by Maurize Pinzon
Conservative Republican Bob Barr was recently defeated in his reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. But before liberal groups start celebrating, they should note he's staying in Washington partly thanks to the American Civil Liberties Union.
November 26, 2002

by Maurize Pinzon
With operators taking calls around him at the City’s Manhattan 311 call center, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to call 311 or visit the City’s website to report cell phone dead zones, information that would then be shared with cell phone carriers to compel them to improve service. This information gathering and sharing program for the private cell phone companies was announced as some of the City’s community boards and members of the City Council have been complaining that they have received little information about the implementation and statistics generated from the 311 system.
October 28, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
New York City has an unprecedented number of homeless families. They have gone to the City for help. Many of these families are sleeping at the City's Emergency Assistance Unit (EAU) in the Bronx. The EAU is not a shelter, it's a processing center. Not placing families in a shelter and having them sleep at the EAU is in violation of a long standing court order.
August 16, 2002

by Maurize Pinzon
On February 15 an indefinable passion, frustration and anger percolating around the nation spread into the streets of New York by way of a protest against the Bush Administration's war with Iraq.
February 26, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Al-Jazeera, the Qatar based satellite news channel, had its reporter criticized at a press briefing at the United States Military Central Command Headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Another Al-Jazeera reporter was berated on live television by a CNN anchor. And Al Jazeera’s business reporter was banned from the New York Stock Exchange.
March 28, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
New York City Council member James S. Oddo yesterday sent a letter to presidential candidate Howard Dean, attributing the recent arrest of a graffiti artist to the publicity generated after Governor Dean used the artist’s work as a backdrop for a campaign rally.
October 09, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is ready to meet with Council member Hiram Monserrate to address the concerns of the Council member and advocates over an Executive Order the Mayor issued. The developing dialogue between the Mayor and Council member Monserrate seeks to strike a balance that allows immigrants to access City services without fear while the City complies with Federal law.
July 03, 2003

Stephen Gikow
At a city council hearing on Tuesday, Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. presented his office’s analysis of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s fiscal year (FY) 2004 budget. Thompson contended that Bloomberg’s budget included $618 million in “risks” in FY 2004 and that the city would likely face a $2.9 billion deficit in FY 2005.
May 29, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
At a news conference at the Marriott Hotel in Times Square, Mayor Bloomberg provided a bureaucratic road map for reporters and New Yorkers to follow in assessing where to look if a $170 million refinancing agreement enacted in budget legislation in Albany is derailed. Mayor Bloomberg appears to have strong backing for his argument from Felix Rohatyn, the former chair of New York's Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), and the man credited with negotiating the bailout of New York City during its fiscal crisis in the 70’s.
August 07, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi this afternoon at City Hall. The Prime Minister is in New York for the meeting of the United Nations’ General Assembly.
September 24, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, surrounded by Dominican community leaders just minutes before the Dominican Day Parade was to begin, spoke with reporters and insisted the State agreement on bond refinancing should be honored.
August 11, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly presides over a city where crime declined throughout 2002 in spite of reductions in the police force and with new security responsibilities after the World Trade Center attacks.
January 15, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
Speaker Gifford Miller; Council Member Eric Gioia, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations; and Council Member Christine Quinn, Chair of the Health Committee, stood on the steps of City Hall Tuesday to demand equal benefits for domestic partners of City and State employees. During the press conference council members, joined by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, released a Council Investigation Division (CID) study concluding that many non-mayoral agencies do not provide equivalent benefits for spouses and domestic partners and directly violate 1998 Domestic Partnership Law and State executive orders.
June 25, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
The Lower East Side Coalition yesterday held a town hall meeting at Seward Park High School in Manhattan, in which it criticized the State and Federal government for its handling of 9/11 funding and health issues, and demanded improvements to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s residential and family grant programs. U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, State Senator Thomas Duane and State Senator Martin Connor attended the meeting.
September 09, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
Council Members Charles Barron, Larry Seabrook, Jose Serrano and Majority Leader Joel Rivera announced their endorsement of the Reverend Al Sharpton for the Democratic presidential nomination. A representative for Congressman Edolphus Towns joined the council members in their support of Mr. Sharpton’s presidential run. It was his first group endorsement from local leaders.
June 24, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
At yesterday’s New York City Council Higher Education Committee hearing, committee Chairman Charles Barron, Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, and other committee members strongly opposed the City University of New York’s (CUNY) proposed tuition increase at community colleges. Mr. Barron and Ms. Lopez said they would seek alternative budget measures to avert the proposed hike.
June 13, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Today Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, flanked by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson, introduced a new law enforcement initiative to in effect indict a person's DNA. The program, known as the “John Doe Indictment Project,” would use a DNA databank to stave off the statute of limitations from going into effect on the sexual assault crimes even as the identity of the assailant remains unknown.
August 04, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday afternoon the Dean machine rolled into the 32BJ union hall in lower Manhattan, seemingly running on special fuel that no other Democratic campaign has been able to pump. With the organizational assistance of the municipal workers union AFSCME, the health care workers union 1199 SEIU, and IUPAT, the painters union, the campaign brought together a group of union members that was about two-thirds African-American and Latino.
November 24, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
The Department of Defense announced today the formation of an internal oversight board and an outside advisory committee to oversee its Total Information Awareness (TIA) Program. The announcement comes as legislation to monitor the Total Information Awareness program is under consideration as part of a House - Senate omnibus spending bill, and as a left-right coalition of groups concerned about privacy and civil liberties intensifies their criticism of the TIA program.
February 07, 2003

by Lizelle Vibar
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and many in the Chinatown and lower East Side community are experiencing a communication rift that at times appears unbridgeable, as if the two sides are talking in separate languages. In a sense, they are. The two sides disagree on many issues, particularly the quality of community outreach and the distribution of residential funding. The dispute has caught the attention of three members of the New York congressional delegation — Nydia Velazquez, Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler — who sent a letter last week to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Mel Martinez, urging a review of LMDC’s spending.
August 22, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
Harlem students, community activists and elected officials gathered on the steps of City Hall last Thursday, a day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he would restore $90 million in budget cuts to city services. East Harlem’s Engine Company 36 was not included in the restorations and students from the community protested at City Hall to ask Mr. Bloomberg to bring back the engine company. The firehouse and the engine company closed on May 26, after 135 years of operation. It was one of six city firehouses closed as a result of Mr. Bloomberg’s service cuts to close the budget deficit.
June 10, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday, in the Winter Garden just across from the World Trade Center site, emotions were still raw for firefighters and family members who attended the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s (LMDC) announcement of the eight finalists in the World Trade Center memorial design competition.
November 20, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
In a telephone press conference, presidential candidate Senator John Kerry chastised the Bush administration for not seeking international aid for the peace efforts in Iraq. “Speaking for the troops,” Senator Kerry said that peace is possible in the Middle East, but only if the administration swallows its pride and returns to the United Nations for help.
July 21, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
It happened on Christmas Eve just seven days before Rudolph Giuliani was to transfer power to Michael Bloomberg.
January 09, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton began the book tour for her autobiography, “Living History,” on Monday by signing a few hundred copies of her book at a crowded Barnes and Noble bookstore at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street. Hundreds lined streets to get their copy of the book and try to spend a few minutes with the former first lady.
June 10, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Marian Wright Edelman, the founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund(CDF), recently wrote she didn't mind that the Republican Convention's opening night theme used the CDF's trademark,"Leave No Child Behind". As long as, "...children's needs are elevated to the top of the national agenda for action."
August 08, 2000

by Maurize Pinzon
Just blocks away from the Columbus Day parade on Monday about 50 New York City residents and organizers gathered in front of the Manhattan office of Governor George Pataki to celebrate a court victory allowing them to protest in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Albany. The announcement of the settlement also turned into a platform for the organizers to criticize what organizers and residents said was Governor Pataki’s lack of concern for injured workers and lower Manhattan residents.
October 15, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
State Senator Liz Krueger has always fought the tough battles. She has been an advocate for the poor and dispossessed, as well as an expert on social services and food programs in New York. And yet Senator Krueger has seldom faced a goal as daunting or difficult as that before her now: the reformation and resurrection of New York State politics.
July 09, 2003

by Stephen Gikow and Lizelle A. Vibar
The New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) has filed a lawsuit against New York State and health agencies on behalf of Disability Advocates, Inc., asking the court to compel the State to overhaul the adult home system throughout New York. According to the NYLPI complaint, the State is violating Federal law by discriminating against the roughly 4,000 mentally ill people in adult homes.
August 05, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday, the New York City Council unanimously voted in favor of legislation introduced by Council member Bill Perkins (D- Manhattan) designed to clarify and strengthen the City Charter with respect to the City's custody and control of municipal records. The bill also requires the creation of a 5-member archives review board.
March 13, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
At a City Council Transportation Committee hearing on Friday, Council member John C. Liu released a report stating that the lack of negotiations between the City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) regarding private bus ownership could lead to a severe disruption of bus service for commuters.
October 13, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday at a news conference in City Hall, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg shot down speculation that Flushing could be a viable site for an Olympic Stadium. Instead he emphasized the larger goal of an expanded convention center, as part of the Olympic project that would attract more convention business for New York City.
October 03, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
There's no way to easily confirm whether the person you are about to marry is already married or if they were married before.
September 04, 2002

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked Vice President Richard Cheney not to attend the September 11th commemoration scheduled for tomorrow at Ground Zero and instead attend a ceremony later in the day for Port Authority officers and employees killed in the attack.
September 10, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday, minutes before marching in the Pulaski Day Parade, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that New York City is in a much stronger position to recover from its fiscal woes than it was during the City’s fiscal and service quagmire in the 70’s.
October 06, 2003

by Stephen Gikow and Maurize Pinzon
After a meeting on Friday with City Council member Hiram Monserrate, Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to review Mayoral Executive Order 34. The order, which the Mayor signed in May 2003, allows City agencies to share New Yorkers’ immigration status with federal authorities.
June 23, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday signed a broad Executive Order protecting the privacy of all New Yorkers, expanding the privacy provisions of his previous Executive Order. Immigrant groups and City Council members had been criticizing that order, saying that it did not go far enough in guarding privacy.
September 18, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday received an enthusiastic reception at the Mexican Day Parade. The Mayor cited the growing numbers of Mexican immigrants in New York, saying that the Mexican community had grown “from 20,000 ten years ago to 200,000 today.” He added that the Mexican Day parade was “another chance to celebrate another great community that has contributed an enormous amount to New York City.” Recognizing the exchange of cultural influences taking place between the United States and the Americas, Mayor Bloomberg said the Mexican communities “add to our culture and maybe send a little bit of it back home.” Just before marching in the parade he said, “As you can see there’s a great spirit here and that carries through the whole city.”
September 22, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
Council member Hiram Monserrate is one of the most recognizable faces around City Hall today. A former police officer and marine, Mr. Monserrate became the first Latino New York City Council member from Queens in 2001. In the City Council he has become an informal representative for Latinos throughout the city, at a time when Latinos are becoming increasingly influential in electoral politics.
July 16, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Bloomberg, who has been trying to finesse money and the commuter tax out of Albany, increased the pressure on Tuesday by warning that a $3.8 billion dollar budget deficit would severely cut New York City's municipal services if Albany does not help. At the same time, New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller has been arguing that much of the blame lies in the permanent imbalance between what New York City taxpayers send to the State and Federal government and what New York City gets back in funding.
April 18, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
There has been great oratory in the House on the question of impending war with Iraq. But the debate has been in the House of Commons, not the House of Representatives. And in the Senate, which has the constitutional authority to declare war, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia) has been the only consistent Senator to raise the issue of the impending war with Iraq.
March 18, 2003

by Matt Di Paoli
On Tuesday United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group consisting of 600 member organizations across the nation, held a press conference in midtown Manhattan to announce the opening of an International Occupation Watch Center in Iraq. The Watch Center was established to allow “ordinary Iraqis to inform people around the world about conditions under U.S. occupation.” Medea Benjamin, Director of Global Exchange; Gael Murphy of Code Pink: Women for Peace; and Reverend Patty Ackerman with Fellowship of Reconciliation — all of whom recently returned from Iraq after they visited the opening of the Watch Center — reflected on the monitoring project in Iraq.
July 23, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
It was bound to happen in a presidential campaign season in which the Internet has become an important vehicle for communication. It turns out that if you type “miserable failure” on the well-known Google search engine and hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button, you get the biography of President George W. Bush in the White House web page.
December 05, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
President George W. Bush was asked this morning whether he was willing to allow Saddam Hussein to go into exile. The President said, “Hopefully, it can be done peacefully. Hopefully the pressure of the free world will convince Mr. Saddam Hussein to relinquish power. And should he choose to leave the country, along with a lot of the other henchmen who have tortured the Iraqi people, we would welcome that, of course.”
January 29, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Residents, Workers, and Community Groups Cite Ongoing Health Problems in their Demand for Further Air Testing and Clean-up. Residents and workers, and representatives from unions and environmental groups yesterday held a news conference at Federal Hall to demand further testing and clean-up of lower Manhattan. They also demanded health care for those suffering from illnesses caused by that dust and an investigation of the toxic hazard information that was allegedly withheld.
September 16, 2003

Transcribed by New York News Network
Mr. Speaker, this is the first time for 20 years I have addressed the House from the backbenches. I must confess that I had forgotten how much better the view is from here. But none of those 20 years were more enjoyable or more rewarding than the past two, in which I have had the immense privilege of serving this House as the Leader of the House, made all the more enjoyable, Mr. Speaker, by the opportunity of working closely with yourself.
March 17, 2003

SLIDE SHOW
This last Saturday an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 anti-war protestors marched down Broadway from Times Square to Washington Square Park. Here are pictures of some of the people who participated in the protest march.
March 24, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller proposed $107 million in alternative budget cuts at a press conference yesterday. These cuts would free up funds for the restoration of other city services such as zoos, daycare slots, college scholarships and weekend meals for seniors, Mr. Miller said. He characterized the alternative budget cuts as “simple measures that can save money.”
June 17, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller called for a city budget restoration of $18.2 million for the city’s district attorneys. District attorneys from the five boroughs joined him at the news conference at the Speaker’s side of City Hall: Robert Johnson of the Bronx, Richard Brown of Queens, Robert Morgenthau of Manhattan, Charles Hynes of Brooklyn, and William Murphy of Staten Island.
June 19, 2003

by Alex Sanmartino
Protestors gathered at Union Square yesterday on a cold, rainy day to speak out against the US war on Iraq. At least a third of the 200 to 300 participants were teenagers, who walked out of school in defiance of teachers and school administrators.
March 21, 2003

Maurize Pinzon
There are three Jewish - American organizations trying to influence Washington's Middle East peace strategy at a critical tipping point between some stability and more violence. The three organizations, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Americans for Peace Now and the Tikkun Community, run the political spectrum from Right to Left. While it is generally believed that AIPAC, the most established organization of the three and perhaps more politically aligned with the Bush administration, has the upper hand, Peace Now and Tikkun are maneuvering so that their visions of peace in the Middle East are taken into account by the public and by foreign policy decision makers in Washington.
May 26, 2003

Analysis - by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday seemed exasperated at the Columbus Day Parade as some reporters questioned him about the color of his socks — “They’re just regular black socks,” he said — and about how exactly the Police Department would go about arresting Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez.
October 14, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson called on the City to cancel a contract negotiated between Snapple, the Department of Education and the City’s Marketing Development Corporation, citing irregularities in the contracting process and possible conflicts of interest.
October 31, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
The Bush Administration recently completed a bilateral trade agreement with Chile, while all but ignoring Argentina's economic collapse. Nevertheless, the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Anne Patterson, recently told this reporter that the trade agreement with Chile indicates that, "we're on a roll," in expanding free markets throughout Latin America. Notwithstanding the Chile pact, and Ambassador Patterson's comments, developments in Latin America suggest there is a United States foreign policy vacuum in the Western Hemisphere with one exception. Colombia.
December 30, 2002

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scheduled to be in Israel tomorrow, when he will visit Israelis injured during a recent bus bombing. The Mayor is also planning to ride a bus from the Western Wall. Yesterday, minutes before the Pakistani Day Parade, reporters asked him whether he felt safe going to Israel. Mayor Bloomberg said, “I feel very safe” in New York and in Israel. When another reporter asked if he had asked for a reduction in his security detail in New York, the Mayor said, “I've picked the best police commissioner.” He indicated that he would leave those security details up to Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
August 25, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) conducted its board meeting yesterday while a group of poor women and a coalition of advocates silently held up signs suggesting more spending on what they felt were more immediate community needs.
November 14, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
On July 23 about 700 youths from New York awoke early in the morning to participate in a trip to Washington D.C. for the "Rock the House and Hill Youth Rally.” The youths, ranging in age from 10 to their early 20’s, went to the nation’s capital to protest their exclusion from the benefits of the Child Tax Credit.
July 30, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
New York State Senator Liz Krueger in a news conference last week charged the State Senate with a partisan restoration of funding for an after school program that was cut from $20 million to $10 million when Albany enacted its budget this year.
December 15, 2003

Transcribed by New York News Network
The Mandarin Oriental hotel had its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday. The hotel is part of the new Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. The Mandarin Oriental will have 251 guest rooms and suites. According to information provided by the hotel, 421 new jobs were created. Council member Gale Brewer, Chair of the Technology Committee in the City Council, represents the district in which the Time Warner Center is nearing completion. This is New York News Network’s transcript of her remarks at the hotel’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, about the private-public partnership that was developed to find low-income New Yorkers jobs.
December 04, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday, at a ceremony to commemorate the opening of the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Columbus Circle, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg gave tangible examples of how his administration is transforming City government and repositioning the City's relationship to New York businesses.
December 02, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
An etching in 1984 by Martin Cohen hangs on a wall of the Fountain Gallery at 702 Ninth Avenue. In it he can be seen in various poses, with big, piercing eyes as the etching is divided into smaller panels. Mr. Cohen had described the etching, saying, “It shows anger, nervousness, frustration, and satisfaction, all feelings that I was experiencing at the time…as I was developing into the artist that I hoped to become.” Since his early 20’s Mr. Cohen has been struggling to support himself financially through art as well as battle schizophrenia.
October 07, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
There was standing room only on the X51 express bus from Flushing, Queens to Midtown Manhattan on a rainy Wednesday morning this week. Eight passengers stood in an aisle about nine inches wide as the driver pulled onto the Long Island Expressway. While passengers struggled to keep their balance, the bus weaved between cars at 50 mph to eventually hit the Midtown Tunnel’s two-way traffic.
June 06, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
On June 16 the Bronx celebrated Community Awareness Day by offering women in the borough a free day of beauty at the Bronx County Building. Funding for the event was provided by grants from the Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs and the U.S. Department of Justice. For a day the Bronx Courthouse was transformed from a justice facility into a day spa where about 300 Bronx women were pampered with free manicures, pedicures, facials, massages and makeovers. At the same time the participants were provided information about domestic violence and told about domestic violence resources.
August 06, 2003

by Mary E. Staub
With developer Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner Companies bidding $275 million to bring the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn and build them a new stadium on the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, residents and business owners in surrounding neighborhoods show increasing concern for the project’s impact on their homes, businesses and communities.
December 17, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Not sure who to call if you have a complaint or question about municipal services? Now you can dial 311. This number allows New Yorkers to get in touch with an operator or an agency that can help. Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed to set up the non-emergency governmental services number to make City government “more accessible” to New Yorkers. The Mayor thinks 311 will also allow the City to save money.
July 25, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that overall bias crimes in the city were down by about 7 percent, but a study released yesterday by the New York City Commission on Human Rights indicated that about 7 out of 10 Muslims, Arabs and South Asian respondents indicated they had been discriminated against since 9/11.
October 17, 2003

by Melissa Danaczko
In a student senate meeting this past Friday, Columbia University's President, Lee Bollinger, confirmed Columbia's intention to buy local property as a result of the housing and building shortages facing this growing institution. In an interview with New York News Network, Emily Lloyd, Columbia University's Executive Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, said some professors have turned down grants because the university had been unable to come up with research space. Additionally, because the availability of housing often dictates whether or not a student decides to attend Columbia, severe housing shortages could discourage students from attending the university.
October 29, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
The Heiskell Enterprise Center computer lab opened in Refuge House in the North Fordham section of the Bronx on May 21. Twenty-four new Dell computer stations with Internet service were installed in the lab for classes in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. The center is working with New York Care for Kids to begin courses in Web design in the coming months.
June 17, 2003

by Stephen Gikow and Matt Di Paoli
The Finance Committee of the New York City Council voted unanimously today to approve a business improvement district for Flushing. Later in the day the full Council voted to approve the BID by a vote of 43 to 1.
August 19, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
On the last day of December, Main Street and 41st Avenue in downtown Flushing, was jammed with women, men, children, baby strollers, and seniors with their canes. They were looking for an opening through a line of commercial and passenger vehicles so they could cross the street.
January 02, 2003

by Melissa Danaczko
Negotiations between Columbia University and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine has been temporarily sidetracked by the City Council’s decision to disapprove the church’s landmarking designation.
November 19, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Democracy was interrupted yesterday at 2:08 p.m. when shots were fired repeatedly into the body of Council member James E. Davis inside the Council Chambers at City Hall. The Council member died soon after. His assailant, Othniel Askew, was shot dead by Police Officer Richard Burt, who fired up into the balcony from the floor of the Council Chamber. Officer Burt was assigned to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller’s security detail.
July 24, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
You can overlook NYU Downtown Hospital when there is no emergency in the area. The hospital is tucked next to the side of Pace University and in the shadows of the Brooklyn Bridge, with the bustling activity of City Hall just a few blocks away.
November 25, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Downtown Flushing is often referred to as the busiest mass transit commuter transfer point between buses and a subway in New York City. But is it also one of the busiest commercial districts in New York City. Some see the community as “vibrant” while others say it is out of control.
March 11, 2003

by Sasha Vasilyuk
Since 1986, Eduardo has been playing chess at Bryant Park, and for years, he has even gone there during the spring, summer, and fall to set up game boards for the New York Chess and Backgammon club. He was a fixture in the park even when it "was surrounded by walls and everyone had to play standing because there were no chairs." Now the park is very different, as it has been transformed into a popular urban space.
July 01, 2003

by Sabrina Shankman
Kazi Abdul has been standing in front of the Taj Mahal restaurant almost every night for the last eight years with the goal of luring each passerby into the restaurant before other greeters on the block beat him to it. Little India, also known as “Curry Lane,” is just one of many ethnic neighborhoods on the lower East Side. Almost 30 Indian restaurants dot Little India, and they all seem to have greeters, calling out to pedestrians. The neighborhood draws an eclectic crowd, with customers from all walks of life. This lower East Side block — Sixth Street, between First and Second Avenue — is busy almost every night of the week.
September 29, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
“Who has had poison ivy?” James Alfieri said as he stood before the lectern at the front of the room. One person raised his hand. The mere thought of it makes people itchy, Mr. Alfieri said, scratching his arms and cringing. Based upon his experiences and those of others, he said that people have gotten poison ivy as a “result of doing something totally and utterly useless.” Mr. Alfieri recalled his own experience as a 16-year-old, when he and a friend were walking through the woods and heard music. They followed the music, creeping to a backyard, where a couple was dancing. As he was speaking, Mr. Alfieri simulated the creeping motion. Mr. Alfieri said he and his friend crouched down behind a fence and peeked through the shrubbery. The next day, he woke up in bed and found that he had poison ivy rashes all over his body. Mr. Alfieri gestured from his head to his toes. Mr. Alfieri is one of about 25 members of the Vanderbilt Toastmasters club, which met Tuesday as part of a bimonthly public speaking workshop.
September 26, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
In April the Bryant Park administration hired three falcon trainers, who brought five Harris hawks to control the pigeons in Bryant Park, located on 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue. The hawks were trained to move from tree to tree and scare pigeons away, and the program proved quite successful. However, the program has come under a great deal of scrutiny because one of the hawks swooped down and attacked a Chihuahua in the park’s bushes.
August 11, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
The L train was full of people, many going home from work and others carrying babies and holding baby carriages. The train stopped and left the last station in Manhattan at about 4:30 p.m. and was headed toward the tunnel across to Brooklyn.
August 16, 2003

by Susan Rivera
The New York City public school system is not adequately prepared to help immigrant parents become actively involved in their children’s education, concluded a study by the Center for New York City Affairs at New School University.
September 23, 2003

by Sabrina Shankman
Two months ago the firefighters of Engine Company 10, Ladder Company 10 were told that their Lower Manhattan firehouse would reopen in a week. This week they were told that they could return to a rebuilt firehouse soon. “In a week, or maybe a month,” said a construction worker from PMS Construction Management, the firm working on the project. The firehouse was damaged on September 11, 2001 due to the attacks on the World Trade Center.
October 03, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
In a Union Square building, lights and computer screens flickered twice before the office went dark and air conditioning and phones shut off at around 4:14 p.m. last Thursday. Cell phones did not work, possibly because of excessive wireless traffic. One worker looked out the window at the surrounding buildings, saw that they were all dark and said, "The whole grid is out." Some workers knocked and told people stuck in elevators that help was coming. Emergency exits were pitch black. Outside, people were pouring into the streets, sidewalks and into Union Square Park as dead traffic lights caused chaos in the streets. Word was going around that subways were evacuated and there was absolutely no service. People asked one another, "What's going on?" It was just the beginning of almost a day-and-a-half without electrical power in New York City.
August 18, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
After Thursday’s blackout began, this reporter started walking uptown towards West 34th Street, not knowing what to do. It would be a challenge to travel to Queens tonight, especially with no bus or street maps.
August 18, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
It’s happened to us all. You’re in a rush and your subway service is interrupted. As a result you’re frustrated, annoyed and stressed out because you don’t know what’s going on and there’s nothing you can do about it. But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has been trying to change that. Through a telephone hotline and service advisories and alerts on the agency’s Web site, the MTA is giving New York City Transit (NYCT) subway riders access to what they lack: information.
July 07, 2003

by Maurize Pinzon
Yesterday, 4 persons with symptoms of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) on a flight from Tokyo to San Jose, California, were quarantined. The rest of the 100 plus passengers will be given information suggesting they contact their doctors should they develop the illness. As of the posting of this article, it is not clear whether the people on the plane have SARS.
April 02, 2003

by Sabrina Shankman
In the wake of three apparent suicides at New York University, university officials, students and faculty members met at a forum last Friday in an attempt to foster communication throughout the university community. At the meeting some students expressed their disappointment in the way the university has reacted to the suicides. “I was in the library when the first suicide happened,” said a graduate student, who asked to remain anonymous. She said that after she was allowed to leave the library, there were no officials for her to talk to, and she was left feeling traumatized and alone. “I felt there was a lack of recognition that the students may have experienced something tragic,” she added.
October 31, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
New York University (NYU) student groups concluded their first AIDS Awareness Week with the “Beyond Words, Beyond Borders” benefit concert hosted last night by the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) at NYU. Seventy-four people attended the concert, which raised about $600 for the NYC Student Initiative for AIDS, a student-run nonprofit organization that provides money for HIV and AIDS relief.
December 09, 2003

New York News Network
If you are planning to go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve here are some things to expect....
December 30, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Commuters, get ready to adjust your subway routes. On Sunday the MTA will restore B, D, N and Q train service over the Manhattan Bridge. The following changes are expected to take place then:
February 20, 2004

Danielle Whyte
The 34th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual (LGBT) Pride March added a splash of color to the city at its parade on Sunday. Participants wore costumes that ranged from the plain to the extreme, with one drag queen in a suit made of bananas. The annual parade stretched from 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue to Christopher Street in the West Village.
July 01, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Yesterday, as New York City Marathon runners were preparing for the race, volunteers began unloading water from Poland Spring delivery trucks in Long Island City. The volunteers then poured water into small paper cups and lined them up neatly on tables, many along Crescent Street, the last water station before the Queensboro Bridge. Marathon spectators consisted of volunteers, community members and people cheering for family and friends in the race and holding up signs to encourage them. Three men sat on the roof of a building, watching the scene.
November 03, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has been trying to help New Yorkers prepare for emergency situations. Even before the blackout the City had compiled information about emergency preparedness for what it called the “Ready New York” campaign and its related household preparedness guide released last month.
August 18, 2003

by Sabrina Shankman
On Wednesday the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and architect Daniel Libeskind announced changes to the World Trade Center site design. The revised plans will not interfere with the bedrock footprints of the Twin Tower buildings.
September 19, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Instead of competing with the top New York City Marathon runners on Sunday, two participants teamed up to beat the six-hour mark. The runners, Hemali Dassani and Roger Tjong, met only recently, through the New York Road Runners Club website, and they trained together despite injuries and hectic schedules. The result?
November 05, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Look south and upward, about halfway up the sky at midnight on Wednesday. You will see the bright orange-red Mars approaching its closest distance to Earth in 60,000 years. Mars will not be this close again until 2287.
August 25, 2003

SLIDE SHOW
Pictures From Blackout 2003
August 16, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
At 25 years old Casey Mahoney understands the problems that young people may face. His family moved around a lot when he was growing up, and he was exposed to musically talented relatives who abused alcohol or drugs. But he did not let that stop him from trying to become a rock star.
November 18, 2003

by Stephen Gikow
Tenants of Noble Drew Ali Plaza in Brownsville, Brooklyn are suing the City to prevent the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) from turning the affordable, rent-stabilized apartments into temporary housing for the homeless. DHS is in the process of suing to evict thousands from rent-stabilized homes to make way for the homeless. Instead of converting unused City-owned buildings into housing for the homeless, the City has targeted privately owned buildings, offering subsidies of over $3,000 per month to the landlords if they switch to temporary housing.
July 24, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
A few students in the 35mm workshop took turns simulating the roles of camera crew members and director instructing actors in front of a Panavision camera, the same type of camera used to film TV show “Law and Order.” As two teachers watched, the camera operator turned a wheel that moved the camera, smoothly following the movement of a paper cup to an actor’s mouth and down to a coffee table. One student pushed the camera forward; another held the camera wiring. Others sat in various director’s chairs, watching the frame and judging its quality on a monitor in the back of the room as students chanted in an acting class next door. This is a typical day at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Union Square.
August 08, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
Over the last decade Bryant Park has been transformed from a place once filled with crime and drugs to a popular Midtown spot. On an average day many enjoy lunch, ride the carousel, or play a challenging game of chess. But the park improvements gave rise to another problem: pigeons.
June 09, 2003

by Matt Di Paoli
The carousel at Bryant Park has become a quaint reminder of another time. People of all ages waited in line to ride the carousel. A man and a woman kissed. One young boy mounted the porcelain horse and Barbie the carousel operator said, “There you go, just like a cowboy.” “It’s the only place where everyone gets off and they’re smiling,” Barbie said. Then she added, “except for two-year-olds.”
June 10, 2003

by Danielle Whyte
Many New Yorkers have seen the tiger ads on the subway: one tiger licks a child's ice cream, another bites a businessman’s rear end, and one scares the pants off an onlooker. On display in the subway and at the Bronx Zoo are Rika, Sasha, Norma, Zeff, Alexis, and Taurus, the six stars of the Bronx Zoo's Tiger Mountain exhibit. The tiger exhibit is a new addition to the Bronx Zoo that opened on May 15th with the tagline: "You've never seen tigers like this before."
July 11, 2003

by Lizelle A. Vibar
Now that the finalists in the World Trade Center memorial design competition have been named, architect Philip Tusa is ready to speak. He found two problems with the winning designs: they did not incorporate the history of the site and a reminder of the destruction that happened there.
November 26, 2003