Editorials

Prosecutorial power is great, and when abused, can cause great damage. The U.S. attorney’s decision to drop fraud charges against David Stockman, Ronald Reagan’s former budget director, in connection with his performance as former chief executive of Collins & Aikman, the bankrupt auto-parts maker, is a victory for common sense and restraint. But few pause to think what personal price Mr. Stockman, and others who are recklessly indicted, pay during the months, and sometimes years, of living under a cloud of unfounded but stubborn suspicion, in an age that has too often seen prosecutors more concerned with scoring a conviction than determining the truth.  read more »

The football season ended all too abruptly in New York, so after a brief period of mourning, sports fans will begin to focus on what promises to be a remarkable 2009 baseball season. We are about 10 weeks away from the opening of two dazzling ballparks—Citi Field in Queens and the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

During 2008, the Yankees directed most of their attention to the closing of their grand but faded stadium, and the Mets spent most of the season talking about their new field. You would, too, if your home was the late, not-so-great Shea Stadium.  read more »

Punishing property owners during a recession is a very strange way for a city to do business. These are the people, after all—co-op, condo and house owners—who have made a real investment in the city’s future, by putting their hard-earned money into their homes, often at great sacrifice to other living expenses. These are the people who send their kids to our schools, rather than packing up for the suburbs. And yet the City Council recently approved a 7 percent property tax increase, at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is looking for ways to stem a billion-dollar deficit for 2009.  read more »

New Yorkers know what it is like to be under fire from terrorists. So it was more than appropriate that Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Congressman Gary Ackerman flew to Israel to show their support for that nation’s latest effort to defend itself from the forces of hatred and barbarism.

The New Yorkers delivered a clear message: Israel has every right to respond to the brutal rocket attacks that have terrorized villages near the Gaza Strip. Regrettably but perhaps not surprisingly, such common sense is all too rare these days. European critics seem to believe that Israel has no right to defend itself.  read more »

As 2008 draws to a close, New Yorkers may feel like they’re leaning into a blizzard of bad economic news—see above editorial. Some may feel the only bright spot is holiday shopping in a climate of “70 percent off” signs and salespeople who suddenly actually want to help. But as families gather for Chanuka and Christmas, there’s an extraordinarily wide range of things to be grateful for as we head into 2009.

No matter what your politics, the imminent departure of George W. Bush and his administration is cause for relief. Having launched a costly, continuing war, alienated most of our allies and presided over an economy of despair, the president leaves office with little to brag about.  read more »

Faced with an historic fiscal dilemma—one that would lead to the brink of bankruptcy—Governor Hugh Carey announced in 1975 that “the times of plenty, the days of wine and roses, are over.”

More than 30 years later, Governor David Paterson finds himself, and the state he leads, in a similarly dire situation. Mr. Carey mobilized public opinion and a historic public-private partnership to rescue not only the city, but the state as well. Now Mr. Paterson must do the same. The problem is that the private sector is crippled and civic leadership simply isn’t what it was in the mid-1970s, when the city’s elites came together to help their stricken city.  read more »

While we’re happy Michael Bloomberg has been granted the opportunity to run for a third term, he needs to remember he’s the mayor, not the district attorney. His public display in the wake of the Plaxico Burress incident was that of a man emerging with all rhetorical guns blazing, as the fuming Mr. Bloomberg called for prosecutors to throw the book at the Giants’ star wide receiver and also “go after” the management of a great institution, the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Obviously, grave errors were made. Carrying a loaded, unlicensed handgun into a crowded nightclub is a profoundly stupid, dangerous and illegal thing to do.  read more »

As Governor David Paterson mulls a list of terrific candidates to fill Hillary Clinton’s soon-to-be vacant Senate seat, near or at the top of that list should be Caroline Kennedy.

Ms. Kennedy’s unexpected availability could make the governor’s decision much easier. He’s bound to alienate one group or another—perhaps several—if he chooses from among the pool of politicians already in office. While New York would be well represented by several of the potential would-be senators, none has the star power, magnetism and, let’s face it, the magic of Caroline Kennedy.

While Ms. Kennedy’s elevation would disappoint the other candidates, it’s hard to think of a Democratic constituency in New York that would begrudge the move.  read more »

Although this page supported Barack Obama during the Democratic presidential primaries, we never questioned Hillary Clinton’s intelligence, competence and determination. Only a fool would do so. She has been an effective voice for the state in the Senate and proved to be a genuine consensus-builder in an increasingly divided and dysfunctional capital.

The president-elect could not have made a better choice for secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton has been a public figure of global significance for nearly two decades. Now, she will be the public face of the United States as a new administration seeks to mend international fences. For New York, of course, Mrs.  read more »

New York joins the world in mourning the horrific and senseless terrorist attacks in Mumbai last week, during which over 188 people lost their lives, and grief and fear flooded India’s financial capital. As home to one of the world’s most flourishing communities of Indian émigrés, New York shares a brotherly bond with Mumbai, now doubly reinforced by our own recent history of enduring terrorist violence. Just as the world’s hearts went out to New York after 9/11, New Yorkers now lean toward the citizens of Mumbai.

The terrorists chose to include among their targets potent symbols of Mumbai’s flourishing economy—the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi hotels, and the bustling Leopold Cafe.  read more »