It was great to see that  Assemblywoman Amy Paulin picked up on the Editorial Board’s call for New York to enact a law that would require a three foot safety buffer for motorists passing a cyclist on the road.

This press release just came into our inbox.
“Assemblywoman Paulin announced the introduction of a bill that will require [...]

Given this past June’s Senate coup, counter-coup and high melodrama, I guess Gov. David Paterson thinks he better quickly lay all of his cards on the table at once, while he has the Legislature together as a (somewhat) functioning body. In this state, even getting a quorum is not a sure thing anymore. 

So for today’s [...]

David Milton Steiner, who was sworn in as the state education commissioner last month, will visit with the Editorial Board Tuesday afternoon as part of his state-wide listening tour. Steiner is the former dean of Hunter College’s School of Education and a champion of reform of teacher preparation programs.  He has said his goals include [...]

Remember those old Disney ads, “Hey (fill in the blank)  you just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do now?  Well if you’re Joe Girardi and your team just won the World Series, the answer would clearly not be “I’m going to Disneyworld.”  Nah, Girardi would rather do something humble, like save [...]

When I first met Susan Tolchin 12 years ago, she was peeved, walking around a near empty office, waving her arms at the empty walls.  Even back then, Tolchin, who is now Deputy County Executive, was fiercely protective of her boss’s image. Some things never change. 

Here’s what I wrote in January 1998: 

 

When Andrew J. Spano [...]

We on the Editorial Board were as surprised as anyone to see the complete drubbing that County Executive Andy Spano took from his challenger Rob Astorino in the polls yesterday. Astorino seized on taxpayer exhaustion in this famously “highest property tax in the nation” county  and promised to cut the size of county government.  But perhaps [...]

As for gauging the effectiveness of the calorie labeling laws in chain restaurants, the first results are in and they are not encouraging.  As reported online today in the journal  Health Affairs: the Policy Journal of the Health Sphere, researchers from New York University and Yale University checked the receipts of low-income and multi-ethnic consumers before the [...]

Published reports say that Larry Schwartz, the former Westchester Deputy County Executive and now top  adviser to Gov. David Paterson, is in open conflict with the state’s new Lt. Governor,  Richard Ravitch. At issue, is how the governor should proceed with budget cuts, the New York Post’s Fred Dicker reports.

Schwartz, an always-astute reader of the [...]

I thought the drug generation burned out in the 60s and 70s. Guess not. Deaths from drug use—illegal, prescription, borrowed—are not only on the rise, in 16 states they have overtaken deaths from car accidents. According to an Associated Press story, New York is one of those states. 

The improvement in car safety has contributed to the [...]

It is surprising to find out  that the New York State Comptroller has audited New Rochelle’s school lunch.  Shouldn’t the office that is responsible for managing the state’s ever-shrinking pension fund, and overseeing the spending and purchasing practices of schools, municipalities and state agencies, have more important things to look after? But as staff writer [...]