February 2, 2010 - There is a subject which we have wanted to write about for over a year, but put off to see whether the passage of time would bring fresh insights or a new point of view on the question.  That has not happened, and in fact our point of view has jelled.  When speaking to New Yorkers about the issue, we find that a large majority, irrespective of ideology, share this opinion. It should not be a matter of politics.

The renaming of the Triborough Bridge for Robert F. Kennedy is an affront to both history and geography.  Triborough is a seventy-five year old name which accurately describes the bridge's function: uniting three boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.  It is one of New York City's landmarks, built by Robert Moses, who formed the Triborough Bridge Authority (later TBTA, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority) to accomplish that purpose. The bridge has its own proud history and significance as a model of public works, built during the Great Depression and providing employment for thousands.  The great bridge opened up Randall's Island and Ward's Island for recreational use, limited by other agencies which were given sections of Ward's for a mental hospital, now largely abandoned, and a wastewater treatment plant.

January 29, 2010 - Having observed the municipal budget process for more years than the Jews spent in the wilderness, I offer a few comments on the kickoff of the annual ritual, the mayor's publication and presentation of a preliminary budget.

First, it is not possible to propose a definitive city budget without knowing what the state budget will be, since the city receives billions of dollars each year in state aid or matching funds (a sum which varies from year to year).  This funding, which all muncipalities receive, is not an act of generosity by the state, because the money comes from state taxes paid by city residents and businesses.  The issue each year is how much the state will divert for other purposes before returning our remittances.

This year, like last year and the year before that, the state is facing a worse financial crisis than the city.  One reason for this is the fact that the city has a strong mayor, who is able to hold the line on expenditures, and a relatively pliant city council.  Both in the Bloomberg and Giuliani years (the last twenty), the mayor and council resolved their differences in June and adopted a budget on time and without rancor.  The city's fiscal year starts July 1; the budget just offered is for FY 2011, even though calendar year 2010 has just begun.

January 27, 2010 - NOTE: While waiting for Mayor Bloomberg's budget proposals, due tomorrow, we thought we might delve into some of the city's political history, considering that many of you were not yet in existence when these events occurred.  We are prepared to answer your questions on any matters we discuss, realizing that some of them raise issues more complex than those we relatively briefly enumerate here.

The most important year in New York City politics in the postwar era was 1961.  It was on September 7th of that year that Mayor Robert F. Wagner, seeking a third term, defeated State Comptroller Arthur Levitt, who was the candidate of Carmine DeSapio (the Tammany leader) and the Democratic Party leaders in the other four boroughs.

Along with Wagner, Comptroller Abraham D. Beame and Council President Paul Screvane were elected, having defeated the Democratic party leaders' choices in the September primary.  Beame at the time was the city's Budget Director, and Screvane was Sanitation Commissioner, having risen through the ranks of that department.  They campaigned as career civil servants, not clubhouse politicians.  Certain political rules pertaining to ethnicity and geography were nonetheless observed: Wagner, of Irish and German ancestry, was from the Yorkville section of Manhattan, Beame, who was Jewish, came from Brooklyn (at least politically; he was born in London), and Screvane, an Italian-American, lived in Queens.

January 20, 2010 - By now, many people have commented on the election of Scott Brown to the United States Senate seat that was held for 47 years by Teddy Kennedy.  It has been stressed that Massachusetts is one of the bluest of states, and a Republican victory there is extraordinary.

That is not precisely the case.  When I lived (but did not vote) in Massachusetts years ago, Republican Christian Herter was governor.  He was later appointed Secretary of State by President Eisenhower when John Foster Dulles resigned because he had cancer.  Republican John A. Volpe was elected governor in 1960 and subsequently became Secretary of Transportation in the Nixon administration.  Francis Sargent finished Volpe's term, and then was elected on his own.  William Weld won the governorship twice on the Republican line.  He resigned to seek the ambassadorship to Mexico (his nomination by President Clinton was derailed by Senator Jesse Helms).  His lieutenant governor, a Republican named A. Paul Cellucci, finished Weld's term and was elected on his own in 1998.  He resigned in April 2001 to become ambassador to Canada. Jane Swift completed Cellucci's term, and was the first governor to give birth while in office.  Another Republican, Mitt Romney, was elected in 2002 and served four years.