Shorter Steve Cuozzo — tastes great, less filling:
A different mayor might have done things differently. But if Bloomberg could have done it better, there are a million ways he could have done it worse.
See also: Bloomberg For Mayor 2009.
Posted: October 17th, 2009 | Filed under: Someone Way Smarter Than Us Probably Already Worked This One OutIt’s like the customary several-minute delay for the curtain to rise at theaters, only more helpful:
Posted: October 17th, 2009 | Filed under: Architecture & Infrastructure, Need To KnowEvery commuter train that departs from New York City — about 900 a day — leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. The 12:48 is really the 12:49.
In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train — well, relax. You have two.
The phantom minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period for stragglers who need the extra time to scramble off the platform and onto the train.
“If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they’re going to lollygag,” explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. “Don’t blow our cover!” she said.
Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy.
. . .
The minute was originally known as “gate time,” dating to the days when gates were used to block off the ramps that lead down to the platforms. (The gates are still occasionally used at Grand Central.)
At the publicly posted departure time, the gates would be closed; those who had already made it through would have a minute to climb onto the train.
The practice gradually extended to trains to Long Island and New Jersey that start in Pennsylvania Station and the Long Island Rail Road’s Brooklyn terminal.
God Bless Ronan Tynan? No — God Damn Ronan Tynan:
The famous Irish tenor — who has become a iconic staple of New York Yankees playoff games for much of this decade — admitted to making the slur Thursday to a Jewish woman who was looking to buy an a apartment in his East Side building, a team spokeswoman said.
His gig singing for last night game was then cancelled. It was a move that even Yankees fans who loved the singer agreed with.
. . .
The alleged slur came while Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson, an NYU Medical center pediatrician, was inspecting the building with a real estate agent and they bumped into the golden-throated team singer.
The agent joked to Tynan: “Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans.”
And for some reason Tynan responded by saying: “I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish.”
The burst of bigotry stunned Gold-von Simson, who said “Why is that?”
According to the team, Tynan said that a lot of “scary” Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before.
This comes after the Yankees were forced to settle with a fan for trying to use the bathroom during the song.
Posted: October 17th, 2009 | Filed under: Jerk MoveThe mayor’s half-billion-dollar Million Trees initiative may be revenue-neutral after all:
Posted: October 15th, 2009 | Filed under: Follow The Money, That's An Outrage!, The BronxA newly installed ‘no parking’ sign in front of the Tosca Marquis catering hall, located at 4034 E. Tremont Avenue, is difficult to see because a tree obscures it.
Many unwitting motorists are getting tickets because of the obscured sign in front of the hall designated as a no parking zone from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. There is no clear indication as to where this parking regulation ends on the street. The sign has only one arrow pointing north to the curb in front of the dining hall. The entire area is now designated for loading and unloading in what had formerly been two metered spots.
“The sign is obstructed by the tree, so I didn’t even notice it,” said a motorist named Milton, who was parking in front of the catering hall on Friday, October 9.
Gains in student test scores that the Bloomberg administration trumpeted as proof mayoral control reforms are working, apparently are limited to questionable state testing:
Posted: October 14th, 2009 | Filed under: Insert Muted Trumpet's Sad Wah-Wah HereNew York students math scores stayed mostly flat on the most recent national tests, calling into question the big gains the same students have posted on state exams.
Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress math exams show little change for fourth- and eighth-graders in New York.
The percentage of fourth-graders scoring proficient or higher fell from 43% in 2007 to 40% this year.
The state math exams have painted a very different picture of student achievement.
