"This is the fairest budget I've ever seen," Council Member Jumaane Williams shouted as he brandished a copy of the budget proposal, compiled by the progressive umbrella May 12 Coalition.  "If anybody, including the mayor or the governor, is not talking about this you are lying by omission."

The report's proposals include eliminating a provision exempting hedge fund profits from the unincorporated business tax, demanding that banks repay subsidies and tax credits intended to create jobs, and preserving the so-called millionaire's tax, which sunsets at the end of the year. The report's authors estimated that "subsidies, sweetheart deals and tax loopholes" for banks amount to about $1.5 billion.

Speakers warned of the implications of a proposed city budget that would cut nearly half a billion dollars from social services, from childcare centers to AIDS treatment programs. Many cast Mayor Michael Bloomberg as more sympathetic to business interests than to preserving services, referring repeatedly to the mayor's desire to protect his "rich friends."

"This budget is a budget that the city cannot afford," Council Member Daniel Dromm said. "The toll that is going to take on human services, on educational services, on daycare services, is too much for the city of New York to bear."

Council Member Brad Lander, standing next to Progressive Caucus co-chair Melissa Mark-Viverito, sounded a familiar theme of holding the financial industry responsible for the economic collapse. He has previously introduced legislation to hold banks responsible for foreclosures.

"There is something wrong when the institutions that caused the financial crisis, with credit default swaps and CDOs and toxic assets, who have refused to address the crisis and modify mortgages and put communities back together are doing better, are making more than they have ever made," Lander said.

The rally also served as a preview of a planned march from City Hall to Wall Street on May 12. Williams said that he planned to call for the city to "cease to run" at that rally if the mayor's cuts are not restored.

"I'm advocating for anything that will allow people to express how dissatisfied they are," Williams said when asked to clarify. "If that's a strike, I'm all for it."

"New York will now no longer have taxis that were simply bought off the rack," Bloomberg said. "We worked with Nissan to come up with a taxi that meets our city's very peculiar needs, with a purchase price that we think is great for taxi owners and incidentally for fuel efficiency and operating costs that are great for drivers."

Nissan beat out Ford and the Turkish company Karsan in the Taxi of Tomorrow competition, which was launched in 2007 and solicited online comments from about 26,000 New Yorkers. Nissan's winning model, the NV 200, will be roomier than the Crown Victorias currently comprising the majority of the city's taxi fleet and boasts features like passenger side airbags, a retractable sun roof and stations for charging cellphones.

It will also get an estimated 25 miles to the gallon compared to the 12-13 the Crown Victorias get, leading Bloomberg to lauded Nissan's "significant commitment to testing and adopting alternative fuel technology." Bloomberg added that Nissan will be able to mass produce electrically powered models by 2017.

The contract represents a significant windfall for Nissan. There are currently 13,237 taxis in New York City, and Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky estimated that replacing them with Nissans will cost about $1 billion over the length of the contract.

"It's a win win opportunity to aggregate the city market power and give automakers the opportunity to link its brand to the powerful New York taxi brand," Yasskey said.

Prior to the announcement this morning, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Assemblyman Michah Kellner sent a letter to Comptroller John Liu charging that the competition was tainted by a conflict of interest. The letter suggested that a leaked report by the firm Ricardo, Inc. -- a former client of both Ford and Nissan -- was critical of Karsan and thus preemptively compromised the firm's chances.

"Recent events have led us to believe that the Taxi and Limousine Comission and a consultant involved in the project, Ricardo, Inc. may have been in violation of conflict of interest provisions in the 'Taxi of Tomorrow' Request For Proposals," the letter said. "The purpose of this letter is share with you the facts and circumstances that have led us to this conclusion, and thereby ask that you investigate whether major violations of the RFP have occurred when reviewing the final bidder determinations for awarding the 'Taxi of Tomorrow' contract."

Bloomberg dismissed the allegation, saying Karsan was in denial over losing the contest.

"This is ridiculous that companies, when they lose, they want to rush to some elected officials to have them try and stop everything," Bloomberg said in response to a question about the letter. "I don't think I've ever seen a process that's run as well."

Karsan had also altered its earlier plans by proposing a plant in Brooklyn -- the Nissans will be manufactured in Mexico -- but Bloomberg called that plan infeasible.

"Unfortunately, since our time schedule calls for these taxis to be on the road in a couple years, it shows you the difficulty for overseas companies to really understand how New York works and how you do things in New York," Bloomberg said. "I do not think in two years we could site and build a new school, much less an industrial plant."

At one point Yassky reminisced about the iconic checkered taxicabs of his youth and said he hoped that the new cabs could generate the same type of affection. But Bloomberg later acknowledged that the minivan-shaped Nissan model moves more of a suburban sensibility more than its predecessors.

The mayor also confirmed that, between taking official vehicles and his own personal cars, he never hails a cab. That, he noted, will change.

"In 973 days I'll be back to taking taxis," Bloomberg said.

"Our laws are incomplete in that they only target the supply of these items and not the demand," Chin said after introducing a bill that would make buying knock-offs a misdemeanor punishable with a $1,000 fine or a year in jail. "The bottom line is that counterfeiters need to sell to do their job, and we need a law in place to punish buyers for supporting this illegal trade."

Chin ominously noted that the counterfeit trade helps to support terrorism, child labor and international crime in addition to hurting Chinatown's local designers and artists, bemoaning the neighborhood's reputation as the "counterfeit capital of this country." She estimated that fake products cost the city about $1 billion annually in tax revenue.

"It does not support the tourism business in Chinatown, it does not support the tourism business in New York City," she said in response to a question about whether the law might deter visitors. "We have creativity, we have designers here. We want to highlight the positive aspects."

Paul Cantor, a resident and member of Community Board 1, mentioned "turf wars and minor riots" set off by the underground industry, in addition to "having them use buildings as urinals." Wellington Chen, the executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, cast the law as a new beginning for the neighborhood.

"I really want the community to take note that just like postwar Japan where everything was a knock-off, this will be a transitional period for Chinatown and our community," Chen said. "Who said that our proud community needs counterfeits?"

Shaun Donovan joined Canada, Education Chancellor Cathie Black, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and donors from Goldman Sachs this morning to break ground on a new charter school and community center, which they lauded as both an educational boon and a community revitalization effort.

The $100 million, 135,000 square foot development is funded by a $60 million federal Department of Education matching grant, and a combined $26 million from Google and Goldman Sachs.

Bloomberg recounted rejecting a job offer from Goldman Sachs when he was looking for his first employment out of graduate school, joking that "I'm not turning you down this time -- we will take your money." His praise of Goldman as a "model of good corporate citizenship" mirrored the steady stream of plaudits for Canada, whom speaker after speaker hailed as a visionary.

Stanley Druckenmiller, chairman of the Harlem Children Zone's Board, said the corporate largesse that has helped to sustain Harlem Children Zone's continued growth is a function of student success, saying that "these kids will perform -- you level the playing field, they proved it here and the money will roll in."

After the event, reporters surrounded Black near the dirt pile and tried to squeeze in a few questions.

Black reaffirmed her commitment to school choice--"We want to support options and choices for parents and that's what this is all about," she said--before an aide abruptly shut things down. A question about her lackluster approval ratings went unanswered.

Consistent backing for charters by Black, Bloomberg and Black's predecessor Joel Klein -- along with Canada's widely touted program -- has made the city a national model for the charter school movement, a cause the Obama administration has supported through measures such as the $60 million DOE grant.

Like other Harlem Children Zone schools, the development will offer a comprehensive menu of services to students, including free access to healthcare and a social work team. The New York City Housing Authority has partnered with Harlem Children's Zone on the project, hoping that the school and community center will raise the standard of living in the public housing projects where they are located by bolstering public health and safety.

"We can usher in a new era for the families of the St. Nicholas and the Lincoln Houses by reconnecting this community to the larger community around it," Donovan said, adding that "there are too many communities where you can predict the lifespan of a child by the zip code that they grow up in."

"It seems to us incredible that with this rat epidemic reaching epic proportions the City of New York would cut pest control workers by close to 70 percent," Stringer told a group of rain-soaked reporters and Local 768 union members gathered at tiny Mitchell Square Park in Washington Heights. Behind him was the giant inflatable rat, hooked up to a humming generator, that's become something of a mainstay of city labor disputes.

The city recently terminated 63 pest control workers, which Stringer said has led to a sharp rise in complaints about rodents. He said that although the layoffs will purportedly save the city $1.5 million, they sacrifice $6 million in fees the jobs would generate for the city. Flanked by union members, he praised the workers who are "lost in the budget dance."

Stringer also cast the reductions as a public health issue, noting that that almost half of buildings inspected by the Department of Health bear signs of rodent denizens, and that studies have shown links between rodents and high asthma rates. He recounted hearing horror stories of emboldened rats "walking down the street as if they own the neighborhood."

Washington Heights was chosen for the press conference because it has the city's highest rate of rat infestation, according to a 2008 health department survey, and City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez blasted the city's neglect of rodent-infested neighborhoods.

"Living in these types of conditions is unacceptable, it is unfair, we are showing New Yorkers that we are leaving an important part of our city behind," Rodriguez said.

"These people are pretty sophisticated and well-endowed financially but also may not have known of the place called the Studio Museum in Harlem," said Perkins, a Harlem native who attended the event. "It was a twofer from that point of view. It was, 'Thank you,' and also, 'This is a hip place you might want to check out in the future.'"

Attendees dined at Red Rooster before heading to Studio Museum for the speech, both of which are relatively new and popular venues that reflect Harlem's rising trendiness. Perkins said that the majority of them were big-money donors whose loyalty ran to the early days of the Obama campaign.

"Those folks who were his former supporters would have joined him anywhere, so it wasn't about the money," he said. "It was, strategically speaking, how do you get the most out of it? And I think those folks coming up to the Red Rooster and getting some fine dining while being exposed to a new experience in this historic neighborhood, that's all to the good."

Assemblyman Keith Wright characterized the crowd as a mix of "regular community folks as well as some more well-heeled people," although it's not clear which regular community folks have $30,000 to spend on a speech.

“I thought it was very representative of people from the Harlem community, but it wasn’t just for the Harlem community," Wright said. "It was for all of New York.”

Other Harlem heavies in attendance included Congressman Charlie Rangel, Council member Inez Dickens and former Mayor David Dinkins.

"Why not have a hearing on everyone's civil rights?" King said. "Since they told me I should have my hearings on not just Muslim radicalization but radicalization in all communities, I would say why doesn't the Senate have a hearing on everyone's civil rights?"

King noted that the F.B.I.'s numbers show anti-Semitic attacks outnumbered instances of hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S. last year by about nine to one, and that attacks on Christians and Muslims were about equal. (Of course, Christians far outnumber Muslims in the U.S., and there are about three times as many Jews as Muslims.)

"If you are in a fevered time there's always going to be some reaction," King said. "I'm not trying to excuse it, I'm just saying in the overall context it's sometimes more dangerous to be Jewish than Muslim."

A press release from Durbin's office cited "restrictions on mosque construction," as an example of rising anti-Muslim sentiment, but King denied that opposition to new mosques--including his fierce opposition to the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" in downtown Manhattan--should be considered an example of prejudice.

King declined to speculate on whether Durbin's hearing was in response to his Muslim radicalization hearings.

"I would hate to try to read the mind of a senator," King said.

"Our Constitution protects the free exercise of religion for all Americans,” Durbin said in a press release. “During the course of our history, many religions have faced intolerance. It is important for our generation to renew our founding charter’s commitment to religious diversity and to protect the liberties guaranteed by our Bill of Rights.”

Durbin chairs the newly-formed Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.

In the lead-up to King's Homeland Security Committee hearing, and during the hearing itself, it was suggested that Democrats should stage a counter-hearing, though Durbin's staff has discounted any connection.

Critics of King denounced the hearing for singling out American Muslims, rather than examining all domestic extremists. During the hearings, King had strong words for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, saying the leading Muslim civil rights organization was "discredited."

Witnesses scheduled to testify include Muslim civil rights leader Farhana Khera; Cardinal Theodore McCarrick; Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, the Obama Administration’s top civil rights official; and former Assistant Attorney General Alex Acosta, the Bush Administration’s top civil rights official.

The luncheon was a benefit for Public Prep Network, a charter school organization comprising two all-girl schools in the Lower East Side and a third in the Bronx. 

A well-heeled crowd of socialites, financiers and donors who, in the words of a Public Prep Network representative, "would put their kids in private schools but understand the importance of having an alternative," enjoyed a lunch of lobster salad, followed by a choice of salmon or risotto at table that bore thank you cards written in the unmistableable scrawl of school children.

"We sit here at the Monkey Bar, and we are really some of the most fortunate and privileged people in this country," said Klein, formerly the chancellor of New York City schools. "But think about what it would be like if your life was a dead end life and your kid was in a dead end school."

Public Prep Network CEO Ian Rowe in an introduction to Klein, said that he hoped to find some more "lifelong supporters" in the audience, then called out current corporate sponsors Barclay's Capital, Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Brown Brothers Harriman and Carter Ledyard & Milburn.

Klein noted that the last eight years had seen an outpouring of nearly $500 million in philanthropic support for charters, praising Caroline Kennedy for "helping to fashion the public-private partnerships that I think are essential to transforming education."

He had little tolerance for what he dubbed the "political and union circumstance" that conspired to block the expansion of places like Public Prep Network at expense of parents and students. During his time as chancellor, Klein was criticized for his aggressive support of charter expansion, which some parents and educators said came at the expense of public schools.

Kennedy credited Klein in her keynote address with recruiting her as a proponent for charters, and for once calling a snow day when her son hadn't finished his homework. She invoked her father's nearly half-century old call to service in calling on the audience to lend a hand.

"It's becoming clear to everyone that cities and countries with educated and empowered women are healthier, smarter and more prosperous," Kennedy said. "That's the change that your students are going to bring into the wider world, and in this economy we need each other. Schools are no different. They need outside energy to break through the isolation of poverty."

But, make no mistake, she's still Senator Working Mom.

In the early days of her appointment, as the upstate congresswoman was still acclimating to her new statewide office, Gillibrand set out a "kids-first agenda" that looked at legislation through the lens of her role as a mother of two young boys.

That profile couldn't help but expand during two years in the Senate, and as she embarked on her first statewide campaign ("jobs" was a common refrain), but she got back to her Working Mom roots today, introducing a bill with Long Island Congressman Tim Bishop called the Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act that would introduce uniform standards for state driving tests.

"I have two young boys at home, and like any parent, their safety and well-being means everything to me," Gillibrand said in a press release. "As parents, we know that the day will come when each of our children will get behind the wheel of a car. As a parent and as a lawmaker, I want to make sure we take every reasonable safety precaution to ensure that our teen drivers are safe and well-prepared for the serious responsibility that comes with getting a license."