Khalil Gibran School

The New York Times has a must read article about how a handful of ideologues, including the execrable Daniel Pipes and a dishonest reporter at the Post, sandbagged the school's principal with a smear campaign. Truly disgusting people.

“This was a situation where she was subject to sanction not for anything she said, not for anything she did, but because a newspaper reporter twisted what she said and the result of it was negative press for the city and the Board of Ed,” Judge Jon O. Newman told a city lawyer at a hearing in February.

Ms. Almontaser’s case will proceed in the Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Oh yeah, Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, that bastion of journalistic integrity. They let him by the Wall Street Journal, and now he wants to buy Newsday . . . along with Fox News, Fox Business News, and Fox. This is why we (used to) have laws against concentration of media ownership. Those laws need to be reinstated, and more stringent than before.

Zirkle Jerk

Via ThinkProgress, Indiana Republican Congressional hopeful Tony Zirkle courts Nazi vote, but is really just looking out for Jews:

"Let’s save our Jewish brothers and sisters from this tyrant king porn dragon before we get to another world-wide pogrom."

I'm at a loss for words on this one.

Friday News Roundup

A few important bits of news:
- After an animated discussion, CB6 Land Use Committee voted 9-4 to support closing the "wide streets" loophole. The Committee, as well as Bill deBlasio (who was instrumental in making this happen) and our other local elected officials (Millman and Connor) all deserve praise for working to preserve the character of our community. Several steps still to go. Next is the full Board, then the Borough President.

- Another sign that DOB is a broken organization that needs a major cultural change, not just a new Commissioner: "City officials admit they wrongly gave the green light to the project at 303 East 51st St., where a tower-crane collapse on March 15 killed seven people." We must end the farce called self certification that outsources DOB oversight to the developers. Now.

- Consumer confidence "fell deeper into recessionary territory, to 62.6 from 69.5 in March . . . the lowest since March 1982's level of 62.0., when the "stagflationary" period of low growth and high inflation was still an issue for many Americans." We are in for a serious adjustment; the real estate recession has not even begun here yet, but realtors with long memories will remember what the early 1990s were like, and that's what we're facing in the near future.

- Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Have a good weekend!

360 Smith: Stein Digs In

Ah, to be at the right place at the right time. The gate to the 360 Smith construction site was open when I walked by this morning. I snapped a couple of pictures, and the gate was unceremoniously slammed shut . . . but not before I got some (camera-phone) quality shots for you, dear reader.

Looks like Stein is motivated to beat the text change on wide streets. Speaking of which, deBlasio's office, CGNA and CORD are all encouraging people to support the text amendment at CB6 Thursday night, April 24th:

Presentation and review of proposed Zoning Resolution Text Amendment (#N080345ZRK), known as the Carroll Gardens Places Text Amendment, submitted by the Department of City Planning that would define 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place and 4th Place between Henry Street and Smith Street; and 2nd Street, Carroll Street and President Street between Smith Street and Hoyt Street, in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn Community Board 6 as 'Narrow Streets' for zoning calculation purposes.
Brooklyn Community Board 6
250 Baltic Street
(Court/Clinton Streets)
Auditorium
6:00 p.m.
April 24, 2008

Lancaster OUT at DOB

Well, this is tremendous news.

Facing pressure from City Hall and growing criticism for a spike in fatal construction accidents, Buildings Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first commissioner to leave the Bloomberg administration under a cloud of public controversy.

We can only hope that this resignation engenders the same kind of sea change as the replacement of Iris Weinshall with Jeanette Sadik-Khan at DOT. The person at the top sets the tone for the whole organization. Of course, you need the Mayor's support . . . but Bloomberg has shown big changes before, and perhaps this signals positive change coming at DOB.

And here I am, and many others across the city I'm sure, preparing testimony for the Assembly Hearing on DOB's shortcomings and a passel of bills by Assemblymen Brennan, Lentol, and Hevesi to reform DOB. I think Lancaster was smart to get out of dodge before being ripped a new one publicly on Thursday morning.

We can and must do better. Let's start, Mayor Bloomberg, with having a panel that includes interests besides developers and the building trades vet the next DOB commissioner.

Previously at FirstandCourt: Scarano - Lancaster Scandal

Public Place Layout

Brownstoner has all the details in a very comprehensive rundown of the winning bid.

All things considered, and especially given some of the alternatives I saw, this looks pretty good.

Image courtesy of Brownstoner. Check out their post.

34th Street BRT - A Good First Step

Second Avenue Sagas (and Streetsblog, yesterday posted the entire pdf deck) have the details on a coordinated effort between DOT and the MTA to bring about better mass transit service across town. With the (for now at least) death of congestion pricing, the City is looking at alternative means of reducing congestion in Manhattan.

One way to reduce congestion is by making the transit system a more attractive option. The bus system will be a great deal more popular when people can get on a cross-town bus and actually move faster than if they had walked. Connect these dedicated bus lanes with major rail hubs and ferry service, and we're getting a lot closer to comprehensive mass transit service.

And that's something we'll need to get people out of their cars.