Viewsday

New York City "makes up for its hazards and its deficiencies by supplying its citizens with massive doses of a supplementary vitamin -- the sense of belonging to something unique, cosmopolitan, mighty and unparalleled," wrote the incomparable E.B. White in 1948. On good days, I think he's still right. On others, I think his notion is a cruel joke.

Consider the taxi wars.

Here's...

We've always known New York City is not a normal place. Minneapolis is normal. Omaha is normal. New York is a town whose lurid eccentricities have a disturbing way of massing into destructive madness -- like Sandy roaring into town under a full moon at high tide. The resulting chaos is not a sight for the squeamish or for tiny school children or for civics teachers.

As the city's election...

The No. 1 issue on the minds of likely voters in New York City’s upcoming elections is not the stop-and-frisk imbroglio. It’s not the tough, elusive struggle for better outcomes in programs for the homeless and mentally ill. It’s not the shockingly sorry status of more than a few city parks. It is education, said a speaker at a Manhattan Institute forum this morning, citing a recent Zogby poll the...

On Sunday evening, as most of New York was winding down from a quiet holiday weekend, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer barged into what had been a sleepy contest for city comptroller with a Shakespearean burst of sound and fury. He wants forgiveness. He wants redemption. He wants his old public life back. He wants to be loved. He wants to matter again. You give me another chance, Spitzer is saying, and...

In firing scandal-tarred lawyer Joseph Savino, Clarkstown leaders acted swiftly in dealing with a potentially explosive situation.

But let's not break out the good government awards just yet.

Savino is the Bronx Republican Party boss whose White Plains-based law firm was hired by Clarkstown last year to handle tax-challenge cases even though he apparently had little expertise in that...

Was that a valedictory address on Thursday from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg? I think the answer is yes, but I don't believe the term valedictory does the event justice.

It was a public relations event staged by one of the most determined -- and successful -- salesmen America has ever seen.

Bloomberg does many things well. But I would put his ability to organize, sell and market...

You’ve probably seen the United Federation of Teachers’ ads on television. Against a background of dark, brooding music, they accuse New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg of “going after teachers again.” Why? Because he has “no strategy to improve schools.” Because it’s “his way or the highway.” Because “it’s time to put politics aside” and come up with a “fair evaluation system” for the city’s 75,000...

So why are the 8,800 school bus drivers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1811 planning to strike on Wednesday morning?

If you watch the union’s television ads, you might think it’s because New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would rather pinch pennies than invest in the safety of children by giving the drivers more job security. 

“This is about safety and experience,” says Local...

New York City police need to find a way to combat guns and crime without treading on the constitutional rights of hundreds of thousands of people to do it.

Indiscriminately stopping and frisking mostly black and Hispanic young men in the streets isn’t it, according to Federal District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin. She ruled Tuesday that officers violated the constitutional rights of people...