You Know Things Are Bad When A “City Hall Insider” Seems Like Such A Breath Of Fresh Air

. . . And in the morning, I’m making waffles:

At the news conference Thursday where Dennis M. Walcott was announced as the nominee to become New York City schools chancellor, he spoke about his luck, his personal history and his goals for the city’s schools. Then, he turned to 16 elementary school students gathered in the room.

He asked them about a promise he had made on a recent visit to their school, Public School 10 in Park Slope. “What am I going to make you?” Mr. Walcott asked.

“Waffles!” the children screamed, as excitedly as the man who would cook for them.

It was a colorful exchange in a choreographed announcement meant to convince the public that Mr. Walcott, 59, had credentials that Cathleen P. Black, who resigned on Thursday, did not. He is a former teacher, with an easy rapport with children; a graduate of the city’s public schools; “a guy from Queens,” he said, whose parents were raised in Harlem and whose grandparents were immigrants, like many of the city’s 1.1 million students.

Unless nearly every media report is full of disinformation being fed by her detractors, she comes off like the worst possible candidate for the job . . . and I still can’t believe he’ll get credit for this.

Holding Out For A Day When Fecal Rampages Will Not Always Be Deemed So “Bizarre”

“Staten Island man set pregnant ex-girlfriend’s apartment ablaze in bizarre fecal rampage, cops allege”:

“I’m the devil!” [the suspect] was heard yelling as he knocked on a neighbor’s door early Sunday morning.

. . .

When firefighters and police arrived, [the suspect] was naked and still had the evidence on his hands, the source said.

The Emperor Has No Briefing Book

What if the terminal guy isn’t as “technologically savvy” as everyone made him out to be? The mayor marvels at new paper-saving technology:

The tech-savvy mayor showed off his new tablet computer at a Staten Island civic meeting on Tuesday night, calling it a great way to save time and eliminate paper — though he’s still fumbling with the touchscreen.

Fight The Power That Bee

So many salient details in such a short story — which one do you focus on? Is it A) That honeybees are back? B) That they’re taking over the Upper East Side? C) That the police department has a beekeeper? or D) That the story comes out suspiciously close to a bill being floated by the Council to legalize beekeeping? Mind reels:

Some 8,000 to 10,000 honeybees had surreptitiously moved into the neighborhood sometime in the past month and managed to build a giant hive in a tree between 80th and 81st streets without anyone noticing.

The queen decided to bust out at around 4 p.m., and flew south for a half-block before returning home.

She was followed dutifully on her outing by all of her subjects.

“It was a three foot column of bees,” said Doug Becker, 40.

Police Officer Anthony Planakis, the NYPD’s resident beekeeper for 30 years, said it was “one of the biggest swarms I’ve ever seen.”

He took all the bees into custody as a crowd of onlookers applauded, and said he’d bring them “to a farm in Connecticut to pollinate.”

This bees got loose only days after a swarm of amateur beekeepers buzzed around City Hall in support of a bill to legalize their hobby.

Serious Question . . .

. . . is it just me or is the mayor/city council .5 percent sales tax increase not listed on Governor Paterson’s special session to-do list?

Then again, if the city is continually cooking books (“Surprise, here is a half billion!”), then they won’t really have to worry about it until after November 3 at least:

In May, the mayor hoped to generate $1.5 billion in revenue by raising the sales tax, doing away with a sales tax exemption for clothing and negotiating with the city’s unions on both health care costs and pensions.

He was partly victorious: The City Council signed off on hiking the sales tax to 8.875 percent from 8.375 percent and agreed to do away with the exemption for clothing selling for more than $110. The city’s unions also went along with contributing to some of their health benefits.

Elsewhere, the mayor was not so persuasive. He was unable to secure the creation of a fifth pension tier for new city employees in Albany, and the City Council refused to endorse a five-cent tax on plastic bags. In the end, the fiscal year 2010 budget agreement came up $359 million short.

This also doesn’t factor in the uncertain situation in Albany, where the legislature must approve all of the mayor’s tax proposals. The state will have to OK the sales tax increase, among other revenue measures, by July 1.

An administration spokesperson said the city will make up the revenue shortfall elsewhere. Conveniently, the city’s budget department reported last week that an additional $438 million to help fill the gap was generated thanks to “conservative” revenue projections.

But what some see as faulty revenue projections, others caution is a misleading budget process.

“It amazes me that they find a half a billion dollars,” said Councilmember Lewis Fidler. “Surprise, here is a half billion.”

“They are not playing all the cards on the deck,” added Fidler, who says the administration squirrels away funding to keep the City Council out of the budget process.

Some advocates also question whether the administration is being completely open about its revenue projections.

“If they are not being transparent about where the money comes from it makes me nervous for New Yorkers who rely on programs that are less politically popular, like AIDS housing programs,” said Barry. “We aren’t firehouses.”

Others wonder about the politics and whether the entire budget process represents an attempt to make the city’s fiscal situation appear OK for now, until after the city elections. In an analysis of the mayor’s budget, the city’s Independent Budget Office not only predicted far higher deficits in future years — climbing to $5.8 billion in fiscal year 2012 — but also observed, “Given that this a municipal election year, the difficult decisions about spending cuts and tax increases that lie ahead are unlikely to be addressed until November.”

Some advocates fearfully agree.

“People expect these cuts to be back on the table in the November financial plan after the city elections,” said Barry.