A Generous Gesture That Is Bound To Look Good On Videotape*

This is because of what now? Oh, what difference does it make:

They’ve sung about a place “Where the Streets Have No Name,” but Irish rockers U2 will have a street named for them in Times Square Tuesday.

Mayor Bloomberg is expected to rename part of W.53rd St. at Broadway “U2 Way.”

The temporary street renaming coincides with the release of the band’s new CD, “No Line on the Horizon,” and the kickoff last night of their five-night gig on “Late Show With David Letterman.”

*I knew I could use this later.

Wine, Whine

In the midst of contentious state budget discussions, the important issues emerge:

Gov. Paterson’s proposal to expand wine sales in New York — and pour money into state coffers — has pitted supermarkets against liquor shops, and in some cases, it’s gotten vicious.

The liquor stores are lobbying to hold onto their near-exclusive right to sell wine, posting signs that say “Save Our Store” and urging customers to help kill Paterson’s plan to allow wine sales in grocery aisles. The proposal is estimated to bring in $150 million in franchise fees over two years.

Whole Foods fired back last week, sending e-mails to its clientele telling them to “Vote for Wine in 2009.” Included in the missive was a sample letter to send to lawmakers in support of the measure.

Whole Foods has joined with other supermarket chains, including Stop & Shop and King Kullen, and business groups to push the plan. Currently, only liquor stores, wine shops and wineries can sell wine in New York.

One supporter, upstate vineyard owner Scott Osborn, said that after he testified in favor of the proposal at a budget hearing last month, several liquor-store owners threatened to pull his wines from their shelves.

“I used to be pushing your wines, but now just looking at them makes me want to puke,” one liquor-store owner wrote in e-mail. “I’ll never sell any of your wines ever again!”

Osborn, who owns Fox Run Vineyards in the Finger Lakes, said the expanded market for his wine would help business. He asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate what he said was a “coordinated campaign of intimidation and retaliation.”

Recession-Era Pelt Bagging

But it’s not so much that the executive of the nonprofit gets such a generous car allowance as it is the culture in which being driven around in a fancy car somehow encourages people to donate more money:

Three weeks after the Staten Island Zoo reported it had cut overtime for staffers, a move that could affect the quality of care for animals, and planned to hike admission prices by $1 to mitigate budget cuts, executive director John Caltabiano leased a brand new 2009 Lincoln MXZ sedan, paid for by the Staten Island Zoological Society.

A 39-month lease on such a car goes for about $359 a month with $3,000 down.

“This is not a frivolous expenditure,” Caltabiano said during an interview in his West Brighton office, explaining that his choice of the Lincoln actually reflects a cost savings to the society; his first choice, a Cadillac CTS, would have cost $175 more a month.

The cost of the car lease is covered as part of Caltabiano’s fixed annual expense account, which he is contractually entitled to along with his salary, which was $100,397 in 2007. The society also pays to insure the car, and covers gas and tolls.

Zoo board president William Frew said the expense money is Caltabiano’s to spend as he sees fit.

“That’s in his discretion,” Frew said. “If he chooses to lease a car, it’s up to him. That means he has less money to spend on other things.”

Frew pointed out that Caltabiano’s job, like most executives, entails being on call around the clock, and requires entertaining wealthy potential donors and driving them to and from meetings and events, which is why a luxury car would be an asset in that line of work.

“More than one third of my time is used for fund-raising,” Caltabiano said. “The vehicle is one means by which I do that.”

Maybe a recession wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to us . . .

Toll Revenues Down; Albuterol Makers Hardest Hit

I’m hoping this means we can stop worrying about traffic congestion and asthma rates until at least the third quarter of 2009:

A traffic recession is triggering a precipitous drop at the MTA’s crossings, costing the cash-strapped agency a staggering $55 million a year in tolls, statistics show.

“In the last three months, we’ve seen a large drop. That period is when the economy got especially bad,” Dave Moretti, an executive with MTA Bridges and Tunnels, recently told an agency board committee.

Even slumping gas prices aren’t helping, he added, calling the cheaper fuel “questionable as to how much of a stimulus it provides” in boosting traffic and tolls.

Less Confident Than Crazy*

Mayor Bloomberg wants $45 million to retrain employees who are probably the least likely to trust government job training programs:

Just as Michigan is scrambling to retrain laid-off auto workers, New York City officials have come up with a plan to find new work for the unemployed from one of its core industries: financial services.

Under a program unveiled on Wednesday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the city wants to invest $45 million in government money to retrain investment bankers, traders and others who have lost jobs on Wall Street, as well as provide seed capital and office space for new businesses those laid-off bankers might create.

The plan is intended to stem a potential exodus of banking professionals from the city during the restructuring of the financial services industry, which has been the city’s economic engine for decades, and to speed the industry’s recovery, which will take at least several years, officials said.

. . .

The mayor announced the 11-part program at a building at 160 Varick Street that will house an incubator for start-up companies that might employ laid-off professionals. Trinity Real Estate donated the space for three years and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University will select the entrepreneurs who will occupy the space, beginning in April. A second business incubator is scheduled to open in Lower Manhattan later in the year, said Seth W. Pinsky, the president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

The agency plans to put $3 million into funds to make small investments in start-up companies, Mr. Pinsky said. He said that he hoped to attract twice as much money from private investors and that $9 million would be enough to help start hundreds of new businesses.

All told, city officials plan to spend about $15 million on the program, in addition to the $30 million of federal money. They estimate that over 10 years, it could stimulate the creation of at least 25,000 jobs and contribute $750 million to the local economy, but Mr. Bloomberg referred to those projections as a “guess.”

*And think of how many housing project roofs or elevators that could be fixed with $45 million . . .