The infamous gun show loophole has been part of the nation’s conversation about gun control since the appalling massacre in Newtown, Conn., late last year.
Advocates for tighter regulation, especially Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have been pointing out that in most states, those who purchase weapons at a gun show are not required to submit to Read More
It was a different city then, and not a better one. When The New York Observer first appeared in lobbies on the Upper East Side and at a scattering of newsstands in Manhattan, the fat years of the 1980s were over, the ebullient mayoralty of Ed Koch was ensnared in scandal, the AIDS epidemic was Read More
Venezuela is a spectacularly beautiful country, with spectacularly awful leadership. I saw this firsthand last summer when I spent two weeks traveling from Caracas to Canaima National Park. Caracas remains a mystery, as I was warned not to leave the hotel — a warning I heeded because the city is one of the most violent Read More
Some time ago, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott formed an organization called the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council, a group designed to provide Mr. Walcott with important input from the front lines of the public school system.
Nobody would ever say that the parents are an objective source of information about local schools—that’s not the Read More
Let’s be clear about this: the Fire Department of New York is the finest force of its kind in the world. The courage of New York’s firefighters is beyond all understanding, something we all witnessed nearly 12 years ago at the World Trade Center.
But the department is not without challenges, chief among them diversity. Read More
Should flood-prone areas along the city’s coastline be turned back to nature? Or should some of the properties be redeveloped creatively, using modern construction methods that take into account the inevitability of extreme weather?
That’s what city officials are pondering as federal money begins to flow into New York for post-Sandy reconstruction. It would seem Read More
Governor Andrew Cuomo is a car guy. You get the feeling that when he’s not taking charge of a weather emergency or hectoring recalcitrant legislators, he’s probably under the hood of some vintage sports car. Or at least thinking about it. And that’s swell.
The problem is that car guys can sometimes forget that millions Read More
If you didn’t know better, you would probably assume that Israel’s gay-friendly culture and policies would be the toast of open-minded, tolerant college professors and scholars throughout the United States and the Western world. The academy, after all, has been at the forefront of gay rights issues, as a glance at the topics of any Read More
It would be very easy for Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a candidate for the Democratic mayoral nomination this year, to support a bill that would impose onerous mandates on employers to allow paid sick leave for employees. Her Democratic rivals support the bill, and now Ms. Quinn is being pressured by some of her prominent Read More
The most remarkable aspect of Mayor Bloomberg’s 12th and final State of the City address was not any one phrase or proposal.
What was remarkable was that people were paying attention.
Third terms have not been friendly territory for New York politicians. The late, great Ed Koch found his administration tainted by scandal in his Read More
