Sam Levin

From left to right, Google CEO Larry Page, Cornell President David Skorton, Technion's Director Craig Gotsman, and Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Move aside, Silicon Valley! Or, you know, watch your back. New York City is trying to compete with the tech-y town to be the tech center of the universe -- and Google is helping.

(FYI: New York City is still second to Silicon Valley, but it's trying!)

Today, Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined Google CEO Larry Page and Cornell President David Skorton to announce that Google will be doing something outside of its typical scope of activities: providing space for a temporary university campus in New York City.

As a central part of its Applied Sciences initiative -- aimed at attracting industry jobs and startups and expanding the Big Apple as a tech hub -- the city is building a campus on Roosevelt Island for CornellNYC Tech, an engineering and applied science campus that will be run by Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

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Sam Levin

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Mike Bloomberg at a press conference.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that he is ending a controversial policy that requires food stamp applicants to be fingerprinted -- a move that has pitted him squarely against Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The news today is also one that puts Bloomberg in direct opposition with City Council Speaker and mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn (and a handful of other local politicians).

At the center of the debate is the policy that requires all food stamp applications and recipients in New York State to be fingerprinted, which the governor, along with a group of advocates, says creates a stigma around receiving welfare, slows down the process, and creates barriers to reducing hunger. But Bloomberg, who butted heads with Cuomo on the policy back in January, has repeatedly defended fingerprinting, arguing that it stops New Yorkers from abusing the benefits and saves the city millions of dollars by stopping fraudulent recipients.

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Sam Levin

City Councilman Jimmy Van Brammer with Sen. Chuck Schumer, representatives from Kaufman Studios, and other local elected officials.

New York City is oh so very close to being a better city for film and television than Hollywood -- if the federal government would just get out of the damn way!

At least that was the message today on the corner of 36th Street in Astoria, Queens, where Sen. Chuck Schumer, flanked by relevant neighborhood politicians, called on the National Park Service to stop making it difficult for a local film company to build New York City's first-ever outdoor studio.

This project -- which would convert 36th Street between 34th and 35th avenues into a movie studio lot -- apparently could make all the difference in attracting filmmakers and production companies to New York City, instead of Los Angeles, or Toronto, or New Orleans. That means, you guessed it, lots of jobs and economic development, all on one block in Queens.

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Sam Levin

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, responding to the mayor's budget proposal this afternoon.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg released his $68.7 billion executive budget proposal today and patted himself on the back for leading the city in a speedy recovery that's better than the rest of the country. The new budget for 2013 has no tax increases and relies on $6.2 billion in savings generated through deficit closing actions his city agencies have taken since 2007, the mayor reported today at City Hall.

He began his presentation by telling reporters that the city's job growth has improved faster than the rest of the country, thanks to the diverse economy he has supported and the many successful industries that are attracting folks to New York.

Of note, the mayor's budget increases city funding for education from $13.3 billion in 2012 to $13.6 billion in 2013, which will up the total number of teachers in the school system and maintain overall funding levels -- a part of the budget that the City Council and its speaker are applauding.

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CUNY Center for Urban Research

The City Council today announced the key figures who will be charged with dividing up the city into new districts based on Census data.

It's the next redistricting frontier!

The announcement of the Council's appointments comes on the same day that important news broke in the statewide redistricting battle: The Senate Democrats' lawsuit attempting to throw out the Republicans' plan was blocked this morning by the highest court in the state, the New York Court of Appeals. The Senate Dems were going after the Republicans' addition of a 63rd State Senate Seat, arguing that the addition is unconstitutional, but today the court upheld a lower court's ruling and unanimously agreed that the methods of the Legislature don't amount to a "gross and deliberate violation of the plain intent of the Constitution."

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Sam Levin

City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez at a student rally earlier this year.

In response to reports of his spokesperson's controversial past, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez has fired staffer David Segal -- which seems to have only ignited further controversy.

And now the Councilman, who represents parts of upper Manhattan, is left to handle the fallout from the news without his top spokesman.

The drama for the Councilman unfolded Friday morning when the New York Post reported that Segal, when he was 19, had served time in federal prison for throwing a burning rag into an Army recruiting station in the Bronx in protest of the Iraq war. It's a part of his history that he had disclosed to the City Council when he was hired, and legally, it would be a violation of state law if the Council considered a criminal conviction in making an employment decision (unless the conviction directly related to the position he was seeking).

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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

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer at City Hall today.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who is expected to run for mayor, pushed forward his campaign against the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk policy with a press event this afternoon featuring Martin Luther King III.

But as he continues his public appearances on the matter, Stringer seems to face the tricky task of criticizing the current practice of police stops without coming down too hard on the leader behind the policy, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly -- who incidentally could end up running for mayor himself.

Stringer, likely looking to appeal to minority and outer borough voters, appears committed to loudly opposing stop-and-frisk in its current form. Stop-and-frisk disproportionately targets communities of color and does very little to actually prevent crime (only nine percent of stops typically result in arrests), critics say.

And Stringer, who praised Kelly when he asked him about rumors of his mayoral bid, has repeatedly said that everyone should be concerned with stop-and-frisk, even people that look like him.

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University of Wisconsin report.

A report released today argues that the city is excessively fining street vendors and in doing so is actually losing out on revenue it would get with a fine system that's more fair.

The report, called "Fining the Hand that Feeds You," from the University of Wisconsin, argues that high fines are less likely to be paid than lower, more reasonable fines -- and that if the city made them easier to pay, they would bring in more money. It was released this morning in partnership with the the Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center and with support from City Council members who are pushing legislation on the topic and held a hearing today on street vendors.

Last year, the report notes, the city handed out more than 26,000 tickets to street vendors -- many costing vendors $1,000 for infractions that the authors say are minor and unrelated to health and safety, including vending too far from the curb or carrying their vending license in their pocket instead of wearing it around their neck.

Given their modest incomes, most street vendors simply aren't able to pay $1,000 fines, the report argues.

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Sam Levin

City Comptroller John Liu, with State Senator Diane Savino (left) and City Council member Debi Rose at the Ferry Terminal in Staten Island.

City Comptroller John Liu took a trip to Staten Island today to criticize the city's management of new ferry boats that he says have been chronically out of service and have wasted taxpayers' dollars.

The announcement was a chance for Liu, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, to get his name out on a transportation issue and appeal to the outer boroughs. But the comptroller also has a legitimate history with the topic -- he chaired the City Council Transportation Committee and convened several public hearings about the Staten Island Ferry before he became comptroller.

Liu's office argues that three "Molinari Class" vessels, which were put into service in 2005 and 2006, have been dysfunctional and have generated significant cost overruns. Liu also said he's not convinced that the city's Department of Transportation has any long-term plan to address this ongoing problems, which he says continue to impact commuters and waste public money.

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