via nyc.gov feed.

As expected, Mayor Mike Bloomberg today vetoed the City Council's wage legislation, but unlike his past public comments on the matter, he didn't go so far as to compare the bills to Communism.

Still, if the legislation passes, Bloomberg will sue.

The proposals in question were the prevailing and living wage bills, which essentially would require that businesses pay employees higher wages -- $10 an hour plus benefits, instead of the current $7.25 minimum hourly wage -- at some city-subsidized developments.

The bills are significant because they have come to represent a politically important challenge for City Council Speaker Quinn, a mayoral hopeful who has been forced to navigate the competing interests of business and labor leaders in negotiating the legislation. Additionally, the living wage battle has pitted the mayor against Quinn, who has typically been seen as the potential successor most aligned with Bloomberg's views, especially given their pro-business records.

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Sam Levin

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, expected to run for mayor in 2013, addresses reporters today.

Christine Quinn, faced with the challenging task of simultaneously negotiating the interests of labor groups and business groups in a new living wage bill, has lost the support of the city's major business organization -- a disappointment for the City Council Speaker, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013.

The surprising news last night that the business group Partnership for New York City would no longer support the bill was a major shift from what was said at a press conference in January when Quinn was able to bring together business leaders and labor leaders and announce a compromise that both sides could stand by.

"Unfortunately, the original group of supporters we had that day in January are not fully intact at the moment, which is a disappointment, but I'm very proud and glad with the final version we are getting to," she told reporters this morning.

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via Supportchinatownbid.org

A before and after shot from the BID's website.

Some Chinatown property owners didn't really want to be part of a Business Improvement District in the first place. Now a group of them are claiming that the city illegally charged them fees corresponding to months before the BID even officially existed.

The city told the Voice yesterday that it is correcting that error, but that's doing little to appease some frustrated business owners.

These BIDs, which are public-private partnerships, are intended to revitalize neighborhoods and support economic development through a partnership of local property owners and commercial tenants. Businesses pay annual fees that BIDs charge for cleaning sidewalks, picking up trash, and other local efforts.

To those who didn't want to be a part of a Chinatown BID in the first place, the alleged financial mishap is an extra slap in the face, especially as businesses are struggling to stay afloat during a tough economy.

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​Map enthusiasts and social media aficionados, rejoice! A website and iPhone application that is officially launching today is taking the concept of mapping to a whole new interactive level that might forever change your physical and virtual existence as a New Yorker.

In all seriousness, though, this thing's pretty cool -- CityMaps, a one-stop shop map site and iPhone app, integrates hyperlocal data with all kinds of social media functions so that users can browse around and make plans based on real-time information coming from across the city.

Here's how it works: The map, which aims to include the name and location of every storefront on every block, is connected to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and all the other cool networking sites kids are using these days. CityMaps users can browse what's around them, find out what other people have said and are saying about these establishments, and get info on what kinds of deals or events these businesses are having at that moment. All in a user-friendly, visually-intuitive format!

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www.inquisitr.com

​So, Morgan Stanley really took it on the chin in the PR department this week...

The public relations beat-down is the result of two of the financial giant's employees' suspected involvement in two fairly serious, but unrelated, crimes -- in one case, one of the company's bigwigs pleaded not guilty this morning to charges that he, in a drunken rage, stabbed a Middle Eastern cab driver while screaming "I'm going to kill you, you should go back to your own country.

The company's other public black-eye stems from one of its financial advisers getting placed on leave amidst suspicion that he was involved in a prostitution ring with a Manhattan mother of four.

If it's any consolation, Morgan Stanley's stock prices, as of 1:37 p.m., are up 29 cents.

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New York continues its onward march toward looking just like the rest of America.

From the New York Times: "The proliferation of chain stores, banks and pharmacies in the past decade or so has robbed many neighborhoods of the quirky one-of-a-kind shops that give those places their distinct personalities."

Yep. Sounds about right.

Anyway, the City wants to stop this from happening in the Upper West Side: The Department of City Planning would cap the ground-floor width of all new stores to 40 feet on Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues -- and would limit banks to 25 feet. Broadway would also be included.

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Just one of the items you might rent on RentStuff.com.

Most New Yorkers are pretty O.K. about renting things, at least when it comes to our living spaces. As for those living spaces, we're pretty resigned to them being on the small side -- so small that we might have to rent additional storage space for, say, our skis or summer wardrobes or collection of whatever it is we happen to collect. But would you prefer to just rent that stuff in the first place? RentStuff.com, founded by 29-year-old twin brothers Chris and Robert Jaeger, thinks you would. Chris Jaeger describes the site as "a eBay for rentals, or an enhanced Craigslist for the rental marketplace." There's a social component, too, a/k/a, "eBay meets Facebook for the rental market."

Jaeger lived in New York City for 6 years and says the idea for the site came from his own frustrations about living in the city, in a small apartment shared with four roommates. He says, "I'm an avid outdoorsman, and I wanted to rent equipment for a mountain bike trip. The process of finding a bike was one of more frustrating experiences I've had -- I had to leave work early on a Friday, go across the city to get it, and then I had to do the same to get it back. I realized that the bike I wanted was probably in my own building, and if I could just connect with people in my community, this would all be so much easier."

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Mayor Mike Bloomberg fondly remembers his days as a small business owner and likes to share the joy of successful entrepreneurship with New York City start-ups.

This time, in the Bronx.

The mayor announced today the first city-sponsored business incubator in the borough, which will be part of the city's growing network of incubators designed to help startups transition into successful companies.

"Embracing New York City's entrepreneurial spirit -- that is a central part of our administration's strategy for creating jobs and putting more New Yorkers to work," he told a crowd of reporters in a swanky new office inside the landmark BankNote Building, (which used to be a penny factory!) in Hunts Point.

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The "Santa industry" is a particularly good one to be in if you're a portly old white man, apparently. A company called Thumbtack did a study of the business of being Santa Claus and found that it's a pretty sweet deal a lot of the time. Of the 169 Santas that Thumbtack interviewed, the average hourly rate was a hefty $137.50. That's not bad for a job that solely involves sitting down and chuckling.

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Not one of Robert Maresca's t-shirts.

The Long Island couple who tried to trademark "Occupy Wall Street" have officially abandoned the idea, according to a document released by The Smoking Gun today. Robert Maresca was the object of near-universal derision for his attempt to cash in on the movement back in October. At the time, he told the Voice's Nick Pinto that the idea originated when he started making OWS-themed t-shirts and "I just wanted to protect myself." Maresca used his wife's credit card to throw down $975 on the application. It's not clear whether or not he gets that money back.

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