The National Low Income Housing Coalition says the president's proposed fiscal year 2013 budget "contains a mix of deep cuts, flat funding, and troublesome policy recommendations" on the housing side. NLIHC singles out proposed reductions to Project-Based Rental Assistance, where the administration proposes to provide less than a full 12 months of funding to some of the public housing agencies that administer the grants.

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Advocates have long said the requirement was an unnecessary barrier, and in his annual State of the State speech, the governor agreed. "For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go
to bed hungry," he told a crowd of legislators, mayors and other dignitaries. "We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation, and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food."

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The federal government just reported that despite those risks, American firefighters suffered fewer fatalities last year than in the previous 18 years: 81 on-duty firefighters perished in 2011, down from 87 the year before, and the fewest since 1993. To put those numbers in some context, in 1978, 171 U.S. firefighters died on duty. Back in 1945, in New York City alone, 28 firefighters perished.

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Liu's office says it "has lowered revenue forecasts on personal income taxes to $8.63 billion from $8.72 billion in July, and business taxes to $5.48 billion from $5.52 billion also in July." It points to all the connections New York's financial and tourist sectors have to the European economy: "European banks have more than $1 trillion in assets in New York City offices, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all foreign bank assets in the City, according to Federal Reserve data. They also have extensive ties to other financial firms in the City, have thousands of employees here, and are active lenders in the City economy. Many of the City’s non-financial firms also have significant business relationships with European firms, and the City attracts millions of European business and leisure travelers each year."

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(During the Bush years, the federal government twice weighed in on the side of the religious group, and the Obama administration does not appear to have altered that stance.)

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The curbside payment is less than the administration once dreamed for on 34th Street: This time last year, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was talking about building a "surface subway" of bus-only lanes along 34th, but that plan had to be scrapped in the face of opposition from businesses and residents on the route. But a DOT report released today indicates that even the modest fix will have an impact. Similar changes introduced last year on the M15 route, which runs along 1st and 2nd avenues, have reduced travel times, boarding times and crashes, according to the DOT.

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As was the case in 2003 and 2007, both Johnson (Democrat-Republican-Conservative) and Brown (Democrat-Republican-Conservative) face no opponent, so voters' only choice is which party lever to pull for each man. Neither has faced opposition since 1999, when Johnson—who has held his post since 1989—faced a Republican, and Brown (a DA since 1991) fought off a Green party candidate.

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The IBO found that many fewer children are placed in foster care than were a decade ago—evidence of the agency's commitment to preventive services, which permit families to remain intact with varying levels of support, over foster care, which had been the norm before the mid-90s.

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