My wife cringes whenever "Today in New York City History" comes up on NY1. It was stated that the first issue of the New York Times, then called the New York Daily Times, began on this date in 1851.

Actually, this was the SECOND newspaper to be called the New York Times. From the NY Public Library catalog (CATNYP):

I recently wrote a series of essays on what I consider to be phony or exaggerated economic issues in New York State. Now I’m going to write a series of essays on the real problems, as I see them. For New York City, perhaps the biggest problem is the low share of its adults who work, or look for work. The support of the non-working is a burden the working have to carry, and to the extent that burden is concentrated on those who live in their proximity, it is a particular burden in New York. But that liability is small compared with the impact of the absence of employment on the non-employed themselves. It is one of several ways New York’s poor are less well off now than in the 1950s – though, as we shall see, better off than in the mid-1990s.

In the last day I have been contacted and emailed by many people asking if I wrote The Death of DDDB and why did I write it.

I wrote it because of the mass frustration I felt during this entire election cycle as I worked as Chris Owens Field Director. Time and again I found people like Raul, Robert Puca, Lucy, Amy, Virpi and others help Chris and Bill. What I also found was that there did not seem to be any type of concerted effort by DDDB to get people out and energized. Now I know it is not that easy because DDDB cannot formally endorse candidates. I still feel there needed to be a real ground swell from somewhere telling people we needed to elect officials who were going to stand up against this project. Now this job was not just DDDB’s job but all of ours, well actually mine.

What good is a public editor, especially one who doesn't respond to the public to correct errors in the media?

I've stated here many times that NY1 needs a public editor/ombudsman. Below are my personal experiences with two public editors this month, and they haven't been good at all. A lot depends, of course, on the person in the position. Unfortunately, the position is often just a sham to deceive the public into thinking that the media company actually cares (when it doesn't).

The New York Times established a "Public Editor" to regain credibility after the Jason Blair fiasco. CBS established its "Public Eye" after the Dan Rather fiasco.

On September 12, 2006 DDDB officially went the way of dodo. This group headed by the self-riotous, egotistical moron know as Daniel Goldstein will never be a factor in Brooklyn politics ever again. Well at least as long as Daniel the idiot keeps running the show.

All DDDB had to do was work hard for one candidate, Bill Batson and they didn't even do that. I know they raised some money and went out and petitioned and canvassed a few times but it wasn't enough. Now there were a few very active DDDB members in the Batson campaign and they should be commended. The first person that comes to mind is Raul Rothblatt, who kicked ass for Bill Batson and Chris Owens for 4 straight months. If the leaders of DDDB had half a brain they would leave this group to people like Raul, who actually care about the community and put their money where there mouth is.

A note for readers not familiar with Room 8NY.  A prominent, and well-respected blogger, Gate-Mouth takes issue with the fact that I praised Councilman Charles Barron for refusing to include indicted assemblywoman Diane Gordon on his palm cards on Election Day.  The story begins with quotes from my article “Yvette Clarke & Charles”

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Yvette Clarke & Charles
Submitted by Gate (not verified) on Fri, 09/15/2006 - 7:28am.

“Finally, once more, Charles Barron showed his integrity by refusing to carry an indicted elected official on his palm cards. He did it in 2004 when he was the only elected official to support a challenge to Clarence Norman. And he did it again this year.”

In today's LunchBox, host Adam Green on: Adam Green, viewer comments, Rock - of Hackshaw and Gatemouth, Larry Littlefield, Governor's Island, Jeannine Pirro, Charles Barron, John Bolton, Kofi Annan's son, Emma B. and Council Member John Liu.

Ben is working ferociously to unclog the tubes of his Internets.  In the meantime, here's a backup link to his posts on the Daily Politics: http://thedailypolitics.blogspot.com/

The news broke earlier this week that the latest planning process for the redevelopment of Governors’ Island has been scrapped, and the agency charged with the redevelopment of the island would start over.  Again.

The latest plans called for a variety of uses, including hotels, condos, conference centers, and an amusement park.  Mayor Bloomberg’s earlier plan called for moving the CUNY campuses there, and using the existing campuses for public schools.  Mayor Giuliani’s plan called for a casino.  The next failed plan, which will no doubt provide positive publicity (and that is the point isn’t it?), will be the fourth.  Under the circumstances, you may be interested in what I suggested, while working at the Department of City Planning, when the first plan was being cooked up – moving the United Nations and all related embassies to the island.  That proposal may be read after clicking “read more."

At the end of this article are the endorsements listed by Carl Andrews in his bid for the Congressional seat won by Yvette Clarke.   We estimate that these endorsements must have been worth more than a million bucks.  Not listed is the endorsement of  Elliot Spitzer. Spitzer didn’t just endorse Carl. He published  a personal letter on Carl’s website, requesting support for Carl.

And then  in the last week , Carl mailed another personal letter from Spitzer urging voters to cast their ballot for Carl.(Carl may have had over 12 mailings in some sections)

In today's LunchBox, host Adam Green on: Hillary Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic Convention, Sen Harry Reid, Sen Edward Kennedy, Cornell University's Global Village Project, Albany, Jeannine Pirro (pronounciation, Frenched), Andrew Cuomo, John Hall, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown...and more