Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Fri, 16 May 2008 03:28:35 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Articles from the New York Section of The New York Sun. http://www2.nysun.com/section/1 istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us BENJAMIN SARLIN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/paterson-pays-a-stabilized-rate-of-rent/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST The governor of New York pays about $1,250 a month for a two-bedroom, rent-stabilized apartment in central Harlem, even while owning a home upstate in Guilderland and having unfettered access to the 40-room Governor's Mansion in Albany. Governor Paterson and his wife, Michelle, made about $270,000 last year, according to their tax returns. Mr. Paterson's city home is part of the Lenox Terrace apartment complex, a set of 16-story residential buildings spread across a six-block area in central... ELIZABETH GREEN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/more-students-took-private-school-admissions-test/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST The group that tests 4- and 5-year-olds applying to private kindergartens is reporting a jump in New York City-based test-takers, providing statistical confirmation for claims by parents and admissions officers that this was a particularly competitive year for private school admissions. The number of children who took the test this year was 3,100, a 15% jump from last year, when 2,700 students took the tests, given by the Educational Records Bureau and known by the acronym ERB. The number of... GRACE RAUH http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/library-board-backs-quinn-vice-versa/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST As the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, fought for extra funding for the city's libraries last year, her campaign coffers swelled with tens of thousands of dollars in donations from trustees of the New York Public Library. There is nothing illegal about the donations, which coincided with Ms. Quinn's public efforts to secure an additional $42.7 million in the city's budget to ensure city libraries could stay open at least six days a week. But the contributions illustrate the... GRACE RAUH http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/council-members-gave-grants-then-got-campaign/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST City Council members steering millions of taxpayer dollars to groups outside of their districts are receiving campaign contributions from employees and board members of the groups they are giving the discretionary grants. As the slush fund scandal at City Hall has widened in recent weeks, council members have defended their use of public dollars to fund "member items," which they say allows them to bring services to their communities and support local nonprofits. Council members running for... E.B. SOLOMONT http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/paterson-aims-at-safety-of-patients/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST Physicians in New York would face greater scrutiny from state health officials under legislation proposed yesterday by Governor Paterson. The proposal would aim to increase patient safety by authorizing the Health Department's Office of Professional Medical Conduct to routinely monitor medical malpractice claims and payouts, and to publicize malpractice charges when they are served on a physician. The legislation also proposes a number of infection control measures. According to a spokeswoman... JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/deal-in-emperors-club-case-could-affect-spitzers/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST The cooperation agreement reached between prosecutors and an employee of the call-girl ring known as Emperors Club VIP will come in handy should the Manhattan U.S. attorney, Michael Garcia, decide to charge Governor Spitzer with a crime. The woman, Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, who entered a guilty plea to money laundering and prostitution-related charges yesterday, would be a key witness against Mr. Spitzer if the former governor is charged in connection with patronizing an Emperors Club... AMANDA GORDON http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/basketball-legend-scores-for-migdal-ohr/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST In 10 days, basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry will make his first trip to Israel, to do what he is best known for, shooting some hoops, and to raise money for Migdal Ohr, an agency in northern Israel that provides schooling, housing, and social services for 6,500 immigrant, orphaned, and impoverished youth. Mr. Barry, 64, will participate in basketball clinics for more than a thousand children in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the Lower Galilee as a paid spokesman of the New York-based American... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/rate-of-infections-at-public-hospitals-is-down/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST The rate of infections acquired at the city's 11 public hospitals has decreased since 2005, the Health and Hospitals Corp. announced yesterday. HHC officials said the rate of blood infections associated with a kind of intravenous hookup called a central line decreased 55% to 3.4 per 1,000 central line days in 2007, from 7.6 in 2005. The rate of pneumonia among patients on ventilators decreased 78%, to 2.3 per ventilator days in 2007, from 10.5 in 2005. In recent years, HHC has launched... GARY SHAPIRO http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/give-peas-a-chance-veggie-priders-will-say/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST Vegetarians will be saying "Give Peas a Chance" as they march through Greenwich Village Sunday during the first Veggie Pride Parade. Beginning in the meatpacking district, of all places, the celery celebrants will wend their way to Washington Square Park for a rally featuring music and exhibitor tables. The parade organizer, Pamela Rice, thinks big. Veggie Pride "will be the Woodstock of the 21st century," she says. Ms. Rice has spent hundreds of hours preparing for the event, which she says... CHRISTOPHER FAHERTY http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/husband-subject-of-manhunt-after-womans-body-found/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST Police are scouring the city for a suspect who is believed to have killed his estranged wife and left her body inside a parking garage in the heart of Manhattan's Lower East Side, police officials said. The body of Leonida Davila, 39, was found late Tuesday night in the passenger seat of a 2003 Ford Explorer registered to her husband after police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious vehicle inside the municipal parking garage on Essex Street, police officials said. Police responded to the... BENJAMIN SARLIN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/city-council-overrides-mayors-veto-of-e-waste-bill/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST A battle between Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council over electronics recycling legislation will likely be decided in the courts after a council decision yesterday to override Mr. Bloomberg's veto of the bill. At issue is legislation that would require electronics manufacturers across the country to recycle a set amount of their New York City waste or face fines. If the law takes effect, starting in 2012 the manufacturers would have to recycle 25% of their products sold in the city or pay... JACOB GERSHMAN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/state-panel-moving-to-cap-increases-in-property/ Wed, 14 May 2008 23:46:22 EST A high-profile state commission on property taxes appears headed toward a consensus that would recommend capping school district property tax increases at a rate of growth between 3 and 4 percentage points and giving voters the power to override a ceiling, sources said. The commission, which was set up by Governor Spitzer in January and is led by the county executive of Nassau County, Thomas Suozzi, is also expected to recommend that state lawmakers distribute tax relief to homeowners in the... PETER KIEFER http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/port-authority-is-negotiating-to-avoid-paying/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST In order to avoid paying millions of dollars in late fees, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is seeking to adjust part of the layout of a building planned for ground zero to accommodate developer Larry Silverstein, sources said. It is unlikely the Port Authority will be able to meet the June 30 deadline to turn over a building site at ground zero to Silverstein Properties, which controls a lease on the property. When a development deal was signed in September 2006, the Port... ELIZABETH GREEN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/despite-school-cell-phone-ban-course-sees-them-as/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST Rebellious students and security-minded parents are not the only ones defying Mayor Bloomberg's cell phone ban: The school system's own technology department offers teachers classes on how to incorporate cell phones into lesson plans. One such class, a four-hour session on how to use the Google Web site to enhance education, will happen Friday afternoon. During one part of the class, teachers learn how students can use text-messaging to look up the definitions of words, search currency exchange... JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/commission-warns-ny-judges-dont-let-pay-dispute/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST The disciplinary agency that investigates the judiciary for misconduct has warned judges to not let their complaints about pay interfere with their work. In a report issued this week, the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct responded to reports that some judges are recusing themselves from cases handled by law firms that employ legislators. The recusals are intended to show the judiciary's dissatisfaction with the Legislature, which has not raised judicial pay in the last nine years. The... E.B. SOLOMONT http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/new-rules-consolidate-care-in-states-mental/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST State health officials, in an effort to integrate care in mental health clinics, are changing the regulations for operating clinics that treat New Yorkers suffering from mental illness and substance abuse problems. Under the new rules, clinics will be able to treat individuals with both ailments, officials said. Previously, burdensome and expensive licensing requirements largely prevented clinics from functioning in the dual capacity. "That's a piece system of care," the commissioner of the... Special to the Sun http://www2.nysun.com/new-york/council-will-put-moratorium-on-new-initiatives/ Fri, 16 May 2008 02:17:38 EST The City Council will not propose funding any new initiatives in 2009 in response to the city's weakening economy, Speaker Christine Quinn announced yesterday. Instead, the council will focus on restoring cuts to government services. "As we enter more uncertain economic times, we need to set fiscal priorities in the budget," Ms. Quinn said in a statement. "Putting a moratorium on new initiatives will allow us to cut back on city spending and to focus on restoring funds to essential services...