By Emily Witt and Hunter Walker 11/22/11 12:23pm

Occupy Wall Street

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Knives Out: Politicians Blast Bloomberg’s Zuccotti Eviction; Occupy Enters New Phase

In the aftermath of Mayor Bloomberg’s clearing of Zuccotti Park last week, as helmeted police were still pushing stragglers up Broadway and the first morning commuters appeared, a protester named Jake shouted a warning at the cadre of cops shoving protesters away from their erstwhile home.

“There were people smoking crack, people with puppies begging for money, we looked like shit,” Jake yelled to the police. “Now what do we look like? Peaceful protesters getting our asses kicked. This is the best thing that could have happened. There are thousands of people watching us.” Read More

By Stephen Duffy 11/16/11 6:24pm

Humbugs

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Who Let The Dogs In! Bed Bug Bloodhounds Join HPD Inspection Team

To combat the city’s growing bed bug problem, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has gone to the dogs. Say hello to Nemo and Mickey, the latest members of the department’s Maintenance Code inspection team. And rather than the vet, the two Beagles were fortunate enough to get their tags—we mean badges—from Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Housing Commissioner Mathew Wambua.

“Awww, look at their little jackets,” cooed Ms. Quinn when she first set eyes on the dogs. Read More

By The Editors 10/05/11 9:57am

opinion

City Council Speaker Quinn and Her Leadership Test

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants to be mayor in two years. The man who holds that job now, Michael Bloomberg, has made it clear that he thinks Ms. Quinn would be a suitable successor.

That’s all very nice, but ambition and endorsements alone do not make a credible candidate. Leadership matters, as two successive mayors have demonstrated. Ms. Quinn is about to get a chance to show whether or not she is a leader. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 8/16/11 6:51pm

The Transom

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Clinton Douses “Good-looking Rascal” Rick Perry at Firemen Party, Liu Dresses the Part

Before Bill Clinton walked onto the stage in the Hilton Hotel’s third-floor ballroom, he stood in the wings as the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters praised him for nearly six minutes.

“Simply put,” said  I.A.F.F. general president Harold Schaitberger, Mr. Clinton is “the kind of leader American workers need more of holding office today at every level of government.” Read More

By Elise Knutsen 6/21/11 7:01pm

Shindigger

Watts and Schreiber.

The Bard, the Park and the Public: The Public Theater’s 2011 Gala

On what could only be described as a glorious midsummer night, the Public Theater celebrated its annual summer gala in Central Park. A sit-down dinner preceded a star-infused performance of All’s Well That Ends Well, one of Shakespeare’s lesser known works, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Players from the worlds of Broadway, Hollywood and New York’s Read More

By The Editors 6/08/11 12:30am

Editorial

Speaker Quinn Cuts In On Budget Debate

After Mayor Bloomberg released his bad-news budget several weeks ago, we argued in this space that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—another mayoral aspirant—had to do more than complain about cuts to popular programs. If she wanted to be taken seriously, we argued, she had to provide an alternative vision.

She did just that the other Read More

By The Editors 5/10/11 11:28pm

Editorial

A Bleak City Budget, But What Did You Expect?

It’s not as though he didn’t warn us.

When Mayor Bloomberg stepped to the podium to deliver his bad-news budget the other day, the only people who seemed surprised to learn about massive teacher layoffs and other painful cutbacks were members of the City Council, who reflexively denounced the Mayor’s difficult decisions. That is their Read More