Morning Headlines | Must-Reads from the WNYC News Hub
TRANSPORTATION
MTA Gets $113 Million Federal Boost for Buses, Command Center (NY Daily News)
Pete Donohue reports: “Slightly more than 31% of buses in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's fleet are at least 12 years old - and mechanical breakdowns are on the rise, authority documents show. The MTA will use a significant portion of the federal grant money to buy 112 new buses and retire some of the older coaches.”
CRIME
Ray Kelly Urged To Appoint Latino as Deputy Commissioner (NY Daily News)
Rocco Parascandola reports: “Two elected officials want Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to tap a Latino police lieutenant for the open job of deputy commissioner of training.Robert Gonzalez is the ideal candidate for the position of head of the Police Academy, say state Sen. Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. The position has been vacant since Deputy Commissioner Wilbur Chapman retired last month.”
OWS
A Movement With Many Views and One Common Thread: Anger (NYT)
Marc Lacey reports: “While the protesters seem united in feeling that the system is stacked against them, with the rules written to benefit the rich and the connected, they are also just as often angry about issues closer to home, like education and the local environment. Each gathering bubbles up from its own particular city’s stew of circumstances and grievances, and the protesters bring along their pantheons of saints and villains.”
TRANSPORTATION
Ridership on East River Ferries Soaring (Brooklyn Paper)
Aaron Short reports: “Ridership on the city’s water taxi has exceeded expectations, as 448,670 people took a trip on a New York Waterway boat on the East River since it set sail 17 weeks ago. That’s already 40,000 trips more than the company estimated for the entire year. Three-quarters of those trips are embarking from Brooklyn piers.
EDUCATION
N.J. School Districts Consider Establishing Facebook Guidelines for Teachers (Star-Ledger)
In the wake of a New Jersey teacher caught making anti-gay comments on her Facebook page, “school districts are taking a closer look at their guidelines — or lack of guidelines — for teachers with Facebook, Twitter and other public social networking pages. Though the state Department of Education does not require school districts to have policies governing social media, several districts have adopted guidelines drafted in 2009 by the New Jersey School Boards Association.”
IMMIGRATION
Belmont Stable Owners Say Foreign Workers Are Needed for Jobs Americans Refuse to Do (NYDN)
Edgar Sandoval and John Marzulli report that Belmont stable owners say the racing season will be damaged if they don’t have access to foreign workers: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials have said nay to the Long Island race track's request for temporary visas to let in nearly 100 grooms, hotwalkers and exercise riders. The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has asked a judge to overturn the agency's ruling, claiming the move threatens to wreak havoc on the racing season. New Yorkers, the association says, have failed to respond to help-wanted ads.”
OWS
Bloomberg Says Tent City Goes Beyond Free Speech (NYT)
Matt Flegenheimer and John Eligon report: “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, speaking Monday as Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrated the passage of a month encamped in Zuccotti Park, said he was trying to strike a balance between protecting protesters’ right to free speech and the needs of Lower Manhattan residents.”
HOUSING
Smaller Shelters and Persuasion Get More Homeless in Bronx Shelters (NYT)
Mosi Secret reports: “Infusions of government money have revitalized many poorer neighborhoods in the Bronx, but the problem of people living on the streets has persisted. Now, though, a new strategy is showing surprising results: the number of single, homeless people in the borough has dropped roughly 80 percent since 2005, according to a recent estimate by the city.”
