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Wendell Cox has a new at newgeography on how practically to open up transit monopolies. One part, which discusses how London runs its public-bus service, is relevant to New York: Transport for London ... is competitively bid. Between Read More

Governor Paterson's includes a $300 million raid on the coffers of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), which would be required to issue new bonds and send the proceeds to Albany.   But BPCA board member Charles Urstadt and former authority spok Read More

Democratic mayoral challenger Bill Thompson said something good yesterday: "Can you afford 4 percent [raises for teachers] in the current environment? Probably not," he . Thompson's right. The education payroll, not including benefits, is alread Read More

By lifting its cap on charter schools and allowing test score gains to be considered in teacher evaluations, New York State could ultimately grab a share of the federal government's $4 billion in "Race to the Top" funding for educational improvement. Read More

Governor Deval Patrick says he will eliminate 2,000 jobs unless public employee unions make concessions, including possible unpaid furloughs. Patrick's approach contrasts with that of New York Governor David Paterson, who also on Thursday, propose Read More

Good MTA news: new chief Jay Walder t that he'll continue the state-controlled transportation authority's lawsuit to have $300 million worth of annual wage hikes and givebacks to the TWU overturned. Even better, Walder made a clear connecti Read More

An calls for "the world's richest bank" -- that would be Goldman Sachs -- to "give the taxpayer a bonus" and pass on $321 million that the bank is rightfully set to collect from New York City and State government. Goldman should hold its ground v Read More

New York State and City are increasingly desperate for tax revenue. This desperation makes the highest state court's upcoming ruling on whether the Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) has the right to seize private property for the Atlantic Yards Read More

Well, better late than never.  But given in New York, Governor Paterson's may be a day late and a dollar short. Make that a billion.   Just a day after state Comptroller DiNapoli in support of his own plausible estimate that the 2009-10 budget Read More

Despite a $12 million hole in the city's budget, Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings agreed to a tentative contract giving the police officers an 8 percent raise over two years--while keeping Albany taxpayers in the dark about the deal for three weeks. T Read More

That phrase is used in the headline of today's (as yet unposted) press release from the office of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, whose for the month of September highlights the same growing deficit spotlighted by the state tax department collect Read More

New York and Britain both face huge fiscal imbalances, partly as a result of their reliance on the volatile financial sector for too much tax revenue. And both may come up with the same purported partial solution to the problem: sales of public asset Read More