Senate GOP (Plus Pedro Espada!) Valiantly Carrying On With The People’s Business

“We need just one brave Senate Democrat to come to the session so we can pass these and other important bills and move the session forward,” Senate President Pedro Espada said. “It is time for them to end their boycott of the session, come to work and get the people’s business done.” These important bills include but are not limited to:

• Senate Bill 3697, which would rename the Battery Park City Authority the “Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority”
• Senate Bill 1764, which would designate August seventh as “Family Day, a day of commemoration”
• Senate Bill 2398, which would permit correction officers to be color blind
• Senate Bill 1036, which would designate as a day of commemoration, February 14th, to be known as “Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day” (that’s got to be a joke, right?)

Success Has A Thousand Fathers, Each Of Whom You’d Just As Soon Avoid On Father’s Day

Scary thought of the day: What if instead of mayoral control, the big New York City test score gains are due to George Bush’s No Child Left Behind, as studies seem to indicate?

Democratic candidate William Thompson can opt to pursue this line of argument as need be but maybe it’s safer at this point to rehabilitate Bush than it is to prop up Bloomberg’s juggernautical campaign . . .

[Eduwonk and Education Week links via.]

Sitt And Spin

But truth be told, he’s got a point:

A coney Island developer Wednesday panned the city’s bid to revive the faded seaside resort and all but shut down negotiations to sell property vital to the project.

Speaking publicly for the first time in more than two years, developer Joe Sitt bashed the city’s plan for Coney Island, saying construction on it won’t even start for more than a decade.

“According to their own mouths, they won’t start development on this site for 10 to 15 years,” said Sitt, president of Thor Equities. “So assuming the mayor doesn’t overturn term limits six more times, we’ll be dealing with three mayors from now that will inherit this property.”

The feisty comments came at a Daily News Editorial Board meeting and nearly a year after Sitt first began negotiating to sell 10.5 acres of property that stand in the way of the city’s vision for Coney Island.

With both parties at an impasse, Sitt yesterday suggested that all deals were off unless the city decides to pony up at least $165 million for the vaunted property.

“It’s certainly not for sale at a price where we’re going to lose a substantial amount of money,” said Sitt. “For the city to think that, we’ve never understood it, and we have no interest in selling.”

City officials yesterday said a longstanding offer of $105 million for the property remains final. City sources also insisted that construction on the site — once it is acquired — would begin as early as 2011, but could take a decade to complete.

This Will Be Difficult, Even For A Master Statesman Like Mayor Bloomberg

With just weeks to go before the start of the next fiscal year, the city budget gets really interesting:

The Republican insurrection in Albany could have devastating consequences for city schools and the budget, which both need legislative action by the end of the month.

If lawmakers don’t pass a half-point hike in the city sales tax, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council will have to plug an $887 million budget hole with deep cuts or a property tax hike.

And city schools would technically revert to control by a Board of Education that no longer exists.

“We would be in uncharted waters,” Bloomberg said last night. “We would have to consult with the lawyers. But the city’s going to go on.

“We will find a way to make sure that we can continue to keep essential services going.”

Wanted: Scapegoat

To be fair he was probably thinking, “It can’t possibly be that important if they’re contacting me . . .”:

On Monday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was fuming. On Tuesday, he was forgiving, characterizing the actions of a low-level manager who failed to notify him or his superiors of a planned flyover exercise in Lower Manhattan as merely a mistake.

Perhaps it was because the mayor had already punished the manager, Marc Mugnos, with a letter of reprimand (and, presumably, a tongue-lashing). Perhaps it was because of all the apologies the city had received — from Mr. Mugnos, most likely, and also from the White House. (President Obama has ordered a review of the matter.)

“The guy just didn’t do it. He read the thing and just didn’t do it,” Mayor Bloomberg told reporters during a news conference at City Hall, referring to Mr. Mugnos’ inaction after receiving an e-mail last Thursday from the Federal Aviation Administration, notifying him of the plans for a flyover by F-16s and a backup to Air Force One. (The New York Police Department also received the same e-mail.)

That might be all in the past for Mr. Bloomberg, but a lot of people out there are wondering who Mr. Mugnos is and why the F.A.A. would pick him to share information about what turned out to be a nerve-rattling event for those who live and work in Lower Manhattan, particularly those who were there on Sept. 11, 2001.

Additional point: There’s a big difference between a “flyover” and a 747 looping around New York Harbor trailed by F-16s.

Earlier: What Kind Of “Photo Shoot” Involves Air Force One Flying At A Low Altitude Over New York Harbor? Publicity For A Harrison Ford Sequel?