​Watch out, Mr. Mayor! The United Federation of Teachers is launching an ad campaign today that attacks Mike Bloomberg -- who has loudly criticized the union at a handful of public appearances this year. At his State of the City speech earlier this month, the mayor went after the UFT for insisting on provisions that make it harder to remove ineffective teachers. Some said his language was unnecessarily confrontational to teachers. He's not being crazy -- students are the priority, not the teachers, he said the next day.

And it goes on and on and on.

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​Just before Thanksgiving, Manhattan Judge Alice Schlesinger ruled that the Bloomberg administration turn over emails sent between the mayor and Cathie Black prior to Black's short-lived appointment as New York City schools chancellor. (The fight for the emails had been instigated by Sergio Hernandez, former Village Voice intern, under the Freedom of Information law back in May of last year.) Hernandez had expected the release of the emails tomorrow -- however, he tells us that the Bloomberg administration has decided to appeal and will not produce the information as expected.

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​Rich people, they're just like us: no matter who you are, driving gets harder as the party gets better. Failed New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black couldn't make it out of a Hamptons driveway after a get-together at which she "was seen enjoying alcoholic beverages," hitting a tree or two (or three) on her way down until someone stopped her. "She said she was not inebriated," her publicist explained. "She is not familiar with the driveway. She was coming out of the driveway and looking to the left, because she was told there is a dangerous curve difficult to see around, and hit a tree with her car on the right." After littering some glass shards and stripping the bark from some trees, Black got a ride home to her own Hamptons mansion. Her SUV stayed put "for a few days, just sitting at the end of the driveway." She likely has other cars. [NYP]

​Rich people, they're just like us: no matter who you are, driving gets harder as the party gets better. Failed New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black couldn't make it out of a Hamptons driveway after a get-together at which she "was seen enjoying alcoholic beverages," hitting a tree or two (or three) on her way down until someone stopped her. "She said she was not inebriated," her publicist explained. "She is not familiar with the driveway. She was coming out of the driveway and looking to the left, because she was told there is a dangerous curve difficult to see around, and hit a tree with her car on the right." After littering some glass shards and stripping the bark from some trees, Black got a ride home to her own Hamptons mansion. Her SUV stayed put "for a few days, just sitting at the end of the driveway." She likely has other cars. [NYP]

​Today, I am suing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Last year, Bloomberg baffled New Yorkers when he appointed publishing executive Cathie Black to be the city's next schools chancellor. Black was an unpopular choice, and for months, responses to her appointment ran the gamut of ridicule, confusion, and outrage.

Black's tenure came to an abrupt end in April, when the mayor asked her to step down from the post after just three months on the job. New Yorkers who opposed her appointment were vindicated, but the question remained: What led the mayor to make such a choice?

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​A new class-action lawsuit representing New York City parents was filed today in civil court against Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his highly controversial -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- appointment of magazine executive Cathie Black to the role of NYC schools chancellor. The suit demands $100 million from Bloomberg personally -- "or approximately $1 million for each day of Ms. Black's nearly 100-day tenure" -- to be set aside in a fund for training teachers, plus "a public apology." This thing will be thrown out faster than Ms. Black, but it makes for a pretty fun, admirably indignant press release. [via NYO]

​New York City's short-lived schools chancellor Cathie Black, who was fired yesterday after barely three months on the job, has given her first interview (save a quip to swarming reporters about her new running shoes) to Patricia Sellers at Fortune. "I feel fine," she said to Sellers, repeating same sentiment she expressed briefly yesterday. (Not quite "good," mind you.) Black was somewhat honest about her lack of preparation, comparing the job to "having to learn Russian in a weekend -- and then give speeches in Russian and speak Russian in budget committee and City Council meetings." Sellers seemed to float the idea that gender came into play -- and how couldn't it -- and Black wondered, "If I were a guy, would I have had the pounding that I did?" She added, "And the worst pictures!" about the press coverage she received. The brief chat isn't going to change any minds about the loathed exec, but it does indicate that she's probably relieved. And she'll be ok. "I'm a warrior," she said. [CNN Money]

​"I'm fine, I'm fine," fired schools chancellor told the reporters gathered outside of her Park Ave. apartment yesterday, hours after the announcement of her departure from the post after just about 100 controversial days. "It's been a privilege to serve the city of New York and the mayor for three months," she said. "I have loved the principals, the teachers and the kids," she added, officially. Later she added, "And I went out and bought a new pair of running shoes today, so I'm off." And as quick as she came, she was gone.

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​In the wake of this morning's Cathie Black news, in which she was replaced as schools chancellor after only four months, New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner is seemingly being shown the door too. The New York Post reports that although "Steiner has not yet made a decision" about his job situation, anonymous education officials are calling his exit "imminent" after only two years in the state's top education position. Steiner came under fire for supporting Black's appointment even though she lacked education experience, having been in the magazine business, and he granted the waiver that put her in office. Though he's not officially gone, the "state education sources" seem to be sending a pretty clear message, including State Regents Chancellor Merry Tisch, who told WCNY radio of Steiner's potential ouster, "I have heard a lot about that." Update: It's official. [NYP]

​Cathie Black, the former magazine executive turned chancellor of New York City schools, is leaving her position after only about 100 days in office. Say it ain't so, Cathie! What will we do without your hilarious gaffes? Let's hope that Mayor Bloomberg's replacement Dennis M. Walcott, the Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development, has a similar sense of humor (or whatever). As we watch Black walk through that official city door for the last time, we shed a tear and take a special look back at the great moments we shared together. Cathie Black, this is your life -- briefly -- as the schools chancellor of New York City.

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