Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks former State Assemblyman Vito Lopez should retire from politics.

Bloomberg said he believes Lopez should not run for City Council given the sexual harassment allegations that forced the assemblyman to resign, the New York Post reports.

“I do not think he is the kind of person we want in the City Council based on what’s reported about his actions,” Bloomberg said,

Lopez resigned on Monday, but the once powerful Brooklyn politician said he plans to run for City Council.

The mayor and Lopez have had a close relationship in the past, the Post reports. Bloomberg sought Lopez’ help when he needed to persuade Brooklyn council members to allow him to extend term limits.

The relationship changed when the Department of Investigation released a report in 2011 detailing shady practices at The Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit founded by Lopez, the Post writes.

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The Center for Constitutional Rights slammed the NYPD today over the leak of an internal report from the mayor’s office apparently finding Judge Shira Scheindlin biased against law enforcement.

Scheindlin has a long history of covering stop-and-frisk related cases, and is presiding over a major one currently. The Center of Constitutional Rights is on one side of that case; the NYPD and the City are on the other.

The report was apparently leaked to the New York Daily News. According to the News, the report found that Scheindlin decided against law enforcement in 60 percent of her written opinions on “search-and-seizure” over the course of her nearly two decades on the bench. The study allegedly also says that rate is the highest among 16 current and former Manhattan federal judges that the report included since 1990.

The mayor’s office reportedly declined to comment to the News, but Scheindlin told the News that the study is “completely misleading” as it doesn’t include any rulings from the bench.

While the majority of her written opinions may involve dismissing evidence, she told the News that in “nearly all” of her bench rulings on seized evidence, she has denied motions to suppress.

Early this year, the judge ruled on a case involving stops in some Clean Halls buildings. She ordered that the stops cease, but a short time later rescinded that ruling.

CCR released a statement calling the report “nothing short of outrageous.”

“Having already attacked the Center for Constitutional Rights, communities mobilizing to end violent and discriminatory policing, and the press, the attack on a respected judge scrapes the bottom of the litigation barrel,” the statement read.

CCR recommended that the city instead focus on “studies to remedy the persistent constitutional violations in its police department.”

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether the NYPD was responsible for the leak, as CCR’s statement implied.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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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.

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The city announced that it will distribute federal aid to homeowners who have already paid to fix damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg previously said the city would not reimburse residents because of concerns that there would be fraudulent claims, but the city has reversed its position with the announcement made Tuesday by Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel.

Details on the qualifications for the reimbursements will be announced following the program’s approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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From April 1 to April 8, New Yorkers tweeted Metro their best original rhymes, verses and haikus using #NYCpoetweet in honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg got poetic. Here are this year’s winners.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg reminded New Yorkers on Monday night that they should stay vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity.

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About 1,000 NYPD members assigned to counterterrorism duties were mobilized Monday. Police officers were deployed to major landmarks and prominent hotels. Police cruisers lined the streets around Times Square, and security was heightened around the Barclays Center for a Nets game Monday night.

The MTA also increased police presence at train stations, bridges and tunnels.

A massive FBI investigation remains underway. By Monday night, Boston police officials said authorities were speaking with persons of interest but no suspects were in custody.

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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.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted state lawmakers Wednesday for blocking a proposal to place speed-tracking cameras on city streets, blaming them for the future deaths of children killed by speeding cars. 

The next time a child dies from being struck by a speeding car, “why don’t you pick up the phone and call your state senator and ask why they allowed that child to be killed,” he said at a news conference, according to The New York Times.

The mayor even said his office would provide the contact information for three senators: Republican majority leader Dean Skelos and Brooklyn’s Simcha Felder and Martin Golden.

“Maybe you want to give those phone numbers to the parents of the child when a child is killed,” he said. “It would be useful so that the parents can know exactly who’s to blame.”

Speed cameras were included in a budget package in the State Assembly, but it recently became apparent that they are not included in the budget that is expected to be approved this week.

Felder said the mayor’s comments were “inflammatory, reckless and out of touch, as usual,” the Times reports. Golden said Wednesday other cities that use speed cameras have found them to be “unreliable.”

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state leaders have created a plan to ensure that teacher evaluation systems remain in place until they’re renegotiated.

The deal comes in the middle of an impasse between the city and the teachers union, who have failed to come to an agreement on a new teacher evaluation system. The plan ensures that expired evaluation systems remain effective until an agreement on a new system is reached.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that the new plan is “helpful” but that the city still needs to negotiate with the teachers union, the New York Post reports.

The city lost approximately $240 million in state aid this year because it failed to make a deal on the evaluations by the Jan. 17 deadline. Cuomo’s new plan is part of the new state budget that also requires the city to have a new evaluation system in place by May 29, or it will received a state-imposed one on June 1.

State lawmakers also added nearly $390 million in extra aid for city schools in the new budget, which the legislature is expected to finish voting on by Thursday, the Post reports.

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The Panel for Educational Policy voted on Monday night to approve the closing of 22 city schools, The New York Times reports.

Twenty schools in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan will be phased out over the next few years. Two schools–M.S. 45 in Manhattan and Freedom Academy High School in Brooklyn–will be shut down this June, instead of being phased out. 

The panel, which consists of five members appointed by the borough presidents and eight members appointed by the mayor, rejected a proposal to stop the school closings. The proposal would have also placed a moratorium on the issue, which some of the mayoral candidates have rallied for.

The schools were selected for closure based on low-performance ratings.

“The goal is to have more quality choices for our students and we cannot just sit on our hands and allow poor performing schools to just exist for the emotional sake,” Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told reporters on Monday.

Devon Puglia at the Department of Education told Metro, “Our policy is working.”

“Across the city, new schools are delivering resounding results, graduating students at roughly 20 points high than the schools they replaced,” Puglia said. “Families deserve great schools — and we’re delivering.”

According to Puglia, in 2006, all of the high schools that were phased out had a graduation rate of 38 percent. In 2011, all new high schools had a graduation rate of 70 percent, he said.

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Now he’s coming after your headphones.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg who has previously banned smoking in public places, cracked down on noisy, limited soda sizes and aims to get rid of Styrofoam, has now turned his gaze or rather his ears towards getting people to crank down the volume on their headphones.
The city is planning a social media campaign blitz as well as conducting focus groups to warn young people about the dangers of loud music blasting through their headphones, the health department said yesterday.

With grant money from the Fund for Public Health in New York, the Hearing Loss Prevention Media Campaign will use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to alert users to the risks of hearing damage, including increased risk of injury.
The New York Post reported that the campaign would cost $250,000, although the health department said they were still unsure of the final cost.

The rise of personal media players such as the iPod have increased cases of hearing loss, with a rise of more than 30 percent between 1988 and 2006, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported.

“I’m seeing [hearing damage and loss] more and more in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Usually we see it in the 50s and 60s,” said Dr. Ana Kim, Director of Otologic Research at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. She recommends keeping the volume lower than 50 percent and using headphones rather than earbuds.

However, headphones may be less satisfying to the user since earbuds physically block outside sounds and are louder than over-the-ear or on ear headsets, B&H communications director Henry Posner said.

But the ultimate hearing damage still depends on the music volume.

“Users who abuse them, playing music so loud folks standing nearby can hear what’s being played, are the problem. I’m all for safety but this is an instance where I don’t think we can necessarily blame one brand or design,” Posner said.

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A majority of New Yorkers support Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on plastic foam containers, but they are less supportive of his ban on large sugary drinks, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that New York City voters support a potential plastic foam ban 69 percent to 26 percent. But when asked about the ban that prohibits the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces at some establishments, New Yorkers are opposed 51 percent to 46 percent.

Opposition was especially strong among black voters. They oppose the drink ban 60 percent to 38 percent. The poll also found that more men oppose the ban than women do.

The ban on sugary drinks goes into effect March 12. Restaurants and other food establishments will no longer be able to sell sugary drinks that are larger than 16 ounces. Grocery stores and convenience stores, such as 7-11, are not affected.

A ban on plastic foam would force restaurants and other food service providers who currently use plastic foam to replace their takeout containers. Foam trays in school cafeterias would also be eliminated.

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Beginning this fall, students at 20 New York City middle and high schools will have the chance to add courses such as web design, 3-D printing and animation to their class schedules.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced on Monday the names of the schools selected to receive a comprehensive computer science and software engineering curriculum. First introduced in the mayor’s State of the City address earlier this month, the Software Engineering Pilot program is a part of the city’s efforts to prepare more students for careers in the growing technology sector.

“The tech industry in New York City continues to expand significantly under Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership, and our public schools are rising to meet the challenge,” said Walcott. “The Software Engineering Pilot will provide students with the foundational skills they need to compete for high-paying, career track jobs in a variety of professional fields.”

The announcement was made at the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology in Brooklyn, one of the selected schools. One thousand students are expected to participate this fall. By 2016, the program will grow to 3,500 students.

The program will give students grades 6 through 12 access to courses covering topics such as computer programming, embedded electronics, web design and program, e-textiles, robotics and mobile computing.

The pilot also provides teacher training and ensures school have access to technology resources to support the courses.

The schools were chosen after a competitive application process. They are:

• High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology
• Brooklyn Technical High School
• The Bronx Compass High School
• The Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation
• Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology
• Queens Vocational & Technical High School
• Cambria Heights Academy
• Ralph McKee High School
• New Dorp High School
• Ditmas Intermediate School 62
• I.S. 30 Mary White Ovington
• Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted and Talented
• Bronx Park Middle School
• M.S. 223 The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology
• Tompkins Square Middle School
• Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School 74
• J.H.S. 185 Edward Bleeker
• Pathways College Preparatory School
• J.H.S. 157 Stephen A. Halsey
• Eagle Academy for Young Men

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