Must-read headlines from around the city, curated by the WNYC Newsroom.

FINANCE
Wall Street Faults State Lobby Law (WSJ)
Jacob Gershman reports: “Wall Street and insurance groups are organizing an effort to overturn a New York ethics regulation requiring trade associations that lobby state government to publicly disclose their sources of funding. The regulation is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.”

CRIME  
Probe Reveals Rampant Ripoffs Hitting Immigrants (NYDN)
Erica Pearson reports: “Fraudulent businesses in rogue storefronts in Queens often fleece immigrants hunting for jobs or immigration help by taking fees for services they don’t deliver, according to a report out Thursday. Many agencies also break the law by posting misleading signs and not providing contracts, researchers with New Immigrant Community Empowerment and the Urban Justice Center found. They are urging the Queens district attorney to set up a special unit to target fraud against immigrants.”

ECONOMY        
Report Predicts Fastest Job Growth in Hotels and Restaurants, Not Financial Services (NYT)
Patrick McGeehan reports: “By the middle of the coming decade, there will be more jobs in New York City in hotels and restaurants than on Wall Street and in banks, according to a report on global competition released on Wednesday. Along with London, New York still ranks above other big cities around the world in its attractiveness to businesses and jobs, the report states. But it also predicts that the fastest job growth in New York will come in sectors that traditionally pay less and offer fewer chances for advancement.”

EDUCATION
City Proposes Eliminating Elementary School Zones in Upper Manhattan (DNAinfo)
Julie Shapiro reports: “City officials and education advocates are weighing a plan to get rid of elementary school zones in Washington Heights and Inwood's District 6 — allowing families to send their kids to any school anywhere in the district, rather than giving them a seat in their local zoned school. The goal is to give all families an equal shot at attending the most sought-after schools and to spread resources more evenly throughout the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, parents said.”

ECONOMY        
Tavern Operator Close to Sealing Deal with City (Crain’s)
Lisa Fickenscher reports: “The new operator of Tavern on the Green is one step away from finalizing its deal with the city to take over the landmark restaurant in Central Park and reopen it next year in time for the holiday season. In September, the Emerald Green Group of Philadelphia quietly signed an agreement with the city's Parks Department, which selected the group in August for a 20-year license. The contract was submitted to the City Comptroller, John Liu, for registration. A Department of Parks official said the registration should happen ’soon.’”

HOUSING         
Manhattan Apartment Rents Up 8% in a Year (Crain’s)
Amanda Fung reports: “Manhattan landlords' winning streak continues. In September, the median apartment rent rose 10.2% from a year earlier to $3,195 a month, according to a report released Thursday by Prudential Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. Median rent adjusting for common landlord concessions, such as one month free of rent, also rose 8%, hitting $2,938.”

HOUSING         
Councilman Larry Seabrook Worst in Terms of Attendance (NYDN)
Erin Durkin and Tina Moore report: “On top of stealing taxpayer cash, former City Councilman Larry Seabrook was also guilty of rarely showing up for work. During his final year as a Bronx lawmaker, the disgraced pol posted the worst attendance record in the Council, missing more than 28% of meetings he was scheduled to attend. He skipped out on 30 of his 106 required sessions in the fiscal year that ended in June, as he battled federal corruption charges. He was finally expelled from the council in July when he was convicted of directing $1.5 million in city funds to his mistress and family.”

HEALTH           
Transition and Crisis in New Jersey’s Nursing Profession (NJ Spotlight)
Marilyn Joyce Lehren reports in the first of a two-part series on nursing in New Jersey: “Yet even as nurses assume greater responsibilities, the nursing profession is in a double bind. Many older nurses are looking to retire; according to a recent survey they'll do just that when the economy rebounds. Meanwhile, their replacements will likely be in short supply. But the key obstacle to filling the demand is not lack of nursing applicants or potentially qualified candidates -- it is a lack of available training. By 2020 the supply of registered nurses in the state will be nearly 50 percent below demand, resulting in a shortfall of more than 42,000 registered nurse (RN) positions, according to projections by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health.”

ECONOMY
In New Jersey, Colder Winter Could Push Home Heating Costs Higher (NJ Spotlight)
Tom Johnson reports: “The United States winter heating outlook projects that the coming season will be about 18 percent colder than last year, a prediction that the Energy Information Administration says will boost natural gas heating bills, as well as the cost of home heating oil, electricity, and propane. For households that rely on home heating oil, the agency, an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, estimated that the average expenditure for the fuel could reach record levels.”

POLITICS          
Voter Groups Push Registration in Advance of Friday Deadline (NYDN)
Denis Slattery and Bill Hutchinson report: “With a Friday deadline looming, voter groups were out in force Wednesday registering New Yorkers for the general election. But those mounting the push lamented how they had a lot of work to do and little time before Nov. 6 to sign up new voters.”

CULTURE
Italian-Americans Blast SoHo Jail Cell Art as as ‘Insult’ to Heritage (DNAinfo)
Andrea Swalec reports: “Italian-American advocates have started a petition urging the city Parks Department to stop a 9-foot-tall triangular cell from being installed in the park, which is dedicated to Lt. Giuseppe "Joseph" Petrosino, an Italian-American NYPD officer who fought organized crime at the turn of the century.
‘To desecrate a park with a jail cell is outrageous, and it shouldn't be allowed,’ said John Fratta, a member of the Feast of San Gennaro board, who started the petition that had been signed by more than two-dozen people as of Wednesday afternoon.”