The Quotidian
New York Civic
No. 71
Friday, April 7, 2006
Q has been hibernating since November.
With the arrival of spring, we will resume publication, sending you links
to a few news items that we think you should see. Q stands for Quotidian,
which is a Latin term for daily. That is a goal, not a promise.
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Investigative reporter
Tom
Robbins has the cover story in this week's Village Voice. We still
use the Village part of the name because we recall that the weekly was founded
in 1955 in Greenwich Village by Dan Wolf, a legendary editor, Ed Fancher,
a psychologist, and Norman Mailer. Robbins describes a sea of corruption
and favoritism in the school bus drivers' union.
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The death in captivity of the Central Park coyote has dismayed many New Yorkers.
The animal was supposed to have been cared for by the State Department of
Environmental Conservation prior to its release into the wild. Tuesday's
Post ran a story by
Heidi Singer,
COYOTE HOGTIE SHOCK, which, if it is mostly true, should make us question
the state agency's ability to provide proper care for wildlife who fall into
their hands.
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The City Council has presented its own budget for fiscal 2007, which is a
half billion dollars higher than the mayor's. This follows the Albany
pattern, where the legislature generally appropriates more than the governor
requests, often in response to lobbying by interest groups. The extra
500 million is just one per cent of a city budget which is north of fifty
billion, but it is a much larger share of the discretionary budget, that
is, the part of the pie that is sliceable.
The Council finds the money to pay for its additions by upward revision of
revenue estimates, which does not create any new money. Nor do they
suggest budget reductions which would save money to offset the increases.
The annual ritual was carried on with good grace by the Mayor and his new
legislative partner, Speaker Christine Quinn. If the Council did not
add to the make additions, how would they occupy themselves. In past
years, mayors have low-balled estimates, anticipating restorations.
On his radio program this morning, the mayor spoke highly of Ms. Quinn, calling
her "smart, and a real breath of fresh air". He said he was certain
the two would "stand side by side on the steps of City Hall" in June to announce
their agreement on the budget.
Here are links to today's stories about the Council's budget proposals.
New
York Times New York Sun
Post
Daily
News
Q-71 4-7-06 455wds