Results tagged “wallstreetjournal”

The Wall Street Journal reports that it "received more than a dozen envelopes containing an unknown white powder, and New York City police and hazardous materials crews are investigating the matter." Apparently one floor of the offices (located at the World Financial Center) was evacuated—the Daily Intel suggests it could be the one where Rupert Murdoch's office is located. Last fall, an envelope with a suspicious white powder was sent to the NY Times and another was sent to Reuters. Update: We're hearing there's now a "full hazmat response" at the WSJ offices and decontamination is being set up for people exposed on floors 9 through 11.

Recent data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows how badly the restaurant industry is being battered by the recession. Eateries and bars shed jobs for five consecutive months through November, which is the longest stretch of downsizing since the government began tracking the info in 1990. 66,500 jobs have been lost since July, and George Prassas at the Labor Department tells the Wall Street Journal that the extended decline is "definitely something different than what the food-service industry's used to." To personalize the article (and bum everybody out), the Journal tells the sad story of one unemployed waitress on Long Island:

Dawnmarie Capuano, with 14 years of experience as a waitress, hostess and restaurant manager, was earning as much as $200 a night in tips between two jobs at an Italian restaurant and a pub.

Continue reading "Dining Industry Doing Even Worse Than Expected"

Newsweek has a feature on Rupert Murdoch and his desire to take on the NY Times with his new purchase, the Wall Street Journal. But more interesting for media watchers might be the end of the fourth paragraph, where Newsweek reports:

"The fight could escalate in unknown ways if billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ends up acquiring the Times. As NEWSWEEK has learned, top associates of the onetime information executive are encouraging him to do just that."

Newspapers all over the country are paying close attention to the stunning news that Governor Eliot Spitzer paid for a prostitute - and was apparently a regular client - to "visit" him from NY to DC. Our local papers all take a shot at the former crusading Attorney General who rode into the Governor's Mansion on a promise of reforming Albany.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person trapped under an automobile at 9th Ave. and 55th St. in Brooklyn, a missing delivery man at De Kruif Pl. and Dreiser Loop in the Bronx, and a scaffolding incident on 7th Ave. and 25th St. in Manhattan.
• NYC's Dept. of Health wants pharmacists to be allowed to administer flu shots, citing the death toll of the disease and underutilization of vaccination supplies.
• A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a sanitation truck early this morning at 50th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan. A few hours later, a male pedestrian crossing the street at 23rd and 7th Ave. in Manhattan was struck and killed by a U.S. Postal truck.
• Publication synergy at News Corp. as Gawker notes downtown vendors selling The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post together for just $1.
• Plans for a City Jail in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx have been nixed.
• The rap artist known as Snoop Dogg will be performing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on March 13 as part of a VH1 special. Greenpointers has the 420 411 on how to win tickets.
• The Town of Huntington on Long Island has banned vendors from selling 'silly string' within 1,500 feet of a parade route; but people can bring their own if they want. Firefighters complain that the novelty substance damages the paint on their vehicles.
• And "Danny Boy" is too depressing for Foley's Pub in Midtown, which is banning the song for the entire month of March.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer shot on Vandalia Ave & Ardlsey Loop in Brooklyn, a gas leak at Dongan Pl. off Broadway in Manhattan, and an aircraft emergency at JFK in Queens.
• The City's investigating whether its artificial turf fields are poisonous.
• The Brooklyn Paper finds Obama did get votes in many Brooklyn districts (here's the congressional district breakdown for all of NYC).
• Blogging by athletes at the summer Olympics in China will be allowed. Blogging about the summer Olympics by athletes will be highly restricted.
• The father of the three children murdered by their mother is suing Nassau County for $60 million.
• Rupert Murdoch's ownership of Dow Jones is practically unnoticeable, unless one is longtime Wall Street Journal First Amendement lawyer Stuart Karle. He's fired.
• St. Saviour's demolition was halted by the Department of Environmental Protection.
• This time arguing over a grade worked: The City will revise public school report cards issued last year, after feedback from pretty much everyone.

Now that Rupert Murdoch owns The Wall Street Journal, he wants all his toys in one toychest properties in one building, namely News Corporation's Sixth Avenue building. The Wall Street Journal newsroom has always been downtown and is currently located at the World Financial Center.

The day after giving his State of the City address, Mayor Bloomberg headed out of town and to capital of the Lone Star State. Sure, Bloomberg did have a press conference with Lance Armstrong and former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, but more interesting was his meeting with Ross Perot's former campaign manager!

We got a NotifyNYC alert this morning:

The Port Authority will be doing construction blasting at the World Trade Center site today beginning at 8 a.m. There will be a total of 7 controlled blasts during the day. This is a routine construction operation and there is no cause for concern.

Mayor Bloomberg may be finding that coy flirtation can be cute at first, but quickly becomes old and aggravating if carried on for too long. The New York Times has a story today describing a growing backlash against a Mayor who seems preoccupied with something big, but it's something big that he won't discuss, or even acknowledge.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is busy trying to rally support in Florida, one of many big states with primaries in the coming weeks. He didn't really focus on the Iowa caucus (where he placed fifth - after Ron Paul) or New Hampshire (so he claims; he managed to place 4th, ahead of Ron Paul) and flew out of the Granite State before the polls were closed.

When the weather outside is frightful, the risks are likely predictable--in high-wind weather anyway. Early yesterday evening, witnesses report that wooden planks broke free from a crane and crashed onto Spring St. at the new Trump SoHo building, reportedly crashing atop several cars. A collapse of steel from a crane at the WTC site early last week crushed a construction trailer where an architect was seriously injured when pieces of steel demolished his workspace after falling dozens of floors.

"Sleight of hand," "litany of needless fights," "ugly racial polarization" - just some of the phrases in this week's New York magazine's cover story about Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor turned presidential candidate. Chris Smith's article serves as both refresher to New Yorkers about Giuliani's reign as mayor with some fun tidbits (did you realize that then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik commissioned 30 miniature busts of himself?) as well as a cautionary tale to non-New Yorkers....

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy is selling his 11,000 square-foot condo at 176 Perry St. for $40 million. It's the highest asking price ever for a downtown residence. Joy bought the triplex, located in one of three Richard Meier buildings in the West Village, five years ago. He paid $17.57 million for it, but never moved in. He also has a home in Aspen. We know it's not...

Now that WABC-AM has announced the return of Don Imus to radio airwaves starting December 3, their morning programming is shifting. In fact, Ron Kuby, who with Curtis Sliwa, co-hosted the station's morning drive program, was asked not to come to work starting today in anticipation of Imus' arrival!

This week, the NY Times has some suggestions for wedding gifts from stores affiliated to museums, reasoning that those stores have wonderful gifts that are appealing to "people who are tired of shopping in the same old places — and might enjoy spending a couple hours in a museum as well." We wholeheartedly agree - when you know the couple well, that is.

Got a tidbit for us? Send it to the feedbag.

Rudy Rudy Rudy. Giuliani is getting it from all angles. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com's John Fund wrote an article, "Rude Giuliani." Fund referenced Giuliani's cellphone call with wife Judith during a very important speech in front of the NRA as just one example of all the times Giuliani is stopping for his wife's calls. He once left a room full of donors, who each paid $2,300 to hear him speak, to take a call from Judi Giuliani - and never returned. That's a classy move!

In the wake of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's resignation last month, President Bush will nominate former U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey for the position. Mukasey, who was born in the Bronx and educated at Columbia and Yale Law School, was "appointed to the federal bench" by Ronald Reagan and has presided over terrorism trials, such as the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue off the beach at 105th St. and Shore Front Parkway in Queens, a person struck by a train at 77th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting at Martin Luther King Pl. and Tompkins Ave. in Brooklyn.
• A middle-aged man was arrested Sunday evening after attempting to rob a McDonald's on Staten Island, but settling for ripping the clear acrylic box of donations for charity from the counter and making off with it.
• Cemusa, the Spanish company that brought us the city's new bus stop shelters, will be installing a new Grimshaw Architects-designed uniform replacement for New York's eclectic newsstand designs.
• The city will begin notifying pedicab applicants by mail today who has been granted, via a lottery where existing pedicab owners received preference, a license to operate their vehicles. Nonetheless, there will be a number of existing pedicab drivers who will be prohibited from continuing working as pedal-powered transit.
• There is currently no credible threat against Jewish targets, but as Rosh Hashanah begins tonight and marks the start of the Jewish high holy days, the NYPD will be stepping up security around possible targets of terrorism.
• Former NY Jet Curtis Martin may be the purchaser of Brooklyn's priciest condo: the $7.25 million penthouse triplex on Brooklyn Bridge State Park with 360 degree views of the city.
• The Travel section of the Times acknowledges that cool Brooklyn does not end at Bedford Ave., and ventures as far as Havermeyer and Berry St. along Grand St. Get there before it's totally played out.
• The ink is still drying on Rupert Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones, but New York Post editor and alleged strip club afficionado Col Allan dropped by the offices of The Wall Street Journal, probably trying to pacify the upset reporters who are already seeing their pay cut through decreased health insurance contributions.

Now that Rupert Murdoch is on his way to owning the Wall Street Journal, not only does he get to enjoy owning the successful and admired newspapers, he gets to feel the brunt of its personnel headaches too! The NY Times reports that signs from contract-less employees, including the phrase "Show Me The Money," have been plastered on WSJ office walls, only for someone to tear them down...and for someone else to put them back up and on and on again.

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched:

In his latest installment, Jordan headed to Wi-Fi hotzone Bryant Park to see what people were using the Internet for in a completely public place. The results are interesting: a religious study group, marketing Mandy Moore's new album, yoga, an online opera audition, and managing a business where giant rats are used to detect explosive land mines. We'll have to pay more attention to what people are working on the next time we're in Bryant Park.

Karl Rove, the political mastermind who maneuvered George W. Bush to the White house twice, will be stepping down from his role as President Bush's political adviser at the end of the month. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rove explained, "I just think it's time. There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Rove will be returning to Texas and stay out of politics -for now.

Today, the New York Times finally made its move to a 12 inch-width format with today's paper. The paper will stay the same price ($1.25 on weekdays and Saturday, $4.00 on Sunday) and will charge the same amount to advertisers, but can/may add more pages. Headlines and columns are narrowed, but the body copy type is the same (the spacing between letters, though, is more closed up). Interestingly, the crossword itself looks generally the same size, though the clues columns are narrower.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has secured the votes necessary to purchase Dow Jones & Co., Inc. which includes The Wall Street Journal itself. The win comes after a lengthy proxy battle in which the Bancrofts––the family that has acted as stewards of the company from afar for more than a century––resisted a very generous overture from Murdoch.

After many false starts, Trader Joe's announced this week that the grocery store chain would be finally arriving in Brooklyn. The news was heralded by Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz, who was decked out in one of the store's highly visible Hawaiian print shirts and leading a steel drum band at Court St. and Atlantic Ave. The Brooklyn Paper reports that while the grocer will soon move into the landmark Independence Savings Bank building at Court and Atlantic, Brooklynites will be required to trek to Manhattan if they want their "Two-Buck Chuck" wine.

There must be something about the morning shift at WABC. After just four days on the job as the permanent replacement for Steve Bartelstein, Ken Rosato, overslept and was late for the 5 a.m. edition of Eyewitness News. We think it is pretty safe to assume that he just overslept, since he probably hasn’t adjusted his body clock fully to the new hours, and that he wasn’t spending the night out clubbing like his predecessor. We wonder if he brought bagels to smooth things over.