In a landmark announcement Tuesday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared that all 100 city agencies that serve the general public are now required to translate key documents and provide interpretation for the city’s millions of immigrant residents in the top six languages spoken by New Yorkers.

The new policy, outlined in Executive Order 120, reflects the linguistic diversity of New York, where half of city residents speak a language other than English at home. Now communicating to residents in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian, and French Creole will be given the same priority as English. The new citywide policy is expected to assist the nearly 1 in 4 New Yorkers who have a limited ability to read, write or speak English with accessing city services.

What’s more, the announcement of Executive Order 120 spins the government requirements as a matter of customer service and government accountability. The new policy mandates the creation of a new Customer Service Group, housed within the Mayor’s Office of Operations, to help city agencies figure out how to make sure their services and programs are reaching immigrant New Yorkers.

The announcement establishes New York City at the forefront of policymaking efforts to encourage immigrants to access government services. It also provides a stark contrast to the reinvigorated local initiatives that seek to declare English the sole language for signs and services. Many cities and states are also increasingly opposed to policies that help immigrants access government services, even if they are legally eligible for them.

(Read the full post by checking out Feet in 2 Worlds blog...)

Per The New York Times, the Council and Mayor have agreed on a $59.1B budget for the new fiscal year just ahead of the July 1st deadline. The budget shifts funding away from infrastructure and towards taxpayers and consumers of City services.

During the news conference, Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Quinn offered a few of the highlights. The New York City Housing Authority would receive $18 million more than Mr. Bloomberg proposed in May. Libraries would continue to be open six days a week and not five as was originally suggested.

The city’s capital budget would be trimmed by 20 percent. All agencies would absorb across-the-board cuts in operating expenses. And financing for City Council-sponsored programs, now at the heart of a federal investigation, was cut by 38 percent. There would also be less money to pay for security guards at cultural institutions, and a chess program for schools was cut.

A City of this size, complexity and age can get away with cutting capital spending for a year or two; beyond that, due to the age of our infrastructure, deferred maintenance inevitably results in higher costs down the road.

This is, in short, a classic election-year budget. Voters don't see the capital budget in the same way and with the same immediacy as they see their local library branch staying open for an extra day a week.

Today's vaguely disturbing piece on the class war between you and people who are better than you comes in the form of this New York Times article: The Guardian of Gramercy Park’s Leafy Seclusion, a portrait of one Arlene Harrison, self-appointed mayor of Gramercy Park. Ms. Harrison appears to be the guardian of all things pretty, quiet, and locked securely behind wrought-iron fences.

[Harrison] has added to a list of regulations (no dogs, no feeding of birds, no groups larger than six people, no Frisbees or soccer balls or “hard balls” of any kind) that, in turn, have served to dictate how the park is — and is not — used. Most recently, she helped pave the way for Zeckendorf Realty to redevelop a 17-story Salvation Army boarding house on the south side of the park, and for the company’s plan to convert the 300 rooms into 14 floor-through apartments plus a penthouse duplex. The company would not confirm the transaction.

Yes, the Salvation Army does tend to attract undesirable elements, such as the poor and the young.

Actual use of the park is not Ms. Harrison’s measure. “It was always an ornamental park,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even go in to enjoy it. They’re so thrilled just to see it. It’s like a hotel room with a view of the ocean.”...

How Marie Antoinette.

So, what's your top fiscal priority? Maybe schools for those thousands of kids in Brooklyn that don't have a seat in one? How about affordable housing? Maybe some infrastructure spending on the increasingly ramshackle MTA network? Or, to leave the City behind, how about we hook up the disadvantaged regions of upstate New York to broadband internet access?

What we don't need is another $350,000,000 in tax-free financing dedicated to the destruction of Yankee Stadium and its replacement by a new and vaster complex littered with VIP skyboxes that ordinary people will never see the inside of. But that's exactly what your mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is pushing for in Washington.

The Working Families Party is saying "Haha, no" to the idea. You can add your voice to theirs by going here. Because, you know, it's not as if George Steinbrenner and his stable of millionaires are panhandling for cash in the subway or anything like that.

Alrighty then: Per Azi, Ken Diamondstone has thrown his hat and not insubstantial personal resources into the ring for the 33rd City, currently represented by one David Yassky.

When he ran for State Senate in 2006, Diamondstone was seeking to represent a district that covers lower Manhattan and portions of Brooklyn. Diamondstone lost the Manhattan portion of the district to Connor by 2,163 votes, but he carried the Brooklyn portion by 1,384 votes.

The 33rd Council district overlaps with that area of Brooklyn.

Already in that City Council race are Yassky’s former aide Evan Thies, Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s chief of staff Stephen Levin [Ed. note TDG: No Effing Way], Democratic district leader and attorney Jo Anne Simon, and chair of the Sierra Club’s political committee in New York City, Ken Baer.

The Rent Guidelines Board will meet this evening to determine the Rent Guidelines for 1 and 2 year rents, in the City.

As a housing advocate fighting for affordable housing and helping displaced tenants through the gentrification process that's effecting various neighborhoods like Williamsburg/Greenpoint, in Brooklyn and many other neighborhoods,in the city, we must impact the RGB.

As spokes person for UNO (United Neighbors Organization),let me begin by making 2 points. First the city is in an affordable housing crunch losing 71,000 rent stabilize apartments, in the last thirteen years, to vacancy decontrol, and 40,000 due to coop condo conversion. In the last sixteen years over 40,300 of the cities subsidized apartments were lost. 26,000 of which were buy outs, in the cities Mitchell-Lama housing. If it wasn't for the 42 city council members override, of the Major's section 8 veto, more affordable housing units would never have been realized.

The contours of the general election are beginning to take form as Democrats near the end of our nominating contest; meanwhile, every sign we've seen, from record-setting turnout in every contested state to the astonishing floods of dollars flowing into the war chests of both Barack Obama and hometown hero Hillary Rodham Clinton indicate that this election has energized an electorate known for its passivity.

For obvious reasons, republicans have cause to be uneasy about the Democratic wave. Here in New York, where we have several republican House seats teetering on the brink of a Democratic takeover, and the State Senate ripe for the taking, that's especially true. One aspect of Obama's strategy that's been overlooked, however, has the potential to shake up the Democratic Party's own encrusted structures.

The New York Times writes:

To offset the voters who may rule out supporting Mr. Obama, because of his race or other reasons, the campaign is working to register new voters. In Georgia, for example, 600,000 black residents are eligible to vote but are not registered. In Virginia, there are 200,000 black residents not registered to vote.

From a strictly partisan perspective, the core of Obama's strategy, a massive new voter registration effort, is an unalloyed good. A wave is being created that New York Democrats would be wise to ride.

What should make New York Democrats, especially of the machine variety, sweat, is this: this effort is going to be managed by the national campaign, with little regard for local fiefdoms. Now, it's no secret that voter turnout in, say, the outer boroughs, is artificially and purposely kept low, with the express goal of maintaining in office the representatives of the machine.

City Room notes a small blast, believed to come from an improvised explosive device, at the recruiting station in Times Square at 3:43 AM this morning.

(Image: © The Daily Gotham)

New York City police officers and firefighters cordoned off much of Times Square for more than two hours after a small explosion — set off, the authorities said, by an “improvised explosive device” — damaged the front of the Armed Forces Career Center on the traffic island bounded by 43rd and 44th Streets, Seventh Avenue and Broadway at 3:43 a.m., officials said. No one was injured, and after a temporary interruption, subway service was restored.

Most traffic around Times Square was allowed to pass by 6:45 a.m., after vehicles had been diverted for more than two hours. City officials confirmed that police had initially blocked off the area as a precaution to ensure that there was no secondary device or other threat; the officials emphasized that they did not believe anyone was in danger.

Police officers at the scene said the explosion blew a hole through the front door of the recruiting station, which is at the northern end of the structure.

Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the large Police Department and F.B.I. unit that investigates terrorism, were at the scene of the blast, supporting the Police Department’s Bomb Squad, which along with other police detectives likely will take the lead role in investigating the incident, an F.B.I. official said. The official said that in today’s attack, a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt was seen leaving the scene on a bicycle.

What's interesting, obviously, is the blog reaction on the right; it's gleeful.

Oy vey.

In what is likely the first poll taken of New York City Democrats about the 2009 mayoral election - aside: this permanent campaign business really is tiring - results show an unlikely frontrunner: Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz.

No, seriously.

Markowitz was the top choice for mayor of 18% of Democratic voters, followed by 13% for Rep.Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) and 11% for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), a new Marist College/WNBC poll shows.

City Controller William Thompson and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum each snagged 9% of the vote, and City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) trailed at 4%.

Even Markowitz's wife was incredulous. "Is this serious?" asked Jamie Markowitz after The News informed her of the results. "This is all over New York City, right?"

2009 is going to be an absolutely glorious food fight, our own version of a thousand flowers blooming. The term limits on the City Council alone will see to that. With Marty being as well positioned as he seems to be, certainly, the sheer entertainment value of the whole exercise seems guaranteed.

New York City Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey had a meeting with Bronx County GOP Leader Joseph J. Savino on January 27, 2006. This meeting occurred while Kevin Sheekey was on city payroll time as listed on his schedule that was just FOILed by members of the press. The purpose of this meeting was for Mr. Savino to get the endorsement of Mayor Bloomberg for Mr. Savino to run later in 2006 for the state senate seat in the 34th district against incumbent State Senator Jeff Klein in which Savino lost in. A New York City employee cannot do any sort of political campaigning on city payroll time. Mr. Savino did get the endorsement from Mayor Bloomberg. Mr. Savino is also currently the target of a criminal probe being conducted by the New York City Department of Investigation. Some of Joseph J. Savino’s close friends and political associates are also being investigated for political campaigning on city payroll time. Inside sources have told me that Mr. Savino has confirmed that he did have a meeting with NYC Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey on January 27, 2006 at City Hall to discuss the political endorsement of Mayor Bloomberg for Mr.