capitalnewyork/nov 12... By Azi Paybarah in Manhattan, Jimmy Vielkind in Albany and Mike Allen in D.C., with Daniel Lippman BREAKING - “Banks to Pay $3.3 Billion in FX-Manipulation Probe,” by Bloomberg’s Suzi Ring and Liam Vaughan: “Switzerland’s UBS was ordered to pay the most at $800 million … Citigroup Inc. will pay $668 million, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. at $662 million. Royal Bank of Scotland Group was fined about $634 million and HSBC $618 million. … Banks and individuals could still face further penalties and litigation following the 13-month probe into allegations dealers at the biggest banks colluded with counterparts at other firms to rig benchmarks used by fund managers to determine what they pay for foreign currency. The U.S. Justice Department and Britain’s Serious Fraud Office are also leading criminal probes into the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market.” bloom.bg/1u18TIr EBOLA-FREE -- Capital’s Sally Goldenberg: Mayor de Blasio celebrated the release of Dr. Craig Spencer, hailing him a “hero” during a press conference at Bellevue Hospital after the Harlem physician was successfully treated for the Ebola virus. Enjoying his localized version of the Oval Office hug, de Blasio, his wife, Chirlane McCray, and other top officials embraced Spencer, showing the rest of New Yorkers he is no longer contagious. … Spencer: While my case has garnered international attention, it is important to remember that my infection represents a fraction of the more than 13,000 reported cases to date.” bit.ly/1xfXurN -- “Charter groups prepare to fight state limits, de Blasio,” by Goldenberg and Shapiro: capi.tl/11fIOf2 PLAYBOOK CONTEST WINNERS: The two winners of our midterm pick ’em contest are Kelsey Griswold, 25, a D.C. legislative assistant for Rep. Tom Reed of NY-23, and Larry Levy, 64, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University and former chief political columnist and senior editorial writer at Newsday, now living in Rockville Center. Larry got every multiple-choice question right bar one, and had the most accurate guesses for election-night percentages for Cuomo, Astorino and Hawkins. Kelsey got every multiple-choice question right and was super-close on percentages as well. Congrats to the winners. We’ll report back on the dinner with our winners soon. Thank you all your entries! QUOTE OF DAY: “Good news, New Yorkers: soup’s back on.” — Jon Stewart, in homage to NY1’s Errol Louis goo.gl/uqBuxs TABS -- Post: “SUPER BOY: Kid doges snipers’ bullets and plays dead to save girl” -- News: “CLUELESS JOE!” with a photo of Yankee manager Joe Giraradi --amNY: “EBOLA DOC GOES HOME” -- Metro: “Ebola doc gets clean bill from Bellevue” -- El Diario [translated]: Fares are going up FRONT PAGES: Times, 2-col above the fold: “U.S. and China Reach Agreement on Climate After Months of Talks” -- WSNY, 2-col above the fold: “Lawmakers Urged to Pass Higher Wage” ** A message from the American Petroleum Institute (API): Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been used in the oil and natural gas industry since the 1940s, producing more than 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 7 billion barrels of oil. Learn more facts by visiting: energyfromshale.org. Follow @API_News ** VIDEO -- Public Advocate Letitia James and Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, dancing for charity. First prize went to Cumbo: bit.ly/1v0zw3a -- FLASHBACK, 2012: State Senator Kevin Parker, at the same event, dressed like an old-school breakdancer: goo.gl/b5Lg1W ALBANY SOUTH—Jimmy’s visit to Culebra: Stray chickens roam the streets of this tiny island, which has 1,800 year-round residents, world-class beaches, no stoplights and two former New York State senators. Located about 20 miles east of Puerto Ricos mainland and just north of the better-known Vieques, Culebras biggest attraction is its rustic, quiet character. Guidebooks ascribe a classic Caribbean feel to its 12 square miles of cliffs, hills, valleys and beaches. Many members of the states political class maintain second properties, mostly in various parts of Florida, but also elsewhere. Former assemblyman Richard Brodsky has a home in Montana. Rep. Charlie Rangel, infamously, has a villa in the Dominican Republic. And Culebra has Dennis Rivera, the longtime leader of SEIU 1199, the health care workers union, Joe Bruno, the former State Senate majority leader, and his former colleague, Tom Duane. bit.ly/1xrq2fx EAT BEAT -- “Learn to Make Gourmet Chocolates from Professional Chefs in DUMBO,” by DNAinfo’s Janet Upadhye: “Chocolate lovers and baking enthusiasts can learn to create their own treats from some of Brooklyns most renowned pastry chefs at a new DUMBO school dedicated to the art of pastry making. French chocolate company Valrhona Chocolate recently opened L’École du Grand Chocolat at an old shoe factory dating from 1905 at 222 Water St., where students can learn to make éclairs, chocolate soufflés and petits fours. … Classes include ‘French Classics,’ which teaches students to make éclairs au chocolat, warm chocolate soufflés and macaroons. There is also ‘Chocolate for the Holidays,’ which teaches the art of making Yule logs, petits fours and meringues; ‘American Classics,’ where students learn to construct tarts, pastries and cookies; and ‘Chocolate Celebration,’ which instructs participants on how to make Valrhonas signature confections and chocolate pieces.” dnain.fo/1xgAadz SPEED READ -- “Armed robber storms NYC jewelry store by posing as delivery guy,” by Post’s Kirstan Conley, Daniel Prendergast, Shawn Cohen and Larry Celona: “A gunman stormed into a jewelry shop in the heart of the Diamond District on Tuesday and pistol-whipped the owner’s dad before making off with $2 million in gems and watches, police and witnesses said.The thug and his accomplice — who acted as a lookout outside the wholesale Watch Standard Jeweler at 23 West 47th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues — fed into the busy streets amid the nearby Veterans Day Parade, sparking a blocks-wide manhunt.‘It was $2 million in jewelry, mostly watches,’ said store owner Danny Mikhaylov. “They came in and said, ‘Give me all your stuff!’ ” bit.ly/1xL0TvH STILL ILLEGAL TO GET HIGH IN PUBLIC -- Capital’s Azi Paybarah: New York City’s new policy of ticketing rather than arresting people for possessing up to 25 grams of marijuana in public view has resulted in lots of funny headlines, stories showing people smoking marijuana and suggestions it’s now basically legal to smoke pot in public. Its not. In fact, according to the five-page “Operations Order” given to police officers, a person can be arrested simply for being in possession of an extinguished joint. bit.ly/1xKbh6I --Read the order: bit.ly/1zinssx --Cornel West, the academic and activist, joined the call for Bill Bratton to be fired as police commissioner. Until that happens, West and other activists are urging a boycott of businesses below 99th Street in Manhattan. WSJ’s Thomas MacMillan: goo.gl/t9PCdB --‘Still flawed’ -- Times editorial page: “The [new] policy, however, does not reach the fundamental problem of discriminatory policing that disproportionately affects minorities, even though whites use marijuana at similar levels. Moreover, by shifting marijuana cases from the regular courts into the summons system, which does not identify the accused by race, the city loses the ability to track the disparate impact that petty marijuana prosecutions are having on minority communities. The city has to make the summons system more transparent. … On the face of it, the new marijuana enforcement system should be more rational than the old. But it is still flawed. The only way to judge its success or failure is to find out what happens to the people who are exposed to it. And that requires making the summons court system much more transparent.” goo.gl/yQki3F --Consent to search bill coming Thursday -- Post’s Yoav Gonen and Michael Gartland: “Under legislation being introduced Thursday, police officers would have to get consent for searches when they don’t have a warrant, aren’t making an arrest or don’t have probable cause. … Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s spokesman said she’s reviewing the proposal. The mayor is also planning to review the legislation, according to a spokesman.” goo.gl/v4eJXQ --Flashback, October: “Councilman Ritchie Torres introduced the police identification bill back in March. It received virtually no attention because it was introduced on the same day of the fatal East Harlem explosion. The City Council had a stated meeting scheduled on that day which was delayed due to the emergency. Initially, the ‘proof of consent’ bill was introduced in 2012 by Jumaane Williams, of Brooklyn, and had 29 additional sponsors, including Melissa Mark-Viverito…” goo.gl/zE9Qjk HOUSEKEEPING: Bill Mahoney, the longtime research coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, has joined Capital New Yorks Albany bureau. Mahoney, who is also earning a PhD in history at the University at Albany, will focus on analysis of campaign finance and lobbying filings, legislation and other public data sources. He starts Monday. NO MORE CEREMONIES AT LIBERTY RIDGE FARM—AP: “A Schaghticoke wedding venue has stopped booking ceremonies after state authorities fined the owners $13,000 for refusing to host a lesbian wedding. Liberty Ridge Farms owners, citing constitutional rights to free speech and religious freedom, have appealed the August ruling by the Division of Human Rights that they violated state anti-discrimination law. Their attorney says Robert and Cynthia Gifford paid the $10,000 state civil penalty and $1,500 each to Melisa and Jennie McCarthy, whose 2013 wedding they declined to host. The Giffords testified last year that in their Christian beliefs, marriage is between a man and a woman, and ceremonies are held at their home, a private space. They still book receptions.” bit.ly/10WyLuI REAL ESTATE -- Astoria Cove developer increases affordable units, by Capitals Gloria Pazmino: “The developer behind the Astoria Cove redevelopment project agreed in private negotiations with council members on Tuesday night to increase the number of affordable housing units in the project to 25 percent, according to Council sources with knowledge of the discussions. The Council is due to vote on the project [today]. Councilman Costa Constantinides of Queens had pressed the [lead] developer, Alma Realty, to increase the affordable component of the planned 1,700-unit residential and retail complex to reach 30 percent of the total units.” For Capital Pro subscribers: bit.ly/1u9BLj2 -- Advocates for more affordable housing canceled a press conference late Tuesday night, signaling that a deal appeared to be done. The developer also reached a deal with unions ahead of the Council vote. capi.tl/1v1X204 --Con Ed lobbyist eyed for top spot at REBNY, by Crains Daniel Geiger: “The lead lobbyist for the states largest utility is in the running to lead the citys most powerful real estate industry group. John Banks, the vice president of government relations for Con Edison, is a leading contender to take over as president of the Real Estate Board of New York, a post held by Steve Spinola, who announced in the summer that he would retire next year after nearly three decades at the helm of one of the citys most powerful industry groups. At Con Ed, Mr. Banks has been one of the top executives involved in the utilitys government affairs since 2002, when he signed on at the company after serving as chief of staff for the City Council.” bit.ly/1tYTQyW --Union funds sue over alleged alter ego companies, by Capital’s Ryan Hutchins: “Several funds operated by concrete labor unions allege in two new lawsuits that constructions companies have been creating ‘alter egos’ to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in union benefits. In one suit, several funds claim that Navillus Tile and sibling owners Donald, Kevin and Helen O’Sullivan hid their interest in two other companies in an effort to get out of labor agreements the firm had previously signed. The O’Sullivans, the suit alleges, ‘fraudulently schemed’ to use Times Square Construction and Advanced Construction Solutions to avoid paying more than $35 million that would have gone to pay for workers pensions, training, education and vacations.” bit.ly/10XJ9Cu --Facebook Sees Midtown South Office as Recruitment Tool, by WSJs Keiko Morris: “As Facebook Inc. moves this week to show off its Frank Gehry-designed offices in Midtown South, it is intent on becoming a force in the city’s tech scene. At 770 Broadway, the social-media giant has planted its flag in a building that overlooks the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. It also houses other technology and advertising firms such as AOL Inc. and sits across the street from the new offices of IBM Watson Group at 51 Astor Place… Facebook, which has its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., is planning an evening ceremony Wednesday to unveil the office, which eventually will spread across 185,000 square feet. The space is considerably smaller than the 900,000 square feet now leased or occupied in the city by Google Inc.” on.wsj/14bJqni --NBA scores grand new digs at corner of 45th Street, by Post’s Lois Weiss: “The National Basketball Association has just scored a grand space at Joseph Moinian’s 545 Fifth Ave. on the southeast corner of East 45th Street. Sources in the NBA confirmed that the organization that represents the teams has finally settled on a dramatic new space for its fans to stock up on gear and mingle with players. According to a description on 42stories, the first floor of retail has 76 feet of frontage along Fifth and another 80 feet on East 45th.” bit.ly/1GNK0Xc COFFEE BREAK -- “John Oliver Is Outdoing The Daily Show and Colbert,” by Vulture’s Matt Zoller Seitz: “Last Week is doing what media watchdogs (including the Peabody Awards) keep saying that The Daily Show does — practicing real journalism in comedy form — but its doing it better, and in a simpler, yet more ambitious, ultimately more useful way. If Stewarts show is doing what might be called a reported feature, augmenting opinions with facts, Olivers show is doing something closer to pure reporting, or what the era of web journalism calls an ‘explainer,’ often without a hook, or the barest wisp of a hook. … Ive watched every installment of Last Week since its debut. Every time, Ive come away feeling that Ive truly learned something. In an increasingly degraded journalistic landscape, thats an astonishing achievement.” vult.re/1EzUesb
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 16:40:29 +0000
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