JOHN “BOY WONDER” ISAACS

New York Renaissance, Washington Bears

New York City, NY

On the WHCR radio show “What’s Going On” the hostess Stephanie Stepp received a a call from the Daughter of Mr Isaacs and she informed the listeners that Mr John Isaacs  had suffered a massive stroke a few weeks ago and that he is resting comfortably and is well as to be expected. Mr Isaacs is also a co-host of What’s Going On and always gave excellent views of Basketball and had the inside track to the Pro  Teams.
Let’s all send our Prayers to Mr. Isaacs for a speedy recovery.

Still lots of parking spots for big shots, despite Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts

BY ERIN EINHORN
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

Monday, January 26th 2009, 4:00 AM

Adams for News

Mayor Bloomberg said last year he’d crack down on elected officials who have designated parking spaces for themselves or their staffs outside their offices, but some pols still have the perk.

Mayor Bloomberg yanked free parking spots from a handful of elected officials last year – but borough presidents, the city controller and other pols still enjoy the perk, the Daily News found.

Bloomberg ordered the crackdown after the Daily News reported exclusively last summer that four City Council members had signs outside their district offices reserving spaces for “Council Vehicles.”

But city officials decided to leave in place nearly 200 spaces near City Hall and borough offices for borough presidents, the city controller and state officials like the governor and attorney general.

“We eliminated unnecessary parking privileges for elected officials’ offices, retaining spaces only at municipal hubs that have a high number of employees conducting official business,” Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement.

The explanation didn’t sit right with advocates who rail against the impact of cars on city streets.

“Frequently, the major government hubs are also major transit hubs,” said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group that’s done studies showing city employees are more likely to drive to work than private employees.

“It’s an indefensible perk for a preferred few.”

Some pols lost the parking perk, including Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens) and Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan); Councilwoman Helen Foster (D-Bronx), and Councilmen Al Vann and David Yassky, both Brooklyn Democrats.

Most of the spaces were installed before the current officeholders were elected.

“It’s not something she lobbied for,” said spokesman Dan Andrews of the 31 spots reserved for Queens Borough President Helen Marshall near her Kew Gardens office. “If you get elected and the spot is here, you may as well use it.”

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, whose office has 12 spaces in downtown Brooklyn, said his staff needs the spaces to access the sprawling borough.

Other pols disputed the city’s count of parking spaces.

A spokesman for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his office gets only seven spaces for hundreds of investigators (the city puts the number of spaces at 13).

A spokeswoman for state Controller Thomas DiNapoli said the controller didn’t even know about the four spots in lower Manhattan that are a relic from before the controller’s office moved to midtown.

City Controller William Thompson, a mayoral hopeful, says he has far fewer than the 26spots the city claims are setaside for his staff and suggested that politics are behind the discrepancy.

“The material you received from Mayor Bloomberg’s administration is clearly wrong and one could easily question the motive,” Thompson spokesman Jeff Simmons said.

Thompson himself parks off the street in a spot reserved for him at the Municipal Building.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer also have off-street spaces adjacent to that building.

eeinhorn@nydailynews.com

With Rachel Monahan

F. Y. I.

F. Y. I. – Do Pigeons Migrate? – Question – NYTimes.com

Criminally Ugly

Q. I’ve been told that it used to be a crime in New York to be ugly in public. Sometimes it feels that way, but was it literally true?

A. Practically. In many cities in the 1880s and 1890s, groups dedicated to separating the “worthy” from the “unworthy” poor tried to suppress begging by passing “ugly laws.” Their special targets were disabled mendicants who attracted public sympathy.

About 1895, one Charles Kellogg drafted an extreme version of the law for New York, working with the Charity Organization Society in New York.

The draft read: “It shall be unlawful for any person, whose body is deformed, mutilated, imperfect or has been reduced by amputations, or who is idiotic or imbecile, to exhibit him or herself” in a public place for money, or to seek charity door to door.

Susan Schweik, professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, describes the state of affairs in “The Ugly Laws,” to be published this spring by New York University Press. “The disability movement is really the sole place where it’s been remembered in American culture,” Professor Schweik said in an interview.

While New York did not pass the law, the police often acted as if it had, with some people being arrested or run out of town as late as the 1920s, she said.

In truth, she noted, there were Bowery bars with names like “the Cripple’s Home” that catered to disabled people and fakers, some of whom rented crutches. But she added, “In the culture of ugly law, there was absolutely no distinction, because everyone was a faker.”

Before social welfare laws, some disabled people had no choice but to beg, Professor Schweik said. “It was a status system,” she said of the law’s enforcement. “Unsightliness was illegal for people without means.”[NYT]

Columbia Expansion Holdout Sues To Block Eminent Domain

Columbia Expansion Holdout Sues To Block Eminent Domain – Topix

Columbia Expansion Holdout Sues To Block Eminent Domain

Nick Sprayregen in the summer of 2008. The owner of a set of storage buildings in West Harlem, Nick Sprayregen, has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s use of eminent domain, he said this afternoon.

Read full story from The Media Mob

HARLEM TALE SHINES AT SUNDANCE

HARLEM TALE SHINES AT SUNDANCE

By LOU LUMENICK

January 25, 2009 –

PARK CITY, Utah – A gritty drama about a pregnant Harlem teenager who turns her life around captured both the top prizes last night at the Sundance Film Festival.

In a rare coup, “Push,” which moved audiences to standing ovations, won both the grand jury prize in the US dramatic competition as well as the audience award.

Comedian Mo’Nique, who plays the teen’s abusive mother in “Push,” received the special jury prize for acting at North America’s premier independent film festival.

The directing award in the US dramatic competition went to first-timer Cary Joji Fukanaga of Brooklyn Heights for “Sin Nombre,” an epic dramatic thriller about Mexican immigrants trying to illegally cross the border atop freight trains. NYPOST

Black History at City Opera

Black History at City Opera

A co-presentation with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black
Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard

Three Special Events for $10
each

Wednesday, January 28 at 7pm

I’m on My Way: Black History at City Opera

Partnering with Harlem’s Opera Noire, the evening includes live performances
of selections from X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Margaret Garner, and
other works of special relevance.

Wednesday, February 11 at 7pm

One Fine Day: A Tribute to Camilla Williams

A conversation with the living legend Camilla Williams, City Opera’s original
Madama Butterfly and favorite of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., chosen by him to
sing at both his March on Washington and his Nobel Prize ceremony. Includes
historical clips, spoken and sung tributes, and film.

Tuesday, March 31
at 7pm

Troubled Island: 60th Anniversary Celebration

Harlem’s Opera Noire will offer a concert performance of Troubled Island,
based on the fascinating history of the Hatian slave rebellion of 1791. Its
world premiere at City Opera was the first for an African American composer at a
major American opera company.

Tickets: On Sale Now or call
212.491.2206

More Info

COURTESY OF NEW
YORK CITY OPERA

In book, former Yankee manager Joe Torre takes aim at A-Rod, George Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman

In book, former Yankee manager Joe Torre takes aim at A-Rod, George Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman

By BILL MADDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Sunday, January 25th 2009, 2:23 AM

Gutierrez/AP/AP

Joe Torre’s place in the Baseball Hall of Fame is secure, but his place in Monument Park at the new Yankee Stadium may not be.

According to a new book by Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci, Torre was a bitter man by the time he left the Yankees in October of 2007, and he takes a few rips at the team that he led for 12 seasons.

In “The Yankee Years,” due to be released on Feb. 3, Torre describes general manager Brian Cashman as a less than supportive ally who betrayed him on several fronts, and says that his star player, Alex Rodriguez, was often referred to by his teammates as “A-Fraud” and was obsessed with his perceived rival, shortstop Derek Jeter.READ MORE HERE …[NYDN]

Technorati Tags: BASEBALL, YANKEES, BRONX

Immigrant Teens Struggle With Formal Schooling

Immigrant Teens Struggle With Formal Schooling

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Fanta Konneh is the first girl in her family to go to school. Not the first to go to college, or to graduate from high school. Fanta, 18, who grew up in Guinea after her family fled Liberia, became the first to walk into a classroom of any kind last year.

“Just the boys go to school, so I always knew I was left out,” said Fanta, a student at Ellis Preparatory Academy in the South Bronx. “But here, I am trying. I can say many things I did not know before. I can learn things more.” READ MORE…[NYT]

CUNY Plans New Approach to Community College

CUNY Plans New Approach to Community College

By MARC SANTORA

Students would be required to enroll full time, taking at least 12 credits a semester. Majors would be limited to about a dozen fields with robust job opportunities, including health care and environmental technology. Admission would still be open to anyone with a high school diploma or G.E.D., but face-to-face interviews would be required.

READ MORE…[NYT]

Chinese Lunar New Year Parade

Date: Sunday, February 1st
Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Mott Street from Hester to Chrystie
Cost: Free

“The spectacle features elaborate floats, marching bands, lion and dragon dances galore, Asian musicians, magicians, acrobats and procession by local organizations. Over 5,000 people are expected to march in the parade, which will start at Mott Street and promenade through practically every street in of Chinatown, finally dispersing at Worth Street. The parade is expected to conclude at 3:00 pm, at which time an outdoor cultural festival will take place on Bayard Street featuring more performances by musicians, dancers and martial artists.”