CITYWIDE

LAWMAKERS PROPOSE ABOLISHING TAX BREAK FOR CABLEVISION

Two lawmakers have proposed politically charged legislation to wipe out an annual tax break for Madison Square Garden, which is owned by Cablevision, a vocal opponent of the proposed Jets Stadium on the far West Side. The law to eliminate the $11.7 million tax break, which was first awarded to MSG in 1982 and totals more than $200 million, was proposed by Assembly Members Steve Cymbrowitz and Jose Peralta, who both support the New York Sports and Convention Center, the official name for the Jets Stadium. Cablevision has run millions of dollars worth of advertising panning the stadium, which would bring competition.

“It is time we put an end to the sweetheart deal that Cablevision’s Madison Square Garden has enjoyed for more than 20 years,” Mr. Peralta said in a statement. “Madison Square Garden is the only privately owned sports facility in New York that enjoys tax-exemption status and it has gone on for long enough.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ARBITRATION UNDER WAY ON POLICE CONTRACT

Arbitration over a police contract began yesterday between city officials and representatives of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Al O’Leary, spokesman for the union that represents 22,000 police officers, said his association is arguing for a better deal than what the city has previously put on the table. Jordan Barowitz, city spokesman regarding labor issues, said the union rejected the city’s offer of a 5% raise with certain cost-cutting concessions. Mr. O’Leary said the city should make an offer comparable with the Port Authority, whose officers make 40% more than officers with the NYPD. “We’re seeking parity with the Port Authority police,” said Mr.O’Leary. “We’re making the case…that the city has to be competitive with the labor market that we’re drawing from.”

The NYPD exam application states that police officers are paid $34,514 during their first five years of service, and then the salaries are raised to $54,048.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

FINES MAY RISE AGAINST LANDLORDS WHO FAIL TO PROVIDE HEAT

A City Council committee heard testimony yesterday on a bill proposing an increase in fines on landlords who fail to provide heat and hot water. If passed, the fine would jump to $500 a day from the current $250 a day for landlords. Buildings must be kept at a minimum of 68 degrees during the day when the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, and at 55 degrees overnight when the outside temperature falls below 40 degrees. Hot water must be provided year-round. The city has received 118,484 complaints about heat and hot water on its 311 hotline and has issued 14,517 violations.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOME ON COUNCIL WANT TO INVEST IN DAY-CARE

The City Council wants to invest in the day-care industry, which it says is a largely ignored sector of the city’s economy. Though their plan is in the early stages, Council Members and advocates hope to create one central office to deal with the industry, which recently suffered the death of a toddler at a Queens facility. They also want tax breaks for residential developers who invest in day-care facilities and an increase in employee salaries. A study conducted by Child Care Inc.,a nonprofit organization, found that child-care is a $2 billion industry in the city that enables 313,000 parents to work. The City Council speaker, Gifford Miller, said the city must recognize the industry’s importance by investing in it. Council Member Melinda Katz, a Democrat from Queens, agreed, saying, “If children are not taken care of, parents can’t earn a paycheck. If parents can’t earn a paycheck, they can’t give into the tax base of the city of New York.” The council will hold several hearings before deciding whether to make formal recommendations to the Bloomberg administration or to pursue legislation.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN

NYU ANNOUNCES PLANS TO BUILD NEW SCIENCE CENTER

For the first time in more than 30 years, New York University will be home to a new science building, where researchers hope to unlock the secrets of the genome.

Announced yesterday, plans for the facility, about 50,000 square feet in size, include space for laboratories and classrooms for the life sciences department. The new building will expand the space for life sciences at the Washington Square campus by 30%.

The project is described by NYU as a “gut rehabilitation” of three existing college buildings located at 12, 14, and 16 Waverly Place. The University plans to retain the original, existing facades of the buildings in the design process. The three buildings, which are mostly vacant, currently house an administrative office and storage for the University’s library.

The executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, Andrew Berman, said that, while maintaining the building’s exterior is generally a positive, he is concerned about what else the project might entail, such as adding more floors, or other changes that may be made which might alter the character of the buildings.

When completed, the facility will be the first new science building built at the NYU campus since Meyer Hall opened in 1971.The school has hired Hillier Architecture for the project.

-Special to the Sun

THE BRONX

MAYOR OPENS PROCESSING OFFICE FOR HOMELESS

Mayor Bloomberg took a step yesterday aimed at making the way homeless families enter the city’s shelter system more efficient as he opened a temporary office in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. He said the office would cut processing time from days to hours.

Construction on a new $30 million permanent building will start in February of 2006 and should be completed in 2008.The facility, the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing Office, opens for business tomorrow.

The new facility grows out of recommendations made by a court-appointed panel that were meant to resolve lawsuits against the city for illegally forcing families to sleep on the floor of a Emergency Assistance Unit, or EAU, in the Bronx while they waited to be assigned to proper housing. Families waiting for their applications to be processed were often bused from the EAU to overnight shelters. Officials said the new facility will cut the average approval time to hours from days and is part of the mayoral plan to reduce homelessness in the city by two-thirds within five years.” At the heart of that ambitious plan is a shift away from the one-size-fits-all approach to shelter and an emphasis on prevention, more individualized solutions, and efforts to minimize disruptions for homeless families,” said Mr. Bloomberg.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ALBANY

PATAKI ATTORNEY ARGUES FOR WIDE-RANGING BUDGET POWERS

The governor has the constitutional authority to change state law through budget bills that the Legislature cannot rewrite, a lawyer for Governor Pataki argued at the state’s highest court yesterday.

Responding to hypothetical questions from judges of the Court of Appeals, one of Mr. Pataki’s attorneys, Paul Schechtman of Manhattan, said the governor could conceivably waive labor laws, such as the minimum wage, as part of an appropriation for a construction project.

The court is considering two parallel lawsuits between Mr. Pataki and the Legislature over the limits of his constitutional budgeting powers. Lawmakers contend that the governor has abused his control over appropriation bills by using them to change state law – by, for example, rewriting the formula for distributing aid to public schools, changing the rules of the Medicaid health plan for the poor, and removing the New York State Museum from the control of the Board of Regents. When the Legislature struck out the disputed language, Mr. Pataki sued, and lower courts have upheld his position. Lawmakers say their only recourse is to refuse to approve the governor’s proposals and negotiate for changes – which helps to explain why the state budget has been late 20 years in a row.

“It’s like negotiating with somebody when you don’t have a gun and the other side has a gun,” said a lawyer for the Assembly, Steven Alan Reiss of Manhattan.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SILVER PROPOSES HARSHER PENALTIES ON DRUNKEN DRIVERS

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday he has introduced legislation to close a legal loophole that lets drunken drivers escape serious prison time, even if they kill someone. If passed, he said he will call it “Vasean’s Law,” after an 11-year-old boy who was killed while crossing the street. The Manhattan Democratic said he was moved to action by the death of Vasean Alleyne, 11, and the injury of his friend, Angel Reyes, 12.

John Wirta, 56, of Fresh Meadows, Queens, is accused of driving drunk in a van and hitting the boys as they crossed a street in Flushing, Queens, on October 11. Mr. Wirta was charged only with misdemeanor drunken driving because there was no aggravating factor such as speeding or running a red light.

Mr. Silver said his proposed law would create two new felonies for killing or injuring someone while driving drunk. The punishment would be four years in prison and possibly more if warranted by aggravating circumstances.

– Associated Press