This Is Like The Drug Industry Subsidizing An Anti-Health Care Astroturf Campaign

Don’t let them succeed:

An internal letter sent to liquor stores recently by the London-based liquor wholesaler Diageo reveals it has been quietly subsidizing The Last Store on Main Street, the self-proclaimed “mom and pop” coalition pushing to cork Paterson’s wine-in-groceries plan.

Earlier: Modernize New York!; So Why Can’t We Buy Wine In Grocery Stores, Like Basically Everywhere Else On The Planet?; Wine, Whine; News You Can Booze.

Buried Lede: Columbia Law School Not Nearly As Difficult As You Might Have Thought

Its students apparently have a lot of free time:

A thrifty Columbia Law School student has taken to working out regularly at the city’s legion of gyms, yoga studios and dojos — without ever paying.

“All want my nonexistent money, and they’re willing to lure me with the offer of a free session, or sometimes even a free week,” said the hard-bodied Julia Neyman, 24, who blogs about her adventures on bunsofsteal.blogspot.com.

“But I’ve got an ace up my sleeve: desperation, and the willingness to travel all over the five boroughs to make sure my workout is gratis.”

. . .

At David Barton Gym in Chelsea, Neyman struck out when she tried to flirt her way into an extended pass.

“I realized the problem of working out at a predominantly gay gym: My gender had absolutely zero pull,” she wrote on her blog.

A buff employee at the Equinox on 92nd St., where Neyman worked out, said “gym grifters” are common these days and that his branch was cracking down.

Technology Rules!

Over half a billion dollars to prevent municipal waste . . . uh, yeah:

When development of CityTime began in 1998, officials promised it would use new-age hand scanners and other technology to eliminate abuse of employee timecards by thousands of workers.

The system has instead turned into an uncontrolled gravy train for high-paid consultants and a boondoggle for taxpayers.

CityTime “has a long history of extraordinary increases, rising from $68 million to $722 million over 10 years,” Liu’s director of contract administration, John Goddard, wrote on Feb. 9 in notifying Bloomberg aides of his rejection of the new contract for Spherion Inc.

Well Then That Contribution Was Well Worth It . . .

Street money? Nah — just a house in Forest Hills:

When Mayor Bloomberg funneled $750,000 to a longtime Queens ally last fall, he thought he was buying a citywide poll watching operation.

He may have paid for a house in Forest Hills Gardens, too.

Less Bagelry Than Bagel-Spree

If you’re going to inflate expenses, do it within reason — say, $25 for a bagel, not $177:

If you ordered a Bits Best Bagel Platter and asked them to throw on extra toppings, like avocado, bacon, sun-dried tomato, steak fries, chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, that would still come to only $25.80.

Such an exercise in bagel-nomics was necessary and noteworthy on Wednesday, the day after Councilman Larry B. Seabrook was charged with money laundering, extortion and fraud.

Among the items in the 13-count federal indictment was the curious case of the $177 bagel sandwich and soda. Mr. Seabrook, a Bronx Democrat and former assemblyman and former state senator, bought a bagel sandwich and diet soda for $7 one day and submitted a doctored receipt that inflated the cost to $177, according to the indictment.