Remembering the City’s Legal Battle to Landmark Grand Central Terminal

The late Bernard Richland was Corporation Counsel when the City appealed the adverse 1975 New York Supreme Court decision in the Grand Central Terminal case. Federal Judge Nina Gershon wrote about Richland’s role in a memorial article about Richland in 2004. 48 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 411 (2004).

Gershon wrote that “there were some in the preservation community who questioned the city’s resolve to pursue, through appeal, the fight to preserve Grand Central Terminal … <Read More>


Ed Koch: Happy 88th Birthday

Ed Koch celebrated his 88th birthday at a party/reunion held at Gracie Mansion on December 12, 2012. He is, as he says, still relevant. Ed Koch broadcasts his current opinions in regular blogs, movie reviews, political broadsides and letters. But if you really want to know Ed Koch, read his first two books, Mayor and Politics. Koch wrote Mayor shortly after losing his 1982 run for Governor against Mario Cuomo. Politics followed one year … <Read More>


Con Edison Meets Hurricane Sandy’s Challenge

Every four hours around the clock, beginning Tuesday, October 30, 2012, workers from every part of Consolidated Edison’s territory reported to senior management on the status, needs and plans to restore service to Con Edison customers. The reports came in to Con Edison’s Emergency Response Center set up in the nineteenth floor auditorium at Con Edison’s headquarters at 4 Irving Place.

The first reports were sketchy assessments: what was happening and where. As the storm … <Read More>


Praise for Con Edison and the Utility Workers Union

The Consolidated Edison lockout began on July 1, 2012. Despite summer heat and record electric demand, Con Edison’s supervisors and auxiliaries kept the City functioning. Computers operated, elevators carried people up and down, lights stayed on, and offices remained cool. Compared to the impact of the three-day transit strike of 2005, the City functioned without a hitch. Both management and the union deserve credit. Striking is one thing; stopping the flow of electricity, gas and … <Read More>


The City Council Should Approve NYU’s Core Expansion Plan

If one were to draw a circle a mile in radius with the hub being Washington Square, and time-traveled back 50 years to 1962, included within the circle would be a low-rent failing commercial district along Lower Broadway; a darkened, empty loft factory area south of Houston Street; a bleak Hudson River waterfront in the shadow of a deteriorating West Side Highway; an industrial meatpacking district dead in the daytime and a slaughterhouse at night; … <Read More>