Heartsick: Why Valentine's Day Must Die
By Emily Atkin | February 11, 2011 | 5:06 pm
Here it comes: Feb. 14... MORE»
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Assessing Tax Hikes
By The Editors | February 15, 2011 | 8:23 pm
While the city's economy is showing signs of life, the real estate community knows all too well that property values remain far below what they were at the height of the market more than two years ago. It's estimated that on a per-square-foot basis, property values have fallen by 38 percent compared with the pre-crash days of... MORE»
Bonuses to Police Officers and Firefighters: An Unaffordable Perk
By The Editors | February 15, 2011 | 8:21 pm
The unions representing rank-and-file firefighters and police officers are none too pleased with Mayor Bloomberg these days, and perhaps that's to be expected. The mayor wants to eliminate a $12,000 bonus paid out to about 50,000 retirees every year at the end of December. Union leaders Stephen Cassidy of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and Patrick Lynch of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association held a news conference to condemn the plan and Mr. Bloomberg's characterization of the payment as a "Christmas bonus." During the news conference, they called Mr. Bloomberg a liar.... MORE»
Albany's No Shows
By The Editors | February 15, 2011 | 8:21 pm
Readers of this page know that we care passionately about the finances of the State of New York. And we're not alone, of course. Our colleagues in the media have expressed their anxieties and their own formulas for recovery in recent weeks. Governor Andrew Cuomo has been nothing but candid about his own concerns. New York voters are getting the message: The old ways cannot continue, and we need to figure out a new model for delivering... MORE»
It's Not Too Late to Save Spidey—Here's How
By Alexandra Peers | February 11, 2011 | 10:31 am
Dear Julie, So we just saw Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Paid $79 a ticket, mezzanine seats. It was, how to say this? Breathtakingly bad. That said, you didn't force us to see it. You haven't even opened the thing yet. You're in beta still, busily untangling the crossed wires and retooling the show for a new March 15 opening (the "Ides"? really?). Which means it's not too late to turn it around. We're on your side. In fact, we've put together notes to help you along. No... MORE»
Need To Reduce The National Debt? Just Ask Clinton.
By Joe Conason | February 10, 2011 | 11:38 am
As America approaches the deadline for increasing the statutory national debt--or risking a catastrophic default on our obligations to creditors and citizens--there is no shortage of stupid ideas to restore fiscal order.... MORE»
We Owe Anthony Coscia Our Gratitude
By | February 8, 2011 | 8:27 pm
Anthony Coscia took over as chairman of the Port Authority in 2003, when the bistate agency still was recovering from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The wounds from that assault will never truly heal, but Mr. Coscia's calming presence and professionalism helped the Port Authority move from grief and shock to recovery and... MORE»
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Is Proving He Is Up to the Task
By | February 8, 2011 | 8:27 pm
They were murdered more than a generation ago, before a fair portion of the city's adult population was born. But the cases of Cornelia Crilley, murdered in 1971, and Ellen Hover, murdered in 1977, remain unsolved--for now, that... MORE»
Leave the Wilpons Alone
By The Editors | February 8, 2011 | 8:25 pm
The campaign to demonize the Wilpon family continues. To read some press reports, particularly in the New York Post, you'd think that Fred Wilpon, his son, Jeff, and their business partner, Saul Katz, were plotting with Mr. Madoff to steal the retirement savings of working people and the endowments of charitable organizations. This is, of course, absurd. But facts and fairness apparently have nothing to do with the pursuit of a dignified but vulnerable New York family who had the bad luck to befriend a man, Mr. Madoff, who was unworthy of their generosity and... MORE»
I Am Twittering, Egypt, Twittering
By Lee Siegel | February 1, 2011 | 7:59 pm
Reading and listening to the immediate euphoric response to the protests in Egypt, I realized that America's proverbial optimism and its legendary escapism were beginning to look more and more like each... MORE»
Sterling Characters
By | February 1, 2011 | 6:53 pm
Fred Wilpon has been part of the New York sports scene for three decades, ever since he and Nelson Doubleday bought the bedraggled baseball franchise known as the New York Mets. Fans who remember what the Mets were like before Mr. Wilpon's arrival can regale you with tales of games played in front of 45,000 empty seats, and of players who were both unlovable and unwatchable-a terrible... MORE»
Mrs. Clinton's Fine Line
By | February 1, 2011 | 6:51 pm
Morality tales make for decent theater but lousy diplomacy. In the perfect world that some Americans seem to inhabit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should have thrown Hosni Mubarak under the proverbial bus within minutes of the first street protest in Cairo. The protesters in Egypt, after all, looked very much like the brave crowds that gathered in Tiananmen Square more than two decades ago, or the earnest dissidents who so recently demanded liberation from the half-crazed mullahs who rule Iran. It was hard not to sympathize with... MORE»
A Seniority Moment
By | February 1, 2011 | 6:50 pm
As the city prepares to absorb Governor Cuomo's painful but necessary cuts in school spending, it seems clear that layoffs are inevitable. The only real question is how those layoffs will be conducted-wisely, or stupidly. Only Albany can provide the... MORE»
El-Baradei A Bad Guy? Don't Listen To The American Right
By Joe Conason | February 1, 2011 | 3:44 pm
To his fellow Egyptians and to most observers across the world, Mohammed el-Baradei looks like a hero--an international diplomat who might well have lived out his days in the comforts of Geneva and New York, but returned home to provide leadership despite serious personal peril. But to leading figures on the American right, Mr. El-Baradei is a figure to be mocked, scorned and dismissed as a stooge of darker forces in Egyptian politics and the... MORE»
Solid State: Forget the Haters—Obama Delivered
By Joe Conason | January 26, 2011 | 4:41 pm
Complaints about President Obama's State of the Union address on both sides of the political divide (which was obscured but not obliterated by the evening's novel seating arrangements) seemed to miss its point and purpose. Like every successful speech of its kind, Mr. Obama's message resonated on more than one level. So while he conceded little ground to the right, the president nevertheless sought to draw his adversaries--and even more so the independent voters who temporarily sided with them--into the American story he... MORE»
