critics who think Starrett City's days as a bastion of affordable housing are decidedly numbered. The senior New York Senator said on Monday that new owner Clipper Equity, which offered $1.3 billion last week for the Brooklyn complex, will have to evict thousands of tenants and move units to market-rate. Otherwise, the numbers for the landlord won't add up to profitability. Mr. Schumer called on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to block the deal unless Clipper agreed to keep Starrett affordable:

"Experts across the board agree: it will be impossible for someone paying this price not to convert the units into high-price rentals or ritzy condominiums. Without question, a sale at this price will change the character of Starrett forever."

Full release from the Senator's office after the jump.  read more »

UPDATE: Clipper Equity emailed The Real Estate this statement on Monday afternoon:

We have today met with various City, State and Federal officials and elected representatives regarding the future of Starrett City. There is unanimity on the part of all that it is crucial to protect long-term affordability at the 5,881-apartment development. We understand this must be achieved and we are confident this can be achieved. Our meetings were informative and productive and we look forward to further discussions regarding the specific mechanisms that will enable us to fulfill our mutual goal.

- Tom Acitelli

Bush and Spitzer Bleed City Hospitals  read more »

Bush and Spitzer Bleed City Hospitals  read more »

Bush and Spitzer Bleed City Hospitals  read more »

I've been wondering what, if any, political parallels exist between the president's plan to slash federal spending on health care programs and Eliot Spitzer's move to reduce the level state spending.

At a press conference today to denounce the Bush health care cuts, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer both indicated that the president's proposals are different in substance and spirit than Spitzer's.

At the same time, Schumer said he didn't agree with all of Spitzer's cuts, although he declined to specify which ones.

Shortly afterwards, Hillary singled out the president's multi-million-dollar cut to the Graduate Medical Education program (GME).

She said, "And Ken Raske [President of the Greater New York Hospital Association] just told me the budget eliminates Medicaid payments for something called Graduate Medical Education. Now that would cut, according to Ken's calculation, $1.2 billion to the state of New York. Now, what is that money used for? It is used to train physicians, nurses, health care professionals. That's one of the reasons why America's health care is so good. Because we invest in the training of those who take care of us. That too is on the chopping block."

When I asked Hillary about Spitzer's intention to cut the same program, she said, "I don't know."

-- Azi Paybarah

From Chuck Schumer's statement at Bellevue Hospital on the president's health care spending cuts:

"The President's budget will effectively cut the core out of the Big Apple."

Pictured above is a statue, strategically positioned behind the podium, entitled, "The Family."

-- Azi Paybarah

The City's Transportation Commissioner, Iris Weinshall, is leaving for a job with CUNY.

Her last day is April 13th.

A statement from Weinshall, wife of Senator Chuck Schumer, is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah  read more »

Eliot Spitzer has an op-ed about his budget priorities.

In my Executive Budget next week, I will propose a fundamental restructuring of New York's finances. We will drive more resources to needy schools that promise higher standards and greater accountability. And we will end special subsidies to entrenched interests in the health care industry so we can fund health insurance coverage for all children and make other investments that will help provide better care at lower cost.

Asssembly Democrats may hold a quiet election to pick a comptroller, according to Fred Dicker.

The Daily News editorial board looks at the "truthiness" of UFT President Randi Weingarten and the push for smaller class sizes.

Craig Johnson got the Times' endorsement.

Maureen O'Connell's voting record doesn't match her rhetoric on stem-cell research and abortion, according to Newsday.

The WSJ editorial board is surprised at Chuck Schumer position on tort reform.

"But the really big news is that Mr. Schumer endorsed a study declaring that tort reform is the single