Remembering Nicholas Scoppetta

Nicholas Scoppetta, who passed away in March at age 83, represented the best in the City’s civic life. He often attended New York Law School events and was the featured speaker at a CityLaw Breakfast on September 12, 1997. At that time he headed the Administration for Children’s Services, and was deep in litigation with advocates for children who wanted the federal court to take over his agency. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani had appointed Scoppetta … <Read More>


The Queens Midtown Tunnel is 75 years old!

November 15, 2015 marked the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The tunnel is an indispensable link between Manhattan and Queens, the Long Island Expressway, and JFK and LaGuardia airports. Its four lanes carry 80,000 vehicles a day. Few drivers in these 80,000 vehicles, however, were likely among those breaking open champagne bottles in celebration. Drivers are more concerned with getting in the tunnel, creeping through the tunnel, and getting out … <Read More>


CityLaw: Racial Disparity Persists in NYC’s Examination High Schools

(Editor’s Note:  The Department of Education recently released statistics on the first round of 2015 admissions for New York City’s examination high schools.  According to their report, offers to join the 2015-2016 incoming class at Stuyvesant High School counts just ten African-American and twenty Latino students.  The following by Professor Aaron Saiger of Fordham University’s School of Law was published in the January/February issue of CityLaw.)

New York City is experiencing one of its … <Read More>


Two perspectives on Mayor John V. Lindsay at Hunter College

 

On Thursday, March 20, 2014, a lively audience filled the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College to discuss Mayor John V. Lindsay. The occasion was the publishing of Summer in the City, John Lindsay, New York and the American Dream, edited by Hunter College Professor Joseph P. Viteritti. The audience came to hear two star-studded panels, the first moderated by Sam Roberts of the New York Times with Richard Ravitch, Lilliam Barrios-Paoli and … <Read More>


No Dedicated Lane in Court for Bike Riders

 

More and more tort cases involve bike riders. Three recent cases demonstrate that injured bike riders may have difficulty in court.

CityLaw reported a case, 19 CityLaw 100 (2013), involving a bike rider in Fort Washington Park who encountered Sanitation workers cleaning graffiti. The workers had coned off the area, and the biker, to avoid the cones, rode onto the grass where he fell and broke several teeth. The Appellate Division dismissed his claim … <Read More>


James S. Oddo: New Borough President Ready to Work Hard and Deliver Results

James S. Oddo, republican and former Council Member was sworn in as Staten Island’s new Borough President on January 1, 2014.

Borough President Oddo was born and raised in Dongan Hills, Staten Island, and bought his first house only a few blocks away from where he grew up. As the youngest of four boys, Oddo values the sacrifices his parents made. Oddo watched his father, a motorman, leave early and get home late to … <Read More>