No Offense Taken . . .

Uh, dude, it’s an ad:

An irate city councilman is declaring war on a popular storage company over a subway ad he finds “offensive and insulting” to the outer boroughs.
Public Storage ads proclaim, “Finally, a good reason to leave Manhattan.”

Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens) fired off a furious letter to the California-based storage company yesterday, demanding that the “narrow-minded and inaccurate” ads be removed from city subways and buses immediately.

“Implying, as your company does, that there is no reason, other than your storage facilities, to visit four of the five boroughs is simply wrong,” Gioia wrote to CEO Ronald Havner Jr.

What, no 7 train service interruptions this weekend? Nothing Con Ed did?

Now That Was Easy

No, it really wasn’t worth noting because apparently it was never going to happen in the first place:

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow pulled the emergency brake yesterday on proposals to raise bus and subway fares and cut back on service next year.

Predicting deficits upward of $1 billion starting in 2008, the agency said in July that a 5 percent fare hike would likely have to kick in next September, along with reductions in the number of subway trains and buses that run during midday, nights and weekends.

But yesterday, amid complaints from transit advocates and union leaders, Kalikow switched tracks.

Noting that ridership had soared to levels not seen in decades, he said straphangers deserved a little slack — and there will be no fare hikes or service cuts through 2007.

. . .

The announcement infuriated some transit officials, who contend the proposed cuts were included in the preliminary budget over their objections — and now Kalikow is making himself out to be the hero, sources said.

Though MTA sources say the cuts never really had a chance of remaining in the final November budget, transit advocates fumed that the agency would even think of hurting riders to save $20 million annually — a measly sum compared to the agency’s $10 billion budget.

And this the kind of win-win-win scenario that allows everybody to grandstand:

Balking at the proposed cuts, which could also cost hundreds of transit jobs, Transport Workers Union boss Roger Toussaint said the MTA should “cut suits instead of service.”

And that looming deficit? Take it out of LIRR’s budget!

Unsafe At Any Speed

NASCAR is deadly — very, very deadly:

NASCAR speedways like the one proposed for Staten Island are races to the death, a top FDNY official has told stunned borough leaders.

Staten Island Fire Chief Thomas Haring spoke to community board leaders Thursday and reportedly said the FDNY had discovered an average of six people die on race weekends from a variety of causes at or near a track like this one.

The stunning statistic came as the department conducted a review of similar-sized speedways across the country as part of an interagency group looking at the proposed $600-million speedway in preparation for a public review.

“We were taken aback when they said six fatalities at the smaller facilities that are comparable to [the one proposed for] Staten Island,” said Marie Bodnar, district manager of Community Board 3. “We were all surprised.”

They apparently weren’t the only ones.

Top FDNY sources seemed equally surprised by the statement and were unsure about how the figures were obtained.

. . .

Bodnar said fire officials told them the causes were not simply in the races themselves but were attributed to heart attacks, traffic accidents to and from the track, or any other mishap during several days of race weekend events.

New York City Is Open For Business

Advertising firms have been unable to attract minorities into their upper echelons and the City’s Human Rights Commission is here to help:

Finding that just 2 percent of the upper echelon of the advertising industry is black, New York City officials said yesterday that they had reached agreements with several of the nation’s biggest ad firms forcing them to bring more black managers into this crucial sector of the city’s economy.

The city’s Human Rights Commission found that hiring of black workers had barely improved since an inquiry found similar problems 40 years ago. Of 8,000 employees working for 16 agencies the commission examined, Patricia L. Gatling, chairwoman of the commission, said about 22 percent make more than $100,000 a year, and only 2.5 percent of those are black.

Faced with the findings, nearly a dozen agencies, including those owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies and the WPP Group, have promised to set numerical goals for increasing black representation on their creative and managerial staffs and to report on their progress each year.

Under the agreements, the agencies have agreed to submit to three years of monitoring by the city, under which the companies will report hiring, promotion and retention figures to the commission each year. If they do not meet their goals, they will hire an outside consultant to help them do so, among other measures.

At the same time the companies have agreed to set up diversity boards and to link progress on the issue to their managers’ compensation.

The commission has the authority to fine companies up to $250,000 or to sue them, but officials said that they believed the threat of pressure from agency clients like Pepsi and Citigroup was a more effective stick in bringing corporate leaders to the negotiating table.

. . .

By signing the agreements, which also require that agencies establish recruiting and internship programs through universities with large minority student populations, the agency executives can avoid the embarrassing prospect of testifying at public hearings scheduled for Sept. 25, at the start of the industry’s annual gathering, Advertising Week. So far, of the 16 agencies subpoenaed to testify by the commission, only the agencies of the Omnicom Group have declined to work on an agreement, officials said.

The commission’s analysis, which looked at salary levels as well as job titles, indicated that although the major ad firms have black workers, they are largely absent from the most senior or creative levels. Of 476 employees at DDB’s New York office, commission officials said, 51 are black. But of 159 employees making $100,000 or more, only 2 are black. Neither is among the 29 employees earning $200,000 to $300,000 or the 22 employees earning more than $300,000.

A similar pattern exists across the industry, commission officials said.

(Would Governor Corzine threaten the industry with fines?)

Miss Brooklyn Always Seemed A Little Too Tall Anyway

The Atlantic Yards project, now six to eight percent more popular:

Facing mounting criticism of its $4.2 billion Atlantic Yards project, the developer Forest City Ratner plans to reduce the size of the complex by 6 to 8 percent, eliminating hundreds of apartments from the largest development proposal in the city, according to government officials and executives working with the developer.

Forest City is also considering reducing the height of the project’s tallest tower, which is known as Miss Brooklyn, to get it under the height of the borough’s tallest building, the nearby Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower, according to real estate executives.

. . .

The development, anchored at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, has a number of powerful supporters, including Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, some local politicians and advocates for subsidized housing. And a recent Crain’s New York Business poll shows that most New Yorkers approve of the project, although opposition is strongest in Brooklyn.

But both supporters and critics have expected Forest City to reduce the size and density of Atlantic Yards, which has been the focus of a series of raucous, standing-room-only public hearings, most recently on Aug. 24. The stage appeared to be set when the Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz, the project’s chief cheerleader, proclaimed at that hearing that no tower at Atlantic Yards should be taller than the 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank building.

Forest City has been working with city officials on a revised plan after some officials raised questions about the project’s overall density and the design of Miss Brooklyn, which was supposed to rise 620 feet. Officials say the developer will announce the reduction later this month.

“I’ve been told they will modify the project in order to address some of the concerns about the development,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has supported the project. “I’m not sure all the criticisms will be addressed or that all the critics will be happy. But I understand there will be modifications.”

. . .

The reduction in the project’s scope comes as the Empire State Development Corporation prepares to hold two more public hearings later this month before voting on the project in October. Officials say the developer is likely to unveil the changes around Sept. 25, when the City Planning Commission is expected to issue design guidelines for the project and recommend changes, including a reduction in density.

At that point, there could be a long line of politicians and activists hoping to take credit, including the Bloomberg administration, Mr. Silver, Ms. Millman and Mr. Markowitz.

“Everyone’s going to take credit for something that everyone knew would happen,” said an executive who works with Forest City. “For these guys, it’s very important.”

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.