And Those Are The Whitest Shoes You Can Buy

The Daily News learns that the MTA is using a law firm whose partners charge up to $540 an hour for strike-related litigation:

The MTA has paid a white-shoe law firm more than $560,000 to help fight its contract clash with transit workers – even though the agency has hundreds of its own lawyers and the state attorney general’s office on its side.
The Proskauer Rose law firm has billed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority up to $540 an hour for its talent, documents obtained by the Daily News reveal.

And the tab is growing. The $560,000 covers legal battles and maneuvers from November through January, but not the past four months.

. . .

MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said Proskauer Rose provided crucial support throughout, preparing papers, doing research and making in-court arguments.

“They are considered, to my knowledge, to be one of the best in the country in what they do as far as labor law,” Kelly said.

The MTA and its Transit Authority both have labor relations and legal departments with a combined staff of more than 500, many of them lawyers. Kelly said strike-related litigation is not their expertise. He said the union is to blame for the legal bills.

“All of this money that was spent was spent as a result of the illegal actions and rhetoric that the union took part in,” he said. “Do we wish we didn’t have to spend it? Absolutely. But it was precipitated by the actions of the union.”

. . .

Proskauer Rose partners Neil Abramson and David Zurndorfer charged the highest rate, $540 an hour, according to documents provided by the MTA.

Others charged between $176 and $420 an hour, according to MTA documents, which say that the firm provided the authority a discount from its usual fees. [Emph. added for obvious in-text sarcastic commentary]

Vote Nominally!

Despite the speculation (but of course we were all dying to know what Hizzoner thought about Intelligent Design anyway), Mayor Bloomberg is not running for President:

For a man who says he is not running for president, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been sounding a lot like a candidate for the White House lately.

He spent last week thrusting himself into national politics, making pointed comments on issues like illegal immigration, stem-cell research and global warming. But then on Friday, he denied any interest in higher office.

“I’m not running for president,” he said while discussing immigration that day on his weekly call-in radio show. “I’ve got a city with 500,000 undocumented, and I want to leave a better world for my kids, and your kids.”

Still, there is substance fueling the sense in some political circles that the mayor, nominally a Republican, could be persuaded to run. Kevin Sheekey, the deputy mayor for government affairs and Mr. Bloomberg’s lead political architect, continues to work behind the scenes, chatting up lobbyists and other operatives to promote the idea of Mr. Bloomberg running as an independent.

In addition, Mr. Bloomberg has been auditioning a new political persona in his public statements, casting himself as the kind of pragmatic, results-oriented problem-solver that Americans tell pollsters they are looking for.

As Democrats and Republicans argue over the future of their parties and the national debate remains polarized, there are signs that voters are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with President Bush and the Republican leaders of Congress, and that they aren’t necessarily energized by the Democrats, either.

“Most people are not satisfied with their politics and would very much like to see more politicians who just got things done,” said Al From, founder and chief executive officer of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist policy group. “Most people really aren’t about ideology. Most people really are about, ‘Let’s get something done that’s going to make my life better.'”

Forget the “third way” — how about a “Nominal” ticket?

Citizens Of Gotham, Prepare To Transcend Your Mundane Existence

The clouds held off long enough for a spectacular Manhattanhenge:

Manhattan Memorial Day weekend revelers enjoyed a special finale to the glorious day yesterday as the sun washed crosstown streets with golden light before sinking below the horizon.

The cosmic effect occurs when the sun aligns precisely with the east-west grid of the streets, in what’s known as the rare “Manhattan-henge” phenomenon.

“We’re so bogged down in crass reality, we want to transcend this mundane existence,” mused Joseph Drexel, 54, a Chelsea artist, as he took in the view. “We have to love Mother Nature.”

“It was like a huge rubber ball making across the horizon of the street and then sinking immediately,” said Mark Harris, 55, who joined about 100 others at the Tudor City overpass at 42nd St. and First Ave.

The sun will swing back into the Manhattan Solstice on July 11 . . .

See also: Manhattanhenge.

Bears, Moose And Harbor Seals, Oh My

Things you don’t want to hear include, bears and moose in urban areas constitute a “new definition” of “normal”:

And the great beasts came down from the mountains and crossed the seas and descended upon the cities — the hind and her fawn, leaping fences in the southeast Bronx; the black bear, stout but fleet of foot, stealing through the streets of Newark; the seals of the harbor sunning themselves by the score upon the hospital ruins of Staten Island.

And the coyote prowled the West Side and took up quarters in Central Park. And the dolphin beached itself on the Turuks’ sandy yard in Throgs Neck. And the she-moose, 21 hands high, strayed within 30 miles of the city gates.

And the wise men stroked their beards and scratched their heads, and they finally declared, “This is not normal.”

Bill Weber, a senior conservationist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said that the other day. He was talking about the bears that have lately taken to wandering New Jersey’s urban core.

But bears are just the beginning. In recent weeks, the three largest land mammals native to the Eastern United States, along with numerous runners-up, have visited New York City and its environs. A fair degree of chaos has ensued.

Big-city police officers idled by falling crime rates spend their days pursuing four-legged fugitives. The pit bulls and tomcats in the city pound in East Harlem have been forced to make room for white-tailed deer. This spring, the New York metropolitan area depicted on the evening news has come to resemble an episode of “Animal Precinct” filmed at a big-game preserve.

What in the world is going on?

There is no simple answer, the wise men say.

“You have this really neat pulse of things happening within a relatively short period,” Dr. Weber said from his office at the Bronx Zoo, “and as humans we like to make some sense of that and give some justification. But they all have their anomalous reasons.”

The factors include both environmental triumphs and travesties. Once-threatened species continue to recover because of conservation measures. Waterways are cleaner. Greenways are being built in and around cities. At the same time, development in the farthest exurbs chews up land and flushes animals from their usual homes. Mild winters, possibly man-made, are easier for many species to survive.

All of it adds up to a new definition of normal. (Or perhaps an old one. After all, the animals were here long before the people were.) Just as the suburbs have spent years negotiating conflicts with wild animals, it is now the cities’ turn.

“I think we’re just seeing the growing trend of population sizes with some of these animals, and the adaptation to survive and, or at least, venture into more progressively more urban areas,” said Gerry Barnhart, the wildlife director at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

A Thankful City Salutes Them For Their Service

Unsatisfied sailors? Some among us say, “Not on my watch”:

With thousands of sailors and Marines pulling into port for Fleet Week, it’s the best time of the year for gals — and guys — looking to salute wide-eyed mariners in from out of town.

From innocent tours of the Big Apple straight out of “On the Town” to steamy hookups right out of “Sex and the City,” our uniformed visitors are in for a wild ride.

“You just walk down the street and they’re everywhere,” said Anne W., 24, of Jersey City. “They’re looking to have a good time and so are you.”

. . .

For several years, Jeni Hyland and her friends have enjoyed meeting uniformed men and women during Fleet Week, praising them for their patriotic duty and showing them what she called “the real New York.”

“They make me proud to be a taxpaying American,” said Hyland, 27, of Hoboken. “I only wish that we had more time to spend with them in our great city because I love seeing their faces when they see it for the first time.”

Last year, while living in Manhattan, Anne W. met a group of sailors from the South on her walk home. They ended up hanging out together for several days, with the sailors following Anne to Central Park and the Empire State Building.

A brief romance with a sailor grew out of the visit, Anne said, but fizzled because “he was so far away.” But the warm memories from last year persuaded her to get wrapped up in Fleet Week again this year.