Enews\capitalnewyork\dec8 By Azi Paybarah in Manhattan, Jimmy Vielkind in Albany and Mike Allen in D.C., with Daniel Lippman ROYALS IN NY -- Post’s Amber Sutherland, Larry Celona and Kate Briquelet: “Prince William and Kate Middleton ... smil[ed]for hundreds of fans at their hotel after pulling up in a presidential-style motorcade. ...A British flag flew next to the Stars and Stripes outside the hotel, while the Empire State Building was lit in red, white and blue — for the Union Jack. ... On Monday, William will meet Obama at the White House to discuss the illegal wildlife trade. ... “Kate will join First Lady Chirlane McCray at the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem for crafts and gift-wrapping with students....She will join William in the afternoon for a Royal Foundation reception co-hosted by the Clinton Foundation for wildlife-conservation groups. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are to attend.At night, Wills and Kate will sit courtside at the Nets’ game against the Cavaliers, where they’re expected to meet pop music’s royal couple — Jay Z and Beyoncé.” pge.sx/12hfx3M --Spotlight on Chirlane -- AP’s Jonathan Lemire: “The eyes of the world will follow the Duchess of Cambridge on her first visit to New York when she tours a childrens development center in Harlem … And for much of that global audience, that moment will be their introduction to the duchess companion: Chirlane McCray … ‘You could say that I am Bills conscience, confidant, or adviser — but none of those words are exactly right,’ McCray told The Associated Press in an email interview.” goo.gl/q4B3Cj MAYOR HEDGES on Garner verdict -- Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: “Mayor Bill de Blasio avoided taking a position on a grand jurys decision not to indict a white officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner and instead shifted to discussing police reform and racism during an appearance on ABCs This Week … ‘I make it a point not to talk about any element of judicial process per se. I talk about what we have to do to fix the relationship between police and community,’ he told host George Stephanopoulos. Pressed again, he said that in his role as mayor, ‘Its important to respect the judicial process.’ When Stephanopoulos asked if that means he ‘respects’ the decision itself, de Blasio said, ‘respect the process.’” goo.gl/TjWp5d --VIDEO of De Blasio’s full interview on “This Week”: abcn.ws/1yZrHcY --Dante in danger -- Times’ Michael Grynbaum: “Stephanopoulos raised the issue bluntly by saying, “Your son is at risk from your own police department?” The mayor paused. “Look,” he said, “I want to say it the right way, because I think there was so much misunderstanding here.” “It’s different for a white child,” Mr. de Blasio continued. “That’s just the reality in this country. And with Dante, very early on with my son, we said, ‘Look, if a police officer stops you, do everything he tells you to do, don’t move suddenly, don’t reach for your cellphone.’” nyti.ms/1AOfkkj --“No Blood, No Foul”: the logo on de Blasio’s shirt as he worked out Sunday at the Y. via Village Voice’s Jack Buehrer: goo.gl/8rEuBa --“Strongly suggest racial profiling” -- Latest NYPD stop-and-frisk numbers -- Capital’s Azi Paybarah and Sally Goldenberg: “In 2013, there were 191,588 stop-and-frisk cases —with 169,252 (or 88 percent) of those stops not yielding an arrested or summons, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. In the first three quarters of 2014, the NYPD conducted only 38,456 stop-and-frisk incidents, with 31,661 (or 82 percent) being ‘totally innocent,’ according to NYCLU data” goo.gl/msTPW0 WHAT CITY HALL IS READING – “Next Issue for New York’s Mayor and Police: A Contract,” by WSJ’s Michael Howard Saul: “Mayor Bill de Blasio has struck deals with most of New York City’s union employees this year but now faces a daunting challenge: an escalating fight with police unions that say officers are being underpaid by the city and undermined by the mayor.” on.wsj/1zENyG5 CHRIS SMITH in NY MAG: “De Blasio Has Been Lucky — and Good — in His Handling of the Garner Aftermath”: “The mayor and his senior staff, after a first few months in office riddled by unforced errors, have become determined to get ahead of looming crises. The ongoing fallout from the police-induced death of Eric Garner is a prime example. From July, when City Hall dispatched an aide to Staten Island even before Garners death became public, to two weeks ago, when the administration began mapping out detailed responses to the possible decisions of a Staten Island grand jury, de Blasios team has been thorough and nimble. All that preparation, particularly in coordination with police commissioner Bill Bratton, has played a large if unquantifiable role in helping the city get through days of protest without serious violence or disruption. Yet de Blasio has caught a few breaks, too.” nym.ag/1G7I4FX HOW THEY SEE US -- WashPost 1-col. lead, “Borough’s race divide in spotlight after death: Staten Island residents describe a community of ‘this side, that side,’” by Amy Ellis Nutt: “The north shore ... is twice as dense as the rest of Staten Island, and close to 70 percent of the population is African American, Hispanic or Asian American ... The south shore is 71 percent white.” wapo.st/12DrZdR TOP-ED – “Horse Nonsense From City Hall” – Times editorial: “There is something the New York City Council can do to end 2014 on a high note. It can vote down Mayor Bill de Blasio’s effort to abolish carriage horses. It can give him the opportunity to move on from the foolish campaign promise to shut down the industry, made last year to a small, loud and financially generous group of horse-rights advocates. ... Why eliminate an entire class of Teamsters union jobs? How will the horses escape slaughter? What will happen to the stables, on coveted property on the West Side of Manhattan? (Not for nothing do people wonder why the force behind NYClass, the group pushing the anticarriage crusade, is a real estate developer, Stephen Nislick.)” nyti.ms/1yZqLWi TOP TALKER -- Times cols. 1-2, “After Ethics Panel’s Shutdown, Loopholes Live On in Albany: Free Spending and Murky Donations Persist,” by Thomas Kaplan, William K. Rashbaum and Susanne Craig: “Donors to Gregory R. Ball’s successful campaigns for the New York State Legislature might have been surprised by where he spent their money.He financed excursions to Cancún and Acapulco, and a leisurely road trip on his way back. He sprang for thousands of dollars in bar and restaurant bills in Texas — and entry fees for an extreme obstacle-course race called Tough Mudder.The freewheeling spending by Mr. Ball, a Republican senator from New York City’s northern suburbs, was only a sliver of the questionable conduct turned up by investigators for the Moreland Commission.” nyti.ms/1vvkOeF CUOMO’S TOP DONORS -- There are hedge fund owners and Rockefellers, the leaders of Madison Square Garden and a publicity-shy centenarian who managed to give $1 million without ever cutting a personal check. These are Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top donors and, according to an analysis by Capital’s Bill Mahoney, 341 of them accounted for more than half the record-breaking $46.9 million the Democratic governor—who has decried the increased influence of big money in politics—raised during his first term in office. In all, $23.75 million came from these 341 donors, each of whom gave aggregate totals of $40,000 or more. Donors who gave $10,000 or more accounted for 81.6 percent of his fundraising. bit.ly/1u6Bbim WHAT THEY WANT -- “Capital Tonight” host Liz Benjamin, for Capital: First up, the real estate sector. Developers and landlords/managers of both commercial and residential properties are impacted by a variety of state programs, subsidies and taxes. And those in construction thrive when developers do well. Of Cuomo’s top 50 donors, just over half (26) have ties to the real estate and construction industries. Of the governor’s top 10 donors, all of whom gave $200,000 or more, seven are connected – either directly or indirectly - to real estate. It’s going to be a big year in Albany for the real estate sector. A number of significant issues are on the table, starting with New York City’s rent laws, which are scheduled to expire next June. The debate over the rent laws at the state Capitol will inevitably be linked to the 421a and J-51 – two tax abatement/benefit programs that have long proved lucrative to residential developers in New York City. Both are also scheduled to sunset in June. With a deep dive on what Unions, Big Media, and Charter School Supporters also want: bit.ly/1wnOjWZ DEBUTING TODAY: CAPITAL EDUCATION—your daily guide to the latest news in New York education, from pre-kindergarten to higher ed, and from government to the for-profit sector. Written by Capital staff and filled with scoops, analysis and the most important news of the day on education leaders, institutions and the policies that affect them, Capital Education will be delivered to your inbox before 5:45 each weekday morning. Check out the newsletter: capi.tl/12U8Oh2 and sign up here: capi.tl/1xtAQKd GETTING THERE -- “Improving Ground Life for Travelers at 3 Airports,” by Times’ Patrick McGeehan: “Over the next 10 years, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three airports, is planning to spend about $8 billion — 30 percent of its capital budget — to fix up the airports. The single biggest piece of that plan is the rebuilding of the Central Terminal at La Guardia, a seven-year project that the agency hopes to begin next year.Port Authority officials have said for months that they were close to selecting a consortium to redevelop the 50-year-old Central Terminal. But the agency’s board will hold its last public meeting of the year on Wednesday, and the published agenda does not include an announcement of the winning bidder.” nyti.ms/1CYjniQ GOVERNOR, FATHER—Michaela Kennedy Cuomo’s ode to Andrew: “To me, Andrew Cuomo is so much more than the most accomplished governor in recent history — he is the most supportive, attentive, and reliable friend and father any child has ever had. Andrew Cuomo has not only passed four budgets on time for the first time in 40 years, but he has also been on time for every soccer game, basketball game, tennis match, track meet, ski race, concert, and play, for the past 19 years of my sisters and my lives. From Superstorm Sandy to Hurricane Irene, Andrew Cuomo has been on the scene with a bucket literally in hand for each of the 11 natural disasters that have occurred within his administration. Still, he has made time to talk me through all of my stereotypical teenage dramas. I do not know where time comes from, or how he has so much of it, but he somehow spoils me with his company while being wholly devoted to the state.” lohud.us/1qgyZIM MOVING ON -- Michele Bonan is the new vice president of government affairs at Brooklyn Public Library. For nine years, Bonan directed government relations at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Before that, Bonan was as the director of State Government Relations for Gay Mens Health Crisis, and statewide director of organizing for NYS Tenants and Neighbors, protecting affordable housing in New York. MEDIA BUZZ -- “On managing change: Chris Hughes and The New Republic,” by Ken Doctor for Capital: “Its tough to know how precisely Hughes worked the change process at T.N.R., but we know its clumsy result. Whatever real mistakes were made have been amplified by what we can call the A.Q., or Asshole Quotient. Its one thing to cite the realities of digital disruption and to prescribe change; its another to be a punk about it. Recall thats what got Tim Armstrong in trouble as he dispatched Patch—and troublesome staff—simultaneously at the same staff meeting. In this case, Yahoo vet (and these days that term has a very wide compass) and newish T.N.R. C.E.O. Guy Vidra is being painted, fairly or not, as one of those Silicon Valley punks more adept at ‘breaking shit’ (to paraphrase his own words) than building.” capi.tl/1vqJfKk Quartz hires Xana Antunes, former editor of New York Post,” by Capital’s Joe Pompeo: “With an eye on growth in 2015, Quartz has hired a veteran business journalist, Xana Antunes, as editor of new initiatives, a role in which she will lead recruitment efforts and focus on expanding the websites video offerings.” Antunes was editor of the Post from 1999 until Rupert Murdoch replaced him with trusted Australian lieutenant Col Allan; since then she’s been editor of Crain’s, Fortune, and most recently CNBC Digital. capi.tl/12BOD6s “Mike’s (still) on,” by David Roth for Capital magazine: “[From] 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every weekday, the New York sports conversation is conducted in Mike Francesa’s voice. More tellingly, our sports conversation sounds a lot like Francesa even during the 18-and-a-half hours per day that he isn’t on the air .... You know what this sounds like, even if you don’t know that it sounds like Francesa. It is declamatory and unstintingly peevish. It is thorough and merciless in its treatment of losers, and worshipful and aspirationally collegial in its dealings with winners. It is fatty with repetition and rhetorical questions and richly marbled with filibustering Here’s The Things and At The End Of The Days. It is profoundly humorless: If Francesa ever laughs, it is a snort—like a cat dislodging a hairball—in the direction of the hapless and hopeless.” capi.tl/1B6lIq8 REAL ESTATE --New York City to Sell Public-Housing Stake, by WSJs Laura Kusisto: “New York City’s financially troubled public housing authority will receive hundreds of millions of dollars by selling a 50% stake in nearly 900 apartments to private developers. The deal with L+M Development Partners Inc. and BFC Partner could help test the administration’s efforts to attract more private investment in its stock of public housing… In the initial sale, NYCHA will receive $150 million from the developers. The authority will get a further $100 million over the next two years and an additional $100 million in revenue over the next 15 years. The developers plan to invest another $100 million in renovations in the complexes, which are in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. “Under the terms of the deal—which hasn’t yet closed—NYCHA and the developers will form a partnership that owns the properties. The housing agency would continue to own the land and retains the right to remove the developers from managing the properties if NYCHA officials are unhappy… The developers will be able to sell tax-exempt bonds and federal tax credits under an agreement that expires in 30 years. At that point, at least in theory, the properties could be converted to market rate, though NYCHA would retain the power to make that decision, and officials said they were committed to preserving affordability.” on.wsj/1vDiEP7 --Famed Crown Building on market for up to $2B, by Post’s Lois Weiss: “The Crown Building, the Fifth Avenue landmark at the intersection of the city’s most expensive real-estate crossroads, is on the block. The price for the trophy building at 730 Fifth Ave. on the southwest corner of W. 57th Street could sell for a princely sum between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, sources said. Bergdorf Goodman, LVMH and Tiffany anchor the other three corners of the intersection, making this property a once-in-a-lifetime luxury prize… The sellers of the tower where Bulgari and Mikimoto ply gems and pearls are the Winter family and the Spitzer family, now headed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.” bit.ly/1BrITvd --The day ahead: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will watch LeBron James and the Cavs play the Nets at Barclays. The Rangers host the Penguins at MSG. Baseballs winter meetings begin. Expect the Yankees to add an expensive pitcher, and the Mets to not add an expensive anything. #UpstateAmerica: A billionaire plans to turn Rensselaerville, in the hills south of Albany, into “the center of the universe.” bit.ly/1yuhjrc COFFEE BREAK -- “The new hot hookup scene: Bar mitzvahs,” by Post’s Doree Lewak: “After hitting the NYC singles scene every night looking for love under all the wrong strobe lights, Jennifer still laughs when she recalls the very randy — and unorthodox — way she scored a boyfriend: at an out-of-town bat mitzvah in Atlanta.The 34-year-old director in the entertainment industry, who didn’t want her last name published, figured a four-hour party with a sea of 12-year-olds fighting over the photo booth was the last place to meet a guy, but recalls with delight the parade of divorced men ripe for the picking.”
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 18:11:08 +0000
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