Assemblyman Vito Lopez will resign in June, according to news reports.

But his promise to step down at the end of the session only ignited more calls for him to leave  – immediately.

In a statement today, he said he would resign June 20.

According to The New York Times, Lopez suggested he would finish this session in office then run for the City Council.

The move comes after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he would recommend expelling Lopez from the legislature.

Lopez was censured last year after sexual harassment allegations surfaced. This week, a new report detailed his alleged behavior, including accounts of incidents with multiple women who worked for him. The report detailed asking staffers to give him massages and wear revealing clothing, among other requests.

Many have criticized Lopez as well as other lawmakers’ actions regarding him, including reported secret settlements after the allegations.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that the situation required “a zero tolerance policy.”

“We must now send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated,” Cuomo said. “Vito Lopez should not spend another day in office, let alone a whole month. He should resign effective immediately and if he does not, he must be expelled.”

The National Organization for Women released a statement saying he should be expelled immediately “to ensure a sexual predator is removed from office.”

“Sexual predators should not be casting votes on legislation that impacts women’s lives,” the group said.

And city officials said he will not have an easy time running for City Council. The Speaker, Christine Quinn, told the Times his candidacy was “one of the most offensive things I have ever seen happen in New York City politics.”

His rival Council candidate,  Antonio Reynoso, added,  ”Vito Lopez clearly does not deserve to hold public office.”

The post Vito Lopez will resign, but not fast enough for many officials appeared first on Metro.us.

After a series of anti-gay attacks in Manhattan, city and state legislators are joining homeless gay youth in an interactive theater performance based on the real-life experiences of the teens involved.

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  Homeless LGBTQ youth rehearse for Theatre of the Oppressed festival

The “legislative performance” is part of a theater festival presented by Theatre of the Oppressed NYC that will take place this Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, at the Church of St. Luke in the Field in Greenwich Village. The legislators’ performance will be on Saturday at 2 p.m.

City Councilmembers Daniel Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer and Rosie Mendez, City Council Candidate Corey Johnson and New York State Senator Brad Hoylman will join three homeless LGBTQ teen acting ensembles from three local shelters geared at LGBTQ youth: The Ali Forney Center, The Door, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

The teens will also be joined on stage by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development policy analyst, Homeless Coordinator Samuel Miller and Department of Justice Regional Director Reinaldo Rivera. 

The plays will deal with the issues that the homeless LGBTQ teens face. Katy Rubin, the 27-year-old founder of both the festival and Theatre of the Opressed NYC, said that one of the main topics is the shortage of shelter beds that are safe for LGBTQ youth and being victims of hate crimes in non-LGBTQ shelters for youth.

There are only 80 bed available in LGBTQ-friendly shelters in New York City, for an estimated 1,800 homeless gay teens.

Some of the teens rehearsing. Clockwise from top: Sophie Nimmannit, TONYC Joker, Member of Door Troupe, Kendall (floor). Credit: Theatre of the Oppressed.

The performances in the festival are interactive: the teens act out a scene and then invite the audience onstage to improv, act out, and brainstorm solutions to the issues portrayed in the scene. At the performance involving legislators, the audience’s ideas will be shaped into policy proposals by the legislators, and the audience will vote on the proposals.

In a similar festival in Brazil, this kind of Legislative Theatre has led to policy changes in education, prison rights, and civil rights, Rubin said.

The performance, as well as all other performances and panel discussions in the festival, are free of charge and open to the public.

“We really want everybody’s voice to be part of the dialogue,” Rubin said.

Legislative Theatre Performance

Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m.

The Church of St. Luke in the Fields

487 Hudson Street

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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‘You’ve Got Mail’ (1998)

Cafe Lalo, 201 W. 83rd St., 212-496-6031
Satisfy your sweet tooth at this Upper West Side coffeeshop and dessert bar. The self-proclaimed “most famous café in NYC” was featured as the backdrop for a chance meeting between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s characters. Open into the wee hours of the morning, the European décor and quiet ambiance make a perfect setting for a first date.

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (2006)

Craft Restaurant, 43 E. 19th St., 212-780-0880
Andy has dinner at the Tom Colicchio restaurant with her father, who expresses concerns about her career/living situation, and she gets an emergency call from her overbearing boss, Miranda. If you go to sample the star chef’s greenmarket fare, hopefully your boss doesn’t interrupt.

‘The Muppets Take Manhattan‘ (1984)

Sardi’s, 234 W. 44th St., 212-221-8440
Sardi’s has been a favorite in the city for the past 90 years, so much so that the Italian restaurant managed to snag a central role in “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” Who could forget the scene where Kermit replaces Liza Minnelli’s picture with his own green face, much to her own chagrin? You can enjoy a piece of childhood nostalgia by visiting Sardi’s for classic dishes like steak tartar and cannelloni au gratin.

‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977)

Lenny’s Pizza, 1969 86th St., Brooklyn, 718-946-1292
There’s always been a debate as to where you can find the best New York pizza, and it looks like Lenny’s Pizza might have a leg up on the competition after gaining national exposure in the classic disco film. The way Tony chows down on two slices as he strolls on 86th Street makes it hard to imagine there’s a better tasting pizza in the city. You can still relive your memories from the ’70s at Lenny’s in Bensonhurst.

‘Friends With Benefits’ (2011)

Pershing Square Cafe, 90 E. 42nd St., 212-286-9600
Jaime and Dylan agree to “start over” with their relationship at this east side-meets-west side eatery, parked right across from Grand Central, which boasts “the busiest and best breakfast in New York.”

‘Wall Street’ (1987)

21 Club, 21 W. 52nd St., 212-582-7200
The 21 Club, where greedy moneygrubber Gordon Gekko and his apprentice Bud Fox would meet in “Wall Street,” once functioned as a Prohibition-era speakeasy. Visit for true meat-and-potato dishes  — before you know it, you’ll be discussing some of the finer things in life.

The classic

‘When Harry Met Sally’ (1989)

Katz’s Delicatessen, 205 E. Houston St., 212-254-2246
Houston Street eatery Katz’s Deli has been a favorite of native New Yorkers since the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until 1989 that the rest of the world caught a glimpse of the revered restaurant for the first time. A classic in every sense of the word, Katz has a wide selection of traditional diner favorites from burgers to pastrami sandwiches. If you’re ever wondering what to order, just look to the table next to you and say, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

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New York’s food trucks offer up an amazing variety, from waffles and cupcakes to schnitzel and Korean tacos.

But as their numbers have expanded in recent years, complaints have started coming in from both brick-and-mortar businesses and residents.

“Food trucks have become popular in many corners of the city, but most of them are operating illegally,” either by vending from metered spots or by not following existing parking laws, Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick told Metro.

He further pointed out that when multiple trucks line up, “You get essentially a wall of commercial activity in the street, which can change the character of a neighborhood.”

In an attempt to resolve the free-for-all, Garodnick introduced a bill last month that would create special parking spots just for food trucks. No more than one truck would be allowed per block, and at least half of the spots would be outside Manhattan.

“They are an inexpensive food option and have even become a gourmet experience in some cases,” Garodnick said. “So we’re trying to set forth rules that allow the trucks to operate with some certainty but also protect communities.”

The bill set the maximum number of food truck spots at 450. However, Garodnick called that number merely “a discussion starter.”

“I am certain the bill will be revised to increase the number of spaces,” said David Weber, president of the NYC Food Truck Association, who explained that it was drafted before city officials testified that there were about 530 food trucks in the five boroughs.

Weber added that the current rules were so outdated that they used words like “hawker” and “huckster.” As a result, he supported the idea of legislation.

“New York City has the best culinary talent in the country and the most dense and active streets,” he said. “There is no reason we shouldn’t have the country’s best street food.”

Other stakeholders likewise believe that something must be done, although they disagree on the specifics.

At a hearing last month, a representative from the mayor’s office backed the “broader intentions” of Garodnick’s bill, but said it needed a “strong enforcement component.”

The mayor’s office made a number of suggestions, including that food trucks bid for the right to certain street locations, that they switch over to cleaner fuels and more environmentally friendly packaging materials, and that they be responsible for the cleanliness of their immediate vicinity.

Meanwhile, Monica Blum, president of the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District, said the bill should also address the roughly 4,500 food carts on the city’s streets.

“I don’t think you can consider one independent of the other,” Blum said. “If you regulate only the trucks you can still have nine food carts along one block.”

She expressed concern that mobile food vendors were unfairly competing with brick-and-mortar businesses.

“What currently happens now is that, quite frankly, mobile food trucks park directly in front of our quick-serves,” Blum said. “And we don’t feel that’s appropriate.”

Nonetheless, she acknowledged that food trucks serve a need. “There’s no doubt that many people like them,” she said.

The post Council legislation attempts to resolve food truck free-for-all appeared first on Metro.us.

You might soon need more than a $5 bill to buy an item from a city newsstand.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn outlined legislation today that will bump the maximum price of newsstand products from $5 to $10.

The move will streamline selling more products for city small business owners, Quinn said.

“This legislation will allow New York City’s iconic newsstands to sell more products, thereby expanding consumers’ access to more of the products they want and need,” she said.

New items that might be added to the city’s 300 newsstands? Chargers, umbrellas and earphones, Quinn suggested.

The Council last increased the product price from $2 to $5 in 2001.

The post Newsstands may soon sell bigger-ticket items like umbrellas appeared first on Metro.us.

As a national debate on immigration reform heats up, the New York City Council is proposing an amendment that would grant broader immigrant voting rights, and the Bloomberg administration told Talking Points Memo they will not support it.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Councilman Daniel Dromm and Councilwoman Gale Brewer, would give legal immigrants who are residents of the city for six months or longer the right to vote in municipal elections.

It had eight supporters in the council when it was first introduced in 2010. It currently has the support of 34 of the Council’s 51 members, which is exactly the number of votes needed to override a veto from the mayor, Dromm told Metro.

The mayor has long been a vocal proponent of immigration reform, but a spokeswoman for his administration, Evelyn Erskine, told TPM: “This bill violates the state constitution and the administration does not support it.”

“The mayor believes voting is the most important right we are granted as citizens, and you should have to go through the process of becoming a citizen and declaring allegiance to this country before being given that right,” Erskine said.

While the majority vote in the council could override a Bloomberg veto, the bill could still be stopped by Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Quinn decides when — if at all — bills come to the floor, so it’s up to her whether it comes up for a vote.

Robin Levine, a spokeswoman for Quinn, told Metro the speaker is “looking forward to reviewing testimony from today’s hearing.”

Dromm is adamant that legislation is vital for the adequate representation of the city’s immigrant communities, particularly ones like the one he represents, which he says “is 68 percent immigrant, many of whom would fall into this category.”

Giving them the right to vote would change the way politicians interact — or often neglect to interact — with them, Dromm said: “No longer could people running for city office ignore communities like mine; they’d have to come and address the issues.”

“The nation’s founders were right in saying that there should be no taxation without representation,” Dromm said. “In the early days of this country if you were a property owner, it didn’t matter what country you came from, you had the right to vote.”

He corrected himself, conceding that the law only applied to white male property owners, but noted that over the course of history, that law was expanded to include women and African-Americans. Including immigrants, he believes, is simply the next logical step.

Dromm also notes that the state constitution actually says that municipalities and localities are able to determine who can vote in their elections, and that from 1968 to 2001, anybody, even undocumented immigrants, could vote in school board elections — a rule which was approved by the state legislature in 1968. 

He dismissed concerns that giving immigrants voting rights will deter them from applying for full citizenship and taking on all the responsibilities that come with that status.

“These are people who desperately want to participate in the American system,” Dromm said. “Sometimes it takes 13 years, even when you have a good lawyer and you’re on the path to citizenship and even after you’ve received a green card.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams, another one of the bill’s supporters, agreed after Thursday’s hearing, and noted the potential this legislation has to affect the national conversation on immigration reform.

“These individuals are contributing and taxpaying members of our communities,” Williams said. “I am a proud child of immigrant parents and I represent a proud immigrant community.”

“We look forward to the restoration of immigrant voting rights and the positive effects this will have on the nationwide conversation,” he added.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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In support of the 2 million square foot campus, the city will sponsor a one-year summer ferry service pilot program and designate an NYPD force to ensure safety, said Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, whose district includes Roosevelt Island.

The new college will provide science education resources for the local public schools, including a special science program for girls.

The university also pledged to give computers and technological training to seniors and the disabled on Roosevelt Island.

“Cornell NYC Tech is about the future of New York—it will drive innovation and economic growth for generations to come,” Lappin said.

The post Council will approve Cornell campus on Roosevelt Island appeared first on Metro.us.

City councilwoman Margaret Chin officially kicked off her re-election campaign Sunday, saying she had helped take her lower Manhattan district “to new heights with the input, help and support of our residents.”

Chin, who was flanked by such supporters as State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, has represented the First Council District since 2010. She will face off in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary against Jenifer Rajkumar, a Democratic district leader and attorney.

The post City Councilwoman throws her hat in the ring appeared first on Metro.us.

Proposed legislation would help drivers save money at muni meters, Speaker Christine Quinn and other council members announced Wednesday.

Under the proposed bill, muni meters would turn off when drivers do not need to pay for parking, give drivers a five-minute grace period and not accept payments when there is no paper for printing receipts.

Quinn, Council Member David G. Greenfield and Committee on Transportation Chair James Vacca will present the bill at the city council’s next meeting May 8.

“Whether you’re doing your laundry or parking your car, you should always get what you pay for,” Quinn said. “This legislation ensures drivers will no longer pay for parking at a meter, only to find out that this requirement ended 20 minutes earlier.”

The post Council proposes bill to ease headaches at parking meters appeared first on Metro.us.

UPDATE: Not long after Councilman Dan Halloran announced he would not pursue a second term in order to “focus [his] attention” on “restoring [his] reputation” in the wake of corruption allegations, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn suggested he take it a step further.

“I urge Council Member Halloran to think hard about whether he should go further and step down immediately,” Quinn said in a statement.

Quinn brought up not only the allegations of bribery and corruption, but also more recent ones of sexual harassment.

“The constituents of Dan Halloran’s district deserve to have a Council Member who is full-time, 100 percent focused on representing them,” the statement continued. “Clearly, with the outrageously unacceptable allegations that are pending… he is far from 100 percent focused on his constituents.”

The Wall Street Journal noted that following Halloran’s arrest about a month ago, Quinn took away his committee assignments and barred him from allocating city money, rendering him essentially ineffective as a councilmember.

Metro’s original story is below.

Councilman Dan Halloran, who was arrested about a month ago on corruption charges along with State Senator Malcolm Smith, announced that he is cutting short his campaign for re-election in order to focus his energies on clearing his name.

Halloran and Smith are accused of trying to use bribes to get Smith on the GOP ballot in the city’s mayoral race this year.

“Regrettably, I must now focus my attention on clearing my name and restoring my reputation, while I continue to discharge my sworn duties as a member of the New York City Council,” Halloran said in a statement. “After much thought, I have concluded that it is impossible for me to properly do these things and take on the enormous demands of a political campaign.”

Halloran continues to insist he is innocent and said he is “confident that [he] will ultimately be vindicated.”

“Our Nation enshrines the presumption of innocence for a reason, and I look forward to having my day in court,” he said.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post (Updated) Quinn suggests Halloran ‘go further’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Putting more tobacco rules on the books will lead people toward the black market, shop owners said today.

Convenience store owners are gearing up against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposals to keep cigarettes out of sight in their shops.

Shop owners in the Save Our Stores Coalition met today at a tobacco store near City Hall, saying the administration’s plans will be a stress.

The Council is scheduled to discuss bills tomorrow that propose raising the legal age to buy tobacco to 21 and limiting the visible display of cigarettes in stores.

“Our members do not need these additional tobacco product sales restrictions,” said Ramon Murphy, president of The Bodega Association of the United States.

Added Jim Calvin, president of the NY Association of Convenience Stores, “Our small stores are part of the lifeblood of our neighborhoods, and if they’re complying with the laws, there’s no reason to saddle them with the additional regulations in these proposals that could put them out of business.”

Members say the group represents about 10,000 tobacco retailers and more than 56,000 employees. It includes stores like 7-Eleven franchises, union members and The Bodega Association of the United States.

Chong Sik Lee, president of the Korean-American Grocers Association of NY, suggested the city should focus instead on enforcing existing laws.

The group said the proposed changes would send more customers to illegal, black-market sellers.

“If they go out of business … the only ones who benefit are the guys selling illegal tobacco products from out of their trunk,” Calvin said.

The post Bodega owners push back against proposed cigarette rules appeared first on Metro.us.

Immigrants in New York City are carefully watching to see whether Congress will reform the immigration system.

Starting next month, the city will help them sort through whatever changes the federal government makes.

Hoping to dispel misinformation and protect immigrants from scammers, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced today a series of events.

The events will include many different services for immigrants in one spot, like help getting taxpayer identification numbers or passports. They will also include information on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a recent law that allows some immigrants over 15 to apply to live legally here.

“We’re very excited about the changes happening at the national level on immigration reform, and we want to make sure we as a city are prepared and that our immigrants know their rights and know where to go to for help,” Quinn said.

Consulates from varied countries will also be available to help provide passports and identification help.

These events will be offered in all five boroughs, with the first happening May 10 to 12 at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights, where representatives from the Mexican Consulate will attend.

The New York Immigration Coalition will post future events on their website.

The post City to host immigration reform workshops appeared first on Metro.us.

The city must keep paying hotel subsidies for people who have no homes after Sandy, a court ruled.

Councilwoman Annabel Palma, head of the Council’s General Welfare committee, said a judge ruled the city could not discontinue the subsidies.

The city had announced they would stop paying for hotel rooms starting April 30.

Since the hurricane six months ago, hundreds people without homes have been staying in hotels temporarily.

Advocates for them say they have nowhere to go and asked the city to allow them more time to find housing.

A State Supreme Court ruling temporarily restrained the city from stopping the hotel subsidy program.

“Today’s ruling is a welcome relief to the hundreds of families living in hotels who cannot afford to have their lives uprooted once again,” Palma said. “But it should not have come to this. New Yorkers should know that they will not be abandoned by the city in time of great need.”

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said the mayor’s administration’s actions were a “disgrace.”

“It’s wrong and inhumane to throw New Yorkers out on the street when they have nowhere else to go,” he said. “The program should end when the last family has a home to return to, and not a day sooner.”

The New York City Law Department vowed to fight the ruling this morning in court.

“The city made heroic efforts after Hurricane Sandy, and we strongly believe this complaint is without merit,” said Thomas Crane, chief of the general litigation division.

The post Court rules city must keep Sandy victims in hotels appeared first on Metro.us.

Sandy victims with nowhere to go when a city housing program ends April 30 should be allowed more time, officials will say at a City Hall rally today.

While the governor just extended federally-sponsored hotel stays for Sandy victims until May 29, the mayor wants to end a similar program on April 30.

The Department of Homeless Services reported in mid-April that 592 households are still enrolled in the City Hotel and Interim Placement Program, which has already provided six months of temporary housing for Sandy victims.

City Councilwoman Annabel Palma and the General Welfare Committee she heads will discuss extending the city’s hotel program today at an emergency hearing.

Metro previously reported that hundreds of New Yorkers are living in hotel six months after Sandy, and many say they have nowhere else to go.

Council members have been trying to work out a plan to give them more time.

The post Officials ask for hotel extensions for Sandy victims appeared first on Metro.us.

City Councilman David Greenfield will be introducing a resolution at tomorrow’s stated City Council meeting encouraging the U.S. Congress to pass an amendment to the Help America Vote Act.

The amendment would allow the use of lever machines in federal elections.

The current machines being used are optical scan machines, which have brought an array of complaints from voters.

Some say the accompanying paper ballot is confusing and illegible, others that the machines break down too easily, and still others that they do not provide enough privacy.

Ultimately, Greenfield says voters—not simply his constituents, but voters nationwide—have to deal with too much confusion with the optical scan voting machines, which leaves them at greater risk of being disenfranchised.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Greenfield introduces resolution to bring back old voting machines appeared first on Metro.us.

City Council Speaker and mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn announced a plan on Thursday for a massive overhaul of the transit system.

The plan largely calls for a greater leadership role by the city, as well as expanded ferry, Metro-North, and bus service—but not subway expansion.

“We would love to be able to expand subway service, but that’s complicated, expensive, and time-consuming,” Quinn told Metro, emphasizing the importance of concrete, realistic steps “if we are going to meet the goal that I’ve articulated of making sure that no New Yorker has a commute time of over an hour.”

Quinn aims to cut commute times to an hour or less within the next decade.

In justifying the call for city control of the MTA, Quinn pointed out that city residents and workers contribute the vast majority of MTA funding.

“We know that 90 percent of the funding that ends up going to the MTA comes from the tolls, fare, and taxes of folks that are using, one way or another, the subways and the buses in the five boroughs,” she explained. “That makes us the economic engine of the MTA.”

But, she said, the board of the MTA doesn’t reflect that.

“We’re the engine, but we’ve got the voice of a piston,” she declared.

The answer, Quinn said, is for the mayor to have the authority to appoint not only the head of the MTA, but the majority of the board as well. Equally important, she added, is giving riders a voting member on the board, not just a ceremonial member.

The other major problem she called out is the way the lives of New Yorkers have outgrown the century-old system: it is no longer the case that the majority of jobs are in the central business district, for example.

“When this system was built, the majority of New Yorkers lived in Manhattan,” she said. “Its main function was to get people to jobs in Manhattan. That’s not the reality anymore.”

Though subway expansion is too ambitious an undertaking to see progress in the next decade, Quinn proposed several ways to extend transit in the five boroughs, from expanding ferry service to creating more Metro-North stops in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Quinn pitches massive overhaul of MTA appeared first on Metro.us.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm will introduce two bills Tuesday to regulate the practice of solitary confinement in New York City jails.

One bill calls on the Department of Correction to file comprehensive reports on solitary confinement, and the second calls for an end to the practice of putting people returning to jail into solitary confinement to complete time owed from their previous period of incarceration.

The New York City Jails Action Coalition is also pushing for rules that would prohibit the DOC from putting people with mental and physical disabilities, juveniles and young people in solitary confinement, and narrow the allowable reasons for using solitary confinement so that it is only used to prevent violent conduct among prisoners. They also want to increase the amount of time prisoners in solitary confinement get to spend outside of their cells daily.

A New York Civil Liberties Union reporter last year found that the majority of solitary confinement prisoners in New York state end up in solitary for minor infractions, such as talking back to guards or tattooing themselves. One person was reportedly placed in solitary for using too many postage stamps.

Just 16 percent of solitary confinement prisoners were placed there because of violence or weapons.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Dromm pushes for new solitary confinement regulations appeared first on Metro.us.

Some New Yorkers are getting to pick how their council district’s money will be spent.

Eight council districts encouraged New Yorkers to vote on which project should be funded, in a process they call participatory budgeting.

Each council member has pledged a minimum of $1 million in funds for whatever community members choose.

Residents voted over the weekend in districts like Brooklyn, where Councilman Brad Lander has encouraged voters to choose where the cash can go.

Past projects have included $80,000 for new books at a Kensington library and $150,000 to fix bathrooms at a Park Slope school.

The post Residents vote on how to use City Council cash appeared first on Metro.us.

New York may have speed cameras approved by the summer.

Another state politician joined the fight for speed cameras, the Daily News reported today.

Jeffrey Klein, a Bronx Democrat, will pick up the bill, according to the newspaper, and hopes to pass it by June.

The proposed legislation would launch a pilot program that would put 20 cameras in city school speed zones.

Last month, Council members stated support for the bill – Council Speaker Christine Quinn cited speeding as the No. 1 cause of fatal crashes in the city.

The post New York City may receive state approval for speed cameras pilot program appeared first on Metro.us.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn announces the legislation Friday at City Hall. Credit: William Alatriste

Thousands of companies in New York City will soon be required to give their employees paid sick leave.

Under a deal announced by Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s office Thursday evening, companies with 20 or more employees will be required to offer five paid sick days beginning April 1, 2014. On Oct. 1, 2015, it will expand to include companies with 15 or more workers. 

“We have a good, strong and sensible piece of legislation that recognizes the needs of everyday New Yorkers and the realities that our struggling small businesses face,” Quinn said in a statement.

She said the 2014 start date gives businesses extra time to recover before absorbing the extra costs.

The bill also ensures the requirement will only go into effect if the economy continues to improve, according to Quinn’s office.

Enforcement will be complaint driven, according to the speaker’s office, and handled by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The maximum fine will be $2,500.

Quinn had blocked a vote on the paid sick leave bill for three years, arguing that it would hurt the city’s economy. She drew criticism from her fellow mayoral contenders, her colleagues in the City Council and activists, including feminist Gloria Steinem.

Under the bill, companies that have fewer than 15 employees will be forced to offer unpaid days off to sick workers. Companies will be legally forbidden from firing employees for taking sick time off, paid or unpaid.

Advocates had originally wanted a bill that would apply to companies with five or more employees. Despite the compromises made, the deal is a victory for labor unions and liberal activists who have long rallied for it. They say the legislation will affect one million workers who until now could not take time off out of fear that they would lose pay or their job.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed Friday he will veto the bill.

“It is crucial that we continue doing everything we can to allow businesses to grow,” he said. “While this compromise version of the bill is better than previous iterations, it will still hurt small businesses and stifle job creation.”

There is expected to be enough votes in the City Council to override the veto.

The post Deal reached on paid sick leave bill appeared first on Metro.us.

According to several unnamed sources in a three-page NY Times exposé, Christine Quinn is a tough boss.

Her staff, who apparently soundproofed her office out of concern for “angry tirades,” are reportedly known to ask one another: “Did she throw up on you today?”

The question is apparently in reference to her “volatile” temper.

“Sometimes I yell, sometimes I raise my voice,” Quinn reportedly conceded to the Times. “I am trying to do it less, because it’s not always attractive. It’s not always the right thing to do.”

At the same time, she insisted, “I don’t think being pushy or bitchy or tough, or however you want to characterize it, is a bad thing. New Yorkers want somebody who’s going to get things done.”

The complaints came not just from Quinn’s staff; the Times reported that “more than two dozen current and former city officials, lobbyists and political operatives recounted being berated by Ms. Quinn.”

They apparently requested anonymity out of “a fear of retaliation.”

The Times recounted an incident with Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, in which she apparently issued a statement taking credit for saving local firehouses from budget cuts and did not include praise for Quinn. It reportedly took less than an hour for Quinn to summon Crowley to “a room in City Hall” for a dressing-down.

Additionally, Quinn aide Ramon Martinez reportedly told Crowley, “You don’t know when you shut up.”

Martinez reportedly told the Times he didn’t remember using that language at the time, but might have said that in a separate conversation.

Quinn apparently cut council contributions to senior centers and youth sports programs in Crowley’s district only days later.

When pressed about the issue, Quinn reportedly characterized Crowley’s actions as “completely inappropriate” and “attention-grabbing,” as well as a violation of council protocol.

“She was told it was not acceptable, and I did not mince words in telling her that,” Quinn told the Times.

The Times inquired after the budget cuts as punishment.

“It is what happened that year,” Quinn reportedly responded.

When pressed again, Quinn reportedly smiled and repeated her answer.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat.

The post Christine Quinn has a temper, apparently appeared first on Metro.us.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers outlined Thursday an agreement for the state budget that closes a $1.3 billion gap with no new taxes or fees.

This budget, if it passes by the April 1 deadline, will be the third consecutive on-time or early budget under the Cuomo administration.

New York has not had a budget on track this far in advance of the deadline since 1976. The last time there were three consecutive on-time budgets was in 1984.

The budget affords $1.125 billion in new tax cuts to middle class families over three years, as well as a new child tax credit of $350 per year for three years for families earning between $40,000 and $300,000.

It also includes nearly $800 million over three years in tax breaks for businesses, a move the lawmakers hope will “help reverse New York’s longstanding reputation as the tax capital of the nation.”

Just as the New York City Council recently approved a measure to help veterans get licensed for employment when they return home, the state budget adds additional incentive for hiring those just home from serving: a permanent tax credit for hiring veterans.

Lawmakers have also allocated $181 million in tax credits over three years for businesses hiring young people, and the minimum wage is set to increase to $8 per hour by the end of this year, and ultimately to $9 by the end of 2015.

Some more experimental education initiatives are receiving a support from the Capitol, including $4 million for early college high school programs, like Bard High School Early College on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, once of the first such programs established in partnership with Bard College and the Department of Education in 2001.

Another $15 million is going to “an innovative program designed to transform schools into community hubs that integrate social, health and other services, as well as after-school programming to support students and their families,” a seemingly salient allocation in light of the calls for more community programs for young people in areas like East Flatbush, where violence broke out last week following the shooting of allegedly armed 16-year-old Kimani Gray by plainclothes NYPD officers.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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The NYPD does not need an inspector general, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Wednesday.

Requiring cops to be overseen by an inspector general would be “disastrous” for the public safety of New Yorkers, he said.

The bill is just the latest in a string of attacks against the NYPD, the mayor said, and “will put the lives of New Yorkers and our police officers at risk.”

He vowed to veto the legislation if passed.

The City Council is considering the bill, which would require independent oversight of the NYPD to review their procedures. Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Tuesday that the council had reached broad agreement on the proposal.

On Tuesday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio urged that an inspector general should not only be appointed, but also should be given subpoena powers.

But Bloomberg said crime rates have vastly improved in the city and chastised politicians and officials who criticize cops.

“Over the past year, the greatest police department in the world has been subjected to constant attacks from elected officials and special-interest groups,” he said. “The latest example of that was the inspector general bill.”

The NYPD does not need extra oversight, Bloomberg said.

Right now, district attorneys and the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board and Commission to Combat Police Corruption oversee the department, he said.

An inspector general would do what the Internal Affairs Bureau already does, according to Bloomberg, as well as function like an additional police commissioner.

“I don’t think any rational person would say we need two competing police commissioners,” he said. “There would be questions in the ranks of police officers about who is really in charge.”

He added, “That kind of breakdown in the chain of command would be disastrous for public safety.”

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The City Council may pass legislation requiring the NYPD to have an inspector general, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said today.

Quinn said the Council is negotiating legislation regarding cops’ interaction with New Yorkers, including reaching “broad agreement” on the proposal of an inspector general.

“We’re in ongoing negotiations on several significant proposals that will work to improve police-community relations throughout our city,” she said in a statement this afternoon.

Public Advocate Bill De Blasio held a press conference Tuesday to press the Council on details that he said should be included in the legislation.

The Community Safety Act would require the NYPD to have an independent monitor, someone to review the department’s actions.

The NYPD needs “an inspector general with teeth,” de Blasio said in a letter sent to Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Tuesday.

In the letter, he noted that advocates reported the NYPD’s five millionth stop-and-frisk last week. The department is facing a trial that began this week about the stop-and-frisk practice.

“These two milestones are closely linked — with the overuse and misuse of its stop-and-frisk policy, the NYPD has risked department policy being set by judicial decree,” he wrote in the letter. “That is no way for a government agency to operate.”

An inspector general would specifically help reform the stop-and-frisk program, he said.

De Blasio said any appointed inspector general needs an independent budget and subpoena powers. Without those, a court ruling could limit his powers, he said.

“We have seen this movie before — assurances that reform is on the way only to see the council substitute a half-measure for true change,” he said at the conference. “This time must be different.”

The NYPD has been criticized for recent practices like stop-and-frisk and its surveillance of Muslims in and around New York City.

The NYPD’s top spokesman told Metro the suggestion of an inspector general was “wasteful and duplicative.”

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Ice picks are a dangerous new gang tool, and one Councilman wants to ban teenagers from owning them.

Councilman and Public Safety Chair Peter Vallone introduced legislation Wednesday to ban anyone under 21 from possessing an ice pick.

Vallone said ice picks are a new, popular weapon among gangs.

“As violent criminals have become more and more afraid to carry guns out of fear of being stopped by police, they have adjusted and found new weapons to use to hurt innocent people and one another, and the law must now also adjust to stop them,” Vallone said.

One example his office noted: in 2011, John Martinez, or the “Ice Pick Bandit,” used an ice pick to rob six women.

The legislation would outlaw the possession or sale of ice picks to anyone under 21.

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For the second time in two years, Kevin Kirwan, a logistics specialist for the Navy for 14 years in places like North Africa, can’t find a job.

Kirwan, 37, is one of an estimated 210,000 veterans in the city, many struggling to find employment after years of service.

The City Council met Monday to discuss ways to help them get hired.

According to the Council, the unemployment rate for recent veterans rose from 9.1 percent to 11.7 percent from 2012 to 2013. Meanwhile, the general unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent to 7.9, percent.

“People who go out to fight for us, that protect our country, deserve the best, and we need to continue to give them the tools that are going to make them viable when they return,” Brooklyn Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez said.

Many vets struggle to translate battlefield experience for civilian jobs. And even if they were trained for jobs that exist in civilian life, they return only to find they are qualified to fix plumbing in Iraq, but not Queens.

To apply for a license, many city jobs require experience in the city or U.S. — meaning overseas military experience does not apply.

“If your work as a plumber or an electrician was good enough for the armed forces, it should be good enough for New York City,” Veterans Committee chair Mathieu Eugene said in the Monday hearing.

Metro profiled Kirwan in a 2011 story. After the article, his experience with logistics and administration landed him a job at Chase, but his project ended in January.

After three months of job fairs, visits to veterans’ help centers and countless applications—and with a 13-month-old son – he is worried about paying the bills.

“It’s frustrating,” he told Metro.

Kirwan is also trained as a safety inspector. Despite those skills, he would likely need local experience to get a job. But the Council bill might streamline skipping that step.

“This will definitely help,” he said, adding, “There’s just not get enough jobs until you get yourself in front of the right manager.”

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The City Council will meet today to discuss ways to help veterans get hired.

Council members hope to streamline the process for vets who return to New York only to find they were qualified to fix electrical problems in Iraq, but not Queens.

For example, an electrician in the Army would have to get re-certified to use those same skills in the civilian world.

“If you’ve had the experience of working as an electrician in a war zone, you’re more than qualified to be an electrician in New York City,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.

Just last week, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America reported that new veterans’ unemployment rate is stubbornly higher than the national rate. Post-9/11 veterans’ unemployment was 9.4 percent in February — 1.7 percent higher than the rest of the country, the group said.

Metro has previously written about veterans struggling to get jobs in New York — often, they can have trouble translating skills on the battlefield to the civilian world.

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A Council member painted a scene of screaming parents on the first day of school in September if the city cuts funding from after-school programs.

At a City Council meeting today, members discussed after-school programs for youth, which are in danger of being slashed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

Advocates estimate 37,000 city-funded slots for kids are on the chopping block.

Councilman Lewis Fidler warned that parents would be irate to learn on the first day of school that their children’s after-school plans were slashed.

“The screaming, the yelling, the upset would have dwarfed almost everything we have heard,” he said at the hearing. “Let’s not go down that road.”

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the mayor wants to keep as many after-school programs as possible.

“Can we afford to pay for as much as we would like, no, but we will be working with the Council to ensure we keep the budget balanced while providing as much of the services needed as possible,” he said.

Children flanked the City Hall steps before the hearing to rally for their programs.

Programs like leadership seminars, chess clubs or simply a safe spot for kids to stay until their parents get home are at risk, according the Campaign for Children, a coalition of child care and after-school programs.

One of the people testifying at the hearing was Pobo Ekeforo, part of the chess team at Brooklyn I.S. 318 featured in the documentary “Brooklyn Castle.”

“These programs are so important for our kids, to keep students off the streets, engage in fun, educational activities that are productive,” he told the Council.

Through the after-school chess program, he found his passion, he said.

Others made clear that students may not have a safe alternative outside of school — a representative from Safe Horizon, which helps women and families fleeing abuse, said they recently helped a girl who had been staying in the corners of Penn Station for months.

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The federal budget cuts that started taking effect last week will hit the city for $800 million, the city’s budget director said at a council hearing on Monday.

Budget Director Mark Page said a revenue gap for the city is likely because the sequester cuts, an automatic $85 billion reduction in federal spending, were not taken into account in the mayor’s proposed budget for 2013-2014, The Daily News reports.

Local cuts could breakdown as follows:

• $500 million hit to Hurricane Sandy aid
• $75 million less for Medicaid funding for city hospitals
• $60 million in lost funding for city housing
• $200 million in cuts spread between other city agencies.

If lawmakers in Washington reach a deal to reduce the nationwide cuts, the impact on the city could be minimized, Page said.

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Cops have released a photo of a man they say was the driver in the Saturday night hit-and-run that killed an expecting Williamsburg couple.

Police say Julio Acevedo, 44, was the man behind the wheel of the BMW that killed 21-year-old Nachman and Raizy Glauber.

Raizy Glauber was six months pregnant. The couple was reportedly on their way to the hospital for a checkup with an OB/GYN.

Doctors at Bellevue Hospital were able to deliver the couple’s baby boy post-mortem via C-section, but the child died early Monday morning.

Local Williamsburg City Council members are offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the driver or passenger of the vehicle that killed the Glaubers. The suspects fled the scene on foot after the accident, but cops were able to find the vehicle’s owner using the New York state license plate on the car left behind.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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