Kathleen Horan

New York, NY —

New measures aimed at strengthening the city's requirements for testing standpipes, sprinklers and other safety features at construction sites, have been signed into law. One of the bills' sponsors, Councilman Vincent Gentile, says the protections should have been in effect sooner.

GENTILE: Had that testing been ...

Formal military farewells for veterans are in great demand these days.

Many of these services are carried out by Honor Guards who serve with the New York Army National Guard. These soldiers can perform at up to 1,000 funerals per month, which means one of the main requirements of their ...

New York, NY —

Formal military farewells for veterans are in great demand these days. Many of these services are carried out by Honor Guards, who serve with the New York Army National Guard. These soldiers can perform at up to 1,000 funerals per month, which means one of ...

New York, NY —

This weekend the candidates for City Comptroller, John Liu and David Yassky, are pulling out all the stops before the runoff election on Tuesday. It’s become a heated and tight race to be the city’s auditor, pension manager and financial watchdog.

Behind the scenes the campaigns ...

New York, NY —

There's only a week to go before the runoff for city comptroller, and Democratic candidates John Liu and David Yassky are picking up endorsements from fellow politicians, and throwing not-so-subtle jabs at each other.

When former mayor Ed Koch endorsed Yassky yesterday, he spoke of the ...

The 39th Council District stretches through Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace, Gowanus and Boro Park.

Map of the district

Council District 39 – the seat being vacated by Bill de Blasio – contains some of the city’s most fervent political activists. In a crowded field, two candidates are fighting hard to represent Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Kensington, and Boro Park. WNYC’s Kathleen Horan caught up with Brad Lander and Josh Skaller doing some last minute campaigning.

"Hi how are you? I'm Brad Lander and I'm running for City Council. Now we’re in the playground talking to parents about what issues they care about."

Candidate Brad Lander is in Kensington. He’s doubling up on events. While walking rescue dogs, he stops to give out ice pops to kids and campaign flyers to their parents.

"We’re out, we’re knocking on doors. We're in playgrounds. We’re at subways. The last few days before the election are when you really just try to be out everywhere all the time.”

Lander looks tan from all his time outdoors. His blue button down shirt is tucked in but the sleeves are rolled up. He goes up to a couple sitting on a bench near the handball courts.

“Any issues especially on your mind?”

It takes social worker Amanda Cicarelli and architect Eric Epstein a minute to open up, but they have plenty to say about everything from spotty train service in Windsor Terrace to high taxes.

And like many in this district, development.

New York, NY —

A new report finds that poor conditions for low wage restaurant workers puts employees and customers' health at risk. The study, conducted by the advocacy group Restaurant Opportunities Center - surveyed more than 500 workers over four years. The group's Sekou Siby says 65 percent ...

Council Speaker Christine Quinn took a break from campaigning for re-election in the 3rd Council District race to sit down with reporter Kathleen Horan. WNYC extended the mic so Quinn could respond to the criticism leveled at her by challengers Maria Passannante–Derr and Yetta Kurland in the story below.

About the term limits controversy, Quinn says she was motivated to support it because of the recession:

“When I cast my vote to extend term limits from two terms to three last fall, I did that well aware that there were some New Yorkers who disagreed with that decision. But I did it then and believe in the decision now because at a time of tremendous economic upheaval like the one we’re in now I think New Yorkers have the right to have a choice when they go to the ballot booth in September and in November of whether they want to keep their same leaders, or bring in new ones…I think the choice and opportunity to have choice and true fiscal leadership is one that is right and fair to give New Yorkers now.”

And when candidate Passannante–Derr accused her of turning moderate after once being a reformer, Quinn says her record speaks for itself:

“I am extraordinarily proud of my record over the past 10 years, working on behalf of this district and behalf of the city. It is a progressive record, a record that’s been endorsed by Naral, by Planned Parenthood, by The League of Conservation Voters, by the Empire State Pride Agenda, by Citizen’s Union, some of the most progressive organizations in the city of New York. If you look at my record as someone who brought one of the toughest clinic access laws to NYC to make sure women can exercise their right to choose, I’ve drafted and passed legislation that brought equal rights to domestic partners – both straight and gay – as it relates to city services…I’ve passed legislation that has expanded tenants rights in the city of New York to a level never seen before. I think that’s one of the reasons I was endorsed by Tenant’s Pac…so people can say whatever they want about other people’s records, but when you look at the fact of my record, it is a very progressive and effective record, not just for this district but for the whole city.”

For more information about Quinn's position on the issues, visit her web site

Two Challengers to Quinn’s 3rd Council District Seat

Two of the democratic candidates in the City Council's 3rd District race, Yetta Kurland and Maria Passannante-Derr, decided to run before they thought they’d be challenging an incumbent. Now they’re stumping from Canal to West 55th Streets on Manhattan's West Side to get voters' attention before the primary, hoping to unseat none other than the speaker of the Council, Christine Quinn.

Map of the district

WNYC’s Kathleen Horan has more on the two contenders:

Maria Passannante–Derr is handing out campaign flyers with volunteers on 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen during rush hour. The hot topic on the minds of many who stop to talk is term limits

“Voters tell me their vote was stolen and I agree with them. One of the things I will do if I am elected a council member is I will fight for a referendum because its not over yet. We could still have one.”

The repeal of term limits is personal as well. It allows Speaker Christine Quinn to run for a third term and makes Passannante-Derr’s bid for the seat feel a bit like a an uphill battle.

She says she wants to run because of her work on the community board and what she sees as a family tradition of public service.

She used the only debate (Sponsored by the Villager Newspaper) attended by Quinn last month to come out swinging.

“This election is about an arrogant incumbent–turned council into rubber stamp for a right wing Republican mayor.”

Passannante-Derr also had very harsh words for the speaker about her support of the repeal of term limits. She says that’s what the debate was for.

“It wasn’t a tea party. This was a time to discuss the issues, discuss them hard and hold the incumbent to her record."

She didn’t always feel this way about her opponent:

“When she first came in 10 years ago, she was a reformer. We were all pleased to see her as the first out lesbian to be speaker of the Council but now has that desire for higher office I think she has become more moderate for one thing and involved with the developers.”

She often finds herself explaining to voters who aren't really clued in about the race.

"How do you feel about Christine Quinn sheparding term limits through City Council?"

"I haven’t really followed her. I don’t really know that much about her. Just all of a sudden now before the primary there’s all these things for I don’t know what comptroller/D.A.. Hard decision when you have a lot of different candidates out there.”

She says sometimes it’s disappointing when she meets people who aren't yet focused on the primary but she refuses to be discouraged.

District 3 stretches from Canal to 55th Street and includes the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, as well as parts of the Flatiron District and Murray Hill.

Map of the district

New York, NY —

About 80 different organizations are planning to rally in Times square tomorrow to support the president's health care reforms. They're convening rain or shine - not only to support a public option similar to medicare, but to honor the work of Senator Kennedy who died ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says he wasn't the least bit curious about what his political opponents had to say about him in last night's debate - and he didn't tune in.

But when asked to respond to the candidates' criticism of his two terms - and his bid ...

New York, NY —

Volunteers are busy preparing care packages for New York soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They hope to pack about 1500 boxes at the city's office for Veteran's Affairs over the next couple of days. The packages are filled with everything from toiletries, snacks, and ...

New York, NY —

The founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey has inspired some fiery debate, after penning an Op Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal about health care reform. Mackey called the plan that Congress is debating "health care entitlement." He also ...

New York, NY —

Three Queens supermarkets are accused of sex discrimination by the Equal Opportunity Commission.

The suit in Federal Court alleges that Key Foods and Food Dynasty stores in Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Woodside failed to promote their female employees to positions other than cashier.

The suit claims that since ...

New York, NY —

Officials say a construction worker fell to his death, and at least one other was injured, in a scaffold collapse in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They were repairing the facade of the Ansonia apartment building on 12th Street yesterday afternoon.

Buildings Department spokeswoman Carly Sullivan says when ...

The thermometer climbed high enough to open cooling centers throughout the five boroughs for the second day in a row on Tuesday. One of the air-conditioned locations open to the public was the Park Slope Senior Center.

Many said ...

New York, NY —

New Jersey is creating an oral history project to preserve veterans' stories. A new law creates a foundation that will raise money to support and promote the gathering of veterans' oral histories. State Senator Bill Baroni co-sponsored the measure.

BARONI: Those stories will then be preserved ...

New York, NY —

Some less than attractive downtown spaces are being spruced up thanks to a public art program. The initiative called "Re: Construction" covers concrete barriers, chain link fences and other eyesores with colorful art installations featuring flowing fabric or murals of flying animals and lush landscapes.

Liz ...