Gov. Paterson's pick to run the MTA, Jay Walder, took questions from state senators yesterday on Long Island ahead of his confirmation vote next Thursday. Senators will hold a second hearing (in Harlem) next Tuesday. Here's hoping that they do a b Read More
As schools open, the number of school districts at impasse with teacher unions has increased by 12 percent since a year ago, according to the Public Employment Relations Board. Also noteworthy--although not emphasized by PERB--nearly one out of three school districts has yet to negotiate a new contract with its teachers. Read More
Tax-funded contributions to the New York State Employee Retirement System (ERS) will have to jump by 61 percent between 2010 and 2011, . Contributions for members of the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS)--already higher to begin with--will r Read More
The New York Times has about city and state or "moderate-income housing." The head of New York State's Housing Finance Agency, Priscilla Almodovar, said one aspect of the plan will involve using the state's credit to guarantee mortgages fo Read More
Should physicians, who are licensed by the state of New York, be required to take a civil service exam in order to work for the state of New York? A state judge thinks so, but that's unlikely to be the last word on the controversy. Read More
In a , the Washington Post reports that "the biggest" of the nation's too-big-to-fail "banks are even bigger" today, with three big banks alone owning more than 30 percent of the nation's deposits, and four big banks issuing "one of every t Read More
Oneida County employees participating in a proposed cash buyout program would have a strong incentive to get their co-workers to join them: their payments will increase if more employees participate. Read More
The chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority (similar to our SEC), Lord Turner, yesterday floated the idea of a global tax on financial transactions to shrink "a swollen financial sector," the FT . Turner admits that "the probl Read More
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has notified board members that the state-run authority has decided to petition a state judge to vacate state arbitrators' recent to the Transport Workers Union, which called for 11.3 percent raises Read More
Today's WSJ that "a stream of hedge-fund managers ... are quitting the U.K." as the nation levies a new tax rate of 51 percent on people earning more than $250,000 annually, starting next April. "We have reached a tipping point, in term Read More
Between the second quarter of last year and the same period this year, the ranks of New York City's unemployed nearly doubled, from 192,987 jobseekers to 361,390 jobseekers, the city comptroller . But unemployment among people who have a bachelor' Read More
The Post that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants to spend $20 million giving developers of unsold condos up to $50,000 a unit if they'll turn "market rate" homes in Harlem and Brooklyn into "affordable housing" homes. In one examp Read More