via rovio.com

Angry Birds, a central player in this local politics story.

More specifically, this is a story about an Angry-Birds-inspired police raid that prompted Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to write a letter to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

On November 8th, 2011, the NYPD conducted raids on the Lower East Side and in Chinatown to stop the sale of counterfeit merchandise related to Angry Birds -- you know, the addictive game where you slingshot little birds at little pigs. Well apparently, the NYPD got wind that some vendors in these Manhattan neighborhoods were selling merchandise related to the Angry Birds franchise and responded with a raid.

via NYU 2031

This was part of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's message today when he officially announced his support for a scaled-back version of the controversial 20-year expansion plan for New York University.

This latest news is part of an ongoing urban development saga where not-in-my-backyard advocates have clashed dramatically with a powerful university that hopes to grow in the Village, its homebase neighborhood. Elected officials like Stringer have been caught in the middle of the fight, forced to navigate competing interests of preservation, development, and education. For the borough president, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, taking a stance on NYU is more than an opportunity to influence a project that could fundamentally change the Village -- it's also a chance to start building a platform for his bid to replace Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Sam Levin

Electeds and advocates rallying for a new Latino congressional district earlier this month.

Pols and advocates have been rallying this month in an effort to pressure the state to draw a majority Latino district that would include parts of upper Manhattan, the west Bronx, and Corona and Jackson Heights in Queens. Advocates say this district would unite communities of interest and give a stronger voice to the city's Latino population which has grown dramatically over the last decade. (Latinos make up the city's largest minority group at 29 percent of the total 8.1 million population).

On Friday, public advocate and likely mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio sent out a statement in support of this Latino district -- which would be the third in the city.

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

Vacant spaces will be transformed into artist studios through new initiative.

While lots of exciting activities and new projects have been popping up on the little-island-that-could -- which the city finally took over in 2010 -- there are still many unused, vacant spaces on the 172-acre plot of land just south of Manhattan.

But if a new city initiative goes as planned, those vacancies -- and some at the Brooklyn Army Terminal -- will be converted into affordable studio and rehearsal space for artists.

Yup, it's rally season, folks. This is the final week of hearings before the Panel for Education Policy votes on proposals to close 25 schools on Feb. 9. (Given that the PEP has never rejected a city proposal and the political theater that unfolded last year, we can guess it'll be a colorful event).

Timed with a hearing tonight about Legacy High School, near Union Square, students are rallying this afternoon to protest the potential closure of their school.

Today, that development project took a big step forward, earning the approval of the City Planning Commission -- the second to last step in the lengthy public review process required in New York City for projects like this.

The project, under Rudin Management, is a proposed mixed-use development on 7th Ave. between 11th and 12th streets. The buildings, according to City Planning, would contain approximately 450 residential units, around 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 20,000 square feet of medical offices, and, notably, 17,000 square feet of public open space on the triangular parcel of land located west of the East Side.

Bowery Boogie

Courtesy of our friends at Bowery Boogie comes that peculiar flyer, spotted on Orchard and Grand. Some horrible cretin has been feeding dogs on the Lower East Side!