Exterminators, Not E-Z Passes

So if higher-than-normal asthma rates in the Bronx are the result of cockroaches and not car pollution (as the mayor repeated over and over with scientific certainty*), I suppose that means that congestion pricing and trees are really unnecessary then:

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, one that strikes the poor disproportionately. Up to one-third of children living in inner-city public housing have allergic asthma, in which a specific allergen sets off a cascade of events that cause characteristic inflammation, airway constriction and wheezing.

Now, using an experimental model that required leaving the pristine conditions of the lab for the messier ones of life, a team of scientists from the Boston University School of Medicine have discovered what that allergen is.

“For inner-city children,” said the lead researcher, Dr. Daniel G. Remick, a professor of pathology, “the major cause of asthma is not dust mites, not dog dander, not outdoor air pollen. It’s allergies to cockroaches.”

*He’s been doing that a lot lately.

You Know You Have A Problem With Landmarking When . . .

. . . no one realizes something is a landmark:

The team behind the Cherry Hill Gourmet Restaurant and Market to open in Lundy’s has finally revealed why it ripped up part of the historic building’s exterior — it didn’t know the building was landmarked.

Apparently, the architect hired for the project never checked city records.

“Our architect did not do that,” project manager Anthony Kelley told residents at last week’s Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association meeting, which was held in the famed Emmons Avenue building.

As a result, workers replaced the concrete in front of the building with small, colored tiles and installed a black iron railing near Lundy’s main entrance.

“The awnings were taken down and the outside was started — yes, our fault,” Kelley admitted.

Just a cautionary tale for the future . . .

He Just Wants To Prove It She Does Nothing To Remove It We Blame Her For Being There But We Are All There And We Are All Guilty

We wanted you to exist, which is of course why you exist:

It’s not that there’s no truth in it. Megan and I exist. That’s like saying David Sedaris’s life never happened

Leading Economic Indicators: Rupert Murdoch Apologies

Read: Who am I kidding? I just wrote down $3 billion in debt* on my newspaper operations . . . we need all the advertisers we can get:

As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.

Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.

Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to a number of people and I now better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused. At the same time, I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you — without a doubt — that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.

*

It Starts In A Hole

Maybe you were wondering how the City will pay for the $2.1 billion 7 train extension to an undeveloped part of Manhattan. So are they:

Now that there are a handful of giant holes under Chelsea for the line, and soon to be two drills that are making tunnels, the likelihood that the project will actually come to fruition is increasing substantially (though no one has agreed to pay for cost overruns yet). But with the economy in shambles, the question becomes how quickly — or slowly — development will sprout up on the far West Side.

This is more than just an academic question. To fund the $2.1 billion budgeted for the extension, the city sold bonds that are to be repaid with the extra taxes expected from all the new development on the West Side. If development takes years to begin — or never happens — the city would need to use money out of its budget to pay the $100 million or so annually in debt service, adding to an already high debt burden.

At the announcement today, the mayor delivered what sounded like a slight plea to developers to get building again.

“If anybody’s a developer out there, and if you want to know a good time to start, I can’t think of a better time,” he said. “People are ready to take the jobs, you can buy concrete and steel a lot cheaper than you could have before, and you’ll have these buildings ready when our economy comes roaring back and people are going to need space.”